Author: Alfons Karny (1901, Białystok, 1989, Warsaw)
Bronze, contemporary cast
Signed on the left: A. Karny
Property of the DPT in Radziejowice, inv. no. 287/2009
acquisition of the cast: 2009
Unveiled: 16 July, on the 200th anniversary of the poet’s birth, during ninth evening of the first Jerzy Waldorff Summer Festival, accompanied with reading fragments of poem Beniowski by Halina Kwiatkowska.
Realistic, although exaggerated in scale, image depicts Romantic poet Juliusz Słowacki (1809-1849), second of the “trinity” of the national bards, author of metaphysical and allegorical dramas like: Balladyna, Fantazy, Kordian, Lilla Weneda, Mazepa, Samuel Zborowski, Sen srebrny Salomei, lyrics, for example: Beniowski, Anhelli, Król-Duch and poems.
Monumentalised, classic portrait presentation viewed at the front, limited to a fully sculptural head, resting on a strong, long neck and fragment of a naked torso cropped at the sides, portrays a no longer young poet. The long face with a revealed high forehead, clearly defined zygomatic bones is elongated due to the backswept hair which create a distinctive wave. Exceptionally arresting are the big, staring into the distance eyes, set under the long and straight eyebrows, as well as the swelled lower eyelids above the prominent cheekbones and fleshy nose, and bulging lips shadowed by carefully trimmed moustache. The elongated profile is closed at the bottom by the sharply defined line of the chin.
Karny created a likeness of Słowacki in 1949, modelling it in plaster and casting it in cast iron to mark the 140th anniversary of the poet’s birth and the 100th anniversary of his death.
Text: Elżbieta Charazińska
Editing: Beata Fiugajska
Photo: Piotr Ligier