Background
He was born to family of wealthy Hasidic Jewish merchants, with a long rabbinical tradition.
He was born to family of wealthy Hasidic Jewish merchants, with a long rabbinical tradition.
His early education was entirely of a religious nature. When he was fourteen, he began auditing classes at the Imperial Academy of Arts in Saint St. Petersburg. Although his primary instructor was Pavel Chistyakov, Antokolsky would continue to be his mentor throughout his education.
True to his beliefs, he petitioned the Academy to allow him to work on Sunday, rather than on the Sabbath.
In 1880, he was awarded the title of "Artist, First Class" and received a stipend to travel abroad for four years. He visited Italy, Germany and Austria, where he worked with Hans Makart in Vienna.
While in Italy, he studied the Old Masters and produced a large canvas of Moses in the desert, which earned him the title of "Academician" from the Imperial Academy. He continued to focus on Jewish themes, primarily from the Old Testament and, in 1900, produced one of his best-known works: "Ecclesiastes".
Despite some degree of financial difficulty, he never accepted commissions that ran counter to his beliefs.