Gallery III

Élisabeth Vigée-Lebrun (1755 -1842)

1797 

collection of the Trzy Trąby Foundation

(painting presented in Poland for the first time)

 

 

During her stay of several years in St Petersburg, Élisabeth Vigée-Lebrun painted two portraits of King Stanisław August, one depicting the king in a red coat lined with ermine fur, the other a portrait in the historic attire of King Henry IV of France. Both works were painted in 1797.  The portrait of the king in the attire of Henry IV was commissioned by Stanisław August's niece, Urszula Mniszech, née Zamoyska, for the palace in Wiśniowiec. In 1805, the painting was donated by Michał Jerzy Mniszech to the Kremenets High School. It is currently located in the Bohdan and Varvara Khanenko Museum of Art in Kyiv.

The portrait of the king on display is an author's replica, likely painted as the initial attempt, which was confirmed by extensive conservation studies. The portrait of Stanisław August from the collection of the Trzy Traby Foundation, came from the family of second husband of Elżbieta Radziwiłł (b. 1917), Jan D'Ornellas Tomaszewski of the Bończa coat of arms (1903-2000), whose grandfather was a prominent doctor and part of the St Petersburg elite in the second half of the 19th century. It was likely him who purchased the painting for the family collection. His parents, Jerzy Karol and Maria d'Ornellas (daughter of the Portuguese ambassador to St Petersburg), moved to Madeira in the early 20th century, taking with them a sizeable part of the collection, including the portrait of King Stanisław August in the attire of Henry IV.  Until 2019, the painting was a part of the Tomaszewski family estate in Portugal.