3720

Archimandrite Gregorius of Philippopolis, later the Metropolitan Grigori of Dorostol and Tcherven^[1] 1894

Seated three-quarter length and looking down to the left with his hands resting on the arms of a green upholstered chair with carved finials, wearing the black robes with the tall black cylindrical hat –  kamilavka – and black veil of the Orthodox priesthood, an emerald encrusted pectoral cross and a medallion with an enamel picture of the Virgin and Child surrounded by pearls, a large drop-pearl below; on his breast the Star of the Order of St Alexander (1st Class)

Oil on canvas, 126 x 112 cm (49 ⅝ x 44 in.)

Inscribed lower right: László F / Sófia 1895 [red paint]

Inscribed upper right with arms beneath a double headed eagle: GREGORIVS

Laib L11554 (531) / C22 (4)  

National Gallery for Foreign Art, Sofia, Bulgaria

In his 1913 monograph on de László, Otto von Schleinitz described this portrait as “a technical masterpiece” and “the decisive turning point”^[2] in the artist’s career. It was painted in 1894 while the artist was in Sofia, Bulgaria to paint the Bulgarian royal family, see [3937]. After de László had finished the portraits of Prince Ferdinand [3937], Princess Maria Louisa [3715] and their baby son, Prince Boris [3712] & [3934] at the family’s summer palace at Euxinograd, he returned to Sofia with the court when winter arrived. He was fascinated, not only by the city’s oriental appearance but also by the long-bearded Orthodox priests – “conservative, cruel, uncultivated servants of an intolerant and antiquated church, in their picturesque flowing garments and curious high black hats.”^[3] 

Prince Ferdinand himself asked the artist to paint a three-quarter length portrait of the then Archimandrite of Philippopolis,^[4] who was on a visit to Sofia. Apparently the prince, whose throne had not yet been totally secured, paid great deference to the Archimandrite who was a man of considerable power. De László described his first impressions: “A splendid studio was arranged for me at the palace, and I could not have wished for a more inspiring and intelligent subject. He was Greek by birth, and in mind and heart Byzantine. He had perfect classic features. When he first entered the studio in his simple black robe and back head-dress, I was deeply impressed by the dignity of his bearing and the calmness of his presence. On his breast he wore the star of Bulgaria’s highest decoration, set in brilliants. He had deep-set eyes and a pensive, dark expression which bespoke a profound inner life. I respected him, and loved him for his beautiful appearance [...] He was a silent man, and there was very little conversation, but from time to time he would address a few words in Bulgarian to his chaplain, a German, who was present at all the sittings and acted as an interpreter.”^[5] De László painted the Archimandrite in twelve sittings and took the picture back to Budapest early in 1895, to complete it.^[6]

In fact the sitter was not Greek, as de László assumed. He was born in 1828 Georgi Nemtsov into a Bulgarian family in the village of Soroki, which was then part of the Russian Empire.^[7] He was educated at the Serbian Orthodox Hilandar Monastery on Mount Athos in Macedonia, Greece. He became an Archimandrite on 17 July 1866, when in service at St. Stefan’s Cathedral in Istanbul and in July 1872 he was appointed Exarchate Metropolitan of the diocese of Dorostol and Tcherven.  

During the last years of Bulgaria as a dependency of the Ottoman Empire, his political position was controversial. On the one hand he was an active supporter of the independent Bulgarian Exarchate,^[8] on the other hand, as Metropolitan, he publicly called his congregation in Rousse^[9] to obey the Sultan. After the Liberation of Bulgaria he became a member of the First Parliament as a supporter of the Conservative Party. He was a very close advisor to Ferdinand the First, Prince and later Tsar of Bulgaria, and became a prominent member of the Bulgarian Educational Society, the future National Academy of Sciences. He died in 1898 in the city of Rousse.

PROVENANCE:

In the collection of the Royal Palace in Sofia

EXHIBITED: 

•Venice, Biennale d’arte di Venezia, 1895, no. 174

•Műcsarnok, Hungarian Fine Art Society, Budapest, Téli kiállítás [Winter Exhibition], 1895-96, no. 120 (in the property of the King of Bulgaria)

•Kunstsalon Schneider, Frankfurt, winter 1896-97

•Műcsarnok, Budapest, Millennium Exhibition, 1896, no. 843 (in the property of Prince Ferdinand of Bulgaria)

•Glaspalast, Munich, Glaspalast International Exhibition, 1897, no. 990

•Schulte Gallery, Berlin, February 1898

•Natsionalna galeriya za tchuzhdestranno izkustvo [National Gallery for Foreign Art], Sofia, Ungarsko maistori v Bulgariya [Hungarian Masters in Bulgaria], 13 September – 14 October 2012

LITERATURE:

•Norddeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung, Berlin, 16 February 1898

•Egy magyar művész sikerei Berlinben [The success of a Hungarian artist in Berlin], Budapesti Napló, Budapest, 8 March 1898

•Kunst für Alle, 1 April 1898, ill p. 203

•Vasárnapi Újság, Budapest, Issue 15, 14 April 1907, p. 295

•Schleinitz, Otto von, Künstler Monographien, no. 106, Ph. A. von László, Velhagen & Klasing, Bielefeld and Leipzig, 1913, p. 26, ill. pl. 18

•Williams, Oakley, ed., Selections from the Work of P.A. de László, Hutchinson, London, 1921, p. 9

•Rutter, Owen, Portrait of a Painter, London, 1939, pp. 142, 148, 158

•Muir, Nadejda, Dimitri Stancioff, Patriot and Cosmopolitan, 1864-1940, Murray, London, 1957, p. 66

•Clifford, Derek, The Paintings of P.A. de Laszlo, London, 1969, ill. pl. 10

•Hart-Davis, Duff, Philip de László, His Life and Art, Yale University Press, New Haven and London, 2010, pp. 43, ill. pl. 24

•Hart-Davis, Duff, in collaboration with Caroline Corbeau-Parsons, De László: His Life and Art, Yale University Press, 2010, p. 43-44, 49, ill. 24

•Hart-Davis, Duff, László Fülöp élete és festészete [Philip de László's Life and Painting], Corvina, Budapest, 2019, ill. 21

•László, Philip de, 1931 diary, private collection

•NSzL150-0009, letter from de László to Lippich, 8 November 1894

•NSzL150-0010, letter from de László to Lippich, Sofia, 24 November 1894

•DLA162-0154, Pesti Hírlap, 10 January 1895, p. 5

•DLA140-0017, Vasárnapi Újság, Budapest, vol. 42, Issue 48, 1895, ill. p. 797

•DLA090-0063, Prém, József, “Magyar arckép- és genre-festők” [Hungarian Portrait and Genre Painters], Magyarország [date and page unknown]

•DLA090-0090, Salgó, Ernő, “A téli műtárlat” [Winter Exhibition], Egyetértés [date and page unknown]                

•DLA162-0459, Kézdi-Kovács, László, “Téli műtárlat” [Winter Exhibition], Pesti Hírlap, 27 November 1895, p. 1

•DLA140-0016, Új Idők, vol. I, issue 51, Budapest, 8 December 1895, ill. p. 16

•DLA140-0027, “Studio-Talk”, The Studio, vol. 7, no. 37, April 1896, p. 182

•Letter from de László to Elek Lippich, 16 February 1898, National Széchényi Library, Budapest

AG 2012