DOI issue:
Nr. 2
DOI article:Artykuły
DOI article:Kossowski Maciej Dariusz: Czy w naszych zbiorach królewskich był "Jedźiec polski" Van Dycka?
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.71008#0261
Czy W NASZYCH ZBIORACH KRÓLEWSKICH BYŁ „JEŹDZIEC POLSKl" Van DYCKA?
255
Did Van Dyck's Polish Rider
Use to Be in Our Royal Collection?
The present article is a supplement to the paper
published in "Biuletyn Historii Sztuki" in 2014 and
titled Polish Rider by Antoon Van Dyck: Presentation
Study.
The painting in question attributed to the
outstanding Flemish artist is currently on display at
the Staatsgalerie Neuen Schloss Schleissheim.
According to the information provided by
Susanne Engelsbergere ofBayerische Staatsgemalde-
sammlungen, the documents related to the discussed
work do not contain any information on signs, stamps,
and stickers on the back of the canvas. As there exist
no photos ofthe painting's back and it is impossible to
see it from the back, what remains is the indirect way
of reaching conclusions, and resorting to assumptions
only.
The painting was recorded in the inventory
catalogue ofthe Dusseldorf painting gallery made by
G. J. Karsch in 1719 and 1750 as "Un Polonais a
Cheval". It is also listed in the catalogue of N. de
Piggage of 1781 and was presented graphically in the
1778 ESTAMPES / DU CATALOGUE RAISONNE
ET FIGURE / DES TABLEAUX.... It was on display
in the upper row of Room One of the Gallery's right
wing, to the right of the entrance from the staircase.
Meanwhile, opposite the entrance to Room Five,
flanking Rubens's monumental Last Judgment, there
were portraits of Sigismund III and Constance von
Hapbsburg in their coronation gowns, considered for
a long time to have been painted by Antoon Van Dyck,
and marked in the copperplate engraving album with
the symbols "P:P:R: N°282." and "P:P:R: N°.283"
respectively. Actually painted by Pieter Claesz
Soutman, court painter of the Polish kings, they
reached Germany together with the dowry of Anna
Catherine Constance Vasa (1619-51), Polish princess,
daughter of Sigismund III. On 8 June 1642, she
married Philip William of Neuburg of the House of
Wittlesbach (1615-90), who arrived in Poland's
capital with a small cortege on 27 February 1642.
When marrying the Elector Palatine, the Princess
contributed with a substantial dowry. While leaving
Poland for Neuburg on the Danube, she took large
quantities of golden and silver jewels, textiles, and
Persian rugs, as well as a sizeable number of
paintings: "seventy carriages full of items and
objects", as recorded by Albrycht Stanisław Ra-
dziwiłł. The value of the Princess's dowry was
assessed at 2 million thalers, the jewels and gold-
smithery being worth 443,289 thalers; furthermore,
she possessed 243,333 thalers in cash. Calculating all
this, the non-goldsmithery artistic objects, textiles,
books, and paintings must have been worth over 1.3
million thalers. Moreover, her dowry included estates
in Italy: Foggia, Calabria, and Abruzzo, which she
had inherited from her great-grandmother Bona
Sforza. The Princess left Warsaw in June 1642 while
nine years and four months later she died heirless in
Cologne on her wedding anniversary and was buried
in the ducal tombs of the Jesuit church in Dusseldorf.
Van Dyck's Polish Rider was most likely part of
Anna Catherine Constance's dowry. It may have
been one ofthe gifts the Princess was presented with
on 9 June 1642. She received them from her hus-
band, from Vladislaus IV, Princes John Casimir, and
Charles Ferdinand; as well as from six bishops.
Presents were also sent by the groom's father
Wolfgang William Wittelsbach, Emperor Frederic
III, Philip IV of Spain, Elector of Bavaria Maxi-
milian I, Elector of Brandenburg Frederic William
Hohenzollern, Archduke Leopold Wilhelm, and
Duke of Bavaria Albrecht VI Wittelsbach.
