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Death of Prince Jozef Poniatowski

unknown

Basic information

ID: Ж-5992
Author: unknown
Name: Death of Prince Jozef Poniatowski
Date of creation: 19th c.
Technique: oil painting
Material: canvas oil
Dimensions (height x width, cm): 65 x 98.3

Additionally

Type: painting
Provenance: Lviv Historical Museum

Information about author

Author: unknown
Country

Object description

The painting features a horseman against a landscape backdrop with a river. This is the scene of the death of Prince Jozef Poniatowski (1763–1813), the nephew of the last king of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. He was a colonel and an aide-de-camp to Emperor Joseph II of the Habsburgs. He commanded the Southern Army during the uprising of 1792. Under Kosciuszko's banner, he served as a division commander, opposing the russian forces in Warsaw. He organised the National Guard. Serving as the governor of Warsaw, he was promoted to the rank of divisional general and later became the Minister of War of the newly established Duchy of Warsaw. From 1807, he was the commander of the Polish Legion of the Grand Army, later becoming the commander-in-chief of the Polish forces. Poniatowski commanded the 8th Corps in the Battle of Leipzig, but the advantage in forces was on the other side. The Emperor ordered the Grand Army to retreat. The task of covering the retreat was entrusted to Marshalls Poniatowski and MacDonald. When the French blew up the bridge over the White Elster River, the covering troops had not yet managed to withdraw. Wounded, Marshal Poniatowski mounted his horse and, supported by his aides, attempted to swim across the river. Having reached the shore, he tried to get out of the water but was wounded again, fell back into the water, and drowned. Several days after the conclusion of the Battle of Nations, the body of Jozef Poniatowski was pulled out from the White Elster. The prince was buried in the crypt of St. Leonard under Wawel Cathedral in Krakow in 1817.

Portrayed person