Biblical scene with Tobias

Today, Jan Rembowski is a slightly forgotten artist, remaining in the shadow of Wyspiański and Malczewski. The works of both great painters, Słowacki's poetry, folk fairy tales and Tatra legends were a model for him. Rembowski's life was marked by an incurable disease that determined his actions and life choices. He studied in Konstanty Laszczka's sculpture workshop but had to give up sculpture and take up painting. In 1914, he wanted to participate in the fight for Poland, but was not accepted into the Legions due to his health condition. He could only serve with his talent. He immortalised images of soldiers in his drawings. Due to illness, he lived for many years in Zakopane, which influenced his works in content and form. His artistic attitude was formed on the ground of modernism. An inherent element of the stylistics of Young Poland was the use of symbolism. It was also the painter's favourite way of expression.

Rembowski's paintings often refer to national issues, but not directly. Most frequently, the artist used the allusive, ambiguous language of themes and symbols, which can be seen, for instance, in his cycle with Tobias. The biblical tale about the sacrifice of a son who takes up the challenge of a difficult journey in order to cure his father's blindness is a complex, multi-layered reference to the hidden meanings of sacrifice, consecration and healing – metaphors typical of the Aesopian language of description and presentation of the independence cause. In Rembowski's case, the multiplicity of meanings hidden under the cloak of the biblical story is matched by a complex composition that encourages the viewer to search for various ways of reading the painting. In the painting, the son Tobias, with a fish in his hand, touches the eyes of his blind father and, at the same time, is a figure reminiscent of an ancient hero, girded with a highlander's belt. On the left is a figure of an angel, evoking symbolic associations. He unites the world of people and of God, the guide and herald of the future rebirth of Poland emphasised by the brightness of his figure and depiction of a spring garden. The artist's autobiographical experiences also resound here. In this way, Rembowski multiplied the meanings of his paintings.

Bożena Kasperowicz