On The Death of Saint Joseph. Notes on the book by Jan Zieliński

This article introduces French press sources discussing the painting The Death of Saint Joseph exhibited in Galerie Colbert in Paris during the summer of 1862, whose authorship was attributed at the time to Raphael. One admirer of the exhibition was Cyprian Norwid.Under the impression that he was in the presence of a Renaissance masterpiece, he wrote two touching letters to Joanna Kuczyńska, in which he shared his impressions of the exhibition. The cited sources supplement the findings contained in the book by Jan Zieliński, reveal the inside story behind the mystification, and narrate the future fate of the painting admired by the poet.