DOI issue:
Nr. 1-2
DOI article:Ajewski, Konrad: Denon a Polska i Polacy: =
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.35030#0156
150
KONRAD AjEWSRt
otherwise with his collaboration. It is even possible
that Denon personally presented this collection to
Potocki.
Denon's close acquaintance with the
Czartoryskis was maintained through the mediation
of their shared close friends, count Stanisław Kostka
Zamoyski and his wife Zofia Zamoyska of the
Czartoryskis as well as the chief treasurer of the
Duchy of Warsaw, Tadeusz Matuszewicz, who each
frequently visited him in Paris. The Zamoyskis had
met Denon during their sojoum in the French Capital
in 1802-4, remaining in contact with him through
correspondence, as testified by preserved letters, and
revisiting him on successive trips to France. Denon,
either in person or through Zamoyski or Matuszewicz,
madę a series of gifts to the collections at Puławy of
duchess Izabella Czartoryska, such as relics (the ashes
of El Cid and Jimena of Oviedo), and those of Abelard
and HeloYse, mementos of Queen Blanche of Castile,
Henry IV, Cardinal Richelieu and Napoleon, as well
as a number of other objects.
Another of Denon's close Polish acquaintances
was brigadier Józef Sułkowski, an ańfe-Je-ca/np in
the Napoleonie forces who took part in the Egyptian
campaign and lost his life in a skirmish outside Cairo
on 22nd October, 1798. Prior to his death, Sułkowski
had been madę a member of the 7nxtttat Pgypttan,
being engaged in the compiling of a dictionary of
Arabie and deciphering of hieroglyphics, which
interested Denon greatly, with whom the former
would consult at gatherings in the Institute. At one
such meeting, Sulkowski dełivered a published paper
titled DZsrription <2<? /a raate <7a Gatr a Tsa/aA/?a7?
[Salheyeh], par cttoyan recorded as
delighting Denon for its 'chamT and 'vivid style'.
Denon in his work on Egypt madę reference a
number of times to the memory of Sułkowski in the
same kind of spirit conjured up by Bonaparte's
description of him as an o/fn/er e.s/ynrs' /as' p/ny
a/ayex. It is known in addition that other Poles at
various times became personally acquainted with
Denon, among whom, Teresa Tyszkiewiczowa of the
Poniatowskis, sister of prince Józef Poniatowski and
generał Antoni Paweł Sułkowski got to know him in
October 1808, while Anna Potocka of the
Tyszkiewiczes, wife of Aleksander (son of the
previously mentioned Stanisław Kostka Potocki) is
known to have met him in 1811. In her memoirs,
Potocka madę some interesting remarks on the
general-director of French art collections. She
viewed the Louvre collections in his company, as
well as receiving the opportunity to see his own rich
collection of artworks.
Denon was a well-known and highly-esteemed
figurę in Polish high society, and the numerous
contacts he had madę with Poles led to his
nomination as a honorary member of the Warsaw
Royal Society of Friends of Leaming, on 4th
October, 1807.
It is worthwhile recalling Polish historical
documents connected with Denon's creative work,
or otherwise arising out of his inspiration. One
example of such is Denon's idea carried out in 1794
according to an idea by Jacques Louis David of the
astonishing małe figurę in revolutionary costume,
bearing a stylised, four-comered 'Cracow' cap.
Another example of this Polish-orientated artistry
relates to medallic history. Denon was not simply
director of the Monnate Marfat//ex in Paris but
also designed medals commemorating current
events. Some of these designs were intended to
propagate the Bonapartism and Napoleon's military
campaigns related to the territories of pre-partition
Poland and French imperial policy conceming the
Poles. Medals were thus minted to celebrate the
seizing of Warsaw, as well as of Kónigsberg, Danzig,
Silesia and Vilna. There was also a medal to
celebrate the Grand Army reaching the linę of the
Vistula, the signing of the peace treaty at Tilsit, the
yictory by the Somosierra and, last but not least, the
medal commemorating the setting up of the Duchy
of Warsaw, which, in terms of content, may be
defined as the most Polish.
To sum up, it needs to be stated that the balance
of losses resulting from the activities of Denon in
Poland were not considerable, and the larger part of
the works of art moved to Paris were reclaimed,
while Denon himself attempted to recompense the
Poles somehow by offering a number of objects to
the collection at Puławy. On the other hand, the great
public museum that came into being as a result of
Denon's labours did not cease to exist following the
death of its creator, and the example that he set was
to be a leading factor in the establishing of this new
kind of museum throughout Europę and the
Americas. The Poles were also to make use of the
models for making museum collections accessible to
a wider public devised by Denon; if not directly, as
in the case of Izabella Czartoryska, then indirectly,
as seen in the collections of Helena Radziwiłłowa,
the Działyńskis, Zamoyskis, Krasińskis and other
initiators of museum management in Poland.
