Warsaw

Warsaw – Museum of Warsaw (Jan Połubiński Portrait)

Another random post of a painting that I thought was a little different.

This is one of the paintings in the collection of the Museum of Warsaw, and it is of the general Jan Połubiński. I wonder exactly what sort of impression that the artist, F. Kiełpiński, was trying to give when he painted this in 1835. I’m not really sure that it paints him (literally in this case) in a particularly positive light. His face doesn’t exactly look full of love and it half gives the impression that he’s in bed, rather than in an important military uniform.

What I do like is that the gallery have provided a photo of the rear of the painting on their web-site, which often tells an interesting story of its own.

This painting was completed in the same year by the same artist and the sitter’s name has the same surname, so I’ll guess that this is perhaps the wife of the general. I think she’s come off better of the two here and she doesn’t look like she’s in bed.

Anyway, I digress.