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88-502: Jan Alojzy Matejko ( Polish pronunciation: [ˈjan aˈlɔjzɨ maˈtɛjkɔ] ; also known as Jan Mateyko ; 24 June 1838 – 1 November 1893) was a Polish painter, a leading 19th-century exponent of history painting , known for depicting nodal events from Polish history. His works include large scale oil paintings such as Stańczyk (1862), Rejtan (1866), Union of Lublin (1869), Astronomer Copernicus, or Conversations with God (1873), or Battle of Grunwald (1878). He

176-460: A background of cultural erosion in partitioned Poland Matejko published an illustrated album, Clothing in Poland ( Ubiory w Polsce ), a project reflecting his intense interest in the historical record of his nation and his desire to promote it among Polish people and incidentally stir their patriotism. His financial situation improved when he sold two paintings, The assassination of Wapowski during

264-593: A building entirely dedicated to Matejko - The Jan Matejko House ( Dom Jana Matejki ), occupying his former studio and family home in Floriańska Street and opened in 1898. Another museum dedicated to Matejko, is the Jan Matejko Manor House (Dworek Jana Matejki w Krzesławicach), in the village of Krzesławice , where Matejko had bought a small estate in 1865. Over 80 painters were Matejko's students, many influenced during his tenure as director of

352-438: A contemporary of Artur Grottger from 1852 to 1858. His teachers included Wojciech Korneli Stattler and Władysław Łuszczkiewicz . He opted for historical painting as his specialism, and finished his first major work, The Shuyski Tsars before Zygmunt III ( Carowie Szujscy przed Zygmuntem III ), in 1853 (he would return to this theme a year before his death, in 1892. During this time, he began exhibiting historical paintings at

440-515: A defeat on 26 February at the Battle of Gdów and were quickly dispersed by von Benedek's forces. The Polish commander, Colonel Jakub Suchorzewski, was criticized for poor leadership, and for not taking sufficient precautions despite scout reports of an approaching enemy force. The battle was very short, as the Polish forces collapsed almost immediately, with most of the infantry captured or killed by

528-622: A further scholarship to study at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna , but after only a few days and a major quarrel with Christian Ruben , Matejko returned to Kraków. He set up a studio at his family home in Floriańska Street . It took years before he met with commercial success. He struggled as the proverbial "starving artist", who finally celebrated when he managed to sell the Shuyski Tsars... canvas for five florins . In 1860, against

616-437: A group of twelve drawings with accompanying commentary, The History of civilisation in Poland ( Dzieje Cywilizacji w Polsce ). Between 1890 and 1892, he published a series of works on paper, portraying all the monarchs of Poland ( Poczet królów i książąt polskich - The kings and princes of Poland , including queens), whose popularity turned them into the canon portrayals of their subjects. 1891 marked his Constitution of

704-654: A hand in the manner of his upbringing. He grew up in a kamienica building on Floriańska Street . After the death of his mother in 1845, Jan and his siblings were cared for by his maternal aunt, Anna Zamojska. At a young age he witnessed the Kraków revolution of 1846 and the 1848 siege of Kraków by the Austrians, two events which put an end to the Free City of Kraków . Two of his older brothers served in both armed conflicts, under General Józef Bem . One fell in battle and

792-490: A long time, especially during the French Revolution , history painting often focused on depictions of the heroic male nude. The large production, using the finest French artists, of propaganda paintings glorifying the exploits of Napoleon , were matched by works, showing both victories and losses, from the anti-Napoleonic alliance by artists such as Goya and J. M. W. Turner . Théodore Géricault 's The Raft of

880-589: A number of prominent members of the Polish nobility , who saw the painting as an indictment of their entire social class. His paintings were subject to censorship in the Russian Empire . Nazi Germany planned to destroy both The Battle of Grunwald and The Prussian Homage , which the authorities saw as an offence against the German view of history. They formed part of the very many Polish paintings and art which

968-541: A painting relating to French rather than Polish history, The Virgin of Orléans , a portrayal of Joan of Arc . In 1887 Matejko received an honorary doctorate from the Jagiellonian University , and recognition from the Austrian Society, Litteris et Artibus . In 1888 he completed The Battle of Racławice ( Bitwa pod Racławicami ). In 1888-1899, to justify his new academic title, he published

