Portrait of Marianna Sierakowska of Ruszkowski

Lukasz Orlowski

Basic information

ID: Ж-6085
Author: Lukasz Orlowski
Name: Portrait of Marianna Sierakowska of Ruszkowski
Date of creation: 1747
Country: Poland
Technique: oil painting
Material: canvas oil
Dimensions (height x width, cm): 83.4 x 64.5

Additionally

Type: painting
Genre: portraiture
Plot: Epitaph portraiture
Provenance: Museum of Jan III Sobieski in Lviv Lviv Historical Museum
Exposition: Potocki Palace

Information about author

Author: Lukasz Orlowski
Artist's lifetime: 1715–1765
Country: Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
Biography: Lukasz Orlowski (1715–1765) was a Polish artist of the late Baroque and Rococo periods. He was a student of Szymon Slowikowski, a Krakow guild painter and goldsmith. The artist lived in his kamienica (a residential building made of stone) on Rynok Square in Krakow. In 1745, together with eleven painters, Orlowski submitted a petition to the Krakow Academy requesting their patronage. Later, the Krakow Painters' Guild granted him the status of an honorary artist. Orlowski most often signed his paintings with the Latin word "generosus", added information about his noble descent, and indicated the place of creation. The author's paintings, mostly depicting religious subjects, were primarily intended for churches and monasteries. Several portraits are kept in Krakow, Warsaw, and Lviv. Using large, even-coloured planes and flat modelling characterises Orlowski's painting style. In his artworks, he drew inspiration from the Sarmatian portraiture tradition but softened its realism and did not engage with the realm of expressive naturalism. The Painters' Guild records mention Orlowski's 60-piece collection of paintings currently preserved in the National Museum of Krakow.

Object description

The work by Lukasz Orlowski, preserved in the Gallery, is a commissioned epitaph portrait of Marianna Barbara Drozdowska (1679–1756?), the daughter of Andrzej Rozkowski, a castellan of Inowroclaw. Around 1690, Marianna married Jan Serakowski, the pantler of Zakroczym and the elder of Mszana and Olszow. After 1706, she became the wife of Gabriel Drozdowski, the standard-bearer of Zakroczym. Marianna Barbara was the mother of Waclaw Hieronim Sierakowski, the Latin rite Archbishop of Lviv. The painting depicts an elderly woman turned in three-quarters, with her gaze directed at the viewer. She wears a namitka (a woman's head covering) with a long ribbon. To the right of her head is an inscription indicating her name and age.

Inscriptions

On the front side of the artwork: Mariana z Ruszkow/skich Imo Sierakow/ska Starosciana / Mszanska y Olszowska / 2do Voto Drozdowska / Chorazyna / Zakro- czynska / miala lat 82. On the reverse side: Marianna z Ruszkowskich Imо/ Strakowska Starosciana Mszanska y Olszowska 2do Voto/Drozdowska Chorązyna / Zakroczymska miala lat 82 / Lucac Orlowski / pinxit Cracovia / AD. 1747.

Portrayed person