https://ojs.utlib.ee/index.php/TYAK/issue/feed Tartu Ülikooli ajaloo küsimusi 2023-12-08T10:08:47+00:00 Lea Leppik lea.leppik@ut.ee Open Journal Systems <p>Tartu Ülikooli ajaloo küsimusi on eelretsenseeritav rahvusvahelise toimetuskolleegiumiga kogumik, milles avaldatakse teaduse ja ülikoolide ajaloo teemalisi artikleid. Kogumik ilmub üks kord aastas&nbsp; (detsembris).</p> https://ojs.utlib.ee/index.php/TYAK/article/view/23347 Kunst või teadus? Saateks 2023-12-04T11:34:22+00:00 Lea Leppik lea.leppik@ut.ee 2023-12-08T00:00:00+00:00 Copyright (c) 2023 Tartu Ülikooli ajaloo küsimusi https://ojs.utlib.ee/index.php/TYAK/article/view/23348 Kuidas taimed pildiks said? Teadusillustratsioonide publitseerimisest 19. sajandil Carl Friedrich von Ledebouri teose "Icones plantarum novarum" näitel 2023-12-04T11:40:57+00:00 Ingrid Sahk ingrid.sahk@ut.ee <p>The 1826–27 Altai expedition played a crucial role in the career of<br>University of Tartu professor of botany C. F. v. Ledebour and its results<br>were shown in travel journals and “Flora Altaica”—a systematic<br>overview of plant species. During the expedition, the scientists<br>described 1600 plant species, including 500 new ones. In order to introduce<br>new, previously unknown plant species, Ledebour considered<br>it necessary to print a separate series of illustrations: the “Icones<br>plantarum novarum”—an edition with 500 (sic!) colour plates.<br>There had been previous attempts to depict Russia’s flora in illustrations<br>(“Flora Rossica” by Paul Simon Pallas), yet those attempts<br>often remained unfinished and the published illustrations numbered<br>less than 100. Thus, Ledebour’s edition, with its 500 folio-sized book<br>plates, was an extremely grand project for its time. The budget for<br>printing the illustrations exceeded the costs of the entire expedition<br>several times over. The budget draft, still preserved in the archive,<br>expressively demonstrated various stages of 19th century scientific illustration<br>publishing as well as the largest expenses: the majority of<br>the funds was spent on hand-colouring and drawing the illustrations<br>on printing paper according to herbarium sheets. Sufficient funding<br>was only provided thanks to the support of the Imperial power: the<br>Emperor pre-ordered 75 black and white and 25 coloured, “deluxe”<br>volumes of the entire edition.<br>The 500 illustrations are accompanied by the names of six different<br>authors: W. Krüger, E. Bommer, F. Scheffner, D. von der Pahlen,<br>W. Müller, C. von Ungern Sternberg. In addition, there are a few<br>dozen anonymous pages, most likely drawn by A. Hagen. All of those<br>listed above were, in some way or another, connected to the University of Tartu drawing school, and thus became involved with that<br>project.<br>Ledebour’s series of plates is set apart from its predecessors by<br>the choice of printing technique: the colour plates of “Icones plantarum<br>novarum” were made using lithography, which was faster and<br>cheaper than earlier intaglio printing. Due to the fact that Tartu did<br>not have a lithography workshop at the time, the illustrations were<br>printed in Munich. Illustrations of Altai plants, drawn in Tartu after<br>herbarium sheets, were lithographed—transferred to stone slabs—by<br>Wilhelm Siegrist, with the exception of just the last 5 pages that have<br>Prestele’s name on them. Lithographic engraving, a special technique<br>used by Siegrist, ensured that the resulting artwork boasted very<br>fine and precise lines.<br>It is remarkable that such a resource and labour-intensive task<br>was successfully completed as planned. “Icones plantarum novarum”<br>was published in 10-page folios, 10 folios (100 plates) per year, with a<br>total of 500 plates published between 1829–34 (with the only exception<br>being the years 1831–32, when 100 illustrations were published<br>in two years). The final print number is unknown, as different<br>versions of the information are present in the archives. The artistic<br>level of the final result is also significant: plant illustrations printed<br>using lithography (or lithographic engraving, to be precise) are very<br>detailed and clean, the coloured versions being especially charming<br>and easily deserving to be named among the most beautiful botanical<br>illustrations of the 19th century.