Renaissance Poland-Lithuania - The Realm of Venus, goddess of love, destroyed by Mars, god of war. Discover its "Forgotten portraits", its sovereigns and its unique culture ...
Forgotten portraits - Introduction - part A Forgotten portraits of the Jagiellons - part I (1470-1505) Forgotten portraits of the Jagiellons - part II (1506-1529) Forgotten portraits of the Jagiellons - part III (1530-1540) Forgotten portraits of the Dukes of Pomerania, Dukes of Silesia and European monarchs - part I Forgotten portraits of the Jagiellons - part IV (1541-1551) Forgotten portraits of the Jagiellons - part V (1552-1572) Forgotten portraits of the Jagiellons - part VI (1573-1596) Forgotten portraits of the Dukes of Pomerania, Dukes of Silesia and European monarchs - part II Forgotten portraits - Introduction - part B Forgotten portraits of the Polish Vasas - part I (1587-1623) Forgotten portraits of the Polish Vasas - part II (1624-1636) Forgotten portraits of the Polish Vasas - part III (1637-1648) Forgotten portraits of the Polish Vasas - part IV (1649-1668) Forgotten portraits of the Dukes of Pomerania, Dukes of Silesia and European monarchs - part III Forgotten portraits of the "compatriot kings" (1669-1696) 
"Before the Deluge", it is a former title of a painting now identified to depict the Feast of the prodigal son. It was painted by Cornelis van Haarlem, a painter from the Protestant Netherlands, best known for his highly stylized works with Italianate nudes, in 1615, when the elected monarch of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was a descendant of the Jagiellons - Sigismund III Vasa. Despite huge losses in the collections of paintings, the oeuvre of Cornelis van Haarlem is represented significantly in one of the largest museums in Poland - the National Museum in Warsaw, the majority of which comes from old Polish collections (three from the collection of Wojciech Kolasiński: "Adam and Eve", "Mars and Venus as lovers", "Vanitas" and "The Feast of the prodigal son" from the collection of Tomasz Zieliński in Kielce, inv. M.Ob.260; M.Ob.81; M.Ob.269; M.Ob.1472).
Sadly, its earlier history is unknown, so it cannot be unmistakably associated with the Golden Age of Poland-Lithuania, which, almost as in the Bible, ended with the Deluge (1655-1660), a punishment for sins as some might believe or like the opening of Pandora's box unleashing evil upon the world. "The Swedes and the notorious Germans, for whom murder is a play, the violation of faith is a joke, robbery a pleasure, arson, rape of women and all crimes a joy, our city, destroyed by numerous contributions, they destroyed with fire, leaving only the Koźmin suburb unburned", describes the atrocities in the city of Krotoszyn, burned down on July 5, 1656, an eyewitness - an altarist, brother Bartłomiej Gorczyński (after "Lebenserinnerungen" by Bar Loebel Monasch, Rafał Witkowski, p. 16). A contemporary account tells of the devastation of Wieluń by the Swedes. The town was occupied for a relatively short time by the troops of the starost of Babimost, Krzysztof Jan Żegocki (1618–1673). "As soon as the starost of Babimost withdrew from Wieluń, the Swedes immediately entered and slaughtered everything they could get their hands on, and slaughtered so many people that only the dogs were left alive [...], and they also burned all the houses around the Wieluń Castle". The destruction of Łęczyca, which the Swedes re-entered after the partisans had left, is described as follows: "The Swedes entered the town, killing innocent people. Eighty inhabitants died in the town. The town was completely plundered". "They took everyone's weapons, expelled some from their homes, took all their equipment from others and levied unbearable taxes on every house every month [...] Finally, they burned half the city [...] They completely demolished many buildings that had been spared by the fire, razed all the stables and fences. But what can we say of the murders of many citizens, of many honest women raped, of virgins consecrated to God, who were treated in a vile and inhuman way not by people, but by untamed beasts and cruel tyrants. It is better to remain silent than to spread it, so as not to offend honest ears", describes the destruction of the city of Łowicz Andrzej Kazimierz Cebrowski (ca. 1580-1658), pharmacist and physician in his Annales civitates Loviciae ("The Annals of the City of Łowicz"), written in Latin in the years 1648-1658 (after "Życie codzienne małego miasteczka w XVII i XVIII wieku" by Bohdan Baranowski, p. 240). The wealthy city of Łowicz, seat of the Primate of Poland, was also plundered by the Transylvanian forces, the Polish army and peasants, and the destruction was accompanied by an epidemic of plague and famine. "Churches everywhere plundered, priests stripped of everything, some tortured, wounded, killed with cruel deaths on the gallows, nuns raped, houses of nobles plundered, a great number of nobles killed, all the people extremely oppressed. Neither pacts, nor dedycyje [deditio in ancient Rome, i.e. capitulation] nor protections are of any help, although the diplomatibus of the King of Sweden confirmed" describes the atrocities another contemporary source (after "Pisma polityczne z czasów panowania Jana Kazimierza Wazy ..." by Stefania Ochmann-Staniszewska, Volume 1, p. 145). Descriptions of the destroyed Vilnius after the withdrawal of the Russian and Cossack armies, and other cities of the Most Serene Republic, are equally terrifying. Polish troops responded with similar ruthlessness, sometimes also towards their own citizens, who collaborated with the invaders or were accused of collaboration. The invasion was accompanied by epidemics related to the marches of various armies, destruction of the economy, exacerbation of conflicts and social and ethnic divisions. An unimaginable Apocalypse, sent not by God but by human greed. War should be a forgotten relic of the past, but unfortunately it is still not. "The war of 1655-1657 was the most ruthless and disastrous in terms of cultural losses. Perhaps even more than the enormous spoils of war that were carried away, it left behind the greatest destruction of cultural goods, the collapse of villages and towns, castles and palaces, churches and monasteries", comments Zygmunt Łakociński (1905-1987) in his Polonica Svecana artistica, published in 1962. "Moreover, the looting of cultural goods was planned and organized in advance. Before the war, the Swedes prepared a trained team of 'experts' who accompanied the army and systematically robbed treasuries, archives and libraries", adds Michał Rożek (1946-2015) in his article on the cultural and artistic losses of Kraków during the Deluge. According to Aleksander Birkenmajer (1890-1967) the robbery and destruction of libraries was one of the factors that brought about the decline of culture after the era of John II Casimir (after "Straty kulturalne i artystyczne Krakowa w okresie pierwszego najazdu szwedzkiego (1655-1657)", p. 142, 153). Another painting in the National Museum in Warsaw recalls these events. This small painting (oil on copper, 29.6 x 37.4 cm, inventory number 34174) was very probably made by Christian Melich, court painter of the Polish-Lithuanian Vasas, active in Vilnius between 1604 and 1655 (similar in style to the Surrender of Mikhail Shein in the National Museum in Krakow, MNK I-12) or other Flemish painter. It was initially thought to represent King John II Casimir Vasa after the Battle of Berestechko in 1651, but the distinctive features of a man on horseback, as well as the yellow and blue costume, allowed to identify him with great certainty as Charles X Gustav the "Brigand of Europe", as he was called in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, "who was capable of beginning horrors of war in any part of the old continent" (after "Acta Universitatis Lodziensis: Folia historica", 2007, p. 56), and the subject as his triumph over the country. Female personifications of the Commonwealth, most likely Poland, Lithuania and Ruthenia (or Prussia) like three goddesses from the Judgement of Paris, pay homage to the "Brigand of Europe" supported by Mars and Minerva and trampling Polish enemies in national costumes. One of the women (Venus-Poland) offers the crown and a putto or Cupid offers the symbol of Poland, the White Eagle. Mars, with his sword drawn, looks at the humble woman. Dramatic events change not only individuals but also entire nations. 
Mars and Venus as lovers (Mars being disarmed by Venus) by Cornelis van Haarlem, 1609, National Museum in Warsaw.
Feast of the prodigal son (Before the Deluge) by Cornelis van Haarlem, 1615, National Museum in Warsaw.
Triumph of Charles X Gustav the "Brigand of Europe" over the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth by Flemish painter, most probably Christian Melich, ca. 1655, National Museum in Warsaw.
Bibliography and legal notice. The majority of historical facts in the "Forgotten portraits" and information on works of art are easily verifiable on reliable sources available on the Internet, otherwise I invite you to visit the National Libraries of Poland - personally or virtually (Polona). The majority of translations, if not specifically attributed to someone else in the text or cited sources, are my authorship. Original paintings reproduced in "Forgotten portraits" are considered to be in the public domain (faithful photographic reproduction of a two-dimensional, public domain work of art, copyright term is the author's life plus 100 years or fewer) in accordance with international copyright law (photos from publicly available photo libraries, websites of relevant institutions, my own photos and scans from various publications with credit to the owner), however, all have been retouched and enhanced without significant interference with the quality of the original artwork, where possible. All interpretations, identifications and attributions, not specifically attributed to other authors in the text or cited sources, must be considered as my authorship - Marcin Latka (Artinpl).
Foreign communities, merchants and travels
Majority of confirmed effigies of the Last Polish-Lithuanian Jagiellons are official, popular portraits pertaining to northern school of painting. As in some countries today, in the 16th century, people wanted a portrait of their monarch at home. Such effigies were frequently idealized, simplified and inscribed in Latin, which was the official language, apart from Ruthenian and Polish, of the multicultural country. They provided the official titulature (Rex, Regina), coat of arms and even age (ætatis suæ). Private and paintings dedicated to upper class were less so direct. Painters were operating with a complex set of symbols, which were clear then, however, are no longer so obvious today.
Since the very beginning of the Jagiellonian monarchy in Poland-Lithuania, art was characterized by syncretism and great diversity, which is best illustrated by the churches and chapels founded by the Jagiellons. They were built in a Gothic style with typical pointed arches and ribbed vaults and decorated with Russo-Byzantine frescoes, thus joining Western and Eastern traditions. Perhaps the oldest portraits of the first Jagiellonian monarch - Jogaila of Lithuania (Ladislaus II Jagiello) are his effigies in the Gothic Holy Trinity Chapel at the Lublin Castle. They were commissioned by Jogaila and created by Ruthenian Master Andrey in 1418. On one, the king was represented as a knight on horseback and on the other as a donor kneeling before the Blessed Virgin Mary. The vault was adorned with the image of Christ Pantocrator above the coat of arms of the Jagiellons (Jagiellonian Cross). Similar church murals were created for Jogaila by the Orthodox priest Hayl around 1420 in the Gothic choir of Sandomierz Cathedral and for his son Casimir IV Jagiellon in the Holy Cross Chapel of the Wawel Cathedral by Pskov painters in 1470. Jogaila's portrait as one of the Magi in the mentioned Holy Cross Chapel (Adoration of the Magi, section of the Our Lady of Sorrows Triptych) is attributed to Stanisław Durink, whose father came from Silesia, and his marble tomb monument in the Wawel Cathedral to artists from Northern Italy. The presence of Italian merchants in Kraków is confirmed in 1424. While in the 14th century Genoese immigration predominated in the capital of the Kingdom of Poland, at the beginning of the following century Milanese and Venetian, and above all Florentine, predominated. In a letter from Florence dated January 5, 1424, the Florentine Council thanks Jogaila for releasing Leonardo Giovanni Mathei (Leonardum Johannis ser Mathei, mercatorem et dilectissimum civem nostrum) from prison and recommends Leonardo and his brothers, who are trading in Poland, while in a letter from Kraków dated April 16, 1429, the Kraków City Council certifies the verdict of the arbitration court between Antonio of Florence and Johannes Bank of Wrocław in the case of the dispute over Polish cochineal and furs sent to Venice. According to the letter of May 12, 1427, Hincza and Henryk of Rogów ordered expensive jewelry and clothing, including two hats set with pearls and decorated with heron feathers, from Margherita, widow of Guglielmo of Ferrara (Margaretha relicta olim Wilhelmi de Fararea Comitis, after "Rocznik Krakowski", 1911, Volume 13, p. 98-100, 103). Two splendid pieces of jewellery from the early 15th century found near Lublin bear witness to the high quality of local and imported jewellery. The Italian merchants enjoyed the king's protection. According to a document dated November 15, 1430, the Florentine patrician in the service of Antonio Ricci, Reginaldo Altoviti, when questioned before a court in Venice to know if in dieto regno Polane redditur bonum ius Italicis, replied that justice is always rendered to Italians as to others arriving in this country and that the king would guarantee the money in the event of a debt to an Italian merchant (et eciam per serenissimum regem Pollane constringi posset ad huiusmodi et maiorem quantitatem solvendant cuilibet). Between 1485 and 1489, the Genoese Andreolo Guascho da Soldaja managed the estates of Uriel Górka (d. 1498), Bishop of Poznań, and then he went to Genoa to find a good gardener for the bishop. He concluded a contract with a certain Nicolaus de Noali, son of Paul, from the village of Coste Ripparoli for four years to "plant vines and all kinds of agriculture" (plantandi vineas et omne genus agriculture). Before 1486, the same Bishop Górka, when he wanted to order various types of silver goblets, did not turn to local craftsmen, but ordered them in Nuremberg from Albrecht Dürer, the father of the famous painter. The relations of the Italian merchants were sometimes quite complex. Giacomo Tebaldi, who was a resident of the Duchy of Ferrara in Venice from 1516 to 1549, often dealt with Gaspare Gucci, a renowned merchant in Kraków in the 1540s, and an intermediary in the trade between Italy, Germany and Poland-Lithuania. Tebaldi also corresponded with Giovanni Andrea Valentino (Valentini, de Valentinis), influential physician to Queen Bona (e.g. letter from Kraków of April 18, 1521 addressed a Venetia a ms. Iacopo Thebaldos, after "La trama Nascosta - Storie di mercanti e altro" by Rita Mazzei). The list of professors of the Vilnius Academy, such as Emmanuel de Vega (d. 1640) from Portugal, Laurids Nilsen (1538-1622) from Norway, Laurentius Boierus (1561-1619) from Sweden, the Englishmen Richard Singleton (1566-1602) and James Bosgrave (1553-1623), as well as the Spaniards Garcia Alabiano (1549-1624), Miguel Ortiz (1560-1638), Santiago Ortiz (1564-1625) and Antonio Arrias (d. 1591), preacher of King Stephen Bathory, confirms that many foreigners also lived in the capital of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (comapre "Wilno od początków jego do roku 1750" by Józef Ignacy Kraszewski, Volume 4, p. 29-36). Italian merchants from Poznań at the turn of the 15th and 16th centuries, such as the Genoese (Paolo de Promontorio and his brother Stefano, Peregrinus de Promontorio, Agostino Mazoni de Promontorio, Nicolaus de Noali, Eustachio de Parentibus, Antonio de Pino, Gian Antonio de Insula and Baptista Dologesa) and the Florentines (Marcioto, Raphael, Jacopo Betoni and Baptista Ubaldini) frequently operated in the area from Genoa and Venice to Vilnius, while Jewish merchants dominated trade with Grodno. In the 1530s, "Paul the seller of Venetian goods" (Paulus rerum venetiarum venditor) went to Vilnius and was recommended by the Poznań council in the trial against Lorenzo the Italian, who died in Vilnius (compare "Prace", Poznańskie Towarzystwo Przyjaciół Nauk, 1928, Volumes 5-6, p. 275). The so-called Madonna Scroll (Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, inv. 116027), inspired by the Byzantine icon Salus Populi Romani and bearing the mark of the Chinese painter and calligrapher Tang Yin (1470-1524), indicates that Italian painting probably reached China in the early 16th century. The artist adapted the icon to Chinese standards, while the image is also believed to depict the Buddhist goddess of Mercy, Guanyin. It probably reached China via Portuguese or Venetian merchants or missionaries, illustrating the scale of Italian pictorial production during the Renaissance and its distribution. Although the Netherlandish community was much larger in the northern regions of the country and in the major ports, it was also found in Kraków, where they imported cloth from Flanders and London. As in the case of the Boner family from the Palatinate and the Nuremberg painter Hans Suess von Kulmbach, as well as the Montelupi family from Tuscany and the workshop of Domenico Tintoretto in Venice, which is confirmed by the sources, it was merchants established in Poland-Lithuania who frequently recommended or facilitated contacts with artists from their countries of origin. King Sigismund Augustus's "servant" Roderik van der Moyen (Roderigo Dermoyen or Dermoien, d. 1567), a merchant and citizen of Lübeck, was sent from Knyszyn to Gdańsk and further to Brussels by the king with the order to make tapestries (according to a letter to Jan Kostka dated May 12, 1564), most likely black and white tapestries with the king's coat of arms and monogram (compare "Czarno-białe tkaniny Zygmunta Augusta" by Maria Hennel-Bernasikowa, p. 33), and in 1601 Sefer Muratowicz, an Armenian merchant from Warsaw, was sent by Sigismund III with the order to make kilims in Persia with the king's coat of arms. In both cases, merchants had to receive designs for fabrics (at least general) approved by the king. Around 1620, the Venetian painter active in Kraków - Tommaso Dolabella, a pupil of Antonio Vassilacchi, known as L'Aliense, depicted the first king of the new dynasty kneeling before the crucified Christ, accompanied by his wife and co-monarch, Saint Jadwiga (Hedwig of Anjou, 1373-1399), Saint Florian, the Virgin Mary, Saint John Cantius, Saint John the Evangelist and Saint Stanislaus. This large painting (oil on canvas, 381 x 362 cm), was probably painted for the theological lecture hall of the Kraków Academy (Jagiellonian University) and probably founded by Prince Ladislaus Sigismund Vasa (future Ladislaus IV). The royal couple restored the academy in the 1390s. In 1643, another Italian painter, Silvestro Bianchi, court painter to Ladislaus IV, made two separate portraits of Jogaila and Jadwiga, kneeling as donors, for the library of the university (after "Katalog portretów i obrazów będących własnością Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego ..." by Jerzy Mycielski, p. 9, 31, items 42-43, 186). In both cases, the painters based their work on original effigies of the period, from the late 14th century for the effigy of Jadwiga, dressed in medieval costume, and from the early 16th century for the portrait of Jogaila, dressed in Renaissance armour. This studio practice proves that skilled painters do not need to see the real model to create a good effigy and composition. Since the Middle Ages, portraiture accompanied important international relations in Europe, particularly the marriages of the ruling houses. According to Jean d'Auton, or Jehan d'Authon (1466-1528), official chronicler of King Louis XII of France, portraits of Anne of Foix-Candale (1484-1506) and her cousin Germaine of Foix (ca. 1488-1536), later Queen of Aragon, sent to Vladislaus II Jagiellon (1456-1516), King of Bohemia, Hungary and Croatia, eldest son of Casimir IV, played an important role in the marriage negotiations in 1501-1502. Vladislaus sent his ambassador to France called Georges Versepel from the Kingdom of Bohemia and identified as Jiří z Běšin (d. 1509), who brought him portraits of the two ladies "taken from nature" (pourtraictures d'icelles prises sur le vif, after "Chroniques de Louis XII", Volume 2, p. 215-216). Brides generally do not need to request a reliable portrait because effigies of important monarchs of Europe, including the kings of Poland, were well distributed and since the 15th century even coins provided a faithful effigy of the sovereign. Perfectly conversant with Latin and the other languages of medieval and renaissance Europe, Poles, Lithuanians, Ruthenians, Germans and other ethnic groups of the multi-ethnic country, traveled to different countries of Western Europe, thus various fashions, even the strangest ones, like the effigies of Christ with Three Faces or effigies of crucified, bearded female Saint Wilgefortis, easily penetrated Poland-Lithuania.
Portraits in disguise
Disguised portraits, especially likenesses in guise of the Virgin Mary were popular in different parts of Europe from at least the mid-15th century (e.g. portraits of Agnès Sorel, Bianca Maria Visconti and Lucrezia Buti). Often unpopular rulers and their wives or mistresses were depicted as members of the Holy Family or saints. This naturally led to frustration and sometimes the only possible response was satire. The diptych by anonymous Flemish painter, most likely Marinus van Reymerswaele, from the 1520s (Wittert Museum in Liège, inventory number 12013), referring to diptychs by Hans Memling, Michel Sittow, Jehan Bellegambe, Jan Provoost, Jan Gossaert and other painters is obviously a satirical criticism of these representations. Instead of the rosy cheeks of a "virgin" holding a red carnation flower, a symbol of love and passion, the curious viewer will see brown cheeks and a thistle, a symbol of earthly pain and sin. In a 1487 diptych of Hieronymus Tscheckenburlin by the German painter, the rosy virgin is replaced by a rotting skeleton - memento mori (Kunstmuseum Basel, inv. 33).
One of the earliest confirmations of disguised portraits made in 15th-century Italy is found in Russian sources. In 1469, Giambattista della Volpe, a merchant from Vicenza in the Venetian Republic, known in Russia as Ivan Fryazin, was sent to the papal court in Rome to initiate official negotiations for the marriage between the exiled Byzantine princess Sophia Palaiologina (d. 1503) and the Grand Prince of Moscow Ivan III (1440-1505). According to Sofia Second Chronicle (Sofiyskaya vtoraya letopis'), della Volpe returned to Moscow with a portrait of the princess that "was written [painted] on the icon" (a tsarevnu na ikone napisanu prinese), which "caused extreme surprise at court," according to later authors. The Byzantine princess was therefore most likely depicted as the Virgin and Child or a Christian saint, like Saint Sophia of Rome, which was typical for many Western European paintings at that time. However, some authors who were probably unaware of the tradition of disguised portraiture, interpreted this fragment that the chronicler called the portrait an "icon" not finding another word, since this portrait is considered the first "secular image" in Russia, or that it was a parsuna, a portrait painted in the iconographic style. The fate of this painting is unknown. It is believed that it perished during one of the many fires in the Kremlin. However, since many valuable objects related to the Russian tsars have survived, it seems more likely that it was destroyed in 1654 or 1655, during the iconoclasm in Moscow (compare "Art Judgements: Art on Trial in Russia after Perestroika" by Sandra Frimmel, p. 212). Furthermore, although the portrait is considered to have probably been painted by one of the painters of the papal court, it is also possible that della Volpe was only given a drawing and that the painting was executed in one of the famous Venetian workshops, such as that of Giovanni Bellini. The stopover of the Russian legation in Venice in 1469 is confirmed in the Sofia Second Chronicle, moreover, they were accompanied by a certain "Pan Yurga" (Mr Jurga), most likely a Pole, who knew the route to Venice and Rome (I poslal pana Yurgu s nim v provozhatykh, potomu chto on znayet tot put': idti na Novgorod, ottuda k Nemtsam i na Venetsiyu gorod, i ottuda k Rimu, tak kak tot put' k Rimu blizhe. I on, pribyv v Venetsiyu ...). A portrait of such an important figure was probably not made in a single copy, so perhaps a copy made for the Pope or Sophia's family in Italy is waiting to be discovered hidden under a religious disguise. Interestingly, a painting attributed to Giovanni Bellini perfectly meets all the requirements for such a copy. It is now in the Khanenko Museum in Kyiv, Ukraine. It comes from the collection of Bohdan Khanenko (1849-1917) and his wife Varvara Tereshchenko (1852-1922) and was previously attributed to Bartolomeo Montagna from Vicenza, considered a student of Giovanni Bellini. The previous provenance is not known, the couple probably bought the painting during their travels, while Vienna, Berlin, Paris, Madrid, Rome and Florence are mentioned as the places they visited. About 100 valuable paintings were acquired from famous collections put up for sale in Rome and Florence, the Borghese collection is also mentioned. Before settling with his wife in Kyiv, Khanenko lived in Warsaw between 1876 and 1882 and before that in St. Petersburg, where he also bought paintings, and in Moscow. "The Infanta Margarita" from the collection of the Infante Sebastian (1811-1875) in Pau was purchased at auction in Hamburg in 1912 (Galerie Weber, February 20-22, 1912, lot 176). The painting is undated and in the catalogue of the Fototeca Zeri (Numero scheda 28317), the period between 1480 and 1530 approximately is proposed with an attribution to the painter's studio. Giuseppe Fiocco (1884-1971), who attributed the work to Giovanni Bellini, also noted the Castel Sant'Angelo, the tallest building in medieval Rome, in the background (cf. "Treasures of Ukraine" by Dmytro Stepovyk, p. 53). The layout of the city, the castle and the bridge correspond perfectly to the views of medieval and renaissance Rome, such as the 1493 illustration in the Nuremberg Chronicle, the view by Sebastian Munster from around 1560 or the map by Braun & Hogenberg from 1572. The view in the Kyiv painting of is taken from the north-east, where Moscow (and Venice) are located, and for obvious reasons, the "Madonna" covers with her right arm another important building in Rome - St. Peter's Basilica and the Vatican, the seat of the Pope. The facial features of the Virgin - elongated face, prominent lips and the shape of the nose, are reminiscent of the forensic facial reconstruction of Sophia Palaiologina from 1994. Among the earliest portraits "in guise" in European painting are the portrait of a lady (Aloisia Sabauda, perhaps from the House of Savoy) as the Sibyl Agrippina (Egyptian Sybil), painted by Jacques Daret in the 1430s (Dumbarton Oaks, inv. HC.P.1923.01.(O), inscription: SIBYLLA AGRIPPA), the portrait of Isabella of Portugal (1397-1471), Duchess of Burgundy as the Persian Sibyl by the workshop of Rogier van der Weyden from around 1450, (Getty Center in Los Angeles, inv. 78.PB.3, inscription: PERSICA SIBYLLA 1A), the portrait of a lady as Saint Catherine of Alexandria by Sandro Botticelli from about 1475 (Lindenau-Museum, inv. 100), the portrait of a man as Saint Sebastian by Jacometto Veneziano from the late 15th century (Brooklyn Museum in New York, inv. 34.836) or portrait of a lady as Saint Justina of Padua by Bartolomeo Montagna from the 1490s (Metropolitan Museum of Art, inv. 14.40.606). The effigy of Pope Joan (Joannes septimus, John VII), the legendary female pontiff, holding her child in Hartmann Schedel's Registrum huius operis libri cronicarum ..., published in Nuremberg in 1493 (Bavarian State Library in Munich, Rar. 287, p. 169v), is clearly inspired by the effigies of the Virgin and Child from the late Middle Ages. Ladislaus the Posthumous (1440-1457), King of Hungary, Croatia and Bohemia and his fiancée Magdalena of Valois (1443-1495) were represented as Ahasuerus and Esther in the so-called Mazarin tapestry from around 1500 (National Gallery of Art in Washington, inv. 1942.9.446). Around 1502, Giovanni Antonio Bazzi (1477-1549), better known as Il Sodoma ("the sodomite"), considered a pupil of Leonardo da Vinci, painted his splendid self-portrait at the center of a religious scene depicting Saint Benedict repairing a broken colander through prayer, at the Benedictine monastery of Monte Oliveto Maggiore, on the road from Siena to Rome. Although it had long been common for artists to leave their image in their works, it is highly unusual for them to do so in such an ostentatious manner. The artist, dressed in a rich costume, holding a sword, and accompanied by his pets, badgers and ravens, dominates the scene, while Saint Benedict and his nurse, Cyrilla, appear here as secondary characters. The effigy of Judas looking out at the viewer in a fresco of the Last Supper in the church of San Bartolomeo a Monteoliveto in Florence, painted by Sodoma around 1515-1516, is also considered to be his self-portrait (after "Giorgio Vasari: The Man and the Book" by Thomas Sherrer Ross Boase, p. 226-227). Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo lend their features to Plato and Heraclitus in Raphael's The School of Athens, painted between 1509 and 1511 (Apostolic Palace, Vatican), while Emperor Charles V was depicted as King Sapor of Persia humiliating Emperor Valerian, in a small painting by School of Antwerp from about 1515-1525 (Worcester Art Museum, inv. 1934.64). In Peter Vischer the Younger's Allegory of the Victory of the Reformation, created in 1524, the naked Martin Luther (LVTHERVS) in the form of Hercules leads the Conscience from the ruins of the Roman Church towards Christ (Klassik Stiftung Weimar). The highly idealized portrait of a lady as Judith in the art collections of the University of Liège (inv. 38) is traditionally known to be a disguised portrait of the unspecified Margaret of Rochefort (Margarete von Rochefort als Judith). Dated "1526" and inscribed IVDIT, this painting, although considered a work by Cranach or his circle, is closer to works attributed to Hans Kemmer. The portrait of Francis I (1494-1547), King of France as a transgender composite deity combining the attributes of Minerva, Mars, Diana, Cupid and Mercury from around 1545 (National Library of France, Na 255 Rés.) is certainly one of the most intriguing paintings of this type. The same can be said of the portrait of the "sodomite" Gaucher de Dinteville, lord of Vanlay, and his brothers depicted in the painting "Moses and Aaron before Pharaoh" (identified by the inscriptions on the hems of their robes), probably painted by Bartholomeus Pons in 1537 (Metropolitan Museum of Art, inv. 50.70). In this scene, Gaucher's brother, Jean de Dinteville (1504-1555), lord of Polisy, known for Hans Holbein the Younger's famous Ambassadors, is depicted as a seductive, half-naked Moses. In turn, the marble bust of the young Beatrice d'Este (1475-1497), Duchess of Bari and Milan, preserved in the Louvre Museum, bears an inscription in Latin "To the divine Beatrice, daughter of Duke Ercole" (DIVAE / BEATRICI / D[ucis] HERC[ulis] F[ilae]) indicating that the boundary between divine and human beings was not as clearly defined in the Renaissance as it is today. Before 1570, Luca Longhi (1507-1580), a painter active in Ravenna in the Papal States, created a large painting for the church of Saint Barbara depicting the Virgin and Child Enthroned with Saints (Ravenna Art Museum) in which he lends the features of his daughter Barbara Longhi (1552-1638) to her saintly patron. Luca also depicted his daughter as Saint Catherine of Alexandria, holding attributes of that saint, a wheel and a palm of martyrdom, which was later copied by Barbara, also a talented painter (both paintings are in the Ravenna Art Museum). Barbara painted several copies of this effigy as well as other portraits in guise of Saint Catherine (e.g. paintings in the Pinacoteca Nazionale di Bologna and the Museo Canonicale di Verona). "This type of self-imagery assisted the devotee, in this instance Barbara Longhi, the painter, to visually impersonate a favorite female saint and emulate the martyrdom experience of said saint", furthermore, in 16th century Italy, "the artist's virtuosity became regarded as artista divino (the divine artist), demonstrating that the artist's genius was inspired by God, as exemplified by Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo" (after "Barbara Longhi of Ravenna: A Devotional Self-Portrait" by Liana De Girolami Cheney, p. 23, 26, 29, 31). In the scene of the Adoration of the Magi by Paolo Caliari (1528-1588), known as Paolo Veronese, the servants of three men ostentatiously demonstrate their coats of arms on their liveries (Museum of Fine Arts of Lyon, deposit of the Louvre Museum, inv. A 79). They not only commissioned this painting, but were also depicted as the Magi, as their faces and costumes indicate. Thanks to the coats of arms, Florence Ingersoll-Smouse recognized three members of the Contarini, Cornaro (or Corner), and Molini (Molin or Molino) families (from left to right), probably Venetian Camerlenghi. The African page, wearing the Contarini coat of arms on his costume, hands his lord a silver bowl bearing the same coat of arms. The painting was probably painted for the palace of the Magistrato di Camerlenghi in Venice, at the request of the three members of these families (after "L'inventaire Le Brun de 1683 ..." by Arnauld Brejon de Lavergnée, p. 419). Another religious scene once attributed to Paolo Veronese: The Wedding at Cana takes place in Venice (or more generally in the Venetian entourage) and the ladies seated at table table with Christ proudly display their splendid costumes (Ansorena in Madrid, April 8, 2021, lot 88). This painting is now attributed to Jacopo Negretti (1549-1628), better known as Palma the Younger (il Giovane), who painted works in Venice commissioned by King Sigismund III Vasa. Among the oldest indirect (implicit) confirmations of the existence of disguised portraits in Poland-Lithuania-Ruthenia is the letter of Giovanni Andrea Valentino, court physician of Sigismund I and Bona Sforza, to Alfonso d'Este (1476-1534), Duke of Ferrara (June 1529 from Vilnius), in which he informs the Duke that the court barber had to kneel before the portrait of Federico II Gonzaga (1500-1540), Marquis of Mantua, with his hands folded in prayer. This portrait was sent from Mantua to Queen Bona and was most likely painted by Titian. Another interesting document is the letter of Queen Anna Jagiellon to the priest Stanisław Zając dated June 19, 1586 from Warsaw. According to this letter, the queen sent her portrait to the Sigismund Chapel in Kraków, the Jagiellonian burial chapel. The elected queen warned: "And lest it be worshipped, let it always be well covered, and never uncovered, unless someone is very eager to see it" (A iżby się mu nie kłaniano, niechaj zawzdy dobrze zakryty będzie, a nigdy go nie odkrywać, chyba iżby kto bardzo się go napierał widzieć, compare "Rex et Regnum Poloniae..." by Juliusz A. Chrościcki, p. 152). A direct confirmation of this practice can be found in the 1661 inventory of the paintings from the Lubomirski collection that survived the Deluge, which mentions the portraits of Helena Tekla Ossolińska (1622-1687) "in the form" of Saint Helena and another "in the form" of Diana, Roman goddess of the hunt, as well as the portrait of Renée du Bec-Crespin (1613/14-1659), comtesse de Guébriant "in the form of the Blessed Virgin Mary" (Central Archives of Historical Records in Warsaw, 1/357/0/-/7/12). As in other countries in Europe, during the Renaissance and early Baroque, Greek and Roman mythology was extremely popular and, despite enormous destruction, traces of a kind of inclination towards the Roman goddess Venus, not to say a cult, can still be found, notably in poetry. Venus and Cupid and other Roman deities were frequently part of theatrical performances, masked processions, and other festivities, while chandeliers in ballrooms or dining rooms in castles and palaces were often shaped like a biblical or mythological figure, composed on the theme of Judith with the head of Holofernes or Cupid with a bow, as for example in the Krasicki castle in Dubiecko or in the Korniakt manor in Zolotkovychi (compare "Życie polskie w dawnych wiekach" by Władysław Łoziński, p. 13, 181). Aleksander Stankiewicz describing a Renaissance tile from the 1570s found in the Old Castle of Żywiec and decorated with the coat of arms of the owner and his wife (Żywiec Municipal Museum, inv. 1663), concludes that the naked Venus in this tile could represent the Virgin Mary, which the Komorowski family revered, as evidenced by the family's numerous foundations (compare "Trzy zespoły kafl i z zamku w Żywcu", p. 42). In the poem "Psyche", Jan Andrzej Morsztyn (1621-1693) describes Venus finding Cupid in the queen's gardens at the Villa Regia palace in Warsaw (Tam ją zastała wtenczas Erycyna, Z swemi nimfami siedzącą, i syna). Sometimes also historical scenes were represented in a mythological or biblical disguise or in a fantastic entourage. This is the case of a painting depicting the Siege of Malbork Castle in 1454 seen from the west - one of four paintings by Martin Schoninck, commissioned around 1536 by the Malbork Brotherhood to hang above the Brotherhood bench in the Artus Court in Gdańsk. To emphasize the victory of Gdańsk and the Jagiellonian monarchy over the Teutonic Order, the painting is accompanied by the Story of Judith, a mere woman, who overcomes a superior enemy, and effigies of Christ Salvator Mundi and Madonna and Child (lost during World War II). During the Renaissance, the two traditions – Christian and Greco-Roman, the Bible and ancient mythology also mixed. The best example is Judith and the Infant Hercules, attributed to the Master of the Mansi Magdalen (National Gallery in London, NG4891). In this painting, naked Judith, resembling Cranach's Venuses and holding the head of Holofernes, is accompanied by the infant Hercules, who strangles two snakes sent by the jealous goddess Juno to kill him. This symbolism (overcoming male dominance and female jealousy) indicates that the woman depicted as Judith most likely commissioned this painting to address these issues in her life. The widespread popularity of the "Metamorphoses" and other works of the Roman poet Ovid (43 BC – 17/18 AD) also contributed to the popularity of disguised portraits in Poland-Lithuania. The poet lived among the Sarmatians, legendary ancestors of the Polish-Lithuanian nobility, and was therefore considered the first national poet (compare "Ovidius inter Sarmatas" by Barbara Hryszko, p. 453, 455). In the "Metamorphoses" he deals with transformation into different beings, disguise, illusion and deception, as well as the deification of Julius Caesar and Augustus since both leaders trace their lineage through Aeneas to Venus, who "struck her breast with both hands, and tried to hide Caesar in a cloud" in an attempt to rescue him from the conspirators' swords. The portrait of Philip II (1527-1598), King of Spain, preserved in the famous Renaissance Hardwick Hall (inv. NT 1129159), is very interesting from the point of view of metamorphoses in portraits painted in the 16th century, as well as effigies based on works by other painters. The author of this work, an unidentified English painter, was undoubtedly familiar with the portraits of the husband of Queen Mary Tudor (1516-1558) by Hans Eworth and other Flemish and Dutch painters. However, intentionally or not, the facial features of the Spanish monarch closely resemble the earlier effigies of Mary's father, King Henry VIII (1491-1547), such as his portrait by Joos van Cleve (Royal Collection, inv. RCIN 403368). Only the Habsburg jaw and costume reveal that this is in fact the portrait of Philip II. Dark hair and blond beard of the sitter are other typical features of portraits from this period. Adam Jasienski, describing the portrait of a woman, perhaps of the person who commissioned the painting, as Saint Barbara, painted in Spain in the first half of the 17th century (Lázaro Galdiano Museum in Madrid, inv. 08107), provides some characteristics of such representations in religious scenes: "The woman who kneels in the foreground is represented according to the conventions of period portraiture: her facial features are particularized, and, whereas Christ's face is painterly, with eyes downcast, hers is highly finished and confronts the viewer with a direct gaze. Tellingly, the angel also looks out from the picture: he, too, is a portrait, likely of the sitter's young son" (after "Praying to Portraits", p. 1-2). The Jagiellonian era was also a time of lavish balls, feasts, and festivities. One of the most memorable was the wedding of King Stephen Bathory's niece, Griselda (1569-1590), to Jan Zamoyski in June 1583. Kraków's market square was filled with the Olympus of the Gods, recalling the triumphs of the Roman emperors. The most illustrious lords of the kingdom, dressed in various masks, participated in this celebration. The procession was inaugurated by Mikołaj Wolski (1553-1630), the Crown Sword Bearer, in the guise of an African. The famous military commander Stanisław Żółkiewski (1547-1620) led the fourth procession, dressed as Diana, goddess of the hunt, "surrounded by nymphs, he shone like the dawn", according to Julian Ursyn Niemcewicz. Joachim Ocieski (ca. 1562-1613), starost of Olsztyn, was dressed as Cupid. The procession was closed by Venus, who dragged Paris tied with a chain, undoubtedly symbolizing the triumph over male domination and most likely referring to Queen Anna Jagiellon. The goddess of love approached the newlyweds and, smiling, offered them the golden apple.
Tolerance, morality and iconoclasm
Poland-Lithuania was the most tolerant country of Renaissance Europe, where in the early years of the Reformation many churches simultaneously served as Protestant and Catholic temples. There are no known sources regarding organized iconoclasm, known from western Europe, in most cases works of art were sold, when churches were completely taken over by the Reformed denominations. Disputes over the nature of the images remained mainly on paper - the Calvinist preacher Stanisław Lutomirski called the Jasna Góra icon of the Black Madonna "an idolatry table", "a board from Częstochowa" that made up the doors of hell, and he described worshiping it as adultery and Jakub Wujek refuted the charges of iconoclasts, saying that "having thrown away the images of the Lord Christ, they replace them with images of Luther, Calvin and their harlots" (after "Ikonoklazm staropolski" by Konrad Morawski). Unlike other countries where effigies of "The Fallen Madonna with the Big Boobies", nude or half-naked images of saints or disguised portraits in churches and public places were destroyed in mob actions by Protestant crowds, in Poland-Lithuania such incidents were rare.
Before the Great Iconoclasm, many temples were filled with nudity and so-called falsum dogma appearing at the time of the the Council of Trent (twenty-fifth session of the Tridentium, on December 3 and 4, 1563), which "means not so much a heretical view, but a lack of orthodoxy from the Catholic point of view. Iconography was to be cleansed of such errors as lewdness (lascivia), superstition (superstitio), shameless charm (procax venustas), and finally disorder and thoughtlessness" (after "O świętych obrazach" by Michał Rożek). The "divine nakedness" of ancient Rome and Greece, rediscovered by the Renaissance, was banished from churches, however many beautiful works of art preserved - like naked Crucifixes by Filippo Brunelleschi (1410-1415, Santa Maria Novella in Florence), by Michelangelo (1492, Church of Santo Spirito in Florence and another from about 1495, Bargello Museum in Florence) and by Benvenuto Cellini (1559-1562, Basilica of Escorial near Madrid). Nudity in Michelangelo's Last Judgment (1536-1541, Sistine Chapel) was censored the year after the artist's death, in 1565 (after "Michelangelo's Last Judgment - uncensored" by Giovanni Garcia-Fenech). In this fresco nearly everyone is naked or seminaked. Daniele da Volterra painted over the more controversial nudity of mainly muscular naked male bodies (Michelangelo's women look more like men with breasts, as the artist had spent too much time with men to understand the female form), earning Daniele the nickname Il Braghettone, "the breeches-maker". He spared some female effigies and obviously homosexual scenes among the Righteous Men (two young men kissing and a young man kissing an old man's beard and two naked young men in a passionate kiss). Another interesting example of censorship after the Council of Trent is the tomb of Pope Paul III Farnese (1468-1549), the pope who convened the Council in 1545 and commissioned Michelangelo to direct the construction of the basilica in 1547. This splendid bronze and marble monument in St. Peter's Basilica was sculpted by Guglielmo della Porta (d. 1577) between 1549 and 1575. With a payment order to the bank of Tiberio Ceuli dated April 2, 1593, Cardinal Odoardo Farnese (1573-1626) advanced 50 scudi to Guglielmo's son Teodoro Della Porta, who had inherited his workshop, for the "metal robe to be made on the naked marble statue of Justice, placed on the tomb of our Pope Paul, Holy memory" (veste di metallo che deve fare sopra la statua nuda di marmo che rappresenta la Giustizia, posta mella sepoltura di papa Paulo nostro, Santa memoria, after "La leggenda del papa Paolo III: arte e censura nella Roma pontificia" by Roberto Zapperi, p. 14). The statue was dressed at the request of Pope Clement VIII Aldobrandini (1536-1605), shortly after his election as pontiff (January 30, 1592). Interestingly, this nude statue, which is still covered with this "metal robe", is considered to be an effigy of Paul III's sister, Giulia Farnese (1474-1524), mistress of Pope Alexander VI Borgia (1431-1503), and the half-naked statue of Prudentia on the same monument is supposed to represent the features of their mother Giovannella Caetani (after "Tesori d'arte cristiana" by Stefano Bottari, Volume 5, p. 51). Rediscovered in 2014 portrait of Isabella de' Medici (1542-1576), who died tragically, now housed at the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh (inv. 78.10.2), illustrates not only 19th-century falsification and idealization (the sitter's face has been reshaped), but also the censorship of controversial elements of the painting. Paolo Giordano I Orsini's wife, dressed in a splendid costume, was depicted holding an attribute of Saint Mary Magdalene: an alabaster vase containing an ointment in her right hand, and with a halo around her head, both repainted later. Gabriele Paleotti (1522-1597), doctor of civil and canon law, archbishop of Bologna and great contributor to the reform of the Church during the Council of Trent, commented in his "Discourse on Sacred and Profane Images" (De imaginibus sacris et profanis, 1594) on the merits of painting for a Christian, among which is to create not only an art that imitates the natural world but also an art that imitates the glory of God. He added that likenesses of holy figures "should be of a good and intelligent person revealing the nature of devotion" and warned painters against composing a portrait of a saint using the image of a commoner or frivolous person, well known to others, as this would be considered a shameful action (compare "Barbara Longhi of Ravenna: A Devotional Self-Portrait" by Liana De Girolami Cheney, p. 28-29). The provisions of Trent reached Poland through administrative ordinances and they were accepted at the provincial synod in Piotrków in 1577. Diocesan synod of Kraków, convened by Bishop Marcin Szyszkowski in 1621, dealt with issues of sacred art. The resolutions of the synod were an unprecedented event in the artistic culture of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Published in Chapter LI (51) entitled "On sacred images" (De sacris imaginibus) of Reformationes generales ad clerum et populum ..., they created guidelines for the iconographic canon of sacred art. Holy images could not have portrait features, pictures of the naked Adam and Eve, Saint Mary Magdalene half-naked or embracing a cross in an obscene and multi-colored outfit, Saint Anne with three husbands, Virgin Mary painted or carved in too profane, foreign and indecent clothing should be removed from temples, because they contain false dogma, give the simple people an opportunity to fall into dangerous errors or are contrary to Scripture. However, the bans were not overly respected, because representations of the Holy Family, numbering more than twenty people, including Christ's siblings, have been preserved in the vast diocese of Kraków (after "O świętych obrazach" by Michał Rożek). The victorious Counter-Reformation and the victorious Reformation opposed shameless lust and shameless charm and a kind of paganism (after "Barok: epoka przeciwieństw" by Janusz Pelc, p. 186), but church officials could not ban "divine nakedness" from lay homes, and nude effigies of saints were still popular after the Council of Trent. Many of such paintings were acquired by clients from the Commonwealth abroad, in the Netherlands, in Venice and Rome, like, most likely, the Busty Madonna by Carlo Saraceni from the Krosnowski collection (National Museum in Warsaw, M.Ob.1605 MNW). It was the time of high infant and maternal mortality, less developed medicine, lack of public health care, when wars and epidemics ravaged large parts of Europe. Therefore, virility and fertility were considered by many to be a sign of God's blessing (after "Male Reproductive Dysfunction", ed. Fouad R. Kandeel, p. 6). Several paintings by Hans Holbein the Younger perfectly illustrate the notion of disguised portraits and eroticism in religious paintings, as well as Renaissance morality. The painter depicted his mistress Magdalena Offenburg née Zscheckenbürlin (1490-1526), a woman well known in Basel for her beauty and loose morals, as Lais of Corinth, an ancient Greek courtesan, who charged dearly for her favours (inscription: : LAÏS : CORINTHIACA : 1526 :), and as Venus with Cupid, also attributed to the painter's workshop and also believed to represent Magdalena's daughter, Dorothea (both paintings are in the Kunstmuseum Basel, inv. 322 and 323). Magdalena's pose in these paintings echoes that of Jesus in Leonardo da Vinci's "The Last Supper". The Meyer Madonna (Darmstadt Madonna), painted around the same time, between 1526 and 1528 (Würth Collection, inv. 14910), is also widely considered to bear the features of Magdalena Offenburg (compare "Hans Holbein: Portrait of an Unknown Man" by Derek Wilson, p. 112). A few years earlier, between 1515 and 1520, Holbein created with Hans Herbst (1470-1552) a painting of the Flagellation of Christ, most probably for the Church of Saint Peter (Peterskirche) in Basel (Kunstmuseum Basel, inv. 307). In this painting, which by today's standards can be considered obscene, three men proudly displaying their big codpieces torment the naked Christ. Comparable in this respect are some paintings by the Dutch painter Maarten van Heemskerck (1498-1574) depicting the Lamentation of Christ and Christ as the Man of Sorrows. In the Lamentation, dating from around 1527-1530, the section depicting the genitals was partially overpainted and censored, probably in the 19th century. These changes were largely reversed during the last restoration, before 2002 (Wallraf-Richartz Museum in Cologne, inv. WRM 0586). Heemskerck's Man of Sorrows of 1532, preserved in the Museum of Fine Arts in Ghent (inv. S-53), is considered to depict the erection (ostentatio genitalium), a symbol of the resurrection and continuing power of Christ (after "The Sexuality of Christ in Renaissance Art and in Modern Oblivion" by Leo Steinberg, p. 89, 324). This is particularly evident in another version of the composition, held before 1996 at the Bob Jones University Museum and Gallery in Greenville (inv. P.70.488), now in a private collection. The painter and his workshop created two other similar paintings - the signed and dated 1525 version from the collection of Hans Wendland in Paris (Sotheby's London, December 6, 2017, lot 33) and the painting now held at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam (inv. SK-A-1306). Several facts from an earlier period, the 15th century, also illustrate how peculiar medieval Polish morality was. As early as 1468, Sandivogius of Czechel (ca. 1410-1476), a humanist, astronomer, and cartographer, and later an Augustinian monk, was involved in a conflict with the Dominicans of Kraków, represented by provincial Jakub of Bydgoszcz (after "Sędziwój z Czechła ..." by Jacek Wiesiołowski, p. 101-102). Sandivogius, educated in Paris between 1441 and 1444, from where he brought back not only a painting of the Passion of the Lord, but also new concepts of art, considered one of the old sculptures of the Dominican church to be contrary to the aesthetic and dogmatic requirements of the time, in particular with the ruling of the Council of Basel on the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The case concerned an altarpiece decorated with a sculpture of the Nativity of the Lord, which depicted the Blessed Virgin lying on a bed after the birth of Jesus. The realism with which this scene was presented seemed to offend his subtle Christian feelings, and with the help of letters, Sandivogius led a widespread campaign to have the sculpture removed from the church. The outcome of the conflict is unknown, however, the statue probably remained in its original location in the main altar until 1668, when it was burned in a fire (after "Studja nad kulturą i sztuką w kościele OO. Dominikanów w Krakowie" by Leonard Lepszy, p. 99-100). Stanisław Cieński, parish priest of Iwanowice, appointed notary public of the diocese of Poznań on October 8, 1438, included among the sample letters a letter from Stanisław Ciołek's Liber Cancellariae, written in the official language, allegedly from Queen Sophia of Halshany (ca. 1405-1461), Jogaila's fourth wife, who proposed an exchange of husbands to Barbara of Celje (1392-1451), wife of Sigismund of Luxembourg (1368-1437). In another similar letter, Cieński himself draws comparisons between the Sorores Valisovienses, the Sisters of Chwaliszewo, ladies of loose morals from Poznań, and their Mazovian counterparts (after "Najkrótsza historia Wielkopolski" by Stefan Bratkowski, p. 179). The biblical story of Potiphar's wife, who began to lust after the handsome young slave Joseph, particularly fascinated many Europeans in the 16th and 17th centuries, as it was depicted in numerous paintings and applied arts - for example a stove tile from Klaipeda Castle from the first quarter of the 16th century or paintings by Palma il Giovane and the circle of Guercino (Wawel Royal Castle) and Pietro Liberi (National Museum in Warsaw) from the first half of the 17th century. To make it even more accessible to the general public, the German painter and engraver Sebald Beham in 1526 and 1544 and Rembrandt in 1634 created highly erotic engravings representing this scene from the Old Testament. In Poland-Lithuania, where there were many wealthy and influential women and where in some circles the tradition of "assistants of marriage" (matrimonii adiutores) probably survived, such scenes undoubtedly fired the imagination or served as a warning to husbands who neglected their wives. Very interesting in this respect is also a magnificent painting from the collection of the Wawel Royal Castle in Kraków, painted by Benvenuto Tisi (1481-1559), also known as Garofalo (inv. ZKnW-PZS 10509). Tisi, attached to the Ferrarese court of the Dukes d'Este, relatives of Queen Bona Sforza, depicted the Virgin with the naked infant Christ kissing and embracing his cousin John the Baptist. This theme was supposedly conceived by Leonardo da Vinci, who was obviously homosexual, and who painted some preparatory drawings for it in the 1490s. Cases of organized iconoclasm or desecration in Poland-Lithuania are, however, confirmed during the Deluge (1655-1660). "The Swedes, while waiting for him [George II Rakoczi], sacked this miserable city [Kraków]. Until now, they had at least some respect for the altar of Saint Stanislaus; but now they stripped this one too and broke the reliquary of this saint to take it. It is said that the body was taken to hide it from them, for fear that they would take it away to sell it. They plundered all the graves of the kings and even broke the coffin of the late King Ladislaus [Ladislaus IV Vasa], to take silver nails with which it was nailed down", reported in a letter of March 12, 1657 from Częstochowa Pierre des Noyers, secretary of Queen Marie Louise Gonzaga (after "Lettres de Pierre Des Noyers secrétaire de la reine de Pologne ...", published in 1859, p. 305). The Wawel Cathedral was so rich that it was pillaged eight times, and during the fifth pillage on March 2, 1657: "general [Paul Würtz (1612-1676)] himself took the silver statue of Saint Stanislaus from the altar and he hit it on the ground until the stone broke, which is next to the grave. He also hit Piotrowin's head with a hammer in the same place, then they broke the [silver] coffin itself and tore off the lid, not quickly because it was firmly nailed, they took out a small coffin made of pure gold with relics, [...] the large one, they broke into pieces and brought it to the general, and the golden one was then opened and the general himself gave pieces of relics, taking them with bare hands, and others took them themselves. [...] Followers of Luther, when they took pieces, they said these words: he cannot save himself now, but he has to save Poles, people are deceived by these priests. [...] Then they went to the treasury, where all the drawers were opened, the cabinets were opened, the altars and walls were broken, the floors were overturned, the chests were taken, everything that anyone could find and put in pockets, accessories, stones were taken, chairs, upholstery, drawers, boxes were looted and everything that was found and who liked it", reports the anonymous author. The coffins of the bishops were also desecrated and "the rings and chains with their emblems, in gold or silver, were removed from the corpses". All this was melted down and taken away on 80 carts on March 3, 1657 (after "Straty kulturalne i artystyczne Krakowa w okresie pierwszego najazdu szwedzkiego (1655-1657)", p. 143-144, 146-148, 150, 152). In order to protect the homeland against invaders, many valuable items, especially silver, were donated for war purposes. The Chapter of Wawel offered on several occasions the silverware spared from the looting - on February 20, 1656, objects weighing 2,922 ducats were given "not out of obligation or debt, but out of love for the country" (non ex aliqua obligatione aut debito, sed ex amore erga Patriam). Some people do not realize that not only Polish-Lithuanian heritage was destroyed, but also European heritage, especially Italian, as many Italians lived and worked in Poland-Lithuania and many valuable items were acquired or ordered in Italy. Among the many churches destroyed in Kraków during the invasion, sources mention that of Saint Agnes "recently restored by Father Dzianoti [Gianotti] in the Italian taste". In March 1656, Swedish soldiers destroyed the palaces of Montelupi and Morykoni [Moriconi], as well as the royal palace in Łobzów, where marble columns were broken into pieces. In June, "the Swedes overturned and pillaged coffins in the churches of St. Casimir, St. Nicholas and on Piasek", in addition, they stole two bells from St. Nicholas, indicated to them by the Jews. Paintings, goldwork, silverware and private libraries were confiscated from wealthy bourgeois houses. Many works of art were created in Flanders and the Netherlands and in Kraków, a large number of valuable objects were commissioned from Nuremberg and Augsburg or created by artists from these German cities. "When the king [Charles X Gustav] returned to Kazimierz, he gave the keys to the church treasury to his elders so that they could take everything that was there. There they took all the city deposits and chests, they broke the church silver [...] The Swedish preacher also took the books of doctors from the library, which were of the greatest value [...]. They took paintings of Italian workmanship, that they liked", wrote the monastic chronicler Stefan Ranotowicz about looting of the monastery of canons regular in Kazimierz. The situation was similar in cities occupied by Russian forces. In Vilnius, all the funerary monuments were smashed. Very few paintings made before 1655 preserved there. It is worth noting here that in 1654 Patriarch Nikon (1605-1681) ordered that icons painted "on the Polish model" be collected, their eyes gouged out, and the faces of saints scratched out (possibly disguised portraits). During the Orthodox holiday of 1655, after the liturgy in the Dormition Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin in the presence of the patriarchs of the East, the tsar and boyars, Nikon smashed icons, explaining his actions by Western influences in icon painting and the need to return to the sources (after "Starowiercy w Polsce i ich księgi" by Zoja Jaroszewicz-Pieresławcew, p. 7). However, the beautiful portrait of Patriarch Nikon with the brethren of the Resurrection Monastery at the New Jerusalem Museum in Istra (inv. Жд 98), dating from the early 1660s, is obviously in the Dutch style and was probably painted by Daniel Wuchters or his relative Abraham Wuchters in Copenhagen.
Economy and political system
In 1565 Flavio Ruggieri from Bologna, who accompanied Giovanni Francesco Commendone, a legate of Pope Pius IV in Poland, described the country in the manuscript preserved in the Vatican Library (Ex codice Vatic. inter Ottobon. 3175, Nr. 36):
"Poland is quite well inhabited, especially Masovia, in other parts there are also dense towns and villages, but all wooden, counting up to 90,000 of them in total, one half of which belongs to the king, the other half to the nobility and clergy, the inhabitants apart from the nobility are a half and a quarter million, that is, two and a half million peasants and a million townspeople. [...] Even the craftsmen speak Latin, and it is not difficult to learn this language, because in every city, in almost every village there is a public school. They take over the customs and language of foreign nations with unspeakable ease, and of all transalpine countries, they learn the customs and the Italian language the most, which is very much used and liked by them as well as the Italian costume, namely at court. The national costume is almost the same as the Hungarian, but they like to dress up differently, they change robes often, they even change up several times a day. Since Queen Bona of the House of Sforza, the mother of the present king, introduced the language, clothes and many other Italian customs, some lords began to build in the cities of Lesser Poland and Masovia. The nobility is very rich. [...] Only townspeople, Jews, Armenians, and foreigners, Germans and Italians trade. The nobility only sells their own grain, which is the country's greatest wealth. Floated into the Vistula by the rivers flowing into it, it goes along the Vistula to Gdańsk, where it is deposited in intentionally built granaries in a separate part of the city, where the guard does not allow anyone to enter at night. Polish grain feeds almost all of King Philip's Netherlands, even Portuguese and other countries' ships come to Gdańsk for Polish grain, where you will sometimes see 400 and 500 of them, not without surprise. The Lithuanian grain goes along the Neman to the Baltic Sea. The Podolian grain, which, as has been said, perishes miserably, could be floated down the Dniester to the Black Sea, and from there to Constantinople and Venice, which is now being thought of according to the plan given by the Cardinal Kommendoni [Venetian Giovanni Francesco Commendone]. Apart from grain, Poland supplies other countries with flax, hemp, beef hides, honey, wax, tar, potash, amber, wood for shipbuilding, wool, cattle, horses, sheep, beer and some dyer's herb. From other countries they imports costly blue silks, cloth, linen, rugs, carpets, from the east precious stones and jewels, from Moscow, sables, lynxes, bears, ermines and other furs that are absent in Poland, or not as much as their inhabitants need to protect them from cold or for glamor. [...] The king deliberate on all important matters with the senate, although he has a firm voice, the nobility, as it has been said, has so tightened his power that he has little left over it" (after "Relacye nuncyuszow apostolskich ..." by Erazm Rykaczewski, pp. 125, 128, 131, 132, 136). The Venetian priest Luigi Lippomano (1496/1500-1559), bishop of Verona, who was apostolic nuncio in Poland-Lithuania between 1555 and 1558, adds about the main port and Sigismund Augustus that "the first commercial city in Poland is Gdańsk on the Baltic Sea, to which grain is brought in countless quantities by the Vistula and other rivers, and from there it is distributed to Portugal, Biscay, Scotland, Sweden, Norway, etc., luxury goods come from Gdańsk. [...] His father was a Monarch famous in peace and war, his son is not a warrior, which is a great loss to this country, because the nobility, naturally inclined to arms and camps, lies in the field and gives themselves over to debauchery. The King, instead of watching over the entirety of the laws of the State, reads forbidden heretical books, so much so that he who should fight for the Sacred Catholic Faith, fights against it and against his own soul; he likes to talk with heretics, you will often find three or four religions around him, and if he finds a learned and honest man, he respects him, cum tamen sit unus Deus, una fides, et unum baptisma [since there is one God, one faith, and one baptism]" (after "Zbiór pamiętników historycznych o dawnej Polszcze ..." by Julian Ursyn Niemcewicz, Volume 4, p. 66-67). By the late 1550s, many Italians were considering Poland-Lithuania a land of "wild heretics" (ferax haereticorum), and in June 1559, Ludovico Monti, who was living in Rome as an agent of Sigismund Augustus, wrote to Cardinal Farnese expressing his irritation at the widely accredited representation of Polish reality: "Here we are made to pass for schismatics and Lutherans. There is someone so insolent that he wants to make the king a heretic" (Qui ci spacciano tutti per scismatici et luterani. Vi è alcuno così insolente che vole fare heretico il re a viva forza). Cardinal Hozjusz, a month earlier, had added in a letter from Rome to Marcin Kromer in Kraków that: "Here there is no doubt that our King is a heretic" (Hic nihil dubitatur Regem nostrum haereticum esses). Already at the beginning of 1526, Niccolò Fabri, sent to Poland by Pope Clement VII, wrote from Piotrków about Sigismund Augustus' father that "the King deals with great zeal with the Lutheran sect, which was beginning to infect Prussia [...] if it were not for the great goodness of this king, Poland would already be entirely Lutheran" (con grandissimo fervore la Maestà del re tracta circa la setta lutherana, quale incominciava a infettare la Prussia [...] se non fusse la tanta bontà de questo re, la Pollonia saria gia tutta lutherana, after "La trama Nascosta - Storie di mercanti e altro" by Rita Mazzei). Fabri was sent to ask for the hand of Hedwig Jagiellon for the Marquis of Mantua. He was most likely depicted in a portrait by Vincenzo Catena bearing the inscription: NICOLAVS FABRIS MCCCCLX (Columbia Museum of Art, inv. CMA 1962.13). The provincial synod of Piotrków in 1542 stated that the writings of Luther, Melanchthon and related authors were taught in parish schools. The spread of new ideas was aided by the many printing houses opened in Sarmatia at that time, as well as by a large importation of books and acquisitions during travels, thanks to which many people had their own libraries. Seweryn Boner (1486-1549), director of the Wieliczka salt works, was described as a "book devourer" (librorum helluon) by a contemporary humanist, Johannes Arbiter de Zittavia and Bishop Filip Padniewski (1510-1572) made his library accessible to all scholars. Mikołaj Rej (1505-1569) sued his relative Jan Koścień for the return of Cronica mundi before a land court, and the latter sued Jan Włodzisławski (after "Cnoty i wady narodu szlacheckiego ..." by Antoni Górski, p. 100-102). The letter of Ludovico Monti, agent of Sigismund Augustus, who wrote on July 29, 1569 from his house in Modena to Duke Alfonso II d'Este, shows how well informed the Italians were about the affairs of distant Poland-Lithuania. In it, he described, as if he had been present in person, the thanksgiving ceremony that took place in Lublin, in the chapel of the castle, the day after the Union Diet that celebrated the merger between the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Kingdom of Poland (signed on July 1, 1569, after "La trama Nascosta - Storie di mercanti e altro" by Rita Mazzei). Jean Choisnin de Chastelleraut, secretary to the French ambassador Jean de Monluc (1508-1579), Bishop of Valence, left a very favourable image of Poland-Lithuania at the end of the reign of the last male Jagellon in his "Speech in truth of all that happened for the entire negotiation of the election of the King of Poland", published in Paris in 1574. Choisnin, who called himself "Secretary to the King of Poland" (Secretaire du Roy de Polongne) Henry of Valois, dedicated his book to the king's mother Catherine de' Medici (1519-1589), called mother of Kings (Katherine de Medicis, par la grace de Dieu Royne de France, mere des Roys). He praises "the extent of the country, which is such that it contains at least twice as much as France" and "the great fertility and abundance of all things necessary for the life and pleasure of man". "Wines from Hungary, Moravia, the Rhine and Gascony, and the Malvasias in great quantity, which are brought to them by the Armenians from the coast of Euxine [Black Sea]: so much so that the Nobleman who does not give his friend four or five kinds of wine, and all the other delicacies that there are, either in Italy, or in the countries of Levant, he does not think he has received him well. [...] It is certain that there is no nation in the world that so quickly accommodates itself to all good morals and virtues of other nations, as the Polish nation does: They do it by nature as I have said above, more curious than any others to see foreign countries [...] After only four months in Italy, they speak perfect Italian. They dress, they live, they have the same demeanor as if they were born in Italy. They do the same in Spain and France. As for Germany, they quickly learn to speak German. But as for clothes and other ways of living, they always remember the difference in customs that exists between the two nations. [...] There is a great diversity of religion, introduced, as they say, by the connivence of the late King. But recognizing among themselves that division would bring their entire ruin, they have never wanted to attack each other. [...] Their state is governed in the form of a Republic [...] In short, those who speak of it thus acknowledge, if they please, that the late King Sigismund, father of the deceased, lived on this income that is made so small [i.e. restricted by Parliament], with as much splendor and majesty as any King that there was in his time in Christendom. Queen Bona [La Royne Bonne - literally The Queen Good], his wife, when she left Poland, took six hundred thousand écus [gold coins] in cash. This last King at the time of his death had five thousand horses in his stables. He left a Cabinet [treasury?] that is not found in all of Christendom as rich as this. I will say moreover that he left more rich clothing, arms, and artillery than all the Kings who are alive today could show" ("Discours au vray de tout ce qui s'est passé pour l'entière négociation de l'élection du roy de Pologne", p. 120-123, Lyon Public Library). The spirit of tolerance and equality of the Jagiellonian period is best expressed in the speech of hetman Jan Amor Tarnowski (1488-1561) to the Gdańsk city council in 1552. King Sigismund Augustus was then examining the possibility of making Gdańsk a naval base for planned expansion into the Baltic Sea and personally arrived in the city, while its inhabitants sought, among other things, religious privilege for the Lutherans. The patricians, who had not yet sworn allegiance to the king, were at first a little frightened, but hetman Tarnowski, in the name of the king, reassured the city superiors by saying: "This is not the time of the Teutonic Knights, the Poles, as they once recognized, still consider the Prussians their beloved brothers. Remember that within Germany you were subjects and that you live with us in sweet equality of rights and freedoms, love and citizenship", as quoted Felicja Boberska (1825-1889) in her writings published in Lviv in 1893 (after "Pisma Felicyi z Wasilewskich Boberskiej", p. 366). More than twenty years later, the Warsaw Confederation, one of the first European acts granting religious freedoms, was signed on January 28, 1573 by the National Assembly (Convocation Sejm) in Warsaw. The strong republican regime in Poland-Lithuania-Ruthenia, as well as the presence of a large German-speaking community, meant that Emperor Charles V and Sigismund I's nephew Albert of Prussia, as well as their officials, sometimes forgot themselves and the king had to call them to order. "Most Serene Prince Brother and our relative. While everything is being done in Vilnius on our side to increase the friendship that exists between us and Y. I. H. [Your Imperial Highness], we cannot help but be surprised that things that are very unpleasant to us come out of the Court Chamber and Chancellery of Y. I. H. For when we do not claim any rights over the subjects of Y. I. H., they, having forgotten our agreements with Y. I. H. towards the inhabitants of Gdańsk, who do not recognize any other lord than us, dare to send rescripts and orders. We send such documents to Y. I. H., asking them not to dare to claim any right over those who have no other lord and should have no other than us. This will be in accordance with the justice of Y. I. H. and will strengthen the friendship that so constantly exists between us. Given at Brest-Litovsk on July 27, 1544", wrote the irritated King Sigismund I to Charles V. "We admonish once more H. P. M. [His Princely Majesty] the Duke of Prussia: never to let it slip from his mind that he is both subject and son of the King of Poland, and that he must not behave otherwise than as befits a subject towards his lord, a son towards his father," the king replied in a similar tone to the duke's envoy, Franciscus Tege, around 1546 (after "Zbiór pamiętników historycznych o dawnej Polszcze ..." by Julian Ursyn Niemcewicz, Volume 4, p. 38, 41-42). VBI CHARITAS ET AMOR / IBI DEVS EST ("Where there is charity and love, there is God"), this Latin phrase placed on the Mannerist portal of the court chamber of the Kraków Town Hall, demolished in 1820, provides information on important aspect of the coexistence in a multicultural and multireligious country during the lifetime of the elected queen Anna Jagiellon (1523-1596). Although this sentence is associated with the Western Church, as it is the beginning of an 8th-century hymn based on the First Epistle of John and was long used as one of the antiphons for the washing of the feet on Maundy Thursday, it could be of interest to anyone visiting the capital of the Kingdom of Poland who knows Latin. The magnificent portal, now preserved in the Jagiellonian University Museum, is generally attributed to Jan Frankstijn (Hans Ulrich Frankenstein), royal sculptor and aedificiorum castrensium praefectus, and is based on Netherlandish models. The original door, made in 1593 by the carpenter Piotr Kalina, is also magnificently decorated with intarsia on which one can see in the middle an allegory of justice, and above it, the city's coat of arms. An engraving after a drawing by Józef Brodowski the Elder, published in 1845 with description ("O magistratach miast polskich ..." by Karol Mecherzyński), shows the original interior of the court chamber with well painted al fresco effigies of Polish kings, a wooden ceiling with gilded rosettes, the south window in Gothic form, three large windows on the east side and a green-painted iron cage with gilded eagles, the place where decrees and official documents were kept. Marcin Kromer (1512-1589), Prince-Bishop of Warmia, in his "Poland or About the Geography, Population, Customs, Offices, and Public Matters of the Polish Kingdom in Two Volumes" (Polonia sive de situ, populis, moribus, magistratibus et Republica regni Polonici libri duo), first published in Cologne in 1577, emphasized that "In almost our time, Italian merchants and craftsmen also reached the more important cities; moreover, the Italian language is heard from time to time from the mouths of more educated Poles, because they like to travel to Italy". He also stated that that "even in the very center of Italy it would be difficult to find such a multitude of people of all kinds with whom one could communicate in Latin" and as for the political system, he added that "the Republic of Poland is not much different […] from the contemporary Republic of Venice" (after "W podróży po Europie" by Wojciech Tygielski, Anna Kalinowska, p. 470). Mikołaj Chwałowic (d. 1400), called the Devil of Venice, a nobleman of Nałęcz coat of arms, mentioned as Nicolaus heres de Wenacia in 1390, is said to have named his estate near Żnin and Biskupin where he built a magnificent castle - Wenecja (Wenacia, Veneciae, Wanaczia, Weneczya, Venecia), after returning from his studies in the "Queen of the Adriatic". In many Western European countries, Sarmatia was considered the antemurale Christianitatis (bulwark of Christendom, the protective wall of Christianity) that protected the West from invasions from the East, as expressed by Johannes Agricola (1494-1566) in his "True Depictions of Several Most Honorable Princes and Lords ..." (Warhaffte Bildnis etlicher Hochlöblicher Fürsten vnd Herren ...) published in Wittenberg in 1562. On the page dedicated to King Sigismund Augustus accompanied by a splendid woodcut by Lucas Cranach the Younger or workshop with the portrait of the king, Agricola describes him as a just ruler who increased the wealth of his kingdom, but also adds that "He protected Germany from the great tyranny of the Turks. For this he is to be thanked greatly" (Deudschland hat er beschützet frey / Vor der Türcken gros Tyranney. Des im sehr gros zu dancken sey).
Italian influences and languages
The popular novel "The Story of the Most Serene Queen of Poland, Who Was Twice Unjustly Sent ..." (La historia della serenissima regina di Polonia, la quale due uolte iniquamente fu mandata ...) from the first half of the 16th century, as well as a story about an Italian merchant, who found himself on the Polish-Muscovite border in Baldassare Castiglione's "The Courtier" (Il Cortegiano), published in 1528, reflect the connections between Poland-Lithuania and Italy during the Renaissance. Stanisław Reszka (1544-1600), noted in his diary that Torquato Tasso had read him his work Le sette giornate del mondo creato, while the British Library has preserved a copy of Gerusalemme conquistata with a verse dedication by Tasso to Reszka (Al Sig. Stanislao Rescio Nunzio illustrissimo).
Paolo Giovio (Paulus Jovius, 1483-1552), bishop of Nocera de' Pagani, art collector and historian, who probably never visited Poland-Lithuania-Ruthenia, praised in his writings published in the 1550s "this kingdom of wealth, fertility of the land and ingenuity of men" (Questo regno di ricchezza, di fertilità di paese, et d'ingegni de gli huomini), as well as the city of Kraków, where "the studies of the mathematical sciences flourish greatly" (fioriscon molto gli studi delle scienze matematiche). This owner of the museum (Museo Gioviano in Como near Milan), who owned portraits of famous people by Titian, Bronzino, Dosso Dossi and Bernardino Campi among others, also praised the virtue of King Sigismund I, the Italian charm of his daughter Isabella, diplomatic skills of Hieronim Łaski (1496-1541) and the military expertise of Hetman Jan Amor Tarnowski (comapre "L'immagine della Polonia in Italia ..." by Andrea Ceccherelli, p. 329, 331). The bishop probably relied on the accounts of Italian visitors, although the form of his statements makes his visit likely. In the 16th century, it was not only popular to travel and study in Italy, to employ Italians willing to settle in Poland-Lithuania-Ruthenia, but also to conduct correspondence consultations with renowned doctors in Italy. In 1549, Giovanni Battista da Monte of Verona (Johannes Baptista Montanus, d. 1551), professor of practical medicine at the University of Padua, provided his recommendations to Queen Bona Sforza, which were published in Venice in 1556 in Consultationum medicinalium centuria prima, collected by Walenty Sierpiński of Lublin (Valentinus Lublinus, died before 1600) and dedicated to Nicolaus "the Black" Radziwill (1515-1565). The queen, aged fifty-five, suffered from headaches and failing eyesight and probably a series of ailments that appear during menopause. Sierpiński, who published several of Montanus' works, was also the intermediary in contacts with patients from his native country. Many of them consulted him for the treatment of syphilis, which was apparently common at the royal court at that time, facial burns, nasal ulcers, urinary retention, toe pain, numbness of the foot, impotence and other medical problems (De morbo Gallico [...] pro generoso Polono, De intemperie frigida splenis [...] pro nobili Polono quadragenario). In a letter to the Bishop of Kraków Piotr Tomicki (1464-1535), the Ferrarese physician Giovanni Manardo (Iohannes Manardu, 1462-1536) attributed the poor health of the Polish priest to syphilis. Francesco Frigimelica (1490-1558), professor of practical medicine in Padua, best known for his pioneering research in the field of thermal treatments, also provided such consultations to Sarmatian patients. Likewise, Girolamo Mercuriale (1530-1606), professor at the University of Padua, who also treated many Sarmatians, including Paweł Uchański (died 1590), nephew of Archbishop Jakub Uchański (1502-1581). Uchański's correspondence tells us that the letters were forwarded by Uchański's servant, and that the doctor received gifts in exchange for his advice, which the patient distributed generously. The Paduan doctor's fame was so great that Chancellor Jan Zamoyski entrusted him with the task of selecting professors for the chair of medicine at the Collegium Regium he was establishing in Kraków, which was not ultimately created. In a letter dated September 8, 1577, Mercuriale politely suggested that it would be difficult to find people willing to live in the distant country (after "Praktyka leczenia korespondencyjnego ..." by Anna Odrzywolska, p. 18-19, 21-24, 26-27). In addition to educational trips, another reason why the Sarmatians went to the peninsula was to "recover their health in the baths" (ricuperar [la] sanità alli bagni). This was the intention of John Radziwill, who planned to go to the baths of Padua in 1542, and with a view to a stopover in Ferrara he took care to have himself recommended by Bona Sforza to Duke Ercole II. At the end of October 1561, the nuncio Berardo Bongiovanni complained about the arrival in Padua of a French goldsmith named Pietro (Pierre), who is a great heretic and who has infected a third of Lithuania (compare "La trama Nascosta - Storie di mercanti e altro" by Rita Mazzei). "Decyusz [Justus Ludwik Decjusz (ca. 1485-1545)] says about the contemporary nobility that they began to crave learning and that it was rare for anyone who did not know Latin, and that most of them spoke three or four languages well, namely German, Italian, or Hungarian" (after "Z dworu Zygmunta Starego" by Kazimierz Morawski, Przegląd polski, Volume 21, p. 210). The great diversity of languages in the Commonwealth is reflected in the surviving correspondence. Upon learning of the death of Sigismund Augustus, Emperor Maximilian II wrote to the Infanta Anna Jagiellon in Spanish (letter of July 26, 1572), and her sister Catherine Jagiellon, Queen of Sweden, wrote to her in French (October 1572). Hieronim Rozdrażewski (d. 1600) asked to write to him in French and reproached his brother Stanisław (1540-1619) for having forgotten Latin (letter of December 28, 1579 from Warsaw). The young Radziwills from the Nesvizh line were particularly fond of correspondence in Spanish, as confirmed by the letters of Stanislaus "the Pious" Radziwill (1559-1599) to his brother George Radziwill (1556-1600) from 1581 to 1584. In 1581 the nuncio Giovanni Andrea Caligari sometimes asked King Stephen Bathory to indicate someone who could translate a letter from German into Italian and Stanisław Karnkowski (1520-1603) urgently sought to have in his service the Jesuit priest Basilio Cervino, an Italian who knew Polish (according to letters from Vilnius and Warsaw addressed in 1581 to Cardinal di Como). On May 6, 1583, Alberto Bolognetti reported from Kraków to Cardinal di Como that Paweł Zajączkowski had argued in Italian with Chancellor Jan Sariusz Zamoyski. In the 16th century, Italian was considered an international language in diplomatic relations. Sigismund Augustus sent his emissary, Piotr Dunin-Wolski (1531-1590), two letters to the King of Spain regarding Bona's inheritance, one written in Italian, the other in Latin, with instructions to Wolski to determine His Majesty's preferred language and deliver only this letter to him. In order to eliminate conflict with Sweden after the victories over Ivan the Terrible, Stephen Bathory sent the court chef Domenico Allamani to Sweden as an ambassador in 1582. The Swedish king was offended by the dispatch of an "Italian cook", whom he treated with contempt (after "Cnoty i wady narodu szlacheckiego ..." by Antoni Górski, p. 58, 132). Poland was a very egalitarian country at that time (the king was first among equals), so no one probably took into consideration that the private status of the official Polish ambassador might offend the Swedish monarch. The canon of Gniezno, Jan Piotrowski, who had studied in Padua and was fluent in several languages, wrote on July 29, 1581 to the Grand Marshal of the Crown Andrzej Opaliński (1540-1593) that "the answer to the letter of the Lord of Moscow, which Gizius [royal secretary Tiedemann Giese (1543-1582)] wrote in Latin, was read before the Lords. The Chancellor himself will translate it into Polish, because we, the sribes, are not up to the task, and Lithuania [Chancellery of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania] will translate it from Polish into Ruthenian" (compare "Listowne polaków rozmowy ..." by Jerzy Axer, Jerzy Mańkowski, p. 96, 98). In 1501, Erazm Ciołek (1474-1522), provost of Vilnius, who was for several years secretary to the Grand Duke of Lithuania Alexander Jagiellon and was sent by him to Pope Alexander VI Borgia in Rome, gave a speech before the Pope telling him that the Lithuanians "speak their own language. However, since the Ruthenians inhabit almost half of the duchy, their language, while it is graceful and easy, is used more often" (Linguam propriam observant. Verum quia Rutheni medium fere ducatum incolunt, illorum loquela, dum gracilis et facilior sit, utuntur communius; Oratio Erasmi Vitellii praepositi Vilnensis, Illmi principis dñi Alexandri magni ducis Lithuaniae secretarii, et oratoris ad Alexandrum VI, after "Vetera monumenta Poloniae et Lithuaniae ..." by Augustin Theiner, Volume II, p. 277-278). During the Jagiellonian era, the queen often had a separate Ruthenian secretary. This was a kind of court tradition for queens of Ruthenian or Lithuanian origin. Queen Sophia of Halshany (ca. 1405-1461), Jogaila's fourth and last wife, had such a secretary at her disposal, as did Queen Barbara Radziwill (1520/23-1551), at whose court Yan Nikolayevich Hayka (Jan Mikołajewicz Hajko, ca. 1510-1579), a Ruthenian scribe (notarius Ruthenicus), was responsible for matters related to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and wrote documents and letters in Ruthenian. The Ruthenian Miklasz (Nyklasz), who had probably previously served Queen Elizabeth of Austria (1436-1505), was secretary to Queen Helena of Moscow (1476-1513). At the court of Queen Bona, who was suo jure Duchess of Bari, several Italians were secretaries, such as Ludovico Masati de Alifio (Aliphia or Aliphius), a member of an old Neapolitan noble family, Marco de la Torre from a Venetian noble family, Carlo Antonio Marchesini de Monte Cinere from Bologna, Scipio Scolare (Scholaris) from Bari, Francesco Lismanini from Corfu (who considered himself Greek), Ludovico de Montibus from Modena and Vito Pascale from Bari. The Italian Giovanni Marsupino, the envoy of the queen's father, served as secretary to Elizabeth of Austria (1526-1545) and in 1544 her uncle Emperor Charles V sent a special envoy Alfonso of Aragon, probably Alfonso de Aragón y Portugal (1489-1563), Duke of Segorbe, who was also to act as secretary to the queen. In mid-1558, Erhard von Kunheim, originally from Prussia, became secretary to Catherine of Austria (1533-1572), third wife of Sigismund Augustus (compare "Sekretarze na dworach polskich królowych w epoce jagiellońskiej" by Agnieszka Januszek-Sieradzka, p. 121, 124-125, 128-130, 132, 133). The letters and biography of Andrzej Zebrzydowski (1496-1560), Bishop of Kraków from 1551, provide important information about the lifestyle, patronage and Italian connections of a wealthy Renaissance nobleman. Zebrzydowski, educated in Basel, Paris and Padua, was secretary to King Sigismund I and chaplain to Queen Bona. In a letter dated October 1546 from Sobków to the royal burgrave of Gdańsk Johann von Werden (1495-1554), he reports that he had looked for an Italian to practice his Italian again, which he had almost forgotten (ut linguae Italicae usum, quem pene amisi, recuperarem). In a letter of March 1548 addressed from his palace in Wolbórz to Piotr Myszkowski (d. 1591), canon of Kraków, he asks to send him a skilled painter "who could spend a few months here with us" (Rogo autem, ut eximium mihi quempiam ejus artis hominem quaerat, qui hic nobiscum possit aliquot menses transigere) and that he be young and unmarried man. In several letters, such as that of April 20, 1551 addressed to Francesco Lismanini (Franciszek Lismanin, 1504-1566), he mentions his gardener Julianus Italus or Giuliano the Italian (olitore nostro Juliano Italo, compare "Andreas de Venciborco Zebrzydowski episcopi ...", ed. Władysław Wisłocki, p. 43, 171, 301, 436). He also maintained a correspondence with his friends in Italy and, according to a letter dated August 2, 1553 from Kraków, he sent as a gift 40 ermine skins (pelles quadraginta zebellinas) to Cardinal Giacomo Puteo (1495-1563), Archbishop of Bari. In 1559, a Venetian printer and humanist, Paolo Manuzio (Paulus Manutius, 1512-1574), sent him a letter of praise, through Andrzej Patrycy Nidecki (1522-1587), who was returning from Padua, to which was attached a portrait of Paolo's father, Aldo Pio Manuzio (Aldus Pius Manutius, died 1515), whom the bishop had known and highly esteemed (after "Andrzej Patrycy Nidecki ..." by Kazimierz Morawski, p. 77, 95). The highly prized furs of Poland-Lithuania are often mentioned in the surviving letters. The Ferrarese agent Antonio Maria Negrisoli (Antonio Mario Nigrisoli), writing to the Duke of Ferrara from Warsaw on 27 January 1552, confirms that he had been instructed to inquire about the price of beaver furs (feltro di castoreo) for the Duke. One of the first and last known letters from Negrisoli from Poland also concerns furs. According to the letter to Ercole II of November 22, 1550, he wanted to send a beautiful fur coat from Poland to Ginevra Malatesta and on March 18, 1554 he informed Ercole II of the difficulty of finding the precious black fox furs, so sought after in Ferrara (after "Alle origini dell'immagine di Cracovia come città di esilio" by Rita Mazzei, p. 469, 504). In a letter to Cardinal Farnese in early November 1563, Ludovico Monti informs him of two nephews of the Polish ambassador in Naples Paweł Stempowski "one of whom must be handed over to Your Excellency" and "the other will go to the Cardinal of Augsburg [Otto Truchsess von Waldburg] who will hand him over to the princes of Austria so that he can learn good manners in Spain" and adds about the Polish ambassador that "it was he who sent the skins to Your Excellency last year" (l'uno ch'io lo consegni a Vostra Eccellenza [...] l'altro o va a diritto al cardinale d'Augusta che lo consignarà ai principi d'Austria perché impari creanza in Spagna [...] È quello che l'anno passato mandò le pelli a Vostra Eccellenza, after "La trama Nascosta - Storie di mercanti e altro" by Rita Mazzei). In 1557, the royal court acquired a large quantity of luxurious furs due to the need to send gifts to the Turkish Sultan (after "Dostawcy dworów królewskich w Polsce i na Litwie ..." by Maurycy Horn, Part II, p. 6). Already in the time of Sigismund I, secular plays in Latin were given at Wawel Castle under the patronage of the court. Among them was "Ulysses' Foresight in the Face of Adversity" (Ulyssis Prudentia In Adversis), performed at the castle in 1516 in the presence of the King and Queen Barbara Zapolya. In February 1522, in the presence of Queen Bona (the king left for Lithuania), Jacobus Locher's "The Judgment of Paris about the golden apple between the three goddesses, Pallas, Juno, and Venus, about the threefold way of human life: contemplative, active and lustful" (Ivdicivm Paridis de pomo aureo inter tres deas Palladem, Iuuonem, Venerem, de triplici hominu vita, cotemplatiua, actiua ac voluptaria) was performed in the Senator's Hall. As was customary at the time, all the roles were played by men, students of the Kraków Academy, a fully accepted form of public cross-dressing (by today's standards). The plays were directed by Stanisław of Łowicz, the superior of dormitories. In The Judgement of Paris, the role of Paris was played by Mikołaj Kobyleński, Pallas by Jerzy Latalski, Juno by Szymon of Łowicz, Venus by Paweł Głogowski, and the beautiful Helen of Troy by Stanisław Maik. The mythological plot was punctuated by a fencing scene and vulgar songs of "women and shepherds" (after "Intermedium polskie ..." by Jan Okoń, p. 117). The Wawel performance was intended to be an extraordinary event, and by January of that year, the full Latin text of the play had been published. The title page was adorned with a fitting woodcut depicting the judgement, inspired by the 1508 engraving by Lucas Cranach the Elder, in which all the goddesses were depicted naked. At an unknown time, probably after the Deluge, a vandal-reader of the copy of Locher's work in the National Library in Warsaw (SD XVI.Qu.6459) made a truly barbaric attempt to hide the nudity of the most shameful parts of the bodies of the three goddesses with pencil strokes. It was translated into Polish and frequently performed for the general public, however, the translation was not published until 1542 (Sąd Parysa Królewicza Trojańskiego). The oldest known depiction of the Judgement of Paris scene in Polish art is a stove tile dating from the second half of the 15th century, found in 1994 during excavations near the so-called Lech Hill in Gniezno, now in the Museum of the Origins of the Polish State in Gniezno (inv. 1994:3/21), in which all the goddesses were also depicted naked (after "Inspiracje śródziemnomorskie" by Jerzy Miziołek, p. 10-11, 17-19, 322). Since in the 1522 play all the roles were given to men, it is unlikely that they performed naked or half-naked in front of the queen and the court, but since the details of the performance are not known, who knows.
Poetry, society and the role of women
The poets and writers Andrzej Krzycki (Andreas Cricius, 1482-1537), secretary to Queen Bona Sforza, Klemens Janicki (Clemens Ianicius, 1516-1543), Stanisław Orzechowski (Stanislaus Orichovius, 1513-1566) and Maciej Kazimierz Sarbiewski (Mathias Casimirus Sarbievius, 1595-1640), were among the most notable Latinists of the Renaissance and early Baroque. The first Polish author to write exclusively in Polish, Mikołaj Rej (1505-1569), rightly stated: "Among other nations let it always be known / That the Poles are not geese, have a tongue of their own" (translated by Michał Jacek Mikoś), because in a multi-ethnic nation, Latin dominated in all spheres of life. It was also during the Renaissance that the first important publications in local languages appeared.
Among the notable foreign poets and writers brought to Poland-Lithuania-Ruthenia at the beginning of the Renaissance, one should mention the French poet Aignan Bourgoin (Anian Burgonius) from Orléans, invited by Jan Łaski (1499-1560) in 1527. Łaski sent him to continue his studies in Italy, then to Wittenberg with Melanchthon, but this "apostle of Poland", as Melanchthon called him, died suddenly in 1534 (after "Poezja polsko-łacińska w dobie odrodzenia" by Bronisław Nadolski, p. 189). Bishop Erazm Ciołek invited in 1505 the Spanish lawyer and writer Garsias Quadros from Seville, who died in Kraków in 1518, and Bishop Piotr Gamrat invited another Spanish lawyer and writer Pedro Ruiz de Moros, who arrived from Italy around 1540. Chancellor Krzysztof Szydłowiecki patronized an English humanist, Leonard Cox (or Coxe), author of the first book in English on rhetoric, who arrived in Poland around 1518. The popularity of epigrams on portraits painted by splendid painters is another proof that Poland-Lithuania-Ruthenia ranked among the most cultured countries of Renaissance Europe in terms of artistic patronage. Several of such epigrams were created by the poet Jan Kochanowski, who was educated in Italy. Pedro Ruiz de Moros, a friend of Kochanowski, also wrote such poems - the epigram on the portrait of Olbracht Łaski (1536-1604), voivode of Sieradz, one on the portrait of King Sigismund Augustus, and another on the portrait of the Spanish King Philip II (after "Royzyusz : jego żywot i pisma" by Bronisław Kruczkiewicz, Rozprawy Wydziału Filologicznego, p. 149). The poet Andrzej Trzecieski (d. 1584) is the author of epigrams - on the portrait of King Stephen Bathory, on the portrait of Justus Ludwik Decjusz, claiming that the painter imagined the face of Decjusz as if he were alive (To oblicze Decjusza wyobraził malarz jak żywe), on the portrait of Jakub Przyłuski (1512-1554), an outstanding poet, philosopher and lawyer and the portrait of Jan Krzysztoporski (1518-1585) at the age of 20 (Cztery pięciolecia pierwszej młodości liczył sobie Jan Krzysztoporski, kiedy tak wyglądał), thus most likely painted by Cranach's workshop during his studies in Wittenberg in 1537-1539, as well as on the portrait of Marcin Białobrzeski (1522-1586), Abbot of Mogiła (compare "Carmina: wiersze łacińskie" by Jerzy Krókowski, p. 145, 167, 379, 451, 546). Trzecieski most probably commissioned the portrait of Ruiz de Moros, which the Spanish poet praised in his poem In effigiem suam. Ruiz de Moros, for his part, wrote a poem about Trzecieski's portrait (In Andreae Tricesii imaginem) in which he compares him to Adonis, Venus' lover - "Forgive me, Venus, Trzecieski does not know your fires, your Adonis was not like that" (Parce Venus, vestros nescit Tricesius ignes, Non tuus ergo, Venus, talis Adonis erat). Venus is also the heroine of epigrams on portraits of Sigismund Augustus (Hanc Venus atque Thetis pictam ut videre tabellam) and Olbracht Łaski. In 1519 Jan Dantyszek wrote an epigram on his own portrait in Spain - In effigiem suam (after "Twórczość poetycka Jana Dantyszka" by Stanisław Skimina, p. 75). Despite the praise given to the talent of the painters, often compared to that of Apelles, no names are mentioned, indicating that the painters were probably not well known to the poets, and that the portraits were therefore probably commissioned from abroad. The country was formed by two major states - the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, but it was a multiethnic and multicultural country with a large Italian community in many cities. The locals most often called it in Latin simply Res Publicae (Republic, Commonwealth) or Sarmatia (as the Greeks, Romans and Byzantines of Late Antiquity called the great territories of Central Europe), more literary and by nobility. Nationality was not considered in today's terms and was rather fluid, as in the case of Stanisław Orzechowski, who calls himself either Ruthenian (Ruthenus / Rutheni), Roxolanian (Roxolanus / Roxolani) or of Ruthenian origin, Polish nation (gente Ruthenus, natione Polonus / gente Roxolani, natione vero Poloni), published in his In Warszaviensi Synodo provinciae Poloniae Pro dignitate sacerdotali oratio (Kraków, 1561) and Fidei catholicae confessio (Cologne, 1563), most likely to emphasize his origin and his attachment to the Republic. Spanish poet educated in Padua and Bologna Pedro Ruiz de Moros (d. 1571), courtier of King Sigismund Augustus, in his De apparatu nuptiarum ..., published in Kraków in 1543 on the occasion of the king's marriage, calls him "Sigismund King Augustus, another of the Sarmatian race, the Sarmatian and the new glory of the nation" (SISMVNdus tunc Augustus Rex, altera gentis Sarmatice spes, Sarmatice & noua gloria gentis). In 1541, Philip Melanchthon (1497-1560), a German Lutheran reformer, in a letter to the mathematician Burkhard Mithoff (Burchardus Mithobius, 1501-1564), criticizing the "absurd claims" of Nicolaus Copernicus, called him "the Sarmatian astronomer who moves the earth and stops the sun" and added that "wise rulers should curb the insolence of minds [or spirit]!" (Es gibt da Leute, die glauben, es sei ein hervorragender Fortschritt, eine so absurde Behauptung zu verfechten wie dieser sarmatische Astronom, der die Erde bewegt und die Sonne anheftet. Wahrlich, kluge Herrscher sollten die Frechheit der Geister zügeln!, after "Das neue Weltbild: Drei Texte ...", ed. Hans Günter Zekl, p. LXIII). In his translation of the work of Maciej Miechowita (1457-1523), dedicated to Severino Ciceri, published in Venice in 1561 under the title "History of the two Sarmatias" (Historia delle due Sarmatie), Annibal Maggi explains what the two Sarmatias were: "The ancient placed two Sarmatias, one in Europe, the other in Asia, one close to the other" (I più antichi hanno posto due Sarmatie, una in Europa, l'altra nell' Asia, una vicina all'altra, p. 5). Although some anti-Jewish sentiment can be found in religious art, as in one of the oldest depictions of a Polish Jew whipping the statue of St. Nicholas of Bari after the theft of the riches that he had entrusted to the statue's care (in a wing of the Rzepiennik Biskupi altar from the first half of the 16th century, Czartoryski Museum, inv. MNK XII-242, based on the Golden Legend by Jacobus de Voragine), the Renaissance is one of the most prosperous periods in the history of Polish Jews. Jewish merchants were valued suppliers to the royal-grand-ducal court and the magnates. In 1514, Ezofowicz Rabinkowicz Michael (died before 1533), a Jewish merchant and banker who had not abandoned the Judaism, was admitted to the coat of arms and knighted by King Sigismund I on the Kraków Market Square during the Prussian homage (April 10, 1525) (compare "Encyklopedia PWN"). Among the prominent members of the Jewish community close to the royal court were members of the Fiszel family. Rachela (Raśka, Raszka) Mojżeszowa, wife of the banker Mojżesz Fiszel, provided credit to King Casimir IV and his sons John I Albert and Alexander. By virtue of an act issued on November 1, 1504, King Alexander, at the request of his mother, Queen Elizabeth of Austria, allowed Reszka and her offspring, in gratitude for her services, to purchase a house in Kraków. In 1515, Rachela's son Franczek (Efraim) Fiszel was part of the retinue of the king's sister, Elizabeth Jagiellon (1482-1517), travelling to Legnica. Almost a decade later, in 1524, King Sigismund I, at the request of his wife, appointed Franczek and his wife Chwałka (Falka) as servants of two royal courts, namely his own and that of Queen Bona (after "Udział Żydów w kontaktach dyplomatycznych i handlowych ..." by Maurycy Horn, p. 6). Franczek's son, Mojżesz (Moses) Fiszel (1480-after 1543), was a medical doctor, he was trained in Padua before 1520 and in 1523, at the request of the Archbishop of Poznań, King Sigismund granted him a privilege exempting him from all taxes that Jews paid (after "Historyja Żydów ..." by Hilary Nussbaum, Volume 5, p. 122). His wife, Estera, came from the court of Queen Bona and was a renowned seamstress, also making liturgical vestments for the Catholic clergy. According to a letter from Piotr Tomicki, Bishop of Kraków to his friend doctor Stanisław Borek, the cantor of Kraków, dated March 25, 1535, he ordered two surplices, "which can be cut by Estera, the wife of doctor Mojżesz". In 1528, when the doctor decided to travel to Germany and Italy, he received from Tomicki a letter of recommendation, dated October 23, 1528 in Kraków, addressed to Bernardo Clesio (1484-1539), Bishop of Trent, in which he asked him to help doctor Mojżesz obtain a letter of safe conduct from King Ferdinand I, who was to ensure the safety of the Jewish doctor during his journey through the countries subject to him to Germany and Italy and during his return to Poland. In a letter to the Bishop of Trent, Tomicki notes that the Jew for whom he interceded gained the favor of the King of Poland and also rendered him many services (after "Medycy nadworni władców polsko-litewskich ..." by Maurycy Horn, p. 9-10). In 1547, the first Jewish printing house of Chaim Szwarc was opened in Lublin. Among the court favourites was the courtier Jan Zambocki, who was captured by the Tatars and sold into slavery to the Turks. He escaped after a long stay and in 1510 he was already found at the court of Sigismund the Old, where he remained until his death in 1529. He dressed in Turkish style and was known to have converted to Islam. As a friend of the king and Vice-Chancellor Piotr Tomicki, he sometimes worked in the chancellery and was responsible for drafting official documents (after "Z dworu Zygmunta Starego. (Dokończenie)" by Kazimierz Morawski, p. 538). He knew Latin, German and eastern languages and probably also Arabic. "The foreigner Bona gives an imprint and character to this entire era", asserts Kazimierz Morawski (1852-1925) in his article on the court of Sigismund I published in 1887 ("Z dworu Zygmunta Starego", Przegląd polski, Volume 21, p. 203). The style of her reign, as well as her education, are probably best characterized in the letter of Antonio Galateo de Ferraris (Galateus, ca. 1444-1517), an Italian scholar of Greek origin, sent to the young Bona in 1507, when she was with her mother in Bari. The court physician of the Aragonese dynasty wrote to a 13-year-old princess: "Your sweet letters, noble lady, have given me great pleasure and have awakened in me a great desire to see you. I am accustomed not only to praise your mind, but to admire it, for your soul is enriched every day with new goods. You, if you find the teachings agreeable, you will become the greatest and most intelligent woman of our time. [...] If princes by nature, and not only by law and custom, as many believe, are superior to other people, the greatest difference should be between you and other girls. You were born to rule, they were born to serve; let them use the sieve and the spindle, you the laws, science and good customs; let them occupy themselves with the worship of the body, you must educate the mind". He also advised the future Queen of Poland, Grand Duchess of Lithuania and Lady of Ruthenia: "Begin to acquire knowledge about men little by little, for you were born to rule men" and while her peers were busy with amusement or feminine work, let her study Virgil and Cicero, leaf through the old and new books of St. Jerome, Augustine and Chrysostom, the Greek and Latin poets, "for without teachings no one can live well or have any importance" (after "Królowa Bona ..." by Władysław Pociecha, p. 160). Probably around 1540, more than 20 years after his death, a medal with a bust of Galateo was made (inscription: ANTONIVS GALATEVS). The wax model for this medal is attributed to Leone Leoni (Metropolitan Museum of Art, inv. 1975.1.1277), while the reverse of this medal shows Venus reigning embracing Mars and accompanied by their son Cupid (British Museum, inv. G3,IP.442). It should be noted, however, that apart from her education, determination and talent, Bona encountered very favourable conditions in Poland-Lithuania-Ruthenia in the 16th century, particularly tolerance and respect for women, which is best expressed by a poem by a certain Złota, from the village near Sandomierz, written at the beginning of the 15th century: "But a knight or a lord / Honours the face of a woman: it is good for you! [...] The lady is a queen, / Whoever criticizes her would perish. / They have this power from the Mother of God, / That princes rise up before them / And give them great glory. / I praise you, ladies, / For there is nothing better than you". "In accordance with the principle that a woman resembles the image of the Mother of God [which also explain the existence of disguised portraits], a medieval man, especially one who knew the etiquette, knelt before her on one knee or even on both knees, as can be concluded from a love poem written by a student from the end of the 15th century", adds Wacław Kosiński (1882-1953) in his publication on the social customs of old Poland ("Zwyczaje towarzyskie w dawnej Polsce", p. 37). Andrzej Frycz Modrzewski (1503-1572) in his famous treatise "On the Improvement of the Commonwealth" (De Republica emendanda), published in Kraków in 1551, complains about Sarmatian women: "especially those who are rich and have many friends, tend to behave more insolently than is appropriate towards their husbands" (after "O poprawie Rzeczypospolitej", ed. Kazimierz Józef Turowski, p. 78). From 1531 to 1535 Frycz studied in Wittenberg, lived with Philip Melanchthon, and travelled to Nuremberg, where the approach seems to be very different from that in Sarmatia. It is illustrated by a masterfully executed satirical print on fools and the "power" of women accompanied by verses by Hans Sachs (1494-1576), now in the British Museum (inv. 1933,0614.29). This beautiful woodcut was formerly attributed to Erhard Schön and is thought to have been made between 1530 and 1532. It depicts "The Fool Eater" and the full title in German at the top reads: "Real news about the eater of fools, his servant, and about the hungry man who devours all men who do not fear their wives" (Aigentliche newe zeitung von dem narren fresser, seinem knecht, vnd von dem hungerigen man / der alle men der fryst die sick nicht vor yren weybern furchten). While Bona has gained great notoriety and was able to influence many areas, her stepdaughter Hedwig Jagellon and her daughters Sophia and Catherine Jagellon, although they followed the same models, are sometimes forgotten in the countries they ruled. Her eldest daughter, Isabella, who ruled post-Jagiellonian Hungary and Transylvania, played a more important role and became the object of a certain notoriety. Bona's daughter Anna, who was unmarried and present in the country after the death of her brother Sigismund Augustus, was elected monarch of the Commonwealth in the second free royal election of 1575. The role of women in Polish-Lithuanian society during the Renaissance is reflected in distinct women's literature, which has its beginning in anonymous "Senatulus, or the council of women" (Senatulus to jest sjem niewieści) from 1543 and especially Marcin Bielski's "Women's Parliament" (Syem Niewiesci), written in 1566-1567. The idea derives from the satirical Senatus sive Gynajkosynedrion by Erasmus of Rotterdam, published in 1528, which caused a wave of imitations in Europe. Bielski's work, however, brings a whole bunch of articles proposed by married women, widows and unmarried women to be passed at the Sejm, which have no equivalent in Erasmus's work. There is almost no satirical content, which is the core of Erasmus's work willing to point out the faults of women. The main element in Bielski's work is criticism of men (after "Aemulatores Erasmi? ..." by Justyna A. Kowalik, p. 259). The women point to the inefficiency of men's power over the country and their lack of concern for the common good of the Republic. Their arguments about the role of women in the world are based on the ancient tradition, when women not only advised men, but also ruled and fought for their own. This work provoked a whole series of brochures devoted to female matters, in which, however, the emphasis has been shifted more to discussion of women's clothing - "Reprimand of Women's Extravagant Attire" (Przygana wymyślnym strojom białogłowskim) from 1600 or "Maiden's Parliament" (Sejm panieński) by Jan Oleski (pseudonym), published before 1617. As in Italy, women also took up painting, mainly in Kraków, where in 1495 there is a painter Małgorzata, called Łukaszowa (Lucaschowa pictrix), widow of the painter Łukasz Molner, who came from Wrocław, perhaps identical with the sister of Veit Stoss of that name, known for buying paints for the sum of 6 florins, for which her brother vouched to the seller Katarzyna Jedwatowa. The painters Katarzyna Gałuszyna in 1477, Magdalena Skorka in 1494 and Katarzyna Siostrzankowa ze Stradomia, between 1497-1504 are mentioned in the municipal registers (compare "Na tropach pierwszych kobiet malarek w dawnej Polsce" by Karolina Targosz, p. 46). Dorota Baczkowska (Dorothea Baczkowskij) is mentioned under the year 1538 and Helena malarka in 1540. In 1575, the city authorities paid a pension to the painter Agnieszka, whose husband was murdered by students in 1570. Dorota Koberowa or Dorothea Köberin (1549-1622), born in Kraków, who married the painter Martin Kober in 1586, ran a workshop during her husband's absence and after his death. In her receipt from July 31, 1599 for ten Polish złotys "for work on the coat of arms", she called herself "painter to His Majesty the King" (Malarzowa Króla Jego Mości), i.e. court painter to Sigismund III Vasa. The regulations of the Lviv painters' guild of 1597 provided for relief in obtaining the title of master for those who would marry the daughter of another painter "who knew how to paint". Barbara, a painter, worked in Lviv in 1611 and Agnieszka Piotrkowczyk, who married the Venetian painter Tommaso Dolabella, was also a painter, as were their daughters, mentioned as authors of paintings in the Dominican monastery in Kraków (Item in dormitario allongavo supra fores cellarum pulchrum prebent in frontibus adspectum imagines ex Schola Cordis efiigiatae, quos praenominati Dolabellae filiae inefformaverunt, ut sponsi et sponsae cordis in omnibus non absimiles habeatur representacio, after "Tomasz Dolabella" by Mieczysław Skrudlik, p. 56, 71). The painting depicting the Mass with the appearance of the Virgin Mary kept in the National Museum in Kraków formerly bore the inscription: Agnes Piotrkowczyk pinxit Dolabella Thomas Cracoviensis direxit. One of the peculiarities of former Poland-Lithuania-Ruthenia are the Renaissance funerary monuments inspired by Roman tombs, many of which fortunately survived significant destruction during numerous wars and invasions thanks to their placement in temples. Although some of them were made by Italian sculptors and are based on Italian models, including the so-called "Sansovino pose" of a sleeping person, concering female sepulchre they are typical mainly for Poland-Lithuania-Ruthenia and the women, similar to effigies of the Roman goddess of love, frequenly hold their hands on their genitals in the gesture typical for ancient statues of Venus Pudica (the modest Venus) - Venus sleeping in the church. Among the best are the monument to Barbara Tarnowska née Tęczyńska (ca. 1490-1521) by Giovanni Maria Mosca, called Padovano (ca. 1536, Tarnów Cathedral), the monument to Elżbieta Zebrzydowska née Krzycka (d. 1553) by Padovano or workshop (ca. 1553, Kielce Cathedral), the monument to Anna Dzierzgowska née Szreńska by Santi Gucci Fiorentino (1560s, church in Pawłowo Kościelne), the monument to Urszula Leżeńska by Jan Michałowicz (1563-1568, church in Brzeziny), the monument to Zofia Ostrogska née Tarnowska (1534-1570) by Wojciech Kuszczyc (1570s, Tarnów Cathedral), monument to Barbara Kurozwęcka (d. 1545) by Girolamo Canavesi (1574, Poznań Cathedral), monument to Anna Śleszyńska née Dzierzgowska by the workshop of Jan Michałowicz (ca. 1578, Łowicz Cathedral), monument to Elżbieta Modliszowska née Dembińska by the workshop of Santi Gucci (1589, Łomża Cathedral), monument to Jadwiga Opalińska née Lubrańska (d. 1558) by Santi Gucci (ca. 1590, church in Kościan), monument to Barbara Firlejowa née Szreńska (d. 1588) by Santi Gucci (ca. 1597, church in Janowiec) and monument to Anna Uchańska née Herburt by the workshop of Tomasz Nikiel (1590-1614, church in Uchanie). The funerary monument of the elected queen Anna Jagiellon in the Sigismund Chapel, created by Santi Gucci between 1583 and 1584, also refers to this model. Many such monuments in Lithuania and Ruthenia were damaged or destroyed during the Deluge or during later invasions (for example monument to wives of Lew Sapieha in the Church of St. Michael in Vilnius or monument to Anna Sieniawska in Berezhany).
Women's education and activities
In 1390, through the personal efforts of Queen Jadwiga (Hedwig) at the papal court, the Kraków Academy was reactivated. In her will, the queen bequeathed her personal fortune to the academy, which enabled the university to be restored to its full form in 1400. After its restoration, female surnames took an important place among the supporters and benefactors of the reborn school. These included Alexandra of Lithuania (ca. 1370-1434), Duchess of Mazovia, Jogaila's favorite sister, and her daughter Anna, as well as Jogaila's two other wives, Elizabeth Granowska and Sophia of Halshany. There were also wives of dignitaries and nobles in the 15th century: Elżbieta Melsztyńska, Katarzyna Mężykowa, Joanna Gniewoszowa, Konstancja Koniecpolska, Catherine of Dąbrowa, and Margaret of Pokrzywnica. Wealthy townswomen, such as Katarzyna and Urszula Homan, contributed to this donation for scientific purposes.
In the following century, the academy's great supporter was Queen Anna Jagiellon. The tradition of Kraków townswomen who were generous towards the university was continued by Barbara Opatowczykowa, Małgorzata Danielewiczowa, Anna Zwierzowa and Zofia Golowa. The latter, a widow of an innkeeper, achieved the rare honour for a woman of her condition of being entered into the university's winter register of 1580/1, with the addition of de universitate benemerita ("well-deserved for the university"). Outside Kraków, we know that Barbara Zamoyska (ca. 1566-1610), née Tarnowska, was interested in the Zamość Academy, and in cities with Jesuit colleges, women such as Katarzyna Wapowska (1530-1596), a caring guardian of the home for poor students at the Jesuit college in Jarosław, showed great effort and help to students. Although "public" education was not available to girls, the abbot of the Benedictine "Scottish" abbey in Vienna, Martin of Spis (d. 1464), recalls the story of a female student at the Kraków Academy during the reign of Ladislaus Jagiello. In his work Senatorium sive dialogus historicus Martini abbatis Scotorum Viennae Austriae, written towards the end of his life, the chronicler writes that, during his studies in Kraków, around 1416, he learned that a woman, probably from Greater Poland, had been attending classes with students for two years, dressed in men's clothes, and was about to obtain her bachelor's degree. When her secret was revealed, the woman went, in accordance with her will, to a convent where she became abbess. Martin also adds that at the time he was writing these memoirs, the woman was still alive, as he had recently heard about her from a certain person who was in Kraków. This first female student of what is now the Jagiellonian University is known in Poland as Nawojka, because of the prayer book that bears that name and was previously thought to belong to her (after "Nawojka – pierwsza studentka Uniwersytetu Krakowskiego" by Stanisław A. Sroka, p. 130, 135-137). Since the Middle Ages, women have frequently been involved in medicine. In 1278, there lived in Poznań a woman whom the records call Joanna medica, a physician. Also during the reign of Casimir the Great, in the 14th century, a certain Katarzyna practiced medicine. In the 16th century, in Volhynia, the unknown Maria Holszańska carried religious books with her. "Noble and bourgeois girls learn to read and write in their mother tongue and even in Latin either at home or in convents," states priest Marcin Kromer (1512-1589) in his description of Poland published in Cologne in 1578 (Polonia sive de situ, populis, moribus ..., p. 61). Few formal oratorical speeches by women were commemorated. Queens usually used chancellors and secretaries for this purpose. Anna Jagiellon was an exception, as she personally raised toasts at the feasts she hosted. In the 16th and 17th centuries, many books were written or dedicated to women. Andrzej Glaber (c. 1500-1555) from Kobylin dedicated his Problemata Aristotelis. Gadki z pisma wielkiego philozopha Aristotela ..., the first Polish textbook of medicine and human anatomy, to Jadwiga Kościelecka, second wife of Seweryn Boner (1486-1549), court banker to King Sigismund I (published in Kraków in 1535). This dedication contains a very significant and insightful analysis of the reasons for the reluctance of Glaber's contemporary men to educate women: "[they] do it more out of jealousy [...] fearing to lose their fame, lest women surpass them in intelligence, they forbid them to read profound writings, except for prayers and rosaries". The author, however, believed that all knowledge should be accessible to women and wrote this book: "so that women who know letters may, as it were, try the writings in which wisdom is enclosed". In this work, Glaber also warned women against gluttony and, above all, against the consumption of raw fruit and wine, especially during pregnancy (after "Aristotle for women" by Marta Wojtkowska-Maksymik, p. 350). It contain a description of body parts, while the tondo woodcuts could be seen as portraits of Glaber's patients or Kraków inhabitants in general. The author also included an anatomical image of the main internal organs (section of a human body - naked man). On the back of the title page and on the last page bearing the date "1535", one can see the coat of arms of Kościelecka - Ogończyk. Jadwiga was the daughter of Mikołaj Kościelecki, voivode of Inowrocław, and Anna Łaska. As a member of the powerful Kościelecki family, she was a "relative" of Beata Kościeleca (1515-1576). Glaber also dedicated to her the adaptation of the Davidic Psalter (Żołtarz Dawidow ...), published in Kraków in 1539 by Helena Unglerowa, which quickly reached seven editions. The original translation was made before 1528 by Walenty Wróbel (ca. 1475-1537) for Katarzyna Górkowa née Szamotulska. There are many literary tributes to Queen Bona, including the Latin poem about the bison Carmen Nicolai Hussoviani de statura, feritate ac venatione Bisontis by Mikołaj Hussowski, published in Kraków in 1523. Polish books were created for Princess Hedwig Jagiellon (1513-1573), which she took with her to Brandenburg after her marriage. Later, she also received books dedicated to her, such as Apologia pro sexu foemineo, printed in Frankfurt in 1544 or Kxięgi probowane przez doctory y ludzie nauczone Kościoła rzymskiego, printed in Kraków in 1545. Several books were dedicated to Anna Jagiellon, such as Postille Catholiczney część trzecia ... by Jakub Wujek (1541-1597), published in Kraków in 1575, or Deliberatio de principe Svetiae Regno Poloniae praeficiendo by Łukasz Chwałkowski, published in Poznań in 1587. In the last quarter of the 16th century, books were also dedicated to Krystyna Opalińska, Dorota Barzyna and Anna Złotkowska née Sierpska. Reyna (Regina) Filipowska's "Pious Song" (Pieśń nabożna), published in Kraków in 1557, is one of the oldest Polish literary works written by a woman. In 1594, the "Meditations on the Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ ..." (Rozmyślania Męki Pana naszego Jezusa Krystusa ...), published anonymously in Kraków, were undoubtedly written by a woman and dedicated to Queen Anna Jagiellon. Anna Siebeneicherowa (d. 1610), who signed the 1608 edition of this work, dedicated to Constance of Austria, wife of Sigismund III, is considered the author. "In addition to the quiet and gentle housewives, there were in old Poland many women full of temperament and energy, resolute matrons who equaled men in deeds, courage and ambition", said Łucja Charewiczowa (1897-1943) in her book "Woman in old Poland" (Kobieta w dawnej Polsce, p. 36-37, 40-41, 69-71, 80, 82-83, 88), published in 1938. The author died in the Nazi German concentration camp of Auschwitz. Women often took up arms, especially in the borderlands, exposed to enemy raids, where palaces and manor houses were constantly transformed into defensive fortresses resisting the enemy. In 1577 in Dubno, Beata Dolska, during her wedding festivities, interrupted by a sudden Tatar raid, personally shot at the khan's tent and caused him to withdraw from the siege of the castle. Barbara Rusinowska, a female robber from the early 16th century, ended her horse-thieving profession on the noose. Captured in her own castle in 1505, she was hanged, according to Bielski and Kromer, in her ordinary clothes, that is, in trousers, spurs, and sword at her side, during the session of the Diet in Radom, on the orders of King Alexander Jagiellon (1461-1506). A Polish medieval robber was a noblewoman, Katarzyna Włodkowa (or Skrzyńska) from Skrzynno, who used to raid on the roads in the 1450s. Around 1570, Hanna Borzobohata Krasieńska née Sokolska, was famous in Volhynia. She knew how to plunder in the Tatar manner and followed the path of quarrels and robberies, driven by the desire to earn money and her passion for horses. Łukasz Górnicki (1527-1603), in turn, mentions the custom of raiding the estates of wealthy widows. Many women gone to court for every inch of land, every lamb, but most often, they are sued for family, land, or neighborhood disputes. An example of such women is a Ruthenian lady, Mrs. Litavorova, born Princess Olshanskaya, related to the Jagiellons, widow of John Litavor Bohdanovitsh Khreptovitsh, who lived at the turn of the 15th and 16th centuries. Sometimes, the royal letter was even necessary to urge the wife to submit to her husband's will. For example, in 1540, Sigismund I, establishing a joint mortgage on several villages of the poet Mikołaj Rej (1505-1569), included a passage in this privilege: "By this means, king instructs Zofia Rejowa [née Kościeniówna] that she should respect her husband [literally "to be filled with love towards her spouse"]". In some cases, however, even royal pressure proved ineffective. After the death of her husband Albertas Gostautas (ca. 1480-1539), voivode of Vilnius, his wife Princess Sophia Vasilievna Vereyska (ca. 1490-1549) refused to cede the starostships held by the deceased to the king and sent her servants to occupy them. "That the lady voivodess of Vilnius, as you wrote to us, wants to rule after her husband's death, and with the impudence she displayed before, and now does not want to restrain this crazy and indecent stubbornness", King Sigismund Augustus informed Marshal Radziwill in a letter dated May 14, 1540 from Kraków. In February 1559, in Warsaw, Beata Kościelecka (1515-1576), to escape the persuasions of king Sigismund Augustus, who wanted her daughter Halszka to marry Lutheran Łukasz Górka, hid in the bathhouse (after "Cnoty i wady narodu szlacheckiego ..." by Antoni Górski, p. 38, 57, 64, 72, 78, 88). Some 16th-century women, such as Zofia Działyńska, wife of the Pomeranian voivode (as expressed in her letter of 1554), opposed the cult of beauty on the part of men. The figure of Giovanna Bianchetti (1314-1354), a learned woman from Bologna, is very interesting from the point of view of Polish-Italian contacts. Giovanna was the daughter of Matteo Bianchetti of Bologna and the wife of Bonsignore de' Bonsignori, a jurist. Francesco Agostino della Chiesa (1593-1662), later Bishop of Saluzzo (1642), in his book "Theater of Learned Women" published in 1620 in Mondovì, states that Giovanna "wrote and spoke Greek, Latin, German, Bohemian [Czech] and Polish correctly, and was very erudite in matters of philosophy" (scriueua, e parlaua correttamente Greco, Latino, Alamano, Boemio, e Polacco, e fù dottissima nelle cose di Filosofia). What is also very interesting is that among many notable women, the author also mentions Anna Jagiellon, "wife of Steffano Battori [Stephen Bathory], Prince of Transylvania, who, through her, was elected king of that state in 1576. She was a queen endowed with virtues so rare that few ladies equal her, and the kingdom has not had greater ones. For, having been trained by her mother Bona Sforza, who was extremely virtuous in all the exercises of the virtues due to queens, and principally in the Catholic religion, and in the study of letters, especially Latin, she made herself so illustrious and appreciated by her people, that she was deemed worthy of the succession of her ancestors, [...] by her prudence and authority, she brought the affairs of that State back to true tranquility, [...] in the affairs of the State, she wrote with her own hand to the Supreme Pontiff, to the kings of France and Spain, and to the other princes of Christendom, with such a beautiful style and such eloquence, that she was praised and exalted by all, one of the wisest Queens that Christianity had in those times" (Theatro delle donne letterate ..., p. 71-72, 165).
Costumes and works of art
The 15th-century preacher Michał of Janowiec, complaining that the wealthier classes do not like to go to church, also gives an image of an elegant woman: "Mothers know how to dress their daughters for dancing or for a walk, but they cannot dress them for church or buy suitable shoes; they teach them to talk frivolously to men, but they do not know how to pray or confess. [...] a silk dress cut out at the back, chains around the neck; a tight dress [...] a gold ring on each finger; cut-out shoes, barely covering the heel and toes" (after "Zwyczaje towarzyskie w dawnej Polsce" by Wacław Kosiński, p. 50).
Precious fabrics were not only imported from abroad on special order, but also purchased on the local market, in Gdańsk and other large cities. For example, before the planned departure of Sigismund Augustus to Wrocław for a meeting with Emperor Maximilian II, which did not take place, a large quantity of velvet, silk, satin and cloth was purchased in Lublin on May 16, 1569 for the clothes of the courtiers who were to accompany the king (after "Czarno-białe tkaniny Zygmunta Augusta" by Maria Hennel-Bernasikowa, p. 40). These were exclusively black and white fabrics and probably made in Italy or Turkey. From the late 1530s, a specialization began to develop among the royal suppliers of fabrics. The supplies of expensive fabrics: brocade, cloth of gold, damask, satin, velvet and taffeta interwoven with gold and silver threads were taken over by Kraków merchants of Italian origin, Gaspare Gucci and Simone Lippi, both from Florence, and Foltyn Szwab of German origin. For goods sold in the years 1538-1547, they received sums of almost 1,800 złoty at a time. In the years 1549-1550, Jewish merchants delivered fabrics to the court of Sigismund Augustus for a total value of 2,243 zlotys and 16 groszy, which constituted approximately 28% of the total amount (8,064 zlotys and 266 groszy) spent by the royal treasury during those years for the purchase of various types of fabrics and textile products. Among the Christian royal suppliers of fabrics in the years 1548-1559, the main role was played by the already mentioned Foltyn Szwab from Kraków (until 1559) and Simone Lippi (until 1552), and from 1552 by Bernardo Soderini from Kraków. The share of other Kraków merchants, as well as traders and merchants from Lviv, Poznań, Warsaw and Vilnius and the Italian merchants Fabiano Baldi, Giovanni Evangelista and Galleazzo, a citizen of Kraków, in the deliveries of fabrics to the royal court was less significant (after "Dostawcy dworów królewskich w Polsce i na Litwie ..." by Maurycy Horn, Part II, p. 10, 12). Authors like Klemens Janicki (1516-1543), Mikołaj Rej (1505-1569), Krzysztof Opaliński (1609-1655) and Wacław Potocki (1621-1696), condemned the variability of costumes as a national vice (after "Aemulatores Erasmi? ...", p. 253) and index of forbidden books of Bishop Marcin Szyszkowski of 1617 banned a large group of humorous, entertaining, often obscene texts, imbued with ambiguous eroticism, and for these reasons condemned by the counter-reformation and the new model of culture. Later, in 1625, in his "Votum on the improvement of the Commonwealth" (Votvm o naprawie Rzeczypospolitey) Szymon Starowolski railed against the Italian or Italianized women spoiling the youth, effeminacy of men and their reluctance to defend the eastern lands against invasions: "He, whom the caressed Italian courtesans have raised in pillows, being entangled with their gentle words and delicacies, he can't stand the hardships with us". "Well, many bad things are brought to Poland from Italy," comments Łukasz Górnicki (1527-1603) in a conversation between a Pole and an Italian about the judicial system in Sarmatia, without citing specific examples, so it must be related to the overall situation at that time. The great diversity of costume dates at least to the time of Sigismund I. Janicki in his poem "On the Variety and Inconstancy of Polish Dress" (In poloni vestibus varietatem et inconstanciam) describes King Ladislaus Jagiello rising from the grave and unable to recognize Poles. Pedro Ruiz de Moros, in his De apparatu nuptiarum ..., states about Sigismund Augustus's first wife, Elizabeth of Austria (1526-1545), that she was dressed in the German style (Teutonicum morem) and that her dress was richly adorned with jewels. He adds, about her entry into Kraków in 1543, that "if she had not known that they were Sarmatians, she would have thought she saw people of all nations. One wears a Spanish costume, another Italian, one pierces the air with his tall head draped in long shawls", so, many of them wore turbans (after "Jagiellonki polskie w XVI. wieku: Obrazy rodziny i dworu Zygmunta ..." by Aleksander Przezdziecki, Volume 1, p. 114). The anonymous author of the German description of the ceremony that accompanied the reception of Archduchess Elizabeth in Kraków and the wedding of the couple that took place there on May 4, written by an eyewitness and probably printed in Nuremberg (Kurtze beschreibung dess einzugs der Jungen Künigin zu Cracaw ...) also adds that "The next day, the fourth of May, the young king left Kraków about an hour before noon with all his lords, knights and nobles, four thousand in number, dressed in every manner, such as: German, Polish, Italian, French, Hungarian, Turkish, Tatar, Spanish, Muscovite, Cossack and Venetian style [stratyotka, stradiòtto - light cavalry of the Republic of Venice, notably Albanian, Greek and Dalmatian], His Royal Majesty in silver-white German robe, on a bay steed that was covered with a magnificent tack with pearls on his back and front, and magnificently dressed, arrived a quarter of a mile from the town, where there were three red tents pitched on a meadow" (after "Biblioteka Warszawska ...", Volume 3 [XXXI, 1848], p. 634). The scene of the "Ennoblement of the progenitor of the Odrowąż family by the emperor", a miniature from the Liber geneseos illustris familiae Schidloviciae, created by Stanisław Samostrzelnik before 1532 (Kórnik Library, MK 3641) and evidently inspired by the court of Sigismund I the Old, confirms this diversity of costumes, including the popularity of turbans. Mikołaj Rej in his "Life of the Honest Man" (Żywot człowieka poczciwego), published in 1568, writes about "elaborate Italian and Spanish inventions, those strange coats [...] he will order the tailor to make him what they wear today. And I also hear in other countries, when you happen to paint [describe] every nation, then they paint a Pole naked and put the cloth in front of him with scissors, cut yourself as you deign". Venetian-born Polish writer Alessandro Guagnini dei Rizzoni (Aleksander Gwagnin), attributes this to the habit of Poles of visiting the most distant and diverse countries, from which foreign costumes and customs were brought to their homeland - "One can see in Poland, costumes of various nations, especially Italian, Spanish, and Hungarian, which is more common than others" (after "Obraz wieku panowania Zygmunta III ..." by Franciszek Siarczyński, p. 71). Queen Bona is credited with introducing the Italian-style tight-fitting bodices with wide square necklines and outfits complemented with numerous jewels. She gifted Polish women with Italian fabrics, allowing some of them to use the services of royal tailors. The queen employed many Italian tailors, embroiderers and goldsmiths. From 1518, Stefano and his assistant Alessandro worked for Bona and later Pietro Patriarcha (Patriarca) from Bari and Francesco Nardozzi (Nardocci, Nardazzi) from Naples. Ladies, especially those close to the court, imitating the way Italian women dressed, began to replace unattractive dresses with much more colourful dresses more abundantly decorated with various applications and embroideries (after "Bona Sforza d'Aragona i rola mody w kształtowaniu jej wizerunku" by Agnieszka Bender, p. 48). Patriarcha, who remained in the service of the queen from about 1524 until her departure from Poland, joined the court of Sigismund Augustus in 1556 and adopted the law of the city of Kraków in the same year. He married the townswoman Jadwiga Irzykowa. He sewed for Queen Bona, Princess Hedwig, Princess Isabella and Sigismund Augustus, as well as for the ladies-in-waiting. In 1533 he had a lawsuit with the Kraków townswoman Anna Zapalina Brunowska, from whom he demanded the restitution of 32 florins. In the late 1530s, Nardozzi, who in 1529 received the citizenship of Kraków, had a years-long legal dispute with Jadwiga Kaletniczka and her son Erazm Ber, which reached the king (after "Działalność Włochów w Polsce ..." by Danuta Quirini-Popławska, p. 58-59). Since her betrothal, many Italian poets have praised the Polish queen. Their appreciation of her virtues seems to have increased in the 1540s, when in Poland-Lithuania-Ruthenia the queen's opponents increasingly criticized her actions. A 1542 poem dedicated to Bona by Giovan Battista Nenna, a fellow countryman from Bari, praises her as the embodiment of princely qualities, endowed with "infinite providence, the highest justice, ... wise counsel, clemency, mercy, devoutness, faith, liberality, greatness of soul, humanity, doctrine, and learning". The writer and editor Lodovico Domenichi dedicated the first part of his "Poems" (Rime) of 1544 to her, presenting her as both maternal and noble, a unifying figure meant to alleviate "the bitterness of [Italy's] present woes" and the sharp-tongued Pietro Aretino sought Bona's patronage by presenting her as a national icon, as "the light of Italian women" and "the hope" of Italy itself (after "Twenty-Five Women Who Shaped the Italian Renaissance" by Meredith K. Ray, p. 71). With Sarmatians visiting Italy so frequently, Italian settlement, customs and clothing, also the fashion for hair dyeing, particularly the "art of bleaching" (l'arte biondeggiante), became widespread in Poland-Lithuania. Szymon Starowolski (1588-1656) is said to have asserted that women "adopt all the habits of European matrons and adapt them to their own country, as it pleases them, no matter rich or poor" (omnes Europaearum matronarum habitus sibi usurpant, et ad suum patrium accommodant, prout cuique tam diviti, quam pauperi libet). Already in 1456 Barbara of Brandenburg (1422-1481), Marchioness of Mantua sent to Bianca Maria Visconti (1425-1468), Duchess of Milan, three bottles of water from Florence (d'acqua di Fiorenza) which had the property of making her hair blonde and this fashion was so widespread in Renaissance Italy that contemporaries were often heard exclaiming: "in the entire peninsula, there is not one brunette to be found" (compare "A History of Women in the West ..." by Georges Duby, Michelle Perrot, Pauline Schmitt Pantel, p. 62). The light blonde hair of a half-naked lady depicted as the Roman heroine Lucretia in a painting by Venetian painter Vincenzo Catena, or his studio, from the first quarter of the 16th century (Sotheby's London, April 24, 2007, lot 207), could be considered a good example of this practice. Hair dyeing was also popular among men in the second half of the 15th century, as confirmed by the Croatian-Hungarian Latinist Janus Pannonius (1434-1472), in his poem Ad Galeottum Narniensem. According to Flavio Ruggieri, women outside the court were "not very beautiful, but kind and charming, rather thin than fat, it is a great shame for them to add charms by artificial means or to dye their hair; they are busy with housework, they go on errands in town just like German women", while Łukasz Górnicki (1527-1603) complained that "our Polish women are not as educated as Italian women" and that they do not tolerate more daring conversations (bo ani nasze Polki są tak uczone jako Włoszki, ani drugich rzeczy, które owdzie są, cirpiećby ich uszy nie mogły). Works of art were commissioned from the best masters in Europe - silverware and jewelry in Nuremberg and Augsburg, paintings and fabrics in Venice and Flanders, armours in Nuremberg and Milan and other centers. For the tapestries representing the Deluge (about 5 pieces) commissioned in Flanders by Sigismund II Augustus in the early 1550s, considered one of the finest in Europe, the king paid the staggering sum of 60,000 (or 72,000) ducats. More than a century later, in 1665, their value was estimated at 1 million florins, while the Żywiec land at 600,000 thalers and the richly equipped Casimir Palace in Warsaw at 400,000 florins (after "Kolekcja tapiserii ..." by Ryszard Szmydki, p. 105). It was only a small part of the rich collection of fabrics of the Jagiellons, some of which were also acquired in Persia (like the carpets purchased in 1533 and 1553). Made of precious silk and woven with gold, they were much more valued than paintings. "The average price of a smaller rug on the 16th-century Venetian market was around 60 to 80 ducats, which was equal to the price for an altarpiece commissioned from a famous painter or even for an entire polyptych by a less-known master" (after "Jews and Muslims Made Visible ...", p. 213). In 1586, second-hand rug in Venice cost 85 ducats and 5 soldi and wall hangings bought from Flemish merchants 116 ducats, 5 lire and 8 soldi (after "Marriage in Italy, 1300-1650", p. 37). Around that time, in 1584, Tintoretto was only paid 20 ducats for a large painting of Adoration of the Cross (275 x 175 cm) with 6 figures for the church of San Marcuola and 49 ducats in 1588 for an altarpiece showing Saint Leonard with more then 5 figures for the Saint Mark's Basilica in Venice. In 1564 Titian informed King Philip II of Spain that he would have to pay 200 ducats for an autograph replica of the Martyrdom of Saint Lawrence, but that he could have one by the workshop for just 50 ducats (after "Tintoretto ..." by Tom Nichols, p. 89, 243). The lesser value of the paintings meant that they were not so prominently displayed in inventories and correspondence. The royal collections in Spain were largely unaffected by major military conflicts, so many paintings as well as related letters were retained. Perhaps we will never know how many letters Titian sent to the monarchs of Poland-Lithuania, if any. When Poland regained independence in 1918 and quickly began to rebuild the devastated interiors of Wawel Royal Castle, there was no effigy of any monarch inside (possibly except for a portrait of a ruling Emperor of Austria, as the building served the military). In 1919, the systematic collection of museum collections for Wawel began (after "Rekonstrukcja i kreacja w odnowie Zamku na Wawelu" by Piotr M. Stępień, p. 39). Antonio Niccolo Carmignano (Colantonio Carmignano, Parthenopeus Suavius), treasurer of Queen Bona Sforza from 1518, described the richness of the furnishings of Wawel Castle before 1525 (Viaggio de la Serenissima S. Donna Bona Regina ...) - the entrance to the first floor was via a wide staircase, to the left were the rooms decorated with many beautiful tapestries and fabrics. The second corridor led to the royal apartment, decorated with gold cloth. On the second floor there was a huge hall richly paneled with wood, full of sculptures, often gilded. The adjacent room was hung with tapestries, the next one was covered with brocade (probably a throne room), its beautiful floor was covered with red cloth. Against the background of a wall covered with a thick gold-woven fabric, there was a throne under a canopy. In another corridor there were four more rooms decorated with tapestries and brocades, two of them also having gilded fireplaces and carved wooden doors, framed by stone portals. In the rooms reserved for the coronation feast there were magnificent sideboards with impressive gold and silver tableware (after "Jan Zambocki: dworzanin i sekretarz JKM" by Kazimierz Hartleb, p. 22). Justus Ludwik Decjusz added about the royal bed that it was "very delicately constructed" and "covered with red gold on top, decorated on all sides with the art of painting" (delicatissime extructum [...] aureisque rossis desuper tectum, pictorum artifìcio undique decoratum).
Historical collections
The preserved inventories of the Lubomirski collection in Wiśnicz and the Radziwill collection of the Birzai branch, which survived the Deluge, confirm the great diversity and high class of the Polish-Lithuanian painting collections. The Venetian school and Cranach's workshop are particularly well represented.
Inventories drawn up in 1671 in Königsberg list the huge fortune inherited by the princess Louise Charlotte Radziwill (1667-1695) from her father Boguslaus Radziwill (1620-1669), whose estates were compared by contemporaries to "Mantua, Modena and other smaller states in Italy". Among over 900 paintings in the inventory, there were portraits, mythological and biblical scenes by Lucas Cranach (24 items) along "The Face of Jesus by Albert Duer", i.e. Albrecht Dürer, and a "painting of Pawel Caliaro", that is Paolo Caliari known as Veronese, about 25 Italian paintings, several portraits of unknown Italian, German, and French ladies and gentlemen, paintings with "naked" and "half-naked" women, Ruthenian and Russian icons, a Greek altar and one "Spanish Fantasy". Portraits of members of the Radziwill family, Polish kings from John I Albert (1459-1501), more than 20 effigies of the Vasas and their families, German emperors, kings of Sweden, France, England and Spain and various foreign personalities, collected over several generations, constituted the dominant part of over 300 pieces in the inventory (after "Galerie obrazów i "Gabinety Sztuki" Radziwiłłów w XVII w." by Teresa Sulerzyska, p. 90). The inventory also lists many paintings that may be by Cranach the Elder and his son or 16th-century Venetian or Netherlandish painters: A lady in a white robe, with jewels, a crown on her head (71), A lady in a lynx coat in black, a dog by her side (72), A lady in a czamara, a diamond crown on her head with pearls, holding gloves (73), A beautiful lady in a pearl dress and a robe embroidered with pearls (80), A woman who stabbed herself with a knife (292), A woman, semi-circular picture at the top (293), A man of this shape, perhaps the husband of this woman (294), Dido who stabbed herself with a knife (417), A large image of Venice (472), Lucretia who stabbed herself, golden frames (690), A naked lady who stabbed herself, golden frames (691), A well-dressed lady with a child, on panel (692), A lady in a red robe who stabbed herself (693), Small picture: a German with a naked woman (embracing, naked boys serve) (737), A person with a long beard, in black, inscription An° 1553 etatis 47 (753), A lady under the tent showed her breast (840), Venus with Cupid bitten by bees (763), two portraits of Barbara Radziwill, Queen of Poland (79 and 115) and a portrait of King Sigismund Augustus of Poland, on panel (595) (after "Inwentarz galerii obrazów Radziwiłłów z XVII w." by Teresa Sulerzyska). The inventory also includes several nude and erotic paintings and this is only a part of splendid collections of the Radziwills that survived the Deluge (1655-1660). Perhaps the paintings owned by a citizen of Kraków Melchior Czyżewski (d. 1542): Tabula Judith et Herodiadis ex utraque parte depicta and by Kraków councilor Jan Pavioli in 1655: "bathing Bathsheba", "Judith", "portrait of Christian, king of Denmark", "the duke of Saxony", had something in common with the Wittenberg workshop. In the collection of King John II Casimir Vasa, Bona Sforza's grandson, sold at an auction in Paris in 1672, there was Cranach's Madonna and Child (Une Vierge avec un petit Christ, peint sur bois. Original de Lucas Cronus), possibly bearing features of his famous grandmother. King Stanislaus Augustus (1732-1798), had 6 paintings by Cranach and his workshop, one of St. Jerome, the other five on mythological subjects: Venus et l'Amour sur bois (no. 941), Pyrame et Thisbe (no. 912), Venus Couchee (no. 913), Venus surprise avec Mars (no. 914), Venus et Mars (no. 915). Before the First World War, in the collection of the splendid Baroque Pidhirtsi Castle near Lviv in Ukraine, which belonged to the Koniecpolski, Sobieski, Rzewuski and Sanguszko families, there were five paintings considered to be originals or copies of Titian's works - The Creation of Eve, Galatea, The Doge of Venice, Venus and Cupid and Venus and Adonis (after "Dzieje rezydencji na dawnych kresach Rzeczypospolitej" by Roman Aftanazy, Volume 7, p. 464, 479). In 1842, in the Tyzenhauz (Tiesenhausen) Palace in Pastavy, Belarus, there were "Adam and Eve under the forbidden tree in paradise, a barbaric hand sawed off the lower half of this painting on wood by Albrecht Dürer", Judith by Andrea del Sarto and "Portrait of a man, half-figure, life-size. Magnificent Spanish costume, ruff, background of red drapery - Tintoretto", as well as two paintings considered to be works by Paolo Veronese - The Illness of Antiochus and The Continence of Scipio (after "Galeria obrazów Postawska" by Aleksander Przezdziecki, p. 196-197, 200, items 4, 5, 6, 9, 32). Before World War II, in the Rzewuski Palace in Pohrebyshche, Ukraine, there was a painting by Titian depicting the "half-reclining woman with a jug of water beside her" and two magnificent paintings by the Spanish painter Bartolomé Esteban Murillo (after "Materiały do dziejów rezydencji ..." by Roman Aftanazy, Volume 1, p. 279). In the Lubomirski Palace in Przeworsk, filled with national memorabilia, there was a painting by Titian depicting the "Madonna" (after "Zbiory polskie ..." by Edward Chwalewik, Volume 2, p. 131). Unfortunately, this palace was plundered during World War II. Many Venetian, Italian and German paintings were exhibited in Warsaw in the Bruhl Palace in 1880, some of these may have originally been in the royal collection: Lucas Cranach - Old man with a young girl (35, Museum), Jacopo Bassano - Vulcan forging the arrows (43, Museum), Moretto da Brescia - Madonna with Saint Roch and Saint Anne (51, Museum), Gentile Bellini - Christ after being taken down from the cross, surrounded by saints (66, Museum), Tintoretto - Baptism of Christ (71, 81, Museum), School of Paolo Veronese - Temptation of Saint Anthony (84, Museum), Jacopo Bassano - Adoration of the Shepherds, property of Countess Kossakowska (4, room D), School of Titian - Baptism of Christ, property of Countess Maria Łubieńska (6, room D), Giovanni Bellini - Madonna, property of Count Stanisław Plater-Zyberk (75, room D), Bernardo Luini - Christ and Saint John, property of Mrs. Chrapowicka (76, room D), Bassano - Bible scene, property of Mrs. Rusiecka (19, room E), Venetian school - Historical Item: Feast of the Kings, property of Jan Sulatycki (2, room F), Lucas Cranach - Reclining Nymph, property of Jan Sulatycki (35, room F) (after "Katalog obrazów starożytnych …" by Józef Unger). Other important paintings by Cranach and his workshop related to Poland and most likely the royal court include Stigmatisation of Saint Francis, created in about 1502-1503, today in the Belvedere in Vienna (inventory number 1273), in Poland, probably already in the 16th century and in the 19th century in the collection of the Szembek family in Zawada near Myślenice, comparable to paintings by Italian masters Gentile da Fabriano (Magnani-Rocca Foundation) or Lorenzo di Credi (Musée Fesch), the Massacre of the Innocents in the National Museum in Warsaw (M.Ob.587), which was in about 1850 in the Regulski collection in Warsaw, portrait of Princess Sibylle of Cleves (1512-1554) as a bride from the Skórzewski collection, signed with artist's insignia and dated "1526" (National Museum in Poznań, lost), portrait of George the Bearded, Duke of Saxony, husband of Barbara Jagiellon (Polish Academy of Learning in Kraków, deposit at Wawel Castle), alleged portrait of Henry IV the Pious, Duke of Saxony (Frąckiewicz collection, lost) and miniature portrait of Katharina von Bora "the Lutheress" (collection of Leandro Marconi in Warsaw, destroyed in 1944) (paritally after "Polskie Cranachiana" by Wanda Drecka). In 1900, Seweryn Tymieniecki (1847-1916) had in his collection in Kalisz a portrait of Elector Frederick III of Saxony (1463-1525) with the imperial crown, painted on panel by a follower of Cranach (Exhibition held at the Kalisz Town Hall in May and June 1900, National Library of Poland, F.84013/IV). Ukrainian magnate Volodyslav Valentyn Fedorovich (1845-1917) owned in his palace in Vikno near Ternopil many paintings by Polish painters of the 18th and 19th centuries, as well as about 300 paintings by good Italian and Flemish schools of the 16th and 17th centuries, while the painting "The Old Man and the Girl" (The Ill-Matched Couple) was considered an original by Cranach the Elder (after "Materiały do dziejów rezydencji ..." by Roman Aftanazy, Volume 8a, p. 145). Christ blessing the children by Lucas Cranach the Elder at Wawel Castle (ZKnW-PZS 1716), was acquired in 1922 by the director of the State Art Collections in Warsaw from Ignacy Dubowski (1874-1953), bishop of Lutsk, who probably acquired it in former territories of Poland-Lithuania or in St. Petersburg. Before 1924, Count Zygmunt Włodzimierz Skórzewski (1894-1974) donated to the Greater Poland Museum (now the National Museum) in Poznań, in addition to the aforementioned portrait of Sibylle of Cleves, also the portrait of Emperor Charles V by Cranach the Elder (inv. Mo 473) and a fragment of a hunting scene, attributed to Cranach the Younger (after "Muzeum Wielkopolskie w Poznaniu" by Marian Gumowski, Feliks Kopera, p. 14-15), which was lost during the Second World War. The Nativity from the workshop of Lucas Cranach the Elder in the National Museum in Poznań (inv. Mo 108) comes from the Zaborowski collection in Mchówek near Konin and Włocławek. The epitaph of Jan Sakran (Sacranus, 1443-1527) from Oświęcim, court theologian and confessor of the Jagiellonian kings: John Albert, Alexander and Sigismund I, is a good example of how quickly Cranach's art reached Poland-Lithuania. The painting, now in the Museum of the Missionary Fathers in Kraków, was probably painted shortly before or after Jan's death, i.e. around 1527 (tempera on panel, 144.5 x 133 cm). Originally it was located in the Holy Trinity Chapel of Wawel Cathedral, founded by Queen Sophia of Halshany (died 1461), Jogaila's fourth wife, and hung above the deceased's unpreserved bronze tombstone. In the first half of the 18th century the epitaph was transferred to the Missionary Monastery in Stradom (after "Wawel 1000-2000: wystawa jubileuszowa" by Magdalena Piwocka, p. 83). The style of the painting indicates the local Kraków workshop, but the painter used the composition of Cranach's painting, dated around 1525 - The Man of Sorrows with the Virgin and Saint John. The painting by the German master is now in the Stadtmuseum Baden-Baden (on permanent loan by Baden-Baden Collegiate Church) and must have been created in several copies, one of which also arrived in Silesia, because it was borrowed by an unknown painter in a scene with a donor, now in the Archdiocesan Museum in Wrocław. The Kraków master was also inspired by Cranach's style and colours, especially in the way he painted the trees in the background, the sky and the landscape, which means that he must have seen Cranach's original painting, but his individual style prevails in the epitaph. If we assume that the approximate dating of the Baden-Baden painting is correct, then Cranach's painting became well known in Kraków within just two years. In 1592, Jan Ponętowski (ca. 1540-1598) bequeathed to the Kraków Academy (Jagiellonian University) a rich and valuable collection of books, prints, paintings, liturgical vestments, tapestries and abbot's insignia. Born in the village of Ponętów near Łęczyca, he received in 1577 from Emperor Rudolf II the dignity of abbot of the Hradisko Monastery near Olomouc. In 1588 or 1589, he returned to Poland and settled permanently in Kraków. The list of items donated to the Kraków Academy, drawn up by Ponętowski himself, dated May 11, 1592, opens with the most valuable works of art, which have not survived, including Flemish tapestries described as tapecie […] virides Flandricae, 14 of them (of different sizes) and 26 Flemish paintings on canvas, as well as 7 less defined paintings on panel. The Flemish paintings and tapestries were probably acquired by Ponętowski while he was abbot in Moravia or after his return to Poland. Since the tapestries were usually decorated with coats of arms, they were probably commissioned by Ponętowski in Flanders. The majority of the books are bound in valuable artistic bindings, most of them dating from the 1580s with supralibros of Ponętowski. Since the University collection contains objects bearing Ponętowski's ownership marks that are not included in the 1592 list, this donation was not the only one (after "The Collection of Jan Ponętowski" by Piotr Hordyński, p. 138-139, 143). His donation also contains two albums of woodcuts by Cranach, which illustrate the priceless contents of two treasures: the collegiate church of All Saints in Wittenberg Castle from 1509 (Dye zaigung des hochlobwirdigen hailigthums der Stifft kirchen aller hailigen zu Wittenburg) and the churches of St. Maurice and Mary Magdalene in Halle from 1520 (Vortzeichnus und Zceigung des hochlobwirdigen heiligthumbs der Stifftkirchen der Heiligen Sanct Moritz und Marien Magdalenen zu Halle, Jagiellonian Library, Cim. 5746-5747). Notable imports from Saxony to Gdańsk, the main port of Sarmatia, before the mid-16th century include the Altar of the Coronation of Mary founded by the Butchers' Guild for the Church of St. Catherine in the Old Town, created around 1515, whose main carved scene is based on a woodcut by Lucas Cranach from 1509, while the painted figures of Saints Christopher, Roch, Peter and Paul on the altar wings, as well as female saints in the lower part are believed to be products of Cranach's workshop. Before World War II, in the Church of Corpus Christi in Gdańsk there were portraits of Luther and Melanchthon from 1534, of which only the portrait of Melanchthon has survived (National Museum, inv. MNG/SD/4/MED). The epitaph of the family of Johann III Connert in the form of a triptych in St. Mary's Church in Gdańsk, painted in 1556, is considered to have technical similarities with the works of Cranach's workshop (after "Commemoration and Family Identity in Sixteenth-Century Gdańsk ..." by Aleksandra Jaśniewicz-Downes, p. 214). Cranach, his collaborators and followers also depicted Sarmatians in their traditional costumes, albeit often in a pejorative manner, as unbelievers in religious scenes, such as the Crucifixion in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna (inv. 6905) in which the costume of one of the horsemen is clearly Sarmatian or generally eastern (compare "Studien zur Frühzeit Lukas Cranachs d.Ä." by Fedja Anzelewsky, p. 125). The costumes of two horsemen in the Crucifixion of 1549 by Antonius Heusler (ca. 1500-1561), a follower of Cranach, now in the Salzburg Museum (inv. 123-29), signed with the monogram AH and dated lower right, are also Sarmatian. A painting by Heusler depicting the Allegory of Salvation with a naked man (Adam) standing before the crucified Christ, probably connected with the spread of Protestantism in Poland-Lithuania-Ruthenia, is in the National Museum in Warsaw (inv. M.Ob.2151). Typically Sarmatian are also the fur hats of the men on the left of the scene of Christ and the Adulteress by Lucas Cranach the Elder and his workshop, painted around 1520, today kept in the Franconian Gallery in Kronach (inv. 692) and in the Cathedral Museum in Fulda. The painting in the Franconian Gallery comes from the collection of Elector Maximilian I of Bavaria (1573-1651), and when Aleksander Lesser (1814-1884), a Polish painter of Jewish origin, saw this painting in the Pinakothek in Munich, most likely during his studies there between 1835 and 1846, he also noticed the eastern character of the man's hat and left a drawing of him, now in the National Museum in Warsaw (inv. DI 31735 MNW). The same can be said of the epitaph of Franz von Nostitz (d. 1576) in the village church of Klix in Wulka Dubrawa (Grossdubrau) in East Saxony, painted by the workshop of Lucas Cranach the Younger in 1576 with portraits of the deceased, his wife and children as donors and several figures in eastern costumes.
Venetian links
The 2020 temporary exhibition at the Royal Castle in Warsaw - "Dolabella. Venetian Painter of the House of Vasa" (September 11 - December 6) was dedicated not only to the life and work of Tommaso Dolabella (1570-1650), but also to the economic and artistic relations between the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Republic of Venice.
This exhibition and its catalogue recall the Polish students at the University of Padua, including Copernicus, Jan Kochanowski and Jan Zamoyski, who created a separate Natio regni Poloniae et magni ducatus Lithuaniae at the end of the 16th century, as well as the supply of grain and the export of Polish cochineal. In 1591, Marco Ottoboni, secretary of the Venetian Senate, stayed in Gdańsk and in the autumn of 1591 concluded a major transaction for the purchase of Polish grain and the organization of a complicated maritime transport to Venice. Although Ottoboni conducted the transaction with the help of Nuremberg bankers, the first phase of the negotiations involved the Montelupi trading house from Kraków, which granted the Venetian Republic a large loan, which was placed at Ottoboni's disposal in Gdańsk. Important imports included books, glassware and luxury goods. The publishing house of the Manutius family, active between 1494 and 1585, maintained intensive contacts with Poland throughout most of the 16th century. Missale secundum ritum insignis ecclesie cathedralis Cracouiensis with coat of arms of Piotr Tomicki (1464-1535), Archbishop of Kraków and Vice-Chancellor of the Crown, Saint Stanislaus and Saint Florian, published by Peter Liechtenstein in Venice in 1532 (National Library of Poland, SD XVI.F.31) and Partitura pro organo by Mikołaj Zieleński, published at the publishing house of Giacomo Vincenti in Venice in 1611 (Czartoryski Library in Kraków, 40102 III/1 Saf.), are the best examples of books published in the Serenissima. Many individual books were purchased in Venice by Polish bibliophiles travelling in Italy, as evidenced by the provenance notes preserved in many copies, which provide information, sometimes very precise, on the date and place of purchase, such as the register of the buyer, probably Paweł Henik, in Italian, from 1614, who purchased in Venice the Etymologicum Magnum, printed there in 1499. Venetian "health passport", issued on September 9, 1578 to "Mr. Nikodem, a Polish nobleman from [...] numbering 2, with goods", found in one of these books, is further confirmation (Jagiellonian Library in Kraków, BJ Cam. M. IX. 46 (a)). Luxurious Venetian bindings also enjoyed considerable popularity in Poland and the binding of a copy of Missale secundum ritum ... with a super ex-libris of Bishop Tomicki (Cathedral Chapter Library in Łowicz), executed by Andrea di Lorenzo, dubbed the "Mendoza Binder", who was active in Venice between 1518 and 1555, is the best example. The 1544 inventory of the Kraków pharmacy at Main Square 8, owned by Franciszek Scheinborn, whose father was referred to by profession as a vitreator (stained glass artisan), mention large quantities of Venetian glass (vitra venetiana) – in this particular case over 250 vessels, probably imported from Venice by the owner of the pharmacy, who may also have been an intermediary in this field. Scheinborn also placed four Venetian majolica bowls (scutellae de terra Veneziana quatuor pictae in fenestra) in the window of his pharmacy – undoubtedly for decoration, but also perhaps for advertising purposes. A few examples of expensive Venetian silk fabrics, such as velvets and brocades used to sew liturgical vestments, have been preserved, among others, in the treasury of the Wawel Cathedral and the National Museum in Gdańsk (objects from the St. Mary's Basilica in Gdańsk). It is possible that the altar with scenes of the Annunciation, the Crucifixion and Noli me tangere and figures of saints, made of bone at the beginning of the 15th century in the Embriachi workshop in Venice (Diocesan Museum in Sandomierz, inv. MDS-3/Dep.), was imported to Poland already in the 15th century. As Venice was at that time an important centre of pictorial production, many paintings were commissioned and acquired there, but unfortunately the sources on this subject are very modest. According to Władysław Tomkiewicz (1899-1982), paintings by Titian, Paris Bordone and Paolo Veronese were undoubtedly in the collection of Sigismund II Augustus, and he cites one specific work, which could have been in the royal collections in the 16th century, the now lost painting "Christ at the Feast of Simon the Pharisee", attributed to the workshop of Veronese, which was in a private collection near Vilnius before the Second World War. The exhibition catalog also refers, although not directly, to an important and largely forgotten phenomenon of cryptoportraiture citing the portrait of the Byzantine cardinal Bessarion (1403-1472), Catholic theologian and humanist, depicted as Saint Augustine in his study by the Venetian painter Vittore Carpaccio in 1502 (Scuola di San Giorgio degli Schiavoni in Venice, compare "Dolabella. Wenecki malarz Wazów. Katalog wystawy", ed. Magdalena Białonowska, p. 28, 29, 42, 44-49, 158, 174). Given that the portrait was made two decades after the cardinal's death and shows him as a relatively young man, it is also a perfect example of creating an effigy from other portraits (paintings, miniatures, drawings, sculptures or reliefs). Among the paintings evacuated to New York around September 1939 and exhibited in 1940 by the European Art Galleries, Inc. "to help to maintain the exhibit of Poland at the World's Fair", the Venetian School of painting is particularly well represented. Most come from the Łańcut collection, as well as Potocki collection in Tulchyn (after "Tajemnicza kolekcja Starych Mistrzów" by Przemysław Jan Bloch, p. 9). Although some of them are now considered incorrectly attributed, they were, by and large, created by painters active mainly in the territories belonging to the Republic of Venice or trained in Venice. The catalog of this exhibition includes paintings by Giovanni Bellini (Madonna and Child with Four Saints and a Donor, item 40), Vincenzo Catena (Madonna and Child, item 35), Paris Bordone (Portrait of a Lady [Laura Effrem], item 20), Lorenzo Lotto, now attributed to Giovanni Cariani (Portrait of a Man [Stanisław Lubomirski (d. 1585)], item 23), Titian (Portrait of Aretino, item 19), Moretto da Brescia (Portrait of a Gentleman [Marco Antonio Savelli], item 24), Tintoretto (A Venetian Doge [Pietro Gradenigo (1251-1311)], item 15), Sebastiano del Piombo (The Mystical Marriage of Saint Catherine, item 44), Jacopo Bassano (The Agony in the Garden, item 39), Paolo Veronese (The betrothal of Mary and Joseph, item 30), Palma il Giovane (The Last Supper, item 26), Tintoretto, now attributed to Palma il Giovane (The Woman Taken in Adultery [Susanna and the Elders], item 13), Domenico Tintoretto (Portrait of a Nobleman [Tomasz Zamoyski (1594-1638)], item 37) and Carlo Ceresa (Portrait of a Lady, item 22, National Library of Poland, DŻS XIXA 3a).
Portraits from abroad and based on other effigies
From the perspective of the Renaissance artist's travels and drawing inspiration from the works of other painters, three watercolors by Albrecht Dürer depicting Livonian women, preserved in the Louvre in Paris (inv. 19 DR/ Recto; 20 DR/ Recto; 21 DR/ Recto), are interesting. In 1521, according to the date on two of them, the painter depicted six wealthy women from the present-day territories of Estonia and Latvia, dressed in their characteristic traditional dresses, lined with precious furs (reichen frawen in Eiffland / Eyflant, according to Dürer's annotations). It is not known exactly how and where the painter met these women, as he probably never visited Livonia. In 1520, he went to Cologne, and then to Antwerp, where he lived on a street frequented by English merchants. As in the case of a similar drawing depicting a group of five Irish soldiers and two barefoot "peasants" (Kupferstichkabinett in Berlin, inv. KdZ 37), he either had occasion to see the women in Antwerp or elsewhere during his journey, or he copied these models from a collection of costumes circulating at the time.
The bill from 1531 confirms that the drawing made by Sigismund I's court painter Hans Dürer in Kraków and sent to Nuremberg was sufficient to create the silver altar in Sigismund's Chapel (Exposita extraordinaria in aedificia Capellae Regiae et castri Cracoviensis 1531: Item dedi pro tele ulnis 21, super qua deliniamentum alias visirungk tabulae Nurembergae argenteae fabricandae depictum est ... Item dedi Johanni Durer pictori Regis a labore et pictura dicti deliniamenti ..., after "Peter Flötner: ein Bahnbrecher der deutschen Renaissance ..." by Konrad Lange, p. 86). In Modena in 1570, Ludovico Monti, agent of Sigismund Augustus, mediated in ordering a medal with a bust of the king from a renowned sculptor, most probably Leone Leoni (d. 1590), "but the poor fellow despairs because he has never seen Your Majesty and cannot find any portrait of Your Majesty in profile as is needed, since mine and Soderini's are frontal representations and were made sixteen years ago, and it will be difficult to be satisfied with these" (ma il poverino si dispera perché non ha mai veduto Vostra Maestà et non trova alcuno ritratto di Vostra Maestà in profilo come bisognaria, che il mio et quello del Soderini sono in faccia et sono fatti già XVI anni sono, et male potrà sodisfare con questi, after "Lodovicus Montius Mutinensis ..." by Rita Mazzei, p. 37), Monti complained to the king. The practice of creating portraits for clients from the territories of present-day Poland from study drawings can be attested from at least the early 16th century. The oldest known is the so-called "Book of effigies" (Visierungsbuch), which was lost during World War II. This was a collection of preparatory drawings depicting the Pomeranian dukes, who were related to the Jagiellons, mainly by Cranach's workshop. Among the oldest were portraits of Boguslaus X (1454-1523), Duke of Pomerania and his daughter-in-law Amalia of the Palatinate (1490-1524) by circle of Albrecht Dürer, created after 1513. All were probably made by members of the workshop sent to Pomerania or less likely by local artists and returned to patrons with ready effigies. On the occasion of the division of Pomerania in 1541 with his uncle Duke Barnim XI (IX), Duke Philip I commissioned a portrait from Lucas Cranach the Younger. This portrait, dated in upper left corner, is now in the National Museum in Szczecin, while the preparatory drawing, previously attributed to Hans Holbein the Younger or Albrecht Dürer, is in the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Reims. A monogramist I.S. from Cranach's workshop used the same set of study drawings to create another similar portrait of the duke, now in the Kunstsammlungen der Veste Coburg. Studies for the portraits of Princess Margaret of Pomerania (1518-1569) and Anne of Brunswick-Lüneburg (1502-1568), wife of Barnim XI (IX), both dating from around 1545, were meticulously described by a member of the workshop sent to Pomerania to create them indicating colors, fabrics, shapes to facilitate work in the artist's studio. Undoubtedly, based on similar drawings, Cranach's workshop created miniatures of the Jagiellons in the Czartoryski Museum. In the 1620s a court painter of Sigismund III Vasa created drawings or miniatures after which Peter Paul Rubens painted the portrait of the king (Heinz Kisters collection in Kreuzlingen), most likely as one of a series. The same court painter painted the full-length portrait of Sigismund at Wilanów Palace. Between 1644-1650 Jonas Suyderhoef, a Dutch engraver, active in Haarlem, created a print with effigy of Ladislaus IV Vasa after a painting by Pieter Claesz. Soutman (P. Soutman Pinxit Effigiavit et excud / I. Suÿderhoef Sculpsit) and around that time Soutman, also active in Haarlem, created a similar drawing with king's effigy (Albertina in Vienna). After the destructive Deluge (1655-1660), the country slowly recovered and the most important foreign orders were mainly silverware, including a large silver Polish eagle, the heraldic base for the royal crown, created by Abraham I Drentwett and Heinrich Mannlich in Augsburg, most likely for the coronation of Michael Korybut Wiśniowiecki in 1669, now in the Moscow Kremlin. Foreign commissions for portraits revived more significantly during the reign of John III Sobieski. French painters such as Pierre Mignard, Henri Gascar and Alexandre-François Desportes (a brief stay in Poland, between 1695 and 1696), active mainly in Paris, are frequently credited as authors of portraits of members of the Sobieski family. Dutch painter Adriaen van der Werff, must have painted the 1696 portrait of Hedwig Elisabeth of Neuburg, wife of James Louis Sobieski, in Rotterdam or Düsseldorf, where he was active. The same Jan Frans van Douven, active in Düsseldorf from 1682, who made several effigies of James Louis and his wife. In the Library of the University of Warsaw preserved a preparatory drawing by Prosper Henricus Lankrink or a member of his workshop from about 1676 for a series of portraits of John III (Coninck in Polen conterfeyt wie hy in woonon ...), described in Dutch with the colors and names of the fabrics (violet, wit satin). Lankrink and his studio probably created them all in Antwerp as his stay in Poland is not confirmed. A few years later, around 1693, Henri Gascar, who after 1680 moved from Paris to Rome, painted a realistic apotheosis of John III Sobieski surrounded by his family, depicting the king, his wife, their daughter and their three sons. A French engraver Benoît Farjat, active in Rome, made a print from this original painting which has probably not survived, dated '1693' (Romae Superiorum licentia anno 1693) lower left and signed in Latin upper right: "H. Gascar painted, Benoît Farjat engraved" (H. GASCAR PINX. / BENEDICTVS FARIAT SCVLP.). Two workshop copies of this painting are known - one in Wawel Castle in Kraków, and the other, most likely from a dowry of Teresa Kunegunda Sobieska, is in the Munich Residence. Such a realistic depiction of the family must have been based on study drawings created in Poland, as Gascar's stay in Poland is not confirmed in the sources. The French painter Nicolas de Largillière, probably worked in Paris on the portrait of Franciszek Zygmunt Gałecki (1645-1711), today in the State Museum in Schwerin. Also one of the most famous portraits in Polish collections - Equestrian portrait of Count Stanisław Kostka Potocki by Jacques Louis David from 1781 was created "remotely". A collection catalogue of the Wilanów Palace, published in 1834 mentioned that the portrait was completed in Paris "after a sketch made from life in the Naples Riding School". One of such modello or ricordo drawings is in the National Library of Poland (R.532/III). It was the same for the statues and reliefs with portraits. Some of the most beautiful examples preserved in Poland were ordered from the best foreign workshops. Among the oldest and most beautiful are the bronze epitaphs made in Nuremberg by the workshop of Hermann Vischer the Younger, Peter Vischer the Elder and Hans Vischer in the late 15th and early 16th centuries, such as the epitaph of Filippo Buonaccorsi, called Callimachus, in Kraków, epitaph of Andrzej Szamotulski (d. 1511), voivode of Poznań, in Szamotuły, tomb of Piotr Kmita of Wiśnicz and of Cardinal Frederick Jagiellon (d. 1503), both at the Wawel Cathedral, and tomb of King Sigismund I's banker, Seweryn Boner and his wife Zofia Bonerowa née Bethman at St. Mary's Basilica in Kraków. Particularly splendid were the unpreserved Flemish funerary monument of Archbishop Janusz Suchywilk (ca. 1310-1382) in Gniezno Cathedral (sub lapide in Flandria per ipsum ad pompam preciose comparato), and that of Archbishop Wojciech Jastrzębiec (ca. 1362-1436) in Beszowa, commissioned in Bruges for the sum of 400 grivnas "in Prussian coin" (lapis iam paratus in Brugis). This was a very high sum, as the tombstone of Archbishop Jan Sprowski (ca. 1411-1464), made in Wrocław by the famous sculptor Jodok Tauchen, although partly cast with a silver mixture, was four times less expensive. For its production, transportation from Wrocław and installation in Gniezno Tauchen was to receive 172 florins (after "Polskie nagrobki gotyckie" by Przemysław Mrozowski, p. 59). Around 1687, "Victorious King" John III Sobieski ordered large quantities of sculptures in Antwerp from the workshop of Artus Quellinus II, his son Thomas II and Lodewijk Willemsens and in Amsterdam from the workshop of Bartholomeus Eggers for the decoration of the Wilanów Palace in Warsaw, including busts of the royal couple, today in Saint Petersburg. All of these statues and reliefs were based on drawings or portraits, possibly similar to the triple portrait of Cardinal Richelieu, made as a study for a bust to be made by the Italian sculptor Gian Lorenzo Bernini in Rome. For the equestrian statue of Prince Józef Poniatowski (1763-1813), made between 1826 and 1832 and inspired by the statue of Marcus Aurelius in Rome, the Danish-Icelandic sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsen (1770-1844), although he arrived from Rome to Warsaw in 1820, had to use other effigies of the prince. The initiator of the construction of the monument was Anna Potocka née Tyszkiewicz (1779-1867). The monument was confiscated by the Russian authorities after the November Uprising (1830-1831) and was returned to Warsaw in March 1922. After the suppression of the Warsaw Uprising, the Nazi German invaders ordered the statue to be blown up on December 16, 1944. A new cast of the sculpture, made in the years 1948-1951, was donated to Warsaw by the Kingdom of Denmark. Some sources also confirm this practice. During his second stay in Rome, Stanisław Reszka (1544-1600), who admired the paintings by Federico Barocci in Senigallia or the work of Giulio Romano in Mantua, again buys paintings, silver and gold plates. He sends many works of this kind as gifts to Poland. To Bernard Gołyński (1546-1599) he sends paintings, including a portrait of the king and his own effigy and for King Stephen Bathory a portrait of his nephew. These portraits of the monarch and his nephew were therefore made in Rome or Venice from study drawings or miniatures that Reszka brought. On another occasion, he sends eight porcelain "vessels" in a decorative casket to the king, purchased in Rome and to Wojciech Baranowski (1548-1615), Bishop of Przemyśl, a relief of St. Albert, carved in ebony. Through Cardinal Ippolito Aldobrandini (later Pope Clement VIII), papal nuncio in Poland between 1588-1589, he sends paintings purchased for the king, one of the Savior, embroidered "of the most excellent work" and St. Augustine, made of bird feathers, "the most beautiful" (pulcherrimum), as he says. To the royal secretary Rogulski, who came to Rome, he gives a silver inkwell, and the chamberlain of the chancellor Jan Zamoyski entrusts him with a precious stone to be repaired in Italy, but before that, Reszka consulted the Kraków goldsmiths. All of these objects, including the paintings, must have been the work of the best Italian artists, but names rarely appear in the sources. In 1584, King Stephen's nephew, Andrew Bathory, with his companions, purchased and commissioned many exquisite items from Venice, including gold cloth with coats of arms, gold-embossed Cordovan (cuir de Cordoue) leather wallpapers, made by the goldsmith Bartolomeo del Calice. Another time he bought "12 bowls, 16 silver orbs" (12 scudellas, orbes 16 argenteos) from Mazziola and supervised the artist working on the execution of "glass vessels" (vasorum vitreorum). In Rome, they visit a certain Giacomo the Spaniard to see the "marvels of art" (mirabilia artis), where Bathory probably bought the trinkets and fine paintings, later shown to the delegates of the Jędrzejów Abbey. Visitors from Poland-Lithuania gave and received many valuable gifts. In 1587, the Venetian Senate, through two important citizens, offered Cardinal Andrew Bathory, who came as an envoy of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth with the announcement of the election of Sigismund III, two silver basins and jugs, four trays and six candelabra "of beautiful work" (pulchri operis). The Pope gives two medals with his image to Rogulski, and a gold chain to Cardinal Aldobrandini. After returning to Poland, Cardinal Bathory gives Queen Anna Jagiellon a coral cross, received from Cardinal Borromeo, and a box of nacre (ex madre perla), receiving a beautiful, expensive ring in return. Many artists were also engaged in Italy for the Commonwealth. King Stephen entrusts his nephew with the mission of bringing to the royal court architects who master the art of building fortresses and castles. Urged by the king, Reszka makes efforts through Count Taso, however, only a few months after his arrival he manages to get into the royal service Leopard Rapini, a Roman architect for an annual salary of 600 florins. On his way back to Poland, Simone Genga, architect and military engineer from Urbino, was admitted as a courtier in the presence of the Archbishop of Senigallia. We learn from Giorgio Vasari that Wawrzyniec Spytek Jordan (1518-1568), an art lover who frequented the thermal baths near Verona, was offered a small painting depicting the Deposition from the Cross, painted by Giovanni Francesco Caroto. Stanisław Tomkowicz (1850-1933) speculated that the Lamentation of Christ, inspired by Michelangelo's "Florentine Pieta" in the Biecz Collegiate Church, could be this painting. However, it is very likely that it was brought to Poland by a member of the Sułkowski family and its attribution to Caroto is rejected. Wawrzyniec, "a man of great authority with the King of Poland", according to Vasari, also brought to Poland-Lithuania the Italian sculptor Bartolomeo Ridolfi and his son Ottaviano, where they created numerous works in stucco, large figures and medallions and prepared designs for palaces and other buildings. Ridolfi was employed by King Sigismund Augustus "with honorable salaries" (Spitech Giordan grandissimo Signore in Polonia appresso al Re, condotto con onorati stipendi al detto Re di Polonia), but all his works were most likely destroyed during the Deluge. Bartolomeo Orfalla, a townsman from Verona, carried out exploratory drilling in the Spytek's estates to find salt similar to that mined in Bochnia and Wieliczka and Wawrzyniec's magnificent tombstone in the Church of St. Catherine and St. Margaret in Kraków was sculpted by Santi Gucci in 1603. The funerary monuments preserved in churches that survived wars and accidental fires testify to the excellent artistic taste and wealth of the 16th century Sarmatians. They are also another example of effigies based on other liknesses, since most of them were executed after the death of the persons depicted in the statues. The best example is probably one of the oldest Renaissance funerary monuments in Poland - the so-called monument of the Three Johns in Tarnów Cathedral. This masterpiece of sepulchral statuary is attributed to the workshop of Bartolomeo Berrecci (ca. 1480-1537), an Italian architect and sculptor from Tuscany, who was active in Poland and died in Kraków. It was probably made around 1536, so several years after the death of the persons to whom it was dedicated. The monument was founded by Jan Amor Tarnowski (Joannes Tarnovius, 1488-1561) to commemorate his closest relatives, i.e. his father - Jan Amor Iunior (d. 1500), voivode and later castellan of Kraków, his half-brother - Jan (d. 1514/15), voivode of Sandomierz, and the founder's son, Jan Aleksander (d. 1515), who died in infancy. The sculptor had to receive the effigies of the deceased, painted or sculpted, to create the statues. To meet the high demand for such sculptures, like painters, sculptors and their workshops produced semi-finished products in the "shape" of figures, ready to be refined and given individual characteristics. A document dated January 15, 1545 mentions that a wax model of an "armed man" (sculpturam ceream effigiem viri armati habentem), on the basis of which stone funerary figures were probably sculpted, was destroyed in the workshop of Padovano (Giovanni Maria Mosca) in Kraków. The sculptor also later used wax models as mentioned in another document dated March 22, 1546 (statuas cereas alias ffizirinki). The wax models made it easier to make workshop replicas. In 1562, another Italian sculptor, Girolamo Canavesi, active in Kraków, appeared before the court sued by Katarzyna Orlikowa. He was accused of not having honored the contract, because the funerary statue of Stanisław Orlik in armor that he had made did not correspond to the agreements concluded with the deceased's wife (after "Nagrobek „trzech Janów” Tarnowskich ..." by Rafał Nawrocki, p. 496). The trial ended only in 1574, when the family accepted Canavesi's already satisfactory work. When the statue did not resemble the person who commissioned it or a deceased person, the sculptor often had to make a new one, which was connected with the need to use a new material, such as expensive imported marble or alabaster. In the case of paintings, they could be easily repainted by the author in place or by another painter in the case of imported images. To attract clients and secure important commissions, painters from the major centers of European painting also traveled abroad. Coronations and royal weddings were events that generated a demand for new effigies: portraits commemorating the event, as well as those presented to dignitaries at home and sent abroad to friendly or allied courts. Based on the similarity with the print reproducing the portrait of the last elected monarch of the Commonwealth Stanislaus Augustus Poniatowski (1732-1798) and other works, the portrait of the king in a beautiful frame with his coat of arms in the Czartoryski Museum in Kraków (inv. MNK XII-363), is attributed to the Bolognese painter Ubaldo Buonvicini (1732-1799), or Bonvicini, perhaps a relative of Alessandro Bonvicino, known as Moretto da Brescia (d. 1554). The mentioned print by Johann Esaias Nilson (1721-1788) was made in Augsburg after a painting by Buonvicini, who made it in Warsaw (Bonvicini Warsov: pinx:), most likely on the occasion of the king's coronation in 1764. Buonvicini's stay in Warsaw was probably very short, as his presence in Bologna is confirmed in 1765 and 1766.
Oblivion
The Italians had many effigies of Polish-Lithuanian monarchs, many of which were forgotten when the Commonwealth ceased to be a leading European power after the Deluge (1655-1660). According to Maciej Rywocki's peregrination books from 1584-1587, written by the mentor and steward of the Kryski brothers from Masovia, during their three-year journey to Italy for study and education, in the Villa Medici in Rome, owned by Cardinal Ferdinando, later Grand Duke of Tuscany, in the gallery of portrait paintings, he saw "with all Polish kings and King Stephen and the queen [Anna Jagiellon] very resembling". This effigy of the elected queen of the Commonwealth, possibly by a Venetian painter, undoubtedly resembled the portraits of her dear friend Bianca Cappello, a noble Venetian lady and Grand Duchess of Tuscany. According to Stanisław Reszka, who was Ferdinando's guest in Florence in 1588, the Grand Duke owned a ritrat (portrait, from the Italian ritratto) of King Sigismund III Vasa and his father John III of Sweden. Reszka sent him a map of the Commonwealth made on satin on which there was also a portrait of Sigismund III (Posłałem też księciu Jegomości aquilam na hatłasie pięknie drukowaną Regnorum Polonorum, który był barzo wdzięczen. Tam też jest wyrażona twarz Króla Jmci, acz też ma ritrat i Króla Jmci szwedzkiego, a także i Pana naszego) (after "Włoskie przygody Polaków ..." by Alojzy Sajkowski, p. 104). A few decades earlier, Jan Ocieski (1501-1563), secretary of King Sigismund I, wrote in his travel diary to Rome (1540-1541) the information about a portrait of King Sigismund, which was in the possession of the cardinal S. Quatuor with an extremely flattering note: "this is a king like never before" (hic est rex, cui similis non est inventus), and "who is the wisest king, and the most experienced in dealing with things" (qui est prudentissimus rex et usu tractandarum rerum probatissimus), according to this cardinal (after "Polskie dzienniki podróży ..." by Kazimierz Hartleb, pp. 52, 55-57, 67-68).
The inventory of the Gonzaga collections of 1540-1542 mentions two clay figures, perhaps busts, of Sigismund I, "King of Sarmatia", and one of his wife Bona Sforza (items 6638-6640, una figura de Sigismondo re de Salmatia de terra cotta, in una scatola tornita; una figura de Sigismondo re di Pollonia, de terra, in una scatola tornita; una figura de Bona Sforcia regina de Pollonia, de terra, in una scatola, after "Le collezioni Gonzaga ..." by Daniela Ferrari, p. 313). It is also possible that these were busts of Sigismund I and his son Sigismund Augustus, who became king during his father's lifetime. Bernardo Soderini (Italus Florentinus), who was a merchant in Kraków between 1552 and 1583, had in his villa in Montughi near Florence "three paintings of kings and queens of Poland" (tre quadri di re et regine di Pollonia, after "Lodovicus Montius Mutinensis ..." by Rita Mazzei, p. 37-38). Soderini made a great fortune in Poland and returned to Florence, where, besides a residence in Montughi, he owned a palace in Florence, the furnishing of which cost him 60,000 scudi, and his villa Castiglioncello had a circumference of about 27 miles. The inventory of the Ducal Garden Palace (Palazzo Ducale del Giardino) in Parma dating from around 1680 lists a "Portrait of Stephen the First [Stephen Bathory], King of Poland" in the dressing room next to the second bedroom (Un quadro alto br. 1. on. 8., largo br. 1. on. 2. e 1/2. Ritratto di Stefano Primo Re di Polonia, di ...) and the 1662 catalogue of paintings belonging to Cristoforo and Francesco Muselli of Verona mentions the portrait of the court jeweller of King Sigismund II Augustus - Giovanni Jacopo Caraglio (d. 1565) with a white eagle, now in Wawel Castle (inv. ZKnW-PZS 5882), without mentioning his name. Interestingly, this painting is now attributed to Paris Bordone, while in the Muselli collection it was considered "one of the most refined and beautiful by Titian" (de' più fiuiti e belli di Titiano, after "Raccolta di cataloghi ed inventarii inediti di quadri, statue, disegni ...", ed. Giuseppe Campori, p. 190, 297). The situation was similar in other European countries. After the death of Ladislaus IV Vasa in 1648, Francesco Magni (1598-1652), lord of Strážnice in Moravia, ordered the portrait of the Polish-Lithuanian monarch to be moved from the representative piano nobile, a gallery with portraits of the Habsburgs, his ancestors, relatives, and benefactors, to his private room on the second floor of the castle (after "Portrait of Władysław IV from the Oval Gallery ..." by Monika Kuhnke, Jacek Żukowski, p. 75). The original portraits of King Ladislaus IV and Queen Marie Casimire, after which copies were made in the 18th century for the Ancestral Gallery (Ahnengalerie) of the Munich Residence, were considered to represent Charles X Gustavus of Sweden (CAROLUS X GUSTAVUS) and his granddaughter Ulrika Eleonora (1688-1741), Queen of Sweden (UDALRICA ELEONORA). The massive destruction of the Commonwealth's heritage and post-war chaos also contributed to such mistakes in Poland. Thus, in the gallery of 22 portraits of the kings of Poland, painted between 1768 and 1771 by Marcello Bacciarelli to embellish the so-called Marble Room of the Royal Castle in Warsaw, King Sigismund II Augustus is Jogaila (VLADISLAUS JAGIELLO, inventory number ZKW/2713/ab) and son of Anna Jagellonica (1503-1547), Archduke Charles II of Austria (1540-1590) was presented as Sigismund II Augustus (SIGISMUNDUS AUGUSTUS, ZKW/2719/ab), according to the descriptions under the images. These portraits are copies of paintings by Peter Danckerts de Rij dating from around 1643 (Nieborów Palace, NB 472 MNW, NB 473 MNW, deposited at the Royal Castle in Warsaw), based on lost originals. During the Deluge (1655-1660), when the situation was desperate and many people expected the barbarian invaders to totally destroy the Realm of Venus - they plundered and burned the majority of the Commonwealth's cities and fortresses and planned the first partition of the country (Treaty of Radnot), King John Casimir Vasa, a descendant of the Jagiellons, turned to a woman - the Virgin Mary for protection. At the initiative of his wife Queen Marie Louise Gonzaga in the fortified city of Lviv in Ruthenia on April 1, 1656, he proclaimed the Virgin his Patroness and Queen of his countries (Ciebie za Patronkę moją i za Królowę państw moich dzisiaj obieram). Soon, when the invaders were repelled, the medieval Byzantine icon of the Black Madonna (Hodegetria) of Częstochowa with scars on her face, revered by both Catholics and Eastern Orthodox Christians, and already surrounded by a cult, became the holiest of all Poland. The fortified sanctuary of the Black Madonna at Bright Mountain (Jasna Góra) was defended from pillage and destruction by the armies of the "Brigand of Europe" in late 1655, a Ruthenian-style riza (robe) was made for the Virgin and adorned with the most beautiful examples of Baroque and Renaissance jewelry offered by pilgrims, a perfect illustration of the country's culture and its diversity. The main statue of the beautiful residence of the "Victorious King" John III Sobieski, who saved Vienna from plunder and destruction in 1683 - Wilanów Palace, except for the planned equestrian monument of the king, was not the statue of Mars, god of war, nor of Apollo, god of the arts, nor even of Jupiter, king of the gods, but of Minerva - Pallas, goddess of wisdom. It was most likely created by the workshop of Artus Quellinus II in Antwerp or by Bartholomeus Eggers in Amsterdam and placed in the upper pavilion crowning the entire structure. Unfortunately, this large marble statue, as well as many others, including busts of the king and queen, were looted by the Russian army in 1707. In "The Register of Carrara marble statues and other objects taken from Willanów in August 1707" (Connotacya Statui Marmuru Karrarskiego y innych rzeczy w Willanowie pobranych An. August 1707), it was described as a "Satue of Pallas [...] in the window of the room above the entrance to the palace, resting her right hand on a gilded marble shield with the inscription Vigilando Quiesco [In watching I rest]" (Statua Pallas [...] w oknie salnym nad weysciem do Pałacu podpierayacey ręką prawą o tarczę z Marmuru wyrobioną pozłocistą, na ktorey Napis Vigilando Quiesco). Later, it most likely decorated the Kamenny Theater in Saint Petersburg (demolished after 1886), which Johann Gottlieb Georgi described in his "Description of the Russian Imperial Capital ...", published in 1794: "Above the main entrance is the image of a seated Minerva made of Carrara marble, with her symbols, and on the shield: Vigilando quiesco". The fact that nothing (or almost) preserved does not mean that nothing existed, so perhaps even the stay of some or several great European artists in Poland-Lithuania is still to be discovered. 
Portrait of Royal jeweller Giovanni Jacopo Caraglio aged 47 receiving a medallion from the Polish Royal Eagle with monogram of King Sigismund Augustus (SA) on his chest by Paris Bordone, 1547-1553, Wawel Royal Castle.
Portraits of Isabella Jagiellon and John Sigismund Zapolya by Jacopino del Conte and Tintoretto
Just few months after her arrival to Hungary, on July 7, 1540 in Buda Isabella Jagiellon gave birth to her only son John Sigismund Zapolya. 15 days after his birth, his father died suddenly on July 22, 1540 and the infant John Sigismund was elected king by a Hungarian noble assembly in Buda and Isabella as his regent. The bishop of Oradea, George Martinuzzi (Frater Georgius), took over the guardianship. John Sigismund claim to the throne was challenged by Ferdinand I of Austria. Under the pretext of wanting to protect John's interests, Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent had his troops invade central Hungary in 1541 and occupy Buda.
After the Hungarian royal court had to leave Buda, Queen Isabella settled in Lipova and then from the spring of 1542 to the summer of 1551 in the former episcopal palace in Alba Iulia in Transylvania. Isabella was young, noted for her beauty, and scolded for her expensive tastes. She began reconstruction of the former bishop's palace in Alba Iulia in the Renaissance style. This decade was a period of unceasing hostilities and fierce disputes with Martinuzzi. Isabella kept a regular correspondence with her Italian relatives including her third cousin, Ercole II d'Este, Duke of Ferrara and her close advisor was Giovanni Battista Castaldo, an Italian mercenary leader (condottiere), First Marquis of Cassano, Imperial general and commander in the service of Emperor Charles V and his younger brother, Archduke Ferdinand I. Castaldo was a patron of arts and his preserved effigies were created by the best artists connected with the Spanish court - Titian (portrait in private collection), Antonis Mor (portrait in the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum) and Leone Leoni (bust in the Church of San Bartolomeo in Nocera Inferiore and a medal in the Wallace Collection). A portrait of Castaldo, made after Titian's original between 1545 and 1560, is in the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister in Kassel (oil on panel, 45.6 x 35.1 cm, inv. SM 1.1.939), where several portraits of the Jagiellons, identified by me, are located. Like the portraits of the Jagiellons, the painting comes from the old landgravial collections. This portrait of Castaldo is close to the style of the Flemish painter Gillis Claeissens (1526-1605) and the inscription in the upper right corner confirms the identity of the model (le seigneür • Joan • Bapt). Among the closest stylistically, we can mention two portraits of nobles in armor, one from the collection of Mentmore Towers (The Weiss Gallery in 2018), the other sold to the Groeningemuseum in Bruges in 2021. In July 1551, facing superior forces, Isabella surrendered and she agreed to give up Transylvania in exchange for Silesian duchies (Opole, Racibórz, Ziębice, Ząbkowice Śląskie) and other territories offered by Ferdinand. The Silesian duchies turned out to be ruined after the earlier rule of the Hohenzollerns, to whom Ferdinand handed them over for 20 years in exchange for a loan. There was not even a residence that could accommodate Isabella's court. She departed towards Poland where she lived with her family for the next five years. To provide her with income, her brother granted her Krzepice and Sanok, while her mother gave her Wieluń. She returned to Transylvania in 1556 with her son. Isabella surrounded herself with foreigners - primarily Italians and Poles. Her secretary was Paolo Savorgnano of Cividale del Friuli and personal physician Giorgio Biandrata, who specialized in gynecology. In 1539 Biandrata published a medical treatise on gynecology entitled Gynaeceorum ex Aristotele et Bonaciolo a Georgio Blandrata medico Subalpino noviter excerpta de fecundatione, gravitate, partu et puerperio, a compilation taken from the writings of Aristotle and from Enneas muliebris by Ludovico Bonaccioli, dedicated to Queen Bona Sforza and her daughter, Isabella Jagiellon. In 1563 John Sigismund Zapolya made him his personal physician and councilor. Biandrata was a Unitarian and one of the co-founders of the Unitarian Churches in Poland and Transylvania. Besides Castaldo and Biandrata, several other Italians played a role in strengthening the cultural and economic ties between the peninsula and Transylvania. Among them was Captain Giovanni Andrea Gromo (1518 - after 1570) from Bergamo, who arrived on May 1, 1564 and resided there until April 6, 1565. The Jesuit Massimo Milanesi (1529-1588), secretary to Bishop Piotr Myszkowski (ca. 1505-1591), was among Biandrata's collaborators in the 1580s. He was sent to Transylvania from Poland in 1582, to build Jesuit colleges there. Marcello Squarcialupi (ca. 1538-1599), originally from Piombino, an Italian physician, astronomer and Protestant, settled in 1578 in Wrocław in Silesia and then in Transylvania, becoming Stephen Bathory's physician between 1571-1586 (compare "I rapporti tra il Granducato di Toscana e il Principato di Transilvania ..." by Gianluca Masi, p. 28-31, 33-34). In 1549, Antonio da Venezia transported various goods from Braşov in Transylvania to Wallachia for a sum of 240 florins and in 1563 John Sigismund Zapolya granted safe conduct to Pietro Francesco Perusini from Milan. Many Italian architects were active at that time in Transylvania. The sources mention Martino di Spazio, active in Timişoara in 1552 and Alessandro da Urbino, called to Transylvania in 1552, Andrea di Trevisano in 1554, Francesco da Pozzo from Milan, also in 1554, Antonio da Spazio and Alessandro Cavallini, Cesare Baldigara in Satu Mare in 1559, Filippo Pigafetta, Domenico da Bologna in Gherla, Antonio di Bufalo and Paolo da Mirandola in Alba Iulia in 1561 (after "Italici in Transilvania tra XIV e XVI secolo" by Andrea Fara, p. 347-350). The lack of painters indicates that the majority of the paintings were imported, since the hypothesis that the Italians present in Transylvania forgot this important part of the activity of their compatriots would be unfounded. According to "The Art of Love: an Imitation of Ovid, De Arte Amandi" by William King, published in London in 1709 (page XXI), "Isabella Queen of Hungary, about the year 1540, shewed to Petrus Angelus Barcæus [Pier Angelio Bargeo], when he was at Belgrade, a silver pen with this inscription, Ovidii Nasonis Calamus; denoting that it had belonged to Ovid. This had not long before been found amongst some old ruins, and the esteemed it as a venerable piece of antiquity" (also in: "The Original Works of William King", published in 1776, p. 114). This fragment give some impression of the quality of patronage and collection of Isabella. Portrait of Matthias Corvinus, King of Hungary, Croatia and Bohemia in the Museum of Fine Arts in Budapest was painted in the style of Andrea Mantegna, an Italian painter and a student of Roman archeology born in Isola di Carturo in the Venetian Republic, who probably never visited Hungary. A portrait of Matthias' son, John Corvinus, in the Alte Pinakothek in Munich is attributed to Baldassare Estense, a painter who worked at the court of the Dukes of Este in Ferrara from 1471 to 1504 and who probably also never visited Hungary. Similar is the case of medal with bust of Queen Beatrice d'Aragona of Naples, Matthias's third wife in the National Gallery of Art in Washington, created in the style of Giovanni Cristoforo Romano, a sculptor born in Rome who later worked as medallist for the courts of Ferrara and Mantua. After Isabella's death on September 15, 1559 John Sigismund took control of the country. He spoke and wrote in eight languages: Hungarian, Polish, Italian, Latin, Greek, Romanian, German and Turkish. He was a passionate lover of books, as well as music and dance and could play a number of musical instruments. Despite his slim build he adored hunting and made use of the spear on such occasions. He converted from Catholicism to Lutheranism in 1562 and from Lutheranism to Calvinism in 1564. Around five years later, he became the only Unitarian monarch in history and in 1568 he proclaimed freedom of religion in Turda. In the Treaty of Speyer of 1570 between John Sigismund and the Emperor, Transylvania was recognized as an independent Principality under vassalage to the Ottomans and John Sigismund renounced his royal title. After John Sigismund's death on March 14, 1571, his uncle Sigismund II Augustus, King of Poland, and his aunts inherited a portion of his treasures. Papal nuncio Vincenzo dal Portico reported from Warsaw to Rome on August 15, 1571 about the enormous value of the inheritance valued by some at 500,000 thalers, which the king denied, claiming that it was worth only 80,000 thalers. Polish legation returning from Alba Iulia at the beginning of August 1571 brought only some of the valuables to Warsaw, including a great number of gold and silver objects and jewellery, including "1 crown with which the queen was crowned; 1 golden scepter; 1 golden apple" (1 corona, qua regina coronata est; 1 sceptrum aureum; 1 pomum aureum), "4 large, ancient and old-fashioned vases" (4 magnae, antiquae et vetustae amphorae), but also some paintings like "the golden altar, in which is the image of the Blessed Mary, valued at one hundred and forty-eight Hungarian florins" (altare aureum, in quo effigies Beatae Mariae, aestimatum centum quadraginta octo item Ungaricorum) or "portrait of Gastaldi - 4 fl. in the currency" (item Gastaldi effigies - 4 fl. in moneta), perhaps the effigy of Giacomo Gastaldi (ca. 1500-1566), an Italian astronomer and cartographer, who created maps of Poland and Hungary or Giovanni Battista Castaldo. "The image of Castaldi in gilt silver frame" (Imago Castaldi ex argento inaurato fuso), possibly even the same effigy by Titian sold by the Dickinson Gallery, was included in the list of items inherited by the king and his sisters. Among the inheritance, there was also an effigy of Queen Bona, mentioned in the letter of Queen of Sweden Catherine Jagiellon to her sister Sophia, dated August 22, 1572 in Stegeborg. "The remains of the legacy of the infanta, which will soon be here, is worth 70 to 80 thousand thalers" (vi resta il legato, della infanta, che sara presto qua che e di valore di 70 in 80 millia tallari) added dal Portico in his message about the inheritance of Intanta Anna Jagiellon (after Katarzyna Gołąbek, "Spadek po Janie Zygmuncie Zápolyi w skarbcu Zygmunta Augusta"). The painting of Madonna and Child with Saint John and angels in the National Museum in Warsaw, attributed to Jacopino del Conte, was purchased in 1939 from F. Godebski (oil on panel, 145 x 101 cm, inv. M.Ob.639 MNW). The effigy of the Virgin is identical with portrait of Isabella Jagiellon in the Samek Art Museum. The painting was therefore commissioned shortly after the birth of Isabella's son in 1540. Both paintings were painted on wood panel and are stylistically very close to Florentine Mannerist painters Pontormo, Bronzino or Francesco Salviati. In 1909 in the Przeworsk collection of Prince Andrzej Lubomirski, who also owned Marco Basaiti's Portrait of Nicolaus Copernicus, there was a painting (oil on wood, 53.5 x 39 cm) attributed to 16th century Florentine school, "maybe Jacopo Carrucci called Jacopo da Pontormo (1494-1557)", depicting Madonna and Child (after "Katalog wystawy obrazów malarzy dawnych i współczesnych urządzonej staraniem Andrzejowej Księżny Lubomirskiej" by Mieczysław Treter, item 34, p. 11). Among the few depictions of the Queen of Hungary and Croatia known before this article, the most interesting are probably those included in the Süleymanname ("Book of Suleiman"), an illustration of the life and achievements of Sultan Suleiman I the Magnificent (1494-1566), now preserved in the Topkapi Palace in Istanbul and probably made around 1555. One of the miniatures decorated with gold depicts Isabella with her son John Sigismund before the Sultan in Buda on August 29, 1541. In the miniature, the members of the young John Sigismund's entourage are identical in number to that of Isabella's advisors, also mentioned by name in other historical sources. The miniature is unique in Ottoman art, as there is no other example of a female sovereign in conversation with the Sultan. Some interpreters consider the possibility that such an honour for Isabella was intended as a tribute to Suleiman's wife, Roxelana, claimed to be "a sister of King Sigismund". Another exceptional element of this representation is that the queen and her son are depicted in the usual manner of the Virgin Mary and the infant Jesus (after "A magyar történelem oszmán-török ábrázolásokban" by Géza Fehér, p. 86). In the National Gallery in London there is a portrait of approximately ten years old boy (oil on panel, 129 x 61 cm, NG649), also attributed to Jacopino del Conte, in a rich princely costume similar to that visible in a portrait of 19 years old Archduke Ferdinand (1529-1595), governor of Bohemia, son of Anna Jagellonica and Ferdinand I, in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, painted by Jakob Seisenegger in 1548. It was also painted on wooden panel. According to Gallery's description, "although full-length portraits were common in Venice and its states, where pictures were normally painted on canvas, they were rare in Florence where painting on wooden panels persisted longer", it is therefore possible that it was created by a Florentine painter active or trained in Venice, like Salviati who created a portrait of Isabella's brother king Sigismund II Augustus (Mint Museum of Art in Charlotte). The portrait of a boy in London was initially attributed to Pontormo, Bronzino or Salviati and was purchased in Paris in 1860 from Edmond Beaucousin. It was formerly in the collection of the Duke of Brunswick, while in 1556 when Isabella returned with her son to Transylvania, her mother Bona departed through Venice to Bari in southern Italy, Isabella's younger sister Sophia Jagiellon, married Duke Henry V and departed to Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, taking a large dowry and undoubtedly portraits of the members of the royal family. A copy of this painting, very Venetian in style, probably dating from the 19th century is in a private collection in the United States (oil on canvas, 134.6 x 59.7 cm, Thomaston Place Auction Galleries in Thomaston, Maine, August 24, 2024, lot 2330). The same boy, albeit a little older, was also depicted in a painting which was before 1917 in Wojciech Kolasiński's collection in Warsaw, included in the catalogue of his collection sold in Berlin (oil on canvas (?), 76 x 55 cm, "Sammlung des verstorbenen herrn A. von Kolasinski - Warschau", Volume 2, item 102). It was painted against a green background and attributed to Jacopo Pontormo. The boy has an order on his chest, similar to the cross of the Knights Hospitaller (Knights of Malta), enemies of the Ottomans, like the cross visible on the coat of the 12-year-old Ranuccio Farnese (1530-1565), who was created prior titular of the Venice Priory of the Order in 1540, in his portrait by Titian, or to the cross of the Order of the Golden Spur, which was frequently awarded by Hungarian monarchs, like in 1522, when István Bárdi was made a knight of the golden spur by king Louis II in presence of several high ranked noble gentlemen. The style is also close to that of Jacopino del Conte, as in the Portrait of a man, three-quarter length, before a green curtain from the Palazzo Capponi in Florence (Dorotheum in Vienna, June 9, 2020, lot 21), although blurred brushstrokes visible in an old photo may suggest that it was a copy by the Venetian painter. The same boy can be identified in another painting by del Conte, which is probably in a private collection (canvas, 18 x 13.5 cm). This small painting was attributed to Jacopino by Federico Zeri (1921-1998) in April 1980 (Fototeca Zeri, Numero scheda 15689). He was finally depicted as a grown-up man in a painting by Jacopo Tintoretto, which was later in the collection of the Spanish Ambassador in Rome and later Viceroy of Naples, Don Gaspar Méndez de Haro, 7th Marquis of Carpio, as his initials D.G.H. are inscribed on the reverse of the canvas with a ducal crown (oil on canvas, 108 x 77 cm, Sotheby's London, July 6, 2011, lot 58). The painting was later in the collection of Prince Brancaccio in Rome and was sold at an auction in London in 2011. According to Catalogue Note (Sotheby's): "The unusual hat with its ornate brooch was not commonly seen on Venetian sitters of this period and has led some to suggest that the sitter was a visitor to Venice rather than a native of the city". If John Sigismund's uncle Sigismund Augustus, commissioned his effigies in Tintoretto's workshop in Venice, the same could John Sigismund. Another contender for the Hungarian crown, Ferdinand of Austria, also commissioned his effigies abroad, like a portrait by Lucas Cranach the Elder in Güstrow Palace, dated '1548' or a portrait by Titian from Spanish royal collection, created in mid-16th century, both most probably basing on some preparatory, study drawings and not seeing the model. In all three portraits the boy/man bears great resemblance to effigies of John Sigismund's paternal aunt, Barbara Zapolya, Queen of Poland, and his mother by Cranach and his workshop. 
