Skip to main navigation menu Skip to main content Skip to site footer
Nasza Przeszłość

Vol. 99 (2003): Our Past

Miscellanea

Paintings by Aleksander Lesser intended for Catholic temples

  • Dariusz Dąbrowski
DOI: https://doi.org/10.52204/np.2003.99.423-446  [Google Scholar]
Published: 2003-06-30

Abstract

Aleksander Lesser (1814-1884) almost completely forgotten, and a once popular Warsaw painter of Jewish origin, known primarily for his historical works. Meanwhile, he was also the author of sacred paintings made for temples of various denominations. Paintings intended for Catholic churches occupied a prominent place among Lesser's works of this type. The religious part of the artist's oeuvre has not attracted much interest from researchers so far. The article presents information on all identified paintings by Lesser intended for Catholic churches. It was not possible to reach a number of (specifically, four of nine) objects. There are many indications that they were destroyed in the wars that swept through the country in the last century. The examined collection is too small to draw conclusions about the iconographic preferences of the ordering parties. Three of Lesser's famous paintings intended for Catholic churches represent Marian themes. One represents Christ. The others depict individual saints, but one of them - with a high degree of certainty - can be said to have been the patron of the client. One of the paintings repeats an iconographic motif belonging to the group of the most popular and particularly revered (Our Lady of Częstochowa). Another Walenty Męczennik) was an improved copy of another painter's work.

References

  1. Cynka M., Późnobarokowa rzeźba ołtarzowa w kościele pobernardyńskim. 22:1974. [Google Scholar]
  2. Dąbrowski D., Malarskie wyobrażenia Wincentego Kadłubka autorstwa Aleksandra Lessera (1814 -1884 ). NP t. 96:2001. DOI: https://doi.org/10.52204/np.2001.96.601-617 [Google Scholar]
  3. Gerson W., Wystawa prac Aleksandra Lessera w resursie Obywatelskiej, „Tygodnik Ilustrowany: 1885. [Google Scholar]
  4. Mieses M., Z rodu żydowskiego . Zasłużone rodziny polskie krwi niegdyś żydowskiej, Warszawa 1991. [Google Scholar]
  5. Navarra F.P., Monografia kościołów Dyecezyi Kieleckiej, t. 1, Warszawa 1911. [Google Scholar]
  6. Olszewski M., Rozwój polskiego malarstwa , Kraków 1907. [Google Scholar]
  7. Ryszkiewicz A., Początki handlu obrazami w środowisku warszawskim, Studia z Historii Sztuki Polskiej, t. 4, Wrocław 1953. [Google Scholar]
  8. Swieykowski. Pamiętnik Towarzystwa Przyjaciół Sztuk Pięknych w Krakowie 1854 -1904 , Kraków 1905. [Google Scholar]

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.