The topic of the canvas actually excludes the
possibility ofthe painting having been a wedding gift
to Anna Catherine Constance from someone outside
the Polish court. Therefore, the work may have been
imported to Poland prior to the planned wedding and
had been part of the royal painting collection.
Translated by Magdalena Iwińska
255
Did Van Dyck's Polish Rider
Use to Be in Our Royal Collection?
The present article is a supplement to the paper
published in "Biuletyn Historii Sztuki" in 2014 and
titled Polish Rider by Antoon Van Dyck: Presentation
Study.
The painting in question attributed to the
outstanding Flemish artist is currently on display at
the Staatsgalerie Neuen Schloss Schleissheim.
According to the information provided by
Susanne Engelsbergere ofBayerische Staatsgemalde-
sammlungen, the documents related to the discussed
work do not contain any information on signs, stamps,
and stickers on the back of the canvas. As there exist
no photos ofthe painting's back and it is impossible to
see it from the back, what remains is the indirect way
of reaching conclusions, and resorting to assumptions
only.
The painting was recorded in the inventory
catalogue ofthe Dusseldorf painting gallery made by
G. J. Karsch in 1719 and 1750 as "Un Polonais a
Cheval". It is also listed in the catalogue of N. de
Piggage of 1781 and was presented graphically in the
1778 ESTAMPES / DU CATALOGUE RAISONNE
ET FIGURE / DES TABLEAUX.... It was on display
in the upper row of Room One of the Gallery's right
wing, to the right of the entrance from the staircase.
Meanwhile, opposite the entrance to Room Five,
flanking Rubens's monumental Last Judgment, there
were portraits of Sigismund III and Constance von
Hapbsburg in their coronation gowns, considered for
a long time to have been painted by Antoon Van Dyck,
and marked in the copperplate engraving album with
the symbols "P:P:R: N°282." and "P:P:R: N°.283"
respectively. Actually painted by Pieter Claesz
Soutman, court painter of the Polish kings, they
reached Germany together with the dowry of Anna
Catherine Constance Vasa (1619-51), Polish princess,
daughter of Sigismund III. On 8 June 1642, she
married Philip William of Neuburg of the House of
Wittlesbach (1615-90), who arrived in Poland's
capital with a small cortege on 27 February 1642.
When marrying the Elector Palatine, the Princess
contributed with a substantial dowry. While leaving
Poland for Neuburg on the Danube, she took large
quantities of golden and silver jewels, textiles, and
Persian rugs, as well as a sizeable number of
paintings: "seventy carriages full of items and
objects", as recorded by Albrycht Stanisław Ra-
dziwiłł. The value of the Princess's dowry was
assessed at 2 million thalers, the jewels and gold-
smithery being worth 443,289 thalers; furthermore,
she possessed 243,333 thalers in cash. Calculating all
this, the non-goldsmithery artistic objects, textiles,
books, and paintings must have been worth over 1.3
million thalers. Moreover, her dowry included estates
in Italy: Foggia, Calabria, and Abruzzo, which she
had inherited from her great-grandmother Bona
Sforza. The Princess left Warsaw in June 1642 while
nine years and four months later she died heirless in
Cologne on her wedding anniversary and was buried
in the ducal tombs of the Jesuit church in Dusseldorf.
Van Dyck's Polish Rider was most likely part of
Anna Catherine Constance's dowry. It may have
been one ofthe gifts the Princess was presented with
on 9 June 1642. She received them from her hus-
band, from Vladislaus IV, Princes John Casimir, and
Charles Ferdinand; as well as from six bishops.
Presents were also sent by the groom's father
Wolfgang William Wittelsbach, Emperor Frederic
III, Philip IV of Spain, Elector of Bavaria Maxi-
milian I, Elector of Brandenburg Frederic William
Hohenzollern, Archduke Leopold Wilhelm, and
Duke of Bavaria Albrecht VI Wittelsbach.
The topic of the canvas actually excludes the
possibility ofthe painting having been a wedding gift
to Anna Catherine Constance from someone outside
the Polish court. Therefore, the work may have been
imported to Poland prior to the planned wedding and
had been part of the royal painting collection.
Translated by Magdalena Iwińska