Girl at the Well c. 1890s

Henryk Siemiradzki painted this oil on canvas entitled 'Girl at the Well' sometime during the late 19th century. Siemiradzki lived during a period of Polish history marked by partitions and national identity struggles. His artistic focus was largely centered around idealized scenes from antiquity, and he gained international recognition for his contributions to academic art. Here, a woman stands in a classical landscape, filling a jug with water from a well. The well, adorned with a lion's head, offers a glimpse into Siemiradzki’s vision of ancient grace. In the art world of the 19th century, dominated by male perspectives, women were often portrayed as objects of beauty or symbols of virtue. Siemiradzki develops this tradition, but the woman's active role in collecting water subtly shifts her away from passive objectification, imbuing her with agency. While Siemiradzki's art often evokes a sense of longing for a bygone era, it also subtly acknowledges the constraints and expectations placed upon women in his own time.