<br>Publishing such series of illustrations demanded great entrepreneurship<br>and various significant choices in process management<br>from the scientists involved. This might have been a great workload,<br>but it was justified, as it was done in the name of promoting scientific<br>discoveries. However, “Flora Rossica”, Ledebour’s scientific magnum<br>opus, the first comprehensive overview of Russia’s flora, was published<br>years later merely in a 4-volume book series without a single<br>illustration.</p> 2023-12-08T00:00:00+00:00 Copyright (c) 2023 Tartu Ülikooli ajaloo küsimusi https://ojs.utlib.ee/index.php/TYAK/article/view/23349 Pildid impeeriumi teenistuses: Richard Maacki Amuuri raamatu illustratsioonidest 2023-12-04T11:50:03+00:00 Indrek Jääts indrek.jaats@erm.ee <p>In 1855, the Siberian Department of the Imperial Russian Geographical<br>Society (SOIRGO) sent an expedition to the Amur River<br>under the leadership of Richard Maack. The Amur, hitherto almost<br>unknown to Europeans, was part of the Chinese Empire, and Russia<br>was in the process of occupying it. Thus, information was needed. The<br>man behind the operation was the Governor-General of East Siberia<br>(and SOIRGO curator) Nikolai Muravyov. Based on the results of the<br>expedition, Maack wrote a book, Путешествие на Амур (Trip to the<br>Amur River, 1859). This article focuses on the drawings, maps and<br>plans that accompanied the book.<br>The expedition led by Maack and the book published about it<br>were part of the academic and symbolic conquest of Amur. The main<br>message of the book was that Amur now belonged to Russia, its first<br>scientific explorer and civiliser of this remote and savage region. A<br>portfolio of illustrations and maps accompanying the book undoubtedly<br>helped to spread and amplify this message. These images were<br>re-used in several European publications.<br>The Amur expedition was not accompanied by a professional artist.<br>Maack had to draw the landscapes and ethnographic objects<br>himself. His travelling companion, Georg Gerstfeldt also made ethnographic<br>drawings. The maps were sketched by topographer Alexander<br>Sondhagen. The pictures accompanying the book were made by<br>the artist Karl Huhn from Maack’s drawings. The extent to which<br>he altered the original material is not known, as none of Maack`s<br>drawings have been found so far. Gerstfeldt’s drawings were probably<br>not used. Some of the drawings published were based on objects and<br>plant specimens brought back from the expedition, while others were<br>copied from Egor Meyer, an artist who travelled to Amur in parallel&nbsp;</p> <p>with Maack. It has not been possible to identify the author and origin<br>of each picture due to lack of information.<br>The addition of a luxurious and expensive portfolio of illustrations<br>to the book was the initiative of Stepan Solovyov, a patriotic tycoon<br>and philanthropist of the arts. The book and the portfolio cost him a<br>total of around 25,000 roubles. The Imperial Russian Geographical<br>Society and its Siberian branch did not have this kind of financial<br>resources. Without Solovyov’s support, Maack’s book would probably<br>have been published in a much cheaper form and without illustrations.<br>Its message, which, thanks to Solovyov’s generous help, would<br>have resounded across Europe, would have been much weaker and<br>more muted. The role played by private capital in promoting and advocating<br>Russian imperial expansion was therefore remarkable in<br>this case.<br>The title page of the portfolio is very impressive, one could say<br>triumphant, inspired by Russian imperialism and colonialism. This<br>is not so evident in the ethnographic drawings. The artists (Maack,<br>Meyer, Huhn) probably tried to depict the Amur peoples as truthfully<br>as possible, to be scientifically accurate. For a more in-depth analysis,<br>comparing Huhn’s images with their source material would be<br>necessary.</p> 2023-12-08T00:00:00+00:00 Copyright (c) 2023 Tartu Ülikooli ajaloo küsimusi https://ojs.utlib.ee/index.php/TYAK/article/view/23350 Etnograafilised joonistused Eesti Rahva Muuseumis: liivi välitöömaterjalide näide 2023-12-04T11:58:05+00:00 Piret Koosa piret.koosa@erm.ee <p>The primary purpose of ethnographic illustration has been to clarify<br>the text, and to visualize verbal descriptions. In a drawing it is<br>possible to distinctly convey, for example, constructional structures<br>or patterns, the verbal description of which would be much more time-<br>consuming and complicated. The role of ethnographic drawings in<br>anthropology and museum work has changed considerably over time,<br>both in terms of technological development and methodological and<br>ideological rethinking, but they still offer a wealth of opportunities to<br>create, mediate, and expand anthropological knowledge.