Maria Konopnicka in Italy: A Journey That Reshaped Her Poetry

sistine_chapel_forum-0962550696.jpg, large, Painted scenes from the Sistine Chapel by Michelangelo. Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni, photo: Sistine Chapel/World History Archive / Worl

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In the late nineteenth century, Italy was not simply a destination but a cultural necessity – a space where art, memory, and imagination converged. For Maria Konopnicka, this journey became something more: a deeply transformative encounter that reshaped her poetic voice and redefined her place within European modernity.

The 19th century, and especially its second half, was undoubtedly a time of increased travel. The possibility of accelerating travel time associated with the development of railways, the widespread use of travel agencies and tourist guides made it easier to travel and contributed to its popularization. Journeys were, as usual, for various purposes – educational, artistic, tourist, economic – but they were undertaken with greater frequency than before. The most popular travel destinations also diversified and multiplied, and increasingly encompassed distant or exotic places (such as both Americas, Africa, Australia and Oceania). On the European map, Paris and Italy retained priority attractiveness. The former was considered the capital of modernity (although London also began to compete for this title), while Italy was identified with the cradle of tradition (both in its secular and Christian dimensions). The importance of this second place was undoubtedly strengthened by the centuries-old practice of travelling to these southern regions of the continent. Of no small importance was also the stable, strong interest in the artistic heritage of the Renaissance, of which Italian art was an excellent representation.

Europe 1890, map, photo: Wikimedia Commons

The significance and value of Italian journeys were popularized in a special way among educated Poles in the second half of the 19th century, primarily by the Polish art historian Józef Kremer and the French writer Hypolitte Taine. The former was the author of a very well-known work entitled Podróż do Włoch [Journey to Italy] (1859–1864), the latter – Voyage en Italie (1866; Polish translation by Antoni Sygietyński, 1908). An important literary model in this respect was Italian Journey by Johann Wolfgang Goethe (1816–1817; Polish translation by Henryk Krzeczkowski, 1980). The outstanding works of Julian Klaczko, which were evidence of a fascination with Italian culture – Wieczory florenckie [Florentine nights] (1880; Polish translation by Stanisław Tarnowski 1881) and Rzym i odrodzenie. Szkice. Juliusz II [Rome and the Renaissance. Sketches. Julius II] (1898; Polish translation by Antonina Morżkowska 1900) – had a huge resonance. Although the reportage, memoirs and artistic records of Italian travel and experiences were of course very diverse, Rome and St. Peter's Basilica, and in it the Sistine Chapel with Michelangelo's frescoes, were exceptionally often a significant place on the sightseeing route. It was the Chapel that connoted important values associated with Italy and provided a basis for reflection on both secular and religious aspects of Italian art, and the descriptions of its sightseeing helped to remind one that peregrinations to Italy can be as much a tourist expedition as a pilgrimage.

This somewhat natural direction and purpose of visiting Rome, which was the Sistine Chapel and the works of Michelangelo therein, also had another important justification. It is the growing interest in the figure of the Italian genius as an all-time artist in the second half of the 19th century (in the circle of this fascination one can find such diverse and distinguished people as Jacob Burckhardt, Walter Pater, Friedrich Nietzsche, John Symonds, Henry Thode, Cyprian Norwid, Julian Klaczko, Kazimierz Chłędowski, Leopold Staff, Władysław Kozicki). It was then (in 1863 and 1897) that the first complete edition of Michelangelo's poems was published, and at the beginning of the 20th century, a restoration of the Sistine Chapel was carried out, supported by scientific research (1903–1905), and a monograph was written about it by Ernst Steinmann (1905, vol. 1–2).

In the second half of the 19th century, the experience of Italian journey undoubtedly tested modern sensitivity in a special way. As Zofia Węgierska aptly wrote in her review of Taine's Voyage en Italie:

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'The subject seems exhausted. And always new. Newer than ever. Foreigners no longer travel around Italy, but walk around it. […] Traveling to Italy is no longer a luxury, but a need of an educated mind. Almost everyone has visited Italy, yet it has not become hackneyed: people write and talk about it more and more […]. Italy owes this exceptional occupation to what is seen in it and what is not seen, to what appeals to the senses and to the memory' (Biblioteka Warszawska 1866, vol. 2, 398).

It seems that the stronger the awareness of Italy's cognitive attractiveness, the more important the individual justifications for travel and their artistic transformations turned out to be. And in them everything that was established between 'what is seen' and 'what is not seen', as well as between what was already known from books and stories and what was unknown in direct experience.

