DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.33086#0016
vered document attesting to Prince Wiadysiaw's artistic
contacts at the time of his visit to the Netherlands, is
a painting by Willem van Haecht, showing our young pa-
tron oi arts in the company of Rubens, van Dyck, Infanta
Isabella and Archduke Albert, visiting the gallery oi a dis-
tinguished collector. The Prince's trip to Italy in 1625, when
he visited, among others, the studios of Guido Reni and
Guercino, yielded, apart from purchases, valuable giits as
well, including paintings by Italian masters from the iamous
gallery in Mantua, offered to him by the Duke of Gon-
zaga.
Wiadyslaw IV was not only a lover of paintings. It is known
that in the palace of Ujazdow near Warsaw he had a collec-
tion of antique sculptures that was partly destroyed and
partly removed to Sweden during the Polish-Swedish war
of 1655—60. From Italy, Wladyslaw IV imported numerous
bronze statues and marble reliefs which seem to have served
mainly for garden decorations. From the report of the
Nuncio Filonardi we know that Italian paintings and sculp-
tures were very much in demand in Warsaw; this even
moved him to put forward the proposition of establishing
a regular maritime connection between Civita Vecchia and
Gdansk; such a route would have been safer than overland
transportation in the period of the wars waged in Central
Europe at that time. The greatest single purchase of paint-
ings was made by Wladyslaw IV after the death of Rubens,
when the artist's family put up for sale his collection includ-
ing the master's own works. The auction was attended by
representatives of several European courts, among them
that of Poland which — after the court of Madrid — bought
the second largest number of paintings.
King John Casimir, brother of and successor to Wlady-
slaw IV, enriched the royal collection primarily with Dutch
paintings. These included two works by Rembrandt: "Por-
trait of a Rabbi" and "Portrait of a Man in Beret with
Pearls" which the Polish kings (at the same time, Saxon
Electors) took to Dresden in the first half of the 18th cen-
tury and added to their art gallery in that city. Both sons
of Sigismund III — Wladyslaw IV and John Casimir —
enriched considerably the collection of tapestries and accu-
mulated an extensive collection of art objects, especially
clocks. Wladyslaw IV corresponded with Galileo and obtained
optical equipment from him while the King's wife, Marie
Louise, brought from Italy and France telesgopes, baro-
meters, compasses, etc.
Thus the collecting activities of these three Polish kings
of the Vasa dynasty hold a very important position in the
history of the European collecting of that time, and the
kings themselves can be ranked among the leading royal
collectors of their day, on a list headed by Charles I of
England, Rudolf II with his Prague collection, Archduke
Leopold Wilhelm whose fine art collection in the Nether-
lands was later on transferred to Vienna, and Queen Chris-
tina of Sweden.
Among the magnates who were in those days building up
their collections, great Polish collectors deserve to be men-
tioned after such famous names as Richelieu, Mazarin,
Buckingham, Arundel, Liechtenstein, the Barberinis or the
Borgheses. Mention should be made of the collection of
13
contacts at the time of his visit to the Netherlands, is
a painting by Willem van Haecht, showing our young pa-
tron oi arts in the company of Rubens, van Dyck, Infanta
Isabella and Archduke Albert, visiting the gallery oi a dis-
tinguished collector. The Prince's trip to Italy in 1625, when
he visited, among others, the studios of Guido Reni and
Guercino, yielded, apart from purchases, valuable giits as
well, including paintings by Italian masters from the iamous
gallery in Mantua, offered to him by the Duke of Gon-
zaga.
Wiadyslaw IV was not only a lover of paintings. It is known
that in the palace of Ujazdow near Warsaw he had a collec-
tion of antique sculptures that was partly destroyed and
partly removed to Sweden during the Polish-Swedish war
of 1655—60. From Italy, Wladyslaw IV imported numerous
bronze statues and marble reliefs which seem to have served
mainly for garden decorations. From the report of the
Nuncio Filonardi we know that Italian paintings and sculp-
tures were very much in demand in Warsaw; this even
moved him to put forward the proposition of establishing
a regular maritime connection between Civita Vecchia and
Gdansk; such a route would have been safer than overland
transportation in the period of the wars waged in Central
Europe at that time. The greatest single purchase of paint-
ings was made by Wladyslaw IV after the death of Rubens,
when the artist's family put up for sale his collection includ-
ing the master's own works. The auction was attended by
representatives of several European courts, among them
that of Poland which — after the court of Madrid — bought
the second largest number of paintings.
King John Casimir, brother of and successor to Wlady-
slaw IV, enriched the royal collection primarily with Dutch
paintings. These included two works by Rembrandt: "Por-
trait of a Rabbi" and "Portrait of a Man in Beret with
Pearls" which the Polish kings (at the same time, Saxon
Electors) took to Dresden in the first half of the 18th cen-
tury and added to their art gallery in that city. Both sons
of Sigismund III — Wladyslaw IV and John Casimir —
enriched considerably the collection of tapestries and accu-
mulated an extensive collection of art objects, especially
clocks. Wladyslaw IV corresponded with Galileo and obtained
optical equipment from him while the King's wife, Marie
Louise, brought from Italy and France telesgopes, baro-
meters, compasses, etc.
Thus the collecting activities of these three Polish kings
of the Vasa dynasty hold a very important position in the
history of the European collecting of that time, and the
kings themselves can be ranked among the leading royal
collectors of their day, on a list headed by Charles I of
England, Rudolf II with his Prague collection, Archduke
Leopold Wilhelm whose fine art collection in the Nether-
lands was later on transferred to Vienna, and Queen Chris-
tina of Sweden.
Among the magnates who were in those days building up
their collections, great Polish collectors deserve to be men-
tioned after such famous names as Richelieu, Mazarin,
Buckingham, Arundel, Liechtenstein, the Barberinis or the
Borgheses. Mention should be made of the collection of
13