Gdańskie ślady Szekspira. Chodowiecki & Limon

I cannot get over my admiration for Echoes of Shakespeare in Gdańsk – an album in English and Polish dedicated to Daniel Chodowiecki and Professor Jerzy Limon. The former was a talented and highly-regarded graphic artist; the latter was an outstanding English scholar, historian, and theoretician of the theatre. Although they lived in different times, they were united by Gdańsk and, of course, Shakespeare. Chodowiecki illustrated the plays of the great dramatist, his fascination with Shakespeare starting with his visits to Berlin theatres in the eighteenth century. Limon analyzed (from many perspectives) and translated Shakespeare’s works, transporting his readers to English theatres at the end of the sixteenth and the start of the seventeenth centuries. The exceptional personalities of the artist from the past and the modern scholar left equally pronounced marks on their work. Chodowiecki’s illustrations are subtle interpretations of Shakespeare’s plays and a hidden commentary on the events taking place in Europe at that time. Limon’s literary-historical work initiates us in the culture of Shakespeare’s epoch, which turns out to be a mirror of our own. Despite his international fame, Chodowiecki never broke off his close connections with Gdańsk. In turn, Limon devoted the most important of his studies to the performances of English actors in the Fencing School in Gdańsk. Years later, many of Chodowiecki’s illustrations are in the National Museum in Gdańsk and are one of the highlights of its collection. Limon’s passion led to the building of the Gdańsk Shakespeare Theatre. The “Echoes of Shakespeare in Gdańsk” left by these two outstanding men are not just clear but also remarkable. This is demonstrated in the collection of splendid essays published in the catalogue to this exhibition. The exhibition is itself one of several important cultural and academic events. In this way, Gdańsk seeks to honour an outstanding scholar, one who built his work of words and of stone.

Professor Jacek Kopciński

If one thinks about how to show our University in the best light, the answer is fairly obvious – through its achievements. But whose are the University’s achievements if not those of the people who make it – of all of them without exception, both those who have small works to their credit, and those who achieved so many and so much? The greatest works bear witness, of course, to the person, but also to the place from which he or she hailed and with which he or she was bound up. In this book, we are concerned with the achievements of three great figures – Shakespeare, Chodowiecki, and Limon – linked by more than one might at first think. Professor Limon and his work and his fascinations bring together everything that is in this catalogue. It was he who invited Shakespeare within the walls of the University of Gdańsk, of the Gdańsk Shakespeare Theatre that he built, and even of his own home – and as a result he invited Daniel Chodowiecki, too, along with his wonderful etchings. Maybe that was a matter of chance, maybe an obvious consequence of his work over many years. It is, however, absolutely certain that this book – which has a double function, that of a scholarly study and an exhibition catalogue – is full of priceless information, and also serves as an inspiration for us to consider the many manners and dimensions of the reception of the work of three great artists and thinkers – Shakespeare, Chodowiecki, and Limon.

Professor Kamil Zeidler

Review of the book Theatre that doesn’t exist written by Ilona Słojewska is available in Dziennik Teatralny.