Stereoselfie z mandragorą

Abstract

I have used a photo depicting Prof. Wanda Nowakowska hidden behind the mandrake as a pretext for considerations regarding a person herself and problems associated with “going in for” art history. An attribute may not only be an object distinguishing a particular person, but an ambiguous symbol, whose subsequent levels of understanding may be searched by immersing more and more deeply in tradition and history; looking for connections between what we see and what is characteristic of the human race. Reflection on the picture may only take form of its description, but it may also become a source of cognition, depending on competence and intention of both a researcher and a reader. Consistent following the trace left in culture by any selected motif makes it necessary to deal with both textual (recorded in writing) and visual cultural layers. And during this “following the motif” it frequently appears that we are moving along the arch of a hermeneutic (ph i lological) circle bent like reflection.