Battle of Inkerman

January Suchodolski, a professional soldier, was able to develop his artistic interests as an adjutant to General Wincenty Krasiński, a collector of works of art and militaria. When, after the fall of the November Rising, he decided to devote himself entirely to painting, he began his studies at the French Academy in Rome in 1832. It was run by Horace Vernet, a battle painter and orientalist admired by Suchodolski for years, thanks to whom the Pole became acquainted with the most important European artists living in the Eternal City. The house of the painter from Warsaw became the centre of Italian Polonia. It hosted, among others, the bards of romantic literature - Zygmunt Krasiński (the general's son) and Juliusz Słowacki. Suchodolski created paintings on military and Middle Eastern themes, popular among his compatriots, which were also expected from him after his return to his homeland in 1837. This group includes a view of Bitwa pod Inkermanem [The Battle of Inkerman], one of the skirmishes of the Crimean Wars that brought victory for the Franco-English coalition over the Tsarist forces. The event of 5 November 1854 aroused great interest in the world and lived to see a rich iconography. Famous are the watercolours documenting the battlefield by Lieutenant Colonel Dawkins, Orlando Norie's composition popularised by a lithograph published by Rudolph Ackermann (1854) or later paintings by Elisabeth Thompson (1877) and Robert Gibb (1895). Gustave Doré's great career began with the exhibition of his still unfinished painting The Battle of Inkerman at the Paris Salon of 1857. The canvas became part of the painting programme for the Crimean Hall of the Palace of Versailles, furnished between 1855 and 1861 as part of the Museum of French History. Henryk Rodakowski, a painter of non-French origin, was also among the 18 artists involved in the project.

Szymon Piotr Kubiak