Teodor Rygier

Who was Teodor Rygier?

Teodor Rygier was a Polish sculptor known for his Adam Mickiewicz Monument in Kraków, Poland. Rygier studied in Warsaw, Dresden, Munich and in Vienna. In the years 1865-1866 he studied sculpture in Berlin and in Paris. Subsequently, Rygier lived and worked in Florence between 1873-1886, and from 1886 in Rome. The Academy of Fine Arts of St Petersburg named him an academic, while the Academies of Fine Arts of Florence, and Bologna nominated him an honorary associate.

A stipend won in Berlin, allowed him to study in Paris. There he displayed a life sized statue of the Madonna at the Salon Exhibition in Paris of 1866. He then returned to Poland to found a factory for the production of terra cotta statues, but the factory fell victim to a fire. During 1867-1874, he also found patronage in Poland for the production of medallions and busts. In Warsaw exhibitions, he won awards in 1872 and 1873 for statues of Faith and Copernicus. He then completed among other works: a statue of the Immaculate Conception, a Coquette, a busts of the Madonna, and a bust of a girl titled il Sorriso.

In 1874, he settled in Florence. There he made a large bronze of the Risen Christ Blessing the World. In 1875 he makes two stucco bas-reliefs: a Christ before Pilate and a Descent from the Cross. He intended to complete the 14 Stations of the Passion in bronze, but was stymied by the expense. In 1875 he sculpted a marble Madonna and child, exhibited at the Salon of Paris. In 1881, he completes the statue of Regina Caelorum, who extends her arms to the entire world. The portraits by this artists includes the bust of Antonio Corazzi of Livorno. In 1874, he offered his larger-than-life marble bust of Copernicus to the Museo Copernicano of Rome, and a terracotta bust of Adam Mickievicz to an Academy in Bologna. Rygier made busts of his wife and sister; of George Washington; of the poet Teofil Lenartowicz; of the doctor Levitoni, philosopher of Warsaw; of Leopold Kronenberg; and the writer Kraszetcski.