Portrait of Michal Rzewuski
unknown
Basic information
- ID
- Ж-4057
- Author
- unknown
- Name
- Portrait of Michal Rzewuski
- Date of creation
- 18th c.
- Technique
- oil painting
- Material
- canvas oil
- Dimensions (height x width, cm)
- 185 x 85.5
Additionally
- Type
- painting
- Genre
- portraiture
- Provenance
- the Rzewuski-Lanckoronski collection (Rozdil Castle)
Information about author
Object description
Michal Florian Rzewuski was a Polish nobleman, official, diplomat, military figure, and Lviv treasurer. In 1670, he held the post of the elder of Chelm. He was a county clerk of Lviv and Marshal of the Sejm. Michal Rzewuski was Stanislaw Beydo Rzewuski's son, a Lviv county judge, and Anna Czernejowska. During the reign of Jan II Kazimierz, he took part in many significant battles with the Cossacks, Turks, and Muscovites. During the reign of Jan III Sobieski, he took part in the war with the Turks. In 1683, he took part in the battles of Vienna (he was a commander of the army of Crown Hetman Stanislaw Jablonowski) and Parkany.
Many examples of representative magnate and noble portraits of the end of the 17th century and the beginning of the 18th century were preserved. At that time, it was popular to have full-length portraits in palace halls of wealthy magnate residences, such as Pidhirtsi, Rozdil, Berezhany, Zhovkva, and others. These were primarily works made by provincial artists. The ceremonial and representative portrait of Michal Rzewuski was created according to the canonical scheme, in which the portrayed person was depicted at full length. A man dressed in knightly armour is shown standing at the table. On top of the knightly armour is a long red cape lined with fur. His right hand points to the figure of a Turk, depicted below, with his hands folded behind his back. Perhaps this is how, symbolically, the artist wanted to show the victories of Rzewuski over the Turks. Traditionally, such paintings have a coat of arms and an inscription. On this canvas is an inscription "MICHAL RZEWUSKI | PODSKARBI KORONNY | STAROSTA CHELMSKI".
Many examples of representative magnate and noble portraits of the end of the 17th century and the beginning of the 18th century were preserved. At that time, it was popular to have full-length portraits in palace halls of wealthy magnate residences, such as Pidhirtsi, Rozdil, Berezhany, Zhovkva, and others. These were primarily works made by provincial artists. The ceremonial and representative portrait of Michal Rzewuski was created according to the canonical scheme, in which the portrayed person was depicted at full length. A man dressed in knightly armour is shown standing at the table. On top of the knightly armour is a long red cape lined with fur. His right hand points to the figure of a Turk, depicted below, with his hands folded behind his back. Perhaps this is how, symbolically, the artist wanted to show the victories of Rzewuski over the Turks. Traditionally, such paintings have a coat of arms and an inscription. On this canvas is an inscription "MICHAL RZEWUSKI | PODSKARBI KORONNY | STAROSTA CHELMSKI".
Portrayed person
- The name of the person portrayed
- Michal Florian Rzewuski
- Lifetime of the person portrayed
- ?–1687
Legal regulation
Borys Voznytskyi Lviv National Art Gallery
