The article contains information about a tomb sculpture intended for a tomb in Vilnius, created in the workshop of W. Oleszczyński. The text was published in the Tygodnik Illustrowany in 1859 (Source: Tygodnik Illustrowany, Warsaw 1859, T: I, p. 37., after: Digital Library of the University of Łódź).

A modernised reading of the text

Let us now move on to assess another work by Mr W. (Moszczyński), soon to come out of his studio. It is a tomb monument for the late Mr Śniadecki to Vilnius, which is supposedly to be cast in bronze at the government gisery in Solec, under the direction of Mr Rychlewski. The artist, wishing to emphasise that God rewards quiet merit and Christian humility, made the following composition. An angel descends on a fragment of rock, representing Golgotha on which the cross stands. One knows by the movement of the figure and the raising of the wings that he has only just descended, by a character full of solemnity and austere majesty that it is an angel of justice.

With his right hand he points to the emblem of suffering, with his left he lays a wreath on the grave of the deceased, as a testimony of divine recognition. God's justice, watching over the actions of men, shines brightly from the statue and gives it an expression of unspeakable virility and strength, however, stimulating more of a sense of heavenly loveliness. This idea, more serious and profound than those ordinarily used for tombs, seems to us more appropriate to soothe grief and elevate the soul than those embittered statues or shattered emblems of earthly happiness and fame. Unrelieved grief for the dead tends to characterise our attachment to the earth and our weakness, rather than a true religious strength which sees the earth as a field of merit and sees its goal in the beyond.

The execution of this statue in severe and serious lines, in widely treated drapery and correct drawing, does not in any way contradict the idea which the artist had in mind; however, if to this idea he had added an expression of love and heavenly grace, this work, being more comprehensive, would have made an even deeper impression. Perhaps the simultaneous making of this statue with the graceful figure of the Mother of God affected the artist's mind and created such a contrast in his conception of the character of the angel-exile; nevertheless, the idea and the correct execution prove such a profound conception of art that we can only rejoice in the direction which Mr W. (Moszczyński) wishes to represent in national art.