Allegory, realism, historicism – dilemmas faced by critics in the second half of the 19th century. Preliminary exploration

The paper shows the position of allegory in the second half of the 19th century. The author analyses chosen examples of allegorical presentations found in art (e.g. Jan Matejko’s paintings, designs of Adam Mickiewicz monument in Cracow) and positivist literature, as well as critical opinions referring to this phenomenon. The sense of crisis, depletion and inadequacy of allegorical language towards the reality of the epoch, mainly expressed by critics, was attributed to the tendencies which shaped the cultural awareness of the 19th century, namely realism and historicism.