Scene from Adam Mickiewicz's Ballad "Lilies" (1820)

Jan Matejko

Basic information

ID: Г-V-76
Author: Jan Matejko
Name: Scene from Adam Mickiewicz's Ballad "Lilies" (1820)
Date of creation: 1854
Country: Poland Austro-Hungarian Empire
Technique: drawing
Material: paper pencil
Dimensions (height x width, cm): 15.4 x 16.2

Additionally

Type: graphic art
Genre: narrative art
Provenance: Collection of Lviv City Gallery

Information about author

Author: Jan Matejko
Artist's lifetime: 1838–1893
Country: Poland
Biography: Jan Alojzy Matejko (born 24 June 1838 in Krakow – died 1 November 1893 in Krakow) – a famous Polish painter, graphic artist, and teacher. In 1852, he began studying painting at the Krakow School of Fine Arts (now the Jan Matejko Academy of Fine Arts). He studied at Wojciech Korneli Stattler and Wladyslaw Luszczkiewicz. The artist graduated from the Krakow Academy of Fine Arts in 1858 and after that, he studied for two more years in Munich with Hermann Anschütz, where the young artist experienced a period of fascination with the historical painting of French painter Paul Delaroche. The artist participated in numerous art exhibitions. He travelled frequently to Paris and Vienna and visited Prague, Budapest, Berlin, London, Istanbul and many locations in Italy. He became the head of Krakow School of Fine Arts in 1873 and remained at its head until his death. His students included such outstanding Polish painters as Jacek Malczewski, Stanislaw Wyspianski, Jozef Mehoffer. Jan Matejko's artistic heritage includes more than three hundred paintings: portraits and paintings on historical, religious and allegorical themes, as well as several hundreds of graphic drawings and sketches. Borys Voznytskyi Lviv National Art Gallery holds some of the best works of this outstanding Polish artist.

Object description

Adam Mickiewicz (1798–1855) wrote the ballad "Lilies" (1820) based on the Polish mediaeval folk song "Pani zabiła Pana" ("The Lady Killed the Lord"). The sketch by Jan Matejko illustrates the final scene of the ballad, where the ghost of Lord – the husband killed by his wife – appears in the church on the wedding day to take his unfaithful wife and her two suitors, who are his brothers, with him to the afterlife. Three male figures in mediaeval attire are at the centre of the dynamic, multi-figure composition, each holding a sword. Two of them (the brothers of the murdered Lord) are startled by the appearance of the third figure, who is a ghost. To the left behind them is a frightened young woman, the main character of the poem (the Lady). The ghostly man (depicted on the right in a cloak) is enraged by what is happening. He raises his right hand upwards and angrily speaks to the brothers and his wife, the murderer. The depicted scene is a moment before everything will be buried under the ruins of the church.

Inscriptions

In the centre at the bottom of the sheet, the artist's signature in Indian ink: "J. M. z P. 1854". On the reverse side, the inscription reads: "Szkic kompozycyjny wedle poematu Mickiewicza 'Lilije' 'Mąż zamordowany zjawia się w kościele po niewierną żona'".

Legal regulation

Borys Voznytskyi Lviv National Art Gallery

Scene from Adam Mickiewicz's Ballad "Lilies" (1820)

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