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1056-708: A quarrel and recreated in 1879) and a self-portrait (1892). Altogether Matejko authored 320 oil paintings and several thousand drawings and watercolours . He also designed the monumental polychrome murals for the Brick Gothic St. Mary's Basilica, Kraków (1889–1891), which in 1978 became a UNESCO World Heritage Site alongside the Historic Centre of Kraków . Matejko suffered from a peptic ulcer , and died in Kraków on 1 November of internal bleeding. His funeral on 5 November drew large crowds, and his death

1144-559: A symbol of his "royal status in fine art". In 1879 came his Rok 1863 - Polonia ( The Year 1863 - Polonia ), his depiction of the January Uprising . Begun in 1864 as the Uprising was waning, he abandoned the canvas for a number of years, perhaps due to the loss of several close friends and family members in the conflict. It languished unfinished until prince Władysław Czartoryski became interested in acquiring it. To this day it

1232-463: A time when Poland was partitioned and lacked political autonomy. At the same time, Matejko's painting style has been criticised as old-fashioned and overly theatrical, labeled as "antiquarian realism". His works often lost their nuanced historical significance when displayed abroad due to the audience's unfamiliarity with Polish history. Matejko's support for the Polish cause was not just through his art; he also contributed financially and materially to

1320-462: Is a moment in a narrative. The genre includes depictions of moments in religious narratives, above all the Life of Christ , Middle eastern culture as well as narrative scenes from mythology , and also allegorical scenes. These groups were for long the most frequently painted; works such as Michelangelo 's Sistine Chapel ceiling are therefore history paintings, as are most very large paintings before

1408-407: Is above another who only produces fruit, flowers or seashells. He who paints living animals is more than those who only represent dead things without movement, and as man is the most perfect work of God on the earth, it is also certain that he who becomes an imitator of God in representing human figures, is much more excellent than all the others ... a painter who only does portraits still does not have

1496-407: Is considered unfinished. 1880-1882 were taken up with another large work, The Prussian Tribute ( Hołd Pruski ) which Matejko gifted to "the Polish nation". It earned him the honorary citizenship of Kraków. One of the city's squares was renamed Matejko Square. In 1883 he finished Jan Sobieski at Vienna ( Jan Sobieski pod Wiedniem ) which came to be presented to Pope Leo XIII as a "gift of

1584-655: Is generally not used in art history in speaking of medieval painting, although the Western tradition was developing in large altarpieces , fresco cycles, and other works, as well as miniatures in illuminated manuscripts . It comes to the fore in Italian Renaissance painting , where a series of increasingly ambitious works were produced, many still religious, but several, especially in Florence, which did actually feature near-contemporary historical scenes such as

1672-453: Is sometimes used to describe the painting of scenes from history in its narrower sense, especially for 19th-century art, excluding religious, mythological, and allegorical subjects, which are included in the broader term "history painting", and before the 19th century were the most common subjects for history paintings. History paintings almost always contain a number of figures, often a large number, and normally show some typical states on that

1760-425: Is the painting of scenes from secular history, whether specific episodes or generalized scenes. In the 19th century, historical painting in this sense became a distinct genre. In phrases such as "historical painting materials", "historical" means in use before about 1900, or some earlier date. History paintings were traditionally regarded as the highest form of Western painting, occupying the most prestigious place in

1848-645: The Cross of Independence by President Stanisław Wojciechowski . ] After 1865 Matejko's international recognition grew. His Skarga's Sermon was awarded a gold medal at the 1865 Paris Salon, prompting Count Maurycy Potocki  [ pl ] to buy it for 10,000 florins. In 1867, his painting Rejtan was awarded a gold medal at the World Exhibition in Paris and was acquired by Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria for 50,000 franks. His next major painting

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1936-463: The French Revolution . Most of the uprising was limited to the Free City of Krakow, where its leaders included Jagiellonian University philosophy professor Michał Wiszniewski , and lecturer and lawyer Jan Tyssowski , who declared himself a dictator on 24 February (Tyssowski was assisted by radical democrat, acting as his secretary, Edward Dembowski , who according to some might have been

