Samogitians

ZIENKOWICZ LEON, LES COSTUMES DU PEUPLE POLONAIS. SUIVIS D’UNE DESCRIPTION EXACTE DE SES MOEURS, DE SES USAGES ET DE SES HABITUDES. OUVRAGE PITTORESQUE. PARIS-STRASBOURGLEIPZIG, 1841.

Lithograph after Jan Nepomucen Lewicki.

From the end of the 18th century onwards, thinkers, intellectuals and artists directed their attention towards peasants, and their habits, language and traditions. Folk culture came to be perceived as the basis of the national identity. Research was conducted on the customs of peasants in different regions, with special attention paid to their dress. Nostalgia for the homeland made those who were living abroad take on similar activities, especially because the possibilities for printing were better abroad than at home. One of the most beautiful illustrated 19th-century books, published with the help of the diaspora, was ‘Costumes of the Polish People’ (Les costumes du peuple polonais. Suivis d’une description exacte de ses moeurs, de ses usages et de ses habitudes. Ouvrage pittoresque, 1841) by Léon Zienkowicz, a literary critic who emigrated to France after the uprising of 1831. The book was illustrated with 39 lithographs by another emigré, the painter and graphic artist Jan Nepomucen Lewicki (1795–1871). In addition to the different folk costumes from different regions in Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, he included Polish military uniforms. The artist depicted Samogitians standing beside a house with a thatched roof. The group also includes a bear and a half-naked fortune-teller with a baby. It seems that, to Romantics, Samogitia was a land of wonder and mystery.

Text author Rūta Janonienė

Source: Law firm Valiunas Ellex art album RES PUBLICA (2018). Compiler and author Rūta Janonienė
Expositions: "Lithuanian Traditional and Folk Costumes: Textiles, Graphic Art, Painting", 11 May – 5 November 2017, Museum of the Radvilas Palace, Vilnius (curator Dalia Bernotaitė-Beliauskienė, Rima Rutkauskienė)

ZIENKOWICZ LEON, LES COSTUMES DU PEUPLE POLONAIS. SUIVIS D’UNE DESCRIPTION EXACTE DE SES MOEURS, DE SES USAGES ET DE SES HABITUDES. OUVRAGE PITTORESQUE. PARIS-STRASBOURGLEIPZIG, 1841.

Lithograph after Jan Nepomucen Lewicki.

From the end of the 18th century onwards, thinkers, intellectuals and artists directed their attention towards peasants, and their habits, language and traditions. Folk culture came to be perceived as the basis of the national identity. Research was conducted on the customs of peasants in different regions, with special attention paid to their dress. Nostalgia for the homeland made those who were living abroad take on similar activities, especially because the possibilities for printing were better abroad than at home. One of the most beautiful illustrated 19th-century books, published with the help of the diaspora, was ‘Costumes of the Polish People’ (Les costumes du peuple polonais. Suivis d’une description exacte de ses moeurs, de ses usages et de ses habitudes. Ouvrage pittoresque, 1841) by Léon Zienkowicz, a literary critic who emigrated to France after the uprising of 1831. The book was illustrated with 39 lithographs by another emigré, the painter and graphic artist Jan Nepomucen Lewicki (1795–1871). In addition to the different folk costumes from different regions in Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, he included Polish military uniforms. The artist depicted Samogitians standing beside a house with a thatched roof. The group also includes a bear and a half-naked fortune-teller with a baby. It seems that, to Romantics, Samogitia was a land of wonder and mystery.

Text author Rūta Janonienė

Source: Law firm Valiunas Ellex art album RES PUBLICA (2018). Compiler and author Rūta Janonienė
Expositions: "Lithuanian Traditional and Folk Costumes: Textiles, Graphic Art, Painting", 11 May – 5 November 2017, Museum of the Radvilas Palace, Vilnius (curator Dalia Bernotaitė-Beliauskienė, Rima Rutkauskienė)