Henryk Levittoux (1822-1879), plaster medallion representing - Lot 190

Henryk Levittoux (1822-1879), plaster medallion representing Karol Levittoux, Paris, 1847 Signed, localized and dated at center. Identified on the left of the profile: Karol Levittoux. Polish inscription in relief at bottom: Wiecznej pamięci Karola / Brat Henryk. Inscription in Polish engraved at top: Urodzil sie w Womelsku (Kumelsk?) w Augustowskiem Roku 1820 d. 31 Października spalil sie zywcem za Wolność i Ojczyznę w 1841 d. sierp. W Cytadelli (sic) więzieniu Stanu w Warszawie. Dedicated in French in pencil at bottom: À Monsieur Guinard / Hommage d'un respect profond / et d'une vive reconnaissance / H. Levittoux. 15.5 x 14.5 cm Framed under glass. Karol Levittoux (1820-1841), son of a Napoleonic soldier who settled in Poland in 1913, in turn became a Polish independence activist. Arrested and imprisoned in the Warsaw Citadel, he committed suicide by setting fire to his bed so as not to denounce his comrades-in-arms. Henryk Levittoux (1822-1879), Karol's brother, a doctor and artist, left Poland for political reasons and stayed in Paris between 1844 and 1858. The dedication is possibly to Joseph Guinard (1799-1874), a French politician and defender of the Republic. A bronze medallion by the foundry Eck & Durand is kept at the National Museum in Szczecin (MNS/N/15905). [POLONICA, POLISH ART]