2024-811: The Impressionists (except for Édouard Manet ) and the Symbolists , and according to one recent writer " Modernism was to a considerable extent built upon the rejection of History Painting... All other genres are deemed capable of entering, in one form or another, the 'pantheon' of modernity considered, but History Painting is excluded". Initially, "history painting" and "historical painting" were used interchangeably in English, as when Sir Joshua Reynolds in his fourth Discourse uses both indiscriminately to cover "history painting", while saying "...it ought to be called poetical, as in reality it is", reflecting

2112-512: The January Uprising of 1863, in which he did not directly take part on account of his poor health, Matejko supported it financially, donating most of his savings to the cause, and personally transporting arms to an insurgents' camp. Subsequently, his Skarga's Sermon ( Kazanie Skargi ), May 1864, was exhibited in the gallery of the Kraków Society of Friends of Fine Arts , which gained him much publicity. On 5 November that same year, he

2200-550: The January Uprising of 1863 . Later, he became director of the art academy in Kraków, which was eventually renamed the Jan Matejko Academy of Fine Arts . A number of his students became prominent artists in their own right, including Maurycy Gottlieb , Jacek Malczewski , Józef Mehoffer and Stanisław Wyspiański . He received several honors during his lifetime, including the French Légion d'honneur . Matejko

2288-645: The Kraków School of Fine Arts , and are called members of the "Matejko School". Some went on to become members of the brief flowering of the Young Poland ( Młoda Polska ) movement, which encompassed literature, music, theatre as well as visual arts and was dissipated by World War I . Matejko has been dubbed "Father of Young Poland". Prominent among his students were: The following is a selected list of Matejko's works, in chronological order. History painting In modern English, "historical painting"

2376-477: The Kraków Society of Friends of Fine Arts from 1855. His graduation project in 1858 was Sigismund I the Old ennobles professors of the Jagiellonian University ( Zygmunt I nadaje szlachectwo profesorom Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego ) and proved to be seminal. After graduation in 1859, Matejko received a scholarship to study with Hermann Anschütz at the Academy of Fine Arts, Munich . The following year he received

2464-678: The Polish Democratic Society . The uprising was supposed to take place in other locations, but poor coordination and arrests by authorities broke many other cells, most notably in Greater Poland . The uprising was also supported by some local peasants from the Free City and the miners of the Wieliczka salt mine . The Free City of Krakow , nominally independent, was a central place for pro-Polish independence activists to discuss their plans. The uprising began on

2552-412: The hierarchy of genres , and considered the equivalent to the epic in literature. In his De Pictura of 1436, Leon Battista Alberti had argued that multi-figure history painting was the noblest form of art, as being the most difficult, which required mastery of all the others, because it was a visual form of history, and because it had the greatest potential to move the viewer. He placed emphasis on

2640-528: The "Intimate Romantic", and in French it was known as the "peinture de genre historique" or "peinture anecdotique" ("historical genre painting" or "anecdotal painting"). Church commissions for large group scenes from the Bible had greatly reduced, and historical painting became very significant. Especially in the early 19th century, much historical painting depicted specific moments from historical literature, with

2728-485: The 19th century. The term covers large paintings in oil on canvas or fresco produced between the Renaissance and the late 19th century, after which the term is generally not used even for the many works that still meet the basic definition. History painting may be used interchangeably with historical painting , and was especially so used before the 20th century. Where a distinction is made, "historical painting"

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2816-562: The 3 May ( Konstytucja 3 Maja ). He went on to compose another large scale work, The Oaths of Jan Kazimierz ( Śluby Jana Kazimierza ), but death intervened. In 1892, a year before his death, he completed his Self-portrait ( Autoportret ). In addition to the history paintings Matejko was a prolific portraitist. His subjects included Jagiellonian University rectors Józef Szujski and Stanisław Tarnowski , and numerous portraits of family and friends, including Wife in her wedding dress ("Żona w sukni ślubnej") (1865, destroyed by his wife during

2904-901: The English Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood continued to regard history painting as the ideal for their most ambitious works. Others such as Jan Matejko in Poland, Vasily Surikov in Russia, José Moreno Carbonero in Spain and Paul Delaroche in France became specialized painters of large historical subjects. The style troubadour (" troubadour style") was a somewhat derisive French term for earlier paintings of medieval and Renaissance scenes, which were often small and depicting moments of anecdote rather than drama; Ingres , Richard Parkes Bonington and Henri Fradelle painted such works. Sir Roy Strong calls this type of work

