Explication of the work in the Belgazprombank collection:

"The corporate collection of Belgazprombank OJSC contains the only painted portrait in our republic, which, according to researchers, was painted by Valenty Wankovich, an outstanding portrait artist of the 19th century, and is an image of Tomasz Zan, one of Wankovich's close friends from Vilnius University.

Tomasz Zan was one of the most versatile and educated people in Walenty Wańkowicz's Vilnius circle. His interests were extremely broad, touching on many sciences and areas of knowledge: mathematics, physics, astronomy, biology, architecture, philosophy. He studied music theory, history, political economy, studied Polish and French literature, knew Greek, German, Italian, and wrote poetry.

Together with Adam Mickiewicz, Tomasz Zan was one of the initiators of the creation of secret associations of students of the Vilnius University: the Society of Philomaths ("those who seek knowledge") in 1817 and the Society of Philarets ("those who love virtue") in 1820. Initially aimed at self-improvement and self-education of members, the societies gradually acquired a patriotic and political orientation, the educational ideas of its members merged with the ideas of national liberation. This became a pretext for the authorities to cease the activities of the societies, carry out mass arrests, trials and exile of their leaders. In 1823, Zan was arrested, in 1824 he was sentenced to a year of imprisonment in a fortress and subsequent exile to Orenburg, where he spent about 13 years.

While in exile, Tomasz Zan, thanks to his talents and encyclopedic knowledge, contributed to the implementation of a number of important scientific research and educational projects of the Russian Empire. In particular, in 1829 he took part in the expedition to the Urals of the famous German scientist Alexander von Humboldt, during which a number of important geological surveys were carried out, the Ural ore deposits were inspected: iron, gold, native platinum, and an impressive collection of minerals was collected. In the early 1830s, Zan worked on the creation of the Orenburg Governor's Museum of History and Local History - the first museum in the city. It opened on April 1, 1831.

In 1837, Tomasz Zan received permission to live in the central provinces of Russia, moved to St. Petersburg, where he served as a librarian at the Institute of the Corps of Mining Engineers until 1841, when he was finally allowed to return to his homeland – Belarus.

It is assumed that Valentiy Vankovich painted the portrait of his friend from his youth between 1837 and 1839. Possibly during one of the artist’s probable trips to St. Petersburg from Minsk, where he lived since 1829 and from where he set off on his last journey to Europe in 1839.

In the portrait, Tomasz Zan appears in a state of deep thought. The artist masterfully conveyed the effect of his simultaneous presence and “absence” before the viewer. Physically, he is here: turned in three quarters, calmly sitting at the table, his back straight, his chin slightly raised up, the fingers of his right hand resting on the pages of an open book. But at the same time, he is somewhere very far away, “flown away” in pursuit of his thoughts, memories or dreams. It is no coincidence that his gaze is averted, emphasizing his detachment from what is happening here and now, and his face, thanks to the slightly raised corners of his mouth, seems ready to light up with a skeptical half-smile, as if in response to the thoughts swarming in his head. Looking at the portrait, one cannot help but recall the desire of romantic artists, to whose galaxy Valentiy Vankovich belonged, to escape from the everyday routine, to present a person in exceptional, “chosen” moments, when the best sides of his spiritual appearance, the inner world of his soul, the secret life of his heart are most fully revealed.

Using a muted palette of colors, the artist successfully creates a coloristic unity in the canvas. The neutral background, condensing into a soft brown haze and in places concealing the contour definition of the figure, helps to accentuate the face of the subject, the painting of which is distinguished by a special subtlety of execution.

The facial features echo the literary description of Tomasz Zahn, left in 1821 by Otto Slizen, one of Zahn's acquaintances: "... of medium height, with curly hair, dark, with a well-shaped aquiline nose, an open, high forehead with large angles, a pleasant expression of the face and eyes." At the same time, Walenty Wańkowicz found the right line between fidelity to nature and artistic generalization: it would not be an exaggeration to say that in the image of his friend he embodied the sublime ideal of a man of his era - a fighter and a thinker.

Acquired in 2013 from a private collector from Russia"