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Self-Portrait

Teofil Lenartowicz

Basic information

ID: С-I-540
Author: Teofil Lenartowicz
Name: Self-Portrait
Date of creation: 1887
Country: Italy
Technique: moulding
Material: bronze
Dimensions: 24.5 x 10.5 x 9 cm (height x width x depth)

Additionally

Type: sculpture
Genre: portraiture
Plot: Self-portrait
Provenance: the Dzieduszycki collection

Information about author

Author: Teofil Lenartowicz
Artist's lifetime: 1822–1893
Country: Poland
Biography: Teofil Aleksander Lenartowicz (27 February 1822 – 3 February 1893) was a Polish Romantic poet, sculptor, and ethnographer. Honorary member of the Polish National Museum Society in Rapperswil since 1890. He spent his childhood in the countryside near Rawa Mazowiecka. Around 1833, he settled in Warsaw. In 1837, he began working in law firms. In 1841, he made his debut as a poet. In 1843, fearing arrest, he left for Poznań for several months. In 1847, he was a member of a secret society led by Henryk Krajewski. That same year, he published the poem "The First Performance of Hamlet" in "Dziennik Mody Paryskich" (Paris Fashion Journal). He participated in the underground resistance and the 1848 uprising. In 1849, he moved to Dresden; in 1852, to Paris; and in 1856, to Italy. In 1860, he settled in Florence and married Zofia Szymanowska, Adam Mickiewicz's stepsister. In 1855, a collection of poems was published in Poznań, which brought the artist popularity. In exile, he lectured on Slavic literature, particularly in Bologna. From 1888 to 1893, he was an honorary member of the Poznań Society of Friends of Science, befriended Elżbieta Bosnańska, and corresponded with the artist Juliusz Kossak. In the early 1960s, frustrated by the failure of his poetic works, he decided to take up sculpture and find in it "another way to the hearts of the audience". He made his first attempts at clay modelling in 1860 in Rome in the workshop of Henryk Stattler, and later studied with Enrico Pacci in Florence. He studied the works of the "old masters", copied engravings, and drew from live models. In 1864, he began sculpting from life and created a series of medallion portraits. T. Lenartowicz is the author of small-format sculptures: chamber pieces with soft modelling of forms. The artist's oeuvre includes images of A. Mickiewicz, in particular, created two bronze figures kept in the Polish Library in Paris: memorial sculptures portraying Polish kings, military leaders, and other prominent historical figures. Despite his longing for his homeland, the master had a romantic attachment to Florence, reflected in his design for the Savonarola monument and sculptural images of Dante. It is not surprising that T. Lenartowicz's work gained much greater popularity in Italy than in Poland. At the same time, the sculptor was attracted to scenes from the Old and New Testaments, as well as to images of the Virgin Mary, angels, and saints. In 1873, T. Lenartowicz prepared the composition "Eternal Sun. Adoration of Angels" for casting, and in 1874, he created "The Holy Family". The master considered the bronze group "Ave Maria" (1876), purchased by the Krakow Society for Trade in Natural Resources, to be one of his best works. Among the artist's works are compositions of allegorical and symbolic content, particularly "Unita" and "Ideal in Poetry", which feature images of the Muse, genius, a snake, and a shepherd. The composition "Socrates" (1877) demonstrates a return to ancient themes. Works on ethnographic themes occupy a prominent place in T. Lenartowicz's sculptural legacy, in particular "Dancing Maciek" (1881) and "Peasant under the Cross" (1889). In total, about 120 works by T. Lenartowicz are mentioned in scientific sources.

Object description

A full-figure statue, created in an academic style. It depicts a male figure in frontal view. The man is dressed in a cloak (chamara, traditional outerwear of a Galician townsman) decorated with passementerie and buttons. He holds a hat in his right hand and leans on a cane with his left hand. His head is slightly turned to the right. The facial features reveal an elderly man with a long moustache, a straight nose, and deep, sad eyes. The emphasised detailing of the image indicates the influence of early Italian verismo. The figure is mounted on a rectangular plinth made of two narrow bronze plates.

Inscriptions

On the front face of the upper plate of the podium is engraved: "T. Lenartowicz 1887". On the back of the lower podium plate is an inscription in white: "№ С-І-540 - Л.О.К.Г.". On the bottom of the podium is an inscription: "D 23".

Legal regulation

Borys Voznytskyi Lviv National Art Gallery

Self-Portrait

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