DOI Artikel:
Krzyżagórska-Pisarek, Katarzyna: Two portraits of the prince Ladislas-Sigismund Vasa from the Collections in Wawel Castle re-examined
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.18668#0099
Rocznik Historii Sztuki, tom XXXVII
PAN WDN, 2012
KATARZYNA KRZYŻAGÓRSKA-PISAREK
INDEPENDENT ART HISTORIAN
LONDON
TWO PORTRAITS OF THE PRINCE LADISLAS-SIGISMUND VASA
FROM THE COLLECTIONS IN WAWEL CASTLE RE-EXAMINED
INTRODUCTION
This article aims to re-evaluate the existing évidence concerning the attribution and provenance of
the two portraits of the Polish Prince Ladislas-Sigismund (1595-1648), later King Ladislas IV, formerly
ascribed to the Flemish master Peter Paul Rubens, and now to his workshop and his school or circle
respectively. Both pictures are at présent in the Wawel Castle in Cracow, and are the two most important
works associated with Rubens and his studio in Poland. As both paintings originally came from British
collection, so they might benefit from being reviewed from this perspective. The first one is a half-length
(to the knees) portrait on long-term loan from the Metropolitan Muséum, New York1, described there as
workshop of Peter Paul Rubens, Ladislas-Sigismund IV, King of Poland, c. 1624, oil on canvas, 49% x 393Л
in. or 125.1 x 101 cm, Inv. n. 29.100.13 (fig. 1). The second one is a full-length equestrian portrait by
the school or circle of Rubens, Ladislas-Sigismund, Prince of Poland on horseback, after 1624, oil on
canvas, 259 x 185.5 cm, Wawel Castle, Cracow, State Collection of Art, Inv. n. 6320 (fig. 3).
Later known as King Ladislas IV, the Polish Prince was the son of the King Sigismund III Vasa
and his first wife Anne of Austria (1573-1598), also known as Anna Habsburg. King Ladislas IV ruled
the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth from 1632 until his death in 1648 (the coronation took place on
6 February 1633).
The question of différent versions of the portrait of the Polish Prince Ladislas-Sigismund (and of his
father, King Sigismund III) is a complex one and unfortunately still largely hypothetical. Traditionally,
there were few connections between Rubens and Poland, and there are only a few works associated with
the famous Flemish master in the country2. Yet Rubens studies in Poland have had a long tradition going
back well before the First World War. It was Jerzy Mycielski, Professor at the Jagiellonian University in
Cracow, who wrote an unpublished, comprehensive research paper on the subject of Polish collectors of
Rubens' works, as well as on the influence of Flemish art in Poland. Since then, two more art historians,
Professor Zygmunt Batowski and after the Second World War, Professor Władysław Tomkiewicz, both
1 I would like to thank Dr. Walter Licdtke and the staff at The Metropolitan Muséum of Art, New York for their assistance with
providing me with the file on the picture and the image for publication.
2 There was once a large Descent from the Cross by Peter Paul Rubens (oil on canvas, 324.5 x 214.5 cm) and/or his studio in
the Church of St. Nicholas in Kalisz, perhaps acquired in the Spanish Nctherlands between 1616 and 1621 by Piotr Żeroński, the Polish
ambassador and envoy of the King Sigismund III. It either perished in the fire of suspicious nature, or was stolen in December 1973,
as communicated by Prof. J.A. Chrościcki.
PAN WDN, 2012
KATARZYNA KRZYŻAGÓRSKA-PISAREK
INDEPENDENT ART HISTORIAN
LONDON
TWO PORTRAITS OF THE PRINCE LADISLAS-SIGISMUND VASA
FROM THE COLLECTIONS IN WAWEL CASTLE RE-EXAMINED
INTRODUCTION
This article aims to re-evaluate the existing évidence concerning the attribution and provenance of
the two portraits of the Polish Prince Ladislas-Sigismund (1595-1648), later King Ladislas IV, formerly
ascribed to the Flemish master Peter Paul Rubens, and now to his workshop and his school or circle
respectively. Both pictures are at présent in the Wawel Castle in Cracow, and are the two most important
works associated with Rubens and his studio in Poland. As both paintings originally came from British
collection, so they might benefit from being reviewed from this perspective. The first one is a half-length
(to the knees) portrait on long-term loan from the Metropolitan Muséum, New York1, described there as
workshop of Peter Paul Rubens, Ladislas-Sigismund IV, King of Poland, c. 1624, oil on canvas, 49% x 393Л
in. or 125.1 x 101 cm, Inv. n. 29.100.13 (fig. 1). The second one is a full-length equestrian portrait by
the school or circle of Rubens, Ladislas-Sigismund, Prince of Poland on horseback, after 1624, oil on
canvas, 259 x 185.5 cm, Wawel Castle, Cracow, State Collection of Art, Inv. n. 6320 (fig. 3).
Later known as King Ladislas IV, the Polish Prince was the son of the King Sigismund III Vasa
and his first wife Anne of Austria (1573-1598), also known as Anna Habsburg. King Ladislas IV ruled
the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth from 1632 until his death in 1648 (the coronation took place on
6 February 1633).
The question of différent versions of the portrait of the Polish Prince Ladislas-Sigismund (and of his
father, King Sigismund III) is a complex one and unfortunately still largely hypothetical. Traditionally,
there were few connections between Rubens and Poland, and there are only a few works associated with
the famous Flemish master in the country2. Yet Rubens studies in Poland have had a long tradition going
back well before the First World War. It was Jerzy Mycielski, Professor at the Jagiellonian University in
Cracow, who wrote an unpublished, comprehensive research paper on the subject of Polish collectors of
Rubens' works, as well as on the influence of Flemish art in Poland. Since then, two more art historians,
Professor Zygmunt Batowski and after the Second World War, Professor Władysław Tomkiewicz, both
1 I would like to thank Dr. Walter Licdtke and the staff at The Metropolitan Muséum of Art, New York for their assistance with
providing me with the file on the picture and the image for publication.
2 There was once a large Descent from the Cross by Peter Paul Rubens (oil on canvas, 324.5 x 214.5 cm) and/or his studio in
the Church of St. Nicholas in Kalisz, perhaps acquired in the Spanish Nctherlands between 1616 and 1621 by Piotr Żeroński, the Polish
ambassador and envoy of the King Sigismund III. It either perished in the fire of suspicious nature, or was stolen in December 1973,
as communicated by Prof. J.A. Chrościcki.