Gentleman in a black robe

Franciszek Smiadecki created his small-format portraits not in the traditional miniature technique using watercolours, but in oils, similar to the Dutch artists. The portraits are characterised by fresh colours and striking contrasts, and the models have a three-dimensional quality. One of Smiadecki’s special features is his treatment of the background: In some of his portraits – as in the two items in the Tansey Collection – the model appears in front of a slightly cloudy blue sky. This type of background was indeed widespread in watercolour miniature painting at the time, but very rare in oil miniatures. In this work, the painter blended the sky into a landscape with a line of hills and a castle complex or a town. We will never know whether these were real buildings or a product of the artist’s imagination. Smiadecki gave all of his sitters, including this gentleman, a stern and serious facial expression.1 Although the model looks at the beholder apparently without any emotion, the marked, almost chiselled features still have a certain appealing softness.

Although unsigned, this portrait can be safely attributed to Smiadecki on grounds of style and the unusual background. The work exhibits clearly defined forms and very different colours in the individual areas of the picture. Each part has its own “value” and was painstakingly executed.

B. P.