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Maria Konopnicka, photo reproduction: FoKA/Forum

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It is in the circle of these important issues and cultural contexts that one of the most original artistic achievements of the outstanding nineteenth-century poet Maria Konopnicka (1842–1910) should undoubtedly be situated – the volume of poetry Italia, published in 1901. Associated by non-specialist readers primarily with patriotic works, such as Rota, works for children (Na jagody, O krasnoludkach i o sierotce Marysi) or with texts on social issues (the pieces W piwnicznej izbie, Jaś nie patrzał, Wolny najmita), the poet wrote it as a mature artist still searching for new aesthetic and existential experiences that would enrich her poetic imagination and broaden the issues of her works. The volume was one of the effects of Konopnicka's Italian journey, transposing her experiences of wandering, pilgrimage, sightseeing, cultural-civilizational and aesthetic reflection into the language of a poetic record. Thanks to it, one can get to know the interesting profile of her work as a poet of culture, who was close to Parnassian ideals and modernist aestheticism, sensitive to the beauty of the world and art, open to new aesthetic tendencies, such as impressionism (and even expressionism), boldly presenting her anthropological reflections.

Konopnicka visited Italy during her first European journey in 1882, which resulted in the volume Wrażenia z podróży [Impressions from a Journey] (1884). Even then, she appreciated the power and uniqueness of this experience, writing after her stay in Venice, among other things: 'There is something strange in the feeling that a traveler is filled with, standing in the midst of a city about which he once heard extraordinary things – and imagined it as a city thrown into the blue and unreachable. – And now he has come – and is here. And he brought with him from a distant land a heart rocked by the rustle of bright grain – and eyes that flew chasing swallows – and were intoxicated by the dusk of pine forests. Here he is – and stands – and looks – and thinks. There is something strange about it, as if reality was being measured against the things dreamed' (Wrażenia z podróży, 77). Italia, however, is the work of another, special stage in the life and work of the famous poet, who was considered a prophetess of her generation and an heiress to the legacy of the Romantics.

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Title page of the book 'Italia' by Maria Konopnicka, 1901, photo: Polona National Library

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In 1890, Konopnicka decided to leave Warsaw – where she had been living since the late seventies after moving out from her husband with her six children – and from then on she devoted most of her life to travelling, only occasionally returning to Poland. The reasons for her decision were very complex, although initially the poet justified it primarily with the need to undergo treatment to improve her health. In essence, however, she needed a change. Because the scandal related to the conduct of her mentally ill daughter Helena was becoming increasingly difficult for her, and because she felt tired of her previous lifestyle and the role of a famous author, and finally because she lacked new artistic experiences and a sense of independence. Perhaps she dreamed of creative freedom unfettered by any patterns or conventions? Or maybe she simply allowed herself to do what she liked, i.e. to spend her time very actively? Iwona Węgrzyn rightly reminded us that the poet could be seen as, for example, a 'compulsive traveller' and a 'sportswoman (she caused sensation by doing gymnastics and riding a bicycle' (Węgrzyn, 17). In any case, the rhythm of her life accelerated greatly at that time, and the way she lived the following years was different from the standards of the time, especially those intended for women.

What is astonishing is not only that Konopnicka's wanderings lasted so long, but also the number of places she visited, as well as the pace at which she moved around Europe (including Poland). As Tadeusz Czapczyński aptly noted, 'The poet's mobility is truly astonishing' (p. 20). According to the researcher's calculations, the poet visited 63 countries in 20 years! The map of her travels includes: Kraków, Zakopane, Lviv, Graz, Admont, Munich, Zurich, Lucerne, Milan, Rome, Genoa, Nice, Avignon, Paris, Vienna, Luxembourg, Florence, Brussels, Grodno, Opatija, Gorizia, Reichenhall and many other places. The poet returned to some places several times (e.g. ones so different as Nice, Rome, Munich). Although, as her correspondence shows, Konopnicka often felt very lonely during these peregrinations, an important companion of hers at that time was Maria Dulębianka, a famous painter and activist of the women's movement. Leading a nomadic life was by no means easy, also for financial reasons, which is why the poet usually had to choose the cheapest train class, inexpensive hotels, and unfurnished rooms in them. In contrast to these material deprivations were the abundance and variety of experiences. During this time, Konopnicka published the fourth series of Poezja [Poetry] (1896), the poetry volume Italia (1901, second edition 1911), Drobiazgi z podróżnej teki [Trivia from a travel file] (1903), Nowe pieśni [New songs] (1905), Głosy ciszy [Sounds of silence] (1906), the poems Przez Głębinę [Through the deep] (1907) and Pan Balcer w Brazylii [Mister Balcer in Brazil] (1910). It is significant that she privileged her Italian experiences enough to devote a separate volume of poems to them.

