Msza weteranów Wincentego Wodzinowskiego

VETERANS’ MASS BY WINCENTY WODZINOWSKI In 2009 the Historical Museum of the City of Krakow purchased Veterans’ Mass, a painting by Wincenty Wodzinowski. The work features a group of veterans from the January Uprising taking part in a Mass at the Basilica of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, by the Altarpiece of St Sebastian, the patron saint of the veterans. The picture was painted by Wincenty Wodzinowski (1886–1940), a painter, teacher, president of the Sokoł Gymnastic Society in Podgorze, warrant officer in the Polish Legions. Wodzinowski is known to a wide audience for his graceful and colourful genre paintings emblazoning the allure of Bronowice and Swoszowice, two villages near Krakow. Less known are the works from the period of his service in the Polish Legions, when Wodzinowski portrayed commanders and immortalized in his drawings the soldiers’ life. Interesting though modestly represented in Wodzinowski’s works was the theme of historical painting, often allegorical in character. In this group, the most representative was All Souls’ Day in the Wawel Cathedral, a painting that has not survived. Another work falling within this category is Veterans’ Mass from 1910, oil on canvas, 146 x 202 cm in size, signed “Wodzinowski / Krakow” in the bottom righthand corner. The painting fits within the convention of the 1880s, reflected in the prevalence in it of dark brown colour, a feature typical for the so-called Munich school of Polish painting. According to exhibition catalogues, the painting went on display several times. It premiered in 1913 in Lwow, at the exhibition to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the January Uprising (1863/1864). The second display was in Vienna in 1915; two others were held at the Palace of Fine Arts in Krakow in 1925 and 1932, respectively; the latter exhibition commemorated the fortieth anniversary of the artist’s creative work. The fate of the painting was unknown for many years. Of the figures featured in the picture, most are then residents of a shelter for the insurrectionists of 1863/1864. Established in 1892, the shelter functioned until 1918 at 16 Biskupia St. It provided the residents with full board and lodging as well as medical and pastoral care. Wodzinowski depicted a group of thirty men connected with the activity of the shelter. Among them are both regular residents and representatives of the board, such as Władysław Ligęza-Niewiarowski, Jan Jordan, Teodor Kułakowski. The Krakow branch of the Society for Mutual Aid to the Insurgents of 1863/1864 was represented at the Mass by Ludomir Benedyktowicz (1844–1926), a painter, participant in the January Uprising. Extremely important for recognizing residents of the shelter are works by Warsaw draughtsman and graphic artist Ignacy Wroblewski (1853– 1958), whose thirty-five drawings from the years 1908– 1927 feature scenes from everyday life in the shelter and portray its residents. Among the portrayed are Jan Lutyk, Franciszek Seweryn, Jozef Bernacki, Antoni Gąsiorowski, Stanisław Witecki, Jan Marcinkowski. The year 2013 will see the 150th anniversary of the January Uprising. This would be an exceptional opportunity to present to a wider audience the painting that conveys the beautiful message about remembering the past and about a constant link between yesterday and today.