Portrait of Isabella Jagiellon (1519-1559), Queen of Hungary as Madonna and Child with Saint John and angels by Jacopino del Conte, ca. 1540, National Museum in Warsaw.
Portrait of Giovanni Battista Castaldo (1493-1563) by Gillis Claeissens after Titian, ca. 1545-1560, Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister in Kassel.
Portrait of John Sigismund Zapolya (1540-1571), King of Hungary as a child by Jacopino del Conte, ca. 1550, National Gallery in London.
Portrait of John Sigismund Zapolya (1540-1571), King of Hungary as a child by unknown painter after Jacopino del Conte, 19th century (?) after original from about 1550, Private collection.
Portrait of John Sigismund Zapolya (1540-1571), King of Hungary, as a boy, from the Kolasiński collection by Jacopino del Conte or follower, ca. 1556, Private collection. Virtual reconstruction, © Marcin Latka
Portrait of John Sigismund Zapolya (1540-1571), King of Hungary, as a boy by Jacopino del Conte, ca. 1556, Private collection. Virtual reconstruction, © Marcin Latka
Portrait of John Sigismund Zapolya (1540-1571), King of Hungary by Tintoretto, 1560s, Private collection.
Portraits of Hurrem Sultan and her daughter Mihrimah by Titian and workshop
"May Allah grant Your Royal Majesty long life and make one day a thousand days. The humbled one conveys: When I received your letter filled with love, I was so happy and glad that it is difficult to express it in words. [...] Along with this letter of sympathy, so as not to be empty words, we send two pairs of shirts and trousers with belts, six handkerchiefs and hand and face towels. We ask you to accept and enjoy them, even though the clothes sent are not worthy of you. God willing, next time I'll make them more ornate. In conclusion: may your God grant you long life, and may your state endure forever. Haseki Sultan", is a letter of 1549 (956) from Hurrem Sultan (ca. 1504-1558), the chief consort and legal wife of the Ottoman sultan Suleiman the Magnificent, to elected monarch of Poland-Lithuania Sigismund II Augustus (Central Archives of Historical Records in Warsaw, regest KDT, nr 103). A gift in the form of underwear is an expression of special intimacy between the sultana and the king, who wore shirts made by his sisters (according to documents from 1545 and September 1547).
Hurrem, "the joyful one" in Persian, is known to Europeans as Roxelana - from Roxolania, Ptolemy's name for Ruthenia (especially Ukraine), then part of Poland-Lithuania. According to Samuel Twardowski's "Important legation" (Przeważna legacya iaśnie oświeconego książęcia Krzysztopha Zbaraskiego ...), published in 1633 in Kraków, she was a daughter of Ukrainian Orthodox priest from Rohatyn and she was taken prisoner by the Tatars (z Rochatyna popa była córa, / Oddana niewolnicą do szaraju). She conquered the heart of the sultan, who in 1526 conquered Buda, the capital of Hungary, ending the rule of the Jagiellons in this part of Europe. Twardowski claim that the captive reportedly resorted to witchcraft: "And thus he will make her free / And allow her to his private rooms and his bed; But it was not enough for cunning Ruthenian girl / Using an old Karaite woman for this, / Through stealth toss and hot spells / She put the venom in Soliman's bones, / That the old man's love revived". Breaking the Ottoman tradition, he married Roxelana around 1533, making her his legal wife, and she was the first imperial consort to receive the title Haseki Sultan. In response to the criticism of Suleiman's subjects that he took "a sordid slave" (niewolnice podłej) as his wife, according to Twardowski, her husband claimed that she was "from the Polish country, from the royal blood comes and genus" and that she was a sister of king Sigismund (Że ją siostrą Soliman królewską nazywa [...] Ztąd Zygmunta naszego szwagrem swym mianował). It is tempting to believe that Queen Bona, who was managing Rohatyn from 1534/1535 as part of the royal domain, was behind all this and that these two women prevented further invasion of Central Europe by the Ottoman Empire. "War not to the detriment of the kingdom, but rather for defense" (Woyna nie ku skazie królestwa, ale raczey ku obronie) was the official state doctrine of "The Realm of Venus, goddess of love" - Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth under the rule of elected Queen Anna Jagiellon, daughter of Bona Sforza, though within the Kingdom itself there were men desirous of breaking it. It was published in 1594 in Kraków in Stanisław Sarnicki's "Statutes and records of Crown privileges" (Statuta y metrika przywileiow Koronnych) under an effigy of Jan Zamoyski, Great Hetman of the Crown. Hurrem Sultan had four sons named Mehmed (1521), Selim (1524), Bayezid (1525) and Cihangir (1531) and a daughter Mihrimah Sultan (1522). There was also a son Abdullah, but he died at the age of 3. As a sultana (Italian word for wife or female relative of a sultan), Roxelana exerted a very strong influence on the state policy and she supported peaceful relations with Poland-Lithuania. Apart from Sigismund Augustus (letters of 1548 and 1549), she also corresponded with his sister Isabella, Queen of Hungary (1543) and his mother Queen Bona. Jan Kierdej alias Said Beg, who was captured by the Turks during the siege of his family castle in Pomoriany in Red Ruthenia in 1498, when he was eight, traveled to Poland three times as an Ottoman envoy (1531, 1538 and 1543). When in January 1543, Kierdej came with the embassy from the sultan to Sigismund the Old, he also brought the sultana's words to Queen Bona. Both women wanted to postpone or prevent the marriage of Sigismund Augustus with archduchess Elizabeth of Austria. The Queen of Poland, known for her outstanding artistic taste, acquired works of art and jewels in many places, including Turkey (after "Klejnoty w Polsce ..." by Ewa Letkiewicz, p. 57). The direct contacts of Roxelana with the rulers of the Venetian republic are not documented, but it is in Venice that most of her fictitious or faithful liknesses were created. It can be assumed that a large part of this "production" of portraits was intended for the Polish-Lithuanian market. Many Venetians lived in Poland-Lithuania and in Turkey and many Poles were undoubtedly interested in the life of the "Ruthenian Sultana". Roxelana's son Sultan Selim II (1524-1574), known as Selim "the blond" due to his fair complexion and blond hair, took as concubine Nurbanu Sultan (Cecilia Venier Baffo), a member of a well-known Venetian patrician family, and legally married her in about 1571. Ten letters written by Nurbanu between 1578 and 1583 to several ambassadors and to the Doge preserved in Venice. According to Vasari the Venetian painter Titian, although he never visited Istanbul, was commissioned by Suleiman the Magnificent to paint his wife Roxelana (Sultana Rossa) and their daughter Mihrimah (Cameria) (after "Images on the Page ..." by Sanda Miller, p. 84). Titian's portrait of Cameria and her mother was also recorded by Ridolfi. He and his famous workshop also painted the sultan and copies of these effigies are in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna and in private collection. To create the paintings, Titian had to use drawings or miniatures sent from Turkey. After World War II, only one known painted image of Queen Bona Sforza, created during her lifetime or close to it, has survived in the former territories of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. It is a miniature from a cycle depicting the Jagiellon family (today in the Czartoryski Museum), made by workshop of Lucas Cranach the Younger (1515-1586) in Wittenberg, Germany in about 1553 basing on a drawing or another miniature sent from Poland-Lithuania. Interestingly, also two effigies of Ottoman Sultanas survived, one is a portrait traditionally identified as Roxelana in the Lviv Historical Museum in Ukraine and the other is a likeness of her daughter Mihrimah in the Masovian Museum in Płock in Poland (inscription: CAMARIA · SOLIMA / · IMP · / · TVR · FILIA / · ROSTANIS · BASSAE · / · VXOR · 1541, upper left). Both were created in the 16th century and come from historical collections of the former Commonwealth. The portrait in Lviv is small painting on wood (38 x 26 cm) and comes from the collection of the Ossolineum, which received it in 1837 from Stanisław Wronowski. The effigy of Mihrimah in Płock was also painted on wood (93 x 69.7 cm) and comes from the collection of the Ślizień family deposited by them with the Radziwills in Zegrze near Warsaw during World War I. Before World War II in the Red Salon of the Zamoyski Palace in Warsaw there was a portrait of the "Turkish Sultana", burnt in 1939 along with all the furnishings of the palace (after "Ars Auro Prior" by Juliusz Chrościcki, p. 285). Such portraits are also documented in Poland-Lithuania much earlier. The 1633 inventory of Radziwill Castle in Lubcha in Belarus (Central Archives of Historical Records in Warsaw, 1/354/0/26/45) lists "A painting of a lady with the inscription Favorita del gran turcho" (36). The inscription in Italian indicates that the painting was most likely made in Italy. The inventory of paintings from the collection of princess Louise Charlotte Radziwill (1667-1695), drawn up in 1671, lists the following depictions of Turkish women, some of which may be by Titian: "Turkini in a turban plays the viola" (295), "A young Turkish woman with a feather" (315), "A young woman from Turkey" (316), "Turkini in a turban and in sables, a woman by her side" (418) (after "Inwentarz galerii obrazów Radziwiłłów z XVII w." by Teresa Sulerzyska). Some effigies previously considered to represent Catherine Cornaro are now identified as portraits of Roxelana, like the painting in Florence with attributes of Saint Catherine of Alexandria - breaking wheel and halo (Uffizi Gallery, oil on canvas, 102.5 x 72 cm, inv. 1890, 909). It entered the Gallery in 1773 with the attribution to Veronese, but later the Latin inscription Titiani opus - 1542 was found on the back. A very similar portrait inscribed in French ROSSA FEMME DE SOLIMAN EMPEREUR DES TURCS ("Rosa, Consort of Suleiman, Emperor of the Turks") is in the Royal Collection at Kensington Palace (inv. RCIN 406152). Her costume is also distinctly Ottoman. Another version of this painting was before 1866 in the Manfrin collection in Venice and Samuelle Levi Pollaco created an etching of the painting with inscription: CATTERINA CORNARO REGINA DI CIPRO. This painting is considered to represent "A young Turkish woman" (Giovane turca, compare "Caterina Cornaro: Last Queen of Cyprus and Daughter of Venice", ed. Candida Syndikus, Sabine Rogge, p. 54). Her outfit is slightly different, and we can see three pyramids in the background, most probably the three main pyramids at Giza in Egypt, at that time a province of the Ottoman Empire (Egypt was conquered by the Ottoman Turks in 1517). Eastern Orthodox Monastery of Saint Catherine of Alexandria, built by order of Byzantine emperor Justinian I at the site where Moses is supposed to have seen the burning bush, sacred to Christianity, Islam, and Judaism, is also in Egypt (Sinai Peninsula). Roxelana was a daughter of an Orthodox priest, hence this monastery was undoubtedly of particular importance to her throughout the Ottoman Empire. A reduced copy of this effigy attributed to studio of Titian was sold as "Portrait of Caterina Cornaro" (oil on paper, laid down on canvas, laid down on panel, 41.9 x 28.8 cm, Christie's London, July 9, 2021, lot 214). Other bust-length version of this portrait by follower of Titian is in Knole House, Kent (oil on panel, 55.4 x 42.6 cm, inv. NT 129882). Although the Knole painting is probably based on an original by Titian and is described as "in the manner of Titian", its style is closer to the French school, particularly that of François Clouet (ca. 1510-1572), so it is possible that Clouet and his workshop copied a lost painting by Titian from a French royal or aristocratic collection. The painter used the same face in his famous Venus with a mirror, today in the National Gallery of Art in Washington (oil on canvas, 124.5 x 105.5 cm, inv. 1937.1.34). This painting remained in the possession of the artist until his death, where it might have inspired visitors to commission similar paintings for themselves, or it might have served as a model for members of the workshop to reproduce. It is also possible that he wanted to have an effigy of this beautiful woman, one of his best clients. The painting is usually dated to about 1555, however, it it possible that it was painted much earlier, because "Titian's style and pictorial technique were never uniform and could vary from one work to another, as well as from one decade to another", as noted by Peter Humfrey in the Gallery's Entry for the painting (March 21, 2019). The 1971 X-ray reveals that Titian reused a canvas that once depicted two three-quarter figures standing side by side, possibly work not accepted by a client, and he rotated the canvas 90 degrees. Fern Rusk Shapley compared the double portrait with the so-called Allegory of Alfonso d'Avalos from around 1532 (Louvre in Paris). The portrait of Alfonso d'Avalos with a page, once owned by King John III Sobieski and King Stanislaus Augustus Poniatowski (J. Paul Getty Museum, inventory number 2003.486), is dated to about 1533. Giorgio Tagliaferro suggested that the double portrait was started by the young Paris Bordone while he was an assistant in Titian's studio (probably around 1516 for two years). In the mirror held by a cupid, she doesn't seem to see herself, but someone who is looking at her, most likely a man, her husband. Another cupid crowns her head with a wreath. This work is considered the finest surviving version of a composition executed in many variants by Titian and his workshop, some of the best of which are in the State Hermitage Museum, acquired in 1814 from the collection of Empress Josephine in Malmaison near Paris (oil on canvas, 130 x 105 cm, inv. ГЭ-1524), and in the Gemäldegalerie in Dresden (oil on canvas, 115 x 100 cm, inv. Gal.-Nr. 178). The way the fabric in the background was painted brings the copy in the Hermitage closer to Paris Bordone and his workshop. There is also a good copy in the Wallraf-Richartz Museum in Cologne (oil on canvas, 117.5 x 101 cm, inv. Dep. 0332), which probably comes from the collection of Basil Feilding (ca. 1608-1675), 2nd Earl of Denbigh, who owned such a painting between 1643-1649. The Habsburgs of Prague and Vienna also owned a copy of this painting, as it was listed in the Theatrum Pictorium (number 93). A version which was owned by the king of Spain (lost) was copied by Peter Paul Rubens (Thyssen-Bornemisza National Museum, oil on canvas, 137 x 111 cm, inv. 350 (1957.5)). A good version of this painting, probably from the 19th century, is also in the National Museum in Warsaw, which houses many paintings from the old Sarmatian collections (oil on panel, 120 x 99 cm, inv. M.Ob.1940 MNW). Although this painting is considered a much later copy, it bears strong similarities to works attributed to Lambert Sustris, a Dutch painter active in Rome (around 1530-1535) and Venice (1535-1548), such as his "Venus" in the Louvre (INV 1978; MR 1129). The same woman, in similar pose and costume to the work in Florence was depicted in a painting attributed to workshop of Titian, today in the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art in Sarasota, Florida (oil on canvas, 99.5 x 77.5 cm, inv. SN58). It comes from the Riccardi collection in Florence, sold to Lucien Bonaparte (1775-1840), younger brother of Napoleon Bonaparte, exactly like the "Portrait of the Duchess Sforza" (Portrait of Queen Bona Sforza) by Titian. Therfore both portraits - of the Queen of Poland and the Sultana of the Ottoman Empire were most probably created at the same time in Venice and sent to Florence. She is holding a little pet, most probably a mink or a weasel, a talisman for fertility. The flower in her décolletage might indicate, that she is a bride or newly wed woman. Another version of this painting, depicting the woman in a pink-purple dress, was in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna before 1907 (oil on canvas, 90.5 x 55.9 cm). It came from the collection of Archduke Leopold Wilhelm of Austria and was listed in the Theatrum Pictorium (number 94), just after the copy of Titian's "Venus with a Mirror". She was also depicted in another portrait by Titian (National Gallery of Art, Washington, oil on canvas, 97.8 x 73.8 cm, 1939.1.292), wearing a similar green dress, a color being symbolic of fertility. She cradles an apple in her hands, which in art often connotes female sexuality. This painting was probably owned by Michel Particelli d'Hémery (1596-1650) in Paris, France. The Franco-Ottoman Alliance, one of the longest-lasting and most important foreign alliances of France, was formed in 1536 between the King of France Francis I and the Sultan Suleiman I. Beyond doubt, the French king had likenesses of the sultan and his influential wife. In the painting held at the Centre of Visual Arts and Research (CVAR) in Nicosia, Cyprus (oil on canvas, 107 x 86.3 cm, inv. PNT-00501), the hairstyle and the colour of the costume have been changed, as if to show the woman's beautiful clothes. This portrait was sold in 1996 under the title "Portrait of a lady (Caterina Cornaro, Queen of Cyprus?)" and "After Titian". The style of this painting is close to that of Lambert Sustris. Numerous variants and copies of this portrait exist. In a similar portrait from private collection in Veneto (oil on canvas, 101 x 82 cm, Dorotheum in Vienna, October 17, 2017, lot 233) her Ottoman dress is pink, a symbol of marriage, and she is preparing her bridal wreath (similar to that visible on her head in the Washington version). The style of this painting is particularly close to Giovanni Cariani. As Cariani died in 1547, the original portraits must have been painted before that year. It would be rather unusual if a Christian noblewoman from Venice would be dressed in Ottoman attire for her wedding. Therefore, through these portraits, the "Ruthenian girl" wanted to announce to the world that she is not a concubine, but the legal wife of the Sultan. A good signed version of this portrait by Titian (TITANVS / FECIT, upper right), showing the sitter in an even more expensive gold-embroidered dress, is at Apsley House in London. Together with the so-called "Titian's Mistress" (inv. WM.1620-1948), it was originally in the Spanish royal collection (recorded as being on display in the Alcázar Palace in Madrid in 1666). It is possible that a copy of "Titian's Mistress", described as "A naked person in a red coat", was in the Radziwill collection in 1671 (item 863/43, compare "Inwentarz galerii obrazów Radziwiłłów z XVII w." by Teresa Sulerzyska). Probably a preparatory drawing (modello) for the Apsley portrait, or a ricordo (a small copy after completion of the work), made by a member of Titian's workshop, probably sent to Istanbul, is in the Louvre in Paris (INV 4712, Recto, considered a work by a follower of Paolo Veronese). After 1543 a follower of Titian, most probably Alessandro Varotari (1588-1649), known as Il Padovanino, copied other version of this painting with model holding a vase (Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister in Dresden, oil on canvas, 99.5 x 87 cm, inv. Gal.-Nr. 173). This painting is also attributed to Bernardino Licinio. The portrait identified as Roxelana from the collection of Sir Richard Worsley in Appuldurcumbe House, Isle of Wight (1804, as by "Gentile Bellino") by follower of Titian depicts her holding a vase (oil on canvas, 110.5 x 92 cm, Sotheby's London, October 26, 2022, lot 82). Together with Latin inscription on the column "all is vanity" (OMNIA VANITAS) it might symbolize a great loss. On November 7, 1543 the eldest son of Hurrem Sultan, Prince Mehmed, died in Manisa, probably of smallpox. The sultana most probably knew Latin, as the Roman Catholic community was present in Rohatyn since the Middle Ages. Her large turban and face resemble the Lviv portrait. The style of this painting is also close to Giovanni Cariani. Another version of this composition, borrowing the pose from bridal portraits, is in the Accademia Carrara in Bergamo (oil on canvas, 111 x 94 cm, inv. 58AC00827). It is attributed to the school of Giovanni Antonio de' Sacchis (ca. 1484-1539), Il Pordenone, and dated between 1540 and 1560. The page holds a tray on which there are jewels and a crown, while on the mirror, instead of a reflection, there is an inscription: OM / NIA / VANI / TAS. Smoke emerges from the vase, like a soul flying to the sky. Similar to the Lviv likeness, also the effigy of Mihrimah (Cameria) in Płock has a counterpart made by workshop of Titian, today in the Courtauld Gallery in London, a copy of a lost original by Titian (oil on canvas, 99.3 x 71.5 cm, inv. P.1978.PG.463). It comes from the collection of Count Antoine Seilern (1901-1978), an Anglo-Austrian art collector and art historian. Like her mother, she was depicted with a spiked wheel, used to identify Saint Catherine of Alexandria. A study for this portrait by Titian or his workshop is in the Albertina in Vienna (paper, 38.5 x 23.5 cm, inv. 1492). The portrait of Cameria in the Musée Fabre in Montpellier (oil on canvas, 72 x 59 cm, inv. 65.2.1) was created by Sofonisba Anguissola (signature: PINXIT SOPHONISBE ANGUSSOLA VIRGO CRE. XIII SUCC). Like Queen Bona, who successfully ruled in the world dominated by men, the "Ruthenian girl" was well aware of the power of the image and conveyed the splendor of her reign through paintings created by the Venetian workshop of Titian. 
Portrait of Hurrem Sultan (Roxelana, ca. 1504-1558) as a bride by workshop of Titian, ca. 1533 or after, John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art in Sarasota.
Portrait of Hurrem Sultan (Roxelana, ca. 1504-1558) as a bride by Titian or workshop, ca. 1533 or after, Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, lost. Virtual reconstruction, © Marcin Latka
Portrait of Hurrem Sultan (Roxelana, ca. 1504-1558) as a bride from the Theatrum Pictorium (94) by Lucas Vorsterman the Younger after Titian, 1660, Princely Court Library in Waldeck.
Portrait of Hurrem Sultan (Roxelana, ca. 1504-1558) as a bride holding an apple by Titian, ca. 1533 or after, National Gallery of Art in Washington.
Portrait of Hurrem Sultan (Roxelana, ca. 1504-1558) holding an apple by Lambert Sustris, ca. 1533 or after, Centre of Visual Arts and Research in Nicosia.
Portrait of Hurrem Sultan (Roxelana, ca. 1504-1558) as a bride holding her bridal wreath by Giovanni Cariani, ca. 1533, Private collection.
Study drawing for portrait of Hurrem Sultan (Roxelana, ca. 1504-1558) as a bride holding her bridal wreath by follower of Titian, ca. 1533 or after, Louvre Museum in Paris.
Portrait of Hurrem Sultan (Roxelana, ca. 1504-1558) as a bride holding her bridal wreath by Titian, ca. 1533 or after, Apsley House in London.
Portrait of Hurrem Sultan (Roxelana, ca. 1504-1558) holding a vase by follower of Titian, probably Alessandro Varotari or Bernardino Licinio, after 1543, Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister in Dresden.
Portrait of Hurrem Sultan (Roxelana, ca. 1504-1558) as Venus with a mirror by Titian, ca. 1533 or after, National Gallery of Art in Washington.
Portrait of Hurrem Sultan (Roxelana, ca. 1504-1558) as Venus with a mirror by workshop of Paris Bordone, ca. 1533 or after, The State Hermitage Museum.
Portrait of Hurrem Sultan (Roxelana, ca. 1504-1558) as Venus with a mirror by workshop of Titian, ca. 1533 or after, Gemäldegalerie in Dresden.
Portrait of Hurrem Sultan (Roxelana, ca. 1504-1558) as Venus with a mirror by Lambert Sustris or follower, after 1533 (19th century?), National Museum in Warsaw.
Portrait of Hurrem Sultan (Roxelana, ca. 1504-1558) as Venus with a mirror by Peter Paul Rubens after Titian, ca. 1606-1611, Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum in Madrid.
Portrait of Hurrem Sultan (Roxelana, ca. 1504-1558) as Venus with a mirror from the Theatrum Pictorium (93) by Lucas Vorsterman the Younger after Titian, 1660, Princely Court Library in Waldeck.
Portrait of Hurrem Sultan (Roxelana, ca. 1504-1558) with pyramids by Titian or workshop, ca. 1542, Private collection. Virtual reconstruction, © Marcin Latka
Portrait of Hurrem Sultan (Roxelana, ca. 1504-1558) as Saint Catherine of Alexandria by workshop of Titian, 1542, Uffizi Gallery.
Portrait of Hurrem Sultan (Roxelana, ca. 1504-1558) by workshop of Titian, ca. 1542, Private collection.
Portrait of Hurrem Sultan (Roxelana, ca. 1504-1558) by circle of François Clouet, ca. 1542, Knole House.
Portrait of Hurrem Sultan (Roxelana, ca. 1504-1558) holding a vase by follower of Titian or Giovanni Cariani, ca. 1543, Private collection.
Portrait of Hurrem Sultan (Roxelana, ca. 1504-1558) with a page and a mirror by the school of Il Pordenone, ca. 1543, Accademia Carrara in Bergamo.
Preparatory drawing for a portrait of Mihrimah Sultan (Cameria, 1522-1578) by Titian or workshop, after 1541, Albertina in Vienna.
Portrait of Mihrimah Sultan (Cameria, 1522-1578) as Saint Catherine of Alexandria by workshop of Titian, after 1541, Courtauld Gallery in London.
Portrait of Mihrimah Sultan (Cameria, 1522-1578) by unknown painter after Titian, after 1541, Masovian Museum in Płock.
Portrait of Mihrimah Sultan (Cameria, 1522-1578) by Sofonisba Anguissola, second half of the 16th century, Musée Fabre in Montpellier.
Portrait of royal courtier Jan Krzysztoporski by Bernardino Licinio
The interpretation of classical architecture by Venetian architect Andrea Palladio (1508-1580), known as Palladianism, revived by early 18th century British architects, become the dominant architectural style until the end of the century. The work of the architect and his effigies become highly demanded goods.
That is why an owner of a portrait of an unkown nobleman by Bernardino Licinio, possibly a painter, decided to turn it into a portrait of the famous architect. He added an inscription in Latin (ANDREAS. PALADIO. A.) and a set-square and a compass in sitter's right hand to make his "forgery" even more probable. The portrait, today in Kensington Palace, was acquired in 1762 by king George III from Joseph Smith, British Consul in Venice (oil on canvas, 100.5 x 82.5 cm, inv. RCIN 402789). Wooden attributes of a simple architect contrast sharply with opulent costume of the sitter, crimson doublet of Venetian silk, gold rings with precious stones and a coat lined with expensive Eastern fur. Also the man depicted is more Eastern type than an Italian. Such expensive, usually metal instrument, as compass is clearly exposed in the portraits of architects by Lorenzo Lotto, while in Licinio's portrait is barely visible. The little finger is a proof that the attributes were added later, as its appearance is anatomically impossible to hold a set-square and a compass. According to original inscription (ANNOR. XXIII. M.DXLI) the sitter was 23 in 1541, exactly as Jan Krzysztoporski (1518-1585), a nobleman of Nowina coat of arms from central Poland. Between 1537-1539 he studied in Lutheran Wittenberg, under the direction of Philip Melanchthon, recommended to him by "the father of Polish democracy" Andrzej Frycz Modrzewski. Then he went for further studies to Padua (entred as loannes Christophorinus), where on May 4, 1540, he was elected a counselor of the Polish nation. In January 1541, he welcomed in Treviso, close to Venice, the Chancellor Jan Ocieski (1501-1563) on his way to Rome. After returning to Poland, he was admitted to the royal court on 2 July 1545 and in 1551 he was made the royal secretary. He was an envoy of king Sigismund Augustus to Pope Julius III in 1551, to Joachim II Hector, Elector of Brandenburg in 1552 and to Isabella Jagiellon, Queen of Hungary in 1553. As a follower of Calvinism, he founded a congregation of this religion in his estate in Bogdanów, near Piotrków Trybunalski. He also had a large library in his brick fortified manor in Wola Krzysztoporska, which he built, destroyed during subsequent wars. 
Portrait of royal courtier Jan Krzysztoporski (1518-1585) by Bernardino Licinio, 1541, Kensington Palace.
Portraits of Jan Krzysztoporski, Jan Turobińczyk and Wandula von Schaumberg by Hans Mielich
Around 1536, a German painter Hans Mielich (also Milich, Muelich or Müelich), born in Munich, went to Regensburg, where he worked under the influence of Albrecht Altdorfer and the Danube School. He stayed there till 1540, when he returned to Munich. At that time, from 1539 to 1541, Regensburg was a place of meetings between representatives of the various Christian communities and debates between Catholics and Protestants, climaxing in the Regensburg Colloquy, also known as Diet of Regensburg (1541). Among the people vividly interested in the debates were Jan Łaski (Johannes a Lasco, 1499-1560), a Polish Calvinist reformer, later involved in translation project of the Radziwill Bible, who studied in Mainz in the winter of 1539/40, and Wandula von Schaumberg (1482-1545), the Princess-abbess of the Imperial Obermünster Abbey in Regensburg from 1536, who had a seat and vote in the Imperial Diet. In 1536 Mielich created a painting of Crucifixion of Christ with his monogram, date and coat of arms of the von Schaumberg family, today in the Landesmuseum in Hannover, most probably commissioned by Wandula.
A portrait of a wealthy old woman in a black dress, white cap and a wimple by Hans Mielich in the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya in Barcelona, deposit of the Thyssen-Bornemisza collection, comes from the collection of a mysterious Count J. S. Tryszkiewicz in his French castle of Birre (oil on panel, 71 x 53.5 cm, inv. 295 (1957.1)). No such person and castle are confirmed in sources, however Count Jan Tyszkiewicz, who died in Paris on June 9, 1901, was owner of the Birzai Castle in Lithuania and a son of renowned art collector, Michał Tyszkiewicz. Both the family as well as the castle were known differently in different languages of the multicultural nation, hence the mistake is justified. Before the Tyszkiewicz family, Birzai Castle was the main seat of the Calvinist branch of the Radziwill family. According to inscription in German, the woman in the painting was 57 in 1539 (MEINES ALTERS IM . 57 . IAR . / 1539 / HM), exactly as Wandula von Schaumberg, who like the Radziwills was the Imperial Princess. In 1541 the artist went to Rome, probably at the instigation of Duke William IV of Bavaria. He remained in Italy till at least 1543 and after his return, on 11 July 1543 he was admitted to the Munich painters' guild. Hans was a court painter of the next Duke, Albert V of Bavaria and his wife Anna of Austria (1528-1590), daughter of Anna Jagellonica (1503-1547) and younger sister of Elizabeth of Austria (1526-1545), first wife of Sigismund II Augustus. Albert and Anna were married on July 4, 1546 in Regensburg. On his way to Rome, Mielich most probably stopped in Padua, where in 1541 Andreas Hertwig (1513-1575), a member of patrician family from Wrocław, obtained the degree of doctor of both laws at the age of 28. Hertwig brought from Italy an impressive collection of law books and an Italian wife - Polixena de Corona from Padua (also Faustina in some sources). He definitely also bought from Italy his portrait painted in 1541, today in the National Museum in Wrocław, attributed to Mielich or a follower (oil and tempera on panel, 87 x 62 cm, inv. MNWr VIII-3157, inscription: ANDREAS HERTWIGK · I · V · DOCTOR / ÆTATIS SVÆ XXVIII ANNO MDXLI). Blurred lines in this painting, in comparison with other paintings by Mielich, could be the influence of Venetian painting or the effect of the interference of an assistant, perhaps Italian. After the death of his first wife, Andreas married Lukretia Boner, née Huber, owner of the splendid Wojnowice Castle near Raciborz, which was rebuilt by her first husband Jakob Boner, brother of the royal banker of Sigismund I and Bona Sforza. On December 10, 1540 Jan Ocieski of the Jastrzębiec coat of arms (1501-1563), secretary of king Sigismund I set off on a diplomatic mission from Kraków. It is possible that he was accompanied by Jan Turobińczyk (Joannes Turobinus, 1511-1575), an expert on Cicero and Ovid, who after studies in Kraków in 1538 became the secretary of the bishop of Płock and other secretary of the king, Jakub Buczacki, and for two years he moved to the bishop's court in Pułtusk. When Buczacki died on May 6, 1541, he lost his protector and moved to Kraków, where he decided to continue his studies. Jan was later ordained a priest in about 1545, he lectured on Roman law and he was elected rector of the Kraków Academy in 1561. A portrait of a man holding gloves in the Germanisches Nationalmuseum in Nuremberg is very similar to the portrait of Andreas Hertwig in Wrocław (oil on panel, 67.2 x 49.5 cm, inv. Gm1945). According to inscription on the back, the man depicted is also Andreas Hertwig, hence the portrait is attributed to so-called Master of the Andreas Hertwig Portrait. Facial features, however, do not match and according to original inscription in Latin the man was 30 on May 8, 1541 (M D XXXXI / D VIII MAI / AETATIS XXX), exactly as Jan Turobińczyk when the news of the death of his protector could reach him in Italy and when he could decide to change his life and return to studies. Another similar portrait to the effigy of Andreas Hertwig in Wrocław is in private collection (oil on panel, 70 x 50.8 cm, Christie's New York, Auction 2135, January 28, 2009, lot 49). The young man in a rich costume was depicted against a green background. According to inscription in Latin he was 25 on November 22, 1543 (M. D. XLIII. DE. XX. NOVEMBE / .AETATIS. XXV), exactly as Jan Krzysztoporski, who around that time was still in Italy. His facial features are similar to the portrait by Bernardino Licinio created just two years earlier, in 1541 (Kensington Palace). The difference in eye color is probably due to technique and style of painting. Rings on his finger are almost identical on both paintings and coat of arms on the signet ring visible on the portrait from 1543 is very similar to Nowina coat of arms as shown in the 15th century Armorial de l'Europe et de la Toison d'or (Bibliothèque nationale de France). The letters on the signet can be read as IK (Ioannes Krzysztoporski). Also notable is the physical resemblance of the men in these three portraits, as well as their poses, which probably results from a particular way of representing the models, fashionable appearance. However, the dates on the original inscriptions indicate that they were different people. It was in Munich, between 1552 and 1555, that Mielich created one of his most important works, the Jewel Book (Kleinodienbuch) of Anna of Austria, Duchess of Bavaria, now in the Bavarian State Library (BSB-Hss Cod.icon. 429). This picture inventory contains original-size images of 71 pieces of jewellery belonging to the Duchess and other members of the family. One of the few jewels described in this inventory is the gold pendant with Nereus and Doris (symbolizing the fertility of the ocean), two rubies, two sapphires, an emerald and a pearl, as well as birds and a squirrel on the reverse painted in enamel, donated by the younger sister of Duchess Anna - Catherine of Austria (1533-1572), Queen of Poland in 1553, probably shortly after her coronation (15 Das Kleinat 53 / Der Königin Katarina von poln auf die ..., p. 33r, 33v). In 1556 Mielich made magnificent full-length portraits of Duchess Anna and her husband Albert V, which were sent to her family, now preserved in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna (inv. GG 3847, GG 3846). Similar portraits were probably also sent to Sarmatia. At that time, artists from friendly courts in Europe travelled to different places, such as a Polish singer who was paid 4 florins for a performance in 1570 at the court of Albert V in Munich, so it is possible that Mielich also travelled to Poland-Lithuania-Ruthenia or at least accepted commissions from Munich after 1553. At the beginning of the 17th century, the court painter of the Polish-Lithuanian Vasas was Christian Melich, who, according to some sources, came from Antwerp. This, however, does not exclude the possibility that he was a relative of Hans Mielich. He created one of the oldest views of Warsaw, now in Munich, most probably from the dowry of Anna Catherine Constance Vasa. 
Portrait of Princess-abbess Wandula von Schaumberg (1482-1545), aged 57, from the Radziwill Castle in Birzai by Hans Mielich, 1539, Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya.
Portrait of Andreas Hertwig (1513-1575), aged 28 by Hans Mielich or circle, 1541, National Museum in Wrocław.
Portrait of Jan Turobińczyk (1511-1575), aged 30 by Hans Mielich, 1541, Germanisches Nationalmuseum in Nuremberg.
Portrait of Jan Krzysztoporski (1518-1585), aged 25 by Hans Mielich, 1543, Private collection.
Gold pendant with Nereus and Doris from the Jewel Book of the Anna of Austria (1528-1590), Duchess of Bavaria, offered by Catherine of Austria (1533-1572), Queen of Poland in 1553 by Hans Mielich, 1553-1555, Bavarian State Library in Munich.
Reverse of gold pendant with Nereus and Doris from the Jewel Book of the Anna of Austria (1528-1590), Duchess of Bavaria, offered by Catherine of Austria (1533-1572), Queen of Poland in 1553 by Hans Mielich, 1553-1555, Bavarian State Library in Munich.
Portrait of Sigismund Augustus in armour by Giovanni Cariani
"Come poor people with joy and drink without charge the water that Bona, Queen of Poland provided" (Pauperes sitientes venite cum laetitia et sine argento. Bibite aquas, quas Bona regina Poloniae preparavit) is the Latin inscription on one of the two cisterns which is still near the Bari Cathedral, the other, of which there are no traces today, was located in the area of the Church of San Domenico and only the inscription is known (Bona regina Poloniae preparavit piscinas. Pauperes sitientes venite cum laetitia et sine argento). The queen was a great benefactress to this archiepiscopal city and, among other timely gifts, increased the number of public fountains. From Poland she directed many interventions in her duchy to improve the life and the prosperity of the inhabitants, building canals, wells, aided churches with donations.
Bona also tried to expand her possessions in Italy. In 1536 she bought the city of Capurso and in 1542 she also bought the county of Noia and Triggiano. To reach the amount necessary for the purchase of the county (68,000 ducats) she imposed new taxes, and on this occasion the municipality of Bari complained that Modugno near Bari is "praised and loved more than this city (Bari) from Y.M. (Your Majesty)" (laudata e amata più di questa città (Bari) dalla M.V. (maestà vostra)). The queen cared very much about her hereditary principalities of Bari and Rossano and wanted her son to inherit them. Among the many Italians at the Polish-Lithuanian royal court, many came from Bari. In the 1530s and 1540s, there were two physicians from Bari at the court - Giacomo Zofo (Jacobus Zophus Bariensis), who was called Sacrae Mtis phisicus in 1537, and Giacomo Ferdinando da Bari (Jacobus Ferdinandus Bariensis), who published two treatises in Kraków (De foelici connubio serenissimi Ungariae regis Joannis et S. Isabellae Poloniae regis filiae, 1539 and De regimine a peste praeservativo tractatus, 1543). In 1537 there were also Scipio Scholaris Barensis Italus, royal secretary and provost of Sandomierz, Cleofa, sub-cantor of the Cathedral of St. Nicholas in Bari (Cleophas Succantor Ecclac S. Nicolai, Barensis) who was the brother of Sigismondo, the royal chef, Teodoro de Capittelis and Sabino de Saracenis. On Bona's recommendation, in 1545, the lawyer Vincenzo Massilla (or Massilio, 1499-1580) developed the Bari code of customary law (Commentarii super consuetudinibus praeclarae civitatis Bari) written in Kraków during the years of residence at the Polish court and completed in Padua, first published in 1550 by Giacomo Fabriano and then by Bernardino Basa in Venice in 1596. Massilla was a well-known jurist and become advisor of the queen. In 1538 he held the position of governor of Rossano and moved to Kraków as auditor general for the feudal states held by Bona Sforza in southern Italy. She also sought permission to appoint the bishops of Bari and Rossano, but the pope refused. In 1543 Queen Bona returned to her plan of the sale of the Duchy of Rossano and for this purpose the representative of the city of Rossano - Felice Brillo (Britio) came to Poland. Few years later, on August 30, 1549, Luigi Zifando from Bari (Siphandus Loisius hortulanus Italus Barensis) was admitted as the royal gardener. Several people from Modugno near Bari were in service of the queen and later of her son Sigismund Augustus, like Girolamo Cornale, who died in Warsaw, and priests Vito Pascale and mentioned Scipione Scolaro or Scolare (Scholaris). When in Poland, in 1550, Pascale built himself a palace in Modugno (Palazzo Pascale-Scarli), the architecture of which is attributed to the influence of the Florentine architect Bartolomeo Berecci working in Poland. The court of Bona's son Sigismund Augustus in Vilnius was also dominated by Italians, like two singers of the queen, Erasmo and Silvester, incisor gemmarum Jacopo Caraglio, pharmacist Floro Carbosto, locksmith - Domenico, builders - Gasparus and Martinus, sculptor Bartholomeo, musician Sebaldus, harper Franciscus, caretaker of the Italian royal stallions Marino, goldsmiths: Antonio, Vincentino, Christoforus and Bartholomeo, tailor Pietro and the bricklayer Benedictus. The king favored the Italian style in his attire, and he usually wear a short Italian caftan of black silk or a German one of black cloth from Vicenza over the shirt. The most expensive part of his outfit was a sable cap, a germak coat made of black damask, lined with dormouse fur, and an Italian, gilded, sword, "a gift from Bari". Among the expensive furnishings of his three-room apartment in the new Vilnius Castle were Venetian mirrors - one of them in precious frames decorated with pearls and silver. Venetian glass was delivered to the court by Vilnius merchants, Morsztyn and Łojek (after "Zygmunt August: Wielki Książę Litwy do roku 1548" by Ludwik Kolankowski, p. 329, 332). In the Parmeggiani Gallery in Reggio Emilia (Musei Civici) there is a "Portrait of a warrior", attributed to Giovanni Cariani, who died in Venice in 1547 (oil on canvas, 95 x 77 cm, inventory number 76). It comes from the collection of Luigi Francesco Giovanni Parmeggiani (1860-1945), an Italian anarchist, forger, art dealer and collector, who before inaugurating his gallery in 1928 in his hometown, lived mainly in Brussels, London and Paris. The young man is holding his hand on a helmet. His expensive suit of armour indicates that he is a member of the aristocracy, a knight, and the landscape behind him undoubtedly represents his castle. Only one tower is visible and a church to the right. This layout and shape of the towers correspond with the Bari Castle (Castello Normanno-Svevo, Ciastello) and Bari Cathedral (Arciuescouato) as seen from the "Royal Gate" (Porta Reale) and depicted in an early 18th century print by Michele Luigi Muzio (structures C, A and H). The man's face is very reminiscent of the images of the young Sigismund Augustus, who at that time was considered as a successor of his mother in the Duchy of Bari. The paintings of the Venetian school are among the most valuable linked to Bari or the region - Saint Peter the Martyr from the Santa Maria la Nova Church in Monopoli by Giovanni Bellini, Throning Madonna and Child with Saint Henry of Uppsala and Saint Anthony of Padua by Paris Bordone or the Virgin and Child with Saint Catherine of Alexandria and Saint Ursula with a donor from Ardizzone family from the Bari Cathedral by Paolo Veronese (Pinacoteca metropolitana di Bari). 
Portrait of Sigismund II Augustus in armour against the view of the castle in Bari by Giovanni Cariani, ca. 1543, Parmeggiani Gallery in Reggio Emilia.
Portrait of Barbara Radziwill, Elizabeth of Austria and Sigismund Augustus as Flora, Juno and Jupiter by Paris Bordone
Ovid in Fasti V relates the story of Juno, queen of the gods, who annoyed with her husband Jupiter for producing Minerva from his own head by the stroke of Vulcan's axe, complained to Flora, goddess of fertility and blossoming plants. Flora, gave her secretly a flower, by only touching which women immediately became mothers. It was by this means that Juno gave birth to the god Mars. The Renaissance represented Flora under two aspects, Flora Primavera, embodiment of genuine marital love, and Flora Meretrix, prostitute and courtesan whom Hercules won for a night in a wager.
Because Hercules' mother was mortal, Jupiter put him to the breast of his wife, knowing that Hercules would acquire immortality through her milk and according to the myth the droplets of milk crystallized to form the Milky Way. As Juno Lucina (Juno the light-bringer) she watched over pregnancy, childbirth, and mothers and as Juno Regina (Juno the Queen) she was the patron goddess of Rome and the Roman Empire. The great popularity of Ovid's works in Poland-Lithuania-Ruthenia, poetically called Sarmatia, left its mark on the character of the decorations of many buildings across the country, including royal residences, which were undoubtedly filled with many Ovidian motifs. Those created after the Deluge, in the 1680s, preserved in the Wilanów Palace and the Lubomirski bathing pavilion in Warsaw (based on the engravings by Abraham van Diepenbeeck). "In the 16th century, Ovid's links with Sarmatia gave rise to the legend that he had lived in Poland, had learned to speak the Polish language, and had died and been buried near the Black Sea, that is, within the borders of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. It was claimed that Ovid was the first Polish poet, and his 'naturalisation' and the 'discovery of his grave' shaped the consciousness of the ruling classes and the elites of the Commonwealth" (after "Ovidius inter Sarmatas" by Barbara Hryszko, p. 453, 455). His famous "Metamorphoses" dealt with the transformation of human beings into other entities and the deification of the descendants of Venus, goddess of love. Latin works of Andrzej Krzycki (Andreas Cricius, 1482-1537), secretary to Queen Bona, were openly inspired by the Ovid's oeuvre and Piotr Wężyk Widawski in his paraphrase of a fragment of "Metamorphoses" entitled "Philomela [...] Under the image of the goddess Venus" (Philomela. Morale. To iest S. Ksiąg rozmáitych Autorow wykład obycżáyny. Pod Obraz Boginiey Wenery), published in Kraków in 1586, "wrote not only that Ovid was very popular and widely known in Poland but also expressed his belief that Ovid had come to Poland, where he had learned the Polish language and had become a Pole". In the painting by Paris Bordone in the Hermitage Museum (oil on canvas, 108 x 129 cm, inventory number ГЭ-163), Flora receives flowers and herbs from Cupid, the god of desire and erotic love and son of Mars and Venus. Cupid is also crowning the head of Juno with a wreath. The queen of the gods is taking the herbs from the hand of Flora, hoping she was unnoticed by her husband Jupiter Dolichenus, the "oriental" king of the gods holding an axe, who stands behind her. The painting comes from the collection of Sir Robert Walpole at Houghton Hall, sold to Empress Catherine II of Russia in 1779. "The daughter of the King of Rome is approaching, your bride" (propinquat Romani Regis filia, sponsa tibi), praised Elizabeth of Austria (1526-1545) in a poem "To Sigismund the Second Augustus, King of Poland" (AD SIGISMVNDVM SECVNDVM AVGVSTVM POLONORVM REGEM) the poet Klemens Janicki (1516-1543), included in his Epitalamii serenissimo regi Poloniae Domino Sigismundo Augusto ... and published in 1543 in Kraków in the printing house of Helena Unglerowa (Cracouiae, apud viduam Floriani. An. 1543.). He also adds ambiguous words: "Let virtue be rewarded and evil punished. Let there be no disorder, born only to destroy the glory of Venus, the love of the womb" (Sint sua virtvti præmia pæna malis. Sit nullo tibi turba loco, quæ perdere tantum Nata merum est: Veneris gloria: ventris amor). Janicki, the "poet laureate" (poeta laureato), during his stay in Venice in the years 1538-1540, found himself among the humanists grouped around Cardinal Bembo and where he became friends with two future eminent theorists of the art, Daniele Barbaro and Lodovico Dolce, to whom he later dedicated some epigrams (compare "Sebastiano Serlio a sztuka polska ..." by Jerzy Kowalczyk, p. 288). King Sigismund Augustus' courtier, the Spanish poet Pedro Ruiz de Moros (d. 1571), further praised the royal couple in his De apparatu nuptiarum ..., published in Kraków in 1543: "Queen of the Austrian nation, of the noble royal blood, ethereal Jupiter of favorable winds, affirms joy, and a chamber to enjoy through the years, a royal chamber of the royal husband Sigismund" (Regina, Austriacum genus, alto a sanguine Regu, Iuppiter etherea quam longum vescier aura, Annuat, & thalamo multos gaudere per annos, Regali thalamo, SISMVNDO Rege marito). The message of the painting is clear, thanks to the mistress the queen is fertile. The protagonists are therfore "oriental" king Sigismund Augustus as Jupiter, his first wife queen Elizabeth of Austria, daughter of King of the Romans as Juno, and Sigismund Augustus' mistress Barbara Radziwill as Flora. 
Portrait of Barbara Radziwill, Elizabeth of Austria and Sigismund Augustus as Flora, Juno and Jupiter by Paris Bordone, 1543-1551, The State Hermitage Museum.
Portraits of Barbara Radziwill and her mother as Venus Pudica by Vincent Sellaer and circle of Michiel Coxie
Before 1550, King Sigismund Augustus ordered fabrics from the best weaving workshops in Brussels. The preserved tapestries of this rich collection, now housed in the Wawel Royal Castle and other museums, depict biblical stories, a lush world of exotic plants and animals, the monogram of the king SA in a rich Renaissance setting and the coats of arms of Poland and Lithuania. The designs for the figurative tapestries were created by the Flemish painter Michiel Coxie (1499-1592), "much celebrated among the Flemish craftsmen" (molto fra gli artefici fiamminghi celebrato), according to Giorgio Vasari. Nicknamed the Flemish Raphael, Coxie was the court painter to Emperor Charles V and his son King Philip II of Spain, although he probably never visited Spain. He frequently drew inspiration or copied Italian masters such as Raphael, Michelangelo, Titian or Sebastiano del Piombo, but also from classical Antiquity. His Moral Fall of Humanity (Abduction of human wives by the sons of the gods) with a naked woman in the center of the composition, produced by the workshop of Jan de Kempeneer between 1548 and 1553 (Royal Castle in Warsaw, ZKW/511), is the best example.
Coxie was also a renowned portrait painter. He created the effigy of Christina of Denmark (Allen Memorial Art Museum, inventory number 1953.270) and his self-portrait as Saint George, wearing the same armor as Emperor Charles V during the Battle of Mühlberg in 1548 in a painting by Titian (Prado Museum, P00410, noticed by Roel Renmans, Flickr, February 23, 2015), in the left wing of the triptych of Saint George (Royal Museum of Fine Arts, Antwerp, 373). He probably also created a copy of the mentioned equestrian portrait of the Emperor by Titian. In the National Museum in Warsaw there is an intriguing painting of a naked woman, created by Michiel Coxie's entourage, perhaps his workshop (oil on panel, 60 x 49 cm, M.Ob.2158 MNW, formerly 2007 Tc/71). It was purchased in 1971 from Stanisława Kozłowska ("Acquisitions du départment d'art étranger 1970-1981" by Jan Białostocki, p. 101, item 93). The style of this work is the same as the portrait of Queen Barbara Radziwill as Madonna with sleeping Child sold in 2020 (oil on panel, 95 x 76 cm, Sotheby's London, September 23, 2020, lot 33). The face is also the same, as if the painter used the same set of study drawings to create both works. It is said to represent the penitent Saint Mary Magdalene, because in some copies the woman was depicted with the typical attribute of this saint - an alabaster box of ointment (Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art). The painting was aquired before 1979. Some copies are attributed to Bernaert de Ryckere (private collection, 70 x 50 cm) or, more idealized, to Florentine school (private collection, 62 x 52 cm). The version in the Louvre, acquired from unknown collection in Nice in 1946 (oil on panel, 73 x 55 cm, RF 1946 9), is attributed to Flemish painter. The female figure in paintings is interpreted differently as Mary Magdalene, Bathsheba, Lucretia or Cleopatra. In some cases this is supported by the corresponding attributes, but in other cases the figure appears without other explanatory objects. Researchers generally attribute the works to Frans Floris, Michiel Coxie or Vincent Sellaer and their workshops. It is possible that the original was made by an Italian or more precisely Venetian painter, because Flemish painters copied or were inspired by their works. A copy of the Allegory of Love (Naked woman and a man with mirrors) by workshop of Titian (original in National Gallery of Art, Washington), identified as disguised portraits of Alfonso I d'Este and Laura Dianti or Federico Gonzaga and Isabella Boschetti, sold in 1992, is attributed to Michiel Coxie (Dorotheum Vienna, March 18, 1992, lot 64). A very similar mirror composition was sold in Berlin in 2020 (oil on panel, 45.5 x 32 cm, Galerie Bassenge, November 26, 2020, lot 6003). But the woman's face is different. She is also much older than the woman in the Warsaw painting. There are no attributes, which is why the image is interpreted as a representation of Venus - an aging Venus in the posture of the chaste Venus Pudica. This would ultimately mean that the work could be interpreted as a hidden allegory of vanity. It is difficult to determine today which version might be original, but assuming that both painters created copies of the same composition, we would have to conclude that the paintings depict mother and daughter. The younger woman in the Warsaw painting looks at her mother, who in turn looks at the viewer. Therefore, the older woman is the mother of Queen Barbara and the she resembles the effigies of Barbara Kolanka (d. 1550) by Lucas Cranach the Elder. Such depictions were popular in the mid-16th century and frequently a general resemblance and context are enough to determine the model, as in the case of the portrait of Diane de Poitiers (1499-1566), favorite of King Henry II of France as half-naked Pax, goddess of peace (Allegory of Peace), by School of Fontainebleau (Museo Nazionale del Bargello in Florence). Other examples include several "disguised" nude portraits by Agnolo Bronzino, such as the portrait of Cosimo I de' Medici (1519-1574), Grand Duke of Tuscany as Orpheus (Philadelphia Museum of Art), portrait of Andrea Doria (1466-1560) as Neptune (Pinacoteca di Brera in Milan), Descent of Christ into Limbo with several contemporary portraits (Basilica of Santa Croce in Florence) and portrait of sixteen-year-old cardinal Giovanni de' Medici the Younger (1543-1562) as Saint John the Baptist (Galleria Borghese in Rome). Since the 17th century, many paintings from the Radziwill collection have been transferred to Berlin by different means. The inventory of paintings from the collection of Princess Louise Charlotte Radziwill (1667-1695), who lived in Berlin, Königsberg and Heidelberg, drawn up in 1671, lists numerous representations of this type, such as a large panel with a naked woman (794) and several effigies of Saint Mary Magdalene (357, 369, 531, 792, 855, 867) (after "Inwentarz galerii obrazów Radziwiłłów z XVII w." by Teresa Sulerzyska). In the context of known comments about Barbara Radziwill and her mother, while likely exaggerated, these effigies also appear accurate. Stanisław Orzechowski, wrote that Sigismund Augustus "wants to seek his strength and courage from his wife in the service of Venus" and stated, among other things, that Barbara "had a mother about whom people always said bad things because of her lechery, her immodesty, poisoning and witchcraft" and the royal courtier Stanisław Bojanowski added that Barbara "continued to rouging her face to deceive us until [her] last breath", even when it was clear that the illness could not be cured (after "Nieprzyzwoite małżeństwo" by Anna Odrzywolska, p. 69). 
Portrait of Barbara Kolanka as Venus Pudica by Vincent Sellaer, ca. 1545-1550, Private collection.
Portrait of Barbara Radziwill as Venus Pudica by circle of Michiel Coxie, ca. 1545-1550, National Museum in Warsaw.
Judgment of Paris with portraits of Hedwig Jagiellon and members of her family by workshop Lucas Cranach the Elder or Lucas Cranach the Younger
On February 15, 1545 the double wedding was celebrated with great splendor in Berlin. Princess Sophie of Legnica (1525-1546), the daughter of Frederick II (1480-1547), Duke of Legnica, Brzeg, and Wołów, and his second wife, Sophia of Brandenburg-Ansbach (1485-1537), married John George of Brandenburg (1525-1598), son of Magdalena of Saxony (1507-1534) and Joachim II Hector (1505-1571), Elector of Brandenburg, while the sister of John George, Barbara (1527-1595), married George (1523-1586), brother of Sophie of Legnica. The marriage cemented the alliance of the Silesian Piasts and the Hohenzollerns concluded on October 18, 1537 in Legnica with the betrothal of the princely children.
The two brides, Sophie (granddaughter of Sophia Jagiellon, Margravine of Brandenburg-Ansbach) and Barbara (granddaughter of Barbara Jagiellon, Duchess of Saxony), and the incumbent Electress of Brandenburg - Hedwig Jagiellon (1513-1573) were related. Hedwig was the second wife of Joachim II Hector and they had six children - their first son, Sigismund (1538-1566), future Bishop of Magdeburg and Halberstadt, was named after Hedwig's father. After Joachim II introduced the evangelical faith in the electorate, the electress continued to be Catholic. At the beginning of 1551 (according to other sources in autumn of 1549), Joachim II and Hedwig traveled to the forest of Schorfheide near Berlin for a boar hunt. The electoral couple lived at Grimnitz hunting lodge. On January 7, 1551, when they went for a walk on the upper floor in the morning, the rotten floor collapsed beneath them and Hedwig fell into the room below. She allegedly refused medical treatment out of modesty. Although the electress recovered, her pelvis, feet and hips were so badly injured that she had to use crutches for the rest of her life. Joachim, who hung between two beams, on which he leaned with his hands and arms, was saved from falling by a servant. He became disgusted with his crippled wife, and he took concubines. The electress reconciled with her husband nine years later, in 1560, when the celebration of the silver wedding coincided with the marriage of their second daughter, Hedwig (1540-1602), to Julius of Brunswick-Lüneburg (1528-1589), stepson of Sophia Jagiellon (1522-1575), Duchess of Brunswick. Instead of Christian compassion, mean people were spreading rumors about God's punishment, because the electress was Catholic and foreigner, not speaking German (at least at the beginning). The elector's younger brother, Margrave Hans von Küstrin (1513-1571), a staunch Lutheran, even claimed that this terrible accident happened after two images of the Virgin Mary made of gold or silver from the Treasury of Berlin Cathedral (possibly Ruthenian or Byzantine icons of the Virgin Hodegetria) were brought to Hedwig and she and her court ladies fell down with the images. He described the accident in a letter to Andrzej I Górka (1500-1551), castellan of Poznań, which was in the Archives of the Prussian Royal Family in Berlin (after "Jagiellonki polskie w XVI wieku", Volume 3, p. 282). He also added that "the floor was not rotten or damaged anywhere, not even where it had collapsed" and that "two or three days before the accident, a great light appeared in the sky above the Grimnitz house" (Es ist aber sonsten der Boden an diesem gebew an keinem ort verstockt, verfault und schadhafft gewesen, auch an den enden nicht do er eingangen. Item ein zwen oder drey tage zuvor, ehe denn diese Ding gescheen, bey der nacht, hatt sich ueber dem hause Grimnitz, so weit sich allein desselben Vmbkreiss erstreckt, ein grosser luchter glanz um Himmell erhoben). According to other legend, it was not an accident but an attempt on the life of the elector prepared by Hedwig's lover, a Polish nobleman, guest of the princely couple. He had maliciously sawed the floorboards in order to eliminate his rival. Seized with remorse after an unexpected result of his action, he becomes a hermit (after "Allgemeine Encyklopädie der Wissenschaften und Künste" from 1871, Volume 1, Issue 91, p. 352). In Grimnitz, Joachim II met the beautiful wife of the gun and bell foundry master, who was therefore known as the "beautiful foundrywoman" (Die Schöne Gießerin), Anna Dieterich née Sydow, and made her his mistress. Her husband, Michael Dieterich, who died in 1561, was the last manager of the electoral foundry in Grimnitz. Anna Sydow lived for many years in the Grunewald hunting lodge, which Joachim built in 1542-1543, and bore him two children. The affair with her allegedly started after the accident, although there is no clear evidence for this, so they could meet much earlier. Very little is known about Hedwig's life. As a Polish-Lithuanian, woman and Catholic she was not highly esteemed in Brandenburg's historiography. She accompanied her husband to the Imperial Diets - in 1541 in Regensburg, and in 1547 in Augsburg. She corresponded with her half-sister Isabella, Queen of Hungary and her half-brother Sigismund Augustus. In a letter dated Warsaw, September 17, 1571 (today at the Wawel Royal Castle), written in ink with particles of gold, Sigismund Augustus called her the "Infanta of the Kingdom of Poland, Marchioness of Brandenburg" (Illvstrissimæ Principi dominæ Heduigi, Dei gratia Infanti Regni Poloniæ Marchionisæ Brandemburgensi ...). In her last known portrait she is very obese, little more than her husband, probably because of the difficulty in walking. It was created in 1562 by Italian painter Giovanni Battista Perini (Parine) as a counterpart to the portrait of Joachim II (Berlin City Museum, VII 60/642x), however, it is known from a later copy made in 1620 by Heinrich Bollandt (Berlin Palace, Berliner Schloss, oil on panel, 103 x 76 cm, inv. GK I 1088, inscription: V G G / Hedewig aus Königklichen Stamb Polen ...), which was lost during World War II. As for the brides of the 1545 double wedding, Sophie of Legnica died a few days after the birth of her son Joachim Frederick (1546-1608), his father's successor as Elector of Brandenburg. Barbara become the Duchess of Brzeg in 1547. She bore her husband seven children, five daughters ad two sons, and when George II died in 1586, after forty-one years of marriage, he left the Duchy of Brzeg to his wife as her dower with the full sovereignty over this land until her own death. George II's fascination with the Italianate court of the Jagiellons is reflected in the architecture of the "Silesian Wawel" - the Piast Castle in Brzeg. Arcaded courtyard of the castle was built between 1547 and 1560 by Giovanni Battista de Pario and his son Francesco, while the main gate was adorned with effigies of Silesian Piasts. Sculptors Andreas Walther and Jakob Warter created busts of George II's ancestors and the coat of arms of the Kingdom of Poland that crown the gate - although George II was a vassal of the Habsburgs, he opposed their absolutist policy in Silesia. They also carved the full-length effigies of the Duke and his wife above the portal (1551-1553). The tapestries that George and Barbara commissioned between 1567 and 1586 resemble the famous Jagiellonian tapestries (Wawel Arrases) and indicate that in the field of arts and patronage almost everything in Brzeg was like in Kraków. In the Grunewald hunting lodge in Berlin there is a large painting by workshop Lucas Cranach the Elder or Lucas Cranach the Younger, depicting the Judgment of Paris (oil on panel, 209.5 x 107.2 cm, GK I 1185). It is similar to allegorical portraits of Dukes of Legnica-Brzeg, Ziębice-Oleśnica and Lubin in the scene of the Judgement of Paris from the 1520s, identified by me, however, it was created much later - dated variably between 1540-1545. The painting is one of four panels, which belonged to Elector Joachim II and were in 1793 in the Berlin Palace. The woman in the center of the composition is the goddess Venus, the most beautiful of the goddesses that Paris will judge. She looks at the viewer. This is undoubtedly a "disguised portrait" of a woman, who, most likely, commissioned this painting. She knows perfectly well who will win this contest, however, she puts her hand on the armour of a man portrayed as Paris as if to say stop, you should follow your heart and choose someone else. The old man behind her represents Mercury, a messenger of the gods. He raises his staff with which he strikes Paris on the chest, warning him of female seduction with a loud cry and urging him to make a careful decision. Cupid, god of affection and desire, points his arrow at the young woman near Mercury. Venus in this painting has the features of Electress Hedwig Jagiellon, as in the painting by Hans Krell in the same collection or in many paintings by Lucas Cranach the Elder and his workshop. Consequently Mercury is Duke Frederick II of Legnica-Brzeg, who in earlier painings was depicted as Paris, the second goddess is his daughter Sophie of Legnica and Paris is her husband John George of Brandenburg - his features match his effigy by Lucas Cranach the Younger in Dresden (Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, inventory number 1949). The third goddess is Barbara of Brandenburg, John George's sister and future Duchess of Brzeg. This painting is therefore a commemoration of the double marriage and alliance with the Piasts of Silesia. Similar Judgement of Paris by follower of Lucas Cranach the Elder was also in Berlin (oil on panel, 50.5 x 34 cm, private collection before 2009), however, only Hedwig is identifiable on the right. Other people are different. Paris looks at Venus-Hedwig and another woman holds her hand on his arm and points to his heart, while Cupid points his arrow to her heart. So this is most likely Hedwig's husband Elector Joachim II and his new mistress and the painting was commissioned to sanction this new relationship. The third woman in the scene is most likely Sophie of Legnica, as a very similar effigy can be seen in another large panel from the mentioned series from the Berlin Palace. She is holding the shoes of Bathsheba in the scene of Bathsheba at the bath (oil on panel, 208 x 106 cm, GK I 1186), similar to the painting by Cranach from 1526, most likely from Hedwig's dowry, depicting her father Sigismund I, his wife Bona and mistress Katarzyna Telniczanka in the same scene (Gemäldegalerie in Berlin). Bathsheba could be therefore a portrait of Joachim's mistress - Anna Sydow, while he was portrayed as the biblical King David. Barbara of Brandenburg was also depicted in other painting by Cranach. Lucretia from the collection of Hans Grisebach in Berlin, attributed to Lucas Cranach the Elder or his son Cranach the Younger, has her features, similar to the painting from the Berlin Palace and her statue from the Brzeg Castle. It was inspired by the iconic image of Bona Sforza, Queen of Poland created a decade earlier, which was praised by Andrzej Krzycki (1482-1537), Archbishop of Gniezno in his epigram "On Lucretia depicted more lasciviously" (In Lucretiam lascivius depictam). Also in the field of portraiture, the dukes of Legnica-Brzeg inspired strongly by the Polish royal court. Protestantism opposed such "lasciviousness", so most likely in the second half of the 16th century, as the style indicates, she was dressed. This overpaint (dress) was removed after 1974. 
Judgment of Paris with portraits of Hedwig Jagiellon (1513-1573), Sophie of Legnica (1525-1546), Barbara of Brandenburg (1527-1595), Frederick II of Legnica-Brzeg (1480-1547) and John George of Brandenburg (1525-1598) by workshop Lucas Cranach the Elder or Lucas Cranach the Younger, ca. 1545, Grunewald hunting lodge.
Judgment of Paris with portraits of Hedwig Jagiellon (1513-1573) and members of her family by follower of Lucas Cranach the Elder, ca. 1545-1550, Private collection.
Bathsheba at the bath with portraits of Sophie of Legnica (1525-1546), Joachim II Hector (1505-1571) and, most probably, Anna Sydow by workshop Lucas Cranach the Elder or Lucas Cranach the Younger, ca. 1545-1550, Grunewald hunting lodge.
Portrait of Barbara of Brandenburg (1527-1595), Duchess of Brzeg as Lucretia by workshop Lucas Cranach the Elder or Lucas Cranach the Younger, ca. 1545-1550, Private collection.
Portrait of Electress Hedwig Jagiellon (1513-1573) by Heinrich Bollandt after Giovanni Battista Perini, 1620 after original from 1562, Berlin Palace, lost during World War II. Virtual reconstruction, © Marcin Latka
Portrait of Stanisław Orzechowski by Giovanni Cariani
"My homeland is Ruthenia, located on the Tyras River, which the inhabitants of the coastal area call the Dniester, at the foot of the Carpathian Mountains, the range of which separates Sarmatia from Hungary", begins his autobiography Stanisław Orzechowski or Stanislaus Orichovius (1513-1566), a nobleman of Oksza coat of arms. He wrote these words in 1564 at the request of Giovanni Francesco Commendone (1523-1584), Venetian bishop and papal legate to Poland (letter of December 10, 1564 from Radymno). In a letter of August 15, 1549 from Przemyśl (Datae Premisliae, oppido Russiae, die Assumptionis beatae Virginis, anno Christi Dei nostri 1549) to Paolo Ramusio (Paulus Rhamnusius), secretary of the Council of Ten in Venice, he adds that "my country, harsh and uncouth, which has always worshiped Mars, but has only recently begun to worship Minerva. For Ruthenia previously did not differ much in lineage and customs from the Scythians with whom it borders, however, having relations with the Greeks, from whom it adopted the confession and faith, it abandoned its Scythian harshness and savagery, and now it is gentle, calm and fertile, it is very fond of Latin and Greek literature" (after "Orichoviana ..." by Józef Korzeniowski, Volume 1, pp. 281, 587).
Educated at the universities of Kraków (1526), Vienna (1527), Wittenberg (1529), Padua (1532), Bologna (1540) and continuing his studies in Rome and Venice, Orzechowski was a typical representative of Polish-Lithuanian diversity. He was born on November 11, 1513, in Przemyśl or nearby Orzechowce. Stanisław was very proud of his Ruthenian origins and described himself as gente Roxolani, natione vero Poloni (of Ruthenian/Roxolanian origin, Polish nationality), however, he wrote mainly in Latin. On July 5, 1525, at the age of 12, he was ordained a Catholic priest and became a canon of Przemyśl. In 1543, shortly after return to Poland, he was excommunicated by Bishop Stanisław Tarło for having many incompatible benefices and for his absence at the diocesan synod. A few years later, in 1547, the new bishop of Przemyśl, Jan Dziaduski, accused Orzechowski, who had offspring with his concubine Anna Zaparcianka (Anuchna z Brzozowa), of maintaining a scandalous life. In 1550 Stanisław arranged a wedding for a Catholic priest Marcin Krowicki and Magdalena Pobiedzińska in Urzejowice. A year later, in 1551, he himself married in Lścin with a 16-year-old noblewoman, Magdalena Chełmska, for which Bishop Dziaduski excommunicated Orzechowski. He corresponded frequently with King Sigismund Augusus, Nicolaus "the Black" Radziwill, Jan Amor Tarnowski and his son Jan Krzysztof, Piotr Kmita, Jakub Uchański and wrote letters to Cardinal Alessandro Farnese (letters dated May 1, 1549 and January 15, 1566 from Przemyśl), Pope Julius III (letter dated May 11, 1551 from Przemyśl) and King Ferdinand (letter dated September 7, 1553 from Kraków). Orzechowski's speech at the funeral of King Sigismund I was published in Kraków in 1548 (Funebris oratio: habita a Stanislao Orichovio ...) and then in the same year in Venice with coat of arms of Queen Bona Sforza on the title page (Stanilai Orichouii Rhuteni Ornata et copiosa oratio ...), printed by Paolo Ramusio and republished in 1559 also in Venice, in the collection Orationes clarorum virorum. In a letter from Venice of 1548, Ramusio asked Orzechowski to send him his other works through Bona's secretary, Vitto Paschalis (Reverendi Domini Vitti Paschalis Serenissimae Reginae Bonae a secretis). No effigy of Orzechowski made during his lifetime is known. The portrait published in Starożytności Galicyjskie in Lviv in 1840 (lithography by Teofil Żychowicz) depicts a man in mid-17th century costume, thus almost a century after his death (1566). In 2022 a portrait of a bearded man holding his right hand on a helmet and left hand on a sword, attributed to circle of Titian, was sold in Paris (oil on canvas, 94 x 75 cm, Hotel Drouot, June 17, 2022, lot 18). The painting comes from the collection of Achille Chiesa in Milan (sold at American Art Galleries in New York, 22-23 November 1927, lot 117, as Portrait of a Warrior) and already in 1927 it was not in a very good state of preservation. At the top right-hand corner is the name of the personage the portrait represents, but unfortunately no longer legible. His face was slightly altered during the restoration, however, the style of the portrait, particularly the way the hands were painted, allows the painting to be attributed to Giovanni Cariani (d. 1547), also known as Giovanni Busi or Il Cariani, active in Venice and Bergamo near Milan. According to the Latin dates visible on some old reproductions, the man was 32 years old in 1545 (ÆTAT SVÆ ANNO / XXXII / MD.XLV), exactly like Stanisław Orzechowski, who a year earlier, in 1544, published in Kraków his two important works - the "Baptism of the Ruthenians. Bull on not rebaptizing Ruthenians" (Baptismus Ruthenorum. Bulla de non rebaptisandis Ruthenis) and Ad Sigismundum Poloniae Regem Turcica Secunda calling for solidarity from Christian Europe against the Ottoman Empire. In 1545, Orzechowski was accused of beating to death a subject of bishop Dziaduski from Przysieczna and the nobleman in the painting has a pose as if ready to defend himself by any means. His helmet, although generally resembling some Renaissance burgonets, is very unusual, and the closest analogy can be found with the helmets discovered in Scythian burial mounds (compare "The Scythians 700–300 BC" by E.V. Cernenko). The man holds it because it was probably found near his place of origin, it is therefore a precious memento of the ancient inhabitants of this land and an important symbol. 
Portrait of Stanisław Orzechowski (1513-1566), aged 32 by Giovanni Cariani, 1545, Private collection.
Portrait of Stanisław Karnkowski by Jacopo Tintoretto
Stanisław Karnkowski of Junosza coat of arms was born on May 10, 1520 in Karnkowo near Włocławek, as a son of Tadeusz vel Dadźbog, heir of Karnków and Elżbieta Olszewska from Kanigów. As a young man, he left his family home and went to his uncle, the bishop of Włocławek, Jan Karnkowski (1472-1537). It was him who owes Karnkowski his early education.
In 1539 he began studies at the Kraków Academy. After graduating, in 1545, he went to Italy for further education - first to Perugia, and then to Padua, where he completed his studies with a doctorate utriusque iuris. He also studied in Wittenberg, where he became acquainted with the teachings of Luther. After returning from studies in 1550, he became the secretary of the bishop of Chełmno and then of Jan Drohojowski, bishop of Włocławek. In 1555 he became the secretary of King Sigismund Augustus, from 1558 he was the Grand Referendary of the Crown and in 1563 he became the Grand Secretary, and later Bishop of Kuyavia from 1567, Archbishop of Gniezno and Primate of Poland from 1581. He served as regent of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (Interrex) in 1586-1587, after death of king Stephen Bathory. Karnkowski amassed one of the wealthiest Polish libraries in the late 16th and early 17th century, comprising according to some estimates 322 books, some of which he acquired during his studies abroad, like Consilia Ludouici Romani by Lodovico Pontano, published in 1545 (Archdiocese Archives in Gniezno). The portrait of young man in a black costume buttoned to a high collar and holding his right forearm on a column-base, was first recorded in the Great Cabinet at Kensington Palace in 1720 as Titian. It is now thought to be Tintoretto's earliest dated work. According to inscription in Latin on a column-base the man was 25 years old in 1545 (AN XXV / 1545), exactly as Stanisław Karnkowski, when he began his studies in Italy. He resemble greatly Karnkowski from his portrait when bishop of Włocławek, created between 1567-1570 by unknown painter (Higher Seminary in Włocławek), and as Primate of Poland in green cassock (Archbishop's Palace in Gniezno), painted in 1600 by Monogrammist I.S. In private collection in Switzerland, there is reduced copy of this effigy also attributed to Jacopo Tintoretto. 
Portrait of Stanisław Karnkowski (1520-1603), aged 25 by Jacopo Tintoretto, 1545, Kensington Palace.
Portrait of Stanisław Karnkowski (1520-1603), aged 25 by Jacopo Tintoretto, ca. 1545, Private collection.
Portraits of Stanisław Spytek Tarnowski by Tintoretto
"Stanislaus Count of Tarnów, a man of the most perfect gifts of mind, body and fortune, born in the first noble family, having traveled through Hungary, Moesia, Macedonia, Greece, Syria, Judea, Arabia, Egypt, Italy, and Germany as a youth, and having received the insignia of the holy service from the Pontiff and the Emperor and the excellent honors from Christian and Turkish princes, he returned home and he was decorated with the highest honors by King Sigismund" (Stanislao Comiti a Tarnow viri animi corporis et fortunae dotibus absolutissimo, qui primaria ortus familia, adolescens Hungaria, Moesia, Macedonia, Graecia, Syria, Judaea, Arabia, Aegypto, Italia, Germania peragratis, ac utriusque sanctae militiae insignis a Pontifice et Imperatore acceptis praeclarisque honorariis Principibus tam Christianis quam Turcicis onustus domum rediens, a rego Sigismundo summis honoribus est exornatus) is a fragment of a Latin inscription, which was in the upper part of the tomb monument of Stanisław Spytek Tarnowski (1514-1568), voivode of Sandomierz in the church in Chroberz between Kraków and Kielce.
This magnificent monument, considered one of the best in Poland, was founded in 1569 by Stanisław's wife, Barbara Drzewicka (Barbara de Drzewicza), niece of primate Maciej Drzewicki (1467-1535). The inscription in lower part commemorates the foundation and informs that Stanisław lived 53 years and nearly seven months and died in the castle in Krzeszów nad Sanem on April 6, 1568, third hour of the following night (Vixit annos LIII menses fere septem obyt in arce Krzessow [...] MDLXVIII sexta aprilis hora tertia noctis seqventis). The deceased was portrayed in the fashionable "Sansovino pose", sleeping above the sarcophagus in richly decorated renaissance armour. Behind the figure of the voivode, the center of the arcade is filled with a cartouche with his coats of arms including the cross of the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre and the attributes of Saint Catherine of Alexandria, commemorating his pilgrimage to the Holy Land and Saint Catherine's Monastery on Mount Sinai. On both sides of the arcade there are panoplies (armours, breatplates, helmets, pistols, lances, kettledrums), and above them niches with sculptures of St. Michael the Archangel and Samson tearing the lion's mouth. The latter statue is the most unusual among many sculptures in this monument and it is also identified with Benaiah, son of Jehoiada, captain of King David's guard, who supported Solomon and became commander of his army (after "Nagrobki w Chrobrzu ..." by Witold Kieszkowski, p. 123). His Roman costume with anatomical armour (lorica musculata) of a centurion, also make him close to Hercules slaying the Nemean lion. The monument is attributed to the most eminent sculptor of the Polish Renaissance - Jan Michałowicz of Urzędów or his workshop. Stanisław was a son of Jan Spytek Tarnowski and Barbara Szydłowiecka, niece of Krzysztof, Great Chancellor of the Crown. In the 1530s, perhaps together with his father, he undertook a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. In 1537, he was appointed the Sword-bearer of the Crown, starost of Sieradz and the castellan of Zawichost in 1547. He became the Great Treasurer of the Crown in 1555 and in 1561 voivode of Sandomierz. Before 1538 he married Barbara and they have seven children - six daughters and one son. Around 1552, he bought Chroberz and Kozubów for 70,000 florins from the Tęczyński family and founded the church in Chroberz. The rich medieval castles of Chroberz and Krzeszów, which he undoubtedly rebuilt in Renaissance style, like all similar magnates of the time, were both destroyed. In 2017, during the 7th Beijing International Art Biennale at the National Art Museum of China, a "Commander in ancient armour" by Jacopo Tintoretto (oil on canvas, 220 x 120 cm) from a private collection was exhibited. Earlier, in 2015, it was also part of the "Images of a Genius. The Face of Leonardo" exhibition at Huashan Creative Park in Taipei, Taiwan. At that time the arrangement of his left foot was modified by the restorers. The man wears rich Roman-style armour, the heroic anatomical cuirass, designed to mimic an idealized male human physique, and caligae sandals. His golden cassis helmet is decorated with rich reliefs. His sword however is not a typical gladius of a Roman soldier, it is more of an oriental saber, so he is more of an Eastern warrior, like the Sarmatians, the legendary invaders of Slavic lands in antiquity and the alleged ancestors of nobles of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. This portrait is dated 1545 in the catalogues and according to the Latin inscription the model was 31 years old when it was painted (ÆTATIS SVÆ / AÑ XXXI), exactly like Stanisław Spytek Tarnowski, who according to some sources was born in October 1514 (after "Hetman Jan Tarnowski ..." by Włodzimierz Dworzaczek, p. 375). As a pilgrim to the Holy Land, like many other pilgrims from Poland-Lithuania, he undoubtedly embarked on a ship in Venice. It is possible that he visited the city in 1545, but it is more likely that he commissioned his portrait in the Republic of Venice based on study drawings sent from Poland. The same man was also depicted in another portrait by Tintoretto, bust-length, in a black coat lined with fur (oil on canvas, 50.2 x 35 cm). It was sold in 2002 (Christie's New York, January 25, 2002, lot 27) and comes from the collection of Prince Adam Jerzy Czartoryski (1770-1861) in Paris. The collections of the Czartoryski family, dispersed after the insurrection of 1830, were secretly taken to Paris, where Adam's wife, Zofia Anna Sapieha, purchased the Hôtel Lambert in 1843. He also figures in another portrait by Tintoretto, now in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna (oil on canvas, 73 x 65 cm, GG 11). This painting is dated around 1547/1548 and is identifiable in the Imperial collection in Vienna in 1816. After the Partitions of Poland (1772-1795), when Vienna became the new capital for nobles in southern Poland, many moved their art collections there. It is also possible that the portrait was sent to Vienna already in the 16th century - in 1547 Stanisław Spytek become the castellan of Zawichost near Sandomierz and his relative, Jan Amor Tarnowski (1488-1561), obtained from the emperor the title of count related to the possession in southern Poland. Despite huge losses to Polish art collections due to wars, invasions and the subsequent impoverishment of the country, some works by Venetian painters, including Tintoretto, survived destruction, confiscations and evacuations. One such painting is Narcissus by Tintoretto from around 1560, acquired in 2017 by the National Museum in Wrocław from a private collector. In the 19th century it was a property of Otto Hausner (1827-1890) in Lviv. Although the Galician art collector could acquire this painting during his travels in Western Europe and especially in Italy, he more likely bought it in Poland or Ukraine. Lviv, capital of the Ruthenian Voivodeship, was an important economic center of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, with significant Italian influences and community, and wealthy nobles and patricians frequently commissioned and purchased such paintings from abroad. When it comes to portraiture, secular art and European Old Masters, many art historians want to see pre-19th century Poland as an artistic desert, but surviving inventories and other documents from the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries prove that this was not the case. 
Portrait of Stanisław Spytek Tarnowski (1514-1568), aged 31, in ancient armour by Tintoretto, 1545, Private collection.
Portrait of Stanisław Spytek Tarnowski (1514-1568) from the Czartoryski collection by Tintoretto, ca. 1545, Private collection.
Portrait of Stanisław Spytek Tarnowski (1514-1568) by Tintoretto, 1547/1548, Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna.
Narcissus from Hausner collection in Lviv by Tintoretto, ca. 1560, National Museum in Wrocław.
Portraits of Erazm Kretkowski by Lucas Cranach the Younger and Giovanni Cariani
"Here lies Kretkowski, where fate has led you, When you explored all the lands and all the seas around you, Without tiring your limbs with toil, You traversed the swift Ganges and the icy waves of Borysthenes [Dniester River], The Tagus and the Rhine, the two-armed Istria And the seven twin gates of the Nile. Now you will see the great Olympus And the ethereal houses, where, mingled with the gods, you laugh At the cares and hopes and lamentations of men" (HIC TE CRETCOVI MORS ET TVA FATA MANEBANT / CVM TERRAS OMNES ET CVM MARIA OMNIA CIRCVM / LVSTRARES NVLLO DEFESSVS MEMBRA LABORE / TE RAPIDVS GANGES GELIDÆQ. BORISTENSIS VNDÆ / TE TAGVS ET RHÆNVS TE RIPA BINOMINIS ISTRI / ET SEPTAGEMINI NOVERVNT OSTIA NILI / NVNC CONCESSISTI MAGNVM VISVRVS OLYMPVM / ÆTHEREASQ. DOMOS VBI DIIS IMMISTVS INANES / ET CVRAS ET SPES HOMINVM LAMENTAQ. RIDES.), reads the so-called Epitaphium Cretcovii in the Basilica of St. Anthony in Padua - Latin epitaph written by poet Jan Kochanowski and dedicated to Erazm Kretkowski (1508-1558). It is one of the first known poetic texts of the poet who, in the spring of 1558, traveled for the third time to Italy.
Kretkowski, castellan of Gniezno, died in Padua in the Republic of Venice on May 16, 1558 at the age of 50, according to the first part of the inscription on his epitaph (ANN. ÆTAT. SVÆ QVINQVAG. OBIIT PATAV. DIE MAII XVI M D L VIII), at the beginning of another longer journey. His beautiful epitaph with bronze bust was probably made by Francesco Segala (ca. 1535-1592), a sculptor active in Venice and Padua, who served the court of Guglielmo Gonzaga in Mantua, or Agostino Zoppo (d. 1572), active in Padua and Venice. It was created before 1560 and probably founded by his cousin, Jerzy Rokitnicki. His bust depicts a relatively young man, around 30 or 40 years old, so it was based on an earlier effigy, miniature, drawing, portrait or less likely a statue also by a Venetian artist, for in 1538, at the age 30 years old, Kretkowski was a Polish-Lithuanian envoy to the Ottoman Empire and he undoubtedly visited Venice. In 1538 he also became castellan of Brześć Kujawski and his hairstyle is typical of the late 1530s - e.g. portrait of a young groom from the Rava family by Lucas Cranach the Elder, dated '1539' (Museu de Arte de São Paulo). Besides being a traveler and an explorer, as mentioned in his epitaph, Erazm, son of Mikołaj Kretkowski, voivode of Inowrocław, and Anna Pampowska, daughter of Ambroży, voivode of Sieradz, was like his father a courtier at the royal court of Sigismund I and Bona Sforza. In 1534 he was engaged to Queen Bona's lady-in-waiting, Zuzanna Myszkowska, daughter of Marcin, castellan of Wieluń. However, the prenuptial agreement was broken by the bride's parents and Kretkowski remained unmarried until the end of his life. Thanks to the support of Queen Bona, Kretkowski received lucrative offices and dignities from the king. In 1545 he was nominated for the voivode of Brześć Kujawski, however, this nomination was annulled, and from 1546 he was the starost of Pyzdry. He was the superior of Greater Poland customs (1547) and from 1551 he held the office of castellan of Gniezno. Soon, however, Kretkowski found himself in opposition to Queen Bona, because with a group of magnates he supported the marriage of the young king Sigismund Augustus with his mistress Barbara Radziwill (after "Pomnik Erazma Kretkowskiego ..." by Jerzy Kowalczyk, p. 56). In 1551 he was one of the commissioners for the Congress of Głogów to meet the commissioners of King Ferdinand of Austria and in 1555, together with Jan Drohojowski, Bishop of Włocławek, he was sent to Henry V, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, regarding his marriage to Princess Sophia Jagiellon. He therefore had good relations and connections in Germany. It is not known exactly when he visited India, Egypt or Istria in the Venetian Republic, however, he must have started his journey by boarding a ship in Venice. In the National Museum in Warsaw there is a portrait of a bearded man in a grey-black coat, attributed to Lucas Cranach the Younger (oil on panel, 64.5 x 49 cm, M.Ob.836). It comes from the collection of Carl Daniel Friedrich Bach (1756-1829), a German painter, draftsman and art teacher, who bequeathed the painting to the Silesian Society for Patriotic Culture in Wrocław. After 1945 the painting was moved to Warsaw from the Nazi German Art Repository in Kamenz (Kamieniec Ząbkowicki) and earlier it was in the Silesian Museum of Fine Arts in Wrocław (inventory number 1284). It is not known where and how Bach acquired the painting, but from 1780 he was a painter in the service of Count Józef Maksymilian Ossoliński, a wealthy landowner, politician and historian, in Warsaw. In 1784 he accompanied Count Jan Potocki, an explorer, historian, novelist and diplomat, on his journey to the Netherlands, France and Italy and between 1786-1792, at Potocki's expense, he studied, initially in Rome and later in Portici. He stayed in Paris, Venice, Vienna and Berlin. According to the Latin inscription in the upper left corner of the painting, the man in the portrait was 38 years old in 1546, when the painting was created (1546 / ANNO ÆTATIS SVÆ. XXXVIII), exactly like Kretkowski when he became the starost of Pyzdry. He celebrated important events in his life with portraiture, as evidenced by the prototype of his bronze bust. However, in such a portrait for private use or for his family or close friends, he does not need to recall that he was a nobleman of the Dołęga coat of arms and starost of Pyzdry, as in the epitaph for the general public. The reminder of the date of creation and his age was sufficient. The man in the portrait closely resembles the features depicted in his bust. A study drawing to this or another portrait of the starost of Pyzdry is in the Museum of Fine Arts in Reims (distemper on paper, 36.5 x 24.7 cm, 795.1.276). It was acquired in 1752 by the City of Reims, together with a set of other study drawings by Cranach and his studio, including the effigy of Philip I, Duke of Pomerania from around 1541 (795.1.266). The man has the same expression on his lips, although his beard is shorter. The same man, with a longer beard and wearing a black cap was depicted in another painting, which was sold in 2012 in Boston (oil on canvas, 75.5 x 63.5 cm, sold at Bonhams Skinner, May 18, 2012, lot 202), as by Italian school. The painting was purchased from Harris & Holt Antiques, West Yorkshire in England and was previously attributed to Titian or his circle. The style of the painting is closest to that of Giovanni Busi il Cariani, who died in Venice in 1547. The man wears a similar grey-black coat, as in painting by Cranach, but in this version it is lined with expensive fur. Although it is likely that Kretkowski visited both workshops, in Wittenberg and Venice, it is more likely that, like Queen Bona, he was painted by a member of the workshop sent to Poland to prepare study drawings. 
Preparatory drawing for a portrait of Erazm Kretkowski (1508-1558), starost of Pyzdry by Lucas Cranach the Younger or workshop, ca. 1546, Museum of Fine Arts in Reims.
Portrait of Erazm Kretkowski (1508-1558), starost of Pyzdry, aged 38 by Lucas Cranach the Younger, 1546, National Museum in Warsaw.
Portrait of Erazm Kretkowski (1508-1558), starost of Pyzdry by Giovanni Cariani, ca. 1546, Private collection.
Bronze bust of Erazm Kretkowski (1508-1558), castellan of Gniezno by Francesco Segala, before 1560, Basilica of Saint Anthony of Padua.
The Crucifixion from the high altar of Wawel Cathedral by Pietro degli Ingannati
Based on a thorough analysis of the style, historical and cultural context, researcher Paweł Pencakowski attributed the painting on the main altar of Wawel Cathedral, now in Bodzentyn (oil on panel, 520 x 270 cm), to the Venetian painter Pietro degli Ingannati, who was active from the early 1520s and whose last known dated work was created in 1548. However, Ingannati's presence in Sarmatia is not confirmed in the sources, as are all the other works he created for clients from Poland-Lithuania-Ruthenia. The painting was believed to have been created by a Venetian painter active at the court of Kraków, but the royal accounts mention the payments sent to Venice for its creation.
The initiator of the new altar in Wawel Cathedral, replacing the old one with medieval forms, was probably Samuel Maciejowski (1499-1550), who became Bishop of Kraków in April 1546. In 1547 he also received the great seal of the Chancellor of the Crown. Maciejowski, who began his career in 1518 as a notary to King Sigismund I and studied between 1522 and 1530 in Padua and Bologna, probably suggested this new foundation to the almost eighty-year-old king. The new bishop was a humanist, well-versed in Latin and Greek. On his initiative, a residence was built in Prądnik Biały (now part of Kraków) in 1547, where he gathered scientists and poets. Considered an opponent of Queen Bona and her courtiers, he gathered around him prominent figures of the time such as Stanisław Orzechowski, Benedykt Koźmińczyk, Łukasz Górnicki, the Spaniard Pedro Ruiz de Moros, and the Englishman Philip. Bishop Maciejowski spoke out in favor of the validity of the secret marriage of Sigismund Augustus, Bona's son, with his mistress Barbara Radziwill. The high altar (12.3 x 6.15 m) was probably designed by Giovanni Cini (d. 1565), a Sienese sculptor, who is also most likely the author of the structure's intricate floral decorations. The authorship of the sculptures, including two statues of Saints Stanislaus the Bishop and Wenceslaus (150 cm high), is attributed to the workshop of the Venetian sculptor Giovanni Maria Mosca, known as Padovano. The statues could also have been imported from abroad or executed by a sculptor trained in Germany (compare "Renesansowy ołtarz główny Bodzentynie", p. 108-109, 112-118, 139-141, 149). In the upper part, the coat of arms of King Sigismund I - a white eagle with the monogram S on its chest - was placed (on the left) accompanied by the coat of arms of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (on the right), later replaced by the coat of arms of Nałęcz of Bishop Piotr Gembicki (1585-1657). In July 1546, Stanisław Świątnicki, servant of the chapter dean Stanisław Borek, received 200 florins from the king for the construction of the cathedral altar, a sum he was to transfer to his lord. Shortly thereafter, a painting for the altar was also commissioned. Sigismund I asked his wife, Queen Bona Sforza, to commission a suitable painting for the new altarpiece through her agents in Venice. On August 9, Queen Bona received from the royal court treasury the sum of 159 florins, previously transferred to Venice by her agent, for paintings for the cathedral (In manus S. Reginalis Mtis pro imaginibus ad eccl. Cathedralem Crac. fl. 159/7, quos factor S. M. Reginalis Veneciis exposuit). The surviving accounts also mention other payments for the altar, mainly to Stanisław Borek (1474-1556), dean of the Kraków chapter from 1540 and supervisor of the work. Borek studied in Kraków, Bologna, and Rome. He was secretary to King Sigismund I the Old, a diplomat, and an envoy in the service of Bona (he traveled several times to Italy, as well as to Emperor Charles V, in the matter of the Duchy of Bari). On December 17, 1546, 200 florins were transferred to the queen as payment for the painter Peter the Italian, who was not in Poland, as it was necessary to act through such high-ranking intermediaries (Petro Italo pictori in manus S. Reginalis Mtis a labore et pictura imaginum ad altare maius in eccl. cathedrali Crac. fl. 200). The painting representing "The Crucifixion" is signed and dated: PETRVS VENETVS 1547, which confirms that Peter the Venetian (the Latin Petrus Venetus can be considered a translation of the name: Pietro Veneziano or Pietro da Venezia) executed it in 1547. It was probably delivered to Kraków in the spring of 1547. The altar, however, probably remained unfinished before the coronation of Queen Barbara Radziwill (December 7, 1550). The composition of the painting is consistent with the Venetian school, with a vibrant and rich use of colors (blue, orange, green and pink). However, the scene, rather dense, does not strictly adhere to the canons of classical Italian painting. Although well painted, the painting cannot be considered a masterpiece. Ingannati, whose works were inspired by those of Giovanni Bellini, Francesco Bissolo, and Palma il Vecchio, was a painter of much smaller, finely painted compositions. The painter, probably aged nearly 60, was undoubtedly helped by assistants. It is not known why he was chosen as the author of the painting. Given my findings regarding the portraits of Queen Bona, it is particularly interesting why Titian, Giovanni Cariani or Bernardino Licinio, who were authors of large altarpieces, did not receive the commission. Bishop Maciejowski's hostile attitude toward the queen may shed light on this point. The queen likely chose less experienced and less eminent painter for this commission, so the bishop, in constant conflict with her and the chapter, was not credited with the splendid artwork commissioned for his main temple. Moreover, the painters may have been commissioned to work for other clients, such as Titian, summoned by the emperor to Augsburg in 1547. This magnificent altar, crafted by Italian masters, served for nearly 100 years in Wawel Cathedral. In 1649, on the orders of Bishop Piotr Gembicki, it was dismantled and transported to the collegiate church in Kielce. Between 1726 and 1728, it was transferred to the church of St. Stanislaus in Bodzentyn, where it remains today. The painting by Pietro degli Ingannati is one of the oldest, largest and most important works of art commissioned in Venice that preserved in Poland. 
The Crucifixion from the high altar of Wawel Cathedral (between 1550 and 1649) by workshop of Pietro degli Ingannati, 1547, Church of St. Stanislaus in Bodzentyn.
Portrait of Barbara Radziwill in a blue dress, known as La Bella by Titian
In May 1543 22-year-old king Sigismund Augustus married his 16-year-old cousin Elizabeth of Austria. During the entry into Kraków for her coronation, the lords and knights of the Kingdom were dressed in all sorts of costumes including Italian, French and Venetian. The young Queen died just two years later failing to produce an heir to the throne. Sigismund Augustus commissioned for her a magnificent marble tomb monument from Paduan sculptor trainded in Venice, Giovanni Maria Mosca called Padovano. The king was hoping that his mistress, Barbara Radziwill, whom he intended to marry, would give him a child.
Portrait of a lady in a blue dress by Titian, known as La Bella is very similar to effigies of Barbara Radziwill, especially her portrait in Washington (National Gallery of Art, inv. 1939.1.230). The painting, now kept in the Pitti Palace, came to Florence in 1631 as part of the inheritance of Vittoria della Rovere (oil on canvas, 89 x 75.5 cm, inv. Palatina 18 / 1912). It is first mentioned in the della Rovere collection in the inventory of the Ducal Palace of Pesaro in 1623/24, where the painting appears without a frame. The gold buckles on her dress in the form of decorative bows, although painted less diligently, are almost identical. Her garments are epitome of the 16th century luxury - a dress of Venetian velvet dyed with costly indigo blue, embroidered with gold thread and lined with sables, of which Poland-Lithuania was one of the leading exporters at that time. She holds her thick gold chain and pointing at weasel pelt, a zibellino, also known as flea-fur or fur tippet, on her hand, a popular accessory for brides as a talisman for fertility. Contemporary bestiaries indicate that the female weasel conceived through the ear and gave birth through the mouth. "This 'miraculous' method of conception was thought to parallel the Annunciation of Christ, who was conceived when God's angel whispered into the ear of the Virgin Mary" (after "Sexy weasels in Renaissance art" by Chelsea Nichols). Inclusion of the zibellino represents the hope that the woman would be blessed with good fertility and bore many healthy children to her husband. This symbolism excludes the possibility that the portrait represents a Venetian courtesan ("woman wearing the blue dress"), secretly painted by Titian for Francesco Maria I della Rovere, Duke of Urbino, who was already married and had three daughters and two sons, in about 1535. As early as 1545 Pope Paul III wanted to marry his granddaughter Vittoria Farnese to widowed Sigismund Augustus, whom however wed in secret his mistress sometime between 1545 and 1547 (according to some sources they were married since 25 November 1545). Vittoria finally married on 29 June 1547, Guidobaldo II della Rovere, Duke of Urbino (son of Francesco Maria), who at this time was in the service of the Republic of Venice. It is highly probable that the Duke or Vittoria received a portrait of the royal mistress, which was later transferred to Florence. A copy of the portrait by Titan's workshop, most probably by Lambert Sustris, painted with cheaper pigments without highly expensive ultramarine, is a proof that as in case of portraits of Empress Isabella of Portugal the sitter was not in the painter's atelier and the portrait was one of a series. The painting come from a private collection in the United States (oil on canvas, laid on panel, 99 x 75 cm, Christie's in New York, Auction 19994, October 14, 2021, lot 73). There were also mistakes and inadequacies, her gold buckles were repleaced with simple red ribbons. Comparison with portraits of Empress Isabella confirms that Titian loved proportions and classical beauty. Just by making the eyes slightly bigger and more visible and harmonizing their features, he achieved what his clients expected of him, to be beautiful in their portraits, close to the gods from their Greek and Roman statues, it was renaissance. One of the oldest copies of "La Bella" comes from a German collection, stamped Staatliches Lindenau MUSEUM Altenburg on the back (oil on paper mounted on canvas, 37 x 29 cm, Le Floc'h in Paris, October 8, 2023, lot 8). This painting was sold with attribution to the "Venetian school circa 1600" and as by a "follower of Titian", however its style indicates a Flemish painter and it is close to the works of Gortzius Geldorp (1553-1618), who copied Titian's "Violante" (or "La Bella Gatta", Dorotheum in Vienna, April 19, 2016, lot 122, monogrammed top left: GG. F.), the original of which is now in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna (inv. GG 65). Geldorp also created portraits of Queen Constance of Austria (1588-1631) as Berenice (1605) and a portrait of Sigismund Charles Radziwill (1591-1642) in 1619, according to my identification. Since his stay in Pesaro is not confirmed, it can be assumed that he probably copied a painting from Titian's workshop from the collection of his patron Carlo d'Aragona Tagliavia (1530-1599), governor of Milan between 1583 and 1592, or a copy of this painting was commissioned from him from Poland-Lithuania around 1605. The miniature by unknown miniaturist Krause, probably an amateur, from the late 18th or early 19th century in the Royal Castle in Warsaw, indicate that a version of the painting was also in Poland, possibly in the collection of king Stanislaus Augustus Poniatowski. The style of the model's costume and hairstyle is also very intriguing. It is difficult to find close similarities. The closest is the dress and hairstyle of a lady from a portrait attributed to Paris Bordone in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna (inv. GG 16). The cut of the outfit is very similar as is the hairstyle inspired by ancient Roman and Greek statues. The Vienna painting is considered to belong to a later phase of Venetian painting and dated to around 1550. It is also worth noting great similarities with the costume and hairstyle of Lucrezia Panciatichi from her portrait by Bronzino (Uffizi Gallery in Florence, inv. 1890 n. 736), which is dated to around 1541-1545. Also comparable is the hairstyle of Barbara Radziwill from her portrait in the guise of the Roman goddess Flora by Bordone, now in the Hermitage Museum (inv. ГЭ-163), also identified by me. Another striking fact about this costume and hairstyle is that a similar one can be seen in a painting by a German painter. It is attributed to a follower of Lucas Cranach the Elder and comes from a private collection in Germany (panel, 76 x 54 cm, Van Ham Art Auctions in Cologne, April 19-21, 2007, lot 1725). This "Italian woman" was depicted as the biblical heroine Saint Jael with her attributes, which is also confirmed by the inscription on the wall at the bottom right: IAEL. According to the Bible (Book of Judges), Jael, the wife of the Kenite Heber, killed an enemy of the people of Israel, the Canaanite general Sisera, with a tent peg and a hammer. Cranach's workshop copied the paintings of Italian painters, as evidenced by the portrait of the Venetian scholar and poet Pietro Bembo (1470-1547). The portrait of Bembo, wearing the habit of a Knight of Malta, was probably made before 1537 (he was made a cardinal in 1538). The resemblance of the poet to his other effigies is great, moreover the identity is confirmed by the inscription in the upper edge: PETRI BEMBI, the style is also clearly that of Cranach and confirmed by the artist's insignia above the model's left shoulder. Since the visit of the future cardinal to Cranach's workshop in Lutheran Wittenberg is very unlikely, the painter must have been inspired by other effigies of Bembo. While Jael's costume is clearly Italian in style, the landscape behind her with its tall medieval towers is more northerly, typical not only for Germany, but also for Poland and Lithuania (although due to wartime destruction this is no longer so evident today) and generally for Central Europe. One of the oldest and most beautiful representations of the biblical Jael in European painting is the portrait of the Jewish lady with the attributes of Jael, created around 1502 by the Venetian painter Bartolomeo Veneto, today in a private collection in Milan (cf. "Bartolomeo Veneto: l'opera completa" by Laura Pagnotta, p. 216). This painting was signed by the author on a small cartellino, while the inscription on the woman's gold bracelet reads SFO[R]ZA DE LA EBRA, that is, "Strength of the Jews". In this context, the portrait by a follower of Cranach could also portray an Italian Jewish woman, however this diversity - Italian costume, German painter and Jewish heroine - speaks more in favor of multicultural Poland-Lithuania-Ruthenia, as to the origin of the concept of this painting. Similar to Bartolomeo Veneto's work, this painting also has an important additional meaning, but unlike the work by the Venetian master, it lacks individuality and appears rather to be a copy of a lost original by Cranach. Considering all these facts, it is more likely that this painting was also part of the Jagiellonian propaganda, in this case intended to convince the Jewish community of Poland-Lithuania-Ruthenia and Europe, that Sigismund Augustus' beloved is a virtuous and courageous woman. From 1545 the young king Sigismund Augustus spared no money for his mistress. Jewish and Florentine merchants Abraham Czech, Simone Lippi and Gaspare Gucci (or Guzzi) were delivering to the royal court enormous quantities of expensive fabrics and furs. Between 1544-1546, the young king emloyed many new jewelers at his court in Kraków and Vilnius, like Antonio Gatti from Venice, Vincenzo Palumbo (Vincentius Palumba), Bartolo Battista, Italian Christophorus, Giovanni Evangelista from Florence, Hannus (Hans) Gunthe, German Erazm Prettner and Hannus Czigan, Franciszek and Stanisław Merlicz, Stanisław Wojt - Gostyński, Marcin Sibenburg from Transilvania, etc. Not to mention Giovanni Jacopo Caraglio, who in about 1550 created a cameo with Barbara's divinely beautiful profile. In just one year, 1545, the king bought as many as 15 gold rings with precious stones from Vilnius and Kraków goldsmiths. The sovereign literally scattered gold among the members of the Radziwill family and financed, among other things, the modernization of the "manor of Mr. Nicolaus Radzywil of Vilnius" (dworu pana Mikolaya Radzywila wilnowczika), Barbara's brother, which is documented in the Grand Ducal accounts (after "Obraz Bitwa pod Orszą ..." by Marek A. Janicki, p. 205). Barbara's gifts to Sigismund Augustus were also splendid. A letter from around 1547, preserved in the Central Archives of the Historical Archives in Warsaw (AGAD 1/354/0/3/29), confirms that she gave him a unique piece of jewelry, a ring with an integrated watch (Poszylam v. k. m. svemu m. panu pyersczyenczyne snacz phygure zegarowe), probably created in Vilnius. Similar valuable objects began to appear in Western Europe more than a decade later. The king threw lavish balls and feasts, so much so that the priest Stanisław Górski, a staunch Habsburg supporter, complained in a letter to Jan Dantyszek dated March 15, 1544 from Piotrków, that "the young King lives the most extravagantly in Lithuania, spending 1000 florins per week" (after "Zbiór pamiętników historycznych o dawnej Polszcze ..." by Julian Ursyn Niemcewicz, Volume 4, p. 30). In 1547 Girolamo Mazzola Bedoli, a painter from Lombardy, created a painting of Adoration of the Magi for the Certosa Sancta Maria Schola Dei in Parma, today in the Galleria nazionale di Parma (inventory number GN145). A man depicted as one of the Magi has a costume clearly inspired by the costume of a Polish-Lithuanian nobleman. His oriental sabre and colors - crimson and white, the national colors of Poland, also indicate that it is a man from Poland-Lithuania, most likely inspired by the increased presence of their envoys in artistic circles in Italy at that time. According to sources Barbara was a beauty, hence the title in Italian, La Bella, is fully deserved. "The composition of her body and face made her so beautiful that people out of jealousy disparaged her innocence", she was "gloriously wonderful, like a second Helen [Helen of Troy]" as was written in a panegyric, she had white alabaster skin, "sweet eyes, gentleness of speech, slowness of movements". 
Portrait of Barbara Radziwill (1520/23-1551) in a blue dress, known as La Bella by Titian, ca. 1545-1547, Pitti Palace in Florence.
Portrait of Barbara Radziwill (1520/23-1551), known as La Bella by workshop of Titian, most probably by Lambert Sustris, ca. 1545-1547, Private collection.
Portrait of Barbara Radziwill (1520/23-1551), known as La Bella, by Gortzius Geldorp after Titian, ca. 1605, Private collection.
Portrait of a lady in Italian costume, probably Barbara Radziwill (1520/23-1551), as Jael by follower of Lucas Cranach the Elder, ca. 1545-1547, Private collection.
Portrait of Barbara Radziwill as Venus by Titian or workshop
"Love is at odds at the beginning and the end: the beginning is sweet, but the end is bitter. Venus comes with sweetness but leaves with sadness" (Principio et fine amor dissidet: Principium dulce est, at finis amoris amarus. Lacta venire Venus, tristis abire solet), says an anonymous Latin poem about the loves and marriage of King Sigismund Augustus (after "Dzieje starożytne Narodu Litewskiego" by Teodor Narbutt, Volume 9, p. 22-23, 233), written at the time and quoting Ovid, the national poet of the 16th century Sarmatia. In the same source, we find a beautiful description of the charming garden in Vilnius, adorned with fragrant trees, flowers and a stream, "almost a corner of paradise" (prope Paradisi acmulus), belonging to Barbara Kolanka (d. 1550), mother of Barbara Radziwill (1520/23-1551). This wealthy woman lived in a magnificent palace, right next to the Lower Castle, located on the Neris (Vilija) River, above which stood the medieval Upper Castle on Gediminas' Hill.
In his poem about the portrait of the king (In Sigismundi Augusti regis effigiem) and the unification of the Lithuanian nation with the Polish nation (Gens vis iungatur genti lituana polonae), the Spanish poet Pedro Ruiz de Moros also refers to the goddess of love. Venus and Thetis went to see the splendid portrait of the king and compared the ruler to their sons Aeneas and Achilles (Hanc Venus atque Thetis pictam ut videre tabellam, Illa suum Aenean, haec putat Aeaciden), but ultimately concluded that he was superior to them: "O pious king, forgive the goddesses; You are greater than Aeneas, you are greater than Achilles" (o rex pie, parce deabus; Maior es Aenea, maior es Aeacide). The poet also commemorated in a poem the one who was dearer to the king than anything on earth (Cui fuit in terris carius ante nihil), his second wife Barbara, Queen of the Sarmatians (Barbara, Sauromatum regina), born into the powerful Lithuanian house of Radvila/Radziwill (potenti De Radivilorum nobilis orta domo), the one who pleased Augustus and was worthy to touch the sacred bed (Augusto placui; sacrum tetigisse cubile) - Barbarae Reginae Epitaphia (compare "Petri Rozyii Maurei Alcagnicensis Carmina ...", ed. Bronisław Kruczkiewicz, part II, p. 18, 34, poems XXIV, 11). The magnificent jewels with representation of the goddess of love, including a diamond clasp with Venus and Vulcan, as well as a jewel: Mars cum Venere et cupidine (Mars with Venus and Cupid), mentioned in the 1599 inventory of the state treasury, most likely come from the collection of King Sigismund Augustus (after "Klejnoty w Polsce: czasy ostatnich Jagiellonów i Wazów" by Ewa Letkiewicz, p. 240). Before World War II, the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister in Dresden housed a magnificent painting attributed to a follower of Titian, depicting Venus and a lute player (oil on canvas, 142 x 208 cm, inv. Gal.-Nr. 177). In 1939, the painting was listed in the Reich Chancellery, formerly the Radziwill Palace, in Berlin. It was therefore probably destroyed during the bombing of this building during the war. It was considered a school replica of Titian's painting in Madrid ("Catalogue of the pictures in the Royal Gallery at Dresden", p. 28, item 177), however the composition most closely resembles the painting in New York (Metropolitan Museum of Art, inv. 36.29), which, according to my identification, is a portrait of Queen Catherine of Austria (1533-1572), Barbara Radziwill's successor as Queen of Poland. The New York painting is considered a work by Titian and his workshop, dating from the end of his artistic career. The author of the concept for this and other royal nudes from this period was most likely the king's jeweler Giovanni Jacopo Caraglio, creator of numerous erotic engravings and prints depicting naked Olympian gods. Caraglio, born in Verona in the Republic of Venice, is notably the author of Venus and Cupid (Di Venere e amore), signed: · CARALIVS · / · FE ·, Jupiter surprises the nymph Antiope (Giove in Satiro), signed with the monogram IC, Venus and Adonis (Parla Venere sopra Adoni morto), Jupiter as a Satyr and Diana (la Dea Diana col Dio Pan) and homoerotic scene of Apollo and Hyacinth (Apollo di Hyacintho), as recounted by Ovid in his Metamorphoses, as well as the ambiguous scene of Jupiter transformed into a shepherd (Giove in pastore), also inscribed as depicting Apollo and Hyacinth (Jupiter and Mnemosyne?), some of which were based on original drawings by Perino del Vaga and Rosso Fiorentino. Interestingly, the print Jupiter surprising the nymph Antiope (Museum of Fine Arts in Budapest, copper engraving on paper, 21.1 x 13.5 cm, inv. 6749) probably inspired Gustave Courbet's famous painting The Origin of the World (Musée d'Orsay, inv. RF 1995 10). The medal from about 1539 or 1543 depicting the Veronese musician and canon of Vilnius, Alessandro Pesenti, musician and organist in the service of Bona Sforza, is attributed to Caraglio. The Dresden painting was not an exact copy; on the contrary, its style indicated that it had been created before the New York version. More importantly, the Dresden and New York paintings do not depict the same woman. It appears that the painter borrowed an earlier composition for the New York painting but depicted a different model. The shape of the body is different, as well as the face. While in the New York painting, the model is blond and her face is reminiscent of that of Catherine of Austria, according to her portrait at Voigtsberg Castle, also considered a work of Titian, the woman in the Dresden painting has a slightly longer nose and darker hair, as shown in old color reproductions of the painting. She bears a strong resemblance to Barbara Radziwill, particularly close when it comes to facial features is her portrait by Lambert Sustris in Chatsworth House (inv. PA 725), identified and attributed by me. Assuming that Barbara served as the model for the Dresden Venus and Catherine for the one in New York, we can easily understand why two such similar paintings were created and using different models. While Barbara was considered the monarch's great love, Catherine was abandoned by her husband soon after the wedding and tried to reconcile with him. Barbara Giżanka (ca. 1550-1589), mistress of Sigismund Augustus, considered one of his most important favourites, is said to have greatly resembled Barbara Radziwill. Thus, by making herself look like Barbara, Catherine tried to get closer to her husband. The 1912 English-language catalogue of the Dresden Gallery states that the Venus was "acquired in 1731 through Leplat", that is, a French Huguenot baron Raymond Leplat or Le Plat (1664-1742), who acted as agent for Augustus II the Strong (1670-1733), King of Poland and Elector of Saxony, in Paris and Rome, also traveling to the Netherlands, Italy, Germany, and Bohemia. According to the German catalogue of 1859 ("Die Königliche Gemälde-Gallerie zu Dresden" by Wilhelm Schäfer, p. 44), the painting was one of the oldest art treasures of the Dresden court, as it was originally housed in the Kunstkammer, and from there, at the request of the gallery's first director, Leplat, came to the Gallery in 1731. In the inventory of 1722, the painting was mentioned as "Copy of Titian. Philip II, King of Spain, and Signora Laura" (Tizian Cop. Phillippus II., König von Spanien, und Signora Laura), so it was considered a portrait of the King of Spain as a lute player and his mistress Laura as Venus. This old tradition, according to which the woman depicted, the goddess of love, was a royal mistress, perfectly fits the figure of Barbara Radziwill. One of the oldest and most beautiful copies of the Dresden Venus, now preserved at the Museum of Fine Arts in Bordeaux, is also known under the title of The Mistress of Philip II (oil on canvas, 140 x 200 cm, inv. Bx E 550). It is considered a 17th century copy and was donated to the museum by Lodi-Martin Duffour-Dubergier (1797-1860). The identification as mistress of the Catholic King of Spain had already been rejected in the mentioned catalogue of 1859 and no such mistress of Philip, i.e. Lady Laura, is known. Another old copy, in miniature, is in the Polish Museum in Rapperswil (watercolor and gouache on ivory, 10.7 x 17.3 cm). This small painting was created by the Polish painter Wincenty de Lesseur (1745-1813) in Dresden in 1793 (signed left in the center: W. Lesseur / à Dresde 1793). It comes from the Tarnowski collection in Dzików, evacuated to Canada during the Second World War. It is not known why the painter copied this painting, as the owners of the miniature, Waleria Tarnowska née Stroynowska (1782-1849) and her husband Jan Feliks Tarnowski (1777-1842), were not particularly fond of Titian and preferred Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael and Correggio (after "Zbiory sztuki Jana Feliksa i Walerii Tarnowskich ..." by Kazimiera Grottowa, p. 50). In 1797, Lesseur also copied for the Tarnowskis the portrait of Henryk Lubomirski (1777-1850) as Genius of Fame, painted in Paris by Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun around 1787. The original of the portrait by Vigée Le Brun was in the Lubomirski Palace in Warsaw until 1816 and later in the Przeworsk Palace from where it was evacuated to France during the Second World War (purchased by Gemäldegalerie in Berlin from the Galerie Heim in Paris in 1974, inv. 74.4). Venus, crowned by Cupid, holds a flute. The music at the court of Sigismund Augustus was of a very high standard and accompanied many ceremonies and events, such as the entry into Kraków of the king's first wife, Elizabeth of Austria, on May 4, 1543, accompanied, among others, by sixty-two trumpeters and four brass instruments. The information on the nationalities of the instrumentalists in the Polish suites, especially the trumpeters, is interesting. The suite of Sigismund Augustus' chamberlain included two Muscovites, that of the Bishop of Płock, Samuel Maciejowski, six Tatars, and that of Hetman Jan Tarnowski, two Hungarian trumpeters. Opaliński had in his retinue a musician dressed in Turkish style and in the retinue of Voivode Kościelecki, three musicians "were dressed like Prussian women" (after "O muzykach, muzyce i jej funkcji ..." by Renata Król-Mazur, p. 41). Finally, a castle is depicted on the hill to the left of the Dresden painting. Although its shape is general and the painter has depicted the mountains of the "Far North" in the background, it evokes the castle depicted in the portrait of Barbara Kolanka as Saint Barbara, painted by Lucas Cranach the Elder around 1530 (Sammlung Würth). This castle is reminiscent of the Upper Castle in Vilnius; the entire scene therefore takes place in a garden near the Lithuanian capital. 
Portrait of Barbara Radziwill (1520/23-1551) as Venus with the lute player by Titian or workshop, ca. 1545-1551, Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister in Dresden, lost during World War II. Virtual reconstruction, © Marcin Latka
Portrait of Barbara Radziwill (1520/23-1551) as Venus with the lute player by follower of Titian, after 1545 (17th century?), Museum of Fine Arts in Bordeaux.
Miniature portrait of Barbara Radziwill (1520/23-1551) as Venus with the lute player by Wincenty de Lesseur, 1793, Polish Museum in Rapperswil.
Erotic print with Jupiter surprising the nymph Antiope by Giovanni Jacopo Caraglio, second quarter of the 16th century, Museum of Fine Arts in Budapest.
Portrait of Barbara Radziwill in French costume and portrait of Anna d'Este by Niccolò dell'Abbate
On June 15, 1545, Elisabeth of Austria, first wife of Sigismund II Augustus, died. The king, however, continued his affair with his mistress Barbara Radziwill, whom he had met in 1543. Already in September 1546 rumors were circulating in Kraków that Sigismund Augustus was going to marry "a private woman of the worst opinion". To prevent this and to strengthen the pro-Turkish alliance (the eldest daughter of Bona, Isabella Jagiellon, was established by Sultan Suleiman as a regent of Hungary on behalf of her infant son), it was decided to marry Sigismund Augustus to Anna d'Este (1531-1607), daughter of the Duke of Ferrara and related to the French ruling house. The plan to marry Princess of Ferrara received the support of the powerful Farnese family. The French King Henry II also supported this idea. It was probably at this time that the young monarch received the French Order of Saint Michael, because his coat of arms and the inscription SIGISMVNDVS / AVG. REX.POLONIAE are included in the book of knights of this order made in Italy between 1550-1555 (Insignia ... XV. Insignia equitum Gallici ordinis Sancti Michaelis, Bavarian State Library in Munich, BSB Cod.icon. 280, p. 16r (0039)), together with those of the Duke of Ferrara (p. 114r (0235)).
Sigismund Augustus sent his courtier Stanisław Lasota (died 1561) to inquire about the possibilities of a possible marriage with one of the foreign princesses. Lasota went to England, where he began to negotiate the hand of Mary Tudor (1516-1558), daughter of Henry VIII. In France, he suggested to the royal court the idea of Sigismund Augustus marrying Princess Margaret of Valois (1523-1574). In October 1547, the marriage of the King of Poland to Princess Christina of Denmark (1521-1590), regent of Lorraine, was considered almost certain in Paris. The Habsburgs attempted to marry Sigismund Augustus to Anne of Lorraine (1522-1568), widow of René of Chalon (1519-1544), Prince of Orange, and Albert of Prussia to his daughter Anna Sophia (1527-1591). The marriage with the Lutheran princess of Prussia was also favoured by Queen Bona and on January 2, 1547, her courtier Tomasz Sobocki (ca. 1508-1547) sent a letter to the Duke in which he informed him of this fact. He stressed, however, that the matter was shrouded in secrecy and that is why the queen "used his hand to write the letter" (after "Polski słownik biograficzny ...", Volume 39, p. 559). Many portraits of brides and their families were sent to Poland-Lithuania at that time. The brides in turn and their families were undoubtedly interested in the young Polish king, his family and his famous mistress. Special envoys carried correspondence and effigies. The Ferrara envoy asked the secretary of Duke Ferrara to send less important letters for the queen by royal mail, while confidential correspondence was to continue to go privately through Carlo Foresta, who was also responsible for bringing the portrait of Princess Anna d'Este from Venice. From Kraków it was transported to Vilnius by the Grand Marshal of Lithuania, Nicolaus "the Black" Radziwill, who was sent by Sigismund Augustus with Jan Domanowski, provost of Vilnius, on an embassy to king's father Sigismund I. He was asked to do so by Giovanni Andrea Valentino, court physician to Queen Bona (after "Odrodzenie i reformacja w Polsce", Volumes 5-8, p. 81). Sigismund Augustus delayed and found excuses, for example, while the portrait of Anna of Ferrara had already been made and sent to Vilnius, he wanted to see the portraits of all the members of the d'Este family. This evasive answer of Sigismund Augustus, brought to Kraków on February 8, 1546 by Valentino's envoy, caused some consternation, of which the court physician informed the secretary of the Duke Bartolomeo Prospero on February 9. A few days later, on February 13, an envoy of the Duke of Ferrara arrived in Kraków with a portrait of Anna and letters from Duke Ercole. The Duke was concerned about the news received from Rome that the Pope was negotiating with the Polish-Lithuanian court about the marriage of his granddaughter. It is not known through whose efforts Sigismund Augustus also received a portrait of Charles V's daughter, Infanta Maria of Spain (1528-1603), possibly made by Antonis Mor, which worried the Ferrarese ambassador. It is not known whether this was at the king's request or whether someone from the king's entourage, probably a Habsburg supporter, had done it on his own initiative. Nothing more is known about the portrait of Lucrezia Borgia's granddaughter - Princess Anna d'Este, and most people would probably imagine it to be similar to her effigies, when she was Duchess of Guise and Duchess of Nemours, painted by French painters. In the Louvre Museum in Paris there is a painting of a nude woman (oil on canvas, 92 x 70 cm, RF 2016 4), identified as Queen Artemisia II of Caria preparing to drink the ashes of her husband Mausolus (also identified as Sophonisba or Pandora), attributed to a Modenese painter Niccolò dell'Abbate (died 1571), who moved to France in 1552. Probably before settling in France, Niccolò painted the portrait of the Duke of Ferrara, Modena and Reggio Ercole II d'Este, Anna's father, wearing the collar of the Order of Saint Michael (Christie's Paris, Auction 5601, June 23, 2010, lot 36). The order was sent to him by King Francis I of France (1494-1547). The woman looks at the viewer in a meaningful way, preparing to open the container. In this context, it can be seen as a portrait of a potential bride, who, through this "disguise", wanted to emphasize that she would be a loyal and devoted wife and a good queen like Artemisia. The woman bears a striking resemblance to later effigies of Anna d'Este, such as the portraits by circle of François Clouet from about 1563 (Palace of Versailles, inv. MV 3212 and Ashmolean Museum, inv. 16048) or a portrait by Léonard Limousin (British Museum, WB.24). The plaque with the portrait of Margaret of Valois (1523-1574), considered as the potential wife of Sigismund Augustus, made by Jean de Court in 1555 (The Wallace Collection, inv. C589), depicts the daughter of King Francis I of France as the Roman goddess Minerva. Disguised portraits were still popular in France at that time as well. The painting comes from the collection of Count Bassi, sold in Milan in 1898, so it is possible that it is a copy of a painting sent to Vilnius in 1546 or that it returned to the country of origin in the 18th or 19th century after the destruction of the Realm of Venus in central Europe. In the end, the young Polish king had to withdraw from all offers because of his marriage to Barbara Radziwill. The copyist of the letter to the Duke of Ferrara commented on the royal response with the note: "I have already married, I have married a pious whore" (jużem ci się ożenił, pojąłem ci nabożną kurwę, after "Zygmunt August" by Stanisław Cynarski, p. 49). In order not to lose such valuable allies as the King of France and the Duke of Ferrara, Sigismund Augustus had to convince them, as well as public opinion, to his wife. The miniature of a lady in a pink Italian dress from the 1540s, said to be Bona Sforza d'Aragona (gouache on paper, 15.6 x 11.7, inv. VI. 55), which was in the Czartoryski collection before World War II, cannot represent Bona because the woman is much younger and the features are different. It is however very similar to the effigies of Barbara Radziwill, in particular her portrait in a white dress (National Gallery of Art in Washington, inv. 1939.1.230), which I have identified. The traditional identification of the miniature with Queen Bona has already been challenged in the 1929 catalogue of the Czartoryski Museum ("Muzeum Książąt Czartoryskich w Krakowie ..." by Stefan Saturnin Komornicki, p. 32, item 156), although this does not mean that it is entirely erroneous. In the National Museum in Warsaw there is a copy of this miniature made around 1830 (Min.517 MNW), where the original is considered to be the work of a Flemish painter. The author who brought together the influences of these two schools of European painting (Italian and Flemish) was Jan Steven van Calcar (Giovanni da Calcar in Italian or Ioannes Stephanus Calcarensis in Latin), who died in 1546 or 1547. Born in the district of Cleves, and therefore considered a Flemish or Dutch painter, he probably received his initial training in his hometown, but worked almost all his life in Italy, including Venice (according to known sources). As in the case of the portrait of Anna d'Este mentioned above, several elements of this miniature have a symbolic meaning, such as the pink color generally associated with betrothal, the veil on the head and the pearls, a symbol of chastity. The woman holds her right hand on her womb. The style of this miniature, as well as the style of the woman's costume, recall another miniature from the same period depicting a lady with a pearl necklace, now in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence (watercolour on parchment, 8.6 cm, inv. 1890, 9005). This "older" woman bears a striking resemblance to Queen Bona, Duchess of Bari and Rossano by her own right, based on her well-known effigies - a cameo by Giovanni Jacopo Caraglio (Metropolitan Museum of Art, inv. 17.190.869), a full-length portrait (Royal Castle in Warsaw, ZKW 60) or a miniature with the Latin inscription: BONA SFORTIA ARAGONIA REGINA / POLLONIAE (Czartoryski Museum, MNK XII-141). In the 1890 inventory of the Uffizi Gallery, the miniature is listed after a miniature of a lady (inv. 1890, 9004), painted by Lavinia Fontana, active in Bologna and Rome, which may represent Isabella Ruini or Clelia Farnese (died 1613), mistress of Cardinal Ferdinando de' Medici (1549-1609), or another Roman lady. Both miniatures undoubtedly come from the Medici collection, and Cardinal Ferdinando had many effigies of Polish-Lithuanian monarchs in his famous Roman villa (Villa Medici, according to Maciej Rywocki). The features of the lady in the Czartoryski miniature, on the other hand, are very similar to those seen in a portrait of a lady holding a chalice and a book, now in the National Museum in Warsaw (oil on panel, 68.5 x 55.5 cm, M.Ob.1264). Before 1942 the painting was in the collection of the art dealer Victor Modrzewski in Amsterdam, and therefore most likely comes from a collection of Polish-Lithuanian magnates. The latter painting is attributed to circle of Master of the Female Half-Lengths, a Flemish or French court master painter who frequently depicted ladies in guise of their patron saints and who also worked for other European courts (e.g. portrait of Isabella of Portugal in Lisbon - Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, inv. 2172 Pint). The woman is dressed according to French fashion, very similar to the outfit in the portrait of Catherine de' Medici, Queen of France from about 1547 in the Uffizi (Inv. 1890 / 2448). She is holding a prayer book and a chalice, an attribute of Saint Barbara, who was considered to provide protection against sudden and violent death (the scene on the chalice shows a man killing other man) and patron saint of pregnant women (together with Saint Margaret of Antioch). Even before she became the king's mistress, Barbara Radziwill was a very wealthy woman. Before her marriage to Stanislovas Gostautas (died 1542), she received from her father as a dowry a large amount of silverware such as sixteen large silver bowls with smaller dishes and bowls, spoons, cups, goblets and candlesticks, jewelry, including "ten pearl collars" or "three pearl caps", dresses of golden cloth, two beige dresses, one of satin and one of velvet, three dresses of red damask and one of white damask and others, eight golden caps, "a golden chomlija, a red beret with gold, made of Venetian velvet", a golden cloth duvet, ten carpets (or tapestries), carriages and coaches, including a golden carriage, and twenty-four horses (compare "Pisma historyczne" by Michał Baliński, Volumes 1-4, p. 10-21). The painting is generally identified as depicting Saint Mary Magdalene, however, Saint Barbara on the title page of "Inscription on the tomb of the noble Queen Barbara Radziwill" (Napis nad grobem zacney Krolowey Barbary Radziwiłowny), published in Kraków in 1558, also more closely resembles the effigies traditionally identified as Saint Mary Magdalene. At that time, the king used Flemish and French merchants and artists for his famous commission for tapestries in Flanders. It is confirmed that in the 1550s and 1560s, the king's confidant Jan Kostka (1529-1581), castellan of Gdańsk, acted as an intermediary between the royal court and artists active in Flanders. For example, in May 1564, the king ordered him to send the Flemish weaver Roderigo Dermoyen to Flanders for tapestries. Before 1561, tapestries were made in Gdańsk for Kostka by Remigius Delator (de Latour in French), who also supplied tapestries to the Swedish court. They could also act as intermediaries with Flemish painters. All the mentioned paintings of Barbara and her mother-in-law, Queen Bona, are most likely workshop copies of a larger commission for state portraits. 
Portrait of Barbara Radziwill (1520/23-1551) in French costume by circle of Master of the Female Half-Lengths, ca. 1546-1547, National Museum in Warsaw.
Miniature portrait of Barbara Radziwill (1520/23-1551) by circle of Jan van Calcar, ca. 1546-1547, Czartoryski Museum, lost. Virtual reconstruction, © Marcin Latka
Miniature portrait of Bona Sforza d'Aragona (1494-1557) by Jan van Calcar, ca. 1546, Uffizi Gallery in Florence.
Portrait of Anna d'Este (1531-1607) as Artemisia by Niccolò dell'Abbate, ca. 1546, Louvre Museum in Paris.
Portrait of Zofia Firlejowa as Venus by workshop of Giovanni Cariani
In 1546 or at the beginning of 1547, Jan Firlej (1521-1574) of Lewart coat of arms, later Grand Marshal of the Crown, voivode of Kraków and the head of the Calvinist camp, married the incredibly wealthy Zofia Bonerówna, daughter of royal banker Seweryn Boner (1486-1549), receiving a huge dowry of 47,000 florins and the Boner property near Ogrodzieniec Castle. Jan was the eldest son of Piotr Firlej (d. 1553), voivode of Ruthenia from 1545 and a trusted adviser of Queen Bona Sforza and King Sigismund Augustus, and Katarzyna Tęczyńska. Concluded on the initiative of his father, who used the money from Jan's wife's dowry to pay off his debts, this marriage turned out to be very beneficial from the point of view of the family's interests.
Piotr was a patron of arts, he extended his Janowiec Castle and built a Renaissance palace in Lubartów. At his expense a beautiful tombstone was created in about 1553 by Giovanni Maria Mosca, called il Padovano in the Dominican church in Lublin. In his great estates in Dąbrowica, a village a mile from Lublin, he had a magnificent palace, whose stairs carved in marble were admired by poet Jan Kochanowski. Zofia's parents were also renowned patrons of arts. Bronze tomb sculpture of Seweryn and his wife Zofia née Bethman was created between 1532-1538 by Hans Vischer in Nuremberg and transported to Kraków. Between 1530-1547 Seweryn rebuilt and extended Ogrodzieniec Castle, transforming the medieval stronghold into a Renaissance castle - it was called "little Wawel". The Boners furnished it with beautiful furniture, tapestries and other most valuable items imported from abroad. In 1655, the castle was partially burnt down by the Swedish army, which was stationed there for almost two years, ruining a large part of the buildings. Similar to the royal court, many such items were also commissioned or acquired in Venice. In 1546 a Venetian Aloisio received a fur coat and several dozen thalers for the total amount of 78 zlotys 10 groszy for various instruments which he brought from Venice to Kraków on the king's order. As the Governor of the royal estates Zofia's father Seweryn, who kept the books of accounts for the court, brokered many such purchases. In 1553 two Jews from Kazimierz, Jonasz, the elder of the Kazimierz community, and Izak, the son of the second senior of this community and royal supplier Izrael Niger, took part in a trade mission sent by the king to Vienna and Venice to purchase goods for the royal court, receiving an advance payment of 840 Hungarian florins in gold. A few months later (April 11, 1553) Izak Izraelowicz Niger (Schwarz) was sent back to Venice in order to purchase wedding gifts for the third wife of Sigismund Augustus, Catherine of Austria, receiving 400 Hungarian florins in gold (after "Biuletyn Żydowskiego Instytutu Historycznego", Issues 153-160, p. 7). Inhabitants of the royal city of Kraków were connoisseurs of art and had important collections of paintings and portraits. In 1540 Katarzyna, widow of Paul Kaufman, a merchant of Kraków, residing in the convent of St. Andrew, left her portraits in her last will to the convent (Omes imagines suas dat, donat se defuncta, Conventui huic s. Andrere, ad Ecclesiam et etiam sororibus monialibus) and in 1542 in the list of paintings of the late Melchior Czyżowski, Vice-Procurator of the Kraków Castle (Viceprocuratori Castri Cracoviensis), there were two of his portraits (Duæ imagines Dni Melchioris C ...), a painting of Herodias (Tabula pieta, Herodiadis), possibly by workshop of Cranach, the woman taken in adultery (Figura de muliere deprehensa in adulterio), possibly by Venetian painter, the twelve labors of Hercules (Duodecem labores Herculis), a view of Venice (Cortena in qua depicta est Venetia), a painting of Judith and Herodias, painted on both sides (Tabula Judith et Herodiadis, ex utraque parte depicta), painting of Thisbe and another of Judith (Figura Thisbe, Fig. Judith), Nativity of Christ (Nativitatis Christi) and Mary Magdalene (Mariæ Magdalenæ), most likely by Venetian school, and other religious paintings. Over half a century later, in about 1607, other representative of the family, Hieronim Czyżowski, recorded in books of the Polish Nation 15 years earlier, in 1592, ordered a painting by the Venetian painter Pietro Malombra with his portrait as donor (Resurrection of Knight Piotrawin by Saint Stanislaus) for the altar of the Polish Nation in the Basilica of Saint Anthony in Padua. In the Scottish National Gallery there is a preparatory study for this painting (inventory number RSA 221), in which however the donor is not present in the composition, indicating that his portrait was added later, possibly based on a drawing sent from Poland. Bonerówna married Jan Firlej shortly before or after his return from diplomatic mission at the court of Ferdinand I of Austria and most likely to the court of Ferrara. She bore him two daughters Jadwiga and Zofia and four sons Mikołaj, Andrzej, Jan and Piotr. Zofia died in or after 1563 and Jan married secondly Zofia Dzikówna (died after 1566) and later Barbara Mniszech (died 1580). The couple probably had another daughter, Elżbieta, however, she died at the young age in 1580. Her tombstone behind the main altar of the church in Bejsce near Kraków was founded by her brother Mikołaj Firlej (d. 1600), voivode of Kraków, who has a magnificent burial chapel in the same church, modeled on the Sigismund Chapel. This monument to the Polish virgin, according to Latin inscription (ELIZABETHAE / IOAN(NIS) FIRLEII A DAMBROWICA PALAT(INI) ET CAPIT(ANEI) CRACOVIEN(SIS) / ATQVE MARSALCI REGNI F(ILIAE) / VIRGINI NATALIB(VS) ILLVSTRI. FORMA INSIGNI AETATE FLORE(N)TI / VITA PVDICISSIMAE [...] NICOL(AVS) FIRLEIVS A DAMBROWICA IO(ANNES) F(IRLEIVS) - CASTELL(ANVS) BIECEN(SIS) / SORORI INCOMPARABILI E DOLORIS ET AMORIS FRATERNI / MOERENS POS(VIT) / OBIIT AN(N)O D(OMI)NI : M.D.LXXX), is considered a rarity and attributed to workshop of Girolamo Canavesi. She was depicted sleeping, half-recumbent, in a pose reminiscent of the Birth of Venus, a Roman fresco from the House of Venus in Pompeii, created in the 1st century AD, or Venus from cassone with scenes of the Battle of Greeks and Amazons before the walls of Troy by workshop of Paolo Uccello, painted in about 1460 (Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven). Elżbieta's tombstone is crowned with coat of arms of the Firlejs - Lewart, a rampant leopard. In 2014 an unframed painting of recumbent Venus and Cupid by workshop of Giovanni Cariani (d. 1547) was sold in London (oil on canvas, 102 x 172.2 cm, Bonhams, 9 July 2014, lot 35). Cupid points his arrow at the heart of the lying woman, symbolizing love. In the right corner of the canvas, on the tree, there is a shield with coat of arms showing a rampant leopard on red background, very similar to the one visible in the monument to Elżbieta Firlejówna in Bejsce, as well as many other depictions of coat of arms of the Firlej family. In the background, there is a gothic cathedral, very similar to view of St. Stephen's Cathedral in the Panorama of Vienna (Vienna, Citta Capitale dell' Austria), created by Italian engraver in about 1618 (Wien Museum, inventory number 34786). The painting recall the erotic plaques from cupboard-cabinet by Peter Flötner or Wenzel Jamnitzer from the Zamoyski Estate in Warsaw (lost during World War II). The cabinet was adorned with 26 bronze plaques with nude lying female figures. It was most probably created in Augsburg or in Nuremberg and could come from a royal or a magnate commission. Flötner created several exquisite items for Sigismund I in the 1530s, including silver altar for the Sigismund Chapel and casket of Hedwig Jagiellon (Saint Petersburg). If this painting of Jan Firlej's wife as Venus was painted by Cariani's workshop shortly before the artist's death, this would explain why Firlej decided to order his portrait from young Jacopo Tintoretto in 1547 (Kröller-Müller Museum). A manuscript in the Ossolineum (number 2232) from the 1650s, lists a great number of jewels, furniture, paintings, books, clothes, fabrics with Lewart coat of arms and relics from Firlej estates in Dąbrowica, Ogrodzieniec and Bejsce. It also includes many imported goods and portraits, like "foreign fans", "pictures of deceased ancestors and many various arts, very expensive and elaborate", "great Persian and home-made rugs", "two paintings: one in French costume, the other in Polish, and the third started, in French style", "many old pictures from Ogrodziniec and Dąbrowica, one with a dwarf with a great son; costly, pious pictures on copper, many on canvas", "costly glass, buried in a cellar in Dąbrowica from the enemy, Jarosz Kossowski dug it", most likely Venetian glass saved during the Deluge (1655-1660), "the Bonarowski chalice, three gold stamps, folded into one, by elaborate work", most probably from dowry of Zofia Bonerówna, "various foreign spectacles of copper, foreign jetons" and other items. 
Portrait of Zofia Firlejowa née Bonerówna (d. 1563) as Venus and Cupid with Lewart coat of arms by workshop of Giovanni Cariani, 1546-1547, Private collection.
Portrait of Jan Firlej by Jacopo Tintoretto
Thanks to his father's efforts, Jan Firlej (1521-1574) received an education at the highest level. He studied at the University of Leipzig for two years, then continued his education at the University of Padua for the next two years. From there with his relative count Stanisław Gabriel Tęczyński (1514-1561), chamberlain of Sandomierz, and Stanisław Czerny, starost of Dobczyce, he went to the Holy Land, visited Egypt and Palestine. They set off on a journey from Venice in the second half of 1541 - on June 16 that year he participated in the solemn procession in Venice, as the Lord of Dąbrowica (dominus de Dambrouicza) among the group of pilgrims of Jerusalem (peregrinorum Hierosolimitanorum). He also traveled to Rome. Around 1543, he returned to Poland, and in 1545, he entered the service of King Sigismund I. In the same year, he was sent on a mission to Emperor Charles V at the Diet of the Holy Roman Empire in Worms. According to Stanisław Hozjusz (Hosius, Op. I, 459) in 1547, as an envoy, he participated in diplomatic activities at the court of Ferdinand I of Austria, possibly concernig the king's marriage with Barbara Radziwill or the plans to marry him to Anna d'Este (1531-1607), daughter of the Duke of Ferrara.
In January 1546, Giovanni Andrea Valentino (de Valentinis) the court physician of Sigismund the Old and Queen Bona, was sent from Kraków with a confidential mission to Sigismund Augustus residing in Lithuania, concerning the marriage with Anna d'Este. Around that time, a separate letter was sent by the envoy of Duke of Ferrara, Antonio Valentino, staying in Poland from August 30, 1545 to September 1546, to Bartolomeo Prospero, the secretary of Duke Ercole II, to speed up the delivery of the bride's portrait. "He recommended that the parcel be exported to Venice not by royal mail, but by a private route in the hands of Carlo Foresta, one of the agents of Gaspare Gucci from Florence, a merchant in Kraków" (after "Działalność Włochów w Polsce w I połowie XVI wieku" by Danuta Quirini-Popławska, p. 87). It possible that the portrait mentioned in the letter was created in Venice, as Dukes of Ferrara also commissioned ther effigies there, e.g. portrait of Alfonso II d'Este (1533-1597) by Titian or workshop in Arolsen Castle, identified by me. In 1909 in the collection of Prince Andrzej Lubomirski in Przeworsk there was a small painting (oil on tin plate, 26 x 35 cm) attributed to 16th century Venetian school depicting "Madonna and Child surrounded by people who, according to tradition, represent the family of princes d'Este; the golden-haired woman depicts probably the famous Eleonora d'Este" (after "Katalog wystawy obrazów malarzy dawnych i współczesnych urządzonej staraniem Andrzejowej Księżny Lubomirskiej" by Mieczysław Treter, item 36, p. 11). In 1547 a painter Pietro Veneziano (Petrus Venetus), created a painting to the main altar of the Wawel Cathedral and Titian was summoned to paint Charles V and others in Augsburg. The painting in the Kröller-Müller Museum in Otterlo attributed to Jacopo Tintoretto, shows a wealty nobleman in a black coat lined with tremendously expensive lynx fur. His proud pose and gloves also indicate his position. This painting was acquired by Helene Kröller-Müller in 1921 and earlier it was in the collection of Count of Balbi in Venice and possibly in the Giustinian-Lolin collection in Venice. According to inscription in lower left corner, the man was 26 years of age in 1547 (ANN·XXVI·MEN·VI·/·MD·XL·VII·), exactly as Jan Firlej, when he was sent on a mission to Austria and possibly to Venice and Ferrara. 
Portrait of Jan Firlej (1521-1574) aged 26 by Jacopo Tintoretto, 1547, Kröller-Müller Museum.
Portrait of Nicolaus "the Red" Radziwill by workshop of Giovanni Cariani
In 1547 Nicolaus III Radziwill (1512-1584), Great Royal Deputy Cup-bearer of Lithuania, the son of Grand Hetman of Lithuania George "Hercules" Radziwill and Barbara Kolanka, received the title of Prince of the Roman Empire in Birzai and Dubingiai from the Emperor Charles V. He received it together with his cousin Nicolaus (1515-1565), then the Grand Marshal of Lithuania, who become the Prince in Nesvizh and Olyka. In order not to confuse him with his namesake, the cousins were given the nicknames on account of the color of their hair. Nicolaus III is best known as "the Red" and his cousin as "the Black".
About the same year king Sigismund II Augustus married secretly Nicolaus' younger sister Barbara, thinking she was pregnant. Nicolaus "the Red" was henceforth brother-in-law and confidant of the king. Sigismund Augustus, famous for his lavish lifestyle and generous spending on gifts for his mistress and future wife, also financially supported her brother. The Grand Ducal accounts confirm the amount spent on the modernization of Nicholaus's residence in Vilnius (Anno Domini 1546, die XXIIII decembris Vilnae [...] ex tesauro maiestatis suae et in aedificia Vilnensia aularum muratorum, domus Radziwilonis, testudinis subterranei seu porticus et aliorum testudinum circa arcem reformatorum et restauratorum ac noviter edificatorum). Before November 13, 1546, the sums were paid for the construction of three gilded balls for the roof of Radziwill Palace, which means that construction was almost complete by then (after "Obraz Bitwa pod Orszą ..." by Marek A. Janicki, p. 205). Thanks to the king's protection he became a Lithuanian Master of the Hunt in 1545 and from 1550 he was a voivode of Trakai. Nicolaus was a famous military leader, he participated in the war with Muscovy between 1534-1537, including in the siege of Starodub in 1535. The portrait of a member of the Radziwill family, said to be John Radziwill (d. 1522), nicknamed "the Bearded", father of Nicolaus "the Black", in the National Art Museum of Belarus in Minsk, comes from the gallery of portraits in the Radziwill castle in Nesvizh. Due to the style of the costume and technique, this work is generally dated to the beginning of the 17th century. It is, however, stylistically very close to another portrait from the same collection, the portrait of of Prince Nicolaus II Radziwill (1470-1521) by Giovanni Cariani, created in about 1520. The sitter's face was created in Cariani's style, most probably by the master himself, the rest, less elaborate, was undoubtedly completed by painter's pupil. Cariani, though he worked often in Bergamo near Milan, died in Venice. The date of the artist's death is not known, his last presence is documented on November 26, 1547 in the will of his daughter Pierina, making his death coincide in the following year. The man's pose and sash is very similar to the effigy of Nicolaus III Radziwill in the Hermitage Museum (ОР-45840) signed in Polish/Latin: "Nicolaus Prince in Birzai, Voivode of Vilnius, Chancellor and Hetman / Evangelical, called the Red" (Mikołay Xże na Birżach, Wda Wilenski, Kanclerz y Hetman / Evangelik, cognomento Rufus), from the first half of the 17th century. The man is holding a military baton. His black armor is almost identical with the black armor of Nicolaus III Radziwill in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna. This armor, created by an Italian workshop in about 1545, was offered to Ferdinand II (1529-1595), Archduke of Further Austria, son of Anna Jagellonica, in 1580 by Nicolaus himself. The sword swinging from his belt is similar to golden rapier of Archduke Maximilian, the eldest son of Anna Jagellonica, created by Antonio Piccinino in Milan and by Spanish workshop in about 1550 (Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna). The man bears finally a resemblance to the effigy of Nicolaus' mother Barbara Kolanka by Cranach (Wartburg-Stiftung in Eisenach) and his sister Barbara-La Bella by Titian (Pitti Palace in Florence). 
Portrait of Nicolaus "the Red" Radziwill (1512-1584) by workshop of Giovanni Cariani, ca. 1547, National Art Museum of Belarus in Minsk.
Portraits of members of the Radziwill family by Giampietro Silvio and Paris Bordone
John Radziwill (1516-1551), together with his elder brother Nicolaus "the Black" Radziwill (1515-1565), grew up at the court of King Sigismund the Old. As a royal courtier, equipped with letters of recommendation from King Sigismund I and Queen Bona, he traveled to Italy in 1542 - he certainly visited Ferrara, Padua and Venice. Both during the trip to Italy and on the way back, he stopped in Vienna at the court of Ferdinand, king of Bohemia and Hungary. He returned to Kraków in September 1542. It was probably during this trip that John became acquainted with the Reformation and returned to the country as a Lutheran (after "Archiva temporum testes ..." by Grzegorz Bujak, Tomasz Nowicki, Piotr Siwicki, p. 218).
He was the first Radziwill to die in the Evangelical faith, as evidenced by the funeral speeches by Wenceslaus Agrippa and Philip Melanchthon - Oratio Fvnebris de Illvstrissimi Principis et Domini Domini Iohannis Radzivili ..., published in Wittenberg in 1553. In 1544, he became a the Great Carver of Lithuania (krajczy, incisor Lithuaniae). He was also the starost of Tykocin. He corresponded with Duke Albert of Prussia, as several letters from the Duke to John dating from 1546 have preserved. On December 24, 1547, thanks to the efforts of his elder brother, he received the title of Prince of the Holy Roman Empire and that year he probably married Elżbieta Herburt from Felsztyn. He died childless on September 27, 1551. It was most likely John, Barbara's cousin and confidant of the young king, who facilitated their meeting (after "Przeglad polski ..." by Stanisław Koźmian, Volumes 9-12, p. 7). He participated in splendid feasts and masquerades in Vilnius, during which "only sluts or widows known of prostitution and philandering, before all other respectable women, are welcomed. Each one, because riches are only valued in our country, considers herself quite honest when she travels in a magnificent carriage drawn by many horses, or when she is decked out in gold, scarlet [fabrics] and pearls, and presents herself to people's eyes in all the market squares and crossroads", lamented Calvinist theologian Andrzej Wolan (Andreas Volanus), royal secretary (text published in 1569). During one of these parties, John Radziwill became obsessed with a woman and left his wife (after "Najsłynniejsze miłości królów polskich" by Jerzy Besala, p. 111-114). "Augustus fell in love with Barbara Radziwill, a woman of a famous family in Lithuania [...] who always paid more attention to other matters than fame [i.e. good opinion]. Having lost her virginity with many, the king, deceived by them, glorifying form and body and easy debauchery, was first led to her" - wrote the secretary of the papal nuncio, Antonio Maria Graziani (Gratiani). They probably knew each other since childhood, as Sigismund Augustus often spent time in Lithuania with his parents and the Radziwill manor was adjacent to the Grand Ducal Castle in Vilnius. Perhaps the next meeting took place in Hieraniony (Gieranony) in Belarus in October 1543. Shortly after the death of Sigismund Augustus' first wife, many people were talking about a possible marriage. Soon, very unpleasant comments began to circulate about the king's favorite. Canon Stanisław Górski (d. 1572), secretary of Queen Bona between 1535-1548, counted thirty-eight of her lovers, called her "a great whore" (wiborna kurwa) or magna meretrix and claimed that she did not show any grief over the loss of her first husband, nor did she wear widow's mourning. Stanisław Orzechowski (1513-1566), canon of Przemyśl, an opponent of celibacy, wrote in 1548 that: "When she grew up and was given to her previous husband, she conducted herself in such a way that she either equaled or surpassed her mother in disgrace, and was marked by many blemishes of lust and immodesty". He also wrote that "There are people here and there who were rolling around lasciviously with this Thaïs [a repentant courtesan]". Later, even her cousin Nicolaus "the Black" spoke unfavorably about her: "After all, she was married to Gostautas, and in this house ex usu et natura crescebat illa diabolica symulatio [diabolical simulation grew out of practice and nature]," and that she "indulged in devilish practices out of necessity and nature." Such rumors were likely fueled by Queen Bona, as marrying a subject was not favored in the majority of highly hierarchical countries of the Western Europe, including her native Italy (in Poland-Lithuania the monarch was elected and there were no hereditary titles apart from those granted by the emperor thus seeking supporters). She expressed her concerns in a letter to the mayor of Gdańsk, Johann von Werden (1495-1554). Many renowned authors were involved in this campaign to disgrace the king's mistress, it is therefore difficult today to determine to what extent this was true. Barbara's brother, Nicolaus "the Red", and her cousin Nicolaus "the Black", after consulting her mother Barbara Kolanka, asked the king to stop visiting their house because his relations with Barbara brought shame to the entire family. Shortly after, the king secretly married his mistress. When Barbara became queen, her brother Nicolaus "the Red" was the superior of the guard surrounding the queen in Lithuania. The king sent him numerous letters (kept in the Imperial Library in St. Petersburg). Sigismund Augustus was afraid of Barbara being poisoned. There are detailed warnings about how the queen should drink and who should prepare her drink and he prefers that men, not women, give her a drink. The queen would also like to comply in everything with her husband's wishes. Once she asks what clothes to wear to greet him. The king replies that she should wear "a black dress of Italian fabric" (after "Biblioteka warszawska", Volume 4, p. 631). In the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, there is a portrait of a man holding a letter (oil on canvas, 82 x 66 cm, GG 1537). The painting comes from the the collection of Archduke Leopold Wilhelm of Austria and was recorded in the Theatrum Pictorium (number 54), before two paintings depicting Andrzej Frycz Modrzewski and King Sigismund I (numbers 56, 57), identified by me. According to an inscription in the Theatrum Pictorium, the original painting was painted by Titian (I. Titian p.), while the canvas in Vienna is signed by another Venetian painter Giampietro Silvio (1495-1552), indicating that the signature was probably not known before. The portrait is clearly inspired by some effigies of Martin Luther and Philipp Melanchthon by Lucas Cranach and studio and the man resembles a Protestant preacher. However, his black coat of shiny silk and rich ring on his finger indicate that he is more of an aristocrat. According to the mentioned signature of the painter on the right above his shoulder, the painting was made in 1542 (Jo.pe.S. 1542), when John Radziwill visited the Republic of Venice and Vienna. The same man was depicted in another painting by Silvio, today in the Gemäldegalerie in Berlin (oil on canvas, 102 x 144 cm, inventory number 196). The painting was purchased in 1815 in Paris from the Giustiniani collection by Frederick William III (1770-1840), King of Prussia, with nearly 160 other works and transferred to Berlin. The collection was transferred to Paris in 1807 from Rome, where it was kept in the Giustiniani Palace built at the beginning of the 17th century and probably corresponds to the painting mentioned in the inventory of the collection of 1638 with attribution to Giorgione. The man wears a red coat of a starost or similar to the crimson żupan of the Polish-Lithuanian nobility, it was thus created after 1544. The scene depicts Christ and the Adulteress (The Adulteress Brought before Christ), illustrating the passage from the New Testament in which a group of scribes and Pharisees confront Jesus, interrupting his teaching. They bring in a woman, accusing her of committing adultery. They tell Jesus that the punishment for someone like her should be stoning, as prescribed by the Mosaic law. He declares that the one who is without sin is the one who should cast the first stone at her. The effigy of the adulteress is believed to be a disguised portrait of a famous and "magnificent courtesan" (somtuosa meretrize) Julia Lombardo, who owned such a painting before her death in 1542 in Venice. It is not known how the painting arrived in Rome in the collection of the Genoese banker Vincenzo Giustiniani (1564-1637). Most likely, it was sent to the Eternal City shortly after its creation. The woman resembles the effigy of Queen Barbara by the workshop of Paris Bordone at Knole House, Kent (NT 129951) and other portraits of the queen, while the face of Christ closely resembles the effigy of the brother of Barbara, Nicolaus "the Red", by workshop of Giovanni Cariani at the National Art Museum of Belarus in Minsk. He has dark hair because Christ could not have red hair, according to the known iconography. Another version of this painting can be found in Vilnius. It comes from the collection of Dr Pranas Kiznis exhibited at the Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania (oil on canvas, 118 x 163). The collection includes the portrait of Pope Leo X by Jacopino del Conte and Susanna and the Elders by Palma il Giovane. The precise provenance is not specified, however, even if the painting was acquired in Italy, where it was most likely also created, this does not exclude the identification of the same protagonists as disguised portraits of Barbara Radziwill and her brother. This painting had important political significance and therefore may have been intended for family or friends in Italy. Very little is known about Silvio, who died in Venice in 1551, probably born on Venetian territory around 1495 and who signed some of his works Joannes Petrus Silvius Venetus, thus defining himself as a Venetian. Perhaps his stay in Poland-Lithuania is yet to be discovered. A reduced version of the composition, closer to the Berlin painting, was in a private collection in England (oil on canvas, 43 x 75.5 cm, Sotheby's London, April 24, 2007, lot 216). It has been attributed to a follower of Rocco Marconi (d. 1529), a Venetian painter who frequently painted similar scenes. The number of copies (versions) of this painting also indicates that it is a religious scene with disguised portraits and additional meaning Such representations in the scene of Christ and the Adulteress were popular in 16th-century Europe, especially in this context of well known "adultery". Georg Vischer's painting from the Electoral Gallery in Munich (Alte Pinakothek, inventory number 1411), dated 1637, is most likely a copy of a lost original by Albrecht Dürer from around 1520. Dürer represented himself as Christ and the adulterous woman bears the features of a mistress of Alfonso d'Este (1476-1534), Duke of Ferrara (a relative of Queen Bona Sforza) - Laura Dianti (d. 1573), called Eustochia. Laura was frequently depicted in many biblical disguises, like Madonna and Child with the Infant Saint John the Baptist (Uffizi Gallery in Florence and Musée Fesch in Ajaccio), Saint Mary Magdalene (private collection), Salome (private collection), all by Titian and followers and also in the scene of Jesus preaching to Laura Dianti and her great-grandson Alfonso III d'Este, Duke of Modena and Reggio by circle of Sante Peranda (Château de Chenonceau). Similar to the Berlin painting where John Radziwill was depicted in the upper left corner as a donor, such effigy is also in the painting by Vischer (a man in a green cap looking at the viewer). In 1642, in a dispute with the d'Este family, lawyers of the Holy See even referred to the way Duke Francesco I's grandmother was depicted in a portrait from many years ago (a painting of Laura depicted like an exotic courtesan by Titian). The lack of regalia and the free convention of an "indecent" woman were, in their opinion, proof that the ruler was born out of wedlock (after "Prawna ochrona królewskich wizerunków" by Jacek Żukowski). This is why many "indecent" effigies were destroyed during the Counter-Reformation, including very probably the original by Dürer. Another similar scene with portraits is in the Schloss Johannisburg in Aschaffenburg (inventory number 6246). It comes from the Zweibrücken gallery and may have once been in Halle Cathedral, remodeled around 1520 by Cardinal Albert of Brandenburg (1490-1545). In this painting, attributed to workshop or circle of Lucas Cranach the Elder (possibly Hans Abel), Albert was depicted in the guise of Christ and his concubine Elisabeth (Leys) Schütz (d. 1527) as the adulteress. The cardinal was also frequently depicted in other religious disguises, such as Saint Jerome, Saint Erasmus and Saint Martin and his concubine as Saint Ursula. The same woman and man were also depicted together in another painting. This portrait is attributed to Paris Bordone, but its style reveals great similarities with certain works of Giovanni Cariani, such as the mentioned effigy of Nicolaus "the Red" in Minsk. Bordone probably copied a painting by Cariani and was inspired by his style. The painting is now in the Nivaagaard Museum in Nivå, Denmark (oil on canvas, 84.5 x 71 cm, 0009NMK) and was purchased on September 11, 1906 from Lesser, London by Danish businessman Johannes Hage (1842-1923). The dress of a young woman is very similar to that seen in a Portrait of a Young Woman by Bordone in the National Gallery, London, dated around 1545 (NG674), in a Portrait of a Lady from the Pitti Palace in Florence, dated between 1545 and 1555 (Palatina 109, 1912) or Women at their Toilet from around 1545 in the National Galleries Scotland (NG 10). The woman holds her hand on her womb as if to say that she remains chaste and the rumors are false. The man standing behind her resemble her and he is holding his hands on her arms in supportive gesture, he is obviously her brother. The same man is depicted in another painting by Bordone in which his pose and features also resemble those of his cousin John Radziwill from a painting by Silvio in Berlin. He is holding a letter and the painting can be compared to the portrait of the royal jeweler Giovanni Jacopo Caraglio at the Wawel Royal Castle dating between 1547 and 1553. This painting comes from the collection of Graf von Galen at Haus Assen in Lippborg in northern Germany. Since the early 17th century, the Radziwill family had significant connections and properties in Germany. It was sold in 2004 in London (oil on canvas, 92.4 x 74 cm, Sotheby's, July 08, 2004, lot 300). Among the paintings belonging to the "Victorious King" John III Sobieski (1629-1696), which could come from earlier royal collections and mentioned in the inventory of the Wilanów Palace from 1696, we find "A painting of mulieris in adulterio a Iudaeis deprehensae [a woman caught in adultery by the Jews] in gilded and carved frames" (Obraz mulieris in adulterio a Iudaeis deprehensae wramach złocistych rzniętych, No. 70). In addition to an expensive frame, this painting hung in a representative interior of the King's Antechamber, next to "A painting of Christ the Lord with the Pharisees [Christ among the doctors] in a gilded frame by Raphael" (Obraz Chrystusa Pana z Farazeuszami wramach złocistych Rafaela, No. 69). The inventory of paintings from the collection of Princess Louise Charlotte Radziwill (1667-1695), that survived the Deluge (1655-1660), drawn up in 1671, in addition to portraits of Queen Barbara and her husband, lists the following portraits of members of the family: Nicolaus Radziwił Dux in Ołyka et Nieśwież Palatinus Vilnen. (10), Joanes Radziwil Dux in Muszniki Archicamer. M.D.L. (15), Joanes Radziwił Dux in Olika et Nieśwież Etatis Sue 35 (17), Nicolaus Radziwił Dux Birzarum et Dubincorum, Palaitinus Vilnen. Gnalis Dux Exercitum M.D.L. (21) and many other unspecified portraits like "A person in black costume in German style, yellow hair" (271). The inventory also includes paintings such as "Lucifer with devils, painting on a sheet metal" (579/12) and "Devils [in different] postures on a panel" (584/17). 
Portrait of John Radziwill (1516-1551) holding a letter by Giampietro Silvio, 1542, Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna.
Portrait of John Radziwill (1516-1551) from the Theatrum Pictorium (54) by Jan van Troyen, 1660, Princely Court Library in Waldeck.
Christ and the Adulteress with portraits of Barbara Radziwill (1520/23-1551), her brother Nicolaus "the Red" Radziwill (1512-1584) and cousin John Radziwill (1516-1551) by Giampietro Silvio, ca. 1545-1547, Gemäldegalerie in Berlin.
Christ and the Adulteress with portraits of Barbara Radziwill (1520/23-1551) and her brother Nicolaus "the Red" Radziwill (1512-1584) by Giampietro Silvio, ca. 1545-1547, Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania in Vilnius.
Christ and the Adulteress with portraits of Barbara Radziwill (1520/23-1551) and her brother Nicolaus "the Red" Radziwill (1512-1584) by Giampietro Silvio, ca. 1545-1547, Private collection.
Portrait of Barbara Radziwill (1520/23-1551) and her brother Nicolaus "the Red" Radziwill (1512-1584) by Paris Bordone, ca. 1545-1547, Nivaagaard Museum in Nivå.
Portrait of Nicolaus "the Red" Radziwill (1512-1584) holding a letter by Paris Bordone, ca. 1550, Private collection.
Portraits of pregnant Barbara Radziwill
In a letter of November 26, 1547, Stanisław Andrejewicz Dowojno (d. 1566) reported to king Sigismund Augustus about miscarriage of Barbara Radziwill, whom he wed secretly sometime in 1547. Having a large number of mistresses before, during and after being married, the king remained childless. At some time the parliament was willing to legitimize and acknowledge as his successor any male heir who might be born to him. The king's mistress was undoubtedly assisted by the best Italian doctors as well as local midwives and most likely by old Lithuanian ladies "well versed in the art of magic".
In a letter dated March 5, 1551 (or 1550, Dat w Krakowie V. Martii Anno Domini M. D. L. Regni numeri XXII.) to Barbara's brother Nicolaus "the Red" Radziwill, King Sigismund Augustus mentions "so that your Lordship may find a woman who would be in arte incantamentorum bene versata et perita [well versed and skilled in the art of spells], and therefore in this regard we accept with the greatest gratitude your Lordship's help, but we already have such a woman here, so there is no need for you to send her here" (Yakosz nam Twa M. pyszal, ysz za naszym do T. M. pyssanyem, y baczącz tesz tego bycz nyemalą potrzebę, wielkąsz pilnoscz Twa M. do tego przylozycz raczil, abysz W. M. mogl dostacz iakiey baby, ctoraby in arte incantamentorum bene versata et perita bela: a tak takową Twey M. w tey mierze pilnoscz barzo wdzięcznye od Twey M. przymuiemy. Alie yusz tesz thu takową babę mamy: przeto yusz nyeiesth potrzeba, abysz thu Twa M. babę iaką szlacz myal; y ieszlysz yą T. M. yusz poszlal, tedi tę babę T. M. roskasz nazad wroczycz, bo iey yusz nyepotrzeba, after "Jagiellonki polskie w XVI. wieku ..." by Aleksander Przezdziecki, Volume 1, p. 382). Such old ladies (baba in Polish) are mentioned in other letters from 1551 and one of them was also imprisoned by order of the king in Sieradz Castle, and later in Brest, because she had close relations with Queen Bona and was suspected of poisoning Barbara (after "Encyklopedia powszechna", 1860, Volume 2, p. 869). The portrait of a lady with a servant by Jan van Calcar from the collection of Prince Leon Sapieha, sold in 1904 in Paris (panel, 97 x 72 cm, "Catalogue des tableaux anciens [...] composant la collection de M. le prince Sapieha", June 25, 1904, National Library of France, FRBNF36523528, item 17), was said to depict pregnant Barbara Radziwill (possibly lost during World War II). It shows a woman in red dress in Italian style with emerald pendant on her chest, accompanied by a midwife. The bill of a royal embroiderer, who charged the treasury for "a robe of red velvet" that he embroidered in 1549 for Queen Barbara with pearls and gold thread for 100 florins, confirms that similar dresses were in her possesion. A somewhat similar composition with a servant or midwife, showing a nobleman, his wife and son and a dog, painted by Giovanni Antonio Fasolo and dated "1558", is in the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco (inv. 1937.9). Besides the woman's resemblance to other effigies of Barbara, particularly the famous miniature by Lucas Cranach the Younger or workshop (Czartoryski Museum, inv. MNK XII-540), the title of the painting also indicates that it is chronologically correct: "Portrait of the young princess Barbara Radziwill" (Portrait de la jeune princesse Barbe Radziwill), thus created before her coronation in 1550, as well as other elements such as "her red hair" (not apparent in the black and white photo of the portrait), "decorated with a pearl tiara" (la chevelure rousse nattée, ornée d'un diadème de perles), which also correspond to known descriptions of the king's mistress and her status. The painter Jan Stephan van Calcar is considered to have died around 1546 or 1547, so the painting must have been created shortly before his death, probably in Naples. Calacar's painting was sold with two other splendid portraits of the period. One of them, now kept in the National Museum in Warsaw (inv. 128165), is the portrait of Henry VIII of England, attributed to Hans Holbein the Younger in the catalog (item 54). The other is a portrait identified to represent Vittoria Colonna (1492-1547), Marchioness of Pescara, painted by the Venetian painter active in Rome Sebastiano del Piombo (item 77), now in the National Art Museum of Catalonia in Barcelona (oil on panel, 96 x 72.5 cm, inv. 064984-000). The collection also included a painting by Lucas Cranach the Elder and workshop - The Infant Christ as Redeemer (oil on panel, 39.1 x 25.4 cm, Christie's London, Auction 10391, December 8, 2015, lot 7), attributed to Lucas Cranach the Younger in the catalog (item 26), signed with the artist's insignia and dated 15[.]3 or 15[.]5 (poorly preserved). Other paintings sold at auction and the names of the painters are typical of Polish-Lithuanian art collections: Man and Woman Bathing by Francesco Albani (item 3), Maternity and Abraham's stop by Jacopo Bassano (items 4 and 5), The Virgin and Child with Saint John from the school of Giovanni Bellini (9), Portrait of a man in a black velvet doublet holding a letter from the school of Bronzino (16), Portrait of a man in black velvet costume lined with fur, attributed to Gonzales Coques (22), Portrait of a gentleman by Gonzales Coques (23), "Let this cup be taken away from me ..." (Matthew 26:39), Venetian school, 17th century (48), Young man wearing a fur cap, his hand resting on an armchair, school of Rembrandt (82), Cupid sitting on the golden bowl, school of Peter Paul Rubens (89), Sleeping Venus, after Titian (106). The owner of the paintings, Prince Leon Kazimierz Sapieha (1851-1904), is not mentioned in the sources as a collector, who acquired them in different collections or auctions abroad, which indicates that the majority of the paintings were family heirlooms, evacuated from Partitioned Poland-Lithuania during the January Uprising (1863-1864). They probably come from the Sapieha Palace in Vysokaye, Belarus (Wysokie Litewskie in Polish), built between 1816-1820 by Leon Kazimierz's grandmother, Pelagia Róza Sapieżyna née Potocka (1775-1846), a renowned patron, several portraits of whom were made by Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun. The last lord of Vysokaye from the Sapieha family was Pelagia's son, Franciszek Ksawery Sapieha (1807-1882), who left permanently for Biarritz in 1863. The portrait by Calcar is very similar in comosition to the portrait known as effigy of Sidonia von Borcke (Sidonia the Sorceress, 1548-1620), attributed to workshop of Lucas Cranach the Elder. This portrait was before World War II in the Von Borcke Palace in Starogard (panel, 65 x 42 cm, destroyed), owned by a wealthy Pomeranian family of Slavic origin, along the effigy of Sophia Jagiellon (1522-1575) and her husband. According to Heinrich Gustav Schwalenberg (d. 1719), the painting came from the collection of the Dukes of Pomerania, donated by Boguslaus XIV (1580-1637), the last Duke of Pomerania. The model's costume is German in style and similar to the costume of a wife of Barnim XI of Pomerania (relative of King Sigismund Augustus) - Anna of Brunswick-Lüneburg (1502-1568) from about 1545 (drawing from the so-called "Book of effigies" of Duke Philip II of Pomerania) or a costume of Agnes von Hayn from her 1543 portrait, both by Cranach or his workshop, the person depicted cannot therefore be Sidonia, born in 1548. Similar costumes can also be seen in several paintings by Master H.B. with Griffin Head, an artist who was probably trained in the studio of Lucas Cranach the Elder and was certainly active in the elder master's ambit in the 1540s and 1550s. In the National Museum in Szczecin (inv. MNS/Szt/1167) there is a copy of Starogard painting. It was painted at the end of the 18th century and was located in the Strzmiele Palace, seat of the von Borcke family. According to legend, the portrait depicts the most famous member of the family in her youth and old age, hence the inscription in German (Sidonia von Borcken gestalt in ihrer Jugend wie ihrem Alter, lower right). The woman in the painting is holding a chalice, an allusion to her patron saint, Barbara, as in a triptych by Cranach from 1506 in Dresden (Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, Gal.-Nr. 1906 B, the hand is almost identical). In this portrait the family resemblance to the portraits of Barbara's mother - Barbara Kolanka (died 1550) by Cranach and his workshop, in particular her portrait as Lucretia (Alte Pinakothek in Munich, inv. 691), identified by me, is clearly visible. Title page of "Inscription on the tomb of the noble Queen Barbara Radziwill" (Napis nad grobem zacney Krolowey Barbary Radziwiłowny), a dirge (song of mourning) praising the king's beloved wife, published in Kraków in 1558, is decorated with a beautiful woodcut depicting Saint Barbara with the towers of the castle in the background. Both paintings, by Calcar and by workshop of Cranach, were undoubtedly then a part of Jagiellonian propaganda to legitimize the royal mistress as the Queen of Poland. 
Portrait of pregnant Barbara Radziwill (1520/23-1551) with a midwife by workshop of Lucas Cranach the Elder, ca. 1546-1547, Von Borcke Palace in Starogard, most probably destroyed during World War II. Virtual reconstruction, © Marcin Latka
Portrait of pregnant Barbara Radziwill (1520/23-1551) with a midwife by Jan van Calcar or circle, ca. 1546-1547, collection of Prince Leon Sapieha, sold in 1904 in Paris, possibly lost during World War II. Virtual reconstruction, © Marcin Latka
Portrait of Vittoria Colonna (1492-1547), Marchioness of Pescara from the Sapieha collection by Sebastiano del Piombo, ca. 1520-1525, National Art Museum of Catalonia in Barcelona.
The Infant Christ as Redeemer from the Sapieha collection by workshop of Lucas Cranach the Elder or Lucas Cranach the Younger, 1530s or 1550s, Private collection.
Portrait of Barbara Radziwill by Moretto da Brescia or Jan van Calcar
The portrait of unkown lady in white in the National Gallery of Art in Washington (oil on canvas, 106.4 x 87.6 cm, 1939.1.230), attributed to Moretto da Brescia, a painter from the Republic of Venice who may have apprenticed with Titian, can be compared with a portrait by Jan Stephan van Calcar, a pupil of Titian, from the Sapieha collection in Paris. The latter painting, most probably lost during World War II, was said to depict pregnant second wife of Sigismund Augustus, Barbara Radziwill. Both face features as well as costume style and details are very much alike. The sitter's dress in Moretto's painting is also very similar to that visible in a miniature of a lady with a pearl necklace, wich can be identified as effigy of Bona Sforza d'Aragona, Queen of Poland, from the second half of the 1540s (Uffizi, Inv. 1890, 9005). This painting was originally attributed to Moretto's assistant, Luca Mombello.
The biographies of both painters are not well documented, but there are notable influences from Titian in their work. Their workplace is frequently reconstructed from the location of the surviving signed paintings. Alessandro Bonvicino (ca. 1498-1554), better known as Moretto da Brescia, may have been Titian's apprentice in Venice and modelled his early portraits on the Venetian style, while the work of Jan Steven van Calcar (ca. 1499-1546/7) in Venice is confirmed by Vasari (he entered Titian's school in 1536). It cannot be ruled out that they received their commissions from the same source. The famous tapestries of Sigismund Augustus, part of which are preserved in Wawel Castle in Kraków, are a perfect example of the fact that such large commissions from the King of Poland could not have been carried out by a single workshop. Although the initial design (cartoon) for the fabrics created in Flanders was usually made by one or two artists, such as the central scenes by Michiel Coxie (1499-1592) and Cornelis Floris de Vriendt (1514-1575), the work was executed by different workshops. It is assumed that the tapestries were created by eight workshops (six identifiable masters and two anonymous), who left their signatures on some of the fabrics (cf. "Ze studiów nad znakami tkackimi w kolekcji arrasów Zygmunta Augusta" by Magdalena Piwocka, p. 141). The portrait of Sigismund Augustus in the Prado (inv. P000262), attributed to Giovanni Battista Moroni, who trained with Moretto in Brescia, where he was the principal assistant in the workshop in the 1540s, was listed in the 1794 inventory of the Buen Retiro Palace in Madrid as a pendant to the portrait of the king's third wife, Catherine of Austria (inv. P000487), attributed to Titian, both identified by me. However, in the mentioned inventory of the Buen Retiro, both paintings were considered works by Titian (Otra [pintura] de Tiziano, numbers 383, 402). The bill of a royal embroiderer of Sigismund Augustus, who charged the treasury for "a robe of white tabinet" that he embroidered in 1549 for Queen Barbara "with a wide row of goldcloth and green velvet" for 15 florins, confirms that similar dresses were in her possesion. The Queen's taylor was an Italian Francesco, who was admitted to her service in Vilnius on 2 May 1548 with annual salary of gr. 30 fl. 30. In May 1543 during entry to Kraków for coronation of Elizabeth of Austria, the lords and knights of the Kingdom were dressed in all sorts of costumes, including Italian, French and Spanish, while the young king Sigismund Augustus was dressed in German style, probably as a courtesy for Elizabeth. The inventory of dowry of Sigismund Augustus' sister Catherine Jagiellon from 1562 includes 13 French and Spanish robes. The painting in Washington comes from the collection of Count Alessandro Contini Bonacossi (1878-1955) in Rome and Florence, who also owned the portrait of Sigismund Augustus by Francesco Salviati (Mint Museum of Art, 39.1) and portraits of the king and his third wife by Tintoretto or Titian (Uffizi Gallery and National Museum of Serbia), sold in 1936 to the Samuel H. Kress Foundation. Earlier, the portrait was in the Rocca collection in Como near Milan (after "Paintings from the Samuel H. Kress Collection: Italian Schools: XV-XVI century" by Fern Rusk Shapley, p. 92). Nothing more is known about this provenance, but in Como there was the famous Museo Gioviano with an important collection of portraits of many contemporary personalities, assembled by Paolo Giovio (Paulus Jovius, 1483-1552), bishop of Nocera de' Pagani. The bishop received and commissioned many reliable effigies of European monarchs and since in his writings he praised Sarmatia, the city of Kraków, King Sigismund I, his daughter Isabella, Hieronim Łaski and Jan Amor Tarnowski (comapre "L'immagine della Polonia in Italia ..." by Andrea Ceccherelli, p. 329, 331), he must have had many portraits related to Poland-Lithuania-Ruthenia. In 2024, on the occasion of the temporary exhibition at the Santa Giulia Museum in Brescia, it was suggested that Washington portrait depicts Eleonora Gonzaga di Sabbioneta (d. 1545), who married Count Girolamo Martinengo di Padernello (1519-1570), captain of the Serenissima, in a sumptuous ceremony at the Doge's Palace in Venice on February 4, 1543. In January 1543, the Martinengo family summoned Moretto to their palace and entrusted him with the task of depicting Gerolamo. They wanted the painter to make two large canvases (approximately 120 x 87 cm) to be placed side by side. Portrait of a Man, previously attributed to Girolamo Romanino and now to Moretto, held at the Lechi Museum (oil on canvas, 83.8 x 67.8 cm, inv. MLM27) is identified as this particular portrait of Count Girolamo and is said to have been cut at a later date. The Washington portrait, although not of corresponding composition, is believed to be the counterpart depicting Eleonora. On the occasion of his marriage to Eleonora, Girolamo also commissioned a cycle of splendid frescoes in his Palazzo Martinengo di Padernello Salvadego in Brescia (La Sala delle Dame) depicting eight Martinengo ladies seated on a balustrade against a landscape background, painted by Moretto between 1543-1546 - the description given by the rector Girolamo Contarini on the occasion of the wedding speaks of six ladies - vi sono retrate dal naturale 6 gentildone bresane belle (letter of February 7, 1543). The painter undoubtedly depicted the Count's wife among the ladies, but none of them resemble the woman in Washington portrait, and their dresses are less sumptuous. If the new Countess Martinengo was indeed depicted in a dress fit for a queen, she would undoubtedly be depicted in the same way on the fresco in her palace. A portrait of Queen Barbara (item 19) is mentioned among the Italian paintings in the collection of Prince Boguslaus Radziwill (1620-1669) in 1657 (Central Archives of Historical Records in Warsaw - AGAD, 1/354/0/26/79.2). The inventory of paintings in the Radziwill collection from 1671 lists two portraits of "Barbara Radziwill, Queen of Poland" (Barbara Radziwiłówna królowa polska, items 79/9 and 115/14) as well as a portrait of "A lady in a white dress, with jewels, a crown on her head" (Dama w szacie białej, w klejnociech, korona na głowie, item 71/1, after "Inwentarz galerii obrazów Radziwiłłów z XVII w." by Teresa Sulerzyska). 
Portrait of Barbara Radziwill (1520/23-1551) in white by Moretto da Brescia or Jan van Calcar, ca. 1546-1548, National Gallery of Art, Washington.
Portraits of Sigismund II Augustus by Jan van Calcar or Moretto da Brescia
Sometime in 1547, in spite of his mother's disapproval and nobility's animosity, Sigismund Augustus, King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania secretly wed his mistress Barbara Radziwill, a Lithuanian noblewoman whom he met in 1543.
The portrait attributed to Jan van Calcar (oil on canvas, 125.5 x 92 cm, sold at Dorotheum in Vienna, April 14, 2005, lot 12), shows a young man (Sigismund Augustus was 26 in 1546). He stands against ancient buildings similar to a reconstruction of the Mausoleum of Emperor Augustus in Rome published in 1575 (the king born on 1 August was named after the first Roman Emperor Gaius Octavius Augustus) and the king's castrum doloris in Rome in 1572 or obelisk visible in the portrait of royal jeweller Giovanni Jacopo Caraglio from about 1553. The painting comes from the collection of John Rushout, 2nd Baron Northwick (1770-1859), an avid collector of works of art, antiques and coins, most likely acquired in Italy in 1790. In the "Catalogue of the pictures, works of art, &c. at Northwick Park" from 1864, it was listed with attribution to Parmigianino as "Portrait of Cosmo de Medici" (No. 34). The presumed author Jan van Calcar, a pupil of Titian in Venice, moved to Naples in about 1543, where he died before 1550. Sigismund's mother Bona Sforza was a granddaughter of Alfonso II, King of Naples and from 1524 she was a Duchess of nearby Bari and Rossano. According to the accounts of Sigismund Augustus by a courtier Stanisław Wlossek from 1545 to 1548, the king had "robes lined with lynx, short Italian", robes of black velvet and stockings of "black ermestno silk", black suede shoes, etc. The register of his clothes from 1572 includes Italian, German and Persian robes valued at 5351 zlotys. The portrait could be a pendant to a portrait of Barbara Radziwill in similar dimensions attributed to Moretto da Brescia (National Gallery of Art, 1939.1.230), which could also be attributed to Calcar, just as previously the portrait of the man described here was attributed to Moretto da Brescia, and inversely. The man is holding in his right hand a red carnation flower, a symbol of passion, love, affection and betrothal. The same sitter is also depicted in the portrait in Vienna (Kunsthistorisches Museum, oil on canvas, 86.5 x 59 cm, inventory number GG 79), signed by Calcar (. eapolis f. / Stephanus / Calcarius), and in the painting attributed to Francesco Salviati, who stayed for a brief time in Venice, in the Mint Museum (oil on panel, 109.2 x 82.9 cm, 39.1). According to the inscription, the Vienna painting was painted in Naples and was evidenced in the Imperial Gallery in 1772, so it was probably a gift to the Habsburgs. While the painting by Salviati comes from the collection of Count Alessandro Contini Bonacossi (1878-1955) in Rome and Florence, who also owned the mentioned portrait of the king's second wife Barbara Radziwill and portraits of Sigismund Augustus and his third wife by Tintoretto or Titian (Uffizi Gallery and National Museum of Serbia), sold to Samuel Henry Kress on 1 Septemeber 1939. Gold medal of Sigismund II Augustus on the occasion of birthday anniversary and coronation with bust and coat of arms of the young king was made by less known medalier Domenico Veneziano (Dominicus Venetus, Dominic of Venice) in 1548 - inscription "Sigismund Augustus, King of Poland, Grand Duke of Lithuania, aged 29" (SIGIS[mundus] AVG[ustus] REX POLO[niae] MG[magnus] DVX LIT[huaniae] AET[atis] S[uae] XXIX), today in the Ossolineum in Wrocław (inventory number G 1611). He signed his work on the reverse around the Polish Eagle: "Domenico Veneziano made [me] in the year of Our Lord 1548" (ANO D[omini] NRI[nostri] M.D.XLVIII. DOMINICVS VENETVS FECIT.). 
Portrait of Sigismund II Augustus (1520-1572) by Jan van Calcar or Moretto da Brescia, ca. 1546-1548, Private collection.
Portrait of Sigismund II Augustus (1520-1572) with gloves by Jan van Calcar, 1540s, Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna.
Portrait of Sigismund II Augustus (1520-1572) with gloves, attributed to Francesco Salviati, 1540s, Mint Museum of Art, Charlotte.
Disguised portraits of Barbara Radziwill and Tullia d'Aragona by Moretto da Brescia and workshop
Barbara Radziwill (1520/23-1551), mistress and future wife of King Sigismund Augustus, owned one of the most beautiful clothes in Renaissance Europe. In addition to the national fashion, as confirmed by the miniatures of Lucas Cranach the Younger and his circle (Czartoryski Museum, inv. MNK XII-540 and MNK IV-V-1433), she undoubtedly dressed in the Italian style, preferred by her husband, in the French and Spanish styles like the sisters of Sigismund Augustus (such dressed are mentioned in the dowry of Catherine Jagiellon from 1562) and German style. In a letter written on August 25, 1548 to Barbara's brother Nicholaus "the Red" (1512-1584), Sigismund Augustus asks for Barbara to welcome him in Radom "in a black dress of Italian fabric" (Tedy niechaj Jej K. M. w szacie czarnej z sukna włoskiego i także też w płachtach nie miąższych jakoby rańtuchach jechać i nas witać tamże raczyła, after "Monografja historyczna miasta Radomia" by Jan Luboński, p. 18).
In addition to money, usually 100-200 florins, Barbara often presented valuable fabrics to her ladies-in-waiting who were getting married. Such gifts came to Katarzyna Komorowska (May 12, 1549), Anna Gnojeńska (June 18, 1549), Anna Podlodowska (April 20, 1550), Barbara Kobylińska and Anna Sienieńska (November 9, 1550). The latter received 200 florins in cash and various fabrics, including 20 ells of white damask, undoubtedly intended for a wedding outfit. After Barbara's death, no clothing or other items of the queen were distributed to her female court, as was the case after the death of the king's first wife, Elizabeth of Austria (1526-1545). Sigismund Augustus kept them for himself in his personal treasury until the end of his life. Some of Barbara's clothes remained in the custody of Stanisław Gzowski, who in 1550 was employed as a separate official (or servant) in the queen's treasury (in servicium thesauri Maiestatis Reginalis). The severance payments of Barbara's court were truly royal and covered by the royal treasury. The Lithuanian treasury paid 2,521 florins in cash for the female court (curia feminei sexus) and male servants (curia masculinum), in addition to various payments in kind. Several of her courtiers were included in the king's court after Barbara's death, such as the Queen's Ruthenian Notary (notarius Ruthenicus Maiestatis Reginalis) Yan Nikolayevich Hayka (Jan Mikołajewicz Hajko), the queen's physician Piotr from Poznań, and the queen's tailor, the Italian Francesco. The same happened to the late queen's pages (cubiculares minores) Marcin Chocimowski, Szczęsny (Feliks) Chodorowski, Łukasz Jaktorowski, Stanisław Jundziłło, Jan Karp (Carpio), Jan Przeczen, Jan Radzanowski, Jan Rupniowski and Prince Maksymilian Vyshnevetsky. Barbara's favourite, the dwarf Okuliński, also remained with the king. Her women's court turned out to be unnecessary, so the matrons and other ladies were dismissed from service. First, three matrons received their severance pay: Barbara Słupecka née Firlej, Katarzyna Chocimowska and Katarzyna Łagiewnicka. The chief lady-in-waiting, who was Słupecka, received 200 florins in cash and 20 ells of velvet and satin. The ladies of the court, whose group consisted of eight girls, were also richly endowed: Eufemia Chocimowska, Dorota Cybulska, Czarnocka, Katarzyna Czuryłówna, Katarzyna Łaganowska (Laganka), Zofia Łaska, Skotnicka and Zofia Świdzińska. Each of them received 200 florins and a large set of various fabrics for clothing, including 20 ells of velvet, 20 ells of damask, 10 ells of gold cloth, 81/2 ells of ermestno (armezyn) silk. In addition, each lady-in-waiting received a golden cap (peplum aureum) and a ring with a precious stone (anulum cum lapillo). The Queen's personal maids (ancillae in servitio privato) each received 100 florins and 20 ells of damask, 2 ells of lace and 1 ell of Cologne linen, gold bonnets and rings with precious stones. Four maids (ancillae in conclavi) also received a generous severance pay. Eudocja, probably Barbara's most trusted maid, received 100 florins and 20 ells of damask. Miss Krzeczowska received 40 florins and 20 ells of damask and 2 ells of lace, Miss Rylska received 20 florins and 7 ells of stamet wool fabric and 2 ells of velvet. The same severance pay as Rylska was also paid to the dwarf Kaśka, who, of the queen's two female dwarves (the other was Zośka), remained in the court service until the end of the court's activity (after "Pogrzeb Barbary Radziwiłłówny i odprawa jej królewskiego dworu (1551)" by Agnieszka Marchwińska, p. 108-112). This gives an impression of the splendor and wealth of the court of the king's second wife, which, as in other European countries, must have found a suitable reflection in the portraits. Ladies gifted with rich fabrics, from which fashionable dresses were made, like the queen and ladies of other European courts, certainly took appropriate care to commemorate their appearance. The Museum in Nysa houses a portrait of a lady in a black French-style dress and a velvet coat lined with expensive lynx fur, attributed to the Italian school (oil on canvas, 74 x 53.5 cm). Due to the richness of the woman's attire, the colour of her coat and the attribute of the palm branch, the image is considered to represent Saint Barbara. The pearls in her hair indicate her wealth and status and could refer to female suffering (compare "Mistrzowie sztuki Europejskiej. Sacrum Rzeczywistości - ze zbiorów Muzeum Powiatowego w Nysie" by Robert Kołakowski, p. 13, 16, 23). In addition to the palm branch, the woman also holds a fragment of breaking wheel in her hands. The saint is therefore not Barbara, but Catherine of Alexandria, a Christian virgin who was martyred around the age of 18. According to her hagiography, Saint Catherine was both a princess and a renowned scholar. She is the patron saint of unmarried women and venerated in the Orthodox and Catholic Churches. In this respect, the painting can be compared to the portrait of Hurrem Sultan (Roxelana, 1504-1558) in Ottoman costume, with a broken wheel and halo, painted by Titian's workshop in 1542 (Uffizi Gallery in Florence, inv. 1890, 909). Through the Mystical Marriage, Saint Catherine united herself spiritually and consecrated herself to Christ. Barbara's coronation celebrations, organized with the utmost discretion, were planned for "Saint Catherine's Day", that is, November 25, 1550. However, the sudden deterioration of her health delayed the coronation by two weeks (December 7, 1550). Before this date, the work of gilding and painting the new altar of Wawel Cathedral, with a central painting created in Venice in 1547 by Pietro degli Ingannati, had undoubtedly been completed (after "Renesansowy ołtarz główny Bodzentynie" by Paweł Pencakowski, p. 117). The facial features of a woman, although less idealised, are very similar to the face of "The Lady in White" by Alessandro Bonvicino (d. 1554), better known as Moretto da Brescia in the National Art Gallery in Washington (inv. 1939.1.230), which according to my identification is a portrait of Barbara Radziwill. Her face and hairstyle also resemble the adulterous woman in Giampietro Silvio's painting in the Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania in Vilnius and a copy in a private collection, which are also disguised portraits of Sigismund Augustus' second wife. The painting comes from the collection of Count Heinrich Pohl in Kałków near Otmuchów. The Pohl family owned the Kałków estate from around 1830. The collection was most likely created by Alfred Pohl and his sister Marie is also mentioned in pre-war literature as the owner of the paintings. The collection included more than twenty paintings by Silesian, Italian, Flemish and German artists. The earlier history of this painting is unknown, however, the nearby town of Otmuchów was the seat of Bishop Charles Ferdinand Vasa (1613-1655), great-grandson of Sigismund I and Bona Sforza, as well as Bishop Francis Louis of Palatinate-Neuburg (1664-1732), son of Philip William of Neuburg (1615-1690), who before marrying Francis Louis' mother had married the great-granddaughter of Sigismund I and Bona - Anna Catherine Constance Vasa (1619-1651). The style of this portrait is very similar to that of a painting in a private collection in Switzerland, which depicts a woman as Saint Agnes. The pose and costume of the woman are also similar, as if the two paintings were counterparts. The painting in Switzerland is attributed to Moretto da Brescia. Two copies of "Saint Agnes" are known, one that was probably in the Maffei collection in Brescia in 1760, is attributed to Francesco Prata da Caravaggio (Wannenes in Genoa, Auction 282, March 3, 2016, lot 103). The other, attributed to the circle of Moretto da Brescia, but closer to the style of Paris Bordone, is also in a private collection (Christie's London, Auction 7822, December 5, 1997, lot 258). Saint Agnes of Rome, a fourth-century virgin martyr, is the patron saint of chastity and of virgins and victims of sexual abuse. Agnes, born into Roman nobility, as the young girl had taken a vow of chastity to Jesus. Her high-ranking suitors, scorned by her staunch devotion to religious purity, sought to persecute her for her beliefs. The prefect Sempronius sentenced Agnes to be dragged naked through the streets to a brothel. She was martyred on January 21, 304, at the age of 12 or 13. The pose of the woman depicted as Saint Agnes recalls another similar painting attributed to Moretto da Brescia - Salome, now preserved in the Pinacoteca Tosio Martinengo in Brescia (inv. 81), which, like the paintings of Saint Agnes, is dated around 1540. In the painting of Salome, the model's face is more elongated, but in this work, the woman's lips are parted. It comes from the collection of Count Teodoro Lechi (1778-1866) in Brescia and depicts her dressed in expensive clothes and rich fur, holding a golden scepter in her left hand. The woman rests on a marble slab on which is inscribed QVAE SACRV[M] IOANIS / CAPVT SALTANDO / OBTINVIT, which means "She who obtained the head of Saint John by dancing". The background depicts laurels, symbol of poets and victory. Since the beginning of the 19th century, this painting has been considered a disguised portrait of Tullia d'Aragona (d. 1556), an Italian poet, writer and philosopher, born in Rome (around 1501, 1505 or 1510), who travelled through Venice, Ferrara, Siena and Florence. It was reproduced under the title Tullia d'Aragona / Dal quadro di Bonvicini detto il Moretto in the first volume of complete biographies published by Antonio Locatelli (1786-1848) in 1837 (Iconografia italiana degli uomini e delle donne celebri ..., Volume 1, p. 380). Tullia is considered a courtesan and one of the best writers, poets and philosophers of her time. She was the daughter of the Ferrarese courtesan Giulia Campana and, most likely, of Cardinal Luigi d'Aragona (1474-1519), grandson of Ferdinand I, King of Naples and as such a relative of Queen Bona Sforza. Around 1526, she became involved with Filippo Strozzi, a Florentine banking magnate and Penelope d'Aragona, born in 1535, is considered her daughter (or sister). In 1543, she married Silvestro Guicciardi in Siena and in October 1548, she returned to Rome. The disguise as Saint Agnes of Rome is perfectly suited to the courtesan and poetess born in Rome. Moretto or his workshop depicted the same woman in a painting of a half-naked Venus with Cupid, now in a private collection in Milan, formerly in the Tempini collection in Brescia (oil on canvas, 118 x 210 cm, Fototeca Zeri, Numero scheda: 42311). This is most likely the same painting mentioned in 1820 in the Fenaroli collection in Brescia (Quadro per traverso rappresentante una Venere con Amorino al naturale del Moretto). The two columns with the curtains tied around them are thought to be a reference to the emblem and motto of Emperor Charles V - Plus oultre ("further beyond") in French, so the woman depicted in the painting was perhaps challenging the male domination and power of the emperor over Italy. Perhaps another portrait by Moretto, evacuated to France after the November Uprising (1830-1831), inspired the image of Barbara Radziwill by Józef Szymon Kurowski (1809-1851), who was active in Paris since 1832. This highly idealized portrait resembles the Washington painting (notably the details of the costume, the ruff and the necklace) and was published in 1835-1836 in Paris in La Pologne historique, littéraire, monumentale et pittoresque ... by Leonard Chodźko (Barbe Radziwiłł, Branche sculp/t., Kurovski pinx/t., Volume 1, p. 92/93). Many portraits in this publication are based on authentic effigies, such as the image of Jan Amor Tarnowski (Jean Tarnowski, 1488-1561, Volume 2, p. 16/17). Bonvicino, who created realistic effigies of Saint Lawrence Justinian (Lorenzo Giustiniani, 1381-1456) almost a century after his death (paintings in the Provincial House of the Society of Jesus in Gallarate and in the Diocesan Museum in Brescia), probably drew inspiration from other effigies of Sigismund Augustus' beloved to create her portraits. Interestingly, the portrait of the king by Paris Bordone from the Château de Gourdon (Christie's Paris, auction 1000, March 31, 2011, lot 487), identified by me, was previously attributed to a follower of Moretto da Brescia, indicating that the two painters could cooperate or copy the portraits commissioned by the Polish-Lithuanian-Ruthenian court. One of the few paintings by Bonvicino, apart from the described portrait in Nysa, that has survived in Poland, is now in the National Museum in Warsaw (inv. 130253 MNW). It was purchased in 1948 from a private collection and depicts a woman in an allegorical disguise. The painting in Nysa was clearly painted by the same painter as Venus in Milan, which is particularly evident in the rendering of the fabrics in both paintings (especially the crimson coat and the green curtains). Very similar rendering of crimson velvet fabrics are found in the small horizontal painting, now in the National Museum in Warsaw. It comes from a private collection in Kraków and represents the Adoration of the Magi (oil on panel, 56 x 80 cm, inv. 186925 MNW). The work is attributed to Francesco Bassano the Younger (1549-1592), but its style is closer to works attributed to Moretto, such as The Holy Family in a Landscape, probably from the Lutomirski collection in Milan (Sotheby's New York, January 30, 2021, lot 513). The turbans were painted in a similar manner in Moretto's Entombment of 1554, now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (inv. 12.61) or a painting from the Roman collection of the Swedish sculptor Johan Niclas Byström (1783-1848), now in Stockholm (Nationalmuseum, inv. NM 118). The central figure of Saint Caspar is almost identical to the effigy of a Polish nobleman (Ein Polnischer Adliger) in the Bavarian State Library in Munich (Kostüme der Männer und Frauen in Augsburg und Nürnberg, Deutschland, Europa, Orient und Afrika, p. 34r, BSB Cod.icon. 341). It is interesting to note that Ottoman costumes and turbans were also popular in Sarmatia at that time. In May 1543, Turkish and Tatar costumes were among the costumes in which the Sarmatian participants in the solemn entry of Elizabeth of Austria into Kraków were dressed. The members of the Radziwills' private army were dressed in Polish style, accompanied by six Tatars in yellow satin and four black men to lead the horses. To meet his wife after her arrival in Sarmatia, Sigismund Augustus rode on horseback, dressed in black Neapolitan clothes, accompanied by 100 gentlemen and courtiers dressed in the same way, among whom were his cousin Duke Albert of Prussia, the castellan of Kraków Jan Amor Tarnowski with his son, the castellan of Poznań Andrzej Górka, the Grand Chancellor of the Crown Paweł Wolski, the Radziwills and other dignitaries (after "Zygmunt August" by Stanisław Cynarski, p. 35, 53). 
