The Polish pianist and composer, long-time professor at the Brussels Conservatory, Józef Wieniawski, younger brother of Henryk Wieniawski, is buried in the Ixelles Cemetery in Brussels - one of Belgium's most important necropolises, where famous figures from the worlds of politics, science and art are buried.

Józef Wieniawski
Józef Wieniawski was born on 23 May 1837 in Lublin, and died on 11 November 1912 in Brussels. His father, Tadeusz Wieniawski, a participant in the November Uprising, ran a medical practice in Warsaw, and his mother, Regina, daughter of the Warsaw physician and patron of the arts Józef Wolff, received a musical education, as did her brother, the famous pianist Edward Wolff. It was thanks to her that music was an important part of her children's education. Joseph's elder brother was Henry, who became one of the most outstanding violinists and composers of the 19th century. Joseph was ranked as one of Europe's greatest pianists and became famous as a composer, conductor, teacher and promoter of music.

The author of the bas-reliefs on Józef Wieniawski's gravestone monument in the Ixelles Cemetery, made in 1913, was Hendrik Joos (1880-1951), sculptor and pupil of the composer.

The tombstone takes the form of an obelisk set on a plinth and marble slab. A stone vase is set in front of the obelisk. The grave field is bounded at the front by several blocks of stone. The three walls of the obelisk are decorated with copper alloy relief elements. On the front wall is a medallion with a portrait of Józef Wieniawski.

Its lower part bears the maker's signature and the date of creation: HENDRIK JOOS - 1913. Below it is an inscription of letters cast in metal: JOSEPH WIENIAWSKI / PIANISTE - COMPOSITEUR / POLONAIS / LUBLIN 1837 / BRUXELLES 1912 and an inscription dedicated to the artist's wife: MELANIE WIENIAWSKA / NEE HILZHEIMER / BRUNSWICK 1860 / IXELLES 1942.

On the next wall was placed, signed HENDRIK JOOS - 1913, a bronze relief with a representation of the muse Euterpe - the allegory of Music. In the lower part of the bas-relief one can see an inscription informing about the company that made the casting: FONDERIE NAT LE DES BRONZES / ANC NE FIRME J. PETERMANN / SICILLES BRUXELLES.

The decoration of the back wall is a casting in the form of a wreath, under which is an inscription carved in stone with a quotation from Cyprian Kamil Norwid's "Promethidion": O! ART! / THOU OF HEROISM / WITH A FAITHLESS BLUSH / WITH EAGLES THE HORDES / THOU LEADEST HOME / AND OVER THE GRAVE WHITE / THOU STANDEST WITH A WREATH / C. NORWID. These lines are followed by an inscription in Polish: S † P / JÓZEF WIENIAWSKI / ARTIST - MUSICIAN / UR. W LUBLIN DN. 27.5.1837 / DIED IN BRUSSELS DN. 11.11.1912.

Conservation works on the gravestone monument of Józef Wieniawski
Thanks to the cooperation of the Polish Institute and the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Brussels with the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, in 2015 Dr Piotr Niemcewicz from the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń prepared a conservation expertise for the gravestone monument of Józef Wieniawski. The Henryk Wieniawski Musical Society of Poznań joined the efforts for the restoration of the valuable tombstone and in 2016 the artist's grave underwent conservation work subsidised by the Programme of the Minister of Culture and National Heritage 'Protection of Cultural Heritage Abroad'.

The team of conservators was led by Piotr Niemcewicz, Ph.D., and the Polish Institute in Brussels undertook the coordination of the conservation work related to the restoration of the monument. The conservators succeeded in stopping the deterioration of the monument by removing harmful layers of stone and metal and by filling in various types of defects. The monument has been protected from the weather. In addition, the partly lost artistic and aesthetic values of the tombstone have been restored, such as the natural colour of the stone, the colour integration of the noble patina or the authentication of the inscription made using the technique of concave relief.

The project, carried out thanks to the efforts of the Henryk Wieniawski Musical Society in Poznań and the Polish Institute in Brussels, and co-financed by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, was accompanied by a film impression devoted to the restoration of the tombstone and recalling the figure of the Polish pianist, composer, pedagogue and conductor. The presentation of the film, in which pianist Jacek Kortus talked about Józef Wieniawski, took place during the 15th H. Wieniawski International Violin Competition, in October 2016 in Poznań.

"Renovation of the grave of Józef Wieniawski in Brussels". Produced by SIDMA Alina Mackiewicz A film impression about Józef Wieniawski and his music, based on the renovation of his grave in the Ixelles Cemetery in Brussels.