2992-566: The French state, but after the fall of Napoleon in 1815 the French governments were not regarded as suitable for heroic treatment and many artists retreated further into the past to find subjects, though in Britain depicting the victories of the Napoleonic Wars mostly occurred after they were over. Another path was to choose contemporary subjects that were oppositional to government either at home and abroad, and many of what were arguably

3080-530: The French term peinture historique , one equivalent of "history painting". The terms began to separate in the 19th century, with "historical painting" becoming a sub-group of "history painting" restricted to subjects taken from history in its normal sense. In 1853 John Ruskin asked his audience: "What do you at present mean by historical painting? Now-a-days it means the endeavour, by the power of imagination, to portray some historical event of past days." So for example Harold Wethey 's three-volume catalogue of

3168-461: The Germans planned to destroy in their war on Polish culture , but the Polish resistance successfully hid both. Matejko's aim was to focus on major themes in Polish history using historical sources to paint events in minute historical detail. His earliest paintings are purely historical depictions without didactic content. The later works, starting with Stańczyk (1862), are intended to inspire

3256-530: The Kraków School of Fine Arts. He accepted the Kraków position, and was for many years its principal ( rector ). In 1874, he finished Zawieszenie dzwonu Zygmunta ( The Hanging of the Sigismund bell ). In 1878, he produced another masterpiece, The Battle of Grunwald . That year he received an "honorary grand gold" medal in Paris, while Kraków city council presented him with a ceremonial scepter , as

3344-492: The Medusa (1818–1819) was a sensation, appearing to update the history painting for the 19th century, and showing anonymous figures famous only for being victims of what was then a famous and controversial disaster at sea. Conveniently their clothes had been worn away to classical-seeming rags by the point the painting depicts. At the same time the demand for traditional large religious history paintings very largely fell away. In

3432-610: The Polish historiography. The Uprising, and related events in partitioned Poland (namely the Greater Poland Uprising 1846 and the Galician slaughter ), were widely discussed in the contemporary European press. The Austrian Empire, and the Metternich regime , ultimately lost out in the propaganda war that followed the Uprising. The fact that the peasantry supported the Austrians over a return to Polish rule

3520-746: The Polish nation". Being a member of the delegation delivering the canvas to Rome, Matejko was awarded the Knight Commander with Star of the Order of Pius IX . The painting is on permanent exhibition in the Sobieski Room at the Vatican Museums . Around that time he also became vocal on a number of political issues, publishing letters on topics such as Polish-Russian relations . He was also very engaged in efforts to protect and reconstruct historical monuments in Kraków. In 1886, he finished

3608-554: The ability to depict the interactions between the figures by gesture and expression. This view remained general until the 19th century, when artistic movements began to struggle against the establishment institutions of academic art , which continued to adhere to it. At the same time, there was from the latter part of the 18th century an increased interest in depicting in the form of history painting moments of drama from recent or contemporary history, which had long largely been confined to battle-scenes and scenes of formal surrenders and

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3696-650: The artist freedom to interpret and opened the possibility to blend historical data within a chosen perspective. Matejko's technique in the Neoclassical genre has been praised for its "luminosity, detail and imagination". He succeeded in propagating Polish history, and fostering the memory of an erstwhile historic state lost to the world, while his country remained carved up between three European powers which afforded its Polish natives no prospect of political self-determination . His works, disseminated through thousands of reproductions, have become standard illustrations of

3784-456: The best painters above all on their production of large works of history painting (though in fact the only modern (post-classical) work described in De Pictura is Giotto 's huge Navicella in mosaic). Artists continued for centuries to strive to make their reputation by producing such works, often neglecting genres to which their talents were better suited. There was some objection to

3872-565: The best-received. From 1760 onwards, the Society of Artists of Great Britain , the first body to organize regular exhibitions in London, awarded two generous prizes each year to paintings of subjects from British history. The unheroic nature of modern dress was regarded as a serious difficulty. When, in 1770, Benjamin West proposed to paint The Death of General Wolfe in contemporary dress, he