Portrait of Barbara Radziwill (1520/23-1551) as Saint Catherine of Alexandria by Moretto da Brescia and workshop, ca. 1545-1551, Museum in Nysa.
Portrait of Tullia d'Aragona (d. 1556) as Saint Agnes of Rome by Moretto da Brescia, 1540s, Private collection.
Portrait of Tullia d'Aragona (d. 1556) as Venus and Cupid by Moretto da Brescia and workshop, 1540s, Private collection.
Adoration of the Magi with men in Sarmatian costumes by workshop of Moretto da Brescia, 1540s, National Museum in Warsaw.
Portraits of Sigismund Augustus and royal jeweller Giovanni Jacopo Caraglio by Paris Bordone and workshop
In 1972 the portrait of royal jeweller Giovanni Jacopo Caraglio was offered to the Wawel Royal Castle in Kraków by Julian Godlewski (inv. ZKnW-PZS 5882). After 1795, when Poland lost its independence, the castle, which was consumed by destructive fire in 1702 and ransacked several times by different invaders, was converted into barracks and a military hospital and almost no traces of the former royal splendor have been preserved in it. Before 1664 the painting was probably in the Muselli collection in Verona.
Caraglio was born in Verona in the Venetian Republic around 1500 or 1505. He was active in his hometown, as well as in Rome and Venice. In Italy he was known mainly as a copper engraver and medalist. He came to Kraków around 1538 as a recognized artist. After arriving at the Jagiellonian court, he probably parted with graphic art and devoted himself exclusively to goldsmithing and jewellery, making mainly gems with images of members of the royal family. In recognition of his merits, Sigismund Augustus ennobled him in 1552. Caraglio was also a citizen of the capital city of Kraków, and together with his wife, Katarzyna, born there, he lived in a house he bought outside the city walls - in Czarna Wieś. He had a son Ludwik and a daughter Katarzyna. During his long stay in Poland, the artist certainly made many trips to Italy. This is evidenced, among other things, by Vasari's fairly good knowledge of his life and work. We learn about one of his trips to Italy - probably on business - from the accounts prepared by Justus Decius. The bill from April 1553, apart from listing the expenses for the ores by Caraglio, contains inter alia, the entry referring to him: pro viatico itineris in Italiam (provision for a journey to Italy) (after "Caraglio w Polsce" by Jerzy Wojciechowski, p. 29). The portrait of Caraglio was in the 17th century attributed to Titian and later to Bordone, who lived in Venice from October 1552 and earlier in Milan between 1548-1552. Caraglio receives or humbly offers a medallion with king's effigy (probably made by himself) to the Polish Royal Eagle with monogram SA of Sigismund Augustus on his chest. The eagle is standing on a gold helmet among other works and utensils necessary to the goldsmith. In 1552 Caraglio went to Vilnius to make a gilded shield for the king encircled with golden roses with a cross in red enamel and three other silver shields decorated with an ornament of eagles' heads (Exposita pro ornandis scutis S.M.R. per Ioannem Iacobum Caralium Italum 1553), together with three other goldsmiths Gaspare da Castiglione, Grzegorz of Stradom and Łukasz Susski. In the background there is an obelisk and Roman amphitheatre, identified as symbol of Verona - Arena di Verona. According to the inscription in Latin on the base of the column, he was 47 years of age (ATATIS / SVAE / ANN[O] / ХХХХ / VII) at the time when the painting was created, however his face seems to be much younger. Based on this inscription, it is generally believed that the painting was painted between 1547-1553, possibly during his confirmed stay in Italy in 1553, however, it cannot be ruled out that it was based on a drawing or miniature sent from Poland. Caraglio probably gave this portrait to his sister Margherita, who lived in Verona. In the vicinity of Parma, in the town of Sancti Buseti, the artist bought a house with land and vineyards. Caraglio intended to leave the court of Sigismund Augustus in his old age and return to Italy. However, he did not fulfill his intentions, he died in Kraków around August 26, 1565 and was buried in the Carmelite Church of the Visitation, which was largely destroyed during the Deluge (1655-1660). He bequeathed the house in Verona to Elisabetta, his sister's granddaughter. The artist's wife, Katarzyna, remarried to an Italian shoemaker, Scipio de Grandis. The same man as in the Wawel painting was depicted in the work sold in Vienna in 2012 (oil on canvas, 61.5 x 53 cm, Dorotheum, December 13, 2012, lot 12). He wears similar costume, there is a similar column behind him and the fabric in the background and the style of whole painting is very close to Paris Bordone and his workshop, comparable to portrait of a man in the Louvre, identified as effigy of Thomas Stahel, which is dated "1540". The portrait was sold in Austria, while Caraglio travelled to nearby Slovakia in 1557, where he stayed at the court of Olbracht Łaski (1536-1604), a Polish nobleman, alchemist and courtier, in Kežmarok. At the age of twelve, Łaski was sent to the court of Emperor Charles V, who recommended him to his brother Ferdinand of Austria. He returned to Poland in 1551 and in 1553 he went to Vienna, where he became the secretary of Catherine of Austria, who became the third wife of King Sigismund Augustus. In 1556 he visited Poland again, where he met the rich widow Katarzyna Seredy née Buczyńska. Their wedding took place in 1558 in Kežmarok. It is possible that either Łaski or the Habsburgs received a portrait of the famous jeweller of the Polish king. Caraglio undoubtedly also acted as an intermediary in commissions for effigies of his patron king Sigismund Augustus. In 2011 a small portrait of a bearded man from the collection of Château de Gourdon near Nice in southern France was sold at auction in Paris (oil on canvas, 39.8 x 31.5 cm, Christie's, March 30, 2011, lot 487). It was initally attributed to follower of Moretto da Brescia, and later to Paris Bordone, and dated to the 1550s. Its previous provenance is not known. Collections of the medieval Gourdon Castle were spared during the French Revolution. Extanded by the Lombards in the 17th century, the castle was bequeathed by Jean Paul II de Lombard to his nephew the Marquis de Villeneuve-Bargemon, whose heirs sold the residence in 1918 to an American, Miss Noris, who opened a museum in 1938. Occupied during the Second World War by the Germans, then restored by Countess Zalewska, it was later acquired by French businessman Laurent Negro (1929-1996). It is therefore possible that the painting was sent from Venice to France already in the 16th century or brought from Poland by Countess Zalewska or her ancestors. Bordone painted a second, slightly larger version of this portrait (oil on canvas, 57.2 x 41.9 cm) which was in the collection of Marquess of Ailesbury in England and later with the Hallsborough Gallery in London. "The dress of both figures is understated but clearly luxurious, and conveys the sitters' importance without the need for opulence" (after Sphinx Fine Art catalogue entry). The man's facial features, red beard and dark hair correspond perfectly with other other effigies of king Sigismund Augustus by Bordone, Moretto da Brescia or Jan van Calcar, Francesco Salviati and Tintoretto, identified by me. Like in the case of portrait of Anna of Brunswick-Lüneburg (1502-1568), wife of Barnim XI of Pomerania by Lucas Cranach the Elder and portrait of John III Sobieski with the Order of the Holy Spirit by Prosper Henricus Lankrink, the artist may not have seen the model at all, but with detailed drawings with descriptions of colors and fabrics, he was able to produce a work with a great deal of craftsmanship and resemblance. 
Portrait of Sigismund II Augustus (1520-1572), from the Château de Gourdon, by Paris Bordone, 1547-1553, Private collection.
Portrait of Sigismund II Augustus (1520-1572), from the Ailesbury collection, by Paris Bordone, 1547-1553, Private collection.
Portrait of royal jeweller Giovanni Jacopo Caraglio (1500/1505-1565) by workshop of Paris Bordone, 1547-1553, Private collection.
Portraits of Barbara Radziwill and Sigismund Augustus by Lambert Sustris and circle of Titian
"I saw, in a word, so many jewels that I had never expected to find gathered in one place, and with which the Venetian and papal jewels, which I also saw, cannot be compared", admiringly describes the enormous collection of jewels of King Sigismund Augustus in 1560, Berardo Bongiovanni (d. 1574), Bishop of Camerino (1537-1574) and Apostolic Nuncio to Poland (1560-1563).
The nuncio adds that the king was "extremely fond of jewels" and that "he has a table in his room from wall to wall, on which stand sixteen boxes, two spans long, one and a half wide, filled with jewels. Four of them, worth 200,000 scudos, were sent to him by his mother from Naples. The king himself bought four others for 550,000 gold scudi, among which is a ruby of Charles V, worth 80,000 gold scudi, and his diamond medal the size of Agnus Dei, having on one side an eagle with the coat of arms of Spain, on the other two columns with the inscription plus ultra. Besides these, a multitude of rubies, sharp and square emeralds. The remaining eight contained ancient jewels, among others a cap full of rubies, emeralds and diamonds worth 300,000 gold scudi. [...] In addition to the silver used by the king and queen, there is in the treasury 15,000 pounds of gilded silver, which no one uses. There are clocks as big as a man with figures, organs and other instruments, a globe with all the heavenly signs, basins, vessels with all kinds of animals of the earth and the sea. Moreover, gilded bowls, which are given by bishops, voivodes, castellans, starosts and other officials when they are appointed by the king. [...] They then showed me the clothes for twenty pages, with gold chains, each worth 800 Hungarian ducats, and many other rare and valuable things, which would be too long to enumerate" (after "Relacye nuncyuszów apostolskich ..." by Erazm Rykaczewski, Volume 1, p. 99-100). This great wealth and splendor of jewelry and costumes, no doubt, as in Italy or Spain, was reflected in the portraits. The king presented many magnificent jewels to his beloved wife Barbara, who was depicted in costumes adorned with these jewels. Sigismund Augustus's second wife was particularly fond of pearls, as evidenced by portraits of her wearing a crown and a headdress (or rather a hood or a sort of balaclava) entirely embroidered with pearls, such as an 18th-century painting in the National Museum in Warsaw (inv. MP 4774 MNW). The king ordered his agents to acquire the most magnificent pearls, primarily on the Dutch market, where they were brought by ships from India. According to Marian Rosco-Bogdanowicz (1862-1955), chamberlain to Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria, between 1914 and 1916, one of the curators at the British Museum in London discovered correspondence from Queen Elizabeth I of England, in which she ordered her agents in Poland to purchase Barbara's pearls for her (after "Królewskie kariery warszawianek" by Stanisław Szenic, p. 42-43). Two portraits of Barbara Radziwill are mentioned in the 1671 inventory of Princess Louise Charlotte Radziwill (1667-1695) (items 79 and 115, after "Inwentarz galerii obrazów Radziwiłłów z XVII w." by Teresa Sulerzyska). The princess also owned the "Full-length marble statue of Queen Barbara" (after "Mitra i buława ..." by Tadeusz Bernatowicz, p. 137). Barbara was a great elegant woman of her time. In her letter from Kraków to her mother, Barbara Kolanka (dated July 4, 1549), she demanded a delivery of bielidło (white face powder) from Lithuania. She spent a lot of time on her toilet. Therefore, her contemporaries criticized her "lazy dressing" and lamented the fact that the king and dignitaries waited hours for her to "dawdle" (according to a letter from Nicolaus "the Black" to Nicolaus "the Red" from Kraków, dated July 4, 1549 and a letter from Stanisław Koszucki to Radziwill "the Red", dated August 14, 1549 from Kraków). "The sister is worse in anger than the old one [Bona Sforza], only she is stupid, so she cannot fuss like Bona; we hear nothing else from her, only the fury and stubbornness of a woman, and her customs are almost peasant [or Italian, according to the interpretation of the ambiguous word]", Radziwill the Black wrote angrily. Barbara's unpleasant and explosive temper, her "feminine sulkiness", her excessive love of clothes, combined with her lack of sense of time, her inability to get along with people - all this contributed to her unpopularity (after "Życiorysy historyczne, literackie i legendarne" by Zofia Stefanowska, Janusz Tazbir, Volume 1, p. 69). Her contemporaries were astonished that she, who had not given offspring to her husband, the last Jagiellon, "benefit from this grace that no queen of the Polish crown has ever benefited from so much from her husband" (after "Kobieta w dawnej Polsce" by Łucja Charewiczowa, p. 24, 27). In the 18th century, with the growing popularity of the story of Mary, Queen of Scots, the portrait of an unknown lady, so-called Carleton portrait in Chatsworth House (oil on canvas, 182.9 x 108 cm, inv. PA 725), was identified as her effigy due to similarity with a print by Hieronymus Cock from about 1556 and history of the Chatsworth House. Numerous prints and copies of this portrait were made. Today, however, researchers reject this identification. The painting has traditionally been attributed to Federico Zuccaro (or Zuccari), who was active in Venice between 1563 and 1565. It was formerly owned by Richard Boyle (1694-1753), Earl of Burlington, nephew of Lord Carleton, Secretary of State, who bequeathed the painting to his daughter, the Duchess of Devonshire (after "Concerning the Life and Portraiture of Mary Queen of Scots" by Pendleton Hogan, p. 6). Within the current attribution of the painting to the circle of the Spanish painter Alonso Sánchez Coello (ca. 1531-1588), it has been proposed that the sitter was Margaret of Parma (1522-1586), who left Italy in 1555 for the Habsburg Netherlands - temporary exhibition at the Oudenaarde Museum in 2024. Coello was active in Lisbon from 1552 to 1554, then in Valladolid in 1555, and later worked as court painter to Margaret's half-brother, King Philip II of Spain. Although the Duchess of Parma has been depicted in similar costumes, including a very similar red dress, it is difficult to establish a reliable facial resemblance. In her portrait in the British Royal Collection (inv. RCIN 404911), which was also on display at the Oudenaarde exhibition, we can clearly see the hallmark of the Habsburg dynasty – the protruding lower lip, indicating that Margaret was a daughter of Emperor Charles V. The model in the Chatsworth portrait does not have such a facial feature. The miniature version of the Chatsworth portrait within a painted oval, attributed to a 16th-century English painter (oil on panel, 19 x 17 cm, Roseberys London, April 13,2019, lot 256), although closer to works attributed to the Flemish painter Gonzales Coques (1614/18 - 1684), even more closely resembles the facial features associated with the queen of Poland than with Mary Stuart or Margaret of Parma. Coques frequently worked for clients from Sarmatia, according to my identifications and the auction catalogues of some historical Polish-Lithuanian-Ruthenian collections. The same applies to a version of the portrait, probably from the 19th century, made by the British painter and coming from the collection of Henry Huth at Wykehurst Place (oil on canvas, 76.2 x 63.4 cm, Bonhams London, April 23-30, 2025, lot 91), in which the facial features are also closer to the known effigies of Barbara Radziwill. Although Carleton portrait is frequently compared to Spanish portraits or, more generally, to paintings associated with Western Europe, the closest analogous image we can find not far from historical Sarmatia, in Czechia - the portrait of Bohunka of Rožmberk (1536-1557). This Czech noblewoman married the burgrave of the Kingdom of Bohemia, John IV Popel of Lobkowicz (1510-1570) in 1556, and most likely at that time or slightly before her portrait was painted (Lobkowicz Palace in Prague, inv. č. L 5185). Bohunka's portrait is similar not only in terms of the sitter's costume and pose, but also in that she is also holding a rose in her hand. The painting was probably created by the painter from the circle of Jakob Seisenegger (1505-1567). In another full-length portrait of Bohunka she is dressed in more German attire (Nelahozeves Castle, inv. č. L 4766), a costume well known from miniatures of Bona Sforza's daughters by Cranach the Younger. A dress similar to that in Carleton portrait can be seen in a portrait of Countess Palatine Helena of Simmern (1532-1579), painted in 1547 by Hans Besser (New Residence in Bamberg, inv. 3007, inscription: [...] IRES ALTERS 15 IAR ANNO 1547). The style of the painting is close to Titian's circle and Venetian portrait painting in general, as is the composition with a chair (Savonarola chair), a window and rich fabrics, Venetian velvet and gold cloth. The costume however, a mixture of French, Italian, Spanish and German patterns from the 1540s is not typical for Venice. Also the sitter is not a typical, a bit plump "Venetian beauty". In February 1548 a long battle begun to recognize Barbara as Sigismund Augustus' wife and crown her as Queen of Poland. Almost since her wedding in 1547 Barbara's health began to decline. Sigismund Augustus personally tended to his sick wife. He also possibly seek a help from the only possible ally - Edward VI of England, a boy king, who like Sigismund was crowned at the age of 10 and a son of Henry VIII, who broke with the Catholic Church to marry his mistress Anne Boleyn. In 1545 to cure his first wife Elizabeth of Austria from epilepsy, Sigismund wanted to obtain a coronation ring of the English king, that supposedly was to be an effective antidote. Four years later, in 1549, Jan Łaski (John à Lasco), a Polish Calvinist reformer, secretary to King Sigismund I and friend of the Radziwills (Barbara's brother converted to Calvinism in 1564) arrived in London to became Superintendent of the Strangers' Church. He undoubtedly mediate with the king of England in personal affairs of Sigismund Augustus and possilby brought to England a portrait of his wife. In 1572 the royal embroiderer charged the royal treasury for dresses he embroidered for Queen Barbara in 1549 including one, the most expensive, for which he charged 100 florins: "I embroidered a robe of red velvet, bodice, sleeves and three rows at the bottom with pearls and gold". Similar puffed sleeves at the shoulders are visible in portraits of Barbara by Moretto da Brescia (Washington), Jan van Calcar (Paris, lost) and by follower of Lucas Cranach the Younger (Czartoryski Museum, inv. MNK IV-V-1433). The octagonal tower in the portrait is very similar to the main landmark of the 16th century Vilnius, the medieval Cathedral Bell Tower, rebuilt in Renaissance style during the reign of Sigismund Augustus after 1544 (and later due to fires and invasions) and close to Barbara's residence, Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania. The woman is holding two roses, white and red - "white roses became symbols of purity, red roses of redeeming blood, and both colors, together with the green of their leaves, also represented the three cardinal virtues faith, hope, and love" (after "The Routledge Companion to Medieval Iconography" by Colum Hourihane, p. 459). The portrait and its copies were widespread in 16th-century Europe, and the sitter's elegance inspired several other portraits. The most notable is that of Queen Elizabeth I of England, depicted around 1580 in a similar costume and also holding two roses (Bonhams London, July 7, 2010, lot 53). Interestingly, the portrait of the queen of England was also repainted at an unknown date to make her resemble her adversary, Mary, Queen of Scots. Earlier, probably in the 1550s, Lucia Anguissola, Sofonisba's sister, had painted herself in an identical outfit (oil on copper, 20.5 x 16.5 cm, Wannenes Art Auctions in Genoa, Auction 235-236, November 29, 2017, lot 657). If not the style and the frame of this small effigy, it could be considered as another 18th century copy of Carleton portrait. It cannot be excluded that Lucia, like Sofonisba (self-portrait in costume of Catherine of Austria), created her own effigy in the costume of queen of Poland while working on a larger portrait of the queen. Probably around the same time, around 1550, another lady was also inspired by the costume in the Carleton portrait and its other 16th-century versions. Unlike the original, her dress is not red, but black (oil on panel, 27.9 x 24.8 cm, Hill Auction Gallery in Sunrise, Florida, August 31, 2022, LiveAuctioneers, lot 0215). The features of this blonde lady are reminiscent of Catherine of Austria, Barbara's successor as queen of Poland, the third wife of Sigismund Augustus, whom he married in 1553, especially the miniature portrait in the Kunsthistorisches Museum (inv. GG 4703). The former Duchess of Mantua was renowned for her patronage and Italian connections. Shortly after their marriage, the king separated from Catherine and continued to do so until her return to her native Austria, which greatly upset her. In this context, we can assume that by imitating Barbara, particularly in her clothing, Catherine wanted to convince her husband not to abandon her. The black color of her dress could be a sign of mourning after the death of Queen Bona in 1557 or of Catherine's father, Emperor Ferdinand I, in 1564. The style of the painting is reminiscent of works attributed to Giuseppe Arcimboldo and his workshop, such as the portrait of Catherine's younger sister, Joanna of Austria (1547-1578) preserved in the Kunsthistorisches Museum (inv. GG 4513), created between 1562 and 1565, or the double portrait of Catherine with her mother Anna Jagellonica (1503-1547), who died a few years earlier, painted between 1551 and 1553 (Kunsthistorisches Museum, inv. GG 8199). In the reduced versions of the portrait, the sitter wears a small diamond-set cross, while a very similar cross can be seen in the idealized portrait of Barbara by Józef Szymon Kurowski (1809-1851), published in 1835-1836 in Paris in La Pologne historique, littéraire, monumentale et pittoresque by Leonard Chodźko (Volume 1, p. 92/93). The most important necklace in Carleton portrait is a string of pearls around the sitter's neck, Queen Barbara's favorite gem. A smaller and well-painted version of the Carleton portrait is in the Cooper Gallery in Barnsley, England (oil on canvas, 63 x 51 cm, inv. CP/TR 245). This painting has been attributed to the circle of the Flemish painter Paul van Somer (ca. 1577-1621), but as in the Carleton portrait, influences from Titian's style are also visible. The possible author is therefore Lambert Sustris, whose Venus in the Louvre (INV 1978; MR 1129) is painted in a similar style. The style of Carleton portrait also resembles works by Sustris, particularly the full-length portrait of Veronika Vöhlin in the Alte Pinakothek in Munich, painted in 1552 (inv. 9653). Also comparable is the portrait of Archduchess Anna of Austria (1549-1580), later Queen of Spain, painted around 1569-1570, both in terms of the style of the painting and the costume of the model (Dorotheum in Vienna, October 22, 2024, lot 32). The portrait of a man sitting by a window with "a Northern town beyond" is very similar to other effigies of Sigismund Augustus, while the landscape behind him is almost identical with that visible in the Carleton portrait. It is almost like if the king was sitting in the same chair in the room at the Vilnius Castle beside his beloved wife. This portrait comes from a private collection in London and was sold in 1997 with attribution to Jacopo Robusti, called Tintoretto (oil on canvas, 103.5 x 86.5 cm, Christie's London, April 18, 1997, live auction 5778, lot 159). In this likeness the monarch's nose is more hooked than in other portraits by Venetian painters identified by me, however in two woodcuts with the portrait of Sigismund Augustus, published in Kraków in 1570 in the "Statutes and privileges of the Crown translated from Latin into Polish" (Statuta y przywileie koronne z łacińskiego ięzyka na polskie przełożone) by Jan Herburt, his nose is different on both of them. The strange, rather unnatural appearance of his finger also indicates that the portrait is most likely a copy of another effigy or based solely on study drawings. The style of the portrait of a man with a long beard, now in Petworth House and Park (oil on canvas, 57 x 48 cm, inv. NT 485076), is very similar to that in the Cooper Gallery. It is attributed to Jacopo Tintoretto and was formerly called a self-portrait. Its dimensions are comparable, suggesting that the two paintings could potentially have originally been a pair. The portrait of the bearded man comes from the collection of the 3rd Earl of Egremont (1751-1837). The man bears a strong resemblance to the effigies of King Sigismund Augustus that I have identified, notably the portrait in armor by circle of Tintoretto (Sotheby's London, October 27, 2015, lot 419). It is difficult to establish any facial resemblance between the sitter for Carleton portrait and the known portraits of Mary Stuart and Margaret of Parma, while the sitter bears a striking resemblance to the best-known portrait of Queen Barbara Radziwill, a miniature made in Wittenberg by Lucas Cranach the Younger (Czartoryski Museum, oil on copper, 19.5 x 17.5 cm, inv. MNK XII-540). As in Cranach's miniature, we find the same shape of nose and lips and the same proportions. The miniature, along with several others depicting the last Jagiellons, known as the Jagiellon family, was purchased in London by Adolf Cichowski (1794-1854). 
Portrait of Barbara Radziwill (1520/23-1551) by Lambert Sustris, ca. 1549, Chatsworth House.
Portrait of Barbara Radziwill (1520/23-1551) by Lambert Sustris, ca. 1549, The Cooper Gallery in Barnsley.
Miniature portrait of Barbara Radziwill (1520/23-1551) by circle of Gonzales Coques, mid-17th century, Private collection.
Portrait of Barbara Radziwill (1520/23-1551) by British painter, early 19th century, Private collection.
Portrait of Sigismund II Augustus (1520-1572) by circle of Titian (Tintoretto?), ca. 1547-1549, Private collection.
Portrait of Sigismund II Augustus (1520-1572) by Lambert Sustris, ca. 1547-1549, Petworth House and Park.
Portrait of Catherine of Austria (1533-1572) by workshop of Giuseppe Arcimboldo, ca. 1557-1564, Private collection.
Self-portrait of Lucia Anguissola, 1550s, Private collection.
Miniature portrait of Barbara Radziwill (1520/23-1551) by Lucas Cranach the Younger or workshop, ca. 1553-1565, Czartoryski Museum.
Portraits of Barbara Radziwill by Flemish painters
"Catherine Mans [Karin Mansdotter] loved listening to Tęczyński's stories about the love of King Sigismund Augustus and the recently deceased Queen Barbara; during these stories, she often raised her tender gaze to King Eric. Tęczyński taught Princess Cecilia and the royal mistress several Spanish songs: their well-chosen voices, sometimes tender, sometimes lively, aroused joy and tenderness in their hearts," wrote Julian Ursyn Niemcewicz (1758-1841) in his semi-fictional novel "Jan z Tęczyna ...", published in Warsaw in 1825 (and again in Sanok in 1855, p. 192). It tells the love story of Jan Baptysta Tęczyński (1540-1563), a highly educated nobleman who travelled to many European countries, including France (1556-1560) and Spain (1559-1560), and Princess Cecilia of Sweden (1540-1627), half-sister of King Eric XIV of Sweden. This fragment shows that in the 16th century, educated Poles were propagators of foreign cultures, including Spanish, and that the person and story of Barbara Radziwill were a source of inspiration and interest for contemporaries.
The effigy, previously identified as Anne de Pisseleu, Duchesse d'Etampes (modern scholars today reject this identification), is very similar in facial features and costume style to the Carleton Portrait at Chatsworth and to the portrait of Barbara Radziwill by Moretto da Brescia in Washington (National Gallery of Art, inv. 1939.1.230), identified by me. It is known only through 19th century copies (mainly a lithograph from around 1830 by Zéphirin Félix Jean Marius Belliard, inscription at the bottom: Imp. Lith. de Delpech / LA DUCHESSE D'ETAMPE. / Tiré du Musée Royal de France., compare with the copy in the Biblioteca Nacional de España, IF/1339), as original from about 1550 (or 1549) from the French royal collection, most probably by a Flemish painter or François Clouet (d. 1572), is considered to be lost. In the Victoria and Albert Museum in London there is a copy from an engraving or an original painting, which imitates the style of the French official portraiture of the 16th century and was most likely also made in the 19th century (oil on panel, 23.5 x 17.8 cm, inv. 626-1882). Anne de Pisseleu, was a chief mistress of Francis I, king of France and a staunch Calvinist, who counseled Francis on toleration for Huguenots. Even after her deposition, following Francis' death in March 1547, she was one of the most influential and wealthy Protestants in France. It cannot be excluded, that Sigismund Augustus and the Radziwills approached her with their cause - coronation of Barbara as a queen and her recognition internationally, and that the copy of effigy of Barbara offered to her was after the French Revolution mistaken for her portrait. Around the year of 1548 or 1549, Sigismund Augustus commissioned in the Spanish Netherlands (Flanders) the first set of new tapestries for his residences (known as Jagiellonian tapestries or Wawel Arrasses). It is highly probable that as earlier his father in 1536, he also ordered some paintings there. Also the details of sitter's garments find its confirmation in the bill of the royal embroiderer who charged the royal treasury for garments he embroidered for Queen Barbara in 1549: "I embroidered a red velvet beret with pearls; I earned from it fl. 6" (after "Jagiellonki polskie w XVI wieku" by Alexander Przezdziecki, Volume 3, p. 327). The portrait of a lady in Spanish style costume, said to be Anne Boleyn, in the Condé Museum at the Château de Chantilly, made around 1550 (oil on panel, 26.8 x 19.4 cm, PE 564), is strikingly similar to the series of portraits of Sigismund Augustus' sister Sophia Jagellon (for example the painting in the Czartoryski Museum, inv. MNK XII-296). It is almost a counterpart to the portrait of Sophia, the costume is very similar and the portraits were probably created in the same workshop. It comes from the collection of Armand-François-Marie de Biencourt (1773-1854), owner of the Château d'Azay-le-Rideau. The likeness is largely idealized, like some portraits of Margaret of Parma after the original by Antonio Moro/Anthonis Mor, for example, a portrait which is a copy of the Berlin painting (Gemäldegalerie, 585B) and was until 2022 considered to be a representation of a "Lady of the Court" by François Clouet, according to the inscription on the frame (Bonhams London, September 14, 2022, lot 4). Nevertheless, the resemblance to Barbara's appearance is strong. Through his mother, Bona Sforza d'Aragona, Barbara's husband had rights to the Kingdom of Naples and the Duchy of Milan, both part of the Spanish Empire. The costume of a lady in the painting in the Condé Museum also resembles that of the Duchess of Parma, illegitimate daughter of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor and King of Spain, according to the portraits mentioned, a fashion typical for the countries of the Spanish sphere of influence in the 1550s and 1560s. A comparable costume is also visible in the portraits of Elisabeth of Valois (1546-1568), Queen of Spain, according to her splendid portrait by the workshop of Antonis Mor, most probably from the French royal collection (Louvre Museum, INV 1721 ; MR 929) and its idealized version (Dorotheum in Vienna, October 25, 2023, lot 23). Interestingly, a version of this portrait from the collection of Antoni Jan Strzałecki (1844-1934) was considered to be a portrait of Sigismund Augustus' sister, Infanta Catherine Jagiellon (1526-1583), Queen of Sweden (National Museum in Warsaw, inv. MP 5270 MNW, formerly 47106). The painter (or workshop) for these idealized copies has not been established with certainty. Although most similar paintings are attributed to the circle of the French court painter François Clouet, the author often drew inspiration from originals by Anthonis Mor, a painter of the Spanish court active in Antwerp and Utrecht. The circle of the Master of the Female Half-Lengths, who painted idealized effigies of women in a similar style, is possible (Antwerp, Bruges, Ghent, Mechelen and the French court have been suggested as the location of his workshop). The painter copied effigies of important European female rulers and, in addition to the mentioned portraits of the Duchess of Parma and the Queen of Spain, he also copied a portrait of Elizabeth I (1533-1603), Queen of England and Ireland (Christie's Paris, Auction 21747, November 28, 2022, lot 324), derived from the Clopton portrait type and similar to the painting in the Uffizi Gallery (inv. 1890 / 316). The effigies of ladies in Spanish costume most similar to the Chantilly painting are the "Portrait of a Young Woman" in the Czartoryski Museum and the portrait identified as representing Sophia Jagiellon (1522-1575) at Wolfenbüttel Castle (deposit of the Lower Saxony State Museum in Hanover, inv. KM 105), which is another indication that the sitter was connected to 16th-century Poland-Lithuania. Likewise the previous portrait, black robes are also included in the same bill of the royal embroiderer for 1549: "a robe of black teletta, I embroidered a bodice and sleeves with pearls; I earned from this robe fl. 40." or "I embroidered a robe of black velvet, two pearl rows at the bottom; I earned from it fl. 60." The portrait of a mysterious woman in the Picker Art Gallery in Hamilton (oil on panel, 32.4 x 24.8 cm, 2015.5.1), was undoubtedly painted by a Netherlandish master and is very close to the somewhat caricatured style of Joos van Cleve and his son Cornelis (e.g. the portraits of Henry VIII of England). The woman, however, is wearing an Italian costume from the 1540s, similar to that seen in the portrait of a woman with a book of music in the Getty Center, attributed to the Florentine painter Francesco Bacchiacca (inv. 78.PB.227). Besides the resemblance to other portraits of Barbara, whose husband was very fond of Italian fashion and whose tailor was Italian, this is another indicator that this is also her portrait. The jewel on her necklace also has a fitting symbolic meaning, the ruby is a symbol of both royalty and love, the sapphire a symbol of purity and the Kingdom of God and a pearl was a symbol of fidelity. The painting comes from the collection of Max Oberlander (1898-1956), who was born into a Jewish family that owned several factories in the textile industry near Upice in the Czech Republic. In the early 1930s, Oberlander lived in Vienna with his wife Suzanne, née Poznianski (1913-1944), who was born in Warsaw. 
Portrait of Barbara Radziwill (1520/23-1551) in a pearl beret, 1849 engraving after lost original by Flemish painter from about 1549, Private collection.
Portrait of Barbara Radziwill (1520/23-1551) in a pearl beret, 19th century after lost original by Flemish painter from about 1549, Victoria and Albert Museum.
Idealized portrait of Barbara Radziwill (1520/23-1551) in Spanish costume by circle of François Clouet or Flemish painter, ca. 1550, Musée Condé.
Idealized portrait of Barbara Radziwill (1520/23-1551) in Spanish costume by circle of François Clouet or Flemish painter, ca. 1550, Czartoryski Museum.
Portrait of Barbara Radziwill (1520/23-1551) in Italian costume by Flemish painter, possibly Cornelis van Cleve, 1545-1550, Picker Art Gallery in Hamilton.
Idealized portrait of Elizabeth I (1533-1603), Queen of England and Ireland by circle of François Clouet or Flemish painter, after 1558, Private collection.
Portrait of Queen Bona Sforza by Lucas Cranach the Younger
Before his accession to the throne as a sole ruler Sigismund Augustus, through his cousin Duke Albert of Prussia, tries to obtain portraits of German princes painted by Lucas Cranach the Elder (after "Malarstwo polskie: Gotyk, renesans, wczesny manieryzm" by Michał Walicki, p. 36). Paintings were sent in February 1547 trough Piotr Wojanowski, tenant of Grudziądz and were hung in the royal gallery that was being created in Vilnius (after "Zygmunt August : Wielki Książę Litwy do roku 1548" by Ludwik Kolankowski, p. 329). The painting of Madonna and Child with two angels against the landscape by follower of Lucas Cranach the Elder, was probably offered to the Corpus Christi Church in Kraków by king Sigismund II Augustus. The first mention of the painting dates back to 1571 and was later reported by the chronicler of the monastery, Stefan Ranotowicz (1617-1694) in his Casimiriae civitatis, urbi Cracoviensi confrontatae, origo. Ranotowicz states that "we have a German painting in the pallatium from the royal donation representing Beatae Mariae Virginis" (after "Madonna z Dzieciątkiem w krakowskim klasztorze kanoników regularnych ..." by Zbigniew Jakubowski, p. 130). Nicolaus "the Black" Radziwill, cousin of the king's second wife Barbara, had a German tapestry based on Cranach's painting and in 1535, a Pomeranian, Antoni Wida, probably a student of Cranach, resides in Kraków and in 1557 he is recorded as a court painter of Sigismund Augustus in Vilnius (partially after "Dwa nieznane obrazy Łukasza Cranacha Starszego" by Wanda Drecka, p. 625).
The woodcut by Lucas Cranach the Younger or his workshop with the portrait of King Sigismund II Augustus (Sigismundus Augustus II. von Gottes gnaden / König zu Polen / Grosfürste zu Littaw und Eblingen / zu Reuss. und Preuss etc., p. 19) was included in the "True Depictions of Several Most Honorable Princes and Lords ..." (Warhaffte Bildnis etlicher Hochlöblicher Fürsten vnd Herren ...) by Johannes Agricola (1494-1566), published by Gabriel Schnellboltz in Wittenberg in 1562, together with the portraits of Emperor Charles V (p. 11), Emperor Ferdinand I (p. 13), Mary of Hungary, governor of the Habsburg Netherlands (p. 15), King Christian II of Denmark (p. 17), Duke Philip I of Pomerania (p. 47) and his wife Mary of Saxony (p. 49), electors and dukes of Saxony and other German princes. Many of these woodcuts were based on paintings or study drawings by Cranach the Elder or his son and two of them, with portraits of Elector John Frederick I and his wife Sibylle of Cleves, are signed with the artist's mark - winged serpent (p. 25, 27, Saxon State and University Library in Dresden, Hist.Sax.A.233,misc.2). With great probability we can assume that there was also a similar portrait of Sigismund II Augustus, painted by Cranach. Like the Venetian painters, to meet the high demand for his works, Cranach developed a large workshop and "style of painting that depended on shortcut solutions and an extensive use of easily copied patterns and rote methods of producing decorative detail that could be successfully replicated by assistants". An epithet "the fastest painter" (pictor celerrimus), may still be read on his tomb in the city church in Weimar (after "German Paintings in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1350-1600", p. 77). Despite tremendous losses during many wars and invasions Cranach's name or paintings in his style appear in many books and inventories concerning historical collections of paintings in Poland-Lithuania. The register of paintings of Boguslaus Radziwill (1620-1669) from 1657 (AGAD 1/354/0/26/84), which he evacuated to Królewiec (Königsberg), lists several paintings by Cranach and very probably from his workshop. The inventory also lists a portrait of King Sigismund Augustus (Zigmunt August Krol) and a portrait of "a German in cuirass" (w Kirysie Osoba niemiecka), as well as "The face of the Electress of Saxony, on a board" (Twarz Kurfirsztowey Saskiey, nadesce), "Frederick, Elector of Saxony" (Fridericus Kurferszt Saski) and "John I, Elector of Saxony" (Joannis I Kurferszt Saski), i.e. the portraits of Frederick the Wise (1463-1525) and his brother John the Constant (1468-1532), very probably by Lucas Cranach the Elder or his workshop, and "Small paintings of the Grand Master" (Obrazikow małych Wielkiego Mistrza), therefore very probably portraits of Albert of Prussia (1490-1568), son of Sophia Jagiellon, also very probably by Cranach. Several portraits of queens Barbara Radziwill, Constance of Austria and Cecilia Renata of Austria are mentioned. The absence of portraits of Queen Bona, Anna Jagiellon and Anna of Austria indicates that they were forgotten and listed as effigies of "unknown" ladies or that they were hidden under biblical or mythological disguise. Portrait of an old woman by Lucas Cranach the Younger from the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston (oil on panel, 63.8 x 47 cm, inv. 11.3035) bears strong similarity with contemporary effigies of Sigismund Augustus' mother Queen Bona Sforza, especially the most famous miniature by Cranach the Younger (Czartoryski Museum, MNK XII-537). The Queen started to wear her distinctive outfit of a widowed elder lady in about 1548, after death of Sigismund I. The painting is signed with the artist's insignia (winged serpent, center right) and dated "1549" above. At the beginning of the 20th century it belonged to the collection of Adolph Thiem (1832-1923) in San Remo, Italy, so it cannot be ruled out that the German art collector acquired the painting by the German painter which he discovered in Italy. If the painting arrived in Italy around 1549, it was therefore sent there as a diplomatic gift, which makes the identification as Queen Bona even more accurate. As for eye color and features the comparison with portraits of Emperor Charles V, her portraits by Bernardino Licinio and portraits her daughter, proofs that different workshops differently interpreted royal effigies and as natural ultramarine (deep blue color) was an expensive pigment in the 16th century, cheaper pigments were used to make a copy (eye color). In a letter of 31 August 1538, Bona Sforza says about two portraits of her daughter Isabella, and complain that her features in the portrait that she has are not very accurate. A year after the portrait of the queen, Cranach the Younger produced a magnificent Portrait of a young man, signed with the artist's insignia (upper left) and dated "1550", today at Wawel Castle (oil on panel, 65 x 49.5 cm, ZKnW-PZS 3940). The painting comes from the Sapieha collection. The identity of the sitter has not been established, but the man's splendid costume indicates that he was an aristocrat, while a Latin inscription confirming his age in 1550 (ÆTATIS, XIX.), indicates that the German was probably not his mother tongue. Although the majority of art historians would probably opt to view the man as a German nobleman, such as Wolfgang of Brunswick-Grubenhagen (1531-1595), whose relatives were painted by Cranach and his followers, or Henry IX of Waldeck-Wildungen (1531-1577), both aged 19 in 1550, exactly like the model, however the provenance and language of inscription do not exclude a man from Poland-Lithuania. Interestingly, between 1550 and 1560 many Poles came to Wittenberg, where Lucas Cranach the Elder and his son had their workshops. Only in 1550 there were 9 of them in Luther's city, and next to them is the name of Lelio Sozzini (1525-1562), an Italian from Siena, famous reformer, who visited Poland twice - in 1551 and 1559 (compare "Archiwum do dziejów literatury i oświaty w Polsce", Volume 5, p. 77). Philip Melanchthon's students in 1550 included the lexicographer Jan Mączyński (ca. 1520-1587) and the nobleman Stanisław Warszewicki of the Kuszaba coat of arms (ca. 1530 - 1591), who later served as secretary to Sigismund Augustus (from 1556) and in 1567 became a Jesuit. In 1550, 14 years before his service, Captain Marcin Czuryłło (Czuryło), nobleman of the Korczak coat of arms, studied in Wittenberg, however, the most likely model for Wawel's portrait among Sarmatian students in Wittenberg in 1550 is Jakub Niemojewski (d. 1586), nobleman of Szeliga coat of arms, theologian and writer born between 1528 and 1532, who, after his return to Kuyavia, abandoned Lutheranism in favor of Calvinism. 
Portrait of Queen Bona Sforza (1494-1557) by Lucas Cranach the Younger, 1549, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
Portrait of a man aged 19, probably Jakub Niemojewski (d. 1586), by Lucas Cranach the Younger, 1550, Wawel Royal Castle.
Miniatures of the Last Jagiellons by Lucas Cranach the Younger or workshop, ca. 1553-1565, Czartoryski Museum. More correct arrangement respecting the seniority of Sigismund I's daughters.
Woodcut with portrait of King Sigismund II Augustus (1520-1572) from the the "True Depictions of Several Most Honorable Princes and Lords ..." by Lucas Cranach the Younger or workshop, 1562, Saxon State and University Library in Dresden.
Portrait of Sigismund Augustus with a construction of a bridge in Warsaw by Tintoretto
"Sigismund Augustus built a wooden bridge over the Vistula River, 1150 feet long, which was almost unmatched in terms of both length and magnificence in the whole of Europe, causing universal admiration", states Georg Braun, in his work Theatri praecipuarum totius mundi urbium (Review of major cities around the world) published in Cologne in 1617.
In 1549, to facilitate communication with Grand Duchy of Lithuania, where Barbara resided, Sigismund Augustus decided to finance the construction of a permanent bridge in Warsaw. In 1549 he bought from Stanisław Jeżowski, a land writer from Warsaw, the hereditary privilege of transport across the Vistula River, giving him in return "two villages, a mill and a half of a second mill, 40 forest voloks and 200 florins." The portrait of a man with a "Northern landscape" beyond showing a construction of a wooden bridge in The National Gallery of Art in Washington, created by Jacopo Tintoretto, is very similar to other effigies of Sigismund Augustus. It was purchased in 1839 in Bologna by William Buchanan (oil on canvas, 110.5 x 88 cm, inv. 1943.7.10). The city of Bologna was famous for its university, architects and engineers, like Giacomo da Vignola (1507-1573), who began his career as an architect there and where in 1548 he built three locks or Sebastiano Serlio (1475-1554), an outstanding architect and theoretician of architecture, born in Bologna. In 1547 Queen Bona, wanted to involve Serlio, married to her lady-in-waiting Francesca Palladia, at her court. Since Serlio had already a position in France, he offered Bona his students. In a letter to Ercole d'Este, Bona asked for a builder who could build anything and in 1549 the Queen settled in Warsaw. From 1548 the court physician of the king was Piotr from Poznań, who received his doctorate in Bologna and in 1549, a Spaniard educated in Bologna, Pedro Ruiz de Moros (Piotr Roizjusz), became a courtier of Sigismund Augustus and a court legal advisor (iuris consultus), thanks to recommendation of his colleague from the studies in Bologna, royal secretary Marcin Kromer. From 4 June to 24 September 1547, master carpenter Maciej, called Mathias Molendinator, with his helpers, led the construction of a wooden bridge on brick supports covered with a shingle roof, which led through Vilnia River in Vilnius from the royal palace to the royal stables. It is uncertain if the construction was actually started in 1549 or the portrait was only one of a series of materials intended for propaganda purposes, confirming the creativity and innovation of the Jagiellonian state. It is possible that due to the problems to find a suitable engeneer to help with the costruction of the largest bridge of the 16th century Europe, that the project was postponed. Only after 19 years, on 25 June 1568, ten years after the start of the regular Polish post (Kraków - Venice), the tapping of the first pile was initiated. The bridge was opened to public on 5 April 1573, a few months after the death of its founder, accomplished by his sister Anna Jagiellon, who also built the Bridge Tower in 1582 to protect the construction. The 500 meters long bridge was the first permanent crossing over the Vistula River in Warsaw, the longest wooden crossing in Europe at that time and a technical novelty. It was made of oak wood and iron and equipped with a suspension system. The bridge was costructed by "Erasmus Cziotko, fabrikator pontis Varszoviensis" (Erazm z Zakroczymia), who according to some researchers was an Italian and his real name was Giotto, a surname carried by a family of Florentine builders. 
Portrait of Sigismund Augustus with a construction of a bridge in Warsaw by Tintoretto, ca. 1549, National Gallery of Art, Washington.
Portrait of Sigismund Augustus by Tintoretto or workshop, 1540s, Private collection.
Portraits of Sigismund Augustus in armour and in a black hat by Tintoretto
In early 1549, Barbara Radziwill arrived from Vilnius via the royal city of Radom (September 1548) to Nowy Korczyn near Kraków for her coronation and ceremonial entry into the city as the new queen. Eight times a year, large grain fairs were held in the city of Nowy Korczyn. The grain purchased there was floated down the Vistula to Gdańsk in large barges, similar to galleys, as visible in the View of Warsaw from about 1625 (Alte Pinakothek in Munich, inv. 10530).
Sigismund II Augustus and the lords of the kingdom came to greet Barbara in Korczyn. Although during royal journeys, efforts were made to ensure that the court was as numerous as possible, in order to give the monarch's journey the appropriate splendor, during his journey to Korczyn, the king was accompanied by only a few courtiers, which was probably intended to speed up the march and make the greeting of the spouses more intimate. The passage of the royal procession was a serious organizational undertaking. It was managed by a court official, called a quartermaster (oboźny). On February 12, 1549, Barbara set off on a journey to the capital. The river journey from or to Korczyn would be the easiest, however the sources does not confirm it. The accounts from 1535 inform nevertheless about boats owned by Sigismund I and his son Sigismund Augustus (after "Oswajanie śmierci pięknem" by Juliusz A. Chrościcki, p. 33). River transport, the fastest and often the safest, was very developed in Poland at that time. An important centre of river shipbuilding was the town of Jarosław in south-eastern Poland, where shipbuilding workshops were probably established in the 15th century. In some cities on the Vistula, especially in Mazovia, so-called "boat mills" were even built, placed on ships on the Vistula. For example, there were 7 such boat mills in the town of Wyszogród north of Warsaw in 1564 (after " Przemysł polski w XVI wieku" by Ignacy Baranowski p. 136). In 1420, the royal court of Jogaila of Lithuania crossed the Vistula near Niepołomice, where the Jagiellons' favourite hunting palace was located, on a ferry made of beams secured with iron clamps (after "Nie tylko szablą i piórem" by Bolesław Orłowski, p. 77). In the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, where there is also a portrait of Anna Jagiellon (1523-1596) holding a zibellino, painted by Jacopo Tintoretto (inv. GG 48), identified by me, there is a "Portrait of a man in gold-decorated armor" (Bildnis eines Mannes in goldverziertem Harnisch), also by Tintoretto (oil on canvas, 115 x 99 cm, inv. GG 24). This painting is considered to depict a commander of the Venetian marine infantry in armor dating from around 1540 and is dated around 1555/1556. It comes from the collection of Archduke Leopold Wilhelm in Vienna (mentioned in 1659). In the background, through the window, we can see a galley and a small boat further away. The statue decorating the ship, visible in the painting, is clearly that of Saint Christopher, patron saint of travelers. So it is not a battleship, but a ship dedicated to the journey of an important person related to the man depicted in the painting who is waiting for this person's arrival. The Austrian Habsburgs were related to Sigismund Augustus through Anna Jagellonica (1503-1547), two of his wives were her daughters, and portraits were often commissioned to be sent to relatives. One of the few effigies of Sigismund Augustus, depicted in similar armour, known before this article, and inscribed in the upper part SIGISMVNDVS. AVGVSTVS. REX. POLON., is also in the Kunsthistorisches Museum (inv. GG 4697). Among the many precious objects that the Habsburgs collected in their Kunstkammer and Schatzkammer (chambers of art and curiosities), two were of exceptional importance: the 4th-century agate bowl (Achatschale), probably made in Constantinople, considered to be the legendary Holy Grail (inv. SK WS XIV 1), and the 243 cm long narwhal tusk (Ainkhürn), thought to be the horn of a unicorn (inv. SK WS XIV 2). They were first mentioned in a document from 1564, when the heirs of Emperor Ferdinand I declared these two pieces to be "inalienable heirlooms of the House of Austria". These pieces were considered so valuable that they were not to be personally owned by any member of the House of Habsburg. Interestingly, the narwhal tusk was a gift from King Sigismund II Augustus to his cousin's husband King Ferdinand I, given in 1540 (after "Schatzkammer: The Crown Jewels and the Ecclesiastical Treasure Chamber" by Hermann Fillitz, p. 22). Reinhold Heidenstein (1553-1620), secretary to King Stephen Bathory, in his Reinholdi Heidensteinii Secretarii Regii Rerum Polonicarum ..., published in Frankfurt am Main in 1672, mentions a series of "tapesties with unicorn" purchased by King Sigismund Auguste on credit from the Loitz family for the sum of one hundred thousand (Tapete quidem, cum unicornu quod a Laissis Augusto Regi in summam centum millium creditum ..., p. 62). Sigismund Augustus' third wife, Catherine of Austria (1533-1572), daughter of Anna Jagellonica and Ferdinand I, also brought many valuable objects to Austria, which came into her possession after 1553 (coronation as Queen of Poland) and before 1565, when she returned to her homeland. Unfortunately, these objects are difficult to identify today and some have probably been destroyed, such as 10 tapestries with the Polish and Lithuanian coats of arms, perhaps a gift from Sigismund Augustus (compare "Arrasy Zygmunta Augusta" by Mieczysław Gębarowicz, Tadeusz Mańkowski, p. 8). The portrait, which could be dated to 1550, although idealized, bears a resemblance to other effigies of the king by Tintoretto, identified by me, such as the portrait in a fur-trimmed coat (Hampel in Munich, April 11, 2013, lot 570). The painting bears an inscription ANOR XXX (year 30) on the base of the column, which indicates the age of the sitter. Sigismund Augustus has reached the age of 30 on August 1, 1550 and his beloved wife was crowned on December 7, 1550. The man depicted in the Vienna portrait has dark hair and eyebrows, and a red beard and moustache. Sigismund Augustus' mother, Bona Sforza, was described as a lovely light blonde, "when her eyelashes and eyebrows are completely black", so could the hair colour anomaly have been inherited from her? It may also have been a particular fashion at the royal court at that time, because Jan Herburt of Felsztyn (Joannes Herborth de Fulstin, 1508-1577), castellan of Sanok and starost of Przemyśl, was depicted with a red beard and eyebrows and grey hair in his portrait, now in the National Museum in Kraków (tempera on panel, 126.5 x 84.5 cm, inv. MNK I-51, earlier 7295). Jan, who had studied in Leuven in Flanders and Germany, became secretary to Sigismund Augustus after his return home. The portrait, could be dated between 1568-1577, when Herburt was castellan of Sanok. A copy, most likely by the same painter, is in the Lviv Art Gallery (Olesko Castle, inv. Ж-620). This copy is attributed to the painter Jakub Leszczyński and comes from the Church of St. Martin in Skelivka (Felsztyn before 1946), Ukraine, where in 1904 there was another portrait of Jan (later inscription at the bottom: Joannes Herburt / Castellanus Sanocensis ...), showing him without a beard and in contemporary French costume, and a counterpart portrait of his wife Katarzyna Drohojowska (Catharina de Drohojow ...) wearing a national costume. In the same church there is also a magnificent funerary monument of Jan's son Krzysztof, who died as a child, made in 1558 (after "Herburtowie fulsztyńscy i kościół parafialny w Fulsztynie" by Józef Watulewicz, p. 18-19, 37, 39, pic. 2, 11), probably by an Italian sculptor. According to some interpretations, the inscriptions under the mentioned portraits from Skelivka may be incorrect and the sitters should be identified as Marcin Herburt and his wife Barbara. Another very interesting aspect of the portraits of lord of Fulstin is the colour of the eyes. The paintings were undoubtedly painted by the same painter or his workshop, however in the Kraków painting Jan has light grey eyes and in the Olesko painting he has brown eyes. A reduced bust-length portrait version of the Vienna portrait, attributed to the circle of Tintoretto, was put at auction in London in 2015 (oil on canvas, 49.2 x 41.8 cm, Sotheby's, October 27, 2015, lot 419). The painting auctioned in 2017 in Florence appears to be another version of this portrait, painted by Tintoretto himself (oil on canvas, 49.5 x 41.5 cm, Pandolfini, Live Auction 203, May 16, 2017, lot 9). The same model is also depicted wearing a black hat in a portrait by Tintoretto from a private collection (oil on paper mounted on canvas, 30.8 x 27.3 cm, Christie's New York, January 28, 2009, lot 9), which was previously in the collection of William (1914-1998) and Eleanor (1911-2008) Wood Prince in Chicago. A copy of this painting, from the collection of Jean Baptiste Victor Loutrel (1821-1908), a French painter from Rouen, is in the Museum of Fine Arts of Rouen, France (oil on canvas, 48 x 38 cm, inv. 1891.2.57). The Rouen painting, which was painted by another painter, who did not belong to Tintoretto's circle, perfectly illustrates how the practice of copying portraits distorts facial features. The model has larger eyes, nose and forehead and the painter has represented him in a more natural way (bags under the eyes) while Tintoretto has rejuvenated and idealized the model. The style of this painting corresponds to that of Bernardino Licinio, who probably died in Venice before December 26, 1565, the date of his brother Zuan Baptista's will, in which he is not mentioned. It can be compared, for example, to Licinio's Portrait of the royal courtier Jan Krzysztoporski (1518-1585), painted in 1541 (Kensington Palace, inv. RCIN 402789), identified by me. Currently, most of the information we have about the court and patronage of the last male Jagiellon are fragmentary domestic sources and documents in foreign archives, mainly Italian. It was mainly the Deluge and other invasions that pushed Sarmatia back in many areas to the Middle Ages, so there is no reason to believe that the court of Sigismund Augustus and his patronage were in any way inferior to the courts in Paris, Madrid, London or Vienna. 
Portrait of Sigismund II Augustus (1520-1572) with a royal galley by Tintoretto, ca. 1550, Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna.
Portrait of Sigismund II Augustus (1520-1572) in armor by Tintoretto, ca. 1550, Private collection (sold in Florence).
Portrait of Sigismund II Augustus (1520-1572) in armor by circle of Tintoretto, ca. 1550, Private collection (sold in London).
Portrait of Sigismund II Augustus (1520-1572) in a black hat by Tintoretto, ca. 1545-1550, Private collection.
Portrait of Sigismund II Augustus (1520-1572) in a black hat by Bernardino Licinio, ca. 1545-1550, Museum of Fine Arts of Rouen. Virtual reconstruction, © Marcin Latka
Portrait of Jan Herburt of Felsztyn (1508-1577), castellan of Sanok and starost of Przemyśl by Jakub Leszczyński (?), ca. 1568-1577, Natonal Museum in Kraków.
Sigismund Augustus and Barbara Radziwill as Jupiter and Io by Paris Bordone
In Ovid's "Metamorphoses" Jupiter, King of the Gods noticed Io, a mortal woman and a priestess of his wife Juno, Queen of the Gods. He lusted after her and seduced her. The painting by Paris Bordone in Gothenburg shows the moment when the god discovers that his jealous wife is approaching and he raises his green cloak to hide his mistress (Museum of Art, oil on canvas, 136 x 117.5 cm, inv. GKM 0715). The myth fits perfectly the story of romance of Sigismund Augustus and his mistress Barbara Radziwill, a Lithuanian noblewoman whom he met in 1543, when he was married to Elizabeth of Austria (1526-1545), and whom he secretly married despite the disapproval of his mother, the powerful Queen Bona.
According to Vasari, Bordone created two versions of the composition. One for Cardinal Jean de Lorraine (1498-1550) in 1538, when he went to the court of Francis I of France at Fontainebleau, and the other "Jupiter and a nymph" for the King of Poland. Researchers pointed out that stylistically the canvas should be dated to the 1550s, therefore it cannot be the painting created for Cardinal de Lorraine. The painting was allegedly brought to Sweden by Louis Masreliez (1748-1810), a French painter, hence it cannot be excluded that it was taken to France by John Casimir Vasa, great-grandson of Bona, after his abdiction in 1668, that Masreliez acquired in Italy a copy of painting prepared for the Polish king, possibly a modello or a ricordo, or that it was captured by the Swedish army during the Deluge (1655-1660) and purchased by Masreliez in Sweden. The effigy of Io is not so "statuesque" as other effigies of the goddesses by Bordone, could be a courtesan, but could also be the royal mistress and can be compared with effigies of Barbara, while Jupiter with these of Sigismund Augustus. The painting should be then considered as a part of Jagiellonian propaganda to legitimize the royal mistress as the Queen of Poland. 
Sigismund Augustus and Barbara Radziwill as Jupiter and Io by Paris Bordone, 1550s, Gothenburg Museum of Art.
Sigismund Augustus in guise of Christ as The Light of the World by Paris Bordone
The particluar taste of queen Bona for paintings in guise of the Virgin Mary and her son as Jesus, biblical figures and saints is confirmed by her effigies by Francesco Bissolo and Lucas Cranach. Such portraits were popular throughout Europe since the Middle Ages.
Examples include the effigy of Agnès Sorel, mistress of King Charles VII of France, as Madonna Lactans by Jean Fouquet from the 1450s, Giulia Farnese, mistress of Pope Alexander VI as the Virgin Mary (la signora Giulia Farnese nel volto d'una Nostra Donna, according to Vasari) and his daughter Lucrezia Borgia as Saint Catherine by Pinturicchio from the 1490s, Mary of Burgundy in the guise of Mary Magdalene created in about 1500, Francis I of France as Saint John the Baptist by Jean Clouet from about 1518, Catherine of Austria, Queen of Portugal as Saint Catherine by Domingo Carvalho from about 1530, Albrecht Dürer's self-portraits as the Saviour or Leonardo's Salvator Mundi, possibly a self-portrait or effigies of his lover Salaì as Saint John the Baptist and numerous other. Marble tondos decorating Sigismund's Chapel at the Wawel Cathedral, created by Bartolommeo Berrecci between 1519-1533 as a funerary chapel for the last members of the Jagiellonian Dynasty, shows king Sigismund I the Old as biblical king Solomon and king David (or his banker Jan Boner). Scenes from the life of Christ and his likeness greatly fascinated contemporaries. Between 1558 and 1564, the Venetian painter Titian and his workshop created the large painting of the Last Supper for the Spanish King Philip II, now housed in El Escorial, near Madrid. The painting arrived in Spain in December 1565, but was not officially delivered to the monastery until 1574, where it was installed in the refectory. The second apostle from the right is believed to be a self-portrait of the elderly Titian (after "El marco de la Última Cena de Tiziano en El Escorial" by Jesús Jiménez-Peces, pp. 202-203), however, the apostle with his raised hands, sitting directly next to Christ, more closely resembles the painter's known effigies. This is even more evident in another version of this composition, from the collection of the Dukes of Alba, housed in the Liria Palace in Madrid (purchased in Italy in 1818). At one end of the table, we also see Emperor Charles V, Philip's father, and at the other, the famous painter Leonardo da Vinci. In the Escorial version, Federico II Gonzaga (1500-1540), Duke of Mantua, can also be identified as the apostle James the Great, on the left. The print published in Nicolas Gueudeville's "Le grand theatre historique, ou nouvelle histoire universelle" in Leiden in 1703 (Volume 4, p. 295/296, National Library of Poland, SD XVIII 3.12527 IV), after original from 1548, depict king Sigismund I the Old on his deathbed giving a blessing to his sucessor Sigismund Augustus having long hair. The original source of inspiration for this engraving is unknown. However, the faithfully reproduced costumes and the famous Jagiellonian tapestries indicate that the artist was familiar with the realities of the time and the country. Who knows, perhaps he was inspired by a painting made in Venice or elsewhere. In February 1556, Bona departed Poland to her native Italy trough Venice with treasures she had accumulated over 38 years loaded on 12 wagons, drawn by six horses. She udoubtedly took with her some religious paintings, portraits of members of the royal family and of her beloved son Augustus. She settled in Bari near Naples, inherited from her mother, where she arrived on 13 May 1556. Bona died just one year later on 19 November 1557, at the age of 63. She was poisoned by her courtier Gian Lorenzo Pappacoda, who falsified her last will and stole her treasures. The paining showing Christ as The Light of the World (Lux Mundi) in the the National Gallery in London (oil on canvas, 90.7 x 74.7 cm, inv. NG1845), bears a strong resemblance to known effigies of Sigismund Augustus in particular the best-known miniature by Cranach the Younger, made in Wittenberg after 1553 (Czartoryski Museum, inv. MNK XII-538). It was given to the National Gallery in 1901 by the heirs of the surgeon, who in turn was offered the painting by a member of the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, formed when the Kingdom of Sicily merged with the Kingdom of Naples in 1816, in thanks for his kindness to a Sicilian lady in 1819. According to museum description "paintings of this type were kept in houses, especially in bedrooms", so has Bona had it at her deathbed in Bari? He holds a scroll inscribed: EGO. SVM. LVX. MŪD. meaning "I am the light of the world" (John 8:12, "I am the light of the world. Anyone who follows me will never walk in the darkness but will have the light of life"), which, in the context of the disguised portrait of a monarch, could be interpreted as having an additional important political significance. This convention of historié portrait was undoubtedly well known to the Queen through portraits of Lorenzo de' Medici (1492-1519), Duke of Urbino by Venetian painters, depicted as Christ the Redeemer of the World (Salvator Mundi). The portrait of Federico II Gonzaga, probably by Titian, brought to Vilnius in June 1529, most likely also depicted the Duke of Mantua as the Saviour, since the queen ordered the court barber to kneel before it with hands folded in prayer (after "Królowa Bona ..." by Władysław Pociecha, Volume 3, p. 187). Some sacred images of Poland-Lithuania are also considered as effigies of the monarchs, like Our Lady of the Gate of Dawn in Vilnius, allegedly depicting Barbara Radziwill, mistress and later wife of Sigismund Augustus, or portrait of Queen Marie Casimire Sobieska (1641-1716) as Saint Barbara in the Bydgoszcz Cathedral. It is believed that the painting in Vilnius was commissioned as one of two paintings, one depicting Christ the Saviour (Salvator Mundi), and the other the Virgin Mary. Other versions and workshop copies of the painting in London are today in the Accademia Carrara in Bergamo, offered in 1908, legacy of Countess Maria Ricotti Caleppio, widow of the Ancona patrician Raimondo Ricotti who died in his villa in Rome (oil on canvas, 88 x 70 cm, inv. 58AC00074), in the Abbey of San Benedetto in Polirone near Mantua, possibly from the Gonzaga collection (oil on canvas, 98.5 x 80 cm), and in the Musée Rolin in Autun in France, transferred from the Louvre, most probably from the French royal collection (inv. H.V.34). Another reduced variant from a private collection was sold in New York (oil on canvas, 61 x 50.5 cm, Sotheby's, November 2, 2000, lot 68). It is therefore highly probable that effigies of the king of Poland in guise of the Saviour were sent to different royal and princely courts in Europe shortly after creation in Venetian workshop of Paris Bordone, to Rome, Mantua and France, among others. A good copy is also preserved in Venice, in the Gallerie dell'Accademia (oil on canvas, 97 x 75 cm, inv. 307). This painting, previously attributed to Rocco Marconi (d. 1529), comes from the Contarini collection in Venice. It is interesting to note that in the library of King Sigismund Augustus there was a book on the history of Venice, De magistratibus, et repub. Venetorum libri quinq., published in Basel in 1547. It was the work of the Venetian cardinal Gasparo Contarini (1483-1542), well known in Poland (after "Bibljoteka Zygmunta Augusta" by Kazimierz Hartleb, p. 113, 152), whose relative Ambrogio (1429-1499) visited Sarmatia in 1474 and 1477. A relatively similar composition, evidently depicting the same man, but with a different inscription on the scroll - PAX. VOBIS. ("Peace be with you"), painted by Bordone, belonged to Count Heinrich von Brühl (1700-1763), a statesman at the court of Saxony and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, as confirmed by engravings by Philipp Andreas Kilian (1714-1759), made around 1754 (Kupferstich-Kabinett in Dresden, inv. B 101,4/39 and Museum of Art and History in Geneva, inv. E 2015-1192). The painter also used the same facial features in another Lux Mundi, now in the Ravenna Art Museum (oil on canvas, 85 x 57 cm, inv. QA0007). This painting comes from the Rasi collection in Ravenna and was probably previously in the Classe Abbey in Ravenna, where a painting by Paris Bordone depicting the Saviour is noted in 1798 (after "Di due quadri attribuiti a Paris Bordon" by Andrea Moschetti, L'arte, Volume 4, p. 281). In one of the side altars of the Church of the Assumption in Kraśnik there is painting of Salvator Mundi by workshop of Paris Bordone from the mid-16th century (oil on panel, 110 x 60 cm). It is possible that it was offered to the temple by Stanisław Gabriel Tęczyński (1514-1561) or his son Jan Baptysta Tęczyński (1540-1563), owners of Kraśnik, and that it was originally given to one of them by the king. The facial features of this Christ are also very characteristic and resemble those of another contemporary sovereign, King Francis I of France (1494-1547), in particular his portrait at the age of 24 in guise of Saint John the Baptist, with fair hair, dating from around 1518 (Louvre, inv. RF 2005 12, inscription: FRANCOYS. R. DE. FRANCE. / PREMIER. DE. CE. NOM. A. AGE. / DE. XXIIII. ANS.), the best-known portrait of this monarch by Jean Clouet (Louvre, INV 3256; B 1964) or the portrait by Titian (Louvre, INV 753; MR 505), with dark hair. The French monarch was frequently painted by Italian artists inspired by other effigies, such as Raphael, who, between 1516 and 1517, depicted Francis I as Charles the Great (748-814) and Pope Leo X (1475-1521) as Leo III (died 816) in the scene of the Coronation of Charlemagne (Raphael Rooms in the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican). In 1538, according to Vasari, or in 1559, according to Federici, Bordone was invited to France by Francis II. After painting for the court, then in Augsburg for the Fugger family, he returned to Italy, where he settled permanently in Venice, where he died in 1571 (after "History of Painting" by Alfred Woltmann and Karl Woermann, Volume II, p. 626). Jan Baptysta Tęczyński also stayed in France between 1556 and 1560. In the former territories of Sarmatia, two other splendid portraits of Francis I have been preserved, both attributed to the workshop and circle of Joos van Cleve - one purchased in 1793 from Stanisław Kostka Potocki by King Stanislaus Augustus Poniatowski (Royal Castle in Warsaw, inv. ZKW/2124/ab) and the other from the collection of Leon Piniński (Lviv National Art Gallery, inv. Ж-418). 
Portrait of King Sigismund II Augustus (1520-1572) in guise of Christ as The Light of the World by Paris Bordone, ca. 1548-1550, National Gallery, London.
Portrait of King Sigismund II Augustus (1520-1572) in guise of Christ as The Light of the World by Paris Bordone, ca. 1548-1550, Accademia Carrara in Bergamo.
Portrait of King Sigismund II Augustus (1520-1572) in guise of Christ as The Light of the World by workshop of Paris Bordone, ca. 1548-1550, Abbey of San Benedetto in Polirone.
Portrait of King Sigismund II Augustus (1520-1572) in guise of Christ as The Light of the World by workshop of Paris Bordone, ca. 1548-1550, Gallerie dell'Accademia in Venice. Virtual reconstruction, © Marcin Latka
Portrait of King Sigismund II Augustus (1520-1572) in guise of Christ the Saviour (Salvator Mundi) by workshop of Paris Bordone, ca. 1548-1550, Private collection.
Portrait of King Sigismund II Augustus (1520-1572) in guise of Christ as The Light of the World by Paris Bordone, ca. 1548-1550, Ravenna Art Museum.
Portrait of King Sigismund II Augustus (1520-1572) as the Saviour by Philipp Andreas Kilian after original by Paris Bordone, ca. 1754, Museum of Art and History in Geneva.
King Sigismund I the Old (1467-1548) on his deathbed from Nicolas Gueudeville's "Le grand theatre historique ...", 1703, National Library of Poland.
Portrait of King Francis I of France (1494-1547) as the Redeemer of the World (Salvator Mundi) by workshop of Paris Bordone, after 1538, Church of the Assumption in Kraśnik.
Portraits of Queen Barbara Radziwill by Cornelis van Cleve
In interwar Poland, attention was drawn to the similarity of the face of the Madonna of the Gate of Dawn, the prominent Christian icon of the Virgin Mary venerated in Vilnius, Lithuania, with the effigies of the noble Lithuanian lady Barbara Radziwill, who became Queen of Poland. This hypothesis was presented by Zbigniew Kuchowicz in his book "Images of unusual women of Old Poland in the 16th to 18th century" (Wizerunki niepospolitych niewiast staropolskich XVI-XVIII wieku), where he claimed that the fact of the similarity of the Madonna of Vilnius with the queen was noticed by Polish historians in Catholic circles. Juliusz Kłos, a professor at Vilnius University, wrote in a Vilnius guidebook that this painting could be classified as belonging to the Italian school of the mid-16th century, and he also saw a striking similarity of the face of the Virgin Mary with the portraits of Barbara Radziwill. The resemblance was also pointed out by priest Piotr Śledziewski, according to whom "the type of the Madonna of the Gate of Dawn is strikingly similar to the portrait of Queen Barbara Radziwill [...] The same nose, the same chin and mouth, the same eyes and eye edges, the same body structure". Ultimately, it was established that the painting was created not in the times when Barbara lived, but much later. However, this does not rule out the fact that its creator could have used one of the queen's portraits as an inspiration (after "Duchy Kresów Wschodnich" by Alicja Łukawska, p. 35).
The painting of Our Lady of the Gate of Dawn was probably painted in Vilnius in the 1620s by an unknown painter. Before the appearance of the chapel in 1671, this large painting (200 x 165 cm), painted on oak boards, hung in a small niche on the inside of the city gate. In the niche of the exterior wall of the gate, as a pair to the image of the Madonna, hung an image of Christ the Redeemer (Salvator Mundi), also painted on oak boards, now in the Church Heritage Museum in Vilnius (repainted in the 18th and late 19th centuries). The cult of the image of the Our Lady began after the disastrous Deluge, after 1655. According to some authors, the originals were works of the Flemish painter Maerten de Vos from the end of the 16th century, however, given the identification of the features of the Virgin, the original painting used to paint her face was made around the middle of the 16th century. The same face was used in another painting of the Madonna, now kept in the the convent of the Poor Clares in Kraków. This small painting was founded by Father Adam Opatowiusz (Opatowczyk or Opatovius, 1574-1647), canon of Kraków and seven times rector of the Academy of Kraków, doctor of philosophy (1598) and theology (1619), educated in Padua and Rome. He is depicted as a donor holding the Child's foot in the lower part of the painting, with Saint Francis of Assisi on the left, whose effigy, according to Michał Walicki, was inspired by the works of 13th-century Italian painters Margaritone d'Arezzo or Bonaventura Berlinghieri (after "Zloty widnokrąg", p. 107). The portrait of Opatowiusz with a Crucifix is also found in the same convent, so the effigy of Saint Francis was probably modeled on an imported medieval Italian painting. The image of the Virgin and sleeping Child of Opatowiusz is directly inspired by a painting now kept at the Royal château of Blois (oil on panel, 81.2 x 64.8 cm, inventory number 869.2.20, earlier IP 57). This painting, dated by experts to around 1550, comes from the collection of Pauline Fourès, née Marguerite-Pauline Bellisle, Madame de Ranchoup - the Countess of Ranchoup, as she liked to call her, lover of Napoleon Bonaparte, offered in 1869. It was originally attributed to Lambert Lombard and now to Cornelis van Cleve, who most likely painted the portrait of Queen Barbara in a red dress (Picker Art Gallery in Hamilton). Many copies of this painting exist. Good quality versions can be found at the Musée Magnin in Dijon (oil on panel, 81.5 x 66.6 cm, 1938E183) and at the Gemäldegalerie in Berlin (oil on panel, 80 x 65 cm, 653). The copy preserved in the church of Saint Elisabeth in Haren, near Brussels, was probably donated by the archdukes Albert (1559-1621) and Isabella (1566-1633), who financed the restoration of the church after the fire of 1600 (oil on panel, 82 x 69 cm). Two other versions from private collections were sold in 2012 (oil on panel, 84 x 70 cm, Bonhams London, December 5, 2012, lot 86) and in 2020 (oil on panel, 95 x 76 cm, Sotheby's London, September 23, 2020, lot 33). In the latter painting, attributed to follower of Cornelis van Cleve, a marble column was added to the background. The style of this painting is closest to the nude portrait of Queen Barbara kept in the National Museum in Warsaw (M.Ob.2158 MNW), attributed to circle of Michiel Coxie. The face of the Madonna surprisingly resembles the effigies of Barbara Radziwill by Paris Bordone (Nivaagaard Museum in Nivå) and Giampietro Silvio (Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania in Vilnius), identified by me. The Madonna of Opatowiusz also has a crown, just to underline her royal status. A similar Madonna can also be seen in a composition depicting the Adoration of the Magi by Cornelis van Cleve. Many such compositions were created by the painter and his workshop, but one of them, kept in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna (oil on panel, 125.1 x 96.1 cm, GG 1703), is very specific. It was painted in the manner of Cornelis van Cleve and signed with monogram CAVB. Very young age of Saint Joseph, who was usually depicted as an old man, and great similarity of the effigy of the kneeling Saint Melchior, the oldest of the Magi, with the effigy of King Sigismund I in a similar scene by Joos van Cleve (Gemäldegalerie Berlin), as well as others portraits of the king, notably as a donor by workshop of Michel Sittow (private collection) and attributed to Hans von Kulmbach (Gołuchów Castle), indicate that it is more of a political allegory than a religious scene. Although the old king, who died in 1548, before Barbara's coronation, condemned in a few letters the marriage of his son to his mistress, it is generally considered that he treated his daughter-in-law well, which is why Queen Bona, who later claimed that the scandal contributed to her husband's death, may have been the instigator of the mentioned letters. The three men surrounding Madonna-Barbara should therefore be identified as her brother Nicolaus "the Red" as Saint Joseph and her cousin Nicolaus "the Black" as Saint Caspar and King Sigismund I, wearing the Order of the Golden Fleece, as Saint Melchior and it is comparable to the similar scene with the disguised portrait of Emperor Frederick III by Joos van Cleve (National Museum in Poznań and Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister in Dresden). The painting was evidenced in the gallery in 1783, so it could be a gift from the Radziwills to the emperor to sanction the marriage of Sigismund Augustus. 
Portrait of Queen Barbara Radziwill as Madonna with sleeping Child by Cornelis van Cleve, ca. 1550, Royal château of Blois.
Portrait of Queen Barbara Radziwill as Madonna with sleeping Child by Cornelis van Cleve, ca. 1550, Musée Magnin in Dijon.
Portrait of Queen Barbara Radziwill as Madonna with sleeping Child by Cornelis van Cleve, ca. 1550, Private collection.
Portrait of Queen Barbara Radziwill as Madonna with sleeping Child by Cornelis van Cleve, ca. 1550, Gemäldegalerie in Berlin.
Portrait of Queen Barbara Radziwill as Madonna with sleeping Child by Cornelis van Cleve, ca. 1550, Church of Saint Elisabeth in Haren.
Portrait of Queen Barbara Radziwill as Madonna with sleeping Child by circle of Michiel Coxie, ca. 1550, Private collection.
Madonna with sleeping Child with Saint Francis of Assisi and Father Adam Opatowiusz by unknown painter, second quarter of the 17th century, Convent of the Poor Clares in Kraków.
Adoration of the Magi with portraits of Sigismund I, Barbara Radziwill, Nicolaus "the Black" and Nicolaus "the Red" Radziwill by Cornelis van Cleve, ca. 1550, Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna.
Portrait of Anna Elizabeth Radziwill by Hans Krell
In 1550, Pyotr Petrovich Kishka (Piotr Piotrowicz Kiszka in Polish), starost of Lutsk and marshal of Volhynia, died, and after about a year of marriage, Anna Elizabeth Radziwill (1518-1558), the eldest daughter of George "Hercules" Radziwill (1480-1541), became a widow. This marriage was arranged by her brother Nicolaus "the Red" Radziwill (1512-1584). It was postponed several times for various reasons, but finally took place in February 1549. Anna Elizabeth's famous sister Barbara (1520/23-1551) did not attend the wedding herself, but sent her courtier Gabriel Tarło (died 1565). The marriage remained childless. In the same year (1550), Anna Elizabeth's mother, Barbara Kolanka (Kołówna) of Dalejów, probably also died, and on 7 December, her sister was crowned Queen of Poland at Wawel Cathedral.
The widow soon remarried for the second time, to the Ruthenian prince Semyon Olshansky (Holshansky), pantler of Lithuania. Like the first, the second marriage also remained childless. Prince Semyon died in 1556, as the last male member of the family, and the large fortune of the Olshansky princes was inherited by his six sisters. Anna Elizabeth died two years later. No contemporary effigy of Lady Kiszczyna, also known as Anna Alzbeta Yurievna Radzivil in Ruthenian, Ona Elžbieta Radvilaitė in Lithuanian or Anna (Hanna) Elżbieta Jurjewna Radziwiłłówna in Polish sources, is known. The effigy reproduced in 1758 in Icones familiae ducalis Radivilianae (ANNA ELISABETH PRINCEPS RADIVILIA / GEORGII. I. cognito VICTORIS Et BARBARÆ KOLANSKA De Daleow [...] Nata Anno Domini 1518. ✝ 1558., Vilnius University Library, LeyH IC-2), could not be a reliable portrait of Barbara Radziwill's sister, because the lady is dressed in a costume from the early 17th century. In 2023, a portrait of a lady by a follower of Lucas Cranach was sold in Paris (oil on panel, 45.5 x 38.5 cm, Artcurial, December 13, 2023, lot 14). The painting comes from private collections in France and Belgium (since the 1970s) and shows a red-haired lady in a black dress and hat, indicating that she is most likely a widow. Her rich jewellery indicates that she is probably a noble lady, while a large gold pendant decorated with pearls, which has a shape similar to that seen in the presumed portrait of Anna Elizabeth from the Icones familiae ducalis Radivilianae, shows an indistinct figure resembling Cupid bending his bow, so the lady probaly hopes for another marriage. According to the Latin inscription in the upper part of the painting, the woman was 32 years old in 1550 (AИИO DOM 1550 / SVE ETATIS 32), exactly as Anna Elizabeth, when she became a widow. It is interesting to note that the letter N in the Latin word anno (year) is written like the letter I in the classical Cyrillic alphabet, so the author of the inscription could be a Ruthenian who knew Latin. The woman in the painting bears a striking family resemblance to Anna Elizabeth's sister Barbara, according to her portrait miniatures in the Czartoryski Museum by Lucas Cranach the Younger or workshop and the court painter (MNK XII-540 and MNK IV-V-1433), as well as to the portrait of Anna Elizabeth's brother Nicolaus "the Red" by the workshop of Giovanni Cariani (National Art Museum of Belarus in Minsk). The effigy of Barbara, created by the court painter, is also close in its composition and its green background. It is probably the most faithful effigy of the queen, as it was created as part of a diptych depicting the two wives of King Sigismund II Augustus - the first Elizabeth of Austria and the second Barbara, for the king's personal use (oil on copper, 17,3 x 12 cm, each), probably shortly after her death (May 8, 1551). Unlike the other Jagiellonian effigies, including Cranach the Younger's miniature of Barbara, it was probably created by a painter active at the royal court at the time, rather than being ordered from abroad. Although here too the influences of Cranach's style are noticeable, the miniatures were not signed by his workshop and his hand is not so apparent. The most likely author of the two miniatures seems to be Antoni Wida (also Antonius de Wida, Anton Weide, Wied or Wide), considered a pupil of Cranach, who worked for the king (he was in Kraków in 1534 and 1535 and in Vilnius in 1553 and 1557). He probably came from a region near the Rhine in Germany, Weida in Thuringia or Kołobrzeg. Unfortunately no signed or confirmed work by this painter has been preserved. The painter was remunerated in royal manner. In 1545 he received 105 złoty for a painting depicting a bison hunt, the following year for a painting depicting a tournament, he received 16 kopa of Lithuanian groszy (1 kopa = 60 pieces), and shortly afterwards for another painting 55 złoty (after "Zygmunt August: Wielki Książę Litwy do roku 1548" by Ludwik Kolankowski, p. 329). Wida also worked for relatives of Sigismund Augustus in Pomerania, notably Duke Philip I of Pomerania (1515-1560), grandson of Anna Jagiellon (1476-1503). In the inventory of Philip's possessions, drawn up after his death in February 1560, there is a picture of his wife, Duchess Mary of Saxony (1515-1583), made by Antoni de Wida (after "Monatsblätter", Gesellschaft für Pommersche Geschichte und Alterthumskunde, Volumes 22-25, p. 44). He also made portraits of Barnim IX (1501-1573), Philip, Philip's sister Margaret (1511-1577) and Georgia of Pomerania (1531-1574). In 1542, Antoni is said to have made a large map of Moscow and in October 1553 he sent from Vilnius four portraits to Duke Albert of Prussia (1490-1568), cousin of Sigismund Augustus, for his gallery in Königsberg/Królewiec (he was paid 72 marks). It is confirmed in the documents that in August 1557 in Vilnius he painted two portraits of Polish-Lithuanian princesses Anna and Catherine Jagiellon, sisters of Sigismund II Augustus, for Duke Albert. He died in Gdańsk on January 21, 1558 (compare "Zespół pomorskich płyt kamiennych ..." by Maria Glińska, p. 346 and "Archiv für medaillen- und plaketten-kunde ...", 1921, Volumes 3-5, p. 3). The Paris portrait of Anna Elizabeth Radziwill is different in style from the mentioned miniature of Barbara and the closest analogies we can find in works attributed to another itinerant court artist, Hans Krell (died in Leipzig circa 1586), who created several portraits of Bohemian-Hungarian Jagiellons and to whom a large painting depicting the Battle of Orsha on September 8, 1514 (National Museum in Warsaw, MP 2475), is attributed. Krell also created portraits based on other effigies, without seeing the living model at the precise moment, as the full-length portrait of Emperor Ferdinand I (1503-1564), husband of Anna Jagellonica (1503-1547), from the Lobkowicz collection at Prague Castle is attributed to him. He created this portrait of the emperor around 1570 together with a similar portrait of Ladislav III Popel z Lobkowicz (1537-1609) from the same collection (inscription: ÆTAT. SVÆ XXXIII. ANNO M.D. LXX.), most likely as part of a series, six years after the emperor's death. Like Lord Lobkowicz, Ferdinand also has very slender and long legs, which was probably fashionable at the Prague court at that time. In 1567 Krell painted a similar portrait, identified as representing another Czech lord, Jaroslav z Pernštejna (1528-1560), signed and dated lower left: HK / 1567, thus created seven years after his death. Particularly comparable to the Paris portrait are the portrait of Mary of Austria (1505-1558), Queen of Bohemia, Hungary and Croatia, wife of Louis II Jagiellon (1506-1526), painted in 1524 (State Gallery of the New Residence in Bamberg, inv. 3564) and the portrait of Anna Sophia of Prussia (1527-1591), daughter of Albert of Prussia, painted between 1550 and 1555 (Königsberg Castle, oil on canvas , 73 x 53 cm, inv. GK I 8041, lost during the Second World War). In the portrait of Anna Sophia, who probably received her second name in honour of her grandmother Sophia Jagiellon (1464-1512), Margravine of Brandenburg-Ansbach, a very similar pose and costume can be seen. It was also painted on the green background (compare "Die Kunst am Hofe der Herzöge von Preußen" by Hermann Ehrenberg, p. 23). The Prussian princess, who became Duchess of Mecklenburg in 1555, named her youngest son Sigismund Augustus (1560-1600), in honour of the Polish king. It is therefore quite possible that around 1550 or later Krell travelled from Vilnius to Königsberg to paint Sigismund Augustus' relatives. 
Portrait of Anna Elizabeth Radziwill (1518-1558), aged 32, as a widow, by Hans Krell, 1550, Private collection.
Miniature portrait of Queen Barbara Radziwill (1520/23-1551) by Antoni Wida (?), ca. 1551, Czartoryski Museum.
Miniature portrait of Queen Elizabeth of Austria (1526-1545) by Antoni Wida (?), ca. 1551, Czartoryski Museum.
Portrait of Anna Sophia of Prussia (1527-1591) by Hans Krell, ca. 1550-1555, Königsberg Castle, lost during World War II. Virtual reconstruction, © Marcin Latka
Portraits of Franciszek Krasiński and Piotr Dunin-Wolski by Lambert Sustris or workshop
Franciszek Krasiński, a nobleman of Ślepowron coat of arms, was born on April 10, 1525, probably in the village of Krasne in Masovia, north of Warsaw, in the family of Jan Andrzej Krasiński, Pantler of Ciechanów, and Katarzyna Mrokowska. He received his primary education at the Protestant gymnasium in Zgorzelec in Silesia (part of Bohemia), then studied under Philip Melanchthon at the University of Wittenberg, from where, on the advice of Bishop Mikołaj Dzierzgowski, he resigned. In 1541, he entered the University of Kraków, later went to Italy, where he studied at the University of Bologna, and on June 4, 1551, at the University of Rome, he became a doctor of both laws. After returning to Poland, he was most probaly ordained a priest and became a secretary of his distant relative, Primate Mikołaj Dzieżgowski, who helped him obtain several church benefits: the Kalisz archdeaconry and the canon of Łuck, Łowicz and Kraków. In 1560, Franciszek became the secretary of king Sigismund Augustus under the patronage of Primate Jan Przerębski. He performed diplomatic functions, in particular in Vienna, where he was an ambassador at the Imperial court between 1565-1568. He was later crown vice - chancellor between 1569-1574 and bishop of Kraków between 1572-1577. Being sick with tuberculosis, he often stayed in the castle of the Kraków Bishops in Bodzentyn. He died there on March 16, 1577 and according to his will, he was buried in the local church, where his marble tomb monument was created by Girolamo Canavesi's workshop in Kraków.
Facial features of a man wearing an elaborately embroidered doublet and a fur-trimmed black cape in a portrait attributed to Lambert Sustris are very similar to known effigies of Franciszek Krasiński, especially to his portrait by anonymous painter which was before World War II in the collection of Ludwika Czartoryska née Krasińska in Krasne, lost. Also the pose is very similar. The painting in Krasne was dated in upper right corner Ao 1576, however, it might possibly be a later addition as on this portrait he is much younger then on other known effigies (e.g. portrait in the Franciscan Monastery in Kraków from about 1572). The painting attributed to Sustris was sold in New York in 1989 and was painted on panel (oil on panel, 115.6 x 89.7 cm). According to inscription in Latin in lower right corner, the man was 25 years old in 1550 (.ET TATIS SVE../.ANNVS./.XXV./.P./MDL), exactly as Franciszek Krasiński, when he studied in Bologna and Rome. At the Colonna Gallery in Rome there is a portrait of a man holding gloves (oil on canvas, 88 x 65 cm, inventory number Fid. n. 1477), who also resemble greatly Franciszek Krasiński from the portrait in Krasne and described effigy attributed to Sustris. It was earlier attributed to Lorenzo Lotto, Nicolas Neufchatel or Dirck Barendsz (rejected attributions) and now to anonymous painter from the Southern Netherlands. Previous attributions and style of this painting match perfectly paintings by Sustris, a Dutch painter who worked in Titian's studio and incorporated Italian Renaissance elements in his work. The costume of the man and the style is also very similar to the painting dated 1550. The date when Krasiński was ordained a priest is unknown. He was a canon of Gniezno from 1556, however, like Copernicus or Jan Dantyszek, he might not have been ordained a priest. The sitter's costume and pose can be compared with effigies of Antoine Perrenot de Granvelle (1517-1586), a leading minister of the Spanish Habsburgs, who become a canon of Besançon and prothonotary Apostolic in 1529, when he was only 12 years old, later, in November 1538, aged only twenty-one, he was appointed bishop of Arras and took holy orders two years later (after "Les Granvelle et les anciens Pays-Bas" by Krista de Jonge, Gustaaf Janssens, p. 20). Granvelle also became the archbishop of Malines (1560) and a cardinal (1561), yet in majority of his portraits, like the one created by Frans Floris in about 1541, with blue eyes, by Titian in 1548, by Antonis Mor in 1549 and in about 1560, by Lambertus Suavius in 1556, all with dark eyes, there is no explicit reference to his priesthood. A number of preserved portraits of Polish-Lithuanian "princes of the Church" are official effigies dedicated to churches, where the patron was depicted in pontifical vestments. In private images, they could allow themselves, like Granvelle, to be depicted in less formal attire, more typical of a nobleman than a priest. According to Latin inscription at upper left, the man was 37 years old in 1562 (A° 1562 / AETATIS. 37), exacly as royal secretary Franciszek Krasiński. He could have ordered this likeness in Venice and then send it to Rome, although it is also possible that in 1562 he was in Italy. Another portrait attributed to Lambert Sustris or his workshop shows a bearded man in black costume with a black hat, holiding a book and seated in a chair. This painting was sold in London in 2005 (oil on canvas, 98.3 x 78 cm, Bonhams, July 6, 2005, lot 90). It bears inscription and date Roma Ano 1564 Etatis Mae 33 (Rome Year 1564 of My Age 33) above the man's head, as well as three other inscriptions in Greek (or Armenian), Hebrew and Italian. The inscription in Italian Non ognuno che mi dice signor / Signore entrata nel regno de cieli: / ma colui che fa la volunta del / padre mio che e ne' cieli (Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven) are verses of the seventh chapter of the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament, part of the Sermon on the Mount, on True and False Disciples. The age of a man match perfectly the age of Piotr Dunin-Wolski (1531-1590), the son of Paweł Dunin-Wolski, Great Crown Chancellor, and Dorota Wiewiecka of Jastrzębiec coat of arms, who after his initial studies at the Lubrański Academy in Poznań went to Bologna and Padua to complete his studies. In Bologna in 1554 he is mentioned as a student of Sebastiano Corrado (Sebastianus Corradus), professor of Greek and Latin, who translated Plato into Latin. He was a canon of Poznań since 1545 and after returning from Italy, he stayed at the court of king Sigismund Augustus, where he proved to be a man especially gifted in foreign languages and in diplomacy. He was threfore sent to Madrid in Spain in 1560 where he stayed for more than 10 years, trying to regain the so-called Neapolitan sums for the king. His stay in Rome in 1564 is not mentioned in the sources, however his letters from Barcelona of March 4 to cardinal Stanisław Hozjusz and from Madrid of September 23 to bishop Marcin Kromer might indicate such journey. He returned to Poland in 1573. He was a collector of antiquities and collected a large library, which he donated to the Kraków Academy (approx. 1000 volumes) and the library of the Płock Chapter (130 books). Dunin-Wolski died in Płock on August 20, 1590 and was buried in the cathedral church, where his tombstone has been preserved to this day as well as a portrait. This effigy, created after his death in the 17th or 18th century by a local painter, was undeniably copied from another effigy of the Bishop of Płock (since 1577), and it is astonishingly similar to the described painting by Sustris or his workshop. 
Portrait of Franciszek Krasiński (1525-1577), aged 25, in embroidered doublet by Lambert Sustris, 1550, Private collection.
Portrait of royal secretary Franciszek Krasiński (1525-1577), aged 37, holding gloves by Lambert Sustris, 1562, Colonna Gallery in Rome.
Portrait of canon Piotr Dunin-Wolski (1531-1590), aged 33 by Lambert Sustris or workshop, 1564, Private collection.
Portraits of Queen Barbara Radziwill and her father by workshop of Paris Bordone
"They say that Queen Bona, who previously cared little about divine things, is beginning to be attracted to innovations in religion. Because she is reading Italian books by a certain Bernardino Ochino, once a monk in Italy and the founder of the new Capuchin Congregation, but who changed his faith and now teaches in England. They assure that she would like to bring in a similar type of teachers, i.e. preachers. A strange change in this woman's mind! She was also reconciled with Queen Barbara. Through her envoy and her confessor, Franciszek Lismaninus of Corcyra [Francesco Lismanini of Corfu], Bona called Barbara her most beloved daughter-in-law, recommended herself and her daughters to her in the most flattering terms and sent small gifts. Many claim that she did it deceitfully, not for Barbara's sake, but to enslave the king her son, who is so attached to his wife that he hates those who persecute her with hatred, and that it was all the easier for her because she knew that Queen Barbara will not live long. Queen Bona's confessor himself, whom I mentioned above, solemnly assured me that this consent was real and a divine decree. And that is a noteworthy mind shift", reported in a letter of March 9, 1551, Doctor Johannes Lang, envoy of King Ferdinand I of Austria.
This letter illustrates not only the family relationships within the Jagiellonian dynasty around the mid-16th century, but also the popularity of Italian culture and new ideas and trends at the royal court. In an earlier letter dated January 4, 1551 from Świdnica (Swidniciae) to the king, Doctor Lang adds about religious reforms in Poland-Lithuania: "I have already written to Your Royal Majesty about a marriage concluded by a priest in Pinczów, a town fourteen miles away from Kraków. Now they tell me that a new liturgy has been introduced there after the expulsion of the monks; they sing the mass in Polish and condemn communion under one species in the Eucharist. Strange crowds of nobility come there, brazenly trampling on old church rites. As far as I can predict, I see that, despite the opposition of some men, Poland will forcibly obtain priestly marriage and communion under both kinds. There will be a strange change in church things there" (after "Jagiellonki polskie ..." by Aleksander Przezdziecki, Volume 5, pp. LXVIII-LXX). At Knole House, Kent, England, there is another portrait of an unknown lady, called Mary, Queen of Scots, three-quarter length (oil on canvas, 107 x 89 cm, NT 129951), similar to the so-called Carleton portrait at Chatsworth House. The young woman wears an ivory dress embroidered in gold with blue undersleeves. Her hair is decorated with pearls and red carnation flowers, symbols of love and passion. Due to earlier identification, the portrait is attributed to the French or Flemish school. In the 18th and 19th centuries the romantic legend and tragic death of the Queen of Scots contributed to this phenomenon and even the daughter of Mary's adversary - Sir Francis Walsingham (died 1590), Frances Walsingham (1567-1633), Lady Sidney became Mary, Queen of Scots. Possibly in the 19th century the inscription on the small trompe l'oeil label, or cartellino, visible in the upper left corner, in a fine portrait of Frances attributed to Robert Peake (Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, 1954.75), was changed to Latin: MARIA REGINA SCOTIAE. Using new technology, restorers discovered the original lettering: "The Ladie Sidney daughter to Secretarye Walsingham" (after "Who's That Lady? ..." by Elise Effmann Clifford). Similar was the case with the portrait of Princess Sophia Jagiellon (1522-1575) in Spanish costume (Czartoryski Museum, MNK XII-296) or portrait of Cardinal John Albert Vasa (1612-1634) by Venetian school (most probably Tommaso Dolabella, Wilanów Palace in Warsaw, Wil.1240), which, according to a later inscription depict Cardinal Andrew Bathory (1562-1599). The lady's features resemble those in the Carleton portrait and miniature of Queen Barbara by workshop of Lucas Cranach the Younger (Czartoryski Museum, MNK IV-V-1433), as well as other portraits of the queen. The style of this painting resembles the full-length effigy of Queen Barbara's father - George Radziwill (1480-1541), nicknamed "Hercules" in the National Art Museum of Belarus in Minsk (oil on canvas, 210 x 122 cm, inv. ЗЖ-140). It can be compared to the portraits of Sigismund Augustus in the guise of Christ as Light of the World produced by the workshop of Paris Bordone (Accademia Carrara in Bergamo and Abbey of San Benedetto in Polirone) as well as to the double portrait, attributed to Bordone (Nivaagaard Museum, 0009NMK) and portrait of a man in Paris (Louvre, INV 126; MR 74). According to the Latin inscription in the upper left corner, George Radziwill was painted in 1541 at the age of 55 (GEORGIVS RADZIWIL CASTELLANVS VILENSIS [...] AÑO DNI. M.D.XXXXI. ÆTATIS VERO SVÆ LV.). The inventory of paintings from the collection of Princess Louise Charlotte Radziwill (1667-1695), drawn up in 1671, lists some of the effigies that survived the Deluge (1655-1660). Among these portraits, many were made in 1550, such as Nicolaus Radziwil Cognomento, 2dus Dux in Gonidz Palatinus Vilne[n]sis Cancelarius M.D.L. (1), Georius Radziwił Castelanus Vilnens. Gnalis dux Exercitum M.D.L. (9), Joanes Radziwił Dux in Muszniki Archicamer. M.D.L. (15) and Nicolaus Radziwił Dux Birzarum et Dubincorum, Palaitinus Vilnen. Gnalis Dux Exercitum M.D.L. (21). The creation of such a gallery of ancestors and other family members was probably linked to the coronation of Queen Barbara on December 7, 1550. 
Portrait of Queen Barbara Radziwill by workshop of Paris Bordone, ca. 1549-1551, Knole House.
Portrait of George "Hercules" Radziwill, castellan of Vilnius by workshop of Paris Bordone, ca. 1549-1551, National Art Museum of Belarus in Minsk.
Portraits of Sophia Jagiellon in Spanish costume
Daughters of Bona Sforza d'Aragona, Queen of Poland, Grand Duchess of Lithuania and Duchess of Bari and Rossano by her own right were descendants of Alfonso V, King of Aragon, Sicily and Naples.
Contacts with Spain intensified after 1550. In 1550 and 1553, Gian Lorenzo Pappacoda (1541-1576), a courtier of Queen Bona, was sent to the emperor with unknown instructions given to him by the queen. In March 1554, he also went to London and Brussels. Pappacoda's task was to convince the emperor and king of Spain to intervene on Bona's behalf at the court of Sigismund Augustus in order to facilitate her leaving Poland, and to obtain for her the position of viceroy of Naples, vacant since 1553 after the death of Pedro Álvarez de Toledo y Zúñiga (after "Odrodzenie i reformacja w Polsce", Volume 44, p. 201). In a letter dated May 11, 1550 from Valladolid, Juan Alonso de Gámiz, secretary of Charles V, informed King Ferdinand I of the arrival of the "secretary of the King of Poland with letters and gifts" (secretario del rey de Polonia con letras y presentes para sus altezas), including six horses with velvet tacks richly embroidered with royal emblems (seys cavallos portantes concubiertas de terciopelo morado y la devisa del rey bordada), as well as sable, ermine and wolf pelts for the king and queen (after "Urkunden und Regesten ..." by Hans von Voltelini, p. L-LI). The letter dated December 31, 1560 from Vilnius (Datum Vilnae, ultima Decembris 1560) to Henry of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, husband of Sophia Jagiellon, is probably the earliest confirmed use of the Spanish title of infanta by Sophia's younger sisters, Anna and Catherine (Infantes Poloniae), who in an earlier letter to Henry dated October 18, 1559 from Przemyśl (Datum Premisliae, die XVIII. Octobris 1559) referred to themselves as Crown Princesses (Reginulae Poloniae). The document issued by King Henry of Valois on May 5, 1574 in Kraków refers to Sophia as "the Most Illustrious Princess Sophia, Infanta of the Kingdom of Poland, born of this same stock of Jagiellons" (Illustrissima Principe Domina Sophia Infante Regni Poloniae ex hac eadem Jagiellonum stirpe nata, after "Jagiellonki polskie w XVI. wieku: Korrespondencya polska ..." by Alexander Przezdziecki, Volume 3, p. 309-310, 334). In an undated letter in Italian, probably from around 1556 (or before 1565), Queen Catherine of Austria (1533-1572) also calls Sophia "Infanta of Poland" (Principessa Sofia Infante di Polonia, Dochessa di Brunschwig). In 1551, Queen Bona proposed that the Gdańsk merchant Hans von Werden be used to suggest Gustav Vasa (1496-1560), the recently widowed King of Sweden, to marry one of her daughters. Bona reproached his son Sigismund Augustus for his indifference to the fate of his sisters, and he reciprocated. The Queen Mother did not want to marry one of her daughters to the Bavarian prince who was asking for the hand of one of the princesses, while the king indifferently accepted the efforts of an Italian prince and "a lord of a noble Roman family" (pan rzymskiej zacnej familiej), probably Marcantonio II Colonna (1535-1584), commander of the Spanish cavalry. In a letter dated January 21, 1554, the Austrian envoy, Bishop of Zagreb Pavao Gregorijanec (Paulus de Gregoryancz), reports that Queen Bona received very well Archduke Ferdinand (1529-1595), son of Anna Jagellonica (1503-1547), who accompanied his sister Catherine of Austria to Kraków, expecting that he was coming to ask for the hand of one of her daughters (after "Ostatnie lata Zygmunta Augusta i Anna Jagiellonka" by Józef Szujski, p. 299). The portrait of a blond lady in Spanish costume from the 1550s which exists in a number of copies, although idealized, bears a strong resemblance to the portrait of Sophia in French/German costume in Kassel by circle of Titian (Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, inv. GK 496) and her miniature in German/Polish dress by Cranach (Czartoryski Museum, XII-544). At least two paintings are preserved in Poland (one in Kraków and the other in Warsaw) and another, identified as Sophia, is at Wolfenbüttel Castle (deposit of the Lower Saxony State Museum in Hanover, inv. KM 105, also similar to the very idealized portrait of Barbara Radziwill at the Musée Condé, known as "Anne Boleyn", inv. PE 564). With reference to the 1828 catalogue of the Czartoryski collection in Puławy, the Kraków painting was purchased (between 1789 and 1791) by Princess Izabela Czartoryska in Edinburgh as a portrait of Mary, Queen of Scots ("bought in Edinburgh", compare "Poczet pamiątek zachowanych w Domu Gotyckim w Puławach", item 456, p. 43), hence the inscription in French: MARIE STUART / REYNE D'ESCOSSE, added in about 1800 (Czartoryski Museum, oil on panel, 22 x 17 cm, MNK XII-296). Nevertheless, many similar inscriptions on the portraits from the Puławy collection are no longer considered credible today. They were clearly based on a general impression or general resemblance as in the case of the Portrait of a Man Holding Arrows, most likely Konrad von Lindnach (d. 1513), Landvogt in Aargau, previously identified as the effigy of William Tell, a folk hero of Switzerland, hence the inscription in French: GUILLAUME TELL (inv. V. 207) or the Portrait of a Man by a German painter (inv. XII-235), previously identified as Thomas More (1478-1535) and attributed to Hans Holbein the Younger, bearing the inscription: THOMAS MORUS / HOLBEIN. Similar costume and hairstyle are found in several portraits of members of the ruling house of Spain and Portugal made between 1550 and 1555, such as the portrait of the Infanta Maria of Austria (1528-1603), Regent of Spain by Antonis Mor, painted in 1551 (Prado Museum in Madrid, inv. P002110, signed and dated: Antonius Mor pinx. / Año 1551), the portrait of her sister the Infanta Joanna of Austria (1535-1573), Princess of Portugal, aged 17, thus painted around 1552 by Cristovão de Morais (Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium, inv. 1296, inscription: .AETATIS.SVE / .17.), the portrait of their close relative Catherine of Austria (1507-1578), Queen of Portugal by Antonis Mor from around 1552-1553 (Prado, inv. P002109) and portrait of Maria of Portugal (1521-1577), Duchess of Viseu, also by Mor, painted around 1550-1555 (Convent of Las Descalzas Reales in Madrid). Knowing the history of Franco-Spanish rivalries in the 16th century, it is very unlikely that Mary Stuart, who was Queen of France between 1559-1560 and lived in France from 1548, wanted to show her attachment to Spain through her costume. Moreover, it is difficult to indicate any resemblance of the model to well-known effigies of the Queen of Scots, such as the miniature attributed to François Clouet (Royal Collection, RCIN 401229). The identification with Anna van Egmont (1533-1558), wife of William the Silent, Prince of Orange, is also difficult to maintain (compare with her beautiful portrait attributed to Anthonis Mor and studio, Dorotheum in Vienna, October 25, 2023, lot 25). The 1696 inventory of the Wilanów Palace mentions under No. 296: "Painting on panel, Portrait of Reginae Scottorum, in black frames", which most probably depicted Mary Stuart. This painting, owned by King John III Sobieski, most likely came from older royal collections, which survived the destruction during the Deluge. As the Polish-Lithuanian monarchs owned portraits of the Queen of Scots, the monarchs or artitocrats of Scotland could receive or acquire a portrait of the Jagiellonian Princess-Infanta. Another possible hypothesis is that the painting was not acquired in Edinburgh, but in Poland, and that by claiming to have an authentic portrait of the famous Queen of Scots, the Czartoryskis wanted to raise the status of their collection. An almost exact copy of the Kraków painting, attributed to circle of Jean Clouet, was sold in Zurich in 2011 (oil on panel, 23.3 x 18.2 cm, Koller Auctions, April 1, 2011, lot 3012). The Warsaw version is slightly different and was purchased in 1972 from the Radziwill collection (National Museum in Warsaw, oil on panel, 24.5 x 19 cm, M.Ob.654). After marriage of Isabella Jagiellon in 1539, Sophia was the eldest daughter of Bona still unmarried. Three of Bona's younger daughters dressed identically, as evidenced by their miniatures by workshop of Lucas Cranach the Younger from about 1553 and inventory of dowry of the youngest Catherine includes many Spanish garments, like a black velvet coat with "53 Spanish buckles of 270 thalers worth", "buckles on (thirteen) French and Spanish robes", or "a robe of black velvet at the throat in Spanish style" with 198 buckles, etc. The fashion was udobtedly used in complex Jagiellonian politics. A portrait from the private collection in Sweden (oil on panel, 26 x 19 cm, Metropol Auktioner in Stockholm, January 26, 2015, nr 938 5124), possibly taken from Poland-Lithuania during the Deluge (1655-1660), and created by the same workshop, showns Sophia in similar Spanish/French costume. In the National Art Gallery in Lviv there is a portrait painted in the same style, apparently by the same painter (inv. Ж-277). It resembles the one traditionally identified as Mary Stuart (photogravure, after Henry Bone, published in 1902, National Portrait Gallery, NPG D41905). The painting comes from the Lubomirski collection and according to the inscription on the back it has been identified as possibly depicting the Queen of Scots: "Lubomirski Collection, probably portrait of Mary Stuart" (ZBIÓR LUBO/MIRSKICH / podobno: Portret Maryi Stuart). Many similar paintings are now attributed to the circle of French painter François Clouet (d. 1572) and are probably part of collections of idealized portraits of ladies of quality, so popular at that time and in the 17th century in Europe (also as a model for fashionable costumes). Since many of them are based on originals by Anthonis Mor, as in the case of the portraits of Anna van Egmont (paintings in the Royal Palace in Amsterdam and the Ducal Palace in Mantua), the authorship of a Flemish workshop is also possible. 
Portrait of Princess-Infanta Sophia Jagiellon (1522-1575) in Spanish costume by circle of François Clouet or Flemish painter, ca. 1550-1556, Czartoryski Museum in Kraków.
Portrait of Princess-Infanta Sophia Jagiellon (1522-1575) in Spanish costume by circle of François Clouet or Flemish painter, ca. 1550-1556, Private collection.
Portrait of Princess-Infanta Sophia Jagiellon (1522-1575) in Spanish costume by circle of François Clouet or Flemish painter, ca. 1550-1556, National Museum in Warsaw.
Portrait of Princess-Infanta Sophia Jagiellon (1522-1575) in Spanish/French costume by circle of François Clouet or Flemish painter, ca. 1550-1556, Private collection.
Portraits of Sigismund Augustus and Catherine of Austria as Adam and Eve from the Paradise Bliss tapestry
"Adam and Eve, the parents of calamity, stood both painted according to true image and the word all over the tapestries woven with gold. And since those portraits of the first parents, in addition to the other things to be seen, were of admirable material and workmanship, I will show them like Cebetis, so that from thence the work itself of an excellent artist, as well as the genius of the best king, may be perceived [...]. In the first tapestry, at the head of the nuptial bed, we saw the bliss in the faces of our parents; in which, when they were happy, they were not ashamed to be naked. Moreover, the nakedness of both of them so moved the spirits, especially that of Eve's husband, that lascivious girls would smile at Adam as they entered. For when the man's womb was opened, the sex of a woman is fulfilled" (calamitatis parentes Adam et Eva ad effigiem veritatis stabant textu picti ambo per omnes Cortinas, auro praetextati. Et quoniam illae primorum parentum effigies praeter caeteras res visendas, admirabili fuerunt materia et opere, eas ad Cebetis instar demonstrabo, ut inde cum opus ipsum praeclari artificis, tum vero ingenium optimi regis pernoscatis [...]. In prima Cortina, ad caput genialis lecti, parentum nostrorum contextu expressa felicitatis cernebatur effigies; in qua felices illi cum essent, non erubescebant nudi. Porro utriusque nuditas ita commovebat animos, ut viri Evae, Adamo vero lascivae introingressae arriderent puellae. Aperta enim pube ille viri, haec foeminae sexum sinu ostendebant pleno), thus praises the veracity of effigies of the figures of Adam and Eve in the tapestry commissioned by king Sigismund II Augustus, Stanisław Orzechowski (1513-1566) in his "Nuptial Panegyric of Sigismund Augustus, King of Poland" (Panagyricus Nuptiarum Sigimundi Augusti Poloniae Regis), published in Kraków in 1553.
Orzechowski (Stanislao Orichovio Roxolano or Stanislaus Orichovius Ruthenus), a Ruthenian Catholic priest, born in or near Przemyśl, educated in Kraków, Vienna, Wittenberg, Padua, Bologna, Rome and Venice and married to a noblewoman Magdalena Chełmska, described the festivities and decorations of the Wawel Royal Castle in Kraków during king's wedding celebrated on July 30, 1553. The bride was a sister of Sigismund Augustus first wife and widow of the Duke of Mantua, Catherine of Austria, daughter of Anna Jagellonica (1503-1547). Wedding chambers were adorned with tapestries from the series of the Story of Adam and Eve, created in Brussels by workshop of Jan de Kempeneer after cartoons by Michiel I Coxcie, most probably on this occasion, including the described Paradise Bliss. The author emphasizes that they were depicted naked, while both Eve and Adam's womb on this tapestry are today covered with vine branches. "A closer look at the technique of the fabric in these places reveals that the vine covering Eve's womb, and the other vine covering Adam's womb, are woven or embroidered separately and applied to the fabric itself", states Mieczysław Gębarowicz and Tadeusz Mańkowski in their publication from 1937 ("Arasy Zygmunta Agusta", p. 23). Vine branches were probably added in 1670 when the tapestry was transported to Jasna Góra Monastery for the wedding of king Michael Korybut Wiśniowiecki. Another intriguing aspect is the veracity of the images so underlined by Orzechowski. It is about the true image of the legendary first parents, a woman and a man or, most likely, the bride and groom? Adam's facial features are very reminiscent of images of king Sigismund Augustus, especially the portrait by Jan van Calcar against the Mausoleum of Empeor Augustus in Rome (private collection), while the face of Eve is very similar to that of Queen Catherine of Austria, depicted as Venus with the lute player by Titian (Metropolitan Museum of Art). These two effigies can be compared to the naked effigies of French monarchs from their tombs in the Basilica of Saint-Denis - tomb of Louis XII and Anne of Brittany (1515-1531), tomb of Francis I and Claude of France (1548-1570), and especially the tomb of Henry II and Catherine de' Medici (1560-1573), all inspired by Italian art. 
Portrait of King Sigismund Augustus (1520-1572) as Adam from the Paradise Bliss tapestry by workshop of Jan de Kempeneer after design by Michiel I Coxcie, ca. 1553, Wawel Royal Castle.
Portrait of Queen Catherine of Austria (1533-1572) as Eve from the Paradise Bliss tapestry by workshop of Jan de Kempeneer after design by Michiel I Coxcie, ca. 1553, Wawel Royal Castle.
Tapestry with Paradise Bliss by workshop of Jan de Kempeneer after design by Michiel I Coxcie, ca. 1553, Wawel Royal Castle.
Portraits of Sophia Jagiellon and Catherine of Austria by Titian and workshop
"My heart moves me to tell of forms changed into new bodies" (In nova fert animus mutatas dicere formas corpora), states Ovid in the opening lines of his "Metamorphoses" (Transformations). If gods could turn into humans, why humans (and especially royals) could not turn into gods? At least in paintings.
When in June 1553 Sigismund II Augustus married his distant cousin Catherine of Austria, widowed duchess of Mantua, his three younger sisters Sophia, Anna and Catherine were not married. At the same time Catherine's cousin, Philip of Spain (1527-1598), Duke of Milan from 1540, son of Emperor Charles V, was unmarried after death of his first wife Maria Manuela (1527-1545), Princess of Portugal. Philip undeniably received a portrait of his distant relative Princess Sophia Jagiellon (1522-1575), the eldest of Bona Sforza's daughters, unmarried at that time. At the end of 1553 Philip's wedding to his second aunt, the Queen of England, Mary I (1516-1558), was announced. It turned out, however, that Philip was only a duke and there could be no marriage between the queen and someone of lower rank. Charles V solved the inconvenience by renouncing the Kingdom of Naples in favor of his son, so that he would be king. On July 25, 1554 Philip married the Queen of England. Painting of Salome with the head of John the Baptist by Titian in the Prado Museum in Madrid is dated to about 1550 (oil on canvas, 87 x 80 cm, inv. P000428). Many authors underline an erotic dimension of the scene. The work was inventoried as part of the royal collection in the Alcazar of Madrid between 1666 and 1734, possibly acquired from the collection of the 1st Marquess of Leganés, between 1652-1655, who probaly bought it at the auction of collection Charles I of England. According to other sources "Salome, by Titian, painted around 1550, appears in an early inventory of the Lerma collection. In 1623 Philip IV gave it to the Prince of Wales, later Charles of England" (after "Enciclopedia del Museo del Prado", Volume 3, p. 805). Titian's workshop created several replicas of this painting transforming Salome into a girl holding a tray of fruit, most probably representing Pomona, a goddess of fruitful abundance and the wife of the god Vertumnus (Voltumnus), the supreme god of the Etruscan pantheon. According to Ovid's "Metamorphoses" (XIV), Vertumnus, after several unsuccessful advances, tricked Pomona into talking to him by disguising himself as an old woman and gaining entry to her orchard. The best version of this painting, acquired in 1832 from the Abate Luigi Celotti collection in Florence, is today in the Gemäldegalerie in Berlin (oil on canvas, 106.2 x 84.8 cm, inv. 166). In both paintings the girl is wearing a rich jewelled tiara, so she is definitely a princess and the main fruit on her tray is a quince (or Cydonian apple), similar to that visible in watercolour paintings by Joris Hoefnagel from about 1595, one with Venus disarming Amor (National Gallery of Denmark), or less probably a lemon, a symbol of fidelity in love associated with Virgin Mary. A yellow lemon- or pear-shaped fruit, evocative of the female body, was sacred to Venus, herself often represented holding it in her right hand, as being the emblem of love, happiness, and faithfulness. "Both the Greeks and Romans used quince boughs and fruit to decorate the nuptial bedchamber. The fruit became an integral part of marriage ceremonies with the bride and groom partaking of honeyed quince. Eating the fruit was symbolic of consummating the marriage" (after Sandra Kynes' "Tree Magic: Connecting with the Spirit & Wisdom of Trees"). According to Columella (4 - ca. 70 AD), a prominent writer on agriculture in the Roman Empire, "Quinces not only yield pleasure, but health". "Romans would serve quince to their loved ones to encourage fidelity and those newly married would share a quince to ensure a happy marriage" (after Rachel Patterson's "A Kitchen Witch's World of Magical Food"). Around that time Titian's workshop created another version of this composition, which was before 1916 in the Volpi collection in Florence (oil on canvas, 104 x 81 cm, Fototeca Zeri, Numero scheda 39297, Archivio fotografico Davanzati 1039), hence both Pomonas were possibly initially in the Medici collection. The woman's face and pose is identical as in the Raczyński Herodias, which is the effigy of Queen Catherine of Austria. The face of the princess in the Prado painting bears great resemblance to effigies of Princess Sophia Jagiellon by Cranach and in Spanish costume by Flemish painter. Some of the copies of this Salome and Pomona were created by Titian's workshop, such as the Knebworth House copy, sold in 2003, the paintng sold in 2006 in Zurich (oil on canvas, 111 x 90.4 cm, Koller Auctions, A138, September 22, 2006, lot 3048) or a reduced version, sold in 2020 (oil on canvas, 46.5 x 36 cm, Bonhams London, October 21, 2020, lot 3), which also indicate that she was an important person. Princess Sophia's Habsburg relatives also owned a copy, which is considered lost, as the "Young Woman with a Bowl of Fruit" was listed in the imperial collections before the Swedish occupation. In another variant of Salome/Pomona by Titian's studio, the princess "metamorphoses" into another femme fatale - Pandora, now holding a rich jewelled box on her tray, like in later paintings by James Smetham (ca. 1865), Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1871), John William Waterhouse (1896) or Odilon Redon (1910/1912). Pandora was to be created by Hephaestus (Vulcan) on the order of Zeus (Jupiter), as the first human woman, to whom each of the gods gave some special gifts - Athena (Minerva) gave her intelligence, talent and manners and Aphrodite (Venus), beauty of a goddess, and she was also given a box containing all the evils that could afflict humanity, with a warning never to open it. In modern times, Pandora and her vessel have become, among other things, a symbol of the seductive power of women. This painting, from the French royal collection, mentioned among the paintings of Philippe II, Duke of Orléans (1674-1723), who was regent of the kingdom of France from 1715 to 1723, is today in a private collection in Milan (oil on canvas, 116.5 x 94.5 cm, Fototeca Zeri, Numero scheda 42005). In the 19th and 20th centuries, many paintings returned to their place of origin, although this does not at all mean that the model was Italian (however, it is worth mentioning that through her mother, Princess Sophia was Italian). The fingers of her right hand, originally supporting larger tray in initial version (Salome) in this painting of Pandora, are eerily raised so that the girl is holding a heavy silver tray and a much heavier casket just by part of her hand. This is another proof that the painting was not taken from life, but based on study drawings sent from Poland-Lithuania, and it cannot be Titian's daughter posing for it, otherwise she would hurt herself holding these heavy objects like that. A version of a painting entitled "A Useless Moral Lesson" (allegorical subject of the loss of virginity and dangers of love) by Godfried Schalcken from 1690 (Mauritshuis) was sold in the United Kingdom in December 2020 as Pandora. Some copies of the painting by Titian's studio were sold as "Pandora's Box" (Manner of Guido Reni, 2014 and British School, 19th century, 2010) and Helena Tekla Lubomirska née Ossolińska (d. 1687), daughter of Chancellor Jerzy Ossoliński (1595-1650) was depicted in guise of Pandora, holding a bronze vase bearing the Lubomirski coat of arms - Szreniawa and inscription in Italian SPENTO E IE [IL] LUME / NON L'ADORE (the light is out, not the ardor), which is a paraphrase of a line from the poem Adone ("Adonis", 1623) by Giambattista Marino (attributed to Claude Callot and circle, National Museum and Wilanów Palace in Warsaw). Helena Tekla particularly liked different disguises in her effigies. In her portrait by Mignard, thus ordered and created in France, she is depicted as Flora, Roman goddess of flowers and spring (inscribed on verso: Capitane Lubomirski / par Nic. Mignard., National Museum in Warsaw, M.Ob.1253 MNW) and inventory of Wiśnicz Castle from 1661 lists "a portrait of Her Highness, in the guise of Saint Helena" and "a full-length portrait of Her Highness, in the guise of Diana with greyhounds". Wanda Drecka interprets this representation of the widowed Princess Lubomirska "as the guardian of all virtues or Pandora who gives everything" (after "Dwa portrety księżnej na Wiśniczu", p. 386). It was not just a 17th century invention and such representations were known much earlier (Pandora from the French royal collection was considered to be the portrait of Titian's daughter Lavinia), also in Poland-Lithuania where Italian influences were so strong in the 16th century. Unfortunately, in Poland-Lithuania, the losses of cultural heritage during the Deluge (1655-1660) and the subsequent invasions were so great that everything was forgotten. 
Portrait of Princess Sophia Jagiellon (1522-1575) as Salome by Titian, 1550-1553, Prado Museum in Madrid.
Portrait of Princess Sophia Jagiellon (1522-1575) as Pomona by workshop of Titian, 1550-1553, Gemäldegalerie in Berlin.
Portrait of Princess Sophia Jagiellon (1522-1575) as Pomona by workshop of Titian, 1550-1553, Private collection.
Portrait of Princess Sophia Jagiellon (1522-1575) as Pandora by workshop of Titian, 1550-1553, Private collection.
Portrait of Princess Sophia Jagiellon (1522-1575) by follower of Titian, after 1553, Private collection.
Portrait of Queen Catherine of Austria (1533-1572) as Pomona by workshop of Titian, 1553-1565, Private collection. Virtual reconstruction, © Marcin Latka
Allegorical portraits of Queen Catherine of Austria by workshop of Titian
Another version of the Pomona in Berlin by workshop of Titian was before 1970 in private collection in Vienna, Austria (oil on canvas, 102 x 82.5 cm, Sotheby's London, April 10, 2013, lot 94; Fototeca Zeri, Numero scheda 39299), however, her facial features are slightly different, the face is more elongated and the lower lip is more protruding, as in most of the portraits of Catherine of Austria's relatives in Vienna. Her features are very similar to Saint Catherine of Alexandria in the Prado (inv. P000447) and in the Raczyński Herodias. The same face and pose was copied in a painting of a nymph and a satyr which was before 1889 in James E. Scripps collection in Detroit (oil on canvas, 99 x 80.6 cm, Fototeca Zeri, Numero scheda 45033), attributed to follower of Titian, possibly by his student Girolamo Dente. The nymph playfully tugs at the ear of the satyr, who probably has the features of a court dwarf. Satyrs were nature deities and part of Bacchus's retinue. They were considered symbols of natural fertility or virility and were frequently portrayed chasing nymphs, symbolizing chastity.
A good copy, or rather a version of the composition attributed to Dente, since some elements of the composition have been modified, was in Riga, the capital of Latvia, which between 1582-1629 was part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and later became part of the Swedish Empire. This painting was considered to represent Vertumnus and Pomona and was attributed to a 17th-century Venetian painter, but it was also considered a work by Titian in the collection of photographs of the Italian art historian Federico Zeri (1921-1998), where it was noted as belonging to the "Coll. Bul[b]ets / (Latvijas Banka)" around 1936, so before World War II (cf. Fototeca Zeri, Numero scheda 58454). In this version, the woman has a thicker face, so it is possible that she commissioned another, more favorable painting (i.e. version from the Scripps collection). Similar paintings were in royal and magnate collections in Poland-Lithuania. Inventory of the Kunstkammer of the Radziwill Castle in Lubcha from 1647 lists a painting of a "Naked lady with a satyr" offered by king John II Casimir Vasa and in 1633 a painting of "Diana with her maidens, the fauns laugh at" presented by his predecessor Ladislaus IV (after "Galerie obrazów i "Gabinety Sztuki" Radziwiłłów w XVII w." by Teresa Sulerzyska, p. 96). Inventory of paintings from the collection of princess Louise Charlotte Radziwill (1667-1695), drawn up in 1671, lists many nude and erotic paintings, some of which may be works by Titian: A half-naked lady in sables (297, possibly a copy of a Girl in a fur by Titian in Vienna), Naked woman sleeps and two men watch (351), A naked woman sleeps and a lute and a flask with a drink is beside her and a man watches (370), A filthy image, Cupids and many naked people (371), Bacchanalia (372), Adonis wrestle with Venus (374, possibly a copy of Venus and Adonis by Titian in Madrid), A lady in flowers (375) and A lady with flowers (419, possibly a copy of Flora by Titian in Florence), Two naked women, one combs herself (420), A woman lying holding a glass, a man in front of her and Cupid embracing her (430), Three nymphs and Cupid (431), Two pictures on silver plates, one of Cupid with Venus, and the other with lustitia (628-629), Venus between two Cupids. A special image (762, most likely a painting from Bernardino Luini's workshop in the Wilanów Palace or a copy), A woman, naked, covered herself with cotton cloth, on a large panel (794, possibly a copy of a portrait of Beatrice of Naples as Venus by Lorenzo Costa in Budapest), Susanna and two old men, a large painting on canvas (815), Picture: a naked lady is sleeping and a satyr is next to her, this painting was given by King John Casimir (820), Three nymphs and Cupid (826), A lady with satyr, filthy (842), A lady lying. Small painting, golden frames (843), Naked lady with a swan, stone painting (844, possibly Leda by Alessandro Turchi, a pupil of Carlo Cagliari in Venice), A naked person in a red coat (863, possibly a copy of "Titian's Mistress" in Apsley House) (after "Inwentarz galerii obrazów Radziwiłłów z XVII w." by Teresa Sulerzyska). The inventory also includes several paintings which could be identified as Lucretia or Salome by Cranach and this is only a part of splendid collections of the Radziwills that survived the Deluge (1655-1660). Carlo Ridolfi (1594-1658) in his work Le Maraviglie dell'arte ..., published in Venice in 1648, confirms that after his stay in Spain (around 1550), Titian travelled to Innsbruck "where he portrayed Ferdinand, King of the Romans, his wife Queen Maria [Anna Jagellonica] and seven most noble maidens, daughters of her majesty, on the same canvas, almost composing a heaven of earthly deities; and it is said that every time these princesses went to have their portrait painted, they brought a gem as a gift to the painter" (Passato poi in Inspruch, ritrasse Ferdinando re de' Romani, la regina Maria sua moglie, e sette nobilissime Citelle, figliuole di quella Maestà in una stessa tela, componendo quasi un Cielo di terrene Deità; e raccontasi, che ogni fiata che quelle Principesse andavano a ritrarsi, recavano una gemma in dono al Pittore, p. 166). The author most likely confused Queen Anna Jagellonica, wife of Ferdinand, with her daughter-in-law Maria of Spain (1528-1603), who travelled through the Republic of Venice to return to Spain in 1581, however, from this fragment we can assume that Titian painted Anna's daughters, most likely including Catherine, as Roman goddesses (Cielo di terrene Deità). "The Goddess Diana with the God Pan / That chaste breast, which perpetually / Had made itself a shelter of modesty / And fled the consortium of people / To avoid some illicit act" (la Dea Diana col Dio Pan / Quel casto petto, che perpetuamente / S'era di pudicitia albergo fatto / E fuggiva il consortio de la gente / Per non venir a qualche illecito atto) is the inscription in Italian under an erotic (even obscene by some standards) print with Jupiter transformed into Satyr and Diana from the series of 15 sheets depicting the Loves of the gods (Gli amori degli dei). The version in the National Gallery of Denmark (Statens Museum for Kunst) in Copenhagen is attributed to Jacopo Caraglio, court goldsmith and medallist of King Sigismund II Augustus (inv. KKSgb7584). Between 1527 and 1537 Caraglio was in Venice and from about 1539 in Poland-Lithuania, where he worked until his death on August 26, 1565. 
Portrait of Queen Catherine of Austria (1533-1572) as Pomona by workshop of Titian, 1553-1565, Private collection.
Portrait of Queen Catherine of Austria (1533-1572) as a nymph with a satyr by follower of Titian, possibly Girolamo Dente, 1553-1565, Private collection.
Portrait of Queen Catherine of Austria (1533-1572) as a nymph with a satyr by follower of Titian, possibly Girolamo Dente, 1553-1565, Private collection in Riga before World War II. Virtual reconstruction, © Marcin Latka
Erotic print with Jupiter transformed into Satyr and Diana by Jacopo Caraglio, second quarter of the 16th century, National Gallery of Denmark.
Portraits of Sophia Jagiellon by circle of Titian and portraits of Catherine of Austria by Giuseppe Arcimboldo
"Most Serene Princess, my dearest sister! I have received the gracious letter of Your Illustrious Ladyship and have learned with great joy of your good health; [...] I then ask a favor of Your Illustrious Ladyship; since it pleases God that I cannot enjoy your gracious company: do me a great favor by sending me your portrait and also that of your husband; I will keep them before me as a souvenir of you. If I can be of any use to you, I beg you to order it from me only, and you will find me always ready to do so. Finally, I commend myself to Your Grace. Given at Vilnius, April 23" (Serenissima Principessa signora et sorella mia carissima! Io ho receputa la amorevola letera di V. Ill. S. et con grante alegreza intesso la bona sanita di quella; [...] Poi io prego V. Ill. S. per una gratia; essento che a Dio cussi piace, che io non possa goder la sua amorevola compangina: che quella si denga a farme tanta gratia a mantarme il suo retrato et anchora quello di suo consorte; io tengero in vita mia per sua memoria. Se io in contar possa servir in qualla cosa, prego a commandar mi, che me trouera sempre pronta, cussi faro. Fin in ne la sua bona gratia me ricommando. Dat. in Vilno, alli 23 di aprillo, after "Jagiellonki polskie w XVI. wieku ..." by Aleksander Przezdziecki, p. 260, National Library of Poland, 68.338 A), wrote in Italian Catherine of Austria (1533-1572), Queen of Poland and Grand Duchess of Lithuania, to her sister-in-law Infanta Sophia Jagellon (1522-1575), Duchess of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel (Alla Serma Principessa Sofia Infante di Polonia, Dochessa di Brunschwig), probably shortly after her departure from Poland-Lithuania in 1556.
Sigismund Augustus' third wife, before marrying the king in 1553, was Duchess of Mantua and Montferrat (between 1549 and 1550) and after only four months as the wife of Francesco III Gonzaga (1533-1550), who drowned in Lake Como on February 21, 1550, she returned to Innsbruck. The Habsburgs pretended that the marriage had not been consummated to increase Catherine's chances of obtaining a better second marriage. The double portrait of the young widow with her mother Anna Jagellonica (1503-1547), Queen of the Romans, Bohemia and Hungary, made at that time, i.e. between 1551 and 1553 (Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, oil on canvas, 140 x 130 cm, GG 8199), was probably intended to underline her connection to the Jagiellonian dynasty and to increase her chances of marrying her widowed relative, the King of Poland (the king's second wife, Barbara Radziwill, died on May 8, 1551). Anna died in 1547, before Catherine's marriage to the Duke of Mantua, when the Archduchess had no reason to display her attachment to her mother so ostentatiously. The parrot above her right shoulder in this painting is probably linked to the Annunciation, when the angel Gabriel announces to Mary her destiny to give birth to Jesus, and symbolizes purity and wealth (compare "Nature and Its Symbols ..." by Lucia Impelluso, p. 302). Very similar to this effigy of Catherine is her full-length portrait at Voigtsberg Castle (oil on canvas, 176 x 112 cm), attributed to Titian. This portrait, basing on a miniature in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna (inv. GG 4703) in which she is titled as the wife of the Duke of Mantua, is generally dated to 1549, therefore around her marriage to Francesco, however taking into account that the counterpart of this portrait, i.e. the portrait of Francesco, is not known and that the double portrait with her mother was most likely made after 1550, the painting could be considered a possible betrothal effigy before the marriage with the King of Poland. The little dog suggests to the groom that she is faithful and the zibellino, which she holds in her hands, that she is fertile. It is interesting to note that at that time the Cremonese painter Sofonisba Anguissola created a portrait, considered her self-portrait, in the same costume and pose as the Duchess of Mantua and the Queen of Poland (private collection, oil on panel, 29 x 22 cm). It is quite possible that Sofonisba received a painting by Titian to copy, which would explain the overall titianesque character and colouring of Voigtsberg painting. The double portrait is similar to the Family portrait of Maximilian II, son of Anna Jagellonica, which is also in the Kunsthistorisches Museum (GG 3448). The Family portrait was made around 1553 or 1554, which indicates the young age of the youngest child, Archduke Ernest of Austria (1553-1595). However, since it is attributed to Giuseppe Arcimboldo (1527-1593), the possible date of creation is considered to be 1563, because at that time the artist moved from Milan to Vienna (according to the traditional approach, the painter and the model must have had the opportunity to meet in person when the portrait was created). If Arcimboldo or his workshop created the double portrait of Catherine and her mother, he must have done so in Milan, where he met the Duchess's father, Ferdinand I (on November 28, 1551 he was paid for painting the five banners of the King of Bohemia), so both paintings could be based on study drawings sent from Vienna or Innsbruck. Arcimboldo is also considered the author of the portrait of a daughter of Anna Jagellonica, now in the National Gallery of Ireland (oil on panel, 37 x 31 cm, NGI.902). This painting was purchased in Berlin in 1928 and Kurt Löcher considered it to be the effigy of Elizabeth of Austria (1526-1545), Queen of Poland, by Jakob Seisenegger (after "Nieznane portrety ostatnich Jagiellonów" by Janina Ruszczyc, p. 75). According to the catalog note of the National Gallery of Ireland, this is an effigy of Archduchess Anna (1528-1590), Duchess of Bavaria (from 1550). Nevertheless, while the resemblance of the woman to the effigies of Elizabeth and Anna is general, the resemblance to Catherine from her portrait at Voigtsberg Castle is striking, as if Arcimboldo and Titian (or Sofonisba) had used the same set of study drawings to create both effigies. This depiction can be compared to Catherine's bust-length portrait inscribed in the upper part CHATARINA.REGINA.POLONIE.ARCHI: / AVSTRIE. The style of these paintings is similar and both relate to the series of portraits of the daughters of Anna Jagellonica preserved in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, attributed to Arcimboldo, for example the portrait of Archduchess Joanna of Austria (1547-1578), future Grand Duchess of Tuscany (inv. GG 4513). As for the Duchess of Brunswick, very few portraits created during her lifetime (before this blog) were known. It is quite possible that her portrait for sister-in-law Catherine of Austria, former Duchess of Mantua, was commissioned from an Italian artist. The portrait of Sophia Jagiellon from the Von Borcke Palace in Starogard, which was lost during World War II, was most probably the only inscribed effigy showing her features the most accurately. It bears a strong resemblance to the features of a lady, painted by a Venetian painter from the circle of Titian, in the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister Kassel (oil on canvas, 120 x 96 cm, inv. GK 496). The portrait in Kassel is tentatively identified as effigy of Sophia's relative Archduchess Eleanor of Austria (1534-1594), Duchess of Mantua (daughter of Anna Jagellonica), and wife of Guglielmo Gonzaga, due to great similarity of garments and location, the Gonzagas of Mantua frequently commissioned their effigies in nearby Venice. However the face lacks an important feature, the notorious habsburg lip, allegedly stemming from Cymburgis of Masovia, a hallmark of prestige in the 16th century and inherited by Eleanor from her father, the Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand I. The sitter's costume and features are very similar to these visible in a miniature showing Sophia's mother Bona Sforza (in the Czartoryski Museum in Kraków, inv. MNK XII-141), who visited Venice in 1556, the year of Sophia's marriage with the 66-year-old Duke Henry V of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel. It is highly possible that the painting was commissioned in Venice by Sophia's brother, king Sigismund II Augustus or her mother. In the same collection in Kassel, there are also two other portraits from the same period by Venetian painters, which are linked to Jagiellons, a portrait of Sophia's sister Anna Jagiellon (1523-1596) and a portrait of a general, which according to Iryna Lavrovskaya, could be an effigy of influential cousin of Barbara Radziwill, Nicolaus "the Black" Radziwill (Heritage, N. 2, 1993. p. 82-84). A good copy of the Kassel painting is now in the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art (oil on canvas, 115.6 x 97.2 cm, inv. 43.19). Because of some obvious influences from Flemish painting, especially the colors and softness, it is attributed to Peter Paul Rubens, who worked in Mantua around 1600, but Lambert Sustris, a Dutch painter active mainly in Venice, and a pupil of Titian, can also be considered an author. Rubens in turn worked for the Polish-Lithuanian Vasas, descendants of Sophia's sister Catherine. The marriage of a 34-year-old princess with an old man was mocked in a painting, created by follower of Lucas Cranach the Elder and his son, preserved in the National Gallery in Prague (oil on panel, 44.7 x 49.8 cm, inv. DO 4323). The work was acquired in 1945 from the Nostitz picture collection in Prague (first probable record 1738, definite record 1818). The painter used earlier effigies of the Princess in the popular subject of the "grotesque marriage", dating back to antiquity when Plautus, a Roman comic poet from the 3rd century BC, cautioned elderly men against courting younger ladies. The inscription SMVST.A. on her bonnet should be therefore interpreted as a satirical anagram. Interestingly, the style of this painting resembles the mentioned works of Arcimboldo, so it is possible that he received a painting by Cranach to copy or that he created this composition based on Cranach's works. 
Portrait of Sophia Jagiellon (1522-1575) in a black dress by circle of Titian, ca. 1553-1565, Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister in Kassel.
Portrait of Sophia Jagiellon (1522-1575) in black dress by circle of Titian, probably Lambert Sustris, or Peter Paul Rubens, ca. 1553-1565 or 1600s, Memphis Brooks Museum of Art.
Ill-Matched Lovers, caricature of Sophia Jagiellon (1522-1575) and her husband Henry V of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel (1489-1568) by Giuseppe Arcimboldo after Lucas Cranach the Elder, ca. 1556, National Gallery in Prague.
Portrait of Anna Jagellonica (1503-1547), Queen of the Romans, Bohemia and Hungary and her daughter Archduchess Catherine of Austria (1533-1572) by workshop of Giuseppe Arcimboldo, ca. 1551-1553, Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna.
Portrait of Archduchess Catherine of Austria (1533-1572) by circle of Titian or Sofonisba Anguissola, ca. 1553, Voigtsberg Castle.
Self-portrait of Sofonisba Anguissola, 1550s, Private collection.
Portrait of Archduchess Catherine of Austria (1533-1572) by Giuseppe Arcimboldo, ca. 1553, National Gallery of Ireland.
Portrait of Queen Catherine of Austria (1533-1572) by workshop of Giuseppe Arcimboldo, ca. 1554, whereabouts unknown.
Portraits of Zofia Tarnowska by Lambert Sustris and workshop of Titian
The Polish woman, one of the greatest muses and celebrities of 16th-century Europe? Why not, if 19th-century art historians could make a lesser-known lawyer's daughter, Saskia van Uylenburgh (1612-1642), one of the greatest celebrities of the 17th century? Apparently, every important art collector of the Baroque era was bound to own an effigy of the daughter of the mayor of Leeuwarden. Unlike Saskia, who, nota bene, through her uncle and brother-in-law, had connections with Poland, Zofia Tarnowska (1534-1570) was far more likely to become such a muse in her lifetime. Her father, the imperial count Jan Amor Tarnowski (1488-1561), who had connections in Portugal, Spain, Italy and at the imperial court, was one of the richest and most powerful men in the country. Through her mother, Zofia Szydłowiecka (1514-1551), she was the granddaughter of another prominent political figure, Chancellor Krzysztof Szydłowiecki (1466-1532), considered one of the greatest patrons of the arts in early 16th-century Poland.
On January 18, 1553 the Sejm began in Kraków, but the proceedings were suspended immediately, as most of the deputies and senators went to Tarnów for the wedding of the nineteen-year-old daughter of Voivode of Kraków. Zofia was marrying Constantine Vasily (1526-1608), son of Constantine, Prince of Ostroh and his wife Alexandra Olelkovich-Slutska. The Spanish poet Pedro Ruiz de Moros (d. 1571) dedicated a short poem to Zofia and her husband entitled "Newly Wed" (Novae nuptae), stating: "I, the virgin of Tarnów, have been united to a worthy husband, and our offspring will be born of a noble lineage" (I digno coniuncta viro Tarnovia virgo, Et nostrum subole suffice nata genus, compare "Petri Rozyii Maurei Alcagnicensis Carmina ...", ed. Bronisław Kruczkiewicz, part II, p. 58, poem VIII). In 1550, the twenty-five-year-old Constantine Vasily received from King Sigismund II Augustus the office of marshal of Volhynia. A year later he participated in the fight against the Tatars, who burned down the town and the castle in Bratslav, and probably met the Grand Hetman, Jan Amor Tarnowski, who came to the city with Polish reinforcements. Since the groom was Orthodox and the bride Catholic, the couple was blessed by priests of both rites. The celebrations must have been very impressive since Tarnowski borrowed 10,000 Hungarian zlotys from Queen Bona for this occasion or the wedding of his son just two years later. Emericus Colosvarinus (Imre Kolozsvár) from Cluj-Napoca, wrote a special speech, entitled De Tarnoviensibus nuptiis oratio, published in Kraków (he also published a speech on the occasion of the third marriage of King Sigismund Augustus that year). Taking Zofia Tarnowska as his wife, Constantine Vasily became the son-in-law of the highest secular dignitary of the Kingdom of Poland, the largest landowner, and a renowned military commander and military theoretician. Immediately after the wedding, Constantine Vasily and his wife went to his castle in Dubno in Volhynia. A year later, in 1554, Zofia gave birth to a son in Tarnów, who was named Janusz. Zofia's younger brother, Jan Krzysztof Tarnowski (1537-1567), become formal successor of his father, just few months after birth, after death of his brother Jan Amor (1516-1537). At the age of eleven, he was sent to Augsburg with his tutor Jakub Niemieczkowski, canon of Tarnów, where during the Diet of Augsburg on 25 February 1548, he witnessed the grand ceremony of inauguration of Duke Maurice (1521-1553) as Elector of Saxony. That same year also Titian and Lambert Sustris arrived to Augsburg. In December that year the young Tarnowski went to Vienna to continue his education at the court of King Ferdinand I. A year later, in November 1549, his father Hetman Jan Tarnowski bought Roudnice nad Labem estate in Bohemia for him. Between 1550-1556 Jan Krzysztof built the Renaissance eastern wing with arcades of the Roudnice nad Labem Castle. In 1553 he set off on another educational journey, which, according to Stanisław Orzechowski, was to cost his father a huge sum of 100,000 zlotys. He visited Germany, Brussels, where he was introduced to Emperor Charles V, and London. Then he went to Basel and to Italy, where he met a poet Jan Kochanowski. In Rome, he was a guest of Pope Julius III and in Parma of the Farnese princes. On April 22, 1551, died Zofia Szydłowiecka and she was buried in the collegiate church in Opatów. The Flemish lawyer Petrus de Roeulcz (Petrus de Rotis) published a panegyric in Vienna praising the deceased and the Tarnowski family (Liber funerum domus Tharnoviae Petri à Rotis Belgae Cortraceni). A painting of a nude woman attributed to Lambert Sustris in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam is very similar to the portrait of Princess Isabella Jagiellon (Venus of Urbino), created few years earlier (oil on canvas, 116 x 186 cm, inv. SK-A-3479). In 1854 the painting, as by Titian, was in the collection of Joseph Neeld (1789-1856) in Grittleton House, near Chippenham. As in Venus of Urbino, all alludes to the qualities of a bride and the purpose of the painting. The pose of the woman, although inspired by Titian's painting, find its source in ancient Roman sculpture (e.g. statue of a young Roman lady from the Flavian period in the Vatican Museums). This pose was repeated in tomb monument of Barbara Tarnowska née Tęczyńska (d. 1521), first wife of Jan Amor in the Tarnów Cathedral, most probably created by Giovanni Maria Padovano in 1536 or earlier, monument to Urszula Leżeńska in the Church in Brzeziny by Jan Michałowicz of Urzędów, created between 1563-1568, and in the tomb monument of Zofia Tarnowska, Princess of Ostroh, daughter of Jan Amor, also in the Tarnów Cathedral, sculpted by Wojciech Kuszczyc, a collaborator of Padovano, after 1570. The face of a young woman with protruding ears greatly resemble the effigy of Zofia Tarnowska, Princess of Ostroh, most likely a 19th century copy of an original from the late 1550s (Museum of the Ostroh Academy), and portrait of Zofia's brother (National Museum in Warsaw, inv. MP 5249 MNW), mother (portrait by Cranach's workshop in the guise of Judith from the William Delafield collection) and father (Prado Museum, inv. P000366). Jan Amor Tarnowski, a world man, who on July 4, 1518 sailed from Venice to Jerusalem, who on February 20, 1536 organized a grand wedding in Kraków for Krystyna Szydłowiecka, a younger sister of his second wife, who was getting married to Duke of Ziębice-Oleśnica and who on July 10, 1537 hosted at his castle in Tarnów the king and queen Bona, could be planning an international marriage for his only daughter. A copy of this painting by workshop or circle of Titian, from the Byström collection, possibly taken from Poland during the Deluge (1655-1660), is in the Nationalmuseum in Stockholm (oil on canvas, 119 x 190 cm, inv. NM 95). Another copy is in the Borghese Gallery in Rome (oil on canvas, 118 x 180 cm, inv. 050), where there is also a portrait of Queen Anna Jagellonica (1503-1547) as Venus by Lucas Cranach the Elder. According to 1650 inventory of the Borghese collection it was one of a pair of similar paintings of Venus located in the same room (the small gallery, now room XI). The inventory of 1693 records them as two overdoor paintings in the same room (the sixth) as "a horizontal large painting of a naked woman on a bed with flowers on it with five other figures one that plays the cimbolo and the other that looks inside a chest" (un quadro bislongo grande una Donna Nuda sopra un letto con fiori sopra il letto con cinque altre figurine una che sona il Cimbolo e l'altra che guarda dentro un Cassa, number 333) and "a large painting of a naked Venus on a bed with a little dog sleeping with two other figures with her hand between thighs, 5 hand-palms high" (un quadro grande di una Venere nuda sopra il letto con un Cagnolino che dorme con due altre figure con la mano tra le coscie alto di 5 palmi, number 322), which was another version of Venus of Urbino - portrait of Isabella Jagiellon. There are several other versions and copies of this painting, some of which are related to Sustris and his followers. Among the most beautiful, probably created at the same time as the original or shortly after, are the following paintings from private collections: "Reclining Venus", considered to be a work of the early 17th century (oil on canvas, 101 x 150 cm, Bonhams London, December 10, 2003, lot 98), "Reclining Venus", attributed to the Modern Italian School (oil on panel, 28.5 x 39.5 cm, Nouvelle étude in Paris, November 21, 2022, lot 53), as well as three paintings on a dark background: "Reclining Venus", attributed to the circle of Lambert Sustris, auctioned in France on April 24, 2014 (oil on canvas, 112 x 172 cm), "A lady as Venus, reclining on a bed by follower of Titian", auctioned in London (oil on canvas, 90 x 131 cm, Christie's, July 11, 2003, Auction 9665, lot 199) and "Venus, manner of Lambert Sustris", auctioned in Rome (oil on canvas, 100 x 136 cm, Finarte Auctions, November 28, 2017, Auction 144/145, lot 62). The same woman was also depicted in similar composition, this time more mythological due to presence of the god of war Mars and the god of desire Cupid, the son of the love goddess Venus and Mars, and a dove. "Romans sacrificed doves to Venus, goddess of love, whom Ovid and other writers represented as riding in a dove-drawn chariot". A white dove is a symbol of monogamy and enduring love, but also the regenerating and fertile powers of the goddess "arose from the conspicuous courtship and prolific breeding of the birds" (after "Animals and Animal Symbols in World Culture" by Dean Miller, p. 54). It is known from at least three different versions, one by circle of Titian, is in the royal Wilanów Palace in Warsaw (oil on canvas, 113.3 x 166.5 cm, inv. Wil.1547). The painting was most probably purchased by Stanisław Kostka Potocki before 1798 as the work of Agostino Carracci, although it cannot be ruled out that it was added to the collection much earlier. A smaller version in the style of Lambert Sustris is in the Hermitage in Saint Petersburg since 1792 and it comes from the collection of Prince Grigory Potemkin (oil on canvas, 101.5 x 170.5 cm, inv. ГЭ-2176), who during his career acquired lands in the Kiev region and the Bratslav region, provinces belonging to the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. A miniature copy of the Hermitage version, painted on copper, was in private collection in Italy before 2015 (oil on copper, 20.5 x 29.2 cm, Sotheby's New York, October 30, 2019, lot 22). Another two versions, also attributed to Sustris or his circle, are in private collections in Florence (oil on canvas, 108 x 173 cm, Premier Auction, February 5, 2022, lot 434, earlier or later in Vienna) and in Rome (Fototeca Zeri, Numero scheda 42869), the version in Florence being close to the style of Bernardino Licinio (d. 1565). The shape of the castle in the distant background matches the layout of the Tarnowski Castle at the Saint Martin's Peak in Tarnów. This Venus can be considered an alternative version of the best-known depiction of the goddess of love by Sustris, now in the Louvre, which clearly depicts the same woman (oil on canvas, 132 x 184 cm, INV 1978; MR 1129). This masterpiece by the painter uses the same elements, with the god Mars in the background. However, the references to love are even more direct here, with white pigeons copulating and Cupid pointing an arrow at them and looking at Venus. This painting probably comes from the Fugger collection in Augsburg, but the earliest confirmed provenance before entering the collection of Louis XIV of France in 1671 is the collection of his superintendent of finances Nicolas Fouquet (1615-1680). A comparable composition is that of Sustris representing the same model in the guise of Flora, goddess of fertility and blossoming plants, with a Cupid in a landscape, preserved in the Pinacoteca Egidio Martini in Venice (oil on canvas, 102 x 126, inv. 028). The same model can also be identified in a series of paintings depicting the biblical heroine Judith, exemplary in virtue and in guarding her chastity. In a version from private collection in England, she is depicted in a green dress with the raised sword in a composition close to the effigy of Zofia Szydłowiecka as Judith by workshop Lucas Cranach the Elder (oil on canvas, 84.2 x 63.1 cm, Christie's London, April 30, 2015, lot 487). Another version of this Judith was in private collection in Mönchengladbach in Germany (Heinz Brandes collection, probably lost during World War II). A version from the Cobbe Collection at Hatchlands Park shows her in a blue dress before the naked body of Holofernes (oil on canvas, 121.5 x 100.5 cm, inv. 356). It was recorded in the posthumous inventory of the collection of a Swedish businessman born in Stockholm, Henrik Wilhelm Peill (1730-1797), as "Italian, Judith with the head of Holofernes". In a version from the Palais des Beaux-Arts de Lille she is depicted in a purple dress and accompanied by a servant (oil on canvas, 113 x 95 cm, inv. P 261). This painting was acquired by Louis XIV, in 1662, from a banker and collector Everhard Jabach, born in Cologne. A lower quality copy of the version in Lille is in the Münsterschwarzach Abbey (oil on canvas, 123.5 x 96 cm, inv. 10377). During the Middle Ages its influence reached as far north as Bremen and in the south to Lambach, near Linz in present-day Austria. Between 1631 and 1634 the abbot of Münsterschwarzach lived in exile in Austria, it is possible that he acquired the paining there from the collection of Queen of Poland, Catherine of Austria, who died in Linz on February 28, 1572. The representation of the same sitter in the guise of another biblical heroine, Susanna, epitome of female virtue and chastity, unjustly accused of sexual transgression, is similar. This painting was purchased in 1961 by the Museo de Arte de Ponce from the collection of the family Trolle-Bonde in the Trolleholm Castle in southern Sweden (oil on canvas, 105 x 125 cm, inv. 61.0200). The painter evidently used the same set of preparatory drawings to create the face of Susanna and Judith in Lille. There are also two other paintings by Sustris depicting this sitter. One is a Madonna and Child, attributed to the 17th-century Venetian school, but very similar in style to Flora in the Pinacoteca Egidio Martini (oil on canvas, 82 x 68.5 cm, Pandolfini in Florence, Auction 290, February 26, 2019, lot 232). The other is a Portrait of a woman reading, attributed to Sustris, which was in a private collection in Rome in 1977 (oil on canvas, 83.5 x 77 cm, Fototeca Zeri, Numero scheda 42866). This image evokes the representations of the Cumaean Sibyl, a prophetess, supposed to have predicted the coming of Christ, such as those by Guercino and Domenichino. The Cumaean Sibyl was generally said to have come from the east. Given the number of paintings in which her face was used, this woman was Sustris's greatest muse, and he likely wouldn't have wanted to paint a nude effigy of his wife or mistress for another man. If she was a famous courtesan, as some might claim, why has her name been forgotten? The popularity of "obscene" images in Poland-Lithuana before the Deluge (1655-1660) was apparently so great that some authors urged against them. "Lascivious paintings and statues, speeches and songs full of obscenity [...], whom will they not lead to all kinds of debauchery?" (Picturae & statuae lascivae, sermones & cantilenae obscoenitatis plenae [...], quam aetatem quem sexum non contaminant?), wrote in his treatise "Commentaries on the Improvement of Commonwealth" (Commentariorvm de rep[vblica] emendanda) dedicated to king Sigismund Augustus and published in Kraków in 1551, his secretary Andrzej Frycz Modrzewski (1503-1572). Half a century later Sebastian Petrycy, professor of the Kraków Academy in his commentaries to Aristotle's Oeconomicum libri duo (Oekonomiki Aristotelesowey To Iest Rządu Domowego z dokładem Księgi Dwoie), published in Kraków in 1601, wrote that children and young ladies "looking at the painted naked people will easily learn to be shameful" and confirmed his opinion in a gloss to "Politics" by Aristotle (published in 1605), writing that "indecent images are to be hidden from the youth [...] so that young people would not be scandalized" (partially after "Ksiądz Stanisław Orzechowski i swawolne dziewczęta" by Marcin Fabiański, p. 57-58). The same Sebastian Petrycy also complains about the patricians, who in their newly built houses "put expensive pictures", depicting Vulcan, Jupiter, Mars, Venus and Cupid. According to Wanda Drecka, this "expensiveness" of the images would indicate imported paintings. The inventories of the collection of Boguslaus Radziwill from 1656 and 1657 include such paintings as "Cupid, Venus and Pallas", "Venus and Hercules" and "Venus and Cupid" (after "Polskie Cranachiana" by Wanda Drecka, p. 26-27) by Cranach or Venetian painters. The inventory of paintings belonging to his daughter mentions "A half-naked lady in sables" (297/6, after "Inwentarz galerii obrazów Radziwiłłów z XVII w." by Teresa Sulerzyska), the register of paintings of the descendant of the Jagiellons John II Casimir Vasa, sold in Paris in 1673, mentions a painting of Judith with the head of Holofernes (396) and a painting of a naked woman (440), both on canvas, and the inventory of the picture gallery of the Radziwill Palace in Biała Podlaska from 1760 mentions "Portrait of a lady with two Cupids" (item 512, after "Zamek w Białej Podlaskiej ..." by Euzebiusz Łopaciński, p. 46). None of these paintings survived in the former territories of Sarmatia, just like most of the likenesses of Zofia Tarnowska created during her lifetime. 
Portrait of Zofia Tarnowska (1534-1570) nude (Reclining Venus) by Lambert Sustris, ca. 1550-1553, Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.
Portrait of Zofia Tarnowska (1534-1570) nude (Reclining Venus) by workshop or circle of Titian, ca. 1550-1553, Nationalmuseum in Stockholm.
Portrait of Zofia Tarnowska (1534-1570) nude (Reclining Venus) by circle of Lambert Sustris, ca. 1550-1553, Borghese Gallery in Rome.
Portrait of Zofia Tarnowska (1534-1570) nude (Reclining Venus) by Lambert Sustris, ca. 1550-1553, Private collection (auctioned in London).
Portrait of Zofia Tarnowska (1534-1570) nude (Reclining Venus) by follower of Lambert Sustris, after 1550, Private collection (auctioned in Paris).
Portrait of Zofia Tarnowska (1534-1570) nude (Reclining Venus) by Lambert Sustris, ca. 1550-1553, Private collection (auctioned in France).
Portrait of Zofia Tarnowska (1534-1570) nude (Reclining Venus) by Lambert Sustris or circle, ca. 1550-1553, Private collection (auctioned in London).
Portrait of Zofia Tarnowska (1534-1570) nude (Reclining Venus) by Lambert Sustris or circle, ca. 1550-1553, Private collection (auctioned in Rome).
Portrait of Zofia Tarnowska (1534-1570) as Venus with a dove by circle of Titian, ca. 1550-1553, Wilanów Palace in Warsaw.
Portrait of Zofia Tarnowska (1534-1570) as Venus with a dove by Lambert Sustris, ca. 1550-1553, The State Hermitage Museum.
Portrait of Zofia Tarnowska (1534-1570) as Venus with a dove by Lambert Sustris, ca. 1550-1553, Private collection.
Portrait of Zofia Tarnowska (1534-1570) as Venus with a dove by circle of Lambert Sustris, ca. 1550-1553, Private collection in Rome. Virtual reconstruction, © Marcin Latka
Portrait of Zofia Tarnowska (1534-1570) as Venus with a dove by circle of Lambert Sustris or Bernardino Licinio, ca. 1550-1553, Private collection in Florence.
Venus and Cupid with disguised portrait of Zofia Tarnowska (1534-1570) by Lambert Sustris, 1550s, Louvre Museum.
Portrait of Zofia Tarnowska (1534-1570) as Flora by Lambert Sustris, 1550s, Pinacoteca Egidio Martini in Venice.
Portrait of Zofia Tarnowska (1534-1570) as Judith with the head of Holofernes by Lambert Sustris, 1550s, Private collection.
Portrait of Zofia Tarnowska (1534-1570) as Judith with the head of Holofernes by Lambert Sustris, 1550s, Private collection. Virtual reconstruction, © Marcin Latka
Portrait of Zofia Tarnowska (1534-1570) as Judith with the head of Holofernes by Lambert Sustris, 1550s, The Cobbe Collection at Hatchlands Park.
Portrait of Zofia Tarnowska (1534-1570) as Judith with the head of Holofernes by Lambert Sustris, 1550s, Palais des Beaux-Arts de Lille.
Portrait of Zofia Tarnowska (1534-1570) as Judith with the head of Holofernes by Lambert Sustris or follower, 1550s, Münsterschwarzach Abbey. Virtual reconstruction, © Marcin Latka
Portrait of Zofia Tarnowska (1534-1570) as Susanna by Lambert Sustris, 1550s, Museo de Arte de Ponce.
Portrait of Zofia Tarnowska (1534-1570) as the Cumaean Sibyl by Lambert Sustris, 1550s, Private collection. Virtual reconstruction, © Marcin Latka
Portrait of Zofia Tarnowska (1534-1570) as Madonna and Child by Lambert Sustris, 1550s, Private collection.
Portraits of Catherine of Austria and Zofia Tarnowska by Titian
Family events that took place in 1553 brought a great revival in the monotonous existence of the Jagiellons. In the spring, Queen Isabella arrived to Warsaw with her 13-year-old son, John Sigismund Zapolya, to live with her mother and sisters. Soon, Sigismund Augustus also visited Warsaw, and in June the whole family went to Kraków for his wedding with Catherine of Austria, widowed Duchess of Mantua. The dynastic marriage of the king with a daughter of Ferdinand I, just few months after the wedding of the only daughter of Hetman Jan Amor Tarnowski, was decided to prevent the threat of an alliance of Tsar Ivan the Terrible with the Habsburgs against Poland-Lithuania. In July, Catherine's brother, Archduke Ferdinand, governor of Bohemia, escorted her to Kraków. The ceremony was attended by Duke Albert of Prussia, the Silesian dukes of Cieszyn, Legnica-Brzeg and Oleśnica, the papal legate Marcantonio Maffei from Bergamo (Republic of Venice), many foreign envoys and Polish magnates. The ceremonial entry to Kraków took place on July 29 and the coronation the next day. During the procession, Jan Amor Tarnowski, carried the royal crown.
During his visit the Archduke demanded that the Habsburgs should be granted succession in Poland-Lithuania in the event of king's death without a male heir. Sigismund Augustus seemed willing to agree to this request, however the senators, inspired by Tarnowski, were to answer him that this would not happen, because the king had no right to do so (after "Panowie na Tarnowie. Jan Amor Tarnowski, kasztelan krakowski I hetman wielki koronny ..." by Krzysztof Moskal, part 8/9). The same year, Francesco Lismanini, a preacher and confessor of Sigismund Augustus, was sent to Venice to procure books for his library. Before his return in 1556, he also visited Moravia, Padua, Milan, Lyon, Paris, Geneva, Zurich, Strasbourg and Stuttgart, while among books published in this period were two dedicated to Hetman Tarnowski, both by Italian physician Giovanni Battista Monte (Johannes Baptista Montanus), Explicationes, published in Padua in 1553 and In quartam fen primi canonis Avicennae Lectiones, published in Venice in 1556. In about 1553 died Giovanni Alantsee from Venice, a pharmacist from Płock, initially a supplier of the Dukes of Masovia and later of the court of Sigismund I, who remained in Bona's service (sent by her in 1537 on a secret mission to Vienna). One of the Italian envoys who traveled permanently to Venice on the orders of the Polish royal court was a certain Tamburino. On April 30, 1549, he received 1 ducat for an unspecified order. Before her departure for Italy, the Queen deposited in Venetian banks, and also borrowed at interest, her great income from Masovia, Lithuania and Bari. In November 1555 Queen Bona wrote to Hetman's wife, Zofia Tarnowska née Szydłowiecka, asking her to arrange for a mature lady (matronam antiquam) to accompany her daughter Sophia to her husband in Germany. In 1559 Sigismund Augustus admitted to his service in Vilnius two goldsmiths from Venice, Antonio Gattis and Pietro Fontana. If Philip II could commission paintings in Titian's Venetian workshop, the same could the king of Poland and Polish magnates. Kraków and Tarnów are closer to Venice by land then Madrid. Also some contacts of Princes of Ostroh with Venice and Italy are confirmed in sources. The teacher of Constantine Vasily's sons was, among others, a Greek, Eustachy Nathanael, from Crete. He was probably educated, like many Greeks from Crete, in Italy, probably in Venice. Other Greek, Emanuel Moschopulos, educated in Collegium Germanicum in Rome also settled in Ostroh. According to letters of Germanico Malaspina (ca. 1550-1604) from 1595, papal nuncio in Poland, Constantine Vasily even asked the Catholic patriarch in Venice to come to Poland: a riformare il suo dominio (to reform his domain). The inventory register of Catherine's dowry, drawn up in Kraków on August 8, 1553 and written in Latin by an Italian courtier of the queen, lists a large number of jewels, precious fabrics and costumes including dresses "in the Spanish manner" (more hispanico) as well as seven magnificent large tapestries from the series The Seven Virtues: Prudence, Temperance, Hope, Charity, Faith, Justice and Fortitude (Auleae uiridices septem cum figuris septem virtutum uidelicet fidei, spei, Charitatis, Iusticiae, Prudentiae, Temperantiae et fortitudinis, after "Wyprawa Królowej Katarzyny" by Józef Korzeniowski, p. 80-81, 83, 85). Catherine took them with her to Austria in 1565 and it is very likely that they were made to order or purchased by her. Even before her marriage to Sigismund Augustus, she had used the services of the Habsburg tapestry maker Jhan de Roy. In 1549, Catherine asked him to order and purchase tapestries in Flanders for three rooms at a cost of about 1,000 guilders. The tapestry maker received a passport from Ferdinand's court in Prague for free passage to Antwerp and for the transport by land and water of the canvases and tapestries to Innsbruck, where the court of the Roman king was supposed to stay and where Jhan de Roy was commissioned to deliver the purchased tapestries to count Joseph von Lamberg (after "Arrasy Zygmunta Augusta" by Mieczysław Gębarowicz, Tadeusz Mańkowski, p. 8, 10-11). The tapestries were made under the direction of Frans Geubels in Brussels, probably before 1549, after a design by Michiel Coxcie, who also made cartoons for the famous tapestries of Sigismund Augustus at the same time. After Catherine's death in Linz, they were inherited by her brother Emperor Maximilian II (after "Inventar der im Besitze des allerhöchsten Kaiserhauses befindlichen niederländer Tapeten und Gobelins" by Ernst von Birk, p. 229-230). They are now in the Kunsthistorisches Museum. The tapestry with the Fortitude is one of the most beautiful (wool, silk and metal, 352 x 469 cm, inv. XVII, 7). It shows a personification of the Fortitude in the form of a seated female figure with a helmet and shield, similar to the Roman Minerva. To her right is a roaring lion and to the left the biblical Jael killing the sleeping Sisara. The inscription above reads FORTITVDO EST MEDIETAS / CIRCA TIMORES ET AVDACIAS ("Fortitude is the one in the middle, surrounded by fears and daring"). Jael's facial features resemble known effigies of Catherine, so it is possible that Coxcie depicted the Archduchess as a biblical heroine. Herodias with the head of Saint John the Baptist, also known as Salome, by Titian is known from several versions. The best, the so-called Raczyński Herodias, was in the 19th century in the possession of the noble Raczyński family, according to the label on the back (oil on canvas, 114 x 96 cm, after "Nemesis: Titian's Fatal Women", Nicholas Hall, Paul Joannedes, p. 17-19). The woman's face is identical with the face of Venus with the lute player by Titian in the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Saint Catherine by Titian in the Prado Museum in Madrid, she is therefore Queen Catherine of Austria, third wife of Sigismund Augustus, in guise of the biblical temptress. A copy of this painting by Titian and workshop, which was by 1649 in the royal collection in England (Hampton Court), is today in the National Museum of Western Art in Tokyo. Another copy by workshop or follower of Titian from private collection in Germany was sold in Cologne (oil on canvas, 106 x 93.5 cm, Van Ham Kunstauktionen, May 19, 2022, lot 517). Also Parrasio Micheli (ca. 1516-1578), a painter profoundly influenced by Titian who belonged to the patrician Michiel family in Venice, copied this painting. It was owned by a Venetian family (oil on canvas, 104 x 93 cm, sold at Babuino Auction House, March 28, 2023, lot 18). Such a composition depicting the Archduchess could have been commissioned in Titian's workshop around 1548, because the X-ray of the famous posthumous portrait of her aunt, Empress Isabella of Portugal (1503-1539), painted almost ten years after her death, shows a similar composition (Prado Museum in Madrid, inv. P000415). It is not known why the painter reused the canvas, perhaps the portrait of the Archduchess was not paid for. In the early 1570s, as indicated by the model's costume (characteristic ruff), while Catherine was living in Linz in Austria, Titian also painted another version of this composition, which was in the collection of Archduke Leopold Wilhelm of Austria. This painting has been lost and is known only from a small copy painted by David Teniers the Younger (1610-1690), almost a century later around 1650 (Christie's London, auction 15495, July 6, 2018, lot 124). It was also reproduced in the Theatrum Pictorium (number 51), but from these copies it is difficult to tell whether they depicted the same woman, that is, Catherine of Austria in the guise of Salome. There is also another similar painting by Titian of other biblical heroine, Judith, in identical pose. This painting was by 1677 in Florence in the collection of Marchese Carlo Gerini (1616-1673), today in the Detroit Institute of Arts (oil on canvas, 112.7 x 94.9 cm, inv. 35.10). According to X-ray examination it was painted upon other unfinished portrait of a monarch holding an orb and sceptre, possibly Sigismund Augustus. The woman depicted bears gret resemblance to other effigies of Zofia Tarnowska (1534-1570), Princess of Ostroh by Lambert Sustris and workshop of Titian, especially her effigies as Judith. 
Fortitude, tapestry from the series The Seven Virtues of Queen Catherine of Austria (1533-1572) by workshop of Frans Geubels in Brussels after design by Michiel Coxcie, before 1549, Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna.
Portrait of Queen Catherine of Austria (1533-1572) as Herodias (or Salome) with the head of Saint John the Baptist and servants (Raczyński Herodias) by Titian, 1553-1565, Private collection.
Portrait of Queen Catherine of Austria (1533-1572) as Salome with the head of Saint John the Baptist and servants by Titian, 1553-1565, National Museum of Western Art in Tokyo.
Portrait of Queen Catherine of Austria (1533-1572) as Salome with the head of Saint John the Baptist and servants by workshop or follower of Titian, 1553-1565, Private collection.
Portrait of Queen Catherine of Austria (1533-1572) as Salome with the head of Saint John the Baptist and a servant by Parrasio Micheli after Titian, 1553-1565, Private collection.
Portrait of Zofia Tarnowska (1534-1570), Princess of Ostroh as Judith with the head of Holofernes and a servant by Titian, 1553-1565, Detroit Institute of Arts.
Portrait of Constantine Vasily, Prince of Ostroh by Jacopo Tintoretto
The man in a black costume lined with white fur in a portrait by Jacopo Tintoretto in the National Galleries of Scotland in Edinburgh, on loan to the Gallery since 1947, bears a strong resemblance to effigies of Constantine Vasily (1526-1608), Prince of Ostroh, including that visible in a gold medal with his portrait (treasury of the Pechersk Lavra and the Hermitage), and his mother Alexandra Olelkovich-Slutska from paintings by Cranach and his workshop. It is dated to about 1550-1555, the time when in 1553, at the age of 27, Constantine Vasily married Zofia Tarnowska. The painting comes from William Coningham's collection in London, exaclty as the portrait of Queen Anna Jagiellon (1523-1596) with a dog by Francesco Montemezzano in the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
In 1559 Constantine Vasily became the voivode of Kiev. The economic power of his estates and his considerable political influence quickly earned him the title of "uncrowned king of Ruthenia". In 1574, he moved the princely residence from Dubno to Ostroh, where the reconstruction of Ostroh Castle began under the Italian architect Pietro Sperendio from Breno near Lugano. Cristoforo Bozzano (Krzysztof Bodzan) from Ferrara, called incola Russiae (resident of Ruthenia), who reconstructed the Ternopil Castle in 1566 for Jan Krzysztof Tarnowski, also most probably worked for Constantine Vasily. 
Portrait of Constantine Vasily (1526-1608), Prince of Ostroh by Jacopo Tintoretto, 1553-1565, National Galleries of Scotland.
Portraits of Thomas Stafford, ambassador of the King of Poland by Giovanni Battista Moroni and workshop
The portrait of a man by Giovanni Battista Moroni presenting a letter dated in Italian September 20, 1553 (Di Settembre alli XX del M.D.LIII), is known from at least three versions. His left hand, holding another document, is very similar to Moroni's famous tailor in the National Gallery in London. One vesion, sold in 2015 in London, comes from the collection of Marquise de Brissac in France, the other in the Honolulu Museum of Art, was before 1821 in the collection of Edward Solly (1776-1844) in London and another from Scandinavian private collection, showing just the man's head, was auctioned in London (Sotheby's, 09.12.2003, lot 326). Two versions were painted on canvas and the smallest, attributed to Italian School early 17th century, was painted on wood.
Apart from the date and abbreviation D V S, which could be Dominationis Vestrae Servitor (Your Lordship's Servant) in Latin or Di Vostra Signoria (of Your Lordship) in Italian, the rest is illegible and could be either in Italian or in Latin. The man is therefore showing his letter, most probably a response, to someone very important. On July 9, 1553, Mary Tudor, the eldest daughter of Henry VIII of England, proclaimed herself Queen of England. On August 3, she triumphantly entered London with her sister Elizabeth, and ceremonially took possession of the Tower. On September 27, she and Elizabeth moved into the Tower, as was the custom just before the coronation of a new monarch and on October 1, 1553, Mary was crowned in Westminster Abbey. While in a letter, in Portuguese, dated in Lisbon, September 20, 1553, king John III of Portugal announces the despatch of Lorenzo Piz de Tavora, a member of his council, as his ambassador to congratulate her Majesty on succeeding to the throne, Sigismund Augustus, king of Poland, sends a letter, in Latin, dated in Kraków, October 1, 1553, addressed to queen Mary. He despatches to Her Majesty's presence Thomas Stafford, grandson of the Most Noble Edward Stafford, late Duke of Buckingham, for that purpose. He prays the Queen to place unhesitating confidence in the said Stafford, of whom he speaks in the highest terms of praise, especially with regard to his cultivated and gracefully modest manners (Lat. State Paper Office, Royal Letters, vol. XVI. p. 9). Also king's newly wed wife, Queen Catherine of Austria, sends a letter on October 1, 1553 to queen Mary, congratulating her upon her accession, speaking in terms of high commendation of Thomas Stafford, and earnestly requests that he may be restored to the honours and possessions formerly possessed by his ancestors (Lat. State Paper Office, Royal Letters, vol. XVI. p. 11). Shortly after Jan Łaski's departure from England, Hieronim Makowiecki came to London at the end of 1553 as an envoy of the Polish king, and in the following year Leonrad Górecki attended Mary's wedding to Philip II of Spain. According to a letter of Marc'Antonio Damula, Venetian ambassador to the Imperial Court, to the Doge and Senate, dated in Brussels, August 12, 1554: "It is being treated about, to give the government of the kingdom of Naples to the Queen of Poland [Bona Sforza], together with a council, and the Emperor has already said that he is content with this; and they are endeavouring to obtain the consent of the King of England, who is expected to give it readily, the kingdom of Naples being now weary and depressed by the many wrongs endured at the hands of the Spanish governors. The ambassador of the Queen aforesaid has purchased an organ at Antwerp for 3,000 crowns, as also goldsmith's work to the amount of 6,000, to give to the Queen of England, and will go thither to endeavour to arrange this business, which is supposed to be very near conclusion". Thomas Stafford (ca. 1533-1557) was the ninth child and second surviving son of Henry Stafford, 1st Baron Stafford and Ursula Pole. His maternal grandmother was Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury and the last direct descendant of the Plantagenets. This lineage made Thomas and his family particularly close to the throne of England. In 1550 he went to Rome, where his uncle Cardinal Reginald Pole (1500-1558) was nearly elected a pope in the papal conclave convened after the death of Pope Paul III, and where he remained for three years. He was resident in Venice in May of 1553 when the Signory permitted him to view the jewels of Saint Mark and to bear arms in the territories of the Republic. He arrived to Poland during the summer of 1553 when Sigismund Augustus was celebrating his third marriage with Catherine, daughter of Anna Jagiellonica. It was most likely on her initiative that Stafford became an envoy of Poland-Lithuania to England. The king's recommendation to restore him to the Dukedom of Buckingham appeared to have no effect, as in January 1554 he joined the rebellion, directed against Mary's plans to become the wife of Philip II. The rebels were defeated, Stafford was captured, but was able to escape to France, where he announced his claims to the crown of England. He returned to England in April 1557, but he was arrested and sentenced to death as a traitor. He was beheaded on May 28, 1557 on Tower Hill in London. The date on a letter in mentioned portraits match perfectly the time when Stafford could receive an ambassadorial nomination and send a response expressing his appreciation to the king of Poland. Also previous locations of the works match Stafford's journeys - one was in England, one in France and one in Scandinavia, possibly taken from Poland during the Deluge. The sitter bears a strong resemblance to effigies of Thomas' uncle Cardinal Reginald Pole by Sebastiano del Piombo and workshop, in the Museum of Fine Arts in Budapest and in the Hermitage Museum, and by unknown artist, in the Trinity College of the University of Cambridge. 
Portrait of Thomas Stafford (ca. 1533-1557), ambassador of the King of Poland by Giovanni Battista Moroni, 1553, Private collection.
Portrait of Thomas Stafford (ca. 1533-1557), ambassador of the King of Poland by Giovanni Battista Moroni or workshop, 1553, Honolulu Museum of Art.
Portrait of Thomas Stafford (ca. 1533-1557), ambassador of the King of Poland by workshop of Giovanni Battista Moroni, ca. 1553, Private collection.
Portrait of Abraham Zbąski by Jacopo Tintoretto
In 1553 died Stanisław Zbąski, castellan of Lublin, the father of Abraham and Stanisław (1540-1585), and on the basis of his last will written in the Lublin town book, Abraham was to receive Kurów estate with a stonghold near Płonki, and Stanisław the town of Kurów and compensation of 1000 florins. The same year the Catholic church in Kurów was turned into a Protestant temple.
The castellan of Lublin, himself educated in Leipzig (1513/1514) and most probably in Italy, send his eldest son to a Protestant university in Wittenberg in February 1544, together with another Abraham Zbąski (D. Abrahamus / D. Abrahamus de Sbanski / poloni), identified as the son of Piotr Zbąski (d. 1543) from Greater Poland, the owner of Zbąszyń, who was most likely the same age as his friend Marcin Czechowic (born in November 1532) and the son of Stanisław. One Abraham Zbąski also studied in Królewiec (Königsberg) in Ducal Prussia in 1547 (as Abrahamus Esbonski. Polonus) and in Basel from May 1551. On November 30, 1550, Abraham Zbąski (the one from Kurów or from Zbąszyń) join the court of King Sigismund Augustus. Perhaps under Abraham Zbąski's influence Celio Secondo Curione (Caelius Secundus Curio), an Italian humanist, dedicated to King Sigismund Augustus his work De amplitudine beati regni Dei, published in Basel in 1554 - on December 1, 1552, in a letter to Zbąski, he asked about the title of the Polish king, as he intended to dedicate his book to him. Celio dedicated to Abraham his Selectarum epistolarum librer II, published in 1553, and his handwritten dedication to Zbąski preserved in a volume of his M. Tullii Ciceronis Philippicae orationes XIIII, published in 1551 (Poznań University Library). This Abraham Zbąski frequently travelled to Italy, mainly to Bologna, in 1553/1554, in 1558/1559 and between 1560 and 1564. "I heard that this Abram, who recently arrived from Italy, could be quite a gem in this family" (Jakoż słyszę ten Abram, nowo z Włoch nastały, Że to może w tym domu klenot być niemały), wrote about the Zbąski family in his Bestiary (Zwierziniec/Zwierzyniec), published in 1562, the Polish poet and prose writer Mikołaj Rej. In 1554 he continued his studies at the University of Leipzig, where he enrolled for winter semester (as Abrahamus Sbansky) with Marcin Czechowic (Martinus Czechowicz), a Protestant thinker and a leading representative of Polish Unitarianism, and Stanisław Zbąski of Lublin (Stanislaus Sboxsky Lubelensis), his brother or cousin. The portrait of a young man by Jacopo Tintoretto in the Barber Institute of Fine Arts in Birmingham was acquired in 1937 from the collection of Francis Drey (1885-1952) in London, who recalled that the portrait was previously in a French private collection (oil on canvas, 121 x 93.3 cm, inv. 37.13). Basing on this, together with the style of the costume, it was suggested that the sitter is a Frenchman. His rich costume, more northern, sword and gloves indicate that he is a wealthy nobleman, like the Zbąskis of the Nałęcz coat of arms. According to Latin inscription in upper right corner, in the month of March (or May) 1554, the man was 22 years old (ANNO 1554 MENSE MA / AETATIS SUAE 22). This date and age match the age of one of the Zbąskis (both born in about 1531 or 1532), who was in Italy in 1553/1554 and in winter of 1554 enrolled at the University of Leipzig, further north of Venice. The man bear a resemblance to effigy of Stanisław Zbąski (1540-1585), from his tomb monument in Kurów, created by Italian sculptor Santi Gucci or his workshop, and to the distant descendant of the Zbąskis, bishop Jan Stanisław Zbąski (1629-1697) from his portrait in the Skokloster Castle in Sweden. 
Portrait of Abraham Zbąski aged 22 by Jacopo Tintoretto, 1554, The Barber Institute of Fine Arts.
Portrait of Nicolaus "the Black" Radziwill by Agostino Galeazzi
Titian's portrait of a general, held at the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister in Kassel (oil on canvas, 229 x 155.5 cm, inv. GK 488, signed: TITIANVS / FECIT, on the small rock on the left), is identified by Belarusian researcher Iryna Borisovna Lavrovskaya as the effigy of Nicolaus "the Black" Radziwill (1515-1565). According to the biographies of the painter and the model, it can be said with certainty that their paths crossed in the same year in Augsburg in 1547, where Radziwill received the title of Prince of the Holy Roman Empire (confirmed by Sigismund Augustus in 1549). At the same time, he also concluded a very important political alliance with the Habsburgs. Ms. Lavrovskaya's forensic and cultural expertise (cultural contexts, practices, and norms) reinforces the hypothesis that the portrait of a general is the effigy of Nicolaus "the Black" (Heritage, No. 2, 1993, p. 82-84). This portrait is also considered to represent Ferrante I Gonzaga (1507-1557), governor of the Duchy of Milan between 1546 and 1554, who corresponded with the Radziwills (cf. "La trama Nascosta - Storie di mercanti e altro" by Rita Mazzei). Several other Italian aristocrats have been proposed as possible models, consistent with the hypothesis that the model must be Italian, although nothing speaks strongly in favor of this hypothesis, except the origins of the painter.
The painting was purchased in 1756 by Gerard Hoet in Paris for William VIII, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel, at the auction of the Duke of Tallard's collection. It previously belonged to the collection of Monsieur de la Chataigneraye (or Châtaigneraie), Treasurer of the Chamber of the King and Children of France, "In Paris, at the Royal Abbey of Saint-Victor, his residence", included in the catalogue published in Paris in 1732 (Catalogue de tableaux [...] du cabinet de feu Monsieur de la Chataigneraye [...] A Paris, en l'abbaye Royale de Saint Victor, lieu de sa demeure, p. 23). It is not known how this important collection of paintings by the greatest masters of European painting came to the unknown Monsieur de la Chataigneraye. The clue concerning the earlier provence of the portrait of a general could be the possessions of King John II Casimir Vasa, at the Abbey of Saint-Martin in Nevers, at the Abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Prés in Paris and at the Château de Cachan near Paris, part of which was sold at auction in the French capital on February 15, 1673. Among the "uninventoried furniture" (meubles non inventoriéz) in the minutes of the sale of King John Casimir's property is an unspecified "portrait of a Polish prince", purchased by Monsieur Corade (un portrait d'un Prince pollonnois, after "Uzupełnienie do inwentarzy pośmiertnych króla Jana Kazimierza ..." by Ryszard Szmydki, p. 85). Nicolaus lost his father at a young age and was raised with his brother John (1516-1551) by his uncle George I "Hercules" Radziwill (1480-1541). In 1529, along with his brother and sister, he was taken to the royal court of Sigismund I and Bona, where he was raised and educated. In 1534, he entered the Kraków Academy (Jagiellonian University), but did not complete his studies; the following year, he participated in battles against the Muscovite army at the head of his banner. He opted for a diplomatic and state career. The rapid rise of Nicolaus "the Black" began after 1544, when Sigismund I transferred full powers of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania to his son, Sigismund Augustus. Radziwill received the position of district marshal and became a member of the highest state body: the Grand Ducal Council. On the way back from Augsburg, on February 12, 1548 in Sandomierz, Nicolaus married the fifteen-year-old daughter of one of the greatest Polish patrons, Chancellor Krzysztof Szydłowiecki (1466-1532), Elżbieta Szydłowiecka (1533-1562), Countess of Szydłowiec. King Sigismund Augustus and Queen Bona attended the wedding. In 1550, he was appointed Chancellor of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and, a year later, Voivode of Vilnius. In 1553, he joined the Lutheran Church and, two years later, converted to Calvinism and began corresponding with prominent Calvinist theologians, including John Calvin himself. The establishment of the portrait gallery in Nesvizh is associated with Radziwill "the Black", who commissioned images abroad, including in Strasbourg (after "Monumenta variis Radivillorum ..." by Tadeusz Bernatowicz, p. 20). In one of the letters, the longing father instructed his son Nicolaus Christopher "the Orphan", who was studying abroad, to commission a portrait and send it to Lithuania. The portrait, sent from Strasbourg, aroused dissatisfaction and at the same time biting remarks about his son's clothes. The voivode ordered a new life-size portrait of his son to be made so that he could see how tall he was. He also ordered a chain with the image of the king to be painted on his son's chest (after "Tylem się w Strazburku nauczył ... " by Zdzisław Pietrzyk, p. 164). The inventory of the Radziwill collection of 1671 probably mentions two portraits of the prince (items 10/10 and 12/2[?]), undoubtedly made during his lifetime. The painting depicting the granting of the title of Imperial Prince by Emperor Charles V to Nicolao Radziwił Palatino Vilnensis most likely depicted the scene involving Nicolaus "the Black" Radziwill in 1547, because Nicolaus II Radziwill (1470-1521), nicknamed Amor Poloniae, received this title in 1518 from Emperor Maximilian I (1459-1519), Charles's grandfather (item 91/10, compare "Inwentarz galerii obrazów Radziwiłłów z XVII w." by Teresa Sulerzyska). One of the most splendid Renaissance half-armors preserved in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna was made for Nicolaus "the Black" Radziwill (inv. A 1412). It was made around 1555 in Nuremberg by Kunz Lochner, who also created armors for King Sigismund Augustus (Royal Armory in Stockholm, Kremlin Museum, and Polish Army Museum in Warsaw). The rich, colorful decoration, unusual for German armor, was probably made to the customer's specifications. This half-armor was once part of a field and tournament ensemble. Other pieces from this ensemble from the armory of Nesvizh Castle (Belarus), the Radziwill family residence, are preserved in Paris (sallet, Musée de l'Armée, inv. 3570) and in New York (Metropolitan Museum of Art, several pieces). The armor was presented by Radziwill to Archduke Ferdinand II of Austria (1529-1595), a relative of King Sigismund Augustus and Imperial Count of Tyrol. Its presence in the Archduke's collection dates back to 1593. At Wawel Castle there is a conical helmet from 1561, which, according to tradition, belonged to Nicolaus (inv. 1370, purchased in Paris in 1937). The "general" in Titian's painting wears a chainmail and, over it, a splendid Renaissance doublet. His Renaissance costume is completed by a decorative burgonet helmet adorned with a dragon. This burgonet is held by Cupid, son of Mars, god of war, and Venus, goddess of love, which indicates that the man was depicted in mythological disguise. Considering the identification of the sitter with Nicolaus "the Black," this mythological costume could be that of Palemon (Publius Libon), legendary Roman founder of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and relative of Emperor Nero. In 2019, a Portrait of a commander, attributed to the Brescian painter Agostino Galeazzi (1523-1576) was auctioned in Vienna (oil on canvas, 128 x 107.5 cm, Dorotheum, October 22, 2019, lot 40). Due to a certain similarity in facial features, pose, and armor to the Titian painting from the Potocki collection, now at the Getty Museum in Los Angeles (oil on canvas, 110 x 80 cm, inv. 2003.486), the portrait is considered to represent Alfonso d'Avalos (1502-1546), an Italian condottiero of Aragonese origin. Stanisław Krzyżanowski (1841-1881) described Titian's painting in his book published in Kraków in 1862 about the Potocki Palace in Tulchyn, Ukraine ("Tulczyn ...", p. 15). According to family tradition, the portrait of d'Avalos came from the collection of King John III Sobieski (1629-1696) or Stanislaus Augustus Poniatowski (1732-1798) (after "Portret Alfonsa d'Avalos Tycjana z kolekcji Potockich" by Agnieszka Woźniak, p. 557), so it could have come from an earlier royal collection, such as that of the Jagiellons. Mieczysław Potocki (1799-1878) transferred the painting collection from Tulchyn to France. The portrait of d'Avalos is believed to have been painted between January and February 1533; the commander died in 1546. However, the man in Galeazzi's portrait is dressed according to later fashion, more typical of the late 1550s or early 1560s. Similar Spanish-style hose (calzas, chausses), codpiece (bragueta), and small ruff can be seen in a portrait of Don Carlos (1545-1568), son of King Philip II of Spain, in the Prado Museum in Madrid, believed to have been painted between 1555 and 1559 (inv. P001136). Similar armor and chausses with codpiece are also seen in a portrait of the 16-year-old Alessandro Farnese (1545-1592), painted in 1561 by Antonis Mor (Meadows Museum, inv. MM.71.04, inscription top right: ANNO ÆTATIS SVE. XVI. / 1561); the ruff is larger in Alessandro's portrait. According to Marco Tanzi, Galeazzi's portrait also lacks the Order of the Golden Fleece, which d'Avalos received in 1531, visible in a painting by Titian from the Potocki collection. Similar chausses and a ruff are also visible in a portrait by Titian in Kassel, which is considered to have been painted in the early 1550s. In the image of Radziwill "the Black" in the Hermitage Museum (inv. ОР-45841), Spanish-style chausses can also be seen, accompanied by a ruff and decorative armor. The same is true for the image of Nicolaus's brother John (inv. ОР-45844), while his father John "the Bearded" wears fantastically decorated armor (inv. ОР-45838). As the most important political figure in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania after the king in the 1550s and 1560s, his contacts undoubtedly extended to Italy and Spain. Although there is no direct evidence of these contacts, several facts attest to them. In April 1552, Radziwill met his "nephew" Jan Krzysztof Tarnowski (1537-1567). Together, they set off on horseback, then by barge on the Vistula River, for Gdańsk, from where the young Tarnowski embarked on a journey to Brussels, where he was presented to Emperor Charles V, then to London, Basel, and finally to Italy. In early 1553, Nicolaus "the Black" was sent to the court of Ferdinand I to dissuade him from forming an alliance with Tsar Ivan IV the Terrible. During his stay in Vienna, he concluded the marriage of Sigismund Augustus to his relative Catherine of Austria (the king agreed to a third marriage on April 10, 1553). He also replaced the monarch during the marriage per procura, as well as on the symbolic wedding night, during which Catherine was ashamed to lie down next to Radziwill, but was forced to do so by her father Ferdinand, who grabbed her by the head, and by her elder brother Maximilian (1527-1576), who grabbed her by the legs (after "Ostatnia z rodu" by Paweł Jasienica, p. 88). From 1548 to 1551, during the absence of Prince Philip, Maximilian and his wife Maria of Spain (1528-1603) acted as regents of Spain and moved to live in Vienna in 1552. The Lutsk Regional Museum houses a large painting, painted between 1752 and 1759, depicting the scene of the marriage per procura in Vienna in 1553 with Radziwill "the Black" and Catherine (inv. Ж-260, КВ-26383). In 1556, Pier Paolo Vergerio (1498-1565), educated in Padua, dedicated a translation of the work of the Spanish reformer Juan de Valdés, "The Spiritual Milk" (Lac spirituale), to Radziwill's son, Nicolaus Christopher "the Orphan". In October 1556, Vergerio stayed in Vilnius where he met Queen Catherine and Radziwill "the Black". In Galeazzi's portrait, the man holds a simple military baton, typical of portraits of Spanish commanders. Nicolaus "the Black" Radziwill holds a similar baton in his likeness, taken from Archduke Ferdinand II's Armamentarium Heroicum, the catalog of the arms in the Archduke's collection held at Ambras Castle, published in Innsbruck in 1601. The print was made by the Flemish engraver Dominicus Custos (1560-1612) after a drawing attributed to the Veronese draftsman and engraver Giovanni Battista Fontana (1524-1587), accompanied by Nicolaus's biography in Latin (British Museum, inv. 1871,0812.448). Moreover, the man in Galeazzi's portrait resembles Radziwill in Custos's engraving, the right eyebrow is very similar. The same applies to the portrait by Titian in Kassel, which clearly depicts the same man. The facial features are also comparable to those of Radziwill's son, Cardinal George Radziwill (1556-1600), painted by an Italian painter around 1592 (Lutsk Regional Museum, inv. Ж-31, КВ-16425). The dark black hair and beard in the paintings by Titian and Galeazzi also correspond to known effigies of Radziwill "the Black". Agostino Galeazzi was a pupil of Alessandro Bonvicino, known as Moretto da Brescia. From his youth, he worked in Moretto's workshop alongside Giovanni Battista Moroni until the master's death in 1554. He may have collaborated with Moretto on the portrait of Nicolaus's cousin, Queen Barbara Radziwill, depicted as Saint Catherine of Alexandria (Museum of Nysa), which I have identified and attributed. Since Galeazzi was one of the most faithful followers of Moretto's style, critics tend to attribute to him the creation of certain paintings sometimes attributed to Bonvicino. In one of his earliest solo paintings, the Adoration of the Magi from San Pietro in Oliveto, painted in 1551 (Centro Pastorale Paolo VI in Brescia), the central figure of Saint Melchior wears a crimson cloak lined with lynx fur, typical of the Sarmatian nobility of the time, while the Magi's servants in the background also evoke the typical effigies of the inhabitants of Poland-Lithuania-Ruthenia. The full-length portrait of King Sigismund Augustus from 1563, now in the North Carolina Museum of Art (inv. GL.60.17.46), is also attributed to Galeazzi. 
