Exhibition GALLIA ROMANICA

The GALLIA ROMANICA Exhibition presents 58 black-and-white photographs of examples of Romanesque architecture and sculpture in France. The photographs are by Prof. Zygmunt Świechowski, an art historian and one of the leading experts on Romanesque art in Poland. Most of the photographs were taken in the 1950s during his first visits to France. Through his images, one can become acquainted with the famous pilgrimage church of Sainte-Foy in Conques in the Pyrenees, the fortified church in Sainte-Marie-de-la-Mer, or the cathedral in Le Puy with its six domes above the main nave of the church. You will be able to view sacred objects adorned with stone mosaics featuring themes of flora and geometric patterns, which are characteristic of the Auvergne region. You will be able to admire the best of sculptural art in French architecture - monumental portals in Moissac and Autun, richly decorated figural reliefs on the facades of churches in Saint-Gilles-du-Gard, Notre-Dame-la-Grande in Poitiers, or Saint-Nicolas in Civray, as well as a number of decorative column capitals in Anzy-le-Duc, Issoire, and Toulouse.

A catalog is being prepared for the exhibition, which is divided into four parts. The introductory chapter "Gallia Romanica" contains photographs by the exhibition's author, Prof. Zygmunt Świechowski, and is supplemented by a brief description of the depicted buildings and sculptures prepared by the exhibition curator Agnieszka Gola. In the second chapter, Marie Šťastná describes "Romanesque Art in Czech Territory" in relation to the exhibition. In the third chapter, "The Romanesque Rotunda in Cieszyn," Wiesław Kuś introduces the reader to a monument located near Ostrava. The conclusion of the catalog contains a brief biography of Zygmunt Świechowski.

The exhibition is organized by the Gallery of Fine Arts in Ostrava and SPOK - the Society for Ostrava Culture in cooperation with the Museum of Architecture in Wrocław (MAW / Muzeum Architektury we Wrocławiu).
The exhibition is borrowed from the Museum of Architecture in Wrocław and has its Czech premiere in Ostrava; it will next stop in Kutná Hora and Brno.
Curators of the exhibition: Zygmunt Świechowski, Agnieszka Gola
Curators in Ostrava: Tadeáš Goryczka, Jaroslav Němec

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Prof. Zygmunt Świechowski (* February 18, 1920)
1963-78 head of the Department of Art History at Wrocław University
1978-98 director of the Institute of Urbanism and Architecture at Łódź University of Technology
He lectured at universities in France, Italy, and Germany, and among others collaborated with the Centre d'Études Supérieures de Civilisation Médiévale in Poitiers.
He is the author of numerous articles, monographs, and publications devoted to art history, particularly medieval art. His works have also been published in Berlin, Wiesbaden, and London.
Now, at the age of 89, Professor Świechowski remains active in the field and sits on
among others the museum council of the Wrocław Museum of Architecture.