Father

His father, Francesco Andriolli was born in 1794 in Brentonico, in the region of Trentino, Italy. In 1812 he took part in the Napoleon’s invasion of Russia, where he was promoted to the rank of captain, and after Napoleon’s defeat he was taken prisoner by the Russians. After he was released in 1818 he lived in Vilnius, where he founded an art studio, painted religious paintings and taught drawing. He provided artwork to the “Kurier Litewski”, a magazine where he called himself “artist proficient in woodcarving and stonecarving”. In 1827 he became a Russian subject and got married to the Polish noblewoman Petronela Gośniewska. He was a good woodcarver, a sculptor. He undertook various types of work. Some of his works include sculptures in Tyszkiewicz Palace in Vilnius. In 1832 Francesco Andriolli passed an exam in Vilnius to practise the profession of decorator and painter and to teach drawing in district schools. In 1839, based on his several works he also received a diploma of the Imperial Academy of Fine Arts in St. Petersburg. He collected a large library, which his son Elwiro took over from him.

Francesco Andriolli had five children, of whom only Erminio (1835-1876), Adela (the younger sister of Elwiro) and Elwiro lived until adulthood. To provide education to his children, most likely he had to do his best to receive commissions not only in Vilnius, but also in the province. After eight years of stay there he returned to Vilnius shortly before his death. He announced in the Kurier Wileński the reopening of the studio in his apartment at 71 Wielka Street (now Vokiečių). He died in 1861 in Vilnius.

Mother

Elwiro’s mother was Petronela Gośniewska, born approx. in 1794, a Polish noblewoman bearing the coat of arms of the Nowina family from the area of Święciany, daughter of Michał and Anna Toszewska. After marrying Francesco Andriolli, she managed the estate and took care of the house and bringing up children. She successfully tempered the adventurous tendencies of young Elwiro, who appreciated it and brought her from Vilnius to his home in Stasinów. She died there on 1 December 1880 at the age of 86 and on December 15 she was buried in the parish cemetery. The tombstone, put up by Elwiro, has not survived to the this day.