Portrait of Alfonso d'Avalos (1502-1546) with a page from the Potocki collection by Titian, ca. 1533, Getty Museum in Los Angeles.
Portrait of Nicolaus "the Black" Radziwill (1515-1565) with Cupid and a dog by Titian, ca. 1550-1552, Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister in Kassel.
Portrait of Nicolaus "the Black" Radziwill (1515-1565) holding a baton by Agostino Galeazzi, ca. 1555-1560, Private collection.
Portraits of Halszka Ostrogska by Bernardino Licinio and workshop of Tintoretto
"What's happening to me? where I was taken? To France, or to Italy, or elsewhere? And after all, a neighbor invited me to his wedding, and I see a strange dress in this circle of female gender, and I don't see any Polish woman here, I don't know who I honor and welcome. This one sits, I see, she's from the domain of Venice, and this one in this robe, from the land of Spain. This one is supposedly French, and the other wears a Netherlandish outfit, or it's Florentine?", describes the great diversity of women's fashion in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in his satire "Reprimand of Women's Extravagant Attire" (Przygana wymyślnym strojom białogłowskim), published in Kraków in 1600, Piotr Zbylitowski (1569-1649), a poet and courtier.
From 1585, Zbylitowski was a courtier of Stanisław Górka (1538-1592), voivode of Poznań, then, in 1593, he participated in the Czarnkowski embassy to King Sigismund III, who was staying in Sweden. After returning to Poland, he married Barbara Słupska and settled in the village of Marcinkowice near Sącz in Southern Poland. In addition to the diversity of dress, which has been confirmed in Poland-Lithuania since at least the sumptuous wedding ceremonies of Sigismund II Augustus in 1543, in this work, which he dedicated to his patroness starościna Zofia Czarnkowska née Herburt (d. 1631), he also criticize the great opulence of clothing and jewelry. Extravagant headdresses, crowns and ruffs on heads, pearls and rubies, necklaces of precious diamonds, dresses with "six sleeves" adorned with pearls and precious stones, Spanish and French farthingale (portugał jak się na niej koli), conical caps similar to Turkish kiwior, robes embroidered with gold, lead him to scathing remarks - "it's a pity that she doesn't hang anything on her nose either", "how the neck will not tear from these severe ruffs" of Flemish lace, "it would be hard for her to go to work" or "it is difficult to recognize them in such clothes". The women of Poland-Lithuania dressed according to the latest fashion from Italy, Spain and France, because due the high price of Polish grain "it is not expensive" and such a rich dress can be made just "for a heap of rye". To their conservative husbands wanting them to wear more modest or Polish clothes, the wives responded angrily: "I am your companion, not your handmaid, I am allowed as you, I am not a slave". The Synod of Protestants in Poznań convened in 1570, enacted a rule of reprimanding and punishing the "licentious clothes", which generally did not bring the desired results (after "Reformacja w Polsce" by Henryk Barycz, Volume 4, p. 39). This opulence of costume was as in Italy, Spain and France undoubtedly reflected in portraiture, however, someone checking the portraits of women from Poland-Lithuania before the Delugue (1655-1660), and this article, will unmistakably have the impression that it was a poor country of old nuns. This would be correct because the majority of the portraits that survived the destruction during the wars and the subsequent impoverishment of the country were created by less skilled local artists for churches and monasteries. Such portraits were commissioned by wealthy women in their old age for the temples they founded or supported. Thus, they were depicted in a black outfit covering the whole body, a white bonnet covering the hair and ears and holding a rosary. A large number of these portraits have survived because either they were not of high artistic class, or they were created for provincial churches, far from the major economic centers of the country, which were destroyed, or both. Over a century of portraiture in Poland-Lithuania of mainly young women, disappeared almost completely. In 1551, the richest bride in Poland-Lithuania - Elizabeth (1539-1582), Princess of Ostroh also known as Halszka Ostrogska (illustri virgini Elisabetae Duci Ostroviensi, Kxięzna Helska Ilijna Ostroska, Hałżbieta Ilinaja Kniażna Ostroskaja), reached the legal age of marriage (12) and the battle for her hand began. She was the only child of Beata Kościelecka (1515-1576), the illegitimate daughter of king Sigismund I and protegee of Queen Bona, and her husband Illia (1510-1539), Prince of Ostroh. Halszka's huge fortune aroused so much interest that in 1551 the Sejm in Vilnius adopted a special resolution stating that "the widow [Beata] may not marry her daughter without the consent of close relatives", including guardians, her uncle Prince Constantine Vasily (1526-1608) and king Sigismund II Augustus. Two years later, in 1553, Constantine Vasily decided to marry Halszka to Prince Dmytro Sangushko (1530-1554), a hero of the defense of Zhytomyr from the attack of the Tatars and the eldest son of her other guardian Prince Fyodor Sangushko (d. 1547). Dmytro received written consent from Constantin Vasily and the mother for the marriage, however, when the king objected, the mother withdrew her consent. At the beginning of September 1553, Constantin Vasily and Dmytro arrived in Ostroh, where the widow lived with her daughter and stormed the castle. During the forced marriage ceremony on September 6, 1553, Halszka was silent and her uncle answered for her. Beata wrote a complaint to the king that the marriage took place without her consent and Sigismund II Augustus deprived Sangushko of the post of the starost and ordered him to appear in January 1554 in Knyszyn at the royal court. Despite the intervention of Ferdinand I of Austria, King of the Romans and future Emperor, who was constantly intriguing against the Jagiellons, in a letter dated December 11, 1553, blaming the incident on Halszka's mother, who "began to appropriate her daughter and, without her uncle's permission and consent, wanted to marry her off as she wished", Prince Constantine Vasily was deprived of the rights of guardian by the king and Dmytro was sentenced to infamy for failure to appear at the court, expulsion from the state, confiscation of property and an obligation to return Halszka to her mother. On January 20, 1554, a reward of 200 złotys was announced for Sangushko's head. Dmytro and Halszka, disguised as a servant, fled to Bohemia, hoping to take refuge in the Roudnice castle, which belonged to the hetman Jan Amor Tarnowski, father-in-law of Prince Constantine Vasily. They were pursued by the Voivode of Kalisz Marcin Zborowski, who captured them at Lysá nad Labem near Prague and fearing that Ferdinand I would release Dmytro ordered his servants to kill him on the night of February 3 at Jaroměř near the Silesian border. For murder on the territory of a foreign state, Zborowski was arrested and imprisoned, however, thanks to the intercession of king Sigismund II Augustus, the Czech king soon ordered his release. Zborowski took Halszka to Poznań to her relatives, the Kościelecki and Górka families. On March 15, 1554, she saw her mother again, who arrived to Poznań. The beauty and wealth of a young 14-year-old widow again attracted numerous suitors, including the sons of Marcin Zborowski, Piotr and Marcin, Calvinists. Beata opted for Orthodox Prince Semen Olelkovich-Slutsky (d. 1560). The king, however, decided to marry her to his loyal supporter count Łukasz III Górka (d. 1573), a Lutheran, which was announced in May 1555. With the support of Queen Bona, Beata and her daughter strongly opposed the will of the monarch and Halszka even wrote to Górka that she would rather die than marry him. However, with Bona's departure for Italy in 1556, the situation for them became increasingly difficult. Eventually the king lost his patience and decided to force the marriage. The wedding took place on February 16, 1559 at the Royal Castle in Warsaw, however, the marriage remained unconsummated (non consummatum). When the royal court moved to Vilnius, Princess Beata and her daughter fled secretly to Lviv, where they found refuge in a fortified male Dominican monastery. The king ordered Halszka to be separated from her mother and taken to her husband. Royal forces besieged the monastery but the women only gave up after their water supply was cut off. To the surprise of the Lviv starost who entered the monastery by order of the king, Beata announced that her daughter had just been married to Prince Olelkovich-Slutsky, who entered the monastery disguised as a beggar, and the marriage was consummated, so Górka would no longer be entitled to Halszka. The young princess was delivered to Warsaw, where the king declared all agreements made with Prince Olelkovich-Slutsky to be null and void and she was handed over to Łukasz Górka, who, despite her resistance, soon brought her to his residence in Szamotuły. She often accompanied her husband, always dressed in black. When he died suddenly at the beginning of 1573, she intended to marry Jan Ostroróg, but her uncle Constantin Vasily did not allow her to do so. She returned to Ruthenia, where she died in Dubno in 1582 at the age of 43. No signed effigy of Halszka preserved. In 1996, a Ukrainian artist created her imaginative portrait and depicted her like a nun holding a prayer book. In the Galerie Canesso in Paris, there is a painting depicting the "Young Lady and her Suitor", attributed to Bernardino Licinio, who died in Venice around 1565 (oil on panel, 81.3 x 114.3 cm). This painter made portraits of Halszka's mother, Beata, identified by me. It was sold in 2012 (Sotheby's New York, 26 January 2012, lot 21) and comes from the collection of Caroline Murat (1782-1839), Queen of Naples, sold in 1822, while she was in exile at the castle of Frohsdorf in Austria. She therefore probably acquired it in Austria, where resided king Ferdinand I or Naples, where collections of Queen Bona were moved after her death in Bari. It cannot be excluded that one of them received this painting as a gift. The young lady with loose blond hair wears a green cloak, a color being symbolic of fertility. Her white linen chemise has fallen from her shoulder to reveal her breast. The bas relief behind her, showing a warrior in ancient armour, connotes mythology. It could depict Odysseus leaving Penelope, but at the later stage of the painting's creation, it was painted over and uncovered during a recent restoration of the work after 2012. The woman turns her face away while glancing at her suitor. In response, he places his right hand on her wrist and his left on his heart in a gesture imploring amorous passion and future promise. Echoing the beauties of Palma Vecchio and Titian, the painting is dated to around 1520, however, the costume of the suitor indicate that it was created much later. His crimson satin doublet and regularly slashed jerkin are almost identical to those seen in a portrait of Lodovico Capponi by Agnolo Bronzino (The Frick Collection, 1915.1.19), which is generally dated to around 1550-1555. His pose and his hat are reminiscent of King Edward VI holding a flower by William Scrots (National Portrait Gallery and Compton Verney), generally dated to around 1547-1550. A workshop copy or by an unknown 17th century copyist, such as Alessandro Varotari (1588-1649), of this painting was put up for sale in 2023 in Mosta, Malta (oil on canvas, 112 x 87 cm, Belgravia Auction Gallery, December 9, 2023, lot 512). A reduced version of this composition is also known, showing only the man holding a document (a love letter?). It was in a private collection in Turin and was attributed to a Venetian painter of the first half of the 16th century (compare Fototeca Zeri, Numero scheda 39412). This painting was created either as a separate composition or, more likely, it is a fragment of the original painting that was cut and repainted later, so that the portrait of the woman and the man can be sold separately. The same woman was depicted in another painting attributed to Licinio. It was confiscated during World War II from the collection of Van Rinckhuyzen in the Netherlands for Hitler's Führermuseum in Linz (oil on canvas, 80.5 x 81 cm). This painting is usually dated around 1514, but in this case the dating is also not very adequate because her black dress most closely resembles that seen in portrait of a poetess Laura Battiferri, also by Bronzino (Palazzo Vecchio in Florence), dated around 1555-1560. She is holding a feather fan, similar to that in the portrait of Catherine of Medici (1519-1589), Queen of France by Germain Le Mannier (Palazzo Pitti in Florence, inv. 1890, n. 2448), created between 1547-1559. She was also represented in a painting by workshop of Jacopo Tintoretto, today in the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (oil on canvas, 102.9 x 86.4 cm, inventory number 180) from the 1550s. In all of mentioned effigies the model's face resemble the effigies of Halszka's mother and father by Bernardino Licinio, identified by me. Consequently the suitor in the Paris painting could be Dmytro Sangushko, Semen Olelkovich-Slutsky or Łukasz III Górka. 
Portrait of Elizabeth (1539-1582), Princess of Ostroh (Halszka Ostrogska) and her suitor by Bernardino Licinio, ca. 1554-1555, Galerie Canesso in Paris.
Portrait of Elizabeth (1539-1582), Princess of Ostroh (Halszka Ostrogska) and her suitor by follower of Bernardino Licinio, after 1554 (17th century?), Private collection.
Man with a love letter by workshop of Bernardino Licinio, ca. 1554-1555, private collection. Virtual reconstruction, © Marcin Latka
Portrait of Elizabeth (1539-1582), Princess of Ostroh (Halszka Ostrogska) holding a feather fan by workshop of Bernardino Licinio, ca. 1555-1560, Private collection. Virtual reconstruction, © Marcin Latka
Portrait of Elizabeth (1539-1582), Princess of Ostroh (Halszka Ostrogska) by workshop of Tintoretto, 1550s, Montreal Museum of Fine Arts.
Portrait of Adam Konarski by Jacopo Tintoretto
In 1552, a brilliant diplomatic career of a young nobleman from Greater Poland, Adam Konarski (1526-1574), began. King Sigismund Augustus sent him to Rome as an envoy to Pope Julius III. Perhaps the effect of this mission was the sending of the first apostolic nuncio to Poland in 1555, Bishop Luigi Lippomano.
Adam was a son of voivode of Kalisz Jerzy Konarski and Agnieszka Kobylińska. He studied at the Lubrański Academy in Poznań, then in Frankfurt an der Oder, from 1542 in Wittenberg and later in Padua, from where he returned to his homeland in 1547. He decided to devote himself to a career in the church as a priest, but as a result of refusal to receive the office of coadjutor of Poznań, he decided, upon the advice of his father, to pursue a secular career. In 1548 he became the secretary of King Sigismund Augustus and in 1551 he was appointed chamberlain of Poznań, the official responsible for supervising the servants and the courtiers of the king. In the same year, he finally received the Poznań provostry, but he did not quit his job at the royal chancellery. On the occasion of the king's wedding with Catherine of Austria, he went to Kraków in June 1553 together with the nuncio Marco Antonio Maffei (1521-1583), Archbishop of Chieti (born in Bergamo in the Venetian Republic) and returned to Rome in November to stay there until April 1555 (after Emanuele Kanceff, Richard Casimir Lewanski "Viaggiatori polacchi in Italia", p. 119). Upon his return, he received the post of canon of Kraków and scholastic of Łęczyca. He was again sent to Rome in 1557 after the death of Queen Bona and in 1560, also to Naples, regarding the inheritance of the Queen. In 1562, for his services to the king, he received the office of the bishop of Poznań, which he took upon his return to Poland in 1564. In 1563 Girolamo Maggi (ca. 1523-1572), an Italian scholar, jurist and poet, also known by his Latin name Hieronymus Magius, dedicated to Konarski his Variarvm lectionvm seu Miscalleneorum libri IIII, published in Venice (Venetiis : ex officina Iordani Zileti). In 1566-1567 Adam travelled to Padua. Bishop Konarski died on December 2, 1574 in Ciążeń and was buried in the Poznań Cathedral. His beautiful tomb monument there (in the Holy Trinity chapel) was created by royal sculptor (mentioned in the documents of the royal court in 1562), Gerolamo Canavesi, who, according to his signature, created it in his workshop at St. Florian's Street in Kraków (Opus Ieronimi Canavesi qui manet Cracoviae in platea Sancti Floriani). It was transported and installed in Poznań in about 1575. The portrait of a bearded man holding gloves by Jacopo Tintoretto in the National Gallery of Ireland in Dublin was purchased at Christie's, London, in 1866 (oil on canvas, 116 x 80 cm, inv. NGI.90). According to Latin inscription the man was 29 years old in 1555 (1555 / AETATIS.29), exactly as Adam Konarski when he was returning from his mission to Italy, undeniably through the Republic of Venice, to Poland-Lithuania. The man bears great resemblance to the effigy of Bishop Adam Konarski in the National Museum in Poznań and his tomb sculpture in the Poznań Cathedral. 
Portrait of royal secretary Adam Konarski (1526-1574), aged 29 by Jacopo Tintoretto, 1555, National Gallery of Ireland.
Portraits of Franciszek Masłowski by Tintoretto
The years 1555-1557 were important in the life of the young nobleman Franciszek Masłowski (Franciscus Maslovius). In 1555 he was appointed counselor to the Polish nation at the University of Padua. The following year he undoubtedly participated with other Polish students in organizing the reception of Queen Bona Sforza who traveled to Bari via Padua and Venice. In 1557, at the age of around 27, he published in Padua his translation from Greek into Latin of Demetrius of Phalerum's treatise on rhetoric (Demetrii Phalerei, De elocutione liber a Francisco Maslovio Polono in Latinum conversus ...).
In December 1555, Bona, who had taken her treasures with her and had previously sent money to Venice, was in Italy. Already in September 1555, her ambassador Arturo Pappacoda made efforts to obtain permission to pass through the lands of the Republic of Venice. The queen arrived in the city of Treviso, welcomed by the knight Giovanni Cappello (1497-1559), patricians of Treviso and Venice, who led her to the city of Padua. On March 27, 1556, she entered the city accompanied by her ladies traveling in twelve black velvet carriages each pulled by four horses. In each carriage sat three ladies dressed in Italian and Polish fashion, followed by other carriages for ladies and servants. The triumphal arch with Corinthian columns was built by the Veronese architect Michele Sanmicheli (1484-1559). Emblems and inscriptions adorned this gate and the figure of Bona represented as personification of Poland (la Polonia in figura di Reina) and provided with the inscription: Polonia virtutis parens et altrix, which could be translated as "Poland, nourisher and mother of virtue". A book by Alessandro Maggi da Bassano, a Paduan scholar and collector of antiquities, published in Padua in 1556, entitled "Description of the arch made in Padua on the arrival of the Most Serene Queen Bona of Poland" (Dichiaratione dell'arco fatto in Padova nella venvta della serenissima reina Bona di Polonia), describes the decorations. The allegorical statue of Bona was probably similar to the allegory of Poland from her tomb in Bari (Basilica of Saint Nicholas), in the form of a half-naked woman holding the arms of the kingdom (the eagle), sculpted by Francesco Zaccarella between 1589-1593. The arrival of the Queen of Poland and Grand Duchess of Lithuania was a very important event for the Polish-Lithuanian-Ruthenian community in Italy. The wealthy queen also distributed generous gifts, for example to several women from Padua, she presented each of them with a crucified Christ, carved from coral, and a hundred Hungarian gold coins (after "Il passaggio di regina Bona Sforza per Padova e Venezia" by Sandra Fyda, p. 29, 31). Thus, although she was the wife and mother of elected and not hereditary monarchs, her arrival was also important for the local population. The splendor of her reception was also noted by some foreigners, such as the Earl of Devonshire, who wrote on March 29, 1556 to John Mason, the English ambassador to the court of Charles V, that the Queen of Poland had arrived in Padua and had been received there with great solemnity (after "Polska w oczach Anglików ..." by Henryk Zins, p. 82). She was also received with great honors by the Duke of Ferrara, in whose palace she stayed. After a month-long stay in Padua, the queen arrived in Venice on April 26, 1556, where she was greeted with great pomp by a delegation of one hundred of the most distinguished patrician women. At the age of about 91, at the bequest of the Doge Francesco Venier (1489-1556), the Venetian writer Cassandra Fedele (ca. 1465-1558) gave her last public speech, an oration welcoming the queen. In Venice, Bona embarked for Bari, escorted by a fleet of galleys of the Serenissima. Masłowski dedicated his translation of Demetrius' work to Bishop Jan Przerębski (ca. 1519-1562), Vice-Chancellor of the Crown and royal secretary, with whose support he went to study in Italy in 1553. The dedicatory letter preceding his translation is dated from Padua on April 5, 1556 "when we were waiting for the arrival of Queen Bona" (Patauio. V. Cal. April. quo die Bonę reginę ad nos aduentum expectabamus. Anno à Christo nato MLLVI), however, this date is probably incorrect and should rather be March 1556 (compare "Kilka uwag o łacińskich przekładach traktatu Demetriusza ..." by Jerzy Starnawski, p. 201). He was helped in his work by a professor of philosophy and rhetoric Francesco Robortello (Franciscus Robortellus, 1516-1567), who encouraged Franciszek to translate the text when he took refuge from the plague at professor's country estate. In 1557 another Pole Stanisław Iłowski (Stanislaus Ilovius, d. 1589), a nobleman of Prawda coat of arms, from Masovia, also published in Basel his Latin translation of the same treatise (Demetrij Phalerei De Elocutione Liber a Stanislao Ilovio Polono ...), which he dedicated to Nicolaus "the Black" Radziwill (1515-1565), in dedicatory letter from 1556. Franciszek actively participated in the life of Sarmatian students at the University of Padua, among whom were Jan Kochanowski, Andrzej Patrycy Nidecki (Andreas Patricius), Jan Grodziecki, Stanisław Warszewicki, Piotr Giezek (Petrus Gonesius) and Mikołaj Śmieszkowic (Nicolaus Gelasinus). His studies at the faculties of philosophy and law at the University of Padua lasted until 1558. Shortly after his return to Poland-Lithuania, he probably worked for Bishop Przerębski. He began his public activity as a deputy from the Sieradz Voivodeship to the Warsaw Sejm in 1570. In the same year, he became royal secretary to Sigismund Augustus and the Wieluń scribe. Later, he was also secretary to King Stephen Bathory. According to most sources, Franciszek was born around 1530 as the son of Piotr, a judge of Wieluń, and Anna Gawłowska (compare "Polski slownik biograficzny ...", 1935, Volume 20, p. 124). The noble Masłowski family of Samson coat of arms, from which he came, originated from the Wieluń region. His marriage to Konstancja Konarska left no descendants. He probably died after 1594, although according to some sources he died young in Padua. The epigram of his friend Jan Kochanowski Do Franciszka probably refers to his travels to Rome and Greece, and in 1573 he went to France with a Polish-Lithuanian delegation offering the throne to Henry of Valois. In addition to Latin and Greek, he probably knew Italian well after five years of study in Italy and brought many souvenirs from his stay. Unfortunately, it is difficult to find any trace of the Masłowski family in Wieluń and the surrounding area today. The town was destroyed by fires in 1631 and 1644, but also by Swedish forces in 1656 and by Polish troops, who took revenge on its Protestant inhabitants for their support of the Lutheran Swedes. On September 1, 1939, the town was bombed by the German Luftwaffe. Since Italy and especially Venice in the 16th century were famous for their painters, Franciszek most likely took many portraits with him. Kochanowski probably refers to such a portrait received as a gift from Masłowski in his In imaginem Franc. Maslovii, in which he comments that the "portrait is skillfully painted," but that the painter has not captured "the knowledge and the greatest talent" (Exiguam, Francisce, tui suavissime partem / Scita licet nobis ista tabella refert. / Agnosco faciem, verosque in imagine vultus, / Doctrinam et summum non video ingenium). These portraits were usually ordered in several copies, some of which the young student must have also given to his friends in Italy. In the Fondation Bemberg, Hôtel d'Assézat, in Toulouse, France, is a "Portrait of a Gentleman" (Portrait de gentilhomme, oil on canvas, 107 x 88 cm, inv. 1167), attributed to Jacopo Robusti, better known as Tintoretto. A black embroidered velvet doublet, gloves, and a valuable sword held by the man indicate that he was a wealthy nobleman. The painting was acquired in Venice by an English amateur artist John Skippe (1741-1812) in 1784. Unfortunately, the identity of the sitter has long been lost. The family or friends of this young man, who owned the painting, did not affix any inscription or coat of arms to the portrait, indicating that he was probably a foreigner in the Venetian Republic. The date placed on the base of the column in the lower left corner of the painting, informs us in Italian that the man was 26 years old on March 12, 1556 (1556 / DI.XII MARZO / A.XXVI), exactly like Franciszek Masłowski, when with other members of the Polish-Lithuanian-Ruthenian community he was preparing for the arrival of Queen Bona. According to my findings, Tintoretto often painted portraits of Bona's son, Sigismund Augustus; we can therefore assume with great probability that he also painted the portrait of his future secretary. The same man, although older, was depicted in another painting attributed to Tintoretto, in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna (oil on canvas, 105.5 x 86 cm, inv. GG 1539). The painting can be verified in the 1720 inventory of the imperial painting collections of Stallburg in Vienna, so like other paintings in this collection, it most likely comes from former Habsburg collections. During the second interregnum (1575), Masłowski (together with his brother Gabriel) was a supporter of Emperor Maximilian II (1527-1576), son of Anna Jagellonica (1503-1547), whose act of election he signed in 1575, against the Infanta Anna Jagiellon (1523-1596) and her husband. In 1587, during the third royal election, he signed the election of the emperor's son, Archduke Maximilian III (1558-1618). The Habsburgs thus received an effigy of their supporter in the Commonwealth. The difference in eye color (blue and brown) is either the effect of the painter not having seen the real model at the time the Viennese painting was made around 1562 or later, or the use of cheaper pigments (common practice for copies). His dark hair and red beard were either natural or the effect of a certain fashion at the royal court. 
Portrait of a nobleman Franciszek Masłowski (ca. 1530 - after 1594), aged 26, holding a sword and gloves, by Tintoretto, 1556, Fondation Bemberg in Toulouse.
Portrait of a nobleman Franciszek Masłowski (ca. 1530 - after 1594), sitting in a chair by Tintoretto, ca. 1562 or after, Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna.
Self-portraits and portraits of Sigismund Augustus by Lucia Anguissola
Provenance of a portrait of a lady sitting in a chair from the collection of the royal Wilanów Palace in Warsaw (inventory number Wil. 1602) is unknown. It was suggested that it comes from the collection of Aleksander Potocki or his parents - Aleksandra née Lubomirska and Stanisław Kostka Potocki, however it cannot be excluded that it comes from the royal collection. It may be tantamount to "The picture in which the Seated Lady" (No. 247. Obraz na ktorym Dama Siedzi), mentioned in the inventory of the Wilanów Palace from 1696 in the part concerning paintings brought from various royal residencies to Marywil Palace in Warsaw (Connotacya Obrazow, w Maryamwil, zostaiących, ktore zroznych Mieysc Comportowane były, items 242-303). The painting in Wilanów was attributed to Agnolo Bronzino and Scipione Pulzone.
The woman was also depicted in other similar portrait in quarter-length, which is in Galleria Spada in Rome. This painting is attributed to Sofonisba Anguissola, while the costume is similar to that visible in Lucia Anguissola's self-portrait in the Castello Sforzesco in Milan. The latter painting is more a miniature (28 x 20 cm) and was signed and dated '1557' by the author (MD / LVII / LVCIA / ANGUISOLA / VIRGO AMILCA / RIS FILIA SE IP / SA PINX.IT). Lucia was Sofonisba's younger sister and was initiated into painting by Sofonisba and perhaps she perfected herself in Bernardino Campi's studio. Just two years earlier, in 1555, Lucia and her two other sisters Europa and Minerva were portrayed by Sofonisba in her famous Game of Chess, signed and dated on the edge of the chessboard (SOPHONISBA ANGUSSOLA VIRGO AMILCARIS FILIA EX VERA EFFIGIE TRES SUAS SORORES ET ANCILLAM PINXIT MDLV). The Game of Chess was acquired in Paris in 1823 by Atanazy Raczyński and today forms part of the collection of the National Museum in Poznań. The effigy of Lucia in the Game of Chess is very similar to mentioned two portraits in Wilanów and Galleria Spada. A copy of the portrait from Galleria Spada, in green dress, is in private collection. It was identified as effigy of Bianca Cappello, Grand Duchess of Tuscany and attributed to Alessandro di Cristofano Allori or as Sofonisba's self-portrait. Also another portrait is similar to mentioned two works in Wilanów and Rome, a portrait of a lady as Saint Lucy, half-length, in a red embroidered dress and brown mantle, attributed to circle of Sofonisba Anguissola, which was sold in December 2012 (Christie's, lot 171). It was painted more from above, like a self potrait looking in the mirror above sitter's head, therefore the silhouette is more slender and the head bigger. She holds attributes of Saint Lucy (Latin Sancta Lucia, Italian Santa Lucia) - the palm branch, symbol of martyrdom and eyes, which were miraculously restored to her. The style of all these three larger effigies, in Wilanów, Galleria Spada and as Saint Lucy, is very similar to the best known work of Lucia Anguissola, the portrait of a physician from Cremona Pietro Manna holding the staff of Asclepius, today in the Prado Museum in Madrid. This work was also signed (LVCIA ANGVISOLA AMILCARIS / F[ilia] · ADOLESCENS · F[ecit]) and was probably sent to King Philip II of Spain to win the royal favor. Portrait of king Sigismund II Augustus in armour in full-length in the Alte Pinakothek in Munich, discovered by me in August 2017, is stylistically very similar to the portrait in Wilanów described above. In this portrait, however, the king has unnaturally big eyes, that were to become the hallmark of the Sofonisba's self-portraits and portrait miniatures by her hand. We can therefore assume that Lucia sent her self-portrait to Warsaw in order to enjoy royal favour and created some effigies of the royal family basing on miniatures created by her sister. On November 29, 2017 another portrait attributed to Lucia Anguissola was sold at an auction (Wannenes Art Auctions, lot 657). This work is similar to Lucia's self-portrait in Castello Sforzesco, however her costume and coiffure are almost identical with the so-called Carleton Portrait in Chatsworth House, the portrait of Sigismund Augustus' second wife Barbara Radziwill (1520/23-1551) by circle of Titian. 
The Game of Chess by Sofonisba Anguissola, 1555, National Museum in Poznań.
Self-portrait in a dress of gold cloth by Lucia Anguissola, ca. 1555-1560, Galleria Spada in Rome.
Self-portrait in a green dress by Lucia Anguissola, ca. 1555-1560, Private collection.
Self-portrait sitting in a chair by Lucia Anguissola, ca. 1555-1560, Wilanów Palace in Warsaw.
Self-portrait as Saint Lucy by Lucia Anguissola, ca. 1555-1560, Private collection.
Portrait of King Sigismund II Augustus by Lucia Anguissola, ca. 1555-1560, Alte Pinakothek in Munich.
Portraits of the Jagiellons and Dukes of Pomerania by Giovanni Battista Perini and workshop
"The most illustrious prince, a very dear friend. Not so long ago Johannes Perinus, our distinguished and faithful painter, complained to us, although the inheritance of his uncle the late Johannes Perinus had passed to himself and his brothers by a legitimate line of succession as the closest relatives, yet they discovered Franciscus Taurellus and his consorts, who from the donation they would contend that the same inheritance belonged to them" (Illustrissime princeps, amice plurimum dilecte. Conquestus est apud nos non ita pridem Johannes Perinus, pictor insignis ac fidelis noster, etsi haereditas patrui quondam Johannis Perini ad se fratresque suos legitimo successionis tramite tanquam ad proximos agnatos ab intestato devoluta esset, repertos tamen Franciscum Taurellum et consortes eius, qui (quod) ex donatione eandem haereditatem ad se pertinere contenderent), wrote Duke John Frederick of Pomerania (1542-1600) in a letter dated June 10, 1578 from Szczecin to Francesco I de' Medici (1541-1587), Grand Duke of Tuscany.
The duke intervened in favor of the Italian painter Giovanni Battista Perini (Parine) from Florence, his court painter. Before he become the "Princely Pomeranian portrait painter" (fürstlich-pommerischen Contrafaitmaler), he worked for the Electoral court in Berlin and in about 1562 he created the portrait of Electress Hedwig Jagiellon (1513-1573), known from a copy by Heinrich Bollandt (Berlin Palace, lost during World War II), and the portrait of her husband Joachim II (Berlin City Museum, VII 60/642 x). He probably became Joachim's court painter in 1524, as a certain painter Johann Baptista was mentioned as such at that date, and he was considered "the best painter of all in the Margraviate [of Brandenburg]" (der beste Maler überhaupt in der Mark). As he worked for the Electress and as it was customary in the 16th century to lend painters to other royal and princely courts, he probably also worked for the Jagiellons. A certain Giovanni Battista Perini, son of Piero, is mentioned in Florence in 1561 and 1563, but the profession is not specified. If he was the painter of Joachim II, then either he returned to his homeland, or he worked on the orders of the Elector from Florence. We generally think of "remote work" as a 21st century invention, however, already in the 16th century or even earlier many artists were working remotely. Cranach thus worked for several of his clients, as well as many Venetian painters, in particular Titian, copying other paintings and study drawings. For Charles V, in 1548 he painted his wife Isabella of Portugal, who died in 1539, using a mediocre painting as a reference. The Roman sculptor Bernini thus worked for Cardinal Richelieu of France and King of England. The so-called "Book of Effigies" (Visierungsbuch), lost during the World War II, was full of various preparatory drawings for the effigies of the Pomeranian dukes, mainly by Cranach's workshop, including the portraits of John Frederick and his brother Ernest Louis from 1553. They were most likely rendered by the painters with the ready-made portraits. The scenario that the Elector's lack of payment prompted Perini to leave Florence to personally claim his due and when he did not receive it he decided to enter the service of the Duke of Pomerania, is also possible. Joachim II died in 1571 and that year he painted the Electress Catharine (in a letter to the same, he asked 110 thalers for it, while she only wanted to give him 80 thalers), and passed at this period much of his time at Kostrzyn (Cüstrin), where he painted the celebrated Leonhard Thurneysser, as appears from one of his letters. Thurneysser paid him 20 thalers for it (after "Berliner Kunstblatt" by Ernst Heinrich Toelken, Volume 1, p. 143). Perini was employed by the ducal house of Pomerania as early as 1575, because on September 6, 1575, the dowager Duchess Mary of Saxony (1515-1583) wrote in a letter from Wolgast to her eldest son, Duke John Frederick, that the painter complained to her about his salary which was not paid by the elector of Brandenburg (after "Baltische Studien", Volume 36, p. 66). In 1577 he created the retable for the ducal chapel in Szczecin, rebuilt in the Renaissance style between 1575-1577 and decorated with Italianate frescoes (destroyed during air raids in 1944). He undoubtedly made many portraits, however, only one mention, in the inventory of the estate of Duke Barnim X/XII (1549-1603), is known: "full-length effigy of the late Duke John Frederick and of his wife by Johann Baptist" (hochseligen Herzog Johann Friedrichs F. G. und derselben Gemahlin Contrafei per Johannem Baptistam ganzer Gestalt). He died on April 6, 1584 in Szczecin. Duke John Frederick's contacts with his "very dear friend" Grand Duke Francesco were certainly not limited to a single letter. Monarchs of this era frequently exchanged their effigies and precious gifts and Francesco was a renowned patron of the arts. In 1560, one of the most productive medalists of the Italian Renaissance, Pastorino de' Pastorini (1508-1592), who four years earlier (in 1556) created a medal with a bust of Queen Bona Sforza, made a medal with bust of Grand Duke Francesco (Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1974.167). On the obverse it shows the profile of the duke and on the reverse Tiberinus, the genius of the Tiber, and the inscription Felicitati Temporum S.P.Q.R. in Latin. Twelve years later, in 1572, he created another medal of the Duke and in 1579 a medal of his wife Bianca Cappello (Museo del Bargello and British Museum). Perhaps Francesco recommended Pastorini to Duke John Frederick because the gold medal with his bust was clearly created in Pastorini's style (Münzkabinett in Dresden, BRA4086). Stylistically it is particularly similar to the medals of Gianfrancesco Boniperti and Massimiano Gonzaga, Marquis of Luzzara from the 1550s (both in the Metropolitan Museum of Art) and the medal of Ercole II d'Este, Duke of Ferrara, from about 1534 (National Gallery of Art, Washington). According to the date in Latin it was minted in 1573 (M.D.LXXIII). His age is also in Latin (Æ XXXII), his name, however, and the title abbreviation are in German (Hans Friderich H[erzog] Z[u] S[tettin] P[ommern]). Medal with bust of Gracia Nasi the Younger (la Chica) by Pastorini from about 1558 bears the name of the sitter in Hebrew characters and her age in Latin, therefore, such mixtures of languages were not new to Pastorini. Two shaking hands and the inscription "Remember Me" (Memento Me) on the back of John Frederick's medal suggest that it was a gift to his relatives in Saxony. Between 1971 and 1984, the Royal Castle in Warsaw was rebuilt with funds collected by civil society committees organized throughout Poland and in many foreign countries with large Polish communities. The building, which was the seat of the Polish kings and parliament, was bombed by the Germans in September 1939. During the following years of German occupation, the castle was methodically robbed and looted by the occupier and deliberately left unrestored to cause further damage. In September 1944, shortly before the end of World War II, the Germans blew up the building. In 1977, the government of the Federal Republic of Germany donated three full-length portraits of the Jagiellons - Sigismund I, his second wife Bona Sforza and his eldest daughter Isabella Jagiellon, Queen of Hungary, to the rebuilt Royal Castle (oil on canvas, 203.5 x 108, 210.5 x 111, 203.5 x 111.5 cm, inventory number ZKW/59, ZKW/60, ZKW/61). The paintings come from the Wittelsbach collection in Munich and may have been part of the dowry of Anna Catherine Constance Vasa, the great-granddaughter of Sigismund and Bona. The painter evidently used the same or similar set of preparatory drawings as the studio of Lucas Cranach the Younger to create miniatures of the Jagiellon family, dated variably between 1553 and 1565 (Czartoryski Museum). These miniatures were bought in London before the mid-19th century by a Polish collector, Adolf Cichowski and purchased by Władysław Czartoryski in Paris in 1859 at the auction of his collection. The provenance of Cranach's set in England is not known. Miniatures commissioned by Polish monarchs from a foreign artist in the 16th century were again purchased abroad in the 19th century. At that time, Cranach's workshop created several full-length portraits, such as the effigy of Augustus, Elector of Saxony and his wife Anna of Denmark from around 1564 (Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna), from the imperial collection of the Stallburg in Vienna, therefore very probably a gift to the Habsburgs, or portraits of Joachim Ernest, Prince of Anhalt and his first wife Agnes of Barby-Mühlingen, painted in 1563 (Georgium in Dessau). Thus the paintings of the Jagiellons could be part of a large order for the effigies of the royal family from different painters, including Cranach. Because of this general similarity to miniatures, the Warsaw full-length portraits are attributed to a German or Polish painter, but their style and technique indicate Italian influences. The set in the Czartoryski Museum is made up of 10 miniature portraits, so at least 7 effigies from the Warsaw cycle are missing, assuming it reflected the Cranach miniatures. The portrait of Princess Catherine Jagiellon in the Germanisches Nationalmuseum in Nuremberg (oil on canvas, 201 x 99 cm, Gm 622), destroyed during the Second World War, was probably part of this series as well as two other paintings from this museum - portraits of two wives of Sigismund II Augustus, Elizabeth of Austria (1526-1545) and Catherine of Austria (1533-1572), daughters of Anna Jagellonica (1503-1547). The composition of the two latter is slightly different from the four paintings described above. They have similar measurements (oil on canvas, 200 x 103 cm, Gm617 and 195.5 x 101.5 cm, Gm623), however, these two have inscriptions in German and in Latin, so either they were from another set or these two alone were made and sent to the sister of the two queens Anna of Austria (1528-1590), Duchess of Bavaria. Both paintings depicting the wives of Sigismund Augustus have a similar monogram PF, which is identified as the painter's monogram, but his identity remains unknown, hence he is called the Monogramist PF. The style of the two paintings resembles that of the portrait of Joachim II by Perini in Berlin. His portrait is unsigned and bears a Latin inscription, but its style indicates that the author was a German court painter. It is possible that in the portraits of two queens of Poland the inscription was also added later, and the monogram could be the abbreviation of Perini fecit in Latin, that is, made by Perini. Possibly also the full-length portrait of Sigismund II Augustus in armor by Lucia Anguissola, discovered by me in 2017 (oil on canvas, 200 x 118 cm, Alte Pinakothek in Munich, 7128), belonged to this or a similar cycle, although its composition is different and the painter does not copy the same effigy as Cranach in the Czartoryski series. Another portrait that could be from the same workshop is the portrait of a bearded man in the Palace of Versailles (oil on paper mounted on canvas, 96 x 77 cm, inv. 893 / M.R.B. 172). It is generally dated to the 17th century, but its style and sitter's costume indicate that it dates from the mid-16th century. The man bears a strong resemblance to the effigy of King Sigismund II Augustus by Venetian painter Battista Franco Veneziano from around 1561 (print, Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, RP-P-OB-105.261). Another possible author of this painting could be Giovanni del Monte, who was court painter to the king around 1557, however no signed work by this painter is known. The only known portrait of Pomeranian rulers attributed to Giovanni Battista Perini was the effigy of Duke John Frederick in the Pomeranian Museum in Szczecin, which was lost during World War II. According to the Latin inscription, it was painted in 1571 (ANNO DOMINI 1571), four years before Perini is generally thought to have entered the Duke's service. Italianate portrait of Duke John Frederick and his wife Erdmuthe of Brandenburg as donors under the crucifix in the main altar of the Church of St. Hyacinth in Słupsk, was undoubtedly created in Perini's milieu. It was most probably founded by Erdmuthe and most likely painted by Jakob Funck in 1602, a painter and carpenter from Kołobrzeg, who signed it with a monogram I.F.F. (Jacobus Funck fecit) on the cross. He may have been trained in Perini's workshop. In the Nationalmuseum in Stockholm there is a similar small portrait of a princely couple, also close to the style of Perini, although attributed to Lucas Cranach the Younger (oil on panel, 32 x 52 cm, NMGrh 94). It comes from the Gripsholm Castle and according to the 18th century Swedish inscription it depicts Christian IV of Denmark (1577-1648) and his wife Anne Catherine of Brandenburg (1575-1612), which is obviously incorrect as the couple is dressed in costumes from the 1590s, but when they married in 1597, Christian and Anne Catherine were in their twenties while the couple in the painting is much older and effigies do not match other portraits of the King of Denmark and his wife. It can also be compared to the portrait of John Frederick's younger brother Boguslaus XIII and his wife Anna of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg from 1600 and the effigy of a woman closely resembles the model medal with bust of Erdmuthe by Tobias Wolff from 1600 (Münzkabinett in Berlin). The man's face, apart from the mentioned portrait in Słupsk, also resembles the face of Duke John Frederick from his 1594 silver thaler (Münzkabinett in Berlin). Therefore, the painting was most likely transported to Sweden after 1630 during the Swedish occupation of Pomerania. 
Portrait of King Sigismund I (1467-1548) by workshop of Giovanni Battista Perini, 1550s or 1560s, Royal Castle in Warsaw.
Portrait of Queen Bona Sforza (1494-1557) by workshop of Giovanni Battista Perini, 1550s or 1560s, Royal Castle in Warsaw.
Portrait of Isabella Jagiellon (1519-1559), Queen of Hungary by workshop of Giovanni Battista Perini, 1550s or 1560s, Royal Castle in Warsaw.
Portrait of Crown Princess Catherine Jagiellon (1526-1583) by workshop of Giovanni Battista Perini, 1550s or 1560s, Germanisches Nationalmuseum in Nuremberg, lost. Virtual reconstruction, © Marcin Latka
Portrait of Queen Elizabeth of Austria (1526-1545), aged 16 by Giovanni Battista Perini, 1542 or after, Germanisches Nationalmuseum in Nuremberg.
Portrait of Queen Catherine of Austria (1533-1572), aged 24 by Giovanni Battista Perini, 1557 or after, Germanisches Nationalmuseum in Nuremberg.
Portrait of King Sigismund II Augustus (1520-1572) by Giovanni Battista Perini or Giovanni del Monte, ca. 1560, Palace of Versailles. Virtual reconstruction, © Marcin Latka
Gold medal with bust of Duke John Frederick of Pomerania (1542-1600), aged 32 by Pastorino de' Pastorini, 1573, Münzkabinett in Dresden (Photo: © SKD).
Portrait of Duke John Frederick of Pomerania (1542-1600) and his wife Erdmuthe of Brandenburg (1561-1623) by circle of Giovanni Battista Perini, possibly Jakob Funck, 1590s, Gripsholm Castle.
Portaits of Sophia Jagiellon, Duchess of Brunswick by Lucas Cranach the Younger, French and Flemish painters
Following the Second Margraves' War (1552-1555), King Ferdinand I confiscated the estates of Albert II Alcibiades (1522-1557), Margrave of Brandenburg-Kulmbach, grandson of Sophia Jagiellon (1464-1512), and his lands were subject to imperial sequestration. Upon Albert's death on January 8, 1557 in Pforzheim, the inheritance was claimed by two other descendants of Sophia Jagiellon: her other grandson George Frederick (1539-1603), Margrave of Ansbach, and her son Albert of Prussia (1490-1568). By mid-February 1557, Margrave George Frederick already had the support of a large group of allies, including the Electors of Brandenburg and Saxony, the Duke of Saxony, the Margrave of Brandenburg-Küstrin and the Landgrave of Hesse, as well as the Duke of Württemberg and the Margrave of Baden. These and their advisors jointly petitioned King Ferdinand, the Emperor's representative, to demand that George Frederick be immediately invested with the Principality of Kulmbach and, in lengthy speeches, described the current situation as a disgrace to the House of Brandenburg.
Having already assumed the government of the Principality of Ansbach in 1556, at the age of 15, George Frederick sought, after the death of Albert Alcibiades, who died without issue, to reunite the Kulmbach region, occupied by the Bohemian Governor, Count Schlick, under imperial sequestration, with the principality he had inherited. Thanks to the efforts of his family and allies, the young prince finally obtained the withdrawal of the Bohemian Governor, which allowed him to enter the city of Bayreuth on March 27, 1557. To the great displeasure of the Catholic Habsburgs, the Protestant George Frederick reunited in his hands substantial lands surrounding the imperial city of Nuremberg, as well as several possessions in Silesia. As for Albert of Prussia's claims, although he was supported by Poland-Lithuania-Ruthenia and Sigismund Augustus and his wife, Catherine of Austria, decided to write personal letters of support, it was claimed that, upon the election as the Grand Master, the Duke had renounced his claims to the Franconian inheritance. His Brandenburg relatives also opposed Albert's investiture (after "Das preussisch polnische Lehnsverhältnis ..." by Stephan Dolezel, p. 93). The complex case of the Franconian inheritance was undoubtedly discussed in Wolfenbüttel, where the aged Henry II (V) "the Younger" (1489-1568), Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg and Prince of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, and his much younger wife Sophia Jagiellon (1522-1575) hosted the electoral couple of Saxony - Augustus (1526-1586) and his wife Anne of Denmark (1532-1585), Prince Magnus of Denmark (1540-1583), Duke of Holstein, and two dukes of the House of Guelph - Otto II (1528-1603), Duke of Brunswick-Harburg and Ernest III of Brunswick-Grubenhagen-Herzberg (1518-1567), husband of Margaret of Pomerania-Wolgast (1518-1569). The Duke of Brunswick, who took command of the League's troops against Albert II Alcibiades, lost two eldest sons at the Battle of Sievershausen in 1553. His youngest son, Julius, destined to become a clergyman and infirm, became heir to the principality to the despair of his father, who noticed his fragile constitution and his sympathies for French culture and the Protestant faith (after "Wolfenbüttel: Geist und Glanz einer alten Residenz" by Friedrich Thöne, p. 43). Therefore, Henry, then sixty-seven years old and widowed since 1541, decided to marry the Jagiellonian princess (February 22, 1556). The Duke designated the future children of this marriage as his heirs, while Julius was to receive a life annuity. However, Henry's second marriage remained childless. Sophia brought 32,000 florins as a dowry and a rich trousseau worth 100,000 to 150,000 thalers, silverware, carpets and jewelry and later inherited 50,000 ducats from Bona's inheritance. Shortly after the wedding, the duke decided to rebuild Wolfenbüttel Castle, as he indicated in his letter to Philip I (1504-1567), Landgrave of Hesse, dated June 25, 1556. The architect was probably Francesco Geromella (Chiaramella) da Gandino, who worked in Wolfenbüttel between 1556 and 1559 and who probably arrived in Wolfenbüttel from Venice (his presence there is confirmed in September 1554). The Langelsheim steelworks, founded by Duke Henry in 1556, was named Frau-Sophien-Hütte in Sophia's honor. Prince Julius, in turn, was a propagator of French culture. He studied first in Cologne, then in Leuven in Flanders, and from 1550 he traveled to France. After the initial tensions following Henry's death, Sophia's relationship with her stepson was friendly, as evidenced by a letter from Julius dated December 30, 1573, in which he offered her, as a New Year's gift, a carved alabaster and marble door frame (ein Thürgericht) and a vase (Kantel) made of the same material. These works were by the renowned French sculptor Adam Lecuir (Liquier Beaumont), who also created the funerary sculpture of Sophia in St. Mary's Church in Wolfenbüttel. Also at this time, the widowed duchess became friends with the Francophile Landgrave William IV of Hesse-Kassel (1532–1592) and supported the French bid for the Polish throne. Sophia also had Schöningen Castle, her widow's seat, rebuilt. She ordered large windows to be made in the main, residential part of the castle, overlooking the courtyard, from which an entrance in the form of a spiral staircase was built. In the "new tower", on the wall of the chamber intended for the castle chapel, a beautiful Renaissance bay window (more Italico) was constructed. In 1569, a bell funded by Sophia was hung in the eastern tower of the castle. The building had numerous bedrooms, service rooms, kitchens, pantries, a large dance hall (Dantz Sadell), a chapel and a magnificent fountain erected in the middle of the courtyard. Inventories from 1575 mention more than 100 pictures hanging on the walls of the rooms occupied by Sophia or placed on furniture. Most of them, up to 70, were devoted to religious themes, including the Passion, the Crucifixion, and effigies of the Virgin Mary. On the other hand, the absence of images of Saint Stanislaus, Saint Adalbert, and other patron saints of Poland in this collection is somewhat surprising, although Sophia owned paintings of Saint John, Saint Christopher, and Saint Bernard. She also owned a painting depicting the beheading in 1568 of the leaders of the anti-Spanish opposition in the Netherlands and 31 portraits, including Sigismund Augustus, the children of Catherine Jagiellon, Sigismund and Anna, and Henry of Valois, King of Poland and France. However, the list does not include the portrait of Bona Sforza promised to Sophia by her sister Catherine in 1572, and strangely enough, there are no images of the princess's sisters, nor finally a portrait of herself, although it is known that such a picture was painted in 1556 by Peter Spitzer (after "Zofia Jagiellonka ..." by Jan Pirożyński, p. 117, 130, 135). This indicates that some of the paintings depicting religious scenes were in fact disguised portraits. Sophia's German family was represented by a portrait of Duke Henry in full armor, and then portraits of his daughters from his first marriage - Catherine and Margaret, Duke Julius and his wife Hedwig of Brandenburg (1540-1602), daughter of Sophia's stepsister, Hedwig Jagiellon (1513-1573). According to the inventory of Wolfenbüttel Castle drawn up in 1589, it is known that in the large "Burgundy Hall" there were two portraits depicting Duke Henry the Younger with the Order of the Golden Fleece and his second wife Sophia Jagiellon. It can be assumed that these two paintings previously belonged to Sophia, although they are not mentioned in the Schöningen inventory of 1575. A private collection holds a fragment of a painting, painted in the style of Lucas Cranach the Younger, depicting the head and bust of a reclining nude woman in a landscape (panel, 35.5 x 30.5 cm). The painting was confiscated in 1938 from the family of the Jewish art dealer Heinemann in Munich. It is considered a fragment of a larger composition depicting the reclining water nymph Egeria, a form of the Roman goddess of the hunt Diana, as in the disguised portraits of Queen Bona, mother of Sophia, that I have identified. In this respect, the painting can be compared with the one by Lucas Cranach the Younger in the National Museum in Oslo, dated "1550" (inv. NG.M.00522). Interestingly, the Kröller-Müller Museum in Otterlo owns another painting by Lucas Cranach the Younger, which appears to be a fragment of the same painting as the woman's face from the Heinemann collection (panel, 53 x 69 cm, inv. KM 100.320). The Otterlo fragment depicts a stag hunt and bears, in the lower center, the painter's mark and the year "1557". It comes from the Marczell de Nemes collection, auctioned in Paris in 1913. The fragment of a woman's hand wearing a bracelet, visible in the lower left, confirms that this is indeed a fragment of a composition depicting a naked water nymph. The stag hunt takes place near a large city, visible in the background on the left. This is Nuremberg, and the view corresponds perfectly to the panorama published by Braun and Hogenberg in 1575 (Wrocław University Library, 8-IV.B./2). This same panorama shows typical costumes of Nuremberg, but no hairstyle or women's cap matches that of the image from the Heinemann collection. Although the woman's forehead was shaved, as was the custom at that time in Germany and Poland-Lithuania, her hairstyle is typical of French fashion, as evidenced by the portrait of a lady dated "1557" in the upper right corner, painted by Catharina van Hemessen (Lempertz in Cologne, Auction 1197, May 21, 2022, lot 2011A). Several of the noble guests who visited Wolfenbüttel in 1557 were painted by Cranach the Younger and his workshop. It is not known why the painting was cut into pieces and what happened to the other parts. It may have been cut up because of its poor condition or to sell pieces more profitably - landscapes and portrait. Another possible reason was that the painting was controversial, due to the woman's nudity, its meaning, or both. Why did the goddess, a wealthy aristocrat following French fashion, organize a hunt near Nuremberg? The events in 1557, the year the painting was created, provide a clue. Since hunting was usually organized on one's own lands or on the territories of friendly rulers, the woman wanted to demonstrate that the lands surrounding Nuremberg were her family estates. Her facial features bear a striking resemblance to known effigies of Sophia Jagiellon, such as the funerary sculpture by Lecuir in Wolfenbüttel or the miniature by Cranach the Younger in the Czartoryski Museum in Kraków (inv. MNK XII-544). The image as a whole, like the disguised portraits of Sophia's mother, can therefore be interpreted as an important message to the Habsburgs and their supporters. In this context, this controversial portrait of the Duchess of Brunswick could therefore have been cut into pieces as early as the 16th century. A very similar and idealized effigy of the same woman from the same period, attributed to the 16th-century School of Fontainebleau, is in a private collection (oil on panel, 49.6 x 38.1 cm, Christie's New York, Auction 1822, April 19, 2007, lot 11). In the early 20th century, the painting belonged to the D'Atri collection in Paris and Rome. Like in the painting by Cranach the woman is naked, she has a partially shaved forehead and red hair. She wears jewelry in her hair, resembling a diadem and an elaborate necklace. A similar painting of this woman, also attributed to the School of Fontainebleau, from the second half of the 16th century, depicts her as Ceres, the Roman goddess of agriculture, fertility, and motherhood, holding a cornucopia. This "Portrait of a lady as Ceres" is also in a private collection (oil on panel, 101 x 79.5 cm, Bonhams London, December 7, 2005, lot 73). In this version, the lady wears a gold necklace and bracelets, however, the painter has marked the dark roots of her red hair, indicating that she had dyed it. Another version of the same effigy, also attributed to the School of Fontainebleau and known as a "Portrait of a young woman" or "Allegory of Beauty", could be a work by a Flemish painter, as its style indicates (oil on panel, 47.5 x 30 cm, Sotheby's Paris, June 26, 2014, lot 3). The versions at King's College, Cambridge (oil on panel, 47 x 34.5 cm) and Eton College, Windsor (oil on canvas, 48.5 x 37 cm, inv. FDA-P.38-2010) are traditionally identified as portraits of Elizabeth "Jane" Shore (ca. 1445 - ca. 1527), mistress of King Edward IV of England, following a rather simplistic belief that a naked lady must be a courtesan or the favorite of a monarch. The painting at King's College has been dendrochronologically dated to 1550-1560. The earliest reference to Jane Shore's likeness at King's College is in the 1660 inventory, while Eton's is mentioned in 1714. As both colleges were supported by the King of England, it is quite possible that one or both paintings were originally in the royal collection. In a portrait from a private collection in Genoa (Italy) – collections of works of art and furniture from three exclusive Genoese residences (oil on panel, 49 x 37 cm, Cambi Casa d'Aste, Auction 837, June 30, 2023, lot 687), the same model was depicted wearing a red French-style dress. This painting was auctioned with an attribution to the 17th-century English School (Scuola inglese del XVII secolo, Ritratto di gentildonna in abito rosso), probably due to the fact that many similar effigies are identified as portraits of Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots. The Lower Saxony State Museum in Hanover holds another portrait from the same period, painted in a similar style, probably by the same painter or his circle (oil on panel, 49 x 34.5 cm, inv. KM 105, exhibited at Wolfenbüttel Castle). This portrait comes from the collection of Sophia of the Palatinate (1630-1714), Electress of Hanover, where it was considered an effigy of Eva von Trott (ca. 1506-1567), mistress of Duke Henry II of Brunswick. In 1558, Henry ended this affair and offered Eva a residence at the Kreuzstift monastery in Hildesheim. Due to the Spanish clothing, the portrait is dated to the beginning of the second half of the 16th century. At that time, Eva von Trott was around fifty years old. The portrait, however, shows a much younger woman and, on this basis, is now identified as representing Sophia Jagiellon (after "Die deutschen, französischen und englischen Gemälde ...", ed. Angelica Dülberg, p. 87). The model's facial features closely resemble those of the woman in the portrait from the D'Atri collection and the portrait in the guise of Ceres. Her tiara is identical to that in the portrait from the D'Atri collection, while her Spanish dress is similar to that visible in the portrait of Sophia, depicted with blond hair, today in the Czartoryski Museum (inv. MNK XII-296), identified by me. This painting is attributed to Peter Spitzer, a pupil of Cranach, court painter to Duke Henry, active in Brunswick between 1533 and 1578. However, since its style is closer to the Flemish school, his authorship is unlikely. Sophia and her half-sister Hedwig Jagiellon, Electress of Brandenburg, although they had lived in Germany for several years and knew the language, felt isolated and estranged there, as expressed in the letter from the Duchess of Brunswick to Sigismund Augustus from January 1571. "And because Her Grace [Hedwig Jagiellon] as well as myself are completely foreign and unknown in these countries and do not know where to look for consolation, advice, protection, and demands from anybody else but God and Your Royal Highness", Sophia wrote to her brother (after "Dynastic identity, death and posthumous legacy of Sophie Jagiellon ..." by Dušan Zupka, p. 797, 803). In a letter to her relative, Emperor Maximilian II, son of Anna Jagellonica (1503-1547), dated from Schöningen on January 17, 1573, Sophia describes herself as "a poor, foreign widow and previously deeply troubled and abandoned, living among a foreign and unknown nation in these lands, destituted and deprived of almost all earthly and human comforts" (ausländische und zuvor hoch bekümmerte und verlassene arme Wittwe, unter einer frembden und unbekanten Nation diser Lande gesessen, fast alles Irdischen und Menschlichen trosts destituirt, und beraubt worden). This isolation further explains why the Duchess of Brunswick and her portraits are almost completely forgotten in Western Europe today. 
Stag hunt near Nuremberg, fragment of the portrait of Sophia Jagiellon (1522-1575), Duchess of Brunswick as Diana the Huntress-Egeria by Lucas Cranach the Younger, 1557, Private collection.
Fragment of the portrait of Sophia Jagiellon (1522-1575), Duchess of Brunswick as Diana the Huntress-Egeria by Lucas Cranach the Younger, 1557, Private collection. Virtual reconstruction, © Marcin Latka
Portait of Sophia Jagiellon (1522-1575), Duchess of Brunswick as Ceres by the School of Fontainebleau, ca. 1556-1560, Private collection.
Portait of Sophia Jagiellon (1522-1575), Duchess of Brunswick by the School of Fontainebleau, ca. 1556-1560, Private collection.
Portait of Sophia Jagiellon (1522-1575), Duchess of Brunswick by Flemish or French painter, ca. 1556-1560, Private collection.
Portait of Sophia Jagiellon (1522-1575), Duchess of Brunswick by Flemish or French painter, ca. 1556-1560, King's College, Cambridge.
Portait of Sophia Jagiellon (1522-1575), Duchess of Brunswick by Flemish, French or British painter, before 1714, Eton College, Windsor.
Portait of Sophia Jagiellon (1522-1575), Duchess of Brunswick in Spanish costume by Flemish or French painter, ca. 1556-1560, Lower Saxony State Museum in Hanover. Virtual reconstruction, © Marcin Latka
Portait of Sophia Jagiellon (1522-1575), Duchess of Brunswick in French costume by Flemish or French painter, ca. 1560, Private collection.
Portraits of Sigismund Augustus and his third wife by Tintoretto and Lambert Sustris
After Sigismund I's marriage to Bona Sforza in 1518, the presence of Italian artists in Poland-Lithuania gradually increased.
In 1547 a painter Pietro Veneziano (Petrus Venetus) created a painting to the main altar of the Wawel Cathedral. Ten years later, on March 10, 1557 in Vilnius, King Sigismund Augustus issues a passport to the Venetian painter Giovanni del Monte to go to Italy, and according to Vasari, Paris Bordone has "sent to the King of Poland a painting which was held very beautiful, in which was Jupiter and a nymph" (Mandò al Re di Polonia un quadro che fu tenuto cosa bellissima, nel quale era Giove con una ninfa). The latter also created an allegorical portrait of royal jeweller Giovanni Jacopo Caraglio, receiving medallion with king's effigy as a proof of his nobilitation and royal patronage of Sigismund Augustus. Giovanni Battista Ferri (Ferro) from Padua in the Venetian Republic worked in Warsaw in about 1548 and the royal accounts from 1563 provide information about the payment of over one hundred thalers to Rochio Marconio, pictori Veneciano for eight paintings made for the king. Portrait of Sigismund the Old from around 1547 from the collection of the Morstins in Pławowice, today at the Wawel Castle (inventory number ZKWawel 3239), is considered by Michał Walicki as a very definite manifestation of the Venetian tradition (after "Malarstwo polskie: Gotyk, renesans, wczesny manieryzm", p. 33). It is possible that this paining, which is sometimes attributed to German painter Andreas Jungholz, was actually created by Pietro Veneziano or his circle. Contacts with the Venetian milieu of Titian have very probably further intensified when in 1553 Sigismund Augustus married his cousin Catherine of Austria, widowed Duchess of Mantua as a wife of Francesco III Gonzaga. The high demand for paintings in the Venetian workshops required painters to complete their work quickly. This involved a change in technique which uses a series of fast brushstrokes to create the impression of faces and objects. For many prominent patrons, speed was very important as they required several copies of the same image to be sent to different relatives, like effigies of the Habsburgs by Titian. In a letter of 1548, Andrea Calmo eulogised Tintoretto's ability to capture a likeness from nature in a mere half hour and according to Vasari he worked so fast that he had usually finished while the others were just thinking about starting. On December 18, 1565 in Florence, Francesco I de' Medici, who since 1564 was regent of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany in place of his father, married Joanna of Austria, the youngest daughter of Anna Jagellonica (1503-1547), Queen of Germany, Bohemia, and Hungary, and sister of Catherine of Austria, Queen of Poland. According to preserved letters, that year Sigismund Augustus sent at least two envoys to Florence: letter of March 10, 1565 notifying Francesco about sending of the envoy Piotr Barzi (from a family of Italian origin), castellan of Przemyśl and two letters of October 2 and 6, 1565 about sending the envoy Piotr Kłoczowski, royal secretary, to attend the wedding (after "Archeion", Volumes 53-56, p. 158). Around that time Florentine painter Alessandro Allori and his workshop created several portraits of young Francesco I de' Medici holding a miniature of his wife Joanna, which were undoubtedly meant to be sent to different European royal and princely courts. It is possible that also king of Poland, who sent his envoy for Francesco's wedding, received a copy and the version which was acquired before 1826 by Gustav Adolf von Ingenheim (1789-1855), later transported to Rysiowice in Silesia and today in the Wawel Royal Castle (inventory number 2175), may possibly be considered as such. Also the princes of Tuscany undoubtedly had images of the Polish-Lithuanian royal couple. Portrait of a man in a fur coat, attributed to Tintoretto, in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence (oil on canvas, 110 x 91.5 cm, inv. Contini Bonacossi 33), was acquired in 1969 from the Contini Bonacossi collection in their Villa Vittoria in Florence. According to museum's description of the painting the relationships with Titian's portraiture appear evident in this work. A man with a long beard in his forties or fifties wears expensive fur coat, which were imported to Western Europe mainly from the eastern part of the continent. Poland and Lithuania at that time were considered as one on the largest exporters of pelts of various animals: "the total number of hides exported from Poland in the second half of the 16th century amounted to about 150,000" (after "Acta Poloniae Historica", 1968, Volumes 18 - 20, p. 203). In 1560 Berardo Bongiovanni, Bishop of Camerino reported that, "The king [Sigismund Augustus] dresses simply, but has all kinds of clothes, Hungarian, Italian, of gold cloth, silk, summer and winter attires lined with sables, wolves, lynxes, black foxes, worth over 80,000 gold scudi". Five years later, in 1565, Flavio Ruggieri described the king: "He is 45 years old, of fairly good height, mediocre, great sweetness of character, more inclined to peace than war, speaks Italian by the memory of his mother, he loves horses and he has more than three thousand of them in his stable, he likes jewels of which he has more than a million red zlotys worth, he dresses simply, although he has rich robes, namely furs of great value". The man bear a great resemblance to preserved effigies of Sigismund Augustus, especially a minaiture by Lucas Cranach the Younger in the Czartoryski Museum in Kraków (inventory number XII-538), created between 1553-1565. The same facial features were also captured in two other portraits attributed to Jacopo Tintoretto or his workshop, both in private collection. In one of them the man, much younger then in the version from the Contini Bonacossi collection, resemble greatly Sigismund Augustus from his effigy created by Marcello Bacciarelli (considered as the effigy of Jogaila of Lithuania), from the Marble Room at the Royal Castle in Warsaw, created between 1768 and 1771 (inventory number ZKW/2713). This portrait was sold in Munich, Germany (oil on canvas, 56 x 44 cm, Hampel Fine Art Auctions, April 11, 2013, lot 570), where there is also a full-length portrait of the king (Alte Pinakothek, inv. 7128). The other was in a private collection in the United States (oil on canvas, 48.9 x 38.8 cm, Christie's New York, May 31, 1991, lot 213). A similar portrait, attributed to Tintoretto, showing the same man from a different angle, is in the Miramare Castle, deposit of the Galleria nazionale d'arte antica di Trieste (oil on canvas, 46 x 41 cm, inv. 47). This "portrait of a man" was purchased from the collection of Pietro Mentasti in 1955 and it is generally dated between 1550 and 1553. In all the mentioned paintings, the model wears coats lined with various expensive furs. It is quite surprising that in today's Italy (apart from my discoveries) it is difficult to find effigies of Sigismund Augustus, whose ties with his mother's native land were strong throughout his life and who was also the heir to the Duchy of Bari and could also claim the Kingdom of Naples and the Duchy of Milan. A companion to the portrait in Uffizi is undoubtedly another portrait from the Contini Bonacossi collection with similar dimensions and composition, showing the man's wife, now in Belgrade (National Museum of Serbia, oil on canvas, 110 x 83 cm). Federico Zeri (1921-1998), noticed the great similarity of this portrait to minaiture of Catherine of Austria in the Czartoryski Museum (Fondazione Federico Zeri, card number 43428), created, like the effigy of Sigismund Augustus, by Lucas Cranach the Younger in his workshop in Wittenberg. However, the portrait is identified as depicting Christina of Denmark (1521-1590), despite bearing no resemblance to any confirmed effigy of widowed Duchess of Milan and Duchess of Lorraine, who dressed more according to French/Netherlandish fashion and not Central European, like the woman in the described portrait. She is holding a compass in her left hand and her right hand on a celestial globe. Catherine's interest in cartography is confirmed by support to cartographer Stanisław Pachołowiecki, who was in her service between 1563-1566 (after "Słownik biograficzny historii Polski: L-Ż" by Janina Chodera, Feliks Kiryk, p. 1104). She was depicted in a black dress, most probably a mourning dress after death of her father Emperor Ferdinand I (died 25 July 1564), therefore the portrait should be dated to about 1564 or 1565, shortly before her departure to Vienna (October 1566). A copy of the painting in Belgrade, painted on oak panel, is in Kassel (Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, oil on panel, 45.5 x 35 cm, inv. SM1.1.940), where there are also several other portraits of the Polish-Lithuanian Jagiellons, identified by me. The style of the painting in Kassel is more Netherlandish and can be attributed to Lambert Sustris, a Dutch painter, presumably a student of Jan van Scorel, active mainly in Venice where he worked in Titian's studio. King Sigismund Augustus established a permanent postal connection between Kraków and Venice. "The tasks of the post office included taking orders in the markets, sending very expensive and light goods [like paintings on canvas] and bullion coin" (after "Historia gospodarcza Polski do 1989 roku: zarys problematyki" by Mirosław Krajewski, p. 82). Merchants importing luxury goods, like Tucci, Bianchi, Montelupi, Pinozzo family, coming from Venice, Battista Fontanini, Giulio del Pace, Alberto de Fin, Paolo Cellari, Battista Cecchi, Blenci and many others, used it frequently. It was organized on the Italian model and for many years it was operated mainly by Italians. From 1558 it was run by Prospero Provano, then, from 1562, by Christopher de Taxis, former Augsburg postmaster and imperial court postmaster, from 1564 by Pietro Maffon, a native of Brescia in the Venetian Republic, and after him from 1568 by Sebastiano Montelupi, a Florentine merchant, who received an annual salary of 1,300 thalers. In 1562, a shipment from Kraków through Vienna to Venice took about 10 days, and from Kraków to Vilnius through Warsaw - 7 days. Royal mail was free of charge, private senders paid according to the agreed rate. Montelupi was obliged to carry royal and diplomatic mail, so he sent horse messengers every week. The royal post was under the management of the Montelupi family for nearly 100 years and they maintained the line between Kraków and Venice until 1662. In his book Hercules Prodicius ..., published in Antwerp in 1587, the humanist Stephanus Winandus Pighius (1520-1604) describes the visit of Prince Charles Frederick of Jülich-Cleves-Berg (1555-1575), grandson of Queen Anna Jagellonica (1503-1547), to his uncle's castle of Ambras, near Innsbruck, in September 1574. "Charles was particularly delighted when he saw in the spacious, magnificent dining room the pictures of the illustrious members of the House of Austria, the relatives of the Emperor Ferdinand and the most flourishing princes of our time, painted from life by the skilful hand of the excellent painter Titian. He was delighted to recognize among them his parents [Maria of Austria (1531-1581) and William of Jülich-Cleves-Berg (1516-1592)] in their wedding finery, his grandfather Ferdinand and his wife Anna, mother of such a large family, his great-uncle Charles V with Eleonora, daughter of King Manuel of Portugal [Isabella of Portugal (1503-1539) or Eleanor of Austria (1498-1558)], then the emperor's son Philip with his wife Maria, daughter of King Henry of England [Mary Tudor (1516-1558)], and his uncle Maximilian with Charles V's daughter Maria [Maria of Spain (1528-1603)]. He also looked with delight at King Sigismund of Poland [Sigismund Augustus] in a fur coat, the mighty Duke Alexander of Etruria [Alexander Farnese (1545-1592), Duke of Parma] in shining armor, several aunts and related princes whom he had never seen before", read the description of the family portrait gallery (after "Hercules Prodicius seu Principis iuuentutis vita et peregrinatio", p. 235, Complutense University of Madrid, and "Die k. k. Ambraser-Sammlung: Geschichtliche Einleitung und die Rüstkammern", p. 14). It seems that all these portraits from the collection of Archduke Ferdinand II (1529-1595), son of Anna Jagellonica, were made by Titian (principes in tabulis ad vivam effigiem Titiani peritissimi pictoris ingeniosa manu coloribus imitatos). The painter, who according to Carlo Ridolfi (1594-1658) visited Innsbruck after his stay in Spain, probably after 1547 or 1550 and before 1556, must have based all or the majority of these effigies, including the portrait of "King Sigmund of Poland in a fur coat" (Considerare iuuabat pellitum Polonum Sigismundum regem), on other portraits of Habsburgs and their relatives. In his Maraviglie dell'arte ... (p. 166), published in Venice in 1648, Ridolfi confirms that Titian painted portraits of King Ferdinand (emperor from 1556) and his wife Anna, whom he calls Maria, and her daughters in Innsbruck. If Ridolfi could have confused the name of the wife of the King of the Romans, he could also have forgotten or not known that the painter had visited Poland-Lithuania-Ruthenia. If Titian's visit to Innsbruck actually took place after 1547, he could not have painted Queen Anna ad vivum (from life), because she died on January 27, 1547 in Prague. This sentence therefore refers more to the impression made by the paintings and not to the fact that all members of the Habsburg family (or the sovereigns who were related to them by marriage) posed directly for Titian in Innsbruck. If the portrait of the Sarmatian monarch was actually painted by Titian in Innsbruck, he must have based it on other effigies or study drawings, just like Tintoretto, whose visit to Sarmatia is also not confirmed by the sources. 
Portrait of King Sigismund II Augustus (1520-1572) wearing a fur trimmed coat by Tintoretto, ca. 1550-1553, Galleria nazionale d'arte antica di Trieste.
Portrait of King Sigismund II Augustus (1520-1572) wearing a black fur trimmed coat by Tintoretto, 1550s, Private collection.
Portrait of King Sigismund II Augustus (1520-1572) by Tintoretto, 1550s, Private collection.
Portrait of King Sigismund II Augustus (1520-1572) in a fur coat by Tintoretto, ca. 1565, Uffizi Gallery.
Portrait of Queen Catherine of Austria (1533-1572) with a globe and a compass by Tintoretto or Titian, ca. 1565, National Museum of Serbia in Belgrade.
Portrait of Queen Catherine of Austria (1533-1572) with a globe and a compass by Lambert Sustris, ca. 1565, Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister in Kassel.
Portrait of Francesco de' Medici (1541-1587) by Alessandro Allori, ca. 1565, Wawel Royal Castle.
Portaits of Sigismund Augustus, Catherine of Austria and court dwarf Estanislao by Venetian painters
In 1553 Sigismund II Augustus decided to marry for the third time with a widowed Duchess of Mantua and his cousin Catherine of Austria. The wedding celebrations lasted 10 days and Catherine brought as a dowry 100,000 florins as well as 500 grzywnas of silver, 48 expensive dresses, and about 800 jewels. Somewhat distant marriage continued for a few years and Catherine became close with two yet-unmarried sisters of Sigismund, Anna and Catherine Jagiellon.
The royal court travelled frequently from Kraków through Warsaw to Vilnius. In October 1558 the queen became seriously ill. Sigismund was convinced that it was epilepsy, the same disease that tormented his first wife and Catherine's sister. For this reason, the marriage has become even more distant and the king sought to obtain annulment. It was a matter of international importance, Catherine's father Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor ruled vast territories to the west and south of Poland-Lithuania and assisted Tsar Ivan the Terrible in expanding his empire on eastern border of Sigismund's realm, while Catherine's cousin King Philip II of Spain was the most powerful man in Europe, ruler of half the known world from whom Sigismund was claiming the inheritance of his mother Bona. The queen become attached to her new homeland and her family used their influence to not allow the divorce. The arch-Catholic king of Spain undeniably received portraits of the couple. The portrait of a lady in a dress of green damask attributed to Titian from the Spanish royal collection is very similar to Catherine's portrait by the same painter in the Voigtsberg Castle and to her portrait in Belgrade. It is recorded in the inventory of the Buen Retiro Palace in Madrid of 1794 as a companion to a portrait of a soldier, now attributed to Giovanni Battista Moroni, a painter trained under Moretto da Brescia and Titian: "No. 383. Another [painting] by Titian: Portrait of a Madam: a yard and a quarter long and a yard wide, companion to 402. gilt frame" (Otra [pintura] de Tiziano: Retrato de una madama: de vara y quarta de largo y una de ancho, compañera del 402. marco dorado) and "No. 402. Another [painting] by Titian: half-length portrait of a man, a yard and a half high and a yard wide, with gilt frame" (Otra [pintura] de Tiziano: retrato de medio cuerpo de un hombre, de vara y media de alto y vara de ancho, con marco dorado). The effigy of "a soldier" bears great resemblance to portraits of the king and his costume is in similar style to that visible in a miniature by Cranach the Younger in the Czartoryski Museum. The portraits of Sigismund Augustus (most likely) and his third wife were in the collection of the favorite residence of King Philip II - the Royal Palace of El Pardo near Madrid, among the paintings by Titian - "In another box was the portrait of the king of Poland, in armor and without a helmet, on canvas" (En otra caja metido el retrato del rey de Polonia, armado e sin morrion, en lienzo) and "Catherine, wife of Sigismund Augustus, king of Poland" (Catalina, muger de Sigismundo Augusto, rey de Polonia) (compare "Archivo español de arte", Volume 64, p. 279 and "Unveröffentlichte Beiträge zur Geschichte ..." by Manuel Remón Zarco del Valle, p. 236). Both paintings have similar dimensions (oil on canvas, 119 x 91 cm / 117 x 92 cm, inventory number P000262, P000487) and matching compostion, just as portraits of Pietro Maria Rossi, Count of San Secondo and his wife Camilla Gonzaga by Parmigianino in the same collection (Prado Museum), with the wife's portrait painted with "cheaper", simple dark background. The portraits of Sigismund and Catherine from Contini Bonacossi collection, although very similar, differ slightly in style, one is closer to Tintoretto, the other to Titian, therefore it cannot be excluded that just as in case of Sigismund's famous Flemish tapestries his large commission for a series of portraits was realized by different cooperating workshops from the Venetian Republic. Copies of "The Venetian Officer", as it is sometimes called in literature, are in the castle of Monselice, also known as Ca' Marcello, near Padua (oil on canvas, Fototeca Zeri, Numero scheda 45161, from the Cini collection, with the original in Madrid dated 1560-1563) and in a private collection in England (oil on canvas, 126.1 x 95.5 cm, Sotheby's London, October 29, 1998, lot 445, as by an 18th century copyist after Moroni). A smaller version of the portrait of a woman from Prado, today in the Museo Correr in Venice (oil on canvas, 22 x 17 cm, inv. Cl. I n. 0091), is attributed to Domenico Tintoretto (1560-1635). Sigismund Augustus reunited with his wife in October 1562 at the wedding of Catherine Jagiellon in Vilnius. The king's sisters and his wife dressed similarly and similar Venetian style dress to that visible in the portrait of queen Catherine is included in the inventory of Catherine Jagiellon's dowry: "Damask (4 pieces). A long green damask robe, on it the embroidery of gold cloth with red silk, wide at the bottom, covered with patterned green velvet, trimmed with gold lace on it with green silk. The bodice and sleeves along embroidered with the same embroidery." Sigismund Augustus had his ambassadors in Spain, Wojciech Kryski, between 1559 and 1562 and Piotr Wolski in 1561. He sent letters to the king of Spain and to his secretary Gonzalo Pérez (like on 1 January 1561, Estado, leg. 650, f. 178). He also had his informal envoys in Spain, dwarves Domingo de Polonia el Mico, who appears in the house of Don Carlos between 1559 and 1565, and Estanislao (Stanisław, d. 1579), who was at the court of Philip II between 1553 and 1562, and whom Covarrubias cited as "smooth and well proportioned in all his limbs" and other sources described as a skillful, well educated and sensible person (after Carl Justi's "Velázquez y su siglo", p. 621). Estanislao is recorded back in Poland between 1563-1571. Apart from being a skilled huntsman he was also most probably a skilled diplomat, just as Jan Krasowski, called Domino, a Polish dwarf of Catherine de' Medici, Queen of France or Dorothea Ostrelska, also known as Dosieczka, female dwarf of Sigismund's sister Catherine Jagiellon, queen of Sweden. Queen Catherine of Austria sent Polish dwarves to her brother Ferdinand II (1529-1595), Archduke of Austria, and to her brother-in-law Albert V (1528-1579), Duke of Bavaria. In the gallery of Archduke Ferdinand II in Ambras, there was a portrait of a "great Pole" (gross Polackh) in a yellow coat with the inscription DER GROS POLAC, probably copied by Anton Boys from an original, mentioned in the inventory of 1621 (Aber ain pildnus aines Tartarn oder Polln mit ainem gelben röckhl, f. 358), while the inventory of the ducal art chamber (Kunstkammer) in Munich of 1598 by Johann Baptist Fickler mentions a portrait of a Polish dwarf Gregorij Brafskofski (Conterfeht des zwergen Gregorij Brafskofski so ain Poläckh, 3299/3268) (after "Die Porträtsammlung des Erzherzogs ..." by Friedrich Kenner, item 159). In 1563 the king of Spain placed two portraits of Estanislao, one showing him in Polish costume of crimson damask, both by Titian, among the portraits of the royal family in his palace El Pardo in Madrid (included in the inventory of the palace of 1614-1617, number 1060 and 1070). It is also very probable that the king of Poland had his portrait. The portrait of unknown dwarf in Kassel attributed to Anthonis Mor (oil on panel, 105 x 82.2 cm, inventory number GK 39), although stylistically also close to Venetian school, seems to fit perfectly. In the same collection in Kassel there are also other portraits linked to Jagiellons. A pensive monkey in this painting is clearly more a symbol connected to deep knowledge and intelligence than joyfulness. A drawing by Federico Zuccaro (Zuccari) in Cerralbo Museum in Madrid (inventory number 04705) shows a monarch receiving an emissary with a cardinal and figures in Polish costumes. The effigy of the monarch is similar to portrait of King Sigismund II Augustus in coronation robes from the thesis of Gabriel Kilian Ligęza (1628) and other effigies of the king. In the National Gallery of Ireland, there is another drawing by Zuccaro, showing king's mother Bona Sforza (inventory number NGI.3247). Between 1563 and 1565, the painter was active in Venice with the Grimani family of Santa Maria Formosa. It is highly probable that he was also employed on some large order from the king of Poland. In addition to the splendid gold-woven tapestries ordered in Flanders, the king purchased other luxury items from foreign merchants. In 1553, the Nuremberg merchant Kasper Niezler sold the king some jewelry for 1,500 zlotys. Similarly, Boneficus Hagenarus sold jewels for 1,264 zlotys and 7 groszy, and Nicolaus Nonarth for 956 zlotys. Nonarth personally brought the valuables to the king in Vilnius in 1554. Until 1560, the king's suppliers of clocks were mainly German merchants, including Andreas Wolprecht in 1549 and Hanus Hellzschmidt from Augsburg in 1558. A year later, a German merchant, whose name is not mentioned, brought the king to Piotrków a "large silver clock", for which he was paid 173 zlotys and 10 groszy. Among the royal suppliers of jewels until 1560, the account books mention two Italians. The first of them, the royal scribe Traiano Provana (Trojan Provano), delivered to Sigismund II Augustus in 1556 gold products set with precious stones, which he had acquired in Italy, as well as a painting by an unknown Italian painter. He received 478 zlotys and 12 groszy for the jewels, and 346 zlotys and 20 groszy for the painting. Three years later, the Italian merchant Antonio Borsano sold a gold box to the Crown Carver Mikołaj Łaski in Kraków, for which he was paid 400 thalers, equivalent to 440 zlotys. In the same year, 500 zlotys were paid to Claudio Moneste mercatori Lugdunensi (from Lyon) for the jewels that the king had personally collected from him (after "Dostawcy dworów królewskich w Polsce i na Litwie ..." by Maurycy Horn, Part II, p. 15). The portraits commissioned by such a splendid patron must have been of the highest class, but because of their relatively low value at the time we do not have many documentary traces. In July 1562, for the processional banner, painted on both sides, Moroni received 13.5 gold scudi, from Andrea Fachinetti and Alberto Vasalli (after "Giovan Battista Moroni ..." by Simone Facchinetti, p. 100). 
Portrait of King Sigismund II Augustus (1520-1572) in crimson costume by Giovanni Battista Moroni, ca. 1560, Prado Museum in Madrid.
Portrait of King Sigismund II Augustus (1520-1572) in crimson costume by follower of Giovanni Battista Moroni, ca. 1560, Castle of Monselice. Virtual reconstruction, © Marcin Latka
Portrait of King Sigismund II Augustus (1520-1572) in crimson costume by follower of Giovanni Battista Moroni, after 1560 (18th century?), Private collection.
Portrait of Queen Catherine of Austria (1533-1572) in a dress of green damask by Titian or circle, ca. 1560, Prado Museum in Madrid.
Portrait of Queen Catherine of Austria (1533-1572) holding a book by Venetian painter, ca. 1560, Museo Correr in Venice.
Portrait of court dwarf Estanislao (Stanisław, d. 1579) by Anthonis Mor or circle of Titian, ca. 1560, Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister in Kassel.
Sigismund II Augustus receiving an emissary, with a cardinal and figures in Polish costumes by Federico Zuccaro, 1563-1565, Cerralbo Museum in Madrid.
Bona Sforza, Queen of Poland by Federico Zuccaro, 1563-1565, National Gallery of Ireland.
Portraits of Krzysztof Warszewicki by Paolo Veronese and Jacopo Tintoretto
Krzysztof Warszewicki (Christophorus Varsavitius or Varsevitius in Latin), a nobleman of the Kuszaba coat of arms, was born in Warszewice near Warsaw as the son of Jan Warszewicki, castellan of Liw (1544-1554), and later castellan of Warsaw (1555-1556), and his second wife Elżbieta Parysówna. He was born in the first months of 1543, and the year of his birth was certainly determined by Teodor Wierzbowski on the basis of a note by Vincenzo Laureo (Lauro), bishop of Mondovì, papal nuncio in Poland-Lithuania. Describing the Warsaw Convention of 1574, Laureo mentions the attacks and accusations that Warszewicki received from opponents for his previous conduct, especially for the reckless act he committed in Italy fifteen years ago, in 1559, "at the age of sixteen". In his speech to King James I of England in the spring of 1603, Warszewicki states that he is "over sixty years old" (mihi-ultra quam sexagenario).
The old father and the young mother indulged his whims. They send him to the court of King Ferdinand I in Prague and Vienna, where little Krzysztof was admitted as a page. From there the eleven-year-old boy, probably with Ferdinand's envoys, was sent to London for the marriage of Philip of Spain to Mary Tudor, Queen of England. The splendid entry of the Spanish prince into the capital of England on July 25, 1554, despite Krzysztof's young age, already made a strong impression on him and contributed to his sympathies with the Habsburg dynasty. Returning from London to Poland, Krzysztof probably stayed at the court of Jan Tarnowski, castellan of Kraków, or at the court of Jan Tęczyński, voivode of Sandomierz, with whose family Krzysztof's grandfather and father had close relations. He also stayed in his parent's house. Piotr Myszkowski, having met his father at the Piotrków Sejm in 1555, persuaded him to send his son abroad, where he could receive a better education. The castellan decided to send his son to Germany. At the end of April 1556 Krzysztof, together with Franciszek Zabłocki and Jan Głoskowski, came to Leipzig and enrolled as students of the "Polish nation" for the summer term, but after two months they left Leipzig for Wittenberg, where they also enrolled at the university in July of that year. Then Krzysztof went to Prague and Vienna, probably because there he could get letters of recommendation needed for Italy. Leaving Vienna, he took money and a horse from an Italian, but he was caught in Villach and forced to return the stolen things, as Mikołaj Dłuski claimed eighteen years later. 14 years old Warszewicki went Bologna, where he spent over two years studying at the University until the autumn of 1559. The natural stop on his journey from Vienna was Venice, although the precise dates of his stay are not known. In a speech given in Venice in March 1602, he says "after forty years I returned to you" (post quadragesimum annum ad Vos appuli). He also visted Naples, Rome, Florence and Ferrara. Certain aspects of his stay in Italy were discussed at the Convention of Warsaw on September 2, 1574 before the parliament, when he was chosen as envoy from Masovia. Abraham Zbąski and Piotr Kłoczewski, starost of Małogoszcz accused Warszewicki of stealing a gold chain from Krzysztof Lwowski in Naples, that he borrowed money in many Italian towns, escaped and was condemned in absentia, while the Poles lost their reputation with the Italians because of this, and indecency "by debauching with men in a dishonorable way". From Venice he returned via Vienna to Poland and in the spring of 1561 he was in Warsaw. He returned to Italy in 1567 and 1571 with Bishop Adam Konarski (1526-1574), as his courtier and secretary. He became a priest in 1598 and thanks to the grant of 150 zlotys from the Kraków chapter and 100 ducats from the council of Gdańsk in October 1600, he returned to Italy again, passing through Prague, Munich, Augsburg and Innsbruck. He visits Mantua, Rome, Genoa, Bologna and stays more than four months in Venice accompanied by Giovanni Delfino (1545-1622), procurator of San Marco (after "Krzysztof Warszewicki 1543-1603 i jego dzieła ...", pp. 56-64, 129). Krzysztof's half-brother Stanisław (d. 1591), who studied in Kraków, Wittenberg (under Philip Melanchthon) and Padua, was secretary to King Sigismund II Augustus from 1556. Warszewicki was one of the most vocal critics of the elective system in Poland-Lithuania, although he acknowledged that it was rooted in old Polish customs. His fascination with the Queen of the Adriatic is best reflected in his first major work, a narrative poem "Venice" (Venecia/Wenecia), first released in 1572 in Kraków, and later in 1587 also in Kraków. The poem applied the convention of a lament uttered by personified Venice, which painted a panoramic view of the relations between the Republic of Venice and the Ottoman Porte (after "Venice in Polish Literature ..." by Michał Kuran, p. 24). In the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam, there is a portrait of a boy attributed to Paolo Veronese (oil on canvas, 30.5 x 21.7 cm, inventory number 2570 (OK)). In 1928 the painting was in the collection of Jacques Goudstikker (1897-1940) in Amsterdam (after "Paolo Veronese ..." by Adolfo Venturi, p. 120) and it was purchased by the museum in 1958. The significantly reinforced inscription in the upper part dates the work to 1558 (Anno 1558), when the painter worked on the decoration of the Marciana Library in Venice, painted frescoes in the Palazzo Trevisan in Murano and between 1560 and 1561 he was called to decorate Villa Barbaro in Maser. The inscription may have been added after it left the artist's studio and the boy was 15 or 13 years old (Aetatis 15[3]) because the last number is not clearly visible. At that time, wealthy Venetians preferred larger effigies, full-length or group portraits and frescoes (portraits of Francesco Franceschini, Iseppo da Porto and his son, Livia da Porto Thiene and hier daughter, Giustinia Giustiniani on the balcony), so this small effigy, easy to transport and sent to other places, is quite unusual. Around 1558, when he was 15, Jan, Krzysztof's father, died and it is not known if he returned to Poland from Bologna, if so, he traveled through Venice or the vicinity. Such a small painting would be a good gift for his worried mother. The same man, although older, is depicted in another painting from the Venetian school. This larger, half-length portrait by a red curtain was created by Jacopo Tintoretto (oil on canvas, 70.3 x 58 cm, sold at Christie's London on December 7, 2007, live auction 7448, lot 195). It comes from the collection of Oskar Ernst Karl von Sperling (1814-1872), a German major general in the Prussian Army, who stationed in Wrocław and died in Dresden (sold at the Kunstsalon Paul Cassirer in Berlin on September 1, 1931). Its earlier history is unknown. The landscape behind him shows an imaginative waterside temple with large stairs, a triumphal arch-shaped doorway and a rose window. This is probably the temple of Apollo at Delphi on which the ancients had placed the inscription "Know thyself" (Gnothi seauton). "Let the diplomat, then, as instructed by Apollo of Delphi, and with my advice previously given, strive to know himself", advises Warszewicki in his De legato et legatione from 1595 (after "O pośle i poselstwach" by Jerzy Życki). In this work he also makes frequent reference to Venice. Early in 1567 he left for Rome. On March 21, 1567, he was in Padua and most likely returned to Poland with a letter of March 8, 1570 from Pope Pius V to the Infanta Anna Jagiellon. His letters to Konarski are addressed from Padua - May 18 and August 10, 1571. In both cases, the only direct link to Venice is the painter, but that does not mean that the model was also Venetian. 
Portrait of Krzysztof Warszewicki (1543-1603) at the age of 15 by Paolo Veronese, 1558, Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen.
Portrait of Krzysztof Warszewicki (1543-1603) by Jacopo Tintoretto, ca. 1571, Private collection.
Portraits of Princess Elizabeth Radziwill by Lambert Sustris and Frans Floris
In 1554 the construction of a large fortess in Berezhany in western Ukraine, called the "Eastern Wawel", was accomplished and its founder Mikołaj Sieniawski (1489-1569), voivode of Ruthenia commemorated it on a stone plaque with Latin inscription above the southern gate. The architect of the building is unknown, however, the Renaissance decor suggests that he was Italian.
Descended from a noble family from Sieniawa in southeastern Poland, he raised the Sieniawski name to great power and importance. Under hetman Jan Amor Tarnowski, of the same clan crest of Leliwa, Sieniawski took part in the battle of Obertyn in 1531 and in as many as 20 other war campaigns. In 1539 with Tarnowski's intercession, he become the Field Hetman of the Crown and received from King Sigismund I the Medzhybizh Fortress, which he rebuilt in Renaissance style. Around 1518, he married Katarzyna Kolanka (d. after 1544), daughter of the Field Hetman of the Crown Jan Koła (d. 1543) and a niece of Barbara Kolanka (d. 1550), wife of George Radziwill (1480-1541), nicknamed "Hercules". Sieniawski was a Calvinist and raised his children as Protestants. Nevertheless his eldest son Hieronim (1519-1582), who became a courtier of the king Sigismund Augustus in 1548, married a Catholic, Princess Elizabeth Radziwill (d. 1565). The religion was unsurpassable obstacle in many countries of divided Europe at that time, but apparenly not in the 16th century Poland-Lithuania, the "Realm of Venus", godess of love. Hieronim and Elizabeth were married before May 30, 1558 as on this date Sieniawski bequeathed to his wife "for eternity" the estates, including Waniewo, which she had previously granted him "and bequeathed to him by particular Polish laws" (after "Podlaska siedziba Radziwiłłów w Waniewie z początku XVI wieku ..." by Wojciech Bis). Elizabeth, Princess of Goniądz and Medele (Myadzyel), was the youngest of three daughters of John Radziwill (d. 1542) and Anna Kostewicz of Leliwa coat of arms. As John had no son, the Goniądz-Medele line of the Radziwill family became extinct, and his domains were divided between his daughters, Anna, born in 1525, Petronella, born in 1526, and Elizabeth. On June 5, 1559, king Sigismund Augustus, orders Piotr Falczewski, Knyszyn leaseholder and Piotr Koniński, governor of Belz, to settle the matter between the royal subjects of the Tykocin Castle and the Kamieniec chamberlain Hieronim Sieniawski and his wife Elizabeth Radziwill. After Elizabeth's death her estates were inherited by her husband, who in 1577 sold Waniewo to the Princes Olelkovich-Slutsky. In the 18th century, the Berezhany Castle was famous for its collection of paintings parts of which are now kept in various museums of Ukraine. In 1762, the collection was located in 14 halls, other rooms and a library. The walls were covered with historical pictures. On the plafonds of two large halls there were battle compositions and the Great Hall was decorated with 48 portraits of the kings of Poland. In the "Viennese" halls, one with a large canvas on the ceiling showing the Relief of Vienna in 1683 and walls covered with red-gold brocade, there were portraits of Queen Jadwiga and Tsar Peter I, the other with Venetian style gilded ceiling and walls covered with green-red brocade was also hung with portraits. In the room with walls covered with Persian fabric with gold and silver, there were portraits of Hieronim Sieniawski, King Sigismund Augustus, Potocki, voivode of Kiev and a landscape painting. In the next room covered with green-red brocade and red portiere tapestries, there were Italian religious paintings. The gilded wooden ceiling of one of the rooms was decoarated with planets and carved human heads, most probably similar to the orginal coffered ceiling in the Chamber of Deputies at the Wawel Castle. There was a large pyramid-shaped chandelier there and several portraits of family members. Next was the library with other paintings and a room with gilded ceiling with 11 paintings showing the episodes from the Battle of Khotyn (1621) and several other portraits. In the fourth upper room there was a gilded ceiling filled with portraits (after "Brzeżany w czasach Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej: monografia historyczna" by Maurycy Maciszewski, p. 33-34). From 1772, after the First Partition of Poland, Berezhany belonged to Austria, while the descendants of the Sieniawski family were based in Russian partition. The abandoned castle gradually fell into disrepair. Many valuable items were sold at auction on August 16, 1784. When princess Lubomirska won the trial in Vienna against the Austrian government to recover the portraits of the Sieniawski family painted on silver and other valuables from the family tombs, it turned out that they were melted for coinage. Paintings and portraits were moved to the outbuildings, where they were rotting and crumbling to dust (after "Brzeżany w czasach Rzeczypospolitej ...", p. 54). The author of an article, published in Dziennik Literacki from 1860 (nr 49) recalled: "Today I will only add that there were very expensive Italian paintings in the chapel and castle halls in Berezhany. There are still people who remembered them. For some of these paintings, the Sieniawskis paid several thousand ducats. Years ago, when I asked the guardian of the chapel and the castle, a simple peasant, where are the paintings, he replied that the smaller ones were dismantled and stolen, and the larger canvases were cut into sacks on the order of the officialists. It happened 30 years ago. There were many historical portraits among the paintings, namely of the Sieniawski family". The deed of destruction was accomplished during the First and Second World War. The "Realm of Mars", god of war, left only ruins in Berezhany. The portrait of lady in the Museum of Western and Eastern Art in Odessa, Ukraine (inventory number ЗЖ-112) was acquired in 1950 from Alexandra Mitrofanovna Alekseeva Bukovetskaya (d. 1956), wife of Ukrainian painter Evgeny Iosifovich Bukovetsky (1866-1948). In 1891 Bukovetsky made a trip to western Europe, returning to Odessa in the same year. In Paris he attended the Académie Julian and worked for some time in Munich. Nevertheless, he or his wife, most likely acquired the painting later in Ukraine. The effigy is considered the work of a 16th-century Venetian artist and dated between 1550 and 1560. In 1954, on the back of the main canvas, a piece of another canvas was found with the inscription: restavrir 1877. Interestingly, between 1876-1878 Stanisław Potocki started renovation and restoration works in Berezhany. The costume of depicted woman is very similar to that visible in the effigy of Queen Catherine of Austria (1533-1572) in unknown collection (published on livejournal.com on June 2 2017). The portrait of the Queen is inscribed in Latin: CHATARINA.REGINA.POLONIE.ARCHI: / AVSTRIE, therefore should be dated to between 1553-1565, before the Queen's departure from Poland. It is also closely related to a portrait of an unknown lady wearing a red velvet gown with a V-shaped white lace front from the 1550s in the Apsley House. Another similar costume and pose of the sitter is visible in the portrait of a lady in red dress by Giovanni Battista Moroni in the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, dated to about 1560. The woman wears a heavy gold earrings with cameos with female busts and a belt with a large cameo with sitting goddess Minerva holding on her right hand a figure, the personification of victory. Similar cameos were set on the casket of Hedwig Jagiellon, created in 1533 (The State Hermitage Museum) and the casket of Queen Bona Sforza, created in or after 1518 (Czartoryski Museum, lost during World War II). A certain similarity can also be indicated with the cameo with bust of Queen Barbara Radziwill by Jacopo Caraglio, created in about 1550 (State Coin Collection in Munich). The style of the mentioned portrait in Odessa is very close to the portrait of Veronika Vöhlin, created in 1552 and to the portrait of Charles V seated, created in 1548, both in the Alte Pinakothek in Munich and both attributed to Lambert Sustris, the same painter who created several effigies of Zofia Tarnowska (1534-1570), the only daughter of hetman Jan Amor Tarnowski. The same woman was also depicted in another painting attributed to Sustris or his circle, and showing Venus and Cupid with the view of the evening landscape. It was painted on canvas (88 x 111 cm) and is today in the private collection in Germany. A smaller version of this composition (29.5 x 42 cm), painted on panel is today in the Hallwyl Museum in Stockholm. It was acquired in 1919 in Berlin, where before 1869 there was a Radziwill Palace (later Reich Chancellery). Basing on signature (F.F.) and style it is attributed to the Flemish painter Frans Floris, who traveled to Italy probably as early as 1541 or 1542. He spent several years there with his brother Cornelis. From 1547 until his death he lived in Antwerp, where he managed a large studio with many pupils. In 1549 Cornelis Floris was commissioned to make a funerary monument for Dorothea, wife of Albert, Duke of Prussia, cousin of King Sigismund II Augustus, in Königsberg Cathedral. Design for several tapestries with monogram of Sigismund Augustus (Wawel Royal Castle), created in about 1555, is attributed to Cornelis Floris. Until his death in 1575 he worked on an impressive series of sculptures at home and abroad, including the tomb for Duke Albert in Königsberg, carved in 1570. Königsberg, known as Królewiec in Polish, was the capital of Ducal Prussia, fief of Poland (till 1657) and one of the biggest cities and ports situated close to estates of the Goniądz-Medele line of the Radziwill family. Paintings by Frans Floris were imported to different countries in Europe already in the 16th century, like the Last Judgment, created in 1565, today in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, which was verifiable in Prague in 1621, and he died while working on large paintings for a Spanish client. In Poland there is an Allegory of Caritas, acquired in 1941 for the Museum in Gdańsk (inventory number M / 453 / MPG) and a portrait of a girl as Diana in the National Museum in Wrocław (inventory number VIII-2247). The Holy Kinship by Frans Floris from the Łańcut Castle, dated to about 1555, was sold in 1945 in Zurich and tin sarcophagus of Sigismund Augustus with allegories of five senses (Wawel Cathedral) was created by Flemish/Dutch sculptors (Monogrammist FVA and Wylm van Gulich) in 1572 and inspired by engravings after drawings by Frans Floris. The sitter from the described paintings by Lambert Sustris and Frans Floris, bear a resemblance to effigies of Anna Kostewicz and John Radziwill (a print and a portrait in the National Museum in Warsaw), parents of Elizabeth Radziwill. Among paintings offered in 1994 by Karolina Lanckorońska to the Wawel Royal Castle in Kraków, there is a small painting depicting the Rest on the Flight into Egypt (oil on panel, 94.5 x 69.6), painted in the style close to Lambert Sustris (inventory number ZKWawel 7954). Before 1915 it was in the Lanckoroński Palace in Rozdil (Rozdół in Polish), between Berezhany and Lviv in Ukraine, and later transported to Vienna. 
Portrait of Princess Elizabeth Radziwill (d. 1565) by Lambert Sustris, 1558-1560, Museum of Western and Eastern Art in Odessa.
Portrait of Princess Elizabeth Radziwill (d. 1565) as Venus and Cupid by Lambert Sustris or circle, 1558-1560, Private collection.
Portrait of Princess Elizabeth Radziwill (d. 1565) as Venus and Cupid by Frans Floris, 1558-1560, Hallwyl Museum in Stockholm.
The Holy Kinship from the Łańcut Castle by Frans Floris, ca. 1555, Private collection.
The Rest on the Flight into Egypt by Lambert Sustris, third quarter of the 16th century, Wawel Royal Castle.
Portraits of Anna Jagiellon, Catherine Jagiellon and Catherine of Austria as Venus by Titian
In 1558 died Mary Tudor and Philip II of Spain, ruler of the half of the known world was widowed again. He decided to marry. The future wife should be fertile and bear him many healthy sons, as his only son Don Carlos was showings signs of mental instability. At the same time the contacts of the Polish court with Spain increased. It is possible that Sigismund Augustus proposed his two unmarried sisters Anna and Catherine and sent to Spain their portraits. The match with the king of Spain, apart from great prestige, would also allow Sigismund to claim the heritage of his mother and the Neapolitan sums.
In January 1558, the councilor of the king of Spain, Alonso Sánchez took possession of the goods of the late Queen of Poland Bona in the name of the Spanish Crown and sequestered everything that was in the castle in Bari. Wojciech Kryski was sent to Madrid to appeal to Philip II about Bona's inheritance. Instructions for Kryski (January 16, 1558) and a letter from Sigismund Augustus to Philip (April 17, 1558) were dated from Vilnius. A letter of Pietro Aretino to Alessandro Pesenti of Verona, musician at the royal court, dated 17 July 1539, is the earliest witness to Giovanni Jacopo Caraglio's presence in Poland. Pesenti had been the organist to Cardinal Ippolito d'Este before becoming a royal musician at the Polish court on 20 August 1521. He was Bona's favourite organist and Caraglio created a medal with his profile on obverse and muscial instruments on reverse (Münzkabinett in Berlin). There were also other eminent Italian muscicians in royal capella, like Giovanni Balli, known in Poland as Dziano or Dzianoballi, who in the 1560s was paid 25 florins quaterly and many others. Among the lute players, the favourite of the king Sigismund II Augustus was Walenty Bakwark or Greff Bakffark (1515-1576), born in Transylvania who entered his service on 12 June 1549 in Kraków. He recieved many gifts from the king and his salary increased from 150 florins in 1558 to 175 florins in 1564. In 1559 he acquired a house in Vilnius and he travelled to Gdańsk, Augsburg, Lyon, Rome and Venice. From 1552 the court organist of the king was Marcin Andreopolita of Jędrzejów and Mikołaj of Chrzanów (d. 1562), an organist and composer. Most probably before his arrival to Poland Caraglio created numerous erotic prints, including sets of Loves of the Gods, which also contain very explicit scenes. One depicting Venus and Cupid (Di Venere e amore) is signed by him (Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, RP-P-OB-35.614, · CARALIVS · / · FE · under Venus' foot). In April 1552, he made a brief return trip to Italy. On October 18, 1558 in Warsaw, Sigismund Augustus issued a privilege to Prospero Provano (or Prosper Provana, d. 1584), a Piedmontese merchant, to arrange permanent post Kraków - Venice via Vienna (Ordinatio postae Cracowia Venetias et super eandem generosus Prosper Provana praeficitur). The company was subsidized by the king and Prospero was paid 1,500 thalers a year by the royal treasury. The post was to transport luggage and people. Two paintings by Titian from the Spanish royal collection (Prado Museum in Madrid, oil on canvas, 138 x 222.4 cm, P000420 and 150.2 x 218.2 cm, P000421) and one from the Medici collection in Florence by workshop of Titian (Uffizi, oil on canvas, 139.2 x 195.5 cm, inv. 1890, 1431), shows Venus, goddess of love. They were created at the same time and they are almost identical, the protagonists however are different. In Prado versions the musician is interrupted in the act of making music by the sight of a nude beauty. He directs his eyes to her womb. In Uffizi version a musician is replaced with a partridge, a symbol of sexual desire. As in Venus of Urbino, all alludes to the qualities of a bride and the purpose of the painting. A dog is a symbol of fidelity, donkeys refer to eternal love, a stag is the attribute of the huntress Diana, a virgin goddess and protector of childbirth and a peacock, sacred animal of Juno, queen of the gods, sitting on a fountain refer to fecundity. A statue of satyr on the fountain is a symbol of the sexuality and voluptuous love. A pair of embraced lovers are heading towards the setting sun. A copy of "older" Venus from Prado is today in the Mauritshuis in The Hague (oil on canvas, 157 x 213 cm, inventory number 343). This painting was created in the studio of Titian and at the beginning of the 19th century was in the collection of Lucien Bonaparte, the younger brother of Napoleon Bonaparte, and later, until 1839, belonged to Cardinal Joseph Fesch in Rome. Another, most probably a workshop copy and close to the works by Lambert Sustris, is in the Royal Collection in England (oil on canvas, 96.3 x 136.9 cm, RCIN 402669). It once belonged to King Charles I and it is also attributed to Spanish artist Miguel de la Cruz (Michael Cross, active 1623-1660). Paintings from the Gemäldegalerie in Berlin (oil on canvas, 115 x 210 cm, inv. 1849), the Metropolitan Museum of Art (oil on canvas, 165.1 x 209.6 cm, inv. 36.29) and the Fitzwilliam Museum (oil on canvas, 150.5 x 196.8 cm, inv. 129) are similar, but the women are married. The musician directs his eyes to breasts of the goddess, a symbol of maternity, or her head crowned with a wreath. Her womb is covered and in Berlin painting the goddess is departing (carriage in the background) towards the peaks of the far north - a good quality copy of this painting, possibly from Titian's 19th century copyist, is in Kaunas, Lithuania (oil on canvas, 115.5 x 202 cm, National Museum of Art, inventory number ČDM MŽ 1217). The copy from the collection of the Jewish lawyer Gino Pincherle in Trieste, lost during World War II, was attributed to the school of Titian (oil on canvas, 40 x 60 cm). The copyist did not faithfully reproduce the original, replaced the organist with a large vase and omitted the Cupid. The lanscape with stags and dancing satires in paintings of crowned Venus allude to fecundity. Despite the divine beauty of two sisters of king of Poland, Anna and Catherine Jagiellon, Philip decided for more favorable match with neighbouring France and married Elizabeth of France, who was engaged with his son. The younger Catherine married Duke of Finland in 1562 in Vilnius and departed to Finland. The painting in the Gemäldegalerie in Berlin was acquired in 1918 from private collection in Vienna and the painting in the Fitzwilliam Museum was in the Imperial collection in Prague by 1621, therefore both were sent to Habsburgs. Lambert Sustris created a reduced copy of the version from the Fitzwilliam Museum without the lute player (or possibly cut later), which was sold in Rome in 2014 (Minerva Auctions, November 24, 2014, lot 18). The painting in the Metropolitan Museum of Art was described in great detail in a 1724 inventory of the Pio di Savoia collection in Rome. Cardinal Rodolfo Pio da Carpi, humanist and patron of the arts, was the favorite candidate of Philip II of Spain in the Conclave of 1559. Catherine of Austria, willing to save her marriage and give the heir to Sigismund Augustus, most probably sent her portait to Rome to get a blessing, just as her mother Anna Jagellonica in about 1531 (Borghese Gallery). The effigy of Saint Catherine of Alexandria by Titian from about 1560 in the Prado Museum (oil on canvas, 135 x 98 cm, P000447) is very similar to other effigies of Queen Catherine and her portraits as Venus. The slashed wheel and the sword allude to the martyrdom of the saint and difficult marital situation of the Queen. Her royal status was appropriate for a foundation such as Royal Monastery of El Escorial (recorded as far as 1593). Despite her efforts she did not managed to save her marriage. The painting of Venus in Berlin was acquired in 1918, the year when Poland regained its independance after 123 years, eliminated by neighbouring countries. Blond goddeses of European culture were rulers of the country that should not exist (in the opinion of countries that partitioned the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth), something totally inimaginable and inacceptable to many people back then. It is also worth noting here that one of the most important and one of the most beautiful male nudes in European painting, inspired by Renaissance and Baroque female nudes (such as Diego Velázquez's Venus del espejo), is found in Poland. The work, now kept at the National Museum in Warsaw (oil on canvas, 60 x 73 cm, MP 2242 MNW), was painted by Aleksander Lesser (1814-1884), a Polish painter of Jewish origin, in 1837, during his studies in Munich (signed and dated lower right: 18AL37). 
Portrait of Princess Anna Jagiellon (1523-1596) as Venus with the organ player by Titian, ca. 1558, Prado Museum in Madrid.
Portrait of Princess Anna Jagiellon (1523-1596) as Venus with the organ player by workshop of Titian, ca. 1558, Mauritshuis in The Hague.
Portrait of Princess Anna Jagiellon (1523-1596) as Venus with the organ player by workshop or follower of Titian, possibly Lambert Sustris, ca. 1558 or after, The Royal Collection.
Portrait of Princess Catherine Jagiellon (1526-1583) as Venus with the organ player by Titian, ca. 1558, Prado Museum in Madrid.
Portrait of Princess Catherine Jagiellon (1526-1583) as Venus with a partridge (Venere della pernice) by workshop of Titian, ca. 1558, Uffizi Gallery in Florence.
Portrait of Princess Catherine Jagiellon (1526-1583) as Venus with the organ player by Titian, ca. 1562, Gemäldegalerie in Berlin.
Portrait of Princess Catherine Jagiellon (1526-1583) nude by the school of Titian, ca. 1562 or after, Private collection, lost during World War II. Virtual reconstruction, © Marcin Latka
Portrait of Princess Catherine Jagiellon (1526-1583) as Venus with the organ player by follower of Titian, first half of the 19th century, National Museum of Art in Kaunas.
Portrait of Queen Catherine of Austria (1533-1572) as Venus with the lute player by Titian, ca. 1558-1565, Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge.
Portrait of Queen Catherine of Austria (1533-1572) as Venus by Lambert Sustris, ca. 1558-1565, Private collection.
Portrait of Queen Catherine of Austria (1533-1572) as Venus with the lute player by Titian, ca. 1558-1565, Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Portrait of Queen Catherine of Austria (1533-1572) as Saint Catherine by Titian, ca. 1558-1565, Prado Museum in Madrid.
Venus and Cupid by Giovanni Jacopo Caraglio, mid-16th century, Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.
Reclining male nude by Aleksander Lesser, 1837, National Museum in Warsaw.
Portrait of Catherine Jagiellon in red by Giovanni Battista Moroni
Renaissance painters often drew inspiration from real life to depict religious scenes and placed them in interiors and settings typical of their country. This is why Giovanni Battista Moroni's Adoration of the Magi is set in a ruined Renaissance house, whose architecture is typical of Lombardy (oil on canvas, 97 x 112 cm, Codice di catalogo nazionale: 0303270207). Interestingly, the painter dressed Saint Melchior, the oldest member of the Magi, traditionally called the King of Persia, who brought the gift of gold to Jesus, in a costume typical of Polish-Lithuanian nobles of the time. The man wears a velvet coat the color of crimson Polish cochineal lined with expensive white fur. Similar costumes can be seen in the Theatrum virtutum ac meritorum D. Stanislai Hosii ..., created by Tomasz Treter (1547-1610) in Rome before 1588 (National Library of Poland, Rps BOZ 130), where, according to Latin captions, Polish noblemen were represented (Nobilis Polonus). After 1617, the Venetian painter Tommaso Dolabella placed his religious scene depicting the 11th-century Saint Stanislaus at the court of Sigismund III and the saint is surrounded by notables from Poland-Lithuania in their national costumes, including one in a crimson coat lined with white fur (Church of the Assumption of Mary in Warta). This means that the rich eastern kingdom was also for Moroni an example of oriental splendor and he knew this costume from his everyday life. This painting is dated around 1555-1560 and was originally part of the collection of the notary Gian Luigi Seradobati of Albino, the master's hometown. A copy probably made by Moroni's workshop is also in a private collection (oil on canvas, 97 x 120 cm, attributed to School of Bergamo).
A young woman in the portrait of a lady, known as La Dama in Rosso (Lady in Red) by Moroni in the National Gallery in London (oil on canvas, 155 x 106.8 cm, inv. NG1023), bears great resemblance to Catherine Jagiellon's miniature in German costume by Lucas Cranach the Younger and her portraits by Titian and his workshop. The identification as a portrait of poetess Lucia Albani Avogadro (1534-1568) is manly based on engraved effigy of Lucia in profile, with generic resemblance, by Giovanni Fortunato Lolmo created between 1575 and 1588, therefore almost ten years after her death, and inventory of Scipione Avogadro's collection in Brescia, which describes "two portraits by Moretto [da Brescia], one of the count Faustino, standing, the other of the countess Lucia, his wife" (Due ritratti del Moretto, uno del conte Faustino in piedi, altro della contessa Lucia sua moglie). The painting was purchased from Signor Giuseppe Baslini at Milan in 1876 with other portraits from Fenaroli Avogadro collection, most probably from their villa in Rezzato, near Brescia. Its previous history is unknown, it is threfore possible that it was acquired when their villa was extened in the 18th century or that Filippo Avogadro, who greeted Queen Bona in Treviso in 1556, wanted to have a portrait of her beautiful daughter. The sitter is pointing to a simple fan of straw worked with silk, the main accessory as in the portrait by Titian in Dresden. The fan was regarded as a status symbol in ancient Rome and developed as a means of protecting the holy vessels from pollution caused by flies and other insects in the Christian Church (flabellum), thus becoming a symbol of chastity. In Venice and Padua a fan was carried by betrothed or married women. Its specific octagonal shape might be a reference to renewal and transition as eight was the number of Resurrection (after "Signs & Symbols in Christian Art" by George Ferguson, p. 154), can then be interpreted as readiness to change marital status. In 1560, at the age of 34, Catherine was still unmarried and did not want be betrothed to a tirant, Tsar Ivan IV, who invaded Livonia committing horrible atrocities. This portrait would be a good information that she prefers an Italian suitor. It was commissioned around the same time as portraits of Catherine's brother and his wife by Moroni and Titian (Prado Museum). The king opposed his sister Catherine's marriage to the Duke of Finland. In response to his mother's letters, which required him to help his sisters marry, Sigismund Augustus constantly repeated that he did not want to impose his will on them, but that he would comply with that of his sisters. He declared to the Duke of Finland, who was seeking to marry Princess Catherine: "Venetians came to the Kingdom of Cyprus offering a noble Venetian woman in marriage. The princess Her Majesty will be all the happier than her other sisters, for she will marry whomever she wishes; while they had to marry men they have never seen [in real life]" (after "Cnoty i wady narodu szlacheckiego ..." by Antoni Górski, p. 62). Less well known is the fact of the marriage negotiations which, with the mediation of Ludovico Monti, lasted for years, although conducted with little conviction on the part of both parties, between a son of Ferrante I Gonzaga (1507-1557), governor of the Duchy of Milan between 1546 and 1554, and the youngest daughter of Bona (after "La trama Nascosta - Storie di mercanti e altro" by Rita Mazzei). Perhaps they were undertaken thanks to queen's efforts. It is not clear why he wanted to marry Catherine, although her older sister Anna was unmarried. Perhaps Anna, aged thirty-three, seemed too old to the count of Guastalla, or perhaps he knew from somewhere that Catherine was prettier. However, Sigismund Augustus refused Gonzaga (February 1556), because he feared that the Italian, married to a Jagiellonian princess, would become Bona's heir and take over Bari (after "Jagiellonowie: leksykon biograficzny" by Małgorzata Duczmal, p. 340). The governor of Milan undoubtedly received several portraits of the Polish-Lithuanian Princess-Infanta. In a letter dated 20 February 1556, the king mentions other candidates and "the delay in efforts". 
Portrait of Catherine Jagiellon (1526-1583) in red by Giovanni Battista Moroni, 1556-1560, National Gallery in London.
Adoration of the Magi with a man in a costume of a Polish-Lithuanian nobleman by Giovanni Battista Moroni, ca. 1555-1560, Private collection.
Portraits of Catherine Jagiellon by circle of Titian
In the 16th century fashion was an instrument of politics and princesses of Poland-Lithuania had in their coffers Spanish, French, Italian and German robes. Their clothing also reflected the great diversity of Poland-Lithuania (and Ruthenia).
The inventory of dowry of Catherine Jagiellon (1526-1583), Duchess of Finland includes many items similar to these visible in the portraits identified as likenesses of the Duchess of Urbino: "Necklaces with precious stones, 17 pieces (the most expensive 16,800 thalers)", "Pearl caps (13 pieces). From 40 thaler. to 335", "Buckles on (thirteen) French and Spanish robes", 17 velvet, long underneath garments, including one crimson with 72 French buckles (ferety), and "longitudinal pontały [jewels and ornaments sewn onto the dress, imitating embroidery] with blocks with the same white and brown-red enamel is pair 146", 6 satin underneath garments, one robe of white satin embroidered with gold and silver with 76 buckles, and a robe of brown-red satin embroidered along the length with gold thread (Opisanie rzeczy, które Królewna J. M. Katarzyna Polska a Księżna Finlandzka z sobą wziąść raczyła A. D. 1562 die octava mensis Octobris, compare "Jagiellonki polskie w XVI wieku. Korrespondencya polska ...", Volume 3, p. 312-314, 317, 320). The wealth of clothes of Catherine's brother, Sigismund Augustus, as well as the great diversity of the country, its fashions and customs were praised by Jean Choisnin de Chastelleraut in his "Speech in truth of all that happened for the entire negotiation of the election of the king of Poland", dedicated to Catherine de' Medici (1519-1589) and published in Paris in 1574 (Ie diray d'auantage, qu'il a laisse plus de riches habillemens, & d'armes, & d'Artillerie que tous les Roys qui sont auiourd'huy viuans ne sçauroient monstrer, p. 123). The Duchess of Finland took with her from Vilnius many luxury clothes and household items, as well as plenty of clothing "for eight ladies and two female dwarves" (na ośm panien i na dwie karliczki) and servants. As in other European countries, marriage plans and negotiations were often accompanied by portraits, so many portraits of the beautiful and wealthy daughter of Sigismund I and Bona Sforza must have been made during her lifetime. However, very few were known before this blog. Furthermore, very few sources confirming this practice within the ruling dynasty of Poland-Lithuania have been preserved. In a letter from 1562 to Gabriel Tarło (d. 1565), Duke Albert of Prussia (1490-1568), cousin of Sigismund Augustus, requests a portrait and information on the age and dowry of the king's youngest sister (der jüngsten Schwester des Königs) - Catherine, with a view to her possible marriage to the young Duke of Holstein. At that time, there were Italians at Albert's court, such as the horse trainer Antonio Arduvia from Ferrara (confirmed in 1558), a mason (in 1562), a lutenist (in 1565), a physician from Florence (in 1566) and most likely an Italian painter. According to a contract from 1561, several ships were to be built each year for the Venetians in East Prussia (compare "Die Kunst am Hofe der Herzöge von Preussen" by Hermann Ehrenberg, p. 118, 196). It is therefore quite possible that Italian artists were involved in creating the portrait of Catherine for the Duke of Holstein. Friends and allies of Catherine's mother in Italy must also have received several portraits of the princess, who spoke Italian fluently. While mentions of portraits of kings, queens and hereditary princes of Spain, France and England are quite common in inventories of the Medici residences, such as "a painted portrait of the Queen of England, by the hand of Louis the Flemish" (Un quadro del ritratto della regina d'Inghilterra, di mano di Luigi Fiamingo), mentioned in the inventory of the Palazzo Vecchio from the 1560s (Guardaroba di Cosimo I de' Medici, Segnatura: ASF, GM 65, c. 160), the status of the elected monarchs of Poland-Lithuania probably contributed to the fact that their effigies were not considered worthy of mention or their identity was quickly forgotten after being received. The inventory of the Villa del Poggio Imperiale from 1646-1652 mentions "A small painting on panel, depicting a foreign lady, by Titian" (Quadretto in tavola, dipintovi una gentildonna forestiera, di Tizziano, Segnatura: ASF, GM 674, c. 2), as well as one of the oldest mentions of a portrait "representing a lady dressed in black in the old style, said to be the Duchess Eleonora of Urbino, by Titian" (dipintovi una signora vestita di nero all'antica, che dicono sia la Duchessa Leonora d'Urbino, di Tizziano, Segnatura: ASF, GM 674, c. 272). The number of mentions of portraits of kings, queens or princes of Poland increases in the inventories of the early 17th century, when the mothers of the young Medicis and the Polish-Lithuanian Vasas were related (Constance of Austria and her younger sister Maria Maddalena). The portrait identified as representing Giulia da Varano (1523-1547), who married Guidobaldo II della Rovere (1514-1574), Duke of Urbino, in 1534, now preserved in the Pitti Palace in Florence (oil on panel, 113.5 x 88 cm, inv. 764 - Oggetti d'arte Pitti (1911)), can be considered a portrait of a bride or depicting a potential candidate for marriage. Numerous jewels and a bunch of roses allude to the purity and qualities of a bride. The necklace is a jewel in which three different stones are set, each with its own precise meaning: the emerald indicates chastity, the ruby indicates charity, the sapphire indicates purity and the big pearl is finally a symbol of fidelity in marriage. The portrait could therefore be dated to around 1534, but the woman looks older than 11 years old (Giulia's age at the time of her marriage). The identification as portrait of Giulia da Varano is mainly based on inventory of the Ducal Palace of Pesaro from about 1624, which says about the portrait of the Duchess in ebony frames with her coat of arms and interlaced monogram G.G. of Giulia and her husband (Quadro uno simile con cornici d'ebano con lauoro dell'arme di Casa Varana con G. G. legati insieme ne cantoni fog[li] e e ghiande di cerqua col Retratto della Duch[ess]a Giulia Varana). The Duchess of Urbino died in Fossombrone, at the age of 24, in 1547, after two months of illness. She was buried in a gamurra satin ochre dress with stripes, displayed at the Brancaleoni Castle in Piobbico. The following year, the widower Guidobaldo remarried Vittoria Farnese (1519-1602). In the 17th century, a painter from the Marche created portraits of two of Guidobaldo's wives, both inscribed in Latin (private collection). While the effigy of Vittoria resembles other portraits identified as Guidobaldo's second wife, the portrait of a lady in a green dress inscribed in Latin IVLIA VARANI / I VXOR GVIDONIS VBALDI II VRB・DVC, could hardly be compared to the portrait in the Pitti Palace. The monogram on the buckles of the woman's dress visible in the portrait is interpreted as that of Giulia and Guidobaldo, but it closely resembles the monogram of Catherine de' Medici, Queen of France, who was regent of France between 1560 and 1563. A similar interlaced CC can be seen on a plaque with miniatures of Catherine, her husband and other members of her family, painted by François Clouet around 1559. It probably belonged to Catherine herself, who would then have left it as an inheritance to her favourite niece Christine of Lorraine (1565-1637), married to the Grand Duke of Tuscany Ferdinand I (1549-1609), now preserved in the Uffizi Gallery (inv. 1890, 815). The dress of the Queen of France from her miniature portrait in the center is also decorated with buckles with the monogram of her and her husband HCC intertwined. The Queen of France, the most powerful Italian woman of the time, was undoubtedly a model or idol for the woman in the portrait, as her dress and hairstyle bear a strong resemblance to French fashion of the time, visible in the portrait of Catherine de' Medici by an unknown painter, after original from the 1550s (Uffizi Gallery, inv. 4301 / 1890) and the miniature portrait of Mary Stuart (1542-1587), Queen of Scots by François Clouet, dated circa 1558-1560 (Royal Collection, RCIN 401229). The famous pendant of the namesake of the Queen of France, Catherine Jagellon with her monogram C with which she was buried, commissioned by her father in Nuremberg in 1546 and made by Nicolaus Nonarth (now in the Treasury of Uppsala Cathedral), was not included in the mentioned inventory of her dowry, however the crimson dress with 72 French buckles or 146 pontały matches the portrait in Florence almost perfectly. The Florentine museums have one of the richest collections of effigies of European monarchs, in particular of Catherine de' Medici, of various origins, some of which were probably sent from France or painted by Florentine painters. We can mention three others representing her before widowhood (Uffizi, inv. 21 / 1890 and inv. 2257 / 1890; Pitti, inv. 2448 / 1890), as well as four as a widow (Uffizi, inv. 2236 / 1890; inv. 441 / Poggio Imperiale (1860); Pitti, inv. 275 / Oggetti d'Arte Castello (1911); Pitti, inv. 5665 / 1890). Catherine Jagiellon, despite her links with the Italian peninsula, is not represented (according to the sources and identifications known before this blog). The portrait preserved in the Pitti Palace is considered to be a copy of a lost original by Titian, which indicates that the painter and his workshop created several portraits of this bride intended to be sent to different places in Europe. The woman depicted strongly resembles the future Duchess of Finland, based on her known effigies in German-style costume (Germanisches Nationalmuseum in Nuremberg, inv. Gm 622, lost, and Czartoryski Museum in Kraków, MNK XII-543). The same woman was depicted in another portrait thought to be a work by Titian's studio (oil on canvas, 39.4 x 31.1 cm, Christie's New York, Auction 2511, January 26, 2011, lot 115). She was shown in profile wearing a Spanish-style satin dress and a pearl snood or cap, a comparable example of which was depicted in the intaglio with the profile of Catherine's mother, Bona Sforza (Pinacoteca Ambrosiana, inv. 284). The portrait was sold with an attribution to the late 16th-century Venetian school, and the identification of the sitter as Giulia da Varano has not been maintained. The woman wears a pendant with an indistinct monogram (probably as a result of copying), which could originally be an intertwined I and C, thus Ioannes and Catharina for John of Finland and Catherine Jagiellon, four intertwined Cs as in the mentioned monogram of Catherine de' Medici or Christogram IHS. A somewhat similar late Gothic pendant with a Christogram from the second half of the 15th century adorns the Diamond Robe of the Black Madonna of Częstochowa (Jasna Góra Treasury). In Florence, another portrait of the same woman, depicted in a black velvet dress embroidered with gold, is preserved, today in the Bardini Museum (oil on canvas, 73 x 54 cm, inv. Bardini, n. 1461). The work in the catalogue of the auction of the Bardini collection, which took place in London in 1922, was attributed to Paolo Veronese. This attribution was later corrected to the Venetian school of the second half of the 16th century. The inventory of the Duchess of Finland included four black velvet dresses, three of which were probably Italian or French in style, and a Spanish "under the throat" (pod gardło) with 198 trumpet-shaped buckles. The style of this painting resembles works attributed to Bernardino Licinio, who died in Venice before 1565. 
Portrait of Catherine Jagiellon (1526-1583) by Venetian school, most probably Bernardino Licinio, 1550s, Bardini Museum in Florence.
Portrait of Catherine Jagiellon (1526-1583) in a pearl snood net by circle of Titian, before 1562, Private collection.
Portrait of Catherine Jagiellon (1526-1583) as a bride by circle of Titian, before 1562, Pitti Palace in Florence.
Portrait of a courtier, most likely the writer Łukasz Górnicki by Paris Bordone
"It must be to Your Royal Majesty's good fortune, Most Serene and Gracious King, that under no other Polish king were there so many scholars in Poland as during the reign of Your Royal Grace: and it is not by chance, but precisely from Your Royal hands, that Poland possesses so many books in its own language, as there have never been before. [...] And I, a servant of Your Royal Grace, noting this, and understanding that all this is very pleasing to Your Royal Grace, what someone does for the Polish nation with a virtuous spirit, undertook a work, so that I could also show something. And according to the old custom, as did Count Balcer Castiglion, whose courtier I wished to translate into Polish, I recorded the conversations of Your Royal Grace's courtiers, from Prądnik. [...] Written in Tykocin, on the eighteenth of July in the year one thousand five hundred and sixty-five from the Nativity of Our Lord", reads the dedication to King Sigismund II Augustus. It was published in 1566 in the best-known work of the writer Łukasz Górnicki (1527-1603) - "The Polish Courtier" (Dworzanin polski), a paraphrase of the treatise Il cortegiano by Baldassare Castiglione.
Unlike Castiglione, who, in his famous work, written at the court of Urbino between 1508 and 1516 and published in 1528 in Venice, propagated new rules of social coexistence, a culture of behavior and respect for women, Górnicki not included any female characters, which in the original reflected the atmosphere of the Italian court. He also removed homoerotic themes, adding: "As for de effeminatis [the effeminate] he speaks of, since this bad custom has not come down to us, it would be a shame to mention it as well". It should be remembered, however, that around 1554 Górnicki received minor clerical orders (Jan Kochanowski did the same) and obtained several ecclesiastical benefices in this capacity. As a member of the clergy at the time of the impending Counter-Reformation, he undoubtedly could not freely base his work on Castiglione's original. However, he included the following conversation between Stanisław Bojanowski (1507-1555) and Andrzej Kostka: "[...] and yet women always want to be men [...] This is indeed the case, but not because of our greater perfection, but because of the freedom we have taken from them" (białegłowy lepszego nie baczą, ale niebożątka radyby mężczyznami były dla swobody, chcąc ujść surowej naszej zwierzchności, którąśmy sobie sami nad nimi przywłaszczyli, i tą zniewoliliśmy niebogi nad przystojeństwo). In 1554, Łukasz's uncle, Stanisław Gąsiorek, called Anserinus, better known as Stanisław Kleryka, cleric of the royal chapel on Wawel, made a will in his favor and bequeathed him the Wieliczka rectory and the canonship of the Kruszwica collegiate church, and then, in 1562, the rectory in Kęty. Górnicki did not personally perform the duties associated with his office, but, as was the custom at the time, simply drew on the income from these offices, using deputies. Having thus acquired greater financial resources, he left for Italy in 1557 for two years, where he began studying law in Padua. He returned to Poland in February 1559 and, although he did not obtain a university degree, he received the honorable rank of secretary of the royal secret chancellery, a position that, in practice, was reserved only for eminent individuals. On November 23, 1559, he was appointed librarian to Sigismund Augustus. He held this for nearly thirteen years, until the king's death in 1572. Probably shortly after his return from Italy, he began adapting Castiglione's Il cortegiano in Vilnius and completed it in Tykocin, where the royal library was eventually relocated. He adapted Castiglione's work to the reality of the court of his former patron, the Crown Vice-Chancellor and Bishop of Kraków, Samuel Maciejowski (1499-1550). From around 1545 he stayed at the Bishop's Palace in Prądnik, near Kraków. At that time, the Orthodox, Protestant, and Jewish denominations dominated in many parts of the country, so claims that the views of a small group of courtiers at the court of the Catholic bishop perfectly reflected those of the entire nation are completely unfounded. The Polish Courtier was printed in Kraków in 1566 by one of the finest printers of the time, Maciej Wirzbięta (1523-1605). The work, however, was not among the widely read. Unlike the successive reprints of Kochanowski's works, no new edition appeared during Gornicki's lifetime, that is, before 1603 (after "Łukasz Górnicki, jego życie i dzieła" by Raphael Löwenfeld, p. 20-21, 23, 25, 28, 32, 35, 38, 45-47, 79, 94, 107, 164, 225). Another important work by Górnicki in the context of his travels and education in Italy is "A Conversation between a Pole and an Italian on Polish Freedoms and Rights" (Rozmowa Polaka z Wlochem O Wolnosciach Y Prawach Polskich), a political dialogue written around 1588-1598 and published around 1616. The Pole is a representative of Sarmatian ideology, while the Italian recreates the views of the author himself, boldly criticizing the political system in Poland and in particular "golden freedom", the judicial system and the administration. The writer's stay in Italy between 1557 and 1559 was not the only one. He probably stayed there between 1543 and 1548, although the precise dates are unknown. In many places Górnicki refers to Gasparo Contarini's work De magistratibus, et repub. Venetorum libri quinq., published in Basel in 1547, which he had evidently studied thoroughly. The Republic of Venice serves as his model everywhere. He probably also visited Rome, and even stayed there for a long time. With the royal court, he traveled through the lands forming Sarmatia, notably to Gdańsk and Królewiec in 1552, then to Kaunas and Vilnius the following year. Shortly after Easter 1553, Sigismund Augustus sent an embassy to Vienna to negotiate a marriage with his relative Catherine of Austria, widow of the Duke of Mantua and daughter of the Roman King Ferdinand. Przerębski headed the embassy, and among the few courtiers who accompanied him was also Górnicki. Between 1559 and 1562, Łukasz lived mainly at the court in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. In 1561, he was in Rudnik. In the same year, the king left Vilnius in November and arrived in Łomża, where Górnicki received "secret letters". In October 1562, he attended the wedding of Catherine Jagiellon, the king's sister, in Vilnius with the entire court, and then went to the Sejm in Piotrków. The year 1561 was particularly important for Górnicki, as he obtained from the king written confirmation of his alleged nobility of the Ogończyk coat of arms (May 6 / July 2), which was questioned in 1555 by Łukasz Oleśnicki. He was actually the son of Marcin Góra (original name) and Anna Gąsiorkówna, poor townspeople from Bochnia. On February 13, 1561, the king also granted him an annual pension of 100 florins, paid around Easter from the tax office of the city of Kraków, and on May 15, a second sum of 100 Hungarian gold zlotys, which constituted the tax on Kraków's Jews. It is not known when he renounced his ecclesiastical benefices, but around 1570 Górnicki married Barbara Broniewska (1557-1587), 30 years his junior, daughter of Stanisław (1507-1582), equerry of Przemyśl and starost of Medyka. Barbara's father was a royal courtier who traveled to various courts in Europe. The writer died on July 22, 1603, at the age of 76 (Obiit Anno Domini 1603. Die 22 mensis Julii, aetatis suae anno 76to), as evidenced by the commemorative plaque on his tombstone in the Bernardine Church in Tykocin. He was buried alongside his wife and children, and the tombstone was erected by his sons Jan and Łukasz. The church, located on an island in the Narew River, adjacent to the castle island, was demolished before 1771 due to the river waters undermining the buildings. There are no known portraits of the author of "The Polish Courtier" from the time he lived. No information about his appearance has survived. According to information and portraits found on the internet, artificial intelligence depicts him as a dark-haired man. A description left by Górnicki in "The Polish Courtier" suggests that he was a connoisseur of painting: "Like a good Painter, he sets a thing in shadow and makes it opaque and with brightness he sets it far away, deep, lowers, shortens it, according to need: by putting different colors, he supports one thing against another; and knowing where to put something against something, he shows what he wants to the eyes of men". In 2008, a portrait of a dark-haired man wearing a black fur-lined coat and holding a cap in his right hand, painted by Paris Bordone, was sold in London (oil on canvas, 94.5 x 78 cm, Sotheby's, December 4, 2008, lot 167). At the beginning of the 20th century, this painting was in a private collection in Florence. The man's pose and his rich costume suggest that he was a nobleman and courtier. In the lower right corner, we can see traces of inscription: ÆTATIS / ANNO / [..] III, while at the time of the Van Diemen sale in 1935, the catalog states that the inscription in the lower right was: ÆTATIS / ANNO / XXXIII and that the work was signed and dated in the lower left: O.P.B. [Opus Paris Bordone] 1561. The painting was therefore created in the year in which Górnicki received confirmation of his nobility and significant income. The man depicted in this portrait was 33 years old at the time of its creation. Although the date on his tombstone indicates that Łukasz should have been 34 that year, this discrepancy is minimal and generally acceptable, as in the case of the portrait of Ferdinand I of Austria (1503-1564), aged 46 in 1548 (MDXLVIII / ANNO ETATIS SVE / XXXXVI), created by Titian's workshop or follower (Dorotheum in Vienna, June 9, 2021, lot 155). Since the inscription is damaged, it is possible that the original age was XXXIIII or that the painter, for some reason, did not add an "I". Moreover, the age of Łukasz's wife at the time of her death is very interesting in this regard. According to the poem dedicated to her by her husband, "She lived 29 years and three months and died in 1587, on the last day of February" (Żyła lat 29, miesięcy trzy, umarła roku 1587, dnia ostatniego Lutego, after "Żywot Łukasza Górnickiego" by Bronisław Czarnik, p. 48), she was therefore born around December 1557. Paris Bordone worked for King Sigismund Augustus and also painted a splendid portrait of his goldsmith Giovanni Jacopo Caraglio, now preserved in Wawel Castle. There is no evidence that the painter and the model met around 1561 and, in general, Bordone's visit to Sarmatia is not confirmed. However, in the same year, a friend of Górnicki - Andrzej Patrycy Nidecki (1522-1587), who had also studied in Padua between 1557 and 1559 and returned to the country in May 1559, published in Venice fragments of Cicero with a dedication to Filip Padniewski (dated: Dat. Vilnæ, in Lituania, die XX. Iunii, anno Christi nati M. D. LX. [Vilnius June 20, 1560], Fragmentorvm M. Tvllii Ciceronis tomi IIII cum Andr. Patricii adnotationibus; Venetiis, apud Iordanum Ziletum [Giordano Ziletti], M. D. LXI.). Therefore, in the same way that the book finished in Vilnius could be printed in Venice, the portrait of the courtier living in Vilnius could be produced in Venice. 
Portrait of a courtier, most likely the writer Łukasz Górnicki (1527-1603) by Paris Bordone, 1561, Private collection.
Portrait of Jan Firlej by Titian
After his missions to Emperor Charles V in Worms in 1545 and to the court of King Ferdinand I of Austria in 1547, the brilliant career of Jan Firlej (1521-1574) continued. He was a courtier of the king (1545), secretary of the king (1554), castellan of Belz (1555), voivode of Belz (1556), voivode of Lublin (1561), grand marshal of the Crown (1563), voivode and starost of Kraków (1572) and marshal of the Sejm (1573). After 1550, he converted to Lutheranism, then to Calvinism and introduced Protestantism in his estates. He was one of the most prominent promoters of Protestantism in the Commonwealth and an ardent defender of Polish dissidents.
Before Queen Bona left for Italy in 1556, Jan was delegated by King Sigismund Augustus, together with several other castellans under the direction of Crown Chancellor Jan Ocieski, to collect important state documents from her. The description of their activities, preserved in the letter of the chancellor of January 27, 1556 from Warsaw to the king, is interesting: "When we came to receive the letters, Her Highness began with the words: Praise God that everyone should know about my business. In my lord's time no one knew what I had in my chest; now I have to open it. But I am really happy to do it, and I will gladly do it" (Laudetur Deus quod omnes debent scire res meas; tempore domini mei nemo scivit quid ego in cista mea habebam; nunc oportet me aperire. Sed vere ego sum contenta, libenter faciam). It was mainly Queen Bona's protection that helped the house of Firlej grow: "The one who ran away from us with an immeasurable catch / Cunning, greedy, lustful, Italian in a word, [...] With what she stripped from others, she dressed the Firlejs", wrote Ignacy Krasicki (1735-1801). Interestingly, this negative opinion about the queen was written by the Catholic bishop, who after the first partition of Poland became a close friend of Frederick II of Prussia, considered misogynist and homosexual (after "Dwie książki o Ignacym Krasickim" by Stefan Jerzy Buksiński, p. 62). After the death of his brother-in-law Jan Boner (1516-1562), the castle of Ogrodzieniec passed into the possession of Jan Firlej, as husband of Zofia, daughter of Seweryn Boner. Zofia's father was a royal banker and baron in Ogrodzieniec, a title received from King Ferdinand I in 1540. Firlej was also the king's envoy to Moldavia, where he received the oath of allegiance from Bogdan IV (1555-1574), prince of Moldavia (from 1568 to 1572). During the first interregnum (1572-1573), the French court sent him rich gifts through a Pole, in order to obtain his support for the candidacy of Henry, Duke of Anjou to the throne of Poland-Lithuania, but Firlej rejected the gifts and severely rebuked the messenger. He allegedly wanted the throne for himself. In the picture gallery of the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, there is portrait of a man in a coat lined with expensive lynx fur, painted by Titian (oil on canvas, 115.8 x 89 cm, GG 76). The painting comes from the the collection of Archduke Leopold Wilhelm of Austria and was recorded in the Theatrum Pictorium (number 95), after two paintings depicting Roxelana (numbers 93, 94), identified by me. David Teniers the Younger, court painter of Archduke Leopold Wilhelm, created between 1650-1656 a small copy of this painting, now in the Courtauld Institute of Art (oil on panel, 22.6 x 17 cm, P.1978.PG.436). He also depicted the painting in several views of Archduke's Gallery in Brussels (Schleißheim State Gallery, 1819, 1840, 1841), however in an incorrect layout, thus probably copying the earlier version of Lucas Vorsterman's engraving or a drawing. Titian's painting was previously thought to depict Filippo di Piero Strozzi (1541-1582), a member of the Florentine Strozzi family and condottiero, who in 1557 entered the French army and fought the Calvinist Huguenots, but this identification was rejected. Strozzi's miniature, possibly by Anton Boys, is also in the Kunsthistorisches Museum. The Habsburg collections included many portrait paintings of notable figures, mostly sent as gifts, so the man in the Venetian painter's painting must have been an important international figure. This is more of an official portrait, so the man was rather not a warrior or military leader, like Strozzi portrayed in a suit of armor of an admiral. He was most likely a diplomat or politician. The painting was initially larger in its upper part, as evidenced by old photographs and copies by Teniers. His face has also been changed. Possibly it was repainted by another painter because Titian does not render the likeness well and these alterations were removed in the 20th century. The man's pose and facial features, especially in the pre-restoration versions, resemble Jacopo Tintoretto's portrait in the Kröller-Müller Museum, depicting Firlej in 1547 at the age of 26. The painting is generally dated to around 1560, when Jan obtained important posts of voivode of Lublin (1561) and grand marshal of the Crown (1563). As a Calvinist close to Queen Bona, he can generally be seen as an opponent of the Habsburgs and their policies, but as an important dignitary, good relations with him, like for the French court, were undoubtedly important. So it was good to receive his beautiful portrait, but not necessarily to remember his identity. 
Portrait of Jan Firlej (1521-1574) by Titian, 1560s, Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna.
Portrait of Jan Firlej (1521-1574) by Titian, 1560s, Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna (before restoration).
Portrait of Jan Firlej (1521-1574) by David Teniers the Younger after Titian, 1650s, Courtauld Gallery in London.
Portrait of Jan Firlej (1521-1574) from the Theatrum Pictorium (95) by Lucas Vorsterman the Elder after Titian, 1673, Slovak National Gallery in Bratislava.
Portrait of Catherine Jagiellon in white by Titian
In the first half of the 18th century, a Swedish painter Georg Engelhard Schröder, created copies of two portraits of Venetian ladies by Titian. These two portraits, in Gripsholm Castle near Stockholm, are undeniably a pair, pendants showing two members of the same family, sisters. They are the only two copies of Titian by Schröder in this collection, they have almost identical dimensions (99 x 80 cm / 100 x 81 cm), composition, the two women are similar and the paintings have even similar inventory number (NMGrh 187, NMGrh 186), a proof that they were always together. The woman holding a cross and a book is Anna Jagiellon, as in the painting by circle of Titian in Kassel, the other must be then her younger sister Catherine Jagiellon, Duchess of Finland from 1562 and later Queen of Sweden.
After 1715 the Gripsholm Castle was abandoned by the royal court and between 1720 and 1770, it was used as a county jail. In 1724 Schröder was made the court painter of Frederick I of Sweden, who highly valued him. It is very probable that the king ordered the painter to copy two old, damaged portraits of unknown ladies from Gripsholm, which were then thrown away, replaced with copies by Schröder. The portrait of a second lady, in white dress and holding a fan, considered to be Titian's mistress, his daughter as a bride or a Venetian courtesan, is known from several copies. The best known is that in Dresden (without a pattern on sitter's dress, which a pupil of Titian most probably forgot or didin't managed to add), acquired in 1746 from the collection of the d'Este family (Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, oil on canvas, 102 x 86 cm, inv. Gal.-Nr. 170), which were friends and allies of "the Milanese princess", Bona Sforza, Catherine's mother. The other, now lost, was copied by Peter Paul Rubens, most probably during his stay in Mantua between 1600-1608, tohether with a portrait of Isabella d'Este, also by Titian and also considered to be lost (both in Vienna - Kunsthistorisches Museum, oil on canvas, 96.2 x 73 cm, GG 531) and another recorded by Anton van Dyck in his Italian sketchbook (British Museum) from the 1620s. In case of a copy by Rubens, it's also highly probable that Catherine's son, Sigismund III Vasa, who ordered paintings and portraits from the Flemish painter, also commissioned a copy of a portrait of his mother in about 1628. Another copy by a Flemish painter, holding a rose, can be found in Canterbury Museums and Galleries (oil on canvas, 54 x 40 cm, CANCM:4036). The dress, as that visible in the portraits, is described among the dresses of the Duchess of Finland in the inventory of her dowry from 1562: "Satin (6 pieces). Satin white robe; on it four embroidered rows at the bottom made of woven gold thread with silver; the bodice and sleeves are also embroidered in a similar manner; buckles on them with red enamel 76" (after "Jagiellonki polskie w XVI. wieku: Korrespondencya polska ..." by Alexander Przezdziecki, Volume 3, p. 317). This likeness, as well as the best-known effigy of the princess, a miniature by Lucas Cranach the Younger (Czartoryski Museum, oil on copper, 19.5 x 17.5 cm, inv. MNK XII-543), and a full-length portrait in the Germanisches Nationalmuseum in Nuremberg (inv. Gm 622), destroyed during the Second World War, probably based on the same initial portrait, can be compared with two portraits of the Czech noblewoman Bohunka of Rožmberk (1536-1557). In the portrait in Nelahozeves Castle (inv. č. L 4766), Bohunka was depicted in a black outfit very similar to that of the best-known portraits of Catherine. In a later portrait, probably painted on the occasion of her engagement around 1555, now in the Lobkowicz Palace in Prague (inv. č. L 5185), she wears a rich dress in the Spanish-French style. Even without Titian's idealization, Catherine, just as her mother, was considered a beautiful woman, which, unfortunately, is less visible in her portraits in German costume by Cranach the Younger. The Russian envoy reported to Tsar Ivan the Terrible in 1560 that Catherine was beautiful, but that she was crying (after "Furstinnan : en biografi om drottning Katarina Jagellonica" by Eva Mattssons), unwilling to marry a man famous of his violence and cruelty. The painting in Dresden, and its copies, was most probably commissioned by Sigismund Augustus or Anna Jagiellon and sent to the Italian friends. Another version of this portrait by circle of Titian, most probably from the collection of Sophia Jagiellon (1522-1575), Duchess of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel is also in Kassel not far from Brunswick (Wilhelmshöhe Castle, oil on canvas, 99 x 79 cm, inv. 490). The three sisters Sophia, Anna and Catherine are therefore reunited in their portraits by circle of Titian in Kassel. In 1563, King Eric XIV of Sweden imprisoned his brother John and his consort Catherine Jagiellon in the Gripsholm Castle. Few years later Catherine granted authority to her sister Anna to fight for the Italian inheritance of Queen Bona. In the Uffizi Gallery in Florence there is also a miniature by an Italian painter, possibly Sofonisba Anguissola, showing the same blond woman in a costume similar to that visible in portraits of Catherine Stenbock, Dowager Queen of Sweden from the 1560s (oil on panel, 13 cm, inv. 1890, n. 3953). It depicts Catherine Jagiellon during the time of imprisonment in Gripsholm Castle between 1563 and 1567. Rather because of the appearance of the lady and her costume, than the style of the painting, it was initially attributed to the Northern School, to Hans Holbein the Elder. The miniature comes from the collection of Cardinal Leopold de Medici (1617-1675). The style of this work is also comparable to that of Sofonisba's master, Bernadino Campi (1522-1591), especially the portrait of Isabella Gonzaga (1537-1579), Princess of Francavilla (Metropolitan Museum of Art, inv. 63.43.1), identified by me. Both Sofonisba and Campi came from Cremona, just like Catherine's courtier, Paolo Ferrari, who had arrived in Poland-Lithuania-Ruthenia before 1556 with the intention of serving Queen Bona, Catherine's mother. He was not part of the princess's retinue, but in Finland he was counted among the courtiers. Sigismund Augustus, when marrying off this sister, foresaw that misfortune might befall her. This may be a later addition, but Łukasz Górnicki (1527-1603) expresses it this way: in Gdańsk, before Catherine's departure to Finland, the king "had some talks with his sister in the black chamber near us, the meaning of which was: that if anything happened to the princess, let her not blame the king, to which the princess gave a wonderful answer; and the duke [of Finland] was not present at this conversation. He got into the carriage with the princess, and the duke of Finland rode on a horse; and for quite a while the king sat in the carriage together with the princess, then he got out and said goodbye to the duke and the princess, who was bidding farewell to the king with tears" (partially after "Cnoty i wady narodu szlacheckiego ..." by Antoni Górski, p. 60-61). Althought considered a compassionate and loyal queen, the religious issues made Catherine unpopular with her contemporaries in Sweden. The Catholic queen maintained close relations with Poland-Lithuania and Italy. Her agent was Paolo Ferrari from Cremona, mentioned above, she also had her own ambassadors in Rome, a Dutch Catholic named Petrus Rosinus, and Ture Bielke. Catherine is considered to have had an influence on her husband John III of Sweden in many areas, such as his religious attitude, foreign policy and art. For her son (Sigismund III), she kept a Polish teacher and taught him perfect Polish. The names of her daughter and son, Isabella (in honour of her grandmother Isabella d'Aragona of Naples, Duchess of Milan) and Sigismund (in honour of her father), both contrary to Swedish tradition, indicates that, like her mother Bona Sforza, she had a much greater influence on politics than is officially claimed. 
Miniature portrait of Crown Princess Catherine Jagiellon (1526-1583) by Lucas Cranach the Younger or workshop, ca. 1553-1565, Czartoryski Museum.
Portrait of Catherine Jagiellon (1526-1583), Duchess of Finland in white by Titian, ca. 1562, Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister in Dresden.
Portrait of Catherine Jagiellon (1526-1583), Duchess of Finland in white by circle of Titian, ca. 1562, Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister in Kassel. Virtual reconstruction, © Marcin Latka
Portrait of Catherine Jagiellon (1526-1583), Duchess of Finland in white by Peter Paul Rubens after lost original by Titian, ca. 1600-1608 or 1628, Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna.
Portrait of Catherine Jagiellon (1526-1583), Duchess of Finland holding a rose by Flemish painter after Titian, after 1562, Canterbury Museums and Galleries.
Portrait of Catherine Jagiellon (1526-1583), Duchess of Finland in white by Georg Engelhard Schröder after original by Titian, 1724-1750, Nationalmuseum in Stockholm. Virtual reconstruction, © Marcin Latka
Miniature portrait of Catherine Jagiellon (1526-1583), Duchess of Finland by Italian painter, possibly Sofonisba Anguissola or Bernadino Campi, ca. 1563-1567, Uffizi Gallery in Florence.
Portrait of king Sigismund Augustus holding a buzdygan by workshop or follower of Giovanni Battista Moroni
In 1551 Georg Joachim de Porris (1514-1574) or von Lauchen, also known as Rheticus, a mathematician and astronomer of Italian heritage, best known for his trigonometric tables and as Nicolaus Copernicus's sole pupil, lost his job at the Leipzig University following the alleged drunken homosexual assault on a young student, the son of a merchant Hans Meusel. He was sentenced to 101 years of exile from Leipzig. As a result, he would come to lose the support of many long-time benefactors including Philipp Melanchthon. Earlier rumors of homosexuality forced him to leave Wittenberg for Leipzig. Constitutio Criminalis Carolina, a comprehensive criminal code, promulgated in 1532 by Emperor Charles V and binding for the Holy Roman Empire until 1806, mandated the death penalty for homosexuality. He fled following this accusation, for a time residing in Chemnitz before eventually moving on to Prague, where he studied medicine. He then moved to Kraków. Having settled there, where he lived in the Kaufman's tenement house in the Main Square, he erects a large obelisk in Balice near Kraków with the financial and technical assistance of Jan Boner (1516-1562), the king's advisor and the leader of the Lesser Poland's Calvinists. This gnomon of 45 Roman feet high (about 15 meters) used to indicate the declination of the sun, necessary for astronomical observations and calculations, was ready in mid-July 1554 (according to letter from Rheticus to Jan Kraton, a Wrocław naturalist, July 20, 1554). The obelisk's pyramidal shape was thought to be a link between heaven and earth and a symbol of heavenly wisdom. Rheticus' obelisk become a symbol of Oficyna Łazarzowa (Officina Lazari), printing house of Łazarz Andrysowicz (died before 1577) in Kraków.
Between 1562-1563, Rheticus was closely associated with the court of king Sigismund Augustus, making rare astronomical instruments for him on the occasion of the famous August conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn in 1563. After the death of Jan Benedykt Solfa (1483-1564), the court physician of the king, Rheticus assumed his position as well as the function of court astrologer. According to accounts of Berardo Bongiovanni, Bishop of Camerino and Papal Nuncio to Poland (1560-1563), written in 1560, "the king keeps 2,000 horses in the stable, 600 of which I saw, the rest were in the villages for fodder, as well as the foals and the stud. I have also seen 20 royal armor, four of which are remarkable works, namely one with a beautiful carving and silver-clad figures, depicting all the victories of his ancestors over Moscow. It cost 6,000 scudi. There are other victories on others. [...] Finally, he has thirty saddles and horse tacks, so rich that it is impossible to see the richer elsewhere. Some are of pure gold and silver, it is not surprising, knowing that they belong to such a king, but that they are also a masterpiece of art, no one who has not seen it would not believe it. [...] In each craft, the king has skilled masters, Jacob of Verona for jewels and carving on them, several Frenchmen for casting cannons, a Venetian for woodcarving, a Hungarian expert lute player, Prospero Anacleri, a Neapolitan for dressage of horses, and then for any craftsmanship. He allows all these people to live as everyone likes, because he is so good and gracious that he would not want to cause anyone the slightest pain. I just wish he was a bit stricter in the matter of religion" (after "Relacye nuncyuszów apostolskich", Volume 1, pp. 96-100). In 1565 Flavio Ruggieri reported that, "The king has horses in Lithuania, brought from the Kingdom of Naples during the times of Queen Bona, when also many horses were brought to Italy from Poland". Another Ruggieri (or Ruggeri), Giulio, Papal Nuncio from 1565, recalled at the beginning of 1568, drew up for the Pope's information a full report, which, after the manner of the Venetian reports, stated about the king: "now he usually lives in Lithuania, most often in Knyszyn, a small castle of this province on the border of Mazovia, where he has stables with lots of beautiful horses, some of which are Neapolitan, the other Turkish, the other Spanish or Mantuan, and most Polish. This love of horses is, in a way, the reason that the king likes to live here, and maybe also that this place, being almost in the center of his countries, it is more convenient in terms of domestic administration for the king and those who have an interest, than Kraków, located on the Polish border" (after "Relacye nuncyuszów apostolskich", Volume 1, p. 182). Adam Miciński, the court equerry of the king, in his work published in Kraków in 1570 entitled O swierzopach i ograch (On mares and stallions), says that the royal herds consisted of Arab, Turkish and Persian stallions, and the Polish mares, and that Nicolaus Radziwill, brought the king stallions from the Archipelago (Greek Islands), including from Venetian-ruled city of Candia (modern Heraklion, Crete). In 1565 Giert Hulmacher, a burgher from Gdańsk, supplied the king with two Friesian horses, bought in the Netherlands. Portrait of a man in armor in the North Carolina Museum of Art in Raleigh is signed in lower left corner with a monorgam G B M and a date "1563", thence attributed to follower of Giovanni Battista Moroni (oil on canvas, 255 x 161.9 cm, inv. GL.60.17.46). The style of this painting is also very close to Moroni. In the early 19th century it was owned by the Lord Stalbridge in London. The man, in a partially gilded armor, is holding a gold flanged mace of Eastern origin, very popular in Poland-Lithuania in the 16th and 17th centuries and known as buzdygan. Similar maces were depicted in the magnificent funerary monument of Stanisław Maleszewski (d. 1555) in the cloister of the Dominican Church in Kraków, created around 1555 by the workshop of Bartolommeo Berrecci or Santi Gucci, and that of Piotr Boratyński (1509-1558), castellan of Belz and Przemyśl and secretary to King Sigismund II Augustus, in Wawel Cathedral, created around 1558 by the workshop of Bartolommeo Berrecci (founded by his wife Barbara Dzieduszycka). His crimson trunkhose of Venetian fabric are very similar to that visible in a portrait of Sigismund Augustus in crimson costume in the Prado Museum in Madrid. Behind the man, among antique Roman ruins, stand his white horse and an obelisk, similar to that visible in a reconstruction of the Mausoleum of Emperor Augustus in Rome published in 1575, on title page of Rheticus' Canon doctrinae triangulorum, published in Leipzig in 1551, several publications of Oficyna Łazarzowa, some sponsored or dedicated to Polish-Lithuanian monarchs, or in the portrait of royal jeweller Giovanni Jacopo Caraglio from about 1553. Facial features of a man bear a strong resemblance to effigies of king Sigismund Augustus by Tintoretto. This painting is also attributed to the Brescian painter Agostino Galeazzi (1523-1576), pupil of Moretto da Brescia (after "Pittori intorno a Moretto ..." by Stefano Bonaldo, p. 24, 26), who according to my identification painted the portrait of Nicolaus "the Black" Radziwill (Dorotheum in Vienna, October 22, 2019, lot 40). 
Portrait of king Sigismund Augustus in armor holding a buzdygan by workshop of Giovanni Battista Moroni or Agostino Galeazzi, 1563, North Carolina Museum of Art.
Portrait of King Sigismund II Augustus at the age of 43 by Tintoretto
"For the magnates, the elected ruler was only primus inter pares, to whom honor and respect were to be shown as a symbol of the state, but not necessarily obedience. Some magnates even allowed themselves to attack and ignore the monarch" (after "Obyczaje w Polsce ..." by Andrzej Chwalba, p. 203). In the great hall of his beautiful palace in Warsaw (Sandomierski Palace), among the portraits of the ancestors of Great Crown Chancellor Jerzy Ossoliński (1595-1650), there was a portrait of King Ladislaus IV Vasa with such inscription - Primus inter pares (First among equals). The term was introduced under Emperor Augustus to describe his position in the Roman state (Principate). Augustus wanted to use this designation to emphasize his subordination to the republican institutions, de facto, however, he was absolute ruler. According to Aleksander Bronikowski, the reign of Sigismund Augustus in Poland-Lithuania, a constitutional king with little power, shows the process of further limitation of monarch's prerogatives.
Such position of the Polish monarch also determined the iconography. The majority of people accustomed to the well-known effigies of Francis I, King of France and especially Henry VIII of England in rich fabrics and adorned with precious stones and jewels from head to toe, consider them an archetype of a Renaissance monarch. Despite the fact that his wardrobe was full of the most exquisite European and Oriental clothes, Sigismund Augustus usually dressed modestly, similar to the rulers of Europe's greatest power of the 16th century - Spain. In several of his portraits, Holy Roman Emperor Charles V (1500-1558) is dressed in simple black attire. If not for the distinctive features and the Order of the Golden Fleece, such portraits could be considered effigies of a mere merchant (e.g. series by workshop of Jan Cornelisz Vermeyen). Some of the portraits of the Emperor's brother and successor to the Imperial throne Ferdinand I of Austria (1503-1564), husband of Anna Jagellonica (1503-1547), by workshop and follower of Titian, were even inscribed with a standard latin inscription, indicating only the age of the model and the date (Prado Museum in Madrid and Private collection in Vienna). According to mentioned inscription Ferdinand was 46 in 1548 (MDXLVIII / ANNO ETATIS SVE / XXXXVI), which is not entirely accurate as he was born on March 10, 1503, so generally speaking should be 45 in 1548. However, the version from Fugger Castle in Babenhausen provides the titulature (FERDINANDVS. D.G. ROMA. / IMP. ANNO. 1548) and the resemblance to many other of his preserved effigies is so obvious that the identification is not disputed. What is also noticeable in the mentioned portraits of Ferdinand is the color of his hair which is different in all versions. He has the darkest hair in the versions in Spain (Prado and Convent de Las Descalzas Reales in Madrid, attributed to Anthonis Mor) and the brightest in the versions in Germany and Austria. Ferdinand commissioned his portraits from Titian's studio in Venice and one version was undoubtedly sent to Poland to a relative of his wife Sigismund II Augustus (also husband of two of Ferdinand's daughters). Around 1538 Titian and his disciples realized also a series of portraits of King Francis I of France (1494-1547), allegedly inspired by a medal engraved by Benvenuto Cellini in Fontainebleau in 1537. Two of these portraits, in the Louvre and in the Harewood House are very similar, but many details differ (hairstyle, costume, background), so it is more likely that he painted these portraits based on study drawings of the king sent from France. These portraits were gifts to various monarchs of Europe and were copied by various workshops. The portrait of Italian Duke of Savoy, Emmanuel Philibert (1528-1580), painted by circle of Antonis Mor in the Netherlands between 1555-1558, today in the Lviv National Art Gallery, could be a gift to Sigismund II Augustus. In a letter dated April 10, 1546 from Königsberg, Duke Albert of Prussia informs King Christian III of Denmark that the young King of Poland, Sigismund Augustus, had commenced building a new palace at Vilnius in Lithuania, for which he wished to have, among other things for its decoration, the portraits of the King and his family, and requesting that they should be furnished by his Majesty, whereupon the King, in a letter dated Kolding, the 6th of June, 1546, answers the Duke, that he willingly would have sent to the King of Poland the portraits wished for, but as they were not ready, and his Majesty's portraitist, Jacob Binck, whom he had some time before sent to the Duke, had not yet returned, he must rest contented until Binck came back and painted them (after "The Fine Arts Quarterly Review", Volume 2, pp. 374-375). In early 1570 a Swedish envoy arrived in Warsaw, where Sigismund Augustus settled for good from January 1570, with a portrait of Prince Sigismund (1566-1632), son of his sister Catherine. One of the few preserved, painted and inscribed effigies of "the last of the Jagiellons" is a portrait in the National Museum in Kraków (SIGISM. AUGUSTUS REX / POLONIÆ IAGELLONIDARUM / ULTIMUS, MNK I-21). It was probably created in the first half of the 17th century as a copy of a lost original by Lucas Cranach the Younger (known from a miniature from his workshop in the same museum, mirror view, Czartoryski collection, MNK XII-538). It was acquired in Sweden by a Pole Henryk Bukowski (1839-1900), who after the January Uprising settled in Stockholm and founded an antique shop. In 2022, a portrait of a gentleman by Jacopo Robusti known as Tintoretto from the Ferria Contin collection in Milan was auctioned (oil on canvas, 117 x 92 cm, Pandolfini Casa d'Aste, September 28, 2022, auction 1160, lot 21). According to inscription in Latin on the right the man was 43 in 1563 (AÑO ÆTATIS / SVÆ XXXX III / 1563), exacly as king Sigismund II Augustus (born on 1 August 1520), when workshop or follower of Giovanni Battista Moroni, realized his portrait holding a buzdygan (North Carolina Museum of Art). The man bears a striking resemblance to other effigies of the monarch by Tintoretto identified by me and his squinted eyes make him look very much like his mother in her portraits by Cranach. The same man with a similar expression on his face was depicted in another painting by Tintoretto, now in the Rollins Museum of Art in Winter Park, Florida (oil on canvas, 57.46 x 46.35, inventory number 1962.2). He is, however, much older and wears armour adorned with gold, similar to that in the portrait of Sigismund Augustus at the age of 30 with a royal galley (Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, GG 24). The face is also similar, as well as to the smaller "derivative" works of this portrait. The portrait was previously attributed to Paolo Veronese. 
Portrait of King Sigismund II Augustus (1520-1572), aged 43 by Tintoretto, 1563, Private collection.
Portrait of King Sigismund II Augustus (1520-1572) in armour by Tintoretto, 1565-1570, Rollins Museum of Art.
Portraits of Georgia of Pomerania, countess Latalska by Paolo Veronese and circle
On October 24, 1563 in Wolgast, Georgia of Pomerania, granddaughter of Anna Jagiellon (1476-1503), Duchess of Pomerania, married Stanisław Latalski (1535-1598), count in Łabiszyn, starost of Inowrocław and Człuchów. On this occassion Philip I (1515-1560), Duke of Pomerania-Wolgast asked the court administration of his uncle Barnim IX in Szczecin for a larger series of tapestries to decorate the festive chambers, altogether 28 pieces.
Georgia was a posthumous daughter of George I, Duke of Pomerania and his second wife Margaret of Brandenburg (1511-1577). She was born on November 28, 1531 as the only child of the couple and named after her father. When her mother remarried in 1534, she was brought up at the court of her stepfather, prince John V of Anhalt-Zerbst (1504-1551) in Dessau. It was decided, however, that when she reached her eighth birthday, in 1539, she must be returned to Pomerania under the custody of her half-brother Philip I. Despite this, Margaret was able to have kept her daughter with her until May 1543, when she was finally sent to Wolgast. There were plans to marry her to Jaroslav of Pernstein (1528-1560), Prince Eric of Sweden (1533-1577), future Eric XIV, when she was just 10 years old and later to Otto II (1528-1603), Duke of Brunswick-Harburg. In the fall of 1562, negotiations were initiated with Stanisław Latalski, who was an envoy of Greater Poland to the Piotrków Sejm in 1562/1563. Latalski was a son of Janusz, voivode of Poznań and Barbara née Kretkowska. His father received the title of Count of the Holy Empire from Emperor Charles V in 1538 and in 1543 he was sent to Emperor Ferdinand in order to arrange a marriage of Sigismund II Augustus with Elizabeth of Austria. In 1554 young Stanisław, accompanied by Jan Krzysztof Tarnowski, son of Hetman Jan Amor, and Mikołaj Mielecki travelled to England, Switzerland and Italy. During this trip, they had the opportunity to meet Emperor Charles V in Brussels and his son Philip of Spain in London (after "Hetman Jan Tarnowski ..." by Włodzimierz Dworzaczek, p. 316). The couple lived in Łabiszyn and in Człuchów, where Georgia was visited by her mother Margaret of Brandenburg. In 1564 Stanisław went to Wittenberg, to his wife's nephews, the Pomeranian princes Ernest Louis and Barnim, who were studying there. In the same year, under Georgia's influence, he converted to Lutheranism and brought the preacher Paul Elard (or Elhard) and his brother Hans from Szczecin, giving them in 1564 the castle chapel in Człuchów, and two years later also the parish church. Most of the city's population converted to Lutheranism. He also built a wooden Lutheran church in Łabiszyn. Between 1557 and 1564 Stanisław rebuilt the Inowrocław Castle in the Renaissance style with Italianate attics (ochędożone po włosku brandmury [literally firewall from Dutch/German/Polish - brandmuur, brandmauer, ogniomur]). The castle, however, was destroyed in 1656 during the Deluge. His father Janusz, voivode of Inowrocław and Poznań, corresponded with Protestant Duke George II of Brzeg (1523-1586) and Catholic King Ferdinand I (1503-1564). In a letter from 1550 to Duke George, Janusz thanks him for the two dogs he sent him and sends him in return two falcons trained for hunting and adds that he will send four of them to King Ferdinand (Serenissimo Regi Romanorum quatuor lectos falconas assignavi, cum iisque suae Sacrae Majestatis falconarius, qui eos tollat, in itinere expectatur). After the birth of her first child in 1566, three years after the wedding - a daughter named Maria Anna - Georgia lost her mind and never completely regained her sanity since. She died in childbirth in late 1573 or early 1574. Portrait of a lady wearing an elaborate yellow silk dress in Kensington Palace was painted in the style close to Paolo Veronese (oil on canvas, 87.6 x 64.8 cm, RCIN 400552). It was previously attributed to Leandro Bassano and comes from the collection of the Capel family at Kew Palace in London (acquired in 1731). The coat of arms, which is unidentified, was painted in a different style, hence it is clearly a later addition. It is painted over an original inscription in Latin, which is still in part legible: AETATIS SVAE XXXII. / ANNO DNI / 1.5.6.3 / SIBI. The woman was therefore 32 years old in 1563, exacly as Georgia of Pomerania, when she married Latalski. The upper part of her dress is transparent and embroidered with white flowers of five petals, very similar to the Luther rose visible on the epitaph of Katharina von Bora (1499-1552), wife of Martin Luther, in the Marienkirche in Torgau, created in 1552. Around her neck is a string of pearls, associated with purity, chastity and innocence and a large green jewel-pendant on a long chain, a color being symbolic of fertility. She is holding a green parrot on her hand, a symbol of motherhood. The woman bear a great resemblance to half-brother of Georgia of Pomerania, Prince Joachim Ernest of Anhalt (1536-1586) in his effigies by Lucas Cranach the Younger (Georgium in Dessau and private collection) and to effigies of Georgia's mother Margaret of Brandenburg by Lucas Cranach the Elder, identified by me (Grunewald hunting lodge in Berlin and private collection). The same woman, although somewhat older, was depicted in another similar painting by Veronese, now in the Alte Pinakothek in Munich (oil on canvas, 117.3 x 100.8 cm, inv. 594). The painting comes from the Electoral Gallery in Schleissheim Palace near Munich, where it had been listed since at least 1748 (after "Alte Pinakothek: italienische Malerei", ed. Cornelia Syre, p. 280). From the same gallery comes the portrait of Queen Anna Jagiellon (1523-1596) as a widow, painted by the workshop of Sofonisba Anguissola, attributed by me, now in the Royal Castle in Warsaw (inv. ZKW 64). The particular expression of the woman in the painting also correspond with reports that Georgia suffered from mental health problems. In the Schorr collection in London there is another interesting portrait painted in 1563 (oil on panel, 117 x 82.5 cm, inv. SRR6370427). The man is holding a pair of gloves and wears a gold signet ring set with a precious stone on his index finger, suggesting that he was a man of some wealth. The painting is attributed to Anthonis Mor, also known as Antonio Moro, a Dutch portrait painter born in Utrecht, who painted many aristocrats and members of the ruling families of Europe. According to the date inscribed on the contemporary frame around the painting, the man was 28 years old in 1563, exactly like Latalski when he was elected to the Diet of Piotrków and married Georgia. The same man can be identified in a portrait by Tintoretto, painted two years later, in 1565, which once belonged to the imperial collection of the House of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, the senior Swabian branch of the House of Hohenzollern (oil on canvas, 100.8 x 87.7 cm, Christie's London, Auction 11974, July 8, 2016, lot 159, signed and dated lower left: IAC·TENTORETO·F· / ·15·65·). This painting also bore another inscription in the upper left corner, invisible today. The Latalskis were a wealthy family, although today very few traces of their prosperity remain in Poland. Among them, we can cite two books published in Leipzig in 1533 by Melchior Lotter the Elder (1470-1549), who printed works by Luther and Cranach, Age[n]da s[e]c[u]nd[u]m cursum et rubrica[m] eccl[es]ie cathedralis Posnaniensis ... and Eva[n]gelistaru[m] quatuor passiones D[omi]ni n[ost]ri Jhesu Christi. In ecclesia cathedrali Posnanien[si] ... (Kórnik Library, sygn.Cim.Qu.2953; sygn.Cim.Qu.2954). These books, intended to unify the liturgy in the Poznań diocese, were financed by Jan Latalski (1463-1540), Bishop of Poznań, favourite of Queen Bona and uncle of Stanisław. The title page of both books is decorated with a beautiful woodcut with the arms of Latalski - Prawdzic with the apostles Peter and Paul, signed with an indistinct monogram on the stone in the center of the composition. This woodcut is very much in the style of Cranach and comparable to the woodcuts with the effigies of the two apostles preserved in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (inv. 21.35.5; 22.67.34) or the title page of Luther's book Von Jhesu Christo eine Predigt, published in Wittenberg in 1533. The study drawing with the arms of Latalski was probably sent to Wittenberg or to a collaborator of Cranach in Leipzig or made in Poznań by a member of Cranach's workshop. The same is probably true for the portraits of members of the Latalski family, especially Stanisław who travelled and had connections in different parts of Europe. As in the case of the portrait of Cosimo I de' Medici (1519-1574), Grand Duke of Tuscany, wearing the Order of the Golden Fleece, painted by the workshop or circle of Mor in the late 1560s (Sotheby's New York, January 27, 2007, lot 624), it would be difficult to prove how the painter and the model met, since they probably not met in person at the time the painting was created and the effigy was based on other portraits or study drawings. However, Count Stanisław undoubtedly had the opportunity to meet the painter personally in Brussels or London during his visit to that city in 1554. In 1604, Karel van Mander, in his biography of Anthonis, reports on the trip that the latter made to London at the request of Charles V to paint a portrait of Mary Tudor, one of his best-known works, now kept in the Prado Museum in Madrid (inv. P002108). The following year Latalski went to Italy, which also made possible a personal acquaintance with Tintoretto and other Venetian painters. His uncle Bishop Jan was also the initiator of the publication in Venice of the Kraków Breviary in 1538, which, however, bears the Abdank coat of arms of his successor Jan Chojeński (1486-1538) on the tile page (after "Przywileje drukarskie w Polsce" by Maria Juda, p. 37). The Italian, Netherlandish and German influences in the Latalskis' patronage and portraiture perfectly reflect the diversity of the country. 
Portrait of Georgia of Pomerania (1531-1573/74), countess Latalska, aged 32 with a parrot by circle of Paolo Veronese, 1563, Kensington Palace. Virtual reconstruction, © Marcin Latka
Portrait of Georgia of Pomerania (1531-1573/74), countess Latalska by Paolo Veronese, ca. 1570, Alte Pinakothek in Munich.
Portrait of a man aged 28, most probably Count Stanisław Latalski (1535-1598) by Anthonis Mor, 1563, The Schorr Collection.
Portrait of a man holding a pair of gloves, most probably Count Stanisław Latalski (1535-1598) by Jacopo Tintoretto, 1565, Private collection.
Woodcut with the coat of arms of Prawdzic of Jan Latalski (1463-1540), Bishop of Poznań, Apostles Peter and Paul from Eva[n]gelistaru[m] quatuor passiones ... by circle or workshop of Lucas Cranach the Elder, 1533, Kórnik Library.
Portrait of Anna Jagiellon holding a zibellino by Tintoretto
In 1562 on the occasion of the wedding of her younger sister Catherine in Vilnius, Anna ordered for herself three gowns: "one robe of red taffeta, and two hazuka dresses of red velvet" all sewn with pearls. The sisters dressed identically, as evidenced by their miniatures by workshop of Lucas Cranach the Younger from about 1553. Inventory of Catherine's dowry includes many items similar to these visible on the portrait of a lady holding a zibellino by Tintoretto from about 1565: a golden belt set with rubies, sapphires and pearls valued at 1,700 thalers, "a black sable stitched together from two, his head and four feet are golden, set with precious stones" of 1,400 thalers worth, a chain of large round, oriental pearls of 1,000 thalers worth, a neacklace of round, oriental pearls of 985 thalers worth, velvet long, crimson robe with three rows of pearl edgings with 72 French-style enameled buckles, velvet crimson hazuka dress lined with sables, four velvet outer garments for summer, eleven white linen shirts with gold sleeves, and even "one large yellow Turkish rug for the table".
By the mid-1560s, Anna's financial situation had improved. The assistance of an important Mazovian official, Wojciech Bogucki, an old friend of her mother, played an important role. Bogucki, as treasurer (podskarbi) and general intendent (ekonom) of Mazovia (and after his death his successor Marcin Falęcki), was largely responsible for the financial affairs of Anna's court. Her income increased considerably in these years. She now had a stable income from her Mazovian estates and Sigismund Augustus agreed to give her 1,900 Polish zlotys annually from the royal salt mines, and sometimes sent her an extra money. In 1564, for example, Anna's total income can be estimated at nearly 18,000 Polish zlotys, and she was now spending a lot (in 1564, her expenses reached 21,000 Polish zlotys). The accounts of 1564 allow us to estimate the number of her courtiers at about 70 people. The steward was Stanisław Wolski, castellan of Rawa, who was sent to Vienna in January 1564 to convey Anna's message to the emperor. Among the courtiers, the physician Casary (Caspary) was the best paid: his salary in 1564 amounted to the enormous sum of 854 Polish zlotys and 29 groszy. There were also the notary Andrzej Hincza, the bookkeeper Grzegorz Goryszewski, six coachmen, an "overseer of the silver" and two servants in charge of the silverware, a hairdresser, a pharmacist, one male and one female bath attendants (Raczek łaziebnik and kąpielowa Miliczina), a stove attendant, a servant in charge of the ladies-in-waiting, four doormen, and three servants in charge of the clothes. Among the important figures were Algismund, the cellar and wine overseer, and Jan, the trumpeter. There were nine cooks, mostly Poles, but Jerzy (Giorgio) Macarona was probably Italian, as his name suggests, while Jerzy Bohemus probably came from Bohemia. There was also a certain Gaspar, servant to the main cook. Among the matrons at the princess's court at that time were Elżbieta Maciejowska, Mrs. Świdnicka, Mrs. Bentkowska, as well as a "Italian maiden" Livia, probably an old lady-in-waiting of Bona, who had not married, and eight ladies-in-waiting. In 1564, the salaries of the court members amounted to almost 4,000 Polish zlotys (including arrears). The costs of sending special envoys and letters amounted to 140 Polish zlotys, which testifies to rich contacts. Considerable sums were spent on textiles and clothing for courtiers and servants. These clothes were made from various types of textiles, such as silk taffeta, satin, damask, Bohemian and English (luńskie) cloths of various colors. In one year (1564), Anna purchased 12 cubits of red silk taffeta and 1/2 cubit of black silk taffeta for a dress, as well as black satin to finish her damask dress. She had one of her old damask dresses altered and had five new ones made: one in black satin, three in damask, and one in black velvet with silver fringes. A damask cloak was also to be made for her. The greatest expenses, however, were incurred by the table. The rich list of products purchased for the kitchen suggests that meals at Anna's court were abundant and refined (after "The Court of Anna Jagiellon: Size, Structure and Functions" by Maria Bogucka, p. 95-98). Apart from Cranach's miniature, there are no known portraits of the princess from this period, but sources confirm the existence of such effigies. In November 1569, a faithful portrait (wahrhaftig Conterfey) of Anna was made for Prince Barnim of Pomerania (1549-1603). At the initiative of Sigismund Augustus, negotiations on the marriage of Anna with Barnim were conducted in Drahim by Stanisław Sędziwój Czarnowski (1526-1602). However, they did not lead to any results, because the Pomeranian side wanted to expand its territory at the expense of the Polish crown, which Sigismund Augustus could not accept, since these issues were decided by the Sejm, and its consent was unlikely - the Pomeranians demanded several starosties as a dowry for Barnim's future wife. Sigismund Augustus, for his part, was ready to generously equip his sister, offering her the considerable sum of 400,000 Polish zloty, as well as a rich trousseau of clothes and equipment and a share of Queen Bona's inheritance. Despite the consent of the Princess and Barnim and the serious involvement of the Polish side in these negotiations, the planned marriage of Anna Jagiellon with the Pomeranian Prince did not take place (after "Książęta Pomorza Zachodniego ..." by Zygmunt Boras, p. 181). Earlier, in August 1557 in Vilnius, Antoni Wida painted portraits of princesses Anna and Catherine for Duke Albert of Prussia (1490-1568). As with his sister Catherine's marriage, Sigismund Augustus did not want to impose his will on Anna regarding her marriage. On November 16, 1562, he replied to Nicolaus "the Black" Radziwill (1515-1565) from Warsaw that he had not yet discussed the candidacy of the Danish Prince Magnus (1540-1583) with her: "we do not know the opinion or will of Her Grace in this matter, and we would not want to act without the knowledge and consent of Her Majesty herself, otherwise than we have done with our younger sister, according to her own will" (after "Jagiellonki polskie w XVI. wieku ..." by Aleksander Przezdziecki, Volume 3, p. 41). In September 1565 arrived to Cracow count Clemente Pietra to announce the marriage of Francesco I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany with a cousin of Sigismund Augustus and Anna, Joanna of Austria (a sister of Sigismund Augustus' first and third wife) and to ask for the hand of Anna for 16 years old Ferdinando, brother of Duke Francesco. It is highly probable that on this occasion the king commissioned in the workshop of Tintoretto in Venice a portrait of himself, his wife and his 42 years old sister, created just as earlier effigies of the Jagiellons by medalier van Herwijck or painter Cranach the Younger, basing on drawings or miniatures sent from Poland. Experts frequently point out the uniqueness of this effigy, now at the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna (oil on canvas, 98 x 75.5 cm, inventory number GG 48), not only because of the frontality of the woman's posture, but also the unusual cut of her outfit - red velvet dress. For the authors of the exhibition "Titian and the image of women in 16th century Venice" at the Royal Palace of Milan (February 23 to June 5, 2022), "she is not a Venetian gentlewoman but from the Venetian hinterland" (Il vestito fa ritenere che non si tratti di una gentildonna veneziana ma dell'entroterra veneto) and her jewelry and the oriental carpet express good taste and high social status. Similar to the effigy of the second wife of Anna's brother, Barbara Radziwill, known as "La Bella" (Pitti Palace in Florence, Inv. 1912 no. 18), a zibellino on her hand is a fertility talisman, indicating that she is an unmarried woman. Weasel pelts (zibellino) were mainly imported to Italy from Poland-Lithuania and Muscovy. This painting, sometimes also attributed to Marietta Robusti, known as Tintoretta (d. 1590), most probably comes from the collection of James Hamilton (1606-1649), 1st Duke of Hamilton, which after his death entered the collection of Archduke Leopold William of Austria in Brussels. Hamilton collected Venetian paintings through his agent, Viscount Basil Feilding, who was sent in 1634 as ambassador to Venice, where he remained for five years. It differs, however, from the work represented in the catalog of the Archduke's collection - Theatrum Pictorium (number 79). The print by Lucas Vorsterman the Younger shows a slightly larger image and fragments of architecture in the background and attributes the original painting to Titian. There is also no zibellino in this version. It is possible that the painting was modified or that it is one of the many versions belonging to the Habsburgs, relatives of Crown Princess Anna Jagiellon, who undoubtedly received her effigies. It was mentioned in the gallery in 1735. The portrait resembles Anna's miniature by workshop of Cranach from around 1553, her funerary monument from around 1584, and a portrait by Tintoretto in the Collegium Maius in Kraków. 
Portrait of Anna Jagiellon (1523-1596) when Crown Princess of Poland-Lithuania holding a zibellino by Tintoretto, ca. 1565, Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna.
Portrait of Anna Jagiellon (1523-1596) when Crown Princess of Poland-Lithuania from the Theatrum Pictorium (79) by Lucas Vorsterman the Younger after Titian, 1660, Princely Court Library in Waldeck.
Portraits of Queen Catherine of Austria as Venus Verticordia by Titian and workshop
"Today I came to Radom, where the queen lives, and that same evening I visited Her Highness, comforting her in the name of the Holy Father after the loss of Emperor His Higness, although three months ago I had fulfilled this obligation by one of my secretaries, whom I sent to Radom. The Queen seemed to accept this very pleasantly, and in return she kisses His Holiness' most holy feet in the most humble way. She asked me to visit her the next morning for easier conversation", wrote about his visit on December 3, 1564 to Queen Catherine of Austria, Venetian bishop and papal nuncio Giovanni Francesco Commendone (1523-1584), in his letter to Cardinal Charles Borromeo (1538-1584), future saint.
The next day this secret audience took place, a description of which we find in Commendone's next letter: "It was on it that she spoke of her unhappy condition, complaining that, apart from leaving her for no reason, there were also attempts to divorce her, and that this was the main cause of the Synod. She considered all the accusations made against her with such care, caution, and respect for the king that I do not know whether I felt more pity or admiration for her. Later she said extensively that she knew well how the ministers, especially the envoys of the courts, contribute to all this; so she begged me and beseeched me for the holy priesthood, in the name which I had until now, and for the kindness shown to me by her father, and by her brothers, and also the Bavarian prince, that I would have mercy on her; and then she opened up completely to me and said that she had been secretly informed about the efforts made with the Holy Father for divorce, and that His Holiness, with my advice and commitment, allows it. [...] She spoke all these words with bitter tears and sobbing so that I could hardly answer her. [...] I assured her, most honestly, that the king had not mentioned a word of divorce [...]. I wish and hope to convince the Queen someday that I did just the opposite; that I tried in various ways and under various appearances to dissuade from these intentions, to suppress these thoughts, and that the same is the opinion of the Holy Father. [...] At the supper (because she wanted me to dine with me) I saw her greatly comforted. Finally, bidding me farewell, she again took me aside and asked me to recommend her pious services to the Holy Father begging him to take care of her and not to forget in his holy prayers that God may console her in these worries. I understand that the Hungarian War increased the Queen's suspicions: some argue that for this divorce and for the Emperor's other practices with the Prussian Master and Moscow against the Kingdom of Poland, efforts were made to entangle him in these Transylvanian troubles. Whatever the answer to the matter of divorce, no matter how indifferent, I remind Your Majesty most humbly to write it with a key" (after Aleksander Przeździecki's "Jagiellonki polskie w XVI. wieku. Korrespondencya Polska", Volume 3, p. 104-107). Undobtedly also works of art, paintings, were part of all these secret negotiations and political efforts. In May 1562, the queen settled in Radom alone, abandoned by the king. As a widowed Duchess of Mantua, daughter of Emperor and cousin of Philip II of Spain, she knew the power of image and allegory. In the Borghese Gallery in Rome, where there is also a portrait of Catherine of Austria's mother Queen Anna Jagellonica (1503-1547) as Venus with Cupid stealing honey by Lucas Cranach the Elder, there is a painting of Venus blindfolding Cupid by Titian, dated by Adolfo Venturi to about 1565. It was probably acquired in 1608 as part of Cardinal Paolo Emilio Sfondrati's collection. According to Erwin Panofsky it shows Venus Verticordia between the blindfolded Cupid and Anteros, the one with his eyes open, symbols of contrasting aspects of love, the blind and sensuous, and the clear-sighted and virtuous, and two nymphs symbolizing Marital Affection and Chastity. The matrons of Rome, who were so renowned for good management that old Cato told the senate, "We Romans govern all the world abroad, but are ourselves governed by our wives at home," erected a temple to that Venus Verticordia, quæ maritos uxoribus reddebat benevolos (Venus the Turner of Hearts, who makes husbands well disposed to their wives), whither (if any difference happened between man and wife) they did instantly resort. There they did offer sacrifice, a white hart, Plutarch records, sine felle, without the gall (some say the like of Juno's temple), and make their prayers for conjugal peace (after Robert Burton's "The Anatomy of Melancholy", Volume 3, p. 310). Venus has the features of Queen Catherine of Austria, similar to her other effigies by Titian. The Queen probably commissioned it as a gift for the Pope or one of the cardinals. A copy of this painting was in the collection of Cornelis van der Geest and is seen in two paintings of his art gallery in the 1630s, by Willem van Haecht. In 1624 Prince Ladislaus Sigismund Vasa, grandson of Catherine Jagiellon, visited his gallery in Antwerp. The Nationalmuseum in Stockholm has two workshop copies of this painting, out of four known previously. One, attributed to Andrea Schiavone (inventory number NM 7170), came to the Nationalmuseum with the collection of Nicola Martelli, a Rome art dealer, in 1804, the other was transferred in 1866 from the Swedish royal collection (inventory number NM 205). It is possible that some previously known copies were taken from magnate or royal residencies in Poland during the Deluge (1655-1660), or even from the Royal Castle in Radom, which was ransaced and burned in the spring of 1656. Interestingly, in the Pinacoteca Ambrosiana in Milan, there is a painting of Adoration of the Magi by Titian from this period with figures in oriental costumes, very similar to contemporary Polish-Lithuanian attire. This work comes from the collection of Cardinal Federico Borromeo (1564-1631), cousin of Saint Charles Borromeo. It cannot be excluded that it was another luxury gift from the Queen of Poland commissioned in Venice. Some time later, most probably between 1566-1570, therefore after Queen's departure to Austria, Titian created another version of this composition. At some point after the painting's completion, most likely in the mid-18th century, its right side was cut away. Before 1739 it was in the collection of Charles Jervas or Jarvis in London (his sale, at his residence, London, 11-20 March 1739, 8th day, no. 543, as by Titian). In 1950 the painting was sold to the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, New York and in 1952 offered to the National Gallery of Art in Washington. The blonde goddess seems younger and more beautiful and composition was modified. The inventories up to 1780 describe the picture as "Venus binding the eyes of Cupid, and the Graces offering a Tribute", similar to the painting in the royal Wilanów Palace in Warsaw (Wil.1548), in which Venus bears the features of Crown Princess Anna Catherine Constance Vasa (1619-1651), granddaughter of Catherine Jagiellon, and to the painting in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, where Venus has the features of Ladislaus Vasa's first wife Cecilia Renata of Austria. The figures bear attributes of the goddess of love: apples, a dove and flowers. They could also be interpreted as assistants of Fortuna Virilis, an aspect or manifestation of the goddess Fortuna, often depicted with a cornucopia (horn of plenty) and associated with Venus Verticordia. Fortuna Virilis, according to the poet Ovid, had the power to conceal the physical imperfections of women from the eyes of men. The x-radiographs have revealed a number of alterations, especially in woman's face, which was initially less sublime and more close to the features of the Queen. It is possible that through this painting, Catherine wanted to convince Sigismund Augustus that her rightful place is at his side and that she should return to Poland. 
Allegory with portrait of Queen Catherine of Austria (1533-1572) as Venus Verticordia (Turner of Hearts) by Titian, 1563-1565, Borghese Gallery in Rome.
Allegory with portrait of Queen Catherine of Austria (1533-1572) as Venus Verticordia (Turner of Hearts) by workshop of Titian, attributed to Andrea Schiavone, 1563-1565, Nationalmuseum in Stockholm.
Allegory with portrait of Queen Catherine of Austria (1533-1572) as Venus Verticordia (Turner of Hearts) by Titian or workshop, 1566-1570, National Gallery of Art in Washington.
Adoration of the Magi with figures in Polish-Lithuanian costumes by Titian, ca. 1560, Pinacoteca Ambrosiana.
Portraits of Anna Jagiellon and Catherine of Austria by Titian and workshop
After the return of Queen Catherine of Austria (1533-1572), third wife of Sigismund Augustus, to her native Austria in 1565, Princess-Infanta Anna Jagiellon (1523-1596), the king's only unmarried sister who remained in Poland-Lithuania, became the most important woman in the Realm of Venus.
