Czesław Dźwigaj (born 18 June 1950 in
Nowy Wiśnicz
Nowy Wiśnicz ( yi, ווישניצא Vishnitsa) is a small town in Bochnia County, Lesser Poland Voivodeship, Poland, with 2,728 inhabitants (2019). Located south of Bochnia, Nowy Wiśnicz is renowned for its Italianate fortified castle which d ...
) is a Polish artist, sculptor, and professor. Creator of numerous
monument
A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, due to its artistic, hist ...
s, he is most often associated with monuments of
Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...
, almost 50 of which have left his workshop.
Artistic career
A student of Antoni Hajdecki, Dźwigaj completed his studies at the
Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków
The Jan Matejko Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków ( pl, Akademia Sztuk Pięknych im. Jana Matejki w Krakowie, usually abbreviated to ''ASP''), is a public institution of higher education located in the centre of Kraków, Poland. It is the oldest Pol ...
in the years 1972-77, where he now directs the studio of Ceramic Sculpture in addition to lecturing on
sacred art
Religious art is artistic imagery using religious inspiration and motifs and is often intended to uplift the mind to the spiritual. Sacred art involves the ritual and cultic practices and practical and operative aspects of the path of the spiritu ...
at the
Pontifical Academy of Theology in
Kraków
Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...
.
He began his artistic career working with the
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
. In the 1980s he completed a series of bronze casts for the cathedral in
Tarnów
Tarnów () is a city in southeastern Poland with 105,922 inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of 269,000 inhabitants. The city is situated in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship since 1999. From 1975 to 1998, it was the capital of the Tarn ...
, Poland. This work established his reputation, and he became known and popular as an artist of
sacred art
Religious art is artistic imagery using religious inspiration and motifs and is often intended to uplift the mind to the spiritual. Sacred art involves the ritual and cultic practices and practical and operative aspects of the path of the spiritu ...
in other areas of Poland.
He has also designed numerous church interiors along with monumental
bas-relief
Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term '' relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that th ...
doors. Professor Dźwigaj is also the laureate of many prestigious awards from exhibitions and art competitions such as the Gold medal at the
Biennale in
Ravenna
Ravenna ( , , also ; rgn, Ravèna) is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna, in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. It was the capital city of the Western Roman Empire from 408 until its collapse in 476. It then served as the ca ...
.
Notable works
*The Monument to the Victims of December 1970 in
Szczecin. Unveiled on 28 August 2005 on plac Solidarności on the 25th anniversary of the founding of
Solidarity, this 11-metre-tall and nearly 9-and-a-half-ton bronze monument commemorates the tragic events of December 1970, when, following workers’ demonstrations on the streets of Szczecin, 16 people were killed. The monument is of an angel standing on a ship which is breaking through the concrete slabs of the ground to rise above the earth. Commemorative plaques bear the names of the victims.
*A landmark sculpture of
Christ the King
Christ the King is a title of Jesus in Christianity referring to the idea of the Kingdom of God where the Christ is described as seated at the right hand of God.
Many Christian denominations consider the kingly office of Christ to be one of ...
in front of
St. Mary of Częstochowa in Cicero, a
Neogothic
Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...
church built in the so-called
'Polish Cathedral' style along with the monumental
bronze doors at
St. Hyacinth's Basilica in
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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, coordinates =
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, subdivision_name ...
, as well as monuments of Pope John Paul II in both
Wyandotte, Michigan
Wyandotte ( ) is a city in Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 25,058 at the 2020 census.
Wyandotte is located in southeastern Michigan, approximately south of Detroit on the Detroit River, and it is part of the coll ...
and Chicago.
*The
Tolerance Monument
The Tolerance Monument (Hebrew פסל הסובלנות) is an outdoor sculpture located in a park near Goldman Promenade in Jerusalem. History
The monument was designed by Polish sculptor Czesław Dźwigaj, known for his religious art, in colla ...
unveiled in
Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
in 2008, in collaboration with sculptor Michal Kubiak. It is situated on a hill marking the divide between
Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
Armon HaNetziv
East Talpiot ( ''Talpiot Mizrach'') or Armon HaNetziv (ארמון הנְציב) is an Israeli settlement in southern East Jerusalem, established by Israel in 1973 on land captured in the Six-Day War and occupied since then. The international comm ...
and
Arab
The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...
Jabel Mukaber
Jabel Mukaber ( ar, جبل مكبر, he, ג'בל מוכאבר) is a predominantly Palestinian neighborhood in southern East Jerusalem. It is bordered by East Talpiot to the west, Abu Tor and Silwan to the north and Sur Baher to the south. Jabe ...
, standing opposite the
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...
headquarters in Jerusalem in a park near Goldman Promenade.
*A monumental
bas-relief
Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term '' relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that th ...
of the
Tree of Jesse
The Tree of Jesse is a depiction in art of the ancestors of Jesus Christ, shown in a branching tree which rises from Jesse of Bethlehem, the father of King David. It is the original use of the family tree as a schematic representation of a g ...
incorporated into the
Church of the Nativity
The Church of the Nativity, or Basilica of the Nativity,; ar, كَنِيسَةُ ٱلْمَهْد; el, Βασιλική της Γεννήσεως; hy, Սուրբ Ծննդեան տաճար; la, Basilica Nativitatis is a basilica located in B ...
brought by
Pope Benedict XVI
Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the soverei ...
during his
trip to the Holy Land offered as a gift to the people of
Bethlehem
Bethlehem (; ar, بيت لحم ; he, בֵּית לֶחֶם '' '') is a city in the central West Bank, Palestine, about south of Jerusalem. Its population is approximately 25,000,Amara, 1999p. 18.Brynen, 2000p. 202. and it is the capital o ...
