Malarstwo barokowe na Śląsku, aneb, O "metodologii úspěchu"

The article describes a concept known as the 'methodology of success', which involves studying the various methods employed by an artist to achieve commercial and artistic success, or, in other words, to attain the appropriate financial status and a certain social standing and potentially also to acquire artistic renown. The article describes the sources of this method, its underlying principles, and the results produces by using this method in research. It was first used in a monograph from 2013 devoted to paintings by the Silesian artist Michael Willmann (1630–1706). It was applied again in a book published in 2017 titled Malarstwo barokowe na Śląsku, which was the outcome of twenty years of research conducted by Polish and Czech art historians in this field. This comprehensive book not only presents dozens of newly discovered and previously unknown artists and hundreds of new works of art, but also introduces a new way of talking about baroque painting in Silesia.