Jan STYKA (1858 - 1925), Nero, from the series: "Quo Vadis", 1901

heliogravure, paper, 25.5 x 17, 5 cm (plate imprint), passe - partout: 37 x 29 cm, signed in composition p.d.. bound monogram "JS", under the composition "Neron a baies" and the printmaker's signature "imp.Ch.Wittmann" (imp. - impressit/reflected).

Croton - gladiator whom Mark Vinicius hired to kill Ursus.

Jan Styka was the first Polish artist to illustrate the full text of Henryk Sienkiewicz's Quo vadis, and his work related to this novel was particularly abundant. Over the years, the artist produced more than 200 drawings and paintings en grisaille (for the Flammarion publishing house) and more than a dozen color oil paintings. His panorama The Martyrdom of the Christians in Nero's Circus and illustrations for the novella Let's Follow Him ! also belong to the circle of similar thematic representations. Jan Styka (1858-1925) painted historical and religious paintings, portraits and battle scenes. He was best known as the creator of huge historical and religious panoramas. The artist was born in Lviv. From 1877 he studied at the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts, and then (in 1882-1885) at the Cracow School of Fine Arts.
Charles Wittman (1876 - 1953) - French painter, printmaker, illustrator, graduate of the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris.