The Myth of Europe in Art and European Identities. The Divided Memory of Europe – Will Europe Succumb to Disintegration ?

Abstract

The Polish government commissioned from Franciszek Starowieyski, a renowned Polish painter, a composition to embellish the new building of the Permanent Representation of the Republic of Poland at the European Union in Brussels. The monumental Divina Polonia rapta per Europa profana, executed in 1998, was put on permanent show in the main hall of the Permanent Representation seat. ‘Divina Polonia,’ the second female figure featured in the canvas next to Europe, is depicted with a halo. F. Starowieyski referred to the classical myth of Europe (a Phoenician princess abducted by Zeus disguised as a bull) in order to emphasize the contrast between secular Europe and ‘holy’ Poland. What is the source of this combination of nudity and saintliness? Why has this otherwise liberated artist, who in hundreds of compositions obsessively portrays the female nude and remains distant from bigotry or clericalism, suddenly resorted to religious symbols? These intriguing and disturbing questions arose after seeing the exhibition on the myth of Europe shown in Florence. There, works of twentieth century artists from Western Europe did not contain religious symbols. We seem to be approaching the topical problem of the unity of Europe. The canvas Divina Polonia rapta per Europa profana is a symbolic summary of the two different historical experiences of the East and West of Europe.