He studied painting with Jan Maszkowski in Lwów. Then, from 1839 to 1841, he attended the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna. After returning to Lwów, he was appointed Curator of the art collections at the Ossolineum. During this time, he travelled throughout Galicia, drawing historical sites and objects. Later, he painted portraits and genre scenes, as well as some religious works. This included a depiction of the Holy Trinity at the Holy Trinity Church [pl] in Rzeszów.
Among his first writings were numerous articles and entries for the 28 volume set of Orgelbrand's Universal Encyclopedia, published from 1859 to 1868.[1]
He also wrote dissertations on art, history and antiquity. His first monograph was on Stary Sącz: Sądecczyzna and was a fundamental source of information for researchers of the region. His other best known work was an historical novel, about the Bar Confederation. Some of his other titles are; Arianie polscy (Polish Arians), concerning the fate of the Polish Brethren, Pogórze Karpackie (The Carpathian Foothills), Pra-Sławianie i pra-Łotwa (Pre-Slavs and Pre-Latvians), Świat boży i życie na nim (God's World and Life on It), and Wyrazy fenickie w mowie polskiej (Phoenician Words in Polish Speech).
^"Encyklopedia Powszechna", Vol.1, Ed. Samuel Orgelbrand, Warsaw, 1859.
Selected works
Pobitna pod Rzeszowem : Powieść prawdziwa z czasów Konfederacji Barskiej z roku 1769 (Pobitna near Rzeszów: A True Novel from the Times of the Bar Confederation in 1769), 1864; reprinted by Pobitno-Wydawnictwo, 2004 ISBN978-83-919233-8-2 (Google Books)
