JÓZEF SIMMLER, 1860

An accomplished Polish painter, known for his ability to capture emotion and humanity in his work, Józef Simmler drew influence from the German and French academic style, which valued precise detail and historical accuracy. He favoured subjects from Polish history, though he was also a skilled portraitist, receiving many portrait commissions despite the rise of photography during his lifetime.

The Death of Barbara Radziwiłł is Simmler’s most famous painting. It captures the final moments of Barbara Radziwiłł, wife of Sigismund II Augustus, the last monarch of the Jagiellonian dynasty which had ruled over Poland, Lithuania, Bohemia, and Hungary from the 14th to 16th century. Through marriage, Barbara became Grand Duchess of Lithuania and Queen of Poland, but she died only five months after her coronation.

While most historians today believe her death was caused by illness, rumours at the time suspected poisoning, placing the blame on the Queen Mother, who had been vehemently opposed to the union between Barbara and Sigismund. As a result, many have idealised the relationship as a tale of star-crossed lovers, and this is reflected in Simmler’s painting, which reads like the closing act of a Shakespearean tragedy.

Barbara lies in bed, shrouded in white silk with one arm slipping lifelessly off the mattress, the closed prayer book on the chair beside her symbolising the end of her life. Sigismund, who has been tending Barbara in her final hours, seems overcome by grief, his brow furrowed as he stares at her pallid face. It is a remarkably intimate moment, giving us a glimspe of Sigismund not as a monarch but as a man, with all the vulnerability and human emotion that comes with losing a loved one.