The scope and nature of the themes undertaken by the author – inspired by nature, as well as by Italian visual arts and architecture – are well-announced by the titles of individual works and cycles that Konopnicka has collected in this volume. These are: ‘Którzy idziemy’, ‘Sonety Włoche, Po drodze’, ‘Prace amor’, ‘Faun’, ‘Echa florenckie’, ‘Madonna’, ‘W sikstyna’, ‘Morze’ [We who walk, Italian sonnets, Along the way, the works of cupid, the Faun, Florentine echoes, the Madonna, in the Sistine, the sea]. Their intellectual and artistic richness is manifested in the skill and diversity of form, the apt use of ekphrasis, the introduction of elements of impressionistic imagery (in the descriptions of landscapes), the fluidity of combining reflection on Italian culture with reminiscences of the native land, the originality of thinking about human fate and the history of civilization. Italy is evidence of the strong influence of impressions received during her stay in Italy on the thoughts and all the senses of the mature poet, who later made them the experiences of the subject and lyrical heroine of her poems.

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Aleksander Gierymski, 'View of Venice', 19th century, photo: National Museum in Warsaw

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However, as in the case of many intellectual and artistic effects of her wanderings around Italy at that time, Konopnicka's volume also shows a special accumulation of important threads of reflection in a poetic record of impressions from her visit to the Sistine and seeing Michelangelo's frescoes. Equally important to her are aesthetic and anthropological issues. The cycle W Sykstynie consists of five works – ‘W Sykstynie’, ‘Sybilla pisze’, ‘Stworzenie człowieka’, ‘Sąd’, ‘Miserere’ [In the Sistine, Sybilla writes, Creation of man, Judgement, Miserere]. The second and third among these works are poetic interpretations of selected elements of the frescoes decorating the vault of the Sistine Chapel, and the fourth – of the fresco painted on the wall of the chapel. The expressive, strongly influencing manner of presenting the works of art viewed by the poet is the result of intense impressions experienced right after entering the interior: 'The supernatural power’s / Breath struck me… / My soul trembled / From the ancient echoes… / And the wind created / Raised the hair on my head, / And fell with a roar into my ears / The voice of the eternal abyss… / And I was a trembling harp / And chaos played on it / The immense battle song / Of all spirits and all bodies...' (Italia, 145). The scenes of the creation of man are presented in an exceptionally dynamic way. In Konopnicka's approach, the well-known image gained an almost dramatic power of impact, because the content of the work was inscribed in a dialogical form. Here we hear: Choir I, Voice, Chorus II, Seraph Song, Jehovah and Adam. The author willingly uses ellipsis, question marks and exclamation marks and juxtaposes lines of different lengths. All of this makes the rhythm of the piece seem accelerated, and its expressiveness increases with the approaching final scene of the process of creation arranged in a sequence of poetic images. In the poet's interpretation, calling man to life is the separation of the 'song of creation' from the 'Creator', the act of blending 'dust and blood' (Italia, 154), but also the beginning of the 'pain of death and sins' – 'Life and sin and struggle are conceived,/ Conceived is pain!' (Italia, 156). The joy of the beginning of human life is clearly overshadowed by a pessimistic thought exposing its negative aspects. The first encounter between God and man as the 'masterpiece of the world' hides a lot of tension, because Adam's appearance is full of ambivalence. It is a person raised from non-existence by the creator, and at the same time immediately striving to be independent from him, nearly overcome with pride:

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'Jehovah
Arise, clay! Behold, I will blow my breath into your dark mass…/ Breath will be with me./ Even though your breast will bury it in its darkness./ You – when the hour strikes –/ You will return to your matrix./ Strike, moment! Arise, dust! My breath creates you! ………………………………………………………….

Choir
He rises… He rises from the earth,/ With eyes closed./ To the hand of God – a finger/ He stretches out – look – the audacious one,/ And raises his head to the sun in a proud gesture!

Adam

…I am!…
Voice
Lightning has burned…/ Already through the closed eyelids/ The pupil thunders shoots–/
This is man! (Italia, 157)'.

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Michał Anioł, 'Michelangelo - Creation of Adam,' Sistine Chapel, photo: public domain

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In Konopnicka's work, the relationship between God and man is ambiguous. The magnificent work of creation is tainted by anxiety due to exposing the fact that suffering, sin and death are immanently inscribed in the human condition. The first man is marked from the beginning by the negativity of these experiences, and at the same time he immediately tries to realize God's plan of existence in his own way. He is dependent on the creator, but he also wants to be his partner, reaching out to him. One could also discover in him the features of a rebel, ready for a confrontation with God. Interpreting and creatively transforming the painting of Michelangelo, the poet also 'explains' biblical meanings in her own way. It is clearly visible that she is by no means a guardian of religious truths, but a seeker of answers to existential questions about the meaning of human existence.

This is one of the reasons why fragments of Italia can still be one’s accompanying book on more or less known paths of Italian journeys, during which contact with the beauty of nature and the richness of artistic heritage provokes reflection on fundamental topics. Also those more 'exclusive' ones related to the sacred, the profane, aesthetics and the relations between them. This is all the more interesting because some of today's tourists in Rome may share the poet's impressions from many years ago. She wrote to her daughter Zofia in the spring of 1892: 'This sightseeing of Rome is real work: from 9 in the morning to three and from four until dusk, one runs and looks, gathering impressions, information, images and colours.

