Kazimierz Jelski () (1782 – March 1867 in Vilnius, Lithuania) was a Polish-Lithuanian Classicist architect and sculptor active in

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

. Jelski was born in Ejsymonty near

Grodno Grodno, or Hrodna, is a city in western Belarus. It is one of the oldest cities in Belarus. The city is located on the Neman, Neman River, from Minsk, about from the Belarus–Poland border, border with Poland, and from the Belarus–Lithua ...

, today in

Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

. He was the son of Karol Jelski who was a Polish sculptor, painter and stucco artist. He first studied under his father. Between 1800 and 1808 he studied painting and architecture at the

Vilnius University Vilnius University ( Lithuanian: ''Vilniaus universitetas'') is a public research university, which is the first and largest university in Lithuania, as well as one of the oldest and most prominent higher education institutions in Central and Ea ...

. For painting he studied under

Laurynas Gucevičius Laurynas Gucevičius (; 1753–1798) was a Polish -Lithuanian architect from the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, where all of his designs were built. Biography He was born in the village of Migonys near Kupiškis, in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. H ...

and

Franciszek Smuglewicz Franciszek Smuglewicz (; 6 October 1745 – 18 September 1807) was a Polish-Lithuanian draughtsman and painter. Smuglewicz is considered a progenitor of Lithuanian art in the modern era. He was precursor of historicism in Polish painting. ...

, architecture with Michała Szulca and sculpture with

Andrzej Le Brun Andrzej is the Polish form of the given name Andrew. Notable individuals with the given name Andrzej * Andrzej Bartkowiak (born 1950), Polish film director and cinematographer * Andrzej Bobola, S.J. (1591–1657), Polish saint, missionary and m ...

. From 1809 he studied sculpture at the

Imperial Academy of Arts The Imperial Academy of Arts, informally known as the Saint Petersburg Academy of Arts, was an art academy in Saint Petersburg, founded in 1757 by Ivan Shuvalov, the founder of the Imperial Moscow University, under the name ''Academy of th ...

. From 1811 to 1826, Jelski worked as a professor of the University of Vilnius, where he trained many renowned sculptors. In 1833, he unsuccessfully tried to get a job as a professor of sculpture at the

Jan Matejko Academy of Fine Arts The Jan Matejko Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków (, usually abbreviated to ''ASP''), is a public higher education, institution of higher education located in the centre of Kraków, Poland. It is the oldest Polish fine art academy, established in 1 ...

, and in 1843 tried to set up his own school of sculpture in

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...

. He also had expertise in the valuation and maintenance of sculptures. He collaborated with many famous sculptors. At the end of his life he was forced to arrange English kitchens and build steam mills in the estates. He performed primarily classical sculptures and

bas-relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces remain attached to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb , to raise (). To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that th ...

s and religious monuments and busts and medallions which displayed portraits of famous people of Polish culture and historical figures. Some of his key works include the figures of plaster in the

Vilnius Cathedral The Cathedral Basilica of St Stanislaus and St Ladislaus of Vilnius, also known as Vilnius Cathedral is the main Catholic cathedral in Lithuania. It is situated in Vilnius Old Town, just off Cathedral Square. Dedicated to the Christian saints ...

, statues and bas-reliefs at the Evangelical Reformed Church, four sculptures at St. Peter and St. Paul's Church, and numerous monuments in Vilnius and

Trakai Trakai (; see Trakai#Names and etymology, names section for alternative and historic names) is a city and lake resort in Lithuania. It lies west of Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania or just from the administrative limits of the Lithuanian capi ...

. He also authored a book ''The union of architecture, sculpture and painting'' (1832). Jelski died March 1867 in Vilnius.

References

19th-century Polish sculptors Polish male sculptors 19th-century Polish architects Neoclassical architects Vilnius University alumni Academic staff of Vilnius University Artists from Vilnius 1782 births 1867 deaths Architects from Vilnius {{Poland-sculptor-stub