Late 19th Century After Ambrozy Mieroszewski, Justyna Chopin in White Bonnet and Red Scarf, Portrait Miniature, Gilt Frame

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This a rare color portrait miniature painting in an elaborate gilt frame. The painting features Justyna Chopin (beloved mother of … Read more This a rare color portrait miniature painting in an elaborate gilt frame. The painting features Justyna Chopin (beloved mother of master classical composer, Frederic Chopin) in a white bonnet and a red scarf or coat.

After an oil portrait by Ambrozy Mieroszewski (1829). Ambroży Mieroszewski (1802–1884) was a Polish painter who was Frédéric Chopin's first known portraitist. This is the only highly colored and well-preserved reproduction painting of this historic portrait I have come across on the open market; solidifying this artwork as extremely valuable to collectors and historians. A brown, black and white oil miniature portrait by Jan Zamoyski (1969) is held by the Fryderyk Chopin Society in Warsaw, and is the only official reproduction portrait of Justyna Chopin owned by the museum.

Ambrozy Mieroszewski painted a series of portraits of members of the Chopin family in 1829, including the composer's first known portrait.

Justyna Krzyżanowska
Born: Tekla Justyna Krzyżanowska 14 September 1782 Długie, Brześć Kujawski Voivodeship, Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (in modern Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship, Poland)
Died: 1 October 1861 (aged 79) Warsaw, Congress Poland

Other names: Justyna Chopin
Spouse: Nicolas Chopin (m. 1806)
Children: Ludwika Frédéric Izabela Emilia
Father: Jakub Krzyżanowski

Justyna Krzyżanowska (1782-1861) was a Polish nanny, amateur musician, and pianist who became the first music teacher of her son, the pianist and composer Frédéric Chopin. She later ran a boarding house for students who attended the Warsaw Lyceum.

Justyna Krzyżanowska ([juˈstɨ.na kʂɨ.ʐaˈnɔf.ska]; c. 14 September 1782 – 1 October 1861) was a Polish nanny, amateur musician, and pianist who became the first music teacher of her son, the pianist and composer Frédéric Chopin. She later ran a boarding house for students who attended the Warsaw Lyceum.

From a young age, Frederic’s sister, Ludwika, began her schooling and was taught to play the piano by her mother. She began to teach Frédéric to read and write and taught basic piano skills to her younger brother as part of a teaching game. By age four, he had surpassed her knowledge, and Krzyżanowska began teaching him. By the time he was seven years old, Frédéric's talent was apparent, he had surpassed what his mother could teach him, and a tutor was hired for young Frederic.

Justyna Chopin
Justyna Chopin (1782–1861) née Krzyżanowska was the mother of Fryderyk Chopin. Krzyżanowska left home in the early 19th century – probably when her father died – and moved in with Kacper and Ludwika Skarbek at Żelazowa Wola, almost certainly to assist them in running the home. This is where she met Mikołaj Chopin, who tutored the Skarbek’s children. The couple was married in Brochów in 1806.

Frederic Chopin was a child prodigy who began writing and composing poetry at the age of six and gave his first public concerto at the age of eight. Chopin had already performed in the drawing rooms of innumerable Polish aristocracy and created original compositions by the age of twelve. His parents were also musicians; his mother was a piano instructor, while his father was a flutist and violinist.

Krzyżanowska was very close to her son, who not only corresponded frequently with his parents after he had left the country, but often spoke of his mother with great affection and respect. Surviving references by those who knew her paint her as a devoted wife and mother, and as a kind, gentle, patient and pious woman concerned to preserve the Polish identity of her home and family.

This is a very unique color portrait miniature painting of a beloved subject. The retention of the red color and detailed facial features is particularly remarkable.

The Original Piece:
Mieroszewski was active in Warsaw, in the Kingdom of Poland, at least as early as 1829.

Mieroszewski's works included oil portraits, painted in 1829, of composer Frédéric Chopin (the earliest known portrait of him); his parents — Nicolas Chopin (1771–1844) and Justyna Chopin, née Krzyżanowska (1782–1861); the older sister of Fryderyk (as he then was) Ludwika (1807–1855), and his younger sister Izabela (1811–1881). In that same year, Mieroszewski also painted a portrait of the Fryderyk's first professional piano teacher, Wojciech Żywny.

All six portraits were the property of Laura Ciechomska of Warsaw when they were lost in the opening days of World War II, in September 1939. Only black-and-white photographs of them survive, though attempts have been made to reconstruct the paintings in color—the portrait of Fryderyk (Frédéric), in 1968 by Anna Chamiec; the other Chopin family members, in 1969 by Jan Zamoyski; and Wojciech Żywny, in 1969 by Jadwiga Kunicka-Bogacka.

This painting is the only vividly colored portrait I have found online. Other than the aforementioned museum replica, all other available references to the original work are based off of a surviving black and white photograph. See less