Marcin Zaleski (1796 – 16 September 1877) was a Polish painter, a representative of Neoclassicism, considered the greatest Polish vedutist of the 19th century. He mostly painted the

cityscape In the visual arts, a cityscape (urban landscape) is an artistic representation, such as a painting, drawing, Publishing, print or photograph, of the physical aspects of a city or urban area. It is the urban equivalent of a landscape. ''Town ...

s of

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...

and

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ; see also other names) is the capital and largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the municipality of Vilnius). The population of Vilnius's functional urb ...

Biography

Zaleski was born in

. He received his education in Kraków and Warsaw. In 1817−1822, Zaleski worked as a decorator in a Warsaw theatre while producing copies of paintings. In 1828 the artist exhibited his own work for the first time and received a scholarship to continue his education as a painter. He then continued to study painting in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

and

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. He was also among the first daguerreotypists in Warsaw. He took first photographs around 1840, though they have not survived to the present day and it remains unknown what exactly they depicted. In 1846 the artist became a professor of perspective at the School of Fine Arts in Warsaw. Zaleski died in Warsaw in 1877 at the age of 80 and was buried the

Powązki Cemetery Powązki Cemetery (; pl, Cmentarz Powązkowski), also known as Stare Powązki ( en, Old Powązki), is a historic necropolis located in Wola district, in the western part of Warsaw, Poland. It is the most famous cemetery in the city and one of t ...

Works

Zaleski is particularly well known for works depicting city views and architecture of Warsaw, Kraków and Vilnius. His works can be found at the

National Museum in Warsaw The National Museum in Warsaw ( pl, Muzeum Narodowe w Warszawie), popularly abbreviated as MNW, is a national museum in Warsaw, one of the largest museums in Poland and the largest in the capital. It comprises a rich collection of ancient art ( Eg ...

, Poland, the

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...

's Adam Mickiewicz Museum and the

Gomel Palace , russian: Дворец Румянцевых — Паскевичей) is the main place of historical importance in the city of Gomel, Belarus. The grounds of the residence stretch for 800 meters along the steep right bank of the Sozh River. An im ...

, among other locations. Among Zaleski's works is a series of paintings on the November Uprising in

, to which he was an eyewitness. His paintings, alongside those of

Bernardo Bellotto Bernardo Bellotto (c. 1721/2 or 30 January 172117 November 1780), was an Italian urban landscape painter or ''vedutista'', and printmaker in etching famous for his ''vedute'' of European cities – Dresden, Vienna, Turin, and Warsaw. He was th ...

, were used in order to reconstruct historical buildings in Warsaw that were damaged or destroyed during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

. In 2019, the National Museum in Warsaw regained the

oil painting Oil painting is the process of painting with pigments with a medium of drying oil as the binder. It has been the most common technique for artistic painting on wood panel or canvas for several centuries, spreading from Europe to the rest of ...

''Interior of the Cathedral in Milan'' by Zaleski, which went missing after the

Warsaw Uprising The Warsaw Uprising ( pl, powstanie warszawskie; german: Warschauer Aufstand) was a major World War II operation by the Polish underground resistance to liberate Warsaw from German occupation. It occurred in the summer of 1944, and it was led ...

of 1944. It was rediscovered in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

in 2018 and brought back to the country thanks to the efforts of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage of Poland. An official handover ceremony attended by the Minister of Culture

Piotr Gliński Piotr Tadeusz Gliński (; born 20 April 1954) is a Polish sociologist, professor, university lecturer and politician. He served as president of the Polish Sociological Association from 2005 to 2011. He was the nominee of Law and Justice, the larg ...

was held at the museum in order to celebrate the return of the lost artwork.

Gallery

File:Marcin Zaleski, Pałac Myślewicki w Łazienkach.jpg, ''Myślewicki Palace in Łazienki Park'', 1870 File:Widok z Placu Zamkowego na Krakowskie Przedmieście - MP 3474.jpeg, ''View from Castle Square to Krakowskie Przedmieście'', ca. 1838 File:Marcin Zaleski - Plac Teatralny w Warszawie.jpg, ''Theatre Square in Warsaw'', 1838 File:Katedra sw Jana.jpg, ''St. John's Cathedral'', ca. 1840 File:Zaleski Town Hall in Vilnius.jpg, ''Town Hall in Vilnius'', ca. 1846 File:Zaleski Return of squads of Polish army.jpg, ''The Return of Squads of Polish Army from Wierzbno'', 1831 File:Sukiennica z syndykowka w 1836 MHMK.jpg, ''The Market Square in Kraków'', 1836 File:Marcin Zaleski - Święto Jordanu 1836.jpg, ''The Feast of Jordan'', 1836

References

External links

Marcin Zaleski's Works
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zaleski, Marcin 1796 births 1877 deaths Artists from Kraków 19th-century Polish painters 19th-century Polish male artists Polish male painters

Biography

Works

Gallery

See also

References

External links