Holy Trinity – Seasons

Józef Mehoffer was born on 19 March 1869 in Ropczyce. His father, Wilhelm, was a doctor of law and educated at Lvov University. Józef had four brothers: Eugeniusz, Alfred, Wiktor and Wilhelm.

When Józef was one year old, his family moved to Kraków, which was linked to his father's promotion to the position of advisor to the National Court in Kraków. Three years after the move, Wilhelm died.

During his school years Józef Mehoffer met Stanisław Estreicher, Henryk Opieński and Stanisław Wyspiański, and together they attended St Anne's Gymnasium. Choosing higher education, Mehoffer pursued two fields of study: law at the Jagiellonian University and painting at the School of Fine Arts, where he studied under Jan Matejko. He later continued his studies in law in Vienna and in painting in Paris. In Paris he became friends with Stanisław Wyspiański, where he met his future wife, Jadwiga Jankowska, a graduate of painting studies in Munich.

One of his first successes was winning a competition for the design of stained-glass windows for St. Nicholas Cathedral in Fribourg in 1895. At the age of twenty-six, he defeated competing painters from Europe. Mehoffer was the author of numerous stained-glass and polychrome designs for churches in Poland, including those in Cracow, Włocławek, Lwów, Przemyśl, Jutrosin, and Lubień.

Józef Mehoffer was a very industrious artist, the author of over five hundred easel paintings. In addition to his prolific activity as a painter, he was a lecturer at the Kraków Academy. In 1900, he became a docent in the Department of Decorative Painting, in 1902 he became an associate professor and in 1905 a full professor. He was the rector of the Academy for seven years. He founded the Society of Polish Artists "Sztuka".

The stained-glass design, which is in the collection of the National Museum in Lublin, was intended for the Boner (St. John the Baptist) Chapel in St. Mary’s Church in Kraków.

Klara Sadkowska