<br>In this article, I will present a brief overview of the development<br>and contents of the drawings collection at the Estonian National Museum<br>(ENM). The article focuses on materials from fieldwork trips<br>to Livonian villages in the late 1960s and 1970s. The formal part<br>of the visual documentation of these trips consists of ethnographic<br>drawings and photographs, but alongside this material, I also pay<br>attention to the illustrations in field work diaries and reflect on these<br>sketches in light of some ideas proposed by authors promoting<br>graphic ethnography.<br>The ENM’s collection of ethnographic drawings includes nearly<br>24,000 pages of drawings. Since many of these pages have several<br>drawings (sometimes of the same object, sometimes of completely<br>different objects), the number of individual drawings is considerably<br>higher. Approximately 75% of the drawings document Estonian peasant<br>architecture. In addition to traditional buildings, the drawings<br>in the collection also depict items of traditional clothing, textiles,<br>tools and utensils.<br>The formal part of the graphic material from the Livonian fieldwork<br>trips aptly reflects the array of what has been represented<br>through ethnographic drawings, and how. By comparing the drawings</p> <p>with photos of the same objects and looking at the descriptions in<br>the fieldwork diaries, it appears that although the main purpose of<br>making ethnographic drawings was documenting objects and visual<br>information, this did not necessarily mean that what was observed<br>was accurately imitated in the drawing.<br>The written entries in field diaries of these trips were also illustrated<br>with drawings. These drawings were not made with regard to<br>technical accuracy, which was considered important in the formal<br>ethnographical drawing. Rather, the nature of these illustrations<br>is more private, and they were not necessarily meant to be seen by<br>a wider public. The informal nature of these drawings allowed the<br>drawers to expressively capture and reflect the experience and mood<br>of fieldwork. As such, this material has the potential to enrich the<br>“formal ethnographic data” collected during field trips.</p> 2023-12-08T00:00:00+00:00 Copyright (c) 2023 Tartu Ülikooli ajaloo küsimusi https://ojs.utlib.ee/index.php/TYAK/article/view/23351 Illustratsioonidest bioloogiadoktor August Vaga loodusloolistes kirjutistes 2023-12-04T12:10:23+00:00 Mari Nõmmela marinommela@gmail.com <p>The tradition of using illustrative material in teaching and research<br>became rooted in universities in the 19th century and continued into<br>the 20th century using new methods of treatment. It was self-evident<br>that biologists, geographers and ethnographers could make drawings<br>of what was being researched and described. The tools of natural<br>scientists included sketching skills and mastery of other graphic devices.<br>Although World Wars I and II brought groundbreaking changes<br>into Estonian higher education policy, including the selection of<br>staff, the use of illustrative material in teaching and research at the<br>Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences at the University of<br>Tartu (later Faculty of Biology and Geography of Tartu State University)<br>continued and broadened.<br>Doctor of Biology August Vaga (1893–1960) started to study natural<br>science at the University of Tartu before World War I and grew<br>into a natural scientist in the 1920s–1930s. He graduated from the<br>university in 1923 with the degree of Master of Natural Science and<br>continued researching problems of plant taxonomy and morphology<br>at the university in 1931. Meanwhile, from 1923–1931, he worked<br>as a teacher of natural science in secondary schools and participated<br>in the reform of the Estonian school system. He translated the<br>textbook of zoology by Juli[us] Nikolayevich Vagner (1865–1945) into<br>Estonian, compiled the curriculum in zoology and wrote a textbook of<br>botany for secondary schools. The reprints of the book with the author’s<br>amendments were used until 1944.