Ján Rombauer, a painter from the Spiš region (1782 – 1849), was the son of a carpenter and a tanner’s daughter. He left the town of his birth, Levoča, at a young age to follow his brothers to Prešov, and later he went on to Petersburg. He married Amalia Baumann, with whom he spoke French. In 1824 he returned to Prešov, where he lived for the rest of his life.      He lacked an education in art, he probably learned the basics from a painter of Danish origin, Ján Jakub Stunder, in Levoča. His talent earned him...