The painting Alexander the Great's trust in Doctor Philip was created by Polish and Russian academic artist Henryk Siemiradzki (1843-1902) in 1870. It is held in the National Art Museum of the Republic of Belarus in Minsk (Inventory No. RZh-712). The dimensions of the painting are 245 × 346.5 cm. The painting depicts the seriously ill Alexander the Great, who is about to drink a medicine prepared by his physician Philip of Acarnania, who is standing next to his bed.
The painting was created as a result of a theme proposed as part of a competition at the Imperial Academy of Arts in early 1870. In the autumn of the same year, the works of Siemiradzki and his competitors were completed and exhibited at the academic exhibition held in St Petersburg. The results of the competition were announced in November 1870, following a unanimous decision by the members of the Academy's Council. Siemiradzki was declared the winner and awarded the big gold medal of the first merit, entitling him to a six-year pensioner's trip abroad at the expense of the Academy of Arts.
In the painting, art critic Vladimir Stasov pointed out "taste, strength, skill and extreme completeness in general", as well as the artist's conscientious study of the achievements of modern history and archaeology. He considered this painting to be an indication that Siemiradzki "has a brilliant future". Art historian Tatyana Karpova considered such distinctive features as "elegance of lines, clear silhouettes of figures, harmonious colouring" to be the merits of the canvas. Art historian Pavel Klimov posited that with this work the artist "showed to himself and to others that he has fully mastered the technical tools and is ready to embark on an independent road".
History
Background and academic contest Between 1864 and 1870, Henryk Siemiradzki undertook his studies at the Academy of Arts in St Petersburg. Initially, he was a free listener until April 1866, after which he became a permanent pupil. His mentors were Carl Wenig and Bogdan Willewalde. In the 1866-1867 academic year, Siemiradzki was awarded one small and two big silver medals for drawings and studies from nature. In 1868, he was awarded the Small Gold Medal of the Academy of Arts for his painting Diogenes Shattering the Bowl. The plot of this painting was based on one of the stories from the life of the ancient Greek philosopher Diogenes. This award granted him the right to participate in the competition for the big gold medal.
The theme of the competition for the large gold medal was announced in early 1870: "Alexander the Great's trust in Doctor Philip during a serious illness". It was not the first academic competition on a similar theme. In 1830, historical painters were given the following task: "To depict Alexander the Great at the moment when he, being in illness and having received a delation, as if his doctor Philip wants to poison him, not trusting this delation, takes from Philip the medicine, and drinks it, meanwhile handing to Philip the marked delation for reading." The gold medal of the second merit in the 1830 competition was awarded to the artist Jan Ksawery Kaniewski for his painting entitled Alexander the Great's Confidence in his Physician Philip. Furthermore, in 1836, Taras Shevchenko, who was then pursuing his studies in St. Petersburg, created a drawing on this theme.
In a letter dated 24 January 1870,The Julian calendar ("old style") is used to date events that took place in the Russian Empire. Siemiradzki wrote to his family: "At last we have been given a theme for the big gold medal, it is without doubt better than Diogenes; it is an episode from the life of Alexander the Great". Another student of the Academy, Mitrofan Vereshchagin, also created a painting on the same theme. In addition, a number of other painters participated in the competition, with a total of five or six paintings submitted. According to some reports, there were simultaneous competitions for both the big and small gold medals on the same theme. Mitrofan Vereshchagin was on the list of candidates for the small medal, while Mikhail Zelensky competed for the big medal alongside Henryk Siemiradzki. It is also known that reliefs on the same theme were submitted by sculptors including Alexander Snigirevsky and Pyotr Dylyov.
Upon the announcement of the theme, the initial task for the contestants was to present a sketch of the future composition. They were required to work on their sketches in complete isolation, with no opportunity to leave their place of work. Additionally, they were provided with food and tea. Once the sketch was complete, it was reviewed and approved by the management of the Academy of Arts, and subsequently retained as a document that could not be altered. The paintings were created in specially designated workshops, in strict secrecy, with the artists effectively "under house arrest". Only those with a legitimate reason to be present in the workshops, namely the teachers on duty and the model painters who arrived at the scheduled times, were permitted to enter.
In March 1870, the studio where Siemiradzki was working on the painting was visited by Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich, who from 1869 had been a fellow president of the Academy of Arts and in 1876 became its president. In a letter to his relatives dated 5 April 1870, Siemiradzki reported that two weeks prior, Vladimir Alexandrovich had "asked a few questions about the work he had started, what the tent over Alexander the Great would be, looked at the sketches, looked at some books lying on the table and left, wishing me a successful completion of the work". As he was engaged in the production of the competition painting, Siemiradzki's financial situation deteriorated, as he had to give up private commissions, which had previously constituted a substantial source of his income. On 15 September 1870, he submitted an application to the Academy of Arts requesting financial assistance to pay off his debts. His petition was successful, and he was granted a sum of 300 roubles.
