material: oil on canvas
dimensions: 66 x 52 cm
description: It was one of the first paintings in the series. The beginning of the work on this painting coincided with the preparations to the centenary celebration of the victory in Vienna in 1783. While planning the composition, Bacciarelli had at his disposal fourteen paintings from that period, delivered from Zhovkva on the order of Stanisław August in 1778. They included: The Battle of Vienna by Martino Altomonte and portraits of the Sobieski family, as well as etchings from the royal room of prints. When portraying the king, the artist was mainly inspired by the 17th-century print by Romeyn de Hooghe, showing Sobieski on a rearing horse. Behind the king, dressed not in armour, but in the żupan, a traditional dress of the Polish gentry, and an ermine coat, the artist painted the royal retinue and, far in the background, a view of Vienna. In this work, Bacciarelli employed a conventional allegorical pattern of portraying the victor; however, he replaced the allegorical figures with the historical ones, accompanying the king and commenting on the course of the event. As a result, viewers have an impression that they are watching a particular moment of the battle when the king and his soldiers are moving into the attack. Barbara Ciciora
exposition: The Gallery of 19th Century Polish Art in Sukiennice,
The Cloth Hall, 1, Main Market Square
key: Enlightenment >>>
dimensions: 66 x 52 cm
description: It was one of the first paintings in the series. The beginning of the work on this painting coincided with the preparations to the centenary celebration of the victory in Vienna in 1783. While planning the composition, Bacciarelli had at his disposal fourteen paintings from that period, delivered from Zhovkva on the order of Stanisław August in 1778. They included: The Battle of Vienna by Martino Altomonte and portraits of the Sobieski family, as well as etchings from the royal room of prints. When portraying the king, the artist was mainly inspired by the 17th-century print by Romeyn de Hooghe, showing Sobieski on a rearing horse. Behind the king, dressed not in armour, but in the żupan, a traditional dress of the Polish gentry, and an ermine coat, the artist painted the royal retinue and, far in the background, a view of Vienna. In this work, Bacciarelli employed a conventional allegorical pattern of portraying the victor; however, he replaced the allegorical figures with the historical ones, accompanying the king and commenting on the course of the event. As a result, viewers have an impression that they are watching a particular moment of the battle when the king and his soldiers are moving into the attack. Barbara Ciciora
exposition: The Gallery of 19th Century Polish Art in Sukiennice,
The Cloth Hall, 1, Main Market Square
key: Enlightenment >>>