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Władysław IV Vasa

Author: Henryk Aschenbrenner (1829–1895)
Created:1860
Material:paper
Technique:litograph
Dimensions:32.50 × 25.20 cm
Signature:

bottom left: Rysował A. Lesser
bottom right: Lit. H. Aschenbrenner

After Alexander Lesser (18141884).

Królowie polscy, wizerunki zebrane i rysowane przez Alexandra Lessera, objaśnione tekstem historycznym przez Juliana Bartoszewicza, Warszawa, 1860.

Between 1857 and 1860, the Warsaw publishers Adolf Pecq & Co produced what was artistically the most impressive collection of portraits of the rulers of the former state (Królowie polscy, wizerunki zebrane i rysowane przez Alexandra Lessera, objaśnione tekstem historycznym przez Juliana Bartoszewicza). It is a series of ‘Polish kings’, comprising 44 lithographs by Władysław Walkiewicz and Henryk Aschenbrenner (18291895), based on drawings by ALEXANDER LESSER (18141884). The portraits are accompanied by biographical notes written by the historian and publicist Julian Bartoszewicz. Portraits of the King of Saxony and Duke of Warsaw Frederick Augustus I Wettin, and the emperors Alexander I, Nicholas I and Alexander II, were added to the series at the requirement of the censors. The image in the book of Władysław Vasa was based on a full-length portrait of the ruler in Warsaw, painted in 1638 by Frans Luycx (before 1604 1668), the leading painter at the court of the Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand III, or a smaller copy of the portrait, also in Warsaw. The lithograph shows a half-length portrayal of the subject against a background that was changed from a Baroque column with drapery to a detail of a baldachin for a throne. It also includes the column and statue of Władysław Vasa in front of the Royal Palace in Warsaw, seen through the window.

Text author Rūta Janonienė

Source: Law firm Valiunas Ellex art album RES PUBLICA (2018). Compiler and author Rūta Janonienė