Eugeniusz Kazimirowski



Eugeniusz Marcin Kazimirowski (11 November 1873 – 23 September 1939 in Białystok) was a Polish painter, and member of the realism movement. He is best known for the first depiction of the Divine Mercy image in 1934, based on a request from Faustyna Kowalska and her confessor Michael Sopoćko.

Background
Kazimirowski studied painting at the Kraków Academy of Fine Arts 1892–1897. He continued his studies in Munich, Paris and Rome. After World War I, he moved from Kraków to Wilno. He taught at the Wilno Teacher Training Institute and worked on theatrical design in Wilno. He painted mostly landscapes and portraits.

Kazimirowski's Divine Mercy was first shown in public at the Easter ceremonies of 25–28 April 1934, and the first Mass with the Divine Mercy image was celebrated by Rev. Michael Sopoćko at the Gate of Dawn church in Wilno, on 28 April 1935 the second Easter Sunday, long before the Vatican approved the term Divine Mercy Sunday in 2000.

Most of Kazimirowski's works were lost in World War II.