In the autumn of 1870, the competition paintings by Henryk Siemiradzki and Mitrofan Vereshchagin were shown at an exhibition at the Academy of Arts, which included works created for the diplomas as well as other works. In a letter to his parents dated 4 September 1870, Siemiradzki reported that two days prior, he had already installed his canvas in the hall where the exhibition was to be held - "in a gilded frame and on a dark-coloured wall looks very good". The artist wrote that he was still finalising the painting "on the spot, standing on the stairs". He stated that the exhibition was due to open at the end of September. During the exhibition, an engraved reproduction of Siemiradzki's painting was published by the journal Vsemirnaya Illyustratsiya (1870, No. 100, p. 809). The engraving was created by the artist Lavrentiy Seryakov. Art critic Vladimir Stasov wrote a review of the academic exhibition, praising both Siemiradzki's competition painting and the young artist's potential: "First of all, it seems to me, we should give Siemiradzki the big gold medal and send this artist abroad as soon as possible. For many reasons, it seems to me that this artist has a brilliant future ahead of him". Other critics, in particular Pavel Kovalevsky, offered generally positive appraisals of Siemiradzki's painting.
The results of the competition were announced on 4 November 1870. By unanimous decision of the members of the Academy's Council, Siemiradzki was declared the winner and awarded a big gold medal of the first merit. The artist was delighted with his success, writing: "It was one of the most solemn days of my life. The examination was extremely rigorous; of those who worked with me, no one received a [big gold] medal except me". The likelihood of Siemiradzki being a favourite of the competition was already apparent even before its conclusion. In a letter written by the artist to his parents at the end of October, he stated: "In a few days, i.e. on 4 November, there will finally be a ceremony with the distribution of awards, at which I will receive a medal, this is beyond any doubt; although there is nothing official, everyone knows about it." In addition to the medal, Siemiradzki was bestowed with the title of Class Artist of the First Degree, entitling him to a six-year pensioner's trip abroad at the expense of the Academy of Arts. Mitrofan Vereshchagin was awarded a gold medal of the second degree. His painting, entitled Confidence of Alexander the Great in his physician Philip during grave illness, is currently housed in the State Russian Museum in St. Petersburg (canvas, oil, 137 × 187 cm, inv. Zh-9149).
Subsequent events In August 1871 Siemiradzki began his overseas pensioner's trip, and from May 1872 he lived and worked in Rome. In 1873 Siemiradzki completed the large-format painting Christ and Sinner, and in 1876 a giant canvas Nero's Torches. Until 1877, he resided in Italy as a pensioner of the Academy of Arts. Thereafter, he decided not to return to Russia and remained in Rome.
In 1881, the painting entitled Alexander the Great's trust in Doctor Philip was exhibited at the Exhibition of Painting and Sculpture held in the halls of the Academy of Arts in St Petersburg. In 1882, the painting was exhibited at the All-Russian Industrial and Art Exhibition held in Moscow. A total of five works by Siemiradzki were presented in the art department of the exhibition: Alexander the Great's trust in Doctor Philip, Christ and Sinner, The Sword Dance, Orgy in the reign of Tiberius on the island of Capri and a reduced reproduction of Nero's Torches.
For an extended period, the painting Alexander the Great's trust in Doctor Philip was in the possession of the Academy of Arts. In particular, it was catalogued under this title in the 1915 Museum of the Imperial Academy of Arts catalogue of Russian paintings (number 186). This catalogue also lists seven other Siemiradzki sketches in the museum, but these were made for other works.
In consequence of the post-revolutionary transformations that commenced in 1918, during the early 1920s the painting, whilst remaining within the same academic museum, was allocated to the collection of the Petrograd Higher Art and Technical Institute (VKhUTEIN). In 1923, the painting was transferred to the State Russian Museum. In 1930, it was returned to the academic museum, which was now part of the Institute of Proletarian Fine Arts. In 1931, the museum was disbanded, and Siemiradzki's painting was transferred to the State Tretyakov Gallery, where it was housed until 1957. The painting is catalogued in the Tretyakov Gallery under the inventory number 20803. In the lower right corner of the canvas, another number has been written in red paint: 2355. It is possible that this is the inventory number of the Russian Museum.
In the 1950s, a new building was under construction in Minsk for the State Art Museum of the BSSR, whose director since 1944 had been Alena Aladava. The Russian Art Department's new space required the acquisition of two or three large-sized canvases to be displayed prominently on the end walls of the enfilade halls on the second floor, where they would be visible from a distance. Aladova was able to reach an agreement with the painting's owner, Klavdia Elanskaya, an actress from the Moscow Art Theatre and a People's Artist of the USSR, regarding one of the paintings. It was Vasily Surikov's The Apostle Paul explains the tenets of faith in the presence of King Agrippa, his sister Berenice, and the proconsul Festus (canvas, oil on canvas, 142 × 218.5 cm, now in the State Tretyakov Gallery, inv. Zh-48), for which Surikov received the title of Class Artist of the 1st degree in 1875.