<br>Having begun research at the Laboratory of Plant Morphology and<br>Taxonomy at the University of Tartu under Professor of Botany Teodor<br>Lippmaa, August Vaga delved into the problems of plant anatomy<br>and ecology. In 1940, he defended his doctoral thesis on theoretical<br>problems of phytocoenology and continued to research this theme<br>during World War II and in the post-war years. Working as Head of</p> <p>the Department of Plant Taxonomy and Geobotany at the University<br>of Tartu from 1944–1956, Professor Vaga initiated the publication of<br>the compendium Estonian Flora. Being one of the main authors of<br>the compendium, he also studied theoretical problems of geobotany,<br>history of botany, etc.<br>From his gardener father, August Vaga had inherited an interest<br>in nature and a talent for art. The schoolbooks illustrated by August<br>Vaga and the drawings, maps, etc. he made as a scientist for<br>his research articles and study materials provide an example how<br>the distinct visuals – illustrations, drawings or photos – played their<br>role in mediation of knowledge under different political regimes. In<br>retrospect, Professor August Vaga has been highly appreciated as a<br>lecturer and scientist at the University of Tartu, but his artistic side<br>has remained unnoticed.<br>As a good drawer, August Vaga could capture the forms of nature,<br>organise surfaces by lines and texture, see the general whole, but also<br>the details. While working as a secondary school teacher, he applied<br>his artistic talent to illustrating textbooks. The drawings of plants<br>in botany textbooks have been realistic and the species are clearly<br>recognisable. Realistic plant drawings were soon replaced with<br>schematic tissue and cell structures illustrating his research papers.<br>Publication of research papers added the experience of treating the<br>scientific drawing as a language of international communication. The<br>significance of drawings as auxiliary material for research papers<br>kept increasing. In the years of Soviet occupation, the drawings in<br>the publications helped overcome several gaps in the command of<br>language in international scientific communication.</p> 2023-12-08T00:00:00+00:00 Copyright (c) 2023 Tartu Ülikooli ajaloo küsimusi https://ojs.utlib.ee/index.php/TYAK/article/view/23352 Tartu Ülikooli "Inimese anatoomia õpiku" I ja II osa illustreerimisest aastatel 2009-2021 2023-12-04T12:18:36+00:00 Rauno Thomas Moss raunothomas@gmail.com <p>In this article, the author focuses on research and review of his<br>creative, artistic practice, interweaving an objective analysis of the<br>task of scientific illustration in the 21st century with personal reflections<br>and memories, in order to shed light on his experience of working<br>as an illustrator of medical textbooks on human anatomy. The<br>author’s goal is to retrospectively describe the work process and the<br>arguments established during its course which shaped the final result.<br>The main purpose of a scientific drawing or illustration is to explain<br>and to provide the reader with relevant and supporting content-<br>related information through visual material. At this point, the<br>value or, to put it more subjectively – the quality – of the scientific<br>illustration is determined by the accuracy and concreteness of the<br>visual description and, at the same time, by the appropriate simplification<br>and generalization of what is depicted. But what remains<br>the advantage of illustration, even in the 21st century? The list of<br>such statements would include the following: a) illustrations make it<br>easier for us to understand information; b) illustrations make using<br>the product (including scientific or popular scientific texts) more pleasant<br>(adding delight); c) illustrations awaken the imagination of the<br>reader and the viewer, for visual memory images may help to acquire<br>and remember information; d) illustrations help to overcome cultural<br>differences.<br>In the course of its natural unfolding, academic cooperation at the<br>University of Tartu led to the author's conversations with anatomists<br>about the need to update the Estonian anatomy textbook for institutions<br>of higher education. At one point, the anatomists needed an<br>artist. Rumor has it that Rauno Thomas Moss was not the only candidate<br>mentioned by Professor Emeritus Arne Lepp in a private conversation, but without revealing any names. Since all the circumstances<br>followed their natural development and so-called coincidences, conversations<br>and deliberations between Prof. Arne Lepp, Prof. Helle<br>Tapfer, Prof. Andres Arend and Liina Pärnsalu were probably decisive<br>at some point.