Anna resided mainly in Masovia, in splendid residences built by her mother Bona and the Masovian dukes. The Princess-Infanta had a small court, but considering her position as the only living relative of the king, present in the country after Catherine's departure, her importance must have increased after 1565. However, very little is known about this period in the life of the future elected queen of the Commonwealth. Magnificent fabrics were acquired for the Infanta and her ladies, from which dresses in Italian, Spanish, French, Polish and German styles were made, similar to those mentioned in the register of dowry of Catherine Jagiellon from 1562. The accounts confirm that on January 24, 1564, a piece of cloth for the princess's court was purchased from the Jew Józef in Płock for 6 zlotys, as well as two pieces of Krosno linen for 15 zlotys, from which shirts for the princess were sewn. In mid-April, this merchant delivered to the court of Princess Anna 5 and a half ells of black velvet for 18 zlotys 10 groszy, 4 ells of flesh-coloured Chinese silk and threads for sewing a letnik ("summer dress") for 24 groszy, and 7 ells of black velvet for 16 zlotys 10 groszy. According to a note prepared by the treasury scribe, the inferior quality velvet was used on May 10, 1564 to sew dresses for the court ladies of Princess-Infanta Anna (after "Dostawcy dworów królewskich w Polsce i na Litwie ..." by Maurycy Horn, Part II, p. 13). Among the most important events in the life of the Warsaw court, besides the marriages of Anna's court ladies, were the visits of her brother. During one of these visits, the king arrived ill on a Sunday in Lent (March 10, 1567). Sigismund Augustus probably caught a fever on the way. He was so weak that he had to be carried from the carriage in a chair to the castle chambers, where, lying on a bed, he was often visited by Anna and the "old lady", the influential chamberlain of her court, Jadwiga Żalińska née Taszycka (d. after 1575). This lasted two weeks, then, feeling better, he left in April for the Sejm in Piotrków. The Princess-Infanta, like her mother and brother, loved to surround herself with favourites and listen to the advice of secret advisers, whom her sister Sophia called "secretaries". The energetic chamberlain Żalińska, who was said to "snarl at the princess as if she were a servant" when angry, was generally disliked for her intrigues and greed. She was the wife of Maciej Żaliński, a favourite of the king, and the Żalińskis were reputed to be all-powerful at court. Anna showered her chamberlain with gifts, endured her anger and sulking, protected and financed the education of her son - Jan, an elegant young man, but with a rather dubious character. Along with Żalińska, among the influential women of the court were Zofia Łaska, Elżbieta Świdnicka and Katarzyna Orlikowa, who were admitted to great intimacy and sincerely devoted to the Princess-Infanta (after "Anna Jagiellonka" by Maria Bogucka, p. 79, 116, 153). The letter of Zofia Łaska, clearly reluctant towards Żalińska, to Sophia Jagellon, dated May 23, 1573 from Warsaw, in which she informs her of the election of Henry of Valois and that Anna will probably marry him, is very interesting. The lady-in-waiting also adds: "If anything were to please me, it would be that Your Ducal Highness be there yourself, and especially that Żalińska's son does not sleep there: because everyone criticizes this and holds the Princess responsible for having allowed it. But the Princess does not care" (after "Jagiellonki polskie w XVI. wieku: Korrespondencya polska ..." by Aleksander Przezdziecki, Volume 4, p. 69). "Anna, having taken him under her protection, sent him to study at the Academy of Ingolstadt, then surrounded him with her favors", comments about Mr Żaliński Kasper Niesiecki (1682-1744) (after "Herbarz polski", Volume 10, p. 44). In February 1592, she wrote to Nicolaus Christopher Radziwill "the Orphan" (1549-1616), asking for help for this "pupil of ours" in his efforts to marry Elżbieta (Halszka) Chodkiewiczówna. In the meantime, Żaliński had become the starost of Przedbórz. The beautiful ladies of Anna's court often attracted her brother's attention, as was the case with Anna Zajączkowska, who was distinguished by her extraordinary beauty. Zajączkowska, "a very virtuous young lady of the purest morals," was the Infanta's favorite. Anna's court was famous for its nobility and all maiden virtues. It took a lot of courage and ingenuity to attack this "sacred gynaeceum" (in ancient Greece, it was a part of the house reserved for women), so the royal courtiers used an unusual trick. One day, a nobleman named Mikorski appeared at the Infanta's court, showed the recommendation of the Piotrków starost Andrzej Szpot, asked the Infanta for Zajączkowska's hand in marriage, and then, having received her consent, took the bride out of Warsaw. But instead of going to the altar, Zajączkowska went to the royal bed in Bugaj Castle near Witów. This was a terrible blow for Anna. "It is admirable," wrote a contemporary chronicler, "with what violence the pain pierced the heart of the Infanta, how many deep sighs she heaved, falling on the bed, accusing her brother, who had covered her honor and fame with such shame" (after "Zygmunt August: żywot ostatniego z Jagiellonów" by Eugeniusz Gołębiowski, p. 471). Although her relationship with the young and handsome Jan Żaliński was very ambiguous, it seems that in Zajączkowska's case the Infanta needed to save face in public opinion and especially in front of the Habsburgs, who were well informed about the affairs of the Polish-Lithuanian court. Moreover, Catherine of Austria should not have believed that Anna supported her brother's behavior towards her. Although she lived in Austria, she was still the legal wife of Sigismund Augustus and the Queen of Poland, and, in addition to her family connections in the Holy Roman Empire and Spain, she had many friends in Italy. Having reluctantly left Mantua shortly after the death of Duke Francesco, Catherine of Austria remained very attached to the court of Mantua, which she had known for only a few months of marriage. Once she became Queen of Poland, she began a close correspondence between the two courts. Between Vilnius, where Sigismund Augustus liked to reside, and Mantua, an exchange of gifts and favors, recommendations and various courtesies intensified. Shortly after her marriage to the King of Poland, in 1554, Catherine promised to send a horse to Cardinal Ercole Gonzaga (1505-1563), a very precious gift at the time. From the surviving correspondence, we know that the horse left Vienna around October 22 and that a few weeks later, on November 10, the cardinal may have written to the queen to thank her for this gift. In her letters to Mantua, the Queen only occasionally used the services of secretaries. In a letter to Duchess Margaret Palaeologa (1510-1566) in May 1564, Catherine justified herself thus: "It is no small displeasure that, finding ourselves on a journey to Lithuania, we cannot, as is our custom, reply in our own hand to the letter of Your Illustrious Ladyship" (Ne displace non poco che, per ritrovarne nel viaggio di Lituania, non possiamo secondo ch'è di nostro costume risponder di mano propria alla lettera di Vostra illustrissima Signoria). After the death of Catherine and Sigismund Augustus in 1572, Anna became the object of interest of candidates for the throne of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, among whom were also Italians, including her distant relative, widowed Alfonso II d'Este (1533-1597), Duke of Ferrara. "The Infanta will openly favour both the Duke of Ferrara and Rožmberk [William of Rožmberk (1535-1592)], because she passionately desires the marriage: there is no other way to retain her favour", wrote Andrzej Dudycz to Emperor Maximilian II in November 1574. The friendly court of the d'Este family, so dear to Anna's mother, Bona Sforza, was very involved in the first free elections of the Commonwealth. In 1574, several ambassadors from Ferrara arrived in Poland-Lithuania, including Taddeo Bottone, Antonio Semenza and Ascanio Giraldini. One of them, Alessandro Baranzoni, sent incognito, sought the support of the most eminent Tuscan merchants present in Kraków. Girolamo Mazza, a Venetian who had played a role in the election of Henry of Valois, and Filippo Talducci, an important figure in the Italian merchant community of Kraków, supported the candidacy of the Duke d'Este. Even after the election of Anna and Bathory in December 1575, Talducci did not give up cultivating his relations with Ferrara. In October 1578, a young man from his entourage, Luca Del Pace, who was going to Florence to see his family, passing through Ferrara, was commissioned to bring a portrait of Queen Anna as a gift that Giraldini had been unable to obtain, "because at that time His Majesty had forbidden her to be portrayed" (sendo che in quel tempo Sua Maestà haveva proibito l'essere ritratta). The Este court was therefore fully included in the network of relations of the Tuscan merchants operating in Poland, and Ferrara appears to us as an almost obligatory stop on the Kraków-Florence route (after "La trama Nascosta - Storie di mercanti e altro" by Rita Mazzei). Ippolito Tassoni was sent as ambassador from Ferrara to Poland in the summer of 1553 on the occasion of the marriage of Sigismund Augustus with Catherine of Austria. Two years later, in October 1555, the Ferrarese envoy Antonio Maria Negrisoli was sent by Bona to Ercole II to ask permission to stay in "the palace he has in the city of Venice" (ricercare et pregare Vostra Signoria del palazzo tiene in la città di Venetia) and in the autumn of 1565, Taddeo Bottone was sent to Sigismund Augustus to invite the sovereign to the marriage of Alfonso II d'Este with Barbara of Austria (1539-1572), the younger sister of Catherine of Austria. All these links indicate that the portrait of Queen Anna sent in 1578 was undoubtedly not the only effigy of the member of the Polish-Lithuanian royal family that was in the possession of the Dukes of Ferrara. It is quite possible that the portrait of Alfonso II d'Este from the Popławski collection, attributed to Hans von Aachen, now in the National Museum in Warsaw (inv. M.Ob.1913 MNW) is connected with such family relations or with the duke's candidacy in the royal election of 1587. In the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister in Dresden there is a portrait by Titian, believed to represent his daughter Lavinia (oil on canvas, 103 x 86.5 cm, Gal.-Nr. 171). The painting comes from the former collections of the d'Este family in Ferrara, which were transferred to Modena in 1598 by Duke Caesar d'Este (1562-1628). In 1746, the painting, together with many other masterpieces from the Galleria Estense in Modena, was sold to Augustus III (1696-1763), elected monarch of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and Elector of Saxony, to enrich his collection in Dresden. The identification of the sitter and the attribution are based mainly on the inscription in the upper right corner, which reads in Latin: "Lavinia, daughter of Titian, painted by him" (LAVINIA. TIT. V. F. / AB. EO. P.). This inscription is unusual for Titian's works and was most likely added later, probably to sell this portrait at a more advantageous price as the original work of the famous Venetian master. Today, however, both the author of the portrait and the identity of the sitter are in doubt. In a 1993 publication by Jacob Burckhardt there is a question mark (Lavinia Vecellio?, Dresda, Gemäldegalerie, "Il ritratto nella pittura italiana del Rinascimento", p. 352) and in a 2001 catalogue of Titian's works it is listed as "Portrait of a noblewoman", additonally proven not to be autograph work. There are also suggestions that the person depicted is Bianca Cappello, the future Grand Duchess of Tuscany (after "Die bewegte Frau: Weibliche Ganzfigurenbildnisse in Bewegung ..." by Petra Kreuder, p. 70). The exact dates of birth of Lavinia, daughter of Titan, are unknown. She probably died in 1561. In 1555 she married the wealthy minor nobleman Cornelio Sarcinelli of Serravalle, while the woman depicted seems rather to be a member of the high aristocracy or even the ruling family given her pose and her rich costume. Stylistically and considering the costume, the painting is dated to around 1565, which is generally not disputed. The woman's green dress is not typical of Venice and the authors indicate strong inspirations from Spanish fashion - the costume of Elisabeth of Valois (1545-1568), Queen of Spain according to her portrait in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna (inv. GG 3182), is similar in many elements. With this costume, the woman wanted to emphasize her ties to the Spanish monarchy. The Infanta Anna Jagiellon, through her mother, was descended from the kings of Aragon and the kings of Naples and had rights over the possessions that were part of the Spanish Empire at that time. An ostrich feather fan, an accessory of noble ladies, which only married women were allowed to wear in Venice at the time, could in this case indicate the desire to marry. Queen Elizabeth I, whose unmarried status inspired a cult of virginity linked to that of the Virgin Mary, is often depicted with ostrich feather fans, notably in her famous "Armada Portrait". Thus, given that the woman in the Dresden portrait was not Venetian, she should not be considered already married. Furthermore, if the woman was married, the portrait would be accompanied by the portrait of her husband, which is not known. Given its provenance, the painting, commissioned in Venice on the basis of study drawings sent from Poland-Lithuania, could easily have been transported to Anna's relatives in Ferrara. The resemblance of the woman in the Dresden portrait to the Princess-Infanta in the portraits by Venetian painters that I have identified is strong. The portrait by Francesco Bassano in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna (inv. GG 33) is particularly similar in terms of facial features and costume. One can also point out the resemblance to the famous miniature of Anna by Lucas Cranach the Younger (Czartoryski Museum, MNK XII-545) (blond hair, small lips). A portrait similar to the one in Dresden, also identified as representing Titian's daughter Lavinia, is in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna (oil on canvas, 111 x 90.5 cm, GG 3379). The woman is different and due to the lack of resemblance to the Dresden portrait, the identification as Lavinia is questioned. The woman's costume in expensive green fabric is similar, but it is more in the Venetian style. We can identify the same woman in the painting attributed to Titian and his workshop in the Prado Museum in Madrid (inv. P000487), which was previously catalogued as Portrait of Titian's daughter Lavinia Vecellio by Paolo Veronese, and which, according to my identification, represents the third wife of Sigismund Augustus - Catherine of Austria. The resemblance to the portraits of Catherine by Titian's entourage or followers in Voigtsberg Castle and the National Museum of Serbia is also visible in the facial features. The Vienna painting is attributed to Titian and his workshop or to his nephew Marco Vecellio (1545-1611) and is also dated around 1565. It comes from the collection of Archduke Leopold Wilhelm of Austria and was listed in the Theatrum Pictorium under number 91, before Titian's portrait of Jacopo de Strada, dated between 1567 and 1568 (Kunsthistorisches Museum, GG 81). The painting was therefore commissioned shortly before Catherine's departure from Poland-Lithuania and probably sent to her Habsburg relatives. Another interesting painting by Titian in the Kunsthistorisches Museum (oil on canvas, 183 x 200 cm, GG 71), depicts the mythological scene of Diana and Callisto. It is generally dated to around 1566 and is thought to have been acquired by Emperor Maximilian II, Catherine's brother and Anna's relative, in 1568. In 1559 Titian had sent an earlier version of this theme to King Philip II of Spain, when Maximilian II declined Titian's offer to paint it for him. In 1568, Veit von Dornberg, the imperial envoy in Venice, had written to Emperor Maximilian II that Titian was willing to provide him with seven "fables", including six versions of Philip II's poesie. However, this offer does not seem to have come to fruition (after "Titian, Tintoretto, Veronese: Rivals in Renaissance Venice ..." by Frederick Ilchman, Linda Borean, p. 59). Additionally, there were complaints that Titian's portrait of the King of Portugal bore no resemblance to the subject (after "Emperor Maximilian II" by Paula S. Fichtner, p. 98). The painting from Philip's collection is now in the National Gallery in London and the National Galleries of Scotland (inv. NG6616). The painter altered several elements, including the faces of the main characters - the goddess Diana and her close servant. While in the painting made for the King of Spain their faces are indistinct, in the Viennese version they are very characteristic and Diana's servant looks at the viewer in a meaningful way, indicating that in addition to the reference to Ovid's Metamorphoses, the painting has an additional, hidden meaning. The woman depicted as the goddess of hunting and fertility, daughter of the king of the gods Jupiter, closely resembles the woman in Titian's "Venus with an Organist and a Dog" in the Prado (inv. P000420) and the woman in the portrait from Titian's entourage in the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister in Kassel (inv. GK 491), both of which represent the Infanta Anna Jagiellon according to my identification. Around 1568 Titian most likely paint the young king Sebastian of Portugal (1554-1578), whom he never met in person. The nymph Callisto had taken a vow of chastity to Diana. She broke her vow when Jupiter approached her in the guise of Diana. The painting shows the moment when the goddess discovered her subject's pregnancy. As punishment, Callisto was cast out and transformed into a bear by Juno, Jupiter's jealous wife. The painting can therefore be seen as a message to Maximilian and Catherine, who were staying in Austria at that time, that the "daughter of the king (of the gods)" does not tolerate disobedience from her ladies (as in the case of Zajączkowska). In his Zwierziniec, written in 1562 (version published in Kraków in 1574, p. 49v), Mikołaj Rej compares two daughters of Sigismund I - Anna and Catherine - to the goddess Diana (Jakoż ty dwie Dianie, bez pochlebstwa wszego, Umieją pięknie użyć stanu królewskiego, National Library of Poland, SD XVI.Qu.539). 
Portrait of Princess-Infanta Anna Jagiellon (1523-1596) by Titian and workshop, ca. 1564-1565, Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister in Dresden.
Portrait of Queen Catherine of Austria (1533-1572) by Titian and workshop, ca. 1564-1565, Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna.
Portrait of Queen Catherine of Austria (1533-1572) from the Theatrum Pictorium (91) by Jan van Troyen after Titian and workshop, 1660, Princely Court Library in Waldeck.
Diana and Callisto with disguised portrait of Princess-Infanta Anna Jagiellon (1523-1596) by Titian and workshop, ca. 1566-1570, Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna.
Portrait of Jan Amor Tarnowski by Tintoretto
In the Prado Museum in Madrid there is an interesting portrait attributed to Jacopo Tintoretto from the Spanish royal collection (oil on canvas, 82 x 67 cm, inventory number P000366). Because the painting was obviously created by a Venetian painter and the identity of the model is unknown, it is known as a "Portrait of a Venetian admiral". The man in rich armour etched with gold is holding a baton, that is traditionally the sign of a high-ranking military officer.
This work was offered to King Philip IV of Spain (1605-1665) by Diego Felipez de Guzmán (1580-1655), 1st Marquess of Leganés, a Spanish politician and army commander, who fought during more than 20 years in the Spanish Netherlands and in 1635 was named Captain General and Governor of the Duchy of Milan. Such portraits of important military commanders were frequently exchanged in Europe at that time and sent to different places, so that Leganés could acquire the painting in Italy, but also in Flanders or Spain. The portrait is astonishingly similar in features, pose and and style of armour to the well known effigy of Jan Amor Tarnowski commissioned by king Stanislaus Augustus Poniatowski in about 1781 for his gallery of effigies of Famous Poles at the Royal Castle in Warsaw (ZKW/3409). The effigy, just as the rest, was undoubtedly based on some original portrait still preserved in the royal collection. It was painted by court painter of king Stanislaus Augustus, Marcello Bacciarelli, who also copied other effigies of famous Poles, including Copernicus (ZKW/3433). During the Great Northern War, royal residencies of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, a Venetian style republic of nobles created in 1569 with support of the last male Jagiellon, Sigismund Augustus, were ransacted and burned again by different invaders in 1702 and 1707. That is why some effigy of Sigismund Augustus, survived in the royal collection in about 1768, was confused with the effigy of the progenitor of the Polish-Lithuanian dynasty - Ladislaus Jagiello in the cycle of Polish Kings in the Marble Room at the Royal Castle in Warsaw, commissioned by Poniatowski. Jan Amor Tarnowski (1488-1561) was a renowned military commander, military theoretician, and statesman, who in 1518 became a knight of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem and was accoladed by King Manuel I in Lisbon as a knight of Portugal. In the first half of the 1540s, the hetman was already well known to the Habsburgs as a military officer and politician, as evidenced by the letter King Ferdinand I sent to Juan Alonso de Gámiz. The King of Bohemia requested not only that Elizabeth of Austria reward Tarnowski, but also that "he receive a favor in the Iberian Peninsula through Her Majesty". In the account of the expedition that the maestre de campo Bernardo de Aldana made to Hungary in 1548, he is mentioned as "the very noble Count Tornoz". The hetman corresponded frequently with the court of Vienna and perhaps also with Spain with the aim of obtaining a high position in the imperial and Spanish army. In July 1554, Charles V wrote from Brussels to Prince Philip and Mary of Hungary, either in reference to Jan Amor Tarnowski or to his son Jan Krzysztof, to inform them that "the Count of Tarna, Polish (…) came here requesting that he be present at your nuptials and to then travel to Spain at the first opportunity in order to see that province. And being the person he is, and having been highly recommended to us by the King and Queen of Bohemia my children, it is only fair that he be given a warm welcome and good treatment. I kindly request you to treat him with the utmost care for the duration of his stay" (after "Jan Tarnowski and Spain" by Paweł Szadkowski, pp. 55-57). The portrait finally bears a resemblance to the effigies of Jan Amor and his son on his monumental tomb in the Tarnów Cathedral, created between 1561 and 1573 by Venetian trained sculptor Giovanni Maria Mosca called Padovano, who also created tomb monuments of two wives of Sigismund Augustus. According to the inventory, a fine parade burgonnet from the collection of the Krasiński Estate in Warsaw, belonged to Hetman Tarnowski (Polish Army Museum, 35128 MWP). It was richly decorated with engraved and embossed mythological and biblical scenes - the Rape of the Sabine women, the Romans fighting the barbarian tribes, the arrival of Judith at the camp of Holofernes, scenes of camp life and the stylized Jagiellonian eagle with the letter 'S' of King Sigismund I on its chest. It is considered a work of Parisian, Italian or Polish workshop, which indicates that the hetman commissioned the exquisite works of art from abroad. The same man was depicted in another painting attributed to circle of Jacopo Tintoretto or Titian, standing three-quarter-length, in armour with a crimson tunic and holding a baton (oil on canvas, 120.7 x 94.9 cm). This "Portrait of a Venetian officer" comes from private collection and was sold in April 2006 (Christie's New York, lot 206). His velvet tunic with embedded metal plates is similar to so-called corazzina brigandine, a form of armour made of heavy cloth lined with small steel plates, such as that from the Royal Armoury in Warsaw, most likely made in Poland or Italy around 1550, now in the Livrustkammaren in Stockholm (Swedish war booty from 1655, 23167 LRK). Hetman's father-in-law, Chancellor Krzysztof Szydłowiecki, was depicted in a similar crimson brigandine and armour, in a painting by Titian (Pinacoteca Ambrosiana in Milan). The overall style of this portrait resembles works attributed to Bernardino Licinio, who died in Venice around 1565. His large codpiece, a prominent addition to the full suits of armour and the affirmation of virility, was "censored" and repainted, most likely in the 19th century. During the French wars of religion, which lasted from 1562 to 1598, Catholics mocked Huguenots as impotent ébraguettés (without virility) because they would not wear the prominent codpiece (after "A Cultural History of Dress and Fashion in the Renaissance" by Elizabeth Currie, p. 70). In the 16th century, virility was considered a sign of God's blessing, which is why we also find representations of large codpieces in churches. One of the oldest is in the centre of the scene of the Crucifixion, a large fresco painted by Il Pordenone on the counter-façade of the Cathedral of Cremona in 1521. A knight, probably a notable of Cremona, with a large codpiece, holding a large sword, points to the crucified Christ. In May 1543, when entering Kraków for the coronation of Elizabeth of Austria (1526-1545), the members of Hetman Tarnowski's army were dressed in Spanish style (after "Zygmunt August" by Stanisław Cynarski, p. 53), so all of them undoubtedly wore codpieces, with the exception of two Hungarian trumpeters. "Tarnowski was worthy of being compared to ancient captains for his expertise in military discipline and seriousness of counsel" (Era il Tharnouio degno d'esser paragonato a capitani antichi di peritia di disciplina militare e di grauità di consiglio, after "l rimanente della seconda parte dell'historie del suo tempo ...", published in Venice in 1557, p. 201), praised the hetman Paolo Giovio (1483-1552), bishop of Nocera de' Pagani, whose museum filled with many portraits of notable figures was described in a letter sent by Antonio Francesco Doni (1513-1574) on July 17, 1543 to M[es]s[er] Jacopo Tintoretto Eccellente Pittore. 
Portrait of Jan Amor Tarnowski (1488-1561) in armour holding a baton by Jacopo Tintoretto, 1550-1575, Prado Museum in Madrid.
Portrait of Jan Amor Tarnowski (1488-1561) in armour with a crimson brigandine, holding a baton by Bernardino Licinio, 1550s, Private collection.
Portrait of Fedor Senyuta Lyakhovitski by Paris Bordone
"An ancient jewel for great courage given to the Senyuts in Volhynia by the Ruthenian princes, which is in a red field, because they always bravely defended their homeland with their blood" is the description of the Senyuta family coat of arms in Bartosz Paprocki's "The Nest of Virtues, whence the coat of arms of the knights, dukes, and lords of the Polish Kingdom, Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Ruthenia, Prussia, Masovia, Samogitia, and other States have their genesis" (Gniazdo cnoty zkąd herby rycerstwa slawnego Krolestwa Polskiego ..., p. 1126), published in Kraków in 1578.
Below the text is the woodcut with reproduction of this coat of arms in a multi-field version with different runic and tamga symbols, some of which are coats of arms of other important Ruthenian noble families like the Yelovitzki (Jełowicki). To the right of the coat of arms, Paprocki included a schematic effigy of the most notable member of the family at that time - Fedor Senyuta Lyakhovitski, tribune of Kremenets (Woyski Krzemieniecki), wearing armor, a shishak helmet and holding a saber (also used as an image of other figures). Fedor, also known as Fiodor Hrehorowicz Sieniut, Teodor Sieniuta Lachowicki or Lachowiecki in Polish, is considered the first Protestant member of the family. He was lord of Lyakhivtsi, Tykhomel and other villages and married twice: to Katarzyna née Jeło-Malińska and to Katarzyna Firlejówna (married in 1588), daughter of Mikołaj Firlej (d. 1588), voivode of Lublin. Firlejówna was a zealous Protestant and probably under her influencee, he converted from Orthodoxy to Calvinism. Samuel Twardowski, in the 1661 epithalamium for Piotr Opaliński and Anna Sieniucianka, mentions that Katarzyna was a lady of "high connections" (koniunkcyj wysokich) and the heiress of large estates. Through this marriage, Fedor received Rudno, near Lublin. The Kórnik Library preserves his estate archives, including a will with a legacy for his wife Katarzyna (BK 1853). They had two sons, Abraham (1587-1632) and Paul Christopher (1589-1640), who studied at the universities of Heidelberg (1603) and Leiden (1605), and a daughter Catherine. Fedor and Malińska's son, Nicholas, was killed in Siwki in 1604 by peasants. In the mentioned epithalamium of Twardowski, which opens with a description of the arrival of Venus in Lesser Poland, Hymen presents the families of the bride and groom, including the military deeds of Fedor Senyuta and his sons (after "Samuel Twardowski: Epitalamia" by Roman Krzywy, p. 18-19, 84). He became tribune of Kremenets, an officer responsible for security, on March 29, 1572. His father, Gregory (Hryhorij, Hrycko or Grzegorz), who died around 1559, was in the service of Illia (1510-1539), Prince of Ostroh (after "Spis ważniejszych miejscowości w powiecie starokonstantynowskim ..." by Jan Marek Giżycki, p. 433-434). He married Anna Patrykiejówna, also called Patrykówna, with whom he had four daughters: Sophia, Anastasia, Catherine and Elizabeth, as well as two sons, Matthew, who was killed by his subjects on May 30, 1563, and Fedor. After his brother's death, Fedor became heir to the Lyakhivtsi estates and the village of Tykhomel. The town of Lyakhivtsi (now Bilohiria, Lachowce, or Lachowice in Polish), originally inhabited by settlers from Masuria, was first mentioned in 1441. Since 1520, the settlement belonged to Queen Bona Sforza, who granted it to Dashka Kalenkovych, whose daughter Anna married Fyodor's grandfather Jesko in 1538. In the late 16th and early 17th centuries, a wooden fortress existed in Lyakhivtsi on an island in the middle of a pond, and at that time the town was the center of Arianism. In 1566, the Ruthenian prince Andrei Petrovich Massalski sued Fedor, accusing him of assault near the city gate of Lutsk (after "Honor among nobles ..." by Povilas Dikavičius, p. 263-264). Several documents from the period of October 5, 1568 (claim for payment of a monetary debt to Mr. Stepan Urumsky) to May 29, 1578 mention Fedor, including his complaints against Constantine Vasily (1526-1608), Prince of Ostroh. He died after 1595 and his burial place is unknown. Very little is known about artistic patronage of the family and practically nothing remained of it. In this regard, the trip of Fedor's son, Paul Christopher, to Italy in 1613 is interesting: he visited Padua and Rome (after "Polski slownik biograficzny", Volume 37 [1935], p. 196). In his book published in Kyiv in 1914, Marian Dubiecki (1838-1926) describes the portrait of Paul Christopher, preserved in the Dominican Church of Lyakhivtsi, as "with magnificent and expressive features, perhaps the work of an Italian master" ("Na kresach i za kresami ...", p. 235). It depicted the lord of Lyakhivtsi wearing a crimson cloak lined with sable fur. In 2019, "Portrait of a Gentleman, half length", attributed to the 16th-century North Italian School, was auctioned in New York (oil on canvas, 97.5 x 80 cm, Sotheby's, January 31, 2019, lot 256). The manner in which the velvet fabrics of the costume were painted is very characteristic of the Venetian painter Paris Bordone (1500-1571) and his workshop. A comparable portrait is the one in the Pitti Palace in Florence, depicting a noblewoman in a crimson robe, traditionally known as "The Medici's Nurse" (La balia dei Medici, inv. 1912, Palatina 109; 19th-century critics identified her with a wet nurse of the Medici family). The way the painter has depicted the model's left hand indicates that he may have been inspired by the late works of Titian, which place the painting in the 1560s or around 1570. Several paintings from old collections in the former Sarmatia are linked to Bordone and his workshop. His works were also well known during the partitions. The 1834 register of paintings from the Potocki collection in Wilanów, for example, mentions "A woman's head, Paris Bordone" ("Spis obrazów znaidujących się w galeryi i pokojach Pałacu Willanowskiego ...", p. 10, item 83). The costume of a man wearing a ruff is also more typical of the second half of the 16th century. His pose, one hand on his hip, the richness of his costume, gilded dagger, saber hanging from his belt, and the gold chain around his neck, indicate that he was a wealthy aristocrat. On the chain, we can see a diamond-shaped coat of arms: on a red background, four runic or tamga symbols in gold recall the coat of arms of Senyuta family published in Paprocki's "The Nest of Virtues ...". The man wears a steel gorget, which makes him a military man, like Fedor, whose career culminated in his appointment as tribune of Kremenets. In this respect, the portrait is comparable to the schematic portrait of him in Paprocki's work. 
Portrait of Fedor Senyuta Lyakhovitski, lord of Lyakhivtsi by Paris Bordone, ca. 1563-1570, Private collection.
Portrait of Jerzy Jazłowiecki by Lambert Sustris
In 1563 Stefan Tomsa, a descendant of Moldavian boyars, led a successful conspiracy against the Protestant ruler Iacob Heraclid, known as Despot Voda, who after a 3-month siege of the Suceava Castle was betrayed by mercenaries and personally killed by Tomsa. As a sign of submission to Sultan Suleiman I, Stefan ordered to send the captured Ruthenian Prince Dmytro Vyshnevetsky, who was involved in Moldavian affairs, to Istanbul, where Vyshnevetsky was tortured to death. Unable obtain recognition from the High Porte and to hold on to the throne, Tomsa fled to Poland, where King Sigismund II Augustus, in order to appease the Turks, ordered Jerzy Jazłowiecki (d. 1575), castellan of Kamianets to capture him. The Prince of Moldavia was imprisoned, then sentenced to death and beheaded in Lviv on May 5, 1564.
Jazłowiecki, born in or before 1510, was the son of Mikołaj Monasterski of the Abdank coat of arms (ca. 1490-1559), castellan of Kamianets and his wife Ewa Podfilipska. He was brought up at the court of the bishop of Kraków, Piotr Tomicki (1464-1535), but soon he began his military career under the supervision of Jan Amor Tarnowski (1488-1561) and Mikołaj Sieniawski (1489-1569) and participated in many battles. Already in 1528, as an 18-year-old, he became famous as a royal cavalry captain in the battle with the Tatars near Kamianets. In 1546, under the influence of his wife Elżbieta Tarło, he converted to Calvinism, and later closed the churches on his estates and expelled the Dominican monks. In 1544, he purchased from Mikołaj Sieniawski the town and castle of Yazlovets (Polish Jazłowiec) with the surrounding villages for 6,400 zlotys. The sum was finally paid in 1546 and from 1547 he began to call himself Jazłowiecki. Between 1550-1556 Jerzy rebuilt the Medieval fortress in Yazlovets in Renaissance style to design of Italian architects from the Lviv group of Antoni, Gabriel and Kilian Quadro, brothers of Giovanni Battista di Quadro, active in Poznań (after "Sztuka polska: Renesans i manieryzm", Volume 3, p. 120). It should be noted that the style of the stone portal above the entrance to the castle is similar to the one in the Mikołaj Sieniawski's Castle in Berezhany, created in 1554. In April 1564, he was sent as royal emissary to Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent for which he received a seat in the Senate from the king Sigismund Augustus. In 1567 Jerzy become the Voivode of Podolia, in 1569 the Voivode of Ruthenia and was appointed Field Hetman of the Crown and Grand Hetman of the Crown (without a formal nomination) that year. He also reorganized the defense of the southern borders against the Tatars. During the interregnum in 1573, Jazłowiecki was nominated by the Piast party as a candidate for the Polish throne and was supported by Sultan Selim II (after "Jak w dawnej Polsce królów obierano" by Marek Borucki, p. 69). In the Staatliche Kunsthalle in Karlsruhe, there is a portrait of a general, attributed to Lambert Sustris (oil on canvas, 116.2 x 97.4 cm, inv. 418), similar in style to portrait of Princess Elizabeth Radziwill (Museum of Western and Eastern Art in Odessa), daughter-in-law of Mikołaj Sieniawski, identified by me. This painting of unknown provenance was attributed to a Venetian follower of Titian in the gallery catalogs from 1881 to 1920. The 55-year-old man, according to Latin inscription in lower left corner of the painting (ETATIS / SVE AN / LV), is holding a heavy sword. His armour, beard and shaved head are strikingly similar to the statue of Mikołaj Sieniawski from his tombstone in Berezhany (destroyed during World War II). Behind him there is a view with the same man dismounted from the horse, standing before a body of another man, whose head was cut off. The killed man is wearing an Ottoman turban with pleated red velvet part, called külah, similar to that visible in a drawing by German School from the late 16th century and depicting Wallachian and Moldavian noblemen (inscribed ... reitten die Wallachen unnd Moldauer ..., Private collection). Michael the Brave (1558-1601), Prince of Wallachia and Moldavia, was depicted in similar turban in the Feast of Herod with the Beheading of St John the Baptist by Bartholomeus Strobel, created between 1630-1633 (Prado Museum in Madrid), as well as Alexander II Mavrocordatos Firaris (1754-1819), Prince of Moldavia, who is wearing a similar turban-like headpiece in his portrait created in 1785 or after (Private collection). The standing man in the view is not holding a sword, he did not execute the other man, he just captured him. The general from the painting bear a strong resemblance to portrait of Jerzy Jazłowiecki, when Field Hetman of the Crown, known from the photograph from the collection of the historian Aleksander Czołowski (1865-1944), most probably a 17th century copy of a painting created in about 1569. He was the same age (about 54 or 55) as Jazłowiecki when he captured the Prince of Moldavia in 1564. 
Portrait of Jerzy Jazłowiecki (ca. 1510-1575), castellan of Kamianets, aged 55 by Lambert Sustris, ca. 1565, Staatliche Kunsthalle in Karlsruhe.
Portraits of Francesco Lismanini by Giovanni Battista Moroni and Bernardino Licinio
"Lismanini was with us as an envoy of the duke of Prussia; your reverence accuses that this man is not a Catholic, but the duke himself is not one and none of those whom he usually sends to us recognizes the authority of the church, and we, who receive other envoys of the said duke, as well as Tartar and Turkish envoys who are not Catholics and sent by non-Catholics, did not think that Lismanini could be refused an audience, however, he only had a short conversation with us and will take his dismissal without delay. We wish your reverence good health. Given in Grodno on September 1, year of our Lord 1565 of our reign 36", ends his letter to the Venetian cardinal Giovanni Francesco Commendone (1523-1584), King Sigismund II Augustus (after "Pamiętniki o dawnéj Polsce z czasów Zygmunta Augusta ..." by Mikołaj Malinowski, p. 271). That same year, mentioned Francesco Lismanini (Franciscus Lismaninus in Latin or Franciszek Lismanin in Polish) published in Królewiec/Königsberg his book "Short Explanation of the Doctrine of the Holy Trinity" (Brevis explicatio doctrinae De sanctissima Trinitate ...), which he dedicated to the king (SERENISSIMO PRINCIPI ET DOMINO, DOMINO SIGISMVNDO AVEgusto Regi Poloniæ, Magno Duci Lithuaniæ, Russiæ, Prußiæ, Masouia, Samogitia, Liuoniæ &c. Domino hæredi, Franciscus Lysmaninus summam felicitatem præcatur).
Born around 1504 to Greek parents on the island of Corfu, which then belonged to the Republic of Venice, Lismanini arrived in Kraków with his parents in 1515. He generally confirmed his Greek origin, but it is difficult to determine whether he was Greek by birth or whether he perhaps came from a family of settlers from the Serenissima (after "Odrodzenie i reformacja w Polsce", Volume 16, p. 38, 45). In the mid-1520s he joined the Franciscan order, becoming its provincial in 1538. Probably receiving his doctorate in theology in Padua around 1540, he soon became a preacher and confessor to Queen Bona Sforza (from 1545). In the 1540s he sympathized with the Reformation, and the Bishop of Kraków Samuel Maciejowski tried unsuccessfully to denounce Lismanini as a "heretic" to the newly elected Pope Julius III in 1549. Since the accession to the throne of Sigismund II Augustus, Francesco had been part of his immediate circle. He left for Italy at the beginning of the summer of 1549, first to Rome to settle secret matters that were very dear to the queen, according to her letter to the pope, and then returned from Venice to Poland in March 1550 (after "Papiestwo-Polska 1548-1563" by Henryk Damian Wojtyska, p. 318). Upon his return from Italy, a rumour spread in Kraków that he was sending as much money and gold as possible to Italy, in order to build a house in Venice, settle there and marry, perhaps with his concubine whom he kept at the nuns of St. Andrew in Kraków. Lismanini spread Calvinist books and ideas among the nobility and at the royal court. He also maintained intensive contacts with Italian theologian Lelio Sozzini (1525-1562) in Switzerland and Poland. In 1553, the king entrusted him with the purchase of books for his library, and Lismanini undertook an extensive tour of Europe. Via Moravia he went to Padua and Milan, then visited the Swiss cities of Zurich, Bern and Basel. After stays in Paris and Lyon, Francesco stayed again in Switzerland in 1554-1555, in Geneva and Zurich, where he met John Calvin. It was in Switzerland that he broke definitively with the Catholic Church when he married, on Calvin's advice, a French noblewoman named Claudia (early 1555). On his return journey to Poland-Lithuania, he visited Strasbourg and Stuttgart in 1556. In 1557 and 1558, he considered settling in Królewiec/Königsberg with Duke Albert of Prussia (1490-1568), whom he had met at the funeral of duke's uncle Sigismund the Old in 1548. In the early 1560s, Lismanini, who was then living in Pińczów, was involved in serious conflicts with Francesco Stancaro (Franciscus Stancarus, Franciszek Stankar, 1501-1574). He spent the last years of his life, from 1563 to 1566, in Prussia as a ducal councillor (compare "Antitrinitarische Streitigkeiten ..." by Irene Dingel, p. 180-181). In the letter of April 29, 1563, the Swiss reformer Heinrich Bullinger (1504-1575) calls him "superintendent of the churches of Lesser Poland" (D. Francisco Lysmanino Corcyreo, superintendenti ecclesiarum Minoris Poloniae). Before September 1, 1565, according to the king's letter, he was in Lithuania and Ruthenia. Although little recognized in literature, Lismanini was one of two important reformers of the Church linked to Queen Bona. In the spring of 1541, under the patronage of the queen, the Lithuanian jurist and church reformer Abraomas Kulvietis (Abraham Culvensis in Latin or Abraham Kulwieć in Polish, ca. 1510-1545) opened a school in Vilnius. Kulvietis studied in Louvain, then at the Lutheran University of Wittenberg (he matriculated as Abraham Littuanus Magister in May 1537), where he had the opportunity to attend the lectures of Melanchthon, and perhaps Luther, and then went to study in Italy. He travelled to Rome and Siena, where he received a doctorate in canon and civil law (in utroque iure) on November 28-29, 1540. Abraomas's propagation of Protestant doctrines soon led to his expulsion from Lithuania, and in September 1542, the year the Inquisition and the trials of heretics resumed in Italy, the Catholic Bishop of Vilnius ordered the arrest of Kulvietis' mother and some of his friends, and the seizure of the Kulvietis family's property. The queen advised him to flee Lithuania, as she herself had to leave Vilnius and would not be able to protect him. In Królewiec on June 23, Duke Albert, appointed Kulvietis as his counsellor. Through Jost Ludwig Decius the Younger (ca. 1520-1567), Bona Sforza strongly advised Duke Albert to keep Kulvietis at his side; under no circumstances ("even he had to be restrained by chains") was he to be allowed to leave Królewiec, because in Vilnius he would have been burned at the stake or imprisoned before the queen could help him (Et ita dicas patri tuo, ut scribat domino duci Prussiae, quod illum apud se teneat, nam ille voluit in Lithuaniam domum suam ire et metuendum est, ne illum comburant vel suspendant, nec dimittat, etiam si debeat nolentem in cathena retinere. Nam certe illum comburerent vel suspenderent, antequam ego rescirem, after "Abraomas Kulvietis and the First Protestant Confessio fidei in Lithuania" by Dainora Pociūtė, p. 41, 43-44, 47-50). Before the Second World War, the Wallraf-Richartz Museum in Cologne held a "Portrait of an Elderly Gentleman" (Bildnis eines älteren Herrn, oil on canvas, 93 x 76 cm), attributed to Tintoretto. It was mentioned and reproduced in the 1910 catalogue of this museum ("Verzeichnis der Gemälde des Wallraf-Richartz-Museums der Stadt Cöln", p. 67, item 95). The painting was acquired in 1813 from the collection of Josef Truchsess von Waldburg-Zeil-Wurzach (1748-1813), dean of the cathedral of Strasbourg, in Vienna and Nikolsburg. Before World War II, in the Wallraf-Richartz Museums there was also another portrait by Tintoretto, which most likely depicted the singer Krzysztof Klabon (inv. 516), a composer at the Polish-Lithuanian royal court, perhaps born in Królewiec around 1550 and possibly of Italian origin. Although the "Portrait of an Elderly Gentleman" has been attributed to Tintoretto, based on an old photograph, it can be concluded that the style of the painting was closer to the style of another Venetian painter, Bernardino Licinio, similar to the signed work "Portrait of a Man" from 1532 in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna (inv. GG 6442, signed and dated: LYCINIO F P V / MDXXXII). Licinio, who probably died in Venice around 1565, was the author of the portraits of Queen Bona (for example the painting in the British Embassy in Rome, inv. 2280), identified by me. Not only the style of the painting is similar, but also the style of the inscription in the two paintings described. According to the Latin inscription in the lower right corner of the painting from the Truchsess collection, it was painted in October 1565, when the man was 61 years old (MDLXV. DIE ... / OCTOBRIS / ΑΝΝΟ ÆΤΑ ... / SVÆ LXI M ... / XI), exactly like Lismanini, when he published his book dedicated to Sigismund Augustus and visited the king, probably in Grodno. Interestingly, the same man, although slightly younger, can be identified in a painting by Giovanni Battista Moroni, active in Lombardy, who painted portraits of Sigismund Augustus (Prado Museum in Madrid, inv. P000262; North Carolina Museum of Art, inv. GL.60.17.46), identified by me. This "Portrait of a man with a book" (Ritratto d'uomo con libro) is now in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence (oil on canvas, 71 x 56 cm, inv. 1890 / 933). It was purchased in 1660 by Cardinal Leopoldo de' Medici (1617-1675) from the art dealer Paolo del Sera (1617-1672), as by Moroni. In the 1675 inventory and in all subsequent inventories, the work appears with an attribution to il Morazzone (1573-1626). The painting is generally dated between 1550 and 1553, which corresponds to Lismanini's visits to Venice and Milan. A damaged or unfinished copy (or modello) was sold in Milan in 2009 (oil on canvas, Sotheby's, October 12, 2009, lot 1491). A good copy is also in the Wilanów Palace in Warsaw (oil on canvas, 39 x 32 cm, inv. Wil.1035). It was first mentioned in the inventory of the mid-19th century, so it is considered to be part of the acquisitions of August Potocki (1806-1867) and his wife Aleksandra (1818-1892). The reverse of the painting bears the inscription F. Vacini 1804, which is why it is believed to be a 19th century painting by an unknown painter depicting an unknown man. Another fine copy, also thought to be by the 19th-century painter, is in a private collection in France (oil on paper mounted on panel, 31,5 x 24 cm, Thierry de Maigret in Paris, July 9, 2020, lot 211). It is attributed to the French school, perhaps because of its resemblance to the style of 19th-century academic painters. 
Portrait of Francesco Lismanini (ca. 1504-1566) by Giovanni Battista Moroni or workshop, ca. 1550, Private collection.
Portrait of Francesco Lismanini (ca. 1504-1566) by Giovanni Battista Moroni, ca. 1550-1553, Uffizi Gallery in Florence.
Portrait of Francesco Lismanini (ca. 1504-1566) by workshop or follower of Giovanni Battista Moroni, after 1553 (1804?), Wilanów Palace in Warsaw.
Portrait of Francesco Lismanini (ca. 1504-1566) by workshop or follower of Giovanni Battista Moroni, after 1553 (19th century?), Private collection.
Portrait of Francesco Lismanini (ca. 1504-1566), aged 61, by Bernardino Licinio, 1565, Wallraf-Richartz Museum in Cologne, lost. Virtual reconstruction, © Marcin Latka
Portraits of Mikołaj Rej by Sofonisba Anguissola and Giovanni Battista Moroni
"Let Mantua be proud of Virgil, Verona of Catullus, You, Rej, her bard, let the country of Sarmatia [Poland-Lithuania] be proud. And all the more so that the land of Italy and Greece gave birth to many, You are almost the only one in Sarmatia" (Mantua Vergilium iactet, Verona Catullum: Te Rei, vatem Sarmatis ora suum. Hocque magis, multos quoniam tulit Itala tellus Graiaque: Sarmatiae tu prope solus ades) (after Polish translation in "Wizerunk własny ...", Part 2, by Helena Kapełuś, Władysław Kuraszkiewicz, p. 97), praises the poet Mikołaj Rej, or Mikołaj Rey of Nagłowice, in his Latin dedication Petrus Roysius Maureus (i.e. Piotr Roizjusz the Moor, born Pedro Ruiz de Moros). The Spanish poet and courtier of King Sigismund II Augustus, included this short poem in Rej's "Faithful image of an honest man" (Wizerunk własny żywota człowyeka poczciwego), published in Kraków in 1558-1560 before the poet's printed effigy showing him at the age of 50 (therefore created in 1555). Under Rej's portrait there is another Latin poem by his friend Andrzej Trzecieski (Trecesius, d. 1584) in which he calls him the Polish Dante (Noster hic est Dantes).
Considered the "father of Polish literature", Rej was one of the first poets to write in Polish (and not in Latin). He was born into a noble family at Zhuravne in Ukraine in 1505. In 1518 he was enrolled as a student of the Cracow Academy and in 1525 his father sent him to the magnate court of Andrzej Tęczyński. Between 1541 and 1548 he converted to Lutheranism, then to Calvinism. Rej participated in synods, founded churches and schools on his estates. The Catholics, who reproached him for the desecration of churches, the expulsion of Catholic priests and the persecution of monks, called him the unleashed Satan, the dragon of Oksza, Sardanapalus of Nagłowice and a man without honor and faith. In 1603, as an author, he was included in the first Polish Index of Forbidden Books. He maintained close contacts with the courts of Sigismund I the Old and Sigismund II August. Rej was also the first in Polish literature to receive a substantial reward for his work. He received Temerowce from King Sigismund I, and Dziewięciele from Sigismund Augustus as a lifelong possession and two towns, one of them Rejowiec, founded by Rej in 1547. He died at Rejowiec in 1569. His grandson, Andrzej Rej, royal secretary and Calvinist, was painted by Rembrandt in December 1637, while he was visiting Amsterdam as an ambassador. Although he praised the wisdom of Queen Bona in his "Bestiary" (Zwierzyniec, 1562 - "A woman of wisdom, that even today she is famous in Poland, and long-remembered her words. She was from the Italian nation where wisdom is born"), beauty of her daughters Anna and Catherine and dedicated his "Life of Joseph" (Żywot Józefa, 1545) to her daughter Isabella, Queen of Hungary, he is perhaps the first author in Poland to oppose strong women and their inflences. In a dialogue between Warwas and Lupus on the cunning of women, written before 1547 and most likely published anonymously, he begins with an appeal to Venus (Wenera), the patroness of females. Women do not participate in local assemblies and parliamentary sessions (Sejm), they do not sit over books, and yet they lead men by the nose. All women are cunning and laugh secretly at men who drink even out of their shoes for their health (after "Mikołaja Reja, żywot i pisma" by Michał Janik, p. 36). He frequently criticizes women, their extravagant clothing and their excessive make-up - "looks like she's wearing a mask" (iż się zda jakoby była w maskarze). In the second known effigy of the poet, published in later edition of his "Faithful image of an honest man" and in "Speculum" (Zwyerciadło), published in 1568, similar to that from 1555, he is not depicted in national costume (crimson żupan), as one would expect from the national poet of the time, but in rich foreign costume – embroidered Italian-style shirt, rich doublet, wearing a hat and several chains. In this last portrait, he is holding a book, just to remind us that he is a poet. Both portraits are woodcuts, created by an artist working for a Kraków-based printer and bookseller Maciej Wirzbięta and most likely they were created after an original painted effigy of the poet as was customary. Later, engravers began to add the relevant inscriptions, that they were authors, not a painter who created the original portrait (fecit, sculpsit, pinxit, delineavit, invenit in Latin). Educated Poles, besides books, also commissioned and acquired portraits of their favorite foreign authors. Portrait of Dante Alighieri (1265-1321) by Pontormo or workshop in the Czartoryski Museum (inventory number XII-218) was most likely brought to Poland already in the 16th century (painted around 1530). Later it was acquired by Princess Izabela Czartoryska, who placed it next to those of Torquato Tasso (423), Francesco Petrarca (424) and Beatrice Portinari (425) in the Temple of Memory at Puławy, opened in 1801. In her collection, which she also enlarged by acquisitions abroad, there were also letters by Tasso (891), Ariosto (892), as well as portraits of French Renaissance poets François Rabelais (944), Clément Marot (945) and Michel de Montaigne (946) and even chairs of Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1310) and William Shakespeare (1311) in special box-cases, included in the inventory of the collection published in 1828 (Poczet pamiątek ...). Among the paintings belonging to the "Victorious King" John III Sobieski (1629-1696), which could come from earlier royal collections or those of his father Jakub Sobieski (1591-1646) and mentioned in the inventory of the Wilanów Palace from 1696, we find "A picture of Cicero in a black frame" (Obraz Cycerona wramach czarnych, No. 223), "A pair of paintings, one of which represents Petrarch and the other, Laura, his wife, in black frames" (Obrazow para na iednym Petrarcha, na drugim Laura zona iego, wramach czarnych, No. 223) and "A picture of Laura" (Obraz na ktorym Laura, No. 246). There is also the portrait of Petrarca with the Latin inscription: Franciscus Petrarcha - Magna Poetarum Petrarcha est gloria, sumpsit in Capitolino praemia tanta loco ... mentioned in the 1913 catalogue of portraits from the collection of the oldest Polish university, the Jagiellonian University in Kraków (oil on canvas, 87 x 66 cm, "Katalog portretów i obrazów będących własnością Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego ..." by Jerzy Mycielski, p. 9, item 45). A portrait of Luigi Alamanni (1495-1556), Italian poet and statesman, attributed to the 16th-century Italian school, is located in the former Potocki Palace in Lviv (National Art Gallery, inv. Ж-2021). Why then couldn't the French or the Italians have the portrait of a famous Sarmatian poet? Especially when many Polish collections were transferred to France and Italy. In the Museum of Fine Arts in Reims, in France, there is portrait of a man sitting in a chair and holding a book (oil on canvas, 115 x 96.1 cm, inventory number 910.4.1). He was interrupted while reading so he put his finger in a book so as not to miss the page. He gazes at the viewer and the romantic ruins behind him suggest he is a poet. Another book is lying on a table. The overall style of the painting suggests Giovanni Battista Moroni as a possible author, but the technique is different, so perhaps it was done by a painter from Moroni's workshop or circle. However, it can also be compared to some works by Sofonisba Anguissola, such as her self-portrait with Bernardino Campi (Pinacoteca Nazionale di Siena) and self-portrait at the easel (Łańcut Castle), both from the 1550s. His eyes also indicate that she might be the author as she frequently enlarged them in her paintings. This portrait was earlier attributed to Lorenzo Lotto, who died in Loreto in 1556/1557, and can be dated to about 1550 at the earlierst (about 1560, according to some sources). The painting was bequeathed in 1910 by French politician Louis Victor Diancourt (1825-1910), born in Reims, and its earlier provenance is unknown. Perhaps there was initially an oral tradition or documents indicating that the painting depicts a famous poet of the 16th century, so since the portrait was in France, it has been identified as depicting a French poet - François Rabelais (born between 1483 and 1494, died 1553), despite the fact that there is no resemblance to his other effigies. Rabelais was in Italy, in Turin and Rome, in 1534, 1540, 1547-1550, as a physician and secretary to Cardinal Jean du Bellay, nevertheless, as a clergyman in majority of his confirmed effigies he is depicted wearing a large biretta of the Christian clergy, thus, because of this and the lack of resemblance, the identification is now rejected and the work is referred to as a "portrait of an unknown man". The man wears a crimson tunic, typical of the Polish-Lithuanian nobility of the time (Rej was a wealthy nobleman of Oksza coat of arms), and his hat, shirt and face looks very much like in the print showing Mikołaj Rej at the age of 50. Another version of this portrait exists, this one however is by Moroni, now at the Pope John XXIII Hospital in Bergamo (oil on canvas, 86 x 71 cm, inventory number 57099). Coming from the collection of a lawyer Giacomo Bettami de-Bazini and donated to the hospital by his son Antonio, the painting was in storage at the Carrara Academy since 1879. It was probably purchased on the Bergamo market in the early 18th century. "An old man seated in an armchair, entirely titianesque, is one of the best of this painter in the Bettame house" (Un vecchio seduto sopra sedia d'appoggio tutto tizianesco è de' migliori dell'autore in casa Bettame), praised the quality of the painting Francesco Maria Tassi in 1793. It is generally dated to the 1560s and the man is much older. His pose and costume are almost identical to the Reims painting, as if the painter had used the same study drawings created for the previous painting and just changed the face. His frowning eyebrows and more hooked nose are more like in the portrait of Rej published in 1568. Mikołaj dedicated his "Faithful image" to hetman Jan Amor Tarnowski (1488-1561), one of the richest people in Poland-Lithuania, whose portraits were painted by Jacopo Tintoretto and tomb monument carved by Giammaria Mosca called Padovano. Rej's portrait, similar to that of another eminent Polish poet of the Renaissance - Jan Kochanowski (1530-1584) from 1565 (Rijksmuseum Amsterdam), was therefore most likely created by Giovanni Battista Moroni from drawings sent from Poland. The same background as in the painting in Reims was used in another portrait by workshop of Moroni, today in the National Palace of Ajuda in Lisbon (oil on canvas, 112.7 x 109 cm, inventory number 496). It represents an ecclesiastic in a black biretta, seated on a chair and holding an hourglass. His face resembles more the effigies of Rabelais, in particular his laughing portraits, than the Reims painting. 
Portrait of Mikołaj Rej (1505-1569) by Sofonisba Anguissola or circle of Giovanni Battista Moroni, ca. 1555, Museum of Fine Arts in Reims.
Portrait of Mikołaj Rej (1505-1569) by Giovanni Battista Moroni, ca. 1568, Pope John XXIII Hospital in Bergamo.
Portrait of Jan Kochanowski by Giovanni Battista Moroni
Almost all old churches in former territories of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth have at least one good quality tomb monument in Italian style with effigy of deceased, but portrait paintings are very rare. Wars and invasions impoverished the nation and majority of non-religious paintings that preserved in the country, were sold by the owners.
The exact date of birth of Jan Kochanowski is unknown, however according to inscription on poet's epitaph in the church in Zwoleń near Radom, he died on August 22, 1584 at the age of 54 (Obiit anno 1584 die 22 Augusti. Aetatis 54), therefore he was born in 1530. He started his education at the Artium Faculty of the Kraków Academy in 1544. Presumably in June 1549, he left the Academy and, perhaps, went to Wrocław, where he stayed until the end of 1549. Between 1551-1552 he stayed in Królewiec (Königsberg), the capital of Ducal Prussia (fiefdom under the Polish crown). From Królewiec, he left for Padua in 1552, where he studied until 1555. Kochanowski was elected a counselor of the Polish nation at the University of Padua (presumably from June to August 2, 1554). He returned to Poland in 1555 and after several months in Królewiec and Radom, he left for Italy at the end of the summer of 1556, presumably to repair his health. He was back in Poland between 1557 and 1558 and in spring that year he left for Italy for the third time. At the end of 1558, Kochanowski went to France, and in May 1559, he finally returned to Poland. The poet refers to his portrait made in Italy, probably in Padua, where he studied between 1552 and 1555, in his epigram In imaginem suam (foricenium 35), in which he expresses his concern that the portrait should not betray the feelings that accompanied the pose (Talis eram, cum me lento torqueret amore / Decantata meis Lydia carminibus. / Pictorem metui, cum vultum pingere vellet, / Ne gemitus una pingeret ille meos). He refers to the tradition of ekphrases (written description of a work of art), expressing the highest appreciation for the artistic talent of the painter who is able to perfectly reproduce his subject. He created several epigrams of this kind praising the splendid portraits of his friends, probably also made in Italy, notably In imaginem Andr[eae] Duditii, on the portrait of Andrzej Dudycz (1533-1589), who studied in Venice and Padua, in which he compares the painter to Apelles (Quis te Duditi, novus hic expressit Apelles?), the same in In imaginem Mariani (Apellaea redditum in tabula). In the epigram In imaginem Franc[isci] Maslovii he comments on the portrait of Franciszek Masłowski, who studied in Padua between 1553 and 1558, and in the epigram In imaginem Andr[eae] Patricii, the portrait of Andrzej Patrycy Nidecki (1522-1587), who studied in Padua between 1553 and 1556. In several of his works he also addresses the issue of the impermanence of the painted image (Apelleum cum morietur opus, after "Jana Kochanowskiego wiersze „na obraz” ..." by Agnieszka Borysowska, p. 155-160, 164). In mid-1563, Jan entered the service of Deputy Chancellor Piotr Myszkowski, thanks to which he become the royal secretary of king Sigismund Augustus, before February 1564, the office he held untill his death. In 1564, he helped his friend Andrzej Patrycy Nidecki (Andreas Patricius Nidecicus), also secretary at the traveling court and chancellery of Sigismund Augustus (Kraków - Warsaw - Vilnius). Nidecki was preparing the second fundamental edition of Cicero's "Fragments" for printing. It was published in Venice in 1565 by the printer Giordano Ziletti (Andr. Patricii Striceconis Ad Tomos IIII Fragmentorvm M. Tvllii Ciceronis ex officina Stellae Iordani Zileti), who also published many other Polish-Lithuanian authors. In October 1565 another royal secretary and Kochanowski's friend, Piotr Kłoczowski (or Kłoczewski), left for Ferrara as king's envoy to attend the wedding of Alfonso II d'Este with Sigismund Augustus' cousin Archduchess Barbara of Austria. Kłoczowski, who apparently accompanied him during his first trip to Italy, offered him a new journey: "Piotr, I don't want to take you to Italy a second time. You will get there alone: it's time for me to deal with myself. If I am to become a priest, or better a courtier, If I will live at the court or in my land", wrote the poet (Xięga IV, XII.). Jan Kochanowski, considered one of the greatest Polish poets, died in Lublin. His nephews Krzysztof (d. 1616) and Jerzy (d. 1633), founded him a marble epitaph in the family chapel in Zwoleń, created in Kraków in about 1610 by workshop of Giovanni Lucano Reitino di Lugano and transported to Zwoleń. The portrait of a man holding a letter by Giovanni Battista Moroni in the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam (oil on canvas, 87 x 66 cm, inv. SK-A-3410), can be compared with poet's posthumous effigy in Zwoleń. It bears the inscription in Latin and artist's signature at the bottom of the letter: AEt. Suae. XXXV. Miii MDLXV. Giu. Bat.a Moroni ("Age 35. 1565. Giovanni Battista Moroni"), which match perfectly the age of Kochanowski in 1565. At the end of the 18th century the painting was probably in the Mosca House in Pesaro, and then in the collection of Alexander Fraser Tytler, Lord Woodhouselee (1747-1813), near Edinburgh. Between 1561 and 1573, Giovanni Maria Mosca, known as Padovano, born in Padua in the Republic of Venice and trained in Venice in the workshop of Tullio Lombardo and Antonio Lombardo, created the monumental tomb of Hetman Jan Amor Tarnowski (1488-1561) and his son Jan Krzysztof Tarnowski (1537-1567) in the choir of the Gothic cathedral in Tarnów. The idea for this Venetian-style monument is attributed to Jan Kochanowski, who dedicated several of his works to Jan Krzysztof. "Erect a magnificent monument of Parian marble, / Above the waters of the Vistula. [...] Also let the battles in which he used to disperse his enemies / Be reconstructed in gleaming stone by Phidias" (Quin tu illi Pario de marmore Mausoleum, / Vistuleas ponis nobile propter aquas. [...] Praelia , quosque olim devicit strenuus hostes, Fac spiret paries Phidiaca arte nitens), Kochanowski states in his "Elegy 2" (Elegia II), addressed to the lord of Tarnów (after "Giammaria Mosca Called Padovano ..." by Anne Markham Schulz, p. 154). 
Portrait of Jan Kochanowski (1530-1584), aged 35, holding a letter by Giovanni Battista Moroni, 1565, Rijksmuseum Amsterdam.
Portraits of Jan Krzysztof Tarnowski by circle of Dosso Dossi and Lambert Sustris
Wars and invasions contributed not only to the looting and destruction of works of art, including paintings, but also to the resulting chaos and impoverishment, so many preserved images as well as documents confirming the author and the identity of the sitter have been lost. Deteriorating living conditions also had an impact on art collections, as good quality and well-preserved paintings were frequently sold and neglected paintings, even by great masters, due to deterioration, had to be disposed of.
This is probably the reason why, in the 18th century, an unknown local painter made a copy of the full-length portrait of Count Jan Krzysztof Tarnowski (1537-1567), today in the National Museum in Warsaw (oil on canvas, 229 x 114 cm, inventory number MP 5249 MNW). The original must have been of good Venetian work, as the painter was inspired by the blurred brushstrokes of painters from the circle of Titian, particularly visible in the upper part of the painting. The identity of the model is confirmed by a large coat of arms of the Tarnowski family - Leliwa, above his head on the right, and a lengthy inscription in Latin on the left - Joannes Christophorus Comes / In Tarnow Tarnowski ..., listing all his titles. The painting comes from the Tarnowski collection, deposited with five other portraits in the National Museum during World War II. His costume, although generally resembling the 16th century attire of Polish-Lithuanian and Hungarian nobles, which were very similar (fanciful szkofia, a hat decoration of Hungarian origin, and Polish delia coat lined with fur), is quite unusual. A similar tunic with a longer part in the back, embroidered on the front with vertical rows of buttons, is visible in the effigy of a Pole (Polognois, f. 41) from Théâtre de tous les peuples et nations de la terre by Lucas de Heere, painted in the 1570s (Universiteitsbibliotheek Gent). However, the wider sleeves, the silver color, the belt and the garters are not typical and it is possible that he wore the costume made in Lisbon in 1516 for his father Jan Amor Tarnowski, as suggested by some authors. A Polish nobleman in a Hungarian-Portuguese costume is just another confirmation of the great diversity of fashion in Poland-Lithuania of the Renaissance, confirmed by so many authors, which has been forgotten today. King Manuel I of Portugal (1469-1521) was depicted in similar tunic in a disguised portrait as Saint Alexis in the scene of Wedding of Saint Alexis by Garcia Fernandes, painted in 1541 (Museu de São Roque in Lisbon), and Tarnowski's portrait and attire can be compared to some portraits of governors of Portuguese India - Francisco de Almeida (d. 1510) and Afonso de Albuquerque (d. 1515), created after 1545, both in the Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga in Lisbon. Such diversity was not only the Polish specialty and also occurred in other countries in Europe. The full-length portrait of a Spanish noble lady Doña Policena de Ungoa (Polissena Unganada), daughter of Juan de Ungoa, Barón de Sonek y Ensek, Mayordomo del Emperador (Emperor's Steward) and Margarita Loqueren, Camarera de la Emperatriz (Maid to the Empress), governess to the children of Empress Maria of Spain (1528-1603) and wife to Don Pedro Laso de Castilla, depicts her dressed in the German/Austrian fashion of the imperial court in Prague and Vienna from the 1550s (not the Spanish fashion, like the Empress). Inscription in Italian: ILL. DONNA POLISSENA UNGANADA MOGLIE DI D. PIETRO LASSO DE CASTIGLIA ..., confirms her identity. This portrait comes from the Arrighi de Casanova collection in the Château de Courson near Paris and was variably attributed to the Italian, Spanish (circle of Alonso Sánchez Coello) and Austrian school (follower of Jakob Seisenegger). In recent literature, the identification of the model in Warsaw portrait has been questioned due to the discovery of a miniature in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna (GG 5338). According to short inscription in Latin (IOANNES / COMES / A SERIN), it depicts Count Jan Zrinský (ca. 1565-1612), a nobleman from the Zrinský (Zrínyi) family of Zrin (Serin), son of Nikola IV Zrinski (ca. 1508-1566) and Eva z Rožmberka (1537-1591). According to Jan K. Ostrowski ("Portret w dawnej Polsce", p. 34), the sitter should rather be identified as the father of Jan, famous commander Nikola IV, so this inscription is partially incorrect, therefore, its author had a vague knowledge of who was really depicted. If the first part of the inscription (IOANNES) could be incorrect, the second (A SERIN) could also be questioned and the model is not Jan Zrinský, but Jan Tarnowski. This small miniature comes from a series of almost 150 contemporary and historical portraits of rulers of Europe and members of the imperial House of Habsburg, including many Polish monarchs. Many of them were created by Flemish painter Anton Boys for Archduke Ferdinand II of Austria (1529-1595), son of Anna Jagellonica (1503-1547), after 1579, when he become his court painter. Boys copied many other effigies form the Imperial collection, representing the models on dark or brown backgound, however some mistakes happened and the effigy of Viridis Visconti (1352-1414), Duchess of Austria and a daughter of the Lord of Milan, Bernabò Visconti, is most likely the effigy of Isabella of Aragon (1470-1524), Duchess of Milan and mother of Bona Sforza as it resembles greatly her profile from the lunette in the house of the Atellani in Milan. The miniature of Count Jan is different and shows a clear influence of Flemish (colors) and Italian (blurred brushstrokes) style. Unlike other miniatures in the series, it has a distinctive background - green fabric. Not only the technique is different, but also the composition. Thus, this earlier miniature by a different painter has just been adapted to the series by adding the inscription. What is also very important for the identification of the model is which man has been depicted on a larger version with a more detailed description. Mainly the person who ordered the portrait was interested in having the full version. The larger painting depict Count Jan Krzysztof Tarnowski. Only the possible author of the miniature remained and all the given factors speak for Lambert Sustris (d. 1584 or later), a Dutch painter active mainly in Venice, who in 1552 created full-length portraits of Hans Christoph Vöhlin and of his wife Veronika von Freyberg zum Eisenberg (Alte Pinakothek), as well as many effigies of Jan Krzysztof's sister Zofia Tarnowska (1534-1570), identified by me. The same man, also against green fabric, but now in a more Italian attire, yellow doublet and embroidered shirt, was depicted in another portrait, sold in London in 2019 (oil on canvas, possibly reduced, 56.5 x 45.3 cm, Sotheby's, 5 December 2019, lot 109). It comes from the Addeo collection in Rome and it was identified as portrait of Duke Alfonso I d'Este (1476-1534) and attributed to Dosso Dossi (d. 1542). Both identification and attribution were later rejected and the painting was sold as by circle of Girolamo da Carpi (1501-1556), who collaborated with Dosso Dossi on commissions for the d'Este family. The influences of Dossi's style are visible, thus the authorship of his pupils, such as Giuseppe Mazzuoli (d. 1589) or Giovanni Francesco Surchi (d. 1590), is possible. However, the style of this painting is also very similar to the head study of a young man, possibly being a portrait of the young Tintoretto, attibuted to Lambert Sustris (Slovak National Gallery, O 5116). The characteristic feature of the children of Zofia Szydłowiecka (1514-1551), protruding ears, visible in the funerary monument of Jan Krzysztof Tarnowski by Giammaria Mosca Il Padovano in the cathedral of Tarnów, as well as in the portraits of his sister by Sustris, is noticeable in both described paintings in Vienna and from the Addeo collection. Considering the age of the man, the two effigies were most likely created shortly before the death of Jan Krzysztof, who died of tuberculosis on April 1, 1567 as the last male representative of the Tarnów line of the Tarnowski family. Jan Krzysztof received his middle name in honor of his maternal grandfather Krzysztof Szydłowiecki (1467-1532), Grand Chancellor of the Crown, whose portrait by Titian is in the Pinacoteca Ambrosiana in Milan. He received an excellent education and traveled extensively in his youth. He was imperial count and proprietor of Roudnice nad Labem in Bohemia and he visited the imperial court in Vienna in 1548. In 1554 he went to Italy. After the death of his father in 1561, the young count maintained the closest relations with Nicolaus Radziwill the Black (1515-1565), the husband of his aunt. After Radziwill's death, Jan Krzysztof managed his estates located in the Crown including Szydłowiec. He maintained a large court, and his main supplier was a Jew from Sandomierz, Jakub Szklarz, who brought goods from Gdańsk (after "Panowie na Tarnowie ..." by Krzysztof Moskal, part 9). Between 1554 and 1555 Jan Krzysztof (il Tarnoskijno pollacco) stayed in Italy, moving between Padua, Bologna, Ferrara, Modena and Parma. Leaving Modena in the autumn of 1554, he asked Ludovico Monti to thank Cardinal Farnese to Cardinal Farnese, "and to the most illustrious Madam [Margaret of Parma] with Lord Alessandro for the courtesies" (et a la illustrissima Madama col signore Alessandro per le cortesie). A letter dated March 21, 1555 from Ludovico's brother Stefano Monti informs us that the Poles, with a large retinue, had then advanced as far as Tuscany, where in Florence the young Tarnowski was received by Cosimo I (after "La trama Nascosta - Storie di mercanti e altro" by Rita Mazzei). It was probably Jan Krzysztof who commissioned the monument for his father from Padovano, modeled on the monuments of the Venetian doges, the concept of which could have been conceived by the poet Jan Kochanowski, who dedicated several of his works to Jan Krzysztof. Pedro Ruiz de Moros dedicated him his Carmen fvnebre in obitv, published in Kraków in 1561, and Stanisław Orzechowski his Panagiricus nuptiarum, published in Kraków in 1553. Inventories of Tarnów Castle, like the castle itself, have not preserved, but the last will of the court physician and secretary to Count Jan Amor Tarnowski, Stanisław Rożanka (Rosarius), may give an idea of its wealth. Rożanka was educated at the University of Padua in the Venetian Republic. In his will of 1569, which was opened after his death in 1572, Stanisław, a Calvinist and the owner of a house in Saint Florian's Street in Kraków, mentioned many of his exquisite possessions. "And besides the things described above (these are valuables, dresses, utensils, etc.), I have old Roman and Greek numismatics, books, maps, pictures, etc. Of these, my brother, Dr. Walenty, all of my books and mappas and antiqua numismatics both gold and silver, to use and keep. [...] I want my second brother Mr Jan to be given a sable-lined damask szubka [fur coat], a silver cup with a lid, four precious cups and a silver ewer, and all flasks, and armours, also pictures, a chariot &c. &c." (after "Skarbniczka naszej archeologji ..." by Ambroży Grabowski, p. 65). In 1542, Jan Amor, aged 54, the father of Jan Krzysztof, suffering from gout, traveled to Italy for treatment, probably to Abano Terme, a health resort located near Padua. He also visited the Duke of Ferrara Ercole II d'Este and returned via Vienna, where King Ferdinand was to offer him command of his army during the war with the Ottoman Empire, but he did not accept the offer because of the good relations between King Sigismund I and the Turks. Such journeys serve to describe the origins of many beautiful Italian works of art in their collections for many European museums. The collections of the counts of Tarnów were undoubtedly exquisite and comparable to those of the dukes of Ferrara, however, today no traces of this patronage are kept in Tarnów, everything has been looted, destroyed or scattered. The Tarnowskis equaled or even surpassed the Venetian doges and the kings of Poland with their funerary monument and their portraits were equally splendid. 
Miniature portrait of Count Jan Krzysztof Tarnowski (1537-1567) by Lambert Sustris, ca. 1565-1567, Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna.
Portrait of Count Jan Krzysztof Tarnowski (1537-1567) by circle of Dosso Dossi or Lambert Sustris, ca. 1565-1567, Private collection.
Portrait of Wawrzyniec Goślicki by Giovanni Battista Moroni
On January 3, 1567 Wawrzyniec Grzymała Goślicki (Laurentius Grimaldius Goslicius) obtained the degree of Doctor Utruisque Juris (doctor of both laws - civil and church law) at the University of Bologna.
Goślicki was born near Płock in Masovia and after studying at Kraków's Academy he left for Italy after 1562. During his studies in Padua, in 1564, he published the Latin poem De victoria Sigismundi Augusti, which he dedicated to the victory of king Sigismund II Augustus over tsar Ivan IV the Terrible in the war of 1560. After receiving his doctorate in Bologna he visited Rome, and then Naples together with his friends. On the way back, Goślicki stopped in Rome for a while. In 1568, during his stay in Venice, he published his best-known work, De optimo senatore, also dedicated to king Sigismund Augustus. The book printed by Giordano Ziletti was later translated into English with the titles of The Counselor and The Accomplished Senator. After his return to Poland in 1569, he entered the king's service as the royal secretary. He later decided to become a priest and he was elevated to the episcopal dignity in 1577. In 1586 he was made bishop of Kamieniec Podolski and according to a document issued by Cardinal Alessandro Farnese entitled Propositio cosistorialis, he was 48 in 1586, therefore he was born in 1538. Wawrzyniec Goślicki died on October 31, 1607 in Ciążeń near Poznań as the Bishop of Poznań (from 1601) and was buried in the city's cathedral. According to his last will his tomb monument was to be modeled on the monument to his predecessor Bishop Adam Konarski, the work of Girolamo Canavesi, a sculptor from Milan, who had his workshop in Kraków. Goślicki's monument created in Kraków, most probably by workshop of Giovanni Lucano Reitino di Lugano, as Konarski's monument, was transported to Poznań after 1607. The effigy of a young man by Giovanni Battista Moroni in Accademia Carrara in Bergamo (oil on canvas, 56.9 x 44.4 cm, inv. 81LC00174) is very similar to Goślicki's features in his statue in Poznań. According to inscription in Latin (ANNO . AETATIS . XXIX . / M . D . LXVII) the man was 29 in 1567, exactly as Goślicki when he earned his degree at Carolus Sigonius in Bologna. The painting entered the Academy in 1866 from the collection of Guglielmo Lochis with about two hundred other works. It was included in the 1846 catalogue of the painting collection of the Art Gallery and Villa Lochis in Crocetta di Mozzo near Bergamo under the number XVI, as "Portrait of a young man" (Ritratto di giovane uomo, compare "La Pinacoteca e la villa Lochis alla Crocetta di Mozzo presso Bergamo con notizie biografiche degli autori dei quadri", p. 12). Another version by workshop or follower of Moroni, also considered to be a 19th century copy, is in private collection in Florence (oil on canvas, 52 x 42 cm, Maison Bibelot in Florence, "Furniture and Old Master Paintings from a villa in Viareggio - II", October 5, 2018, lot 715). 
Portrait of Wawrzyniec Goślicki (1538-1607), aged 29, by Giovanni Battista Moroni, 1567, Accademia Carrara in Bergamo.
Portrait of Wawrzyniec Goślicki (1538-1607) by workshop or follower of Giovanni Battista Moroni, ca. 1567, Private collection.
Portrait of royal secretary Jan Zamoyski by Tintoretto
"Carissimo Signore Valerio Montelupi, I have received a letter from my Ursyn [Niedźwiedzki] from Padua. He writes that, in accordance with my instructions, he went to Venice in the affairs of a painter. He looked at the paintings almost finished. From his description, I can see two things that should be given close attention. First of all - it was my intention that only two figures should be imagined clearly and decoratively, and this is the figure of the standing Savior and the figure of St. Thomas kneeling with his hand stretched to Christ's side", writes in Italian Chancellor Jan Zamoyski (1542-1605) in a letter of 1602 regarding paintings for the Collegiate Church in Zamość, commissioned in the workshop of Domenico Tintoretto in Venice (after "Jan Zamoyski klientem Domenica Tintoretta" by Jan Białostocki, p. 60).
Zamoyski studied at the Universities of Paris and Padua, where he became Councillor of the Polish Nation and rector of the university in 1563. He also abandoned Calvinism in favor of Catholicism and discovered his love for politics. In the Archives of Venice there is a one-of-a-kind document in which the Venetian Senate congratulates the King of Poland on having such a citizen in his country, and expresses the highest appreciation for Zamoyski (Senato I Filza, 43. Terra 1565 da Marzo, a tutto Giugno): "It happened on April 7, 1565 at a session of the Senate. To the Serene King of Poland. Jan Zamoyski, the son of a noble starost of Belz, spent several years with great glory and honor at our University of Padua; last year, the most esteemed man was a gymnasiarch [the rector] [...] In this office he was doing so well and so excellently that not only the hearts of all young people who came to Padua to educate their minds with science, but also all citizens, especially our officials, he was able to win kindness in a special way. For this reason, we always welcomed him with the best will, and whenever there was an opportunity, we tried to surround him with favor and respect. There were various reasons for doing so; first of all, to your Majesty, whom we love greatly and to whom we are completely devoted, to please in the best possible way, and also, because we are deeply attached to the most noble Polish nation, finally in the conviction that Zamoyski's merits and virtues required us to do so". After returning to Poland, Zamoyski was appointed secretary to King Sigismund II Augustus and in 1567, when he was 25 years old, he acted as the king's commissar entrusted with a responsible and dangerous mission. At the head of the court armed forces, he forcibly took away the illegally seized starosties of Sambor and Drohobych from the Starzechowski family. A painting by Jacopo Tintoretto from the Fundación Banco Santander in Madrid shows a young twenty-five year old man (ANN.XXV). His high social status is accentuated with gold rings, a belt embroidered with gold and a coat lined with ermine fur. He stands proudly with his hand on the table covered with crimson fabric. His hands and the table were not painted very diligently, which may indicate that it was completed in a hurry by the artist's studio working on a large order. The man bear a great resemblance to effigies of Jan Zamoyski, especially his portrait painting, attributed to Jan Szwankowski (Olesko Castle) and engraving by Dominicus Custos after Giovanni Battista Fontana (British Museum), both created in his later years. A portrait attributed to Tintoretto or Titian from the same period is in the Odessa Museum of Western and Eastern Art. It represent Girolamo Priuli (1486-1567), who was a Doge of Venice between 1559-1567, when Zamoyski was in Venice. During the restoration of the painting, the inscriptions TIZIANO and the letters TI (over the shoulder) were discovered, however a very similar portrait in private collection and majority of larger versions are attributed to Tintoretto. The portrait of Priuli was transferred from the State Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg to the Odessa Museum in 1949. The painting comes from the collection of Prince Lev Viktorovich Kochubey (1810-1890), who distinguished himself in the storming of the Warsaw fortifications during the November Uprising (1830-1831), the armed rebellion in the heartland of partitioned Poland against the Russian Empire. The inventory number on the back '453' is sometimes interpreted as tantamount to an entry in the 18th century catalog of Gonzaga's collections, however, it is unknown where exactly Kochubey acquired the painting. After the collapse of the November Uprising the collections of magnates who sided with the insurgents were confiscated, e.g. painting of Madonna and Child by Francesco Francia in the State Hermitage Museum (inventory number ГЭ-199), created between 1515-1517, was confiscated in 1832 from the Sapieha collection in Dziarecyn, comprising 36 paintings of Old Masters and 72 portraits (after "Przegląd warszawski", 1923, Volumes 25-27, p. 266). In this case the thesis that Priuli's portrait was originally offered to Zamoyski or king Sigismund II Augustus is very probable. 
Portrait of royal secretary Jan Zamoyski (1542-1605) aged 25 by Jacopo Tintoretto, ca. 1567, Fundación Banco Santander.
Portrait of Girolamo Priuli (1486-1567), Doge of Venice by Tintoretto or Titian, 1559-1567, Odessa Museum of Western and Eastern Art.
Portraits of Zuzanna Orłowska by Jacopo Tintoretto
"The King-Deceiver, of mixed Lithuanian and Italian blood, did not deal honestly with anyone. In repaying the shame with which he has covered me, I want to repay him bad for bad", noted the accusations made by Zuzanna (Susanna) Orłowska (or Szabinówna Charytańska, died after 1583), the mistress of King Sigismund II Augustus, historian Świętosław Orzelski (1549-1598) in his book Interregni Poloniae libri VIII (1572-1576).
The king's third marriage with his distant cousin and the Austrian Archduchess Catherine, concluded in 1553, was not happy from the very beginning. Even before his wife's departure in 1566, at the beginning of the 1560s, he allegedly had an affair with Regina Rylska, the wife of the courtier Jan Rylski. The romance of the king and Zuzanna, probably began in 1565, that is, before Queen Catherine left Poland. According to the account of the courtier of the King, Zuzanna was to be the illegitimate daughter of a canon of Kraków, other sources, however, indicate that her father was Szymon Szabin Charytański. The king and his entourage called her Orłowska (Lady of the Eagle or Mistress of the Eagle), possibly in reference to the king's coat of arms (White Eagle). Orłowska was suspected of knowing magic and together with her aunt, famous healer (or a witch-doctor) Dorota Korycka, she was to treat Sigismund Augustus, and received high remuneration for her services. With time, the feeling of the king towards Orłowska weakened, and after recovering, the king decided that "he would have no contact with demons and similar women", as he wrote in a letter to his courtier Stanisław Czarnotulski. He abandoned his mistress, and her place in the royal alcove was taken by Anna Zajączkowska, a lady of the court of Sigismund's sister Anna Jagiellon. Most likely the reason for Zuzanna's separation from the king was her betrayal. Although Orłowska herself was not faithful to him, she believed that it was the king who had disgracedly abandoned her and humiliated her. Apparently, every Thursday, "having invited the devils to a supper", according to Orzelski who knew it from the bed-chamber servant (łożniczy) of the King, Jan Wilkocki, she used magic and sprinkled peas on hot coals, saying: "Whoever has abandoned me, let him suffer so much and sizzle". When in 1569, Sigismund Augustus became seriously ill, he ordered Korycka and Orłowska to be summoned. When both women refused to help him, he promised his former lover, a thousand zlotys as a dowry when she gets married. After the king's death, Zuzanna Orłowska married the Polish nobleman Piotr Bogatko, who in 1583 bequeathed 2,400 florins to his wife as a dower and they had four sons. Jacopo Tintoretto's Bathing Susanna in the Louvre (oil on canvas, 167 x 238 cm, inventory number INV 568; MR 498) shows a moment from the Old Testament story in which biblical heroine Susanna, epitome of female virtue and chastity, unjustly accused of sexual transgression, is watched by two elderly men, acquaintances of her husband, who desire her. She sits naked in a garden beside a pool, while her maidservants are drying or brushing her hair and cutting her nails. A partridge at her feet is a symbol of sexual desire and three frogs is a symbol of fecundity and fertility. "The frog was also sacred for Venus, Roman goddess of love and fertility. Venus's yoni (female genitals) sometimes was depicted as a fleur-delis consisting of three frogs" (after Marty Crump's "Eye of Newt and Toe of Frog, Adder's Fork and Lizard's Leg: The Lore and Mythology of Amphibians and Reptiles", p. 135). "Many medieval recipes for magical and medicinal potions and ointments included frogs and/or toads as ingredients, and the animals were used in rituals intended to cure drought. In addition, medieval and Renaissance people generally thought that witches could turn themselves into frogs and toads at will. The devil too was said to sometimes take the shape of a frog or toad" (after Patricia D. Netzley's "Witchcraft", p. 114). Two ducks represent constancy and rebirth and a rabbit symbolizes fertility. The outwardly turned face of the sitter gazing at the viewer is a clear information that she is someone important. The work is an oil painting on canvas and is generally dated to the third quarter of the 16th century (1550-1575). Neoclassical frame is not original and was added in the 19th century. Bathing Susanna was acquired by King Louis XIV of France in 1684 from Marquis d'Hauterive de L'Aubespine. It is believed to have previously belonged by King Charles I of England (his sale, London June 21, 1650, no. 229), however, it could be also tantamount to "A picture painted on canvas, which shows a naked woman, without frame" (item 440) from the inventory of belongings of king John Casimir Vasa, great-grandson of Sigismund I, sold in Paris in 1673 to Mr. Bruny for 16.10 pounds. "Saint Susanna and two old men, a large painting on canvas" (815) is mentioned among the paintings from the collection of Princess Louise Charlotte Radziwill (1667-1695), inventoried in 1671 (after "Inwentarz galerii obrazów Radziwiłłów z XVII w." by Teresa Sulerzyska). The same woman was also depicted in a portrait painting by Tintoretto, owned by Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed in Amersfoort (oil on canvas, 101.5 x 77.5 cm, NK1639), which was before 1941 in the collection of Otto Lanz in Amsterdam. She is sitting in a chair, dressed in a rich Venetian style costume of orange silk. "In ancient Rome, the wives of the priests of Jupiter [king of the gods] wore a flammeum, an orange and yellow veil. The young Roman women betrothed in marriage copied this style as a symbol of hope for a long and fruitful marriage" (after Leatrice Eiseman's "Colors for Your Every Mood: Discover Your True Decorating Colors", p. 49). Based on all these facts the sitter should be identified as king's mistress Zuzanna Orłowska. Just as royal effigies, the portraits of king's mistress were created in the Republic of Venice basing on drawings or miniatures sent from Poland-Lithuania. The so-called Marshal's Book, a register of official state expenses of the court of Sigismund Augustus between 1543-1572, which was described in a publication from 1924 by Stanisław Tomkowicz ("Na dworze królewskim dwóch ostatnich Jagiellonów", pp. 31, 32, 36), is silent about court painters, as are the bills. Tomkowicz suggests that perhaps their wages were recorded separately and adds that the king often bought paintings, mostly portraits, even in batches of 16 and 20 pieces, however, "over the course of several years, one expense was recorded for the purchase of a painting depicting... a naked woman". The accounts of 1547 also mention a payment to a prostitute (meretricem) Zofia Długa (Sophia Long), who dressed in armor was to fight with Herburt and Łaszcz in a jousting tournament at the expense of the court treasury. 
Portrait of Zuzanna Orłowska, mistress of King Sigismund II Augustus, as Bathing Susanna by Jacopo Tintoretto, 1565-1568, Louvre Museum.
Portrait of Zuzanna Orłowska, mistress of King Sigismund II Augustus by Jacopo Tintoretto, 1565-1568, Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed.
Portrait of Stanisław Karnkowski, Bishop of Włocławek by workshop or circle of Lucas Cranach the Younger
In 2016, during the restoration of a painting of the Holy Family, now kept in the Karlskirche Museum in Vienna, the monogram and the date AD1520 were discovered in the upper right part of the image (after "Karl Borromäus Museum in der Karlskirche, Wien IV" by Alicja Dabrowska). This painting is attributed to Daniel Fröschl (1563-1613), an imitator of Albrecht Dürer, appointed in 1603 court painter and miniaturist to Emperor Rudolf II in Prague, although he worked in the service of the Medici in Florence until 1604. The work is characterized by the beauty of the execution and the particular appearance of some figures. The Virgin and Child with the Infant Saint John and Saint Joseph are venerated by Emperor Maximilian I (1459-1519) and Empress Bianca Maria Sforza (1472-1510). Fröschl copied an original by Dürer painted in 1520, as confirmed by the monogram, probably in Prague. Dürer in turn created the original painting 10 years after the death of the Empress and one year after the death of the Emperor, how could he have done so since according to the traditional approach, the model and the painter should have met at the time of the painting's creation? Furthermore, he was living in Nuremberg at that time and in July 1520 he went to Cologne and then to Antwerp, so he probably did not have the opportunity to meet Maximilian shortly before his death at Wels Castle near Linz in Austria. The effigy of the emperor and his wife was undoubtedly based on other effigies.
This practice of commissioning paintings from famous painters located elsewhere, based on other effigies or study drawings, was also widespread in Poland-Lithuania-Ruthenia. The best example are the miniatures of the Jagiellon family preserved in the Czartoryski Museum (inv. MNK XII-536-545), acquired by Adolf Cichowski in London in the mid-19th century. The miniatures were clearly created by Lucas Cranach the Younger, as indicated by their style, and each of them is signed with his famous mark - the winged serpent, as if he wished to emphasize his authorship on this noble commission. Since Cranach's stay in Sarmatia is not confirmed by the sources, he most likely painted all these effigies based on other portraits. Many paintings by Cranach, his workshop and his followers in the former territories of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth were destroyed or lost during numerous wars and invasions, including a small painting of the Crucifixion from the Wilanów Palace in Warsaw, lost during the Second World War (panel, 53.5 x 52.5 cm, inv. 65, Catalog of Wartime Losses, number 2268). The Crucifixion was purchased in 1804 by Stanisław Kostka Potocki (1755-1821), probably in Lviv, along with six other paintings, all considered to be works by Cranach (compare "Piękno za woalem czasu" by Teresa Stramowska, p. 56). Today, only three paintings remain in Wilanów: the Annunciation (inv. Wil.1860), the Last Supper (inv. Wil.1859) and the Lamentation of Christ (inv. Wil.1861). The Crucifixion, like the three paintings today in Wilanów, was not signed by Cranach's famous winged serpent, and its style was not typical for Cranach the Elder, which is why this traditional attribution was rejected in the catalogues of the Wilanów collection created after World War II and all the paintings are considered works of the German school of the second half of the 16th century. However, the style of the Wilanów Crucifixion, as can be seen from the surviving photograph, is very similar to that of the winged heart-shaped altarpiece, the so-called Colditzer Altar from 1584, now in the Germanisches Nationalmuseum in Nuremberg (inv. Gm1116), especially the panel with the Resurrection of Christ. It is interesting to note that only the central panel of the Colditzer Altar depicting the Crucifixion was signed with the artist's insignia and dated (on the shaft of the cross at Christ's feet). The other paintings, including the Resurrection, were not signed. If the Wilanów painting came from an altar or a pulpit, such as the one in Augustusburg made in 1573, which is very likely, only the central panel was signed by Cranach. In the Higher Theological Seminary in Włocławek in northern Poland there is also a portrait from this period. It depicts Stanisław Karnkowski (1520-1603), Bishop of Włocławek (oil, 208 x 86 cm). The way in which the face and especially the hands were painted is very characteristic of Cranach and his workshop and comparable to the full-length portraits of Luther in the Veste Coburg (winged serpent and date "1575", lower right, inv. M.304) or to the painting in Meissen Cathedral (unsigned). The seminary in Włocławek was founded by Karnkowski on March 16, 1568 as one of the first theological seminaries in the Commonwealth. The painting does not come from the seminary, destroyed by the Swedes in 1655-1656 and in the years 1704-1705, but from the Karnkowski collection in Karnków near Lipno. It was acquired from there by Bishop Karol Radoński before 1939. Karnkowski obtained a doctorate in both laws (doctor utriusque juris) in Padua. Although he vigorously fought against the influence of Protestants in his diocese and is considered one of the first bishops of the Counter-Reformation in Poland, he also studied at Wittenberg (after "Krzysztof Plantin i Officina Plantiniana" by Barbara Górska, p. 291), where he undoubtedly had the opportunity to meet Cranach the Elder and his son. In 1574 Karnkowski commissioned in Paris the publication of a panegyric in honour of the Polish King Henry of Valois (Harengue publique de Bien-venue au Roy Henry de Valois, Roy eleu des Polonnes, prononcee par Stanislaus Carncouien Euesque de Vladislauie) with a splendid Polish eagle bearing the king's monogram H and his coat of arms. The Włocławek portrait could therefore be part of the series of portraits commissioned by the newly appointed bishop in 1567 (by the bull of Pope Pius V). The portrait bears four inscriptions. The original, perhaps made by the painter, is the inscription in the upper left corner confirming the bishop's age (ANNO ÆTATIS · / SVÆ · 47), which indicates that the original painting was made in 1567, when Karnkowski was 47 years old. The next inscription in the upper right corner is the year "1570" (ANNO DNI / 1570), perhaps indicating the date of the copy of the original portrait from 1567 or commemorating another important event, such as the so-called "Karnkowski Statutes" or "Constitutions of Gdańsk" (Statuta seu Constitutiones Carncovianae) approved by Parliament in 1570, intended to regulate the rights of the Polish kings over Gdańsk and their maritime law. The other two inscriptions confirm the identity of the sitter and that he was a benefactor of the chapter of Włocławek (STANISLAVS KARNKOWSKY / EPVS / CAPITVLI ISTIVS WLADISLAVIENSIS / SINGULARIS BENEFACTOR). They were probably added with the bishop's coat of arms - Junosza. It is also possible that a member of Cranach's workshop was active in Poland at that time, but since there is no confirmation of this, the hypothesis of the creation of Karnkowski's portraits in Wittenberg is more likely. However, the existence of another portrait of a clergyman in Cranach's style proves that the hypothesis of one or more of Cranach's pupils active in Sarmatia cannot be excluded. This is a portrait of Jeremias II of Tranos (1536-1595), Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, now in the Museum of the Jagiellonian University in Kraków, painted in 1588 (oil on canvas, 88 x 82.5 cm, inv. 3282, inscription: EREMIAS PATRIARCHA / CONSTANTINOPOLITAN: DV / EX MOSCOVIA BYZANTHIV / REDIBAT ANNO DOMINI / 1.5. / 88). Until 1887, the painting hung in the amphitheater of the St. Anne Gymnasium in Kraków. The first ecumenical contacts between Lutherans and Orthodox Christians took place during the reign of Jeremias, as evidenced by the lively correspondence between the patriarch and the Protestant theologians of Tübingen, conducted between 1573 and 1581. He also continued the dialogue with representatives of the Catholic Church. In 1588, he undertook a journey through the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth to Moscow to raise funds. During his almost two-year journey, he crossed the territory of the Commonwealth twice, in 1588 and 1589, and stayed in Lviv and Vilnius. "At that time some painters strongly influenced by Cranach the Elder were active in Gdańsk and in the northern provinces of the Polish Commonwealth. Those artists also reached Vilnius" (after "Malarstwo obce w zbiorach Collegium Maius" by Anna Jasińska, p. 239-241). They could also be itinerant members of Cranach's workshop. Cranach the Younger died in 1586. Although his son Augustin (1554-1595) continued the family professional tradition in Wittenberg, he died only nine years after his father. In 1588, Cranach the Younger's eldest son, Lucas III (1541-1612), sold a large collection of paintings and prints by various artists to the Electoral collection (Kunstkammer) in Dresden, indicating that the workshop was already in decline. The option with creation of the portrait of the Patriarch in Wittenberg in 1588 for customers from the Commonwealth is therefore also possible. The 1560 inventory of Wolgast Castle confirms that the original portrait of Philip I (1515-1560), Duke of Pomerania-Wolgast by the "painter Lucas" (Lucas Maler) made in 1541 (another version, attributed to Cranach the Younger, is in the National Museum in Szczecin, inv. MNS/Szt/1382) was painted on canvas (An Contrafej auff Tüchern, after "Neue Beitrage zur Geschichte der Kunst und ihrer Denkmäler in Pommern" by Julius Mueller, p. 32). Portrait of a Catholic or Orthodox priest created in Lutheran Wittenberg? Although the church officials of Poland-Lithuania-Ruthenia (Catholics, Orthodox, Lutherans, Calvinists and others) were sometimes obliged to listen to or carry out orders from abroad, as confirmed by Jean Choisnin de Chastelleraut in his book published in Paris in 1574, respect was most important in the diverse and tolerant Sarmatia (Mais recognoissans entr'eux que la diuision apporteroit leur entiere ruyne, ils n'ont iamais voulu se courir sus l'vn à l'autre, "Discours au vray de tout ce qui s'est passé pour l'entière négociation de l'élection du roy de Pologne", p. 122, Lyon Public Library). In 1535 and before, the Jewish lady Estera from the court of Queen Bona, wife of Mojżesz Fiszel (1480-after 1543), rabbi of the Polish Jewish community from 1532, sewed the liturgical vestments for the Catholic clergy, including for Piotr Tomicki (1464-1535), Bishop of Kraków (after "Medycy nadworni władców polsko-litewskich ..." by Maurycy Horn, p. 9). This was Sarmatia, which many people abroad did not understand and some wanted to destroy. Sadly, the fact that all this seems unimaginable and sometimes unacceptable today is proof that they succeeded. 
Portrait of Stanisław Karnkowski (1520-1603), Bishop of Włocławek by workshop or circle of Lucas Cranach the Younger, 1567-1570, Higher Theological Seminary in Włocławek.
Portrait of Jeremias II Tranos (1536-1595), Patriarch of Constantinople by workshop or circle of Lucas Cranach the Younger, 1588, Jagiellonian University Museum in Kraków.
The Crucifixion by Lucas Cranach the Younger or workshop, third quarter of the 16th century, Wilanów Palace in Warsaw, lost during the World War II. Virtual reconstruction, © Marcin Latka
Portraits of Wojciech Sędziwój Czarnkowski by Adriaen Thomasz. Key
In the summer of 1568 died Jakub Ostroróg, General Starost of Greater Poland, "a man endowed with extraordinary gentleness, piety and prudence, a lover of justice and equality before the law", in the words of the chronicler of the city of Poznań. Ostroróg was a prominent magnate and politician from Poznań and one of the main leaders of the community of Bohemian Brethren. The Protestant community in the city expanded under his protection. He was appointed Starost of Poznań and General Starost by King Sigismund II Augustus in 1566.
The place of the dissident in the Poznań royal castle was taken by the Catholic Wojciech Sędziwój Czarnkowski (1527-1578), and soon the Jesuits were provided with buildings in Poznań (after "Życie codzienne w renesansowym Poznaniu, 1518-1619" by Lucyna Sieciechowiczowa, p. 91). Czarnkowski, a nobleman of Nałęcz III coat of arms, studied in Wittenberg in 1543 and Leipzig in 1545 and he became a royal courtier in 1552. He and his older brother Stanisław Sędziwój (1526-1602), Crown referendary, were strong supporters of the House of Habsburg. Stanisław, educated at German universities in Wittenberg and Leipzig, stayed at the court of Charles V and in 1564 he was an envoy to the Pomeranian dukes, and in 1568, 1570 and 1571 to Sophia Jagiellon (1522-1575), Duchess of Brunswick-Lüneburg. In 1575, the brothers signed the election of Emperor Maximilian II of Austria against the Queen Anna Jagiellon and her husband. During the next royal election in 1587 his son Adam Sędziwój (1555-1627) and brother signed the election of Archduke Maximilian III of Austria (1558-1618) against the Queen's candidate, Sigismund III Vasa. The portrait of Adam Sędziwój, created between 1605-1610 and most probably sent to the Medicis, is in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence (inventory number 2354 / 1890). Later in his life he become a supporter of king of Sigismund III Vasa, he organized a confederation in Greater Poland in defense of the king during the Zebrzydowski's rebellion and in his portrait he was depicted in national costume (crimson żupan and delia coat). In the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna there is a portrait of a man in Spanish costume attributed to Adriaen Thomasz. Key (oil on panel, 109 x 82.5 cm, inventory number GG 1034). It is identifiable in the treasury of the imperial collection in Vienna in 1773. The painting was most likely a gift to the Habsburgs. According to inscription in Latin in upper right corner of the painting the man was 41 in 1568 (A°.ÆTATIS.41 /.1568.), exaclty as Wojciech Sędziwój Czarnkowski when he become the General Starost of Greater Poland. A reduced bust-length version of this portrait in oval is now in the Medeiros e Almeida Museum in Lisbon (oil on panel, 59.5 x 48 cm, FMA 65). Before 1931 it was part of the Oxenden collection at Broome Park in Barham, England and was sold on 20 November of that year in London as part of the collection of Muriel Dixwell-Oxenden, Lady Capel Cure (after "Catalogue of early English portraits, the property of Lady Capel Cure ...", as "Sir Antonio Mor, Portrait of Ferdinand 1st of Austria, in black dress with white collar", item 76, p. 17). Netherlandish influences were increasing at that time in Poland-Lithuania, which is reflected in the architecture of cities of the former Commonwealth like Gdańsk, Elbląg, Toruń and Königsberg (at that time Duchy of Prussia was a fief of Poland). Some Netherlandish painters, like court painter Jakob Mertens from Antwerp or Isaak van den Blocke (born in Mechelen or Königsberg), also decided to settle in the Commonwealth. Others, like Tobias Fendt (Kraków, around 1576) and Hans Vredeman de Vries (active in Gdańsk between 1592-1595), went there temporarily or only took orders from customers from Poland-Lithuania. Many famous artists were unwilling to travel, especially when busy with high local demand. In order to have a marble bust made by famous Italian sculptor Gian Lorenzo Bernini, active in Rome, King Charles I of England ordered his Triple Portrait painted 1635-1636 by the Flemish artist Sir Anthony van Dyck, showing the king from three viewpoints (Royal Collection, RCIN 404420). He also ordered a similar portrait and bust of his wife Henrietta Maria in 1638. In about 1640-1642 also Cardinal Richelieu of France sent his Triple Portrait by Philippe de Champaigne to Rome (National Gallery in London, NG798) as a study for his statue by Francesco Mochi and a bust by Bernini (Louvre, MR 2165) and in August 1650, Francesco I d'Este, duke of Modena and Reggio sent paintings by Justus Sustermans and Jean Boulanger as a study for his marble bust by Bernini (Galleria Estense in Modena). In 1552 marble blocks and statues created by Giovanni Maria Mosca called Padovano and Giovanni Cini in Kraków for monuments of two wives of Sigismund II Augustus were floated down the Vistula to Gdańsk and Königsberg, then up the Nemunas and Neris rivers to the capital of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania - Vilnius, covering a total of over 1,500 km. Paintings were less heavy and easier to transport over great distances than the heavy and fragile sculptures. 
Portrait of Wojciech Sędziwój Czarnkowski (1527-1578), General Starost of Greater Poland, aged 41 by Adriaen Thomasz. Key, 1568, Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna.
Portrait of Wojciech Sędziwój Czarnkowski (1527-1578), General Starost of Greater Poland by Adriaen Thomasz. Key, ca. 1568, Medeiros e Almeida Museum in Lisbon.
Portrait of doctor Wojciech Oczko by Venetian painter
In 1569 doctor Wojciech Oczko (1537-1599), called Ocellus, physician, philosopher and one of the founders of Polish medicine, who studied syphilis and hot springs, returned from his studies abroad to his hometown Warsaw and newly created republic of Poland-Lithuania - the Union of Lublin, signed on 1 July 1569, created a single state, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. He began to practice medicine at St. Martin's Hospital.
Oczko's father was the Warsaw cartwright Stanisław (d. 1572), one of his brothers Rościsław (Roslanus) was a priest, and his sister Jadwiga married the painter Maciej. He left for the Academy of Kraków around 1559 or 1560, because in 1562 he received bachelor's degree there. He then received a master's degree at the cathedral school in Warsaw and a funding from the chapter in 1565 to study medicine in Italy. Wojciech studied at the Universities of Padua, Rome and Bologna, where he earned a doctorate in medicine. He also travelled to Spain and France, where he spent time in Montpellier. In order to keep him in Warsaw, the chapter of St. Martin's Hospital gave him a house close to the hospital without any payment, provided that he lived in it himself and did the necessary repairs. Later another resolution was passed in 1571 that Oczko should treat the poor free of charge in the hospital. At that time, his fame and renown was so great in the country that he became the archiater (a chief physician) of Sigismund Augustus and the royal secretary (D. D. Sigism: Aug: Poloniae regis Archiatro ac Secretario), according to inscription on his epitaph. He then served for a time as personal physician to Franciszek Krasiński, bishop of Kraków, and from 1576-1582 (with some breaks) as the court physician to Stephen Bathory (the king and his predecessor Sigismund Augustus suffered from venereal diseases, among others). Wojciech also had literary interests and prepared the staging of Jan Kochanowski's "The Dismissal of the Greek Envoys", a play staged at the wedding of Deputy Chancellor Jan Zamoyski in the royal Ujazdów Castle in Warsaw - a note in the accounts of the Deputy Chancellor states on January 6, 1578: "I gave doctor Oczko for building, painting, etc., 151 (zlotys) for the tragedy". His major work "French court disease" (Przymiot francuski), published in Kraków in 1581, is an extensive essay on syphilis, in which he denies the false views of his contemporaries - in Russia, where it certainly came at about this time, it was called the Polish disease (after Oliver Thomson's "Short History of Human Error", p. 328). In his other essay "Hot springs" (Cieplice), published in Kraków in 1578, he speaks about the importance and benefits of mineral waters. From 1598 Oczko lived in Lublin, where he died a year later. He was buried in the Bernardine Church in Lublin, where his nephew Wincenty Oczko, canon of Gniezno, founded him an epitaph made of two-color marble. Portrait of a red-bearded man in the Städel Museum in Frankfurt am Main was acquired on April 17, 1819 from the collection of Johann Friedrich Morgenstern (1777-1844), a German landscape painter, as a work of Titian. Morgenstern most probably purchased the painting during his studies at the Dresden Academy of Fine Arts, between 1797-1798 (in the first half of the 18th century Dresden was the informal capital of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth as the main residence of the Saxon kings). The man in a courtly black costume in French/Italian style is holding his hand on books, so he must be a scholar. According to inscription in Latin on the base of the column he was 33 in 1570 ([A]NNOR[VM]. XXXIII / ANNO. MDLXX), exactly as Wojciech Oczko when he become the royal physician in Warsaw. The sign below the inscription is interpreted as showing a dragon, however it could be also Scorpio, the sign which rules the genitals, as in a German woodcut from 1512 (Homo signorum or zodiacal man) or a print created in 1484 depicting a person with syphilis. An outbreak of syphilis in November 1484 was assigned by Gaspar Torella (1452-1520), physician to Pope Alexander VI and Cesare Borgia, and Bartolomeo della Rocca known as Cocles (1467-1504), astrologer from Bologna, to the conjunction of the four great planets in Scorpio. Oczko's portrait could have been created by a Venetian artist active at that time at the royal court or commissioned in Venice, basing on drawings, like the royal effigies. 
Portrait of doctor Wojciech Oczko (1537-1599), chief physician of king Sigismund Augustus, aged 33 by Venetian painter, 1570, Städel Museum.
Portrait of a man in eastern costume, possibly singer Krzysztof Klabon by Jacopo Tintoretto
The catalogue of Wallraf-Richartz-Museum in Cologne from 1927 ("Wegweiser durch die Gemälde-Galerie des Wallraf-Richartz-Museums", p. 70, number 516) includes a portrait painting of a man in eastern costume painted in the style of Jacopo Tintoretto, possiby lost during World War II (oil on canvas, 110 x 82 cm, inv. 516). His long inner robe of bright silk buttoned up with gold buttons is similar to Polish żupan and his dark coat is lined with fur, he also wears a heavy gold chain. This garment resemble greatly the costume of a horseman in the Crucifixion by circle of Lucas Cranach the Elder, created in 1549 (Salzburg Museum), the attire in the portrait of Jan Opaliński (1546-1598), created in 1591 (National Museum in Poznań) or costumes in Twelve Polish and Hungarian types by Abraham de Bruyn, created in about 1581 (Rijksmuseum Amsterdam).
The inscription in Latin is only partially visible on preserved photograph, covered with a later frame: [...] VIII / [...] NTOR / [...] MNI PRIN. / [...] D. / [...] XX. Presumably the text originally read: "His age 28, the chief singer of all, in the Year of our Lord 1570" ([ÆTATIS SVÆ XX]VIII / [CA]NTOR / OMNI[VM] PRIN.[CEPS] / [A.]D. / [MDL]XX). The sitter is holding a small book, which could be a psalter, a book containing a verse translation of the Book of Psalms, meant to be sung as hymns. The man is therefore likely to be Krzysztof Klabon or Clabon (Christophorus Clabonius), who, according to some sources, came from Königsberg in what was then the Ducal Prussia, fiefdom of Poland (a note from 1604: Eruditus Christophorus Clabonius Regiomontanus S.R.M. chori musices praefectus) or he was Italian and his real name was Claboni. If he was born in 1542 (aged 28 in 1570), he could arrive to Poland in 1553 with Queen Catherine of Austria, widowed Duchess of Mantua. Prior to 1565, he belonged to a group of young singers in the royal chapel orchestra of King Sigismund II Augustus, and from 1565 to a group of instrumentalists (translatus ex pueris cantoribus ad numerum fistulatorum). On February 4, 1567, together with four other musicians, he was promoted to full wind-players (ad fistulatores maiores). Antoni Klabon, most probably Krzysztof's brother, was admitted into the king's service at court as a trumpeter in Lublin on June 25, 1569 (Antonius Klabon tubicinator. Susceptus in servitium Maiestatis Regiae Liublini die 25 Iunii 1569, habebit omnem provisionem similem reliquis). In 1576, during the reign of Stephen Bathory, Krzysztof became the bandmaster of the court band and he was replaced by Luca Marenzio in 1596, during the reign of Sigismund III Vasa. He sang at the wedding of Jan Zamoyski with Griselda Bathory (1583), with a lute at two weddings of Sigismund III and at the ceremony on the occasion of the capture of Smolensk (1611). He traveled twice with Sigismund III to Sweden (1593-1594 and 1598). Klabon was also a composer, his extant works are "Songs of the Slavic Calliope. On present victory at Byczyna" (Pieśni Kalliopy słowieńskiey. Na teraznieysze pod Byczyną zwycięstwo) for 4 mixed voices, 3 equal voices, and for solo voice with lute, published in Kraków in 1588, one sacred piece, the five-part Aliud Kyrie (Kyrie ultimum) from the lost Łowicz organ tablatures and the soprano part of one other, Officium Sancta Maria. "Numerous residences dispersed the courtiers of Sigismund Augustus. Many of them stayed away from the king. For example, in 1570 the superior of the royal band, Jerzy Jasińczyc, along with some of the musicians, lived in Kraków, while the rest were in Warsaw with the king, who, moreover, complained that there were not enough of them" (after "Barok", Volume 11, 2004, p. 23). Some famous musicians from the royal capella, like Valentin Bakfark, traveled extensively around Europe. According to accounts of the court of Albert V, Duke of Bavaria in Munich, a singer from Poland was paid 4 florins for a performance in 1570 (Ainem Sänger aus Polln so vmb diennst angehalten 4 fl. after "Beiträge zur Geschichte der bayerischen Hofkapelle", Volume 2, p. 47). 
Portrait of a man in eastern costume, possibly singer Krzysztof Klabon by Jacopo Tintoretto, ca. 1570, Wallraf-Richartz Museum in Cologne, lost. Virtual reconstruction, © Marcin Latka
Portraits of Sigismund Augustus with his maritime fleet and at the old age by Tintoretto
Between 1655-1660 the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, a wealthy Venetian style republic of nobles created in 1569 with support of the last male Jagiellon, Sigismund Augustus was invaded by neighbouring countries from north, south, east and west - the Deluge. Royal and magnate residencies in Warsaw, Kraków, Grodno and Vilnius and other locations were ransacted and burned which resulted in the loss of works by the greatest Venetian painters, like Paris Bordone, Tintoretto or Palma Giovane and a loss of memory of the royal effigies and their patronage.
The portrait of a "Venetian admiral" in armour from the 1570s, acquired by the National Museum in Warsaw in 1936 from the Popławski collection (oil on canvas, 81 x 68 cm, inventory number M.Ob.635, earlier 34679) bears a great resemblance to the effigies of the king from the last years of his life, notably a miniature by workshop of Dirck de Quade van Ravesteyn at the Czartoryski Museum (MNK XII-146), painted after the original from around 1570. According to Universae historiae sui temporis libri XXX (editio aucta 1581, p. 516), originally published in Venice in 1572, the king was about to set up an enormous fleet against Denmark, consisting of galleys with three, five and more rows on the Venetian model in order to protect "Sarmatia". In the spring of 1570 he entrusted the Maritime Commission with the construction of the first ship for the Polish-Lithuanian maritime fleet, while bringing in specialists Domenico Zaviazelo (Dominicus Sabioncellus) and Giacomo de Salvadore from Venice. Shortly before turning 50 in 1570, the king's health rapidly declined. Antonio Maria Graziani recalls that Sigismund was unable to keep standing without a cane when greeting Venetian Cardinal Giovanni Francesco Commendone in November 1571 who was sent by Pope Pius V to join Venice, Papal States and Spain in the interest of a crusade against the Ottoman Empire. During research carried out in 1996 at the National Museum, an x-ray revealed an unfinished portrait of another man or the same but younger, perhaps unpaid work or not accepted by the client. The painter used the earlier composition to paint a new image on it, which was a common practice in his studio. In the Popławski collection the painting was attributed to Tintoretto. Jan Żarnowski, in the 1936 collection catalog, suggested Jacopo Bassano as a possible author, however, he pointed out the resemblance of this painting among others to two portraits by Tintoretto at the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna (after "Katalog wystawy obrazów ze zbiorów dr. Jana Popławskiego", number 19, p. 48). One is a portrait of Sigismund Augustus with a royal galley (GG 24), identified by me, the other is a portrait of an old man in a fur coat and carmine tunic, similar to the Polish-Lithuanian żupan (oil on canvas, 92.4 x 59.5 cm, GG 25). The receipt issued by Princess Anna Jagiellon after the death of Sigismund Augustus to Stanisław Fogelweder, in addition to Italian, German and Persian dresses, lists numerous fur garments, such as sable coats, made of leopards, wolverines, lynxes, wolves and black foxes and traditional costumes - żupany, kopieniaki, kabaty, kolety, delie (after "Ubiory w Polsce ..." by Łukasz Gołębiowski, p. 16), which were generally crimson. The resemblance of the men in all the mentioned effigies, in Vienna and Warsaw, is striking. The image of a man in a fur coat is also dated around 1570, like the Warsaw painting, and comes from the collection of Archduke Leopold William of Austria in Brussels, included in the catalog of his collection - Theatrum Pictorium (number 103). The intensity of Poland-Lithuania's contacts with the Republic of Venice around 1570 is attested by some preserved works of art. Portrait of a Venetian senator holding a letter by Jacopo Tintoretto of unknown provenance in the National Art Museum of Belarus in Minsk, was most probably transported to the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth at that time, possibly offered to the king Sigismund II Augustus or the Radziwills. The map of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth - "The Sarmatian part of Europe, which is subject to Sigismund Augustus, the most powerful king of Poland" (Partis Sarmatiae Europae, quae Sigismundo Augusto regi Poloniae potentissimo subiacet) by Andrzej Pograbka (Andreas Pograbius), dedicated to Mikołaj Tomicki, son of the castellan of Gniezno, was published in Venice in 1570 by Nicolò Nelli. In 1572, the reissue of the legal thesis of the king's courtier Pedro Ruiz de Moros (d. 1571) Decisiones [...] De rebus In Sacro Auditorio Lituanico ex appellatione iudicatis, dedicated to the king (RAECLARVM opus quoddam est, Sigismunde Auguste Rex ...), was published in Venice by Bartolomeo Rubini. In a painting by Tintoretto from a private collection, the same man, although older, was depicted with a dark hat, very similar to those seen on many printed effigies of the last male Jagiellon - effigy by Frans Huys and Hieronymus Cock (1553-1562), at the age of 35 by Hans Sauerdumm (1554), by Battista Franco Veneziano (ca. 1561), in Jan Herburt's Statuta y przywileie koronne ... by Monogrammist WS (1570) or by Dominicus Custos (1601), as well as in the portrait painting at the age of 41, thus painted in about 1561, at the Wawel Royal Castle (inventory number 535). Until the end of his life, the king continued to acquire sumptuous clocks and jewels. In 1569, an Augsburg merchant, Hanus Heuzschmidt, received 110 zlotys "for a large round clock, which His Majesty the King had taken to his chamber". On June 10, 1570, the royal treasurer Fogelweder paid 242 zlotys "to a French merchant named Baduero for a diamond ring and for a Turkish gold clasp with diamonds and rubies, which His Majesty the King bought from this merchant". On September 6, the same treasurer gave "Pancratio Henne, a merchant from Nuremberg", 1,544 zlotys for "two golden and stone-set apples for musk [a perforated apple-shaped box for musk and other perfumes] [...] for a diamond ring [...] for 6 small rings [...] and a diamond cross". A few months later (November 16, 1570), the same Fogelweder paid 680 zlotys to the "Frenchman Blasio Bleaus Gioiller for the jewels that His Majesty the King had purchased from him", for which the royal cashier received a receipt "signed by Peter [Pierre] Garnier, the goldsmith of His Majesty the King". In 1571 (June 18), two other French merchants "Blasius de Vaûls and Servatius Marel" delivered to the court of Sigismund Augustus "a pendant on which was depicted the figure of David and Goliath in gold, and on it 9 rubies, 18 diamonds, and 3 pearls" and 2 rings (after "Dostawcy dworów królewskich w Polsce i na Litwie ..." by Maurycy Horn, Part II, p. 16). In 1570, Piotr Dunin Wolski, the king's ambassador to Spain, received 2,000 zlotys per year, due to the high prices in that country, while Sigismund Augustus's agents in Naples, Paweł Stempowski and Stanisław Kłodziński, received 1,500 zlotys per year. A year later, Dunin Wolski received an additional 1,000 Neapolitan ducats, worth 35.5 groszy (after "Polska slużba dyplomatyczna ..." by Zbigniew Wójcik, p. 125). This comparison proves that the sums paid to foreign jewellers and clockmakers were significant. On March 9, 1565, Tintoretto received a payment of 250 ducats for his monumental Crucifixion in the Scuola Grande di San Rocco (536 x 1127 cm). In 1578 he received a total of 200 ducats for the four allegories in the Palazzo Ducale, and he sometimes received up to 20 or 25 ducats for his official portraits. The king, who spent such sums on luxury items from Western Europe, undoubtedly also spared no money for magnificent portraits, but probably because of the low value of these objects and the use of foreign agents, Italian and Jewish merchants, it is difficult to find relevant evidence in the documents. 
Portrait of king Sigismund II Augustus (1520-1572) in armour with his maritime fleet by Tintoretto, ca. 1570, National Museum in Warsaw.
Portrait of king Sigismund II Augustus (1520-1572) in a żupan and a fur coat by Tintoretto, ca. 1570, Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna.
Portrait of king Sigismund II Augustus (1520-1572) from the Theatrum Pictorium (103) by Lucas Vorsterman the Younger after Tintoretto, 1660, Princely Court Library in Waldeck.
Portrait of king Sigismund II Augustus (1520-1572) in a hat by Tintoretto, ca. 1572, Private collection.
Portrait of a Venetian senator holding a letter by Jacopo Tintoretto, third quarter of the 16th century, National Art Museum of Belarus in Minsk.
Portraits of children of Catherine Jagiellon by Sofonisba Anguissola and Titian
In a letter of 8 January 1570 from Warsaw (in the imperial archives in Vienna), the imperial envoy, Johannes Cyrus, abbot of the Premonstratensian monastery in Wrocław, informs Baron Trautson von Sprechenstein that the king of Sweden, John III, has sent an envoy to the Polish-Lithianian court with a portrait of his son, Prince Sigismund, and that he will probably want to promote him to the throne of Poland-Lithuania. He also adds that a year earlier the Swedish monarch had received many letters from Germany (most probably from Sophia Jagiellon, Duchess of Brunswick-Lüneburg), Prussia and Poland urging him to look after his son's interests and succession in Poland-Lithuania (after "Dyarysze Sejmów koronnych 1548, 1553 i 1570 r. ..." by Józef Szujski, p. 134).
In March 1569, Sigismund Augustus agreed to meet with the emperor about the succession. Maximilian II even fixed the date of the congress in Wrocław for August 1569, but the king asked for a delay. In the end, despite the efforts of abbot Cyrus, the congress did not take place at all, because Sigismund Augustus deliberately delayed its date. Prince Sigismund, as the only son of the reigning King of Sweden, was first and foremost his successor, as Sweden was a hereditary monarchy, so the success of all these endeavors should be attributed primarily to the wife of John III, Catherine Jagiellon. With her siblings Sigismund Augustus, Sophia and Anna, she was most likely willing to create a peaceful union of different countries of Europe under one king, thus expanding the idea of the Commonwealth (Res publica), established by the Union of Lublin in July 1569. A very innovative project in 16th century Europe, when many people thought it was noble to invade other nations, kill people, loot, destroy, subjugate others and thus create primitive empires. Unfortunately, such peaceful coexistence never had a reliable chance in Europe before the tragedy of World War II. Catherine ruled Sweden similarly to her mother Bona in Poland-Lithuania, in a way described by Mikołaj Rej in his dialogue between Warwas and Lupus, thus many of her decisions are attributed or signed by her husband. In many cultures, it is said that the man is the head, but the woman is the neck and she can turn the head any way she wants. It was therefore she who had her son's portrait painted and sent with official legation to Poland-Lithuania. The symbolism of this portrait must have been obvious to everyone in the country, so it can be assumed that, like the other effigies of the Jagiellons, it was commissioned from a renowned foreign workshop and that the prince was dressed in the national costume. No other document concerning this painting has been preserved, like probably the effigy itself. However, such portraits were frequently created in series for different notables. It cannot be the full-length portrait of the 2-year-old prince, attributed to the Dutch painter Johan Baptista van Uther (Wawel Royal Castle, inventory number 3221, from the collection of the Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences in Kraków), because according to the inscription it was created two years earlier, in 1568, when the prince had actually 2 years (ÆTATIS SVÆ 2 / 1568). What's more the more German or Flemish costume of a boy with a ruff, would not please the supporters of the national cause. In the Zamość Museum there is a small oval portrait of a boy with a feathered hat, which at first glance may resemble the works by the great Polish painter Olga Boznańska (1865-1940), who was inspired by the works of Diego Velázquez (1599-1660) and also painted children, or a 19th century pastiche of portraits of the Spanish infantes by Velázquez, such as effigies of Philip Prospero, Prince of Asturias (1657-1661), however, according to museum experts, the painting is by the Italian school and it was created at the beginning of the 17th century. It was recently included in the exhibition in late 16th century interiors above another importation from Italy, an oriental-style chest of drawers inlaid with mother-of-pearl, ivory and silver, the so-called Certosina technique, from the beginning of the 18th century. Many of the oldest paintings in the museum, such as the Putto with a tambourine by circle of Titian or Lorenzo Lotto from the first half of the 16th century, a copy of the original attributed to Titian from around 1510 (Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna), comes from the collection of the Zamoyski estate in Warsaw. In addition to purchasing the Italian paintings, the Zamoyskis also received them as gifts, such as in 1599 when Papal Nuncio Claudio Rangoni, Bishop of Reggio, gave Chancellor Jan Zamoyski and his wife a copy of the miraculous image of Our Lady of Reggio and in 1603 the same Rangoni also sent a portrait of Pope Clement VIII to Zamoyski. The 1583 inventory mentions two religious paintings of Mary Magdalene and Christ carrying the cross (after "Kultura i ideologia Jana Zamoyskiego" by Jerzy Kowalczyk, p. 97-98), possibly disguise portraits by Italian school. The 1604 print with effigy of Jan Zamoyski (British Museum) was created by the Roman engraver Giacomo Lauro (Iacobus Laurus Romanus) most likely from a study drawing or a miniature sent from Poland. The boy's crimson outfit and characteristic hat are typical of the national fashion of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth at the turn of the 16th and 17th centuries. We can find similar costume in many works of art depicting Polish-Lithuanian nobles like miniature with Polish horsemen from the Kriegsordnung (Military ordinance) of Albert of Prussia from 1555 (State Library of Berlin), a copy of which most likely belonged to his cousin and overlord Sigismund Augustus, or a Polish-Lithuanian nobleman (Polacho) from Habiti Antichi Et Moderni di tutto il Mondo ... by Cesare Vecellio, published in Venice in 1598 (Czartoryski Library in Kraków). A similar crimson costume and hat can also be seen in the effigy of a Pole (Polognois) from Lucas de Heere's Théâtre de tous les peuples et nations de la terre, painted in the 1570s (Universiteitsbibliotheek Gent), images of Polish-Lithuanian nobles in Theatrum virtutum ac meritorum D. Stanislai Hosii by Tomasz Treter, painted between 1595-1600 (National Library of Poland) or in a much later fragment of the Commonwealth's map (Poloniae Nova et Acvrata Descriptio) by Jan Janssonius, published in Amsterdam in 1675 (National Library of Poland). The broad, blurry brushstrokes of Zamość's painting are characteristic of a one painter living near the beginning of the 17th century - Titian. He was one of the first to leave such visible stains of paint created through dynamic short brushstrokes, thus providing inspiration for many later artists, Velázquez and Rembrandt among them. A large number of orders required him to be quick and to simplify the painting technique. It is particularly noticeable in his late paintings, made between 1565 and 1576 - Boy with dogs in a landscape (Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen), Saint Jerome (Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum) and the Crowning with thorns (Alte Pinakothek). The portrait of a boy was painted on cedar wood, a precious wood particularly appreciated by cabinetmakers, imported to Venice from Lebanon, Cyprus and Syria in the 16th and 17th centuries. Titian and his workshop are usually associated with canvas as the primary material, however, some of the master's smaller exquisite paintings for royal patrons were done on more expensive wood or even marble, such as Mater Dolorosa with clasped hands from 1554 (oil on panel, 68 x 61 cm, Prado Museum, P000443) and Mater Dolorosa with her hands apart from 1555 (oil on marble, 68 x 53 cm, Prado Museum, P000444), both commissioned by Emperor Charles V, and also the Penitent Magdalene, probably painted for Francesco Maria della Rovere, Duke of Urbino, between 1533 and 1535 (oil on panel, 85.8 x 69.5 cm, Pitti Palace, Palatina 67) or portrait of Pope Julius II, painted between 1545-1546, from the collection of Vittoria della Rovere (oil on panel, 100 x 82.5 cm, Pitti Palace, Palatina 79). The boy in the painting may be three or four years old, as Prince Sigismund, born June 20, 1566, and the effigy resemble the earlier painting and the portrait of Sigismund's sister, Princess Elizabeth "Isabella" Vasa (1564-1566), at Wawel Castle (oil on canvas, 94.8 x 54.7 cm, 3934). The latter portrait is another intriguing aspect of the patronage of the Queen of Sweden. The style of the painting is obviously Italian and due to the inscription ISABEL in Spanish (medieval Spanish form of Elizabeth) it was initially believed to represent Catherine's older sister, Isabella Jagiellon (1519-1559) and dated about 1525. This painting comes from the collection of the Sapieha family in Krasiczyn. The costume of the young girl with a small ruff is much later and the effigy resembles the statue of Princess Isabella as depicted on the sarcophagus of her tomb sculpted by Willem Boy, carved around 1570 (Strängnäs Cathedral). As the eldest daughter of Catherine, she received the name in honor of her famous great-grandmother Isabella of Aragon (1470-1524), Duchess of Milan and suo jure Duchess of Bari. The style of this effigy most closely resembles the paintings attributed to Sofonisba Anguissola, who was court painter and lady-in-waiting to Elisabeth of Valois (Isabel de Francia, Isabelle de Valois), Queen of Spain, from 1560 until queen's death in 1568, and lived at the Spanish court in Madrid. Among the closest analogous paintings are the self-portrait with Bernardino Campi from the 1550s (Pinacoteca Nazionale di Siena), the double portrait of the two young girls from around 1570 (Royal Palace of Genoa) and the portrait of a young woman from around 1580 (Lázaro Galdiano Museum). To be painted by the court painter of the Queen of Spain was a great prestige in the 16th century, moreover on the maternal side Catherine was a descendant of some Aragonese monarchs. Very wealthy Jagiellons could easily afford such "extravagance". The style of this painting both in composition and technique resembles the series of paintings of children of Emperor Maximilian II (1527-1576), son of Anna Jagellonica (1503-1547), in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna - Archduchess Anna (1549-1580) (95 x 60 cm, 8148), Archduke Rudolf (1552-1612) (95 x 55.5 cm, 3369), Archduke Matthias (1557-1619) (95 x 56 cm, 3372), Archduke Maximilian (1558-1618) (95 x 55.5 cm, 3370), Archduke Albert (1559-1621) (95 x 55.5 cm, 3267) and Archduke Wenceslaus (1561-1578) (95 x 55.5 cm, 3371). They were probably commissioned in Spain, as their mother was the Spanish Infanta Maria (1528-1603), daughter of Emperor Charles V and Isabella of Portugal. Also, the dimensions and style of inscription of all these paintings are similar, so the portrait of Isabella Vasa could be one of many paintings depicting the children of Catherine Jagiellon by Anguissola or her workshop. It is also possible that the Wawel Castle painting does not depict the Vasa Princess at all, because some paintings from the Habsburg series are missing, including the effigy of Elizabeth of Austria (1554-1592), future queen of France. The style of the princess's portrait can also be compared to Sofonisba's self-portrait at the easel (Łańcut Castle), which was probably an advertisement of her talent or a gift to a generous client sent to Poland. Catherine most likely commissioned the effigies of her children through her envoys, such as Ture Bielke (1548-1600), who visited Szczecin in 1570 and later went to Venice or Count Olivero di Arco, who entered into relations with the royal court of Sweden after the autumn of 1568 and in the summer of 1570 presented himself in Venice as official ambassador of the Swedish monarch (after "Le Saint-Siège et la Suède ..." by Henry Biaudet, p. 208). In November 1569, Venetian Cardinal Giovanni Francesco Commendone, papal legate to Poland, wrote to Princess Anna asking if it was possible for Anna's sister, as the new queen of Sweden, to influence the country's politics, while Catherine corresponded at the same time with the pope (e.g. letter from Pius V to Catherine Jagiellon, March 8, 1570). Intermediaries at the Spanish court could have been the Polish ambassadors, Piotr Dunin-Wolski (1531-1590), representing Commonwealth's interests between 1561-1573, or Piotr Barzy, starost of Lviv, sent in 1566 to Madrid, where he died in 1569. Also the mentioned painting of a boy with dogs in a landscape (oil on canvas, 99.5 x 117 cm, Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen), could be related to Poland-Lithuania. Because the artist used the same study drawing of a dog as in a portrait of a general in the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister in Kassel, painted between 1550 and 1552, it is thought to have been commissioned by the same client or his family. According to Iryna Lavrovskaya, the portrait of a general could be an effigy of Nicolaus "the Black" Radziwill (Heritage, N. 2, 1993. pp. 82-84). The effigy of a boy embracing the dog who looks at a second dog suckling two puppies on the left recalls the story of abandoned Romulus and Remus (Capitoline Wolf), the founders of the city of Rome and the children of the god of war Mars and the priestess Rhea Silvia. Interestingly enough, the eldest son of Nicolaus "the Black", Nicolaus Christopher (1549-1616) is said to have received the nickname "the Orphan" when King Sigismund Augustus found the child left unattended in one of the rooms of the royal palace. After his studies in Strasbourg, in mid-1566, the young 17-year-old Radziwill went through Basel and Zurich to Italy. He stayed longer in Venice, Padua and Bologna, he also visited Florence, Rome and Naples and, as he himself wrote, "everything worth seeing". He returned to the country in 1569 (after "Polski słownik biograficzny", 1935, Volume 24, p. 301). After the death of his mother in 1562 and his father in 1565, at this time in his life he could really feel like an orphan, so an allegorical painting reminiscent of his father would be a good souvenir from Venice. 
Portrait of Princess Elizabeth "Isabella" Vasa (1564-1566), daughter of Catherine Jagiellon or Elizabeth of Austria (1554-1592), granddaughter of Anna Jagellonica (1503-1547) by Sofonisba Anguissola, 1560s, Wawel Royal Castle.
Portrait of Prince Sigismund Vasa (1566-1632), son of Catherine Jagiellon, in Polish-Lithuanian costume by Titian, ca. 1570, Zamość Museum.
Boy with dogs in a landscape, most probably allegorical portrait of Nicolaus Christopher "the Orphan" Radziwill (1549-1616) by Titian, 1565-1576, Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen.
Portrait of Infanta Juana de Austria with court dwarf Ana de Polonia by Sofonisba Anguissola
"We have a great joy with them (...) each day this gift becomes more pleasant to us, for which we also offer our grateful appreciation to Vostrae Serenitati" wrote emperor Charles V on May 11, 1544 to Queen Bona Sforza, who sent him two dwarfs raised at her court, Kornel and Katarzyna.
Dwarfs were present at the Polish court since the Middle Ages, however it was during the reign of Sigismund I and Bona that their presence was significantly strengthened. As servants of Osiris and their association with other Egyptian gods of fertility and creation, like Bes, Hathor, Ptah, dwarfs were also symbols of fertility, revival and abundance in Ancient Roman World and one fresco from Pompeii near Naples is a very special example of it (after "The meaning of Dwarfs in Nilotic scenes" in: "Nile into Tiber: Egypt in the Roman World", Paul G.P. Meyboom and Miguel John Versluys, 2007, p. 205). To secure the endurance of the dynasty in the times when child mortality was very high, fertility was very important to Bona, granddaughter of Alfonso II, King of Naples. There were Spanish dwarfs at the Polish court, like Sebastian Guzman, who was paid 100 florins, a cubit of Lyonian cloth and damask and Polish monarchs sent their dwarfs to Spain, like Domingo de Polonia el Mico, who appears in the house of Don Carlos between 1559-1565. The presence of Polish dwarfs was also significant at the French court. In 1556 Sigismund Augustus sent to Catherine de' Medici, Queen of France two dwarfs, called grand Pollacre and le petit nain Pollacre and in 1579 a dwarf Majoski (or Majosky) was even studying at her cost. A lot of female dwarfs were at the court of the Jagiellons, like a certain Maryna, an old dwarf of Queen Bona, who was paid salary by king Stephen Bathory or Jagnieszka (Agnieszka), female dwarf of Princess Sophia Jagiellon, who was her secretary. Queen Barbara Radziwill, had at her court a dwarf Okula (or Okuliński) and she received two female dwarfs from the wife of voivode of Novogrudok. After her mother left for her native Italy, when all her sisters were married and her brother was occupied with affairs of state and his mistresses, Anna Jagiellon spent time on embroidery, raising her foster children and dwarfs. A portrait showing a little girl hiding under protective arm of a woman by Sofonisba Anguissola in Boston (Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, oil on canvas, 194 x 108.3 cm, P26w15), due to appearance of her ruff can be dated to the late 1560s or early 1570s. The woman is Infanta Doña Juana de Austria (Joan of Austria), widowed Princess of Portugal, sister of king Philip II of Spain, ruler of one half of the world and mother of king Sebastian of Portugal, ruler of the second half of the world (according to Treaty of Tordesillas, 1494), sister of Holy Roman Empress Maria of Austria, as well as Archduchess of Austria, princess of Burgundy, a friend of Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits), one of the most influential religious orders of the Catholic Reformation, and whose confessor was her cousin Francis Borgia, third Superior General of the Jesuits. She was the most influential and powerful woman in Europe. The portrait which is said to depict Catherine Stenbock (1535-1621), Queen of Sweden from the Stenbock Palace in Kolga (Kolk) in Estonia, now in private collection (oil on canvas, 63 x 50 cm, sold at Bukowskis in Stockholm, Sale 621, December 11, 2019, lot 414), is de facto a copy or a version of Juana de Austria's portrait by Alonso Sánchez Coello from 1557 (Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, inv. GG 3127), most probably created by Sofonisba in about 1560. Kolga Palace was once owned by Swedish soldier Gustaf Otto Stenbock (1614-1685), who during the invasion of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was promoted to field marshal. The painting, once sent to Sigismund Augustus or his sister Anna by Juana, was therefore taken from one of the royal residences during the Deluge (1655-1660) and this unknown lady was later identified as a Queen of Sweden from the Stenbock family. A somewhat similar effigy of Juana, purchased from Andrzej Ciechanowiecki in 1981, is in the Royal Castle in Warsaw (oil on canvas, 107 x 79 cm, inv. ZKW/103/ab). The possible author of the Warsaw painting is the Flemish painter Roland de Mois (Rolán de Moys, ca. 1520-1592), active in Aragon since 1559, or his studio. The portrait in Boston is also very similar to the portrait in the Basque Museum in Bayonne by workshop of Sofonisba or Juan Pantoja de la Cruz (oil on canvas, 170 x 120 cm, inventory number G 2). It depicts Isabel de Francia (Elisabeth of Valois, 1545-1568), Queen of Spain, daughter of Catherine de' Medici and third wife of Philip II, with a little girl, which could be her French female dwarf Doña Luisa. It was a portrait of Queen Isabel that Sofonisba sent to the Pope Pius IV in 1561: "I heard from the most reverend Nuncio of your Holiness, that you desired a portrait, from my hands, of her Majesty the Queen, my mistress", according to Sofonisba's letter dated Madrid, September 16, 1561 and "We have received the portrait of the most serene Queen of Spain, our dearest daughter, that you have sent us" according to Pope's letter dated Rome, October 15, 1561. The girl in Boston portrait is holding in her hand three roses. The association of the rose with love is too common to require elaboration, it was the flower of Venus, goddess of love in ancient Rome. Three flowers symbolize also Christian teological virtues, faith, hope and love, with love pointed as "the greatest of these" by Paul the Apostle (1 Corinthians 13). She is therefore a foreigner at the Spanish court and the painting is a message: I am safe, I have a powerful protector, do not worry about me, I love you, I remember about you and I miss you. It is a message to someone very important to the girl, but also important to Juana. We can assume with a high degree of probability that it is a message to the girl's foster mother Anna Jagiellon, who to strengthen her chances to the crown after death of her brother, assumed the unprecedented but politically important Spanish title of Infanta: Anna Infans Poloniae (Anna, Infanta of Poland, e.g her letter to cardinal Stanisław Hozjusz, from Łomża, 16 November 1572). In the 16th century Spanish portraiture even members of the same family were rarely depicted together. Suffocating court etiquette made exception only to dwarfs and court jesters, like in the portrait of infanta Isabella Clara Eugenia with a female dwarf Magdalena Ruiz by Alonso Sánchez Coello from about 1585 (Prado Museum) or in the portrait of pregnant youger sister of Anna of Austria (1573-1598), Queen of Poland - Margaret, Queen of Spain with a female dwarf Doña Sofía (her name might indicate Eastern origin) from about 1601 by Juan Pantoja de la Cruz or Bartolomé González (Kunsthistorisches Museum). Blood connections and family ties were very important to Spanish Habsburgs, Ana de Austria (Anna of Austria, 1549-1580), fourth wife of Philip II, was his niece (her mother Maria was his sister and her father was his cousin). Spanish sources mentions that in 1578 died Doña Ana de Polonia, court dwarf of Queen Ana de Austria (after "Ana de Austria (1549-1580) y su coleccion artistica", in: "Portuguese Studies Review", Almudena Perez de Tudela, 2007, p. 199), most probably the same mentioned in 1578 in Cuentas de Mercaderes (Merchant Accounts), M. 4, granting her a skirt and other clothing. If this girl is the same with that in the portrait of Juana, and after death of Juana in 1573 she joned the court of a foreign queen who arrived to Spain in autumn of 1570, this lovely green-eyed girl was probably someone more than an agreeable court dwarf. Her name might indicate, apart from the country of her origin, also her family, like Doña Juana de Austria (Joan of Austria, Joan from the House of Austria, the Habsburgs), who was born in Madrid and never visited Austria, hence Doña Ana de Polonia (Anna of Poland, Anna from the House of Poland, the Jagiellons). So was this girl an illegitimate daughter of Sigismund Augustus, who after death of Barbara in 1551 was desperate to have a child or his sister Anna, a vigorous (gagliarda di cervello) spinster? Such a bold hypothesis cannot be excluded due to its nature that rather should be concealed and kept secret, and lack of sources (in Poland apart from paintings, also many archives were destroyed during wars). The preserved sources, especially from the last years of reign of Sigismund Augustus are controversial. Imperial envoy, Johannes Cyrus, Abbot of the Premonstratensian monastery in Wrocław, in a letter dated March 3, 1571 states that "The king would even marry a beggar, if she only gave him a son" and Świętosław Orzelski, Sejm deputy and Lutheran activist, in his diary that "in the same castle [Royal Castle in Warsaw], where Infanta Anna lived, Zuzanna was lying in one bed, Giżanka in the second, third at Mniszek's, the fourth in the room of the royal chamberlain Kniaźnik, fifth at Jaszowski's" about "the falcons" (Zuzanna Orłowska, Anna Zajączkowska and Barbara Giżanka among others), mistresses of the king. He also allegedly had illegitimate daughters with them. Maybe a research in Spanish archives will allow to confirm or exclude the hypothesis that Ana de Polonia was a daughter of Sigismund or of his sister Anna and was sent to distant Spain. The painting was purchased by Isabella Stewart Gardner in 1897 from the collection of Marchese Fabrizio Paolucci di Calboli in Forli. Its earlier history is unknown. It was most probably aquired in Poland by cardinal Camillo Paolucci, born in Forli, who was a papal nuncio in Poland between 1727-1738. Also earlier provenance is possible through cardinal Alessandro Riario Sforza, a distant relative of Anna from the branch of the family who were lords of Forli and Imola, who was named papal legate in Spain in 1580, just two years after death of Ana de Polonia, and who could acquire a copy of painting made for the Queen of Poland. Before World War II, the Silesian Museum of Fine Arts in Wrocław owned a magnificent full-length portrait, identified as depicting Don Juan of Austria (1547–1578), the illegitimate son of Emperor Charles V and therefore attributed to Alonso Sánchez Coello (oil on canvas, 197 x 111 cm, inv. kat. 220, Catalog of Wartime Losses, number 11114). The painting came from the collection of Barthold Suermondt (1818-1887), a German entrepreneur and banker who owned significant shares in the Warsaw Steelworks (Towarzystwo Warszawskiej Fabryki Stali). It was purchased in 1874 by the Gemäldegalerie in Berlin and donated to the Wrocław Museum in 1878. Its early history is unknown. Although it can be assumed that Suermondt acquired the painting in Belgium, the Netherlands or Germany, the Polish provenance cannot be ruled out. The style of this painting is very reminiscent of the works of Sofonisba, while the model resembles the effigies of King Philip II of Spain. This painting was most likely based on other effigies and idealized, hence the resemblance is not so apparent at first glance. In the country where some were fascinated by the Spanish Empire, such as Krzysztof Warszewicki (1543-1603), as he expressed in his De Optimo Statu Libertatis Libri duo, published in Kraków in 1598 and especially in his "Speech on the Death of Philip II, Catholic King of Spain" (In mortem Philippi II Hispaniarvm regis catholici oratio), also published in the same year in Kraków, nobles travelled to the Iberian Peninsula and grain and other products were exported from Gdańsk, there were also undoubtedly many effigies of the King of Spain. Warszewicki dedicated this speech to George Radziwill, Bishop of Kraków, as a token of gratitude for having appointed him to the Kraków Chapter, and also because Radziwill had once been the Polish ambassador to Spain and had known the deceased king personally. After the title page of Warszewicki's speech the printing house of Andrzej Piotrkowczyk reproduced a portrait of King Philip II, most likely based on an original painting belonging to the author. Interestingly, the portrait of Philip II in Wrocław was similar in size (197 x 111 cm / 194 x 108.3 cm) and composition to the portrait of his sister, now in Boston. Thus, both portraits most likely came from the same series. 
Portrait of Infanta Juana de Austria (Joan of Austria) by Roland de Mois or workshop, after 1559, Royal Castle in Warsaw.
Portrait of Infanta Juana de Austria (Joan of Austria) from the Stenbock Palace by Sofonisba Anguissola or workshop, ca. 1560, Private collection.
Portrait of Queen Isabel de Francia (Elisabeth of Valois) with a female dwarf by Sofonisba Anguissola or workshop, ca. 1565-1568, Basque Museum in Bayonne.
Portrait of Infanta Juana de Austria (Joan of Austria) with female dwarf Ana de Polonia by Sofonisba Anguissola, ca. 1572, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston.
Portrait of King Philip II of Spain (1527-1598) by Sofonisba Anguissola, 1570s, Silesian Museum of Fine Arts in Wrocław, lost during World War II. Virtual reconstruction, © Marcin Latka
Portrait of Stanisław Reszka by Adriaen Thomasz. Key
In 1569 Stanisław Reszka (Rescius), secretary of cardinal Stanisław Hozjusz went with him to Rome. During his stay there, he assisted the cardinal in his public activities in the Roman Curia and during the conclave in 1572. That year he was also an envoy in his name to the Viceroy of Naples, Cardinal Granvelle ("On the third day after the election of Pope Gregory XIII, I left with the most eminent Cardinal Granvelle for Naples", wrote Reszka in a letter), and the following year to King-elect Henry of Valois. He helped the cardinal with organization during his journey and stay in the Eternal City. He was also increasingly active in the cultural and literary field. Rescius assisted in the publication of the works of Cardinal Hozjusz (Paris 1562, Antwerp 1566 and 1571, Cologne 1584). Opera qvae hactenus extitervnt omnia ... was published in Antwerp by the publishing house of the widow and heir of Joannes Steelsius (Antverpiae : in aedibus viduae et haeredum Ioannis Stelsij), shortly after Hozjusz's return to Poland after the 1565-6 papal conclave (20 December - 7 January) and Opera omnia was published by the same publishing house in 1571, hence the work was prepared and directed from Rome. The full-length portrait of Cardinal Hozjusz, offered by Pope John Paul II in 1987 to the reconstructed Royal Castle in Warsaw (inventory number ZKW/2207/ab, previously in the Vatican Library), was painted in 1575 by Flemish painter Giulio (Julius) della Croce, called Giulio Fiammingo. Reszka himself published in Rome portraits with biographies of popes (1580), Roman emperors (1583), Cardinal Hozjusz (1588) and Polish kings (1591) (after "Vademecum malarstwa polskiego" by Stanisław Jordanowski, p. 44).
Stanisław, educated at the Lubrański Academy (Collegium Lubranscianum) in Poznań, in Frankfurt an der Oder as well as in Wittenberg and Leipzig, came from a bourgeois family. He was born in Buk in Greater Poland on September 14, 1544. He obtained his doctorate in Perugia and in 1559 he became the secretary of Bishop Stanisław Hozjusz. In 1565 he was ordained a deacon in Rome and in 1571 he became a canon of Warmia. Two years later, in 1573 he was appointed by King Henry of Valois as the royal secretary and in 1575 he was ordained priest by Hozjusz in the church of St. Clement in Rome. From 1592 he stayed in Naples as an envoy of the Commonwealth. One of Reszka's greatest achievements in Rome was the founding of the Polish College. He recommended many Poles and Prussians to Marcin Kromer, Prince-Bishop of Warmia, like Leonard Neuman, an Olsztyn resident, who was not admitted to the Collegium Germanicum in Rome (after "Działalność polonijna Stanisława Reszki ..." by Aleksander Rudziński, p. 70, 72). As a diplomatic agent in Rome, distinguished by his artistic taste, Rescius also becomes an artistic agent of the monarchs of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. He was an important supplier of works of art for Sigismund III Vasa, who purchased them in Naples, Rome and Venice, along with Tomasz Treter, Jan Andrzej Próchnicki, Bartłomiej Powsiński, Spanish and Italian envoys and magnates traveling abroad (after "Malarstwo europejskie w zbiorach polskich, 1300-1800" by Jan Białostocki, Michał Walicki, p. 19). He also corresponded with Queen Anna Jagiellon, to whom he sent from Rome on January 19, 1584 "the Indian stone". In the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna there is a portrait of a man with a reddish beard by Adriaen Thomasz. Key (oil in panel, 85 x 63 cm, inventory number GG 3679, signed top left with the monogram: AK). This painting is verifiable in the imperial collection Prague in 1685 and was transferred to Vienna in 1876. Key, a Calvinist painter active in Antwerp in the Spanish Netherlands, painted in 1579 several versions of effigy of William the Silent, the leader of the Dutch revolt, however some portrait paintings of William's opponent Don Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, 3rd Duke of Alba, are also attributed to him, in collaboration with Willem Key (in Palacio de Liria in Madrid and in Museum Prinsenhof in Delft), as well as portraits of Margaret of Parma (1522-1586), Catholic Regent of the Netherlands (Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, GG 768 and Museum Prinsenhof in Delft). The man with a reddish beard is holding gloves in his right hand and his black costume and pose resemble the portraits of Antoine Perrenot de Granvelle (1517-1586), when bishop of Arras, especially the painting by Antwerp painter Antonis Mor in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, created in 1549 (GG 1035) or a similar portrait of future cardinal by Titian, created a year earlier (Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 30-15). According to Latin inscription in upper part of the painting the man was 28 in 1572 (1572 / Æ T A. 28), exacly as Rescius, when he accompanied Cardinal Granvelle to Naples. The diplomat died there in 1600. 
Portrait of Stanisław Reszka (1544-1600), aged 28 by Adriaen Thomasz. Key, 1572, Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna.
Portraits of Anna Jagiellon by Tintoretto and circle of Titian
"The Queen is fresh and in such good health that I would not consider it a miracle if she were to become pregnant", reported from Warsaw on 29 January 1579, Giovanni Andrea Caligari (1527-1613), papal nuncio in Poland, about 56 years old Anna Jagiellon (1523-1596), elected co-ruler of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.
"In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, overweightness and obesity were considered symbols of sexual attractiveness and well-being" (after "The Obesity Reality: A Comprehensive Approach to a Growing Problem" by Naheed Ali, p. 7) and Anna's mother Bona Sforza, who visited Venice in 1556, was obese in her 40s and 50s, as visible in the cameo in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (inv. 17.190.869). At the end of November 1575 Austrian legation arrived in Warsaw, officially promising the infanta marriage to Archduke Ernest of Austria (1553-1592), the son of Emperor Maximilian II and Maria of Spain, and her relative as a grandson of Anna Jagellonica (1503-1547). However, the offer was accepted very restrainedly and cautiously, even coldly. Anna was to reply modestly that she depended on the entire Republic and would only do what custom and the general will would require of her, and that she "entrusted her orphanage to God's holy protection" (after "Anna Jagiellonka" by Maria Bogucka, p. 118). The young Archduke, 30 years younger than the potential bride, undoubtedly received her effigy. News coming mainly from Vienna and Venice informed the general public about the course of 1575 royal election in the Commonwealth. The Fuggers, a prominent group of European bankers, learned about the election of Emperor Maximilian as king of Poland from reports sent from Vienna on December 16, 1575, and then from Venice (newspaper of 30 December) (after "Z dziejów obiegu informacji w Europie XVI wieku" by Jan Pirożyński, p. 141). In the Jagiellonian University Museum in Kraków there is a painting attributed to Tintorretto from about 1575 (after "Muzeum Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego" by Karol Estreicher, p. 100). This painting was offered to the Cracow Academy by Franciszek Karol Rogawski (1819-1888) in 1881 (oil on canvas, 110 x 96 cm, inv. MUJ 425/I, earlier 2526). According to Rogawski's record, the portrait features the queen of Cyprus, Caterina Cornaro (1454-1510), and was acquired at Sedelmayer's auction in Vienna. It had earlier belonged to the Viennese gallery of Joseph Daniel Böhm (1794-1865) and was also attributed to Paolo Veronese, Battista Zelloti and circle of Bernardino Licinio (after "Foreign Painting in the Collections of the Collegium Maius" by Anna Jasińska, p. 146). The crown on her head alludes to a royal dignity, however, the woman's costume does not resemble well known effigies of the queen of Cyprus by Gentile Bellini and can be compered to the dress of La Belle Nani by Paolo Veronese (Louvre Museum), dated to about 1560, or to the costume of a lady from The Madonna of the Cuccina Family (Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister in Dresden), also by Veronese, painted around 1571. Her face has the appearance of not being taken live, as points out Enrico Maria Dal Pozzolo ("Un Michele da Verona e uno Jacopo Tintoretto a Cracovia", p. 104), who also attribute the canvas to Tintorretto. Therefore the painting was created after another effigy, a drawing or a miniature. In the catalogue of the 2020 temporary exhibition "Dolabella. Venetian Painter of the House of Vasa", the painting was attributed to a follower of Paolo Veronese with the information that it is also attributed to the circle of Bernardino Licinio (after "Dolabella. Wenecki malarz Wazów. Katalog wystawy", ed. Magdalena Białonowska, p. 150). The painter who joins the influences of different Venetian painters, including Veronese, Tintoretto, Titian and Licinio is Francesco Montemezzano (1555 - after 1602) from Verona, considered a pupil of Paolo Veronese. The best example is the Portrait of a lady, traditionally identified as Rita Bellesi, which was attributed to Tintoretto (according to a label on the reverse) and in 2022 was auctioned with attribution to Montemezzano (Sotheby's London, April 6, 2022, lot 17). The same woman was also depicted holding a cross and a book in a painting in the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister in Kassel (oil on canvas, 92 x 73 cm, inv. GK 491), a copy of which was in the Swedish royal collection (18th century copy of lost original is in the Gripsholm Castle, oil on canvas, 99 x 80 cm, inv. NMGrh 187). The painting in Kassel is attributed to circle of Titian or specifically to his pupil Girolamo di Tiziano, also known as Girolamo Dante, and was acquired before 1749. This effigy is a pendant to portrait of Catherine Jagiellon, Duchess of Finland in white by Titian, identified by me. The woman bears strong resemblance to effigies of Anna Jagiellon, especially the miniature by Lucas Cranach the Younger in the Czartoryski Museum and her tomb sculpture at the Wawel Cathedral. In terms of facial features, the portrait in the Jagiellonian University Museum is particularly similar to the full-length portrait of the kneeling queen as donor in the Sigismund Chapel, created after 1586. Polish-Lithuanian magnates owned a number of paintings by Titian and Tintorretto, like Michał Hieronim Radziwiłł, who according to the Catalogue of his picture gallery, published in 1835 (Katalog galeryi obrazow sławnych mistrzów z różnych szkół zebranych przez ś. p. Michała Hieronima xięcia Radziwiłła wojew. wil. teraz w Królikarni pod Warszawą wystawionych), had a copy of Venus of Urbino by Titian (Portrait of Princess Isabella Jagiellon nude, identified by me), item 439 of the Catalogue, or "Portrait of a lady in a dark green dress trimmed with gold braid. She takes a flower from the basket with her right hand, and leaning, holds a crimson scarf with her left hand. Painting well preserved. - Painted on canvas. Height: elbow: 1, inch 16.5, width: elbow: 1, inch 10" (Portret damy, w sukni ciemno-zielonej, galonem złotym obszytej. Prawą ręką bierze z koszyka kwiatek, lewą oparta, trzyma szal karmazynowy. Obraz dobrze zachowany. - Mal. na płót. Wys. łok. 1 cali 16 1/2, szer. łok. 1 cali 10, item 33, p. 13), a landscape with staffage (item 213, p. 64) and an Italian landscape with a tree (item 273, p. 83), all attributed to Titian or Saint Paul and Anthony in the desert, painted on wood, attributed to Tintorretto (item 365, p. 108). In 1574 Anna decided to reactivate the postal service between Poland and Venice, suspended in 1572 after death of her brother, and to do so at her own expense (after "Viaggiatori polacchi in Italia" by Emanuele Kanceff, p. 106). The Queen, heiress of the Neapolitan sums, used Montelupi's postal facilities, who through their own agents, maintained close contact with the bankers in Naples, who sent them sums of money with great frequency (after "Saeculum Christianum", Vol. 1-2, p. 36). "In fact, we demand Y.L. [Your Lordship] as far as things or needs of our own are concerned, to pay no heed to our expense, because we will gladly cover it everywhere. But whatever may be sent through cursores ordinarios [ordinary messengers], please send through cursores, who may also go as far as Venice. And with the merchants goods, everything comes to us fast and at great cost. As for the other things, another time we will answer to Y.L. With this we wish Y.L. to be well. Dated Varsoviae, die 10 Novembris A. D. 1573. Kind to Y.L. Miss Anna Polish Princess", wrote the Infanta to cardinal Stanisław Hozjusz (after "Starożytności Historyczne Polskie ..." by Ambroży Grabowski, p. 21). Anna was a well known benefactor of the Cracow Academy (now Jagiellonian University) and she visted it twice on 20 July 1576 and on 24 April 1584. Three days after her last visit she sent the doctors of the Academy a mug of pure gold and a few beautifully bound books. If Elizabeth I (1533-1603), hereditary Queen of England, favoured the French fashion, especially "when the Anjou marriage negotiation were at their height" in about 1579 (Janet Arnold's "Queen Elizabeth's Wardrobe Unlock'd", 2020, p. 188), the elected Queen of the Polish-Lithuanian Republic, could prefer the fashion of the Venetian Serenissima. 
Portrait of Anna Jagiellon (1523-1596), elected co-ruler of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth by Jacopo Tintoretto or Francesco Montemezzano, before 1579, Jagiellonian University Museum in Kraków.
Portrait of Anna Jagiellon (1523-1596) holding a cross and a book by circle of Titian, 1560-1578, Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister in Kassel. Virtual reconstruction, © Marcin Latka
Portrait of Anna Jagiellon (1523-1596) holding a cross and a book by Georg Engelhard Schröder after original by circle of Titian, 1724-1750, Nationalmuseum in Stockholm. Virtual reconstruction, © Marcin Latka
Portrait of Henry of Valois by workshop of Tintoretto
After the death of Sigismund II Augustus in 1572, Catherine of Medici, Queen of France, willing to make her favourite son Henry of Valois, Duke of Anjou the king of Poland, sent her court dwarf Jan Krasowski, called Domino to the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Under the guise of visiting his family in his homeland, he was to make some inquiries and explore the mood in the Commonwealth. Catherine used all her power to offer the crown to her son by influencing the noble electors.
In order to be more agreeable to the Ottoman Empire and strengthen a Polish-Ottoman alliance, on May 16, 1573, Polish-Lithuanian nobles chose Henry as the first elected monarch of the Commonwealth. He was officially crowned on February 21, 1574. Expecting that Henry will marry her and she will become a Queen, Infanta Anna Jagiellon the wealthiest woman in the country and a sister of his predecessor, ordered French lilies to be embroidered on her dresses. Already in 1572, the Infanta was accused of wanting the crown for herself or to impose her candidate against the will of the council and the lords of the kingdom. "We already see that Y[our] H[ighness] is doing something without our will, with great anger. We see that you want this crown for you, but you will not elect us the lord", Anna cited the accusations made by the council in a letter of December 18, 1572 from Warsaw to her sister Sophia Jagiellon, Duchess of Brunswick-Lüneburg. She was also accused of attempts to poison opposition leaders, including Franciszek Krasiński, Bishop of Kraków and Calvinist Jan Firlej, Voivode of Kraków - according to letter from Wawrzyniec Rylski, courtier of Catherine Jagiellon, to Duchess Sophia dated February 2, 1573 from Warsaw (after "Jagiellonki polskie ..." by Alexander Przezdziecki, Volume 4, p. 12, 30, 86). Before the election, the Infanta received the portraits of the candidates to her hand, among whom were Henry of Valois and Archduke Ernest of Austria (1553-1595). The portrait of Henry was delivered in secret, while the portrait of Ernest was brought by Stanisław Sędziwój Czarnkowski (1526-1602) (after "Ostatnie lata Zygmunta Augusta i Anna Jagiellonka" by Józef Szujski, p. 330, 332, 333). As for her distant relative and son of the Emperor, Anna declared in the letter to her sister Sophia dated June 23, 1573 from Warsaw "that they did not want to elect him king in any way, so that he would have me; but all the others advised me against it as best they could". Czarnkowski's letter written after the election to Sophia (May 20 from Płock) is proof that the Infanta definitely contributed to Henry's election - "a letter from a man who, together with Sophia, fell victim to the feminine wiles of the apparently good-natured Anna" (after "Jagiellonki polskie w XVI wieku" by Alexander Przezdziecki, Volume 5, p. CCXIV). Despite the fact that he arrived to Poland with a large retinue of his young male lovers, known as the mignons (French for "the darlings"), including René de Villequier, François d'O and his brother Jean, Louis de Béranger du Guast and especially his beloved Jacques de Lévis, comte de Caylus (or Quélus), and that "he even flattered the Polish lords by cleverly adopting their attire", as wrote Venetian envoy Girolamo Lippomano, he was not feeling well in the unknown country. After death of his brother Charles IX, Catherine urged him to return to France. During the night of 18/19 June 1574, Henry secretly fled the Commonwealth. The portrait of a man in black hat by workshop of Tintoretto from private collection in Milan (reported before 1995, compare Fototeca Zeri, Numero scheda 44861), is almost identical with the portrait of Henry depicted against the wall hanging with his coat of arms as King of Poland in the Museum of Fine Arts in Budapest by Italian painter (inventory 52.602) and his portrait holding a crown in the Doge's Palace in Venice (Sala degli Stucchi) by workshop of Tintoretto. It bears no distinction, no reference to his royal status, as in mentioned two portraits in Budapest and Venice, he is depicted as a simple nobleman. It is higly probable then that it was one of a series of state portraits commissioned by Anna in Venice before Henry's coronation, as a clear signal that he should marry her before becoming a king. The Infanta was most probably well aware of his inclination towards men, as apart from Krasowski, there were also other Polish dwarfs at the French court. Raised at the multicultural court of the Jagiellons, where people spoke Latin, Italian, Ruthenian, Polish and German, they were perfect diplomats. In 1572 king Sigismund Augustus sent to Charles IX, four dwarfs and in October that year, Claude La Loue brought another three dwarfs from Poland as a gift from Emperor Maximilian II, father of Charles IX's wife Elisabeth of Austria (after Auguste Jal's "Dictionnaire critique de biographie et d'histoire", 1867, p. 896). A portrait, said to be Mariana of Austria with a female dwarf wearing a wimple from a private collection in Spain, lost (Mariana de Austria con una enana, collection of Antonio Hoffmayer in Madrid, oil on canvas, 186 x 116 cm, Archivo de Arte Español - Archivo Moreno, 02342 B), is very similar to the portrait of Elisabeth of Austria in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna (inv. GG 3273), which is attributed to Giacomo de Monte (Netherlandish Jakob de Monte, according to some sources). Painter of similar name, Giovanni del Monte, possibly Giacomo's brother, is mentioned as a court painter of Sigismund Augustus before 1557. It is therefore highly probable that the portrait of Queen of France with her dwarf was created for or at the initiative of the Polish-Lithuanian court. On April 28, 2021 a portrait of a young woman wearing an embroidered dress and a pearl necklace by North Italian School was sold on an auction in London (oil on canvas, 25 x 18.5 cm, Sotheby's, lot 317). On other auction her dress was identified as Spanish court dress (Neumeister in Munich, July 15, 2020, auction 388, lot 141). Her costume and style of this painting resembles the portrait of Elisabeth of Valois, Queen of Spain with a female dwarf by Sofonisba Anguissola or her workshop (Basque Museum in Bayonne), the painter who joins the two mentioned terms (North Italian School and Spanish court). The woman in the portrait strongly resembles the effigies of Elisabeth of Austria, especially her best-known portrait by François Clouet in the Louvre, mentioned likeness in Vienna by de Monte and her face from the effigy by Jooris van der Straaten in the Convent of Las Descalzas Reales in Madrid, dated to about 1573. The portrait of Elisabeth's sister Anne, Queen of Spain by Sofonisba is also dated to about 1573 (Prado Museum, P001284). In several portraits, Elisabeth has blond hair, while in this one as well as in the portrait by de Monte, her hair is dark, which could indicate that at some point she lightened her hair or that painters copying effigies from general drawings were unaware of her true hair color. The style of this small portrait is also very similar to another signed work of Sofonisba - portrait of Cameria in the Musée Fabre in Montpellier (inventory number 65.2.1). Elisabeth, like her sister Anne, Queen of Spain, were both granddaughters on the paternal side of Anna Jagellonica (1503-1547), and as in the case of dynastic relations, the links between artists and patrons from different countries of Europe, including Poland-Lithuania, were also strong. Due to the still small number of medalists in the country, the royal court usually commissioned images of this kind abroad, in Vienna or Prague. Only once, during the short reign of Henry of Valois, did the court order two coronation medals from Parisian artists (after "Dzieje sztuki medalierskiej w Polsce" by Adam Więcek, p. 85). Medals of Henry of Valois on the election as King of Poland, attributed to French sculptor Germain Pilon, are in the National Museum in Kraków (inventory number MNK VII-Md-97) and in the Royal Castle in Warsaw (ZKW.N.830/2511). Similar was the case for portrait paintings, and Venice was the nearest center with a large number of painting workshops. 
Portrait of Henry of Valois (1551-1589), elected monarch of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth by workshop of Tintoretto, ca. 1573, Private collection.
Portrait of Elisabeth of Austria (1554-1592), Queen of France by workshop of Sofonisba Anguissola, ca. 1573, Private collection.
Portrait of Elisabeth of Austria (1554-1592), wife of Charles IX as a widow with a female dwarf wearing a wimple by Jakob de Monte (?), after 1574, Private collection, lost. Virtual reconstruction, © Marcin Latka
Sarmatians and disguised portraits of Elector Augustus of Saxony and his Anne of Denmark by Lucas Cranach the Younger and workshop
"On March 3, 1573, Sophia [Jagiellon, Duchess of Brunswick-Lüneburg] wrote to her envoys in Poland that she could not come and sent them two letters to her sister, Princess Anna, asking Referendary Czarnkowski to deliver them. The content of Sophia's letters to Anna is unknown, but they certainly concerned the most important matters for both sisters, i.e. the execution of Sigismund Augustus' will, the situation in Poland, and the future election. One can only assume that these letters contained many detailed pieces of advice and instructions for Anna. In the meantime, some particularly disturbing news must have reached Schöningen about the Muscovite candidacy for the throne in Poland, popular especially in Lithuania. It concerned Tsar Ivan the Terrible himself or his son Fyodor. Although it is hard to believe today, alongside the candidacies of "Piast", Archduke Ernest, Henry of Valois, John III Vasa or his son Sigismund and Anna Jagiellon herself, this very solution was taken into consideration quite seriously in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth at that time, expecting that the union with Moscow could bring similar benefits as the union with Lithuania had once, consolidated by the appointment of Ladislaus Jagiello [Jogaila of Lithuania] to the throne in Kraków. Sophia, whose attitude to Moscow and Ivan the Terrible has already been discussed here, panicked and on March 9, 1573 she addressed letters to the electors of Saxony and Brandenburg, the electors of Mainz, Trier and Cologne, and to the Palatine of the Rhine and Landgrave of Hesse, William, as well as to Duke Julius of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, with a heartfelt request that through their envoys they help to elect Anna to the throne in Poland and then arrange her marriage to the emperor's son or some other Christian prince. She presented Jagiellonian Poland as the bulwark of Christianity and expressed fear that the country might fall into the hands of a "Muscovite" or some other barbarian. Since she herself could not go to Poland due to illness, she asked for delegations to be sent to the electoral Sejm [Diet], which would take appropriate action to convince the Poles to her plan, for the benefit of the Reich, all of Christendom and, of course, Poland. In these letters, Sophia Jagiellon for the first time officially and publicly revealed her plans for the elections in Poland and, as can be seen, they were not entirely consistent with the aspirations of Emperor Maximilian. These letters, the content of which was certainly forwarded to Vienna, did not and could not have any greater significance. The electors had already sent their delegations to Poland, and the instructions given to them naturally ordered them to support the candidacy of Archduke Ernest at the electoral Sejm. In their replies, the electors wrote to Sophia about this politely but clearly. Thus, the action taken by the Duchess of Brunswick proves, on the one hand, her genuine fear for the future of the country and the fate of her sister, but on the other hand it indicates a certain lack of sense of reality" describes the events before the first free election in Sarmatia Jan Pirożyński (after "Zofia Jagiellonka ...", p. 112-113).
These events also reflect the important role of German princes, especially the electors of Saxony and Brandenburg, in the royal election. Saxony, one of the richest regions bordering the Commonwealth, played an important role during and after the election due to its geographical location, because the shortest route to Paris ran through it. The main candidate in this election, Henry of Valois, lived in Paris. In a letter to Charles IX, dated February 7, 1573, Arnaud Du Ferrier (ca. 1508-1585), French ambassador to Venice between 1573 and 1582, informed the French monarch that the Duke of Saxony and the Margrave of Brandenburg were making efforts in Poland on behalf of the imperial son; he therefore considered it appropriate to send an ambassador to the Duke of Saxony, who had always shown favour to the French crown, in order to put an end to these hostile actions (after "Henryk III Walezy w Polsce ..." by Maciej Serwański, p. 77). On May 11, 1573, Primate Uchański nominated Henry of Valois as King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, and on May 16, after the French embassy swore in the Henrician Articles and the Pacta conventa ("articles of agreement"), Grand Marshal of the Crown Jan Firlej proclaimed Valois king. Necessary preparations were then made to bring the newly elected king from France to Kraków. Given the delays of the Saxon Elector Augustus (1526-1586) and Emperor Maximilian II in granting a passport, it was decided to take the risk of taking the shortest route, that is, to go through Saxony to reach Paris. Nine envoys: Catholic Bishop of Poznań Adam Konarski (1526-1574), Protestant Jan Tomicki (d. 1575) and his Catholic son Mikołaj Tomicki (d. 1586), Lutheran Andrzej Górka (d. 1583), Catholic Jan Herburt (d. 1577), Catholic converted from Calvinism during his stay in Italy Mikołaj Firlej (d. 1601), Calvinist Ruthenian Prince Alexander Pronsky (ca. 1550 - ca. 1595), Catholic converted from Calvinism during his stay in Italy Jan Zamoyski (1542-1605) and Lutheran Jan Zborowski (1538-1603) set off with a large retinue no later than July 6. The next day they spent in Frankfurt an der Oder, and after passing through the lands of the Elector of Brandenburg, who accepted their passage because he needed good relations with the Commonwealth in the matter of Ducal Prussia, they reached Leipzig on July 12. There the expedition met with complete failure, for on the orders of the Elector the envoys were arrested and ordered to await the consent of the Emperor or return to the borders of Poland. However, thanks to the energy of Jan Herburt, who delivered an impassioned speech before the Elector Augustus, the difficulties were overcome, and the retinue set out on July 19 for the continuation of their journey (after "Diariusz poselstwa polskiego do Francji ...", ed. Adam Przyboś, p. IX). In a letter dated from Leipzig on July 12, 1573, Bishop Konarski, "a faithful and kind servant", informs the Lutheran princess Sophia Jagiellon of the matter. Herburt began his speech by declaring: "It is not for personal reasons, it is not for the desire to visit foreign countries, but to receive a king chosen by the Republic, that we are going to France. From what country? From that one, which is surrounded on all sides by enemies of the Christian name, stands on difficult and dangerous guard over all Christian countries, including your own land" (after "Historya wymowy w Polsce" by Karol Mecherzyński, Volume 1, p. 484). From February 1573 onwards, several envoys from Sarmatia travelled to Saxony, both to secure the support of the elector in the elections and to arrange the passports and travel arrangements of the ambassadors to Paris. The elector's peculiar behavior towards the Commonwealth's envoys in Leipzig, given his previous actions, was most likely intended to please the emperor, whose son lost the election. In a letter dated April 27, 1573, Lucas Cranach the Younger informed Elector Augustus of the completion of the commission for the pulpit for the new hunting lodge at Augustusburg (Jagdschloss Augustusburg) near Dresden. The paintings were transported by an apprentice from Wittenberg to Dresden (probably by ship) and from there by vehicle to Augustusburg. A year earlier, the princely portraits ordered by Elector Augustus were brought to Dresden by ship (after "Lucas Cranach der Jüngere und die Reformation der Bilder", ed. Elke Anna Werner, p. 181, 191). The pulpit is decorated with six pictorial scenes from the life of Mary and the life and passion of Christ: the Annunciation, the Adoration of the Shepherds, the Baptism of Christ, the Crucifixion, the Entombment and the Resurrection. All the scenes are attributed to Cranach the Younger and his workshop, but only the scene of the Crucifixion is signed with Cranach's mark and dated "1573" (on the stone at the foot of the cross). The scene of the baptism of Christ (panel, 64 x 61 cm), is attended by Elector Augustus and his first wife Anne of Denmark (1532-1585) along with four or five other people on the left edge of the painting. On the opposite side of the painting stands another group of men, who are considered Old Testament prophets, probably because of their unusual costumes, including the prophet Daniel, patron of the miners, holding a miner's pick. However, the men's long robes, resembling żupan and other typical Sarmatian clothing, as well as fur-lined hats and even a turban, indicate that they are not prophets, but guests of the Elector as indicated also by his hand gesture. The man with the long blond beard is not holding a miner's pick, but a horseman's pick nadziak, one of the main weapons of the famous Polish winged hussars, also popular as a kind of walking stick and an attribute of the nobility. In the background, one can see a panorama of Dresden with its long bridge as depicted by Braun and Hogenberg around 1572. The elector invites the noble guests to his capital. Since Cranach painted all these paintings in Wittenberg and not Dresden, he undoubtedly based all his effigies on study drawings or other portraits. This is not the only scene where portraits can be found in the Augustusburg pulpit. Another scene filled with disguised portraits is the Adoration of the Shepherds, as the meaningful gaze of one of the shepherds on the right of the scene tells us. This shepherd was probably a member of the Elector's court, while Saint Joseph and the Virgin Mary bear the facial features of Augustus and his wife Anne of Denmark. In the scene of the Entombment, we see another man dressed in a clearly Sarmatian costume - a kolpak hat, a giermak cloak and a crimson silk żupan. The view of Dresden by Braun and Hogenberg, cited above, shows typical costumes of Saxony of that period, reminiscent of those worn by Elector Augustus and his wife in the scene of the baptism of Christ, while on the other hand the views of Kraków and Warsaw by Braun and Hogenberg show typical Polish costumes, reminiscent of the costumes of the "biblical prophets" in the paintings. At that time, Cranach the Younger sent many of his works not only from Wittenberg to Dresden, but apparently also to Sarmatia, where there were many Lutherans, as evidenced by similar paintings preserved in the Wilanów Palace in Warsaw. The paintings were purchased in 1804 by Stanisław Kostka Potocki (1755-1821), probably in Lviv, where he had also acquired Canaletto's View of St. Mark's Square and Judith with the Head of Holofernes after the fresco by Domenichino. Potocki bought four paintings for 24 ducats, as well as three more, all considered to be works by Lucas Cranach (afer "Piękno za woalem czasu" by Teresa Stramowska, p. 56). Only three paintings have survived in Wilanów: the Annunciation (oil on panel, 56.3 x 55.4 cm, inv. Wil.1860), the Last Supper (oil on panel, 56.5 x 55.2 cm, inv. Wil.1859) and the Lamentation of Christ (oil on canvas, 55.7 x 53.7 cm, inv. Wil.1861). The Lamentation is slightly different and was painted on canvas (possibly moved from panel), so it probably comes from a different series of paintings. The paintings that have not been preserved showed the scenes of the Presentation in the Temple, the Passion (Crucifixion?), the Nailing to the Cross and the Entombment. The Nailing to the Cross was lost during the Second World War (inv. 65, Catalog of Wartime Losses, number 2268). Like most of the paintings in the Augustusburg pulpit, none of the paintings in Wilanów are signed with Cranach's mark, his authorship is rejected and the paintings are considered to belong to a German school of the third quarter of the 16th century. In 2019, the painting depicting the scene of the Adoration of the Shepherds was sold in Vienna (oil on panel, 61.5 x 58 cm, Im Kinsky, April 9, 2019, sale 127, lot 1). This painting had already been sold in London in 1976 (Christie's, October 8, 1976, lot 133) and, based on the comparison with the Augustusburg pulpit, it is attributed to the workshop of Lucas Cranach the Younger and dated to the 1560s or after 1573. The style of the Adoration of the Shepherds is very similar to that of the Annunciation and the Last Supper at Wilanów and most likely comes from the same series. The Wilanów paintings are slightly smaller than the Adoration of the Shepherds, but the slightly cut-out portal in the Annunciation and the feet of a basin in the Last Supper indicate that the paintings acquired by Potocki were most likely cut to fit the Lamentation of Christ and other paintings acquired in 1804. The facial features of St. Joseph in the Adoration of the Shepherds closely resemble those of Elector Augustus from the Augustusburg pulpit, while those of the Virgin Mary resemble those of the Elector's wife Anne of Denmark. Similarly, the Madonna in the Wilanów Annunciation is clearly another disguised portrait of Electress of Saxony, as the woman closely resembles Anne as depicted in her full-length portraits by Cranach the Younger (Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, inv. GG 3141 and Freiberg City and Mining Museum, inv. 79/14). In the Last Supper from Wilanów we can see through the window the same city as in the Baptism of Christ from the Augustusburg pulpit, that is, Dresden. The Wilanów Lamentation also has similar counterparts, now in the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts in Moscow, donated in 1902 by Dmitri Ivanovich Shchukin (1855-1932). The style of the Agony in the Garden (oil on panel, 55 x 55 cm, inv. Ж-408) and the Entombment (oil on panel, 55 x 55 cm, inv. Ж-409), as well as the dimensions of these two paintings, perfectly match the Wilanów Lamentation. In the Moscow Entombment, the city of Dresden can also be seen in the background, while Saint Nicodemus is dressed in a strange red costume trimmed with fur and a fur hat, which is very reminiscent of the traditional costumes of Ruthenian princes, such as the costume of King Michael I according to an engraving by Nicholas de Larmessin I, made between 1669-1678 (National Library of Poland, G.45499). Saint Nicodemus is dressed in a similar costume in the Wilanów Lamentation. If the members of the merchant or noble family from the North German city of Hamburg, could represent themselves around Christ in a triptych today preserved at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (inv. 17.190.13-15) and Electress of Saxony in the guise of the Virgin Mary, the Ruthenian nobles of Lutheran faith could represent themselves in the guise of Christian saints. The three paintings from Wilanów, the two paintings from Moscow and one sold in Vienna were clearly part of the same series, probably originally decorating two pulpits or two altars, made in Cranach's workshop in Wittenberg, perhaps for a Lutheran church in Ruthenia. Portraits of Elector Augustus and his wife, painted by Cranach the Younger, were undoubtedly also in the royal collection of Sarmatia. The Infanta Anna Jagiellon corresponded with Augustus before her election, as evidenced by her letter written in 1575 concerning the death of her sister Sophia, Duchess of Brunswick. In his reply to Anna in 1576, Augustus describes himself as "the most loving prince of the Jagiellonian name and best friend" (amantissimo Jagellonici nominis Principe et amico optimo, after "Dynastic identity, death and posthumous legacy of Sophie Jagiellon ..." by Dušan Zupka, p. 804). 
The Baptism of Christ from the Augustusburg pulpit with Elector Augustus of Saxony (1526-1586) and his wfe Anne of Denmark (1532-1585) inviting the Sarmatians to Dresden and Saxony by Lucas Cranach the Younger and workshop, 1573, Augustusburg hunting lodge.
The Annunciation with disguised portrait of Anne of Denmark (1532-1585), Electress of Saxony by workshop of Lucas Cranach the Younger, 1560s or after 1573, Wilanów Palace in Warsaw.
The Adoration of the Shepherds with disguised portraits of Elector Augustus of Saxony (1526-1586) and his wfe Anne of Denmark (1532-1585) by workshop of Lucas Cranach the Younger, 1560s or after 1573, Private collection.
The Last Supper with a view of Dresden by workshop of Lucas Cranach the Younger, 1560s or after 1573, Wilanów Palace in Warsaw.
The Lamentation of Christ with Saint Nicodemus wearing a costume of a Ruthenian prince by workshop of Lucas Cranach the Younger, 1560s or after 1573, Wilanów Palace in Warsaw.
Portrait of Sophia Jagiellon and Sidonia von Borcke by Adriaen Thomasz. Key
Two paintings by German school in the Von Borcke Palace in Starogard, north of Szczecin, both lost during World War II, depicted members of the Jagiellonian dynasty. One, created by workshop of Lucas Cranach the Elder and representing pregnant Barbara Radziwill with a midwife, was traditionally identified as the most famous member of the Von Borcke family - Sidonia the Sorceress (1548-1620), the other was a signed effigy of Sophia Jagiellon (1522-1575), Duchess of Brunswick-Lüneburg.
Von Borcke, a Pomeranian noble family of Slavic origin, originally known as Borek or z Borku and having two red wolves in their coat of arms, were owners of the large estates in Pomerania with several towns, including Łobez, Resko, Strzmiele, Węgorzyno and Pęzino Castle. Since the times of Maćko Bork (Matzko von Borck), who died in about 1426, the family had some ties to the Jagiellons and Poland. His great-granddaughter, mentioned Sidonia, lived at the court of Duke Philip I in Wolgast and became a lady-in-waiting to his daughter princess Amelia of Pomerania (1547-1580). In 1569 the Polish court planned to marry Amelia to Albert Frederick, Duke of Prussia and Polish vassal. The son of Philip I, Prince Ernest Louis (1545-1592), fall in love with Sidonia and promised her marriage. However, the wedding did not take place, as the prince, under pressure from his family, withdrew from his promise and in 1577 he married Sophia Hedwig of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel (1561-1631), granddaughter of Hedwig Jagiellon (1513-1573), Electress of Brandenburg, daughter of Sigismund I. In 1556 Sophia Hedwig's grandfather, Henry V (II) of Brunswick-Lüneburg (1489-1568), married a daughter of Sigismund I - Sophia Jagiellon. In 1619 in Wolfenbüttel, grandson of Duke Philip I, Duke Ulrich of Pomerania (1589-1622) married a great-granddaughter of Hedwig Jagiellon and Henry V, Princess Hedwig of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel (1595-1650). The family ties between the ruling families of Poland-Lithuania, Pomerania and Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel were therefore pretty strong at that time. Two known portraits of Hedwig of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel in French costume and large cartwheel farthingale (in the Royal Collection, RCIN 407222 and in the Gymnasium in Szczecinek, lost during World War II) were painted by a Netherlandish painter, attributed to Jacob van Doordt, Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger, Daniël Mijtens or Paulus Moreelse. The Dukes of Pomerania frequently commissioned their effigies from the best foreign artists and the so-called "Book of effigies" (Visierungsbuch) of Duke Philip II of Pomerania (Pomeranian State Museum in Szczecin, lost during World War II) was a collection of their likenesses, some of which were attributed to circle of Albrecht Dürer and Lucas Cranach the Elder. The so-called Croy tapestry in the Pommersches Landesmuseum representing the Duke Philip I with his family as well as the family of his wife Maria of Saxony was made in 1554 by Peter Heymans, a Dutch weaver, in Szczecin. The composition of the tapestry was based on the graphics by Lucas Cranach the Elder and it is possible that Cranach's workshop in Wittenberg created the cartoon to this work. The painting of Madonna and Child with cherries by circle of the Netherlandish painter Quentin Matsys was acquired by Duke Boguslaus X (Pomeranian State Museum in Greifswald), some jewels of the Dukes of Pomerania from the late 16th and early 17th century are attributed to Jacob Mores the Elder, active in Hamburg (National Museum in Szczecin), a cup in the shape of a peacock, created by Joachim Hiller in Wrocław in Silesia and a crystal bowl made in Paris and framed in Szczecin, both owned by Erdmuthe of Brandenburg, Duchess of Pomerania are in Green Vault in Dresden. The dukes also commissioned and purchased many exquisite objects from the center of European goldsmithing - Augsburg, like the famous Pomeranian Art Cabinet of Duke Philip II, silver plaques by Zacharias Lencker from Darłowo Altar or ivory veneered and painted box with exotic parrots, fish, and other animals and coat of arms of Philip II of Pomerania and his wife (Courtauld Institute of Art). Some contacts with Italy and Italian artists in this part of Europe are also documented. In 1496 Duke Boguslaus X went on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, leaving his duchy under the regency of his wife Anna Jagiellon (1476-1503), sister of Sigismund I. He traveled to Venice and he was received in Rome by the Pope Alexander VI Borgia, who presented him with a ceremonial sword (nowdays in the collection of the Hohenzollern Castle, scabbard, in the Monbijou Palace in Berlin, was lost during World War II). Mannerist west wing of the Castle in Szczecin was built between 1573 and 1582 by Italian architects Wilhelm Zachariasz Italus and Antonio Guglielmo (Antonius Wilhelm) for Duke John Frederick (1542-1600) and Giovanni Battista Perini (Parine) from Florence created the painting to the ducal chapel and duke's portrait. Portrait of Duke Boguslaus XIV (1580-1637) is in the Villa di Poggio a Caiano, one of the most famous Medici villas near Florence. In 1576 de Hane (d'Anna) family from Brabant, settled in Lübeck in Germany, about 290 km west of Szczecin, ordered a painting in Venice for the St. Catherine's Church in Lübeck. This large canvas depicting the Raising of Lazarus (140 x 104 cm) and representing some members of the family in the background, was painted by Tintoretto (signed and dated: IACO TINTORE / VENETIS F. / 1576). Around 1575 other Venetian painter Parrasio Micheli created a large painting depicting Allegory of the birth of the Infante Ferdinand, son of Philip II of Spain, today in the Prado Museum in Madrid (oil on canvas, 182 x 223 cm, inventory number P000479). The work was created in Venice with a portrait of Infante's mother Anna of Austria (1549-1580), Queen of Spain, granddaughter of Anna Jagellonica (1503-1547), Queen of Germany, Bohemia, and Hungary. The painting was sent by Micheli to Philip II without a commission, to win the favor of the monarch. Spanish monarchs also sent similar gifts to relatives, mostly in Vienna. A large painting by Alonso Sánchez Coello depicting King Philip II of Spain banqueting with his family and courtiers (The Royal feast), created in 1596 (signed and dated: ASC ANNO 1596), purchased by the National Museum in Warsaw in 1928 from Antoni Kolasiński's collection (oil on canvas, 110 x 202 cm, inventory number M.Ob.295, earlier 73635) was perhaps such a gift sent to the Polish-Lithuanian royal family. Micheli also painted the Dead Christ venerated by Pope Pius V, which could be another gift to powerful King of Spain ordered in Venice, this time from the Pope (Prado Museum, P000284). Netherlandish painters created effigies of both Philip II and his wife. A small portrait of the King of Spain from private collection (oil on panel, 46.4 x 35.6 cm), identified by me, is attributed to Adriaen Thomasz. Key, a portrait of Anna of Austria in Alte Pinakothek in Munich (inventory number 4859) was created by Flemish painter (attributed to Justus van Egmont) and very similar preparatory drawing in Albertina Museum in Vienna (inventory number 14269) is also attributed to Key (also to Antonis Mor or Peter Candid, similar to signed portrait painting by Alonso Sánchez Coello in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, inventory number 1733). In her last years the Duchess of Brunswick-Lüneburg, Sophia Jagiellon, retired to the residence in Schöningen, where she laid out the famous pleasure garden, which no longer exists today. She remodelled her residencies at Schöningen and Jerxheim in Renaissance style, according to the taste of the time. Her husband Henry V died in 1568 and two years later, in the spring of 1570, Sophia converted to Lutheranism. Most likely around that time a tombstone of Henry V, his two sons, killed in the Battle of Sievershausen in 1553, was created in Marienkirche in Wolfenbüttel. The tombstone is attributed to Jürgen Spinnrad and after the Duchess' death Adam Lecuir (Liquier Beaumont), a sculptor trained in Antwerp, created her relief sculpture basing on an effigy from the time of her marriage (1556). When her stepson tried to limit her authority as a widow, she appealed to Emperor Maximilian II and promised him to support Archduke Ernest's candidacy for the Polish throne and his marriage to her sister Anna. However, Stanisław Sędziwoj Czarnkowski, a supporter of the emperor's son, complained in a letter to Sophia that he tried to persuade Anna to accept the portrait of Archduke Ernest, "which Her Majesty by any mean whatever didn't want to" and further reports that "for four Sundays a picture of a French prince hung at her place". Earlier, in April 1570, Sophia's brother Sigismund II Augustus sent Czarnkowski as his envoy for arbitration in affairs with her stepson, Henry's successor, Julius (1528-1589). The Duchess was fluent in Polish, Italian, Latin and German, and she left a lively correspondence with more than 184 correspondents. She proved herself to be a good financial manager. Sophia had a reputation as a very rich woman with a large amount of cash and borrowing money at interest. The cities of Leipzig - 20,000 thalers, and Magdeburg - 30,000 thalers, took the largest 5% loans from the Duchess, as well as the Elector of Brandenburg, John George - 20,000 thalers and her stepsister Hedwig - 1,000 thalers. Her regular customer-debtor was her stepson, Julius, who often borrowed large sums (e.g. 15,000 thalers in November 1572). She also invested money in various goods, both movable and immovable (after "Zofia Jagiellonka ..." by Jan Pirożyński, p. 70). In her last will, she left Stanisław Sędziwój and his brother Wojciech Sędziwój Czarnkowski (his portrait by Adriaen Thomasz. Key is in Vienna) 500 ducats each. Duke Julius studied in Leuven (Louvain) in the Habsburg Netherlands and visited France in 1550. Under his rule many Netherlandish artists, architects and engineers were employed by the ducal court of Wolfenbüttel, like Willem de Raet from 's-Hertogenbosch (1574–1576), entrusted with the modernisation of the waterways, recruited for Duke Julius by his compatriot, painter Willem Remmers, or a painter Hans Vredeman de Vries (1587–1591), who created a portrait of Sophia's niece Hedwig of Brandenburg (1540-1602), Duchess of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel and who later moved to Gdańsk (1592-1595). Ruprecht Lobri from the Low Countries become the personal valet of the duke. After discovery of the deposits of decorative stones (marble and alabaster) in his territory in the early 1570s Julius contracted stone cutters from Mechelen: Hendrick van den Broecke, Augustin Adriaens and Jan Eskens. The duke offered alabaster portals to his stepmother Sophia Jagiellon, and the magistrates of Gdańsk and Bremen and sent letters with samples, such as tabletops and dishes, to Duke Henry XI of Legnica and Duke Albert Frederick of Prussia (after "Netherlandish artists and craftsmen ..." by Aleksandra Lipinska), both having close ties with the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Sophia bequeathed half of her inheritance to her sisters and the other half to the Commonwealth institutions. Among other things, she decreed that marble tombs should be built in the Wawel Cathedral and that a marble slab engraved with the genealogy of the Jagiellons should be placed in the Chapel of the Holy Cross. The 1575 inventories of the collection of the Duchess of Brunswick list more than 100 paintings and 31 portraits, including images of Sigismund Augustus, the children of her sister Catherine Jagiellon - Sigismund and Anna Vasa, and king Henry of Valois, as well as one historical painting depicting the beheading in 1568 of Lamoral of Egmont and Philip de Montmorency, Count of Horn, the leaders of the anti-Spanish opposition in the Low Countries, most probably by Flemish painter. Her book collection consisted of about 500 items, many of which had beautiful, luxurious bindings. The Map of Poland (Poloniae Recens Descriptio. Polonia Sarmatie Europee quondam pars fuit ...) in the Herzog August Bibliothek in Wolfenbüttel, created in 1562 by Hieronymus Cock in Antwerp, was most likely commissioned by Sophia Jagiellon. In the National Museum in Warsaw there is a portrait of a woman with a gold chain around the waist, attributed to Adriaen Thomasz. Key (oil on panel, 74 x 52.5 cm, inventory number M.Ob.822 MNW, earlier 34666). It was purchased in 1935 from the collection of Jan Popławski and in the 19th century it was in the Shchukin collection in Moscow. Her costume resembles the one seen in the portrait of Ermgart von Bemmelsberg by Westphalian school, painted in 1574 (private collection), portrait of a woman by Adriaen Thomasz. Key, dated '1578' (Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, 1036), and costumes of women of Brabant and Gdańsk from Omnium pene Europae ... by Flemish engraver Abraham de Bruyn, published in 1581. Her ruff is similar to the one visible in the mentioned portrait of Queen of Spain by Flemish painter in Munich and in the effigy of Joachim Frederick of Brzeg (1550-1602) by Adriaen Thomasz. Key, dated '1574' (National Museum in Warsaw, M.Ob.819). Her face and pose resemble other effigies of the Duchess of Brunswick-Lüneburg, identified by me, especially the portrait by circle of Titian in Kassel. A portrait of a lady in similar costume, also attributed to Key, is in private collection (oil on panel, 96.5 x 65.1 cm, sold Christie's London, April 20, 2005, lot 17), earlier, presumably, by descent at Studley Royal, Yorkshire. The woman wear a red coral bracelet, a fertility symbol in ancient Rome, as in portraits of young brides by Florentine painter Domenico Ghirlandaio, also believed to be a love talisman and perhaps even an aphrodisiac. According to Latin inscription: AN DNI 1576 (upper left) and ÆTATIS · SVÆ 28 (upper right), the woman was 28 in 1576, exacly as Sidonia von Borcke, born in the Wolf's Nest (Wulfsberg or Vulversberg - Strzmiele Castle) in 1548, when she was a lady-in-waiting to princess Amelia of Pomerania and Prince Ernest Louis fall in love with her. 
Portrait of Sophia Jagiellon (1522-1575), Duchess of Brunswick-Lüneburg by Adriaen Thomasz. Key, ca. 1574, National Museum in Warsaw.
Portrait of Sidonia von Borcke (1548-1620), aged 28 by Adriaen Thomasz. Key, 1576, Private collection.
Miniature portrait of George Radziwill by workshop of the Bassanos or Sofonisba Anguissola
"In the name of the Lord, in the year 1575. On the 11th of October, which then fell on Tuesday, I left Buivydiškės. I left there my sick brother, the great court marshal of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Nicolaus Christopher, and went to Italy with my younger brother, Albert", wrote in Latin in a diary of his journey George Radziwill (1556-1600), future cardinal (after "Dziennik podróży do Włoch Jerzego Radziwiłła w 1575 roku" by Angelika Modlińska-Piekarz).
Born in Italian style villa of his father in Lukiškės in Vilnius, George was raised and educated as a Calvinist. After his mother's death, in 1562, he spent some time at the royal court (perhaps as a page). Between 1571-1573, together with his brothers Albert and Stanislaus, he studied in Leipzig. In the summer of 1573, he accompanied his brother Nicolaus Christopher "the Orphan" to France and after his return, together with his younger brothers, he converted to Catholicism on April 11, 1574. Through Warsaw (October, 24-26), where he spent time with Infanta Anna Jagiellon, and Vienna (November, 12-20), where he met Emperor Maximilian II and his sons and where he saw "a beast of strange size, an elephant, sent as a gift to the emperor by Philip, king of Spain" on December 3 or 4 he arrived to Venice, the city "which, because of its beauty and its location, undoubtedly holds the priority palm among the cities of the whole world". He went to stay at the Magnificent White Lion, a German inn. He left the city in a hurry two days later, because of the suspicion of the plague, but during his brief stay he admired the St. Mark's Basilica, the Doge's Palace and the Arsenal. "After leaving the arsenal, I was driven around the city for two hours, where I saw many magnificent and very beautiful buildings, especially in the great street that stretches the entire width of the city, in colloquial language it is called the Grand Canal, the beauty of which I could never get enough of". He did not specify which places he visited, it is possible that he was also taken to the famous Venetian painting workshops. George commissioned works of art in Italy for himself and his brother, like in 1579, when one of the Roman painters made an altar for Nicolaus Christopher "the Orphan" (after "Zagraniczna edukacja Radziwiłłów: od początku XVI do połowy XVII wieku" by Marian Chachaj, p. 97). From Venice he went to Padua and then via Florence further to Rome to study philosophy and theology. In the years 1575-1581 he stayed in Italy, Spain and Portugal. In 1581, already as a bishop (from 1579), he was strongly condemned by King Stephen Bathory for the incident with the confiscation and burning of Protestant books in Vilnius. That same year, in 1581 he was again in Venice, together with his elder brother Nicolaus Christopher (after "Ateneum Wilenskie", Volume 11, p. 158). Two years later, in 1583, he was ordained a priest (April 10), consecrated a bishop (December 26), and received the cardinal's beret in Vilnius on April 4, 1584. In March 1586 he set out for Rome, where on June 26 he received the cardinal's hat from Pope Sixtus V. A two sided miniature in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence (inventory number 1890, 4051, oil on copper, 10.2 cm) is on one side a reduced and simplified version of portrait of Nicolaus Christopher Radziwill "the Orphan" by Francesco Bassano the Younger or workshop, created between 1580-1586, identified by me. The composition of the miniatures is not similar, so they were probably not created at the same time. Both portraits, although close to miniatures by the Bassanos in the Uffizi (1890, 4072, 9053, 9026), also relate to works of Sofonisba Anguissola, who moved to Sicily (1573), and later Pisa (1579) and Genoa (1581) and who could copy the paintings by the Bassanos. The young man in a ruff is presenting a ring on his finger, comparable to that visible in portraits of cardinal George Radziwill, possibly a souvenir of conversion, and his face resemble other effigies of the cardinal. According to Silvia Meloni, a copy of the recto of this miniature is kept in Udine, noth of Venice, which presents on the back the eagle testing its children in the sun. Eagle was a symbol of the Radziwills and cardinal George used it in his coat of arms, like the one published in 1598 in Krzysztof Koryciński's In felicem ad vrbem reditvm [...] Georgii S. R. E. cardinalis Radziwil nvncvpati [...]. All travelers returning from Venice to Poland or going to Rome from Poland trough Venice had to drive close to Udine. According to George's diary he was in San Daniele del Friuli near Udine in 1575. Funeral speech with biography of Cardinal George Radziwill by Daniel Niger and Jan Andrzej Próchnicki under the title In funere Georgii Radzivili S. R. E. Cardinalis Ampliss was published in Venice in 1600 in printing and publishing house of Giorgio Angelieri. 