3960-1153: The classic statement of the theory for the 18th century: Celui qui fait parfaitement des païsages est au-dessus d'un autre qui ne fait que des fruits, des fleurs ou des coquilles. Celui qui peint des animaux vivants est plus estimable que ceux qui ne représentent que des choses mortes & sans mouvement; & comme la figure de l'homme est le plus parfait ouvrage de Dieu sur la Terre, il est certain aussi que celui qui se rend l'imitateur de Dieu en peignant des figures humaines, est beaucoup plus excellent que tous les autres ... un Peintre qui ne fait que des portraits, n'a pas encore cette haute perfection de l'Art, & ne peut prétendre à l'honneur que reçoivent les plus sçavans. Il faut pour cela passer d'une seule figure à la représentation de plusieurs ensemble; il faut traiter l'histoire & la fable; il faut représenter de grandes actions comme les historiens, ou des sujets agréables comme les Poëtes; & montant encore plus haut, il faut par des compositions allégoriques, sçavoir couvrir sous le voile de la fable les vertus des grands hommes, & les mystères les plus relevez. He who produces perfect landscapes

4048-571: The coronation of Henri de Valois ( Zabicie Wapowskiego w czasie koronacji Henryka Walezego , 1861) and Jan Kochanowski over the body of his daughter Urszulka ( Jan Kochanowski nad zwłokami Urszulki , 1862), which settled his debts. 1862 saw the completion of his Stańczyk , initially received without much acclaim, but in due course becoming one of Matejko's best known works. It marks a manifest departure in Matejko's art, from mere illustrator of history to commentator upon its moral content. During

4136-857: The genre. In the Raphael Rooms in the Vatican Palace , allegories and historical scenes are mixed together, and the Raphael Cartoons show scenes from the Gospels, all in the Grand Manner that from the High Renaissance became associated with, and often expected in, history painting. In the Late Renaissance and Baroque the painting of actual history tended to degenerate into panoramic battle-scenes with

4224-423: The highest perfection of his art, and cannot expect the honour due to the most skilled. For that he must pass from representing a single figure to several together; history and myth must be depicted; great events must be represented as by historians, or like the poets, subjects that will please, and climbing still higher, he must have the skill to cover under the veil of myth the virtues of great men in allegories, and

4312-548: The last great generation of history paintings were protests at contemporary episodes of repression or outrages at home or abroad: Goya 's The Third of May 1808 (1814), Théodore Géricault 's The Raft of the Medusa (1818–19), Eugène Delacroix 's The Massacre at Chios (1824) and Liberty Leading the People (1830). These were heroic, but showed heroic suffering by ordinary civilians. Romantic artists such as Géricault and Delacroix, and those from other movements such as

4400-453: The like. Scenes from ancient history had been popular in the early Renaissance , and once again became common in the Baroque and Rococo periods, and still more so with the rise of Neoclassicism . In some 19th or 20th century contexts, the term may refer specifically to paintings of scenes from secular history, rather than those from religious narratives, literature or mythology. The term

4488-507: The lives of the great, or of scenes centred on unnamed figures involved in historical events, as in the Troubadour style . At the same time scenes of ordinary life with moral, political or satirical content became often the main vehicle for expressive interplay between figures in painting, whether given a modern or historical setting. By the later 19th century, history painting was often explicitly rejected by avant-garde movements such as

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4576-560: The many key events in Polish history . His 1860 illustrated album, Ubiory w Polsce (Costume in Poland), is seen as a valuable historical reference. Critics of his work have pointed to his use of traditional, outdated or bombastic painting style, discrediting him for "antiquarian realism" and "theatrical effects". At exhibitions abroad, the nuanced historical context of his works was often lost on foreign audiences. Occasionally his paintings would cause controversy. For example, Rejtan offended

4664-467: The mid-nineteenth century there arose a style known as historicism , which marked a formal imitation of historical styles and/or artists. Another development in the nineteenth century was the treatment of historical subjects, often on a large scale, with the values of genre painting , the depiction of scenes of everyday life, and anecdote . Grand depictions of events of great public importance were supplemented with scenes depicting more personal incidents in

4752-461: The military service of his brothers influenced his artistic themes. After studying art in Munich and Vienna, he returned to Kraków and set up a studio. He gradually gained recognition, selling key paintings that settled his debts and created some of his most famous works, including Stańczyk and Skarga's Sermon . Matejko's art played a key role in promoting Polish history and national identity at

