DOI Artikel:
Prószyńska, Zuzanna: "Fidem fati - virtute sequemur": The portrait of Stanislaus Augustus with an hourglass
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.18942#0011
becoming a symbol of the rule of a king who constituted "un exemple frappant des vicissitudes
de la fortunę",15 which is also hinted at by the globe looming behind his back.46 Indeed,
Stanislaus Augustus was a nominał ruler, acquiring the crown without the prerogatives duły
associated with it, and his reign depended on the patronage of an alien power.47 Hence the motif
functions in the painting as the symbol of a tragic reign and at the same time an exceedingly
important element of the royal apology. The King subtly points out its key meaning by putting his
hand on the hourglass "as if he wanted to stop the passage of time".48 Being a pensieroso, he
anticipates, and is profoundly aware of his failure, but cannot prevent it; he knowsthat in the face
of Providence's omnipotence, the order of things on earth is all vanity, but at the same time he
continues his persevering and bold fight with fate, convinced that he will come out as the
spiritual victor.49
The message of the painting questions Mieczysław Porębski's suggestive opinion according
to which the Portrait of General Henryk Dembiński (pa i nted by Henryk Rodakowski in 1852) "is
the only image in our iconography of a thinking leader, departing from the stereotyped images of
heroism or martyrdom, and related rather to the family of 'Saturn's children' mentioned above,
which, in various allegorical or historical guises, has been the embodiment of intellectual
reflection.forcing its way through contemporary awareness, a factorever present in the history of
our European civilisation".50 To paraphrase the statement, the "road leads both to Matejko's
Stańczyk and the whole crowd of wanderers, anonymous figures swarming in Jacek Malczew-
ski^ canvases",51 away from the pensively melancholy Stanislaus Augustus, the last King of
Poland. For his allegorical portrait combines and transforms traditlonal themes of artistic
representation well known from works of the great masters such as van Eyck, Durer, Leonardo,
Michelangelo, Rubens or Reynolds.
Translated by Joanna Holzman
45. [AJ.A. Fortia de Piles, Boisgelin de Kerdu], Voyage de deux Franęais en Aliemagne, Danemarck, Suede, Russie et Pologne,
faiten 1790-1792, V, Paris, 1796, p. 23.
46. Onthissubject. cf. L. Molier, "Bildgeschichtliche Studienzu Stammbuchbildern II. Die Kugel ais Vanilassymbol", Jahrbuch
der Hamburger Kunstsammlungen, 1952, II, pp. 158, 172, 176; F. Bachtiger, op. c/f., p. 72.
47. This was not overlooked by non-Polish observers who anonymously agreed that Stanislaus Augustus was hampered by the
dictatorship of Russian Ambassadors and "merely played the role of a sovereign and king in the spectacle"; cf. Polska
stanisławowska, op. cit., I, pp. 13, 231, 294, f., 296, f., 298, 500, 536; II, pp. 37, 132, 145, 717f„ 720.
48. J. Loski, Ryciny polskich i obcych rytowników XVI, XVII i XVIII w., odtworzone z oryginałów..., (Prints by 16th, 17th and
18th century Polish and Foreign Engravers and Etchers, Reproduced from the Original...,), Warszawa, 1878, comment at pl.
46.
49. Various aspects of the issue are dealt with by J. Białostocki, "Pokonany bohater w sztuce romantyzmu" ("Defeated Hero of
Romantic Art"), Twórczość, XXXVI, 1980, no. 11, pp. 115-125.
50. M. Porębski, "Sybirskie futro wziął" ("He HasTaken theSiberian Fur".), in Ikonografia romantyczna. Materiały Sympozjum
Komitetu Nauk o Sztuce PAN {Romantic Iconography. Proceedings of the Symposium organised by the Committee for Art
Research of the Polish Academy of Science), Nieborów, 26-28 June, 1975, M. Poprzęcka, ed., Warszawa, 1977, p. 24
Rodakowski's painting is in the National Museum of Cracow.
51. Ibid., p. 30.
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de la fortunę",15 which is also hinted at by the globe looming behind his back.46 Indeed,
Stanislaus Augustus was a nominał ruler, acquiring the crown without the prerogatives duły
associated with it, and his reign depended on the patronage of an alien power.47 Hence the motif
functions in the painting as the symbol of a tragic reign and at the same time an exceedingly
important element of the royal apology. The King subtly points out its key meaning by putting his
hand on the hourglass "as if he wanted to stop the passage of time".48 Being a pensieroso, he
anticipates, and is profoundly aware of his failure, but cannot prevent it; he knowsthat in the face
of Providence's omnipotence, the order of things on earth is all vanity, but at the same time he
continues his persevering and bold fight with fate, convinced that he will come out as the
spiritual victor.49
The message of the painting questions Mieczysław Porębski's suggestive opinion according
to which the Portrait of General Henryk Dembiński (pa i nted by Henryk Rodakowski in 1852) "is
the only image in our iconography of a thinking leader, departing from the stereotyped images of
heroism or martyrdom, and related rather to the family of 'Saturn's children' mentioned above,
which, in various allegorical or historical guises, has been the embodiment of intellectual
reflection.forcing its way through contemporary awareness, a factorever present in the history of
our European civilisation".50 To paraphrase the statement, the "road leads both to Matejko's
Stańczyk and the whole crowd of wanderers, anonymous figures swarming in Jacek Malczew-
ski^ canvases",51 away from the pensively melancholy Stanislaus Augustus, the last King of
Poland. For his allegorical portrait combines and transforms traditlonal themes of artistic
representation well known from works of the great masters such as van Eyck, Durer, Leonardo,
Michelangelo, Rubens or Reynolds.
Translated by Joanna Holzman
45. [AJ.A. Fortia de Piles, Boisgelin de Kerdu], Voyage de deux Franęais en Aliemagne, Danemarck, Suede, Russie et Pologne,
faiten 1790-1792, V, Paris, 1796, p. 23.
46. Onthissubject. cf. L. Molier, "Bildgeschichtliche Studienzu Stammbuchbildern II. Die Kugel ais Vanilassymbol", Jahrbuch
der Hamburger Kunstsammlungen, 1952, II, pp. 158, 172, 176; F. Bachtiger, op. c/f., p. 72.
47. This was not overlooked by non-Polish observers who anonymously agreed that Stanislaus Augustus was hampered by the
dictatorship of Russian Ambassadors and "merely played the role of a sovereign and king in the spectacle"; cf. Polska
stanisławowska, op. cit., I, pp. 13, 231, 294, f., 296, f., 298, 500, 536; II, pp. 37, 132, 145, 717f„ 720.
48. J. Loski, Ryciny polskich i obcych rytowników XVI, XVII i XVIII w., odtworzone z oryginałów..., (Prints by 16th, 17th and
18th century Polish and Foreign Engravers and Etchers, Reproduced from the Original...,), Warszawa, 1878, comment at pl.
46.
49. Various aspects of the issue are dealt with by J. Białostocki, "Pokonany bohater w sztuce romantyzmu" ("Defeated Hero of
Romantic Art"), Twórczość, XXXVI, 1980, no. 11, pp. 115-125.
50. M. Porębski, "Sybirskie futro wziął" ("He HasTaken theSiberian Fur".), in Ikonografia romantyczna. Materiały Sympozjum
Komitetu Nauk o Sztuce PAN {Romantic Iconography. Proceedings of the Symposium organised by the Committee for Art
Research of the Polish Academy of Science), Nieborów, 26-28 June, 1975, M. Poprzęcka, ed., Warszawa, 1977, p. 24
Rodakowski's painting is in the National Museum of Cracow.
51. Ibid., p. 30.
9