Linked to Bohemians among Warsaw intellectuals,[2] Lenartowicz was associated with Oskar Kolberg and Roman Zmorski in the anti-Tsarist independence movement, and participated in the Greater Poland Uprising of 1848 during his stay in Kraków.

While in exile he taught Slavic literature at the University of Bologna, composed patriotic and religious poems, as well as lyrical and historical epics based on the folklore of his beloved region of Mazowsze.

[3] Among his many notable poems, Teofil Lenartowicz wrote also: "Dwaj Towiańczycy" (The two followers of Towiański), in which he describes the death of his former co-conspirators Michał Szweycer (Ludwik Szwejcer) and Adolf Rozwadowski; "Moje strony" (My homeland), "Rosła kalina" (Hearty viburnum), "Tęsknota" (Longing), "Wiersz do poezji" (Poem to poetry), "Duch sieroty" (Spirit of an orphan), "Jan Kochanowski", "Lirnik.

[9] Poland's eminent poet Czesław Miłosz described Lenartowicz's longer poems "Zachwycenie" ("Rapture") and "Błogosławiona" ("The Blessed One"), both published in 1855, as having a "curious treatment of religious themes."

[11] Lenartowicz died on 3 February 1893 in Florence, and his remains were brought from Italy to Poland and interred in the Crypt of the Distinguished in the St. Stanislaus Church at Skałka in Kraków.