4840-523: The mysteries they reveal". By the late 18th century, with both religious and mytholological painting in decline, there was an increased demand for paintings of scenes from history, including contemporary history. This was in part driven by the changing audience for ambitious paintings, which now increasingly made their reputation in public exhibitions rather than by impressing the owners of and visitors to palaces and public buildings. Classical history remained popular, but scenes from national histories were often

4928-569: The night of 20 February 1846. It was successful in a short term, briefly taking over the city of Kraków . Faced with riots, demonstrations and barricades, a small Austrian force in the city under General Ludwig Collin quickly retreated. A provisional government formed on 22 February. That day it issued a radical "Manifesto for the Polish Nation", in which it ordered the end of many elements of serfdom , such as corvée , declared universal suffrage , and other revolutionary ideas inspired by

5016-768: The novels of Sir Walter Scott a particular favourite, in France and other European countries as much as Great Britain. By the middle of the century medieval scenes were expected to be very carefully researched, using the work of historians of costume, architecture and all elements of decor that were becoming available. An example of this is the extensive research of Byzantine architecture, clothing, and decoration made in Parisian museums and libraries by Moreno Carbonero for his masterwork The Entry of Roger de Flor in Constantinople . The provision of examples and expertise for artists, as well as revivalist industrial designers,

5104-454: The other was forced into exile. Matejko attended St. Anne's High School , but he dropped out in 1851 because of poor grades. Matejko showed an early artistic talent, but had great difficulty with other academic subjects. He never fully mastered a foreign language. Despite that, and because of his exceptional skill, at the age of fourteen he entered the School of Fine Arts in Kraków , where he was

5192-433: The paintings of Titian (Phaidon, 1969–75) is divided between "Religious Paintings", "Portraits", and "Mythological and Historical Paintings", though both volumes I and III cover what is included in the term "History Paintings". This distinction is useful but is by no means generally observed, and the terms are still often used in a confusing manner. Because of the potential for confusion modern academic writing tends to avoid

5280-492: The paintings that shouted loudest got the attention". Orientalist painting was an alternative genre that offered similar exotic costumes and decor, and at least as much opportunity to depict sex and violence. Krak%C3%B3w Uprising [REDACTED] Polish independence movement [REDACTED]   Austrian Empire The Kraków uprising ( Polish : powstanie krakowskie , rewolucja krakowska ; German : Krakauer Aufstand ; Russian : краковское восстание ) of 1846

5368-469: The peasants accompanying the Austrian forces. The uprising was soon suppressed by the Austrian army with help from local peasants. The peasant counter-revolt, known as the Galician slaughter , was likely encouraged by the Austrian authorities, who exploited the peasants' dissatisfaction with the landowners. It was ironic, as historian Eric Hobsbawm has noted, that the peasants turned their anger on

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5456-477: The peasants replied that they were familiar with stories of landowner brutality under the Polish Commonwealth and that they were glad they could now complain to the Austrian emperor. It is estimated that about 1,000–2,000 Polish nobility who supported the uprising died in the conflict. According to Judson, the Austrian military in fact had to intervene at one point to stop the violence and protect

5544-470: The phrase "historical painting", talking instead of "historical subject matter" in history painting, but where the phrase is still used in contemporary scholarship it will normally mean the painting of subjects from history, very often in the 19th century. "Historical painting" may also be used, especially in discussion of painting techniques in conservation studies, to mean "old", as opposed to modern or recent painting. In 19th-century British writing on art

5632-422: The prevailing historical narrative of national history in the popular mind. In France, L'art Pompier ("Fireman art") was a derisory term for official academic historical painting, and in a final phase, "History painting of a debased sort, scenes of brutality and terror, purporting to illustrate episodes from Roman and Moorish history, were Salon sensations. On the overcrowded walls of the exhibition galleries,

5720-517: The real leader of the revolutionary government). On 27 February a struggle for power developed, and Wiszniewski, after a failed attempt to take power, was exiled by Tyssowski and Dembowski within a matter of hours. Austrian forces in the area were led by Ludwig von Benedek . The revolutionaries, despite some support from the Free City and its immediate surroundings, fared badly in the wider countryside. They had up to 6,000 volunteers, but many were badly trained and poorly armed. The rebels suffered

5808-460: The rebels. According to Lerski, Dembowski was apprehended and executed by the Austrians. Others, such as Nance, Davies and Zamoyski however provide another account of his death; according to these sources he died on 27 February fighting the Austrian army, after a religious procession with which he attempted to quell the peasants was attacked. Whatever the case, the government of Tyssowski surrendered, just nine days after taking power, and Kraków

5896-421: The revolutionaries, whose ideals included the improvement of peasant situation. Instead, most peasants trusted the Austrian officials, some of whom even promised the peasants to end serfdom and pay a stipend for their participation in the militia aimed at quashing the Polish noble insurgents. In one village, when the rebels tried to persuade the peasants that they would be better off if the Austrians were expelled,

5984-536: The set of three huge canvases on The Battle of San Romano by Paolo Uccello , the abortive Battle of Cascina by Michelangelo and the Battle of Anghiari by Leonardo da Vinci , neither of which were completed. Scenes from ancient history and mythology were also popular. Writers such as Alberti and the following century Giorgio Vasari in his Lives of the Artists , followed public and artistic opinion in judging

6072-682: The status of Kraków as the Free City. Subsequently, Kraków and its surrounding area were annexed to the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria , a province of the Austrian Empire , with its capital at Lemberg (Lwów, Lviv). This violation of the 1815 Treaty of Vienna caused a short lived scandal in European politics of the day. Kraków would be relegated to the role of a provincial capital in the Empire. As noted by Anderson, despite its failure,

6160-415: The term, as many writers preferred terms such as "poetic painting" ( poesia ), or wanted to make a distinction between the "true" istoria , covering history including biblical and religious scenes, and the fabula , covering pagan myth, allegory, and scenes from fiction, which could not be regarded as true. The large works of Raphael were long considered, with those of Michelangelo, as the finest models for

6248-455: The terms " subject painting " or "anecdotic" painting were often used for works in a line of development going back to William Hogarth of monoscenic depictions of crucial moments in an implied narrative with unidentified characters, such as William Holman Hunt 's 1853 painting The Awakening Conscience or Augustus Egg 's Past and Present , a set of three paintings, updating sets by Hogarth such as Marriage à-la-mode . History painting

6336-464: The uprising was seen by some scholars, including Karl Marx , as a "deeply democratic movement that aimed at land reform and other pressing social questions". The uprising was praised by Marx and Friedrich Engels for being "the first in Europe to plant the banner of social revolution", and seen by them, as well as some modern scholars, precursor to the coming Spring of Nations . This view is common in

6424-468: The victorious monarch or general perched on a horse accompanied with his retinue, or formal scenes of ceremonies, although some artists managed to make a masterpiece from such unpromising material, as Velázquez did with his The Surrender of Breda . An influential formulation of the hierarchy of genres, confirming the history painting at the top, was made in 1667 by André Félibien , a historiographer, architect and theoretician of French classicism became

6512-692: The viewer with a patriotic message. Stańczyk focuses on the court jester, portrayed as a symbol of his country's conscience, sitting in a chair, against the background of a party - a lonely figure reflecting on war, ignored by the joyful crowd. His paintings are on display in numerous Polish museums, including: the National Museum in Warsaw , National Museum in Kraków , National Museum in Poznań and National Museum in Wrocław . The National Museum, Kraków has

6600-573: The village of Roudnice , was a graduate of the Hradec Králové school who later became a tutor and music teacher. He first worked for the Wodzicki family in Kościelniki, Poland, then moved to Kraków , where he married the half-German, half-Polish Joanna Karolina Rossberg (Rozberg). Jan was the ninth of eleven children. His mother died when he was very young and his older brother, Franciszek had

6688-523: Was acquired by the Jagiellonian University . From the 1870s onwards he was aided by a secretary, Marian Gorzkowski, who became his personal assistant, his closest friend, a model for a number of his paintings, and the author of a memoir about Matejko. In 1872, during an exhibition in Prague he was offered the directorship of the Prague Academy of Fine Arts , quickly followed by a similar offer from

6776-517: Was among the notable people to receive an unsolicited letter from the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche , as the latter tipped, in January 1889, into his psychotic breakdown while in Turin . Matejko was born on 24 June 1838, in the Free City of Kraków . His father, Franciszek Ksawery Matejko ( Czech : František Xaver Matějka ) (born 1789 or 13 January 1793, died 26 October 1860), a Czech from