Miniature portrait of George Radziwill (1556-1600) by workshop of the Bassanos or Sofonisba Anguissola, 1575-1581, Uffizi Gallery.
Portraits of Anna Jagiellon by Francesco Bassano and circle of Veronese
On 15 December 1575, in Wola near Warsaw, infanta Anna Jagiellon and her husband Stephen Bathory, Voivode of Transylvania were elected as monarchs of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.
Since the end of the 1570s Anna's court was bursting with life and she kept lively correspondence with many Italian princes, like Francesco I de Medici and his mistress Bianca Cappello, the daughter of Venetian nobleman Bartolomeo Cappello, exchanging news on politics and fashion, sending and receiving gifts (cosmetics, medicaments, crystal bowls and cups, luxury fancy goods, small pieces of furniture e.g. marble tables, silver incrusted boxes etc.) and even courtiers. "From February of 1581 to December of that year, several letters from the agent of Bianca Cappello [...] Alberto Bolognetti, described the perfect female dwarf he found for Cappello in Warsaw; the nana is described as having great "proportions" and being "very beautiful." The nana's travels through Cracow and Vienna were fully documented [...]" (after "Portraits of Human Monsters in the Renaissance" by Touba Ghadessi, p. 63). The portrait of a lady by circle of Paolo Veronese from the 1570s, traditionally identified as effigy of Catherine Cornaro (1454-1510), Queen of Cyprus, and known in at least three variants (in Vienna, Montauban and private collection), bears a strong resemblance to the miniature of Anna when a princess of Poland-Lithuania from about 1553. Also the gold cross pendant set with diamonds, visible on the portrait, is very similar to the one depicted in a drawing, a study for a print, in the Hermitage Museum showing Anna (paper, 33 x 28 cm, inv. ОР-45839). As for the drawing in the Hermitage, it was probably made in the middle of the 17th century, probably after a painting from the Radziwill collection. According to the inscription in the lower right corner, this drawing depicts "Barbara, Queen of Poland" (Barbara Krolowa Polska), however the style of the costume and especially the ruff, typical of the 1570s, indicate that most likely the effigy of Anna was confused with the portrait of her brother's second wife - Barbara Radziwill (1520/23-1551). A rather similar costume is found in a portrait of Dorothea Susanna of Simmern (1544-1592) dated "1575" (Library of Duchess Anna Amalia in Weimar, inv. G 2333) and in the portrait of Sabina of Württemberg (1549-1581) dated "1577" (ANNO. M.D. LXXVII., Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister in Kassel, inv. LM 1938/349). Although in the aforementioned drawing the queen's features more closely resemble those of her predecessor Catherine of Austria (1533-1572), this effigy can be compared to a woodcut by the monogrammist JB from the 1570s, known from the 19th century copy (National Library of Poland, DŻS XII 8b/p.28/9). This representation of the elected queen of Poland-Lithuania could be inspired by the portraits of Queen Elizabeth I (1533-1603), because it recalls the allegorical representation of Elizabeth with the three goddesses, painted by Hans Eworth in 1569 (Windsor Castle, RCIN 403446). In both cases the queen depicted was a suo jure sovereign, which justifies such a depiction, and as in the case of the portrait of the English queen, the painter of the original portrait of Anna could also have been Flemish. The picture in Vienna (Kunsthistorisches Museum, oil on canvas, 124 x 82 cm, inv. GG 33) was painted in the same period and in the same style as the portrait of a bearded man with hourglass and astrolabe attributed to Francesco Bassano (Kunsthistorisches Museum, inv. GG 5775), identified by me as the portrait of king Stephen Bathory, Anna's husband. The portrait of the king was most probably offered before 1582 to Ferdinand II, Archduke of Austria for his collection in the Ambras Castle in Innsbruck, while the "portrait of the Queen of Cyprus" was initially installed at the Stallburg, where various holdings of the Habsburg family were brought together and displayed, and later transferred to the Belvedere in Vienna (after "Wien. Fremdenführer durch die Kaiserstadt und Umgebung" by Dr. J. Spetau, p. 122). Like in the case of the Queen's likeness in her widowhood by Martin Kober, acquired from the Imperial collection in Vienna in 1936 (Wawel Royal Castle), her Habsburg relatives undoubtedly received other effigies from different periods of her life. The Queen sent them other valuable gifts, like oriental fabrics, also visble in described portaits by Francesco Bassano. The 1619 inventory of the estate of Emperor Matthias lists several textiles of Ottoman and Safavid manufacture offered by Anna to either Matthias or his brother Emperor Rudolf II, veils and handkerchiefs (after "Objects of Prestige and Spoils of War" by Barbara Karl, p. 136). In the drawing by the Austrian painter Anton Joseph von Prenner (1683-1761) kept at the Museum of Fine Arts in Budapest (inv. 3469), made before 1735, the model wears a crown and holds a bow and an arrow. They are also visible in an old photo of the painting taken after 1863. A reduced version of the Vienna portrait, possibly a modello, was sold in Vienna in 1994 with an attribution to Paolo Veronese (oil on paper mounted on cardboard, 31 x 23 cm, Dorotheum, October 18, 1994, lot 66). The Montauban painting comes from the collection of the French neoclassical painter Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres (1780-1867) and has been attributed to various painters including Giovanni Battista Moroni, Paolo Veronese and Titian (oil on canvas, 38 x 27 cm, inv. MI.867.149). The portrait of a woman from Barbini-Breganze collection in Venice, today in Stuttgart (Staatsgalerie, oil on canvas, 108.3 x 90.5 cm, inv. 126, acquired in 1852), bears a strong resemblance to the portrait of Anna by Tintoretto in the Jagiellonian University (pose and features) and to her effigy in Vienna holding a zibellino (features and garments), also by Tintoretto. This painting is attributed to Parrasio Micheli, who died in Venice on April 1578. Discovery of a letter of August 20, 1575 in the General Archive of Simancas (Estado, 1336. fol. 233) from the painter to king Philip II, allowed to attribute to him one of his major works as well as assign the subject - Allegory of the birth of the Infante Ferdinand (Prado Museum in Madrid, inventory number P000479). Infante's mother Anna of Austria (1549-1580), Queen of Spain, granddaughter of Anna Jagellonica (1503-1547), was depicted as bare-chested Venus, while her midwives attend to the mythological child Cupid - "The World celebrates that Venus has given birth" (CELEBRIS MUNDI VENERIS PARTUS), according to inscription in Latin in upper part of the paiting. The painting in Prado was formerly attributed to Carlo Caliari, known as Carletto, the youngest son of Paolo Veronese and believed to represent the birth of Charles V, in his letter, however, Micheli explained all the allegories (after "Ein unbekannter Brief des malers Parrasio Michele" by Constance Jocelyn Ffoulkes, pp. 429-430). In the Stuttgart painting, the queen has a zibellino (weasel skin) on her belt, a popular accessory for brides as a fertility talisman. Therefore, the work must be dated shortly before or after his marriage to Bathory. Anna's strong familial and intellectual connections to Italy and a reputation as an advocate for women's educational pursuits within the scientific disciplines, persuaded Camilla Erculiani, an Italian apothecary, writer and natural philosopher from Padua in the Venetian Republic, to dedicate her work "Letters on Natural Philosophy" (Lettere di philosophia naturale), published in Kraków in 1584, to Anna. The Queen was also known for promoting education of girls at her court (after "Daughters of Alchemy: Women and Scientific Culture in Early Modern Italy" by Meredith K. Ray, p. 118). One of the finest book illuminations related to Anna was probably also made in Italy. It is her coat of arms with a crown supported by two angels and the inscription ANNA REGINA POLONIÆ in handwritten treatise of Francesco Pifferi of Pisa from 1579 (Delle cagioni dalle quali mossi alcuni heretici sono tornati alla fede catolica), dedicated to the queen (ALLA SERENISSIMA ET SACRA MAESTA ANNA REGI/NA DI Polonia, Wawel Royal Castle, ZKnW-PZS 6046). 
Portrait of Anna Jagiellon (1523-1596), elected co-ruler of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth by Francesco Bassano, ca. 1580, Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna (before restoration).
Portrait of Anna Jagiellon (1523-1596), elected co-ruler of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth by Francesco Bassano, ca. 1580, Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna.
Portrait of Anna Jagiellon (1523-1596), elected co-ruler of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth by workshop of Francesco Bassano, ca. 1580, Private collection.
Portrait of Anna Jagiellon (1523-1596), elected co-ruler of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth by workshop of Francesco Bassano, ca. 1580, Musée Ingres in Montauban.
Portrait of Anna Jagiellon (1523-1596), elected co-ruler of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in a robe of pink damask over a patterned brocade dress by Parrasio Micheli, 1575-1578, Staatsgalerie Stuttgart.
Drawing with portrait of Queen Anna Jagiellon (1523-1596), after original by Flemish painter (?), mid-17th century after lost original portrait from around 1575-1577, The State Hermitage Museum.
Allegorical portrait of Anna Jagiellon by Francesco Montemezzano
In July 1572 died Sigismund II Augustus, leaving the throne vacant and all the wealth of the Jagiellon dynasty to his three sisters. Anna, the only member of the dynasty present in the Commonwealth, received only a small portion of inheritance, but still became a very rich woman. Sigismund's death changed her status from a neglected spinster to the heiress of the Jagiellon dynasty.
In June 1574 an unexpected turn of events made her one of the favorites in the second election, after Henry of Valois left Poland and headed back to France. Jan Zamoyski reconciled different camps promoting Anna to the crown. On December 15, 1575, Anna was hailed the King of Poland in the Old Town Square in Warsaw. Jan Kostka and Jan Zamoyski, representing the parliament, came to her to ask for her consent. It was then that Anna was supposed to utter the phrase that she "would rather be a queen than a king's wife". A day later, the nobility recognized her definitively as the "Piast" king and Stephen Bathory, Voivode of Transylvania, was proposed as her husband. The painting identified as allegory of Pomona from the old collection of the Czartoryski Museum bears a great resemblance to other effigies of Anna (oil on canvas, 88 x 75 cm, inv. MNK XII-227). A woman in rich costume is being offered a basket with apples, denoted as symbol of the royal power and a symbol of the bride in ancient Greek thought, and pink roses, which represented innocence and first love - Bathory was the first husband to the 52 years old queen. The painting was previously thought to be a depiction of the biblical Esther, because until 1968 the figure of the boy was painted over. In the catalogue of the Czartoryski Museum from 1914 by Henryk Ochenkowski (Galerja obrazów: katalog tymczasowy), this painting was attributed to "probably Parrasio Micheli" (item 188) and listed together with another painting by the 16th century Venetian School and depicting "Death of the Doge? Three ladies at the bedside. In the background the dogaressa, dictating a letter" (oil on canvas, 101 x 75 cm, item 187), which was most probably lost during World War II. This description fits perfectly with the facts known about the last moments of king Sigismund I the Old, who died in his Wawel residence in Kraków on April 1, 1548, at the age of eighty-one. On February 3, the young king Sigismund Augustus left for Lithuania and the old king was in Kraków with his wife Bona and three daughters Sophia, Anna and Catherine. According to Stanisław Orzechowski the young king who arrived from Vilnius on May 24, was welcomed by his mother "with her three daughters, and with a company of noble matrons" (Bona mater cum filiabus tribus ac cum matronarum nobilium turba adventantem regem expectabat) (after "Zgon króla Zygmunta I ..." by Marek Janicki, p. 92-93). Bona undoubtedly wrote a letter urging him to return and either she or her daughter Anna could commission a painting commemorating the event. However, this description may not have been accurate, because this painting is identified in today's catalogs with a horizontal (and not vertical) work from the first quarter of the 17th century (oil on canvas, 113 x 179 cm, inventory number MNK XII-231). 
Allegorical portrait of Anna Jagiellon (1523-1596), elected co-ruler of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth by Francesco Montemezzano, 1575-1585, Czartoryski Museum in Kraków.
Portraits of Anna Jagiellon by workshop of Tintoretto and Francesco Montemezzano
"There is a bridge across the Vistula near Warsaw, built at a great cost of Queen Anna, sister of King Sigismund Augustus, famous all over the Crown", wrote Venetian-born Polish writer Alessandro Guagnini dei Rizzoni (Aleksander Gwagnin) in his book Sarmatiae Europeae descriptio (Description of Sarmatian Europe), printed in Kraków in 1578.
On 5 April 1573, during the Royal Election after death of king Sigismund Augustus, the longest bridge of Renaissance Europe was opened to the public. The construction cost 100,000 florins, and Anna Jagiellon, willing to become a Queen, also allocated her own funds for this purpose. It was a great achievement and major political success praised by many poets like Jan Kochanowski, Sebastian Klonowic, Andrzej Zbylitowski and Stanisław Grochowski. The bridge, built of huge oaks and pines brought from Lithuania, was 500 meters long, 6 meters wide, it consisted of 22 spans and stood on 15 supports/towers that protected the construction. The construction, however, required constant renovations and was partially broken several times by ice floes on the Vistula River. It was severely damaged after Anna's coronation (1 May 1576) and in his letters from 15 August 1576 to the starosts, King Stephen Bathory recommended the delivery of wood for repair. Again in 1578 and the renovation was managed by Franciszek Wolski, voit of Tykocin. The wood material was floated from the San river. The works were completed in 1582 and "Anna Jagiellon, Queen of Poland, spouse, sister and daughter of grand kings, ordered the construction of this brick fortified tower", according to inscription on bronze plaque in Museum of Warsaw commemorating the fortified Bridge Gate. Anna, as her brother, undeniably ordered some portraits to commemorate her role in construction and maintenance of the bridge. The portrait from private collection in Milan, attributed to Tintoretto or Veronese and depicting a blond woman in a crown against the view of a bridge, fit perfectly (compare Fototeca Zeri, Numero scheda: 40683). Her facial features resemble greatly the portrait by Tintoretto in the Jagiellonian University Museum. The painter depicted the bridge only symbolically in a small window. The recipients of the painting should know what it is about, there was no need to change the convention of Venetian portrait painting to show the whole construction. On her gown there is a symbol of six pointed star, in use since ancient times as a reference to the Creation and in Christian theology - star of Bethlehem. The star, was symbolic of light and of the preaching of Saint Dominic, who was the first to teach the Rosary as a form of meditative prayer, and become an attribute of Virgin Mary, as Queen of Heaven and as Stella Maris. The title, Stella Maris (Star of the Sea), is one of the oldest and most widespread titles applied to Virgin Mary. It came to be seen as allegorical of Mary's role as "guiding star" on the way to Christ. The crown of stars is visible in a painting by Tintoretto in the Gemäldegalerie in Berlin (acquired from Francesco Pajaro in Venice in 1841), created in about 1570 showing Madonna and Child venerated by St. Marc and St. Luke, and in a painting of Madonna of the Rosary from Sandomierz, created by Polish painter in 1599 in which old Queen Anna was depicted with other members of her family and Saint Dominic. Thanks to Queen Anna's efforts the rosary confraternities, which mainly existed in Kraków were extended to all of Poland on 6 January 1577 and the annual feast of rosary was solemnly celebrated throughout the Commonwealth. She also donated, among other things, a few precious jewels and necklaces with which the image of Black Madonna of Częstochowa was adorned. In 1587 the Queen received the Golden Rose from Pope Sixtus V, which she offered to the collegiate church of St. John in Warsaw, lost. A somewhat similar portrait at bust length from a private collection in Italy is attributed to Giovanni Cariani (oil on canvas, 47 x 36 cm). It was probably cut from a larger canvas because the letters ... ND(Æ). of the original (or later) inscription are still visible in the upper left part. The same woman in similar pose and in similar gown was depicted in painting by Francesco Montemezzano from William Coningham's collection in London (until 1849), now in The Metropolitan Museum of Art (oil on canvas, 118.7 x 99.1 cm, inv. 29.100.104). This painting has traditionally been attributed to Veronese, to whose late work it is closely related. Some sources confirm that the Italians had portraits of the elected queen Anna. According to a document kept in the Ducal Chancellery of Modena, in 1578 a Florentine from Kraków, Filippo Talducci, sent a portrait of the queen to Alfonso II d'Este, Duke of Ferrara, through one of his men who was going to Florence. Maciej Rywocki, who traveled the peninsula between 1584 and 1587, saw the portrait of Anna in the Villa Medici in Rome and Bernardo Soderini most likely also had it in the 1580s in his villa in Montughi near Florence (compare"Lodovicus Montius Mutinensis ..." by Rita Mazzei, p. 37-38). It is possible that the beautiful portrait of the Venetian noblewoman Bianca Cappello (1548-1587), who became Grand Duchess of Tuscany, attributed to Santi di Tito, or a copy of it, was in the possession of the elected queen Anna Jagellon. It depicts Bianca with a crown and a cabinet with a statue of Venus and Cupid. The painting comes from a collection in the south of France (oil on canvas 153 x 126 cm, Artcurial in Paris, November 13, 2018, lot 20). The two sovereigns frequently exchanged letters and gifts (after "The Court of Anna Jagiellon: Size, Structure and Functions" by Maria Bogucka, p. 103), and many paintings from the royal and magnate collections of Poland-Lithuania were transferred to France. 
Portrait of Anna Jagiellon (1523-1596), elected co-ruler of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth with a symbolic view of the bridge in Warsaw by workshop of Tintoretto or Francesco Montemezzano, 1576-1582, Private collection.
Portrait of Anna Jagiellon (1523-1596), elected co-ruler of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth by workshop of Tintoretto or Francesco Montemezzano, 1576-1582, Private collection.
Portrait of Anna Jagiellon (1523-1596), elected co-ruler of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth with a dog by Francesco Montemezzano, ca. 1582, The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Portrait of Bianca Cappello (1548-1587), Grand Duchess of Tuscany with a cabinet with a statue of Venus and Cupid by Santi di Tito, 1580-1587, Private collection.
Mystical marriage of Saint Catherine with a portrait of queen Anna Jagiellon by Venetian painter
In 1556 having ambitions of becoming a Viceroy of Naples, Bona Sforza d'Aragona, Anna's mother, agreed to lend to her distant relative king Philip II of Spain a huge sum of 430,000 ducats at 10% annual interest, so-called "Neapolitan sums". Even when paid, the interest payment was late and according to some people the loan was one of the reasons why Bona was poisoned by her trusted courtier Gian Lorenzo Pappacoda.
On November 10, 1573, and November 15, 1574 Catherine Jagiellon, Queen of Sweden, who had the right to a part of the Neapolitan sums in her dowry (50,000 ducats) agreed to renounce and cede it to her sister Anna, as the dispute deteriorated Polish-Swedish relations. The Commonwealth had bad experiences with a "foreign" candidate, Henry of Valois, who fled the country through Venice just few monts after election, therefore the only possible succesors of over 50 years old queen were children of her sister Catherine, Sigismund born in 1566 (elected as Commonwealth's monarch in 1587) and Anna born in 1568. The painting in the Prado Museum in Madrid (oil on canvas, 117 x 151 cm, inv. P000270), is very close in style to two portraits of Anna from the same period (in Vienna and Kassel). The lady in her 40s or 50s depicted as the Virgin Mary, Queen of Heaven is a clear indication that the scene has no purely religious meaning and it is very similar to other effigies of Anna, especially to the portrait by Tintoretto in Kraków. According to the researchers the canvas should be attributed to Palma il Giovane, who created paintings for Anna's nephew and sucessor, Sigismund III Vasa (Psyche cycle and a painting for the St. John's Cathedral in Warsaw, destroyed during World War II) or Domenico Tintoretto, who painted several paintings for Anna's Chancellor, Jan Zamoyski. It has also been attributed to Lambert Sustris, a Flemish painter active in Venice. The canvas comes from the Spanish Royal Collection and the oldest confirmed provenance is the inventory of the collection of Queen Elisabeth Farnese (1692-1766) at the palace of La Granja, made in 1746, where it was listed as a work by Paolo Veronese (No. 274. Vna Pintura original en Lienzo de mano de Pablo Berones, que reptª el Desposorio de Stª Cathalina con el Niño, y Sn Juan abrazados de Ntrâ. Srª). In the collection of the Royal Wilanów Palace in Warsaw there is a painting representing highly erotic subject of Leda and the swan by Palma il Giovane or his workshop from the last quarter of the 16th century (oil on canvas, 130.5 x 152 cm, inv. Wil.1053). It is uncertain how it found its way there, so the option that it was commissioned by Anna, who, as her mother Bona, was strongly engaged in maintaining good relation with her husband Stephen Bathory, is very probable. The painting is also connected with Stanisław Kostka Potocki (1755-1821), who owned such a painting, acquired as the work of the "Cavalier Liberi", probably Pietro Liberi (1605-1687). The mystical marriage of Saint Catherine, a symbol of spiritual grace, should be interprated then that Catherine's children still have claims to the Neapolitan sums and the crown. Its history before 1746 is unknown, therefore it cannot be excluded that the painting was sent to the Spanish Habsburgs, just as her portrait in Vienna, personally by the queen. In November 1575, hence shortly before her election, Anna sent to Spain her envoy Stanisław Fogelweder, who was her ambassador there until 1587. She also had her informal envoys in Spain, dwarves Ana de Polonia (Anna of Poland, died 1578) and Estanislao (Stanislaus, died 1579). 
Mystical marriage of Saint Catherine with a portrait of queen Anna Jagiellon (1523-1596) by Venetian painter, possibly Palma il Giovane or Domenico Tintoretto, 1576-1586, Prado Museum in Madrid.
Leda and the swan by Palma il Giovane or workshop, fourth quarter of the 16th century, Wilanów Palace in Warsaw.
The Banquet of Cleopatra with portraits of Anna Jagiellon, Stephen Bathory and Jan Zamoyski by Leandro Bassano
On 1 May 1576, then 52 years old Infanta Anna Jagiellon married ten years younger Voivode of Transylvania Stephen Bathory and was crowned as co-ruler of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Soon after the wedding the king started to avoid his elderly wife. He dedicated her just three wedding nights and didn't look into her bedroom afterward. The papal nuncio in Poland, Giovanni Andrea Caligari, reported in August 1578, that the king does not trust her, that he is afraid of being poisoned by her, an art her mother, Bona, was well acquainted with, and he adds in a letter of February 1579, that she is haughty and vigorous (altera e gagliarda di cervello). One night, Anna wanted to visit Bathory, but he escaped. Many people witnessed this event, the Queen developed a fever and was subjected to phlebotomy.
King Stephen reportedly never held a great attraction for the marriage state and women in general, and he married Anna only to do a nice thing for the nation, she however was under the illusion that she would keep her husband with her and seduce him with boisterous balls and feasts. Primate Jan Tarnowski wrote in a letter to a Lithuanian magnate that "as she caught up a man, she carries her mouth high and proud". The Queen had a grudge against Chancellor Jan Zamoyski, who according to Bartosz Paprocki "wanting to be a lord in Masovia, he sowed disagreement between the king and the queen" and "caused that the king did not live with the queen". Some "distasteful" rumors were also spread during the expedition to Polotsk in 1578, when the king slept in the same hut with Gaspar Bekes, his trusted friend (after Jerzy Besala's "Wstręt króla do królowej"). When Stephen left his wife in 1576, he did not see her, with some breaks, until 1583. She resided in Warsaw in Masovia where in a spacious and richly furnished wooden mansion in Jazdów (Ujazdów), built by her mother Queen Bona, she often held festivities and court games, he in Grodno (in todays Belarus). In January 1578 she organized in Jazdów famous wedding celebrations for Jan Zamoyski and his Calvinist second wife Kristina Radziwill, which lasted for several days. Anna hoped that the allure of court life would fascinate her husband and keep him close to her. Vincenzo Laureo, the papal nuncio, wrote in his letter that the queen, after returning to Warsaw, entertained her husband with numerous banquets, balls, receptions, and other entertainments. She brought many objects and items from Italy to Jazdów and had the walls covered with golden samite and tapestries. Her apartments were adorned with a gallery of paintings depicting members of the Jagiellonian family. Following the example of her brother, Sigismund II Augustus, she collected precious stones and jewelry. As was the custom at all courts, Anna had dwarfs (mostly women) and jesters among her servants, and she also organized shows and performances. Her courtiers were often dispatched to Germany, Austria, Italy. The high qualifications of her collaborators are attested by the fact that, since 1572, her personal secretary was the famous philologist and humanist Andrzej Patrycy Nidecki (Andreas Patricius Nidecicus, 1522-1587), educated in Padua. As a religious person, Anna offered many churches rich donations: paintings, gold and silver vessels, altar cloths and chasubles (after "The Court of Anna Jagiellon: Size, Structure and Functions" by Maria Bogucka, p. 101-103). In February 1579, the Queen prepared a court ball, awaiting Stephen's arrival. In the evening, the Warsaw Castle was illuminated, and the inhabitants were waiting for the king's arrival. Unfortunately, only the messenger with the letter arrived. The king wrote in it that due to the preparations for the war expedition, he would spend the whole year in Lithuania. The disappointed queen "ordered the lights to be turned off and the instruments to be taken out, and with great anger she retreated to her chambers", wrote the nuncio in a letter of February 26. The courtiers rumored that he wanted to divorce her. The King and Queen reunited in June 1583 in Kraków for the opulent wedding celebrations of Zamoyski with his third wife and a king's niece, Griselda Bathory. The wedding feast was held in the chambers of Queen Anna at the Wawel Castle. The lavish tournaments and a procession of masks was illustrated by an Italian artist in a "Tournois magnifique tenu en Pologne", today in the National Library of Sweden. Rich Venetian fabrics, like these used in chasubles founded by Anna and her husband (Cathedral Museum in Kraków) or vessels, like enamelled basin with her coat of arms and monogram (Czartoryski Museum), acquired by Anna in Venice, were undoubtedly used during the feasts. The sources confirm that allegorical paintings were brought to the Polish court from Venice for Sigismund III Vasa, Anna's sucessor, like Psyche cycle by Palma il Giovane or Diana and Caliosto by Antonio Vassilacchi. "You subjects learned this riding from your king", snapped resentful Anna in 1583, when someone from her court set off on a journey (after "Andrzej Patrycy Nidecki ..." by Kazimierz Morawski, p. 257-258). The Banquet of Cleopatra by Leandro Bassano in Stockholm shows an episode described by both Pliny's's Natural History (9.58.119-121) and Plutarch's Lives (Antony 25.36.1), in which the spartan Roman warrior Antony being seduced by the sensual opulence of Cleopatra (Nationalmuseum, oil on canvas, 232 x 231 cm, inv. NM 133). The Queen of Egypt takes an expensive pearl, reputed to have aphrodisiac qualities, because of an association between pearls and Venus, the goddess of love, and dissolves it in her wine, which she then drinks. It is a culmination of a wager between Cleopatra and Mark Antony as to which one could provide the most expensive feast, which Cleopatra won. Lucius Munatius Plancus, a Roman senator had been asked to judge the wager. The three protagonists are clearly Anna Jagiellon as Cleopatra, her husband Stephen Bathory as Mark Antony and his friend Jan Zamoyski as Lucius and the painting was commissioned by the Queen to one of her residences, most probably Jazdów. It is recorded in the Swedish royal collection as far as 1739, therefore, most probably, it was taken from Poland during the Deluge (1655-1660), like the marble lions from Ujazdów Castle, or during the Great Northern War (1700-1721). In 1578 with the support of Queen Anna the Brotherhood of Saint Anne was founded in Warsaw at the Bernardine Church of Saint Anne, and approved by the Pope with the bull Ex incumbenti in 1579. The first member and guardian of this fraternity was Jan Zamoyski, chancellor and great hetman of the Crown. In her best-known portraits as a widow wearing a long veil and wimple, including the copy made by the workshop of the Venetian painter Alessandro Maganza (National Museum in Warsaw, inv. MP 5323), the queen is depicted as the founder and protector of the Brotherhood of Saint Anne with a golden distinctorium (a badge) of the Brotherhood in the form of a gold medallion with a representation of Saint Anne. The painting by the same author, Leandro Bassano, from the Swedish royal collection, showing Saint Anne and the infant Virgin Mary was also undeniably created for Anna Jagiellon around the same time as the Banquet of Cleopatra (Nationalmuseum in Stockholm, oil on canvas, 117 x 99 cm, inv. NM 132). In 1760 this Catholic painting with Bernardine nuns was in the collection of Louisa Ulrika of Prussia, who freely converted from Calvinism to Lutheran when she moved to Sweden. It is another indication that this painting also was taken from Poland during the Deluge by Swedish or Prussian (Brandenburgian) forces. Also other paintings by Bassano family and their workshop in Poland were created for partrons in Poland, like the Forge of Vulcan by Francesco Bassano the Younger in the National Museum in Warsaw (oil on canvas, 98.5 x 136.5 cm, inv. M.Ob.86 MNW). It was aquired in 1880 from Wojciech Kolasiński. Taking into consideration that other versions of this painting are in royal collections of "friendly" countries (Prado Museum in Madrid, inv. P005120, recorded as far as 1746 and Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, inv. GG 5737, recorded in Ambras collection in 1663), it is highly possible that it was commissioned or aquired by Bathory or Anna's successor Sigismund III. The work of Bassano's workshop inspired Polish artists of later periods. Although the anonymous painter of the second half of the 17th century or the beginning of the 18th century who painted the Adoration of the Magi in the Bernardine Church in Tarnów may have been inspired by an engraving by Raphael Sadeler the Elder after a painting by Jacopo Bassano, made in 1598 (The Metropolitan Museum of Art, inv. 2012.136.588), like the artist of the painting auctioned in Stockholm (Stockholms Auktionsverk, January 13, 2017, number 432919), he may have seen an original made in Venice in the 16th century. The central figure of the kneeling Saint Melchior, dressed in eastern, clearly Sarmatian, costume, is very similar. 
The Banquet of Cleopatra with portraits of Anna Jagiellon, Stephen Bathory and Jan Zamoyski by Leandro Bassano, ca. 1578-1586, Nationalmuseum in Stockholm.
Saint Anne and the infant Virgin Mary by Leandro Bassano, ca. 1578-1586, Nationalmuseum in Stockholm.
Forge of Vulcan by Francesco Bassano the Younger, 4th quarter of the 16th century, National Museum in Warsaw.
AI-generated view of the wooden villa of Queen Anna Jagiellon (1523-1596), elected co-monarch of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, of Ujazdów (Jazdów) in Warsaw, based on my hypothetical schematic drawing and 1606 plan by Alessandro Albertini (Il sito della villa di Jasdovia).
Portrait of Pope Gregory XIII and portrait of Constantine Vasily, Prince of Ostroh by workshop of Francesco or Leandro Bassano
Despite huge losses during the wars, other conflicts and fires Venetian painting is particularly richly represented in the National Art Gallery in Lviv in Ukraine. During the 16th and 17th centuries, Lviv, the second largest city in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, with a population of around 30,000, was the capital of the Ruthenian Voivodeship.
Among the notable works, one could distinguish the Sleeping Venus by Palma Vecchio, portrait of an old man by Titian, identified as effigy of Antonio Grimani (1434-1523), Doge of Venice (oil on canvas, 94 x 79.8, signed in upper right corner: Titianus P[inxit]), offered by professor Florian Singer in 1858, portrait of Francis I (1494-1547), King of France by circle of Titian after original by Joos van Cleve (oil on copper, 16.5 x 12.5 cm, inventory number Ж-41), from the collection of count Leon Piniński, Saint John the Baptist in the wilderness by workshop of Jacopo Bassano (oil on wood, 51 x 67 cm, Ж-287), a copy of work created in 1558 for the altar of the family Testa di San Giovanni in the church of San Francesco in Bassano, Madonna and Child as the Queen of Heaven with Saints by workshop of Jacopo Tintoretto (oil on canvas, 46 x 53 cm, inventory number Ж-755), from the collection of Wiktor Baworowski (1826-1894), David with a sword, presumably a fragment of a larger composition by Venetian painter (oil on canvas, 67 x 78 cm, Ж-1377), from the Lubomirski collection and Saint Veronica wiping the face of Christ on the road to Calvary by Palma il Giovane, until 1940 in the collection of Major Kündl. Given the extensive economic and artistic contacts of the Commonwealth with the Venetian Republic at that time, we should assume that at least two-thirds of these paintings originally found their way into the Commonwealth already at the time of creation by different means (purchases or gifts). Among interesting portraits of the Italian school in the gallery, there is a portrait of Pope Sixtus V (1521-1590) from the collection of the Ossolineum in Lviv (oil on canvas, 116 x 95 cm, Ж-4947). In 1586, in the bull issued on October 10, Sixtus, who was a pope from 1585 to his death in 1590, confirmed the brotherhood of Saint Anne, founded in Warsaw by Queen Anna Jagiellon in 1578. The establishment of the brotherhood was approved by Pope Gregory XIII (1502-1585) in 1579 and confirmed in 1581 by his nuncio to Poland Giovanni Andrea Caligari (1527-1613), bishop of Bertinoro and again in 1584 by another nuncio of Gregory XIII Alberto Bolognetti (1538-1585), who before coming to Poland served as nuncio in the Republic of Venice (1578-1581). In the Commonwealth, Bolognetti was confronted with the advance of Protestantism and the spread of indifferentism. Numbers of both high and low clergy had gone over to Protestantism, some even to atheism. Presentation for church posts at all levels was under the control of local magnates or the king and selection had more to do with loyalty than religious views or vocation. He emphasized to king Stephen Bathory the necessity of appointing only Catholics to office, but with limited success. He also reported to Rome about the trade with Flanders, the port of Gdańsk, where the English heretics had considerable influence, and activities of Spanish agents in Poland, buying grain and other commodities. On May 1, 1584 Pope Gregory XIII declares the feast of St. Anne. The Pope sent the queen a gift of Agnus Dei through Stanisław Hozjusz, which he had consecrated, supported her during the royal elections and with her efforts at the Spanish court concerning the Neapolitan sums. With the help of the queen and her sister Catherine, Queen of Sweden, he secretly sent several priests and Jesuits to Sweden. In 1580, Paweł Uchański delivered a sacred sword (Wawel Royal Castle) and a hat from Gregory XIII to Anna's husband Stephen Bathory in Vilnius and in about 1578 the pope offered the king the coral rosary (Museum of Applied Arts in Budapest, E 65.76). Gregory also established a personal correspondence with Constantine Vasily (1526-1608), Prince of Ostroh, a leder and a promoter of Eastern Christian culture in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. On June 6, 1583 the Pope granted his son Janusz (1554-1620), who after education at the court of the Holy Roman Emperor in Vienna converted from Orthodoxy to Roman Catholicism in 1579, the privilege of a portable altar. In a letter of July 8, 1583, Prince Constantine Vasily wrote to the Pope that he met the nuncio Bolognetti in Kraków and discussed with him the problem of "some people who with all zeal seek only disagreement" (after "Unia Brzeska z perspektywy czterech stuleci" by Jan Sergiusz Gajek, Stanisław Nabywaniec, p. 33) and he sent to the Pope "Chyzycen, the archbishop of the Greek rites; asking him for a copy of the bible, written in Slavic language, which he could reprint for the benefit of the people of the Greek religion". Constantine Vasily also favored the introduction of the Gregorian calendar (introduced in 1582 by Pope Gregory XIII), however the Patriarch of Constantinople "severely reprimanded the Prince of Ostroh for recommending the change of the calendar to the Ruthenian people". Numerous portraits of the ruling popes undoubtedly belonged to Queen Anna Jagiellon and the catholic magnates of the Commonwealth. Nicolaus Christopher Radziwill "the Orphan" (1549-1616) had oil portraits of Popes Sixtus V and Paul V and Cardinals Francesco Sforza, Charles Borromeo and Alessandro Farnese (after "Monumenta variis Radivillorum ..." by Tadeusz Bernatowicz, p. 18) and according to Latin poem "Paintings in the hall in Zamość" (Imagines diaetae Zamoscianae) by Szymon Szymonowic (Simon Simonides), published in Zamość in 1604, Hetman Jan Zamoyski had a portrait of Sixtus V (To Sykstus Piąty - chlubny z tego miana). The portrait of Pope Clement VIII (Ippolito Aldobrandini) in the National Museum in Kielce (inv. MNKi/M/1651), painted in about 1592, could be a gift to Anna Jagiellon or her nephew Sigismund III Vasa. It is highly possible that the portrait in Lviv also comes from magnate or royal collection. The sitter is identified as Sixtus V, however, he resemble more the effigies of his predecessor Gregory XIII - portrait by Bartolomeo Passarotti (Friedenstein Palace in Gotha), a small portrait with inscription GREGORIVS. XIII P. M. (The Antique Guild), engraving with inscription GREGORIVS. XIII. PAPA. BONONIEN. (Fototeca Gilardi) and especially a portrait attributed to Scipione Pulzone. The features, pose and costume are very similar, the only noticeable difference is only the color of the eyes, however Anna Jagiellon also has a different eye color in her portraits by workshop of Cranach (Czartoryski Museum) and Kober (Wilanów Palace). Also the style of this portrait is very interesting and close to that of Venetian painters Francesco and Leandro Bassano. The painter simplified the composition, probably intentionally he omitted the back of the Pope's chair, which indicate that the portrait was part of a series of similar portraits, some of which were intended for the Polish-Lithuanian market. The portrait of Constantine Vasily, Prince of Ostroh with a crucifix (unknown location, possibly lost during World War II) from the 1590s, was painted in the same style. 
Portrait of Pope Gregory XIII (1502-1585) by workshop of Francesco or Leandro Bassano, 1572-1585, Lviv National Art Gallery.
Portrait of Constantine Vasily (1526-1608), Prince of Ostroh with a crucifix by Leandro Bassano or follower, 1590s, location unknown, possibly lost during World War II. Virtual reconstruction, © Marcin Latka
Portraits of Jadwiga Sieniawska, Voivodess of Ruthenia by the Bassano workshop and Jacopo Tintoretto
"You equated the state with the shy Diana, / You equated the face with the rosy Venus. [...] / Adornment of the earth! happy, happy, / To whom God has appointed you kind, / To whom Hymenaios in the steady words / And with eternal torches joined you", wrote in his poem entitled "To Miss Jadwiga Tarłówna, (later voivodess of Ruthenia)", a Polish poet of the late Renaissance Mikołaj Sęp Szarzyński (ca. 1550 - ca. 1581). It is considered an epithalamium, a wedding song for the wedding with the lord of Berezhany (Brzeżany), Hieronim Sieniawski (1519-1582), who married Tarłówna in 1575.
Jadwiga was the fifth child of Jan Tarło, standard-bearer of Lviv, and Regina Malczycka. She came from the ancient Tarło family from Szczekarzowice. Her parents owned Chapli (Czaple nad Strwiążęm) near Sambir (Sambor) and a part of Khyriv (Chyrów) in the Ruthenian Voivodeship (Ukraine). "Lords of Hungary and Wallachia" wanted to marry her and King Sigismund Augustus promised her hand to Bogdan IV (1555-1574), Prince of Moldavia in 1572, but he was deposed that year (after "Brzeżany w czasach Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej: monografia historyczna" by Maurycy Maciszewski, p. 78-80). After death of her father (died in 1570 or 1572) and before marriage, she most probably lived at the very Italianized court of king's sister, Infanta Anna Jagiellon. Jadwiga received from father as a dowry only 3,000 zlotys and 1,500 zlotys in jewels, and from her mother 2,000 zlotys. It was a considerable amount for those times, but far from being a magnate's fortune. In June 1574, Hieronim buried his third wife, Anna née Maciejowska, and ordered a beautiful marble tombstone for her. Just few months later, in 1575, at the age of 56, he married Jadwiga who was about 25 years old (born in about 1550). The bridegroom bequeathed 14,000 zlotys to her as a dower. The next year (1576), she gave birth to Hieronim's only son, Adam Hieronim. Her husband died in 1582 and was buried in the family chapel in Berezhany. The young widow founded a beautiful tomb monument for him and his father and dedicated herself to raising her only son and did not remarry. She was glorified on a marble plaque in the castle church in Berezhany for restoring the weakened fortune to good condition after her husband's death: "These monuments were laid to her father-in-law and to her sweet husband by Jadwiga née Tarło, both with her powerful virtue, which she shines in her homeland, and with the sharpness of her mind. May our ages produce more of likewise matrons here and everywhere! The Republic would flourish if each of them would restore lost goods in this way after her husband's death" (Haec socero et dulci posait monumenta marito / Tarlonum Hedvigis progenerata domo, / Virtate omnigena patrio quae claret in orbe, / Nec minus ingenii dexteritate sui. / O utinam similes illi praesentia plures / Saecula matronas hic et ubique ferant ! / Publica res floreret abi post fata mariti / Quaelibet amissas sic repararet opes). According to the sculptor's monogram (H.H.Z.) hidden behind the statue of Hieronim, the monument was created by Hendrik Horst (d. 1612), a Dutch sculptor from Groningen, active in Lviv since 1573. The overall design of this tomb monument, destroyed during World War II, resemble the monument to King Sigismund II Augustus in the Wawel Cathedral, founded by Queen Anna Jagiellon and created between 1574-1575 by Santi Gucci, and monument to Doge Francesco Venier (1489-1556) by Jacopo Sansovino and Alessandro Vittoria in San Salvador in Venice, created between 1556-1561. Until 1939 in the armoury of the Berezhany Castle in the western tower, there was a large painting depicting the funeral procession of Mikołaj Sieniawski (ca. 1489-1569), Jadwiga's father-in-law, in Lublin in 1569 with king Sigismund Augustus and lords of the kingdom. The deathbed conversion of Hieronim Sieniawski, a definitive Calvinist, was also influenced by his fourth wife, Tarłówna, a zealous Catholic according to papal nuncio, with the aid of Benedictus Herbestus Neapolitanus (Benedykt Zieliński or Benedykt Herbest), educated in Rome. Also Hieronim's sisters converted shortly after his death, closing numerous Calvinist churches on their estates (after "Calvinism in the Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth 1548-1648" by Kazimierz Bem, p. 181). In 1584 she issued a location privilege for the new town of Adamówka, named in honor of her son, later a suburb of Berezhany and most probably founded the Church of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary. Her only son, who most probably, like all his three sons later, studied in Padua before 1593, employed at his court Venetian engineer and architect Andrea dell'Aqua. A painting by workshop of Jacopo Bassano (1515-1592) of unknown provenance in the Odessa Museum of Western and Eastern Art, shows a wealthy lady in the mythological scene of Abduction of Europa (oil on canvas, 108 x 90 cm). In the same museum there is also a portrait of Princess Elizabeth Radziwill (d. 1565) by Lambert Sustris, identified and attributed by me. In the 1560s Jacopo Bassano created several versions of Adoration of the Magi (Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, The Barber Institute of Fine Arts, The State Hermitage Museum) with a man in a costume of a Polish-Lithuanian nobleman depicted as Melchior, the old man of the three Magi, comparable to effigies of Constantine (ca. 1460-1530), Prince of Ostroh by Lucas Cranach the Elder. He wears a green kaftan with sweeping floor-length sleeves and a fur collar, very similar to those visible in the effigy of a Polish horseman by Abraham de Bruyn, published in 1577 (Rijksmuseum Amsterdam) or in his Twelve Polish and Hungarian types, published in 1581 (also in the Rijksmuseum) or in the picture of a Polish-Lithuanian noble in "Theatrum virtutum ac meritorum D. Stanislai Hosii" by Thomas Treter, created between 1595-1600 (National Library in Warsaw). The effigy of the old man represented as Melchior, possibly intentionally or unintentionally, bear a resemblance to the effigy of Jadwiga's father-in-law, Mikołaj Sieniawski, Voivode of Ruthenia (and a Calvinist), from the tomb monument founded by her. According to some sources Mikołaj also converted to the Catholic faith shortly before his death (died in 1569), therefore he could commisson a series of his effigies as one of the Magi, or the painter just inspired by the images of Mikołaj commissioned in his studio. Bassano also dressed a kneeling man at the center of the Vision of Saint Eleutherius from the high altar of the church of Sant'Eleuterio in Vicenza (Gallerie dell'Accademia in Venice, inv. 401) in a similar costume. Such costumes are also seen in two Adorations of the Magi by the circle of Jacopo Bassano in the private collection in Sweden (Stockholms Auktionsverk, January 13, 2017, number 432919; August 25, 2019, number 669586). In the myth, the god Zeus (Jupiter) assumed the form of a bull and enticed Europa to climb onto his back. The bull carried her to Crete, where Europa became the first Queen and had three children with Zeus. Unlike the earlier, very erotic version of the scene painted between 1560-1562 by Titian for King Philip II of Spain (Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston) with Europa sprawled helplessly in open-legged posture and her face not visible, in Bassano's painting the woman's face is clearly visible. This portrait-like historié picture was therefore commissioned by this woman. In the 17th century Margaret Cavendish (1623-1673), Duchess of Newcastle-upon-Tyne in a large painting attributed to Jan Mijtens (La Suite Subastas in Barcelona, May 26, 2023, lot 26) and Madame de Montespan (1640-1707), chief royal mistress (maîtresse-en-titre) of King Louis XIV of France, and her children, in another large composition from the studio of Pierre Mignard (Kurpfälzisches Museum Heidelberg, L39), were represented in such historié paintings in the guise of Europa. In the foreground there is a rabbit as an allegory of fertility, a duck, associated with Penelope, queen of Ithaca, as a symbol of marital fidelity, and a small dog, allegory of fidelity and devotion. A Cupid sitting on a tree in the upper right corner is prepared to aim an arrow at her heart. The island of Crete is visible in the far background, but the landscape around is similar to topography of Berezhany as depicted on the Austrian map of 1779-1783. There is a large lake (regulated in the 18th century) and two hills, which were depicted by the painter as rocky Alpine hills. Another, horizontal version of this composition, from private collection in Rome and attributed to circle of Francesco Bassano (1549-1592), was sold in 2021 (oil on canvas, 96 x 120 cm, Finarte, November 16, 2021, lot 73). In both paintings the woman has a fashionable hairstyle from the late 1570s or early 1580s and the painting in Rome was most probably sent as a gift to the Pope or one of the cardinals (this woman managed to convert to Catholicism the Voivode of Ruthenia!). A number of paintings by Francesco Bassano and his workshop are also in Poland (Adoration of the Magi with a Polish nobleman and Forge of Vulcan in the National Museum in Warsaw, Forge of Vulcan in the National Museum in Poznań or Annunciation to the shepherds in the Wawel Royal Castle and another in the Museum of the Warsaw Archdiocese). The same woman was also depicted in a portrait of a lady in a green dress (a color being symbolic of fertility), attributed variously to Jacopo and Leandro Bassano, in the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena, California (oil on canvas, 78.7 x 65.4 cm, inv. F.1965.1.002.P). The picture was previously in the Edward Cheney collections in Badger Hall in Badger, near Wolverhampton, England (demolished in 1952). A pendant on a gold chain around her neck is a jewel in which two different stones and a pearl are set, each with its own precise meaning: the ruby indicates charity, the emerald indicates chastity, and a pearl is a symbol of marriage fidelity. The woman's dress and hairstyle are very simular to those visible in a self-portrait with madrigal by Marietta Robusti in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, dated to about 1578 (inventory 1890 n. 1898). A signed painting by Leandro Bassano (signature: Leandro) from Jan Gwalbert Pawlikowski collection is in the Wawel Royal Castle and Lamentation of Christ, attributed to him is in the Vereshchagin Art Museum in Mykolaiv, close to Odessa. Interestingly, in 2005, the Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania acquired a copy of the Mykolaiv painting from a private collection in Rome, probably made by the workshop of Palma il Giovane (oil on canvas, 85 x 79 cm, inv. VR-7). Resurrection of Lazarus from the altar of the Mocenigo family in the church of Santa Maria della Carità in Venice (today in the Gallerie dell'Accademia in Venice, oil on canvas, 416 x 237 cm, inv. 252), another signed work by Leandro Bassano (LEANDER / BASSANE.is / F.), dated to between 1592-1596, shows a man in a costume of a Polish-Lithuanian noble. The architecture of a villa and a peasant's hat in Sheep Shearing (Autumn?) by the imitator of the Bassanos, a painting from the Sułkowski collection painted at the beginning of the 17th century (National Museum in Warsaw, inv. 232153), indicate that the painter may have created the work in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The early provenance of these paintings is now impossible to establish, but their number, given the enormous destruction of the heritage of the former Commonwealth, indicates that the Bassano workshop was actively engaged in the "production" of paintings for the Sarmatian market. She was also depicted as a widow in a portrait by Jacopo Tintoretto in the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister in Dresden (oil on canvas, 104 x 87 cm, inv. Gal.-Nr. 265 A). This painting was probably acquired in Venice by Duke Francesco I d'Este (1610-1658) and listed as "Portrait of a woman dressed in black - Titian" (Ritratto di donna vestita de nero - Tiziano) in the inventory of 1744 of the Galleria Estense in Modena, then sold to Augustus III of Poland-Lithuania-Saxony in 1746 (as portrait of Caterina Cornaro). This portrait is dated to early 1550s, however similar costume of a Venetian widow (Vidua Veneta / Vefue Venetiene) is visible in an engraving representing Ten women dressed according to Italian fashion by Abraham de Bruyn, created in about 1581 (Rijksmuseum Amsterdam). The style of this picture can be compared with portrait of the Procurator Alessandro Gritti in the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya, dated to between 1581-1582, and portrait of Piotr Krajewski (1547-1598), żupnik of Zakroczym in the Masovian Museum in Płock, dated "1583" (oil on panel, 102 x 83.5 cm, inv. MMP/S/7). The latter painting is generally attributed to circle of Martin Kober, however the man's face is painted in the same style as the widow in Dresden. Krajewski, a nobleman of Leliwa coat of arms, was the owner of villages Mochty and Smoszewo and a manager (żupnik) which oversaw the salt storehouse in Zakroczym near Warsaw, the seat of Infanta Anna Jagiellon. His portrait was most probably commissioned in Venice and a court painter in Warsaw added coat of arms and inscription (painted in different style). A miniature copy of this portrait was photographed around 1880 by Edward Trzemeski in the Yellow Room of Pidhirtsi (Podhorce) Castle near Lviv, opposite another miniature, a copy of portrait of Catherine Jagiellon, Duchess of Finland in white. Due to the layout, both were probably copies of prints by Pierre-François Basan based on the original paintings, published in the Recueil d'Estampes d'après les plus célèbres Tableaux de la Galerie Royale de Dresde in 1753 (number 11 and 12), when the two paintings were attributed to Titian, however, this selection and placement above the door might suggest that in the 18th century there were still clues to the identity of the two women and their connection to Poland-Lithuania. In the Zhytomyr Region History Museumin Ukraine there is a portrait of Giovanni Francesco Sagredo (1571-1620), a Venetian mathematician and close friend of Galileo, painted by Gerolamo Bassano (oil on panel, 78 х 65 cm, inv. ЖМ-2, inscription on the back: GIOVANNI FRANCESCO SAGREDO VENEZIANO). The painting comes from the nationalized collections of barons de Chaudoir (the family may come from a line of French Protestant emigrants who fled in 1685 from Belgium and one de Chaudoire worked at the court of King Stanislaus Augustus). In the 1590s Sagredo studied privately with Galileo in Padua and in 1596 at the age of 25 he became a member of the Great Council of Venice. His portrait attributed to Gerolamo Bassano in the Ashmolean Museum depict him in the robes of the a Procurator of Saint Mark, therefore the portrait from Zhytomyr like the effigy from private collection, attributed to circle of Domenico Tintoretto, should be dated to before 1596, therefore could be acquired by Adam Hieronim during his potential studies in Italy. Sagredo was depicted in a crimson tunic similar to Polish-Lithuanian żupan. It is possible that all mentioned paintings by Venetian painting workshops, in Odessa, Mykolaiv and Zhytomyr, originate from the same collection - "the Eastern Wawel": Berezhany Castle, dispersed among several museums in Ukraine. Despite that no signed likenesses of Jadwiga Sieniawska née Tarło or her close relatives have preserved, basing on all these facts the mentioned potraits should be indentified as her effigies. 
Abduction of Europa with portrait of Jadwiga Sieniawska née Tarło, Voivodess of Ruthenia by workshop of Jacopo Bassano, 1578-1582, Odessa Museum of Western and Eastern Art.
Abduction of Europa with portrait of Jadwiga Sieniawska née Tarło, Voivodess of Ruthenia by workshop of Francesco Bassano, 1578-1582, Private collection.
Portrait of Jadwiga Sieniawska née Tarło, Voivodess of Ruthenia in a green dress by Jacopo or Leandro Bassano, ca. 1578, Norton Simon Museum.
Lamentation of Christ by Leandro Bassano, late 16th century, Vereshchagin Art Museum in Mykolaiv.
Portrait of Jadwiga Sieniawska née Tarło, Voivodess of Ruthenia in mourning by Jacopo Tintoretto, ca. 1582, Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister in Dresden.
Portrait of Piotr Krajewski (1547-1598), żupnik of Zakroczym by workshop of Jacopo Tintoretto, 1583, Masovian Museum in Płock.
Portrait of Giovanni Francesco Sagredo (1571-1620) by Gerolamo Bassano, 1590s, Zhytomyr Region History Museum.
Portrait of a man in Sarmatian costume from the Resurrection of Lazarus by Leandro Bassano, ca. 1592-1596, Gallerie dell'Accademia in Venice.
Portraits of king Stephen Bathory by Venetian painters
"I was chosen to be your king, at your request and urging I have come here; you have placed the crown on my head: I am therefore your real and legal king, not imaginary or painted; I want to reign and command and I will not tolerate being commanded. Be the guardians of your freedom, but do not want to become my tutors. Be such guardians that freedom does not become an abuse" (Dum in regem vestrum sum electus, vobis postulantibus et instantibus huc veni; per vos est corona capiti meo imposita: sum igitur rex vester non fictus neque pictus, sed realis et legalis; volo regnare et imperare, nec sinam ut mihi quis imperet. Custodes libertatis vestrae estis, non igitur vos volo paedagogos meos fieri; tuemini et servate libertates vestras, sed prudenter cavete, ne haec libertas vestra in abusum vertatur), declared Stephen Bathory (1533-1586) at the Sejm in Toruń in 1576 to the lords of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. According to Tadeusz Ulewicz (1917-2012), this statement was the first in Polish culture allusion to Venetian painting, and the king was familiar with the decoration of the Higher Council Hall (Sala del Maggior Consiglio) of the Doge's Palace in Venice, where the frieze running along the ceiling of the walls of the great hall depicted portraits of the Doges (compare "Dolabella. Wenecki malarz Wazów. Katalog wystawy", ed. Magdalena Białonowska, p. 42). It is even more likely, however, that the king was referring to state portraits commissioned on the occasion of his accession, most likely also in Venice, and probably similar to the effigies of the elected doges, who were glorified in splendid paintings by local painters. The king therefore wanted to emphasize to the nobility that, although he was elected by them, he is a powerful ruler of the kingdom not only in paintings.
Official portraiture showed Bathory as he should look like and as he was perceived, imagined by average and less educated subjects, i.e. a strong, powerful, masculine monarch in rich national costume, a man capable to protect the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth from Tsar Ivan the Terrible, a brutal tyrant, who used terror and cruelty as a method of controlling his country and who invaded the Commonwealth during the second royal election after Henry of Valois's sudden return to France in mid-June 1574 through Venice. The Tsar had captured Pärnu on July 9, 1575, took as many as 40 thousand captives (according to Świętosław Orzelski) and devastated much of central Livonia. Anna Jagiellon and Bathory were elected just few months later on December 15. In private effigies or these dedicated to his European colleagues Bathory could allow himself to be depicted as educated in Padua lover of astronomy, in a cloak of a simple soldier in his army or as an old, tired man. The portrait by Tintoretto from the Spanish royal collection, now in the Prado Museum in Madrid (oil on canvas, 54 x 43 cm, inv. P000374), shows Bathory in a toga-like attire similar to the costume of a Venetian magistrate. It is a kopieniak a sleeveless raincoat of Turkish origin (kepenek), popular at that time in Hungary (köpenyeg). According to Stanisław Sarnicki's "Księgi hetmańskie", published in 1577-1578, kopieniak was a sort of Gabina (gabìno), a toga in ancient Rome, while according to Encyklopedja powszechna ("Universal encyclopedia", vol. 15, 1864, p. 446) in Poland the attire and a word were popularized by Bathory, "who used the kopieniak in hunting and during war expeditions". After king's death some of his robes valued at 5351 zlotys were given to his courtiers. The inventory made in Grodno on 15 December 1586 includes many kopieniaks, made by his Hungarian tailor Andrasz, like the most valuable "scarlet kopieniak lined with sables with one silk button and a loop, 1548 zlotys worth", "12 navy blue half-kopieniaks lined with sables, with gold buttons" or "4 kopieniaks of different colors" (after "Pamiętniki do historyi Stefana króla polskiego ..." by Edward Raczyński, p. 143, 152-153, 157). The king's face was similarly depicted in the beautiful engraving with his portrait by Giacomo Franco included in Antiqvitatvm Romanarvm (Treatise on Roman Antiquities) by Paolo Manuzio (Paulus Manutius, 1512-1574), published in Bologna in 1585 (Czartoryski Library of Kraków, 2335 III Cim). The earliest known provenance of this painting is the 1772 inventory of the collection of Charles III of Spain at the Royal Palace of Madrid, where it was listed with two other "Venetian men" and as an "original by Paolo Veronese" (Tres retratos poco mas de las cabezas de vnos varones venecianos de a dos tercias de caida y media vara de ancho originales de Pablo Verones, item 97). The powerful King Philip II of Spain (1527-1598) must have received a portrait of Bathory, but since he was only an elected king of a distant land, and moreover he did not demonstrate his status by rich clothing, it is understandable that the portrait was listed as "A Venetian man" in the 18th century, when the rich and influential Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth of the Renaissance was a vague memory. Portraits were part of the diplomacy of the time, reflecting the complex relationships in Europe, alliances and friendships. The portrait of the procurator Vincenzo Morosini (1511-1588), one of the leading senators of his time, prefect of Bergamo and general responsible for continental affairs of the Republic of Venice, now in the Wawel Royal Castle (oil on canvas, 101 x 85 cm, inv. PZS 47), could be another reminder of these relationships. On December 15, 1578, Morosini was appointed procurator of San Marco, after the death of Tommaso Contarini, and it was probably on this occasion that he commissioned Tintoretto to paint a series of his portraits, one of which could potentially have been sent to the notables of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth as early as 1578 or shortly after. The Wawel painting comes from the collection of Count Leon Jan Piniński (1857-1938) in Lviv, donated to the State Collections in 1931. The portrait of a bearded man with hourglass and astrolabe by Francesco Bassano from Ambras Castle in Innsbruck (oil on canvas, 106.3 x 89.8 cm, GG 5775), is very similar in style and composition to the portrait of Anna Jagiellon in Vienna (Kunsthistorisches Museum, GG 33). The painting is documented in the Ambras collection in 1663. Before February 1, 1582 Bathory offered to Ferdinand II, Archduke of Austria many items captured during the Siege of Pskov to his large collection of armaments in Ambras, including his armor accompanied by a portrait and resume. On March 10, 2020, a "portrait of King Ladislav VI of Hungary", whose style resembles works from the workshop or circle of Jacopo Bassano, was auctioned (oil on canvas, 65 x 47.5 cm, attributed to Italian school, inscription in Latin: LADISLAVS VNG. BOE / REX.). This portrait is almost a direct transposition of a print by Venetian printmaker Gaspare Oselli (Osello) after a drawing by Francesco Terzio from Bergamo, a pupil of Giovanni Battista Moroni, representing Ladislaus the Posthumous (1440-1457), King of Hungary, Croatia and Bohemia and Duke of Austria. This engraving, created in 1569, was a part of a series of 58 prints with portraits of 74 members of the House of Austria, dedicated to Ferdinand II, who was a son of Anna Jagellonica (1503-1547), Queen of Hungary, Bohemia and Croatia. The portrait of Ladislaus is further confirmation that Venetian painters did not need to see the real model to create a good effigy. In Ambras painting, the king's features resemble the portrait in Madrid, engraving by Franco and an anonymous engraving in the Austrian National Library in Vienna (PORT 00059876 01). Among the things given in deposit to king's courtier Mr Franciszek Wesselini (Ferenc Wesseleny´i de Hadad) in the inventory of king's belongings, there were "A gold carriage chest with the coat of arms of His Highness Augustus, in which there are various small things. Golden saddle of the deceased king Sigismund Augustus. A casket with small things and crane feathers" and also "A leaky watch (water hourglass)" and "Large old Turkish carpets, which were brought by Mr. Grudziński from Hungary from Machmet Basha", most probably offered by Sokollu Mehmed Pasha, Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire. The inventory does not include any Western, black costumes, however since the king used many items of his predecessor Sigismund Augustus, he undoubtedly had access to his extensive black Italian wardrobe. Interestingly, the black Italian hose with protruding codpiece were at that time in Poland considered by some people as more effeminate than the dress-like żupan of colorful Venetian fabric. "The nation is effeminate [...] Franca [syphilis], musk, lettuce, with them it came, These puffed hose, stockings, mostardas, The Italian haughty nation has recently brought here" (269, 272-274), wrote Marcin Bielski in his satire "Conversation of the New Prophets, Two Rams with One Head" (Rozmowa nowych proroków, dwu baranów o jednej głowie), published in 1566/1567. His interest in astronomy is confirmed by his support to the sorcerer Wawrzyniec Gradowski from Gradów and with a sojourn at his court of John Dee, an English mathematician, astronomer and astrologer and Edward Kelley, an occultist and scryer in March 1583 and April 1585, who were paid 800 florins by the king. He also transformed the Jesuit gymnasium in Vilnius into an academy (1578), where astronomy, poetry and theology were taught. Leaving Transylvania for Poland in 1576, he consulted astrologers, with whom he also set the date of his wedding with Anna Jagiellon. Therefore Bathory was maybe more effeminate in his private life then in his public appearance, he was however one of the most eminent monarchs of this part of Europe, a wise and brave king who led the Polish-Lithuanian Republic to its greatest glory and power. After 50 his health rapidly declined. As Sigismund Augustus, Bathory most probably suffered from syphilis, treated by his Italian physicians Niccolò Buccella and Simone Simoni. "The king his grace had on his right leg two fingers below the knee, up to the ankle, a kind of rash, in which there were sometimes shallow, flowing wounds. On that leg, lower than the knee, he had an apertura [ulcer]: and when little was leaking from it, he had no appetite, the nights were restless and sleepless." The portrait in Budapest by Leandro Bassano (Museum of Fine Arts, oil on canvas, 116 x 96 cm, inv. 53.477), which is very similar to other effigies of Bathory, undeniably show him in the last year of his life. His facial features in this likeness resemble the miniature portrait by Lavinia Fontana kept in the National Museum in Kraków (inv. MNK I-290), attributed by me, or the portrait that was in Burg Kreuzenstein in Austria before World War II. Interestingly, the Budapest portrait was previously assigned to Tintoretto. It was listed as a work by Jacopo Bassano when it was in the collection of the Duchess of Berry at the Palazzo Vendramin-Calergi in Venice in the mid-19th century. This palace belonged to the Venetian Loredan family in the 16th century, but also to Eric II (1528-1584), Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg and Guglielmo Gonzaga (1538-1587), Duke of Mantua, while Maria Carolina of Bourbon-Sicily (1798-1870), Duchess of Berry, who bought the palace in 1844, was a descendant of Augustus III (1696-1763), King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, on both her mother's and father's side. 
Portrait of Stephen Bathory (1533-1586), elected co-ruler of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, in kopieniak coat by Tintoretto, ca. 1576, Prado Museum in Madrid.
Portrait of the procurator Vincenzo Morosini (1511-1588) by workshop of Tintoretto, ca. 1578, Wawel Royal Castle. Virtual reconstruction, © Marcin Latka
Portrait of Stephen Bathory (1533-1586), elected co-ruler of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, with hourglass and astrolabe by Francesco Bassano, ca. 1580, Ambras Castle in Innsbruck.
Portrait of Stephen Bathory (1533-1586), elected co-ruler of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, sitting in a chair by Leandro Bassano, ca. 1586, Museum of Fine Arts in Budapest.
Portrait of Primate Jakub Uchański by Jacopo Tintoretto
In the 14th century BC, Akhenaten, the pharaoh of the 18th dynasty of Egypt and his wife and co-ruler Nefertiti closed the temples of the gods of Egypt introducing monotheism by promulgating the worship of a single universal deity, the solar god Aten. They decided to found a new capital Akhetaten (horizon of the Aten) near present-day Amarna. The strong position of women in ancient Egypt was increased under Akhenaten and Amarna period is considered as one of the finest in the art of Ancient Egypt. Not long after Akhenaten's death, his successors reopened the state temples to other Egyptian gods and the name of the "heretic pharaoh" was removed from all of his statues and monuments. His radical move destabilised the social and economical system of Egypt. Temples were key centers of economic activity and charity and continue to uphold maat, the divine order of the universe, a principle that embraced diverse peoples with conflicting interests. People were expected to act with honor and truth in matters that involve family, the community, the nation, the environment, and the gods. Local courts known as Houses of Judgment were associated with local temples and resolved disputes at the gates of the temples.
As in Jerusalem and Mesopotamia, temples cared for the needy or marginalized in society, including the poor, widows, orphans, elderly and homeless, provided hospitality, food, and asylum (after "Mending Bodies, Saving Souls" by Guenter B. Risse, p. 45). Similar was the role of the Roman church in Poland-Lithuania during Renaissance. Catholic hierarchs understood the need for tolerance in a multi-religious country, especially during Reformation, which was often misunderstood abroad, and they were frequently accused of indifferentism. They also understood the role of institutions, social order and hierarchy inherited from medieval times when a single religion dominated in certain regions, financed through taxes and tithes. The bishop of Kraków, Andrzej Zebrzydowski (1496-1560), a student of Erasmus of Rotterdam, also educated in Paris and in Padua, was then attributed with a saying: "You can believe even in a goat if you like, so long as you pay the tithes". His episcopate took place during the mass conversion of the nobility to Calvinism and the bourgeoisie to Lutheranism. In 1556 Zebrzydowski also stood before an ecclesiastical court together with Bishop Jan Drohojowski after rumors of heresy. Papal nuncio Luigi Lippomano headed this investigation. He was charged with maintaining a friendship with Jan Łaski, a well-known Protestant leader, possessing heretical books and inappropriate conduct, including maintaining a relationship with a young Jewess (after "Sinners on Trial" by Magda Teter, p. 145). The Counter-Reformation and foreign invasions changed everything in Poland. After partitions of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth by the Habsburg monarchy, the Kingdom of Prussia, and the Russian Empire, the Catholic church was one of the few public institutions where people could speak Polish freely (after "November 1918" by Janusz Żarnowski, p. 31) and some Russian writers from the late 18th century stressed degeneration of Catholic Poland and the need to "civilize" it by its neighbors (after "The Russo-Polish Historical Confrontation" by Andrzej Nowak). In the spring of 1578 Paweł Uchański (d. 1590), beloved nephew of other "heretic" hierarch of the Catholic church in the Commonwealth, advocating religious tolerance, Jakub Uchański (1502-1581), archbishop of Gniezno and primate of Poland, was sent on a mission to the Pope in Rome and to the Spanish Viceroy of Naples. It was customary in Catholic countries that each new monarch, after his accession to the throne, sends an envoy to the Pope with a declaration of obedience to the head of the Church. Uchański received this mission from king Stephen Bathory in 1577, but under various pretexts he delayed the journey. The embassy reached Venice on September 23, and stayed there until November 28, 1578, under the pretext of seeking permission to travel to Rome. Then the legation arrived in Padua. It was only at the beginning of February of the following year that it was decided to return to Venice and go by sea to Ancona, to reach Rome via Loreto. After a month's stay there, they went to Naples for a month, then returned to Rome for the next six months. Like all the missions in Naples, this one also had a lot to do with the inheritance of Queen Bona, mother of Queen Anna Jagiellon and a loan made by Bona to Philip II of Spain, which was never repaid. In the first days of March 1580, Paweł was in Łowicz received by the archbishop, who lend him 30,000 zlotys to pay off debts incurred in Italy. According to Giovanni Andrea Caligari (1527-1613), papal nuncio to Poland, "as always malicious towards the Uchańskis", Paweł borrowed 10 thousand in Rome and 6 thousand in Padua. He offered and received gifts, he gave Cardinal Farnese his own horses brought from Poland together with the carriage and he received a gold chain worth 500 ducats from the signoria of Venice, and 6,000 ducats from the pope. He probably also bought and ordered many luxury goods in Italy. The debt was so great that it was not yet repaid in 1586 (money borrowed from the Duke of Tuscany). The creditors claimed their dues in various ways, they even disturbed the secretary of state in Rome, so in March 1583 Paweł delegated a certain Jerzy Polit to settle the matter and buy the silverware and other items pledged in Rome (after "Uchańsciana seu collectio documentorum ..." by Teodor Wierzbowski, p. 49). In 1575 Primate Uchański, who was Archbishop of Gniezno from 1562 and interrex, a short-term regent, of the Commonwealth twice (1572-1573, 1575-1576), joined the pro-Habsburg camp and together with other senators proclaimed Emperor Maximilian II, cousin and brother-in-law of Philip II of Spain, the king. Due to the opposition of many other nobles, Maximilian lost, and Anna and her husband become the co-rulers of the Commonwealth. The Primate was a patron of arts and in 1573 at the archbishops' castle in Łowicz he began the construction of a magnificent Renaissance palace worthy of a king. From 1580 or possibly earlier he employed an eminent mannerist sculptor for the decoration of his residence, Jan Michałowicz of Urzędów (d. 1583), who also created the archbishop's mausoleum at the Łowicz cathedral. The palace was completed in 1585 after death of Uchański and Michałowicz by Primate Stanisław Karnkowski (blown up by retreating Swedish forces in 1657). Alabaster tomb monument of Uchański in the Łowicz Cathedral, created by Michałowicz between 1580-1583 in the Italian style (rebuilt between 1782-1783), and marble tombstone of Calvinist Piotr Tarnowski (died before 1597), father of Primate Jan Tarnowski, by Willem van den Blocke in the style of the Netherlandish mannerism in the same temple, were made from imported Belgian limestones and English alabaster. Similar to tomb monuments of the Tarnowski family by Giovanni Maria Padovano and to the Ostrogski family by Willem van den Blocke in the Tarnów Cathedral, they perfectly illustrate the main influences of art in Poland at that time and great diversity. D. Basilii Magni [...] De moribvs orationes XXIIII [...] by Stanisław Iłowski (Ilovius), dedicated to Primate Jakub Uchański, was published by Giordano Ziletti and Giovanni Griffio in Venice in 1564. Uchański sent a volunteer group to the war with Moscow, and ordered full armours for his soldiers from Brunswick craftsmen through Sophia Jagiellon, Duchess of Brunswick-Lüneburg (after "W służbie polskiego króla ... " by Marek Plewczyński, p. 288). In the Prado Museum in Madrid, there is a portait of an archbishop (El arzobispo Pedro) by Jacopo Tintoretto from the second half of the 16th century (oil on canvas, 71 x 54 cm, inventory number P000369). It comes from the royal collection, mentioned in the collection of Queen Elisabeth Farnese (1692-1766) in the palace of La Granja (fireplace room, 1746, no. 523), most likely sent to Spain already in the 16th century. According to inscription in Latin it depicts Archbishop Peter (PETRVS. / ARCHI EPVS). The characteristic tilde above v in EPVS, could indicate that the inscription was added much later in Spain and that the person who added the inscription had vague knowledge of who was depicted. From the times of Saint Lawrence Justinian (Lorenzo Giustiniani, 1381-1456), Catholic bishops of the Archdiocese of Venice are known as Patriarchs (Latin: Patriarcha Venetiarum) and the only Peter in the second half of the 16th century, Pietro Francesco Contarini (1502-1555), died after just a few months in the office. Among the Archbishops of Seville and Archbishops of Toledo there is no Pedro in the second half of the 16th century and their effigies are not similar to the described portrait. The portrait of Gaspar de Quiroga (1512-1594), Archbishop of Toledo, created cardinal in 1578, in Prado (P000401) is attributed to follower of Tintoretto, however it is also close to the style of the Bassanos. It was ordered in Venice from Spain and the sitter was identified mainly basing on "his unquestionable resemblance to the portrait that Luis de Velasco painted of him in 1594 for the chapter house of the Toledo Cathedral" (after "The artistic relations of Cardinal Quiroga with Italy" by Cloe Cavero de Carondelet). The portrait of king Stephen Bathory by Tintoretto in the same collection (P000374) is stylistically very close to the effigy of the "Archbishop Peter", the two portraits were therefore probably created around the same time. The archbishop from the Prado painting resemble greatly the effigies of Primate Uchański, especially the lithography in the catalogue of archbishops of Gniezno by Julian Bartoszewicz (Arcybiskupi gnieźnieńscy ...), published in 1864 and his statue in Łowicz. Philip II of Spain was unquestionably interested in having a portrait of Primate of Poland and Archbishop of Gniezno who ruled the Commonwealth during the interregnum and proclaimed his cousin Maximilian the king. 
Portrait of Primate Jakub Uchański (1502-1581), Archbishop of Gniezno by Jacopo Tintoretto, 1562-1580, Prado Museum in Madrid.
Portrait of Cardinal Gaspar de Quiroga (1512-1594), Archbishop of Toledo by workshop of the Bassanos, after 1578, Prado Museum in Madrid.
Portrait of Cardinal Henry I, King of Portugal by Domenico Tintoretto
In 1579 brothers of Nicolaus Christopher Radziwill "the Orphan" (1549-1616), George (1556-1600), future cardinal, and Stanislaus (1559-1599), arrived in the capital of Portugal. "The coadjutor of Vilnius Radziwill, wrote to me from Lisbon on April 3 that he greeted the king dressed in cardinal's robes, but holding pleasantly a scepter in his old and weakened hand", wrote in a letter from Rome on June 6, 1579 the royal secretary Stanisław Reszka (1544-1600) about the audience before Cardinal Henry I (1512-1580), King of Portugal (after "Z dworu Stanisława Hozjusza: listy Stanisława Reszki do Marcina Kromera, 1568-1582" by Jadwiga Kalinowska, p. 221). Then, via Turin and Milan, the Radziwill brothers arrived in Venice in September 1579. From there they set off via Vienna to Poland and finally reached Kraków by the end of the year (after "Radziwiłłowie: obrazy literackie, biografie, świadectwa historyczne" by Krzysztof Stępnik, p. 298).
In 2022 the portrait of Cardinal-King of Portugal from private collection, created in Venice, Italy, was sold at the auction in Munich, Germany (Hampel Auctions, December 8, 2022, lot 238). It was painted by Domenico Tintoretto in 1579 as according to Latin inscription it depict the Cardinal-King at the age of 67 (HENR.S CARD.S / REX. PORTV / GALIAE. ETCZ [...] /. AETATIS / SVAE. LXVII.). Cardinal Henry, born in Lisbon on January 31, 1512, become the king of Portugal at the age of 66 (coronation in Lisbon on August 28, 1578) after death of his great-nephew King Sebastian, who died without an heir in the Battle of Alcácer Quibir that took place in 1578. In January 1579 Jerónimo Osório da Fonseca (Hieronymus Osorius, 1506-1580), Bishop of the Algarve, Portuguese historian and polemicist, wrote a letter in Latin to "to the invincible Stephen Bathory, king of Poland" (inuictissimo Stephano Bathorio regi Poloniae) expressing his gratitude for reading his books (scripta namque mea tibi usque adeo probari ut in castris etiam, quotiens esset otium, otium illud te libenter in libris meis assidue uersandis consumere) (after "Opera Omnia. Tomo II. Epistolografia" by Sebastião Pinho, p. 214). Osório was a member of the royal council (Mesa da Consciência e Ordens), who advised the Cardinal-King on political matters. It cannot be excluded that the portrait of the Cardinal-King was commissioned in Venice by the Radziwill brothers, or by the Cardinal-King through their intermediary, as a gift to the royal couple of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Queen Anna Jagiellon and her husband Stephen Bathory. The painting was acquired by the National Museum of Ancient Art in Lisbon (inventory number 2224 pint). 
Portrait of Cardinal Henry I (1512-1580), King of Portugal, aged 67 by Domenico Tintoretto, 1579, National Museum of Ancient Art in Lisbon.
Portrait of Stanislaus Radziwill by Alessandro Maganza
The younger of the two Radziwill brothers who visited Portugal in 1579, Stanislaus (1559-1599), was considered a very religious person, hence his later nickname Pius, meaning pious in Latin. He was a thoroughly educated person and, apart from Lithuanian, he knew several foreign languages. He translated from Greek into Polish part of the work of the Patriarch of Constantinople Gennadius Scholarius, which was published in 1586. He was also the author of a work on the main truths of the faith entitled "The Spiritual Arms of the Rightful Christian Knight" (Oręże duchowne prawowiernego rycerza chrześcijańskiego), published in Kraków in 1591.
Although the capital of Spain, Madrid, did not impress the prince ("here in Madril, apart from the royal court, there is nothing to see, a vile and filthy village", wrote Stanislaus to one of his brothers in the country), during this half-year stay on the Iberian Peninsula he and his brother were undoubtedly deeply marked by the highly religious and chivalric culture of the 16th century Spain and Portugal. The Orders of chivalry - Santiago, Calatrava, Alcántara, and Montesa in Spain and Order of Christ and Order of Avis in Portugal, originally dedicated to the warrior knights of the crusade against the Moors, served to create an elite of specially favoured nobles. Admission to these aristocratic military brotherhoods was restricted and required purity of noble blood as well as the support of former noble members, thus all Spanish and Portuguese nobles proudly display the characteristic crosses of the great chivalric orders on their portraits. Foreigners were admitted to the order as honorary knights, however they were not subject to the statutes and were excluded from the participation in the revenues (after "The British herald, or Cabinet of armorial bearings ..." by Thomas Robson, p. 88). They were not permanent members of the order, therefore, for example in the Catalog of Knights of the Order of Christ (Catálogo dos cavaleiros da ordem, published in "La bibliografía de la Orden Militar de Cristo ..." by Juan de Ávila Gijón) between 1579-1631, there is no foreign name. From Madrid, the Lithuanian travelers and their companions went on foot to Santiago de Compostela (one hundred Spanish miles), a major place of Catholic pilgrimage. Although there is no confirmation of this in the available sources, the reception of two Radziwill brothers by the King of Portugal was undoubtedly accompanied by an exchange of gifts and foreign noble guests were often honored in a special way, such as Jan Amor Tarnowski, knighted by King Manuel in Lisbon in 1516, together with two Polish companions (after "Jan Tarnowski ..." by Zdzisław Spieralski, p. 82). Stanislaus died in Passau in Germany, in 1599, during his pilgrimage to Loreto in Italy. According to his last will, he was buried in the Bernardine Church in Vilnius. His tombstone was however created much later, between 1618-1623, most likely in the workshop of the Flemish sculptor Willem van den Blocke, who worked in Gdańsk. His funerary statue was therefore based on some earlier effigies sent to Gdańsk. This tombstone was heavily damaged during the Deluge (1655-1660), when Vilnius was occupied by Russian forces, who burned down the church and killed the monks and civilians hiding in the monastery. In the National Museum of Art in Kaunas in Lithuania there is a portrait of a man with a cross of a chivalric order on his chest (oil on canvas, 61 x 48.5 cm, inventory number ČDM MŽ 139). His costume clearly dates from the 1570s and resembles some effigies of King Henry of Valois, elected monarach of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and his courtiers - tall black hat with a feather and a ruff, thus the portrait was initially considered to be his likeness. A similar cross is seen on a leaf from the Book of scriptures of the Order of Christ (Livro das escrituras da Ordem de Cristo) with the crowned coat of arms of King Sebastian of Portugal, created between 1560-1568 (Convent of Christ in Tomar) and closely resemble the badge of the order, the motto of which was "the Christian army" (Militia Christiana), gold and enamelled cross, today in the National Palace of Ajuda in Lisbon (inventory number 5190). Very similar crosses were depicted in several portraits, notably the portrait of a knight of the Order of Christ, presumed to be Vasco da Gama (1469-1524) by Portuguese or Flemish painter (Corneille de Lyon?), from the second quarter of the 16th century, and another by Portuguese painter from the second quarter of the 17th century, both in the National Museum of Ancient Art in Lisbon (697 Pint, 71 Min). The painting can be attributed to the Flemish, Spanish or German school, however, its style is strikingly similar to the portrait of Marie de' Medici (1575-1642), Queen of France by Alessandro Maganza (1556-1632) in the Lithuanian National Museum of Art in Vilnius (LNDM T 4018), identified by me. Similarities with the likeness of Bianca Cappello (1548-1587), Grand Duchess of Tuscany (private collection) and the Virgin and Child with Saints (Nationalmuseum in Stockholm) by Maganza, can also be indicated. Like the portrait of the Queen of France, the portrait of a knight in Kaunas probably also comes from the Radziwill collection, a powerful family with extensive possessions in many countries of the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. In 1572, Maganza moved to Venice, following the advice of his friend the sculptor Alessandro Vittoria. After his marriage in 1576 he returned to Vicenza, between Padua and Verona in the Venetian Republic. Assisted by his flourishing family workshop - in which his four children were employed - he worked for clients in the Venetian cities including Verona, Brescia and Padua and in Florence - portrait of a man with his son, from the collection of Leopoldo de' Medici (1617-1675) where it was attributed to Tintoretto (1588, Uffizi Gallery, inventory 1890, n. 940) or the Feast of Herod (Pitti Palace, Palatina 387). Based on all these facts, the portrait could be identified as an effigy of a Portuguese knight by Maganza, if not a striking resemblance of the sitter to the portrait of Stanislaus Radziwill in the Wilanów Palace in Warsaw (Wil.1222). This portrait is an 18th century copy of an earlier effigy that has not been preserved, possibly by a Venetian painter, and was signed in Latin (STANISLAVS RADZIWILL D.G.DVX IN OŁIKA ET NIESWIEZ ...). He was depicted in a ruff and armor engraved with gold, as in his other known likenesses - a drawing in the State Hermitage Museum (ОР-45854) from the mid-17th century and a painting in the Lviv Historical Museum from the late 18th century. The painting was most likely created or commissioned in Vicenza in 1579 during Stanislaus' trip from Milan to Venice. If from that date Maganza and his workshop worked mainly for customers from Poland-Lithuania, many of his works were destroyed due to the wars and invasions that the country experienced in the following eras. 
Portrait of Stanislaus Radziwill (1559-1599) with the cross of the Portuguese Order of Christ by Alessandro Maganza, ca. 1579, National Museum of Art in Kaunas.
Portraits of Katarzyna Tęczyńska by Francesco Montemezzano and workshop of Alessandro Maganza
Another portrait of the member of the Radziwill family close to the style of Alessandro Maganza (before 1556-1632) is now in the National Museum in Warsaw (oil on canvas, 133 x 88.5 cm, 128854 MNW). It depict Katarzyna (Catherine) Tęczyńska (1544/5-1592), daughter of Stanisław Gabriel Tęczyński, voivode of Kraków, and Anna Bogusz. The family of Count Tęczyński was one of the most influential and wealthy families of the Polish kingdom (Imperial counts from 1527). At the age of 14 or 15, in May 1558, she married Ruthenian Prince Yuri Olelkovich-Slutsky (ca. 1531-1578). Yuri was Orthodox, and Katarzyna, although Catholic, was well versed in Orthodox worship, as her mother was also Orthodox. Faith was not an obstacle in Poland-Lithuania before the Counter-Reformation. She received a rich dowry of 20,000 zlotys including silverware, pearls and jewelry worth 13,000 zlotys and 10,000 in cash. She bore 3 sons to her husband and when he died in 1578 she managed principalities and many estates until her sons come of age. In addition, she received additional lands from the king.
Three years later, in 1581, Katarzyna remarried. The wealthy widow chose younger Christopher Nicolaus Radziwill (1547-1603), nicknamed "the Thunderbolt", Field Hetman of Lithuania. She became his third wife and gave birth to two of his children. She died on March 19, 1592. The Warsaw painting most likely comes from Tęczyn (Tenczyn) Castle and, like other portraits of members of the Tęczyński family kept in the same museum (128851, 128850, 139537), it passed after 1816 to the Potocki collection in Krzeszowice where it was enlarged and repainted. These modifications were removed during the conservation of the painting in 1986-1991. The painting was attributed to local painters from Slutsk (anonymous) or Kraków (Martin Kober) or an unknown Polish-Lithuanian workshop, but its style with blurred lines is evidently Venetian and closest to Maganza. It is not as elaborate as other paintings by the master, indicating that it was probably from a series of paintings commissioned from his workshop. Stylistically, it can be compared to the work signed by Alessandro's son, Giovanni Battista the Younger (IO: BAPT. MAGAN. / P.) in the church of Santa Corona in Vicenza, depicting the League against the Turks in 1571. It was painted in the late 16th century or early 17th century, hence the portraits of King Philip II of Spain, Pope Pius V and Doge Alvise Mocenigo were modeled on other effigies. Tęczyńska is dressed as a widow in a Polish-style black dress with white sleeves and a transparent veil called rańtuch or rąbek. She also wears a ruff, very similar to that in the portrait of Queen Anna Jagiellon in Amsterdam (Rijksmuseum, SK-A-3891). The large Latin inscription above her head: "In the year of the Lord 1580. Catherine, Countess of Tęczyn, by the grace of God, Princess of Slutsk, 35 years old" (ANNO DOMINI M.DL XXX. / CATHERINA COMES A THENCZN DEI / GRATIA DVCISSA SLVCENSIS ÆTATIS / SVÆ XXXV AÑO.) and the coat of arms were probably added later. The painting was most likely commissioned by the widow as a gift for her relatives. Although in the majority of her surviving effigies she is dressed as a widow (a drawing in the Hermitage Museum, ОР-45851 and a print from Icones familiæ ducalis Radivilianæ ...), similar to some effigies of Queen Bona Sforza and of Queen Anna Jagiellon, this does not mean that she was always a widow or that she always dressed as such. The list of jewels of Princess Olelkovich-Slutska written on April 16, 1580 in Slutsk (AGAD, 1/354/0/26/949), lists many of her jewels such as six necklaces, including "a necklace in which rubies twenty eight, diamonds seven, pearls twenty" and 21 pendant crosses set with precious stones. She undoubtedly also had more exquisite dresses. Some surviving inventories of the Radziwill family indicate that they possessed the most elaborate works of art created in Europe and imported from the Orient. Silverware, weapons and fabrics prevail as the most valuable, but sometimes female dresses and paintings are mentioned. Register of armours and jewels belonging to Katarzyna's second husband Christopher Nicolaus Radziwill from 1584 (Central Archives of Historical Records in Warsaw - AGAD, 1/354/0/26/5) contains only one portrait - the image of his third wife Katarzyna Tęczyńska (Obraz Jey Mći), as well as 10 large Venetian tapestries (Opon weneczkich wielkich iedwabnych - Dziesieć) and 12 tapestries "with faces", made in Poland-Lithuania (Opon s twarzami domowey roboty - dwanaseci). It also includes the dresses of two of his deceased wives Katarzyna Sobek - 4 black velvet dresses, one embroidered with silver thread (snurkiem srebrnym obwiedziony) and many other exquisite dresses of his second wife Katarzyna Ostrogska, daughter of Zofia Tarnowska, including a red velvet dress (Hazuka Axamitna wzorzysta czyrwona), Spanish dress of red gold cloth (Hazuka Hiszpanska złotogłowowa czyrwona), a Spanish robe of red gold cloth with a smaller pattern and 52 gold clasps (Szata czyrwonego złotogłowu drobnieyszego Hispanska ... w niey feretow zlotych piecdziesiat dwa) and 7 for summer, one of white satin embroidered with gold thread (Lietnik Atłassowy biały z bramami drobnemi ... złotym snurkiem obwiedzione) and two of silver and gold cloth - blue and dark brown (Lietnik srebrogłowowy blekitny czałowity, Lietnik złotogłowowy bronatny czałowity). Register of a part of belongings of the same Christopher Nicolaus, made in 1600 (AGAD, 1/354/0/26/7), lists 2 large Venetian tapestries (Opon weneckich wielkich II) and 3 small tapestries made in Poland-Lithuania (oponek domowey roboty ... 3), several old tapestries "with faces" (opon staroswieckich stwarzami) and female dresses (Szaty białogłowskie). Register of property of Prince Boguslaus Radziwill (1620-1669) from 1657 (AGAD, 1/354/0/26/79.2), lists many paintings from his collection including several by Cranach, Italian and Dutch paintings and Ruthenian icons (Siedm obrazow ruskich). The mentions about the paintings are very general which confirms their lesser value: "Two Paintings of Saints on Copper", "23. Long Drawer with a picture of Susanna, a picture of a naked woman, the second picture also of a woman", "24. A drawer with different paintings in frames 28 pieces ...", "33. A drawer with five paintings", "34. A drawer with a battle painted on copper", "25. A drawer with a large painting of a woman on canvas, ebony frame", "19. A drawer with ten Italian paintings in frames and one of Queen Barbara [Radziwill], nine various paintings without frames", "45. A drawer with two small old paintings", "53. A drawer with six paintings of women without frames, one of a male Radziwill without frame, four paintings with frames", "57. A drawer with thirteen Italian paintings", "58. A drawer with fourteen different paintings", "Two images", "Nine pictures" ... etc. An effigy of "Katarzyna Tęczyńska, wife of Prince Christopher" (111) is mentioned among the paintings from the collection of Princess Louise Charlotte Radziwill (1667-1695), inventoried in 1671 (after "Inwentarz galerii obrazów Radziwiłłów z XVII w." by Teresa Sulerzyska). Tęczyńska's face can also be identified in another painting from the Venetian school. She has larger lips as in the Icones familiæ ducalis Radivilianæ ..., but the general resemblance of the face to the Warsaw painting is striking. She is dressed in a Venetian summer dress of very expensive gold cloth and holds a small dog, a symbol of marital fidelity. The landscape behind her probably symbolizes her vast lands. This painting, now in the Harvard Art Museums - Fogg Museum in Cambridge, Massachusetts (oil on canvas, 125.5 x 105.8 cm, inventory number 1917.220), was donated in 1917 by Edward Waldo Forbes (1873- 1969), American art historian and the director of the Fogg Art Museum at Harvard University from 1909 to 1944. Its earlier history is unknown. The work is dated around 1580 and was previously attributed to Antonio Badile (1516-1560), Paolo Caliari, called Veronese (1528-1588) and now to Francesco Montemezzano (1555 - after 1602), who painted the portraits of Queen Anna Jagiellon, identified by me. The same workshops (Maganza and Montemezzano) also painted the effigies of Princess Elizabeth Euphemia Radziwill née Vyshnevetska (1569-1596). 
Portrait of Katarzyna Tęczyńska (d. 1592), Princess of Slutsk, aged 35 by workshop of Alessandro Maganza, 1580, National Museum in Warsaw.
Portrait of Katarzyna Tęczyńska (d. 1592), Princess of Slutsk with a dog by Francesco Montemezzano, ca. 1580-1584, Harvard Art Museums. Virtual reconstruction, © Marcin Latka
Portraits of Count Stanisław Górka by Anthonis Mor and Adriaen Thomasz. Key
On February 14, 1580 a synod of the Protestants was held in Poznań, presided over by Count Stanisław Górka (1538-1592), voivode of Poznań (Stanislaus Comes a Gorka Palatinus Posnanienis - according to inscription on his tomb monument), one of the leaders of the Lutherans in Greater Poland. German Paulus Gericius and Polish Jan Enoch, ministers of the Lutheran church in Poznań, opposed the merger and any unity with the Bohemian Brethren, the so-called Sandomierz Consensus (Consensus Sendomiriensis), an agreement reached in 1570 between a number of Protestant groups in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. At the synod, the Sandomierz Consensus was confirmed again, and the voivode rebuked the troublemakers (after "Wiadomość historyczna o Dyssydentach ..." by Józef Łukaszewicz, p. 103).
Stanisław was a son of Barbara Kurozwęcka (d. 1545) and Andrzej I Górka (1500-1551), an envoy who has studied and traveled abroad and made a close friendship with Duke Albert of Prussia (1490-1568), who visited him in Poznań during his meeting with Duke Frederick II of Legnica (1480-1547). The Górkas were Imperial counts (title granted by Emperor Charles V in 1520 or 1534). Between 1554-1555 Stanisław studied at the University of Wittenberg. In 1557 he participated in the campaign of the Polish-Lithuanian army against the Livonian Order and in 1565 he took part in the Livonian War. After death of Sigismund II Augustus in 1572 he supported the candidacy of the High Burgrave of Bohemia William of Rožmberk and then the French prince Henry of Valois during the royal election. In 1573, after the death of his elder brother Łukasz III (d. 1573), Stanisław received the post of voivode of Poznań. In 1574 he met Henry of Valois on the border of the Commonwealth and he entertained him in Kórnik. He initially stongly opposed the the camp of "Cezarians" (imperial supporters), and sided with the nobles shouting that they prefer the devil to a Habsburg (after "Infuły i szyszaki ..." by Amelia Lączyńska, p. 188), but eventually he sided with them (from about 1578) and in 1588 he fought at Byczyna against Jan Zamoyski. From then on, he was in opposition to the king until the end of his life. His marriage to Jadwiga Sobocka remained childless and as a result the Górka family died out in the male line. His huge estates together with Kórnik became the property of his nephew Jan Czarnkowski (d. 1618/19). Stanisław maintained contacts with leaders of the Lutheran community, like Philip Melanchthon and Duke Albert of Prussia and during the second interregnum, he was even considered as a candidate for the throne. In 1573, he came into conflict with the chapter of the Poznań cathedral. It was about refusing the burial of his brother Łukasz III, an ardent Lutheran, in the family chapel in the Poznań cathedral. He decided to build a new chapel in the family seat in Kórnik, a Protestant mausoleum modelled on royal Sigismund Chapel in Kraków (after "Rezydencja Stanisława Górki ..." by Katarzyna Janicka, pp. 93, 103, 105). Eight years before his death, in 1584, he signed a contract with Dutch sculptor Hendrik Horst (d. 1612), active in Lviv, to whom he commissioned the execution of marble-alabaster tombstones for himself and his brothers Łukasz (d. 1573) and Andrzej II (d. 1583) and an alabaster crucifix. At that time, Horst and his workshop also worked on tombstones of voivodes of Ruthenia in Berezhany (1582-1586). Large quantities of Lviv alabaster were imported to Poznań and Kórnik - only in 1592 three coachmen from Skierniewice delivered to "Stheinszneider [stone cutter] Henryk [Hendrik Horst]" 30 pieces of "Ruthenian marble" for the mausoleum (after "Mauzoleum Górków w Kórniku" by Jan Harasimowicz, p. 290). This commission, completed after the death of Stanisław Górka by his nephew Jan Czarnkowski, has not survived in its original form as Kórnik suffered particularly severely during the Deluge (1655-1660), when the army of the Elector of Brandenburg stationed there. Later the mausoleum was transformed into a Marian chapel between 1735-1737. The count was one of the richest men of that time in the Commonwealth. His fortune consisted of the property of the Górkas in Greater Poland, Lesser Poland and in Ruthenia. Stanisław and his brother Andrzej also actively participated in the grain trade in the 1570s by sending transports to Pomerania (after "Studia z dziejów Ziemi lubuskiej" by Władysław Korcz, p. 116). Almost throughout the 16th century, Poland enjoyed an excellent grain boom, therefore Venice and the Duchy of Tuscany, affected by crop failures and famine in the western Mediterranean, became directly interested in import of Polish grain, however, the transport was organized by the Dutch (after "Ceny, płace i koszty utrzymania ..." by Antoni Mączak, p. 763), who also controlled the grain trade in Pomerania. Much of the grain also went to the Netherlands, so luxury goods were acquired and ordered there. Already in the Middle Ages, wealthy patrons from Poland recognized the quality of Netherlandish craftsmanship. Janusz Suchywilk (d. 1382), Chancellor and Archbishop of Gniezno and Andrzej Bniński (1396-1479), Bishop of Poznań, ordered their tomb slabs in Flanders (after "Polskie nagrobki gotyckie" by Przemysław Mrozowski, pp. 47, 90). The monument to Andrzej I and Barbara Górka née Kurozwęcka in Poznań Cathedral, founded by Andrzej II, was created in Kraków by Girolamo Canavesi from Milan and transported to Poznań. The Latin inscription on the cornice at eye level is an advertisement of his workshop in Kraków - "The work of Girolamo Canavesi, who lives in Kraków at St. Florian's Street, in the year of the Lord 1574" (Opus Hieronimi Canavexi qui manet Cracoviae in platea S. Floriani A.D. 1574). The residences of the Górkas in Poznań and Kórnik were also filled with exquisite works of art. "The house was decorated with so much gold, silver, and [Flemish?] tapestries that it would not easily be inferior to any prince's [abode] in all its ornamentation", describes the Górka Palace in Poznań a chronicler after the meeting concerning the situation of Protestants in Prussia, Germany, Greater Poland and Silesia in November 1543. Following the example of the kings, Stanisław maintained his own music band and his house in Poznań was called "the house of weddings and music" (dom godów i muzyki). German composer Hermann Finck (1527-1558) dedicated his five volumes of Practica Mvsica on musical theory and the performance of vocal music, published in Wittenberg in 1556, to Górka brothers (DOMINIS COMITIBVS A GORCA MAGNIFICO DOMINO LVCAE PALATINO BRZESTENSI, ANDREAE & Stanislao Buscensibus ...) and addressed a separate dedication to Stanisław (Fuit eximia erga me quoque liberalitas Celsitudinis tuae, Ilustris Domine Stanislæ). In the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium in Brussels, there is a portrait of a man by Adriaen Thomasz. Key (oil on panel, 86 x 63 cm, inventory number 3621). It was signed by the painter (monogram on the book: ATK) and comes from the bequest of painter Paul Hamman, purchased from Thomas Agnew & Sons gallery in London in 1902. The man in a strict pose and attire, like a judge, holds his hand on a book, possibly a bible, as if indicating that what is written in it is the most important. There are several rings on a pointing finger of his left hand one of which is clearly a signet ring with his coat of arms (indistinct), so the man is a wealthy aristocrat. According to Latin inscription in upper part of the painting he was 42 in 1580 (1580. / ÆTA.42.), exaclty as Count Stanisław Górka, when he presided the synod of the Protestants in Poznań. Exact, reduced copy of this painting was sold in New York in 2003 (oil on paper on panel, 82 x 48.5 cm, sold at Christie's on January 24, 2003, lot 52). The same man was depicted in a "Portrait of a gentleman" (Retrato de caballero) in a Dutch-style frame in carved, ebonized and polychromed wood imitating tortoiseshell, sold in Seville (oil on canvas, 44 x 33 cm, Isbilya Subastas, June 22, 2022, lot 80). The shape of his small ruff is typical of Western European fashion in the 1560s, similar to that seen in a portrait of a gentleman with a hunting dog by Anthonis Mor dated '1569' (signed upper left: Antonius mor pingebat a. 1569, National Gallery of Art in Washington, 1937.1.52). The painting is attributed to the Italian school of the 17th century, however, stylistically the closest is the portrait of Martín de Gurrea y Aragón (1526-1581), Duke of Villahermosa and count of Ribagorza, attributed to circle of Anthonis Mor, which was before 1935 in Vienna (Nationalmuseum in Stockholm, NM 3233). Similar soft brushstrokes are also seen in other works attributed to Mor - portrait of Giovanni Battista di Castaldo (Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum) and portrait of Alfonso d'Avalos (Czartoryski Museum). The shape of the man's ear from the Seville portrait is slightly different from Key's paintings, however comparison with the portraits of King Philip II by Mor and his studio indicates that even the same painter and his entourage were not so strict in this regard. The portrait sold in Seville is in fact a copy of a painting attributed to Mor, the existence of which was notified to me by ArteDelToro on February 2, 2024. This "Portrait of a Gentleman, bust-length, in a dark slashed doublet and ruff" was sold in 1998 in London (oil on panel, 42.5 x 32.4 cm, Christie's, auction 5944, April 24, 1998, lot 44). The monogram incised on the reverse testifies that it belonged to Don Gaspar Méndez de Haro (1629-1687), 7th Marquis of Carpio. The marquis, who died in Naples, was an important art collector and acquired many splendid paintings in Italy, including several works by Tintoretto, Christ Crowned with Thorns by Antonello da Messina (Metropolitan Museum of Art, 32.100.82) or the Adoration of the Child by Lorenzo Lotto with disguised portrait of Catherine Cornaro, Queen of Cyprus as Saint Catherine (National Museum in Kraków, MNK XII-A-639). He also owned the portrait of John Sigismund Zapolya, King of Hungary by Tintoretto and the portrait of Clara of Brunswick-Lüneburg (1550-1598), Duchess of Pomerania by Giovanni Battista Moroni, identified by me. Anthonis traveled widely and painted the most important monarchs and aristocrats of Western Europe. Perhaps his visit to Poland or Stanisław Górka's stay in Antwerp are yet to be discovered, but as with many of his portraits of monarchs, the painter and his studio had to rely heavily on preparatory drawings, similar to sculptors creating tombstones with carvings of the deceased. Wanting and expecting high quality, the count could send drawings by local or court artists, similar to Clouet's crayons, to Antwerp or painting workshops to sent their pupils to different places (including to Poznań), as Cranach and most likely Canavesi did, to create initial drawings. The man in the described portraits bears a strong resemblance to the voivode of Poznań from his funerary monument in Kórnik, effigy of his great-grandfather Andrzej Szamotulski (d. 1511), voivode of Poznań as a donor (Virgin and Child with Saint Anne, Saint Andrew and Saint Jerome, ca. 1521, Collegiate Church in Szamotuły) and his grandfather Łukasz II Górka (1482-1542), general starost of Greater Poland as a donor (Annunciation by Master of Szamotuły, 1529, Kórnik Castle, founded by Łukasz II to the Górka Chapel at the Poznań Cathedral). 
Portrait of Count Stanisław Górka (1538-1592) by Anthonis Mor, 1560s, Private collection.
Portrait of Count Stanisław Górka (1538-1592) by circle of Anthonis Mor, 1560s, Private collection.
Portrait of Count Stanisław Górka (1538-1592), voivode of Poznań, aged 42 by Adriaen Thomasz. Key, 1580, Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium in Brussels.
Portrait of Count Stanisław Górka (1538-1592), voivode of Poznań by Adriaen Thomasz. Key, ca. 1580, Private collection.
Portraits of Nicolaus Christopher Radziwill "the Orphan" by Domenico Tintoretto and Francesco Bassano
Around 1550 in Lukiškės, a part of the city of Vilnius, located to the west and southwest of the Old Town, Nicolaus "the Black" Radziwill (1515-1565), cousin of Queen Barbara, built a magnificent renaissance villa or a summer manor house, beautifully located in the bend of the Neris river, surrounded by the steep banks of the river and a pine forest. The estate was owned by the Radziwill family from 1522 and called Radziwill Lukiškės, later Vingis in Lithuanian or Zakręt in Polish, both meaning a bend or a curve.
Lukiškės (Łukiszki in Polish) took its name from the name of a merchant, Łuka Pietrowicz, most probably a Ruthenian, who founded a settlement here in the 14th century in the land given to him by Vytautas the Great. It was also here that Vytautas settled the Tatars, who had their mosque in Lukiškės, and in the 15th century the district was also called Tatar Lukiškės (after "Przewodnik po Wilnie" by Władysław Zahorski, p.83). Nicolaus "the Black", the strongest supporter of the Reformation in Lithuania, arranged a chapel for the Calvinists in one of the rooms. Protestants were active in the manor in the years 1553-1561, and the estate became the cradle of the Reformation in Lithuania. "In a room covered with a pall, in front of a table on which there were branched candlesticks with three Graces of Greek mythology, Czechowicz with Wędrychowski, Catholic priests in the past, taught from the pulpit the Lithuanian nobility", wrote Teodor Narbutt in his work published in Vilnius in 1856 ("Pomniejsze pisma historyczne szczególnie do historyi Litwy odnoszące się", p. 66). In 1558 a reformed school also started operating in the palace. Nicolaus "the Black" died in Lukiškės in May 28/29, 1565 and the estate was inherited by his sons. The eldest, Nicolaus Christopher Radziwill "the Orphan" (1549-1616), received his primary education in Lukiškės in the Protestant gymnasium founded by his father. "In the 1550s and the 1560s the palace in Lukiškės was one of the most important centers of political, religious and cultural life of the then Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth" (after "Miles Christianus et peregrinus: fundacje Mikołaja Radziwiłła "Sierotki" w ordynacji nieświeskiej" by Tadeusz Bernatowicz, p. 139). Between 1566-1574, the sons of Nicolaus "the Black" converted from Calvinism to Catholicism. According to legend, Nicolaus Christopher received the nickname "the Orphan" in early childhood. Allegedly, once the King Sigismund Augustus found the child left unattended in one of the rooms of the royal palace, he caressed the child saying: "poor orphan". On June 20, 1569 he was granted the post of Court Marshal of Lithuania. Soon "the Orphan" became close to the king and carried out his personal assignments until his death. In 1567, Nicolaus Christopher "the Orphan" inherited his father's estate and became the guardian of his younger brothers and sisters. He was a capable diplomat and in 1573, he headed the embassy to Paris to Henry of Valois. The journey at the turn of 1573 and 1574 lasted six months. After returning to the Commonwealth, he fell seriously ill and vowed to make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land as soon as his health allowed. It is believed that Nicolaus Christopher was ill with gout and some kind of venereal disease. He set out in the autumn of 1580 and after treatment near Padua and Lucca, he spent the entire spring of 1581 in Venice, also visiting Padua and Bologna. There was a plague in the Middle East at that time, so "the Orphan" changed his plans and returned the Commonwealth in April 1581. In 1582 he again left for Italy, from where in 1583 he went to the Holy Land. Together with his brothers Albert (1558-1592) and Stanislaus (1559-1599), he created the Nesvizh, Kletsk and Olyka entails in 1586, becoming the first Nesvizh ordynat. He was also Grand Marshal of Lithuania from 1579 and castellan of Trakai from 1586. In 1584 Stanislaus, nicknamed "the Pious", first ordynat of Olyka, offered part of the Lukiškės estate to the Jesuits and in 1593 he also donated the remaining part of the Lukiškės estate with the palace and other buildings. Jesuit Lukiškės became the intellectual and cultural center of Vilnius at that time. In the years 1593-1774, traditional ceremonies of conferring academic degrees were held there. From 1646, there was a garden of medicinal herbs, and tinctures and mixtures were sold in the Jesuit Academic Pharmacy. In March 1647 the Jesuits offered a sumptuous feast in the villa in Lukiškės to the royal couple, Ladislaus IV and Marie Louise Gonzaga, who visited the academy. Between 1655 and 1660, during the Deluge, like much of the capital of Lithuania, Lukiškės and Tatar estates were destroyed. In the place of a manor house or near to it, in the years 1757-1761, the Jesuits built a baroque three-story palace to design by Johann Christoph Glaubitz. According to Teodor Narbutt ("Pomniejsze pisma historyczne szczególnie do historyi Litwy odnoszące się", p. 66-67), in the chapel in the left wing of the palace there was a beautiful painting of the "Three Marys going to the tomb of the Savior, painted by the Italian school", possibly from the Radziwill collection, lost after 1793. During his stays in Venice in 1580 or 1582 "the Orphan" commissioned a marble altar of the Holy Cross, created in 1583, which was originally intended for the parish church in Nesvizh, built in the years 1581-1584, later moved to the new Corpus Christi Church, constructed between 1587-1593 by Gian Maria Bernardoni. The altar is attributed to Girolamo Campagna (1549-1625), a sculptor from Verona and a pupil of Jacopo Sansovino, and a signature of his collaborator Cesare Franco (Franchi, Francus, Francho) from Padua is visible on the base: CESARE DE FRANCHI PATAVINO OPVS FEC ... /...CHI LAPICIDA VENETIIS 1583. The sculptures were probably transported to Nievizh in 1586, and the permit issued by the Doge of Venice, Pasquale Cicogna (1509-1595), for the transport of marbles probably concerns the altar of the Holy Cross (after "Rzeźby Campagni i Franco w Nieświeżu a wczesny barok" by Tadeusz Bernatowicz, p. 31) or other sculptures commissioned in Venice. Marble bust of a painter Francesco Bassano the Younger (1549-1592), the eldest son of Jacopo and brother of Leandro, from his tombstone in the church of San Francesco in Bassano (today in the Museo Civico di Bassano del Grappa), created in about 1592, is also attributed to Campagna as well as bust of Christopher Nicolaus Radziwill (1590-1607), Nicolaus Christopher's son, in the Corpus Christi Church in Nesvizh. Letter from courtier Rafał Kos of February 1, 1594 (AGAD reference number: 1/354/0/5/7374) written from Venice, which mentions a painter named Mazzuola, confirms that paintings were imported from Venice by Nicolaus Christopher "the Orphan" (after "W poszukiwaniu utraconej tożsamości" by Jolanta Meder-Kois, Izabella Wiercińska). Portrait of young man in a black coat lined with lynx fur and with a landscape visible in the distance through a window, was acquired by the Pushkin Museum in Moscow in the 1930s from an unknown source as the work of the painter from the Bassano circle (inventory number 2842). It is today attributed to Domenico Tintoretto (1560-1635), the eldest son of Jacopo, who from 1578 was already involved in Tintoretto's Gonzaga cycle and participated in the redecoration of the Doge's Palace between 1580 and 1584. The man presents his estate which resemble greatly the topography of the Vingis estate (Radziwill Lukiškės) in Vilnius, depicted on a map created in 1646 (collection of the Vilnius University), as well as on watercolor paintings by Seweryn Karol Smolikowski created in 1832 (National Museum in Warsaw, inventory number Rys.Pol.14339 MNW and Rys.Pol.14340 MNW), and by Marceli Januszkiewicz created in 1836 (National Museum of Lithuania). The architecture of his Italian-style villa is similar to the pavillons of the Radziwill Palace in Vilnius, the larger palace of the Calvinist branch of the family, depicted in 1653 medal by Sebastian Dadler. There is a church or a chapel far in the background with high tower, similar to that visible on 1646 map of Lukiškės (F), undoubtedly a Catholic temple. It can be assumed that it symbolizes the triumph of Catholicism over the cradle of the Reformation in Lithuania. The young man from the portrait is therefore the eldest son of Nicolaus "the Black", Nicolaus Christopher "the Orphan". He was depicted in very similar costume and in similar compositon (window, table) in a print created by Tomasz Makowski in Nesvizh in 1604 - Panegyric of the Skorulski brothers (Jan, Zachariasz and Mikołaj) on the occasion of receiving the office of voivode of Vilnius by Nicholaus Christopher (National Museum in Kraków, inventory number MNK III-ryc.-36976). The same man, in similar costume, was also represented in another painting which was attributed to Domenico Tintoretto - Portrait of a man holding his right hand on his heart. This work comes from the collection of Géza von Osmitz (1870-1967) in Bratislava (sold in Vienna, 12 March 1920, lot 68). The style of this painting is more close to the Bassanos, especially portrait of King Stephen Bathory by Francesco Bassano the Younger from the Ambras Castle, identified by me. The man from both described portraits bear a great resemblance to effigies of Nicolaus Christopher, all created in his later age, like engraving by Lukas Kilian, created in Augsburg in about 1610 (National Library in Warsaw, inventory number G.10401) or engraving by Dominicus Custos, published in 1601, after a drawing by the Veronese painter Giovanni Battista Fontana (1541-1587), who decorated the walls of the Spanish Hall at Ambras (Lithuanian Art Museum, inventory number LDKVR VR 667). A two sided miniature in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence (inventory number 1890, 4051, oil on copper, 10.2 cm) is on one side a reduced and simplified version of the painting by Bassano, showing the man in a similar pose but with a different hairstyle. Both portraits, although close to miniatures by the Bassanos in the Uffizi (1890, 4072, 9053, 9026), also relate to works of Sofonisba Anguissola, who moved to Sicily (1573), and later Pisa (1579) and Genoa (1581). 
Portrait of Nicolaus Christopher Radziwill "the Orphan" (1549-1616) with a view of the Vingis estate (Radziwill Lukiškės) in Vilnius by Domenico Tintoretto, 1580-1586, Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts in Moscow.
Portrait of Nicolaus Christopher Radziwill "the Orphan" (1549-1616) by Francesco Bassano the Younger or workshop, 1580-1586, Private collection.
Miniature portrait of Nicolaus Christopher Radziwill "the Orphan" (1549-1616) by workshop of the Bassanos or Sofonisba Anguissola, 1580-1586, Uffizi Gallery.
Portrait of Gustav Eriksson Vasa by Sofonisba Anguissola
In 1575 another inconvenient royal child was sent to be raised abroad, this time from Sweden to Poland. In August 1563 King Eric XIV of Sweden imprisoned Catherine Jagiellon, Duchess of Finland in Gripsholm Castle. She was released in 1567, but during this four-year imprisonment she gave birth to a daughter and a son, future Sigismund III. Catherine was crowned queen of Sweden in spring of 1569, when Eric was deposed. In March 1575, the Swedish Council of State decided to separate the seven-year-old boy Gustav Eriksson Vasa, the only son of Eric XIV, from his mother Karin Månsdotter, as king John III feared that the deposed Eric's followers in Sweden would use Gustav to be able to carry out their reinstatement plans. At Catherine's request her sister Anna agreed to take care of him.
He was well educated, attended the best Jesuit schools in Toruń and Vilnius and Collegium Hosianum in Braniewo. He knew many languages as well as astrology, chemistry and medicine. He travelled to Rome in 1586 and to Prague to meet Emperor Rudolf II, who learned about his chemical talent. As education and travel at that time were far more expensive than nowadays, he was not living in poverty as a prisoner or even a slave in chains in a poor and barbaric country, as some people want to believe. A small portrait of a child by Sofonisba Anguissola in profuse mannerist frame from private collection in Switzerland (oil on wood, 37 x 28 cm, Van Ham Kunstauktionen in Cologne, June 2, 2021, lot 926), shows a boy wearing an elegant black velvet doublet trimmed in gold, black hose and a black cape, like an attendant of the Jesuit school. The boy's features are very similar to these known from portraits of Eric XIV, his daughter Sigrid and to the portrait of a woman from Gripsholm Castle from about 1580, which is identified as Eric's step-sister Princess Elizabeth or his wife Karin Månsdotter. His pose and costume are almost identical with these visible in portrait of king John III of Sweden, husband of Catherine Jagiellon and Gustav Eriksson's uncle, in the Nationalmuseum in Stockholm, a copy of original portrait by Johan Baptista van Uther from 1582. Anguissola's portrait can be threfore dated to 1582, a year when Gustav Eriksson reached his legal age of 14, and it was commissioned by his foster mother, proud of her boy starting education, most probably as one of a series for herself, her friends in Poland and abroad. 
Portrait of Gustav Eriksson Vasa (1568-1607) by Sofonisba Anguissola, ca. 1582, Private collection.
Portrait of the Beautiful Nana and her husband by Sofonisba Anguissola
Another mysterious portrait by Anguissola from the 1580s was acquired in 1949 by the National Museum in Warsaw from private collection (oil on canvas, 60 x 48.5 cm, inventory number M.Ob.1079 MNW). It was previously attributed to Giovanni Battista Moroni and it shows a man with his daughter.
The girl is holding a flower with four petals, similar to a primrose considered as a symbol of true (faithful) love, just as in "The Primrose" by John Donne (1572-1631), to white Caucasian rockcress (Arabis caucasica) or myrtle, consecrated to Venus, goddess of love and used in bridal wreaths - Pliny call it the "nuptial myrtle" (Myrtus coniugalis, Natural History, XV 122). She wears a coral necklace, a fertility symbol in ancient Rome (after Gerald W. R. Ward's "The Grove Encyclopedia of Materials and Techniques in Art", 2008, p. 145), as in portraits of young brides by Florentine painter Domenico Ghirlandaio and in Polish folk costumes, and a symbol of protection, meant to bring good luck, as in portraits of court dwarf Magdalena Ruiz. The red-haired man with blue eyes holds firmly a hand of young blue-eyed blond girl, this is not her father, this is her husband. In 1581 Anna Jagiellon sent to her friend Bianca Cappello, Grand Duchess of Tuscany, one pretty, graceful female dwarf who could dance and sing. Monsignor Alberto Bolognetti, Bishop of Massa Marittima organized a travel for her from Warsaw through Kraków and Vienna. She was accompanied by "a Polish Gentleman named Mr. Giovanni Kobilmiczhi, and I [...] lingua Cobilnisczi, who is setting off in a carriage. I believe that the girl will feel comfortable, being highly recommended to the gentleman, and provided with whatever she needs to protect her from cold" (un Gentilhuomo Polaco nominato Signore Giovanni Kobilmiczhi, et mi [...] lingua Cobilnisczi, Il quale mettendo a viaggio in carozza. Mi credo che la fanciulla si condurrà comodamente, havendola lo massime al gentilhuomo molto raccomandata, et provista di qual che suo bisogno per difenderla dal freddo), according to the letter of February 15, 1581. The man was most probably Jan Kobylnicki, a courtier of king Stephen Bathory. Beautiful Nana (Italian for female dwarf) was probably married after her arrival to Florence, possibly even with Kobylnicki or other Pole, and it was probably the Queen who commissioned her portrait with her husband from Anguissola, who moved from Pisa near Florence to Genoa in 1581. Consequently a two-sided portrait miniature of a female dwarf and her husband in the Uffizi Gallery (oil on copper, 7.2 x 5.6 cm, Inv. 1890, n. 4086) painted in the style of Sofonisba from the same period, should be considered as effigy of parents of beautiful Nana. 
Portrait of the Beautiful Nana and her husband by Sofonisba Anguissola, ca. 1581-1582, National Museum in Warsaw.
Portrait miniature of mother of the Beautiful Nana by Sofonisba Anguissola, ca. 1581-1582, Uffizi Gallery in Florence.
Portrait miniature of father of the Beautiful Nana by Sofonisba Anguissola, ca. 1581-1582, Uffizi Gallery in Florence.
Portrait of Cardinal Alberto Bolognetti by Lavinia Fontana or studio
In a letter dated April 12, 1581 addressed to King Stephen Bathory, Pope Gregory XIII announced the appointment of Alberto Bolognetti (1538-1585), Bishop of Massa Marittima, as nuncio to the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Shortly after his arrival in April 1582, Bolognetti was welcomed by Queen Anna Jagiellon at her rich wooden palace of Jazdów (Ujazdów) in Warsaw, where he admired the tapestries "made of silk and gold" left to her by her brother king Sigismund Augustus, the garden with "vines and other plants that the king had brought from Hungary", and a dining room "entirely decorated with beautiful arrases with plants and animals made of gold and silk, at the top of which was a royal canopy and under it two small tables joined together and covered with the same tablecloths" (mi condusse ad una parte ornata tutta di razzi bellisimi di boscaglie et animali pur d’oro et di seta, in capo della quale era un baldachino regale et sotto quello dui tavolini congiunti insieme et coperti dalie medesime tovaglie), which he described in a letter to Cardinal Tolomeo Gallio (1527-1607).
Alberto, born and educated in Bologna, where he obtained a doctorate in law on May 23, 1562 at the university, became a clerk and professor of civil law there. In 1574, he moved to Rome and was appointed apostolic protonotary by Pope Gregory XIII. Then he was nuncio to Grand Duke Francesco I in Florence from February 25, 1576 to September 10, 1578 and in the Republic of Venice from September 10, 1578. His departure from Venice, at the end of March 1581, was quite sudden and soon after he arrived in Rome, he left for Poland. In 1582, Bolognetti persuaded King Stephen to implement the bull of Gregory XIII which established the Gregorian calendar and to found the first Jesuit house in Kraków. Pope Gregory XIII made him a cardinal during the consistory of December 12, 1583. However, he never received the red hat or a titular church since he died before he could come to Rome for the ceremonies. In its pride at the elevation of Cardinal Alberto, the Senate of Bologna granted him an annual pension of 500 gold scudi. The cardinal died of fever at Villach in Carinthia in May 1585, while returning from Poland to participate in the papal conclave of 1585. He was buried in his family tomb in the church of Santa Maria dei Servi in Bologna. In the Wilanów Palace in Warsaw there is a portrait of Cardinal Bolognetti (oil on canvas, 125 x 92 cm, Wil.6185) presenting a letter addressed to him (All Illmo. et Rev. Mons/re / Il S. Card. Bolognetti mio sig/re Oss./mo / In Polonia), most probably the letter of appointment to the cardinalate from the pope. Therefore, it must have been created in 1583 and before 1585. The painting is mentioned in the 1893 description of the palace - "Abelardus Bolognetti, cardinal and nuncio, in Poland in 1583 under Stephen Bathory" ("Willanów, Czerniaków, Morysin ..." by Wiktor Czajewski, item 807, p. 155), after a portrait of Cardinal George Radziwill (article 804). It is possible that it was initially in the collection of Queen Anna Jagiellon in Warsaw. The painting is attributed to an Italian painter. Its style most closely resembles the portrait of Raffaele Riario, which was most likely in the Riario-Sforza collection in Rome (sold at Dorotheum in Vienna, April 24, 2018, lot 52). Raffaele holds a letter from the Duke of Bavaria in his hands and the writing style is also very similar. Riario's portrait was initially attributed to the Lombard school, then to Lavinia Fontana, a painter active in Bologna and Rome, who created the miniature portrait of King Stephen Bathory (National Museum in Kraków, MNK I-290). The pose of the model and the style of the painting are also comparable to two works signed by Lavinia - portrait of a man with a book, said to be senator Orsini, from 1575, at the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Bordeaux (signed and dated: LAVINIA FONTANA DE ZAPPIS FACIEBAT MDLXXV, inventory number Bx E 197) and portrait of a young man at a table from Rohde-Hinze collection in Berlin, dated 1581 (LAVINIA FONT: DE ZAPPIS FAC. MDLXXXI). It is also similar to the unsigned work - portrait of Pope Gregory XIII with inscription GREGORIVS.XIII.PONT. OPT. MAX (sold at Christie's, May 18, 2017, lot 563). Therefore, as in the case of the portrait of King Bathory, the Bolognetti portrait was most likely painted by Fontana from study drawings sent from Poland. 
Portrait of Cardinal Alberto Bolognetti (1538-1585), Apostolic Legate to the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth by Lavinia Fontana or studio, ca. 1583, Wilanów Palace in Warsaw.
Portraits of Tomasz Treter by Lavinia Fontana
In 1583 Tomasz Treter (1547-1610), secretary to Cardinal Stanisław Hozjusz, published in Rome his major work Romanorvm imperatorvm effigies ... with effigies and short biographies of Roman emperors ending with Rudolf II, grandson of Anna Jagiellonica (1503-1547). He dedicated his book to King Stephen Bathory (1533-1586), elected co-ruler of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth as husband of Anna Jagiellon (1523-1596). The engravings in this work, among which the magnificent coat of arms of the king, were made by Giovanni Battista de Cavalieri, very probably after drawings by Treter. He was also a poet, philologist, heraldist, engraver and translator. His prints he sent to various European monarchs, including Francesco I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany. He is the author of two famous engravings related to the Polish-Lithuanian monarchs - Castrum doloris of Sigismund Augustus in Rome from 1572 and Eagle with the galaxy of Polish kings also called Eagle of Treter with 44 medallions of Polish monarchs from Lech to Sigismund III, created in 1588. Together with Stanisław Pachołowiecki he developed a map of Polotsk (Descriptio Dvcatvs Polocensis), during the campaign of King Stephen Bathory in 1579, engraved by Giovanni Battista de Cavalieri (Joa. Baptista de Cauallerijs tipis aeneis incidebat Anno Domini 1580).
Treter was the son of Jakub, a bookbinder from Poznań, and Agnieszka née Różanowska and after studies in Poznań and Braniewo, he went to Rome in 1569, where he studied theology and law. Tomasz obtained a doctorate in canon law and stayed in Rome for 22 years. He was the secretary of the bishops of Warmia: Stanisław Hozjusz and Andrew Bathory. He was a canon at the Lateran and the first superior of the Polish Hospice in Rome founded by Hozjusz and between 1579-1593 he was a canon at the Basilica of Santa Maria in Trastevere in Rome and a canon in Olomouc in Moravia. In July 1584 he returned to Poland and in December 1585 he was elected canon of Warmia. In 1586 Treter become secretary to Queen Anna Jagiellon. He then returned to Rome and was responsible for the construction of the mausoleum for queen's mother Bona Sforza in Bari. In a letter of May 26, 1590, Queen Anna informed Father Tomasz that a portrait of Bona had been sent to his address, according to which the sculptors were to recreate the features of the deceased. Father Treter was also an artistic agent of the Polish-Lithuanian monarchs. Together with Stanisław Reszka and Andrzej Próchnicki, he bought paintings for the queen and the king, collected information about their prices and new painting talents that appeared in Italy (after "Zamek Królewski" by Jerzy Lileyko, p. 113). Between 1595 and 1600 he created beautifully illustrated manuscript with 105 drawings - Theatrum virtutum ac meritorum D. Stanislai Hosii, showing the episodes in the life of Cardinal Stanisław Hozjusz (National Library of Poland, Rps BOZ 130), in some of which he probably took part, like 70. Cardinal Stanisław Hozjusz dining with his courtiers (ABSTRACTIO A SENSIBVS), 76. Cardinal Stanisław Hozjusz at the Lublin Council before King Sigismund Augustus (PRAESENTIA IN COMITIIS LVBLINENSIB) or 77. Departure for Rome (PROFECTIO ROMAM SVSCEPTA). Treter died on February 11, 1610 in Frombork in Prussia. In the collection of Michelangelo Poletti in the Castello dei Manzoli in San Martino in Soverzano near Bologna there is a portrait of a man holding a letter by Bolognese painter Lavinia Fontana (oil on canvas, 98 x 82 cm), who in about 1585 created a miniature portrait of King Stephen Bathory (National Museum in Kraków, MNK I-290). The model in the black costume sits next to a desk with an inkwell, pen and clock. The Latin inscription on the chair indicates that the painting was created in 1583 (LAVINIA FONTANA DE / ZAPPIS FACIEBAT / MDLXXXIII), when Treter published his Romanorvm imperatorvm effigies ..., at the age of 36 and shortly before his return to Poland. That year, Lavinia also painted Antonietta Gonsalvus (Antonia González), daughter of Petrus Gonsalvus ("The Hairy Man"), who was staying with her family in Bologna or Rome. The same man was also depicted in another painting by the same artist, as the style indicates. This painting is now in the Lithuanian National Museum of Art in Vilnius (oil on canvas, 36.5 x 27 cm, LNDM T 3991). It is attributed to the Venetian school of the 17th century. He also wears a black outfit, but this portrait is a less formal, private, and therefore less idealized. He has an unbuttoned collar and his ruff is smaller and more comfortable. This portrait, the owner could easily take with him to the north. 
Portrait of secretary Tomasz Treter (1547-1610) by Lavinia Fontana, 1580s, Lithuanian National Museum of Art.
Portrait of secretary Tomasz Treter (1547-1610) by Lavinia Fontana, 1583, Castello dei Manzoli.
Portraits of King Stephen Bathory in national costume by Italian painters
The majority of the surviving effigies of the king are attributed to the only painter (or his entourage/workshop) whose stay in Poland-Lithuania is confirmed - a Silesian Martin Kober from Wrocław, although stylistically some of them are very far from his confirmed works. Kober arrived in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in about 1583 from Magdeburg and became court painter to elected Queen Anna Jagiellon and her husband Stephen Bathory of Transylvania.
Only two signed works by Kober are known, but the late 16th century portraits of Sigismund III and his family, painted in a very distinctive style, can fairly be attributed to him. The signed works are a life-size portrait of King Stephen Bathory, signed with a monogram and date (MK / 15.83, Museum of the Missionary Fathers in Kraków) and a miniature likeness of Sigismund III from 1591, signed on the reverse in German (MARTINVS KÖBER RÖ : KEI : MAI : / VNDER- THENIGSTER BEFREITER MALER / VON BRESSLAV . VORFERTIGET / ZV WARSCHAV . DEN 30 APRILL . 1591., Wawel Royal Castle). After Bathory's death in 1586, Kober went abroad - from about 1587 he worked for Emperor Rudolf II in Prague and returned to Poland around 1589. In 1595 he went to Graz. The miniature portrait of King Stephen in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence is attributed to Kober (oil on panel, 17.5 x 14 cm, inv. 1890 / 8855). It was probably made in 1583 and sent to the Medicis. It is one of two known portraits of the Polish-Lithuanian monarch in this collection, the other, with the inscription: STEPHAN: / BATTORI / POL:REX, was painted by Cristofano dell'Altissimo in 1587 from an original effigy, probably by the Swiss-German artist Jost Amman (oil on panel, 59 x 42, inv. 1890 / 411). This last portrait is most likely equivalent to the mention in the general inventory of the Medici collection of 1595-1597: "N. 31 Paintings on wood with walnut frames around 1 ell high [Florentine ell - approx. 58.4 cm], that is, portraits of ordinary size [...] the Grand Captain King of Poland Stephen Bathory" (N. 31 Quadri in tavola con cornicie di nocie atorno alti braccia 1 incirca, cioè ritratti di misura ordinaria, entrovi in ciascuno li appresso ritratti, cioè [...] il Gran Capitano Re di Polonia Stefano Battorio, Inventario della Guardaroba Generale, ASF, GM 190, c. 132) among the portraits of members of the Medici family, portraits of the Duke of Bavaria, General Cappello, Pietro Aretino, Vittoria Colonna, "a prince in armor" (um Principe grande armato), a Sultana and Bianca Cappello. Among the works attributed to Kober and his circle there is also a miniature of King Stephen Bathory in the National Museum in Kraków (oil on copper, 17.4 x 14.8 cm, MNK I-290), purchased in 1909. This undated portrait was made around 1585 because it shows the king at age of 52, according to the Latin inscription at the top left in the frame (STEPHAN[US] BATORİ DE / SCHVMLAİ ∙ REX POLO/NİÆ ∙ M:[AGNUS] DVX ∙ LITHVA/NİÆ ∙ PRİNCEPS ∙ TRAN/SİLVANİÆ ∙ ANNO ∙ÆTA/TİS Lİİ). The style of this painting is very distinctive and characteristic of Lavinia Fontana (1552-1614), a woman painter active at that time in Bologna in the Papal States and particularly close to her self-portrait in the studio, painted in 1579 (oil on copper, diameter 15.7 cm, Uffizi Gallery in Florence, inv. 1890, 4013). Even the inscriptions on both miniatures were created in the same style. Since Lavinia's stay in Poland-Lithuania is not confirmed, she probably received a miniature by Kober to copy. A miniature sold in 2024 in Bonn (oil on copper, 18 x 15 cm, Von Zengen Kunstauktionen, November 22-23, 2024, lot 1471), very similar in style and composition, should also be attributed to Fontana. The way in which the tablecloth and the king's shoe in his small-format portrait in Wawel Castle (oil on panel, 80.3 x 37.7 cm, inv. ZKnW-PZS 1784) were painted is also very characteristic of Lavinia and similar to the miniature in the National Museum in Kraków. The small dots of paint give a glittering impression. As in the portrait in the National Museum, the king is depicted with fair hair. This painting was probably painted after 1584, because Bathory proudly presents his new crown and the matching sceptre ordered that year in Gdańsk according to the design by Willem van den Blocke. The preparatory design for this crown is jealously guarded by the Museum of Prints and Drawings (Kupferstichkabinett) in Berlin. A very similar painting was probably in Warsaw before World War II and the National Museum in Warsaw has an old photo of it (inv. DI 40077 MNW). As we can judge from this photo, it was painted by other painter and the closest one seems to be works by another Italian female painter, Sofonisba Anguissola. Particularly comparable is Sofonisba's portrait of a lady holding a zibellino kept in the National Art Gallery in Lviv (inv. Ж-821), which, according to my identification, is a portrait of the king's niece Griselda Bathory (1569-1590), wife of Jan Zamoyski. Another portrait of Bathory in Italian or more specifically Venetian style is in Wilanów Palace in Warsaw (oil on canvas, 108.5 x 73.8, Wil.1163, earlier 570), mentioned for the first time in an inventory from the mid-19th century. Its style is very close to the portrait of Anna Jagiellon (1523-1596) kept at the National Museum in Warsaw (MP 5323) and portrait of Bianca Cappello (1548-1587), Grand Duchess of Tuscany, a friend of Anna (sold at Capitolium Art in Brescia on October 17, 2018), both by Alessandro Maganza (before 1556-1632). Also Francesco Bassano the Younger, in 1586, the eldest son of Jacopo Bassano, who worked in the Bassano family workshop in Venice with his three brothers, received a portrait of the monarch by Kober to copy. This miniature, close in style to the earlier effigy of the monarch in Italian costume (Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna, GG 5775) and the portrait of a Knight of Malta in the Civic Museum in Bassano del Grappa, both attributed to Francesco Bassano the Younger, was acquired by the Wawel Royal Castle in 2013 from a private collection. It bears the Latin inscription STEPHANVS I / REX POLONIE / ANNO / 1586 and because it reproduces the same known effigy of the monarch is it also linked to Kober or his circle. This was a universal practice and two engraved effigies of Bathory by Italian engravers were created from such effigies, most likely by Kober or another artist permanently or temporarily active in Poland-Lithuania. An engraver and goldsmith active in Venice and Padua Domenico (Zenoi) Zenoni (inscription: Stepano Battori Re di Polonia ...) and another anonymous engraver, active in Italy (inscription: Questy in 2 giornate uenuto d'Alba iulia, fece solenne entrata in Cracouia ...), received such effigy in 1576 to reproduce it in their prints. Several splendid books published in Italy during Bathory's lifetime were dedicated to him. For example, Gnomonices libri octo ... by Christophorus Clavius (1538-1612), published in Rome in 1581, a treatise on gnomonics by a German Jesuit mathematician, head of the mathematicians at the Collegio Romano; Viridarivm Poetarvm ("In praise of the most serene and powerful D. D. Stephen, King of Poland") by Ippolito Zucconelli (Hippolytus Zucconelli), published in Venice in 1583; Romanorvm imperatorvm effigies ... by Tomasz Treter with engravings by Giovanni Battista de Cavalieri, published in Rome in 1583; Bernardini Parthenii Spilimbergii In Q. Horatii Flacci Carmina ... by Bernardino Partenio (1498-1588), complete text of the annotated works of Horace published in Venice in 1584; Antiqvitatvm Romanarvm (Treatise on Roman Antiquities) by Paolo Manuzio (Paulus Manutius, 1512-1574), published in Bologna in 1585, with a beautiful engraving with the portrait of the king made by the Venetian engraver Giacomo Franco (1550-1620); Iacobi Zabarellae Patavini Opera Logica in hac Secunda Editione ... (collected logical works) by Jacopo Zabarella (1533-1589), published in Venice in 1586. Based on lectures by the Italian philologist, physician and professor at the University of Padua Girolamo Mercuriale (1530-1606), Wojciech Szeliga of Warsaw (Albertus Scheligius Vbarschauiensis, d. 1585) developed a textbook of toxicology De venenis et morbis venenosis tractatvs ..., which was published in Venice in 1584, and was also dedicated to King Stephen Bathory. Presumed portrait of Mercuriale, which, besides Szeliga, also counted among its disciples Jan Hieronim Chrościejewski of Poznań (Iohannis Chrosczieyoioskii, d. 1627/28), was painted by Lavinia Fontana around 1589 (The Walters Art Museum, inv. 37.1106). 
Portrait of Stephen Bathory (1533-1586), elected co-ruler of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, in national costume by workshop of Alessandro Maganza, ca. 1583, Wilanów Palace in Warsaw.
Miniature portrait of Stephen Bathory (1533-1586), elected co-ruler of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, at the age of 52, in national costume by Lavinia Fontana, ca. 1585, National Museum in Kraków.
Miniature portrait of Stephen Bathory (1533-1586), elected co-ruler of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, in national costume by Lavinia Fontana or studio, ca. 1585, Private collection.
Portrait of Stephen Bathory (1533-1586), elected co-ruler of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, in national costume by Lavinia Fontana or studio, ca. 1584-1586, Wawel Royal Castle.
Portrait of Stephen Bathory (1533-1586), elected co-ruler of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, in national costume by Sofonisba Anguissola, ca. 1584-1586, lost during World War II. Virtual reconstruction, © Marcin Latka
Miniature portrait of Stephen Bathory (1533-1586), elected co-ruler of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, in national costume by Francesco Bassano the Younger, 1586, Wawel Royal Castle.
Portrait of Queen Anna Jagiellon in coronation robes and portrait of King Stephen Bathory in armour
The full-length portrait of the elected queen of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth Anna Jagiellon (1523-1596) in coronation robes in the burial chapel of the last Jagiellons - the Sigismund Chapel of Wawel Cathedral, is one of the best-documented portraits of the Jagiellon period. Two letters from the queen with several detailed information concern this portrait, it bears a detailed inscription in the lower part and can also be found in the inventories of the royal chapel. Despite that there are many ambiguities concerning this painting. In particular, the date of execution is unclear and the name of the painter is unknown.
On March 22, 1586, the Queen sent a letter from Warsaw to Father Stanisław Zając, the superior of the Rorantists at Wawel Cathedral, in which she wrote: "We are sending to Y.R. [Your Reverence] the image of our face through Czeleiowski [Celejowski, probably a member of the Celli family from Venice], Łobzów [royal palace] official. When you take this image, Y.R., without giving it anywhere from your home or showing it, but to craftsmen and at your home, not elsewhere, you will have frames made for it as shapely as possible". The Queen asked to add the coat of arms and an inscription at the bottom, a faithful reproduction of the inscription sent on a separate card with the letter. She also asked for a curtain (velum) protecting the portrait from dust and "for other reasons" (dla prochu i dla innych przyczyn), suspended from a golden rod and golden rings to be added in the upper part. All this must be done quickly (jakoby to wszystko dobrze, porządnie, grzecznie a rychło, after "Kaplica Zygmuntowska ..." by Antoni Franaszek, Bolesław Przybyszewski, p. 55). In a letter dated June 19, 1586, the queen concludes: "The image that we sent, that it is ready, we see with pleasure; and what Y.R. spend for it, Sebastian Montelupi, to pay, we send him a letter. This image, as we have previously announced, we want it to be placed in the same place where we have ordered it. And so that no one bows before it, let it always be well covered, and never uncovered, unless someone insists very much to see it" (after "Jagiellonki polskie w XVI. wieku ..." by Alexander Przezdziecki, Volume 4, p. 303-304). The work of several "craftsmen" lasted almost three months. The mentioned inscription, which is visible in the lower part of the painting, states that "she looked like this" at her coronation on May 1, 1576 (TALİS APARVIT. / ANNO CHRISTI DOMİNİ M. D. LXXVI KAL. MAII. HORA, XVII.). Based on this, it is believed that the queen sent her portrait made in 1576 from Warsaw to which coat of arms and an inscription were added. However, all this information can also be interpreted to mean that a faithful portrait of the queen's face was sent to Kraków, on the basis of which a full-length portrait was made. The Latin inscription under the portrait could refer only to the costume and not to the face of the model. Another portrait of the queen has been preserved in the chapel, depicting her kneeling in widow's dress, made after the death of Anna's husband, Stephen Bathory (December 12, 1586). This portrait is similar to the painting now in Wawel Castle attributed to Martin Kober and purchased in 1936 from the Imperial collection in Vienna (inv. ZKnW-PZS 1424). While in the kneeling portrait and in the portrait from the Imperial collection the queen has blue eyes, in the portrait in coronation dress, as in the miniature by Lucas Cranach the Younger in the Czarotyski Museum (inv. MNK XII-545), her eyes are brown. Moreover, in the kneeling portrait, which was undoubtedly painted later than the coronation portrait, her face is fuller and she looks younger. A copy of the coronation portrait, probably from the 19th century, with several differences, including in the face of the model, the colour of the fabric in the background and the colour of the coat of arms, is in the National Museum in Wrocław (inv. MNWr VIII-270). In contrast to the Italian school, where portraits of rulers, such as those of ancient Roman emperors, were often idealized, the German school and more generally the Northern school focused on the realism of the representation. The letters of the young Prince Barnim of Pomerania (1549-1603) to his brothers, sons of Philip I (1515-1560) and Maria of Saxony (1515-1583), about King Sigismund Augustus' plans to marry him to his sister Anna, indicate that the majority of portraits of the princess were idealized. In a letter dated November 4, 1569, Barnim writes that the princess is no longer so young (she was 46 at that time), but mentions her virtues and good character. He also adds that he would also like to receive a faithful image (wahrhaftig Conterfey) of his future wife, as soon as possible. The addition of the word "faithful" indicates that the portraits belonging to the Pomeranian dukes do not meet these requirements. The queen's demands that her "faithful" coronation portrait be shown only with a few exceptions are further confirmation that this was indeed the case. Another interesting aspect of the coronation portrait is the obvious inspiration from Cranach's works, which is visible not only in the composition and technique, but also in the great realism of the depiction. The painter depicted the wrinkles on the queen's face, the veins on her temple, shaved forehead and rendered the details of her jewellery with great precision. It is because of this realism and certain resemblance to the signed and dated full-length portrait of Stephen Bathory kept in the Museum of the Missionary Fathers in Kraków (oil on canvas, 236 x 122 cm, signed and dated bottom left: MK / 15.83), that the painting has been attributed to the Wrocław painter Martin Kober. The portrait of the king was painted more softly and with less chiaroscuro, which is particularly visible on the hands in both portraits. The attribution to Kober is now rejected. The coronation portrait was probably painted in Kraków and similar contrasts between light and dark can be noticed in a painting attributed to the Kraków school - the epitaph of Jan Sakran (Sacranus, 1443-1527), created around 1527 and inspired by an original by Lucas Cranach the Elder. The queen's garments are typical for the Sarmatian national fashion of this period, however her shaved forehead and the composition of the painting recall the full-length portraits of Anne of Denmark (1532-1585), Electress of Saxony, painted by Lucas Cranach the Younger in 1564, known from three versions preserved in the Armoury Chamber in Dresden (inv. H 0095), in the City and Mining Museum in Freiberg (inv. 79/14) and in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna (inv. GG 3241). The portrait of the Electress preserved in Vienna was probably given to Emperor Maximilian II (1527–1576), son of Anna Jagellonica (1503–1547), but in the inventory of the imperial collection in the Stallburg in Vienna from 1772 it is mentioned as "Life-size portrait of a woman" (Ein Frauen Portrait in Lebens-Grösse). Since her Habsburg relatives received a copy of the portrait of the Electress, it is possible that Anna Jagiellon also had one. Another characteristic element of the coronation portrait, compared to that of the Electress of Saxony, is the Queen of Poland's corpulent posture, contrasting with her emaciated face. In this context, it seems very likely that her silhouette was inspired by an effigy from 1576, while her face reflects her appearance ten years later, in 1586, the anniversary of her coronation. If Anna was ill at this time, this would explain why, after her husband's death, she did not wish to impose her exclusive rule over the country, but supported her nephew in the election to the throne. We do not know why the queen decided to commission such a portrait in 1586. The motives for such an order are explained by two portraits now preserved in Florence and Siena. One of them, now in the Palatine Gallery of the Pitti Palace in Florence, depicts the Queen's beloved nephew Sigismund Vasa (1566-1632), Duke of Finland (oil on canvas, 185 x 94 cm, inv. 1890, 2436). The young prince is depicted in a richly embroidered doublet and hose in the French style. The painting is attributed to the Dutch painter Johan Baptista van Uther, who was active in Sweden from 1562 as a court painter. This painting is undated, but depicts the prince at the age of 18, so it was most likely painted around 1584 (SIGISMVNDYS DVX FINLANDIÆ / REGNI SVECIÆ HARES ET ELECTVS / REX / ÆTATIS SVÆ XVIIII.). A similar portrait of Sigismund's father, King John III of Sweden (1537-1592), depicting him at the age of 45 (ÆTATIS SVÆ XXXXV), so painted in 1582 (or after the original from that date), is in the Royal Palace of Siena (former Medici Palace). The portraits of the Swedish monarch and his son are mentioned in the Medici Guardaroba generale as early as 1596, so it is likely that they were sent to Francesco I (1541-1587), Grand Duke of Tuscany, and his Venetian wife Bianca Cappello (1548-1587), at the initiative of Anna Jagiellon. The queen probably also owned copies of these portraits. It was mainly thanks to her support that Sigismund won the royal election after Bathory's death. A leaflet published in 1587 and entitled Newe Zeitung Von der Wahl des newen Königes in Polen ... concerning the election takes up the rumours circulating in the country about the corruption of the primate Stanisław Karnkowski (1520-1603) by Queen Anna Jagellon. The primate had always been a supporter of the Habsburgs, but after receiving a rich gift from Anna, he changed his position overnight and proclaimed Sigismund king (after "Prasa ulotna za Zygmunta III" by Konrad Zawadzki, p. 51). Already in June 1586, the queen sent her envoy, the Jewish merchant Mandl, to Austria with the mission of marrying the eldest daughter of Archduke Charles II of Austria (1540-1590) to Sigismund in order to strengthen his position in the upcoming royal elections. The merchant arrived in Graz on July 12. He assured that Sigismund would inherit the Swedish crown and that his aunt had the opportunity to place him on the Polish throne (after "Polskie królowe: Żony królów elekcyjnych" by Edward Rudzki, p. 49). It was also the queen who, after his death, donated the full-length portrait of Bathory to his funeral chapel in Wawel Cathedral, from where it passed to the Missionary Fathers in the 18th century. Seeing the naturalistic portraits of her nephew and brother-in-law in sumptuous costumes, as well as of the recently deceased Electress of Saxony, the queen probably wanted something similar for her funeral chapel. At that time, the cathedral was filled with portraits of various monarchs (including disguised portraits). The royal portraits of Sigismund I, Sigismund Augustus and Anna Jagiellon hanging in the Sigismund Chapel above the doors are first mentioned during the visit of Bishop Jakub Zadzik in 1638 (A Ecclesia maiori eadem capella crati aurichalcea eleganti distinguitur. Supra fores ab intra est imago pieta Sigismundi primi et contra Sigismundi Augusti, a parte vero Evangelii imago Ser[enissi]mae Annae Jagielloniae exposita habentur). The portrait of Sigismund Augustus was probably destroyed during the Deluge and replaced by the kneeling portrait of Anna, since such a group of portraits is mentioned during the visit of Bishop Andrzej Trzebicki in 1670 (after "Marcin Kober i portrety z jego kręgu" by Elżbieta Błażewska, p. 69-70, 84). In summary, the coronation portrait includes influences from the Kraków school of painting as well as inspirations from the works of Cranach and Kober. The painter who perfectly combines all these aspects is the Kraków painter Dorota Koberowa (1549-1622), who married Martin Kober in 1586. Dorota's husband moved to Kraków around 1583 and in 1585 he was probably again in Wrocław, mentioned as Martinus Chober Magideburgensis. After the death of the king in December 1586, the couple left Kraków and settled in Wrocław, where Dorota gave birth to their two children, Melchior (1587) and Esther (1589). Martin was temporarily active in Prague, where he received the title of painter free of guild rights from Emperor Rudolf II on April 18, 1587. In 1589 the painter returned to Kraków, where he was appointed court painter to Sigismund III and received his share of the court fabrics. During Kober's absence and after his death, Dorota ran his painting workshop, and she was also mentioned as a court painter to Sigismund III in 1599. Unfortunately no signed work by Dorota has been preserved or perhaps it is waiting to be discovered. Similarly, no paintings by Martin Kober made for Rudolf II are known, but since he was employed as a portrait painter, the portraits he made for the Habsburgs are probably waiting to be rediscovered. Very interesting in this respect is the horizontal portrait of King Stephen Bathory in armour, now in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna (oil on canvas, 62 x 100 cm, inv. GG 4505). The painting is part of a series of similar portraits of mainly Habsburg rulers, documented at Ambras Castle near Innsbruck in 1621, all painted in the same style, evidently by the same painter. The inclusion of the portrait of Bathory indicates that the series was created after his coronation as monarch of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, i.e. after 1576. The painter must have been familiar with the king's effigies because the portrait is very precise. Among the portraits are images of Emperor Maximilian I (inv. GG 4495), Emperor Charles V (inv. GG 4496), King Philip II of Spain (inv. GG 4497), Emperor Ferdinand I (inv. GG 4498), Emperor Maximilian II (inv. GG 4499), Archduke Ferdinand II of Tyrol (inv. GG 4500) and King Francis I of France (inv. GG 4506). With the exception of Philip II and Ferdinand II of Tyrol, all the monarchs mentioned had died before 1576, so the painter must have based them on other effigies. Although the fabrics in these portraits are painted with Venetian boldness and colouring, the faces and hands were painted in a style comparable to the mentioned portrait of Bathory in Kraków, painted by Kober, who both in Sarmatia and Prague had the opportunity to admire the works of the Venetian painters. 
Portrait of King Stephen Bathory (1533-1586) in national costume by Martin Kober, 1583, Museum of the Missionary Fathers in Kraków.
Portrait of Sigismund Vasa (1566-1632), Duke of Finland at the age of 18 by Johan Baptista van Uther, ca. 1584-1586, Pitti Palace in Florence.
Portrait of Queen Anna Jagiellon (1523-1596) in coronation robes by Dorota Koberowa (?), ca. 1586, Sigismund Chapel of Wawel Cathedral.
Portrait of King Stephen Bathory (1533-1586) in armour by Martin Kober, ca. 1587-1589, Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna.
Portraits of Griselda Bathory and Elżbieta Łucja Gostomska by Sofonisba Anguissola
To strengthen the influence of the Bathory family in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, king Stephen planned the marriage of his Calvinist niece Griselda (née Christine) with the widowed Grand Chancellor of the Crown, Jan Zamoyski, one of the most powerful men in the country.
They were married on June 12, 1583 at the Wawel Cathedral in Kraków. Griselda came to Kraków with a retinue of 1,100 people, including six hundred soldiers guarding the her dowry. The wedding celebration with truly royal splendor lasted ten days. After Bathory's death in 1586, Zamoyski helped Sigismund III Vasa gain the Polish throne, fighting in the brief civil war against the forces supporting the Habsburgs. Griselda died four years later on 14 March 1590 in Zamość, an ideal city designed by Venetian architect Bernardo Morando. The city was not far from the second largest city of the Commonwealth, Lviv, dominated by a Royal Castle. The portait of a young lady by Sofonisba Anguissola from the National Art Gallery in Lviv (oil on canvas, 115 x 92 cm, inventory number Ж-821) is very similar to the portrait of Anna Radziwill née Kettler from about 1586 in the National Museum in Warsaw. Anna Radziwill was a wife of a brother of first wife of Zamoyski. Their headdresses or bonnets are very much alike, as well as the dress, ruff, jewels and even the pose. The woman in Anguissola's painting is holding a zibellino, a symbol of a bride, and a small book, most probably a Protestant bible. The features of the woman's face are very similar to portraits of Griselda's uncle, cousin and brother. The painting comes from the collection of Countess Eleonora Teresa Jadwiga Lubomirska née Husarzewska (1866-1940) and was exhibited in Lviv in 1909 as "Portrait of a lady in Spanish dress" (after "Katalog ilustrowany wystawy mistrzów dawnych ..." by Mieczysław Treter, item 53, p. 19). According to the catalogs of this exhibition, the painting was signed and dated 1558 in the upper left corner (Sofonisba Angusciola F. MDLVIII.), but this date is unreliable because the model's costume is much later. A miniature in Sofonisba's style in the Uffizi Gallery (oil on copper, 6.7 x 5.1 cm, Inv. 1890, 9048, Palatina 778), shows a girl in very similar dress inspired by Spanish fashion to that in Lviv portrait. Her jewelled headdress is not Western however, it is in Eastern style and similar to Russian kokoshnik (from the Old Slavic kokosh, which means "hen" or "cockerel"). Such headdresses carried the idea of fertility and were popular in different Slavic countries. In Poland they preserved in some folk costumes (wianek, złotnica, czółko) and become dominant at the court of Queen Constance of Austria in Warsaw in the 1610s and 1620s. The girl is therefore Elżbieta Łucja Gostomska (later Sieniawska), who in about 1587 at the age of 13 (born 13 December 1573), entered the court of Anna Jagiellon and whose miniature the Queen could send to her friend Bianca Cappello in Florence. She was the child of a Calvinist Anzelm Gostomski (d. 1588), voivode of Rawa. Her mother, Zofia Szczawińska, fourth wife of Anzelm, who raised her in Sierpc was affraid that her beautiful and wealthy daughter would be abducted by suitors. In 1590, despite her aversion to marriage, she married the Calvinist Prokop Sieniawski, then the court cupbearer, whom Queen Anna and her relatives chose for her. The Queen had a reputation for caring for her people. Many young girls and boys at her court received an elementary education. Later, some boys were sent to school and received financial support to continue their studies (after "The Court of Anna Jagiellon: Size, Structure and Functions" by Maria Bogucka, p. 103). Before World War II, in the Society of Friends of Learning in Poznań, there was another interesting tondo miniature of a child from the same period (oil on panel, 22 cm, inv. k 82, Catalog of Wartime Losses, number 6111). This "Portrait of a Young Man from the Royal Family", as the work is titled, was attributed to the French painter François Clouet (ca. 1510-1572) and came from the collection of Seweryn Mielżyński (1804-1872) in Miłosław. The Latin inscription on the left near the boy's head indicated that he was 12 years old (ÆTATIS 12). It was followed by a date, probably added at the same time, but perhaps also later, since the numbers visible in the old photograph look most like "1656", which could be the date of the model's death. Due to the attribution to Clouet, this date is considered "1556", however the costume with the characteristic ruff is rather from the 1580s, so the date "1586" is more probable. The possible model for this miniature could therefore be Prince Jerzy Zbaraski, born on April 22 or 23, 1574 (Georgius Zbaraski nascitur anno Domini 1574 die 22 Aprilis feria quarta in vigilia S. Georgil post meridiem), because the boy resembles the later effigies of this Ruthenian magnate. Most interesting, however, is the style of the painting, which closely resembles works attributed to Anguissola, such as the portrait of a boy, said to be a member of the Gonzaga dynasty, in the Museo Urbano Diffuso in Mantua. Consequently also other portrait, depicting a lady with a pendant with Allegory of Abundance, and attributed to Spanish school (Alonso Sánchez Coello) could be a work of Anguissola and identified as a court lady of Anna Jagiellon. She could be Dorota Wielopolska, lady-in-waiting of the Queen who in May 1576 married Piotr Potulicki, Castellan of Przemyśl. The queen organized for her a lavish feast and a tournament at the Wawel Castle. The painting was aquired by the National Museum in Kraków from a private collection in Gdów near Wieliczka, which was owned by the Wielopolski family (oil on canvas, 73 x 57 cm, inv. MNK I-929). In the 1596 painting by Alonso Sánchez Coello, whose works are sometimes confused with those of Sofonisba Anguissola, depicting King Philip II of Spain banqueting with his family and courtiers (The Royal Feast, signed and dated: ASC / ANNO 1596), the Spanish monarch is dining with his two deceased wives, Elizabeth of Valois (1546-1568) and Anna of Austria (1549-1580), his father Emperor Charles V (1500-1558), and his mother Isabella of Portugal (1503-1539). Thus, for a talented painter, it was not difficult to create a good effigy by drawing inspiration from other portraits. This painting comes from the Antoni Kolasiński collection and was purchased by the National Museum in Warsaw in 1928 (inv. M.Ob.295 MNW, earlier 73635). Even if Sofonisba's stay in Sarmatia will never find confirmation in reliable sources, she was a very talented portraitist, so creating effigies inspired by other portraits was certainly one of her main skills. 
Portrait of Griselda Bathory (1569-1590) by Sofonisba Anguissola, ca. 1586-1587, National Art Gallery in Lviv.
Miniature portrait of Elżbieta Łucja Gostomska (1573-1624) by Sofonisba Anguissola, ca. 1586-1587, Uffizi Gallery in Florence.
Miniature portrait of a 12-year-old boy, probably Prince Jerzy Zbaraski (1574-1631) by Sofonisba Anguissola, ca. 1586, Society of Friends of Learning in Poznań, lost during World War II. Virtual reconstruction, © Marcin Latka
Portrait of a young woman with a pendant with Allegory of Abundance, most probably Dorota Wielopolska by Sofonisba Anguissola, 1580s, National Museum in Kraków.
Portraits of Elizabeth Euphemia Radziwill by Francesco Montemezzano and Alessandro Maganza
Ruthenian Princess Elizaveta Yevfimiya (Elizabeth Euphemia) Vyshnevetska or Elżbieta Eufemia Wiśniowiecka, also known as Halszka, was born in 1569 in the Calvinist family of the voivode of Volhynia and starost of Lutsk, Prince Andriy Vyshnevetsky (1528-1584) and his wife Eufemia Wierzbicka (1539-1589), as the firstborn child. After her father's death, she inherited large estates near Minsk and according to her mother's decision, on November 24, 1584 in Dzieraunaja (Derewna) in present-day Belarus, she married Nicolaus Christopher Radziwill "the Orphan" (1549-1616). She was 20 years younger than Radziwill and only 15 years old. Radziwill, who had just returned from a pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 1582-1584 (via Venice), succeeded in convincing the future wife and her mother to abandon Calvinism and convert to Catholicism. A few months after the wedding, in a letter dated February 25, 1585, he personally informed Pope Gregory XIII about this fact. The formal conversion may have taken place later, since in 1587 in a letter of April 18, Cardinal Alessandro Peretti di Montalto (1571-1623), congratulates him for having made her change her faith. "The Orphan" became a staunch, not to say fanatical Catholic, when he contracted a venereal disease (probably syphilis) during his stay abroad and the intensive treatment that the prince underwent both in Poland and abroad (mainly in Italy) has proven to be effective (after "Elżbieta Eufemia z Wiśniowieckich ..." by Jerzy Flisiński, Słowo Podlasia).
Elizabeth Euphemia bore her husband 3 daughters and 6 sons and their firstborn child Elizabeth was born soon after the marriage in 1585. In the spring of 1593 the prince and his wife went to Italy for treatment in the hot springs near Padua in the Venetian Republic. The place was also symbolic as the Radziwill family claimed lineage from an ancient mythical nobleman Palemon (Publius Libon) of Colonna (Column) coat of arms, who is sometimes described as a Roman or a fugitive from the Venetian lagoons. Medical advice was also at stake, which was sought from famous doctors in Padua and Venice. After few months of treatment, in October 1593, they returned directly to the country, disappointing Cardinal Montalto, Cardinal Protector of the Kingdom of Poland (from 1589), who was expecting a visit from Radziwill and his wife in Rome. Together with her husband Elizabeth Euphemia founded many churches and monasteries, some of which were designed by an Italian architect and a Jesuit Giovanni Maria Bernardoni (1541-1605). Very little information preserved about other members of the Radziwill court or the artists. In 1604, the prince's court physician was paid 400 zlotys a year, and the equerry, the Italian Carlo Arigoni, was paid 124 zlotys a year. Another Italian Bartol Faragoi was a page in 1604. In 1597, Nicolaus Christopher wrote a letter to the city council of Riga about Cornelius de Heda, a Dutch painter (as his name suggests) brought from Italy, who was to carry out painting work in Niasviz (Nesvizh), but he fled with money not fulfilling his obligations. In his last will "the Orphan" ordered foreign craftsmen to be paid and sent away (after "Lituano-Slavica Posnaniensia", Volumes 8-10, p. 202). The most important sculptures related to Radziwill and his wife were all imported from Venice - marble altar, marble epitaphs of Nicolaus Christopher, Elizabeth Euphemia and their son Christopher Nicolaus Radziwill (1590-1607) in Corpus Christi Church in Nesvizh were all created in Venice by Girolamo Campagna and Cesare Franco. Elizabeth Euphemia died on November 9, 1596 in Biała Podlaska at the age of 27. She was buried in the church of Corpus Christi in Niasviz, in the crypt of the Radziwill family. After her death, Nicolaus Christopher decided to remain a widower for the rest of his life. In the Gösta Serlachius Museum of Fine Arts in Mänttä, Finland, there is a portrait of a noblewoman in elaborate Venetian costume (oil on canvas, 120 x 92.5 cm, inventory number 286). Based on the painting style, it was initially attributed to Giovanni Antonio Fasolo (1530-1572), a painter of the Venetian school, active in Vicenza and surroundings, thus dated to around 1572. It was believed that the woman depicted was the artist's daughter, Isabella, who married in 1572 and that the painting was a wedding portrait. New research claims that it was created around 1580 in the workshop of Paolo Veronese. The painting comes from the collection of a Finnish industrialist and art collector Gösta Michael Serlachius (1876-1942). It is not known where and when he acquired the painting. The possible location seems to be St. Petersburg, where his family owned a brewery and which at the time was the largest art market in the nearest region and where many art collections from the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth were transferred after the end of the 18th century. Comparison with Venetian costumes from the last quarter of the 16th century indicates that the portrait was created around the turn of the 1580s and 1590s and that this woman was a noble, as the closest similar costume was depicted in Cesare Vecellio's De gli habiti antichi, e moderni ..., published in Venice in 1590 (Spose nobili moderne, plate 310). Similar costumes were also depicted in the Book of Italian Costumes by Niclauss Kippell, painted in about 1588 (Walters Art Museum, W.477.15R) and in Pietro Bertelli's Diversarum nationum habitus, published in 1589. According to the Latin inscription in the upper right corner of the painting, the woman was 18 when the painting was created (Ao. ÆTATIS SVE. / XVIII.), exactly like Elizabeth Euphemia when her conversion was confirmed in Rome. The woman in the portrait bears a strong resemblance to Princess Radziwill from her partially imaginative portrait by the Polish-Lithuanian painter Wincenty Sleńdziński from 1884 (Mir Castle complex in Belarus), her effigy published in 1758 in Icones familiæ ducalis Radivilianæ ... as well as the facial features of her third son Albert Ladislaus Radziwill (1589-1636) from his portrait in the National Museum in Warsaw (MP 4431 MNW). The style of the painting is very similar to the portrait of Elizabeth Euphemia's brother-in-law Stanislaus Radziwill (1559-1599) in the National Museum of Art in Kaunas in Lithuania (ČDM MŽ 139) and the effigy of Bianca Cappello (1548-1587), Grand Duchess of Tuscany (private collection), attributed to Alessandro Maganza (d. 1632), a pupil of Giovanni Antonio Fasolo. Maganza obviously worked for the Radziwills and many other clients from Poland-Lithuania, as many other paintings of a similar style exist in the former territories of the Commonwealth. The same woman in a similar costume was depicted in another painting by the eminent Venetian painter Francesco Montemezzano (oil on canvas, 91.4 x 74.3 cm), who between 1575 and 1585 created Allegorical portrait of Anna Jagiellon (1523-1596), elected co-ruler of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (Czartoryski Museum, XII-227). The painting comes from a private collection and was sold in 2019 in New York (Christie's, May 1, 2019, live auction 17467, lot 303). She wears a crown of a princess and her hair is loose like on the effigies of young brides. Like for another Radziwill Princess, Katarzyna Tęczyńska (d. 1592), the effigies of Elizabeth Euphemia were painted by Maganza and Montemezzano from sketches sent from the Commonwealth. Similar to the sculptures for their mausoleum that the Radziwills commissioned in Venice, their effigies and other paintings were therefore mostly created there as well. 
Portrait of Princess Elizabeth Euphemia Radziwill née Vyshnevetska (1569-1596) as a bride in Venetian costume by Francesco Montemezzano, ca. 1584-1587, Private collection.
Portrait of Princess Elizabeth Euphemia Radziwill née Vyshnevetska (1569-1596), aged 18, in Venetian costume by Alessandro Maganza, ca. 1587, Gösta Serlachius Museum of Fine Arts in Mänttä.
Portrait of Anna Kettler by workshop of Alessandro Maganza
Another Venetian-style portrait of the member of the Radziwill family from the same period is in the National Museum in Warsaw (oil on canvas, 156 x 103 cm, MP 2472, earlier 233159). It is a portrait of Anna Radziwill née Kettler (1567-1617), daughter of Gotthard Kettler, Duke of Courland and Semigallia (vassal state of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth) and Anna of Mecklenburg. On 20 January 1586, in Jelgava, she married Albert Radziwill (1558-1592), the younger brother of Nicolaus Christopher Radziwill "the Orphan". Her husband was a frequent guest at her father's court, and he also traveled frequently. In 1582 he was in Polotsk with King Bathory, at the beginning of July 1582 he left for Italy, and from January to May 1583 he stopped in Venice. In January he was in Kraków, from there he went to Kaunas and at the end of July 1584 to Lublin. In December he appeared at the royal court in Grodno and probably went to Warsaw (after "Polski słownik biograficzny", Volume 30, p. 137).
In her portait Anna is dressed in more Northern fashion and holds a small dog, a symbol of marital fidelity. The style of this painting closely resembles the portrait of Katarzyna Tęczyńska (died 1592), Princess of Slutsk in the same collection (128854 MNW), therefore it should be attributed to the workshop of Alessandro Maganza. The painting was donated in 1969 by Stanisław Lipecki and Róża Lipecka from Kraków and comes from Silesia. It was correctly identified by Janina Ruszczyc in 1975 because, according to an inscription in German, most likely dating from the end of the 18th century, it depicts the unknown Duchess Ludemilla of Legnica and Brzeg (Ludemilla! / Herzogin Vo: / Lieg: Bri: u Woh: / Mutter des Lezten / Herzog u Bau / erin der Fürsten / Gruft). The painting was probably part of the dowry of Anna's sister, Elizabeth Kettler, who on September 17, 1595 married Adam Wenceslas, Duke of Cieszyn or it was moved to Żagań in Silesia after 1786 when Peter von Biron, the last Duke of Courland and Semigallia, bought the Duchy from the Lobkowicz family. A painting from the same period and painted in the same style also bears an incorrect inscription. It comes from a private collection in England and is attributed to an English school of the 17th century (oil on canvas, 76.2 x 63.5 cm). According to mentioned inscription the man in Italian or French costume from the 1580s is Edward VI (1537-1553), King of England, portrayed in 1553 at the age of 15 (EDWarD VI ÆTATIS . SUÆ . 15 / ANNO. DOMINO . 1553). This unusual mixture of English and Latin was probably added in the late 19th or 20th century to sell the painting more profitably. The original indications of his identity, if any, have most likely been removed, so perhaps we will never know his true identity. The man could be a nobleman from Poland-Lithuania or an Italian courtier at the court of elected Queen Anna Jagiellon or the Radziwills, painted like his patrons by the Venetian workshop of Maganza. 
Portrait of Anna Radziwill née Kettler (1567-1617) with a dog by workshop of Alessandro Maganza, ca. 1586-1587, National Museum in Warsaw.
Portrait of a man in a ruff with a false inscription identifying the model as Edward VI (1537-1553), King of England by workshop of Alessandro Maganza, 1580s, Private collection.
Portrait of Jan Tomasz Drohojowski by Leandro Bassano
Jan Tomasz Drohojowski (1535-1605) from Drohojów, near Przemyśl, was a son of Krzysztof Drohojowski, a nobleman of Korczak coat of arms, and Elżbieta Fredro. He had five sisters and two brothers, Kilian and Jan Krzysztof (died before December 12, 1580), the royal secretary. He studied at the University of Wittenberg (enrolled on June 21, 1555), with his brother Kilian in Tübingen, then alone in Basel in 1560. Well educated, knowing French, Italian and Latin, he began to serve the king Sigismund Augustus. He was sent by him with a mission to Italy. According to Krzysztof Warszewicki (1543-1603), he brought the king as a gift a horse of wonderful color and virtue (equum admirabilis coloris et bonitatis Regi donavit). After return he became the royal secretary and in 1569 in this capacity he signed three privileges. At the time of the king's death, he was in Knyszyn and prevented the royal property from being looted and at the Sejm of 1573, Jan Tomasz called for a punishment of those guilty of looting royal valuables.
Shortly thereafter, Jan Tomasz went to Kraków to participate in the reception ceremony of king Henry of Valois. He stayed in Kraków, performing his duties as secretary and courtier of the king, and he even borrowed a certain amount to king Henry. Then he was sent on several ambassadorial missions, including to France. He was present at the anointing of king Henry at Reims on February 13, 1575. On March 2, 1575 in a letter from Prague to Infanta Anna Jagiellon he reported to her about the coronation of Henry and his marriage with Louise of Lorraine. The Infanta, in a letter of April 10, 1575, written from Warsaw to her sister Sophia, calls Jan Tomasz a courtier of the King. After returning from the mission in Courland in 1578, he hosted king Stephen Bathory for 5 days in Przemyśl (for which he spent 911 zlotys) and become the starost of Przemyśl. Also in 1578, he founded octagonal chapel of St. Thomas (Drohojowski Chapel) at the Przemyśl Cathedral, built in the Renaissance style. To put up one tower at the Przemyśl castle he spent 180 zlotys. At the end of January 1579 he was sent by the king to Constantinople (Istanbul). In a letter of January 13, 1581 from Warsaw to Andrzej Opaliński (1540-1593), Court Crown Marshal, Mr Bojanowski calls Jan Tomasz, Gian Tomaso in Italian. In May 1583, princess Griselda Bathory, niece of the king, stayed in Drohojowski's Palace in Voiutychi, designed in Renaissance style by Italian architect Galeazzo Appiani from Milan, with her entire retinue of 500 infantry soldiers and 78 mounted knights. In 1588 he escorted to Krasnystaw, Archduke Maximilian of Austria (1558-1618), who stood as a candidate for the throne of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, taken captive at the Battle of Byczyna (24 January). Before December 20, 1589 Jan Tomasz was appointed the crown referendary because the letter of king Sigismund III from that date already gives him this title. His career was facilitated by family ties with Jan Zamoyski, Great Hetman of the Crown, who entrusted the guardianship of his son Tomasz to him in 1589. He became friends with Mikołaj Herburt (1524-1593), castellan of Przemysl and he married his daughter, Jadwiga Herburt. From this marriage he had a son, Mikołaj Marcin Drohojowski, most probaly born in the late 1580s (he loses a trial in 1613 and in 1617 he sold Rybotycze estate to Mikołaj Wolski (1553-1630)). Jan Tomasz died in the Przemyśl castle on November 12, 1605 at the age of 70. The portrait of a nobleman in a black French style costume lined with fur by Leandro Bassano, was offered to the Nationalmuseum in Stockholm in 1917 (oil on canvas, 119 x 98 cm, inv. NM 2059). The aristocratic tone of this portrait is accentuated by the verticality of the figure, his pose and gloves. The date in upper left corner of the canvas was not added very skillfully, therefore we can assmue that it was added later by the owner or at his request, not by the original painter. According to this inscription in Latin, the man was 53 in June 1588 (AET . SVAE . / LIII / MĒS . VI / 1588), exactly as Jan Tomasz Drohojowski. Below there is also another date in Latin: March 27 (27 mês martij), which could be the date of birth of Jan Tomasz's son Mikołaj Marcin. The man's costume and pose as well as facial features bears a striking resemblance to a portrait of Jan Tomasz's brother Jan Krzysztof (d. 1580), the royal secretary, in the Przemyśl Cathedral. This portrait, created in the first half of the 18th century, is a copy of other effigy and is a pendant to a portrait of his brother Jan Tomasz, who as a starost (capitaneus) of Przemyśl, administrative official, equivalent to the County Sheriff, was depicted in an armor and holding an axe. 
Portrait of Jan Tomasz Drohojowski (1535-1605), starost of Przemyśl aged 53 by Leandro Bassano, 1588, Nationalmuseum in Stockholm.
Portrait of Sigismund III Vasa at a young age by Domenico Tintoretto
After the death of Stephen Bathory in December 1586, when 63 years old elected Queen Anna Jagiellon, could finally rule on her own, she was most probably too sick and too tired to do this. She supported the candidature of her niece Anna or her nephew Sigismund, children of her beloved sister Catherine, Queen of Sweden as candidates in next election. Sigismund was elected the ruler of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth on 19 August 1587.
Raised in Protestant Sweden, where Flemish Domenicus Verwilt and Dutch Johan Baptista van Uther with their stiff realism were chief portraitists at the court of his father and his predecessor, he found "degenerated", frivolous style of the Venetians not very appealing to him, at least initially. Although, he commissioned paintings in Venice, all most probably destroyed, no portrait is mentioned in sources. He supported Martin Kober, a Silesian painter trained in Germany, as his main court portraitist. It was therefore his aunt Anna Jagiellon, who could order a series of portraits of her protégé from Tintoretto for her and for her Italian friends. The portrait of a blond hair young man, wearing a tight black doublet in El Paso Museum of Art is very similar to other known portraits of the king, especially his effigy in Spanish costume by Jakob Troschel from about 1610 (Uffizi in Florence) and a portrait holding his hand on a sword, attributed to Philipp Holbein II, from about 1625 (Royal Castle in Warsaw). Chronologically this portrait fit perfectly known portraiture of the king: portrait as a child aged 2 from 1568 (AETATIS SVAE 2/1568), created by Johan Baptista van Uther as gift for his aunt (Wawel), as a Duke of Finland aged 18 (AETATIS SVAE XVIIII), consequently from 1585, also created by van Uther in Sweden (Uffizi), next this portrait by Domenico Tintoretto from about 1590, when he was 24 and was already in Poland and then the miniature at the age of 30 (ANNO AETATIS XXX) from about 1596 by workshop of Martin Kober or follower (Czartoryski Museum). The painting was inscribed on the column (AETATIS…X…TORET), now mostly effaced. His left hand looks like if was posed on a sword at his belt, however no object is present. It was probably less visible in a drawing or miniature sent to Tintoretto, hence he left his hand strangely in the air, a proof that the sitter was not in painter's atelier. Forgetting of such an important object in the 16th century male portraiture, could be also a result of a rush to accomplish some big royal commission. The Order of the Golden Fleece, basing on which some of Sigismund's portraits were identified, was granted to him in 1600. It is highly probable that the painting showing the Baptism of Christ by John the Baptist in the National Museum in Warsaw, created by Domenico Tintoretto around that time (after 1588) was also commissioned by Anna. It was bequeathed to the School of Fine Arts in Warsaw by Piotr Fiorentini in 1858 and later purchased by the Museum. Its earlier history is unknown, therefore Fiorentini, born in Vilnius, who later lived in Kraków and Warsaw, could have acquire it in Poland or Lithuania. Anna was engaged in embellishment of the main church of Warsaw - Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist and she also built 80-meter-long corridor (covered passage) connecting the Royal Castle with the Cathedral. 
Portrait of Sigismund III Vasa at a young age by Domenico Tintoretto, ca. 1590, El Paso Museum of Art.
Baptism of Christ by Domenico Tintoretto, after 1588, National Museum in Warsaw.
Portrait of princess Anna Vasa in Spanish costume by Domenico Tintoretto
In about 1583, after her mother's death, Anna Vasa like her aunt Sophia Jagiellon in 1570, converted to Lutheranism. Already in 1577, papal diplomacy proposed to marry her to an Austrian archduke, Matthias or Maximilian.
She arrived to Poland in Ocober 1587 to attend her brother's coronation and she stayed until 1589, when she accompanied Sigismund to meet their father John III of Sweden in Reval and then followed John to Sweden. Anna returned to Poland to attend the wedding of Sigismund with Anna of Austria in May 1592. When just few months later, on 17 November 1592, John III died, Sigismund was willing to abdicate in favor of Archduke Ernest of Austria, who was about to marry his sister Anna. This was also intended to alleviate the Habsburgs, who already lost in two royal ellections. Archduke Ernest, the son of Emperor Maximilian II and Maria of Spain, together with his brother Rudolf (Emperor from 1576), was educated at the court of his uncle Philip II in Spain. To announce this turn in country's politics, where Anna Vasa become a focal point, her aunt most probably commissioned a series of portraits of her niece. The portait by Domenico Tintoretto from the collection of Prince Chigi in Rome, now in the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, shows a woman in black saya, a Spanish court dress, from the 1590s, similar to that visible in the portrait of the Infanta Isabella Clara Eugenia by Sofonisba Anguissola in the Prado Museum from about 1597. However the white ruff collar, cuffs and her gold necklace are definitely not Spanish, they are more Central European and very similar to garments visible in portraits of Katarzyna Ostrogska from 1597 in the National Museum in Warsaw and in the portrait of Korona Welser by Abraham del Hele from 1592 in the private collection, they are not Venetian. The features of the woman's face are the same as in Anna Vasa's portrait from about 1605 and her miniatures from the 1590s identified by me. A book on the table beside her is therefore Protestant Bible, published in the small octavo format and landscape with rivers and wooded hills is how Tintoretto imagined her native Sweden. The portrait of a man with a red beard from the same period in the National Museum in Warsaw and attributed to Tintoretto's workshop is almost identical in composition, techinique and dimensions. He is holding a similar book. It is therefore an important royal court official. The royal secretary from 1579 and a staunch Calvinist Jan Drohojowski (d. 1601) fit perfectly. From 1588 he was also a castellan of Sanok, hence one of the most powerful protestants in the country. Drohojowski was the son of Stanisław Drohojowski, the promoter of Calvinism. His mother Ursula Gucci (d. 1554), also known as Urszula Karłowna, was also a protestant. She was a lady-in-waiting of Queen Bona and a daughter of Carlo Calvanus Gucci (d. 1551), a merchant and contractor, who arrived in Kraków in the retinue of Queen Bona and was later made Żupnik of the Ruthenian lands. 
Portrait of princess Anna Vasa (1568-1625) in Spanish costume by Domenico Tintoretto, ca. 1592, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston.
Portrait of Jan Drohojowski, castellan of Sanok by workshop of Domenico Tintoretto, ca. 1592, National Museum in Warsaw.
Portraits of Anna of Austria and Anna Vasa by Sofonisba Anguissola
In 1586, to strengthen her nephew's chances in royal election, Queen Anna Jagiellon proposed a marriage between Sigismund and Anna of Austria (1573-1598). The Habsburgs had strong influences in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and their claims to the throne were supported by part of the nobility. Due to the political instability and Maximilian of Austria's desire for the Polish crown, Anna's parents, preferred the match with Henry of Lorraine.
Already in 1585, the queen sent the first unofficial marriage proposals to Graz via Rome. In June 1586, she sent her envoy, the Jewish merchant Mandl, to Archduke Maximilian with a request for advice on whether it was worth negotiating with Graz regarding the engagement of her nephew to the eldest Archduchess. Maximilian immediately informed his uncle of the arrival of this unusual emissary, who ordered that Mandl be brought to Graz (July 12, after "Polskie królowe: Żony królów elekcyjnych" by Edward Rudzki, p. 49, 50). The plans resummed in 1590 when Anna's engagement with Duke of Lorraine was broken off. In Sarmatia, however, there were fears that Sigismund III would follow Valois' example and leave Poland to take the hereditary throne of Sweden. The expression of these fears and reluctance was the lament of an anonymous poet in 1591: "They are marrying the king with a German woman, they are sending him overseas" (Z Niemkinią króla swatają, za morze go wyprawiają). The marriage was opposed by Chancellor Jan Zamoyski and his powerful supporters, as well as by Stanisław Żółkiewski, but Sigismund Vasa was very pleased with the portrait of Anna sent from Graz. The portrait was then sent to Stockholm, where the Archduchess's appearance won the approval of her future father-in-law, King John III of Sweden. At this time, Sigismund's morganatic cousin Gustav Eriksson (1568-1607) also visited Graz. These efforts caused tensions in the multi-confessional Commonwealth, and particularly in Kraków. The nobility feared that the marriage of the Catholic couple would take place "in the Parisian style" (po parysku), meaning that Kraków would repeat the "Night of St. Bartholomew", that is, the massacre of Protestants (after "Najsłynniejsze miłości królów polskich" by Jerzy Besala, p. 143). In April 1592, the betrothal was formally celebrated in the Imperial Court in Vienna. Despite the opposition of the nobles, Sigismund and 18 years old Anna were married by proxy in Vienna on May 3, 1592. She arrived to Poland with her mother Archduchess Maria Anna of Bavaria and a retinue of 431 people. The young king welcomed his wife accompanied by the "old queen" Anna Jagiellon and his sister Princess Anna Vasa in Łobzów Palace near Kraków where four tents were set up, decorated in Turkish style for the feast. The young queen received rich gifts, including "Kanak necklace with large diamonds and rubies and oriental pearls, which are called Bezars 30" from the king, "a chain of oriental pearls and a diamond necklace, and two crosses, one ruby, the other diamond" from the "old queen" and "kanak necklace with a cross of rubies and diamonds pinned on one" from Princess Anna, among others. Also "the envoy from the Lords of Venice" brought gifts valued at 12,000 florins. Anna of Austria's Spanish connections become very important soon after her arrival, when after death of his father Sigismund left for Sweden and was willing to abdicate in favor of Archduke Ernest of Austria, who was about to marry his sister Anna Vasa. Two of Anna's effigies by Martin Kober from about 1595 were later sent to dukes of Tuscany (both Francesco I and Ferdinando I were half-Spanish by birth, through their mother Eleanor of Toledo). Three miniatures and a portrait, all in Sofonisba Anguissola's style, can be dated to around that time. One minature from the Harrach collection in Rohrau Castle in Austria, possibly lost, identified as effigy of Anna of Austria, shows de facto Anna Vasa with an eagle pendant. The other in the Uffizi Gallery (oil on copper, 9.1 x 7.3 cm, Inv. 1890, 8920, Palatina 650) depict Anna Vasa in more northern costume. The latter miniature is accompanied by very similar miniature of a lady in Spanish cosume with a necklace with Imperial eagle (oil on copper, 6.4 x 4.9 cm, Inv. 1890, 8919, Palatina 649), it is an effigy of Anna of Austria, the young queen of Poland and relative of the Holy Roman Emperors and the King of Spain. The portrait by Sofonisba from private collection in Italy (oil on canvas, 61 x 50.5 cm, sold with this attribution on October 1, 2019), which shows a blond lady with a heavy gold necklace is very similar to other effigies of Queen Anna of Austria, especially her portrait in Kraków, most probably by Jan Szwankowski (Jagiellonian University Museum) and engravings by Andreas Luining (National Museum in Warsaw) and Lambert Cornelis (Czartoryski Museum in Kraków). The miniature of a man from the collection of the Dukes Infantado in Madrid (oil on copper, Archivo de Arte Español - Archivo Moreno, 01784 B), painted in Sofonisba Anguissola's style, shows a man in eastern costume. His attire is very similar to these visible in a miniature with Polish horsemen from Albert of Prussia's "Kriegsordnung" (Military ordinance), created in 1555 (Berlin State Library) and in a portrait of Sebastian Lubomirski (1546-1613), created in about 1613 (National Museum in Warsaw). The features of the man's face are similar to miniature of Sigismund III Vasa (Bayerisches Nationalmuseum) and his portrait by Martin Kober (Kunsthistorisches Museum), both created in the 1590s. In the same collection of the Dukes Infantado, there is also a miniature attributed to Jakob de Monte (Giacomo de Monte) from the same period, showing king's mother-in-law Archduchess Maria Anna of Bavaria (1551-1608), as well as her miniature by Sofonisba from around 1580 (oil on copper, 01616 B), miniature of Emperor Rudolf II (oil on panel, 01696 B) and Sofonisba's self-portrait in Spanish costume (oil on canvas, 01588 B). All miniatures probably originally belonged to the Spanish royal collection. 
Portrait of Queen Anna of Austria (1573-1598) by Sofonisba Anguissola, ca. 1592, Private collection.
Miniature portrait of Queen Anna of Austria (1573-1598) in Spanish cosume by Sofonisba Anguissola, ca. 1592, Uffizi Gallery in Florence.
Miniature portrait of Princess Anna Vasa (1568-1625) by Sofonisba Anguissola, ca. 1592, Uffizi Gallery in Florence.
Miniature portrait of Princess Anna Vasa (1568-1625) with eagle pendant by Sofonisba Anguissola, ca. 1592, Rohrau Castle. Virtual reconstruction, © Marcin Latka
Miniature portrait of King Sigismund III Vasa in national costume by Sofonisba Anguissola, ca. 1592, collection of the Dukes of Infantado in Madrid. Virtual reconstruction, © Marcin Latka
Portrait of Agnieszka Tęczyńska as Saint Agnes by Francesco Montemezzano
In October 1594, when she was just 16 years old, the eldest daughter of Andrzej Tęczyński, Voivode of Kraków, and Zofia nee Dembowska, daughter of Voivode of Belz, married the widower Mikołaj Firlej, Voivode of Kraków from 1589. The wedding feast with the participation of the royal couple took place in the "Painted Manor" of the Tęczyński family in Kraków, later donated to the barefoot Carmelites (1610). The groom, brought up in Calvinism, secretly converted to Catholicism during his trip to Rome in 1569. He studied in Bologna.
Agnieszka was born in the lavish Tenczyn Castle, near Kraków on January 12, 1578 as the fourth child. Both of her parents died in 1588 and most probably then she was raised in the royal court of Queen Anna Jagiellon. In 1593 she accompanied the royal couple, Sigismund III and his wife Anna of Austria, on their trip to Sweden. For some time, Tęczyńska's confessor was the Jesuit Piotr Skarga. After her husband's death in 1601, she took up the upbringing of her children, the administration of huge assets and she became involved in philanthropic and charitable activities. Widowed, Tęczyńska fell into devotion. She died in Rogów on June 16, 1644, at the age of 67, and was buried in the crypt at the entrance to the church in Czerna, she founded. In the preserved paintings, offered to different monasteries, she is depicted in a costume of a widowed lady or in a Benedictine habit, like in a full-length portrait in the Czartoryski Museum in Kraków from about 1640 (MNK XII-371), created by circle of royal court painter Peter Danckerts de Rij or in a three-quarter length portrait in the National Museum in Warsaw, created by Jan Chryzostom Proszowski in 1643 (129537 MNW). The latter portrait, very Italian in style, was most likely inspired by a portrait of Queen Anna Jagiellon by Sofonisba Anguissola. A portrait in the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston (oil on canvas, 86.4 x 74.9 cm, BF.1982.14) depicts a lady with a lamb, an attribute of Saint Agnes, a patron saint of girls, chastity and virgins. "During the Renaissance, women who were soon to be married often associated themselves with this saint because Agnes chose to die rather than marry a man she did not love", according to MFAH catalogue. She is holding a Catholic book, most probably a volume of Saint Thomas Aquinas' "On the truth of the Catholic faith" (Incipit liber primus de veritate catholicae fidei contra errores gentilium). A rose-bush is in this context a symbol of the Virgin Mary and of messianic promise of Christianity because of its thorns (after James Romaine, Linda Stratford, "ReVisioning: Critical Methods of Seeing Christianity in the History of Art", 2014, p. 111). Woman's face is very similar to the effigies of Agnieszka Tęczyńska, later Firlejowa from the last decade of her life and to the portrait of her nephew, Stanisław Tęczyński in Polish costume, created by Venetian painter active in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Tommaso Dolabella (National Museum in Warsaw, inv. 128850 MNW). The portrait was in von Dirksen's collection in Berlin before 1932 and stylistically is very close to portraits of Queen Anna Jagiellon by Francesco Montemezzano (died after 1602), a pupil and a follower of Paolo Veronese. The model's hands are painted in the same way in the portrait of the queen attributed to Montemezzano, now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (inv. 29.100.104). The very finely painted portraits of Tęczyńska preserved in the National Museum in Warsaw (inv. 129537 MNW), attributed to the Kraków painter Jan Chryzostom Proszowski, and especially the painting in the Czartoryski Museum (inv. MNK XII-371), indicate that the authors could have known the works of Paolo Veronese and the artists of his circle. Apart from the Allegorical portrait of Anna Jagiellon in the Czartoryski Museum (inv. MNK XII-227), no painting by Montemezzano appears to have survived in Poland. However, one painting in a private Polish collection could be attributed to him. It is a copy of the Choice between virtue and vice by Paolo Veronese, the probable original of which is now in the Frick Collection in New York (inv. 1912.1.129). The New York painting is dated around 1565 and comes from the collection of Emperor Rudolf II in Prague (mentioned in the 1621 inventory), from where it was looted by the Swedes in 1648. There are numerous copies of this composition. A copy, dated around 1600, now in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna (inv. GG 108), was mentioned in the collection of Archduke Leopold Wilhelm of Austria (1614-1662) in 1659. Another copy, possibly by Montemezzano, is in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence (inv. 1890, 5929) and another in the Harvard Art Museums (inv. 1940.1), an anonymous gift in 1940. The copy in the Polish collection is also considered a later copy, from the 17th century, and bears in the lower part the number "63" and on the reverse a fragmentarily preserved paper label with the inscription "A. Caneru" (oil on canvas, 151 x 145.5 cm, Rempex in Warsaw, auction 294, October 12, 2022, lot 116). 
Portrait of Agnieszka Tęczyńska (1578-1644) as Saint Agnes by Francesco Montemezzano, ca. 1592-1594, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.
The Choice between virtue and vice by Francesco Montemezzano, ca. 1600, Private collection (sold in Warsaw).
Portraits of Queen Anna Jagiellon by workshops of Alessandro Maganza and Sofonisba Anguissola
The new lifestyle came in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth with the new young king Sigismund III arriving from Sweden with his sister and his courtiers. However, at her court in Warsaw, the aged Queen Anna Jagiellon still favored the Italians and Italian culture. From around 1590 her personal physician was Vincenzo Catti (or Cotti) from Vicenza, apothecary Angelo Caborti from Otranto, called Andzioł, ennobled in 1590 and rewarded by Sigismund III with an estate in Samogitia, gardener Lorenzo Bosetto (Bozetho) and sculptor Santi Gucci. On May 5, 1594, the Queen concluded an agreement in Warsaw "with Florentine Santy Guczy, our bricklayer [...] to make the grave of King Stephen". No painters are mentioned in the sources, indicating that probably all paintings, including the portraits, were commissioned from foreign workshops or in Gdańsk, which become the main commercial center of the Commonwealth. When in August 1590 Riccardo Riccardi, the envoy of the Grand Duke of Tuscany, came to Poland, Anna welcomed him warmly and gave him letters of recommendation to the authorities of Gdańsk, to facilitate the purchase of grain for Italy (after "Anna Jagiellonka" by Maria Bogucka, p. 155).
The newcomers from Italy spread the Counter-Reformation in the tolerant Commonwealth which gained popularity at Anna's court. Once two Capuchin fathers Francesco and Camillo appeared in the country with the intention of establishing a monastery in Poland. They showed letters of introduction from Ferdinand II (1529-1595), Archduke of Further Austria and recommendations of many bishops and abbots. They claimed to belong to the first Venetian families, Cornaro and Contarina, so they were welcomed everywhere. They preached, collected contributions, and distributed relics of the Holy Cross, which they allegedly had from Cardinal Farnese, but at the same time they behaved extremely indecently and even caused public scandals. During an audience with the queen, one of them undressed to show how thin his fasting had made him, so Anna, had to turn her face away, reports Alberto Bolognetti (1538-1585), papal nuncio in the Commonwealth (from 12 April 1581 to April 1585). Bolognetti ordered them to be imprisoned and placed temporarily in the Bernardine monastery in Warsaw. They soon confessed that they fled the Venetian province. They were visited by their compatriot, the royal physician, Lutheran Niccolò Buccella, who urged them to escape (after "Sprawozdania z posiedzeń Towarzystwa Naukowego Warszawskiego ...", Volumes 28-30, p. 40). Many Italians converted in the Commonwealth, such as Friar Hieronim (Girolamo) Mazza, a Venetian priest, who gave up his habit and married a woman with whom he had two children, a son and a daughter, and became an administrator of the Royal Post of the Montelupi in Kraków (after "Przegląd Poznański ...", Volume 27, p. 205). He is the author of the poem Epithaphium Ioannis Cochanovii from 1584. Anna, like her siblings and her mother, loved luxury and the items she owned or gave as gifts were of the finest local and foreign craftsmanship. In 1573 she ordered a pendant with "a large emerald, a smaller ruby, two small diamonds, a small sapphire and a small ruby". To the Wawel Cathedral, she offered many exquisite textiles and church vestments made from rich Italian fabrics. On a picnic at her estate in Ujazdów in 1579, she rode in a rich scarlet carriage covered with gold cloth inside and eight horses with a leopard complex (according to the letter from nuncio Giovanni Andrea Caligari to cardinal Como dated May 2, 1579). To the family mausoleum - Sigismund Chapel, she offered large quantities of silver objects, such as in 1586 "a pair of silver-gilt cruets" with the Polish eagle and her monogram A, in 1588 silver candlesticks with her coat of arms, in 1589 she sent from Warsaw a silver bell with the Polish eagle and her monogram and in 1596, shortly before her death, she donated a silver lectern with the eagle and the letter A and the text around the coat of arms: Anna Jagiellonia D.G. Regina Poloniae M.D. Lituaniae. The portrait of the queen in the National Museum in Warsaw (oil on canvas, 103.3 x 77.5 cm, MP 5323) was in the 19th century in the Wilanów Palace in Warsaw. It is considered to be a variant of a portrait of Anna, also from the Wilanów Palace (Wil.1160), attributed to Martin Kober, most likely created in 1595 for which he was paid 14 florins and 24 groszy on the basis of the receipt of payment for three portraits of Anna Jagiellon, Sigismund III and his wife Anna of Austria. The Queen was portrayed as a founder and protector of St. Anne's Brotherhood, established in 1578 at Warsaw's Bernardine church of Saint Anne, with a gold distinctorium of the Brotherhood (introduced in 1589 after being sancioned by Pope Sixtus V) in the form of a gold medaillion with depiction of St. Anne and inscription SANCTAE ANNAE SOCIETATIS. The style of this painting is very Venetian and resembles the effigy of Anna's husband, Stephen Bathory, at Wilanów Palace (Wil.1163) and the portrait of her friend Bianca Cappello (1548-1587), Grand Duchess of Tuscany (private collection), both by Alessandro Maganza or his studio. The portrait of the queen in the Royal Castle in Warsaw (oil on canvas, 97.5 × 87.5 cm, ZKW 64) is closest to the works attributed to Sofonisba Anguissola and her workshop, such as the "Three children with a dog" (Corsham Court in Wiltshire), portrait of Joan of Austria (1535-1573), Princess of Portugal (private collection) and especially portrait of Don Carlos, Prince of Asturias (1545-1568), son of Philip II of Spain (Museum of Fine Arts of Asturias in Oviedo). This painting comes from the collection of Schleissheim Palace near Munich in Bavaria and was donated to the castle in 1973 by the government of West Germany. In the 16th and 17th centuries, the Sarmatians did much more than have a distinctive national workshop or school of painting, they financially supported Europe's greatest artists, and their effigies adorn the world's greatest museums and collections. 
