Napoleon Iłłakowicz
1811–1861 · Lithuanian-Polish painter and decorator of the 19th century
Napoleon Iłłakowicz (Napoleonas Ylakavičius in Lithuanian, 1811-1861) was a Lithuanian-Polish painter and decorator. His family traced its origins to Steponas Nakaitis, a Samogitian nobleman who lived at the end of the 16th century. He completed secondary school, where he took drawing lessons with Maciej Przybylski, and from 1830 he studied painting at Vilnius University in the workshops of Jan Rustem.
He took part in the November Uprising and, after its failure, emigrated to France, where he continued his studies between 1833 and 1836. He also studied in Zaragoza. He worked in London at the court of Queen Victoria, and in Italy, Spain and other countries. In 1848 he settled in Lwów, and in 1857 in Vilnius, where he lived until his death.
Among his known works are Portrait of Amazonka (1852), Portrait of an Aristocrat (1852) and Portrait of Ludwika Zamoyska Rozwadowska (1859). The available sources say little about his style and legacy, so his career is known mainly from his training, his travels and these three portraits.