Malinowski, Jerzy [Editor]; Siemiradzki, Henryk [Honoree]: Co znajduje się w obrazach Henryka Siemiradzkiego? (Sztuka Europy Wschodniej / The Art of Eastern Europe, Warszawa: Polski Instytut Studiów nad Sztuką Świata, 2017)

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Maria Nitka, Kamilla Twardowska

Kamilla Twardowska, Maria Nitka
Henryk Siemiradzki - the word painter

In the National Museunt in Kraków there is an unusual and hitherto unknown document connected with
Henryk Siemiradzki. It is a short story entilted Our Lamp, which was written by this famous painter.
As for now, this is the only known literary work of Siemiradzki, which was written in Italian. Unfortu-
nately we do not know the datę when it was created, but we think that it must have been when Siemiradzki
lived in Italy - therefore, after 1872. Siemiradzki dedicated it to Maria Milkuszyc, a writer who came front
an artistic Polish family and authored a few books and novels.
Siemiradzkis work begins and ends front a very detailed description of the eponyntous lamp. Mean-
while there is a study of a happy marriage and its collapse, in which Siemiradzki - following the content-
porary trend of sociological phenomena in 19th century literaturę - wrote about the end of a ntarriage
caused by financial difficulties.