Maurycy Gottlieb (1856 Drohobych - 1879 Krakow), Sigismund Augustus and Barbara Giżanka, circa 1874.

oil, duplicated canvas, 37.3 × 62.4 cm

Provenance:
- Property of the artist's family;
- Collection of Emil Beres (wealthy Galician merchant and friend of the artist) and his son in law Dr. Rudolf Beres (art collector, at one time owner of the largest collection of works by Maurice Gottlieb);
- the collection of Pinhas and Helena Schoenberg;
- the collection of Eliezer and Tamala Lewin;
- private collection, Poland

Exhibited:
- 1892 r. - Society of Friends of Fine Arts in Cracow;
- 1932 r. - National Museum in Cracow;
- 1991 r. - National Museum in Warsaw

Inscribed and reproduced:
- "Souvenir of the Unveiling of the Monument of Maurycy Gottlieb," Kraków 1892, p. 32, no. 25 ("Zygmunt August with Barbara in his embrace, property of the family");
- "Catalogue of the memorial exhibition of works by Maurycy Gottlieb," National Museum in Cracow, March 1932, p. 11, cat. no. 82 ("Zygmunt August and Giżanka," property of Dr. R. Beres, Cracow);
- "Maurycy Gottlieb, 1856-1879, Commemorative Exhibition on the Occasion of the Centennial of his Birth," II-III 1956, The Bezalel National Museum, Jerusalem, 1956, no. 1 (il.);
- "Maurycy Gottlieb 1856-1879. 39 reproductions of the artist's paints", Tel Aviv, 1961, plate no. 7 (ill. in black and white);
- "Słownik Artystów Polskich i obcych w Polsce działających", Warsaw, 1975, vol. II, p. 428;
- Z. Soltysowa, "The Work of Maurycy Gottlieb" [in:] "Rocznik Krakowski", Ossolineum, Cracow 1976, vol. 47, p. 152, il. p. 160, no. 10;
- (cat.) "Maurycy Gottlieb, 1856-1879, Meisterwerke," ed. by Georg Heuberger, Jewish Museum, Frankfurt n. Main, 1991, p. 79;
- (cat.) "Maurycy Gottlieb 1856-1879," National Museum in Warsaw 19 Aug-20 Oct 1991, p. nlb, cat. no. 3 (Sigismund Augustus and Gajanka, ca. 1874, property of Eliezer Lewin in Savyon);
- N. Guralnik, "In the Flower of Youth. Maurice Gottlieb" 1856-1879, Tel Aviv Museum of Art 1991, p. 21, il. s. 117;
- J. Malinowski, "Maurycy Gottlieb," Arkady, Warsaw 1997, p. 81;
- J. Malinowski, "Malarstwo i rzeźba Żydów Polskich w XIX i XX w.," Warsaw 2000, p. 28;
- A. Yass-Alston, "Jewish art collectors of interwar
Cracow. Adlof Schwarz, Rudolf Beres, Seweryn Gottlieb - figures who have passed into the oblivion of history", [in:] "Krzysztofory. Zeszyty Naukowe Muzeum Historycznego Miasta Krakowa", no. 35, Kraków 2017, pp. 276, 277.

"I am a Pole and a Jew, and I want to work for both, when God gives."
Maurycy Gottlieb

Maurycy's father, Isaac Gottlieb, raised his children in the spirit of assimilation, which was to leave a huge mark on the artistic path of the creator of "Zygmunt August and Barbara Giżanka." Sixteen-year-old Maurycy began his artistic education at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna, and, enamored of historicism, joined Carl Wurzinger's class there. However, as early as 1873, he moved to the School of Fine Arts in Krakow, to the famous "Majsterszula" of Jan Matejko, and it was there, most likely in 1874, that the painting presented at the auction was created, strongly alluding to the work of the Krakow Master. The young painter depicted a thoughtful king embracing a woman with his arm. Sitting by the monarch's side, she looks down at her beloved, while in her hand she holds a magazine with the royal seal. We can only assume that this is an act of ennoblement (Barbara Giżanka received a title of nobility from the hands of Sigismund Augustus shortly before his death). Noteworthy is the sketchy female portrait hanging in the background behind the embraced couple. It is possible that this is a painting of the second wife of the last of the Jagiellons, his beloved Barbara Radziwillowna. Giżanka, according to accounts, bore a delusive resemblance to Radziwiłłówna. In the painting presented at the auction, Maurycy Gottlieb demonstrated great technical skill and profound artistic maturity, despite his very young age (he was only 18 when painting this picture!). In the coherent composition and masterful sense of colors, one can see the influence of Gotllieb's mentor Jan Matejko. In the choice of subject matter, on the other hand, the artist's search for his national identity is reflected as in a mirror. Undoubtedly, "Sigismund Augustus and Barbara Gajanka" by Maurycy Gottlieb, also due to the rarity of the artist's works on the auction market, is a unique museum-class painting, a work of significance for Polish art history and an excellent example of the prominent position the artist holds in it.