Lot with his daughters

Pijany Lot z córkami [The Drunken Lot with daughters] is a theme originating in the Old Testament (Genesis 19:30-38) and is part of Christian iconography in art. The biblical story to which it refers tells of how Lot's daughters, after fleeing from Sodom to the city of Soar and fleeing again to the mountains, hiding in a cave, used trickery and got their father drunk in order to have intercourse with him. The scene depicted by the artist is the moment when Lot, intoxicated with wine, asleep, unaware of anything, is discovered by one of his daughters, who at the same time puts down the jug of wine. The other half-naked daughter, not concealing her nudity, stands in a daring pose, fixing her hair with her hand, and holding in front of her a robe that barely covers her.

The beginnings of Wydra's artistic activity date back to 1921, when he worked at the Provincial Office in Lublin and took up drawing as an amateur. Two years later, he started studying at the Warsaw School of Fine Arts, where his teacher was Tadeusz Pruszkowski; later they were also united by a common artistic group, of which Pruszkowski was one of the founders - St. Luke Brotherhood, established in 1925. He became friends with the poet Józef Czechowicz, who from the 1930s popularised Wydra's work by publishing reproductions of his works in the "Pion" magazine. Further cooperation with the poet found expression in designing covers for the magazine "Reflektor", a periodical of the literary group of the same name.

The resulting work, from before the establishment of the Brotherhood of St. Luke, is part of Wydra's later activity, which included biblical, genre, historical scenes and portraits.

Klara Sadkowska