. Measuring in at 3 and a quarter meters wide and 4 meters in height, its corpus represents an
olive tree
The olive, botanical name ''Olea europaea'', meaning 'European olive' in Latin, is a species of small tree or shrub in the family Oleaceae, found traditionally in the Mediterranean Basin. When in shrub form, it is known as ''Olea europaea'' ...
figuring as the Tree of Jesse displaying
Christ's lineage from
Abraham
Abraham, ; ar, , , name=, group= (originally Abram) is the common Hebrew patriarch of the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In Judaism, he is the founding father of the special relationship between the Je ...
through
St. Joseph along with other biblical motifs. Situated along the passage used by pilgrims making their way to the Grotto of the Nativity, the
bas relief also incorporates symbolism from the
Old Testament. The upper portion is dominated by a crowned figure of
Christ the King
Christ the King is a title of Jesus in Christianity referring to the idea of the Kingdom of God where the Christ is described as seated at the right hand of God.
Many Christian denominations consider the kingly office of Christ to be one of ...
in an open-armed pose blessing the Earth.
"The sculpture as a gift"
Dziennik Polski 13 May 2009 Retrieved 26 January 2011 Google Translate version
Sites outside Poland with monuments to Pope John Paul II by Professor Dźwigaj (partial list)
* Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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, coordinates =
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, subdivision_name ...
(2)
* Wyandotte, Michigan
Wyandotte ( ) is a city in Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 25,058 at the 2020 census.
Wyandotte is located in southeastern Michigan, approximately south of Detroit on the Detroit River, and it is part of the coll ...
* Rome, Italy
* Hanover, Germany
Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...
* Šiluva, Lithuania
* Fátima, Portugal
Fátima () is a city in the municipality of Ourém and district of Santarém in the Central Region of Portugal, with 71.29 km2 of area and 13,212 inhabitants (2021). The homonymous civil parish encompasses several villages and localities o ...
* Posadas, Argentina
* San Cristóbal de La Laguna, España
References
Further reading:
* (kar), Papież na placu Sapera, "Gazeta Współczesna" 2000, nr 61. +
* Annusiewicz Małgorzata, Trzy pytania do prof. Czesława Dźwigaja, "Głos Szczeciński" 2005, nr 12.
* Bogacz Jerzy, Rozmowa o pomniku z jego twórcą prof. Czesławem Dźwigajem, "Echo Limanowskie" 1998, nr 54.
* Czesław Dźwigaj, red. Krzysztof Kozłowski, Kraków 2004.
* Dańko Ireneusz, Pamięć, która dzieli, "Gazeta Wyborcza Kraków" 2005, nr 59.
* Jankowski Stanisław M., W soli jeszcze nie pracowałem... - rozm. z Czesławem Dźwigajem, "AWS" 1999, nr 26.
* Ochwat Renata, O pomnikach profesora Czesława Dźwigaja, "Gazeta Zachodnia" 2002, nr 146.
* Ożóg Kazimierz S., Rzeźba jest trudna. O najciekawszych pomnikach Jana Pawła II, "Ethos
Ethos ( or ) is a Greek word meaning "character" that is used to describe the guiding beliefs or ideals that characterize a community, nation, or ideology; and the balance between caution, and passion. The Greeks also used this word to refer to ...
" 2004, nr 3, s. 299-314, fot.
* Ożóg Kazimierz S., Pomniki Jana Pawła II – kilka problemów zjawiska, :Prolegomena. Materiały Spotkania Doktorantów Historyków Sztuki, Kraków 13-15 X 2003, Kraków 2005, s. 183-192, fot.
* Ożóg Kazimierz S., Opowieści rzeźby, "Nawias" 2006, s. 98-107.
* Ożóg Kazimierz S., Jan Paweł II jak krasnal. Pomniki na rozdrożu, "Orońsko" 2005, nr 4, s. 52-55, fot.
* Satała Marian, Papieski rzeźbiarz, "Gazeta Krakowska" 2005, nr 83.
* Starzak Grażyna, Papież wśród królów - rozm. z Czesławem Dźwigajem, "Dziennik Polski" 2000, nr 63.
* Trybowski Ignacy, Czesław Dźwigaj, "Krak" 1985, nr 25.
* Wątróbski Leszek, Pomnik Papieża Jana Pawła II w Policach, rozm. z Czesławem Dźwigajem, "Kurier Szczeciński" 1999, nr 100.
* Wątróbski Leszek, Siedem rzeźb i pomników, "Nasz Dziennik" 1999, nr 83.
* Wątróbski Leszek, Ten, który rzeźbi papieża, rozm. z. Czesławem Dźwigajem, "Nowy Dziennik" 1999, nr z dnia 1 VI.
See also
* Polish Cathedral style
* Roman Catholicism in Poland
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, imagewidth = 250px
, alt =
, caption = Basilica of Our Lad ...
* Tolerance Monument
The Tolerance Monument (Hebrew פסל הסובלנות) is an outdoor sculpture located in a park near Goldman Promenade in Jerusalem. History
The monument was designed by Polish sculptor Czesław Dźwigaj, known for his religious art, in colla ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dzwigaj, Czeslaw
1950 births
Living people
People from Bochnia County
20th-century Polish sculptors
Polish male sculptors
21st-century Polish sculptors
Modern sculptors
Polish Roman Catholics
Catholic sculptors
20th-century male artists