83

In the context of the November 1830 uprising, there arose in Poland the desire for the emergence of national history painting. Turning away from the formulas then in vigor, judged outdated, several young artists sought out French models. Two artists in particular prevailed as their references and generated this rupture: Théodore Géricault and Horace Vernet. This article proposes the analysis of the process around two principal figures: Piotr Michalowski (1800-1855) and January Suchodolski (17971875), each confronted directly – but differently – with the works of their respective mentors, and both actors in these transnational cultural transfers that marked Polish art in the first part of the 19th century.