Dimensions: 107 × 87.5 cm
Signed and dated p.g.: 'J Malczewski | 1909'.
gift of Jadwiga Gorska, 1968
inv. no. MP 1215 MNW
Adoption period: 1 year
Biography
The painting refers to the myth of the artist's death, popular in literature and painting of the 19th century. Jacek Malczewski depicted a dead man lying on a board inside a studio - only his naked legs are visible. There are three other figures in the studio. One of them is the personification of death - Thanatos, pictured as a thoughtful woman holding a scythe. On her head is a laurel wreath, which associates her with Fame. The other woman, dressed in folk costume and a straw crown, kisses the foot of a dead artist.
This figure may refer to the figure of Polonia. Another woman, hidden between the stretchers, assumes a pose signifying despair and is the only one belonging to the order of earthly reality. For the previous two figures come from the realm of imagination and eternity.
The disintegration of the world in the painting into two parallel spaces - real and fantastic - allows us to see the artist's death as a watershed event. The figure of the painter is sacralized here through his association with Christ and the gesture of kissing the feet of the deceased.
The role of the artist in the nation and society is one of the main themes in the paintings of Jacek Malczewski, a student of Jan Matejko.