Portrait of Queen Anna Jagiellon (1523-1596) as a widow by workshop of Alessandro Maganza, ca. 1595, National Museum in Warsaw.
Portrait of Queen Anna Jagiellon (1523-1596) as a widow by workshop of Sofonisba Anguissola, ca. 1595, Royal Castle in Warsaw.
AI-generated view of the wooden villa of Queen Anna Jagiellon (1523-1596), elected co-monarch of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, of Ujazdów (Jazdów) in Warsaw, based on my hypothetical schematic drawing and 1606 plan by Alessandro Albertini (Il sito della villa di Jasdovia).
Portrait of Andrzej Kochanowski by Sofonisba Anguissola
"To Mr. Andrzej Kochanowski, son of Dobiesław, heir of Gródek, famous for his birth and his own virtues, a man distinguished in life by God's great gifts, such as wisdom, diligence, temperance, piety towards God, kindness towards friends, immense generosity towards the poor, who, when with great sadness and pain of his relatives and noble people, at the age of 54, he ended his life in the year of the Lord 1596 on March 24, in this church, which he erected in the name and glory of God, according to the rite of the Catholic Church, whose principles he always followed in his life, he was buried. A monument, as a proof of love, was erected to him by Mr. Andrzej Kochanowski, nephew, son of Jan, vicecapitaneus of Stężyca", reads the Latin inscription on a late-Renaissance wooden epitaph in the Parish church in Gródek near Zwoleń and Radom in Masovia. The church was founded by the mentioned Andrzej from Opatki (de Opatki), son of Dobiesław, heir in Gródek and Zawada and his wife Anna Mysłowska, who completed the construction and furnished the temple. The permission to build the church was issued by cardinal George Radziwill on April 3, 1593 and the building was ready in 1595. It was consecrated by the cardinal two years after death of the founder in 1598 and the epitaph was erected in 1620. This church was plundered by the Swedes in 1657, the thieves in 1692, and again in 1707 from silver and more expensive apparatus. The second time, among other valuables, two thorns from Christ's crown were stolen, set in silver, which Cardinal Radziwill had left as a gift at the consecration. The village was burnt to the ground in 1657 (after "O rodzinie Jana Kochanowskiego … ", p. 161-168).
According to some sources Andrzej from Opatki had two sons – Eremian and Jan, according to other he died childless and as his heirs he named Kasper, Stanisław, Andrzej, Adam and Jerzy, sons of his brother. It was however not the heir in Gródek, but the brother of poet Jan Kochanowski (1530-1584), also Andrzej, who translated Virgil's Aeneid, published in 1590, and works by Plutarch (after "Wiadomość o życiu i pismach Jana Kochanowskiego" by Józef Przyborowski, p. 9-10). The younger brother of famous poet was born before 1537 and died in about 1599. In 1571 he married Zofia of Sobieszyn, daughter of Jan Sobieski, with whom he had 9 sons, one of whom, Jan from Barycz Kochanowski, was in 1591 transferred by his father from the queen's court in Warsaw to Jan Zamoyski. The village of Gródek passed to the Kochanowski family as a dowry of Anna Mysłowska, who later married Stanisław Plicht, castellan of Sochaczew and after his death Abraham Leżeński. Cardinal Radziwill's favor indicates that the couple was associated with his multicultural court in Kraków as well as the court of Queen Anna Jagiellon in nearby Warsaw. A document issued by the cardinal to Anna Kochanowska née Mysłowska in Stężyca on October 30, 1598 was signed in presence of the members of his court, some of them have Italian and even Scottish names, like Jan Fox (1566-1636), scholastic of Skalbmierz, who studied in Padua and in Rome after 1590, Kosmas Venturin, secretary, Jan Equitius Montanus, parish priest, Andrzej Taglia, canon of Sącz and Jan Chrzciciel Dominik de Perigrinis of Bononia, chaplain. Portrait of a man and two boys in the National Museum in Warsaw (oil on canvas, 80 x 66.5 cm, M.Ob.2484 MNW) is inscribed in Latin in the vicinity of each head. The first inscription above the head of the man indicate that the painting was made in 1596 and his age was 54 (AETATIS. 54: / ANNO 1596.), hence he was born in 1542, the older boy to the left was 10 and he died in 1594 (AETATIS. 10: / OBIIT 1594), thus born in 1584, and the younger was 10 in 1596 (AETATIS 10: / ANNO 1596), thus born in 1586. The dates concerning the man perfectly match the age of Andrzej Kochanowski from Opatki in 1596 and his effigy resemble greatly that of his relative Jan by Giovanni Battista Moroni (Rijksmuseum Amsterdam), identified by me. Therefore, the boys are either his sons or the sons of his brother and the painting was created shortly before his death or most probably commissioned by the widow to commemorate the death of all three. The convention of this portrait is very like an epitaph, additionally underlined by the postmortem effigy of the older boy, which was created two years after his death, but he was depicted living and embracing his father or uncle. It can be compared with mentioned painted epitaph of Andrzej from Opatki, created 24 years after his death and depicted sleeping in an armor. The described painting in Warsaw was acquired from Kraków as a result of the so-called restitution campaign in 1946 and it is attributed to a Flemish painter (after "Early Netherlandish, Dutch, Flemish and Belgian Paintings 1494–1983" by Hanna Benesz and Maria Kluk, Vol. 2, p. 40, item 817). Its style, however, is very much like in a portrait of Beautiful Nana and her husband by Sofonisba Anguissola in the same museum (M.Ob.1079 MNW) and another painting attributed to the Cremonese painter - portrait of Infanta Juana de Austria with female dwarf Ana de Polonia in the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, both in terms of rather stiff Spanish composition and technique. We can conclude that similar to portraits of female court dwarfs of Queen Anna Jagiellon, also this portrait was created by Sofonisba, who on 24 December 1584 married sea merchant Orazio Lomellino and lived in Genoa until 1620. Lomellino's family had commercial contacts with Poland-Lithuania since the second half of the 15th century. Among the numerous names of Italian merchants who in the mid-15th century stayed temporarily or settled permanently in Lviv, capital of the Ruthenian Voivodeship, we can find the most eminent names from the history of Genoese or Venetian colonies, such as mentioned Lomellino (Lomellini), Grimaldi, Lercario and Mastropietro. The Lomellinos, one of whom was Carlo the Genoese admiral, the other Angelo Giovanni, podesta, i.e. the municipal chief of Pera, maintain relations with the Lindners in Lviv in the 1470s (after "Lwów starożytny", Vol. 1 by Władysław Łoziński, p. 126). Sofonisba's family who settled in Venice belonged to the patriciate of that city from 1499 to 1612. 
Portrait of Andrzej Kochanowski (1542-1596) from Opatki and his two sons or nephews by Sofonisba Anguissola, 1596, National Museum in Warsaw.
Portrait of Queen Anna Jagiellon by Sofonisba Anguissola
In about 1550, a young Cremonese painter, Sofonisba Anguissola, created her self-portrait (private collection) in a rich dress and in a pose exactly the same as that visible in a portrait of Catherine of Austria, Duchess of Mantua and later Queen of Poland. Catherine's portrait, in Voigtsberg Castle, is attributed to Titian. Sofonisba either created this portrait, participated in its creation or saw it somewhere, as Mantua is not far from Cremona. It could be threfore Catherine, who introduced her to the Polish court, when in June 1553 she married Sigismund II Augustus. Around that time Sofonisba created her self-portrait at the easel, one of the best of her self-portraits, which she could sent to the Polish court as a sample of her talent. This portrait is now in the Łańcut Castle (oil on canvas, 66 x 57 cm, inv. S.916MŁ).
The portrait which was previously identified as effigy of Catharine Fitzgerald, Countess of Desmond and Duchess of Dorset (d. 1625) in Knole House (oil on panel, 41.6 x 33.7 cm, NT 129883), is very similar to effigies of Anna Jagiellon by Martin Kober and his workshop in coronation robes from the Sigismund's Chapel (1587) and in widow's clothing (1595) at the Wawel Castle. It was recently identified as portrait of Sofonisba Anguissola basing on a leaf from van Dyck's Italian Sketchbook (British Museum, inv. 1957,1214.207.110). The inscription in Italian was evidently added later, as the year 1629 is mentioned in the text (the painter was in Italy between 1621 and 1627). The drawing shows an old lady, similar to that from the Knole portrait. According to inscription it is an effigy of Sofonisba, whom the Flemish painter visited in Palermo: "Portrait of Lady Sofonisma painter made live in Palermo in the year 1629 on the 12th of July: her age 96 still having her memory and brain very prompt, very courteous" (Rittratto della Sigra. Sofonisma pittricia fatto dal vivo in Palermo l'anno 1629 li 12 di Julio: l'età di essa 96 havendo ancora la memoria et il serverllo prontissimo, cortesissima). However Sofonisba died on 16 November 1625 and according to sources she was born on 2 February 1532, hence she was 92 when she died. Van Dyck was in Palermo in 1624. If he could confuse the dates of Sofonisba's life, he could also confuse the portrait of Queen of Poland by her hand, created in about 1595, that she had, with her self-portrait (Keller Collection, 1610). He may also have seen the portrait elsewhere in Italy, or even in Flanders or England. The Knole portrait was most probably acquired from the English royal collection, therefore it is highly probable that Anna sent to Queen Elizabeth I her effigy, one from a series created by Anguissola. In July 1589, English envoy Jerome Horsey, wanting to see Anna, sneaked into her palace in Warsaw: "before the windows whereof were placed pots and ranks of great carnations, gillyflowers, province roses, sweet lilies, and other sweet herbs and strange flowers, giving most fragrant, sweet smells. [...] Her majesty sat under a white silk canopy, upon a great Turkey carpet in a chair of estate, a hard-favored queen, her maids of honor and ladies attendants at supper in the same room". Queen Anna allegedly asked him, how Queen Elizabeth could "'spill the blood of the Lord's anointed, a queen more magnificent than herself, without the trial, judgment and consent of her peers, the holy father the Pope and all the Christian princes of Europe?' 'Her subjects and parliament thought it so requisite, without her royal consent, for her more safety and quiet of her realm daily endangered.' She shook her head with dislike of my answer", reported Horsey. Anna died in Warsaw on 9 September 1596 at the age of 72. Before her death she managed to accomplish tomb monuments for herself (1584) and her husband (1595) in Kraków, created by Florentine sculptor Santi Gucci, and for her mother in Bari near Naples (1593), created by Andrea Sarti, Francesco Zaccarella and Francesco Bernucci. She was the last of the Jagiellons, a dynasty that ruled over vast territories in Central Europe since the late 14th century, when Polish nobles proposed to pagan Duke of Lithuania, Jogaila, to marry their eleven-year-old Queen Jadwiga and thus become their king. Counter-Reformation, that she supported, and foreign invasions destroyed Polish tolerance and diversity, greedy nobles destroyed Polish democracy (Liberum veto) and invaders turned much of the country's heritage into a pile of rubble. The only portrait of the Queen in the nest of the Jagiellons - Wawel Royal Castle in Kraków was acquired from the Imperial collection in Vienna in 1936, just three years before World War II broke out. It was created by Kober in about 1595 and sent to the Habsburgs. 
Self-portrait at the easel by Sofonisba Anguissola, 1554-1556, Łańcut Castle.
Portrait of Queen Anna Jagiellon by Sofonisba Anguissola, or a copy by Anton van Dyck, ca. 1595 or 1620s, Knole House.
Portrait of Queen Anna Jagiellon, a drawing by Anton van Dyck after lost painting by Sofonisba Anguissola, 1620s, British Museum.
Forgotten portraits of the Dukes of Pomerania, Dukes of Silesia and European monarchs - part II2/24/2022
Pomeranian Cranachiana
As in Sarmatia and Silesia, the fame of Cranach's workshop in Pomerania was transmitted by merchants, students and followers of Luther and Melanchthon, but also by family connections of the ruling families of Europe. It is assumed that it was through such family ties that Cranach's works reached Sweden in the first half of the 16th century, thanks to the connections of the first wife of King Gustav Eriksson Vasa (1496-1560), Catherine of Saxe-Lauenburg (1513-1535) (afer "Die biblischen Historiengemälde der Cranach-Werkstatt" by Katharina Frank, p. 208). The paintings of Jesus and the adulterous woman, painted by workshop of Cranach after 1537, and The Multiplication of the Loaves, also by Cranach the Elder and workshop, painted between 1535 and 1540, both in the Nationalmuseum in Stockholm (inv. NM 253 and inv. NMGrh 2335), are considered to come from Gustav's collection mentioned in the 1548 inventory of Gripsholm Castle. The name of the painter is not mentioned, however.
The history of Pomerania was almost as turbulent as that of Sarmatia and Silesia, which is why few original paintings related to Cranach and his studio have survived. Two large paintings attributed to the painter's studio are now in the Kamień Pomorski Cathedral - Christ Carrying the Cross (panel, 214 x 147 cm) and The Crucifixion (panel, 218 x 144 cm). The first painting is signed with the artist's insignia (winged serpent) and dated "15/27" in the lower left corner. Until 1945, the paintings were in the church in Sielsko (Silligsdorf), in the estate of the von Borck family. The Gryfino Altarpiece, now in the National Museum in Szczecin (inv. MNS/Szt/1169/1-3), was painted by David Redtel (1543-1591) for the church in Gryfino (Greifenhagen in German) in 1580. Redtel, who arrived in Pomerania in 1574 from Torgau in Saxony, became court painter to Duke John Frederick. In this work, one can see the influences of Flemish and Dutch painting, as well as those of Cranach, in the composition and technique. The most famous painting by Cranach, which is located in the former territories of the duchy, in Szczecin, is the portrait of Philip I (1515-1560), Duke of Pomerania-Wolgast (National Museum, oil on panel, 61.5 x 42.8 cm, inv. MNS/Szt/1382). It is interesting to note that this painting was probably never in Pomerania before 1935. In the 19th century it belonged to the Dukes of Saxe-Weimar in Weimar and before that probably to Gottfried Christoph Beireis (1730-1809) in Helmstedt, Kingdom of Westphalia. The painting was acquired in 1935 through the Berlin art trade for the Provincial Museum in Szczecin. It was lost during the Second World War and purchased in 1999 in Zurich by the National Museum in Szczecin. The most reliable provenance is that of the ducal collection in Weimar, so it could be a gift from Pomerania created in Wittemeberg or a painting commissioned for the collection of effigies of contemporary princes. After 1535, the late Gothic Weimar Castle was converted into a Renaissance palace for Cranach's patron, Elector Johann Friedrich I the Magnanimous (1503-1554). The Szczecin painting is thus one of many versions of the effigy created by Cranach's workshop, the prototype of which was probably the painting mentioned in the 1560 inventory among the paintings in Philip's residence in Wolgast as an original by Cranach (M. g. H. Herzog Philips zu St. P. – durch Lucas Maler mit Olie 1541), painted on canvas (An Contrafej auff Tüchern). The Wolgast painting was most likely destroyed in 1628 when the castle was plundered and damaged by Danish and imperial troops. The study drawing for this original is in the Museum of Fine Arts in Reims (distemper and charcoal on paper, 34.8 x 23.7 cm, inv. 795.1.266). Another copy was probably made by Cranach's workshop before February 1547 for the collection of King Sigismund Augustus in Vilnius. Although the original painting or study drawings are thought to have been made by Cranach in 1541, when Philip I stopped at the relatives of his wife Mary of Saxony (1515-1583) in Torgau or Wittenberg on his way to or from the Imperial Diet in Regensburg, there is no evidence of such a meeting. The mentioned inventory of Wolgast Castle, taken "on Sunday Esto-mihi, February 25, 1560" (am Sonntag Esto-mihi den 25. Februar 1560) and the following days, lists several splendid paintings of the Pomeranian dukes made abroad, including bust-length portraits of Philip I and his father George I of Pomerania (1493-1531) on wood, painted in Leipzig (zu Leipzig gemacht), possibly by Hans Krell, as well as the portrait of Philip's mother, Amalia of the Palatinate (1490-1524), painted by Albrecht Dürer (Freulein Amalia, Pfalzgrevin am Rein, Herzog Georgens Gemhal, Dureri Contrafen und arbeit). The study drawing with the portrait of Amalia, probably sent to Dürer in Nuremberg and returned with the finished portrait, was included in the so-called "Book of Effigies" (Visierungsbuch). The inventory also mentions portraits of Philip's wife Mary of Saxony, sister of Elector John Frederick I, painted by Cranach's pupil Antoni Wida, who later worked for Sigismund Augustus (Frau Maria zu Sachsen, M. G. H. Herzog Philippen zu Stettin Pommern Gemhal, Anthonj de Wida arbeit), portraits of Philip's sisters Margaret (1518-1569) and Georgia (1531-1574), later Countess Latalska, and another portrait of Philip depicted at the age of 30, i.e. around 1545 (Herzog Philipß zu St. P. aetatis ao. 30), as well as portraits of other members of the family. Of the 27 canvas paintings, most were portraits, including aforementioned portrait of Philip by Cranach and the portrait of Emperor Ferdinand I (Ferdinandus, Romischer Kayser) as well as the Story of Judith (Historia Judit). Among the other paintings, the inventory lists two other "Stories of Judith", one of which was "Netherlandish" (Historia Judit, niderlandisch), an image of Jesus (Effigies Jesu Christi), two portraits of Emperor Charles V (Caroli Imperatoris Brustbilde, Effigies Caroli quinti), images of Martin Luther (Martini Lutheri), Johannes Bugenhagen (Johannis Bugenhagii) and Philip Melanchthon (Phil. Melandtonis), as well as an engraving depicting the city of Venice (Die Stadt Venedig, gedruckt, after "Neue Beitrage zur Geschichte der Kunst und ihrer Denkmäler in Pommern" by Julius Mueller, p. 31-33, 42, 46-47). It is, however, very significant that one of the earliest and probably one of the most beautiful portraits of the Pomeranian dukes, made outside the borders of the duchy, was not made in Germany, but in Venice. There is evidence that Boguslaus X of Pomerania (1454-1523) was painted on his return from the Holy Land (1497) by a Venetian painter sent to meet him. Hellmuth Bethe (1901-1959) has suggested that it could be the work of Gentile Bellini (ca. 1429-1507) or Vittore Carpaccio (ca. 1465-1525/1526) and that the painting seems to have disappeared very early. In 1594, Boguslaus's great-grandson Philip II wrote to his learned friend Heinrich Rantzau or Ranzow (Ranzovius, 1526-1598): "But you must know that there are no portraits of the princes who lived before Boguslaus X, not even of Boguslaus himself, as far as we know" (Doch müßt Ihr wissen, daß es von den Fürsten, welche vor Bogislaw X. gelebt haben, keine Bildnisse gibt, selbst non Bogislaw selbst nicht, soviel uns bekannt ist, after "Die Bildnisse des pommerschen Herzogshauses", p. 5-7, 14-15). It is also possible that they were not destroyed but simply forgotten, if the majority of them were disguised portraits (as Christian saints or mythological characters) or included in religious scenes such as the portrait of the 38-year-old Venetian banker Girolamo Priuli seated to the right of Christ in Carpaccio's scene of the Supper at Emmaus, painted in 1513 (Church of San Salvador in Venice, inscription: M.D.XIII. / HIER. PRIOL.S / ANN.XXXVIII.). According to the diary of Philipp Hainhofer (1578-1647), who visited Szczecin in 1617, in the corridor and near the Duchess's Oratory of the Szczein Castle Church there were "panels painted by L. Kronacher", i.e. by Lucas Cranach (Tafeln von L. Kronacher gemalt). He also saw in the castle portraits of Popes Pius II (Enea Silvio Bartolomeo Piccolomini, 1405-1464), Pope Adrian VI (Adriaan Florensz Boeyens, 1459-1523), Leo X, Clement VII, Gregory XIII, Sixtus V, Clement VIII and portraits of cardinals Pietro Bembo (Petrus Bembus, possibly by Cranach or Titian), Ippolito de' Medici (Hipolitus Medices) and Ludovicus Cardinalis, possibly Louis II de Lorraine (1555-1588), cardinal de Guise. In the rooms of Duchess Hedwig of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel (1595-1650), he admired a beautiful large mirror framed in pietra dura, a gift from the Grand Duchess of Tuscany (ainen schdnen großen mit Stainen gefaßten Spiegel von der Großherzogin von Florenz) and a large panel representing Caritas by Cranach (aine große Tafel charitatem bedeutend, von Luca Kronacher). Several portraits of the Saxon princess Mary, wife of Philip I, were made by Cranach, some of which were certainly taken with her to Pomerania. The princess continued to use the services of the Wittenberg workshop after her marriage. The portrait of Mary by Cranach, brought by Bugenhagen to Pomerania in 1535, is confirmed in the documents. Mary and Philip married the following year, on February 27, 1536 in Torgau. Two similar portraits by Cranach from 1534, known as Portrait of a Saxon Noblewoman, are now identified as bridal portraits of Mary. The version in the Museum of Fine Arts in Lyon was in Paris before 1892 (panel, 53 x 37.5 cm, inv. B-494), while the painting in the Hessian State Museum in Darmstadt was acquired in 1805 by von Perglas (panel, 51 x 36 cm, inv. GK 76). The princess wears a braided bridal wreath (although in 1534 she was not yet engaged), her necklace is decorated with a medallion representing her brother Elector John Frederick, and her bonnet is embroidered with the letters E.W.R.H., perhaps a motto. In the accounts of Lucas Cranach the Elder in 1538, there is mention of ten portraits of Saxon princes painted on wood, which the Elector sent to Duke Philip in Pomerania, in particular to decorate Wolgast Castle, which Philip had enlarged in 1537, the year after his marriage. Cranach mentions in particular the portraits of the electors Frederick the Wise and John the Constant, a portrait of John's second wife, Margaret of Anhalt (1494-1521), mother of Mary, portraits of John Ernest of Saxe-Coburg (1521-1553) and those of two of John Frederick's sons. Mary and her younger sister Margaret (1518-1535) are depicted in the Collection of portraits of Saxon princes (Das Sächsische Stammbuch, p. 107, Saxon State and University Library in Dresden, Mscr.Dresd.R.3) from around 1546, painted by Cranach, while few years later, in 1554, Melanchthon wrote a treatise on the education of Mary's son John Frederick of Pomerania (1542-1600) - Institutio Iohannis Friderici, inclyti Ducis Pomeraniae (Harmonia de ratione institutionis scholasticae, Wittenberg, 1565). Woodcuts by Lucas Cranach the Younger or his workshop with portraits of Philip (Philipp. zu Stetin ⁄ Pomern ⁄ der Cassuben und Wenden Hertzogen ⁄ etc., p. 47) and Mary (Maria Herzogin in Pommern etc., p. 49) were included in the "True Depictions of Several Most Honorable Princes and Lords ..." (Warhaffte Bildnis etlicher Hochlöblicher Fürsten vnd Herren ...) by Johannes Agricola (1494-1566), published by Gabriel Schnellboltz in Wittenberg in 1562, together with the portrait of King Sigismund II Augustus (p. 19) and other important European monarchs. The woodcuts were probably based on original portraits dating from around 1540. The portraits of Duke Philip I and his uncle Barnim IX (1501-1573), Duke of Pomerania-Szczecin, painted by a follower of Cranach signing his works with the interlaced monogram IS, come from the series of princely portraits of the Gotha Chamber of Art of Ernest I the Pious (1601-1675), Duke of Saxe-Gotha and Saxe-Altenburg. In 1638, the paintings were in the Lower Hall of the Weimar Palace, where Philip's portrait from 1541, now in Szczecin, was later located. They were probably created around 1560. The portrait of Philip by Master IS is now in Veste Coburg (panel, 49.5 x 35.8, inv. M.023, inscribed top right: PHILIIPVS DVX / POMENIÆ) and the portrait of Barnim was in a private collection and was probably lost during the Second World War (panel, 47 x 34 cm, inscribed top right: BARNIMVS DVX / POMERANIÆ). The same effigy of Barnim was reproduced in an engraving made by Georg Walch (1612-1656) in Nuremberg before 1654. Very interesting in this portrait of Barnim is the lack of apparent resemblance to other known effigies of the duke from earlier periods, namely that he has a much larger nose, which could be the result of a copy and that the painter did not see the original model in real life. Barnim was educated in Wittenberg and initially ruled Pomerania with his elder brother George, but after his death he divided it into a part of Szczecin and a part of Wolgast with his nephew Philip I. In 1534 the dukes summoned the Wittenberg theologian Johannes Bugenhagen (1485-1558) to Pomerania to introduce the Reformation in both parts of the country. Bugenhagen, also called Doctor Pomeranus, was born in Wolin in the Duchy of Pomerania. Between 1517-1518 he wrote the history of Pomerania in Latin for Duke Boguslaus X and in March 1521 he went to Wittenberg. Three portrait paintings of Bugenhagen by Cranach and his followers are known, as well as some portraits in religious scenes, such as the image on the right wing of the Reformation altarpiece in St. Mary's Church in Wittenberg, painted between 1547 and 1548. The portrait mentioned in the 1560 inventory of Wolgast Castle was probably a copy of a 1537 painting by Cranach the Elder or Cranach the Younger, now in the Lutherhaus in Wittenberg (panel, 36.5 x 24 cm, inscription: EFFIGIES IOH BVGENHAGII POMERANI · / LVCA CRONACHIO PICTORE · / · M · D · XXXVII ·). A similar portrait of Bugenhagen was also included in the so-called Croy Tapestry, which is generally believed to have been made in Szczecin and completed in 1554. The tapestry was probably mentioned in the inventory of the estate of Duke Philip I from 1560 as "The Baptism of Christ with the Saxon and Pomeranian Lords, as well as the portraits of Learned in Scripture, made in Szczecin" (Die Tauffe Christi mit den Sechsischen und Pommerischen Herrn, auch der gelarten Contrafej, zu Stettin gemacht). Although it should be noted that there is no scene of the Baptism of Christ in this tapestry, it is therefore possible that another large tapestry with portraits of dukes in a religious scene was created. This large tapestry, now in the Pomeranian State Museum in Greifswald (wool, silk and metal threads, 446 x 690 cm) was created by Peter Heymans, the Dutch weaver in the service of Philip's uncle in Szczecin (the monogram PH is woven into the lower right edge of the tapestry). The tapestry depicts the interior of a church. On the pulpit is Martin Luther preaching, pointing to the crucified Jesus who is to the right of the coat of arms of the Electorate of Saxony, under which stand the Electors of Saxony of the Ernestine branch with their families. Elector John Frederick stands in the centre of the group and Philip Melanchthon behind the group. To the right are the Dukes of Pomerania under their coat of arms with Philip I in the centre of the group. The Latin inscriptions on the picture confirm the identity of the family members, which include Duke George I, Duke Barnim IX, Amalia of the Palatinate, Anna of Brunswick-Lüneburg (1502-1568), Barnim's wife, and Mary of Saxony, as well as Philip and Mary's children - John Frederick (1542-1600), Boguslaus (1544-1606), Ernest Louis (1545-1592), Amelia (1547-1580) and Barnim (1549-1603). Behind the group stands Bugenhagen. All the effigies were clearly based on Cranach's paintings, which is why it is believed that the Wittenberg workshop produced the cartoon for the tapestry. The composition is also based on works by Cranach, comparable for example to the woodcut "Luther Preaching with the Pope in the Jaws of Hell" (The False and the Good Church) from around 1546. Hans Krell in Leipzig and Gabriel Glodendon, appointed court painter to Barnim IX on February 10, 1554 for a period of five years, are also proposed as the authors of the cartoon for this tapestry. A year earlier, in 1553, Duke Philip had probably commissioned a series of effigies of family members from Cranach's workshop, as evidenced by the study drawings for the portraits of his sons John Frederick, Boguslaus and Ernest Louis, from the "Book of Effigies" bearing this date. In this book were another study drawing in Cranach's style for another portrait of Ernest Louis, created around 1565, as well as two studies for the portraits of Barnim IX's sister Margaret of Pomerania (1518-1569) and his wife Anna of Brunswick-Lüneburg, both from around 1545, also from Cranach's workshop, bearing the annotations with the colours of the fabrics as well as detailed drawings of their jewellery. A beautiful effigy of Barnim with a long black beard from the "Book of Effigies" was attributed to Antoni Wida and also considered to have been created around 1545 (a commission for the court painter Anton Wied was issued by Duke Barnim on September 29, 1545). In the book there was also a drawing with a full-length portrait of Barnim holding a sword. Most likely by Wida was a magnificent portrait of George I bearing the Latin inscription on the hat: Georgius I. DuX Pomeraniæ. Another similar study bearing the inscription GEORG · H · Z · S in the upper part was probably also by Wida, as was the portrait of Philip I. The portrait of Philip's son Casimir (1557-1605) wearing a toll hat from around 1565 was probably also pinted by Wida or by a member of Cranach's workshop sent to Pomerania. The book also included a study for a portrait of John Frederick from the 1570s, his sister Anna (1554-1626) from around 1570, attributed to Cranach the Younger, and two good drawings of Boguslaus X and Amalia of the Palatinate (mentioned above), possibly studies for portraits by Dürer. The "Book of Effigies" was lost during the Second World War, but despite being assembled in Szczecin, it returned there in 1913 thanks to a donation from Friedrich Lenz (1846-1930). Before 1893 it was in the Netherlands. Finally, the splendid pendant portraits of Jobst von Dewitz (1491-1542), ducal councillor and chancellor of Pomerania-Wolgast, and his wife Ottilie von Arnim (d. 1576) from the Dewitz manor in Cölpin in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania are most likely 19th-century copies of lost originals by Cranach. According to the dates on both paintings, the original paintings were created in 1540 (ANNO M. D. XL. / ANNO 1540), while the inventory of Dewitz properties from 1728 confirms that the portraits were "both painted on wood by Lucas Cranach" (beyde von Lucas Cranach auf Holtz gemahlen, after "Das historische Pommern: Personen, Orte, Ereignisse" by Roderich Schmidt, p. 380). 
Study drawing for portrait of George I of Pomerania (1493-1531) from the "Book of Effigies" by Antoni Wida (?), after 1527, Pomeranian State Museum in Szczecin, lost during World War II. Virtual reconstruction, © Marcin Latka
Portrait of Princess Mary of Saxony (1515-1583) by Lucas Cranach the Elder, 1534, Museum of Fine Arts in Lyon.
Portrait of Princess Mary of Saxony (1515-1583) by Lucas Cranach the Elder, 1534, Hessian State Museum in Darmstadt.
Portrait of theologian Johannes Bugenhagen (1485-1558), Doctor Pomeranus by Lucas Cranach the Elder or Lucas Cranach the Younger, 1537, Lutherhaus in Wittenberg.
Portrait of Jobst von Dewitz (1491-1542), ducal councillor and chancellor of Pomerania-Wolgast by unknown painter after Lucas Cranach the Elder, 19th century after original from 1540, Private collection.
Portrait of Ottilie von Arnim (d. 1576), wife of Jobst von Dewitz by unknown painter after Lucas Cranach the Elder, 19th century after original from 1540, Private collection.
Study drawing for portrait of Philip I (1515-1560), Duke of Pomerania-Wolgast by Lucas Cranach the Younger, ca. 1541, Museum of Fine Arts in Reims.
Portrait of Philip I (1515-1560), Duke of Pomerania-Wolgast by Lucas Cranach the Younger, 1541, National Museum in Szczecin.
Study drawing for portrait of Barnim IX (1501-1573), Duke of Pomerania-Szczecin from the "Book of Effigies" by Antoni Wida (?), ca. 1545, Pomeranian State Museum in Szczecin, lost during World War II. Virtual reconstruction, © Marcin Latka
Portrait of Mary of Saxony (1515-1583), Duchess of Pomerania and her sister Margaret of Saxony (1518-1535) from the Collection of portraits of Saxon princes by Lucas Cranach the Elder, ca. 1546, Saxon State and University Library in Dresden.
Study drawing for portrait of John Frederick of Pomerania (1542-1600) from the "Book of Effigies" by circle of Lucas Cranach the Younger, 1553, Pomeranian State Museum in Szczecin, lost during World War II. Virtual reconstruction, © Marcin Latka
Study drawing for portrait of Ernest Louis of Pomerania (1545-1592) from the "Book of Effigies" by circle of Lucas Cranach the Younger, 1553, Pomeranian State Museum in Szczecin, lost during World War II. Virtual reconstruction, © Marcin Latka
Croy Tapestry by Peter Heymans after cartoon by workshop of Cranach, 1554, Pomeranian State Museum in Greifswald.
Portrait of Barnim IX (1501-1573), Duke of Pomerania-Szczecin by Master IS, ca. 1560, Private collection, lost. Virtual reconstruction, © Marcin Latka
Portrait of Philip I (1515-1560), Duke of Pomerania-Wolgast by Master IS, ca. 1560, Veste Coburg.
Woodcut with portrait of Philip I (1515-1560), Duke of Pomerania-Wolgast from the the "True Depictions of Several Most Honorable Princes and Lords ..." by Lucas Cranach the Younger or workshop, 1562, Saxon State and University Library in Dresden.
Woodcut with portrait of Mary of Saxony (1515-1583), Duchess of Pomerania from the the "True Depictions of Several Most Honorable Princes and Lords ..." by Lucas Cranach the Younger or workshop, 1562, Saxon State and University Library in Dresden.
Study drawing for portrait of Ernest Louis of Pomerania (1545-1592) from the "Book of Effigies" by circle of Lucas Cranach the Younger, ca. 1565, Pomeranian State Museum in Szczecin, lost during World War II. Virtual reconstruction, © Marcin Latka
Disguised portraits of Anna Alnpeck and the patricians of Kraków and Wrocław
In 2022, the National Museum in Wrocław recovered an important painting from the workshop or circle of Lucas Cranach the Elder. It comes from the ducal chapel of Lubiąż Abbey and it shows the Lamentation of Christ (panel, 156 x 131.5 cm). In 1880 the work was transferred to the Silesian Museum of Fine Arts in Wrocław and in November 1945 it was evacuated to the Kamieniec Ząbkowicki Palace near Wrocław for safekeeping, from where it disappeared. In 1970 it was purchased by the Nationalmuseum in Stockholm from the estate of Sigfrid Häggberg.
Members of the family of the Saxon merchant Kunz von Günterode (1476-1536) and his wife Anna Alnpeck (1494-1541), as evidenced by the coats of arms in the lower part of the painting, were immortalized in the scene of mourning for Christ next to the biblical characters: Mary - the mother of Jesus and John the Evangelist. Kunz was a wine and cloth merchant and a city councilor of Leipzig. He served for several years in military campaigns and accompanied Duke George of Saxony, husband of Barbara Jagiellon, to Friesland. In 1510, in Freiberg, Kunz married Anna, who came from a local noble and patrician family of Hungarian origin. He was elected to the Leipzig city council in 1527. He had 9 sons and 4 daughters and died in Leipzig on June 29, 1536 (after "Melanchthons Briefwechsel ..." by Heinz Scheible, p. 204). According to Piotr Oszczanowski "the uniqueness of this work lies in the fact that in the immediate vicinity of the deceased Christ there appear secular figures, specific people known by the name, whose reaction to the event seems to be quite ambiguous. None of the secular heroes of the painting directs their eyes to the body of the dead Christ, which is almost veristically shown, and some of them - and in a truly provocative way - make eye contact with the viewer" (after "Obraz z pracowni Lucasa Cranacha st. w Muzeum Narodowym we Wrocławiu"). It should also be noted that the effigy of the Virgin Mary is like a mirror reflection of Anna Alnpeck holding the body of Christ. The earthly mother Anna Alnpeck therefore mourns her husband (or one of her sons depicted as Jesus) as the Virgin mourns her son. The painting was made in the second half of the 1530s, probably in 1536 and before 1541, and it could be an epitaph, perhaps offered by a widow to her husband, by children to their parents or by a mother to her son. It is unsigned and is believed to have been made by the workshop of a follower of Cranach. If it was made in Wittenberg, which is very likely, the drawings by a pupil of Cranach made in Leipzig and representing the members of the family were taken by this pupil to Wittenberg. It is not known how this Lutheran painting ended up in a Catholic church in Lubiąż. Similar to the disguised double portrait of Anna Alnpeck in a religious scene, such representations are found in 16th-century Silesian art, which draws inspiration from Saxony and Poland-Lithuania. Before World War II, the Silesian Museum of Fine Arts in Wrocław housed another interesting religious scene - the Last Supper from 1537 (panel, 79 x 124 cm, Catalog of Wartime Losses, number 10465). This painting was considered to be the work of a local painter, possibly from the Cranach school. The oil painting on panel was kept in the Council's Senior Chamber of the Wrocław Town Hall and depicted the Wrocław patricians as participants in the Last Supper. The real names were inscribed above the figures, but only a few of them have survived, including those of Hans Metzler, nephew of Bishop Thurzo, Johannes Bockwitz, Nicolaus Jenkwitz, and Albrecht Sauermann depicted as apostles. Next to Jesus sits Heinrich Rybisch (1485-1544), also as an apostle, and Sebald Huber, who financed the painting, can be seen on the left by the window. The man standing behind the window is identified as the effigy of the painter. Johann Hess (or Heß, 1490-1547), a Lutheran theologian and pastor of the Church of Mary Magdalene in Wrocław, is considered to be depicted as Jesus, and the painting symbolises the conversion of most of the inhabitants to Lutheranism. According to another interpretation, Jacob Boner (d. 1560), a relative of the Kraków Boner family, is depicted as Christ, and the painting also illustrates the close ties between the citizens of Wrocław and Kraków. Huber, who founded the painting, was a student at the Kraków Academy, and the Wrocław patrician Mikołaj Szebicki (Nikolaus Schebitz, Schewitz or Schebitzki) is depicted in Polish costume (after "The Renaissance in Poland" by Stanisław Lorentz, p. 56). "All these 'apostles' enjoyed the favour of the Jagiellons: King Vladislaus and his governor of Silesia, Prince Sigismund. But they ultimately opposed the union of Silesia with the Commonwealth and helped the Habsburgs in the race for the inheritance of Louis Jagiellon" (after "Proces narodowościowej transformacji Dolnoślązaków ..." by Wiesław Bokajło, p. 279). In many other Lutheran paintings by Cranach and his son from the third quarter of the 16th century, Martin Luther (1483-1546) and Philip Melanchthon (1497-1560) stand or sit next to Christ. In the Weimar Altarpiece, made by Lucas Cranach the Elder and his son Lucas Cranach the Younger between 1552 and 1555 for the Church of St. Peter and Paul in Weimar, the older painter stands below the crucified Christ, between John the Baptist and Luther, and is depicted being washed by the blood of Jesus. In this context, another important large painting by Cranach and his workshop from the 1530s, preserved only in fragments, can also be considered as containing cryptoportraits. This is Adam and Eve, a fragment of which depicting Eve is in the National Museum in Wrocław (panel transferred to canvas, 52 x 44.4 cm, inv. MNWr VIII-2285) and another fragment depicting Adam is in a private collection (panel, 37.2 x 24 cm, Sotheby's London, December 12, 2002, lot 45). Both fragments were originally in the collection of the noble family Kalau von Hofe in Świerzno (Schwierse) near Oleśnica in Silesia, and were deposited in the Silesian Museum of Fine Arts in Wrocław in 1933. The composition of the original painting undoubtedly resembled another Adam and Eve in this museum, now in private collection, dating from 1543 and painted by Wolfgang Krodel the Elder (oil on panel, 118 x 79 cm, Dorotheum in Vienna, April 24, 2007, lot 463, signed and dated: WK 1543, bequeathed in 1892 by Major-General z. D. Weber, Catalog of Wartime Losses, number 63409). Probably at the beginning of the 17th century, the figures were cut out from a large-format painting, their faces were lightly repainted and their naked bodies covered with clothes, transforming the couple into portraits of the townspeople (after "Bo miłość, mój miły, to ja ..." by Sławomir Ortyl). It is not known why this decision was taken, but if one considers the effigies of the biblical first parents as cryptoportraits, the naked effigies were probably controversial for someone. Such disguised portraits were particularly popular among Protestants as evidenced by Adam and Eve with the disguised portraits of Ernest of Brunswick-Lüneburg (1497-1546) and his wife Sophia of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (1508-1541) by Lucas Cranach the Elder, made between 1528-1530 (KMSKA - Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp, inv. 42), identified by me. Around 1570, Joachim Ernest (1536-1586), Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst and his wife Agnes of Barby-Mühlingen (1540-1569) were depicted as Adam and Eve in paintings from the great hall of Dessau Castle (Gotisches Haus Wörlitz, inv. I-58 and I-59). The face of Eve from Wrocław is reminiscent of the face of the Madonna in Cranach's Madonna under the Fir Tree (Archdiocesan Museum in Wrocław), which, according to my identification, is a disguised portrait of Magdalena Thurzo. In 1551, the Calvinist Konrad Krupka Przecławski, husband of Magdalena's sister Margaret (or her son), was brought before the ecclesiastical court in Kraków, accused of heresy and even sentenced in absentia (Conradus Krupek ab E[piscopo] Crac[oviensi] Sebridowskij nomini pro herrettus conversa damnatus A 1551, after "Calendarium Prudens Simplicitas" by Iwona Pietrzkiewicz, p. 467). Krupka was involved in the financial ventures of his father-in-law John Thurzo and he and his son held shares in Anton Fugger's company in Kraków until 1560 (after "Jakob Fugger" by Götz von Pölnitz, p. 502). 
Lamentation of Christ with members of the family of merchant Kunz von Günterode (1476-1536) and his wife Anna Alnpeck (1494-1541) by workshop or circle of Lucas Cranach the Elder, ca. 1536-1541, National Museum in Wrocław.
The Last Supper, a group portrait of the Wrocław patricians, by Wrocław painter, 1537, Silesian Museum of Fine Arts in Wrocław, lost.
Adam, fragment of a larger painting, probably portrait of Konrad Krupka Przecławski, by Lucas Cranach the Elder or workshop, 1530s, Private collection.
Eve, fragment of a larger painting, probably portrait of Margaret Thurzo, by Lucas Cranach the Elder or workshop, 1530s, National Museum in Wrocław.
Adam and Eve from Wrocław by Wolfgang Krodel the Elder, 1543, Private collection.
Portraits of Françoise de Luxembourg-Ligny by Hans Besser and workshop of Lucas Cranach the Younger
Streets, houses, temples, public baths and other edifices of Antient Greece and Rome were full of statues, frescoes and mosacis showing naked gods and rulers. Surely in such temperatures in the south of Europe, where Bona Sforza was raised, it was easier to undress than to get dressed. More to the north the situation was quite opposite, to protect from cold, people dressed up and rarely could see any nudity, thus become more prudish in this regard. Renaissance redisovered the nude statues and paintings of the ancient and today some televison programs reinvented the concept that is good to see a potential partner naked before any engagement, at least for some people.
In 1549 Emperor Charles V (1500-1558) commissioned a bronze statue of himself as a naked ancient god and the detachable armour, so the statue could be dressed. The sculpture, created in Milan by Italian sculptors Leone and Pompeo Leoni, was presented to the Emperor in Brussels in 1556 and later transported to Madrid, today in the Prado Museum (inventory number E000273). In 1535 Françoise de Luxembourg-Ligny, a daughter of Count Charles I of Ligny and Charlotte d'Estouteville, married Bernhard III, Margrave of Baden-Baden. Françoise was a Countess of Brienne and Ligny and heiress of the County of Roussy. She was about 15 years old and the groom 61 at the time of their marriage. Almost a year after the wedding she bore her husband a son Philibert, born on 22 January 1536. Bernhard died on 29 June 1536 and their second son Christopher was born on 26 February 1537, posthumously. Next years were filled with disputes over the custody of the children, which was claimed by their uncle Ernest, Margrave of Baden-Durlach who favored Lutheranism and Duke William IV of Bavaria, husband of Bernhard's niece Marie Jakobaea of Baden-Sponheim, a staunch Catholic. In agreement with Françoise, her eldest son Philibert spent part of his youth at the court of Duke William IV in Munich. Françoise remarried on 19 April 1543 to Count Adolf IV of Nassau-Idstein (1518-1556), who was more of her age, and she bore him three children. In 1549 Hans Besser, court painter of Frederick II, Elector Palatine created a series of portraits of Françoise's eldest sons Philibert and Christopher (in Munich, from the collections of the Dukes of Bavaria and in Vienna, from the Habsburg collection). In 1531 Frederick of Palatine was a candidate to the hand of Princess Hedwig Jagiellon, he must have received her portrait, most probably in the popular "guise" of Venus and Cupid. A painting showing Venus and Cupid in the Alte Pinakothek in Munich from about 1540 is painted in the form typical for Cranach's Venuses (panel, 196 x 89 cm, inv. 5465). Its style, however, is not typical for Cranach and his workshop, hence this painting is also attributed to a Cranach's copist from the early 17th century Heinrich Bollandt. The painting was acquired in 1812 from Bayreuth Palace. In 1541, a grandson of Sophia Jagiellon, sister of king Sigismund I of Poland, Albert Alcibiades, Margrave of Brandenburg-Kulmbach received Bayreuth. He assisted Emperor Charles V in his war with France in 1543 but soon deserted Charles, and joined the league which proposed to overthrow the Emperor by an alliance with French king Henry II. He spent the last years of his life in Pforzheim with the family of his sister Kunigunde, who was married to Charles II of Baden, nephew of Bernhard III. Albert Alcibiades was unmarried, so the match with a widowed Margravine of Baden, and a French noble, would be perfect for him. A slightly different and somewhat smaller repetition of the Munich motif was sold in Brussels in 2000 (Palais des Beaux-Arts, November 7, 2000, lot 265), although depicting a different woman. Similar painting, from the Rastatt Palace, was cut into pieces before 1772 and preserved fragments are now in the Staatliche Kunsthalle Karlsruhe - Venus with a tiara (panel, 46.7 x 42.3 cm, inv. 124) and Cupid with an arrow (inv. 811). The Rastatt Palace was built between 1700 and 1707 by an Italian architect for Margrave Louis William of Baden-Baden, a direct descendant of Françoise de Luxembourg-Ligny. The same woman as in the above mentioned paintings was also depicted in a series of portraits by workshop of Lucas Cranach the Younger. Most probaly all depicted her as Salome and some of them were cut later, so that the upper part could be sold as a portrait and the lower part as Saint John the Baptist. Basing on the woman's outfit they should be dated to late 1530s or early 1540s, however one of these portraits from the old collection of the Friedenstein Palace in Gotha (panel, 84 x 57 cm, inv. SG 303), where there is an effigy of Hedwig Jagiellon as the Virgin (inv. SG 678), is dated 1549. A copy of the latter painting from the collection of the Dukes of Brunswick is in the Herzog Anton Ulrich Museum. The portrait now in the State Gallery in Johannisburg Palace in Aschaffenburg (panel, 63.1 x 48.8 cm, inv. 13259), comes from the art collection of Hermann Goering and other, sold in 2012, was in the collection of Prince Serge Koudacheff in St. Petersburg before 1902 (panel, 62 x 52.5 cm, Dorotheum in Vienna, October 17, 2012, lot 528). Another one, signed with the HVK monogram, was temporarily in the Veste Coburg collection before 1930 (panel, 23 x 19.2 cm, Koller in Zurich, September 27, 2019, lot 3017). There is also a version as Judith with the head of Holofernes in the Sanssouci Palace in Potsdam (inv. 71) and several paintings where the woman was depicted in the satirical scene of the ill-matched couple, some of which are attributed to another 17th century copist of Cranach, Christian Richter (1587-1667), or Cyriakus Roder (d. 1598), like the painting in a private collection in Switzerland (panel, 46 x 34.3 cm). Version from a Swedish private collection (panel, 42 x 32.3 cm, Christie's New York, April 14, 2016, lot 202) was attributed to the Monogrammist CR (1472-1553). The costumes are typical of the late 1530s. Copies of this effigy of varying quality reappear on the art market from time to time, such as the painting sold at auction in Paris in 2006 (Boisgirard-Antonini, August 13, 2006, lot 1) or the magnificent painting on a gold background, sold in Paris in 2024 (oil on panel, 47.5 x 54 cm, Artcurial in Paris, November 26, 2024, lot 8), signed with the artist's mark and dated "1549". Like the similar painting in Friedenstein, also dated 1549, it also comes from the former ducal collections - having arrived in Gotha as part of the dowry of Duchess Elisabeth Sophie of Saxe-Altenburg (1619-1680). It was sold with attribution to Lucas Cranach the Elder or his workshop. Facial features in all these effigies greatly resemble portraits of sons of Françoise de Luxembourg-Ligny by Hans Besser and stylistically some of these works are very close to portraits by this court painter. The geographical distribution of many of the paintings, in the surroundings of Baden-Baden, also confirms this identification. 
Portrait of Françoise de Luxembourg-Ligny (d. 1566), Margravine of Baden-Baden as Venus and Cupid by Hans Besser or workshop of Lucas Cranach the Younger, ca. 1540, Alte Pinakothek in Munich.
Portrait of Françoise de Luxembourg-Ligny (d. 1566), Margravine of Baden-Baden as Venus with a tiara by Hans Besser or workshop of Lucas Cranach the Younger, ca. 1540, Staatliche Kunsthalle Karlsruhe.
Portrait of Françoise de Luxembourg-Ligny (d. 1566), Margravine of Baden-Baden by workshop of Lucas Cranach the Younger, 1535-1549, Johannisburg Palace in Aschaffenburg.
Portrait of Françoise de Luxembourg-Ligny (d. 1566), Margravine of Baden-Baden by workshop of Lucas Cranach the Younger, 1535-1549, Private collection.
Portrait of Françoise de Luxembourg-Ligny (d. 1566), Margravine of Baden-Baden by Monogramist HVK, 1535-1549, Private collection.
Portrait of Françoise de Luxembourg-Ligny (d. 1566), Margravine of Baden-Baden by Lucas Cranach the Elder or his workshop, 1549, Private collection.
Portrait of Françoise de Luxembourg-Ligny (d. 1566), Margravine of Baden-Baden as Salome by workshop of Lucas Cranach the Younger, 1549, Friedenstein Palace in Gotha.
Ill-Matched Couple, caricature of Françoise de Luxembourg-Ligny (d. 1566), Margravine of Baden-Baden and her husband by workshop of Lucas Cranach the Younger or Cyriakus Roder, 1535-1566 or late 16th century, Private collection.
Ill-Matched Couple, caricature of Françoise de Luxembourg-Ligny (d. 1566), Margravine of Baden-Baden and her husband by Monogrammist CR, before 1553, Private collection.
Portraits of Barnim IX of Pomerania-Szczecin, his wife and his three daughters by Lucas Cranach the Elder, his son and workshop
"Among his faults was his penchant for lust. His wife, Anna of Brunswick-Lünesburg, with whom he had two sons, Alexander [also considered as a daughter Alexandra, named after the Polish king Alexander Jagiellon (1461-1506)] and Boguslaus, who died in childhood, and five daughters, had died before him on November 7, 1568. Two of his daughters remained unmarried and predeceased him: Elizabeth in 1554 and Sybille on September 21, 1564. The other three were handsomely endowed upon their marriages", describes Barnim IX/XI (1501-1573), Duke of Pomerania-Szczecin, historian and mayor of Szczecin Johann Jacob Sell (1754-1816) in his book on the history of Pomerania, published in 1820 (Unter seine Fehler rechnet man seinen Hang zur Wollust. Seine Gemahlin Anna von Braunschweig Lüneburg, mit der er 2 Sohne Alexander und Bogislav, die aber in der Kindheit starben und 5 Tochter geszeuget hatte, war vor ihm am 7. Nov. 1568 gestorben; 2 seiner Tochter blieben unverheirathet und starben vor ihm, Elisabeth 1554 und Sybille am 21. Sept. 1564. Die andern 3 wurden bei ihrer Verheirathung ansehnlich ausgestattet, after "Geschichte des Herzogthums Pommern von den ältesten Zeiten ...", Volume 3, p. 66).
In 1543 three daughters of Barnim, Maria (1527-1554), Dorothea (1528-1558) and Anna (1531-1592), reached the legal age of marriage (12). That same year on May 6, 1543, Barnim's young cousin, king Sigismund Augustus of Poland married Elizabeth of Austria (1526-1545). Three of Sigismund Augustus' sisters Sophia, Anna and Catherine were also unmarried and Barnim's uncle Sigismund I hoped to find a suitable husband for each of them. Due to the kinship of the ruling families of Poland-Lithuania and Pomerania, they undoubtedly exchanged some effigies. Almost a year later on July 16, 1544 Maria, the eldest daughter of Barnim, married Count Otto IV of Holstein-Schaumburg-Pineberg (1517-1576). Dorothea had to wait ten years more to marry Count John I of Mansfeld-Hinterort (d. 1567) on July 8, 1554 and Anna married three times, first to Prince Charles I of Anhalt-Zerbst (1534-1561) in 1557, then to Burgrave Henry VI of Plauen (1536-1572) in 1566 and then to Count Jobst II of Barby-Mühlingen (1544-1609) in 1576. A small painting of Hercules at the court of Omphale by Lucas Cranach the Elder and workshop in the National Museum in Warsaw is very similar to the painting from the Mielżyński collection in Poznań, showing the family of Sigismund I in 1537. Dimensions (48.7 x 74.8 cm / 48 x 73 cm), the composition, even the poses and costumes are very similar. This painting was most probably transferred during the World War II to the Nazi German Art Repository in Kamenz (Kamieniec Ząbkowicki), possibly from the Silesian Museum of Fine Arts in Wrocław (panel, 48.7 x 75.3 cm, inv. M.Ob.2536 MNW). Around 1543 the ruler of nearby Legnica was Frederick II, like Barnim a strong supporter of the Reformation and his distant relative. Both dukes had close ties with nearby Poland-Lithuania. Frederick's younger son George, future George II of Legnica-Brzeg, was unmarried at that time. It cannot be excluded that the ruling family of Legnica received this fashionable portrait of Barnim's family in guise of mythological heroes. The work match perfectly the ruling house of Pomerania-Szczecin in about 1543 and face features of Hercules and Omphale are very similar to other portraits of Barnim IX and his wife. The above described painting is a reduced version of a larger composition which was in the Stemmler collection in Cologne, now in private collection (panel, 83 x 120.8 cm). It is very similar to the portrait of Barnim's family as Hercules at the court of Omphale from 1532 in Berlin (lost). The effigy of Maria of Pomerania-Szczecin with a duck above her, a symbol of marital fidelity and intelligence, is almost identical with the effigy of her mother Anna of Brunswick-Lüneburg from the earlier painting. The whole composition is based on a preparatory drawing that preserved in the Museum of Prints and Drawings in Berlin (Kupferstichkabinett, paper, 14.6 x 20.9 cm, inv. 13712), signed with a monogram L.G., most probably created by Cranach's pupil who was sent to Szczecin or Barnim's court painter. All of Barnim's daughters, including the youngest Sibylla, born in 1541, were depicted in a large painting created by Cornelius Krommeny in 1598 and showing the Family tree of the House of Pomerania, today in the National Museum in Szczecin. A portrait of a young lady as Salome in the bridal crown on her head in the Museum of Fine Arts in Budapest (panel, 73.5 x 54 cm, inv. 145), is almost identical with the effigy of Maria of Pomerania-Szczecin in both of mentioned paintings of Hercules at the court of Omphale. This portrait was recorded in 1770 in the Bratislava Castle, the formal seat of the kings of Hungary, and later transferred to the imperial collections in Vienna. The same woman was depicted as Lucretia in the painting by workshop of Lucas Cranach the Elder, which was before 1929 in private collection in Amsterdam, today in the Alte Pinakothek in Munich (panel, 74 x 53.5 cm, inv. 13257) and as Venus with Cupid as the honey thief from the collection of the Princes of Liechtenstein in Vienna, today in the Kröller-Müller Museum in Otterlo (panel, 174 x 66.5 cm, inv. KM 110.841). A portrait of a lady as Judith in green dress in the National Gallery of Ireland in Dublin, purchased in 1879 from the collection of Mr. Cox in London (panel, 45.9 x 34.2 cm, inv. NGI.186), match perfectly the effigy of Dorothea of Pomerania-Szczecin in described paintings. Her pose and outfit is very similar to that of Dorothea's mother in both paintings of Hercules at the court of Omphale. We can identify the same woman in a beautiful painting of Lucretia by Cranach, attributed to Cranach the Elder or his son, from a private collection (panel, 76.2 x 55.4 cm, Christie's London, July 7, 2009, lot 11). This work is considered to have been made around 1540-1545 and was in a private collection in Berlin before 1901. Several similar paintings derived from this Lucretia were created by Cranach's workshop, including the painting in the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive (panel, 45 x 33 cm, inv. 1983.25.6), which was in various Viennese collections before 1930 (Stummer of Tavarnok, Baron of Tschirschky and Castiglioni). The version in the Universalmuseum Joanneum (Eggenberg Palace) in Graz was acquired in 1941 from the Attems collection in Gorizia (panel, 71.5 x 47.4 cm, inv. 106). Preserved fragment of Lucretia from a private Franco-Belgian collection, attributed to the workshop of Lucas Cranach the Elder, was another version of the same disguised portrait of the same woman (panel, 36.6 x 20.4 cm, Koller Auctions in Zurich, September 20, 2024, lot 3016). There is also a similar painting on permanent private loan to Gottorf Castle since 1996/97, probably from a private French collection, but the pose is slightly different and the face also seems different. Another similar painting is in the Museo Soumaya in Mexico City (panel, 75.4 x 56.2, inv. 7031). It is also considered to be a work by Cranach the Elder or the Younger and it was in Florence in the 18th century. The face of another Lucretia, now in the Kunstmuseum Basel, is similar to that in the Museo Soumaya, while the woman closely resembles the central female figure in the group painting Hercules at the Court of Omphale from the Stemmler collection. The Basel painting was in a private collection in Paris before 1928 (panel, 79 x 64 cm, inv. 1628). Salome with the head of Saint John the Baptist in the bridal crown, which was formerly in the collection of the King of Württemberg, now in the Bob Jones University Museum and Gallery in Greenville (panel, 56.8 x 34.3 cm), is identical with the effigy of the youngest daughter of Barnim in the Warsaw's painting. The painter evidently used the same template drawing to create both miniatures. Another very similar Salome, attributed to Cranach the Younger, comes from the collection of the Ambras Castle built by Archduke Ferdinand II of Austria (1529-1595), the second son of Anna Jagellonica and Emperor Ferdinand I. It was offered in 1930 by Gustaf Werner to the Gothenburg Museum of Art (panel, 75 x 49 cm, inv. GKM 0934). The painter added a fantastic landscape in the background. Finally there is a painting of Venus and Cupid as the honey thief from the same period in the Germanisches Nationalmuseum in Nuremberg, also atrributed to Cranach the Younger (panel, 175.4 x 66.3 cm, inv. Gm1097). Venus' face is identical with the portrait of Anna of Pomerania-Szczecin in the painting from Stemmler collection. The painting comes from the residence of the Catholic Bishops of Freising, where it was known as Saint Juliana. It cannot be excluded that it was originally in the Polish-Lithuanian royal collection and was transferred to nearby Neuburg an der Donau with the collection of Princess Anna Catherine Constance Vasa or brought by some other eminent Polish-Lithuanian lady. In the National Museum in Warsaw there is also a painting showing a moralistic subject of the ill-matched couple by workshop of Lucas Cranach the Elder or his son from the third quarter of the 16th century (panel, 75.5 x 48.5 cm, inv. M.Ob.40 MNW). It was aquired by the Museum in 1865 from the collection of Henryk Bahré. The woman has slipped her hand inside the old man's purse, which leaves no doubt as to the basis of this relationship. Her face and costume is based on the same set of template drawings which were used to create portraits of Anna of Pomerania-Szczecin. The painting is of a high quality, therefore the patron who commissioned it was wealthy. While Georgia of Pomerania (1531-1573), daughter of George I, brother of Barnim, married in 1563 a Polish nobleman and a Lutheran, Stanisław Latalski (1535-1598), starost of Inowrocław and Człuchów, her cousin Anna opted for titular and hereditary German princes in her subsequent marriages. It is therefore possible that this painting was commissioned by the royal court or a magnate from Poland-Lithuania. This painting is undated and, based on stylistic analysis, has been dated to around 1550. In 2005, a studio copy of this work was auctioned in London (panel, 73 x 49.5 cm, Christie's, Auction 5828, December 7, 2005, lot 124), which bears the signature and date "LC 1536" with the artist's snake mark (lower left on the man's robe). However, neither the date nor the (incorrect) serpent device appear to be genuine. All of Anna's husbands were younger than her, and Henry VI of Plauen was born in 1536. 
Preparatory drawing for Hercules at the court of Omphale with portraits of Barnim IX of Pomerania-Szczecin, his wife and his three daughters by Monogrammist L.G. or workshop of Lucas Cranach the Elder, ca. 1543, Museum of Prints and Drawings in Berlin.
Hercules at the court of Omphale with portraits of Barnim IX of Pomerania-Szczecin, his wife and his three daughters by Lucas Cranach the Elder and workshop, ca. 1543, Private collection.
Hercules at the court of Omphale with portraits of Barnim IX of Pomerania-Szczecin, his wife and his three daughters by Lucas Cranach the Elder and workshop, ca. 1543, National Museum in Warsaw.
Portrait of Maria of Pomerania-Szczecin (1527-1554) as Salome with the head of Saint John the Baptist by Lucas Cranach the Elder, ca. 1539-1543, Museum of Fine Arts in Budapest.
Portrait of Maria of Pomerania-Szczecin (1527-1554) as Lucretia by workshop of Lucas Cranach the Elder, ca. 1543, Alte Pinakothek in Munich.
Portrait of Maria of Pomerania-Szczecin (1527-1554) as Venus with Cupid as the honey thief by Lucas Cranach the Elder or his son, ca. 1543, Kröller-Müller Museum in Otterlo.
Portrait of Dorothea of Pomerania-Szczecin (1528-1558) as Judith with the head of Holofernes by workshop of Lucas Cranach the Elder, ca. 1543-1550, National Gallery of Ireland.
Portrait of Dorothea of Pomerania-Szczecin (1528-1558) as Lucretia by Lucas Cranach the Elder or Lucas Cranach the Younger, ca. 1545, Private collection.
Portrait of Dorothea of Pomerania-Szczecin (1528-1558) as Lucretia by workshop of Lucas Cranach the Elder, ca. 1543-1550, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive.
Portrait of Dorothea of Pomerania-Szczecin (1528-1558) as Lucretia by Lucas Cranach the Younger, ca. 1543-1550, Eggenberg Palace in Graz.
Fragment of portrait of Dorothea of Pomerania-Szczecin (1528-1558) as Lucretia by Lucas Cranach the Elder, ca. 1543-1550, Private collection.
Portrait of Dorothea of Pomerania-Szczecin (1528-1558) as Lucretia by Lucas Cranach the Elder or Lucas Cranach the Younger, ca. 1545, Museo Soumaya in Mexico City.
Portrait of Dorothea of Pomerania-Szczecin (1528-1558) as Lucretia by Lucas Cranach the Younger, ca. 1543-1550, Kunstmuseum Basel.
Portrait of Anna of Pomerania-Szczecin (1531-1592) as Salome with the head of Saint John the Baptist by Lucas Cranach the Elder, ca. 1543, Bob Jones University Museum and Gallery in Greenville.
Portrait of Anna of Pomerania-Szczecin (1531-1592) as Salome with the head of Saint John the Baptist by Lucas Cranach the Younger, ca. 1543-1550, Gothenburg Museum of Art.
Portrait of Anna of Pomerania-Szczecin (1531-1592) as Venus and Cupid as the honey thief by Lucas Cranach the Younger, ca. 1543-1550, Germanisches Nationalmuseum.
Ill-matched couple, caricature of Anna of Pomerania-Szczecin (1531-1592) by workshop of Lucas Cranach the Elder or his son, third quarter of the 16th century, National Museum in Warsaw.
Ill-matched couple, caricature of Anna of Pomerania-Szczecin (1531-1592) by workshop of Lucas Cranach the Younger, third quarter of the 16th century, Private collection.
Portrait of Thomas Howard, Duke of Norfolk by Giovanni Cariani or Bernardino Licinio
In February 1546 arrived to London the envoy of Poland-Lithuania Stanisław Lasota (Stanislaus Lassota) of Rawicz coat of arms (ca. 1515-1561), courtier of Queen Bona Sforza (aulicus Bonae Reginae), valet, diplomatic agent and royal secretary. He presented Henry VIII with enticing proposals of cooperation with Poland and assured the English monarch that Poland did not intend to stop supplying grain to England which at that time was at war with France, and needed a constant supply of grain to the country and to the front.
Lasota, trusted by the royals, was used for discreet missions. He also presented a project (without an official authorization) of marrying Sigismund Augustus to Princess Mary Tudor (1516-1558). Henry VIII rewarded Lasota with a golden chain and appointed him a golden knight (eques auratus) in front of the entire court. There is even a document in the files of the Privy Council, which shows that the Council paid on "Aprilis 1546. To Cornelys, the goldsmith, for makeng a coler of esses for the gentilman of Polonia". Lasota set out from Vilnius in 1545 and before he reached England, he also went to Vienna, Munich and Spain. In March 1546 Stanisław leaves London and arrives in Paris, where, in turn, he proposes the marriage of Sigismund Augustus with Princess Margaret of Valois (1523-1574), daughter of King Francis I. A year later Lasota went to England again with an official embassy (after "Polska w oczach Anglików XIV-XVI w." by Henryk Zins, p. 70-71). Precious gifts were part of diplomacy at that time and Lasota undoubtedly also brought many valuable gifts. In 1546 Sigismund I offered Ercole II d'Este, Duke of Ferrara a gold chain worth 150 Hungarian gold florins. His wife Queen Bona, like her son later, had a special affinity for jewelery. In 1543 she gave her son 40 silver cups, many gold chains and other valuables. Exquisite jewels were ordered by the queen or for her from the best goldsmiths in Poland-Lithuania and abroad. At the beginning of 1526 a gold chain was ordered in Nuremberg for Bona and in 1546 Seweryn Boner paid 300 florins to Nuremberg goldsmith Nicolaus Nonarth for making necklaces for her daughters. Pearls were bought for huge sums in Venice and in Gdańsk and ready-made gems were purchased in Nuremberg and Turkey (after "Klejnoty w Polsce ..." by Ewa Letkiewicz, p. 57). In 1545 the court embroiderer Sebald Linck received Venetian gold and some other type of gold, which in the bills is described as aurum panniculare, to adorn the ceremonial robe of Sigismund I. In 1554 envoy of the Queen purchased in Antwerp "goldsmith's work to the amount of 6,000, to give to the Queen of England", as reported Venetian ambassador to the Imperial Court Marc'Antonio Damula and two years later Pietro Vanni (often Anglicised as Peter Vannes), Latin secretary to King Henry VIII, describing Bona's departure from Poland and her stay in Venice, wrote that "she has conveyed out of the country, by divers secret ways, an infinite quantity of treasure and jewels" (to the Council, March 7, 1556, in Venice). Portrait paintings were also an integral part of diplomacy. The rulers exchanged their likenesses, portraits of potential brides, family members, important personalities and famous people. In June 1529 a portrait of Duke of Mantua, Federico II Gonzaga (1500-1540), was brought to Bona by his emissary and in 1530 a diplomat in service of Sigismund and Bona Jan Dantyszek sent to Krzysztof Szydłowiecki, Great Chancellor of the Crown, the portrait of the Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés. In Warsaw preserved one of the best portraits of Henry VIII by circle of Hans Holbein the Younger, most probably painted by Lucas Horenbout (National Museum in Warsaw, oil on oak wood, 106 x 79 cm, inv. 128165). The portrait is a version of king's effigy created by Holbein the Younger in 1537 as part of a mural in the Whitehall Palace. It was earlier in the collection of Jakub Ksawery Aleksander Potocki (1863-1934) and Leon Sapieha (inscription verso: L. Sapieha) and in 1831 "Henry VIII of England by Holbeyn on wood in a gilded frame" is mentioned in a register of paintings of Ludwik Michał Pac by Antoni Blank (February 1, 1831, Ossolineum, Wrocław). Another catalogue by Blank, of the Radziwill collection in Nieborów near Łódź, published in 1835, lists five paintings by Holbein (items 426, 427, 458, 503, 505). The portrait of Gdańsk merchant Georg Gisze (1497-1562), knighted by the Polish King Sigismund I in 1519, was created by Hans Holbein the Younger in 1532 in London to be sent to his brother Tiedemann Giese, secretary to the King of Poland (today in the Gemäldegalerie in Berlin, oil on panel, 97.5 x 86.2 cm, inv. 586). In the private collection in Hamburg, Germany, there is a portrait of a wealthy nobleman (compare Fototeca Zeri, Numero scheda 39752). His facial features and costume are strikingly similar to these in the effigies of Thomas Howard (1473-1554), Third Duke of Norfolk, Earl Marshal and Lord High Treasurer, uncle of two of the wives of King Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard, and one of the most powerful nobles in the country. Hans Holbein the Younger and his workshop created a series of portraits of the Duke of Norfolk (Windsor Castle, Castle Howard and private collection) aged 66, therefore created at the peak of his power in 1539. Although favored by Henry VIII for most of his life, his position became unstable after the execution of his niece Catherine Howard in 1542 and again in 1546 when he and his son were arrested for treason (December 12). This leading Catholic politician under Henry VIII and Mary Tudor was described by Venetian ambassador Ludovico Falieri in 1531: "[he] has very great experience in political government, discusses the affairs of the world admirably, aspires to greater elevation, and bears ill-will to foreigners, especially to our Venetian nation. He is fifty-eight years old, small and spare in person". The mentioned portrait in Hamburg shows an older man in his 60s or 70s in a costume from the 1540s. The shape of his gold sleeve buckles is reminiscent of a Tudor rose and he holds his right hand on the closed helmet of his Italian/French-style armour. In June 1543, Howard declared war on France in the King's name during the Italian War of 1542-1546. He was appointed Lieutenant-General of the army and commanded the English troops during the unsuccessful siege of Montreuil. On 7 June 1546, the Treaty of Ardres was signed with France. Everything indicates that it is a portrait of Howard, except for gold chain around his neck. In all portraits by Holbein and workshop he wears the Order of the Garter, an important order of chivalry related to the English crown. If we would consider the portrait as effigy of the Duke of Norfolk, therefore this different chain was a part of diplomatic efforts of the commander, who complained about the inadequate supply of his army during the French campaign. So it's like a message to someone, 'I like your gift, we could be allies'. Another intriguing thing about this portrait is its author. The painting was created by Italian painter in the style close to Giovanni Cariani and Bernardino Licinio. Federico Zeri attributed the work in 1982 to Cariani, who died in Venice in 1547, or to 16th century school of Ferrara. In 1546 Queen Bona commissioned a series of paintings for the Kraków Cathedral in Venice and contacts with Ferrara were increased due planned marriage of Sigismund Augustus with Anna d'Este (the portrait of the bride was supposedly sent via Venice by Carlo Foresta, one of the agents of the Kraków merchant Gaspare Gucci). Concluding, the portrait in Hamburg was commissioned in Venice for or by the Polish-Lithuanian court, basing on a drawing or miniature sent from England. Despite their great wealth, the match with a distant, elective monarchy of Poland-Lithuania was not considered to be advantageous to the hereditary kings of England, especially when the war with France was over and they did not need an increased supply of grain and Sigismund Augustus decided to marry his mistress Barbara Radziwill. 
Portrait of Georg Gisze (1497-1562), Gdańsk merchant by Hans Holbein the Younger, 1532, Gemäldegalerie in Berlin.
Portrait of Henry VIII of England by circle of Hans Holbein the Younger, most probably Lucas Horenbout, ca. 1537-1546, National Museum in Warsaw.
Portrait of Thomas Howard (1473-1554), Third Duke of Norfolk by Giovanni Cariani or Bernardino Licinio, ca. 1542-1546, Private collection.
Portrait of Catherine Willoughby, Duchess of Suffolk by workshop of Hans Holbein the Younger
It is said that Catherine Willoughby (1519-1580) was considered a candidate to marry Sigismund Augustus after the Polish ambassador failed to obtain the hand of Princess Mary Tudor in 1546, and between 1557 and 1559 she and her husband were "placed honourably in the earldom of the said king of Poland, in Sanogelia [Samogitia in Lithuania], called Crozen [Kražiai]" (after "Chronicles of the House of Willoughby de Eresby", p. 98). Catherine was a daughter and heiress of William Willoughby, 11th Baron Willoughby de Eresby, by his second wife, María de Salinas, maid-of-honour to Queen Catherine of Aragon. She and her second husband Richard Bertie (1516-1582) were of the Protestant faith and in 1555 they were forced to flee England due to the Catholic rule of Queen Mary I and only returned to England under the Protestant Queen Elizabeth I.
Her first husband was Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk, whom she married on 7 September 1533, at th age of 14. They had two sons, both of whom died young in 1551 - Henry (b. 1535) and Charles (b. 1537). In the Metropolitan Museum of Art there is a portrait of a girl aged 17 (Latin: ANNO ETATIS·SVÆ XVII) by workshop of Hans Holbein the Younger, also identified as effigy of Catherine Howard, Queen of England from 1540 until 1542, hence dated to about 1540 (oil on panel, 28.3 x 23.2 cm, inv. 49.7.30). The painting was at the beginning of the 19th century in the collection of Prince Józef Antoni Poniatowski (1763-1813), a nephew of king Stanislaus Augustus, who inherited many paintings from his collection and consequently also from historical royal collections. The main feature of her face is a chrchteristic upper lip, also visible in the picture of a painting before conservation when retouching were removed. A similar lip is seen in portraits identified as depicting children of Catherine Willoughby - Henry Brandon, 2nd Duke of Suffolk (1535-1551) by Hans Holbein the Younger (Royal Collection, RCIN 422294) and Susan Bertie (b. 1554) by unknown painter (Beaney House of Art and Knowledge). Her face and pose also resemble those seen in the portrait drawing of the Duchess of Suffolk by Hans Holbein the Younger, created between 1532-1543 (Windsor Castle, RCIN 912194). The resemblance of a woman from the picture to the later image of Catherine's daughter is surprising. A cameo brooch on her bust with two heads could be Castor and Pollux, the astronomical Gemini, interpreted by Renaissance mythographers in terms of shared immortality and the bond that unites two people even after death (after "Castor and Pollux", Cengage, Encyclopedia.com). 
Portrait of Catherine Willoughby (1519-1580), Duchess of Suffolk, aged 17 by workshop of Hans Holbein the Younger, ca. 1536, Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Portrait of King Francis I of France by Haydar Reis
In a letter dated February 27, 1548 from Vilnius, which was in the State Archives in Königsberg before World War II, Sigismund II Augustus (1520-1572) thanks his cousin Duke Albert of Prussia (1490-1568) for "various portraits of illustrious men and women" (imagines diversas illustrium virorum et mulierum) sent through Piotr Wojanowski, the superior of 14 royal servants in private chambers (after "Zygmunt August: Wielki Książę Litwy do roku 1548" by Ludwik Kolankowski, p. 317, 329). The paintings were intended for the king's gallery in his splendid palace in Vilnius and were most likely destroyed during the occupation of the city by Russian and Cossack forces during the Deluge (1655-1660/1).
It is very likely that the correspondence of the court painter of Duke Albert Hans Krell, residing in Leipzig, and Lucas Cranach the Elder in January 1546 (letters dated January 1 and 21) refers to the portraits commissioned by the King of Poland. Krell sent a list of the most sought-after portraits, including: 1) Emperor Sigismund of Luxembourg (1368-1437), ancestor of Sigismund Augustus through Elizabeth of Austria (1436-1505), 2) King Christian II of Denmark (1481-1559), 3) Duke George of Saxony (1471-1539), husband of Barbara Jagiellon (1478-1534), with two sons John (1498-1537) and Frederick (1504-1539), 4) Duke Henry IV of Saxony (1473-1541), 5) King Francis I of France (1494-1547), 6) Duke Eric I of Brunswick (1470-1540) and his wife Elizabeth of Brandenburg (1510-1558), 7) Duke Ulrich of Württemberg (1487-1550), 8) Duke Francis of Brunswick-Lüneburg (1508-1549) and 9) Czech reformer Jan Hus (ca. 1370-1415), while there is also earlier mention of "other portraits of princes and kings which are not included in this list" (So Hr andere Conterfeiungen mehr von hern Fürsten und Königen, die in dieser vorzeichnus nicht weren, zuwegebringen könth, after "Das Leben und die Werke Albrecht Dürer's ..." by Joseph Heller, p. 4-5). Although Cranach had the opportunity to meet some of these people in person and portraits attributed to him have survived, such as the effigies of Christian II of Denmark, he cannot have met Emperor Sigismund and Jan Hus, so their portraits must have been based on other effigies. The same applies to King Francis I of France, as it is very unlikely that Cranach met the French monarch in person. No other paintings of Francis I by Cranach appear to have survived, however, the Harvard Art Museums hold two Ottoman miniatures by Haydar Reis (1494-1574), called Nigari, created between 1566 and 1574. One of these miniatures depict King Francis I, probably after a painting by Jean Clouet (inv. 1985.214.A), which belonged to Sultan Selim II (1524-1574), son of Roxelana. The distinctive appearance and the fleur-de-lis on the king's hat confirm that this is Francis I. The other image is thought to depict Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, perhaps after a lost painting probably by Cranach, as the composition indicates (opaque watercolor on paper, 22.9 x 12.8 cm, inv. 1985.214.B). The inscription below the portrait of Francis contains the artist's name and fictitiously proclaims that they (Francis and Charles) visited Sultan Selim II, who reigned between 1566 and 1574, to collect an imperial decree, although the two monarchs never set foot in the Ottoman capital. The alleged portrait of Charles V does not display any typical features of the portraits of this monarch, i.e. the protruding Habsburg jaw and lower lip and the Order of the Golden Fleece, however the facial features bear a striking resemblance to known portraits of Francis I, such as the portrait by Titian (Louvre Museum, INV 753; MR 505). It seems more likely that Selim II's father, Suleiman the Magnificent, received the portraits of his ally Francis I, one of which may have been made by Cranach as the portrait made for Sigismund Augustus, and later the portrait by the Wittenberg painter was mistaken for the portrait of Francis' opponent Emperor Charles V. The king's costume is typical of the 1540s and similar to that seen in the portrait of the young Edward VI of England (1537-1553), painted between 1546 and 1547 (Windsor Castle, inv. RCIN 404441). Like Francis I and Charles V, Sigismund Augustus was a great art lover of high artistic taste and it is possible that other paintings acquired by the king at the same time were also by Cranach or his workshop. In January 1548, the king bought in Piotrków, during the Diet, for 140 złoty, 29 paintings of unknown content, and in April of the same year, Benedykt Koźmińczyk (1497-1559) bought for 50 złoty, 8 paintings depicting the journey of Abraham and 8 others depicting the story of Joseph. 
Portrait of King Francis I of France (1494-1547) by Haydar Reis after original by Lucas Cranach the Elder or workshop (?), ca. 1566-1574 after original from about 1546, Harvard Art Museums.
Portrait of Marco Antonio Savelli by workshop of Giovanni Battista Moroni or Moretto da Brescia
The portrait of a gentleman, attributed to Alessandro Bonvicino (ca. 1498-1554), commonly known as Moretto da Brescia, from the Potocki collection in Łańcut Castle, which was exhibited in 1940 in New York (oil on canvas, 118 x 101 cm, catalogue "For Peace and Freedom. Old masters: a collection of Polish-owned works of art ...", item 24), shows a man holding an open book on a stone pedestal. This painting is a copy of larger composition, today in the Calouste Gulbenkian Museum in Lisbon (inv. 92), acquired in Amsterdam in 1925, and originally most probably in the Uggeri collection in Brescia. According to Latin inscription on marble pedestal, the man was a member of a rich and influential Roman aristocratic family Savelli (· M · A · SAVELL[i] / EX FAM[ilia] · ROMAN[a]) and his name was most probably Marco Antonio Savelli. The portrait is attributed to Giovanni Battista Moroni and can be dated to the mid-16th century.
The attribution of the Lisbon portrait has long been controversial, and it was even mentioned in 1760 as a work by Titian. At the beginning of the 20th century, it was thought to have been painted by Moretto, while in 1943 it was judged as being consistent with Moroni's early work (after "Painting in the Calouste Gulbenkian Museum", ed. Luísa Sampaio, p. 40). The portrait from the Potocki collection was auctioned on November 14, 1995 with an attribution to a follower of Flaminio Torri (1620-1661), a Baroque painter of the Bolognese school. The most powerful member of the Savelli family around that time was cardinal Giacomo Savelli (1523-1587), who officially replaced Alessandro Farnese (1520-1589), Cardinal Protector of Poland (from 1544) during his absence from Rome from June 1562. From mid-1562 the royal chancellery more and more often turned with requests in Polish matters not only to the protector and vice-chancellor, but also to cardinal Charles Borromeo, protonotary apostolic, and to cardinals Giacomo Savelli and Otto Truchsess von Waldburg. It is possible that this unknown Marco Antonio Savelli, was sent by his relative the cardinal on a mission first to the Republic of Venice and then to Poland-Lithuania. 
Portrait of Marco Antonio Savelli from the Potocki collection by workshop of Giovanni Battista Moroni or Moretto da Brescia, mid-16th century, Private collection. Virtual reconstruction, © Marcin Latka
Portrait of Anna of Pomerania-Szczecin by Lucas Cranach the Younger
On December 21, 1556, Anna of Pomerania-Szczecin (1531-1592), daughter of Duke Barnim IX/XI (1501-1573), was betrothed to Charles (1534-1561), Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst, son of John of Anhalt-Zerbst (1504-1551) and Margaret of Brandenburg (1511-1577). Charles's mother, Margaret, daughter of Elector Joachim I of Brandenburg (1484-1535), had previously married Anna's uncle, Duke George I of Pomerania (1493-1531). The couple married on May 16, 1557 in Zerbst (Slavic Ciervisti) in a lavish ceremony featuring 2,385 horses. Anna received, like her sisters, in addition to the trousseau of clothes, jewelry and silverware, 16,000 Reichsthaler as a dowry (after "Geschichte des Herzogthums Pommern von den ältesten Zeiten ..." by Johann Jacob Sell, Volume 3, p. 66).
Charles studied at the University of Wittenberg and then stayed at the court of his uncle, Elector Joachim II of Brandenburg. After his father's death, he took over the government with his brothers Joachim Ernest and Bernhard VII, who were still minors and under the tutelage of their uncles George III (1507-1553) and Joachim I (1509-1561). Charles took over the government independently in 1556. He then resided in Zerbst, while his brother Joachim Ernest resided in Rosslau and Bernhard in Dessau. The marriage remained childless, and Charles died four years after his marriage, on May 4, 1561 in Zerbst. Anna's second marriage was to Henry of Plauen (1536-1572), Burgrave of Meissen. The marriage took place on August 25, 1566, almost five years after the death of her first husband. The princess was widowed for the second time on January 22, 1572. Her third marriage was to Jobst II (1544-1609), Count of Barby-Mühlingen, and they married on September 23, 1576 at Schleiz Castle. Anna died in Rosenburg on October 13, 1592 and was buried in Barby, in St. John's Church. Several portraits of Princess (Fürstin) of Anhalt-Zerbst must have been painted between 1557 and 1561, but none seem to have survived. Most of Anna's relatives mentioned were painted by Lucas Cranach the Elder, his son Lucas the Younger, and their famous workshop. The portrait of her father-in-law, Prince John of Anhalt-Zerbst, painted by Cranach the Elder's workshop in 1532, is in the Anhalt Picture Gallery (on permanent loan to the Gothic House in Wörlitz, inv. M17/2006). John and his wife Margaret of Brandenburg were depicted as witnesses to the Baptism of Christ in the scene painted by Cranach the Younger in 1556, now in the Grunewald hunting lodge in Berlin (inv. GK I 2087), just a few months before Anna and Charles's wedding. The 1556 painting depicts Dessau Castle and the city in the background. Behind John and Margaret, among the crowd, Elector Augustus of Saxony, Prince Joachim I, George III, Caspar Creuziger, Philip Melanchthon, Martin Luther, and Cranach the Elder, among others, can be seen. However, it is not known exactly when Cranach the Younger visited Dessau. In 1565 he painted the Last Supper for Prince Joachim, now preserved in St. John's Church in Dessau, in which Joachim kneels as a donor, Luther, Melanchthon, other reformers and George III, Prince of Anhalt-Dessau, are depicted as apostles, and Cranach the Younger is depicted as a servant serving wine. George III, Joachim's brother, sitting near Luther, even touches Christ. In 1895, in the Knights' Hall of the Gothic House in Wörlitz, there were full-length portraits of Prince Charles and his wife Anna, painted by Cranach the Younger (after "Anhaltische Fürsten-Bildnisse ...." by Egbert von Frankenberg und Ludwigsdorf, Volume 1, p. 116). They were most likely similar to the portraits of Joachim Ernest of Anhalt (1536-1586) and his wife Agnes of Barby-Mühlingen (1540-1569), painted in 1563, now preserved in the Gothic House (inv. M04/2003 and M05/2003). These paintings were probably transferred to Dessau Castle before the Second World War and are considered lost (tempera or oil on canvas, 212 x 95 cm, inv. 1401 and 1368). The portrait of Charles was dated 1559. From 22 to 25 June 1895, a portrait of a woman by Lucas Cranach the Younger, from the collection of the German industrialist Henry Doetsch (1839-1894), was auctioned in London (panel, 85 x 66 cm, after "Catalogue of the highly important collection of pictures by old masters of Henry Doetsch ...", item 238). The painting came to England from Vienna in 1824, during the dissolution of the collection of the Austrian nobleman and banker Moritz von Fries (1777-1826). Because of the medal attached to the frame, bearing the inscription ELIZABET KRELERIN HET ICH DIE GESTALT VND WAS 47 JAR ALT, the painting was considered a "Portrait of Elisabeth Krelerin", allegedly the wife of the painter Hans Krell, in the catalogue of the Doetsch collection. The medal actually depicts Elisabeth Kreler, born around 1490, wife of Laux Kreler, a goldsmith from Augsburg. A wooden model of her medal, as well as that of her husband, are now kept in the Bavarian National Museum in Munich (inv. R 469, R 468). The Kreler medal is dated around 1537 (also 1520, according to the date on the Laux medal, or 1540), and since the portrait in the Doetsch collection is dated 1561, this identification is now rejected. According to the Latin inscription in the upper right corner, accompanied by Cranach's mark, the woman was 30 years old in 1561 (ANNO ÆTATIS XXX / ANNO CHRISTI SALVATORIS MDLXI), exactly like Anna of Pomerania-Szczecin, when she became a widow (born February 5, 1531). The corresponding portrait is unknown, and the woman's bonnet and black dress indicate that she was indeed a widow. A similar bonnet can be seen on Anna's tombstone in the Church of St. John in Barby. The woman's facial features resemble those of Anna from her portraits by Cranach and workshop - group composition from the Stemmler collection in Cologne and portrait as Venus (Germanisches Nationalmuseum in Nuremberg, inv. Gm1097), both identified by me. The Anhalt Picture Gallery in Dessau houses another interesting female portrait by Lucas Cranach the Elder (inv. 13). It depicts Margaret of Austria (1480-1530), daughter of Emperor Maximilian I (1459-1519) from his marriage to Mary of Burgundy (1457-1482). She was governor of the Habsburg Netherlands from 1507 to 1515, and again from 1519 until her death in 1530. The sitter is identified by correspondence with numerous similar portraits by Margaret's court painter, Bernard van Orley, painted after 1519. No one therefore wonders how and when Cranach met her shortly before her death, or why this influential widow wears such modest attire, reminiscent of a nun. The painting comes from the former collection of the Gothic House in Wörlitz, so it cannot be ruled out that it was made for another important woman of that time, Margaret of Ziębice (1473-1530), Princess of Anhalt, who was also painted by Cranach. 
Portrait of Anna of Pomerania-Szczecin (1531-1592), Princess of Anhalt-Zerbst, aged 30, by Lucas Cranach the Younger, 1561, Private collection, lost. Virtual reconstruction, © Marcin Latka
Portraits of Duke Henry XI of Legnica by Flemish and French painters
In 1551 Frederick III, Duke of Legnica (1520-1570) visited the French and Polish royal court. The Duke joined a coalition of rebellious Protestant princes, and formed an alliance with King Henry II of France, a longtime enemy of the Habsburgs. Consequently, he was deprived of the Duchy in favor of his son Henry XI (1539-1588), who was still a minor and initially ruled under the regency of his uncle, Duke George II of Brzeg (1523-1586).
Despite being a fief of the Habsburgs, George II was in opposition to their absolutist policies in Silesia. Through his marriage to the daughter of the Elector of Brandenburg Barbara (1527-1595), granddaughter of Barbara Jagiellon (1478-1534), he was on good terms with the Electorate of Brandenburg. He also maintained friendly relations with Poland, corresponded with the Archbishop of Gniezno Jakub Uchański, King Sigismund II Augustus, and later with Stephen Bathory. Young duke Henry spent several years at the court of his uncle in Brzeg. Between 1547 and 1560 George II rebuilt the castle there in the Renaissance style. Italian architects Giovanni Battista de Pario (Johann Baptist Pahr) and his son Francesco added an arcaded courtyard, strongly inspired by the architecture of the Wawel royal castle in Kraków. Some of the tapestries that he commissioned were also inspired by famous Jagiellonian tapestries (Wawel arrases). Tapestry with Abduction of the Sabine women with coat of arms of George II and his wife, today in private collection, created between 1567-1586, is a copy of Wawel's The Moral Fall of Humanity from the series The Story of the First Parents, weaved between 1548-1553 in Brussels by Jan de Kempeneer after design by Michiel Coxie for King Sigismund Augustus. The weaver just rearranged a few figures in the composition. Two other tapestries made for the Duke of Brzeg are in the Cathedral Church of St. Paul in Detroit. Heraldic tapestry with coat of arms of George II and his wife in the National Museum in Wrocław, was created in 1564 by his court weaver (from 1556) Flemish Jacob van Husen, who worked before (for ten years) in the workshop of Peter Heymanns in Szczecin. His successor was Egidius Hohenstrasse from Brussels, active in Brzeg from the 1570s and remaining there until his death in 1621 (after "Funkcja dzieła sztuki ...", p. 203). He created the heraldic tapestry with coat of arms of Barbara of Brandenburg (Church of Saint Nicholas in Brzeg). At that time, Silesia became an important center in the European textile industry. In the first half of the 16th century Legnica merchants appeared more and more often at the Leipzig Fair, trading primarily Silesian canvas. Raw materials and ready weaving products, in particular Legnica cloth, were exported to other cities, while wool was brought to Legnica from Greater Poland. The export of Silesian linen began to be organized in the 1560s by Netherlandish merchants. It was the Flemish/Dutch merchants, who controlled about 80% of the Baltic trade at the time, who became the organizers of the export of Silesia linen to America and West Africa at the turn of the 16th and 17th centuries. According to a document of 1565 issued by King Sigismund Augustus merchants from Silesia and Moravia sold cloth in Poland. Against the competition of foreign merchants, especially the Scots, the English and the Dutch, who at the end of the 16th century began to flock to Silesia en masse, an imperial patent of August 20, 1599 was imposed, under which only local merchants could trade in Silesian products (after "Związki handlowe Śląska z Rzecząpospolitą ..." by Marian Wolański, p. 126). Painters in Venice and later in the Netherlands needed cloth for their paintings and by the 17th century canvas was imported on a large scale from Silesia to the Netherlands (after "A Corpus of Rembrandt Paintings: Volume II: 1631–1634", p. 18). In the artistic field, ties with Poland, Flanders and Dutch Republic were also strong. In 1550, the city council of Poznań pays 3 florins and 24 grossus to the council of Legnica in Silesia for a portrait of Emperor Charles V. It could have been a small likeness from the Skórzewski collection by workshop of Lucas Cranach the Elder, today in the Gołuchów Castle (National Museum in Poznań, inv. Mo 473), however, this effigy could have been also by Flemish school, like the painting in Warsaw (National Museum in Warsaw, 183175 MNW) or Spanish, Flemish or Italian school after original by Titian, like the portrait in Kraków (Czartoryski Museum, MNK XII-259, purchased in Paris in 1869). The paintings were mainly imported from abroad and came from Germany, Italy and the Netherlands. In 1561 Jan Frayberger, a merchant from Wrocław in Silesia, brought to Poznań twelve dozen of painted playing cards from Flanders and "2 paintings of the Saxon Elector", Stanisław Voitt had "11 Netherlandish paintings on canvas, new" and in 1559 Jan Iwieński brought two chests of books from Italy, several everyday objects and one painting imago quedam. A well-known goldsmith from Poznań, Erazm Kamin (d. 1585), had four paintings on canvas and 14 Italian paintings and a furrier from Poznań Jan Rakwicz (d. 1571) left "10 paintings in frames, 4 paintings without frames" (after "Studia renesansowe", Volume 1, p. 369-370). According to preserved documents, the kings of Poland ordered tapestries (in 1526, 1533, between 1548-1553) and paintings (in 1536) in Flanders. The Spanish and Austrian Habsburgs commissioned tapestries with their effigies (Conquest of Tunis tapestries) and inspired by Hieronymus Bosch's works (Temptation of St. Anthony and the Haywain tapestries in Madrid), so did the rulers of France (Valois tapestries in Florence, one with Festivals for the Polish ambassadors in 1573) and Portugual (Deeds and triumphs of João de Castro, viceroy of Portuguese India in Vienna). Flemish portraitists were then considered to be among the best in Europe. Some of them were willing to travel, like Lucas de Heere, who designed tapestries for Catherine de' Medici and who created the triple profile portrait, said to be mignons (male lovers) of Henry of Valois (Milwaukee Art Museum), but others not. Today, rich people order such personalized things from very distant places like shoes, it was the same in the 16th century. According to Latin inscription in upper part of the painting sold in Paris in 2019 (oil on panel, 35.5 x 27.6 cm, Artcurial, 27.03.2019, lot 294), the man depicted was 24 in 1563 (AN° DNI - 1563 - ÆTATIS - SVE - 24 -), exaclty as Duke Henry XI of Legnica (born on February 23, 1539 at Legnica Castle), when Emperor Maximilian II arrived to Legnica for the baptism of his daughter Anna Maria, greeted with great celebration and a magnificent feast. This small painting is attributed to Gillis Claeissens (or Egidius Claeissens), a Flemish painter active in Bruges, and comes from private collection in Paris. Almost an exact copy of this painting exist, however, the face and left hand are different, as well as the inscription. The painter has just "glued" the other face into the same body. This "copy" is now in the Museum Helmond in the Netherlands (oil on panel, 35.5 x 27.5 cm, inventory number 2007-015) and the man depicted was 22 in 1563 (AN° DNI - 1563 - ÆTATIS SVE - 22 -), therefore born in 1541. There is no resemblance between the red-haired man and the dark-haired man, hence they were not members of the same family. The man from the Helmond portrait is identified as Adolf van Cortenbach, Lord of Helmond from 1578, however, Adolf was born around 1540, so he would be 23 in 1563, not 22. This sitter bear a striking resemblance to a man born in 1541 whose face is known from many effigies painted by the best European painters - Francesco de' Medici, later Grand Duke of Tuscany and regent from 1564. Prior to his marriage to Joanna of Austria, daughter of Anna Jagiellonica (1503-1547) in 1565, Francesco had spent a year (June 1562 - September 1563) at the court of King Philip II of Spain, Lord of the Seventeen Provinces of the Netherlands. Around 1587 Hans von Aachen, who from 1585 lived in Venice, created a portrait of Francesco (Pitti Palace, OdA Pitti 767), and between 1621-1625 a Flemish painter Peter Paul Rubens copied an effigy of the duke for his daughter Marie de' Medici, Queen of France (Louvre). Although in the majority of his portraits, Francesco has brown eyes, in this one, like in the painting by Alessandro Allori in the Museum Mayer van den Bergh in Antwerp (MMB.0199), his eyes are blue. The red-haired man from the Paris portrait was also depicted in another painting, today in the National Gallery of Art in Washington (oil on panel, 31.2 x 22.7 cm, inventory number 1942.16.1). He is older, his forehead is higher, he lost part of his hair and his costume and ruff in French style indicate that the painting was made in the 1570s. At the beginning of the 20th century this painting was part of the collection of art dealer Charles Albert de Burlet in Berlin, where many items from Ducal collections in Legnica and Brzeg were transported after 1740-1741. The portrait if attributed to French school and its style is very close to the portrait of Claude Catherine de Clermont, duchess of Retz in the Czartoryski Museum (MNK XII-293), attributed to follower of François Clouet, possibly Jean de Court, who died in Paris after 1585 and who in 1572 succeeded Clouet as painter to the king of France. Great similarities are also to be noted with portrait of Louis I de Bourbon, Prince of Condé (1530-1569) by workshop of François Clouet (sold at Sotheby's, sale L14037, lot 105). After the death of Sigismund II Augustus, Henry XI was a candidate to the Polish crown in the first free election in 1573, but he obtained only three votes and it was the French candidate Henry of Valois who was elected. At the beginning of 1575 he was in Poznań at the funeral of Bishop Adam Konarski and in July he went to Kraków, in order to hold talks with the local voivode, Piotr Zborowski, who was to help him in obtaining the throne. In 1576 the Duke of Legnica took part in expedition to France of the exiled Henri I de Bourbon, Prince of Condé (1552-1588), Louis' son, who fled to Alsace and rallied new Huguenot troops. Henry's conduct became more and more prodigal, he undertook numerous costly journeys to various cities, doubling the debts left by his father. In 1569, he participated in the Sejm in Lublin, where the Union of Lublin was concluded. At a meeting with Sigismund II Augustus in Lublin, he presented the Polish monarch with two lions and precious jewels and this expedition cost 24,000 thalers, while the annual income of the duke amounted to less than 12,000 thalers. During his absence, he was deposed in 1576 by Emperor Maximilian II and his brother Frederick IV, who had been co-ruling until then, exercised the power alone. Four years later, in 1580, Henry XI was allowed to rule again in Legnica, but in 1581, he came into conflict with Emperor Rudolf II and was imprisoned in Prague Castle and then transferred to Wrocław and Świdnica. In 1585, Henry XI managed to escape and fled to Poland. With the help of elected Queen Anna Jagiellon and her husband, he unsuccessfully tried to regain control of his duchy. In 1587 he went to Sweden as a personal envoy of the Queen and he accompanied the newly elected King Sigismund III Vasa to Kraków, where Henry XI died in March 1588 after a short illness. Because he was a Protestant, the Catholic clergy of Kraków refused to give Henry a burial. Eventually his body was interred in the chapel of the Carmelite Church. This Gothic church, founded in 1395 by Queen Jadwiga and her husband Jogaila of Lithuania (Ladislaus II Jagiello) was seriously damaged in 1587 during the siege of Kraków by Emperor Maximilian. It was rebuilt with the financial help of Anna Jagiellon in 1588. In the National Museum in Warsaw (deposited to Palace on the Isle) there is a portrait of a bald man with a beard from the fourth quarter of the 16th century, painted by Flemish painter (oil on panel, 44.9 x 30.3 cm, inventory number Dep 629, M.Ob.2753, earlier 158169). It was acquired between 1945-1957. This man bear a striking resemblance to the man from the portrait in Washington and to the only known so far graphic representation of Duke Henry XI of Legnica, engraving by Bartłomiej Strachowski, published in Georg Thebesius' Liegnitzische Jahr-Bücher ... in 1733, after original effigy from about 1580. The style of a portrait of a bearded man in Warsaw greatly resemble the effigy of Alessandro Farnese (1545-1592), Duke of Parma and Governor of the Spanish Netherlands, attributed to Antoon Claeissens, Gillis' brother, in the same collection (deposited to Palace on the Isle, Dep 630, M.Ob.2749). Farnese's likeness was purchased in 1950 from Czesław Domaradzki and has almost identical dimensions (oil on panel, 44.5 x 33.5 cm). In private collection, there is another portrait in similar dimensions (oil on panel, 46.4 x 35.6 cm), attributed to Adriaen Thomasz. Key (died after 1589), and similar to full-length effigy of King Philip II of Spain by Juan Pantoja de la Cruz in the El Escorial, while in the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam there is a portrait of Queen Anna Jagiellon, purchased in 1955 from the dealer Alfred Weinberger in Paris, attributed to Cologne school, close to works of a painter active in Lviv, Jan Szwankowski (d. 1602). In the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna there are two miniatures of Duchesses of Legnica (inscription D. DE LIGNIZ) from the 1570s, painted by Flemish or Italian painter, which should be identified as Anna Maria (1563-1620) and Emilia (1563-1618), daughters of Henry XI. In conclusion, the rulers of Europe frequently exchanged their effigies, which were frequently created in different places, not necessarily by the "court painters". 
Portrait of Duke Henry XI of Legnica (1539-1588), aged 24 by Gillis Claeissens, 1563, Private collection.
Portrait of Francesco de' Medici (1541-1587), aged 22 by Gillis Claeissens, 1563, Museum Helmond.
Portrait of Duke Henry XI of Legnica (1539-1588) by follower of François Clouet, possibly Jean de Court, ca. 1570-1576, National Gallery of Art in Washington.
Portrait of Duke Henry XI of Legnica (1539-1588) by Antoon Claeissens, 1580s, National Museum in Warsaw.
Portrait of Queen Anna Jagiellon (1523-1596) by Jan Szwankowski or Cologne school, ca. 1590, Rijksmuseum Amsterdam.
Portrait of King Philip II of Spain (1527-1598) by Adriaen Thomasz. Key or follower, ca. 1590, Private collection.
Portraits of Andreas Jerin by circle of Giovanni Battista Moroni and Gillis Claeissens
In the summer of 1566, young Andreas Jerin (also von Jerin, Gerinus or Jerinus) went to Rome to continue his philosophical-theological studies. From 1559 he studied at the University of Dillingen in Bavaria, where he earned a baccalaureate and a master's degree in 1563. As tutor to the brothers Gebhard and Christoph Truchsess von Waldburg, sons of Imperial Councilor, he continued his studies at the University of Leuven (Louvain) in the Spanish Netherlands in 1563 and was accepted as an alumne in the Collegium Germanicum et Hungaricum in Rome in October 1566 on the recommendation of Petrus Canisius, a Dutch Jesuit priest. Two years later he was ordained a priest in the sacristy of St. Peter's Basilica (December 15, 1568). He was then pastor to Swiss Guard. In 1571 he received his theological doctorate at the University of Bologna and Cardinal Otto Truchsess von Waldburg gave him the parish of Dillingen.
As early as 1570 he received a canonship at the Wrocław Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Silesia, where he became a cathedral preacher in 1572. At the same time he was given the office of rector at the Wrocław seminary. From 1573 he was custodian of the Church of the Holy Cross (till 1538 Copernicus was a scholastic of this church). At that time Hieronim Rozdrażewski (d. 1600) was the provost of Wrocław. Rozdrażewski received the provostship in 1567, however, due to the strong resistance of the chapter, he took over it only in 1570. The provost, who in his childhood stayed with his brothers at the royal court in France and studied in Ingolstadt and Rome, become the royal secretary at the end of the reign of Sigismund Augustus. He took part in the political life of Poland and his duties in Wrocław were performed at his request by Andreas. In 1578, Rozdrażewski resigned from the provostship in favor of Jerin. On September 29, 1578 Jerin was elevated to the Bohemian nobility in Prague. For his services as an imperial envoy in Poland, Emperor Rudolf II elevated him to the imperial and hereditary Austrian nobility on February 25, 1583. After the death of Martin von Gerstmann, Bishop of Wrocław, the cathedral chapter elected Jerin, the emperor's candidate, as his successor on July 1, 1585. Despite some opposition to Jerin as a non-Silesian and of commoner background, he was consecrated on February 9, 1586. At the same time, the emperor appointed him senior governor of Silesia. Andreas celebrated important events in his life with portraiture. Two of his preserved portraits were created after his elevation to bishop of Wrocław. One, attributed to Martin Kober, is in the National Museum in Wrocław. The other showing him at the age of 47 (suae aetatis XXXX VII) and attributed to Bartholomeus Fichtenberger, was most likely offered by the bishop himself to the parish church of St. George in his hometown of Riedlingen on the river Danube in the south-west of Germany, approximately 400 km north of Bergamo and Milan. He also offered a silver chalice with his coat of arms to the church in Riedlingen (the portrait and chalice are now in the local museum). He was a patron of the sciences and arts. In 1590 he had the goldsmith Paul Nitsch (1548-1609) make a precious silver high altar for the Wrocław Cathedral, which was recently reconstructed after World War II destruction. In 1624, during his visit in the city, the altar was admired by prince Ladislaus Sigismund Vasa (future king of Poland as Ladislaus IV). Fichtenberger painted the wings of this retable in 1591 and the bishop was depicted in the scene of the Sermon of Saint John the Baptist and as Saint Ambrose, Bishop of Milan and patron saint of this city, in the outer wings with the Fathers of the Church. In 1586 Nitsch also created a gold portable altarpiece for the bishop (Wrocław Cathedral). On March 28, 2019 a portrait of a gentleman, half-length, in a black doublet, white ruff and black hat, attributed to circle of Giovanni Battista Moroni was sold on an auction in Munich (Hampel Fine Art Auctions, oil on canvas, 68.6 x 52.7 cm, lot 1045). According to original inscription in Latin, covered because of bad condition and repeated by the restorer on the reverse, the man was 27 in 1567 (ÆTATIS. SVE. 27. / ANNO DNI 1567, upper left), exacly as Jerin when he was studying in Rome. If he traveled there from Riedlingen, where he was born in 1540, or from Leuven via Riedlingen, his possible stop before October 1566 was Bergamo in the Venetian Republic or Milan, where he could order a portrait. The most famous painting workshop in this area at that time was that of Moroni, who in 1567 created a painting of Last Supper for the church in Romano di Lombardia and the portrait of Wawrzyniec Grzymała Goślicki (Accademia Carrara in Bergamo). The man from the painting bear a strong resemblance to mentioned effigies of Andreas Jerin. Almost an exact copy of this portrait exist, three-quarter-length, which however was created by different workshop, more close to the Flemish school. It was also sold at Hampel, Munich (December 4, 2020, oil on wood, 43 x 33.5 cm, lot 1121) and comes from private collection in Paris. It is attributed to Flemish painter Gillis Claeissens (d. 1605) or his circle. Gillis, born in Bruges, was a member of a prominent family of artists and he is identified with the Monogrammist G.E.C. He was admitted as a master of the Guild of St. Luke of Bruges on 18 October 1566 and he remained in the workshop of his father Pieter Claeissens the Elder until 1570. Jerin seems to have commissioned a copy of his Italian portrait in Flanders for his friends in Leuven or elsewhere. A portrait painted in a very similar style is in Lviv, Ukraine (National Art Gallery, oil on wood, 28.8 x 21, inventory number Ж-453). It shows a young girl in prayer and her costume indicate that the painting was created in the 1570s. It is attributed to a German or Sothern Netherlandish painter and comes, most likely, from the collection of the Princes Lubomirski. Before everything was destroyed by war and hatred, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, established by the Union of Lublin in July 1569, was a land of great prosperity for different people. Since the Middle Ages, Venetian, Genoese and other merchants coming to Lviv brought spices, silk fabrics, jewels, decorative weapons and morocco products from Kaffa, the great center of Genoese trade on the Black Sea. From there eastern goods were sent further to Kraków and Wrocław, and then to Nuremberg and as far as the port of Bruges in Flanders. Merchants in Lviv sold them cloth, amber, raw hides and herring (after "Prace Komisji Historycznej", Volume 65, p. 198). In the 14th - 15th centuries, there was a trading post of the Teutonic Order in Lviv and in 1392 Prussian amber was stored in the city in the cellar of the merchant Ebirhard Swarcze. From Lviv amber was exported to Constantinople (after "Z historii południowo-wschodniego szlaku bursztynowego" by Jarosław R. Daszkiewicz, p. 261). Trade flourished in the second half of the 16th century - two Jews from Lviv paid fifty pounds of amber to Chaim Kohen of Constantinople for wine, rice and roots (cassiae), Armenian Christopher, translator of His Highness, takes from Chaskiel Judowy wine and gives him in return tin, cloth from Lyon and Gdańsk and karazye cloth, Greek merchant Konstantinos Korniaktos (Konstanty Korniakt) takes English and Dutch cloths from the Lviv merchant Wilhelm Boger, and pays him with alum, rye and wheat. The export of grain to Gdańsk in the second half of the 16th century in Lviv was dominated by two local merchants Zebald Aichinger and Stanisław Szembek and in the second row there was a whole colony of Englishmen who had settled in the city, such as Tomasz Gorny, Wilhelm Allandt, Jan Whigt, Wilhelm Babington, Jan Pontis, Ryszard Hudson and Wilhelm Moore. One of the principal buyers of grain in Lviv at that time was a London merchant, Richard Stapper, whose agent in Lviv was Jan Pontis (after "Patrycyat i mieszczaństwo lwowskie ..." by Władysław Łoziński, p. 43, 46-47). Foreign artists, like Italian architects Pietro di Barbona (d. 1588) and Paolo Dominici Romanus (d. 1618), architect Andreas Bemer (Andrzej Bemer, died after 1626) of German or Czech origin, and Dutch sculptor Hendrik Horst (d. 1612), were active in Lviv. It is possible that the girl depicted was a daughter of a merchant and her portrait was commissioned in Bruges and sent to Lviv. During his studies, Jerin had the opportunity to meet many Poles and during his stays in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth as the imperial envoy (Lublin, 1589 and Kraków, 1592), he had the opportunity to admire some of the exquisit works of art from the royal collection, including the famous silver altar of Sigismund I in his chapel at the Wawel Cathedral, created in Nuremberg between 1531-1538, which probably inspired Andreas' foundation for the Wrocław Cathedral. On the occasion of peace negotiations with the Commonwealth in 1589 Andrzej Schoneus from Głogów (Andreas Glogoviensis), later rector of the Kraków Academy, published two odes in Kraków about "the Sarmatian peace" (De pace Sarmatica Odae II Ad Andream Gerinum), dedicated to Jerin. 
Portrait of Andreas Jerin (1540-1596), aged 27 by circle of Giovanni Battista Moroni, 1567, Private collection.
Portrait of Andreas Jerin (1540-1596) in a black doublet by Gillis Claeissens, ca. 1567, Private collection.
Portrait of a young girl as donor by Gillis Claeissens, 1570s, Lviv National Art Gallery.
Portrait of Maria of Portugal, Duchess of Parma and Piacenza by Sofonisba Anguissola or workshop
In 1573, the young Alexander Farnese (1545-1592), aged 28, son of Ottavio Farnese (1524-1586), Duke of Parma and Piacenza, grandson of Pope Paul III, and Margaret of Austria (1522-1586), the illegitimate daughter of Emperor Charles V, participated as a candidate in the first free royal election held in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Thanks to the support of the Italian community, he was an important candidate and, with Alfonso II d'Este (1533-1597), Duke of Ferrara, he participated in three elections (in 1573, 1576 and 1587). "The ruler of Ferrara was considered somewhat advanced in age, and the Duke of Parma, a young and brave soldier, satisfied the ambitions of the Poles. However, he did not represent the appropriate political position and did not have adequate cash at his disposal. For these reasons, he could not be considered as a serious candidate" (after "Dwór medycejski i Habsburgowie ..." by Danuta Quirini-Popławska, p. 123).
His chances for the crown increased during the third election, he became governor of the Spanish Netherlands in 1578 and Duke of Parma and Piacenza in 1586, and he could count on the support of his uncle Philip II of Spain. As in every election, the candidates had to present themselves to the electorate, who were interested not only in their political connections, wealth and leadership skills, but also in their appearance and personal lives. The portrait of Alfonso II d'Este from the Popławski collection, attributed to Hans von Aachen, most likely commissioned in Venice, Augsburg or Prague, where the painter was then active, now in the National Museum in Warsaw (oil on canvas, 134 x 102 cm, M.Ob.1913 MNW), is probably linked to the duke's candidacy for the royal election of 1587. A fine portrait of the Duke of Parma, attributed to Antoon Claeissens, also probably made around 1587, is also in the National Museum in Warsaw (oil on panel, 44.5 x 33.5 cm, M.Ob.2749 MNW). It was purchased from Czesław Domaradzki in 1950 and bears the inscription in Latin in the upper right corner: ALEXANDER FARNESIVS PRINCEPS PARMÆ. On November 11, 1565, Alexander married in Brussels the Infanta Maria of Portugal (1538-1577), granddaughter of King Manuel I and cousin of King Sebastian. The splendid celebrations of this marriage are commemorated in the so-called "Brussels Album", attributed to the circle of Francis Floris the Elder, now kept in the Library of the University of Warsaw (Print Room, zb.d.10255). The couple settled in Parma in 1566 and Maria bore her husband three children: Ranuccio (1569-1622), Margaret (1567-1643) and Odoardo (1573-1626). She died in 1577 at the age of thirty-nine, but in 1573 and 1575 she could see herself as a potential future Queen of Poland and Grand Duchess of Lithuania. Before the Second World War, in the Potocki collection, probably in the splendid Łańcut Castle, there was a portrait of a lady, attributed to the French painter François Clouet (d. 1572). Before 1940, along with other paintings, it was evacuated to the United States and exhibited in the Polish pavilion at the New York World's Fair opened on April 30, 1939, included in the catalog: "For Peace and Freedom. Old masters: a collection of Polish-owned works of art, arranged by the European Art Galleries, Inc., to help to maintain the exhibit of Poland at the World's Fair, New York, 1940" (item 64). This painting is now in the Museo de Arte de Ponce in Ponce, Puerto Rico (oil on panel, 50.5 x 39.7 cm, inv. 59.0072). It was purchased in New York in 1959. This "Portrait of a Lady with a Carnation" is attributed to the circle of the Spanish painter Alonso Sánchez Coello and dated to around 1566. The portrait is believed to depict Maria of Portugal, Duchess of Parma and Piacenza, whose husband also had his portrait painted by Sánchez Coello. The sitter was keen to emphasize that she is an exemplary wife, as the red carnation that hangs from the her neck probably serves as a symbol of love, marriage and fidelity. Her rich, jeweled costume testifies to aristocratic splendor and wealth. A perfect candidate for a queen. The model resembles the Duchess of Parma from some of her portraits. The lips closely resemble well-known portraits of Maria, such as the painting in the Pinacoteca Stuard in Parma (inv. 23), attributed to the circle of Antonis Mor or Girolamo Mazzola Bedoli, which probably shows her in her wedding dress, a prototype of which was most likely painted in Brussels in 1565. Copies of the portrait from the Pinacoteca Stuard are in the Galleria nazionale di Parma (inv. 1177/5), attributed to the Portuguese painter Francisco de Holanda, and in a private collection (Dorotheum in Vienna, June 9, 2020, lot 48), perhaps painted by Otto van Veen or his workshop around 1600. The lady's dark complexion and costume resemble those from the portrait of Maria kept at the Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga in Lisbon (inv. 2094 Pint), purchased in Paris in 1957, attributed to Joris van der Straeten, who probably visited the Portugal in 1556 (hence the general dating of this portrait). However, the identification of the model and the attribution of the Lisbon portrait are now called into question after the discovery of a very similar portrait, attributed to Gillis Claeissens (1526-1605), brother of Antoon, a Flemish painter active in Bruges (Christie's London, sale 1165, December 4, 2013, lot 118, compare "Shopping for Global Goods. Portrait of a Gentleman" by Annemarie Jordan Gschwend and Hugo Miguel Crespo, p. 48). Although it is possible that the woman in the portraits attributed to Claeissens is not Maria of Portugal, the small differences in appearance could be the result of copying that frequently distorted the features, as in the case of the portraits of Emperor Charles V made by Italians, Flemish and German painters. According to the traditional approach, the painter and sitter must have met in person, so identifications and attributions are often based on this factor. It should be noted, however, that copies were frequently made from other effigies and that a skilled painter could adapt an older effigy and modify its appearance, costume, hairstyle and other elements according to fashion. Another intriguing aspect of the portrait from the Potocki collection is its author. The style of the painting is very similar to paintings attributed to Sofonisba Anguissola, who from February 1560 until the summer of 1573 lived at the Spanish court, then in Palermo, Sicily, until 1579. Particularly similar is portrait of Catalina Micaela of Spain (1567-1597), Duchess of Savoy (Christie's New York, October 14, 2021, lot 101, inscription: . CATHARINA . AVST RIACA . INF . HISP / . DVCISSA . SAB). The manner in which the face and background were painted is also comparable to Sofonisba's self-portrait of 1558 (Palazzo Colonna in Rome, inv. 268) and portrait of Gustav Eriksson Vasa (1568-1607) (Van Ham Kunstauktionen in Cologne, June 2, 2021, lot 926), identified by me. In 2014 a copy, perhaps one of many of this or another painting, was sold in London with an attribution to the circle of Anthonis Mor (oil on canvas, 47.6 x 37.9 cm, Christie's, Auction 5953, April 30, 2014, lot 229). This painting is dated "1567" (upper left) and its style is comparable to the portrait of Isabella Gonzaga (1537-1579), Princess of Francavilla in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (inv. 63.43.1), which is attributed to Bernardino Campi (1522-1591), Sofonisba's teacher. Besides this painting, the most famous painting from the Potocki collection in Łańcut Castle is another work by Sofonisba Anguissola, her self-portrait at the easel painting a devotional painting with the Virgin Mary, created in 1556 (inv. S.916MŁ). It first appeared in inventories from 1862 and survived many invasions of Poland, including World War II. Although it is believed that it was included in the castle's collections in the second half of the 18th century thanks to Princess Izabela Lubomirska (1736-1816), called the "Blue Marquise", who allegedly purchased it during one of her trips through Europe, it is also possible that it was transferred to Poland already in the 16th century and both paintings testify that Anguissola frequently worked for clients from Poland-Lithuania, directly or indirectly as in this case. 
Portrait of Maria of Portugal (1538-1577), Duchess of Parma and Piacenza, from the Potocki collection by Sofonisba Anguissola or workshop, ca. 1566-1575, Museo de Arte de Ponce.
Portrait of Maria of Portugal (1538-1577), Duchess of Parma and Piacenza by Bernardino Campi or Sofonisba Anguissola, 1567, Private collection.
Portrait of Alexander Farnese (1545-1592), Duke of Parma and Piacenza by Antoon Claeissens, ca. 1587, National Museum in Warsaw.
Portrait of Alfonso II d'Este (1533-1597), Duke of Ferrara by Hans von Aachen, ca. 1587-1597, National Museum in Warsaw.
Portraits of Don Joseph Nasi, Duke of Naxos by Lorenzo Sabatini and circle
"While Selim was staying in Kütahya as the governor of the sultan, Don Joseph Nasi had just arrived at the sultan's court, and by his skilful manners, polite conversation and, above all, his riches, he captured the sultan's heart so much that he wrote a letter to Ercole II, Duke of Ferrara, asking him to allow Don Joseph's relative move with his property to Turkey, which also happened in 1558", writes Aleksander Kraushar in his "History of Jews in Poland", published in Warsaw in 1865 (Historya Żydów w Polsce, Volumes 1-2, p. 314).
The author is referring to Prince Selim (1524-1574), son of Hurrem Sultan (Roxelana), wife of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent, who after death of his mother in 1558 engaged in an open struggle with his brother Bayezid for the throne. Prince Selim, who had the support of his father, emerged victorious and Bayezid escaped to the Safavid Empire with his sons and a small army. Don Joseph Nasi (ca. 1524-1579), mentioned in this fragment, was a Jewish diplomat, banker and financial advisor at the court of the Ottoman Sultans Suleiman I and his son Selim II. In his eventful life he went by different names: Portuguese João Miques in Portugal, Italian Giovanni Miches in Venice, Castilian Juan Miguez in Spain and Flanders and Joseph Nasi or Jusuff Nassy in Constantinople (Istanbul) and many variations of these names. He was born around 1524 in Portugal, where the family had fled from persecution in Castile. Joseph's father, Agostinho, was a doctor who taught at the University of Lisbon and his aunt was Gracia Mendes Nasi (1510-1569), also known by her Christianized name Beatrice de Luna Miques, wife of Don Francisco Mendes. The latter, in partnership with his brother Diogo, built a veritable commercial empire by trading mainly in spices. In the 1530s, following the establishment of the Inquisition in Portugal and the death of Don Francisco, Joseph fled with his aunt Dona Gracia, who took over the management of her husband's banking operations, to Antwerp. The enormous wealth enabled her to influence kings and popes. In about 1545 the family moved to Venice and from there to the more tolerant Ferrara. During this time, they more openly returned to Judaism. In 1553 a Judaeo-Spanish translation of the Hebrew Bible, one dedicated to Duke Ercole II d'Este (1508-1559), and one for the Jewish public dedicated to Gracia Nasi, was published in Ferrara - the Ferrara Bible. Soon, after disputes over control of the family properties with her sister Brianda and an agreement reached in 1552, ratified before the Senate of Venice, Gracia moved with her daughter Ana, who had adopted the name of Reyna, and her court to Istanbul, where she settled in the European quarter of Galata in 1553. In January that year, Joseph abducted his wealthy cousin Beatrice (Gracia la Chica, Little Gracia), Brianda's daughter, from Venice and married her in Ravenna. He was caught and permanently banned from Venetian territory, including all Mediterranean possessions of the Republic. Nasi then traveled to Rome to get the Pope to lift the ban and to have his wife and her fortune restored to him. His aunt sent a ship from Ragusa to Ancona to fetch him and his brother Samuel (Bernardo), and they embarked for Istanbul in November 1553. A few months after his arrival in Constantinople, he openly professed the Jewish religion and had himself circumcised, married his cousin Reyna (Ana) according to the Jewish rite and moved into a magnificent palace with her and his aunt, the Belvedere with a view of the Bosphorus. Nasi's political career began in the service of the Ottoman Sultan, Suleiman the Magnificent, who, in addition to his wealth, also appreciated his excellent economic and political connections throughout Europe and his familiarity with the mentality of the Christian empires. According to one report "There are few persons of account in Spain, Italy, or Flanders who are not personally acquainted with him". German merchant, Hans Dernschwam, who participated in the embassy of Ferdinand I to Constantinople (1553-1555), described Nasi and his family in his diary: "The aforementioned scoundrel arrived in Constantinople in 1554, with about twenty well-dressed servants, who follow him as though he were a prince. He wears silk clothing, with sable lining". Dernschwam criticizes his lavish lifestyle, his following the fashion of the European nobility, arranging tournaments and theatrical performances in his garden (after "The Long Journey of Gracia Mendes" by Marianna D. Birnbaum). In the meantime, in Italy, when Brianda and her daughter declared their intention to confess openly to Judaism, the Council and the Doge decided that the women should leave Venice. They moved to Ferrara, where in 1558 Gracia la Chica (Beatrice) was engaged to Samuel (Bernardo) Nasi, Joseph's brother. Nasi, through the sultan's emissaries, successfully negotiated the safe conduct of his brother and his former wife in Christian rite to join their family in Constantinople, after approval granted by the Duke of Ferrara on March 6, 1558 and by Venice in May that year (after "Italia judaica ...", p. 177). Around that time or after the arrival in Istanbul, a bronze medal with the bust of Gracia la Chica at the age of 18 (A AE XVIII), commemorating the marriage or the engagement, was commissioned from an Italian medalist, active mainly in Florence and in nearby Siena - Pastorino de' Pastorini (British Museum, 1923,0611.23). Although it is claimed that he traveled extensively in Italy to create his medals, it is more likely that the majority of them were created from drawings sent from different places. Also Queen Bona ordered a medal with her bust, created in 1556 (National Museum in Kraków, MNK VII-Md-70), most probably commissioned from Bari. Joseph obtained the favor of Prince Selim who made him a member of his honor guard. When Pope Paul IV sentenced a group of converts in Ancona in the Papal States in 1556 to be burned at the stake, Gracia and Joseph organized a trade embargo of the port. Then Gracia signed a long-term lease agreement with Sultan Suleiman for the region of Tiberias in the Galilee. Starting in 1561 Joseph had the city walls rebuilt and encouraged the immigration of Jewish artisans from Venice and the Papal States. When Pope Pius V published the bull of February 26 , 1569 expelling the Jews from his state, many went to the Nasi fief. After the death of Sultan Suleiman I in 1566 and the ascension of Selim II to the Sultanate, he rewarded Joseph with the Duchy of Naxos and the Cyclades for his services which he ruled through his governor Francesco Coronello, a Spanish Jew. Joseph was at the peak of his economic and political power. He supported the war with the Republic of Venice, at the end of which Venice lost the island of Cyprus. Nasi primarily ruled the duchy from his Belvedere Palace, where he also maintained his own Hebrew printing press, which was kept by his wife, Dona Reyna, after Joseph's death. As an influential figure in the Ottoman Empire he corresponded with the most important monarchs of Europe and their representatives, including Sigismund II Augustus. He was introduced to the monarch of Poland-Lithuania in 1562 by Sultan Suleiman himself, in these words: "a gentleman worthy of all honor, faithful and favored by Us" (after "History of the Turkish Jews ... " by Elli Kohen, p. 74). According to some surviving letters, the two corresponded in Latin and Italian - "To Joseph Nasi the Jew. Brisk, grateful, dear to us" (Josepho Nasi Judaeo. Strenue, grate, nobis dilecte), wrote the king in Latin recommending his ambassador to the High Porte in 1567 the Calvinist Piotr Zborowski (d. 1580), castellan of Wojnicz. "Sacred Majesty! [...] I greatly desire to serve Your Majesty not only in this case of good and great value, but in every other thing that you commands me" (Sacra Magesta! [...] Essendo io desideratissimo servir Vestra Magesta non solo in questo si bene e di tanto valore, ma in ogni altera cosa che quella mi commandi), replied Nasi in Italian regarding friendly relations with Selim. In a letter of February 25, 1570 from Warsaw (Varsaviae, die XXV Februari) "To the Jew Nasi, King Sigismund Augustus: Distinguished sir, our beloved friend!" (Judaeo Nasi Sigismundus Augustus rex: Excelens domine amice Nr. dilecte), the king refers to a secret affair (negotii), probably a plan to buy the Principality of Wallachia from the sultan, "about which you will learn in detail from Our envoy Wancimulius, to whom we have orally entrusted this matter for security". This envoy was Zuane Vancimuglio of Vicenza (Joannes Vancimulius Vincentinus), who previously, as a spy for the Inquisition, tracked heretics in the Venetian possessions. Nasi sent him to Poland to let the king know that the Turks were ready to provide military support to obtain Bari and Rossano from Spain (after "Zuane Vancimuglio, agent wioski Zygmunta Augusta" by Stanisław Cynarski, p. 361). In September 1569 he was the king's envoy to Rome and after return to Poland he was sent to Turkey. In June 1570, Vancimuglio was in Poland and in the late autumn of that year he returned to Rome and was imprisoned there on charges of homosexuality (de Venere vetita) with a "boy who was already publicly flogged in Rome" (Chłopcza thego, quo abusus esse dicitur yuz chwostano publice po Rzimye), probably a male prostitute, and spying for Turkey, as informed Jerzy of Tyczyn (Georgius Ticinius), king's secretary, in a letter of December 2, 1570 to Bishop Marcin Kromer. The last mention of him comes from a letter of very reluctant to him Cardinal Stanisław Hozjusz to the king of March 31, 1571, in which he writes that "Vancimuglio has already received his reward" (Vancimulius iam accepit mercedem suam). In a letter of March 7, 1570, also from Warsaw (Datum Varsaviae, die VII martii anno MDLXX), recommending his ambassador Jędrzej (Andrzej) Tarnowski, the king calls Nasi "Illustrious prince, our beloved friend" (Illustris Princeps amice noster dilecte) and assures him that "Your Illustriousness may be convinced that We are also ready to provide you with similar services whenever the opportunity arises". As a result of the special relations that developed between Don Joseph and Polish kings, especially Sigismund Augustus, several of his agents settled in Lviv, and the city served as a base for Polish-Turkish trade (after "Jewish history quarterly", Issues 1-4, 2004, p. 8). He also obtained commercial privileges from the king. Sigismund Augustus undoubtedly had a painted effigy of the Duke of Naxos and Joseph had a portrait of the Polish-Lithuanian monarch in his Belvedere Palace, as was customary in the 16th century for such important figures. Similar to the medal with the profile of his cousin Gracia la Chica, such effigies were commissioned in Italy, but probably not in Venice, since the relations of the Nasi family with the "Queen of the Adriatic" were not friendly. The opulent residences of Polish-Lithuanian kings and magnates, like the Koniecpolski Castle in Pidhirtsi (Podhorce) near Lviv in western Ukraine, were filled with the most exquisite works of art created by local, European and Oriental artists (paintings, sculptures, tapestries, silverware, parade weapons, horse tacks, carpets, Turkish and Persian jewelry, etc.). Elected king Stanislaus Augustus Poniatowski (1732-1798), commissioned portraits of Chajka and Elia, two Jewish women from Zhvanets (National Museum in Warsaw), and from the time of Esterka, the Jewish mistress of king Casimir the Great, who reigned between 1333 and 1370, the Jews were close to the royal court as physicians, suppliers and bankers, so many portraits of them were also in the royal collection, unfortunately everything was looted, destroyed and dispersed. In 1567 Joseph made public his attachment to Spain. That year, negotiations for a truce between the Ottoman Empire and the Holy Roman Empire began, while Nasi began importing wool and merino sheep (for wool) from Spain and mulberry trees (for silkworms) from France, with the intention of starting a textile industry. In 1570, Joseph even asked for safe conduct for himself and his entire household to return to Spain. He asked to be pardoned for following Jewish law. It is not known if he was serious in this admission and his intentions are not clearly known (after "Joseph Nasi, Friend of Spain" by Norman Rosenblatt, p. 331). After the defeat suffered by the Ottoman forces at the Battle of Lepanto (October 7, 1571), Joseph's influence at court gradually diminished. Selim II's death in 1574 caused him to retire from court, he was nevertheless allowed to retain his titles and income. Nasi died on August 2, 1579, leaving no descendants. In 2017 a portrait of an old bearded man in a rich coat lined with fur, "probably Hercules II of Este, Duke of Ferrara and Modena", was sold in Barcelona, Spain (oil on canvas, 112.6 x 100.6 cm, Balclis, May 31, 2017, lot 1393). The painting is attributed to Italian school from the second half of the 16th century. It represents an old man sitting in a chair, and near a table covered with a red carpet. The man bears no resemblance to the Duke of Ferrara from his effigies, such as the Pastorini medal of about 1534 (National Gallery of Art, Washington), so this identification must be rejected. He is holding a letter and pointing to the recipient "To Ercole II, Duke of Ferrara and Modena, 1558" (A / Hercole II. / Duca di Ferrara e Modena / 1558). Dates were usually not added in the addressee field, so the letter and the portrait itself commemorate an important event in the sitter's life. In 1558 the sultan at the request of Joseph Nasi corresponded with Ercole II regarding the relocation of his relatives from Ferrara. An almost exact copy (or original) of this painting exists. It is now in the Galleria Estense in Modena (oil on canvas, 115 x 92 cm, inventory number R.C.G.E. 12) and before 1784 it was in the collection of the Dukes of Modena in their palace (Palazzo Ducale). This painting is of better quality, so the one from Spain could be a workshop copy. It is dated to around 1570-1576 and unanimously attributed to Lorenzo Sabatini (died August 2, 1576), a painter from Bologna in the Papal States, who moved to Rome in 1573 to work under Vasari in the Vatican. The recipient of the man's letter is different. It is addressed to Quaranta Malvasia of Bologna, treasurer of Romagna (All Ill.re Sig.r mio prone oss.mo Il / sig.r Quaranta Malvasia Thes.ro di Romagna / Bologna), identified with a certain Cornelio Malvasia who was a member of the Council of forty senators (Consiglio dei Quaranta), which governed the city of Bologna. Sabatini worked for the Malvasia family in Bologna (around 1565 he painted the altarpiece and the frescoes in their chapel in the church of San Giacomo Maggiore, and he was the author of portraits mentioned in their house), however, why Quaranta Malvasia commissioned a portrait in which he points to his name on the letter? If this would be his portrait, he would prefer to hold a letter from the Pope, the Emperor, King of Poland or even the Sultan. He rather commissioned or received a portrait of a famous man holding a letter to him, which would be a sign of great respect. The man was most likely an important contractor to the treasurer of Romagna (Papal States, including the Duchies of Ferrara and Modena) and the letter concerned financial matters or the safe conduct of Jews from the Papal States. The man is therefore Don Joseph Nasi, who was around 52 in 1576 (born in 1524 or before) and died exactly 3 years after Sabatini. 
Portrait of Don Joseph Nasi (ca. 1524-1579), Duke of Naxos holding a letter to Ercole II, Duke of Ferrara by circle of Lorenzo Sabatini, ca. 1570-1576, Private collection.
Portrait of Don Joseph Nasi (ca. 1524-1579), Duke of Naxos holding a letter to Quaranta Malvasia of Bologna, treasurer of Romagna by Lorenzo Sabatini, ca. 1570-1576, Galleria Estense in Modena.
Portraits of Clara of Brunswick-Lüneburg, Duchess of Pomerania and Dianora di Toledo by Giovanni Battista Moroni
On October 15, 1595, at the age of 22, Prince Philip (1573-1618), the eldest son of Boguslaus XIII (1544-1606), Duke of Pomerania and his first wife Clara of Brunswick-Lüneburg (1550-1598), embarks on an educational journey through Italy and France.
He was accompanied by several people appointed by his father and traveled under the name of Christianus von Sehe. Through Meissen, Nuremberg and Augsburg, Philip reached Venice. Then he visited the whole of Italy and go as far south as Naples and Salerno. On the way, he stopped for a long time in Rome. The next stop of the journey was Florence, where he stayed for over three months. From there he set out again for Venice, from which he left for the ancient city of Forum Iulii (most probably Cividale del Friuli), to the cities of Styria and Carinthia. He also visited two powerful Venetian fortresses: Palma and Gradisca, which defended the Republic against the invasion of the Turks. From Milan he set out across Lake Como, where he admired the collections of Paolo Giovio, to Constance, where he found the place of the martyrdom of Jan Hus. The news of his mother's illness prevented him from further expanding his journey to the Netherlands, France and England. The prince, waiting for further news from his father, set off only to Besançon, and then to Lorraine, where he visited Nancy, and when more favorable news came from Pomerania - he set off through Alsace to Bohemia, to the court of Emperor Rudolf II. In Prague, he saw the relics of St. Wenceslaus and met Vincenzo Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua, a major patron of the arts and sciences. He returned home via Bohemia and Silesia, where in Legnica he met his relatives, and via Dresden arrived back in Barth at the end of November 1597 after over two years of journey. Soon, however, on January 26, 1598, after a short illness, the mother of Philip - Clara died at the castle in Franzburg. The 48-year-old Duchess probably died from the plague. As a child and adolescent, Philip enjoyed the education of a late Renaissance prince, as was customary at the time, but his artistic and scientific interests soon went beyond the ordinary. At the age of twelve he already had his own collection of books and paintings. He wrote his first scientific treatises at the age of 17 - Philippi II Pomeraniae Ducis De duarum in mediatore naturarum necessitate oratio, published in his father's printing house in Barth in 1590, and at the age of 18 he wrote: "It is my pleasure to collect the best, exquisite books, portraits from a master's hand and old coins of all kinds. From them I learn how to improve myself and at the same time how to be useful to the community" (Hoc est genus voluptatis meas, ut bonos selectissimos libros et artificiosas imagines et vetera omnis generis numismata maxime quaeram ex quibus me ipsum non solum corrigam, sed etiam, ut publice prodesse discam) (after "Die Kunst am Hofe der pommerschen Herzöge" by Hellmuth Bethe, p. 70). In order to give his numerous treasures an appropriate space, Philip commissioned his own art chamber, which was to be housed in the outer west wing of the Szczecin Castle and his library had approx. 3,500 volumes and was arranged like the great library in Florence. In exchange for the portraits of the Pomeranian dukes, he received such paintings for the Szczecin museum as the portrait of Charlemagne or Frederick Barbarossa. The bonds he forged during his travels and correspondence benefited in the many gifts he received and exchanged. In 1617, Philip's wife Sophia, received birthday gifts from friendly rulers, from Duke Wilhelm of Bavaria - a gold chain, and from Grand Duchess of Tuscany - a crystal mirror decorated with precious stones and an embroidered scarf to cover it. An important memento of the friendly relations of the Lutheran rulers of Pomerania with the Catholic Grand Dukes of Tuscany is a portrait of Philip's younger brother Boguslaus XIV (1580-1637), Duke of Pomerania from 1625, in the Villa di Poggio a Caiano, one of the most famous Medici villas (oil on canvas, 74 x 55 cm, inv. OdA Poggio a Caiano 234 / 1911), identified by me, which probably entered the Medici collection with the portrait of the "protector" of Pomerania, Gustavus Adolphus (1594-1632), King of Sweden (Pitti Palace in Florence, inv. 1890 / 5149). This portrait was created in about 1630 as the duke wears a miniature of Gustavus Adolphus, who invaded Pomerania in August 1630 and forced Boguslaus into an alliance. However, the relations of the ruling house of Pomerania with Florence and Venice had been important since the time of Duke Boguslaus X who visited Italy between 1496 and 1498. In the archives of Florence preserved a letter from Duke Boguslaus to the Signoria of Florence sent from Viterbo in 1498 (Ex Viterbio 1498). Consequently, the Pomeranian Griffin dynasty and the Medici, without a doubt, frequently exchanged their effigies. In the Uffizi Gallery in Florence there is a miniature portrait of a lady in a ruff from the late 16th century (oil on copper, 7.5 x 5.5 cm, Inv. 1890, 1117). The miniature was identified with the one described in the inventory drawn up after the death of Ferdinando de' Medici (1663-1713), Grand Prince of Tuscany as: "a similar (copper oval) painted by the hand of Pietro Purbos the portrait of a woman with a ruff collar, dressed in the Flemish style" (un simile (aovatino in rame) dipintovi di mano di Pietro Purbos il ritratto di una donna con collare a lattughe, vestita alla fiamminga), thus attributed to Frans Pourbus the Younger (1569-1622), although the authorship of his father Pieter Jansz. Pourbus (circa 1523-1584) or his workshop is also likely. A replica of this effigy, in the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore (oil on copper, inventory number 38.204, gift of the Abraham Jay Fink Foundation), is also attributed to Flemish painter. The sitter's costume with a larger ruff and hairstyle indicates about 1590 as a possible date of creation - similar to some effigies of Margherita Gonzaga (1564-1618), Duchess of Ferrara, portrait of Anna Caterina Gonzaga (1566-1621), Archduchess of Austria from 1587, portrait of Anne Knollys from 1582 or portrait of Anna of Austria (1573-1598), Queen of Poland from about 1592 (Royal Castle in Warsaw). The same woman was depicted in a portrait by Giovanni Battista Moroni, holding a fan of a newly married woman, now in the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam (oil on canvas, 73.5 x 65 cm, SK-A-3036). This painting is dated between 1560-1578 and was purchased in 1925 from the Grand Ducal Picture Gallery in Oldenburg (mentioned between 1804-1918). The earliest mention of this painting dates from 1682, when the work was listed in the collection of Gaspar Méndez de Haro (1629-1687), Viceroy of Naples: "841 Portrait of a woman holding a fan adorned with pearls by the hand of Lorenzo Lotti", confirmed by the initials "DGH, 841" on the reverse of the canvas (after "Giovanni Battista Moroni" by Simone Facchinetti and Arturo Galansino, p. 134). She wears a rich red dress and she places her right hand on a pendant representing an allegory of fidelity (a female figure on a throne with two dogs beside her). A copy of this portrait was sold in Vienna in 2015 (oil on canvas, 72 x 64.5 cm, Dorotheum, December 10, 2015, lot 58). The style of the painting indicates that Sofonisba Anguissola was probably the author of this copy, comparable to her famous Chess Game in Poznań (National Museum, inv. FR 434). Sofonisba probably lived at this time either in Spain or in Sicily. The provenance and geographical location of all the effigies indicate that the woman was an important international figure, a consort of an European ruler. Erdmuthe of Brandenburg (1561-1623) wife of John Frederick of Pomerania (1542-1600) was depicted in similar red dress in a large painting depicting the Family tree of the House of Pomerania, painted by a Dutch painter Cornelius Krommeny in 1598 (National Museum in Szczecin). Krommeny most likely created his work in Güstrow where he worked as court painter to Ulrich III, Duke of Mecklenburg and his wife Anna of Pomerania, from some study drawings, as no other works for the Pomeranian dukes are known, his stay in Pomerania is unconfirmed and resemblance to the living dukes is very general. Erdmuthe was also depicted in very similar dress in a painting by Andreas Riehl the Younger, created around 1590, lost in World War II. It was however not Erdmuthe who ensured the continuity of the dynasty. She married John Frederick on February 17, 1577 in Szczecin, however, their marriage remained childless. It was the first wife of John Frederick's co-regent Boguslaus XIII, Clara of Brunswick-Lüneburg, who gave birth to all male and female successors of the Dukes of Pomerania. In a painting by Krommeny she is also depicted in a red dress, but more German-style and no other effigy of her is known. The Dukes and Duchesses of Pomerania dressed similarly, as confirmed by the effigy of John Frederick and Erdmuthe as donors by Jakob Funck, painted in 1602 (Saint Hyacinth Church in Słupsk) and a similar portrait of Boguslaus XIII and his second wife Anna of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg by an unknown painter from 1600. Clara's eldest son, Philip II, born July 29, 1573, is depicted in a red doublet and hose in Krommeny's painting. Clara and Boguslaus were married on September 8, 1572 after the death of her first husband on March 1, 1570, which matches the general dating of the painting in Amsterdam. The couple had eleven children. After the wedding with the rich widow Boguslaus commissions the construction of a representative Renaissance palace in Neuenkamp named Franzburg in honor of his father-in-law Duke Francis of Brunswick-Lüneburg. He also established a city based on the model of Venice, a Venetian-like aristocratic republic with a thriving trade, especially with grain and beer, crafts and an academy to compete with the neighboring Hanseatic Stralsund (after "Von der Rückkehr Bogislavs X ..." by Friedrich Wilhelm Barthold, p. 423). This fascination for the Venetian Serenissima was undoubtedly also reflected in fashion and art. In 1592 the Duchess made an entry in the album amicorum of Alexander (1573-1627), Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg, before the Duchesses of Mecklenburg and Legnica, while the entry of her son Francis of Pomerania (1577-1620), made the following year, i.e. in 1593, is accompanied by a drawing showing a blonde woman in a somewhat similar red dress with a white underdress and holding a similar black fan (Stammbuch Herzog Alexander von Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg, pp. 36-38, 172, Duchess Anna Amalia Library in Weimar, Stb 291). The woman from the mentioned effigies bear great resemblance to daughters of Clara of Brunswick-Lüneburg - Clara Maria (1574-1623) and Anna (1590-1660). Portraits of the Duchess of Pomerania were commissioned in the Republic of Venice and in Flanders, being the most important commercial, artistic and craft centers of Renaissance Europe. Another similar portrait of a wealthy aristocrat by Moroni from the same period is now in the Frick Collection in New York (oil on canvas, 51.8 x 41.4 cm, inventory number 2022.1.01, acquired in 2022). The provenance of the painting was little known until relatively recently. In 1928 it appeared in a sale of antiques from the collection of Prince Gagarin of Saint Petersburg, thus provenance from the Ducal collection of Pomerania or the Polish royal collection is possible. The woman bears a striking resemblance to Eleonora di Garzia di Toledo or Leonor Álvarez de Toledo Osorio (1553-1576), more often known as "Leonora" or "Dianora", from her signed effigy (DIANORA DI TOLEDO) by unkown Florentine painter, now in the Medici Villa of Cerreto Guidi near Empoli. The villa was built between 1564 and 1567. On 15 July 1576 Isabella de' Medici (1542-1576), daughter of Cosimo I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, and Eleanor of Toledo (Eleonora di Toledo), was murdered in the villa by her husband Paolo Giordano I Orsini in punishment of her alleged infidelity ("strangled at midday" by her husband in the presence of several servants, according to Ferrarese ambassador Ercole Cortile). A year earlier, in 1575, Orsini, who was a grandson of Felice della Rovere (illegitimate daughter of Pope Julius II) and Costanza Farnese (an illegitimate daughter of Pope Paul III) was depicted as a saint in a disguised portrait of the members of the Medici family by Giovanni Maria Butteri (Museum of the Last Supper of Andrea del Sarto). Dianora was Isabella's cousin and close friend and died of a similar "accident" only a few days before, on July 11, 1576, strangled with a dog leash by her husband and first cousin, Don Pietro de' Medici (1554-1604), in the Villa Medici at Cafaggiolo. The resemblance of facial features and hairstyle to another signed effigy of Dianora (LEONORA / VXOR / DI PIERO / MEDIC / CE), in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, can also be mentioned, as well as to portraits of her famous aunt Eleanor of Toledo, elongated nose, shape of the lips, whose features differ in the paintings by different painters and their workshops (Agnolo Bronzino, Alessandro Allori). In the spring of 1575, Dianora's husband was sent to Venice to meet Bianca Cappello, the mistress and future wife of his older brother, Francesco I, the new Grand Duke of Tuscany. This trip was the prince's first diplomatic mission and the date of his stay in the Republic of Venice corresponds to the general dating of the Moroni painting. A series of portrait paintings by a famous painter and his workshop, as was a practice for members of the ruling houses, would be a good gift for his young wife, known for her fine artistic taste, friends and relatives, hence a miniature or drawing was probably used to make it. In 1560 Moroni painted Gabriel de la Cueva, 5th Duke of Alburquerque, a Spanish nobleman who was appointed Viceroy of Navarre in 1560 and later Governor of the Duchy of Milan in 1564, a position that he held until his own death in 1571 (Gemäldegalerie in Berlin, 79.1). The painting was signed and dated in Latin "1560 / Giovanni Battista Moroni painted" (M.D.LX. / Io: Bap. Moronus. p.) and bears the original inscription in Spanish. How and when he and Moroni met is unknown, perhaps they did not meet at all and Moroni just copied facial features and pose from a painting by Spanish court painter, like Antonis Mor from Utrecht in the Netherlands, made on the occasion of becoming Viceroy of Navarre. The same woman can be identified in a small tondo miniature at Tabley House, Knutsford (oil on copper, 10.2 cm, inv. 219.5). She was depicted wearing a crown and with the attributes of Saint Catherine of Alexandria: a wheel and a halo around her head. Because of her Florentine-style costume, the painting is attributed to the Florentine school. However, the style of the portrait is reminiscent of works by Sofonisba Anguissola, such as the self-portrait in the Fondation Custodia (inv. 6607) or the Portrait of a young woman in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence (inv. 1890, 4047). After her tragic death, many people were undoubtedly keenly interested that Dianora and her effigies would be forgotten. 
Portrait of Clara of Brunswick-Lüneburg (1550-1598), Duchess of Pomerania by Giovanni Battista Moroni, ca. 1572-1575, Rijksmuseum Amsterdam.
Portrait of Clara of Brunswick-Lüneburg (1550-1598), Duchess of Pomerania by Sofonisba Anguissola, ca. 1572-1575, Private collection.
Portrait miniature of Clara of Brunswick-Lüneburg (1550-1598), Duchess of Pomerania by workshop of Pieter Jansz. Pourbus or Frans Pourbus the Younger, ca. 1590, Uffizi Gallery in Florence.
Portrait miniature of Clara of Brunswick-Lüneburg (1550-1598), Duchess of Pomerania by Netherlandish painter, ca. 1590, Walters Art Museum in Baltimore.
Lady in a red dress, most probably Clara of Brunswick-Lüneburg (1550-1598), Duchess of Pomerania, from album amicorum of Alexander (1573-1627), Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg (page 173), ca. 1593, Duchess Anna Amalia Library in Weimar.
Portrait of Dianora di Toledo (1553-1576) by Giovanni Battista Moroni, ca. 1575, Frick Collection in New York.
Miniature portrait of Dianora di Toledo (1553-1576) as Saint Catherine of Alexandria by Sofonisba Anguissola, ca. 1575, Tabley House.
Portrait of Boguslaus XIV (1580-1637), Duke of Pomerania with a miniature of King of Sweden by unknown painter, ca. 1630, Medici Villa of Poggio a Caiano. Virtual reconstruction, © Marcin Latka
Portraits of Joachim Frederick of Brzeg by Adriaen Thomasz. Key
In 1574 Joachim Frederick (1550-1602), the eldest son of George II the Pious, Duke of Brzeg-Oława-Wołów, arrived to Kraków. He was sent there by his uncle Elector John George as a representative of Brandenburg during the coronation of the newly elected King of Poland, French Prince Henry of Valois. During his youth, Joachim Frederick spent several years at the court of his uncle. The next year, in 1575, he attended the coronation of Rudolf II as king of the Romans in Regensburg.
Joachim Frederick was a representative of the Silesian Piasts, descendants of the first historical ruling dynasty of Poland. Also Emperor Maximilian II, whose son Archduke Ernest of Austria was a candidate for the throne in the free election of 1573, sent a delegation to the royal coronation entrusting it to another Piast - Wenceslaus III Adam, Duke of Cieszyn. Despite the disappointment of his son's defeat, it was necessary to strive to maintain good relations with Poland, mainly due to concerns about Silesia. "Towards the King of Poland he cannot help and his Majesty is filled with regret, seeing him occupy that office, which he designated for his son, [...], and also because this king, besides being powerful and bordering on a great distance, can lay claim to Silesia, a very important province", a Venetian envoy Giovanni Correr reported on May 30, 1574 (finally drawn up on August 29, 1578). Oratio Malaspina wrote from Prague to Cardinal Como on July 10, 1579, that the Polish envoy "came to renew the ancient confederations between the Kingdom of Poland and the province of Silesia" and Bishop Giovanni Andrea Caligari wrote to the same Cardinal Como from Vilnius on August 10, 1579 that "In addition to the things in Hungary, the king could easily take Silesia and Moravia from the emperor, and he would have help from all those German princes who do not love the house of Austria, and there are many of them" (after "Księstwo legnickie ..." by Ludwik Bazylow, p. 482). The portrait of a man from a private collection in Pommersfelden near Bamberg in Germany (oil on panel, RKD Research 53973), painted in the style of Adriaen Thomasz. Key, proves that the painter's clientele was diverse. The man wears a typical French costume of the 1580s with a large ruff. This costume and the man's facial features are very similar to those of François de Bourbon (ca. 1542-1592), Duke of Montpensier, a French diplomat and military commander, as depicted in a drawing in the Château de Pau with a relevant inscription (inv. P.78.9.1.14). Montpensier could pose directly for the painter during his visit to Antwerp in 1582, but he was a Catholic, which means that Key did not only paint Protestants and Antwerp residents. Abraham de Bruyn (d. 1587), a Flemish engraver from Antwerp, who established himself at Cologne about the year 1577, created several depictions of Polish-Lithuanian noblemen, however, only three engravings of people from other social spheres related to the territory of today's Poland are known. They represent the inhabitants of Gdańsk (four patricians from Gdańsk and nine women of different classes) and two Silesian women, which clearly indicate the main areas of Netherlandish presence in this part of Europe. While Martin Kober, a Silesian painter born in Wrocław become around 1583 the court painter of the Polish king Stephen Bathory, the leading artists working in Silesia in the second half of the 16th century were a Dutch painter Tobias Fendt (d. 1576), educated in the studio of Lambert Lombard in Liège and active in Wrocław since 1565, and sculptor Gerhard Hendrik (1559-1615) from Amsterdam, who between 1578-1585 lived in Gdańsk and after traveling to France, Italy and Germany, he settled in Wrocław in 1587. On May 19, 1577, Joachim Frederick married Anna Maria of Anhalt. After the death of his father in 1586, he received the Duchy of Brzeg to which, however, his mother Barbara of Brandenburg (1527-1595) was entitled to as a widow. In the National Museum in Warsaw there is a portrait of a young man in French costume - black satin doublet and a ruff (oil on panel, 47 x 33 cm, inventory number M.Ob.819 MNW, earlier 186634). It comes from the collecting point of the Ministry of Culture and Art Paulinum in Jelenia Góra, Silesia and was acquired as a result of the so-called restitution campaign in 1945 (after "Early Netherlandish, Dutch, Flemish and Belgian Paintings 1494–1983" by Hanna Benesz and Maria Kluk, item 351). It is attributed to Adriaen Thomasz. Key, a Flemish painter active in Antwerp, who adopted the Key family name after taking over the workshop of his master Willem Key in 1567. Adriaen specialized in portraiture and worked successfully for wealthy merchants and the court. He was a Calvinist, but continued to live in the city after the Fall of Antwerp in 1585, when all Protestants were given four years to settle their affairs and leave the city. He died in Antwerp in or after 1589. According to inscription in upper part of the painting the man was 24 in 1574 (1574 / Æ T A 24), exactly as Joachim Frederick, born September 29, 1550 in Brzeg, when he arrived to Kraków for the coronation of French Prince Henry of Valois as King of Poland. The same man, in similar costume, was depicted in another painting attributed to Key, today in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna (Gemäldegalerie, oil on panel, 98.5 x 71 cm, inventory number 808), verifiable in the gallery in 1720, therefore most probably coming from the old collections of the House of Habsburg. Because of similar dimensions, this portrait is considered to be a counterpart to the portrait of a lady dated '1575' (Gemäldegalerie, oil on panel, 99.5 x 70.8, inventory number 811), however, the composition is not matching. The woman is much larger when comparing the pictures, which is very unusual for a European portraiture, even if she was actually taller. As the numbers indicate, they were not included in the inventory at the same time and therefore were not previously considered a pair. Small differences in these images (in Warsaw and Vienna) are noticeable, such as the color of the eyes, but a comparison with the portraits of Philip II, King of Spain by Anthonis Mor and workshop, proves that even the same workshop interpreted the same image differently. The man bear a strong resemblance to Barbara of Brandenburg, Joachim Frederick's mother, from her statue above the main gate of the Brzeg Castle (created by Andreas Walther and Jakob Warter, between 1551-1553) and his grandmother Magdalena of Saxony (1507-1534), daughter of Barbara Jagiellon (1478-1534), Duchess of Saxony. In portraits by Lucas Cranach the Elder and his workshop (Art Institute of Chicago, Grunewald hunting lodge in Berlin), the color of Magdalena's eyes is different (brown/blue). The shape of the nose is especially characteristic in these family members. 
Portrait of Joachim Frederick of Brzeg (1550-1602), aged 24 by Adriaen Thomasz. Key, 1574, National Museum in Warsaw.
Portrait of Joachim Frederick of Brzeg (1550-1602) by Adriaen Thomasz. Key, ca. 1575, Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna.
Portrait of François de Bourbon (ca. 1542-1592), Duke of Montpensier by Adriaen Thomasz. Key, 1580s, Private collection.
Portraits of Sigismund Bathory at a young age by Domenico Tintoretto
After failed plans to cede the throne of the Commonwealth to Archduke Ernest, as no monarch could do this without approval from the Diet, the Holy See had proposed the marriage of Princess Anna Vasa to Sigismund Bathory, who both could rule the country during the absence of the king (Sigismund III left for Sweden in 1593).
Sigismund was the nephew of king Stephen Bathory, who on 1 May 1585 confirmed his legal age by dissolving the council of twelve noblemen who ruled Transylvania in his name and made János Ghyczy the sole regent. After death of his uncle in 1586, Sigismund was one of the candidates to the throne of the Commonwealth. In a letter dated February 15, 1591 from Alba Iulia to the Grand Duke of Tuscany Ferdinand I, Sigismund is described as "very Catholic", "prudent, chaste" and knowing several languages, including Italian and Latin (Virtuoso, possede molte lingue, et imparticolare l’italiana et latina con ogni facondia). The author of this letter is Simone Genga (1530-1596), an Italian architect who in 1584 left Tuscany and the service of the Medici to enter the service of Stephen Bathory and around 1591 he went to Transylvania. In 1592 at his court in Alba Julia Sigismund had a large group of Italian musicians like Giovanni Battista Mosto, Pietro Busto, Antonio Romanini, or Girolamo Diruta among others. Besides musicians, there were also architects in Transylvania at that time, such as the Venetian Ottavio Baldigara in Oradea in 1584 and the mentioned Simone Genga from Urbino in the same city between 1585 and 1599 (probably traveling from Poland-Lithuania), as well as Achille Tarducci from Corinaldo and the Bolognese Giovanni Marco Isolani in 1598 and many others. The sources also mention merchants. In 1604, Emperor Rudolf II recommended the Venetian merchant Gaspare Mazza to the Baia Mare City Council and, according to a document dated September 1, 1604, this "Gaspar Mazsa negotiator italus" was in dispute with Gerhard Lyssibona, a merchant from Kraków, for a debt of 6,000 scudi (after "Italici in Transilvania tra XIV e XVI secolo" by Andrea Fara, p. 348, 350). No painter is mentioned, indicating that many paintings were imported. According to the letter dated February 2, 1593, Grand Duke Ferdinand himself wrote to Giovanni di Agnolo Niccolini, a Florentine senator and Medici ambassador in Rome, that "the man who came from Transylvania" had purchased two portraits of the Duke's nieces, Eleonora de' Medici (1567-1611) and Maria de' Medici (1575-1642), painted by Jacopo Ligozzi with the intention of sending them to Spain, without the Grand Duke's knowledge or will (il quale contra nostra voglia li volse far fare e portar seco in Spagna, dando occassione al Ligozzi [Iacopo] pittore di venderne come pure senza nostra saputa et volontà fece l’anno passato all’huomo venuto di Transilvania et potria essere che degli altri havesse dati fuora). Already in 1591, Sigismund intended to marry the Tuscan princess. In June 1591, Fabio Genga returned from Italy to Transylvania with some galanterie and later with "a portrait of the noblewoman and a pair of horses" (un ritratto della nobildonna e una pariglia di cavalli) sent to Sigismund by Grand Duke Ferdinand. Fabio was, in 1594, Sigismund's ambassador to Rome, to Pope Clement VIII, with a view to the creation of the league that was to support Transylvania in the fight against the Ottomans (after "I rapporti tra il Granducato di Toscana e il Principato di Transilvania ..." by Gianluca Masi, p. 20, 216, 242, 250). In summer of 1593, he went to Kraków in disguise to start negotiations regarding his marriage with Anna Vasa. Possibly on this occasion either the Polish court or Sigismund himself ordered a series of portraits from Domenico Tintoretto. It is unknown why negotiations were eventually unsuccessful, possible reason might be his homosexuality. The elites were probably afraid of another "frivolous Valois", who will escape from the country after few months or it was Anna who refused to marry him. Three years later, however, on August 1595, Sigismund married Maria Christina of Austria, a sister of Anna of Austria (1573-1598), hence becoming brother-in-law of the king of Poland. It was regarded as a major political gain, but Sigismund refused to consummate the marriage. In summer of 1596 he sent his confessor, Alfonso Carrillo, to Spain. The Jesuit asked Philip II for finacial aid, as well as the Order of the Golden Fleece for Sigismund. The king promised Carrillo, in addition to 80,000 ducats in aid and granting of high distinction, diplomatic aid to Poland. On 21 March 1599 Sigismund formally abdicated receiving the Silesian duchies of Opole and Racibórz as compensation and left Transylvania for Poland in June. On 17 August 1599 Pope Clement VIII dissolved his marriage. A young man wearing a ruff typical of European fashion of the 1590s, known from a series of portraits by Domenico Tintoretto, his workshop or followers, resemble greatly Sigismund Bathory from his best-known effigies - engravings by Dominicus Custos (after a portrait by Hans von Aachen) and Aegidius Sadeler. The prince was 21 years old in 1593. One version, at the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister in Kassel (oil on canvas, 100 x 78.5 cm, GK 497), bears an inscription: ANNO SALVTIS / .M.D.L.X.X.X.V. ("In the year of Salvation 1585") on a letter placed on a table beside him. It is undoubtedly a letter from Sigismond's uncle, King Stephen, confirming his rights to Transylvania and therefore his claims to king's inheritance. The other, in private collection in Marburg (oil on canvas, 96.6 x 76.4 cm), is inscribed TODORE del SASSO / CIAMBERLANO / AETATIS SVAE XXXVI with an image of a key, therefore claiming to depict Chamberlain Todore del Sasso, aged 36, however no such man is confirmed in sources, especially as a recipient of the Order of the Golden Fleece (version in Mexico), the inscription must therefore be false. It cannot be also Francesco Maria II della Rovere (1549-1631), Duke of Urbino, as suggested in some sources, as the effigy does not match with his features and he had his exquisit court painter Federico Barocci, who created his portraits. Another copy from the Swedish royal collection by Domenico's workshop is in the Nationalmuseum in Stockholm (oil on canvas, 99.5 x 80.3, NM 150). It was probably sent to Sigismund III, when he was in Sweden for his coronation (February 19, 1594). There is also another version at the Museo Nacional de San Carlos in Mexico City (oil on canvas, 69 x 54 cm). It is attributed to Giovanni Battista Moroni or Domenico Tintoretto, therefore stylistically also close to a painter born in Cremona, Sofonisba Anguissola, court painter to the Spanish monarchs. The effigy is very similar to previous portraits, just the Spanish Order of the Golden Fleece was added. It was most likely commissioned by Polish court or Sigismund himself in about 1596 basing on effigy from 1593. In many of his effigies, Bathory wears traditional costumes that could be described as Hungarian-Croatian. He was depicted in such a costume in the Habiti Antichi Et Moderni di tutto il Mondo ... by Cesare Vecellio (Habito del Prencipe di Transiluania / Dacię Principis ornatus, p. 407), published in Venice in 1598 (Czartoryski Library in Kraków, 2434 I Cim), after the effigy of King Sigismund III Vasa (Rè di Polonia / Poloniæ Rex, p. 346) and Sultan Murad III (Svltan A Mvrhat, p. 358). The man wearing such a costume is depicted in the portrait from old papal collections, now kept in the Gallery of Paintings (Pinacoteca) of the Vatican Museums (Warehouse, 646 / CG 117, MV.40646). The painting was most likely made by an Italian painter, while the effigy of the man closely resembles printed effigies of the Prince of Transylvania such as the engraving by Lambert Cornelisz., made in 1595, the engraving by Crispin de Passe the Elder, showing him aged 26 (Aetatis suæ 26), therefore made around 1598, or engraving made in Venice by Giacomo Franco around 1596 (signed: Franco Forma.). Despite the striking resemblance to the mentioned engraving by Lambert Cornelisz., due to the presence of an Ottoman turban, the painting of the Prague School from the early 17th century was offered for sale not as a portrait of Sigismund but as a portrait of an ambassador of the Ottoman Empire to the Habsburg court (oil on panel, 111 x 89 cm, Sotheby's New York, June 11, 2020, lot 61) or of a young Ottoman. The same painting was later offered with the attribution to the Habsburg court painter Jeremias Günther, who from 1604 until the death of Rudolf II in 1612 was Kammermaler at the Prague court (Dorotheum in Vienna, May 11, 2022, lot 37). All the elements of this painting, including the splendid late Renaissance armour, probably made in Milan, the princely sceptre, oriental sabre and the turban (Transylvania was a vassal state of the Ottoman Empire), indicate that the portrait represents Sigismund Bathory, who, like the Polish-Lithuanian court and magnates, commissioned works of art from the best European and Ottoman workshops. 
Portrait of Sigismund Bathory (1572-1613), Prince of Transylvania at a young age by Domenico Tintoretto, ca. 1593, Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister in Kassel.
Portrait of Sigismund Bathory (1572-1613), Prince of Transylvania at a young age by Domenico Tintoretto or workshop, ca. 1593, Nationalmuseum in Stockholm.
Portrait of Sigismund Bathory (1572-1613), Prince of Transylvania at a young age by Domenico Tintoretto or workshop, ca. 1593, Private collection.
Portrait of Sigismund Bathory (1572-1613), Prince of Transylvania with the Order of the Golden Fleece by Domenico Tintoretto or Sofonisba Anguissola, ca. 1596, Museo Nacional de San Carlos.
Portrait of Sigismund Bathory (1572-1613), Prince of Transylvania by Italian painter, ca. 1595-1598, Paintings Gallery of the Vatican Museums.
Portrait of Sigismund Bathory (1572-1613), Prince of Transylvania by Jeremias Günther, ca. 1595-1605, Private collection.
Italian influences, economy and political system
The successors of the Jagiellons, the Vasas, shifted the focus of artistic patronage north, supporting Flemish and Dutch painters and acquiring luxury goods and art in the Netherlands, but Italian influences were still strong. "The Italian nation, from which we received the religion, literature, good arts, and the equipment of the more elegant life of the Sarmatians, is the most deserved" (Natio Jtalica optime de nobis merita est, a qua religionem, literas, bonas artes, ac elegatioris vitae apparatum Sarmatae accepimus), wrote in a letter of 1601 the Grand Chancellor Jan Sariusz Zamoyski (1542-1605) to Pope Clement VIII.
The Venetian envoy Pietro Duodo (1554-1610), appointed ambassador extraordinary to Poland-Lithuania in 1592, describes in his report to the Venetian Senate the economy and customs of the country, as well as the members of the ruling family. About the wealth of the city of Gdańsk, he adds: "King Philip II of Spain draws great reinforcements from this city, not only in grain, but also in wood for shipbuilding and in war munitions, the inhabitants of Gdańsk even build ships for his fleet. Elizabeth, Queen of England, tried by all means to prevent this trade, but the inhabitants of Gdańsk know how to protect themselves from the vigilance of the English, moving away from the coasts of England, bypassing the very borders of northern Scotland in their navigation. Elizabeth has demanded that the King of Denmark close his straits to them, but this monarch, having the greatest revenues from the straits, does not want to give them up just to please the Queen. Moreover, the King of Denmark is related to the King of Scotland, who, according to all appearances, will ascend the throne of England. The kingdom of Poland is abundant in all things necessary for life, and the only thing lacking is wine, which only the rich can drink: an oxeft costs 200 scudos. This wine comes from Hungary, Austria, Friuli, Candia [Crete], and is transported the one through Gdańsk, the other through Tsargrad [Istanbul] via the Danube. [...] The war forces of this Kingdom are immense, for all the nobility are obliged to serve on horseback in time of war; whoever cannot go himself must send someone capable to his place. The number of this cavalry amounts to 250,000. [...] The former Kings wanted to fortify Kraków, but the Poles opposed this, saying that their breasts would become a fortress, and they did not want to be locked up anywhere. As far as religion is concerned, the legitimate Holy Catholic Faith has the largest number of followers, all others however have a certain shelter here. The common people, namely in Lithuania and the southern provinces, follow the Greek rite. There are many Calvinists and Lutherans, but the most numerous are Jews, because the nobility is ashamed of trade, the peasants are too ignorant and oppressed, the townspeople are too lazy, the whole trade of Poland is in the hands of Jews. [...] I was told that in Vilnius, there are 72 different denominations, in Lithuania and on Samogitia you will still find remnants of idolatry: they worship a small black snake there. [...] The income of the King of Poland brings him 950,000 scudos, that is 500,000 from Poland, 450,000 from Lithuania. From this money the King maintains the embassies, fortresses, bridges and roads. [...] The Poles have their own dress, close to Hungarian, they live luxuriously, but they always carry weapons. As for the Royal Person [King Sigismund III], this lord is of medium height, majestic authority, he is 24 years old, has light hair, sensible, cautious, but not very skilled in the art of ruling. He is the grandson of Gustav Vasa, he comes from the Jagiellonian blood after his Mother [Catherine Jagiellon]. The royal aunt, Queen Anna, wife of Stephen Bathory, is still alive, she demands to have priority over the reigning Queen. From this it came that when I went with my obeisance to the young Queen, several courtiers met me and wanted to take me to the Queen aunt, but I did not go, which was very pleasing to the King, who wants his wife to receive great honor. From this it comes that the understanding between the aunt and the niece is not the best" (after "Zbiór pamiętników historycznych o dawnej Polszcze ..." by Julian Ursyn Niemcewicz, Volume 4, p. 69, 71, 75, 76). The great influences of Italians and Italian culture in Poland-Lithuania have led to increased interest in the Polish-Lithuanian royal elections on the Italian peninsula, which is now largely forgotten. In 1573, Alfonso II d'Este, Duke of Ferrara dispatched the celebrated poet Giovanni Battista Guarini to Poland-Lithuania, to perorate his cause before the Diet (Sejm). Guarini failed in his mission and on his return to Ferrara was criticized for diplomatic ineptitude (after "Politics and Diplomacy in Early Modern Italy ..." by Daniela Frigo, p. 167). Other important Italian candidates in the first free election of 1573 also included Alessandro Farnese, Duke of Parma and Piacenza and Francesco I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany. The latter was also considered in the third free election of 1587, when son of Catherine Jagiellon Sigismund Vasa was elected, and he had strong support. Simone Gengi of Urbino, an architect and military engineer in the service of the late King Stephen Bathory, believed that among the many candidates put forward, he had a good chance of success (...et quanto ella per parere de più principali potessi più d'ogn'altro aspirare a questa corona), as he states in a letter dated January 7, 1587 from Riga (dal nuovo forte di fiume Dvina), addressed to the Grand Duke and his ambassador to the imperial court in Prague Orazio Urbani. He asked to the director of the royal post of Poland-Lithuania Sebastiano Montelupi to spare no effort and money so that the courier with letters to the Grand Duke would reach Vienna as soon as possible. It was Montelupi, who in a letter of December 18, 1586 informed the court in Ferrara about the death of Bathory. He recommended hiring a special messenger dressed in German clothes and fluent in German. From Vienna, through the Tuscan ambassador, the letters were to be sent to Florence. The candidature of the Florentine ruler was supported, among others, by Stanisław Karnkowski, Archbishop of Gniezno, Olbracht Łaski, voivode of Sieradz and by Chancellor Jan Zamoyski. At the beginning of February 1587, they sent an embassy to Florence, which included, among others, the brother-in-law of the voivode of Sieradz, Wincenty de Seve, provost of Łask, who was ordered to invite the Grand Duke to take part in the upcoming election. His candidature was supposedly presented in the Sandomierz voivodship by Chancellor Zamoyski himself, who, according to Urbani, sincerely favored Francesco. According to the Tuscan diplomat, the Dukes of Ferrara and Parma had little chance in the upcoming election as petty and insignificant rulers. The fact that the Florentine milieu in Kraków was also keenly interested in the upcoming election is evidenced by a letter of January 7, 1587, from Filippo Talducci, addressed to Marco Argimoni in Florence, in which, listing the candidates for the Polish Crown, he mentioned the Grand Duke of Tuscany, who, if he wanted to mobilize appropriate financial resources, would have a chance to be elected (il figliuolo del Re di Svetia, il Cardinale Batori, il Duca di Ferrara et il nostro Serenissimo Gran Duca, il quale se volessi attendere con li mezzi sapete, sarebbe cosa riuscibile. Dio lasci seguire il meglio). The aspirations to the Polish crown of the Dukes of Ferrara, Parma and even Savoy are mentioned in the correspondence of the Tuscan ambassadors in Madrid, Bongianni Gianfighacci and Vincenzo Alamanni (letters of February 21, March 27 and April 4, 1587) (after "Dwór medycejski i Habsburgowie ..." by Danuta Quirini-Popławska, pp. 123-126). The portrait of the Grand Duke, today kept in Wilanów Palace (Wil.1494), could refer to this candidacy. It most likely comes from a series of similar small portraits from Ros near Grodno in Belarus, attributed to the 18th century Italian school. This "portrait of a man" is considered a copy of Angelo Bronzino, but it closely resembles the portraits of Francesco made by his court painter Alessandro Allori (1535-1607). In the early 17th century the Tuscan court was certainly one of the best informed about Polish-Lithuanian affairs, but Grand Duke Ferdinando I de' Medici (1549-1609) did not even consider the proposal made to him in 1598 by the Lucchese merchant Lorenzo Cagnoli to give his niece Maria de' Medici (1575-1642), future Queen of France, in marriage to Sigismund III, who had become a widower after the death of Anna of Austria (compare "La trama Nascosta - Storie di mercanti e altro" by Rita Mazzei). Italian costumes, food, gardens, music, language and books, paintings, crafts and dances were most popular in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, even the hours were still counted in Italian style under the reign of the elected monarch Sigismund III Vasa - 24 hours from sunset one day to sunset the next day. In two letters, probably from 1614 and 1615, Sigismund III expressed his gratitude to the nuncio Claudio Rangoni for the paintings he sent from Italy. Two years later, in 1617 and the following year, Rangoni again sent two paintings and "some [other] paintings" (alcuni quadri) to the king, then to the queen. According to the nuncio, the king loved paintings and willingly purchased the works of the best masters and demonstrated a passion for expensive jewelry and tapestries. The king was not only an art lover, but also an amateur artist. What is very meaningful is that during the Zebrzydowski rebellion in 1606, he was mocked by his opponents as a "Venecist/Venetian" (wenecysta), who prefers to "ride with the Italians in a gondola, paying richly for their folly, instead of mounting a horse in armor" (after "Odrodzenie w Polsce ...", Volume 5, ed. Bogusław Leśnodorski, p. 358). The great demand for Italian specialists at the beginning of the 17th century is illustrated by Zamoyski's letter of 1601 to Montelupi, asking him to find him an Italian who would lay out two gardens for him. Montelupi did not find a specialist gardener, but recommended to the chancellor an entire Italian family, a 60-year-old father, a 35-year-old married son and father of a family. He said that they were drapers by profession and had been brought as such by merchants from Poznań, that they also knew how to make wax and preserves in the Italian style, but that in the absence of other work they also took on the task of working in the gardens (after "Antoni Nuceni - polski malarz XVII wieku" by Monika Panfil, pp. 264-267). While Italians who settled in Poland-Lithuania sometimes Polonized their names, such as a branch of the Montelupi family, who translated their surname to Wilczogórski or a painter Antoni Nuceni, who was most likely born in Kraków to Italian parents as Antonio Nozeni, some Poles Italianized their names, as in the case of Sebastian Nuceryn (1565-1632), a scholar who Italianized his surname Orzeszek to Nucerini during his stay in Italy, and after his return to Poland used the forms Nucerinus and Nuceryn. Marcin Bielski (d. 1575) in his satire "Conversation of the New Prophets, Two Rams with One Head" (Rozmowa nowych proroków, dwu baranów o jednej głowie) published in 1566/1567, criticizes the "stupid Poles" who buy velvet and clothes from Italians at very high prices, just because they are Italian (Nie dawajcie też tanio aksamitu Włoszy, Wszak was o to żaden pan z Polski nie wypłoszy, Kiedy głupi Polacy, iż o to nie dbają, Jako najdrożej mogą, niechaj przedawają. Już lada strój najdroższy, by jeno rzekł, włoski, By się też nań zastawić, kupi naród polski) and Gabriel Krasiński (d. 1676), castellan of Płock in his "Dance of the Republic of Poland" (Taniec Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej), criticize the rich Italians who came poor to Kraków, fleeing with their wealth to their country during the Deluge (A co pierwej w tłumoczku miał i w pluderhozach Trochę czego, to z mego Krakowa na wozach Wyprowadzi pan szalbierz do swojej ojczyzny). Many Sarmatians were aware that dependence on imports was detrimental to the economy. Jan Jurkowski (1580-1635) left an exceptionally insightful understanding of this state of affairs in his poem "Lech awakened and his mournful complaint ..." (Lech Wzbudzony Y Lament Iego Zalosny ...), published in Kraków in 1606: "But what about poverty, Pole? You rot from excess. Accept the steward of modesty, enrich your dwellings; you, fattening foreign pigs with golden chaff, inadvertently drown your homeland in consumption. The Hungarian tears your treasures with wine, India with flavors, the Englishman and the German with fabrics, the Turk with carpets, the Italian with musk, paint, silk, pearls, glass, stones, tears you in two, and the whole world throws you into desolation" (after "Cnoty i wady narodu szlacheckiego ..." by Antoni Górski, p. 168) As in the previous century, the Italians also possessed paintings related to Sarmatia. The "Inventory of the Gallery of paintings and other art objects of the Court of the Dukes of Mantua, compiled in the year 1627" (Inventario della Galleria di quadri, e di altri oggetti d'arte della Corte dei Duca di Mantova, compilato all' anno 1627) mentions "A portrait of a young king of Poland" (Un ritratto d'un giovanetto rè di Polonia - scut. 2. L. 12.), perhaps a portrait of the young king Sigismund II Augustus, crowned at the age of nine, King Sigismund III or his son Prince Ladislaus Sigismund Vasa, and "One portrait of the king of Poland" (1. ritratto del ré di Polonia - L. 6., after "Delle arti e degli artefici di Mantova ..." by Carlo D'Arco, p. 154, 157). A catalogue of paintings for sale at an unknown location in Italy, probably made in the late 17th century, lists "A portrait of the engineer of the King of Poland, a friend of the said painter, dressed in a bizarre style, half life-size, 5 1/4 high, 4 1/2 wide, in a walnut frame", painted by Domenico Fetti (ca. 1589-1623), an Italian painter who was active mainly in Rome, Mantua, and Venice (Feti: [...] Un ritratto dell'Ingegniero del Re di Polonia, amico di detto pittore, vestito alla bizzarra, mezza figura al naturale, alto quarte 5. 1/4, largo 4. 1/2, in cornice di noce). Judging from the context, this painting probably depicted Andrea dell'Aqua (1584–1656), a Venetian architect and engineer, active in Poland-Lithuania-Ruthenia from around 1608, most likely depicted in Sarmatian costume. The inventory of paintings belonging to Queen Christina in Rome dating from around 1689 mentions a "Portrait of the King of Poland in armour and wearing a cloak, on canvas", possibly a copy of the portrait of King Michael Korybut by Daniel Schultz (Ritratto del re di Polonia armato e con sopra il manto, in tela in piedi alto p.mi tre e due dita, largo dui p.mi e mezzo senza cornice, after "Raccolta di cataloghi ed inventarii inediti di quadri, statue, disegni ...", ed. Giuseppe Campori, p. 364, 448). The 1753 inventory of the Medici collections lists a chest with the Medici coat of arms surmounted by a Polish saint, Saint Casimir (no. 77), and a small box with a portrait of King Sigismund on the lid (no. 44) in addition to numerous amber objects, which are reasonably assumed to be gifts from Poland because of the family connections of Maria Magdalena of Austria (1589-1631), whose sister Constance of Austria (1588-1631) was Queen of Poland (afer "Due altari in ambra al Museo degli Argenti" by Kirsten Aschengreen Piacenti, p. 158). It is unimaginable today that in 1615, the "Annals or Chronicles of the Famous Kingdom of Poland" (Annales seu Cronicae incliti Regni Poloniae), the best-known work of Jan Długosz (1415-1480), chronicler and tutor to the sons of Casimir IV Jagiellon, was subject to censorship. The openness and severity of the judgments of the writer, a lover of truth, which in his works, and especially in the books of this History, seemed to offend certain classes, families and persons, aroused envy and slander against them, keeping them for a long time as if under the seal of silence. During the reign of Sigismund III, a royal edict was issued prohibiting the publication of Długosz's chronicle. Only Jan Szczęsny Herburt (1567-1616) managed to forestall this ban by publishing the first six books of History in Dobromyl (Ukraine) in 1614 and 1615 under the title Historia Polonica Ioannis Dłvgossi ... (after "Jana Długosza, kanonika krakowskiego, Dziejów Polskich ksiąg dwanaście" by Karol Mecherzyński, Volume 1, Przedmowa tłumacza). Herburt hoped to receive a subsidy from the Doge and the Republic of Venice. He wrote a dedication note and even sent a copy of this publication to the Venetians through an envoy (after "Cnoty i wady narodu szlacheckiego ..." by Antoni Górski, p. 132). However, even the dedication to the Venetian Doge did not save the edition from complete confiscation after the publication of Sigismund III's ban of December 20, 1615.
Society, education and travels
17th-century Sarmatia was still a very egalitarian country (especially among the nobility). Thus, as in the case of Florentine cook Allamani, sent as ambassador to Sweden in 1582, less attention was paid to the private status of the official ambassador of the Commonwealth. In 1655, the declaration of war on Poland by Charles X Gustav, the "Brigand of Europe," may have been provoked, among other things, by resentment at the fact that John II Casimir had sent as his envoy, not a senator, but "a certain Morsztyn", as Charles Gustav put it (after "Cnoty i wady narodu szlacheckiego ..." by Antoni Górski, p. 52, 95-96, 99-102, 132-133). This ambassador was Jan Andrzej Morsztyn (1621-1693), a young man and courtier of the king at the time.
Life at the royal court was, in many ways, comparable to that in many other European countries. Frequent references to Niccolò Machiavelli (1469-1527) in known texts indicate that his works were well known in Poland-Lithuania-Ruthenia in the 17th century. Piotr Łaszcz refers to Machiavelli during the Zebrzydowski rebellion in 1606, King Sigismund III in his letter to Żółkiewski in 1619, Andrzej Koryciński (ca. 1582-1652) in his Perspectiva politica Regno Poloniae elaborat ..., published in 1652, and to Wespazjan Kochowski (1633-1700) in his epigrams. The works of the Florentine writer were known to Chancellor Jan Zamoyski, as confirmed by Boniface Vanozzi in his reports to the papal legate. Lithuanian Grand Chancellor Albert Stanislaus Radziwill (1632-1656) also knew them well. Ewaryst Bełżecki, royal courtier in the years 1640-1659, had been in litigation with his brother for many years over the Dobromyl Library. Even a simple Kraków spice merchant, Jan Markiewicz or Markowicz (died before 1691), possessed an impressive Latin library. Besides the positive aspects of education abroad, such as learning about new cultures, ways of life, technological improvements, the exchange of new ideas, the ability to learn a foreign language faster or establish valuable connections, and many others, the residents of Sarmatia also noticed negative aspects. Stanisław Żółkiewski (1547-1620) stood up for the Zamość Academy. In his will from 1606 he addresses his wife: "In Zamość, education worthy of noble children has begun and I would rather have you teach our son here in Poland than in a foreign land, because it is obvious that the number of those who travel to foreign lands for practice brings more bad than good customs". A stay abroad absorbed also large sums. Prince Christopher Radziwill (1585-1640) writes to his son's tutor Mr Przypkowski: "I have already left you over a hundred thousand in the two years since you left Poland. With that money, I could buy a property or live more comfortably". Sarmatian students abroad sometimes stayed there and married there. In the 17th century, the marriage of Stanisław Franciszek Koniecpolski, son of Stefan Koniecpolski (d. 1629), caused a stir and gave rise to diplomatic correspondence with the Dutch Republic. In 1647, he married Maria Matilda de Bökop in Utrecht, spent several years with her abroad, and in 1655, in the midst of the Deluge, burdened with debts, he returned to Poland to fight the enemy. He then announced the death of his wife and his second marriage to a noblewoman Elżbieta Dunin-Borkowska. Maria Matilda, abandoned, learned of this, went to Gdańsk, and in 1660 filed a lawsuit against Koniecpolski for bigamy. He was sentenced by a decree of the Crown Court to the punishment of infamy and beheading, but in 1670 he was freed from this punishment by the castellan of Połaniec, Stanisław Dunin-Borkowski. This famous case inspired a novel written in German by Aleksander Bronikowski.
Religion
The first half of the 17th century was marked by the growing influence of the Counter-Reformation, and many Sarmatians, especially those educated at Catholic universities in Western Europe, such as that of Bologna in the Papal States, became ardent propagators of the resolutions of the Council of Trent (1545-1563). Although some Protestants and even Orthodox converted to Catholicism during this period, including aristocrats educated abroad eager to pursue careers at the royal court, those who remained in the "dissident" religion felt the increasing pressure, a fact reflected in a painting now in the National Museum in Kraków (oil and tempera on canvas, 105 x 86 cm, inv. MNK XVIII-458). The painting is generally dated to the first half of the 18th century and depict the Ark of the Church under attack by enemies or an allegorical representation of the persecution of the Orthodox Church. The armed horsemen galloping behind the ship include Roman emperors known for their persecution of Christians. The Antichrist sits on a throne, a turbaned Turk holds a drawn bow, and a Polish nobleman points a rifle at the Church. The Cyrillic inscriptions, as well as the overall style of the painting, indicate that it was painted in Ruthenia, then part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The costume of the man in the center is typical of Western European fashion in the 1630s, while the work shows influences of Venetian painting, particularly in the landscape and the depiction of waves. Another version of this composition, from Trostianets, is in the Museum of Ukrainian Art (formerly the National Museum) in Lviv, however, the man in the center is wearing a ruff and a costume more typical of early 17th-century European fashion. The Kraków canvas was acquired in 1975 from a private collection in Wrocław. It is interesting to note that the Calvinist Princess Louise Charlotte Radziwill (1667-1695), who died in Brzeg near Wrocław, owned such a Ruthenian painting, as confirmed by the inventory of her possessions drawn up in 1671 (Łódkę Chrystusową usiłują zatopić). On August 25, 1708, a certain Christian Hensel, a Wrocław merchant, donated a "Russian painting" (rusissches Bild) painted on canvas from the Cabinet of Princes Radziwill, which he had acquired, to the Rehdiger Library in Wrocław. Thus, the Kraków painting most likely comes from the collection of the Calvinist princess Radziwill, who also owned several other Ruthenian paintings (after "Śląskie losy kolekcji dzieł sztuki księżnej Ludwiki Karoliny Radziwiłłówny ..." by Piotr Oszczanowski, p. 195-196).
Venetian links, costumes and languages
"These are the advantages of the city of Venice, namely that it is beautiful, that it is convenient, that it is almost unconquerable, that it is wonderful," praised the Queen of the Adriatic Paweł Palczowski, a courtier of Sigismund III, in his work on the political system of the Venetian Republic Statvs Venetorvm, published in Kraków in 1605 (Jagiellonian Library in Kraków, BJ St. Dr. 50862 I). Palczowski's book was dedicated to Count Sebastian Lubomirski (ca. 1546-1613) and was largely based on the work of Gasparo Contarini (1483-1542), although he knew Venice from his own experience (after "Defining the Identity of the Younger Europe", ed. Miroslawa Hanusiewicz-Lavallee, Robert Aleksander Maryks, p. 38-39). Polish studies, written at the turn of the 16th and 17th centuries, provided the anti-absolutist Polish nobility with arguments in favour of the thesis that the Venetian system should be considered a model for Poland, even if what mattered to them above all was libertas Venetiana (Venetian freedom), as confirmation that they had chosen the right path.