P*an.s7ata<;/ óy Pater Martyn
KONRAD AjEWSRt
otherwise with his collaboration. It is even possible
that Denon personally presented this collection to
Potocki.
Denon's close acquaintance with the
Czartoryskis was maintained through the mediation
of their shared close friends, count Stanisław Kostka
Zamoyski and his wife Zofia Zamoyska of the
Czartoryskis as well as the chief treasurer of the
Duchy of Warsaw, Tadeusz Matuszewicz, who each
frequently visited him in Paris. The Zamoyskis had
met Denon during their sojoum in the French Capital
in 1802-4, remaining in contact with him through
correspondence, as testified by preserved letters, and
revisiting him on successive trips to France. Denon,
either in person or through Zamoyski or Matuszewicz,
madę a series of gifts to the collections at Puławy of
duchess Izabella Czartoryska, such as relics (the ashes
of El Cid and Jimena of Oviedo), and those of Abelard
and HeloYse, mementos of Queen Blanche of Castile,
Henry IV, Cardinal Richelieu and Napoleon, as well
as a number of other objects.
Another of Denon's close Polish acquaintances
was brigadier Józef Sułkowski, an ańfe-Je-ca/np in
the Napoleonie forces who took part in the Egyptian
campaign and lost his life in a skirmish outside Cairo
on 22nd October, 1798. Prior to his death, Sułkowski
had been madę a member of the 7nxtttat Pgypttan,
being engaged in the compiling of a dictionary of
Arabie and deciphering of hieroglyphics, which
interested Denon greatly, with whom the former
would consult at gatherings in the Institute. At one
such meeting, Sulkowski dełivered a published paper
titled DZsrription <2<? /a raate <7a Gatr a Tsa/aA/?a7?
[Salheyeh], par cttoyan recorded as
delighting Denon for its 'chamT and 'vivid style'.
Denon in his work on Egypt madę reference a
number of times to the memory of Sułkowski in the
same kind of spirit conjured up by Bonaparte's
description of him as an o/fn/er e.s/ynrs' /as' p/ny
a/ayex. It is known in addition that other Poles at
various times became personally acquainted with
Denon, among whom, Teresa Tyszkiewiczowa of the
Poniatowskis, sister of prince Józef Poniatowski and
generał Antoni Paweł Sułkowski got to know him in
October 1808, while Anna Potocka of the
Tyszkiewiczes, wife of Aleksander (son of the
previously mentioned Stanisław Kostka Potocki) is
known to have met him in 1811. In her memoirs,
Potocka madę some interesting remarks on the
general-director of French art collections. She
viewed the Louvre collections in his company, as
well as receiving the opportunity to see his own rich
collection of artworks.
Denon was a well-known and highly-esteemed
figurę in Polish high society, and the numerous
contacts he had madę with Poles led to his
nomination as a honorary member of the Warsaw
Royal Society of Friends of Leaming, on 4th
October, 1807.
It is worthwhile recalling Polish historical
documents connected with Denon's creative work,
or otherwise arising out of his inspiration. One
example of such is Denon's idea carried out in 1794
according to an idea by Jacques Louis David of the
astonishing małe figurę in revolutionary costume,
bearing a stylised, four-comered 'Cracow' cap.
Another example of this Polish-orientated artistry
relates to medallic history. Denon was not simply
director of the Monnate Marfat//ex in Paris but
also designed medals commemorating current
events. Some of these designs were intended to
propagate the Bonapartism and Napoleon's military
campaigns related to the territories of pre-partition
Poland and French imperial policy conceming the
Poles. Medals were thus minted to celebrate the
seizing of Warsaw, as well as of Kónigsberg, Danzig,
Silesia and Vilna. There was also a medal to
celebrate the Grand Army reaching the linę of the
Vistula, the signing of the peace treaty at Tilsit, the
yictory by the Somosierra and, last but not least, the
medal commemorating the setting up of the Duchy
of Warsaw, which, in terms of content, may be
defined as the most Polish.
To sum up, it needs to be stated that the balance
of losses resulting from the activities of Denon in
Poland were not considerable, and the larger part of
the works of art moved to Paris were reclaimed,
while Denon himself attempted to recompense the
Poles somehow by offering a number of objects to
the collection at Puławy. On the other hand, the great
public museum that came into being as a result of
Denon's labours did not cease to exist following the
death of its creator, and the example that he set was
to be a leading factor in the establishing of this new
kind of museum throughout Europę and the
Americas. The Poles were also to make use of the
models for making museum collections accessible to
a wider public devised by Denon; if not directly, as
in the case of Izabella Czartoryska, then indirectly,
as seen in the collections of Helena Radziwiłłowa,
the Działyńskis, Zamoyskis, Krasińskis and other
initiators of museum management in Poland.
P*an.s7ata<;/ óy Pater Martyn