1000 Lei

Nicolae Grigorescu was Romania's most celebrated 19th-century painter, known primarily for his Barbizon-influenced landscapes and scenes of rural life — not banknote design. His imagery was adapted posthumously for this series, a deliberate cultural choice by the BNR during a period when the royal dictatorship of Carol II was aggressively promoting Romanian national identity through state iconography.

Gaspérini's engraving for the Banque de France presses was exceptional work. The intaglio quality on surviving examples is sharp enough to date the note's usage history with some confidence — heavy circulation quickly wore the finer lines.