Signed p.d.: W. Tetmajer
On the back a typed sheet dated April 1944 with a ruling by Prof. Feliks Kopera confirming the authenticity of the painting.
Also on the reverse:
- near the bottom edge a sticker of Kazimierz Wojciechowski's salon of works of art in Cracow (print, ink): Lp 14935 | SALON DZIEŁ SZTUKI | KAZIMIERZA WOJCIECHOWSKIEGO | KRAKÓW, UL. ŚW. JANA L.3. - TELEFON 100-02. | Date of adoption 1944 | Author Włodzimierz Tetmajer | Title Królowa Jadwiga | Type oil Size.
- Along the p. edge a sticker of the Society of Friends of Fine Arts in Cracow (print, ink): TOW. PRZYJ. SZTUK PIĘKNYCH W KRAKOWIE | No. 134. | Author Tetmajer Włodzimierz | Title Queen Jadwiga | Type oil 36 x 39 | Signature of the author Signed.
- l.d. auction sticker.
Queen Hedwig became famous for her kindness, religiosity and asceticism. She became a grateful subject of legends, the most popular of which is About Queen Hedwig's foot imprinted in stone. Tetmajer presented his interpretation of the legend in the painting presented above. According to legends, Jadwiga Andegawenska brought the Carmelite Order to Krakow. Because of this, the construction of a church to house the new congregation began. The queen often visited the construction site, closely observing both the progress of the construction work and the craftsmen at work. During one of her visits, the monarch's attention was caught by an unfortunate stonemason, who was the only one who did not notice her arrival. When asked about the worries afflicting him, he confessed that he had to leave his sick wife and hungry children at home and the lack of money for a medic cause him deep sadness. Overwhelmed by this, Hedwig rested her foot on a stone and unfastened a gold buckle from her shoe. She gave it to the craftsman, who exulted and ran to get a cure for his wife. The next day, when he set to work he noticed the foot imprinted in the rock as if in clay. A commemoration of this miracle is a stone set into the wall of Krakow's Carmelite church in a place accessible to all the faithful.
Włodzimierz Przerwa-Tetmajer (Harklowa near Ludźmierz in the Podhale region 1862 - Kraków 1923), the half-brother of the poet Kazimierz, began studying painting at an early age; as early as 1875 he attended classes at the School of Fine Arts in Kraków, where he then studied (intermittently) until 1895 - initially with Franciszek Cynk, Leopold Loeffler and Władysław Łuszczkiewicz, and after 1889 with Jan Matejko. At the same time he studied classical philology at Jagiellonian University. In 1882 he still studied at the Vienna Academy, and in 1886-89 at the Munich Academy under Alexander Wagner. He supplemented his studies at the Académie Colarossi in Paris. An imperial scholarship enabled him to travel to Rome. Upon his return, he lived in Cracow. In 1890 he married Anna Mikołajczykówna, daughter of a farmer from the village of Bronowice near Krakow, where he himself often stayed, and in 1895 settled permanently. In 1901 he founded and then ran a painting school for women for several years. Since 1899 he was a member of the Society of Polish Artists "Art"; in 1901 he was one of the founders of the Society "Polish Applied Art"; in 1908 he co-founded the "Zero" group. He was an outstanding representative of the "folklore" trend, a painter of customs, labor and landscapes of the countryside near Krakow. In his earlier period he created in the spirit of academic, Munich realism. Later he developed his own original style - the composition of his paintings was free, he painted with broad brushstrokes and used bright, vivid colors. In 1892-1894 he collaborated with Wojciech Kossak and Jan Styka on Panorama Raclawicka. He designed stained glass windows, did illustration and mural painting, including a polychrome of the Queen Sophia Chapel at Wawel Cathedral in 1902. The artist was the prototype for the character of the Host in S. Wyspiański's drama The Wedding.
