Jerzy Siemiginowski-Eleuter

Jerzy Siemiginowski-Eleuter (born Jerzy Szymonowicz; c. 1660 – c. 1711) was a prominent Polish painter and engraver of the Baroque era. He was court painter to king John III Sobieski and a Polish–Lithuanian noble. He is considered one of the most accomplished painters of Classical Baroque in Poland. His works combine the classical approach with native elements.

Life and professional career Siemiginowski was of Armenian origin. He was born in Lwów (Lviv) in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (today part of Ukraine) and was the son of a painter Jerzy Szymonowicz and Teodozja née Korunka. In 1677, he was entrusted to king John III Sobieski by his parents and was sent by the king to study at the Accademia di San Luca in Rome. On 11 January 1682 he won an Accademia di San Luca contest with a set of two drawings: Construction of the Tower of Babel and God's anger caused by the building of the tower, and in September of that year was admitted to the Academy as a member. While in Rome, he received the Knighthood of the Golden Spur and the title of Eques Auratus from Pope Innocent XI, and remained under the protecteion of the Pope's nephew Livio Odescalchi. He painted classicised portraits of members of the royal family and made engravings, including in collaboration with Charles de La Haye. Siemiginowski established his own school of painting in Wilanów and was a renowned architect (co-designer of the Town Hall in Żółkiew (Zhovkva) among others). Many of his religious paintings in Warsaw (Crucifixion in the Holy Cross Church, Transfiguration in the Capuchin Church among others) were destroyed during the extensive bombardment of the city by the Germans in 1944.