Obraz. Odzwierciedlenie. Pierwowzór. Ontologia obrazu w hermeneutyce Gadamera

The article extracts premises of the ontology of the image according to H. G. Gadamer. In doing so, it follows the complex relations maintained in this conception by the image (das Bild), the copy (das Abbild) and the original (das Urbild). The article attempts to demonstrate that the titular ontology radically rejects the conception of emulation in art. According to the author of Truth and Method, das Abbild is not a copy of a perceived image but within the latter that, which is seen appears as self-reflection; hence the illusion of the “reality” of the image in the mirror. Secondly, the original does not possess the character of a model, which exists independently of the image; one can, however, speak about its existence only in the perspective of an image in which a sui-generis growth of being takes place. According to this interpretation, the message of images in art does not involve rendering reality as faithfully as possible but revealing aspects that remain invisible on a daily basis. Art does not impoverish reality by copying or selecting; by drawing forth its essence it confronts us with the, as a rule, concealed truth of being.