Henryk Siemiradzki was born on October 24, 1843 in the settlement of Novo-Belgorod (nowadays the Pechenegi settlement) near Kharkov, into the family of a doctor, the officer in the imperial army.

After finishing the Kharkov grammar school he entered the physical and mathematical faculty of the Kharkov University, which he successfully graduated in 1864.

Since childhood Semiradsky showed interest in painting, therefore he decided to continue his education in the Imperial Academy of Arts. Upon graduation in 1870 he won a 6-year state grant and a chance to improve his artistic skills abroad.

Till 1871 Siemiradzki took classes from the German artist Karl von Pilot in Munich and then moved to Rome in 1873.

In 1873 Siemiradzki received the title of the academician of the Academy of Arts. The same year he married his cousin — Maria Prushinskaya. Henryk Siemiradzki mostly worked abroad. For his painting Nero's Torches the Imperial Academy of Arts awarded Siemiradzki the professor’s rank, whereas the French government conferred on him the Legion of Honour.

Henryk Siemiradzki died on August 23 (September 5), 1902 in his estate Strzalkowo near Radomsk, and was buried in Krakow, in the pantheon on Skalka.