Henryk Hektor Siemiradzki (24 October 1843 – 23 August 1902) was a Russian-born Polish painter based in Rome, best remembered for his monumental academic art. He was particularly known for his depictions of scenes from the ancient Greek-Roman world and the New Testament, owned by many national galleries of Europe.Henryk Siemiradzki. Selection of Works with Biography and Index
at ''Artyzm.com.'' Retrieved October 24, 2011.Ewa Micke-Broniarek
Henryk Siemiradzki.
''Magazine "Culture.pl". National Museum, Warsaw, December 2004. Many of his paintings depict scenes from antiquity, often the sunlit pastoral scenes or compositions presenting the lives of early Christians. He also painted biblical and historical scenes, landscapes, and portraits. His best-known works include monumental curtains for the Lviv (Lwów) Theatre of Opera and for the

Juliusz Słowacki Theatre Juliusz Słowacki Theatre ( pl, Teatr im. Juliusza Słowackiego w Krakowie) is a 19th-century Eclectic theatre-opera house in the heart of Kraków, Poland, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Erected in 1893, it was modeled after some of the best ...

in Kraków.

Biography

Siemiradzki was born to Hipolit Siemiradzki, a Polish noble and an officer of the

Imperial Russian Army The Imperial Russian Army (russian: Ру́сская импера́торская а́рмия, tr. ) was the armed land force of the Russian Empire, active from around 1721 to the Russian Revolution of 1917. In the early 1850s, the Russian Ar ...

(made general in 1871) and Michalina (''née'' Prószyńska) in Belgorod (now

Chuhuiv Raion Chuhuiv Raion () is a ''raion'' (district) in Kharkiv Oblast of Ukraine. Its administrative center is the city of Chuhuiv. The population in 2021 was On 18 July 2020, as part of the administrative reform of Ukraine, the number of raions of Khar ...

, Kharkiv oblast, Ukraine),

Mgr. Monsignor (; it, monsignore ) is an honorific form of address or title for certain male clergy members, usually members of the Roman Catholic Church. Monsignor is the apocopic form of the Italian ''monsignore'', meaning "my lord". "Monsignor" ca ...

Paweł Dudek
Henryk Siemiradzki, including Bibliography.
''

Jan Długosz University The Jan Dlugosz University in Czestochowa Uniwersytet Humanistyczno-Przyrodniczy im. Jana Długoszais a public university located in Częstochowa, in the Silesian Voivodeship of Poland. Founded in 1971 as a teacher training college, it was tran ...

'', 2011 ''Histmag.org'' near the city of Kharkiv, where his father's regiment was stationed. The family had origins in Radom land and derived its name from the village of Siemiradz. One of the branches settled near Navahrudak (Nowogródek) in the late 17th century. Henryk's grandfather held the post of podkomorzy in Nowogródek powiat. His parents were close friends with Adam Mickiewicz's family. He studied at Kharkiv Gymnasium where he first learned painting under the local schoolteacher, D.I. Bezperchy, a former student of Karl Briullov. He entered the physics-mathematics school of Kharkiv University and studied natural sciences there with great interest, but also continued to paint.Tomasz Rozum
Henryk Hektor Siemiradzki.
''Magazyn INFORMATOR''. No. 89, 2006.

Siemiradzki's artistic career

After graduating from university with a Kandidat degree he abandoned his scientific career and moved to Saint Petersburg to study painting at the Imperial Academy of Arts from 1864 to 1870. Upon his graduation he was awarded a gold medal. In 1870–1871 he studied under

Karl von Piloty Karl Theodor von Piloty (1 October 1826 – 21 July 1886) was a German painter, noted for his historical subjects, and recognised as the foremost representative of the realistic school in Germany. Life and work Piloty was born in Munich. His fat ...

in Munich on a grant from the Academy. In 1872 he moved to Rome and later built a studio there on Via Gaeta, while spending summers at his estate in Strzałków near

Częstochowa Częstochowa ( , ; german: Tschenstochau, Czenstochau; la, Czanstochova) is a city in southern Poland on the Warta River with 214,342 inhabitants, making it the thirteenth-largest city in Poland. It is situated in the Silesian Voivodeship (admin ...

. In 1873 he received the title of Academician of the Imperial Academy of Arts for his painting ''Christ and a Sinner'', based on a verse ''Sinner'' written by Aleksey Tolstoy. In 1878 he received the French National Order of the Legion of Honour and a gold medal at the

Paris World's Fair The Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) sanctions world expositions. Some have been recognised retrospectively because they took place before the BIE came into existence. The designation "World Exposition" refers to a class of the largest ...

for the painting ''Flower Vase''. In 1876–1879 Siemiradzki worked on frescoes for the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour (Moscow) among his other large-scale projects. In 1879 he offered one of his best-known works, the enormous '' Pochodnie Nerona'' ( Nero's torches), painted around 1876, to the newly formed

Polish National Museum "National Museum of Poland" is the common name for several of the country's largest and most notable museums. Poland's National Museum comprises several independent branches, each operating a number of smaller museums. The main branch is the Natio ...

