This particular work shows the Russian Orthodox tradition of exchanging painted eggs after the Easter service, accompanied by three kisses on the cheeks.

Górecki Tadeusz (Faddei)

GÓRECKI, Tadeusz (Faddei) Antonovich
1825, Dosentai (Lithuania) - 1868, Vichy (France)
Painter, portraitist, author of religious compositions. Son of the Polish poet Anton Górecki. Studied in Vilnius and audited classes under Karl Brullov at the Imperial Academy of Arts (from 1841). Worked with Brullov on murals for St Isaac s Cathedral in St Petersburg (1843–1847). Nominated to the Imperial Academy of Arts (1850). Fellow of the Imperial Academy of Arts in Italy, Spain and Holland (1850–1854), copied many works by West European masters. Academician (1854) for three paintings (Pilgrims, Giving Communion to a Dying Woman, and Perspective View of Alhambra). Lived mainly in Paris (after 1856).