<br>All illustrations went through repeated checks and sometimes corrections<br>and refinements, or they were redone completely, by starting<br>over from the view depicted in the drawing. The author warm-heartedly<br>remembers how prof. Arne Lepp gave him an introduction<br>– before creating the illustrations – which essentially consisted of a<br>personal lecture, delivered with much internal fire and enthusiasm,<br>describing the construction of the knee joint. Thanks to prof. Arne<br>Lepp's successful lecture on the construction of the knee joint, the<br>artist was able to create a greater number of illustrations and views.<br>Thus, Arne Lepp himself later recalled that thanks to these detailed<br>drawings, he was compelled to (and was able to) somewhat rewrite<br>the given chapter, mentioning more aspects and details than was<br>originally planned. Though it may seem unorthodox, this is still an<br>example of very good cooperation.<br>In the work process, the entire realization of the illustrations<br>really consisted of manual work. By the time the artist created the<br>illustrations for the second part of the textbook, he had already lost<br>a bit of his sight and learned through making mistakes that he could<br>not work on illustrations for more than 1.5 to 2 hours a day. Some<br>views of the heart could be drawn at the design stage, maybe even<br>ten times, and already more or less completed works were begun five<br>times in a row. But all this was always accompanied by very exciting<br>substantive knowledge and facts that the professor shared.</p> 2023-12-08T00:00:00+00:00 Copyright (c) 2023 Tartu Ülikooli ajaloo küsimusi https://ojs.utlib.ee/index.php/TYAK/article/view/23353 Teaduse ja teadusliku kujundistu peegeldusi Nõukogude Eesti vaba- ja raamatugraafikas 2023-12-04T12:28:21+00:00 Elnara Taidre elnara.taidre@ekm.ee <p>It must be said that in Soviet Estonian graphic art the topics of<br>science and research have been interpreted not in the heroic manner<br>common to the Social Realism artistic canon, but rather either as<br>mundane-poetic, or, what is even somewhat mystifying, as symbolist<br>style. At the same time, those “invisible” objects of research which<br>by their nature were either too small or too grand to be perceived<br>by the human eye became an important motive and justification for<br>experiments in the more abstract and conceptual style associated<br>with significant artistic liberation and innovation of the 1960s. Firstly,<br>illustrating scientific literature (in addition to earning a living in<br>their chosen field) offered artists greater freedom, since visualisation<br>of complicated scientific concepts demanded great imagination<br>and creative imagery. Secondly, the non-artistic imagery (originating<br>from a different visual system) borrowed from scientific illustrations<br>became, in turn, a significant source that markedly enriched the<br>“vocabulary” of the visual art of the age. Thirdly, a new type of artistresearcher<br>emerged, whose search for and production of knowledge<br>was largely carried out using visual materials and means, thus anticipating<br>the field of artist-research that has become increasingly<br>relevant today. It is notable that the thematics of science oriented<br>towards innovations in knowledge also inspired works that renewed<br>the language of art.</p> 2023-12-08T00:00:00+00:00 Copyright (c) 2023 Tartu Ülikooli ajaloo küsimusi https://ojs.utlib.ee/index.php/TYAK/article/view/23354 Värvid apteegis. Meditsiini, teaduse ja kunsti seostest varauusaegses Tallinnas 2023-12-04T12:34:50+00:00 Hannes Vinnal hannes.vinnal@ut.ee <p>The purpose of this article is to examine the role of pharmacies in the<br>dye and pigment trade in the early modern era. Archival materials<br>in Tallinn seem to show that the role of the pharmacy in dye and pigment<br>trade was primarily consolidated in the 17th century. This was<br>fostered by various municipal and national regulations that aimed to<br>bring order to the commercial life of the town. It was complemented<br>by the fact that several of the pigments and dyes were simultaneously<br>used for medicinal purposes. Some were also poisonous, and<br>officials endeavoured to keep the trade in toxic materials under the<br>jurisdiction of the pharmacy, where it was easier to control.<br>There is information that the position of pharmacies in the dye<br>and pigment trade was shaken by the end of the 18th century. It is likely<br>that the liberal trade policies of Catherine the Great promoted a<br>situation where an increasing number of goods previously found only<br>in pharmacies began to make their way to spice and general stores.