53.00 x 67.50 cm - oil, canvas
Signed p.d.: Jozef Simmler | 18 [...].
Origins
Private collection, Vienna.
Compare with:
- "Kurier Warszawski", 1910, no. 40;
- "Nowa Gazeta," 1910, no. 64;
- T. Jaroszyński, Józef Simmler, Warsaw 1915, pp. 24 and 28;
- Józef Simmler 1823-1868: catalog of a monographic exhibition, ed. by T. Jaroszewski and E. Charazinska 1979, pp. 21, 67-68;
- Słownik artystów polskich i obcych w Polsce działających: malarze, rzeźbiarze, graficy, vol. XI, ed. by U. Makowska, Warsaw 2023, p. 54.
Sigismund Augustus' upbringing by his mother among women was painted by Jozef Simmler, commissioned by Kazimierz Podhorski (1831-1898), a wealthy landowner, traveler and collector. According to the Dictionary of Artists, the painting, presented at Simmler's posthumous exhibition in 1868 as the property of Joan of Petzold Lilpopowa (1831-1908), was a replica of the composition from the artist's family. During the artist's lifetime, this large (128 x 175 cm) canvas was exhibited twice - in 1861 and 1867 at the Warsaw Society for the Encouragement of Fine Arts. The authors of the 1979 catalog of the monographic exhibition of Józef Simmler at the National Museum in Warsaw state that there were several replicas of Education, including one in the possession of Mrs. Szemiothowa in Rome. In 1910, the Warsaw press reported that the sketch was exhibited in Wladyslaw Wolowski's Salon on Nowy Swiat. However, the collection of the National Museum in Cracow contains two oil studies and thirteen drawings for this composition. The work offered at auction, on the other hand, is the author's replica of the monumental composition, in a format reduced by 2/3.
Characterized by theatricality, the composition, composed of three separate scenes, depicts Hetman Tarnowski showing Sigismund I the negative consequences of raising the young prince among women and foreigners. People "from society" posed for the painting: as Queen Bona, Mrs. Flamm (a relative or affinity of Dr. David Flamm) was portrayed, as Italian-brown women - members of merchant families, ladies Kaftalowa (mandolin player) and Braumanowa, and the blonde woman was Miss Buczynska, a famous Warsaw beauty who is said to have become a nun. As Sigismund Augustus - we see Mr. Szafnagel (possibly referring to Karol Szafnagel, the elder son of Baron Maximilian, a merchant from Berdyczów). Hence, there was an opinion in the Warsaw press that quite a few people showed up at Zachęta to see the painting on display not only for its artistic qualities, but also to recognize the people portrayed.
Jozef Simmler - a portraitist and author of historical paintings - began his studies in Warsaw with Jan Feliks Piwarski, Jozef Richter and Bonawentura Dabrowski. He then studied at the Dresden Academy with K.W.Schurig; in 1842 in Munich - at the Academy with Heinrich Peter Hess, Julius Schnor v. Carosfeld and privately with Bonawentura Genelli; in 1844 again in Dresden with Edward Bendeman. From 1845 to 1847 he stayed in Warsaw, where he gained recognition as a portraitist. From 1847 to 1849 he was in Paris; upon his return he settled in Warsaw, from where he made longer trips to Italy and Paris. Simmler, a romantic academic, painted historical paintings, among which Death of Barbara Radziwillowna became most famous. He also created religious compositions, but was also the most popular and sought-after Warsaw portraitist of his era. The representative portraits of his brush, combining in-depth psychological characterization with clear idealization, somehow ennobled the models.
