[10] Among the urban and rural landscapes, including the images of the Neman flowing toward the horizon that critics extolled,[11] a frequent theme in Kulesza's Romantic paintings[12] were sites linked to the history of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, which reflected the growing Lithuanian and Polish ethnic activism in the area.

[2] The part of Europe where he lived and worked is now split among three independent countries, he is currently described as a Lithuanian, Polish, or Belarusian artist in sync with the place of publication of the text making the statement.

His paintings have been given the most coverage and their themes treated as nationally relevant in Lithuania (where his name is rendered as Mykolas Kuleša) in modern times, their regional and documentary pertinence has mostly been addressed in Poland and Belarus.

At the time, an art critic admired its harmony and saw the composition and color execution of the river vanishing in the foggy distance as a vehicle of deep sadness, an expression of the inertia, "dull heaviness," that permeated the provinces.

[7] The potential documentary value of the painting increased when the Neman River undercut the bank near the church in 1853, and its southern wall collapsed, but the picture pays scanty attention to architectural detail.

The attractive darker outline of the church soaring on the steep embankment stands out against the sky, the fastidious composition of the landscape is enlivened with people in the picture's front plane, who underscore the human relevance of the pleasant location and the majestic glory of the historical temple.