TEORIA ZABYTKU ALOISA RIEGLA

The year 2003 marked the hundredth anniversary of the appearance of Alois Riegel’s The Modern Cult of Monuments. Its Essence and Origin, a presentation of a holistic conception of the historical monument and the conservation doctrine. Moreover, the author analysed historical values and showed the changes to which they succumb due to conservation (the transformation of the historical monument). A. Riegel was an all-sidedly trained and experienced museum expert, as well as an historian and theoretician of art who did not turn his attention to the conservation of historical monuments until the end of his life. Consequently, his theory of the monument was complex and well-embedded in praxis. The views expounded by A. Riegel became the basis of twentieth-century conservation theory, preserved their topical nature for almost a whole century, and constituted the foundation for the Charter of Venice. Only the last decades undermined the Riegelian conception of the historical monument; nonetheless, in view of the absence of suitable theoretical foundations Riegel’s conception continues to hold an important position in the conservation of monuments.