<br>In addition, the development of chemistry as a science hand in hand<br>with the chemical industry moved dyes and pigments more and more<br>to specialised chemist`s and dye shops. We may consider the possibility<br>that the process was facilitated by the deconstruction, in the age<br>of Enlightenment, of centuries-long mythical-alchemical connections<br>between dyes and medicine.<br>The archival materials of Tallinn’s pharmacies also reflect the<br>colour palette of its age, in all its motley glory—from the most valuable<br>pigments to everyday paints. Whereas 16th century lists contain,<br>on average, a dozen dyes, a price list from 1695 includes almost<br>60 of them. Moving even further forward in time, the 1769 inventory<br>of the Town Hall Pharmacy lists approximately 40 products in<br>stock. Such a quantity of polychrome materials seems to be richer<br>than previously identified historical material used in technical art<br>history research projects and conservation works, as confirmed by<br>instrumental analyses. The juxtaposition of archival materials and<br>artistic heritage and their study in tandem using means of modern<br>materials research will doubtless open many new exciting research<br>opportunities.</p> 2023-12-08T00:00:00+00:00 Copyright (c) 2023 Tartu Ülikooli ajaloo küsimusi https://ojs.utlib.ee/index.php/TYAK/article/view/23355 Kui sügav on maalipragu? 2023-12-04T12:41:13+00:00 Maria Hansar maria.hansar@artun.ee Andrus Laansalu andrus.laansalu@artun.ee <p>Using restoration work carried out on the ruined frescoes of the<br>Cathedral of St. Francis of Assisi and re-materialisation projects of<br>Factum Arte artworks, this paper describes the contradictory situation<br>where the concept of material authenticity changes with the<br>emergence of new imaging technologies. It is possible to create a physical<br>work of art from a collection of digital data that duplicates the<br>original even in situations in which the original can no longer be<br>used in the process of reproduction. In principle this creates a novel<br>pattern of communicative perception between the observer and the<br>work of art. These changes are based on experimental technological<br>innovation where hard- and software development occurs hand in<br>hand with experiments and constant feedback in an attempt to map<br>and comprehend physical aspects of the artwork in as much detail as<br>possible.</p> 2023-12-08T00:00:00+00:00 Copyright (c) 2023 Tartu Ülikooli ajaloo küsimusi https://ojs.utlib.ee/index.php/TYAK/article/view/23356 Joonistused ja fotod mikroskoobipreparaatidest Tartu Ülikooli muuseumi kogudes 2023-12-04T13:16:34+00:00 Sirje Sisask sirje.sisask@ut.ee <p>Microscopes are fascinating tools that can make the invisible visible.<br>They are useful educational and scientific aids that have been used<br>for a few hundred years and besides real life observations, photos and<br>drawings of what can be seen have been captured. The museum of the<br>University of Tartu has a collection of various drawings and photos of<br>microscopic preparations that have been used in teaching medicine<br>at the university.<br>These photos and drawings have significant historic, scientific<br>and cultural value. Many photos in this collection have their author<br>listed as Dr Kull, whereas most drawings do not have an author listed.<br>Drawings have captions in Estonian as well as some in Russian;<br>however, originally, these were written in German using Latin terminology.<br>It is assumed that most of the drawings were likely illustrated<br>by university students when making preparations and using<br>microscopes as part of their practicum. It is assumed that these, now<br>useful study aids and fascinating museum items, were made in the<br>first half of the 20th century.<br>The collection of specimens used in these photos and drawings<br>is diverse. The majority of them are of various human and animal<br>tissues, along with some photos and drawings which are able to show<br>processes such as cell proliferation. Even the processes happening in<br>the nucleus of a cell can be seen. Microscopic views of human bone,<br>pancreas, ovary, kidney and even an unborn child’s eye are all examples<br>of what can be seen in these interesting photos and drawings.</p> 2023-12-08T00:00:00+00:00 Copyright (c) 2023 Tartu Ülikooli ajaloo küsimusi https://ojs.utlib.ee/index.php/TYAK/article/view/23357 Tartu Ülikooli muuseumi 2022. aasta aruanne 2023-12-04T13:21:01+00:00 Jaanika Anderson jaanika.anderson@ut.ee 2023-12-08T00:00:00+00:00 Copyright (c) 2023 Tartu Ülikooli ajaloo küsimusi