Meeting of Jan III Sobieski and Leopold I

Artur Grottger

Basic information

ID: Ж-2148
Author: Artur Grottger
Name: Meeting of Jan III Sobieski and Leopold I
Date of creation: 1859
Technique: oil painting
Material: canvas oil
Dimensions (height x width, cm): 101 x 157

Additionally

Type: painting
Genre: battle painting
Plot: Battle
Provenance: Collection of Lviv City Gallery
Exposition: Lozinski Palace

Information about author

Author: Artur Grottger
Artist's lifetime: 1837–1867
Country: Austrian Empire
Biography: Artur Grottger was born in 1837 in the village of Otynevychi in the Lviv region (former Ottyniowice, Eastern Galicia). He studied at the Lviv School of Painting of Jan Maszkowski and the Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow and Vienna (1852–1858). Artur Grottger is a leading representative of Polish Romanticism, as well as a painter, periodical illustrator, graphic artist, and watercolourist. He is the author of six patriotic art cycles regarding the January Uprising against the Russian occupation of Poland of 1863, portraits, and local history materials. Artur Grottger died after a severe illness in Amélie-les-Bains, France, in 1867. He was buried in the Lychakiv Cemetery in Lviv (field No.95).

Object description

Against a backdrop of cloudy blue and violet sky, the meeting of two military formations on horses is depicted. Below is a large city under a mountain, which can be seen between the two groups of riders in the foreground. The painting's composition is classical and balanced. Artur Grottger depicted the moment of two allies meeting after the Battle of Vienna, which took place in Schwechat (southeast of Vienna). On the left, King Jan III Sobieski is portrayed on a spirited horse, wearing armour, red trousers and a fur cloak. His right hand with a hat is raised in a broad greeting gesture. A large procession accompanies the king. To the right, on a white horse, is the Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I, wearing golden armour and a silver cloak. Behind him is an entourage of several hundred riders on horseback.

Inscriptions

At the bottom right, there is the artist's signature: "Artur Grottger 1859"

Portrayed person