Antoni Pleszowski "Over a grave" (1859–1889)

 Antoni Pleszowski "Over a grave" (1859–1889)

This woman, her hair covered and a melancholic expression on her face, appears lost in thought, perhaps mourning a loved one. The pose, reminiscent of Michelangelo and later Baroque Roman sepulchral sculpture, reflects the artist's training in Kraków, Vienna, and Rome. The heavy, beautifully carved fabric disrupts the composition's stillness. As philosopher and art critic Henryk Struve observed, the statue blends “simplicity and naturalness with calmness and seriousness.”