Who is in Matejko's paintings?

Who is depicted in Matejko's paintings Matejko is renowned for historical paintings And he didn't paint historical figures on them at all We warn you you'll never look at these works the same way again Jan Matejko of course couldn't paint the historical figures themselves as he simply couldn't know what they looked like He apparently didn't want to paint such things either He believed that studying the iconography of historical figures was just as important for composition as working with live models This was how Izidora Jabłoński-Pawłowski intended to counter the critics' arguments Here are three portraits of one of our kings tell me which one is the most faithful likeness staying true to the portrait in that position I would feel constrained and forced to at the expense of diversity movements directions and circumstances arising from and necessary for it Does Zygmunt I's likeness on the sarcophagus match the portrait painted and hanging above the chapel Ultimately what matters to me is the monumentality of the figure the living heads Therefore every work required him to have models Who in his circle posed for him and for which painting Or could some individuals have been immortalized in multiple sketches Gathering information on this matter is not easy as no such list was compiled during Matejka's lifetime What we know is the result of later research Let's take a closer look at this In the first half of the 1870s Jan Matejko painted the painting depicting our famous astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus From that moment on we can no longer imagine him any other way That Kopernik looks as though he's been painted with the features of someone entirely different A certain acquaintance of Matejka dedicated his book Philosophy of Nature to him It contains the following quotation It's time to awaken the spirit of Copernicus and Śniadecki It's time to free thought from collective numbness Could it be precisely because of this that the painter came up with the idea to immortalize the author of the publication as Copernicus An extraordinary face Long hair Where have we seen this before Not only did Matejko read the work with interest but he even sketched a landscape featuring a castle on the cover and also a hilly view with Topola in the foreground He also received photographs from the book's author which he used to create a portrait sketch We will finally reveal that mysterious name This refers to Dr Henryk Lewit who was living in Warsaw at the time His photographs provided Matejka with the reference for painting Nicolaus Copernicus What's intriguing is that the Lithuanian may not have been the only prototype for the astronomer The other possibility was Antoni Serafiński who lived with the Matejkows though he did leave behind a clue In November 1872 he wrote a letter to his parents in which he included those words I found it hard to refuse my uncle Matejka's solemn call I've had to pose for him today tomorrow and long after— still posing a pupil of the master of the art of starlight Family portraits are the most natural choice On many of Jan Matejko's paintings we can see members of his own family Moreover our distinguished artist also painted himself The most famous example of this is of course the scene at the queen's ball where the lost Smolensk is referenced In what role did the master appoint his wife Theodora from the Giebułtowski family Naturally royal Agnieszka Janczyk reminds us that the portrait of Queen Bona was painted by her husband with a face that was very handsome and fresh genuinely Italian in type Matejko immortalized her as Barbara Radziwiłłówna On the painting Zygmunt August with Barbara at the Radziwiłł court in Vilnius and as the wife of Sigismund the Old at the Prussian homage We also see Theodora portrayed as Bona on another painting The悬挂 of the Zygmunth bell on the tower of Kraków's cathedral in 1522 How do we know this From the artist's wife's niece who recalled that Teodora's aunt had posed for Bony not long before We will also find the artist's mother-in-law in both images Paulina Sikorski-Giebułtowska as Princess Anna Mazowiecka The Prussian hold and the matron the Suspension of Sigismund's bell All our children are here Matejka's children also appeared in his paintings in various roles The painter had two daughters dark-haired Helena the elder and light-haired Beata In the Prussian homage we see Helen as Sophie Anna Mazowiecka's daughter and at the Bell Tower of Sigismund she appears as Izabela Jagiellonka The king of Hungary John Zápolya's newly arrived wife Meanwhile in her first work Beata portrays Jadwiga Jagiellonka and on the other a little girl in a blue dress On both paintings we will also find Jan Matejka's sons Tadeusz and Jerzy At the Prussian tribute Tadeusz will be quite close Albrecht Hohenzollern is his squire and holds his helmet Also present though with dogs is the image depicting the hanging of Poland's most famous bell Meanwhile Jerzy is a small dark-haired boy in the first of the paintings discussed He performed significantly better during the bell suspension He portrays King Sigismund Augustus himself At the Prussian homage all the characters were presented Matejce would quickly run out of family members even when considering the broadest definition of family Recruitment therefore began led by his secretary Marian Gorzkowski On Easter Sunday the painting of the Prussian homage takes place a scene featuring various individuals I had invited to pose for the artwork Among those depicted in this monumental painting were Kraków artists friendly with Matejka among others Izydor Jabłoński-Pawłowicz already recognized at the time as the merchant Severyn Bertman and a promising apprentice of the master Konstanty Mańkowski holding a princely cloak and Tadeusz Popiel likely portraying Andrzej Tynczyński Science is also well represented in the portrait Tarnowski played Tarnowski as the character demanded e grand crown hetman Jan Tarnowski posed for Count Stanisław Tarnowski professor of Polish literature at the Jagiellonian University Meanwhile his friend and well-known historian Józef Szujski He assumed the role of castellan of Gniezno Piotr Opaliński The clergy is equally well represented at the Prussian homage Zygmunt Stary has the likeness of Father Wincenty Smoczyński Meanwhile Father Ignacy Polkowski personally wished Bishop Piotr Tomicki well He was the director of the cathedral archive as well as a canon of the cathedral chapter and the cathedral's subdean Besides the model was quite the sensation at the time In 1883 he posed for another artist Saturninowski to Świeżyński Meanwhile the Warmian bishop Maurycy Feber is portrayed Father Edward Sergseń advisor to the metropolitan curia in Kraków and longtime pastor of the Church of St Joseph in Podgórze Crusader-like atmosphere In the context of certain characters presented the information we have is contradictory Agnieszka Jańczyk states that the figure of Albrecht Hohenzoller Matejko from the Odrowąż noble family posed for Feliks Szukiewicz who fought in the January Uprising Meanwhile in his memoirs Józef Augustynowicz casts someone entirely different in that role As stated he was Count Janusz Tyszkiewicz about whom it was reportedly known that while living in Kraków in his you The model posed for painter Jan Matejko in the portrait of Prince Albrecht Hohenzollern for the painting "The Prussian Homage " Now that we're discussing the Teutonic Knights we should write just a few words about another famous painting by Jan Matejko at is the Battle of Grunwald Although sources regarding the models posed for this wor They are rather scarce but some things have nonetheless been established Matejko likely wouldn't have needed a model when painting Władysław Jagiełło as he is not the central figure in the painting As Prince Witold Father Adam Sapieha was immortalized Matejko painted his portrait in 1875 In the case of the Grand Master we have two likely candidates They are two noblemen Stanisław Michałowski or Tadeusz Grochoński Two other individuals are also suspected of having been presented like Jan Žižka It could have been Władysław Cielecki of the Za Rąb coat of arms or Matejka's brother Edmund Generally there are more counts depicted in the image And indeed Jan Zamoyski was a Teutonic mercenary stationed ext to the famous Husecki leader Antoni Potocki from Rymanów is Prince Kazimierz of Szczecin Meanwhile Edward Raczyński from Rogalin is a warrior wearing a scarf around his head holding a battle axe Well after seeing the Master's paintings you won't be able to look at the figures depicted in them the same way ever again—certainly not in just one way Thank you for your attention See you in the next video