Back

Sobieski Concludes His Lengthy Conversation with Leopold on the Plain Near Vienna in 1683

Daniel Chodowiecki

Basic information

ID: Г-IV-2705
Author: Daniel Chodowiecki
Name: Sobieski Concludes His Lengthy Conversation with Leopold on the Plain Near Vienna in 1683
Country: Germany
Technique: etching
Material: paper on cardboard
Dimensions: 8.4 x 5 cm (height x width)

Additionally

Type: graphic art
Genre: history painting
Provenance: Purchased from O. Bushel, 1977

Information about author

Author: Daniel Chodowiecki
Artist's lifetime: 1726–1801
Country: Poland, Germany
Biography: Daniel Nikolaus Chodowiecki (1726, Gdańsk – 1801, Berlin) – a Polish-German artist, printmaker and painter, a master of etching and book illustration, a representative of the academic movement, and one of the leading exponents of sentimentalism in 18th-century German art.
The artist's father was a merchant, a descendant of a noble family. His mother came from a family of Swiss Huguenots. The young Daniel, continuing the family tradition, began working as a merchant. At the age of 17, he went to Berlin for a commercial apprenticeship, where he spent most of his life. Towards the end of his career, he became the director of the Prussian Academy of Arts (Preußische Akademie der Künste).
In the 1750s, the artist developed an interest in painting, and later in printmaking, becoming one of the leading book illustrators. Between 1770 and 1774, together with Johann Bernhard Basedow, the founder of the philanthropic movement in education, he worked on the four-volume publication "Elementary Textbook for Young People" ("Elementarwerk für die Jugend"). Chodowiecki created over 100 illustrations for it using the copper engraving technique, including some dedicated to the Crusades.
In 1781, the artist produced 12 illustrations for a play by Gustav Friedrich Wilhelm Großmann entitled "No More Than Six Dishes" ("Nicht mehr als sechs Schüsseln"). This comedy, with its strongly social-critical undertones, is considered one of the earliest outstanding dramatic works in German bourgeois literature.
Around 2,000 engravings by Chodowiecki on various subjects, executed in the techniques of etching and copper engraving, have survived to this day. One of his contemporaries wrote that, were it not for Chodowiecki's illustrations, countless books would never have found their readers. The artist created a large number of painted and graphic portraits, as well as genre scenes of burgher life, mostly executed in pen and ink. The total number of the artist's surviving drawings amounts to around 4,000.
Daniel Chodowiecki's works are held in Germany – at the Kupferstichkabinett (Museum of Prints and Drawings) in Berlin, the Museum of Fine Arts in Leipzig, and the Städel Museum in Frankfurt; in Poland – at the National Museum in Gdańsk; in Ukraine – at Borys Voznytskyi Lviv National Art Gallery, Vasyl Stefanyk Lviv National Scientific Library of Ukraine and the Kharkiv Art Museum, as well as in museums in Washington, Madrid and London.

Object description

This work represents one of the episodes for the "History of Poland" theme, illustrated in the Berlin "Historisch-genealogischer Kalender auf das Schalt-Jahr 1796" (Historical and Genealogical Calendar for the Leap Year 1796). The artist's illustrations specifically for this historical theme are currently held in leading global collections, including the Albertina (Vienna), the National Museum in Kraków, the Dresden Kupferstich-Kabinett and the British Museum.
The event depicted took place after the victorious battle over the Turks near Vienna in September 1683. Jan III Sobieski, monarch of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, and Leopold I of Habsburg, Holy Roman Emperor, met near Schwechat. Their meeting was tense due to court etiquette and political differences, which was later ironically reflected in Daniel Chodowiecki's multi-figure composition. In the right foreground, the king is depicted on a galloping horse, dressed in traditional Polish attire. He holds a shield in his left hand and has raised his right hand holding a scroll. In contrast to the expressive king, the emperor on horseback on the left ceremonially raises his hand to his feathered hat. Beside the Habsburg monarch, his subordinate riders look equally joyless. Behind the king, his soldiers are animatedly discussing something.
Below the image, the inscriptions are engraved in German and French: "Sobieski endigt die langweilige Unterredung mit Leopold auf der Ebne bey Wien 1683/ Sobieski termine la longue conférence avec l'empereur Leopold dans la plaine de Vienne 1683". The translated texts show noticeable discrepancies: "Sobieski ends a boring conversation with Leopold on the plain near Vienna 1683" (German text) – "Sobieski ends a long conference with Emperor Leopold in the plain of Vienna 1683" (French text).

Inscriptions

Below the image, the inscriptions are engraved in German and French: "Sobieski endigt die langweilige Unterredung mit Leopold auf der Ebne bey Wien 1683/ Sobieski termine la longue conférence avec l'empereur Leopold dans la plaine de Vienne 1683". In the top right, above the print, the number "6" (or "8") is engraved. On the reverse, at the bottom – the inventory number of the Lviv Picture Gallery written in pencil.

Portrayed person

The name of the person portrayed: Jan III Sobieski, monarch of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, King of Poland, Grand Duke of Lithuania and Grand Duke of Rus; Leopold I of Habsburg, Holy Roman Emperor
Lifetime of the person portrayed: 1629–1696 – Jan Sobieski; 1640–1705 – Leopold I

Legal regulation

Borys Voznytskyi Lviv National Art Gallery

Sobieski Concludes His Lengthy Conversation with Leopold on the Plain Near Vienna in 1683

Other