Franciszek Smuglewicz (; 6 October 1745 – 18 September 1807) was a Polish-Lithuanian draughtsman and painter. Smuglewicz is considered a progenitor of Lithuanian art in the modern era. He was precursor of

historicism Historicism is an approach to explaining the existence of phenomena, especially social and cultural practices (including ideas and beliefs), by studying the process or history by which they came about. The term is widely used in philosophy, ant ...

in Polish painting. He was also a founder of Vilnius school of art, his most prominent students were Jan Rustem, Jan Krzysztof Damel, Gaspar Borowski and Józef Oleszkiewicz. His father Łukasz Smuglewicz and brother

Antoni Antoni is a Catalan, Polish, and Slovene given name and a surname used in the eastern part of Spain, Poland and Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to ...

were also painters.

Biography

Franciszek Smuglewicz was born in

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

as son of Łukasz Smuglewicz, who was also a painter, and Regina Olesińska. His mother, Regina Olesińska, was the niece of painter Szymon Czechowicz. Edward Rastawiecki. ''Słownik malarzów polskich, tudzież obcych w Polsce osiadłych lub czasowo w niéj przebywających''. Vol. 2. 1851. p. 171 He made his first steps as a painter in his father and Czechowicz joint workshop in Warsaw. In 1763 Franciszek journeyed to Rome, where he began the study of fine arts under the tutorship of Anton von Maron. He stayed in Rome for 21 years, where he embraced the Neo-Classical style. In 1765 he received a royal scholarship from the King of Poland

Stanisław August Poniatowski Stanisław II August (born Stanisław Antoni Poniatowski; 17 January 1732 – 12 February 1798), known also by his regnal Latin name Stanislaus II Augustus, and as Stanisław August Poniatowski (), was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuani ...

and was admitted into the Saint Lucas Academy. As a colleague of Vincenzo Brenna he participated in cataloging artifacts from

Nero Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ( ; born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus; 15 December AD 37 – 9 June AD 68) was a Roman emperor and the final emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, reigning from AD 54 until his ...

's ''

Domus Aurea The Domus Aurea (Latin, "Golden House") was a vast landscaped complex built by the Roman Empire, Emperor Nero largely on the Oppian Hill in the heart of ancient Rome after the Great Fire of Rome, great fire in 64 AD had destroyed a large part ...

''. In 1784 he returned to Warsaw, where he founded his own school of fine arts, one of the predecessors of the modern Academy of Fine Arts. A

classicist Classics, also classical studies or Ancient Greek and Roman studies, is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, ''classics'' traditionally refers to the study of Ancient Greek literature, Ancient Greek and Roman literature and ...

, but under strong influence of the Polish baroque, Smuglewicz became a notable representative of historical paintings, a genre that dominated the fine arts of Poland throughout the 19th century. Around 1790 he started working on a series of sketches and lithographies inspired by Adam Naruszewicz's ''History of the Polish Nation''. Although never finished, this series gained him much popularity. In 1797 he moved to

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...

, where he became the founder and the first deacon of the Institute of Sketch and Painting at the Academy of Vilnius. In 1801 he painted allegorical ceiling paintings for Tsar Paul I at his new imperial palace, the Mikhailovsky Castle, in

St Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

, which was also designed by Brenna.

August von Kotzebue August Friedrich Ferdinand von Kotzebue (, ; – ) was a German playwright, who had also worked as a Russian diplomat. In 1817, one of Kotzebue's books was burned during the Wartburg festival. He was murdered in 1819 by Karl Ludwig Sand, a ...

, ''The Most Remarkable Year in the Life of Augustus von Kotzebue'', London,(1802). Vol III, pp. 60, 68 and 80. A tutor of generations of Polish-Lithuanian painters, Smuglewicz devoted himself to historical paintings in the latter years of his life. He brought to Lithuania classical ideas and views of enlightened classicism. He painted everyday life, and the architecture of Vilnius in a realistic manner. His works helped with the ongoing reconstruction of the Royal Palace of Lithuania in Vilnius. Among the notable surviving works of that period are ''A Meeting of the Four Years' Sejm'' (1793) and '' Kościuszko's Oath at Kraków's Old Town Market'' (1797), ''Lithuanian Peasants'', ''Freeing Peasants from Serfdom in Merkinė''. Among his works of the period are views of the city walls and city gates that were demolished during the 19th century. He was buried in Vilnius at Rasos Cemetery (''Polish'': Cmentarz na Rossie), although the exact location is not known. Image:Smuglewicz-Posłowie scytyjscy przed Dariuszem.jpg, ''Scythians meeting with Darius'', 1785 Image:Smuglewicz Prozor Family.jpg, Portrait of the Prozor Family, 1789, National Museum in Warsaw File:Smuglewicz Kosciuszko 2.jpg, "

Tadeusz Kościuszko Andrzej Tadeusz Bonawentura Kościuszko (; 4 or 12 February 174615 October 1817) was a Polish Military engineering, military engineer, statesman, and military leader who then became a national hero in Poland, the United States, Lithuania, and ...

taking the oath", 1797

References

Bibliography

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smuglewicz, Franciszek 1745 births 1807 deaths Polish draughtsmen 18th-century Polish–Lithuanian painters 19th-century Polish painters Lithuanian painters Academic staff of Vilnius University 18th-century Lithuanian people 19th-century Lithuanian painters Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw Artists from Warsaw Polish male painters Burials at Rasos Cemetery