DOI article:
Krzyżagórska-Pisarek, Katarzyna: Two portraits of the prince Ladislas-Sigismund Vasa from the Collections in Wawel Castle re-examined
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.18668#0104
98
KATARZYNA KRZYZAGORSKA-PISAREK
2. Paul Pontius, Portrait of Ladislas-Sigismund, Prince of Poland and Sweden, second state with artist's name;
after Peter Paul Rubens, 1624. Engraving. Courtesy of British Muséum
destroyed): "Nella sala del Palazzo delia Giustitia delia medesima Città dipinse al naturale quei Signori
del Magistrato Assisi nel lor Collegio"35 ("In the hall of the Palace of Justice of the same city he painted
from nature (or full-length?) the gentlemen of the Magistrate of Assisi in their College"); and somewhere
else he says: "lo ritrasse al vivo"36 ("he portrayed him from life"). When mentioning Caravaggio, "Dipinse
per questo Signore una musica di giovini ritratti dal naturale in mezza figure"37 ("He painted for this Lord
... young men portrayed from nature in half-figure"). In this case "dal naturale" definitely does not mean
"full-length", but "from life", as we have the additional description "in half-figure". In fact, according to
Woods-Marsden, sińce the Renaissance "ritratto al naturale" meant "portrayed as if from nature or life"38.
Additionally, the 17th c. Northern Italian art critic, Francesco Scanelli, decribed in // Microcosme delia
Pittura, 1657, a number of portraits as "di meza figura al naturale"39 ("in half-figure from nature"), which
otherwise would be a contradiction in terms.
The original version of the Rubens portrait of the Polish Prince was thus probably knee-length
(in other words, half-figure) rather than full-length, fact which is also reflected in the extant engravings,
among others by Paul Pontius (fig. 2), and dated 1624 (with an inscription correctly listing all the titles
of the Prince)40, as well as in the workshop сору of the Rubens portrait from the Metropolitan Muséum,
New York. The original painting of Ladislas-Sigismund by Rubens is now considered of whereabouts
35 Ibidem, p. 259.
36 Ibidem, p. 260.
37 Ibidem, p. 204.
38 J. Wo o d s -M a r s d e n, 'Ritratto al Naturale': Questions of Realism and Idealism in Early Renaissance Portraits, "Art
Journal", 46, 1987, p. 209.
39 For instance: F. Scanelli,// Microcosme délia pittura, Cesena 1657, p. 259.
40 Chrościcki, Diplomazia..., p. 101; thèse inscriptions were incorrect in the other engravings by J. van der Heyden and
G. Orlandi in 1635.
KATARZYNA KRZYZAGORSKA-PISAREK
2. Paul Pontius, Portrait of Ladislas-Sigismund, Prince of Poland and Sweden, second state with artist's name;
after Peter Paul Rubens, 1624. Engraving. Courtesy of British Muséum
destroyed): "Nella sala del Palazzo delia Giustitia delia medesima Città dipinse al naturale quei Signori
del Magistrato Assisi nel lor Collegio"35 ("In the hall of the Palace of Justice of the same city he painted
from nature (or full-length?) the gentlemen of the Magistrate of Assisi in their College"); and somewhere
else he says: "lo ritrasse al vivo"36 ("he portrayed him from life"). When mentioning Caravaggio, "Dipinse
per questo Signore una musica di giovini ritratti dal naturale in mezza figure"37 ("He painted for this Lord
... young men portrayed from nature in half-figure"). In this case "dal naturale" definitely does not mean
"full-length", but "from life", as we have the additional description "in half-figure". In fact, according to
Woods-Marsden, sińce the Renaissance "ritratto al naturale" meant "portrayed as if from nature or life"38.
Additionally, the 17th c. Northern Italian art critic, Francesco Scanelli, decribed in // Microcosme delia
Pittura, 1657, a number of portraits as "di meza figura al naturale"39 ("in half-figure from nature"), which
otherwise would be a contradiction in terms.
The original version of the Rubens portrait of the Polish Prince was thus probably knee-length
(in other words, half-figure) rather than full-length, fact which is also reflected in the extant engravings,
among others by Paul Pontius (fig. 2), and dated 1624 (with an inscription correctly listing all the titles
of the Prince)40, as well as in the workshop сору of the Rubens portrait from the Metropolitan Muséum,
New York. The original painting of Ladislas-Sigismund by Rubens is now considered of whereabouts
35 Ibidem, p. 259.
36 Ibidem, p. 260.
37 Ibidem, p. 204.
38 J. Wo o d s -M a r s d e n, 'Ritratto al Naturale': Questions of Realism and Idealism in Early Renaissance Portraits, "Art
Journal", 46, 1987, p. 209.
39 For instance: F. Scanelli,// Microcosme délia pittura, Cesena 1657, p. 259.
40 Chrościcki, Diplomazia..., p. 101; thèse inscriptions were incorrect in the other engravings by J. van der Heyden and
G. Orlandi in 1635.