Octavian or Octav Smigelschi (last name also Smigelski, Smighelschi, Szmigelszki, or Szmigelschi; ; 21 March 1866 – 10 November 1912) was an Austro-Hungarian painter and printmaker, one of the leading culturally Romanian artists in his native Transylvania. Of mixed Polish, Aromanian, and possibly Ruthenian, background, he identified mainly with the Romanian-speaking Greek-Catholics, although some of his most important work was also done for the rival Romanian Orthodox Church. Smigelschi studied under Bertalan Székely at the Drawing School and Art Teachers' College in Budapest, becoming familiar with the historicist trend in contemporary Hungarian art. While working on and off at high schools in Upper Hungary and Transylvania, he experimented with borrowings from ancient Romanian handicrafts. Smigelschi's European journeys with Arthur Coulin took him to Cervara di Roma, where he studied Renaissance art, while moving away from academic art and into Symbolism and Art Nouveau. Modernizing themes from Romanian folklore and Byzantine art, from 1903 Smigelschi focused his effort mainly on Christian art and modelli, including initial work for decorating Blaj Cathedral. He was among those commissioned to paint Sibiu Orthodox Cathedral, which required him to study religious art in the neighboring Kingdom of Romania. Smigelschi's "new vision" combined elements of Symbolism into the Orthodox tradition—a synthesis also found in his murals for smaller churches throughout Transylvania, and in his work on icons. His contribution was relatively ignored in Romania, but well-liked in Transylvania and Transleithania at large, earning Smigelschi the Vilmos Fraknói prize in 1907. After living as an expatriate in Rome, he died of a heart disease while he was preparing to focus his work on Hungarian churches. Biography Background and early life The artist's father, Mihail Śmigielski, came from Partitioned Poland. According to historian Nicolae Iorga, the family descended from chorąży (standard-bearers) to the Polish king. Another writer suggests a Ruthenian background; Mihail was an Eastern-rite Catholic, and the Austrian Partition of Poland was home to numerous Ruthenian Greek-Catholics. However, he does allow for the possibility that the elder Smigelschi adopted the faith after arriving in Transylvania. Octavian Smigelschi's own ethnic identity has been subject to some debate, with both Polish and Hungarian suggested, but he considered himself as Romanian, and was described by Transylvanians as the region's "only Romanian painter." Mihail was a member of the szlachta noble class who fled Poland following the 1848 Revolution and arrived in the Principality of Transylvania in 1850. Initially settling in