Tadeusz Popiel

Tadeusz Popiel (Szczucin, 1863 – Kraków, 1913) was a Polish painter known for religious and historical scenes and, above all, for his contribution to several large-scale panoramas. He came from minor nobility, and his brother Antoni Popiel was a sculptor.

He studied at the Kraków Academy of Fine Arts and later worked on composition under Jan Matejko, who became his patron, before continuing his training in Vienna and Munich. In the 1890s he travelled widely, visiting Denmark, Italy, Romania and Russia, among other places. He exhibited often and won medals at the 1889 Exposition Universelle and the 1894 California Midwinter International Exposition.

His commissions included decorations at the Basilica of Saint Anthony of Padua, won through a competition, and at several theatres in Lwów. He also produced murals, frescoes and stained glass for churches and public buildings across Poland. He founded a drawing school and was one of the founders of the Society of Artists in Poznań. He lived in Kraków, Lwów and Chernivtsi and, in his later years, worked mainly in Swoszowice, where he had his studio, turning increasingly to landscape.

By the end of his life his work was considered old-fashioned. He is now remembered mainly for his work on panoramas by Jan Styka, such as the Racławice Panorama and the Transylvania Panorama.