Although Henryk Hektor Siemiradzki 3 was born in what is now Ukraine and his father was an officer in the Russian army, his family carried a strong sense of Polish nationalism. He considered himself Polish throughout his life, even when Russia sought to claim him as its own because of his international reputation. After seven years of schooling at the Petersburg Academy of Fine Arts, Siemiradzki received a gold medal in 1871 for his Alexander the Great and the Physician Philip of Acarnania, affording him another six years’ study abroad.
When he first came to Rome in 1872 his heart was so captivated by the city that he settled there for the rest of his life. Siemiradzki drew most of his celebrated subject matter from the ancient world and the Roman environs. A thoroughgoing academician, superb draughtsman, and master of composition, color, and lighting, he was proficient with landscape, portraiture, and the human figure. His subjects were taken from Greek, Roman, and Russian history, classical mythology, and the New Testament. He especially focused on scenes set during the time of the early Roman Empire, whether depictions of Roman orgies or the fate of early Christian martyrs, and small-scale bucolics with a few figures at leisure, set in idyllically beautiful landscapes.
The first monumental painting that gained the artist great acclaim throughout the capitals of Europe was Nero’ s Torches, which portrayed, without comment, the sophisticated barbarity of showmanship on the part of the emperor Nero, as early Christians went to their deaths. Siemiradzki was criticized by one writer at the time for focusing on the pictorial externals of the event and failing to portray its emotional drama. 4 His sumptuous settings prefigure the widescreen motion picture epics by 20th century director Cecil B. DeMille and the Metro-Goldwyn- Mayer movie Ben Hur( 1959).
Henryk Siemiradzki( 1843-1902)
Henryk Siemiradzki( 1843-1902) Alexander the Great and the Physician Philip of Acarnania 1870 oil on canvas 96.5 × 136.4
National Arts Museum of the Republic of Belarus
Henryk Siemiradzki( 1843-1902)
The New Bracelet c. 1883 oil on canvas 22 ½ x 1 1 / 2” location unknown [ private collection, sold at auction ]
Henryk Siemiradzki( 1843-1902)
By a Spring 1898 oil on canvas 30 x 43 1 / 4” Lviv Picture Gallery, Lviv, Ukraine)
44 ART CHOWDER MAGAZINE