6864-429: Was an attempt, led by Polish insurgents such as Jan Tyssowski and Edward Dembowski , to incite a fight for national independence. The uprising was centered on the city of Kraków , the capital of a small state of Free City of Krakow . It was directed at the powers that partitioned Poland , in particular the nearby Austrian Empire . The uprising lasted about nine days and ended with an Austrian victory. The uprising

6952-477: Was elected member of the Kraków Scientific Society ( Towarzystwo Naukowe Krakowskie ) in recognition for his contributions to depicting great national historical themes. On 21 November he married Teodora Giebułtowska , with whom he went on to have five children: Beata, Helena , Tadeusz, Jerzy and Regina. His daughter, Helena, also an artist, later helped World War I victims and was awarded

7040-400: Was firmly instructed to use classical costume by many people. He ignored these comments and showed the scene in modern dress. Although George III refused to purchase the work, West succeeded both in overcoming his critics' objections and inaugurating a more historically accurate style in such paintings. Other artists depicted scenes, regardless of when they occurred, in classical dress and for

7128-552: Was lost, with the rebels successfully claiming that the Austrians had effectively bought off the peasants and turned them against their national leaders. The conservative Metternich also would struggle to openly admit that peasant violence was justifiable, even if it was in support of the Habsburg Empire. As soon as the Kraków Uprising was put down, the Austrians pacified the insurgent peasantry, briefly restoring

7216-491: Was newsworthy in at least thirty two European newspapers. He was buried in Kraków's Rakowicki Cemetery . He is counted among the most significant of Polish painters , and considered by many as "Poland's greatest history painter" or as "a cult figure for the nation at large... [already] by the time of his death.". Wilhelm von Kaulbach and his "historical symbolism" style had a profound influence on Matejko. This aimed not so much at an exact representation of past events, but gave

7304-521: Was occupied first by Russians (on 3 March), and soon afterward (perhaps on the same day ), by the Austrians under Collin. (Davies however writes that Russians joined Austrians on 4 March). Tyssowski, who crossed the Prussian border with about 1,500 soldiers on 4 March, was interned, and later emigrated to the United States . Austria and Russia signed a treaty on 16 November, deciding to end

7392-540: Was one of the motivations for the establishment of museums like the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. New techniques of printmaking such as the chromolithograph made good quality reproductions both relatively cheap and very widely accessible, and also hugely profitable for artist and publisher, as the sales were so large. Historical painting often had a close relationship with Nationalism , and painters like Matejko in Poland could play an important role in fixing

7480-464: Was primarily organized and supported by members of the Polish nobility and middle class, who desired the restoration of Polish independence after the 1795 partitions of Poland ended its existence as a sovereign state; there was also support for various political and social reforms (such as the demands for the emancipation of peasants and an end to serfdom ). Many of the insurgents' ideas were developed in exile by activists from organizations such as

7568-618: Was the Union of Lublin ( Unia Lubelska ), created during 1867–1869. Acclaimed in Paris, it won Matejko the Cross of the Légion d'honneur . and was purchased by the Sejm of Galicia . It was followed by Stefan Batory at Pskov ( Stefan Batory pod Pskowem ), finished in 1871. In 1872, he visited Istanbul and upon his return to Kraków finished The Astronomer Copernicus, or Conversations with God ( Astronom Kopernik, czyli rozmowa z Bogiem ), which

7656-681: Was the author of numerous portraits, a gallery of Polish monarchs in book form, and murals in St. Mary's Basilica, Kraków . He is considered by many as the most celebrated Polish painter , and sometimes as the "national painter" of Poland. Matejko spent most of his life in Kraków . He enrolled at the Kraków Academy of Fine Arts at age fourteen, where he studied under notable artists such as Wojciech Korneli Stattler and Władysław Łuszczkiewicz and completed his first major historical painting in 1853. His early exposure to revolutions in Kraków and

7744-464: Was the dominant form of academic painting in the various national academies in the 18th century, and for most of the 19th, and increasingly historical subjects dominated. During the Revolutionary and Napoleonic periods the heroic treatment of contemporary history in a frankly propagandistic fashion by Antoine-Jean, Baron Gros , Jacques-Louis David , Carle Vernet and others was supported by

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