This is my almost finished watercolor portrait of Adam Mickiewicz. He is regarded as the Polish national bard. He wrote the Polish national epic poem "Pan Tadeusz" ("Sir Thaddeus") which begins with the words .... "Lithuania! My fatherland, you are like health..": )
This paradox can be explained by the fact that before loosing its independence in 1795 Poland and Lithuania constituted one state: the Polish Commonwealth.
The book was published in 1834 just a couple of years after the failed Polish November Uprising of 1830-31 against the Russian Empire. Mickiewicz believed Poland to be the "Christ of the Nations", that like Christ had to suffer (partitions of 1772-1795) for all humanity. "The messianic element conflicted with Roman Catholic teachings, and some of his works were placed on the Church's list of prohibited books, though both Mickiewicz and Towiański regularly attended Catholic mass and encouraged their followers to do so ." (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Mickiewicz)