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Arthur Blaschnik, 'The Bay of Naples and Mount Vesuvius', ca. 1858, photo: National Museum in Warsaw

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Sometimes the whole day is spent running around, and not a drop of food for the soul; sometimes something unexpectedly strikes a thought or a feeling. During Holy Week I was at the famous lamentations singing at St. Peter's: it was like an ordinary concert of very good singers. Not to even mention the audience. But the foreign priests who came to Rome walk around the church with their baedekers [guide books, translator’s note] and binoculars, which strips the place altogether from the appearance of a temple. In general, if St. Peter's is a temple, it is only of the temporal, secular power of the Pope. Instead of altars, of which there are very few anyway, around the nave are the tombs of the popes, as large as altars, and above them figures of the popes in golden tiaras, in monarchical attitudes, spread out on thrones above clouds supported by angels.

In the same way, Alessandro Borgia has an altar dedicated to him, who was a disgrace to the human race. The true St. Peter must be sought in the Mamertine prisons, in those dark dungeons where the apostles were held in chains. I am more impressed by the Basilica of St. John of Loreto' (Listy, 234–235). In another letter to the same addressee, she added: 'Yesterday they sent us a ticket in my name, allowing for an audience with the Pope. Well, I did not use it. […] I preferred to go and see the traces of genuine, true faith, from the time when crowds followed Christ and died for their ideals' (Listy, 237). It was Konopnicka’s life, intellectual and artistic independence that determined that under her pen, Italy and its culture understood as a centuries-old European heritage could not be 'clichéd'.

^{Bibliography: J. Baculewski, ‘Konopnicka Maria’, PSB; B. Bobrowska, ‘Konopnicka na szlakach romantyków’, Warsaw, 1997; T. Budrewicz, ‘Zacna, znana, zakochana… Nad biografiami Konopnickiej’, in: T. Budrewicz, ‘Konopnicka. Szkice historycznoliterackie’, Kraków, 2000, pp. 7–28; T. Czapczyński, ‘Tułacze lata Marii Konopnickiej. Przyczynki do biografii’, Łódź, 1957; M. Konopnicka, ‘Italia’, Warsaw, 1901; M. Konopnicka, ‘Wrażenia z podróży’, Warsaw, 1884; U. Kowalczuk, ‘Dylemat podróży – “Podróż do Włoch” Józefa Kremera i “Podróż po Włoszech” Hipolita Taine’a’, ‘Prace Filologiczne. Seria Literaturoznawcza’, 2009, no. 2; U. Kowalczuk, ‘Powinność i przygoda. Pisarze polscy drugiej połowy XIX wieku wobec kultury renesansu’, Warsaw, 2011; L. Magnone, ‘Maria Konopnicka. Lustra i symptomy’, Gdańsk, 2011; L. Magnone, ‘Siostry w podróży. Literackie ślady wspólnych wędrówek Marii Konopnickiej i Marii Dulębianki’, in: ‘Podróż i literatura. 1864–1914’, ed. E. Ihnatowicz, Warsaw, 2009; L. Magnone, ‘Wstęp’, in: M. Konopnicka, ‘Listy do synów i córek’, Warsaw, 2010; A. Mazur, ‘Absolut i forma. O “Italii” Marii Konopnickiej’, in: ‘Poszukiwanie świadectw. Szkice o problematyce religijnej w literaturze II połowy XIX i początku XX wieku’, ed. J. A. Malik, Lublin, 2008; A. Nowakowski, ‘W stronę modernizmu. O estetycznych poglądach Marii Konopnickiej’, ‘Ruch Literacki’, 1991, issue 4; W. Olkusz, ‘Szczęśliwy mariaż literatury z malarstwem. Rzecz o fascynacjach estetycznych Marii Konopnickiej’, Opole, 1984; W. Sołtys, ‘“Niech będzie wiekowi naszemu, jak pożąda…”. Fascynacja źródłami kultury i moda na periegetyczny szkic z historii włoskiego renesansu w pierwszej dekadzie XX wieku’, in: ‘Modernistyczny wizerunek człowieka’, eds J. Szcześniak and D. Trześniowski, Lublin, 2003; R. Taborski, ‘Trzy dziewiętnastowieczne relacje polskich autorów z podróży do Włoch’, ‘Przegląd Humanistyczny’, 2006, no. 5/6; I. Węgrzyn, ‘Maria Konopnicka – kłopoty z biografią’, in: ‘Czytanie Konopnickiej’, ed. O. Płaszczewska, afterword by M. Stala, Kraków, 2011.}

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