The iconography of Our Lady of Fatima in Adolf Hyła’s paintings

Abstract

In a wide range of art works of Adolf Hyła, a little known in the Polish art history of the twentieth century artist from Krakow, there are many images of Divine Mercy but also other paintings. Special attention should be paid to his 65 images of Marian iconography. These paintings inspired by the Apparitions of Our Lady at Fatima are an interesting illustration of Adolf Hyła’s devotion to Our Lady of Fatima captured on canvas. Among paintings on that subject the most numerous are those showing Our Lady of Fatima. The history of each of twenty-two iconographic works created between 1948-1957 is shown in chronological order. Up to now the location of seventeen paintings of Our Lady of Fatima is known. They are in the Church of the Capuchins in Sędziszów Małopolski, the convent of Sisters of Loreto in Krynica Zdrój, the convent of Sisters of the Sacred Heart in Kraków. Furthermore, they can be seen in parish churches in Mikołów, Rybna, Żyraków, Ruda Śląska-Wirek, Gliwice, Dąbrowa near Niemodlin, Szczurowa and Ostrołęka, and also in the convent of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy in Kraków-Łagiewniki, in the chapel the Third Order of St. Francis in Kraków and the convents of Sisters of Saint Elizabeth in Wrocław and Poznań.