. The artwork is on display at the Siemiradzki Room of the Sukiennice Museum in the

Kraków Old Town Kraków Old Town is the historic central district of Kraków, Poland.Ingrid GustafsonLet's Go: Eastern EuropePublished by Macmillan, page 444. Let's Go Publications, 2008. It is one of the most famous old districts in Poland today and was the c ...

, the most popular branch of the museum. Around 1893 Siemiradzki worked on two large paintings for the State Historical Museum (Moscow) and in 1894 produced his monumental curtain for the Juliusz Słowacki Theatre in Kraków. He died in Strzałków in 1902 and was buried originally in Warsaw, but later his remains were moved to the national Pantheon on Skałka in Kraków.

Siemiradzki modern arts gallery

The modern arts gallery at V.N. Karazin Kharkiv National University in Kharkiv, is named after Siemiradzki.

Siemiradzki's monumental paintings

Siemiradzki's large-scale canvasses, including ''

The Sword Dance ''The Sword Dance'' () is a 19th-century painting series by the Polish painter Henryk Siemiradzki. It is also known as ''Dance Amongst Daggers'' and ''Dance Amongst Swords'', among other names. Description The paintings all depict a nude woman ...

'' influenced by the French Académie des Beaux-Arts, are on display at the national museums of Poland, Russia, and Ukraine; notably, at the Sukiennice Museum, the

National Museum, Poznań The National Museum in Poznań ( pl, Muzeum Narodowe w Poznaniu), Poland, abbreviated MNP, is a state-owned cultural institution and one of the largest museums in Poland. It houses a rich collection of Polish painting from the 16th century on, an ...

Lviv National Art Gallery Borys Voznytsky Lviv National Art Gallery ( uk, Львівська Національна Галерея Мистецтв імені Бориса Возницького) is the largest art museum in Ukraine, with over 62,000 artworks in its colle ...

, Tretyakov Gallery, and others. File:Siemiradski Fackeln.jpg, ''

Nero's Torches ''Nero's Torches'' () is an 1876 painting by the Polish artist Henryk Siemiradzki. It is also known as ''Candlesticks of Christianity'' (''Świeczniki chrześcijaństwa''). Description It depicts a group of Early Christian martyrs who are about ...

'', 1876,

National Museum, Kraków The National Museum in Kraków ( pl, Muzeum Narodowe w Krakowie), popularly abbreviated as MNK, is the largest museum in Poland, and the main branch of Poland's National Museum, which has several independent branches with permanent collections arou ...

File:Henryk Siemiradzki - Wazon czy kobieta?.jpg, ''

The Girl or the Vase ''The Girl or the Vase'' (), also known as ''The Presentation of the Slave'', is an 1878 painting by the Polish artist Henryk Siemiradzki. The subject is from ancient Rome and shows a Patrician (ancient Rome), patrician who contemplates on whether ...

, 1878 Private collection File:Ivankupala.jpg, ''Night on the eve of

Ivan Kupala Kupala Night ( be, Купалле, pl, Noc Kupały, russian: Иван-Купала, uk, Івана Купала, Купайла), also called Ivanа Kupala, is a traditional Slavic holiday that was originally celebrated on the shortest night of ...

'', 1880s,

File:1881 Siemiradzki Tanz der Schwerter anagoria.JPG, ''

'', 1881, Tretyakov Gallery File:Siemiradzki Christian Dirce.jpg, ''Christian Dirce'', 1897, National Museum, Warsaw File:Semiradsky Christ Martha Maria.jpg, ''Christ with Martha and Maria'', 1886, Russian Museum File:Талисман.jpg, ''The Talisman'', 1880s, Art Museum of Nizhny Novgorod File:Siemiradzki-Chrystus i Samarytanka.jpg, ''Christ and Samaritan'', 1890,

File:Genrich Ippolitovich Semiradsky - Roma, 1889.jpg, '' Phryne at the Poseidonia in Eleusis'', 1889, Russian Museum File:Siemiradzki Curtain design for the Słowacki Theatre.jpg, Curtain for the

in Kraków File:TeatrWielkiLwow-kurtyna.jpg, Curtain for the Lviv Theatre of Opera and Ballet

Notes and references

External links