Portrait of Zofia Zamoyska (née Czartoryska) as Psyche
unknown (Austrian School)
Basic information
- ID
- Ж-1761
- Author
- unknown (Austrian School)
- Name
- Portrait of Zofia Zamoyska (née Czartoryska) as Psyche
- Date of creation
- early 19th c.
- Technique
- oil painting
- Material
- canvas oil
- Dimensions (height x width, cm)
- 110 x 88
Additionally
- Type
- painting
- Genre
- portraiture
- Plot
- Portrait
- Provenance
- Collection of Krasiczyn Castle
- Exposition
- Lozinski Palace
Information about author
Object description
From the mid-eighteenth century to the end of the nineteenth century, mythological portraiture was a common form of representative, complementary portraiture. It allowed the most spectacular features of the model's appearance and moral qualities to be highlighted. The ancient myth of Psyche, who personifies the human soul in search of love, was prevalent in art. In paintings and sculptures, Psyche was depicted as a little girl or young woman, usually with butterfly wings, often together with Eros (Cupid). The allegorical representation of Zofia Czartoryska, née Zamoyska, as Psyche is not accidental, as her contemporaries described her as a talented woman of incomparable beauty. The countess was, for example, the author of an original manual entitled "Advice to a Daughter". In this painting by an unknown Austrian artist, Countess Zofia Zamoyska is depicted as a winged Psyche holding a torch among silver clouds. She carefully protects the lamp's flame from the wind, acting as the guardian of the hearth. She wears a white dress in the Greek style, girded with a long dark purple belt. The forearm of her right hand is adorned with a golden bracelet. Her gaze is melancholy, directed towards the viewer.
Portrayed person
- The name of the person portrayed
- Zofia Zamoyska (née Czartoryska) was the daughter of Adam Kazimierz Czartoryski, a statesman, writer and philanthropist, and Isabella Dorota Czartoryska (née Fleming), an art collector and founder of the first Polish museum in the Austrian Empire, the Czartoryski Museum in Pulawy (now a branch of the National Museum in Krakow). She was the wife of Count Stanislaw Kostka Zamoyski. Countess Zofia Zamoyska is a seventh-generation ancestor of Queen Consort of Belgium Matilda, wife of King Philip.
- Lifetime of the person portrayed
- 1778–1837
Legal regulation
Borys Voznytskyi Lviv National Art Gallery