In his "Sejm Sermons" (Kazania sejmowe), published in 1597 in Kraków, Piotr Skarga, the court preacher of Sigismund III, metaphorically appealed to parliament not to further restrict the king's power in favor of a more Habsburg absolutism: "Good Lords! Do not make the kingdom of Poland a [free] city of the German Reich, do not make a painted king as in Venice. Because you don't have Venetian mindset and you don't live in one city" (Sermon 6). He also scolded the great wealth and luxurious life of the nobility, their expensive clothes of velvet and silk, cellars full of wine, gilded carriages: "See what abundance and riches and joyful life this mother has brought you, and how she has gilded you and granted so much that you have enough money, plenty of food, clothes so expensive, such crowds of servants, horses, carts; so much money and income multiplied everywhere" (Sermon 2), and neglecting the defence of the Commonwealth: "No one living in abundance like this watches the castles and city walls" (Sermon 8). References to Venice are common among the 17th-century Sarmatians. Prince Jerzy Zbaraski (1574-1631), known for his libertine lifestyle, deplores Stefan Pac's engagement in a letter addressed to him and adds: "I summon you to Venice so that you can say goodbye to freedom where freedom lives". In 1619, Jan Zrzenczycki, writing about Bohemia, declares: "in Venice there is nothing more precious than poison". According to Sarbiewski, John Stanislaus Sapieha (1589-1635) said of himself: "I prefer to be a Veronese than a Piacentino". This is an allusion to the proverb: Verona paucos, plurimos Placentia ad Aulae honores promovet ("Verona promotes a few, Piacenza promotes many to the honors of the court"). "It is ugly for a young man to stay at home for nothing. Leave this fireside happiness to the simple Veronese peasants, who will grow old in the cottage where they were born", adds Franciszek Poniński (1661-1714), a Jesuit preacher in Kraków. Hence the word "Veronese" (Werończyk) was considered a symbol of simplicity (after "Cnoty i wady narodu szlacheckiego ..." by Antoni Górski, p. 19, 44, 96). In 1589, the Italian architects Paolo Romano Dominici (Paulo Romano muratore de Leopoli, Paweł Rzymianin) and Paolo de Ducato Clemenci (also known as Paul the Italian "the Happy", Paweł Italczyk Szczęśliwy in Polish) rebuilt in the Renaissance style an old Gothic house on the market square of the old town of Lviv, at no. 14, for the Dalmatian merchant Antonio de Massaro (or Antonio di Massari), who served as consul of the Republic of Venice in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The façade is decorated with diamond-shaped bossage. The main portal was decorated in 1600 with a bas-relief with the coat of arms of Venice - a winged lion with an open book and the inscription of the city's motto: "Peace be with you, Mark, my evangelist" (PAX TIBI MAR/CE EVA/NGEL/ISTA MEVS DIXIT 1600). This building is known as the "Venetian House". There is also the Venetian House in Kraków, also known as the House of the Grey Carp, on the Main Market Square - no. 11. Since 1527, it housed a pharmacy belonging to the families of apothecaries: Alantsee, Zajdlicz (1607-1646) and Pernus (until 1678). The name "Venetian House" refers to the undocumented stay of the envoys of the Venetian Republic and the sculpture of the winged lion of St. Mark, which was embedded in the courtyard wall until the beginning of the 20th century. Italian architects Pietro di Barbona and Paolo Romano Dominici were also the creators of the ornate Lviv Tower erected in the years 1572-1578 at the expense of Konstantinos Korniaktos (d. 1603) from Candia (today Heraklion) in Crete, then part of the Venetian Republic. Paolo de Ducato Clemenci and Paul the Italian "the Kind" were the architects of the Golden Rose Synagogue erected in 1582 on the foundation of Izaak Nachmanowicz, while Ducato, together with Ambroggio detto Przychylny, was the designer of the reconstruction of the Church of the Dormition in Lviv, historically known as the "Wallachian Church", between 1591 and 1629. This church was built in the years 1547-1559 by Pietro di Lugano on the site of the previous one, dating from the 15th century, destroyed in a fire in 1527. The bell tower of the Armenian Cathedral founded by Andrew of Kaffa (1571), was designed by Pietro chiamato Krasowski (compare "Dzieje Lwowa" by Leszek Podhorodecki, p. 50). The comparisons between Kraków and Rome are very interesting. Giovanni Paolo Mucante (d. 1617), who visited Kraków in 1596 in the company of the papal legate Enrico Gaetani (or Gaetano, 1550-1599), noted in his diary: "if Rome were not Rome, Kraków would be Rome" (Se Roma non fusse Roma, Cracovia saria Roma). However, he wanted to emphasize the international commercial and cultural importance and the multinational character of the city and not its religious aspect. Martin Gruneweg (1562-ca. 1618), a merchant from Gdańsk born into a German Lutheran family, who converted to Catholicism in 1588 in Lviv and became a Dominican monk, left a detailed description of Kraków between 1587 and 1603, focusing on its many religious buildings (according to estimates, there were 53 religious buildings here, including 32 churches and 21 monasteries). Martin, who also visited the Eternal City around the same time and described it in detail, also compares Kraków to Rome, claiming that it was a "second Rome" (gleich were sie ein anderes Roem). His patron was Obiedziski, a courtier of the elected queen Anna Jagiellon, and he also had an audience with the queen, which is confirmed in his notes. Gruneweg also describes the Jewish city (oppidum iudaeorum, Judenstatt) with many brick houses, Wawel Castle with carved gilded ceilings, marble floors and window frames and walls covered with silk woven with gold thread, as well as the lion house in the royal garden with four lions and the excellent arsenal built by Sigismund I on Grodzka Street (after "Kraków w zapiskach dominikanina Martina Grunewega ..." by Piotr Hapanowicz, p. 39, 42, 44, 45, 55). As in the previous epoch, in the 17th century, foreign costumes were still very popular among the nobility. Franciszek Siarczyński in his "Image of the reign of Sigismund III ...", published in Poznań in 1843, claims that he "saw paintings in Kraków in which Zebrzydowski looked like a Sultan, Zborowski like a Roman knight, in Krosno Stanisław Oświęcim, has all the clothes of a Swede, Tarnowski of an armed Greek, etc. Niesiecki described the portrait in Topolno of Krzysztof Konarski, from 1589, in guise of a German knight". A nobleman in Spanish parade outfit, who took part in Prince Ladislaus Vasa's expedition to Moscow in 1612, was ridiculed by other soldiers: "[go back] to Salamanca, to Compostela, Mr. Spaniard" (after "Obraz wieku panowania Zygmunta III ...", p. 73-74). Zofia Osmólska, wife of the royal secretary Stanisław Przedbór Koniecpolski (died after 1594), lost her life because of her, most likely, Spanish-style dress with a long train - she was killed by horses frightened by the sight of camels near Zamość; she jumped out of the carriage, but her dress caught on the outer end of a carriage axle and the horses dragged her away. "King Gustavus Adolphus put the sword to our necks. How many volunteers rushed onto the battlefield? More stayed at home with soap and a mirror", reprimanded the courtiers preacher Jakub Olszewski (ca. 1586-1634), referring to the Livonian War of 1625-1629 (after "Unia: sceny z przeszłości Polski i Litwy" by Henryk Wisner, p. 221). The author of "Perspective after the Deplorable Defeat at Kostiantyniv" (Perspektywa krótka po żałosnej klęsce rozproszenia wojskowego za Konstantynowem [after July 1648]), probably Szymon Starowolski (1588-1656), laments that landowners have abandoned horses and armours, preferring to buy clothes for their ladies. The latter, for their part, dress exclusively in Italian and French style, "wearing neither Polish nor Ruthenian clothes" (szat polskich nie masz ni po rusku). During the hearings on the causes of the defeat at Pylyavtsi (September 1648), the Crown Chancellor claimed that the cause of the defeat was the "long peace, during which we learned German management, Italian festivals, and how to perfume clothes in the French manner" (after "Cnoty i wady narodu szlacheckiego ..." by Antoni Górski, p. 43, 58, 70, 74). Members of different ethnic groups of Sarmatia traveled to different Western European countries, primarily for doing business, as the country was a major supplier of many important goods, but also to pursue their studies, for a better climate or for health, to make a pilgrimage or simply to visit other countries. After completing studies at the Kraków or Vilnius Academy or other important schools of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, it was customary to continue studies abroad, in Padua, Bologna, Leuven, Leiden or Ingolstadt, among others. Abroad, Sarmatians frequently adopted local costumes, which is confirmed by numerous sources, but some, decided to travel in their traditional costumes - usually a crimson żupan, delia coat and kolpak hat. These costumes were frequently captured by different artists from Italy, Flanders, the Netherlands and France in their works. Some foreigners were also depicted in Sarmatian costumes, such as the painter Martin Ryckaert in his magnificent portrait painted around 1631 by Anthony van Dyck (Prado Museum in Madrid). Nicolas Lagneau (National Library of France), Stefano della Bella, Guercino (Nationalmuseum in Stockholm) and Rembrandt left numerous drawings and engravings representing characters dressed in typical Sarmatian costumes. Such costumes can also be seen in the paintings by Mattia Preti (Capitoline Museums in Rome), Giuseppe Maria Galeppini (private collection in Sweden) and David Teniers the Younger (Louvre and Neuburg State Gallery). The Florentine painter Sigismondo Coccapani (1585-1643), one of the best students of Ludovico Cardi known as Il Cigoli, dressed one of his Eastern sages or Magi in a kolpak hat lined with expensive lynx with two feathers - white and crimson (symbols of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth), as well as a white and crimson doublet lined with fur, in his painting Adoration of the Magi made before 1617 (Chiesa Prioria di Santa Maria nel Castello di Signa). This painting was commissioned in 1616 by Maria Felice Palmieri, a nun of the Augustinian monastery of San Baldassarre in Coverciano and most likely illustrates the common notion among Italians of the time about the rich eastern kingdom, as the man opens a chest full of treasures that he wishes to offer to Madonna. Coccapani also dressed his flautist in an eastern fur costume (Uffizi Gallery in Florence, inv. 1890 / 6034). Around 1660, Giovanni Maria Viani (1636-1700), a Baroque painter active in Bologna, faithfully depicted the costume of the Polish ambassador kneeling before Saint Pius V (1504-1572) on a side altar of the Sanctuary of the Madonna of San Luca in Bologna. The man, with the moustache and czupryna typical of the Sarmatian nobility of the second half of the 17th century, wears a blue żupan and a yellow delia mantle lined with fur. The painter also very faithfully rendered the features of the pope who had died almost a century earlier, undoubtedly drawing inspiration from other portraits. Johann Heinrich Schönfeld painted around 1653 his "Sarmatians at the tomb of Ovid" (Museum of Fine Arts in Budapest and Royal Collection), which could be an illustration of one of the many Renaissance accounts of tomb-finding expeditions, such as that described by Stanisław Sarnicki in 1587 (Annales, sive de origine et rebus gestis Polonorum et Lituanorum, p. 73), and Philips Wouwerman produced between 1656 and 1668 a painting representing the Polish-Lithuanian cavalry fighting the army of the "Brigand of Europe" during the Deluge (National Gallery, London). Sarmatians like Stefano Ubaldini della Ripa (1585-1621) from Lviv in Ruthenia, who died in Padua, probably also travelled to Italy in national costume - his splendid epitaph erected by the "Polish nation" near the first Polish chapel is located in the Basilica of Saint Anthony of Padua. The preserved poetry, created before the Deluge, confirms the image of a wealthy Commonwealth, concerned with various social problems, and not a country ravaged by constant wars and invasions of neighbors, fighting for its independence. The collection of manuscripts by Polish poets, mainly members of the community of Polish Brethren, compiled in 1675 by Jakub Teodor Trembecki (1643-1719/1720), published in 1910-1911 by Aleksander Brückner ("Jakuba Teodora Trembeckiego wirydarz poetycki", volume I), includes the following poems by unknown poets: 27. On an Italian feast, 28. Polish prosperity, 29. Polish playfulness, 165. On foreign costumes in Poland ("Nowadays, you can barely recognize Poles, there are Italians, French, in great number at the courts"); by Jan Gawiński of Wielomowic (ca. 1622 - ca. 1684): 215. On Venus ("Displeased Venus makes no one rich; She has a naked son; pleased, when you pay her"), 262. A girl without shame ("And your beautiful nature and wonderful senses, my Lady, have been spoiled by these oddities of your costumes"), 263. Today's wives ("Among the pagans, wives died for their husbands, and today they would dance on his grave"), 325. The concept of a Ruthenian painter under the painting of Judith beheading Holofernes; by Hieronim Morsztyn (ca. 1581 - ca. 1622): 368. Court disease ("Syphilis, ulcers, buboes, were brought from France and they were accommodated in a brothel"), by Jan Andrzej Morsztyn (1621-1693): 471. To the Italian ("You, Italian, sell Venetian products and you profit greatly from it") and by Daniel Naborowski (1573-1640): 617. To one hermaphrodite ("You have a female form but you have a prick, so you are both [woman and man]"), 643. On nude images in the bathhouse ("It's decent to wash naked in the bathhouse"). For his obscene epigram about female breasts, Hieronim Morsztyn most likely took inspiration from an Italian model: "Cazzo [an Italian vulgarism for phallus], stuck in the crotch, couldn't do its job" (Cazzo w kroku pojmane nie mogło się sprawić) (after "Poeta i piersi" by Radosław Grześkowiak, p. 18). The great diversity of languages spoken in the Vasa era is reflected in the great popularity of Italian and English theatre troupes. At the wedding celebrations of Sigismund III with Anna of Austria in Kraków in 1592, three Italian actors performed. In a letter from Nysa of March 18, 1617, Archduke Charles of Austria, Bishop of Wrocław, brother of Queen Constance of Austria, to Cardinal Dietrichstein, Governor of Moravia, recommended the English actors who came to Nysa from Poland-Lithuania "with royal recommendations and a valuable testimony" (mit Königlichen recommendationen vndt quethen Zeügnus) from King Sigismund III, at whose court they spent several months. They most likely belonged to a theatre troupe led by John Green. In 1636, English actors performed in Vilnius and Warsaw at the court of Ladislaus IV Vasa (according to a letter from Aaron Asken/Arend Ärschen of July 1636 to the Mayor of Gdańsk). In May 1640, several English actors asked the Gdańsk City Council for permission to perform, however, they were refused, despite a letter of recommendation from Ladislaus IV, at whose court in Warsaw they had recently performed. Joachim Posselius (died 1624), court physician to Sigismund III, in his chronicle Historia rerum Polonicarum ..., mentions that at the royal court there were theatrical performances in German or Italian (after "Notatki do dziejów teatru w dawnej Polsce" by Adam Fischer, p. 267-275). In the 17th century, Italian was still considered an international language in diplomatic relations. In a letter from prison to the Bishop of Saint-Malo in 1639, John Casimir Vasa declared that he did not know French; he corresponded with his wife Marie Louise Gonzaga in Italian. Kazanowski responded to French envoys in this language during the election of 1648. The French-born queen Marie Louise Gonzaga is generally considered to have introduced more daring, not to say inappropriate, female costumes to Poland, mainly due to the marked contrast between effigies of the queen and portraits of her predecessors from the Habsburg dynasty - Cecilia Renata of Austria, Constance of Austria and Anna of Austria. However, many authors seem to forget that these queens preferred the fashion of the imperial or Spanish court which did not allow bare breasts described by Wacław Potocki (1621-1696). The popularity of daring French, Venetian and Florentine costumes was confirmed much earlier by Piotr Zbylitowski in his "Reprimand of Women's Extravagant Attire" (Przygana wymyślnym strojom białogłowskim), published in Kraków in 1600, and Italian fashion dominated at the court of the Jagiellons. Although in fact the fashion introduced by Marie Louise "revealed" more to the public gaze. In a letter from Gdańsk dated February 15, 1646 addressed to Cardinal Jules Mazarin (1602-1661), the queen wrote that "the Polish ladies are dressed how people dressed in France fifteen years ago: hastily sewn dresses, with very short waists and very wide sleeves. They all rush as fast as they can to imitate our clothes. Their materials are extremely expensive and covered with precious stones. The daughter-in-law of Great Crown Chancellor [Katarzyna Ossolińska née Działyńska] changes her outfit every day". The French courtier Jean Le Laboureur (1621-1675) also reports that many members of the nobility dressed in French style for the queen's reception. Szymon Starowolski (1588-1656) in his "Reform of Polish Habits" (Reformacya Obyczaiow Polskich), published before 1653, laments that "almost all of Poland became French, and probably all stricken with the French disease [syphilis]" (wszytka już prawie Polska sfrancuziała, a podobno sfrancowaciała) and Krzysztof Opaliński (1609-1655) could not refrain from ridiculing exaggerated costumes and excessive use of cosmetics by the ladies in his Liryki (donkey milk to brighten the complexion, roasted almonds to darken the eyebrows, crushed corals with sea foam-sepiolite as a powder for the cheeks). "The rich ladies here are very fond of sumptuous clothes, so they order various delicate works from the nuns and pay them well", wrote one of the French nuns of the Visitation of the Virgin Mary, who visited Poland in 1654. She also adds that she saw in several monasteries wonderful silver, gold and silk embroideries, most perfectly finished, decorated with jewels with great splendor, sometimes even luxury. Queen Marie Louise, who had just left Paris, wrote in the mentioned letter to Cardinal Mazarin that: "The splendor is extraordinary [...] In short, I had no idea, despite the best thoughts that I had created to take courage during the journey. Everything exceeded my expectations, so you will have no doubt that I am very satisfied" (after "Studya historyczne" by Wiktor Czermak, p. 75-76, 98-99, 101-102, 123-125, 127). The register of the rich trousseau of an unspecified princess dated April 19, 1650, lists numerous dresses, including "Black dress, French fabric and work", Flemish, Dutch and Turkish fabrics and laces and also "French silver watch", "Small box of French portraits for costumes", "Bottle of French water for washing", "French powders for sprinkling hair", as well as an agate rosary bought in Rome for 100 ducats, but only one picture "Picture on copper framed in silver, of Saint Catherine" (a disguised portrait of the owner?), probably listed here because of the expensive material on which it was painted and framed (compare "Ubiory w Polszcze ..." by Łukasz Gołębiowski, p. 284, 289-292). Sometimes foreign ladies also adopted something from Polish fashion. A Frenchwoman and lady-in-waiting to the queen, Marie Casimire de La Grange d'Arquien, confided in one of her letters to Jan Sobieski that she used Polish caps instead of French hairstyles and that she was already tired of the bra she had been wearing so far, and she ordered a new one to be made: "it is more Crimean style, fastened to the side" (il est un peu z krymska zapięty na bakier) with Polish words in a French letter. Although her new garment was not purely Polish, because the word "Crimean style" also indicates the original Tatar pattern. Ladislaus IV purchased and ordered many luxury fabrics from Italian merchants for himself and the queen. In 1637, the sum of 11,281 zlotys was paid to the Kraków merchant Wincenty Barsotti for silk and bed linen intended for the king's wedding and a year later, in September 1638, Ladislaus purchased, through Hieronim Pinocci in Italy, "five pieces of gold cloth" for an amount of 7,265 zlotys, and a few years later, in November 1645, he again owed 4,000 thalers to Pinocci for fabrics brought from Venice and Vienna. According to the king's letter to his treasurer dated December 7, 1634, when the envoy of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth went to Moscow, there was in his entourage a courtier with a royal commission to purchase "various and fine furs" for 20,000 zlotys. According to the registers of 1652-1653, John Casimir purchased satin, velvet, fine silk, gold lace, ribbons, etc., as well as lynx, ermine, sable and dormouse fur, mainly from Jews. In 1667, Miss Ruffini, apparently Italian or of Italian descent as her surname indicates, was paid between 2,318 and 2,528 zlotys per month for the needs of the queen's kitchen.
Works of art and palaces
"Thus, the more a woodcarver or painter paints a figure that resembles a living person, the more we praise him, and rightly so, because imitatus est naturam", asserts Father Jacek Mijakowski (d. 1647) in his sermon of December 26, 1637, delivered in Kraków (Kokosz wprzód p[anom] krakowianom w kazaniu za kolędę dana ...). The Dominican preacher, educated in Bologna and Milan, concluded his sermon with an Italian proverb: La vivanda vera è l’afetto e la cera ("A true dish is an affection and a face", after "Jacek Mijakowski ..." by Roman M. Mazurkiewicz, p. 95, 123).
Besides Dolabella, another important painter from the Venetian Republic, active in Kraków during the first quarter of the 17th century, was Astolfo Vagioli, originally from Verona, who according to Mieczysław Skrudlik (1887-1941) "took the coloring from Tintoretto" (after "Tomasz Dolabella", p. 58). From 1590, he worked at the court of Cardinal Andrew Bathory (d. 1599) in Transylvania. In Kraków, he collaborated with Dolabella and painted, among other things, several altar paintings for the Basilica of Corpus Christi in 1617. Among his students was Zachariasz Dzwonowski. Another painter of Venetian or generally Italian origin was Antonio Nozeni (Antoni Nuceni, Nuceryn), active in the late 1640s and, most likely, Andrzej Wenesta or Weneta (Andrea Venosta vel Venesta, Venusta?), author of the painting on the high altar of St. Catherine's Church, painted in 1674. Members of the Venosta family were sculptors and stonemasons in Chęciny during the first half of the 17th century. While according to the list of debts of Ladislaus IV, he owed 39,412 zlotys for Italian, French and Hungarian wines imported from Vienna in the years 1636-1639, and 90,000 zlotys to a jeweler and John Casimir paid to the watchmaker approximately 17,500 zlotys between 1652-1653, approximately 13,000 zlotys for his clothes and 74,726 zlotys in total for the beautiful clothes for his servants, the purchase and the execution of several paintings (to Salomon Schindler for the paintings, to Father Karwat for the paintings painted in Rome, to a painter from Elbląg) resulted in an expenditure of only 2,026 zlotys between 1652 and 1653. This lower value does not mean that they were not splendid paintings. We should remember that "Old Masters" became such much later and eminent painters for whose works some are today willing to pay a fortune, sometimes found it difficult to sell their works during their lifetime or their paintings were undervalued, as in the case of El Greco, an eminent Greek-Spanish painter trained in Venice. El Greco received only 350 ducats for the Disrobing of Christ (El Expolio), completed in the spring of 1579 for the high altar of the sacristy of the cathedral of Toledo, although his own expert had valued it at 950 and the Martyrdom of Saint Maurice, painted for El Escorial in 1580 did not satisfy King Philip II. El Greco's only masterpiece in Poland, probably from the Lubomirski collection, was discovered by chance in 1964 in the parish church of Kosów Lacki, east of Warsaw, and was therefore forgotten for several centuries. It cannot be excluded that its "Venetian" style was recognized by the young Jerzy Sebastian Lubomirski (1616-1667) and that it was purchased during his visit to Spain in 1634. Nuncio Mario Filonardi (1594-1644) in a letter dated July 11, 1637 to Cardinal Bartolini mentions that to decorate his palace in Ujazdów, Ladislaus IV imported from Florence a large number of bronze statues, marble tables and statuettes. These sculptures were to cost 7,000 thalers, and their installation was carried out by the architect Agostino Locci, trained in Rome. The name of the author is not mentioned, but the main sculptor active at that time in Florence was Pietro Tacca (1577-1640), who worked for Ladislaus' cousins from the Medici family and created equestrian bronze statues of king's uncle King Philip III of Spain and his son of Philip IV, both in Madrid. In 1625, during his visit to Florence or Livorno, from where the prince was to embark for Genoa, Ladislaus also had the opportunity to personally meet the sculptor. There is no trace of these statues anywhere, indicating that they were probably melted down by the invaders to make cannons. Although the land connection with Italy had been used frequently since the Middle Ages, since the end of the 16th century maritime trade relations also intensified and ships from Gdańsk transported grain and other goods to Italy and brought back luxury objects and works of art. Charles Ogier (1595-1654), secretary of the French envoy Claude de Mesmes, Count of Avaux, who visited Poland between 1635 and 1636, wrote in his diary that in the house of a Gdańsk patrician, Karl Schwartzwald, he admired a silver horse, the work of an eminent Florentine sculptor, whom he claimed to be the creator of the equestrian statue located in Paris, on the Pont Neuf. The bronze equestrian statue of Henri IV (1553-1610) on the Pont Neuf was erected in 1614 (demolished in 1792 during the French Revolution), commissioned by Queen Marie de Medici in her native Florence in 1604. The originally commissioned artist, Giambologna, died before its completion, and Pietro Tacca took over the commission. They must have relied on drawings or paintings, sent from France, depicting the king to recreate his features. Schwartzwald also owned a statue of a swimming boy, sculpted in silver after a wax original by Michelangelo and paintings brought from Italy, such as Saint Mary Magdalene "completely naked" and Judith and her servant with the head of Holofernes. In the house of Elisabeth Giese, the widow of mayor Arnold von Holten, in April 1636, the Frenchman saw portraits of Luther and Melanchthon by Lucas Cranach and portraits of the Italian poets Pietro Bembo (1470-1547) and Jacopo Sannazaro (1458-1530), both most likely by Titan, as well as smaller portrait of Erasmus of Rotterdam. He also admired a picture "painted in England" (compare "Życie codzienne w Gdańsku ..." by Maria Bogucka, p. 108). In the house of Johann Ernst Schröer he saw an excellent painting by Albrecht Dürer of a man holding paper in his hand and four paintings by Cranach - portraits of Erasmus, Luther and Melanchthon, and a fourth, slightly larger, depicting Venus with Cupid stealing honey. "This Venus represents a certain mistress of the Saxon Elector Frederick, whom he placed in a rather deserted place among the rocks and forests, and after whose loss he never found peace. These rocks and the castle are represented in this painting signed: Kein Lieb ohn Leid [We have no love without suffering]" (Tres alias habet Lucae Kranic, qui fuit præconsul Wittenbergensis: Erasmi, Lutheri et Melanchtonis; sunt illæ ad vivum expressæ. Habet et quartam maioris paulo voluminis, nam aliæ pedem non excedunt. Venus est nuda, quæ sinistra manu elatoque brachio ramum arboris prehendit auditque Cupidinem suum, qui flens de apibus conqueritur, quæ illum pupugerunt [...] Exprimit illa Venus amasiam quandam Frederici electoris Saxoniæ, quam in loco satis solitario inter rupes ac silvas collocaverat, quam cum deperiret, animus illi conquiescebat nunquam: rupes illæ et castellum in tabula expressæ sunt cum hac inscriptione: Kein Lieb ohn Leid, after "Biblioteka gdańska: Seria źródeł historycznych", Volume 1, 1953, p. 124-125). "It is impossible to assume that a Florentine or Venetian living in Lviv, such as Gucci, Bandinelli, Ducci, Massari, or Ubaldini, did not possess an innate sense of connoisseurship, or that Alembek, Kampian, or Wilczek, who spent many years in Italy and made frequent trips to Germany, hung on their walls coarse and clumsy attempts at brushwork. Lviv always had good or rather average painters, as evidenced by the portraits of patricians preserved today. However, alongside portraits, one finds compositions in inventories and often clear explanations as to the Italian or Dutch origin of the paintings. In any case, the inventories confirm that the Lviv burghers were fond of painting, and anyone who now owns as many canvases as many 16th and 17th century Lviv burghers left behind would probably be considered an amateur and collector", says Władysław Łoziński (1843-1913) in his book on Patricians and Burghers of Lviv in the 16th and 17th Centuries (after "Patrycyat i mieszczaństwo lwowskie ...", p. 205-207). The author lists that Piotr Hrehorowicz left 12 paintings, Grzegorz Jakubowicz 22, Mikołaj Bernatowicz about 50, among which 18 large canvases, 17 smaller Netherlandish, and in addition a marble bas-relief, representing an allegory of the five senses; Erazm Syxt 50, Wolf-Szolcowa 27, the Armenian Iwaszkiewicz 48, among which paintings of Roman emperors and Polish kings (6) and Ottoman sultans (Turkish emperors, 16); Stanisław Castelli 25, among which four Muscovites and a portrait of His Majesty the King on gilded leather; Konstanty Mezapeta 51, among which 7 Muscovites; goldsmith Siedmiradzki 21, Filip Ducci 40 paintings on parchment, councilor Jan Lorencowicz 40, municipal clerk Wojciech Zimnicki 18 paintings, among which two portraits of Sigismund III, a portrait of the queen, a portrait of King Sigismund Augustus, a portrait of "Mr. the scribe", "Mrs. the scribe's wife" and a portrait of his brother; Krzysztof Głuszkiewicz 20 large paintings, two silver images, 3 paintings on metal plates, Moscow paintings in silver riza and without riza, a painting of St. John the Evangelist of Russian or Ruthenian work, 6 "Cortesian" paintings (most likely depicting courtesans), Hołub Awedykowicz had seven paintings of Polish kings on boards and 5 allegories of the senses; Stanisław Józefowicz 60 paintings, doctor Kosnigiel 69, Waleryan Alembek 102, doctor Jakub Sebastian Kraus owned several religious and secular paintings, including the painting spei cum anchora, the painting Reipublicae afflictae et infelicis, etc. Several paintings kept at the Lviv National Art Gallery, such as the Madonna by the workshop of Andrea del Sarto from the collection of Józef Bilczewski (1860-1923), Latin Archbishop of Lviv (inv. Ж-1632), the Visitation of Mary by Jan van Scorel from the Lubomirski collection (inv. Ж-760), the Holy Family with Saints by workshop of Bonifazio de' Pitati (Bonifacio Veronese) from the collection of the Lviv City Gallery (inv. Ж-96), Judith over the body of Holofernes by Alessandro Turchi from the Lubomirski collection (inv. Ж-2420) and Sleeping Venus by the Flemish painter after Giorgione from the collection of the Lviv City Gallery (inv. Ж-494), as well as paintings attributed by me Christ Carrying the Cross by workshop of Bernardino (d. 1510) and Francesco Zaganelli (d. 1532) from the collection of Leon Piniński (inv. Ж-1920), Cleopatra by the Florentine painter Domenico Puligo (1492-1527) from the collection of Władysław Kozłowski (1832-1899) (inv. Ж-3853) and Saint Agatha by the Neapolitan painter Andrea Vaccaro (1604-1670) from the Dzieduszycki collection (inv. Ж-155), were probably imported into Ruthenia already in the 16th and 17th centuries. The patricians of Lviv were particularly fond of wall hangings, tapestries, carpets and rugs, especially oriental ones, but they also owned what was called coltrina or coltre (kołtryna in Polish), a wall hanging or curtain made of fabric or paper, usually made in Naples (koltryny neapolitańskie) or Bergamo (obicia malowane bergamskie), fabrics with animals and birds, tapestries with horses and figures, such as the Netherlandish tapestries (opony niderlandzkie) mentioned in the inventories of the Armenian Mikołaj Bernatowicz and the townswoman Wolf-Berndtowa. As in the previous period, valuable objects were acquired during voyages; for example, Jan Sobiepan Zamoyski (1627-1665) purchased hard stone (pietra dura) tables for over a thousand piastres during a stopover in Florence in 1644 (compare "La trama Nascosta - Storie di mercanti e altro" by Rita Mazzei). Besides the well-known large brick residences of Warsaw, Kraków, Vilnius and other major cities, the Polish-Lithuanian Vasas owned several large wooden palaces of which nothing survives today. The most important was Nieporęt, near Warsaw. The palace was built by Sigismund III and later belonged to John Casimir. It had a large courtyard, a beautiful garden and a magnificent chapel. Le Laboureur praises the splendid carpentry work of the building and writes that it had a large number of comfortable rooms, all very beautiful and that it leaves nothing to be desired except that it was made of a more durable material. There were also several wooden mansions built in Warsaw and other cities for different family members and several hunting palaces, such as the one in Białowieża Forest, built before 1639 to the design by Giovanni Battista Gisleni. The palaces and manors of numerous nobles of the Republic of nobles were filled with portraits. Adam Jarzębski noticed in the Kazanowski (Radziejowski) Palace in Warsaw: "Likenesses of different men, / Both monarchs and hetmans", Wespazjan Kochowski wrote about nobles: "He decorated the walls with pictures of his ancestors" and Wacław Potocki concluded: "Darkened images of the ancients mean / Your ancestors ... / Weak proof of nobility a painting" (after "Życie codzienne w Warszawie za Wazów" by Jerzy Lileyko, p. 186). The portraits of the monarchs in the richly decorated royal rooms of the Jasna Góra Monastery burned during the great fire on July 16, 1690 (after "Wiadomość historyczna o starożytnym obrazie Boga-rodzicy ...", p. 71).
Portraiture and the role of women
Triumphal arches for King Sigismund III Vasa's entry ceremonies into Kraków in 1587 were to be dressed in images of the Jagiellons as the ancestors of the new king. As their faces were almost totally unknown because of their antiquity (Effigies enim eorum, cum plerisque fere vetustate ignotae essent), the aforementioned Chancellor Zamoyski had them extracted from the oldest monuments (ex antiquissimis quibuscumque monumentis eruerat) and provided with them appropriate inscriptions. These inscriptions were printed separately and some are quoted by David Chytraeus in his Chronicon Saxoniae ..., published in Leipzig in 1593 (after "Listy Annibala z Kapui ..." by Aleksander Przezdziecki, p. 107). It is thanks to the efforts of later generations that the identity of many important personalities has been preserved. They added inscriptions to the paintings, created copies or published them as engravings. In the former territories of the Commonwealth, this continuity has been dramatically interrupted by wars and invasions.
The 1913 catalogue of portraits and paintings of the Jagiellonian University (Kraków Academy) mentions portraits of personalities connected with the oldest Polish university, but also paintings from old collections, donated to the academy, which gives an impression not only of the nature of the painting and portrait collections, but also of the culture of the country in old times. Among the portraits of the academy's professors are the portraits of Queen Jadwiga (Hedwig of Anjou) and her husband Jogaila of Lithuania, who renewed the academy at the end of the 14th century (items 34, 35, 42, 43, 186), all from the 17th century and painted by Jan Tricius, Silvestro Bianchi and Tommaso Dolabella, as well as the portraits of King Sigismund III, his son Ladislaus IV, Chancellor Jerzy Ossoliński (items 16-18), King John III Sobieski and Marshal Jerzy Sebastian Lubomirski (items 32, 33), there are also the portraits of Cardinal Piccolomini and Francesco Petrarca (items 44, 45), also from the 17th century, and the portrait of "HL [Her Ladyship] Mrs. Regina Paprocka, secretary of HMK [His Majesty the King], benefactress of this place", painted in 1758 (item 54, "Katalog portretów i obrazów będących własnością Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego ..." by Jerzy Mycielski). Wespazjan Kochowski, commenting on the portrait of a lady or a lady posing for a portrait in his epigram "To the Painted Lady" (Do malowanej), jokes that her makeup skills are comparable to those of Apelles who painted Venus (Ty nie Apellesowej winnaś gładkość sztuce, / Ale własnej w bieleniu Murzyna nauce). In the epigram "On the painting of His Lordship Mr. Jan Kochowski ..." he refers to the portrait of his father, who "succumbed to death, leaving his memory in a painting" and in his "The Triple Lie" (Kłamstwo trojakie) he criticizes sycophants - sculptors and painters, who flatter their clients and idealize their effigies (Pierwsze kłamstwo w statuach z drzewa snycerz robi, / Pochlebnemi cieniami drugie malarz zdobi). Baroque poetry also referred to the position of women in society and the value of paintings. "If there were more such [women] in Poland, much more would be achieved!" (O gdyby takich w Polszcze było siła, Daleko by się więcej dokazało!), comments Wacław Potocki in his poem "Judith" (Judyta) after the defeat of the Commonwealth forces at the Battle of Pyliavtsi in September 1648, praising the wisdom, strength and courage of women and criticizing the ineptitude of male leaders. "Why do you refuse such a trivial thing?" (Czemuż mi rzeczy tak lichej żałujesz?), asks the poet, most likely Jan Andrzej Morsztyn (1621-1693) in his "On the Refused Image" (Na obraz odmowiony), commenting on his beloved's refusal to offer him her portrait. This passage confirms that painted effigies were popular and inexpensive. Between 1624 and 1631, Fedor Sienkowicz, a very popular painter from Lviv, received 5 zlotys for copies of portraits and 10 zlotys for original portraits (compare "Polskie malarstwo portretowe" by Tadeusz Dobrowolski, p. 176). This painter, described as of the Armenian nation, received a sum of 2,000 zlotys for work for the Wallachian church (Dormition Church) in Lviv, but it was for larger works, perhaps an iconostasis. In the inheritance order with his wife Anastazya Popovna, he bequeathed 100 zlotys to the Ruthenian church, where he was to be buried. He worked for the starost of Lviv Stanisław Bonifacy Mniszech (d. 1644), and according to his will, he made 50 copies of paintings for him (Mam też u Jegomości pana starosty lwowskiego, Stanisława Mniszcha za 50 kopij po złotych piąci złotych półtrzecia sta). An anecdote from the beginning of the 17th century from an inn in Gdańsk refers to painted effigies commissioned by nobles - a certain nobleman sent a painter to his friend's house to make a portrait of his wife, famous for her beauty, but the husband chased away the painter saying that if the noble liked the portrait, he would also want to see the original every day (after "Mówią wieki", Volume 19, 1976, p. 13). Before 1623, Krystyna Lubomirska (d. 1645), whose famous full-length portrait is in the Wilanów Palace, sent to her husband, hetman Stanisław Koniecpolski (1591-1646), held prisoner in the Yedikule Fortress in Istanbul, a portrait of his son Alexander (1620-1659), born when his father was held captive by Ottoman forces (after "Historyczne pamiątki ..." by Tomasz Święcki, Volume 1, p. 111). A wealthy widow of Paweł Dorofiewicz, a townsman and merchant from Vilnius, Aquilina Stryludzianka, in her last will dated November 24, 1651, left numerous donations to the Orthodox churches of Vilnius, as well as "The image of the Blessed Virgin Mary painted on wood, framed in silver, which I loved during my life, I ask my children to have it properly framed, and placed on a suitable place instead of a tombstone, which I entrust to the executor". "Finally, I also declare that my silk garments, worn during my husband's life, have all been given over to church vestments, leaving only widow's and mourning garments to be worn", she adds (after "Documents issued by the Vilnius Archaeographic Commission ...", 1878, p. 486-488). As in the previous era, women were engaged in painting activities, which is indicated by their nicknames, such as Regina Malarka, wife of the Leżajsk painter Piotr Mleczko, mentioned in 1622, or Anna Malarka Cedrowa, who on November 10, 1640, donated the tablecloth to the Collegiate Church in Kielce, or Katarzyna Zbonowska, widow of the Kraków painter Zacharyasz Zwonowski (Zbonowski, Dzwonowski, died in 1639), who in 1643 appears under the name Malarka (woman painter) in a lawsuit, sued by the royal pharmacist Bonifatio Cantelli. Women painters were undoubtedly also patronized by the royal court. Among the many female illuminators of the holy books, we know only one name, that of Zofia Borawińska (d. 1655), a 17th-century miniaturist from Staniątki. Zofia was the daughter of Jan and Anna, née Zarzycka. She was a Benedictine nun at the Staniątki Monastery from 1629. In 1649, she completed the Antiphonary and in 1651 the Gradual. Around 1599, the Bolognese painter Lavinia Fontana (1552-1614) received a commission from the Dominican Cardinal Girolamo Bernerio (1540-1611) to paint the Vision of Saint Hyacinth of Poland for the Chapel of Saint Hyacinth in the Basilica of Santa Sabina in Rome (completed before March 1600, the date of placing the painting on the altar). Fontana also created a similar painting, now preserved in the church of the diocese of Bologna. Saint Hyacinth was canonized on April 17, 1594 by Pope Clement VIII, and the rich theater of the saint's canonization was financed by King Sigismund III Vasa and the Dominican order. The inventory of the Royal Palace in Wilanów from 1696 mentions in the "Chinese Cabinet" of King John III Sobieski (Gabinet Chynski Krola Ieo Mci.) under No. 113: "The image of Christ the Lord praying in the Garden of Olives painted by Lavinia, in carved gilded frames" (Obraz Chrystusa Pana w Ogroycu się modlącego Lavinij Malowania, wramch rznietych złocistych), valued at 30 thalers (compare "Na tropach pierwszych kobiet malarek w dawnej Polsce" by Karolina Targosz, p. 41-43 and "Inwentarz Generalny 1696 z opracowaniem" by Anna Kwiatkowska, p. 74). In 1660, King John II Casimir Vasa commissioned another renowned Bolognese painter, Elisabetta Sirani (1638-1665), through her godfather, Senator Saulo Guidotti, who was in his service, to paint a painting depicting Saint Anne and the Virgin Mary at the cradle of the Child and a painting of Christ the Savior (Vna B. V. col Bambino, e s. Anna, che cuopre la culla, & essa B. V. coglie la fascia per l'Illustriss sig. Senatore Saulo Guidotti, per mandarsi al Rè di Polonia, come anco vna testa di vn Saluatore). It is possible that the signed and dated Saint Jerome from the Wilanów Palace (E. Sirani 1661, inv. Wil.1615, previously 75) is connected to another royal commission. "In Poland, women occupied a dominant position in society. The very fact that girls were called panna (from pan [Mr/Sir/Lord]), as opposed to chłopcy [boys] (from chłop [peasant]), is significant. Although our ancestors never dreamed of emancipating women, women played an important role in our country. Constant wars, dangers, frequent absence of husbands, the lack of larger cities, all this contributed to the development of independent, courageous and self-sufficient characters in women of that time. As a wife, she is socially equal to her husband. Her husband officially calls her his friend, just as today in many regions rural women call their husbands. For example, Janusz Radziwill, asking King Ladislaus IV to help him obtain the hand of Miss Potocka, implores him not to refuse, because 'this is not about an office, nor a vacant position, but an eternal friend'", comments Wacław Kosiński (1882-1953) in his publication on the social customs of old Poland and adds that "they also often gave their husbands a hard time" ("Zwyczaje towarzyskie w dawnej Polsce", p. 46-47).
Women's education and activities
Although many authors claim that 17th-century women in Sarmatia were mostly uneducated or poorly educated, the example of the female student at the Kraków Academy between 1414 and 1416 proves that "where there's a will there's a way". A poem by the poet Stanisław Serafin Jagodyński (1594/1595 - before 1644), educated in Padua and Bologna, is very interesting, though somewhat ambiguous, regarding the education of women and painters in Sarmatia: "For a long time, the question has been asked: Who is the most numerous craftsman in the world? Counting here only masters, the majority are painters, if not bunglers, not a few doctors, and female students" (Kwestye na niektóre groszowe rezolucye, v. 13).
Aron Aleksander Olizarowski (1610-1659) in his De Politica Hominum Societate Libri Tres, published in Gdańsk in 1651, asserts that the art of painting and embroidery is suitable for women, as shown by the example of the Lydian girl Arachne who rivaled Pallas, but that excessive makeup should be avoided. "For as they have false colors on their faces, they cherish false thoughts in their minds", they destroy the work of God and deceive the eyes of men (De Educatione Filiarum, p. 123). He also recommended music to women and music at that time in Sarmatia was of a very high standard thanks to the patronage of the royal and magnate courts. Around 1631, Krzysztof Ossoliński (1587-1645) placed an inscription above the fireplace in the great hall of the wealthy Krzyżtopór Palace: "Sweet peace reigns in this house, where the husband plays, the wife sings". Charles X Gustav and George II Rakoczi, meeting here in 1657, amidst the ruins of war, laughed at this rhyme (after "Cnoty i wady narodu szlacheckiego ..." by Antoni Górski, p. 61, 78, 80, 86, 88). The 17th-century "Letters from a Respectable Lady to Her Husband in Italy" prove that, despite the ban instilled in women on revealing their feelings in life and writing, they attempted to express not only their religious, but also their amorous longings. Anusia, whose surname is unknown, writes to her husband in beautiful prose, assuring him of her love and longing, and praising the pleasures of home, which were supposed to dissuade her husband from infidelity abroad. Women also had a great influence on politics. The reports of foreign envoys and agents clearly indicate this. When calculating the chances of success of their missions, they also took women's opinions and sympathies into account. "What are the sympathies among the ladies?" Jan Sobieski (later John III) asked his sister Katarzyna Radziwill in 1666. The nobles were irritated by the queens' "gallery" in the Diet (Sejm) hall, which was extremely crowded with women during Diet sessions. "Even in the 17th century, we still encounter enormous moral contrasts in Poland, an excessive devotion to the pleasures of life and, at the same time, severe religious devotion", said Łucja Charewiczowa (1897-1943) in her book "Woman in old Poland" (Kobieta w dawnej Polsce, p. 14, 31, 34, 38-41, 43-44, 49, 54, 73). Elizabeth of Poland (1305-1380), Queen of Hungary was fond of boisterous parties, and even her granddaughter, who is presented in later tradition only amidst sadness and mortification, Queen Jadwiga (Hedwig of Anjou), in the first moments of her stay in Poland took part with joy in the parties organized in the Franciscan refectory in Kraków. In 1637, Jadwiga Łuszkowska, a townswoman from Lviv and mistress of King Ladislaus IV Vasa, was given in marriage with great pomp to Jan Wypyski, so that the moment was commemorated in occasional publications. On June 24, 1646, another mistress of Ladislaus, the Austrian Rosina Margarethe von Eckenberg (1625-1648), married Prince Michał Jerzy Czartoryski (1621-1692). Often, unable to survive in an ill-matched marriage, women fled from their husbands to convents and from there, with the help of family and friends, negotiated with their husbands for a divorce. Such separations of spouses sometimes had a strong echo throughout Poland, such as the request for the declaration of nullity of the marriage of Elżbieta Słuszczanka with her second husband Hieronim Radziejowski in 1651 or the divorce of Anna Stanisławska from the son of the castellan Warszycki in 1668. The consistorial courts heard numerous complaints from citizens regarding ill-assorted marriages and recognized them even within the limits of canon law, which is why the titles of woman uxor diuortiata, consors separata, that is, divorced wife, often appear in the acts. A Sarmatian woman married to a foreigner raised her children as Sarmatians. Historian Andrzej Lubieniecki (ca. 1551-1623), a member of the Polish Brethren, states: "Not only in the royal houses, but also in our noble houses in Poland and Lithuania, it has become a custom that those born to Polish and Lithuanian women, although born to German, Italian, or Tatar fathers, are not called Germans, Italians, or Tatars, but Poles and Lithuanians". On the contrary, Bishop Paweł Piasecki (1579-1649), secretary to King Sigismund III Vasa, lamented the fact that Germans living in Poland were not getting closer to local society: "Many Germans who lived for a long time and, through affinities and kinship, became rich in Poland, did not lose their otherness, just as the Ethiopian did not lose the skin [color] even in his grandchildren". Which also indicates that several Africans married Sarmatian women. No one awakened civic consciousness and responsibility for the nation's destiny among Sarmatian women, only mothers and prayers for the homeland influenced it. This message was also expressed by women of different faiths, as evidenced by the 17th-century prayer book of the Arian women - they asked God: "Give peace to our homeland, may you preserve it from disruption, unrest, and disorder, and keep the foreign enemy away from it". Supposedly, the first figure of Polish Arianism was a woman, Katarzyna Malcherowa (Weiglowa) née Zalasowska or Zalaszowska, who in 1539 was sentenced for heresy in the Kraków market square and went to the stake "as boldly as to a wedding". The last Arian in Poland was also a woman, Zofia Mieczyńska, granddaughter of Zofia Potocka née Taszycka (d. 1693). Opponents mocked the alleged dominance of the "female nation", the "ladies' gang" in the Arian confession, in which "female doctors" and "female popes" were supposedly leading the way. Polemic literature from the Catholic side accused Arian women of freeing themselves too much from the power of their husbands, of aspiring to spiritual preaching after having read the Holy Scriptures and theological literature, while St. Paul ordered women to remain silent and listen in church. History provides examples of many influential and courageous Sarmatian women, who equaled men in deeds and ambition. The noblewoman Marina Mniszech (ca. 1588-1614), daughter of the Sandomierz voivode Jerzy Mniszech and Jadwiga Tarłówna, was briefly Tsarina of Russia during the Time of Troubles. She was the first woman crowned in Russia (May 1606) before Catherine I (1684-1727), i.e. Marta Helena Skowrońska (May 1724). Marina supported false claimants to the throne by marrying two impostors: False Dmitriy I and False Dmitriy II. Her three-year-old son, Tsarevich Ivan Dmitriyevich, was publicly hanged on July 16, 1614 in Moscow near the Serpukhov Gate. She died shortly afterward in the Kolomna Kremlin, probably murdered. Splendid portraits of Marina, her mother and father, painted by various court painters, can be admired at the Wawel Castle, the National Museum in Warsaw and the National Museum in Wrocław. The figure of Barbara Brezianka (1601–after 1661), the owner of Chalin, a small village near Sieraków in Greater Poland, is infamous. She married for the first time at a very young age in 1615. She lived with her first husband for only nine months, divorced the second after ten weeks, and is said to have murdered the third with a firearm, poisoned her father-in-law, and maintained "ungodly relations with men". Despite this, she found a candidate for her fourth marriage, the royal secretary Piotr Bniński. During the Deluge, Barbara led the partisans, harassing both the invaders and their supporters. Despite her advanced age, she armed her subjects and fought with all her might. When Bniński died in 1661, leaving Barbara, then 60, his entire fortune, she was reluctant to share it and came into conflict with her son Stanisław. She fought lawsuits until the end of her life. Father Jacek Mijakowski (d. 1647) states in his sermon of 1637 that often the one who had defeated the Turks and Tatars had to hide from the woman, defeated by her like a knight from the queen on the chessboard. Katarzyna Zamoyska née Ostrogska (1602-1642), described by her mother as a kind of weakling, explodes in a letter to her husband with contempt for the cowardice of the military dignitaries who did not defend the country against the Tatars. Teofila Chmielecka née Chocimirska (1590-1650), wife of Stefan Chmielecki (d. 1630), voivode of Kiev, became a model wife of a borderland soldier because of her Spartan lifestyle and great courage. She was called the "she-wolf of the borderlands". When, in the absence of her husband, Helena née Krasicka Niemierzycowa and her son were captured by the Tatars in 1680, she bravely endured captivity and managed to return to her homeland. When Jan Błocki was taken captive, his energetic wife, Anna Moleniewska, decided that she would go find him, even if it was with the Sultan himself, and she also kept her promise. In 1675, Anna Dorota Chrzanowska, from the Courland house of von Fresen, gave a famous example of heroism to the entire Commonwealth during the siege of Terebovlia Castle by the Turks. She shouted: "Strike my breast rather than the fatherland!"
Historical collections and looting
"Poland is one of the most beautiful and richest countries. Nothing is lacking there; one can only hope that there are more [French] books, because they are very rare in this country. [...] Paintings and paper are twice as expensive here as in Paris", states in a letter to a priest living in Paris, Father Lambert aux Couteaux, superior of the missionary order in Warsaw (dated February 26, 1652 from Warsaw, after "Portfolio królowéj Maryi Ludwiki", ed. Edward Raczyński, p. 175).
The inventories of the royal collections of the Jagiellons and the Vasas of Poland-Lithuania have not been preserved in their entirety, but information preserved in the townspeople's wills, as well as in the inventories of their property, and the patronage of their successors gives an impression of quality of their collections, when the country was one of the leading countries of Europe during the Renaissance and the beginning of the Baroque. Poland-Lithuania was also one of the richest on the continent. Even the lower strata of the Commonwealth's nobility owned the finest items produced in the best local and foreign workshops - such as the silver lavabo with the Rogala coat of arms of Jan Loka, starost of Borzechowo, created in Augsburg by Balthasar Grill, hidden in the ground during the Deluge (1655-1660). The attitude towards art in Brandenburg, which was one of the invaders during the Deluge, and at the royal court of Poland-Lithuania is best illustrated by the report of Andrzej Köhne-Jaski, a Calvinist amber merchant from Gdańsk, also active in diplomacy as envoy of Sigismund III and the electors of Brandenburg. Around 1616, Jaski commented on the destruction of paintings in Brandenburg: "I didn't pay much attention to it this summer, but I remember the magnificent paintings by Albrecht Dürer and Lucas [Cranach] hanging in churches. I wish HM [His Majesty] had such [paintings]" (Ich habe dießen sommer so genaue achtung nicht darauf gegeben, aber erinnere mich, das noch schöne bilder von Albrecht Dührer und Lucas vorhanden und in der kirchen hengen. Wolte wünschen, das EM solche hätten) (after "Das Leben am Hof ..." by Walter Leitsch, p. 2358). At that time, Italian and Flemish art, not German, dominated the royal court. Patricians of the royal city of Kraków, many of whom were of Italian descent as their names suggest, owned many paintings, sometimes by excellent foreign masters, as evidenced by the extract from the will of Jan Paviola (Joannes Benedictus Savioly, d. 1653), councilor of Kraków. The list and estimate of paintings, appraised by the elders of the painters guild Marcin Klossowski and Marcin Blechowski, painters from Kraków, include many portraits and paintings which could be from Italian, Venetian, Flemish, Dutch and German schools, but the author and the origin was not indicated. The word landscape - lanczaft in Old Polish, was used in a very similar form to Landschaft in German and landschap in Netherlandish, which could indicate that these paintings were Dutch/Flemish or German. "Picture of late King Ladislaus IV; Queen Her Highness Louise Marie; Image of the imperial son; his sister; the late Lord of Kraków Koniecpolski; [Picture] in which a crowned woman gives a mug to a soldier; Four pictures, representing the four parts of the world with people; four, depicting day and night, one damaged; three representing a part of the world; Landscape with fishing; Image of Bethsheba: bathing; [Picture] depicting the destruction of the city, with the army below fighting; Four pictures of Joseph's story, very demaged, among them one is whole; Landscape with highwaymen; Judith's painting, broken; female cook with venison; 12 images of Roman Emperors; two on which fish are painted, without frames; Image of King Ladislaus IV in elk skin; Judicium Parisis [Judgement of Paris] with three goddesses; Four images representing the parts of the year with maidens; Portrait of His Majesty King Ladislaus IV in a red coat; Queen Her Highness Cecilia [Renata]; King His Highness Sigismund III; Frederick Henry, Prince of Auraniae [Orange]; King Christian of Denmark; Duke of Saxony; Emperor His Highness Ferdinand III; His wife the empress; Leopold; the old empress; An image of a man with a mug and a scull; cavaliers playing cards with a lady; Orpheus with animals; Landscape with people eating in summer; robbers, on copper, in frame; on copper, without figures, with a column or pillar; Painting on copper, three Kings [Adoration of the Magi]; washing the feet of the apostles; Picture of a garden, on copper; Judith, on copper; Esther, on copper; on copper, Melchisedech offering bread and wine to Daniel; Saint Peter leaving the prison with the angel; the Samaritan on copper; Saint Francis; Five pictures with sea foam on gumi, made with paints on parchment; Picture on panel, a scull". This long and rich list of paintings was made on February 15, 1655. A few months later, in July 1655, two Swedish armies entered Greater Poland, one of the wealthiest and most developed provinces of the Commonwealth, which for centuries had been unaffected by any military conflict. They were soon followed by other countries and the invaders were not as sensitive to art as the patricians of the Commonwealth, precious materials, copper, silver and especially gold were the most important. Paul Würtz (1612-1676), governor of Kraków during Swedish-Transilvanian occupation of the city between 1655-1657 ordered wrought iron bars, marbles, precious wainscoting and floors to be ripped out, and silver sarcophagus of Saint Stanislaus, created in Augsburg in 1630 (founded by Sigismund III), silver altar of Saint Stanislaus, created in Nuremberg in 1512 (founded by Sigismund I), as well as statues and candlesticks from the Wawel Cathedral to be melted (after "Elity polityczne Rzeczypospolitej ..." by Marceli Kosman, p. 323). The true origin of looted items was often concealed or erased like coat of arms on the marble lions in front of Drottningholm Palace near Stockholm. "The day before yesterday, news came to us that they had sacked all the churches of Kraków, and that only one chalice had been saved from which some monks were saying mass in secret", reported in a letter of December 4, 1655 from Głogów Pierre des Noyers, secretary of Queen Marie Louise Gonzaga. In a letter from Głogów dated December 12, 1655, to Mr. Bouilland in Paris he adds: "The churches in Poland were generally the richest in the world, as regards gold and silver vessels. The Pope allowed this silver to be used for war expenses, but no religious order would want to spend it. The Jesuit Fathers have here for about 50 thousand thalers gold and silver vessels and images, that they brought from their churches in Kraków" (after "Lettres de Pierre Des Noyers secrétaire de la reine de Pologne ...", published in 1859, p. 22, 26-27). The situation was similar in other cities of the Commonwealth, particularly in Vilnius and Warsaw, where during the second occupation the royal residences were subjected to systematic looting by Swedish and Brandenburgian forces. "The Warsaw townspeople had to help in transporting the looted items to the Vistula bank, under pain of confiscation of their own goods. [...] On August 11, the commandant of the capital, General von Bülow [Barthold Hartwig von Bülow (1611-1667)], received an order to transport all valuables and works of art from the Castle. At that time, over 200 paintings were taken away, including plafonds from five castle rooms, royal silverware, furniture and 33 tapestries. The Swedes had already committed truly barbaric acts, scraping gold from the gilded paneling and ceilings, "of which they made at most three or four ducats, and the damage they caused exceeded 30,000 francs" [according to mentioned letter by des Noyers]. Everything of any value was transported by water towards Toruń and Königsberg, e.g. jasper columns from the royal garden" (after "Warszawa 1656" by Mirosław Nagielski, p. 262). "They generally killed everyone in Vilna [Vilnius], both men and women, except young people and children, whom they sent to Muscovy, and put Muscovites to live there. [...] In Vilna, the Muscovites have ruined the beautiful and sumptuous chapel of Saint Casimir, which cost more than three millions; and in the big church they put their horses; it serves them as a stable", adds des Noyers in letters of November 8 and December 28, 1655 (after "Lettres ...", p. 10, 40). Maciej Vorbek-Lettow (1593-1663), a Lutheran activist, royal secretary and physician to King Ladislaus IV Vasa, educated in Louvain/Leuven, Padua and Bologna, recalled with regret the burning of his entire book collection during the Deluge. Nevertheless, several copper, tin and brass objects, walled up in the basement of his house in Vilnius, probably survived the occupation of the city by Muscovite and Cossack troops (compare "Society and culture in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania ..." by Maria Barbara Topolska, p. 224). Andrzej Kazimierz Cebrowski (ca. 1580-1658), a pharmacist and physician, describes the destruction of the wealthy city of Łowicz in his Annales civitates Loviciae ("The Annals of the City of Łowicz"), written in Latin in the years 1648-1658: "They [the Swedes] did not spare the churches either. First they completely destroyed the monastery of the Brothers Hospitallers, who cared for the sick, as well as the Church of St. John the Divine. Then they razed the Church of St. John the Baptist, as well as the hospital and the Chapel of the Holy Cross. Then they ruined the Dominican monastery, and finally they desecrated the recently rebuilt collegiate church, plundering its altars, glittering with gold and decorated with beautiful images of saints. They took away the liturgical vestments, chalices, crosses, candlesticks, etc., as well as the reliquary of Saint Victoria, beautifully made of pure and very precious silver, with her relics and those of other patrons of the city. They tore out the pipes of the organ, beat and robbed the people who were staying in the church, and finally burned half the city. [...] And Rakoczi [George II Rakoczi (1621-1660), Prince of Transylvania] with his army, returning, or rather fleeing from Prussia to Transylvania, committed many shameful acts in this and other cities, burning many towns and villages, and plundering churches. [...] But as misfortunes do not come alone, in September a very contagious plague broke out, from which 1,800 people died, many others died of hunger, so that almost the entire city was deprived of inhabitants. [...] The year 1658 came, during which the city was free from the external enemy until August, when we are writing these lines, but it suffered many wrongs and losses from Polish and imperial mercenary soldiers" (after "Historia Polski, 1648-1764: wybór tekstów" by Bohdan Baranowski, Volume 5, p. 48-49). In addition to wartime destruction, looting and evacuations, the painting collections suffered from occasional fires and sometimes from negligence or poor storage. In a letter of August 5, 1607 from Orla (between Białystok and Brest) to Christopher II Radziwill (1585-1640), Jan Głazowski informs him that "the paintings in the tenement house in the dining room and other rooms were all damaged [...] I immediately sent for the painter, wanting to know why they were damaged, he said that because of the humidity [...] the windows were not repaired for a long time, during this bad weather" (after "Studia bibliologiczne", Volumes 10-13, p. 125). The next significant inventory of paintings of a councilor of Kraków, Gerhard Priami, made on July 21, 1671, so few years after the destructive Deluge (1655-1660), is not that impressive: "Portraits of King Sigismund III with the Queen [...]; Image of flagellation [of Christ] [...]; Solomon, upwards [...]; St. Joseph on panel, old-fashioned [...]; Four landscapes [...]; Landscape with a fair [...]; Image of Lot [and his daughters] [...]; Two landscapes at elbow height; Picture of Judith [...]; Three pictures of the story of Tobias; Image of the Blessed Virgin in roses; Saint John the Baptist; Jesus falling [under the cross]; Image of the Blessed Virgin majoris; Two portraits of His Lordship Ossoliński, the second of His Lordship Lubomirski; coats of arms, imperial and royal; Two courtesans, one bigger the other smaller; Portrait of the late Priami, which stays with Mr. Jerzy Priami". According to testament of Jan Pernus, councilor of Kraków, from 1672 he had a large painting of Præsentationis (Presentation), allegedly by Rubens. He collaborated with the Swedes during the invasion in the years 1655-1657 and took part in the shameful looting of the royal palace in Łobzów and the Wawel Cathedral by the occupants. Pernus looted valuable marbles from the Łobzów palace, and it is possible that he took the paintings decorating the royal residence (after "Galeria rajcy Pernusa" by Michał Rożek). "Two paintings of Roman work on copper, which are in my room, one of the Nativity of Christ, the other of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary of equal size; I want my nephew (Franciszek Pernus, heir) to offer them to His Majesty the King, the merciful Lord, from me, the lowest subject [...] To Mr. Reyneker, councilor of Kraków, my son-in-law, [...] I mark him a picture of Saint John Cantius, painted on a metal plate, from the worthy Master Strobel [Bartholomeus Strobel], asking him to accept this tiny gift as a sign of my love and as a souvenir. [...] Living in great friendship with Priest Adam Sarnowski, Canon of Warsaw and Łowicz, private scribe of His Highness, as a souvenir, I give him a painting of the Virgin Mary, of a prominent Roman craftsman. This picture is in the room in the garden, with Saint Joseph and Saint John, plus four paintings on canvas, with flowers on them, about three quarters of a cubit large, with golden frames". Four paintings with flowers of Roman work he donated to the Bielany Monastery and portraits of himself and his wife to the Pernus Chapel at the St. Mary's Basilica in Kraków (after "Skarbniczka naszej archeologji ..." by Ambroży Grabowski, pp. 61-68). Mentioned Adam Sarnowski made provisions for his possessions and paintings in his will signed in Frombork on April 15, 1693, four months before his death. One painting he left to Queen Marie Casimire Sobieska (de La Grange d'Arquien): "To the Queen Her Majesty, My Lady, the original of Three Kings [Adoration of the Magi] by Rembrandt, in black frames, which is upstairs in the hall, and another beautiful that Mr. Locci will choose" (after "Testament Adama Sarnowskiego ..." by Irena Makarczyk, p. 167). Several paintings by Rembrandt, most likely from former royal or magnate collections that survived the Deluge, are mentioned in the 1696 inventory of the Wilanów Palace in Warsaw. Perhaps the earliest known confirmation of the popularity of Rembrandt's works in the Commonwealth is the 1643 letter from Krzysztof Opaliński (1609-1655), voivode of Poznań, to his brother Łukasz (1612-1662), in which he informs him that "Your Lordship will have Rymbrandt's copperplates from Sieraków". Krzysztof also collected prints after the works of Rubens, commissioned paintings based on these prints and acquired numerous paintings in the Netherlands. His correspondence indicates that he was a connoisseur of Flemish and Dutch painting of the period. Nevertheless, sometimes such distant acquisitions were not good. "Thesaurus cineres fuere [The treasure becomes ashes]. Such childish antics were bought, so that in Poznań you get all this and better. The paintings should not be hung on the wall, and these are only two of them, which would have been better painted by a painter from Sieraków", commented disappointed Krzysztof in a letter to his brother about paintings that arrived in Poznań from the Netherlands in 1641 (after "Krzysztofa Opalińskiego stosunek do sztuki ..." by Stanisław Wiliński, p. 195-196). Jadwiga Martini Kacki, later Popiołkowa, in her will of 1696 says: "To Fathers Carmelites na Piasku, please give two paintings painted in Greek style on canvas, and the third one by Salwator". The 1696 property list of Kazimierz Bonifacy Kantelli (Bonifacius Casimirus Cantelli) from Carpineti in Campania, apothecary and royal secretary, who came to Kraków from Krosno, and obtained the city rights in 1625, includes a large number of paintings, mostly religious; but there are also portraits of notable people, such as king John III Sobieski, Ladislaus IV Vasa, Queen Marie Louise Gonzaga, Queen Cecilia Renata of Austria, King John Casimir, King Michael Korybut, Chancellor Ossoliński and many others. Occasionally there are also other objects of art in inventories, like "Amber effigy of King Sigismund III", mentioned in the will of Wolfowicowa, wife of the Kraków councilor in 1679. In 1647 a widow Anna Zajdlicowa née Pernus, in her last will stated: "To Mr Filip Huttini, secretary and decree scribe of the King His Majesty, Kraków councilor, I give and bequest my golden leather upholstery [cordovan], with pictures of Polish kings". There were also many paintings with mythological themes. In the register of property of councilor Kasper Gutteter (1616) there were paintings depicting Venus, Hercules and the mythical Labyrinth. The image of Mercury with Venus was in the house of Wojciech Borowski (1652). Rozalia Sorgierowa (1663) had a painting of Andromeda and the list of movables of Oktawian Bestici from 1665 contained: "Satyr on canvas", "Venus lying naked" and "Three Dianas". In the collection of Andrzej Kortyn (Andrea Cortini) there were six mythological paintings, including Venus and Cupid (after "Mecenat artystyczny mieszczaństwa krakowskiego ..." by Michał Rożek, p. 177). According to the rich inventory of May 10, 1635, the municipal scribe of Poznań Wojciech Rochowicz owned a painting of Pallas Athena, Venus and Juno, as well as 5 small paintings in frames painted on oak boards depicting "Roman people". Several erotic paintings were mentioned in the very rich gallery of Poznań burgher Piotr Chudzic, who died in 1626, like a "naked picture for appetite", "3 paintings of courtesans" and "a very small round Venetian picture on tin of a courtesan" (after "Odzież i wnętrza domów ..." by Magdalena Bartkiewicz, p. 68 and "Inwentarze mieszczańskie Poznania", p. 407). Rochowicz in Poznań had one image of a courtesan and one of a wenetka (Venetian courtesan), Krzysztof Głuszkiewicz in Lviv had six paintings of courtesans and in Kraków paintings of courtesans were owned by: Franciszek Delpacy (1630), Anna Telani (1647), Oktawian Bestici (1655), Andrzej Cieski (1659), Gerard Priami (1671) and Stanisław Kłosowicz (1673), who had four paintings of courtesans (after "Sztuka a erotyka", ed. Teresa Hrankowska, p. 197). Hieronim Morsztyn (1581-1623), author of the "Worldly Pleasure" (1606) and many erotic poems, in his work "Actaeon. (To Polish Courtesans)" wrote that they would gladly "run naked". Nude and erotic paintings, such as "A round painting in a gilded frame, which represents the 3 Graces with the portrait of His Highness the King" (62), "A painting in a gilded and sculpted frame, representing the 3 Graces, giving the Books of Eternity with the portrait of His Majesty the King" (63) and "A painting that depicts a naked woman with a man, embracing" (65), are mentioned in the inventory of the bathing pavilion of King John III Sobieski in Zhovkva in 1690 (Regestr opisania łaźni w zamku żółkiewskim po odjeździe Króla Jmci na sejm do Warszawy in anno 1690 die 5 Januarii).
Diversified patronage
The Polish Vasas, descendants of the Jagiellons on the maternal side (through Catherine Jagiellon), were renowned patrons who commissioned many beautiful paintings and other objects locally and abroad in the best workshops, such as for example a series of 6 tapestries with the story of Diana, purchased around 1611-1615 by Sigismond III Vasa in the workshop of François Spierincx in Delft. In 1624, Peter Paul Rubens painted Prince Ladislaus Sigismund Vasa (future Ladislaus IV) during his visit to Brussels. According to available sources, Rubens and Ladislaus Sigismund's father, king Sigismund III, never met in person, but the beautiful portrait of the king is undoubtedly by his hand (attribution to Rubens by Ludwig Burchard, Heinz Collection Kisters in Kreuzlingen). Although not confirmed in surviving letters or inventories, this effigy of the king was beyond doubt created from some study drawings or miniatures sent from Warsaw.
Some works of art bear witness to the coexistence of Italian and Netherlandish influences in Vasa-era patronage, as well as to the fundamental elements of the economy of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth during this period. The beautiful frontispiece of the section devoted to the Commonwealth with coat of arms of Sigismund III Vasa, made around 1600, from the so-called Atlas Blaeu-Van der Hem, assembled in Amsterdam (Austrian National Library, inv. 389030-F.K. KAR MAG), is also very interesting because of its author. According to the signature on the left of the cartouche, this coloured copper engraving was made by an Italian engraver Francesco Villamena (1564-1624), who died in Rome (F Villamena F). A drawing by the Dutch painter and engraver Willem Schellinks (1623 or 1627-1678), showing the transport of goods on the Vistula to Gdańsk (Een gesigt op de Wijsel / en hoe de Poolse Kanen / naar Dantzick / afcomen), is another interesting work in this atlas. It was signed by the painter (W. Schellinkx F., lower right) and was probably made after the Deluge, in the early 1660s, which indicates the ruins of a house in the centre of the composition. The atlas also included several views of the Wieliczka Salt Mine, made by Willem Hondius in 1645. In a small painting from the Bardisian collection in Venice, dating from around 1606, the Venetian painter Palma il Giovane (1549-1628) depicts himself in the habit of a monk, probably Franciscan (Dorotheum in Vienna, June 6, 2020, lot 78). However, on closer inspection, a halo around his head is clearly visible, suggesting that he intended to portray himself as a Christian saint, such as Saint Francis of Assisi. Around 1630, the painter from Pesaro, Simone Cantarini (1612-1648), painted a large painting of the Madonna and Child in glory with Saint Barbara and Saint Terence for the church of San Cassiano in Pesaro, where he was baptized in 1612 (now in the National Gallery of the Marches in Urbino, inv. Reg. Cron. 6002). The effigy of Saint Terence (Terentius), patron saint of Pesaro, is considered a self-portrait of the painter (after "Simone Cantarini: detto il Pesarese ..." by Andrea Emiliani, Anna Maria Ambrosini Massari, p. 85). The self-portrait of Peter Paul Rubens as Saint George and his two wives as holy women at his side (including most likely Isabella Brant as a half-naked Mary Magdalene) in the painting of Our Lady with Saints made by Rubens around 1639 for his sepulchral chapel in the Church of St. James in Antwerp (after "Twelve Etched Outlines Selected from the Architectural Sketches ..." by Charles Wild, p. 2), confirms the continued great popularity of disguised portraits in the Baroque period in Europe. The fact that the Roman courtesan Fillide Melandroni (1581-1614) is credited as the face behind three famous works by Caravaggio - Saint Catherine, Saint Mary Magdalene, and Judith beheading Holofernes, also illustrates the morality of this period. Elected king John III Sobieski (from 1674) consciously organized European opinion, commissioning appropriate works, paintings and engravings in Poland and abroad, in the Netherlands, Flanders, Paris and Italy (works by Romeyn de Hooghe, Reinier de la Haye, Caspar Netscher, Prosper Henricus Lankrink, Ferdinand van Kessel, Adam Frans van der Meulen, Jan Frans van Douven, workshops of Pierre Mignard and Henri Gascar, Jacques Blondeau, Simon Thomassin, Giovanni Giacomo de Rossi, Domenico Martinelli). Exquisite sculptures were also ordered abroad, like statues by Flemish sculptors Artus Quellinus II and his son Thomas II and Bartholomeus Eggers (Wilanów Palace and Summer Garden in Saint Petersburg, taken from Warsaw in 1707), jewellery in Paris (Sobieski diamond) and silverware in Augsburg (works by Abraham II Drentwett, Albrecht Biller, Lorenz Biller II and Christoph Schmidt). The construction of his suburban residence, inspired by the Villa Doria Pamphili in Rome, Sobieski entrusted to Augustyn Wincenty Locci, son of the Italian architect Agostino Locci. The best local and foreign artists, architects and scientists participated in the decoration of the residence and the glorification of the monarch, his wife and the Commonwealth. The 1713 inventory of the splendid Krasiński Palace in Warsaw - built in 1677-1683 for the voivode of Płock, Jan Dobrogost Krasiński, according to design by Tylman Gamerski (Tielman van Gameren), lists "Rembrandt's portrait, original, in a white frame" (Konterfekt Rembrandta orginał w ramie białej, Wtóra skrzynia w której obrazy N° 2, item 3), along some Dutch landscapes (Lanczawt), "A painting of a Dutchman with a Dutch woman in a black frame" (item 13), "A landscape with Venus and Cupid in a golden frame" (item 16), "A painting of a wanton naked woman, after a painting by Correggio" (item 35), Italian religious paintings, "Dürer's painting representing the Pharisees reprimanding a woman [most likely Christ and the adulterous woman with historié portrait of Laura Dianti - compare with the painting in the Alte Pinakothek in Munich, inv. 1411] in a frame black in its box", two small paintings of Galatea by Annibale Carracci (Item obrazy różne stojące i na ścianach, items 1-2), "Painting of kings Ladislaus and [John] Casimir with [Marie] Louise, copy" (item 3), perhaps a copy of a historié portrait in the guise of Roman gods, painted by Justus van Egmont for Queen Marie Louise Gonzaga in Paris in 1650, "Portrait in profile of King Casimir" (item 9), "Painting of Venus, aka some naked woman" (item 10), "Painting of Herodias with the head of Saint John" (item 11), "A large portrait of King Casimir" (item 12), "A large and beautiful painting, original by Rubens, the story of a fish caught in which money was found to pay the tax [Saint Peter Finding the Tribute Money]" (item 34), possibly another version of the painting now in the National Gallery of Ireland (NGI.38) and "The painting of the three kings [Adoration of the Magi], Netherlandish original, beautiful" (item 36, compare "Inwentarze pałacu Krasińskich później Rzeczypospolitej" by Ignacy Tadeusz Baranowski, p. 5-8, 13-14). None of the paintings appear to have survived Warsaw's turbulent history. It is therefore difficult today to determine the reliability of this inventory, however, the inclusion of names indicates that many of these paintings were true originals or signed works. The character of paintings, comparable to those known from previous inventories, indicates that Krasiński acquired them in Poland-Lithuania. The inventory of the Picture Gallery of the Radziwill Palace in Biała Podlaska, called Radziwiłłowska (Alba Radziviliana), from November 18, 1760, provides an interesting insight into the quality and diversity of painting collections in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The palace was built by Alexander Louis Radziwill (1594-1654), Grand Marshal of Lithuania after 1622 on the site of old wooden mansions. The inventory lists 609 positions of mainly religious and mythological paintings of which nothing preserved in Biała: (52) Painting of Diana, painted on tin with two arrows without frames, (53) Picture of Adonis sleeping with the Goddess Hera [Venus and Adonis], painted on glass in gilded frames, (84) Painting of Diana's hunt, painted on a panel in a gilded frame, (113) Sleeping Venus lying on a bed, without frames, (117) Face of Pallas [Athena], painted on canvas without frame, (128) Venus standing in water [Birth of Venus], painted on copper in gilded frames, (157) Portrait of King Sigismund Jagiello and Grand Duke of Lithuania [Sigismund I] on tin without a frame, (158) Portrait of King Sigismund of Poland and Sweden [Sigismund III Vasa], [...], painted on tin, without frame, (165) Portrait of Henry Helesius [Henry of Valois], King of Gallia and Poland, Grand Duke of Lithuania, painted on copper in frames, (166) Portrait of King Stephen Bathory, painted on tin in black frames, (181) Diana holding a trumpet, painted on canvas in old gilded frames, (192) Story of Vulcan and Venus, painted on canvas, without frames, (193) Second story, also of Venus, also with Venus and Vulcan, large painting on canvas, without frames, (206) Male portrait, painting by Rubens, on canvas in black frames, (210) Picture of Baceba [Bathsheba] at her bath, painted on canvas without frame, (213) Painting of Lucretia, expressive, with a dagger, a fine painting painted on canvas, no frame, (217) Picture of Herodianna [Herodias] with the head of Saint John, painted on canvas without frames, (224) Picture of Hercules, painted on canvas without frame, (233) Painting of Venus descending from the clouds, a large painting on canvas, without frames, (234) Picture of Lucretia pierced with a dagger, painted on canvas, without frames, (235) Painting of nude Venus reclining with Cupid, painted on canvas, no frame, (258) Story of Venus with Adonis, large painting on canvas, without frame, (259) Portrait of a knight, full-length, Rabefso [Rubens?], on canvas without frame, (283) Painting of Bacchus, painted on canvas without frame, (284) Painting of Judith, painted on canvas, without frame, (296) Picture of Lucretia, painted on panel, without frame, (302) Half-naked person, painted on canvas, without frame, (303) Meditating Lucretia, painted on canvas, without frame, (335) Landscape with dwarfs and fruits, painted on canvas, (336) Landscape with dying Diana and the nymphs, on canvas, (348) Painting of Venus sleeping naked, painted on canvas, without frame, (349) Painting of Adonis with Venus enjoying, painted on canvas, without frame, (376) Painting of Venus with Cupid and Zefiriusz with Hetka [most likely homoerotic Zephyrus and Hyacinth], two pieces of similar measure and N°, painted on canvas, without frames, (390) Story of Dyanna on which golden rain falls [Danaë and the shower of gold, possibly by Titian or workshop], painted on canvas without frames, (391) Sleeping Venus, painted on canvas, without frames, (535) Portraits of various Lords ... thirty-six of different sizes, painted on canvas, without frames, (536) Portraits of various Lords and Kings of unequal size, painted on canvas, (544) Different portraits under one No., nineteen pieces, painted on canvas, (577) Portrait of Stephen Bathory, King of Poland, painted on canvas in black frames, (596) Story of Judith with Holofernes, painted on canvas in black frames, (597) Venus asleep on the hunt, painted on canvas, (604) Story of Saint Susanna with two Elders, painted on panel in black gilded frames, (607) Kings of Poland, fifty and one on parchment and (608) A lady with a dog, painted on panel, without frame (after "Zamek w Białej Podlaskiej ..." by Euzebiusz Łopaciński, pp. 37-47). With such a large collection, it was difficult to fully describe the identity of each effigy. The chaos of war also contributed to the forgetting of the names of models and painters. Before the First World War, in the collection of the splendid Baroque Pidhirtsi Castle near Lviv in Ukraine, which belonged to the Koniecpolski, Sobieski, Rzewuski and Sanguszko families, there was a Rembrandt painting on canvas depicting "Christ the Lord and Mary Magdalene" and an unspecified copy of Rembrandt's work painted on panel (after "Dzieje rezydencji na dawnych kresach Rzeczypospolitej" by Roman Aftanazy, Volume 7, p. 479). In 1842, in the Tyzenhauz (Tiesenhausen) Palace in Pastavy, Belarus, there were "The Nativity of the Lord Jesus by Brammer [Leonaert Bramer], a follower of Rembrandt. The edges are strangely lit, the household utensils, and especially the basin, are rendered with rare perfection!", "Head of a Man, School of Rembrandt" and "Madonna by Simon Vouet" (after "Galeria obrazów Postawska" by Aleksander Przezdziecki, p. 198-199, items 13, 17, 25). Although some paintings previously considered originals by Rembrandt are now considered works by his followers, the number of these works, despite the enormous destruction of the historical collections of Sarmatia, testifies to his great popularity in Poland-Lithuania-Ruthenia. Thus, the catalogue of the gallery of Józef Maksymilian Ossoliński (1748-1826) in Warsaw, prepared by Constantino Villani in 1817, lists seven paintings by Rembrandt or his school (No. 32, 225, 265, 280, 320, 357, 409). Several works attributed to Rembrandt migrated in 1851 from the Mniszech collection in Vyshnivets to Paris, and in 1915, "The Falconer" attributed to Rembrandt burned in the Miączyński Palace in Satyiv near Dubno, Ukraine (after "Rembrandt w Polsce" by Michał Walicki, p. 333). "Rembrandt's Mother", mentioned in the guide to the Wilanów Palace in Warsaw from 1934, was considered to be an original by the Dutch painter from around 1632 ("Zbiory wilanowskie: przewodnik", pp. 17, 26, National Library of Poland, I 507.327 A). It was exhibited in the "Rembrandt's Cabinet" of the palace along with other Dutch paintings from the Branicki collection. This small painting came from the Potocki collection in Ros near Grodno (after "Wilanowskie muzeum w czasach Branickich" by Tomasz Igrzycki, part 2). The Ros estate initially belonged to the Chodkiewicz family, since the 16th century, and later to the Potocki family, since the 18th century. It was probably lost during Second World War. According to Michał Walicki (1904-1966), this painting could be equivalent to portrait of Rembrandt's mother, mentioned in the inventories of the Branicki gallery in Białystok in 1771, and it would rather be a work of an imitator of the master, probably Christian Wilhelm Ernst Dietrich (1712-1774). The painting was a version of the composition painted several times by Rembrandt's pupil Gerrit Dou (1613-1675), "The Old Woman with a Book", copies of which are today in the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister in Dresden (inv. Gal.-Nr. 1720) and in the Mimara Museum in Zagreb (inv. ATM 714). A good copy of A man in oriental costume (King Uzziah stricken by leprosy), probably by Dou, a copy of a painting by Rembrandt from around 1639, is still in Wilanów (inv. Wil.1718) and the same old woman in prayer can be seen in a painting by Dou from the collection of King Stanislaus Augustus Poniatowski (1732-1798), today in the National Museum in Warsaw (inv. M.Ob.553 MNW). The case of the painting Zechariah in the Temple, previously attributed to Rembrandt and today to Jan Lievens, kept in the Wawel Royal Castle (inv. ZKnW-PZS 1188), is similar. It comes from the Czosnowski collection and, according to family tradition, was a gift from Count Franciszek Stanisław Potocki (1788-1853). Johann III Bernoulli (1744-1807) mentioned a similar painting in the collection of Franciszek Stanisław's father Wincenty Potocki (d. 1825/1826) in Warsaw in 1778 (Ein Priester die Messe lesend, von Rembrand, sehr schön). This painting was probably engraved by Jean-Pierre Norblin de La Gourdaine (1745-1830) in 1781. One of the etchings, which was in the Potocki collection in Krzeszowice, was signed: Rembrandt p. 1644. Norblin d. 1781 (after "Nieznany obraz przypisywany Rembrandtowi" by Zygmunt Batowski, p. 45-46). Therefore, it cannot be excluded that the original painting by Rembrandt from 1644 and its copy by Lievens were in Poland. The 1863 Catalogue of the Picture Gallery of the House of the Silesian States in Wrocław lists Rembrandt's The Continence of Scipio among the paintings from the collection of Karl Daniel Friedrich Bach (1756-1829) donated to the Picture Gallery (Scipio Africanus, der einen gefangenen Carthager die Braut zurück giebt, von Rembrandt van Ryn, item 57), as well as "Portrait of an Unknown Man. In the style of Rembrandt" (Bildniss eines Unbekannten. In der Richtung Rembrandts, item 55). The painting The Continence of Scipio, now kept at the National Museum in Wrocław (inv. MNWr VIII-2623), is currently considered to be the work of a follower of Rembrandt, Jacob Willemsz. de Wet. His collection also included a work by Titian (item 46) and one by Cranach (item 58, now in the National Museum in Warsaw, inv. M.Ob.836 MNW, after "Katalog der Bilder-Galerie im Ständehause zu Breslau", p. 14). Bach worked for major collectors and patrons such as Józef Maksymilian Ossoliński (1748-1826) and Jan Potocki (1761-1815) in Warsaw, however the earlier provenance of these two paintings has not been established, so he may also have acquired them elsewhere. Very interesting in the context of Sarmatian Rembrandtiana, as well as forgotten portraits, is the story included in the autobiography of Dr. Stanisław Morawski (Stanislovas Moravskis, 1802-1853), published in Warsaw in 1924 under the title "A few years of my youth in Vilnius (1818-1825)": "In 1830, having been sent by order of the Emperor to southern Russia with the Minister of Internal Affairs, during the cholera that was raging there, travelling from Saratov to Simbirsk and Kazan, we stopped on the way to the city of Volzhsk on the Volga. A wealthy Astrakhan merchant, who had a house in Volzhsk, a certain Sapozhnikov [Alexey Petrovich Sapozhnikov (1786-1852)], gave us a ceremonial breakfast there. All the inventions of the local gastronomy, Tatar-Russian-European, were used. [...] I could not eat, because I was tempted by the beautiful Rembrandts, hanging in great numbers on the walls. And what is more, almost all of them were portraits of our Poles. Polish portraits and a rich collection of Rembrandts in the desert, next to the Kalmyk encampments! Who would bother with the stomach in such a case?! The affable Sapozhnikov, as hospitable as all Russian merchants, kept running to me complaining that I wasn't eating. So I said to him: 'I'll eat and I'll even eat everything you have on the table, when you tell me where you got these pictures from?' The bearded man told me that these were pictures, plundered in 1794 in Poland, in Nesvizh [Belarus] and from other lordly houses. That they were given by Russian generals to Zubov, that he gave them to his sister, Mrs. Zerebtsov and her husband. That finally, when the Zerebtsovs needed money, Sapozhnikov, needing their help again, bought the whole gallery from them and placed it in his house in Volzhsk. In this way, perhaps the richest collection of Rembrandt's portraits in the world, depicting the faces of ancient Poles, ended up at katsap's house, in the middle of the wild steppes on the banks of the Volga!" (after "Kilka lat młodości mojej w Wilnie ...", p. 275-276).
Destruction
Many valuable works of art in Poland-Lithuania were looted or destroyed during the invasions of the country in the 17th, 18th, 19th and 20th centuries. The country became significantly impoverished due to the wars, so valuable and movable works of art, especially those whose history was lost, were sold. By the end of the 18th century, like the country itself, Poland-Lithuania had almost completely disappeared from the history of European art. Art collections were confiscated during the Partitions of Poland - after collapse of the Kościuszko Uprising in 1794 (especilly Polish crown jewels), November Uprising in 1830-1831 and January Uprising in 1863-1864. To secure their belongings, many aristocrats move their collections abroad, especially to France. When the Second World War broke out in 1939, the Jagiellonian tapestries commissioned in Flanders by king Sigismund II Augustus and recovered from the Soviet Union between 1922-1924, were transported through Romania, France and England to Canada and returned to Poland in 1961.
The elective system of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth also favored the outflow of works of art from the country. Paintings and other valuables from the royal collection that survived the Deluge (1655-1660) were transported to France by king John II Casimir Vasa (1609-1672), who abdicated in 1668 and moved to Paris. Many valuables were inherited by Anna Gonzaga (1616-1684), Princess Palatine, who died in Paris. Queen Bona Sforza (1494-1557) moved her belongings to Bari in Italy, Queen Catherine of Austria (1533-1572) to Linz in Austria and Queen Eleonora Wiśniowiecka (1653-1697) to Vienna. French-born Queen Marie Casimire Sobieska and her sons transported their collections to Rome and France and elective monarchs from the Saxon dynasty in the 18th century moved many items to Dresden. The last monarch of the Commonwealth, Stanislaus II Augustus, abdicated in November 1795 and moved part of his collection to Saint Petersburg. It should also be noted that when the treasures of the Most Serene Republic (Serenissima Respublica Coronae Regni Poloniae Magnique Ducatus Lithuaniae) were plundered by different invaders, in 1683, the army of the Republic under the leadership of the elected monarch John III Sobieski saved the opulent imperial treasures from a similar fate at the gates of Vienna (Relief of Vienna or Battle of Vienna). A century later, between 1772 and 1795, Austria was one of the countries that divided the Republic (Partitions of Poland) and Poland disappeared from the maps of Europe for 123 years. 
Art collection of Prince Ladislaus Sigismund Vasa, attributed to Étienne de La Hire, 1626, Royal Castle in Warsaw.
Portraits of Sigismund III Vasa and Stanisław Radziejowski by Daniël van den Queborn or follower of Frans Pourbus the Younger
In the Czartoryski Museum in Kraków there is a portrait of King Sigismund III Vasa attributed to Dutch school (oil on panel, 93 x 68 cm, inventory number MNK XII-352). The painting was purchased in 1875, together with other portraits and miniatures, from Mikołaj Wisłocki from Pogorzela. It was initially attributed to Bartholomeus van der Helst (1613-1670) and according to the printed sticker on the back of the painting it was purchased in Podbela in Belarus, near the Białowieża Forest and hung for a long time in the old larch chapel in Białowieża (Zygmunt 3o Król - na drzewie ma być roboty fan der Helsta malarza Holenderskiego - nabyty w Podbiałey, pod puszczą Białowieską - wisiał bardzo długo w Starey Modrzewiowej Kaplicy w Białowieży (gub. Grodzieńska:)).
Jagiellonian hunting mansion located in Stara Białowieża was probably used as early as 1409, and around 1594, during the reign of Sigismund III Vasa, it was moved to the center of modern Białowieża, where a mill was also built. Less than a year after his election, in 1588, in the face of the plague in Kraków, the young king left the capital and hunted in the Białowieża Forest. "The manor house in Białowieża built for His Royal Highness for passage and hunting" is mentioned in 1639 and it was destroyed during the Deluge (1655-1660) or soon after and was last mentioned in 1663. In 1597 Sigismund III orders the Court Treasurer of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Dymitr Chalecki (d. 1598), to cancel the charges against the serfs employed in digging "Our Białowieża Pond" and to "relax the heavy burdens in the works" (after "Dwór łowiecki Wazów w Białowieży ..." by Tomasz Samojlik and others, pp. 74, 76-77, 80, 84). In 1651 Sigismund's son John II Casimir empoyed a Dutch architect and engineer Peeter Willer (or Willert) for similar works in Nieporęt near Warsaw and Henry IV of France (1553-1610) brought the best Dutch engineers to dry out, drain, build polders with their canals, locks, meadows, and low farms all round the coast of France (after "The French Peasantry ..." by Pierre Goubert, p. 2). It is quite possible that Sigismund also employed specialists from the Netherlands, also those already active in Polish Prussia, to create ponds and supply plants and fish. The painter probably never saw the king in person, so the resemblance is not striking, especially to portraits by Martin Kober, which has led some authors to suggest that it was originally a portrait of somone else transformed into the king's effigy. Probably in the 17th century, as the style suggest, a Latin inscription (SIGISMVNDVS III / DEI GRA: REX POLONIÆ) and a crown were added, however taking into consideration the provenance from the royal Białowieża, tradition, general resemblance and inscriptions there is no reason to claim that this is not an original portrait of the king commissioned in the Netherlands. A similar effigy of Sigismund with a long mustache and blond hair was included in hand colored map of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (Poloniae Amplissimi Regni Typvs Geographicvs) from Speculum Orbis Terrarum by Gerard de Jode, published in Antwerp in 1593. The likeness of the king is one of the few effigies in this publication, which could indicate that the Polish court influenced it on this particular map or that it was inspired by the increase in orders for effigies in the Netherlands at that time. The style of the painting from Białowieża is reminiscent of the two portraits unanimously attributed to Frans Pourbus the Younger (1569-1622), a Flemish painter from Antwerp (from about 1592 active in Brussels), in the Galleria nazionale di Parma, identified as Luigi Carafa and his wife Isabella Gonzaga (inventory number 297, 303), however, it is even more similar to two paintings atributed to another painter from Antwerp - Daniël van den Queborn, both in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. One depict a child 18 months old in 1604, possibly Louis of Nassau, the illegitimate son of Prince Maurice of Orange (SK-A-956) and the other, dated '1601', Francisco de Mendoza, Admiral of Aragon and Marquis of Guadalest, who was mayordomo mayor (lord high steward) in the household of Albert VII, Archduke of Austria and took part in different diplomatic missions to Poland, Hungary, Styria and the Holy Roman Empire (SK-A-3912). In 1579 Daniël joined the guild of Middelburg and in 1594 he became court painter to Prince Maurice in The Hague. The style of the king's costume and ruff is very similar to that seen in Gortzius Geldorp's portraits of the 1590s - portrait of Jean Fourmenois, dated '1590' (Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, SK-A-912) and portrait of Gottfried Houtappel, dated '1597' (The State Hermitage Museum, ГЭ-2438). Portrait of Joachim Ernst (1583-1625), Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach (sold at Christie's, 27 October 2004, lot 46) from the 1610s, as his costume indicate, is attributed to follower of Frans Pourbus the Younger. In 1609, Pourbus moved to Paris and Joachim Ernst's stay in France at that time is not confirmed in sources. On August 14, 1593 Sigismund III arrived in Gdańsk with his wife Anna of Austria, sister Anna Vasa and the entire court. The city was a major port of the Commonwealth where Netherlandish influences became predominant at that time in almost all aspects of life (trade, art, architecture and fashion). The river cruise from Warsaw to Gdańsk lasted 12 days and the ceremonial welcome took place at the Green Gate. On 15 August 1593 the court took part in the procession at the Dominican Church. The ceremony was presided over by the Bishop of Kuyavia, Hieronim Rozdrażewski, who purportedly commissioned a drawing illustrating the event (possibly a study for a painting), attributed to Anton Möller the Elder (Wawel Royal Castle). The king then went with the court to Wisłoujście, from where on September 16, on 56 or 57 ships, he sailed with the people accompanying him and a detachment of the Polish-Lithuanian army to Sweden. The king embarked on a ship provided by the city of Amsterdam (after "Polacy na szlakach morskich świata" by Jerzy Pertek, p. 56). It is possible that among the courtiers accompanying the king was also the young nobleman Stanisław Radziejowski (1575-1637). He was a courtier at the court of the widowed Queen Anna Jagiellon in Warsaw, where he received the title of court steward and after her death in 1596 he passed to the court of Sigismund Vasa, where he again served mainly Queen Anna of Austria and her son Ladislaus Sigismund. He later did not hold any functions at the court, but he took part in confidential missions abroad and in the Commonwealth (after "Radziejowice: fakty i zagadki" by Maria Barbasiewicz, p. 41). Stanisław studied abroad, in Würzburg in 1590. In 1598 he was sent as a peace delegate to Moscow, he become the starost of Sochaczew in 1599 and he accompanied the king during his travels (e.g. in 1634 to Gdańsk). Radziejowski often had the opportunity to host the entire royal court under his roof in his estate in Radziejowice near Warsaw. There was no foreign envoy, no apostolic nuncio who did not experience his hospitality and Queen Constance of Austria, Sigismund's second wife, willingly took a bath in Radziejowice. No effigy of Stanisław preserved in Poland, but as a courtier so close to the queen who traveled abroad, he undoubtedly dressed primarily in Western European fashion. The painting in the National Museum in Kraków (inventory number MNK I-20) depicting the Adoration of the Crucifix with King Sigismund III Vasa and his male courtiers, painted by Wojciech Maliskiewic in 1622, clearly shows the disposition of fashion at the royal court. Only a quarter of the courtiers are dressed in national costume, the others wear ruffs and fashionable hose. In 1583 Balthasar Bathory de Somlyo, nephew of King Stephen Bathory raised at his court in Kraków, was portraited by Hendrick Goltzius in French costume during his visit to the Netherlands with his friend Stanisław Sobocki. Treasurer (Jan Firlej, Grand Treasurer of the Crown) from Stanisław Sarnicki's "Statutes and records of crown privileges", published in Kraków in 1594, also wears western attire, as well as Stanisław's infamous son Hieronim (1612-1667), who was depicted dressed according to Western European fashion in a print by Jeremias Falck Polonus, created in 1652. In 2022 a portrait of a young man painted in similar style to the Białowieża portrait was sold at Dorotheum in Vienna (oil on canvas, 65.5 x 55 cm, 11.05.2022, lot 25). This painting is attributed to Frans Pourbus the Younger and comes from private collection in Uruguay (since the 1920s). The exact provenance is unknown, so it is possible that it was associated with Polish immigration to Uruguay where the first Poles arrived in the 19th century as political refugees who fled after the January Uprising (the first Polish organization in Montevideo was established in 1921). The young man is wearing a fashionable embroidered doublet and a lace ruff. According to Latin inscription in upper part of the painting it was created in Antwerp and the sitter was 18 in 1593 (ANTVE'[rpiae] ANo SAL.. / 1593 / ÆTA' SVÆ.18..), exacly as Radziejowski, when he may have finished his studies and could board a ship in Antwerp for Gdańsk or just order it from Gdańsk in Antwerp, like his grandson Cardinal Michał Stefan Radziejowski, who ordered his portrait in Paris (attributed to painter from Antwerp Jacob Ferdinand Voet, Czartoryski Museum, MNK XII-377). The family resemblance is striking with the portrait of Michał Stefan in the Museum of Warsaw (MHW 15948), and mentioned effigy of Stanisław's son, the shape of the nose, the puffiness under the eyes and a dimple in the chin being particularly similar in these family members. A painting attributed to Frans Pourbus the Younger, which may come from the collection of Sigismund III and possibly linked to Radziejowski's diplomatic activity, is in the Lithuanian National Museum of Art in Vilnius (oil on canvas, 56 x 44 cm, LNDM T 4019). This "Portrait of a woman with a red ribbon" is dated at the top right '1604' and belonged to the same gallery as "Portrait of a woman with a diadem", dated '1614' (LNDM T 4018), which is an effigy of Marie de' Medici (1575-1642), Queen of France by Alessandro Maganza, identified and attributed by me. The woman's costume is also similar to that visible in another effigy of the Queen of France, created by Thomas de Leu or circle around 1605 (Austrian National Library), while her facial features resemble those of Christina of Lorraine (1565-1637), Grand Duchess of Tuscany (wife of Marie's uncle), after a print by Thomas de Leu, produced between 1587-1590 (The Royal Collection, RCIN 615750). Her features also resemble those in Christine's other portraits, such as that by the French painter, perhaps François Quesnel, from 1588 (Uffizi Gallery in Florence, Inv. 1890, n. 4338) or a copy by the Italian painter, painted after 1589 (sold at Sotheby's New York, May 26, 2023, lot 314). Around 1604, Frans Pourbus painted Christine's future daughter-in-law - Archduchess Maria Magdalena of Austria (1587-1631) in a yellow dress (Kunsthistorisches Museum, GG 3385) and her older sister Constance (GG 3306). Several portraits of the Polish-Lithunian Vasas preserved in Florence, such as the full-length portrait of Sigismund III (Inv. 1890, n. 2270) dating from around 1610. The monarchs of the Commonwealth undoubtedly also owned numerous effigies of the sovereigns of Tuscany. Some of them may also have been brought by Radziejowski, who was in Florence in 1616 and who in 1615 gave Grand Duchess Maria Magdalena a mirror in an amber frame. 
Portrait of King Sigismund III Vasa (1566-1632) by Daniël van den Queborn or follower of Frans Pourbus the Younger, 1590s, Czartoryski Museum in Kraków.
Portrait of courtier Stanisław Radziejowski (1575-1637), aged 18 by Daniël van den Queborn or follower of Frans Pourbus the Younger, 1593, Private collection.
Portrait of Christina of Lorraine (1565-1637), Grand Duchess of Tuscany in French costume by workshop of Frans Pourbus the Younger, 1604, Lithuanian National Museum of Art in Vilnius.
Portrait of Queen Anna of Austria by Jacopo Tintoretto
Italian painters, faithful to ancient Roman tradition, frequently idealized their models. On the other hand, painters of the Nordic, Netherlandish and German schools, preferred a sometimes grotesque naturalism. This is best seen in the portraits of Emperor Charles V. In the paintings by Marco Cardisco, Parmigianino, Titian, Giorgio Vasari and Francesco Terzi, he is a quite handsome man with harmonious features and large eyes, while in the paintings by Lucas Cranach, Jakob Seisenegger, Jan Cornelisz Vermeyen and Flemish painters, he sometimes looks more like a court jester than a ruler of one of the greatest empires in history.
It was also a strong Habsburg tradition to collect effigies of different rulers of Europe, especially members of their own family. The effigies of Habsburg women who became queens of Bohemia, Hungary, Portugal, France, Denmark, duchesses of Tuscany, Mantua, Savoy, Parma, Bavaria or princesses of Transylvania are richly represented in their collections in Madrid and Vienna. It is therefore quite unusual that the Polish queens from the House of Austria are almost not represented in the collections known today. Some preserved inventories prove that the effigies of Polish monarchs were in the Habsburg collections in Madrid and Vienna. For example, the inventory of certain belongings of Queen Margaret of Austria, sister-in-law of King Sigismund III Vasa, subject to her guardian of the jewels (guardajoyas) Hernando Rojas, from October 1611, lists a miniature portrait (naipe) of the son of the king of Poland (Un retrato del hijo del rey de Polonia en un naipe, item 146) and thirteen "miniature portraits of members of the queen's household, our lady" (Trece retratos de naipe de personajes de la cassa de la reyna, nuestra señora, item 151) (after "Inventare aus dem Archivo del Palacio zu Madrid" by Rudolf Beer, p. CLXXV). For Sigismund's first wife, Anna of Austria (1573-1598), the portraits of her family left in Graz and lost during the Wawel fire in 1595 were obviously of great importance. After the fire, new portraits of the family in Graz had to be painted. The mother, Archduchess Maria Anna of Bavaria, soon sent a portrait of herself, but Anna said the picture bore no resemblance to her mother. "I'm sorry that YH [Your Highness] doesn't have a painter yet. My husband gave me permission for his painter to send him out to paint everyone when he has time, so he will have plenty of work to do" (Es ist mir ye gar laid, das ED [Eure Durchlaucht] jez kain maler hat. Mein gemahel hat mir sein maler bewilligt, wan es wider ED nit wer, denselben hinauszuschigken und alle abzemalen, wann er ainmal zeit hat, dann er hat jez gar vil ze arbaiten), she wrote to her mother in a letter dated April 6, 1595 most likely about the court painter Martin Kober (after "Das Leben am Hof ..." by Walter Leitsch, p. 371, 1267-1269, 1280, 1284, 2376, 2378-2379, 2562). Some information preserved in Austria on the portraits exchanged in preparation for the king's first marriage. The beginnings of the negotiation date back to a time when both were still children, the bride was not yet eight years old and the groom was fourteen and a half years old. It is possible that a portrait of an eight-year-old girl was sent by the Habsburgs. When the affair came to light nine years later, a portrait had to be sent again. "I would like to affirm that the king, as soon as he received the Archduchess Anna's effigy, fell deeply in love with it, opened it in his chamber and, having stood in front of it for a long time, also sent a retrato [Spanish for portrait] of her to his father, the king in Sweden, who was also happy to accept such things" (wol affirmiren, das der könig, alsbald er dero erzherzogin Anna contrafee bekomben, sich stark darein verliebt, dasselbe in seiner camer aufgemacht und villmallen ein guette lange weil darvor gestanden seye, auch seinem herrn vattern, dem könig in Schweden, ein retrato darvon geschickt habe, der im solches gleichsfalls gar wol gefallen lassen), wrote Sebastian Westernacher to Archduchess Maria Anna of Bavaria on May 19, 1591. The effigy of sixteen-year-old Anna hung in the king's bedroom and she was depicted wearing "a white-silver embroidered dress" (in einem weiß silbernen gewirkten rock abconterfeyet), according to a Kraków newspaper about the wedding in May/June 1592. Contemporaries certainly knew that these portraits were often largely beautified, so that the groom had only two options if he wanted to avoid exposing himself to the unknown: send beauty spies or trust the pictures. Before his first marriage, Sigismund sent such spies, but he probably also trusted the effigies. An emissary of the king delivered his portrait to the court master (Hofmeister) of Anna's mother, representing him wearing a jewel with the monogram SA, most probably of his uncle Sigismund Augustus or the groom and bride (Sigismund and Anna), recounted Archduchess Maria Anna to Emperor Rudolf II, in a letter from Graz, dated July 8, 1591 (seines künigs contrafet in ainem tafelein von ebano, darbey auch ain gemaldes glainot an einer klainen gulden kettl an des künigs hals hangend, und darinnen dise zwen puechstaben SA zu sehen). According to some sources, Sigismund's first wife did not care much for luxury. Her confessor, Fabian Quadrantinus (1549-1605) from Starogard Gdański, educated in Rome, affirmed that: "No gold, no jewels, no precious stones were seen on her. She was dressed mostly in black". Other documents prove she did it. According to one inventory, the queen owned more than a hundred items of clothing, and according to a second inventory, more than two hundred. She ordered goods from Florence and purchased luxury goods from Gdańsk. She always ate with a gold spoon and wore jewelry, regularly a ruby and emerald ring, as well as a necklace with a sapphire. Urszula Meyerin, in a letter dated April 3, 1598, claimed that even when she was young, Anna "never respected the voluptuousness, splendor, joys or lusts of the world, but despised and rejected them" (nimmermehr der welt üppigkeit, pracht, freuden oder wollusten geachtet, sondern vielmehr verachtet und verworfen). Jan Bojanowski, however, wrote shortly after her arrival that she was far from being melancholy (krolowa pani nasza is iest pani od melancholiei daleka) and that she was always joyful, but with a gracious dignity (letter of June 22, 1592). When the king wanted to go into battle against the Tatars, the queen expressed the wish to stay close to him, "if necessary, she also wanted to become a mercenary and wear armor" (wan's sein müeste, wolt sie auch ein landsknechtin weren und das fäleisen nachtragen, letter from Ernhofer to Archduchess Maria Anna, April 5, 1595). When she was sent a new portrait of her brother who had become fat, she wrote to her mother: "That's why it seems to me that he was in his 10th month [of pregnancy]" (Darum es dunkt mich auch, ehr sei ihn 10. monat gwesen, letter of February 1, 1597). In another letter to her mother, she commented "that the good old King of Spain is really funny and that you can really enjoy him" (das der guett alt kinig von Hispania erlich paufellig ist und das man sein auch schier gnueg hatt, letter of May 3, 1597). The queen was also adventurous and repeatedly went out incognito to see something, such as the procession on January 27, 1595. Together with Anna Radziwiłłowa née Kettler (1567-1617), she went out in a sleigh "dressed like a patrician lady" (wie burgerin geklaidet). They were not recognized by Polish women and when one of them tried to force her way before the queen, Radziwiłłowa began to argue with her (letter from Ernhofer to Archduchess Maria Anna, March 6, 1595). Similar to other Polish-Lithuanian ladies who experimented with fashion, the young queen undoubtedly also wore Venetian, French, Florentine or Flemish dresses, as described by Piotr Zbylitowski in his "Reprimand of Women's Extravagant Attire" (Przygana wymyślnym strojom białogłowskim), published in Kraków in 1600. Although the queen was very pious, she was not stubbornly zealous like her mother. From August 1592 to August 1593, the young queen lived near the Italianate court of the elderly Queen Anna Jagiellon, sending letters from residences in Ujazdów and Łobzów. Relations between the two queens were probably a bit difficult for many reasons. Above all, they had no common language, as the young queen only spoke German and Spanish and understood Latin and Polish - according to Giovanni Paolo Mucante (Intende, come dicono, la lingua latina, la spagnola, la todesca et anco la polacca, ma non parla se non todesca et spagnola, letter of September 25, 1596). Anna Jagiellon spoke Latin, Polish and Italian. At the beginning there were also some difficulties with priority. During the last six months of her life, the old queen once again lived under the same roof as the young queen. Anna of Austria one day sent her mother the gifts she had received from Anna Jagiellon (letter of November 22, 1593). Young Anna also cared for the old, sick queen herself. The relationship between the two was so good that Archduchess Maria Anna became truly jealous (letter from Salome von Thurn to Archduchess Maria Anna, May 5, 1594). In the Prado Museum in Madrid there is a portrait of a young woman in a green dress sitting on a chair (oil on canvas, 114 x 100 cm, inventory number P000484). The painting comes from the Spanish Royal Collection (no. 597) and was initially attributed to Paolo Veronese (1528-1588) and now to Jacopo Tintoretto (1518-1594). The woman has flowers in her hair and her costume indicate that the painting was made in the 1590s. A similar dress can be seen in a portrait of a woman from the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister in Dresden (inventory number Gal.-Nr. 249), dated around 1590 and previously thought to represent Marie de' Medici, Queen of France. Comparison with two woodcuts from Habiti Antichi Et Moderni di tutto il Mondo ... by Cesare Vecellio (Czartoryski Library, 2434 I Cim), book published in Venice in 1598 and assembling contemporary fashion from across the world - Gentildonne ne'Regiment (p. 104) and Donne per casa (p. 108), indicates that she wears the costume of a Venetian noblewoman at home. In this book, the effigy of King Sigismund III (Rè di Polonia / Poloniæ Rex, p. 346) was published with some typical costumes of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Her protruding lower lip and provenance of the painting indicate that she is a Habsburg. The painter beautified the effigy by making the nose and lips smaller, however, the resemblance to other effigies of the Queen of Poland is notable, in particular the portrait from the Royal Castle in Warsaw (FC ZKW 1370), her effigy in the scene of the Birth of the Virgin by Juan Pantoja de la Cruz in the Prado Museum (P001038) and her portrait by Martin Kober in the Uffizi Gallery (2392 / 1890). Idealization was common at that time. The portrait of King Sigismund III Vasa in a large hat by workshop of Philipp Holbein II, which was before 1939 in the collection of Jan Perłowski in Warsaw (lost during the World War II), is the best example of this practice, perhaps initiated by the painter, who wanted the model to conform more to his standards of beauty. The woman in this portrait also closely resembles the queen's younger sister, Constance, who a decade later would become the second wife of Sigismund III, in her idealized portrait at Wawel Royal Castle (inventory number 1783). According to inventories of Queen Anna's clothing held at the National Archives of Sweden in Stockholm (Riksarkivet, Extranea 85), probably made around 1595, the queen also owned a dress similar to the one depicted in the painting: "A green damask skirt with gold edges" (Ain grien damasten rock mit golt gebrämbt, 92). 
Portrait of Queen Anna of Austria (1573-1598) in a Venetian damask dress by Jacopo Tintoretto, ca. 1592-1594, Prado Museum in Madrid.
Portrait of King Sigismund III Vasa in a large hat by workshop of Philipp Holbein II, 1610s, lost during World War II.
Portrait of Prince Jerzy Zbaraski as Saint George by Paolo Fiammingo
In 1591, after initial studies in the country, the young Zbaraski brothers Jerzy (George) or Yuriy (1574-1631) and Krzysztof (Christopher) or Kryshtof (1579-1627), descendants of Ruthenian Prince Fyodor Nesvitsky (died before 1442), went on a long trip abroad. They visited Germany, Italy and France. They studied in Padua (1592-1593) and visited Venice, Rome and Naples. In France, they went to Lyon, Bordeaux and Paris. While studying abroad, the brothers converted from Calvinism to Catholicism, however, they were supporters of religious tolerance and opponents of the enormous influence of the Jesuit Order.
They returned to the country at the turn of 1594 and 1595. In the following year (1596) they participated in the expedition to Hungary, in the Moldavian expedition and in the siege of Suceava. In 1598 Jerzy was in the retinue accompanying King Sigismund III Vasa in Sweden. Probably at the turn of 1600 and 1601, both Zbaraski brothers went to the Netherlands, where Jerzy studied Greek and history under Justus Lipsius in Louvain. Between 1602-1605, Krzysztof stayed in Italy again, where he mastered mathematical science under the supervision of Galileo. In 1616 also Jerzy returned to Padua where he enrolled at the university. In 1620, after the death of Janusz Ostrogski, Jerzy Zbaraski was appointed Castellan of Kraków. Like his yonger brother Krzysztof, he was not married and had no children. The Zbaraski brothers were the heirs of their father's enormous fortune, in addition to the estates of their mother, Duchess Anna Chetvertynska (Czetwertyńska), a member of the Ruthenian princely family, who according to Józef Wolff were descendants of Yaroslav the Wise, Grand Prince of Kiev. In the 16th century Chetvertynski family owned large estates in Ukraine and Belarus and like Zbaraski family, they had Ruthenian Pogonia, displaying Saint George defeating the dragon, in their coat of arms. Already in June 1589, in the retinue of bishop Radziwill and voivode Mikołaj Firlej, Jerzy visited the imperial court in Prague, where he had the opportunity to admire exquisite art collections of Emperor Rudolf II. From Venice, Jerzy, a great connoisseur and lover of art, brought the painting of Our Lady of Myślenice, later famous for miracles. According to "The History of the Miraculous painting of Our Lady in Myślenice", published in 1642 in Kraków, the original painting belonged to Pope Sixtus V, who left it in his will to the granddaughter of his sister, who became the abbess of a convent in Venice. When Prince Jerzy Zbaraski saw it in the convent, he wanted to have it, but the abbess did not want to give him the original, but agreed to make a copy. During the plague in Kraków in 1624, the painting was supposed to be burnt as "infected", but was spared from destruction. In 1633, the painting was transferred to the parish church in Myślenice. The image of the Virgin Mary is painted on a wood panel (50.3 x 67.8 cm) and because of some style similarities it is attributed to the Prague school from the beginning of the 17th century. The face and pose of the Virgin is however almost identical as in the painting showing Bathsheba at her bath (sold at Cambi Casa d'Aste in Genoa on 30 June 2020, lot 100), created by Paolo Fiammingo (Paul the Fleming, ca. 1540-1596). Fiammingo, born Pauwels Franck, was a Flemish painter, who, after training in Antwerp, was active in Venice for most of his life. He also possibly worked in Florence. Around 1573 he settled permanently in Venice, where he became a student of Jacopo Tintoretto. He opened a successful studio, which received commissions from all over Europe. One of his most important clients was Emperor Rudolf II and Hans Fugger, the heir of a German banking dynasty, who commissioned him in 1580 to produce several paintings to decorate the Swabian Escorial - Kirchheim Castle near Augsburg. The style of the hand of Mary in Myślenice painting is similar to that visible in the Lady revealing her breast (An honest courtesan) by Domenico Tintoretto, dated to the 1580s (Prado Museum in Madrid, inventory number P000382). The portrait of a man as Saint George in private collection, attributed to Italian or Venetian school, is also similar to Tintoretto's style. This small painting (28.7 x 21.7 cm) was painted on copper and the style of painting resemble more precisely the image entitled Profession of arms from the Munich Residence, attributed Fiammingo and created in the 1590s (Alte Pinakothek in Munich). Prince Jerzy Zbaraski was a founder of at least two churches dedicated to his patron saint, Saint George. One in the main seat of the Prince and his brother, Zbarazh in Volhynia, was the burial place of part of the Zbaraski family. The wooden church and fortified Bernardine monastery was founded in 1606, and from 1627 the new brick church was built, most probably to design by Venetian architect and engineer of His Highness King Sigismund III Vasa, Andrea or Andrzej dell'Aqua, driving nearly 1,600 piles into the marshy area. This church was destroyed in 1648. In 1630 Zbaraski also founded Saint George's church in Pilica. Between 1611-1612, Krzysztof commissioned to Vincenzo Scamozzi in Venice, a project for a fortified palace intendend for Zbarazh. In a commentary to his design, published in 1615 in his "L'Idea Della Architettura Universale", Scamozzi recalled numerous meetings and discusions on military architecture with the learned Ruthenian aristocrat. It was however a design of the Flemish military engineer Hendrik van Peene and Venetian Andrea dell'Aqua that was used to built the new Zbarazh fortress between 1626-1631. His treatise on artillery "Praxis ręczna działa" from 1630 (manuscript in the Kórnik Library), dell'Aqua dedicated to Prince Jerzy Zbaraski. In 1627 Jerzy founded the Zbaraski Chapel at the Gothic Dominican Church in Kraków, as a mausoleum for himself and his brother. It was built by the masons and sculptors Andrea and Antonio Castelli, probably according to the design of the royal architect Constantino Tencalla. In the baroque chapel there are monuments to two brothers carved in black Dębnik marble and white alabaster. Jerzy is depicted sleeping in armour and in a pose almost identical to that in the tomb monument of King Sigismund I the Old in the Sigismund's Chapel (1529-1531). His hairstyle is typical of a Polish-Lithuanian magnate from this period and he is holding his mace like if he was holding his manhood, a less subtle allusion to his virility or promiscuity. It is possible that some of the highly erotic works by Fiammingo were commissioned by Prince Zbaraski. The man depicted as Saint George resemble Jerzy Zbaraski from his tomb sculpture, his portrait painted in the 1780s after original from the 1620s (Wilanów Palace in Warsaw) and effigies of his brother Krzysztof (National Museum of the History of Ukraine and Lviv National Art Gallery). Jerzy was accused of a dissolute lifestyle and when he decided to put an end to coin counterfeiters with whom he was about to cooperate, they "persuaded one lady who visited the prince to give him a poison" (after "Niepokorni książęta" by Arkadiusz Bednarczyk, Andrzej Włusek). Despite having no children, the memory of the last Prince Zbaraski preserved in the exquisite works of art that he commissioned. 
Portrait of Prince Jerzy Zbaraski (1574-1631) as Saint George by Paolo Fiammingo, 1592-1594, Private collection.
Our Lady of Myślenice by Paolo Fiammingo, 1592-1594, Saint Mary's church in Myślenice.
Portraits of royal courtier Sebastian Sobieski by Leandro Bassano
Around October 16, 1593, king Sigismund III Vasa departed from Gdańsk for his coronation as the hereditary king of Sweden. He was accompanied by his courtiers, including Sebastian Sobieski (ca. 1552-1614), third son of captain Jan Sobieski (ca. 1518-1564) and Katarzyna Gdeszyńska. Earlier that year, in February, Sebastian was sent by the King as his envoy to the Lublin Sejmik (regional assemby). It is the first confirmed important function of this royal courtier. "Instructions for the Lublin Sejmik given from His Majesty to Sebastian Sobieski, a royal courtier in Warsaw on February 16, 1593", is in the Czartoryski Library in Kraków (BCz 390).
He was, as was said at the time, a courtier of the "six horses", which signified his respectable place in the court hierarchy. Most of his colleagues, also of "six horses" (aulici in equos sex), numbering twenty-four in 1592, such as Andrzej Fredro, Jan Gołuchowski, Jan and Mikołaj Herburt, Jan Krasicki, Maciej Niemojewski, Adam Stadnicki, Jan Zebrzydowski, Władysław Bekiesz and others, came from powerful historical families (after "Universitas Iagellonica Cracoviensis acta scientarum litterarumque: Schedae litterariae", Volumes 24-25, p. 161). Eight of these courtiers of the "six horses", including Sebastian, accompanied the king to Sweden. Among the courtiers of the "four horses" who accompanied the king on this journey were foreigners, most of them Italians: Succonello (Succoriello), Lucretio Gramsi, Francesco Gallo, Temezwari, Joannis de Adalbert, Giovanni Baptista Bercelesi, Bartolomeo Perato, Sebastiano Dziowe (Giove) and Salvator. Sigismund, a great lover of Italian music, also took with him to Sweden 23 musicians, including Krzysztof Klabon, the director of the band and six of his boys, as well as eight "manualists" and eight vocalists. The king also took with him the tailor Claudio, the haberdasher Abram, the embroiderer Tycz and others (after "Uwagi o dworze królewskim w podróży ..." by Mira Belzyt, p. 102-103). Sobieski most probably studied at the Calvinist school in Bychawa near Lublin. On December 17, 1576, probably thanks to the intercession of the Crown Vice-Chancellor Jan Zamoyski, he was admitted, as a page, to the court of king Stephen Bathory. Then, like his brothers, due to growing influence of the Counter-Reformation movement at the royal court, he converted to Roman Catholicism. On May 1, 1584, he was transferred to the group of salatariati saeculares (lay beneficiaries) in which he was until the death of the king. He became a supporter of Zamoyski, supported the election of king Sigismund III and, apparently, he participated in the defense of Kraków against the attack of the troops of Archduke Maximilian II in 1587 and the Battle of Byczyna in 1588. From May 1596, he held the position of Standard-Bearer of the Crown and as such he was depicted in the "Entry of the wedding procession of Sigismund III Vasa into Kraków in 1605" (Royal Castle in Warsaw). Portrait of a bearded man in oriental costume from private collection in France (oil on canvas, 101 x 80 cm, Hôtel Drouot in Paris, May 24, 2022, lot 39), due some similarity to the style and, possibly, dates of his life is attributed to Hans von Aachen (1552-1615), a German painter trained in Italy. In 1592, while he was still working in Munich, von Aachen was appointed a court painter of Rudolph II, Holy Roman Emperor and moved to Prague in 1596. According to inscription in Latin in upper right corner the man was 41 years old in 1593 (ANNO 1593 / ÆTATIS 41), exacly as Hans von Aachen, but also Sebastian Sobieski, born in about 1552. The portrait is evidently not a self-portrait of imperial court painter and this wealthy nobleman was depicted in a crimson silk żupan buttoned up to with gold buttons, very similar to żupan buttons of Stanisław Piwo, deputy cup-bearer of Płock, from the second quarter of the 17th century (Skrwilno Treasure, Toruń Regional Museum). His black coat trimmed with lynx fur it is almost identical to the one shown in the portrait of Jan Opaliński (1546-1598), created in 1591 (National Museum in Poznań, oil on canvas, 156 x 104 cm, inv. MNP Mp 695), or in Twelve Polish and Hungarian types by Abraham de Bruyn, created in about 1581 (Rijksmuseum Amsterdam). His lace collar is very similar to the one in the effigy of The Marshal (Stanisław Przyjemski with a marshal staff) from Stanisław Sarnicki's "Statutes and records of crown privileges" by Jörg Brückner in Kraków, created in 1594 (Czartoryski Library). Letters on the table are very important documents, most probably envoy instructions given by the king. The style of painting is identical with portrait of Doge Marino Grimani (1532-1605), created in about 1595 by Leandro Bassano, signed: LEANDER A PONTE BASS [ANO] EQVES F. (Princeton University Art Museum). The man bear a resemblance to effigies of Sebastian Sobieski's brother Marek Sobieski (ca. 1550-1605), voivode of Lublin (1862 woodcut after lost portrait from the Zamoyski collection) and his brother's descendant (Marek's grandson), king John III Sobieski (portrait painting from the 1670s in the Kórnik Castle). The same man was depicted in another portrait attributed to Leandro Bassano, now in the Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields, The Clowes Collection (oil on canvas, 75.5 x 58.2 cm, 2016.163). Before 1939, the painting was in the collection of Jakob M. Heimann (1881-1960) in Milan and was originally attributed to Titian's late period. The sitter, dressed in a crimson doublet or more likely a żupan and a dark blue fur-lined cloak, holds a large book. Although a direct encounter between the painter and the model cannot be completely ruled out, as their biographies are not fully documented, it is more likely that, as in the case of the portrait of James VI and I Stuart (1566-1625), King of England, Scotland and Ireland from a private collection, attributed to the circle of Hans von Aachen in Prague (Latin inscription: IACOBVS. D.G. ANG/LIÆ SCOTIÆ HIBER. / REX), similar to the painting attributed to John de Critz kept at the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna (inv. GG 9379), the portrait was made from study drawings or paintings by other painters. Mentioned portrait of Jan Opaliński in Poznań, a copy of a painting destroyed during World War I (from the burnt manor house in Rogów near Opatowiec), is considered by Michał Walicki as a very definite manifestation of the Venetian tradition "referring to the portraits of the Bassanos" (after "Malarstwo polskie: Gotyk, renesans, wczesny manieryzm", p. 33). Stilistically very similar was the painting which was before World War II in the Saint Lazarus hospital in Warsaw bearing the inscription in Latin: R. P. PETRVS SKARGA SOCIETATIS IESV. It represented the court preacher of King Sigismund III Vasa, Piotr Skarga (1536-1612), who became the first priest to hold it (reproduced for example in a postcard made between 1918-1939, National Library of Poland, DŻS XII 8b/p.29/79). The hospital was established in 1591 on his initiative for the poor and lepers and the founder was depicted sitting in his study before a table covered with an oriental carpet. It is also worth noting that the Flemish engraver Karel van Mallery (1571-1635), who after 1612 created an engraving with the portrait of the court preacher of Sigismund III (Bruges Print Room, inv. 2014.GRO1417.III, inscription: R.P. PETRVS SKARGA [...] Obyt Cracouia A°./ 1612. die 27. Septemb. Anno AEtatis suae 76. [...]), must also have based on the effigies of Skarga that had been sent to him or made available to him in Antwerp. 
Portrait of royal courtier Sebastian Sobieski (ca. 1552-1614), holding a book, by Leandro Bassano, 1590s, Indianapolis Museum of Art.
Portrait of royal courtier Sebastian Sobieski (ca. 1552-1614), aged 41, by Leandro Bassano, 1593, Private collection.
Portrait of Jan Opaliński (1546-1598), aged 45, by follower of the Bassanos, 1591, National Museum in Poznań.
Portrait of preacher Piotr Skarga (1536-1612) by follower of the Bassanos, after 1591, Saint Lazarus hospital in Warsaw, lost. Virtual reconstruction, © Marcin Latka
Epitaphs of Michał Korniakt and Adam Żaliński and a portrait of Hieronim Czyżowski
The marble epitaphs of two young students, Michał Korniakt (1575-1594) and Adam Żaliński (1576-1601), who died suddenly in Rome and Venice, are among the most splendid sculptures of the late Jagiellonian and early Vasa periods outside the historical borders of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The two men represented two distinct regions of the former Commonwealth.
Michał was the son of a wealthy wine merchant from Lviv in the Ruthenian Voivodeship (now Ukraine), Konstantinos Korniaktos (d. 1603) and Anna Dzieduszycka (d. 1616). His father was a Greek, born in the town of Candia (now Heraklion) in Crete, then part of the Republic of Venice. Konstantinos was Greek Orthodox and his wife Catholic. With his younger brothers Konstanty and Aleksander, Michał studied first at the Kraków Academy (1590), then briefly in Ingolstadt (1593) and Padua (1593). His beautiful epitaph in the Basilica of Santa Maria in Aracoeli in Rome was founded by his brothers as confirmed by the Latin inscription: "Michał Korniakt, a Polish nobleman, a young man of great hopes, [...], who had been urged by his parents to learn fine arts and see the most flourishing kingdoms, went abroad and was surprised in Rome by an untimely death, instead of his earthly homeland, he returned to heaven. Founded by Konstanty and Aleksander Korniakt, his grieving brothers. He lived 19 years and died in the year of our Lord 1594, on March 18" (MICHAELI CORNIACT NOBILI POLONO MAGNAE SPEI ADOLESCENTI ...). The monument in the form of an aedicula in stone and marble with bust of the deceased placed in an oculus, is attributed to Nicolas Cordier (1567-1612), a sculptor from Lorraine working in Rome, where he was also known under the name of Niccolò da Lorena or il Franciosino (the little Frenchman). Cordier undoubtedly based the beautiful bust of Korniakt on his portrait, probably painted in Venice or Rome. Żaliński, in turn, was a member of the wealthy Pomeranian-Kuyavian noble family bearing the Poraj Pruski (Zaliński) coat of arms. The Żalińskis were originally from Greater Poland and moved to Polish Prussia (northern Poland) before 1464. According to the inscription on his epitaph, Adam traveled throughout Africa and Europe. He died tragically in Venice in January 1601 at the age of 25 (ADAMUS ZALINSKY EQVES POLONVS GENERIS NOBILITATE [...] AN. ÆT. XXV.) and was buried in the Basilica of St. Anthony of Padua in the Republic of Venice, where many other Sarmatians are buried. Before the foundation of the altar of Saint Stanislaus, the graves of Poles were located closer to the choir and the high altar. The tombstone, one of the richest in Padua (marble and stucco, 556 x 255 cm), was founded for him by his heir, Janusz Witosławski, and his friend Marek Łętowski, who was at the time a Polish councilor at the School of Jurists at the University of Padua, where he took lessons from Galileo Galilei himself. Marek travelled with Żaliński to Egypt and later became abbot of Paradyż, secretary to King Sigismund III Vasa and tutor to his son Ladislaus IV. Łętowski sought permission to erect the monument from the Padua City Council, obtaining permission to install it near the altar of St. Magdalene (now demolished) in June 1602. The white marble bust of Żaliński, in Spanish costume with a ruff, placed above the engraved plaque, is particularly beautiful. The niches between the columns and the pediment are decorated with seven female figures personifying the virtues. The monument is also adorned with the coat of arms of Adam's father, Adam Żaliński, land judge of Tuchola, on the left (Poraj Pruski), and that of his mother, Elżbieta Mortęska (d. 1583), on the right at the top (Orle Nogi), as well as the coat of arms of Pobóg and Jastrzębiec in the lower part. Adam's father was the younger brother of Maciej Żaliński, castellan of Gdańsk and starost of Tuchola, a favorite of King Sigismund Augustus. The young man was therefore a cousin of Jan Żaliński, a favorite of Queen Anna Jagiellon, son of the influential chamberlain of her court, Jadwiga Żalińska née Taszycka (died after 1575). His sister Anna married Janusz Witosławski, the future castellan of Inowrocław (1626-1632), between 1591 and 1594, while his sister Zofia joined the Benedictine monastery in Chełmno. The monument in Padua is unfortunately the only significant material testimony to the great fortune of this family, of which practically nothing remains in Poland. Sources confirm, for example, that Maciej Żaliński, castellan of Gdańsk, built a splendid and very expensive palace on his family estate in Żalin near Tuchola (after "Korona Polska przy Złotey Wolnosci Starożytnemi Rycerstwa Polskiego ..." by Kasper Niesiecki, p. 655-657). However, like the medieval Tuchola Castle, it was most likely completely destroyed during the Deluge between 1657 and 1659. Żaliński's epitaph in Padua is considered to be the work of Girolamo Campagna (1549-1625), a Veronese sculptor and student of Jacopo Sansovino. Campagna is probably also the author of the marble altar made in 1583 and now preserved in the Church of Corpus Christi in Nesvizh, commissioned in Venice by Nicolaus Christopher Radziwill "the Orphan" (1549-1616), as well as the Roman-style bust of Christopher Nicolaus Radziwill (1590-1607), son of Nicolaus Christopher, in the same temple. He also created a marble bust of the painter Francesco Bassano the Younger (1549-1592) around 1592, so it is very likely that Bassano's workshop in Venice created the portrait of Żaliński on which the splendid bust on his tombstone was based. Today, Żaliński's monument is located in the north nave of the basilica, on a pillar in the ambulatory, opposite the Chapel of St. Joseph and another beautiful epitaph, that of Mikołaj Ponętowski (1570-1598), made around 1601 (marble, 291 x 218 cm). Ponętowski's epitaph, financed by his brother Andrzej and his friends, is less rich than Żaliński's and does not contain any effigy of the deceased, only the coat of arms (Leszczyc, Drzewica and Lewart). The epitaph is crowned, besides two vases, by a large shell in the middle, in which once stood a bust of Ponętowski, lost in unknown circumstances. Mikołaj, associated with the Firlej family, was a student in Padua and died there on July 19, 1598 (NICOLAO PONETOWSKY POLONO NOBILITATE ANTIQVA CLARO [...] ANNO CHRISTI M.D.XCVIII XIX IVLII. ÆTATIS SVE XXVIII). Efforts to create an epitaph for him in the name of the family were undertaken by Jan Firlej (d. 1614), Grand Treasurer of the Crown, by submitting a petition to the Padua City Council on March 12, 1601. The epitaphs of Żaliński and Ponętowski are among those of several other Sarmatian students and visitors to the Venetian Republic. One of the oldest and most beautiful is that of Erazm Kretkowski (1508-1558), castellan of Gniezno, attributed to Francesco Segala, Agostino Zoppo, or Danese Cattaneo and made before 1560. Kretkowski's monument was initially much larger, but in the 19th century it was removed from the wall and moved to the Chiostro del Paradiso, at the rear of the basilica. Today, only the bronze bust and the plaque bearing the inscription are located in the Polish Chapel of the Basilica of Saint Anthony of Padua. The basilica also houses simple black epitaphs of Alexander Casimir Sapieha (1587-1619), Deputy pantler of Lithuania (ALEXANDRI CASIMIRI SAPIHÆ) and Christopher Sapieha (1590-1637), Cupbearer of Lithuania (CHRISTOPHORI SAPIECHÆ SVPREMI PINCERNÆ MAGNI DVCATVS LITVANIÆ), erected by the "Polish nation". The most splendid, besides that of Żaliński, is that of Stefano Ubaldini della Ripa (STEPHANVS DE RIPA EX ILLVSTRI VBALDINORVM FAMILIA [...] ÆTRVSCVS GENERE PATRIA ET NATALIBVS SARMATA), a Sarmatian from the Florentine Ubaldini family, who settled in Lviv in Ruthenia in the mid-16th century. He died on August 15, 1621 in Padua at the age of 36 and left 200 ducats in his will for celebrating mass at the Polish altar. On January 11, 1622, representatives of the "Polish nation" asked the City Council of Padua for permission to erect a tombstone for the deceased, attaching a project to the request. Near the first Polish Chapel, located on the left side of the entrance to the northern nave, there was also the tombstone of Stanisław Miński, founded by Erazm Dembowski and placed in the floor in 1611. Miński was an advisor to King Sigismund III and delegate to Pope Clement VIII for the canonization of Saint Hyacinth (Jacek Odrowąż). He died in Padua in 1607. In the second half of the 19th century, the tombstone was removed from the floor and disappeared (after "Pierwsza kaplica w Padwie" by Dorota Kowalczyk, p. 30-31). In 1625, on June 30, the Bishop of Vilnius, Eustachy Wołłowicz, obtained permission from the monks of the Basilica to erect an epitaph for his household member Jan Strubicz, who had died four years earlier in Padua. It was to be placed on the right side of the altar of Saint Stanislaus. At the meeting of the "Polish nation" on October 7, 1632, it was decided to commemorate with a plaque Wojciech Bryszkiewicz, a doctor of philosophy and medicine, who died in Padua during the plague and who held the office of the nation's counsellor in 1630. The plaque was to be made with money obtained from the sale of the deceased's movables (after "Siedemnastowieczne mauzoleum nacji polskiej w Padwie" by Jerzy Kowalczyk, p. 312, 317-318). In the so-called Magnolia Cloister there is also a finely carved sandstone epitaph of Andrzej Kański, a nobleman from the Lublin region, who died in March 1586 after a five-year journey to Italy (ANDRAE KANZKI NOBILI POLONO [...] FIRLEIORUM FAMILIA CLIENTI). He was one of the clients of the Firlej family, who had an epitaph carved for him, adorned with the Janina coat of arms. In the same cloister is also the epitaph of René du Val (d. 1590), counsellor to Henry III, King of France and Poland (RENATO VALLIO STORSII DOMINO [...] HENRICI III GALLIARVM ET POLONIAE CONSILIIS OECONOMO). The Treasury Chapel (Cappella del Tesoro), in turn, houses several relics of Polish saints and a silver mace dating from around 1560, attributed to the Hungarian goldsmith Andreas Hunyadi (d. 1580) and donated by King John III Sobieski (1629-1696). The post-Deluge foundations are less important. The most splendid is the epitaph of Stanisław Antoni Fryznekier (1661-1687), a student from Kraków, a monument in the form of the Angel of Death carved from white limestone and founded by his mother and brother in 1690. It is attributed to a Genoese sculptor Filippo Parodi (1630-1702). The basilica also houses a splendid painting founded by Hieronim Zaklika Czyżowski (d. 1615), a nobleman of the Topór coat of arms, for the altar of Saint Stanislaus, as reported by the inscription placed on the circular stone in the predella of the altar (now removed): D.O.M. / SANCTISQ: EJUS STANISLAO EPPO ET MART. / HIACINTO CONFESSORI / PATRIAE INDIGENTIBUS / HIERONIMUS CZIZOWSKY / NOB. POL. EX VOTO AERE SUO / HOC YCON. Today it hangs on a pillar of the church (oil on canvas, 370 x 172 cm, signed lower center: MALUMBRA). This painting, depicting Saint Stanislaus resurrecting knight Piotrowin with Saint Hyacinth kneeling before the Trinity above, was created in Venice around 1607 by Pietro Malombra (1556-1618). A preparatory drawing is held in the Scottish National Gallery in Edinburgh (pen, brown ink, and wash on paper, 38.5 x 20.6 cm, inv. RSA 221). The painter altered several elements of the final composition, including the pose of the knight Piotrowin, probably at Czyżowski's request. Hieronim was originally from Czyżów Szlachecki, near Sandomierz. He was one of the first to be registered in the Polish national register in Padua, as early as 1592, when a "Polish" students' association was founded (Natio Regni Poloniæ et Magni Ducatus Lithuaniæ). In 1600, he was a student at the University of Bologna. What is remarkable about him is that he was a fervent Calvinist. He died without descendants and it was his brother Mikołaj Zaklika Czyżowski (d. 1627), ensign of Chełm, who converted the church in Czyżów Szlachecki into a Catholic temple (after "Dzieje kościołów wyznania helweckiego w dawnéj Małej Polsce" by Józef Łukaszewicz, p. 327). Hieronim was probably buried in this church, which probably also housed other paintings commissioned in Venice, but the building was badly damaged by the Swedes during the Deluge and none of its original furnishings survived. It is interesting to note that the founder of the Chapel of the "Polish nation" in Padua, Mikołaj Ossoliński, then Councilor of the nation (ilustre signior Nicolo Osolinski consilgero di esa lus-ma nasione) and a distant relative of Czyżowski, was also a Protestant. On August 15, 1606, a contract was concluded with the Paduan sculptor Cesare Bovo, who undertook to build a crypt and an altar for 680 ducats. The chapel's antependium, made of white and red fabric (the national colors), was financed in February 1608 by another Calvinist, Marcin Dersław Zborowski (1580-1639), son of Andrzej Zborowski (d. 1598), a mathematics enthusiast and private pupil of Galileo in Padua, who had been living in his house since November 19, 1607. The main founders of the chapel of the "Polish nation" at the Catholic temple were therefore Protestants, educated not only in Italy but also in Altdorf, Leipzig, Heidelberg and Basel (Ossoliński and Zborowski), which perfectly illustrates the great diversity and tolerance of Sarmatia. Another interesting fact about Malombra's painting is that he included, in the lower right corner, a portrait of Czyżowski, looking at the viewer. This portrait was not included in the preparatory drawing, now in Edinburgh, and Hieronim's presence in Padua in 1607 is not confirmed by the sources. The effigy was perhaps inspired by his portrait sent from Poland. Hieronim was not the only member of the family to be fond of Venetian painting. Several splendid works, including a "view of Venice" (Cortena in qua depicta est Venetia) belonged to a certain Melchior Czyżowski before 1542. The Sarmatians who visited Padua and admired masterpieces of Renaissance art, such as the Chapel of Saint Anthony of Padua, adorned with sculptures by Tullio Lombardo and Jacopo Sansovino, were inspired to have similar treasures in their country. The splendor of the works of art they commissioned in Padua and Rome gives an idea of the works destroyed during the Deluge and other invasions. 
Epitaph of Michał Korniakt (1575-1594) by Nicolas Cordier, ca. 1594, Basilica of Santa Maria in Aracoeli in Rome.
Epitaph of Adam Żaliński (1576-1601) by Girolamo Campagna, 1603, Basilica of Saint Anthony of Padua.
Preparatory drawing for Saint Stanislaus resurrecting knight Piotrowin by Pietro Malombra, ca. 1606-1607, Scottish National Gallery.
Saint Stanislaus resurrecting knight Piotrowin with portrait of Hieronim Zaklika Czyżowski (d. 1615) by Pietro Malombra, ca. 1607, Basilica of Saint Anthony of Padua.
Portraits of Queen Anna of Austria and her sisters by Martin Kober and Spanish painters
The inventories of Queen Anna's clothing held at the National Archives of Sweden in Stockholm (Riksarkivet, Extranea 85) were probably made around 1595 because include many items created when she was already queen, such as pillows embroidered with the coats of arms of Poland and Lithuania. The young queen dressed primarily in black Spanish saya in the Central European version as shown in her official portraiture by Martin Kober. She also had specifically "Polish clothing" (Volgen IM polnische klaider, items 205-212) and shorter Spanish dresses (Spänische kurze jänger). In private, she wear many colorful clothes - brown, purple, leibfarb (skin color), yellow, red, white, tyrkroth (Turkish red), aschenfarb (gray), blue and others. She also had at least three green dresses: "A green gold cloth robe" (Ain grien gulden stuck, 72), "A green satin skirt with gold edges" (Ain grien atleser rock mit gulden porten, 87) and "A green damask skirt with gold edges" (Ain grien damasten rock mit golt gebrämbt, 92) (after "Das Leben am Hof ..." by Walter Leitsch, p. 1282, 2381, 2555-2562, 2569, 2571).
The green satin "skirt" (87), a symbolic color of fertility, mentioned in the inventory could be the same dress that was depicted in a portrait of Archduchess Anna at the age of 18, dated 1592 (ANNA ARCHIDVCISSA AVSTRIÆ. / ANNO ÆTATIS / XVIII. / MD / LXXXXII.) from the Bavarian State Painting Collections (on permanent loan to the Germanisches Nationalmuseum in Nuremberg, oil on canvas, 60.5 x 50.9 cm, Gm661 / 6846). This portrait, as well as other similar portraits of her mother and siblings, come from Neuburg Castle. It was therefore most likely originally part of the dowry of Constance of Austria (because her portrait is missing from this series) and later the dowry of her daughter Anna Catherine Constance Vasa. Her large golden pendant shows Jupiter and Danae. The young archduchess was therefore painted shortly before her marriage to Sigismund and the style of this painting is close to Martin Kober, who also worked for the Habsburgs - notably similar to the portrait of Anna's daughter Anna Maria Vasa (1593-1600) at the convent of Las Descalzas Reales in Madrid and portrait of Stanisław Lubomirski (1583-1649) and his sister Katarzyna (d. 1612) at the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna. All of Anna's sisters were depicted in similar dresses. Because of this and the strong family resemblance of all the sisters, it is sometimes difficult to determine the model in other series, such as that from the dowry of Archduchess Maria Magdalena of Austria, today at the Villa del Poggio Imperiale in Florence. This series is attributed to Giacomo de Monte (Jakob de Monte), although the style is also close to Kober. In the series in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, probably from Graz Castle, the portrait of Maria Christina of Austria (1574-1621), is identifed to depict Anna (inventory number GG 3238). This effigy is attributed to de Monte, who used the same set of study drawings as Kober to create the portrait from the Neuburg Castle painted in 1595, when the Archduchess was 21 years old (MARIA CRISTIERNA ARCHIDVCISSA AVSTRIÆ. / ANNO ÆTATIS XXI. / M.D. / XCV., Alte Pinakothek in Munich, oil on canvas, 60.5 x 52 cm, 6845). In the series from the Convent of the Descalzas Reales in Madrid, also attributed to Giacomo de Monte, the four sisters were transformed into Christian saints - Anna was depicted as Saint Dorothy, Maria Christina as Saint Lucy, Catherine Renata as Saint Catherine and Elizabeth as Saint Agnes. Among the portraits of the family members of Margaret of Austria, Queen of Spain, which were in the Queen's Gallery of the Royal Alcazar in Madrid in 1636, there was undoubtedly also a portrait of the Queen of Poland. These portraits were described as: "Parents and brothers of Queen Doña Margarita. Thirteen half-length portraits of the parents and brothers of Queen Doña Margarita, without frames (?), and made by Bartholome Gonçalez for El Pardo" (Padres y hermanos de la Señora Reina Doña Margarita. Treçe retratos de medio cuerpo arriba de los Padres y hermanos de la Señora Reina Doña Margarita, sin molduras, y los hiço Bartholome Gonçalez para el Pardo, Inventory of the Alcázar of 1636, pp. 185-188). Seven portraits from the series, created by the court painter Bartolomé González y Serrano (1564-1627) before 1627, were deposited in 1918 at the Spanish embassy in Lisbon and were destroyed during the fire of 1975. One of them was reproduced in 1968 in the Antemurale XII (Institutum Historicum Polonicum Romae) as a portrait of Anna of Austria (Anna Regina Poloniae, Museo del Prado). In this likeness, she wears a typical Spanish saya from the end of the 16th century. According to an article by Gloria Martínez Leiva ("El incendio de la Embajada española en Lisboa de 1975", January 16, 2018), it is not an effigy of Anna, but of her sister Archduchess Catherine Renata of Austria (1576-1599). The young girl actually resemble more the effigy of Catherine Renata in 1595, when the Archduchess was 18 years old (CATERINA RENEA ARCHIDVCISSA / AVSTRIÆ. ANNO ÆTATIS XVIII. / M.D. / XCV., Germanisches Nationalmuseum, oil on canvas, 60.6 x 50.9 cm, Gm665 / 6847) by Kober then the portrait of her elder sister from the same series. Posthumous effigies of Archduchess Maria Anna and her husband Charles II of Austria (1540-1590) by González, painted after 1608 (Prado Museum, P002434, P002433), were most likely part of the Lisbon series. Regarding the series by Kober, in which some effigies bear different dates (1590, 1592 and 1595), the painter probably created them at the same time but they show the models at different ages and dates. He most likely copied several effigies of Constance's family while working on paintings for her (or one of her sisters') dowry in 1595 in Graz. The eldest daughter of Archduchess Maria Anna was also depicted with her sisters and mother in the scene of the Birth of the Virgin by Juan Pantoja de la Cruz in the Prado Museum (oil on canvas, 260 x 172 cm, P001038). This painting, commissioned by Queen Margaret of Austria for her private oratory in the palace of Valladolid, was created in 1603 (signed and dated: Juº Pantoja Dela .+. Faciebat. / 1603). It probably commemorates the birth and death of the Infanta Maria of Spain, who died in infancy in her first month (March 1, 1603). Her grandmother, Archduchess Maria Anna, is depicted as a divine midwife accompanied by her already deceased daughters - Anna, Queen of Poland and Archduchess Catherine Renata of Austria, who died at the age of twenty-three before her marriage to Ranuccio I Farnese, Duke of Parma. That is why both of them wear more Italian dresses, because in Poland-Lithuania, Italian fashion was popular. All three look at the viewer. The young girl near Saint Anne's bed also looks at the viewer. Her Habsburg features allow her to be identified as Constance of Austria, who in 1602, with her younger sister Maria Magdalena, was considered at the court of Madrid as a candidate to marry Ferdinand I, Grand Duke of Tuscany, but ultimately married Sigismund III in 1605. Although Pantoja accompanied the royal family on journeys to Valladolid, Burgos, Lerma and El Escorial, he probably never left Spain. Archduchess Maria Anna visited Spain for her daughter Margaret's wedding, but that was in 1599. So all the effigies were created by the Spanish painter based on other portraits of family members of the queen or on study drawings, like the mentioned paintings by Bartolomé González. Archduchess Maria Anna's great attachment to her eldest daughter is demonstrated by the fact that when the Archduchess fell into panic because of the Ottoman advance, she wanted to flee to Poland to be with her daughter, and not to Munich, Prague, Brussels or Madrid. In a letter dated September 18, 1594 from Poznań, the queen assured her mother that she could come to Kraków (solang mein gmahel und ich waß haben, so sol ED auch allezeit unverlassen sein). 
Portrait of Archduchess Anna of Austria (1573-1598), aged 18 in 1592, by Martin Kober, ca. 1595, Germanisches Nationalmuseum.
Portrait of Archduchess Maria Christina of Austria (1574-1621), aged 21, by Martin Kober, 1595, Alte Pinakothek in Munich.
Portrait of Archduchess Catherine Renata of Austria (1576-1599), aged 18, by Martin Kober, 1595, Germanisches Nationalmuseum.
Birth of the Virgin with portraits of Archduchess Maria Anna and her daughters by Juan Pantoja de la Cruz, 1603, Prado Museum in Madrid.
Portrait of Queen Anna of Austria (1573-1598) and her sister Archduchess Catherine Renata of Austria (1576-1599) in the scene of the Birth of the Virgin by Juan Pantoja de la Cruz, 1603, Prado Museum in Madrid.
Portrait of Archduchess Catherine Renata of Austria (1576-1599) in Spanish dress by Bartolomé González y Serrano, after 1608, Prado Museum in Madrid, destroyed.
Portraits of Queen Anna of Austria nude (Sleeping Venus) by Dirck de Quade van Ravesteyn
Queen Anna of Austria, first wife of Sigismund III, frequently exchanged effigies with members of her family in Austria. Her portraits (conterfet, conterfeit), usually small miniatures (Meiner klein conterfet schick ich ED), are frequently mentioned in her letters to her mother. In January 1595, Anna's brother, Ferdinand of Austria (1578-1637), was about to send two paintings, one for his mother, "the other for your sister, the queen" (das ander für dein schwester die kinigin), according to a letter from Archduchess Maria Anna to him dated January 3, 1595 from Graz (after "Das Leben am Hof ..." by Walter Leitsch, p. 1278, 2380, 2569).
"The reigning queen is 19 years old, slim, but of nice face, pleasant and polite" wrote the Venetian envoy, Pietro Duodo, in his 1592 report to the Venetian Senate (after "Zbiór pamiętników ..." by Julian Ursyn Niemcewicz, p. 76). Judging by the official portraits of the queen by Kober, nothing can be said about her figure, because she is completely covered by her Spanish dress and only her face is clearly visible. So was Duodo allowed to see the queen naked or admire her naked effigy? In a letter of May 19, 1591 to Archduchess Maria Anna, regarding the portrait of Anna received by Sigismund, Sebastian Westernacher reports that the king "opened it in his room" (in seiner camer aufgemacht). The fact that the king admired it in his private chamber indicates that the portrait was nude or erotic as such effigies were frequently covered. For example, the inventory of paintings from the collection of Princess Louise Charlotte Radziwill (1667-1695), drawn up in 1671, mentions "A closed filthy picture" (Obraz plugawy zamykany, item 685 / 56) (after "Inwentarz galerii obrazów Radziwiłłów z XVII w." by Teresa Sulerzyska, p. 279). Regarding one of her portraits, sent from Kraków to Vienna, the Queen declared in a letter that she preferred it to be destroyed rather than fall into the wrong hands (after "Sztuka i polityka ..." by Juliusz Chrościcki, p. 33-34). Such a statement clearly indicates that the effigy must have been very intimate in nature. The same statement concerns the effigies of her family which were lost in the fire of Wawel Castle in 1595. Some of the Queen's personal belongings, including jewelry, were thrown out of windows into the garden and then not all the items were found, some were stolen, including the chest with "portraits of Her Ducal Highness and all the young princes and princesses" (comterfett von ir f[irstlich] d[urchlaucht] und der ganzen jungen herschaft), according to a letter from Urszula Mayerin dated April 7, 1595. "I would prefer them to burn, instead of being stolen" (Es wer mir lieber, sie weren verbrunnen, ais das mans gestolen hat), the queen said, which also indicates that some of them could be erotic in nature. In many ways, the young queen tried to imitate or compete with the old queen Anna Jagiellon. After the fire, she regretted losing all her tiaras: "I lost all my diadems, including one of 53 very large pearls, almost as large as those on the old queen's string of pearls, and various small things" (Ich hab alle meine krenl verloren, darunder ainẞ [mit] 53 gar grosse perl, schier so groẞ alẞ der alten kinigin grosse sch[n]uer und allerlay kleine sachen) (after "Der Brand im Wawel ..." by Walter Leitsch, p. 248, 251). The marriage of all of Anna Jagiellonica's granddaughters was a highly political affair, so their cousin, Emperor Rudolf II, controlled many aspects of the marriage arrangements. Entire galleries of bridal portraits were made for the emperor during these years and Anna of Tyrol (1585-1618) and Constance of Stiria (1588-1631), the sister of Queen Anna of Austria, were also painted for Sigismund after the death of his first wife. At the end of 1603, the emperor sent the painter Hans von Aachen to Innsbruck. The painter then left for Bavaria, Savoy and Modena, when Rudolf changed his mind and thwarted the negotiations with Sigismund III regarding the marriage with Anna of Tyrol. It was even suspected that the painter would "not paint well" (nichz guttz mallen) to prevent the marriage. The effigy of Anna of Tyrol's older sister, Archduchess Maria of Austria (1584-1649) by Hans von Aachen, now kept at the National Art Gallery in Lviv (inventory number 3857), was most likely created for Sigismund in 1604 (dated upper left). The naturalism of this effigy as well as that of Constance (Kunsthistorisches Museum, GG 9452) is almost grotesque, closer to the paintings from the imperial cabinet of curiosities (Wunderkammer) than to the effigies of relatives of the emperor. The effigies of the young queen Anna of Austria sent to the Medicis preserved in Florence (a three-quarter-length portrait and a miniature - Uffizi Gallery, 2392 / 1890, Inventario Palatina, n. 624) and in Munich, offered to the Wittelsbach family (full-length portrait - Alte Pinakothek in Munich, 6992 and a miniature - Bavarian National Museum, R. 1459). As was customary at the time, the emperor had to receive images of his cousin, the Queen of Poland, but no portrait of Anna sent to her family in Vienna, Graz or Innsbruck is known. In the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna there is a painting of a reclining nude woman ("Sleeping Venus" or "Venus in repose") (oil on panel, 80 x 152 cm, GG 1104). The painting probably comes from the collection of Rudolf II, but it is clearly evidenced in the gallery in 1783 (after "Joseph Heintz ..." by Jürgen Zimmer, p. 101). The painting was thought to be identical to the painting mentioned in the inventory of the Vienna collection between 1610-1619: "Item a nude lady, painted by Joseph Hainzen" (Item ein nackhets weib von Joseph Hainzen untermahlt, No. 83) and to depict a courtesan at the court of Rudolf II in Prague or his mistress, such as Kateřina Stradová also known as Catherina Strada (ca. 1568-1629), the daughter of the painter Ottavio Strada the Elder, with whom he had six children. However, no clear evidence has ever been established. Such private and intimate effigies were not intended for the general public, as today when they can be easily seen in museums and different exhibitions, but for a narrow circle of spectators, so we would probably never find clear written confirmation of who was represented. The painting is now attributed to Dirck de Quade van Ravesteyn, a Dutch painter who, between 1589 and 1608, was painter at the court of Rudolf II in Prague, where several painters from Holland and Flanders were working at the time. He was admitted in June 1589 as a portraitist. In 1598, there is evidence that he owned a house in Prague's Malá Strana and even lent large sums of money to other people, including artists. He was inspired by the works of other painters, including two "wandering" Flemish painters Hans Vredeman de Vries and his son Paul, who came from Gdańsk to Prague in 1596. At the Museum of Fine Arts in Dijon, there is a pendant (companion piece) to this painting (oil on panel, 90 x 164 cm, CA 134). It also most likely came from the imperial collection in Vienna and, before 1809, it was in the gallery of the Belvedere Palace from where it was taken by Napoleon. There are some differences between the two paintings, such as the color of the pillow, however, both paintings depict the same woman, seen from a different angle. A recent restoration revealed the presence of gold coins at the top of the painting, so originally the composition was intended to represent the model in the mythological scene of Danae, seduced by Jupiter transformed into golden rain. A large gold pendant with the scene of Jupiter and Danae can be seen in the portrait of Archduchess Anna at the age of 18 (Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Gm661). The Vienna version was cut on the left and also indicated the presence, at the top of the composition, of gold coins. The two paintings were exhibited together at the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna during the temporary exhibition "Baselitz - Naked Masters" from March 7 to June 25, 2023. Embroidered pillows as elaborate as those depicted in the paintings were mentioned in the inventory of the queen's possessions (Riksarkivet in Stockholm, Extranea 85) - "a pillow with the Lithuanian coat of arms embroidered in silver, gold and silk" (Ain kyß mit dem litauischen wapen mit silber, golt und seyden gestickt, 213), "a pillow embroidered with silver, gold and silk with the Polish coat of arms" (Mer ain gewirkts kyß von silber, golt und seyden mit dem polnischen wapen, 214) or "a pillow embroidered with silver, gold and silk with the coat of arms of the Tęczyński family" (Mer ain gewirkt kiß von silber, golt und seyden mit dem tentschinischen wapen, 215). A work from de Quade van Ravesteyn's early period of work, dating from around 1590, showing the mystical marriage of Saint Catherine, is in the National Museum in Warsaw (oil on panel, 29.5 x 21.5 cm, M.Ob.108, earlier 235). It comes from the collection of Piotr Fiorentini in Warsaw, bequeathed to the School of Fine Arts in 1858. It is possible that it was part of the royal collection which survived the Deluge (1655-1660) and that the painter visited the Polish-Lithuanian royal court in the 1590s. Two portraits of Sigismund III are also close to the style of de Quade van Ravesteyn - a miniature in the Czartoryski Museum in Kraków showing the king at the age of 30, thus created in 1596 (inscription: SIGISMVND[US] POLONIÆ ET / SVECIÆ REX M[AGNUS] DVX LITH[UANIÆ] / ET FINLANDIÆ ANNO ÆTA / TIS XXX, oil on copper, 17.2 x 14.2 cm, MNK XII-144) and a portrait in the National Museum in Warsaw (inscription: SIGISMVNDT. D.G. REX POLONIÆ, oil on panel, 27 x 20 cm, MP 188 MNW). At the turn of the 16th and 17th centuries, numerous paintings were commissioned and purchased in Prague by the Polish-Lithuanian royal court from the artists of the imperial court of Rudolf II. Some of them or their agents also arrived in the Commonwealth. The best example of such a work, produced in Prague, Augsburg or Kraków, is the signed portrait of King Sigismund III Vasa by Joseph Heintz the Elder (J. Heintzen F. / SIGISMVNDVS ... / REX POLONIAE / & SVECIAE ...) in the Alte Pinakothek in Munich (inventory number 11885). Another example is a composition inspired by Pomarancio's fresco at Santo Stefano Rotondo in Rome - Stoning of Saint Stephen, attributed to Hans von Aachen. It was created or acquired for Saint Stephen's Church in Kraków (demolished in 1801, now in the new Saint Stephen's Church). In 1601, Andrzej Opaliński (1575-1623) acquired in Prague a portrait of Michael the Brave (1558-1601), prince of Wallachia, for the king, perhaps by Bartholomeus Spranger and a work signed by Spranger (B. SPRANGERS. ANT .F.) from the same period, depicting Vanitas (Putto with a skull), is in the Wawel Royal Castle (inventory number 935, from the Miączyński-Dzieduszycki collection). One such early import to the Commonwealth could also be Spranger's Saint Ursula with female martyrs in the Lithuanian National Museum of Art (LNDM T 3995), donated to the Vilnius Society of Friends of Science before 1937. At the National Museum in Warsaw there is also the Allegory of Fortune from the circle of Spranger (M.Ob.763 MNW) and his signed drawing depicting Original Sin (B(?) Spranger in., Rys.Ob.d.701, from the Society for the Encouragement of Fine Arts in Warsaw), as well as the portrait of Alfonso II d'Este, Duke of Ferrara close to the style of Hans von Aachen (M.Ob.1913, from the collection of Jan Popławski) and Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian, after the print by Jan Harmensz. Muller, painted by von Aachen or circle (M.Ob.812, from the post-WWII Art Repository in Kraków). Both paintings clearly reference Titian's Jagiellonian nudes, particularly the portrait of Princess Isabella Jagiellon (Venus of Urbino) and the portrait of Anna Jagiellon as Venus with an organist and a dog, copies of which undoubtedly also appeared in the royal collection before the Deluge. The woman greatly resemble Anna of Austria from her portraits by Sofonisba Anguissola (private collection) and Tintoretto (Prado Museum, P000484), identified by me. It must therefore be concluded that through these paintings, the young Queen of Poland wanted to show her cousin the Emperor, that she is not a specimen from his cabinet of curiosities, but a beautiful sovereign of the Realm of Venus. 
Mystical marriage of Saint Catherine by Dirck de Quade van Ravesteyn, ca. 1590, National Museum in Warsaw.
Portrait of Queen Anna of Austria (1573-1598) nude (Sleeping Venus) by Dirck de Quade van Ravesteyn, ca. 1595, Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna.
Portrait of Queen Anna of Austria (1573-1598) nude (Sleeping Venus) by Dirck de Quade van Ravesteyn, ca. 1595, Museum of Fine Arts in Dijon.
Miniature portrait of King Sigismund III Vasa, aged 30 by workshop of Dirck de Quade van Ravesteyn, ca. 1596, Czartoryski Museum.
Portrait of King Sigismund III Vasa by workshop of Dirck de Quade van Ravesteyn, after 1596, National Museum in Warsaw.
Portrait of Archduchess Maria of Austria (1584-1649) by Hans von Aachen, 1604, Lviv National Art Gallery.
Portraits of Stanisław Lubomirski by Alessandro Maganza
On New Year's Day 1595, at the age of about 11, Stanisław Lubomirski (1583-1649), the eldest son of count Sebastian Lubomirski (d. 1613), together with his brother Joachim (1588-1610), left Wola Justowska near Kraków for further education at the Jesuit college in Munich. He was looked after by the trusted servants of his father, Piotr Szczepanowski, and Jan Gębczyński, a graduate of the Kraków University, who kept records of all expenses incurred at that time. Lubomirski stayed in Munich until May 1597. This stay was interrupted by financial difficulties and the wedding of the eldest sister Katarzyna who was marrying Prince Janusz Ostrogski. The costs of studying at the college and the expenses incurred during the over two-year stay in Munich were quite significant, amounting to 4,921 thalers. After returning to Poland, on July 21, 1597, his father ceded to him - with the king's consent - the starosty of Nowy Sącz (after "Stanisław Lubomirski (1583-1649) ..." by priest Andrzej Bruździński, p. 93).
At the end of 1598 or at the beginning of the following year, accompanied by the poet Piotr Kochanowski (1566-1620) and the aforementioned Jan Gębczyński, he went abroad again, this time to the south – to Italy. In 1599 he enrolled at the University of Padua and he also went to France and the Netherlands. He returned in 1601 and the following year he was admitted to the royal court. King Stephen Bathory was Stanisław's godfather. As the Kraków Żupnik between 1581-1592 his father built his fortune primarily from "salt" as well as usurious loans, which was assessed negatively in the Commonwealth. In 1597 even the crown jewels were pawned with Lubomirski and in 1595 Sebastian became the count of Wiśnicz from the imperial nomination. Around that time the "travelling belongings" of magnates and nobles were carried on "treasure carts" and in "room chariots" covered with leather in chests and boxes, often of French manufacture, very sophisticated and waterproof, intended for a specific type of objects, like "a tin case for pictures", according to inventory of the Radziwill family (after "Mieszkańcy Rzeczypospolitej w podróży ... " by Urszula Augustyniak, p. 375). Stanisław, who would later become the patron of a prominent Italian architect, Matteo Trapola, also acquired and commissioned works of art abroad. One such ambiguous expense for a meeting with a painter was recorded by Gębczyński during his stay in Munich - "For the copy of Stach and with the painter" (Za kopią Stach i z malarzem), 5 zlotys 21 grosz. "Everything cannot be entrusted to paper", wrote in a letter of July 8, 1588 from Venice, diplomat Stanisław Reszka and matters which could not be discussed directly were conveyed orally by a trusted and additionally authenticated messenger, who sometimes substituted a letter, simply for lack of time to write it (after "W podróży po Europie" by Wojciech Tygielski, Anna Kalinowska, p. 14). In the Wilanów Palace in Warsaw there is a portrait of an elegant 14-year-old young man against the background of a column and a curtain by Venetian school (oil on canvas, 176 x 115 cm, inventory number Wil.1150). It comes comes from the Wiśnicz Castle and it was moved to Warsaw before 1821. The castle in Wiśnicz was purchased by Sebastian Lubomirski in 1593 and between 1615 and 1621 Trapola enlarged and rebuilt it for his son Stanisław. The original inscription in Latin: Aetatis 14, above his head confirms the model's age, while the later inscription identifying the model as Sebastian Lubomirski (Sobestian Lubomirski Wielkorządca Kr.: W: Woryniecki zmarły R. 1613) was transferred to the back of the doubled canvas. Basing on this information the painting is dated to about 1560 (Sebastian was born in about 1546) and attributed to Giovanni del Monte or de Monte, painter active at that time at the royal court of Poland-Lithuania (he left for Venice in 1557). However, as noted by Wanda Drecka ("Portrety Sebastiana Lubomirskiego ...", p. 92), the cut of his hose or trousers can only be compared with the costumes of the guards in the Entry of the wedding procession of Sigismund III Vasa into Kraków in 1605 (Royal Castle in Warsaw), so-called "Stockholm roll" because it was taken to Sweden during the Deluge (1655-1660) and returned to Poland in 1974. The boy's shoes are very similar to those depicted in the portrait of Swedish statesman Mauritz Stensson Leijonhufvud, dated '1596' (ANNO DOMINO 1596, Skokloster Castle) and the pose and costume can be compared to the portrait of Sir Walter Raleigh and his son, dated '1602' (National Portrait Gallery in London). Similar trousers and shoes can also be seen in a double portrait of two children in matching green costumes, now in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna (oil on canvas, 116 x 91 cm, GG 3299). The portrait is identified to possibly represent members of the Polish royal family and attributed to the German or Polish school. This is mainly because the girl's costume and pose are very similar to those of Stanisław's sister, most likely Krystyna in her portrait in the National Museum in Warsaw (128871). A ruff similar to that of the boy's effigy was depicted in the portrait of King Sigismund III Vasa, also in the Kunsthistorisches Museum (GG 3302) and the portraits of his children Princess Anna Maria Vasa at the age of 3 (ÆTATIS SVÆ Ao. III.) and Prince Ladislaus Sigismund Vasa at the age of 1 (ÆTATIS SVÆ I. Ao.) in the Monastery of Las Descalzas Reales in Madrid, painted in 1596. The portraits of King Sigismund and his children were created by his court painter Martin Kober of Wrocław, who died before 1598 in Kraków or Warsaw. All were sent to king's relatives in Vienna and Spain. A copy of Prince Ladislaus Sigismund's effigy was also sent to Bavaria (Alte Pinakothek in Munich). Moreover, the mentioned portrait of two children in Vienna also resembles in style the aforementioned portraits of Kober, who in 1595 went to Graz to paint the family of Sigismund's wife, Anna of Austria (1573-1598). In the same year, on July 14, when Stanisław stayed in Munich, his father Sebastian received confirmation and recognition from Emperor Rudolf II of the hereditary title of Imperial Count of Wiśnicz, granted by Emperor Charles V on February 15, 1523 to his ancestors (after "Genealogie rodów utytułowanych ..." by Tomasz Lenczewski, p. 41). On this occasion or even earlier, the emperor most likely received the portraits of the count and his family members, including his eldest son and his sister Katarzyna. The girl in the described portrait is apparently older than the boy, exactly like Katarzyna born around 1581, who was depicted in a similar rich costume in her portrait in the National Museum in Warsaw (157500). The boy in the painting could be 7 years old, so the painting must be dated to around 1590, when Kober returned from the imperial court in Prague to Poland. The painting can be verified at the Imperial Gallery in Vienna in 1772. His satin doublet of silver color, collar and hairstyle are almost identical as in the portraits of James I(VI) Stuart, king of England and Scotland by Adrian Vanson, dated '1595' (Scottish National Gallery and private collection) and portrait of a gentleman, formerly suggested to be William Shakespeare, dated '1602' (private collection). The portrait should consequently be dated to around 1597, when 14-year-old Stanisław Lubomirski become the starost of Nowy Sącz and soon left for Italy. The boy's facial features closely resemble other effigies of Stanisław Lubomirski in the Wilanów Palace (Wil.1565, Wil.1258). The same boy was depicted in another portrait from Lubomirski collection painted in the same style, today in the Lviv National Art Gallery (oil on canvas, 67 x 78 cm, Ж-1377). It is presumably a fragment of a larger composition showing him in guise of biblical David with a sword. The style of both paintings, in Wilanów and Lviv, is very close to that of Alessandro Maganza (1556-1630), a painter born and active in Vicenza, as well as in Venice, influenced by Tintoretto, Palma the Younger and Veronese. His distinctive technique is particularly well visible in a painting dated "1590" (M.D.LXXXX), today in the Nationalmuseum in Stockholm (NM 32), representing the Virgin and Child with Saints, as well as in the portrait of a woman with pearls (Ritratto di donna con collana di perle, Capitolium Art in Brescia, May 30, 2017, lot 288). The latter effigy is a version of a portrait of Bianca Cappello (1548-1587), Venetian noblewoman who become the Grand Duchess of Tuscany, painted by Scipione Pulzone in 1584 (Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, GG 1138). The painter most likely received a drawing or miniature of the Grand Duchess to copy, as his stay in Florence is unconfirmed. It was probably the same with the effigies of the young starost of Nowy Sącz ahead of his visit to Italy. Another interesting "Portrait of a woman", painted in the same style, is in the Lithuanian National Museum of Art in Vilnius (oil on canvas, 56 x 44 cm, inventory number LNDM T 4018). It is attributed to Frans Pourbus the Younger because of a certain resemblance to his works and the woman represented is obviously Marie de' Medici (1575-1642), Queen of France. It is dated '1614' in upper right corner. Presumably in 1613 Nicolaus Christopher Radziwill of Olyka (1589-1614), went to France, from where he returned via northern Italy and in May 1614, because of his illness, he stayed in Verona, from where, on May 9, 1614, he sent a letter to his friend Ferdinand I Gonzaga (1587-1626), Duke of Mantua (after "Zagraniczna edukacja Radziwiłłów ..." by Marian Chachaj, p. 69). It could be he who commissioned this painting in the Republic of Venice, or it was commissioned by the Vasas. In 1614 the so-called "Treter Eagle" (Ordo et series regum Poloniae) with effigies of monarchs of Poland was published in Paris by Jean le Clerc, and a year later, in 1615, a niece of the Queen of Poland, the Infanta Anne of Austria (1601-1666) married Louis XIII of France, son of Marie de' Medici. 
Portrait of Stanisław Lubomirski (1583-1649) and his sister Katarzyna (d. 1612) by Martin Kober, ca. 1590, Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna.
Portrait of Stanisław Lubomirski (1583-1649), starost of Nowy Sącz, aged 14 by Alessandro Maganza, ca. 1597, Wilanów Palace in Warsaw.
Portrait of Stanisław Lubomirski (1583-1649) holding a sword by Alessandro Maganza, ca. 1597, Lviv National Art Gallery.
Portrait of Marie de' Medici (1575-1642), Queen of France by Alessandro Maganza, 1614, Lithuanian National Museum of Art.
Miniature portraits of the Vasas by Sofonisba Anguissola and workshop
Rich gifts accompanied all diplomatic missions. On June 14, 1592, "after the mass sung at dinner", Sigismund III, in his private room in the presence of some senators, gave audience to Pietro Duodo, orator of the Republic of Venice (Petro Dodo oratori S. Reipublicae Venetiarum), accompanied by eight Venetian nobles and seated on a bench decorated with green velvet (scamno ornato velluto viridi). He arrived to congratulate the king on his marriage to Anna. The king knighted Duodo and "presented him with a necklace worth a thousand in gold, and granted him the insignia [effigies?] of the royal family" (et donavit ei torquem millium aureorum, et concessit insignia familiae regiae). He then went to visit the queen, to whom he also gave a letter, and in the name of the Republic of Venice he presented various vessels of engraved silver, for the price of four thousand in gold (donavit S. Reginae vasa diversa argenti caelati pro pretio quatuor millium aureorum).
At that time, portraits were exchanged with Florence. In 1596, the king paid a large sum of 120 florins to the merchant Lawrence (Laurentio mercatori) "for images of Charles V, Emperor of the Romans" (pro imaginibus Caroli Quinti Caesaris Romanorum). Giovanni Paolo Mucante (d. 1617), master of ceremonies of the delegation of the papal legate, Cardinal Gaetano, wrote in a letter dated September 21, 1596 that the portrait of the late Queen Anna Jagiellon in the room was "very natural" (il suo ritratto, come dicevano, naturalissimo) and in 1601 Andrzej Opaliński (1575-1623) acquired in Prague a portrait of Michael the Brave (1558-1601), prince of Wallachia, for the king, according to a letter from nuncio Claudio Rangoni to Cardinal Pietro Aldobrandini (June 3) (after "Das Leben am Hof ..." by Walter Leitsch, p. 370, 953, 2277, 2381). Painters are sometimes mentioned, but names are missing. In 1592, before the wedding, the tailor Claudio Aubert went to Italy to get everything he needed. Among other things, he paid 96 guilders "to the painters sent to Poland to serve His Majesty" (alli pittori mandati in Polonia al servitio di SM). Much information about the wedding has been preserved, but there is no mention of Italian painters nowhere. In the accounts of 1601, there is only the following note: "Vilnius for the payment to the painters and for the repair of the tents, on August 28" (Vilnae in solutionem pictoribus et in reparationem tentoriorum, die 28 augusti, fl 110). This indicates that different workshops in Italy worked on royal commissions and sent their agents to Poland-Lithuania only to prepare the initial drawings. Besides the Venetian Redutti, who helped the king in goldsmithing work, there is evidence that Ruggiero Salomoni worked with Sigismund. He came to Poland as chaplain to the king's first wife. He was well known for his talent, because as early as 1595 he created the Easter tomb decoration for Cardinal Radziwill in Kraków Cathedral, according to a letter from Sigismundus Ernhofer to Archduchess Maria Anna dated April 5, 1595. Salomoni then acted as the king's agent in Naples around 1619, sending Italian paintings, tapestries and curiosities for the royal collection (after "The Grove Encyclopedia ...", ed. Gordon Campbell, p. 455). Luxury items were purchased in Italy, but also given to friends there. Sigismund's mother owned a silver mirror, perhaps made in Italy, and the royal courtier Stanisław Radziejowski gave Maria Maddalena of Austria, Grand Duchess of Tuscany and sister-in-law of the king an "amber mirror" (spechio di ambra), according to his letter to the Grand Duchess (June 12, 1615). The king ordered a large mirror (speculum grande cocavum) from Italy, mentioned in his letter to Salomoni (January 20, 1614). Royal envoys went to Italy, not only to acquire or order luxury goods, but also to bring renowned artists and musicians, as in December 1594, when Krzysztof Kochanowski (nephew of the poet Jan) came to Rome to recruit Italian musicians for Sigismund III or mentioned Aubert, before 1592. Around 1598, the Polish-Lithunian royal court sent numerous effigies of members of the royal family to foreign courts. The Vasas, like their ancestors the Jagiellons, and other important monarchs of Europe, commissioned their effigies from the best artists. This is why their miniature reliefs in colored wax were made by the famous workshop of Alessandro Abondio - busts of Sigismund III and his wife Anna of Austria at the Bode Museum in Berlin (inventory number 881, 882) and at the Nationalmuseum in Stockholm (NMGrh 1994, NMGrh 1995). Abondio was probably recommended to Sigismund III by his mother-in-law, Archduchess Maria Anna of Bavaria and her husband Charles II, grandson of Anna Jagiellonica (1503-1547), whose wax miniatures by Alessandro's father, Antonio, are located at Abegg-Stiftung (9.7.63). However, if we consider the enormous destruction of art in Poland-Lithuania during the Deluge (1655-1660) and other invasions, nothing can be said with certainty about this and we could also say the opposite that the Jagiellons or the Vasas recommended Abondios to the Habsburgs. At that time, the most renowned miniaturist working for the Habsburgs in Spain and Austria was Sofonisba Anguissola, who produced several of her self-portraits in miniature or small format - at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (60.155), Fondation Custodia in Paris (6607) or the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna (GG 285), the latter was most likely a gift for the Austrian Habsburgs. In her portrait in the Prado Museum in Madrid (P001031), recently attributed to Sofonisba, Queen Elisabeth of Valois holds in her hands a miniature of her husband King Philip II, probably also painted by Anguissola. This portrait is a sign of special recognition for the artist. Around 1575 she created a miniature of Emperor Maximilian II (1527-1576), son of Anna Jagiellonica (1503-1547), sold in Paris in 2016 (Sotheby's, June 16, 2016, lot 12, inscribed verso in Italian: Di mano / da Sofonisba / Anguisciola Cre / Monese / Dama Della Regina Isabella / di spagna moglie … / di filippo …). Sofonisba is also the author of several portrait miniatures from the collection of the Dukes of the Infantado in Madrid, which probably originally belonged to the Spanish royal collection. Among the effigies of Archduchess Maria Anna (Archivo de Arte Español - Archivo Moreno, 01616 B), Emperor Rudolf II (01696 B) and King Sigismund III in Polish costume (01784 B), there was also her self-portrait in Spanish costume (01616 B). A miniature of one of Maria Anna's daughters was also sold in Paris with attribution to the circle of Peter Paul Rubens, around 1610 (oil on panel, 8 x 6 cm, sold at the Hôtel Drouot, November 21, 2014, lot 29). This miniature probably comes from a private French collection, so the provenance from the collection of John II Casimir Vasa, who settled in France after his abdication in 1668, or from another Polish collection transferred to France in the 19th century cannot be excluded. Given this and the resemblance to the portrait in the Germanisches Nationalmuseum (Gm661), the model is most likely Anna of Austria (1573-1598), future Queen of Poland. The style of this painting also resembles greatly mentioned works by Sofonisba. Several miniatures of the Polish-Lithuanian Vasas created around 1598 are now in the Bavarian National Museum in Munich. All were probably gifts to the Wittelsbachs or came from the dowry of the Polish-Lithuanian princess Anna Catherine Constance Vasa. This cycle of small paintings on brass and tin (all approximately 4.5 x 3.5 cm) includes effigies of Sigismund III (R. 1462), his first wife Anna of Austria (R. 1459, R. 1465) and their children Anna Maria Vasa (R. 1497) and Ladislaus Sigismund Vasa (R. 1446). Another miniature of Queen Anna in the same style, most likely a gift to the Medicis, is in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence (oil on brass, 4.1 x 3.5, Inventario Palatina, n. 624). The miniature of Sigismund III from this cycle is particularly similar to the mentioned miniature of Emperor Maximilian II. Another miniature of Ladislaus Sigismund in the same collection (R. 1455), created around 1601, was also created in Anguissola's style. So, all miniatures were painted by the same artist and her studio. It was also Sofonisba's workshop that produced the portrait of Queen Anna at the Royal Castle in Warsaw (inscription: ANA D' AVSTRIA REG:A D' POLONIA, oil on canvas, 61 x 48 cm, FC ZKW 1370). The style of her jewelry as well as the inscription is similar to that in the portrait of Catalina Micaela of Spain (1567-1597), Duchess of Savoy, attributed to Anguissola (sold at Christie's New York, live auction 19994, October 14, 2021, lot 101). Therefore, like all mentioned Habsburg effigies, the Vasa liknesses were commissioned in the painter's workshop on the basis of other effigies or study drawings. 
Miniature portrait of a daughter of Maria Anna of Bavaria (1551-1608), most probably Archduchess Anna of Austria (1573-1598), by Sofonisba Anguissola or studio, ca. 1592, Private collection.
Miniature portrait of King Sigismund III Vasa (1566-1632) by Sofonisba Anguissola or studio, ca. 1598, Bavarian National Museum in Munich.
Miniature portrait of Queen Anna of Austria (1573-1598) by Sofonisba Anguissola or studio, ca. 1598, Bavarian National Museum in Munich.
Miniature portrait of Queen Anna of Austria (1573-1598) by Sofonisba Anguissola or studio, ca. 1598, Bavarian National Museum in Munich.
Miniature portrait of Queen Anna of Austria (1573-1598) by Sofonisba Anguissola or studio, ca. 1598, Uffizi Gallery in Florence.
Miniature portrait of Princess Anna Maria Vasa (1593-1600) by workshop of Sofonisba Anguissola, ca. 1598, Bavarian National Museum in Munich.
Miniature portrait of Prince Ladislaus Sigismund Vasa (1595-1648) by workshop of Sofonisba Anguissola, ca. 1598, Bavarian National Museum in Munich.
Portrait of Queen Anna of Austria (1573-1598) by workshop of Sofonisba Anguissola, ca. 1592-1598, Royal Castle in Warsaw.
Portraits of Anna Vasa and Ladislaus Sigismund Vasa by Sofonisba Anguissola
In 1594 a marriage project appeared during Anna Vasa's stay in Sweden. The candidate was John George of Brandenburg (1577-1624), the administrator of Strasbourg from 1592 and a grandson of the Brandenburg elector, who was to become the governor of Prussia, a feudal fief of the Crown of Poland. In the spring of 1596, an envoy, Paweł Arciszewski, secretary of King Sigismund III, traveled to Sweden with a portrait of John George to Anna Vasa in order to strengthen the princess's sympathy for her bridegroom (after "Das Leben am Hof ..." by Walter Leitsch, p. 2378). The painter was most likely a court painter of Sigismund III or an overseas workshop working for the Polish-Lithuanian monarchs.
Negotiations on this marriage were conducted on the Brandenburg side by the Magdeburg chancellor Wilhelm Rudolf von Meckbach and Johann von Löben who both travelled to Kraków, and on the Polish side by royal secretary Jan Skrzetuski, who travelled to Berlin, and Samuel Łaski. The date of the wedding was set for April 10, 1598 in Stockholm and Anna even received a dowry of 100,000 thalers from her brother Sigismund III Vasa, as well as jewelery, horses, furniture and 10,000 guilders as a wedding gift. Anna and her descendants were to be granted the inheritance rights to Sweden. Death of John George, Elector of Brandenburg on 8 January 1598, death of Sigismund's wife Anna of Austria (1573-1598) on 10 February and the outbreak of the uprising in Sweden made it impossible to conclude the wedding at the planned place and date. When Sigismund's uncle depose him in Sweden, these plans did not materialize. The portrait of a noblewoman and her husband in costumes from the late 1590s by Sofonisba Anguissola (oil on canvas, 123.3 x 93 cm, sold at Sotheby's London, July 11, 2002, lot 177) is very similar to other effigies of Anna Vasa. Her costume in Spanish style and pose resemble closely portrait of queen Anna of Austria by Martin Kober, created in 1595 (Bavarian State Painting Collections and Uffizi Gallery in Florence) and portrait of Archduchess Maria Anna of Bavaria (1574-1616) by Joseph Heintz the Elder, created in 1604 (Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna). The man's costume is typical for France and Protestant countries in the late 16th century. After return to Poland Sigismund made Anna starost of Brodnica on October 2, 1604, after death of Zofia Działyńska née Zamoyska and in December 1605 she attended Sigismund's wedding in Kraków, sitting in the bride's carriage. The negotiations with John George of Brandenburg were finally discontinued in 1609 and on June 3, 1610 he married Eva Christine von Württemberg (1590-1657), while Anna remained unmarried. Like her mother, Queen Catherine Jagiellon, the princess maintained a splendid and diverse court with different people as evidenced by her letter to Halszka Sapieżyna née Radziwill from Kraków, dated January 28, 1605: "We thank YL [Your Ladyship] for the female dwarf that YL brought us, and we urgently ask YL to send her with someone trusted" (Za karlice, WMci dziękujem, którąś WMć dla nas przywiozła, pilnie prosiem, abyś ją WMć przy kim pewnym sam posłała) (after "Archiwum domu Sapiehów ..." by Antoni Prochaska, p. 449). Although court dwarves of the 16th and 17th centuries are now mainly associated with Spain and their magnificent portraits by Anthonis Mor, Juan van der Hamen and especially Diego Velázquez, many paintings of this type were undoubtedly also found in Poland-Lithuania before the Deluge (1655-1660). In 1551, the painter Andreas Rul from Wrocław (Andreae Rul pictori Vratislaviensi) painted the portraits of 7 royal female dwarves, for which on March 3 he received 42 thalers, plus reimbursement of accommodation costs, and the portrait of king Sigismund Augustus, Anna's uncle, for which on March 17 he received 10 Hungarian ducats (after "Słownik artystów polskich i obcych ..." by Jolanta Maurin Białostocka, p. 355). The oval portrait in private collection in Massachusetts (oil on canvas, 65 x 52.5 cm, sold at Bonhams Skinner, November 11, 2021, lot 1036, as by school of Frans Pourbus the Younger), very similar to Anna's miniature in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, is also stylistically close to Sofonisba as well as a miniature of Prince Ladislaus Sigismund Vasa in the Bavarian State Painting Collections (oil on tin plate, 4.4 x 3.7 cm, R. 1455). 
Portrait of Princess Anna Vasa (1568-1625) in Spanish costume by Sofonisba Anguissola, ca. 1598, Private collection.
Portraits of Princess Anna Vasa (1568-1625) and John George of Brandenburg (1577-1624) by Sofonisba Anguissola, ca. 1598, Private collection.
Portrait of Princess Anna Vasa (1568-1625), starost of Brodnica by Sofonisba Anguissola, ca. 1605, Private collection.
Miniature of Prince Ladislaus Sigismund Vasa by Sofonisba Anguissola, ca. 1605, Bavarian State Painting Collections.
Portrait of Sigismund III Vasa in armour by Domenico Tintoretto
"The imago will be gratiosissima to the King. The King His Highness waits for paintings with great joy: a strange thing how he loves when he has something wonderful" (Imago będzie Królowi gratiosissima. Obrazów król Jmć czeka z wielką radością: dziwna rzecz jako się w nich kocha kiedy co cudnego ma), reveals in a letter dated July 12, 1588, written to Stanisław Reszka (1544-1600), who was in Rome, a Jesuit Bernard Gołyński (1546-1599) about the paintings commissioned by Sigismund III Vasa in Italy.
Sigismund was also a talented painter and goldsmith. According to historian Franciszek Siarczyński (1758-1829) in his "Picture of the Era of Sigismund III" (Obraz wieku panowania Zygmunta III), the king with the help of his court goldsmith, a Venetian Redutti (Reduta, Redura) made many church utensils, such as monstrances, chalices, lamps and candlesticks, which he gave to several churches. In the collection of the Alte Pinakothek in Munich there is a painting which according to Edward Rastawiecki in his "Dictionary of Polish painters" (Słownik malarzów polskich, pp. 96-97) is "another work of this kind" and it was given to king's daughter Anna Catherine Constance Vasa, "on the back, the preserved inscriptions and seals confirm the origin and authenticity of this interesting souvenir". This work is however listed in Johann Nepomuck Edler von Weizenfeld's "Description of the electoral picture gallery in Schleissheim" of 1775 as the work of Tintoretto (Jacopo Robusti, 1518-1594). Stylistically the painting is very close to this Venetian painter and his son Domenico (1560-1635). The monarch with the chain of the Order of the Golden Fleece is very similar to that visible in the study for a portrait of a king, most probably Sigismund III Vasa, in the collection of Francis Springell, attributed to Peter Paul Rubens, and to Sigismund's effigy in the Procession with St. Anianus by circle of Tommaso Dolabella in the Corpus Christi Church in Kraków. In the background, among the colonnades, there is a statue of the Madonna and Child, and in the clouds the figure which is interpreted as Saint Sigismund, patron saint of the monarchs. Heresy, depicted as an old woman, lies chained on the steps of the church. On the right are two Jesuits. Saint Sigismund has also a chain of the Order of the Golden Fleece and he bears a strong resemblance to Sigismund III's father-in-law Archduke Charles II of Austria (1540-1590), son of Anna Jagellonica. His crown is bordered with ermine like the Archducal hat (coronet). Curiously also the crown of the main monarch is bordered with ermine. It might be the painter's mistake or that Sigismund III commissioned an effigy of his brother-in-law Ferdinand II (1578-1637) who was raised by the Jesuits and dealt with heresy in his country before becoming emperor in 1619. Sigismund III received the Order of the Golden Fleece from his brother-in-law king Philip III of Spain in 1600. On this occasion he commissioned silver table service in Augsburg for 20,000 florins. The service, created by Hermann Plixen, was used for the first time during a banquet at the Castle in Warsaw on February 25, 1601. The king also commissioned other exquisite items in Augsburg, like the silver sarcophagus of Saint Stanislaus for the Wawel Cathedral in Kraków, and in other locations. Through his agent in Persia, Sefer Muratowicz, he commissioned a series of kilims with his coat of arms in 1601 and in about 1611-1615 he purchased a series of 6 tapestries in François Spierincx's workshop in Delft with the Story of Diana. On October 29, 1621 Jan Brueghel the Elder wrote to E. Bianchi about sending a lot of paintings to the King (molti pitture al Re) and the "Battle of Kircholm in 1605" by Pieter Snayers, also created for Sigismund, is today in the Château de Sassenage. In Milan, in about 1600, he commissioned a crystal lavabo (ewer and basin) with his coat of arms and monogram (Treasury of the Munich Residence) and most probably the shishak helmet offered to Feodor I of Russia (Kremlin Museum), created before 1591. His portraits in the Germanisches Nationalmuseum in Nuremberg, lost during World War II, and in the Wilanów Palace in Warsaw represent him in a rich, chiselled, partially gilt and polychromed blue armor in the type of mezza armatura (half armor), probably made in Milan. Portrait of a man in a suit of armour etched with gold by Domenico Tintoretto of unknown provenance (oil on canvas, 115.3 x 96.1 cm, Christie's London, Auction 11974, July 8, 2016, lot 163), has almost identical dimensions as effigy of Sigismund III's sister Anna Vasa by Domenico Tintoretto in the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (oil on canvas, 115.5 x 96.7 cm, inv. P24e2). It is possible that they were created at the same time. A portrait of the Venetian historian Fra Paolo Sarpi (1552-1623) by Tintoretto, most likely Domenico Tintoretto, of unknown provenance, is mentioned in the catalogue of the former royal residence Wilanów Palace from 1834 (Portret Fran: Paulo Sarpi pół fig: Tyntoretto, after "Spis obrazów znaidujących się w galeryi i pokojach Pałacu Willanowskiego ...", p. 27, item 300). The man bears a great resemblance to the effigies of Sigismund III Vasa from the early 17th century, especially his portrait painted in Prague in about 1605 by court painter of Emperor Rudolph II, Joseph Heintz the Elder (Alte Pinakothek in Munich, inv. 11885). The king was depicted in similar etched armour in the Habiti Antichi Et Moderni di tutto il Mondo ... by Cesare Vecellio (Rè di Polonia / Poloniæ Rex, p. 346), published in Venice in 1598 (Czartoryski Library in Kraków). The Venetian-style "Portrait of a clergyman" (Bildnis eines Geistlichen) attributed to Domenico Tintoretto, auctioned in Munich in 1990 (oil on canvas, 135 x 110 cm, Neumeister Art Auctions, Auction No. 259, December 12, 1990, lot 421), is another perfect example of the fact that Venice was a centre of "production and distribution" of painted portraits in the 16th and early 17th centuries. This painting is a reduced version of the portrait of Cardinal Ferdinando de' Medici (1549-1609), later Grand Duke of Tuscany, painted by the Neapolitan painter Scipione Pulzone (1544-1598) in 1580 in Rome (Art Gallery of South Australia in Adelaide, inv. 985P39). Pulzone and the Florentine painter Alessandro Allori (1535-1607) created numerous copies of this effigy, further reduced to bust length (Uffizi in Florence, inv. Palatina 492; Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, GG 9489). A version by Allori, preserved in the Palazzo Corsini in Rome (inv. 344), was long considered to be the portrait of Cardinal Bernardo Dovizi (1470-1520), because of an inscription on the upper part of the painting that was removed at an unspecified time because it was rightly considered not to be the original. The workshop of Domenico Tintoretto in Venice therefore received around 1587, when Ferdinando succeeded his brother as Grand Duke of Tuscany, such a portrait or a study drawing by Pulzone or Allori to copy. For the first two years of his reign, Ferdinand retained his position as cardinal, but he renounced it to marry Christina of Lorraine in 1589. From Venice, copies of this official portrait of a new Grand Duke could easily be sent to Munich, Prague, Kraków, Warsaw and Vilnius. The painter idealized the cardinal's features, but the resemblance is still strong. A reduced copy of Pulzone's original, which is in the National Art Gallery in Lviv (inv. Ж-1971), was painted on panel probably in Florence and was in the Lubomirski Museum before World War II. It bears the inscription in the upper part: ‣ FERDINANDO ‣ CAR ‣ MEDICI ‣ / GRA ‣ DVCA ‣ DI ‣ TOSCHANA. 
Portrait of Sigismund III Vasa in a suit of armour etched with gold by Domenico Tintoretto, ca. 1592-1600, Private collection.
Allegory of suppression of heresy by Domenico Tintoretto, 1600-1619, Alte Pinakothek in Munich.
Portrait of Cardinal Ferdinando de' Medici (1549-1609), Grand Duke of Tuscany by Domenico Tintoretto, ca. 1587-1589, Private collection.
Portrait of Sigismund III Vasa as Saint Sigismund by workshop of Domenico Tintoretto
Around 1600, most likely an Italian painter Ottavio Zanuoli (d. 1607), created a painting depicting the Communion of the Virgin, today in the Royal Convent of Las Descalzas Reales in Madrid. Zanuoli was a court painter of Archduke Charles of Styria (son of Anna Jagellonica) and his wife Archduchess Maria Anna of Bavaria (granddaughter of Anna Jagellonica). According to handwritten list of all the effigies fixed on the back of the canvas, the painting represent the family of Archduke Charles, depicted as Saint John the Apostle, giving communion to the Virgin. His son Charles of Austria (1590-1624), Prince-Bishop of Wrocław from 1608, is holding a jug as a deacon of the mass. Behind Archduchess Maria Anna, represented as the Virgin Mary, are her daughters including Anna (1573-1598) and Constance (1588-1631), two wives of Sigismund III Vasa. The painting was undoubtedly a gift to Margaret of Austria (1584-1611), a daughter of Charles and Maria, who on 18 April 1599 married King Philip III of Spain, her first-cousin. Margaret became a very influential figure at her husband's court and a great patron of the arts.
The royal convent in Madrid is full of such disguised effigies of the Habsburgs. One of the oldest is a fresco in the Chapel of Mary Magdalene (Capilla de la Magdalena, inventory number PN 00610451). In this composition by an unknown painter and inspired by the Madonna with the Fish (Virgen del pez) by Raphael (Prado Museum), the Madonna presents features of the Infanta Juana de Austria (Joan of Austria, 1535-1573), founder of the convent. Next are the portraits of Emperor Maximilian II (1527-1576) as Saint Valerius of Treves (PN 00615942) and of Archduke Rudolf of Austria (1552-1612), future emperor, as Saint Victor (PN 00615941) and portraits of four daughters of Archduke Charles of Styria in the Hall of Kings (Salón de Reyes) - Anna (1573-1598) as Saint Dorothy, Maria Christina (1574-1621) as Saint Lucy, Catherine Renata (1576-1599) as Saint Catherine and Elizabeth (1577-1586) as Saint Agnes. All were probably painted in 1582 by Giacomo de Monte (Jakob de Monte) - for example the portrait of Archduchess Catherine Renata depicted with the attributes of Saint Catherine of Alexandria (breaking wheel and sword) bears the following inscription in German: "1582, Catherine Renata, Archduchess of Austria, at the age of 6 and 8 months" (1582 / KATERINA RENNEA / ERTZHERTZOGIN ZV / OSTEREICH . IRHES ALTER VI / IAR . VIII MONNET). Archduchess Anna, future Queen of Poland and first wife of Sigismund III, has the attributes of Saint Dorothy of Caesarea (crown and basket of roses, PN 00612064) (compare "Linaje regio y monacal ..." by Ana García Sainz and Leticia Ruiz, p. 146, 148, 150-151 and "Joyas del siglo XVI en seis retratos infantiles ..." by Natalia Horcajo Palomero, pp. 398-399). In 1603 the Queen of Spain commissioned paintings to her private oratory in the Valladolid palace, painted by Juan Pantoja de La Cruz, today in the Prado Museum in Madrid. One, the Birth of the Virgin shows three of her sisters, together with their mother, Archduchess Maria Anna of Bavaria, the other, the Nativity of Jesus, shows three of her brothers and three of her sisters, the Queen as the Virgin Mary and her husband as a shepherd. Around 1620, the youngest of Charles and Maria's daughters, Maria Magdalena, who on 19 October 1608 married Cosimo II de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany was represented as Saint Mary Magdalene in a painting by Justus Sustermans, preserved in the Palazzo Pitti in Florence, and in a workshop copy in private collection. In this regard, a large altarpiece painting created around 1586 by the Venetian painter Paolo Caliari, better known as Paolo Veronese (1528-1588), for the Church of All Saints (Chiesa di Ognissanti) in Venice, is also very interesting. This painting has been part of the collection of the Gallerie dell'Accademia in Venice since 1812 (oil on canvas, 405 x 219 cm, inv. 264) and depicts the Coronation of the Virgin with more than fifty figures: prophets, apostles, evangelists, saints and Fathers of the Church arranged in decreasing semicircles, hovering above the clouds. In the lower part of the composition, in the center, we can see the head of a man with a long mustache. His prominent lower lip and characteristic features indicate that he was a Habsburg. The man resembles Archduke Charles of Styria, according to his portrait in the Prado Museum in Madrid (inv. P002433), painted by the Spanish painter Bartolomé González y Serrano between 1608 and 1617, some twenty years after the Archduke's death. Like González, Veronese must have drawn inspiration for this effigy from other portraits of the father of Sigismund III Vasa's two wives, as Charles's encounter with the painter is not confirmed by the sources. Such effigies, in guise of Saints and biblical figures were also popular at the Polish-Lithuanian royal court at that time. The Communion of the Jagiellons at Jasna Góra in 1477 (Casimir IV Jagiellon with his sons admitted to Jasna Góra Confraternity), created by workshop of Venetian painter Tommaso Dolabella in the second quarter of the 17th century (Jasna Góra Monastery), shows King Sigismund III and his sons as their predecessors from the Jagiellon Dynasty kneeling before the Black Madonna of Częstochowa. In the Jasna Góra Monastery, there are also two other paintings created by workshop of Tommaso Dolabella depicting Saints Stephen and Ladislaus, Kings of Hungary, both bearing features of King Sigismund III Vasa and a costume known from other portraits of the king. A painting by workshop of Domenico Tintoretto, also attributed to his brother Marco, whom the father's will names as a painter in Domenico's workshop, from a private collection in Southern Germany (oil on canvas, 113 x 89 cm, sold at Lempertz, Cologne on May 2003, lot 1133), basing on some details of the painting is identified as depicting Saint Louis IX, king of France, kneeling before the Crucifix. The traditional symbols of this Saint are indeed visible in the painting, fleur-de-lis on his coat, pendant, crown and sceptre, however there is also a crown embroidered on his coat and the attire is not blue like in the French royal coat of arms, golden fleur-de-lis on a blue field, used continuously for nearly six centuries (1211-1792). Italian painters since the beginning of the 16th century were well aware how the French king should look like and paintings by Ambrogio Bergognone, active in and near Milan, created between 1500-1520 (Accademia Carrara in Bergamo), by Berto di Giovanni, active in Perugia, created in about 1517 (Galleria Nazionale dell'Umbria), by Francesco Curradi, active in Florence, created in about 1600 (Private collection) and Matteo Rosselli, active in Florence, painted between 1613-1614 (Chiesa della Madonna in Livorno), depict the Saint in a mantle of French monarchs with golden fleur-de-lis on a blue field. The Saint from the Tintoretto's painting is therefore not Saint Louis IX. Another saint monarch connected with France is Saint Sigismund (Latin Sigismundus, died 524 AD), King of the Burgundians, patron saint of monarchs and of the Kingdom of Bohemia (in 1366, Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor, transferred Sigismund's relics to Prague and gave the saint's name to one of his sons, the later King Sigismund of Hungary). Arm reliquary of Saint Sigismund from the Guelph treasure, created in the late 11th century (Museum of Decorative Arts in Berlin), was in the late 13th or early 14th century supplemented with an orb surmounted by a fleur-de-lis, a shortened representation of a lily-crowned scepter. Altar painting with Saint Sigismund in the Parish church in Słomczyn near Warsaw (Konstancin-Jeziorna), created in about 1895 after a lost original, is very similar to the painting by workshop of Domenico Tintoretto. The Saint is kneeling before the Crucifix, his crown and sceptre are on a table covered with crimson fabric, his golden mantle and pendant are also very much alike. Another painting in the same church from the 19th century feretory depict Saint Sigismund in similar golden tunic and kneeling before the altar. The church in Słomczyn was founded at the beginning of the 15th century by Mrościsław Cieciszewski and the main patron of the parish from the very beginning was Saint Sigismund. During the Deluge (1655-1660) the church was plundered and invaders destroyed the altars. In 1165 Werner, bishop of Płock (north of Warsaw), brought the relics of Saint Sigismund from Aachen. In 1370 King Casimir III the Great, commissioned a silver reliquary for the Saint, today in the Diocesan Museum in Płock, and in 1601 King Sigismund III Vasa ordered the 13th century diadem to be placed on the reliquary of his patron saint. Sigismund III was frequenlty depicted in a similar żupan-like attire to that visible in Tintoretto's painting, for example in the mentioned Communion of the Jagiellons, in another painting by circle of Tommaso Dolabella representing Tsar of Muscovy Vasili Shuisky swearing an oath of allegiance at the Parliament of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1611 (Lviv Historical Museum) and in the plaque from his sarcophagus with King's military campaigns, created in 1632 (Wawel Cathedral). The man from the Tintoretto's painting bear a resemblance to the portrait of Sigismund III Vasa in a suit of armour etched with gold by the same painter, created between 1592-1600 (Private collection), his effigy in the Battle of Smolensk by Antonio Tempesta or Tommaso Dolabella, painted after 1611 (Private collection) and his profile on gold 10 ducats coin (portuguez), minted by Rudolf Lehman in Poznań in 1600 (National Museum in Kraków). The overall composition resembles the portrait of Piotr Skarga (1536-1612), court preacher of Sigismund III, created by Karel van Mallery (1571-1635) after 1612 from an original of around 1588 (National Library of Spain in Madrid, ER/121(51)). The painting by workshop of Domenico Tintoretto was in the collection in Southern Germany, exaclty as Allegory of suppression of heresy by this painter from the collection of Sigismund III's daughter (Alte Pinakothek in Munich). The king often sent gifts to William V, Duke of Bavaria, like the reliquary of Saints John the Baptist and Dionysius the Areopagite, offered in 1614 (Treasury of the Munich Residence) or silver statue of St. Benno of Meissen offered to the altar of St. Benno in the Munich Cathedral, created by Jeremias Sibenbürger in 1625 in Augsburg (Diocesan Museum in Freising). Together with the statue of St. Benno, the king also donated two silver reliquaries in the shape of a hand (not preserved) and 10,000 guilders for celebrating the daily mass, the so-called Polish mass, in the Cathedral. 
Portrait of King Sigismund III Vasa as Saint Sigismund kneeling before the Crucifix by workshop of Domenico Tintoretto, ca. 1592-1600, Private collection.
Portrait of a Habsburg, most probably Archduke Charles II of Austria (1540-1590), from the Coronation of the Virgin by Paolo Veronese, ca. 1586, Gallerie dell'Accademia in Venice.
Portrait of Janusz I Radziwill by Leandro Bassano
"The Polish Lord, at whose court Michelagnolo was already employed, has recently written, that he must go there as soon as possible, offering him a most honorable position, that is, a place at his table, dressed like the first gentlemen of his court, two servants, who will serve him, and a carriage with four horses, and more than 200 Hungarian ducats a year's allowance, that is about 300 scudi, except donations, which will be a lot; so that he is resolved to leave as soon as possible, nor expects anything other than the opportunity of good company, and I believe that he will depart in fifteen days, so I must arrange him with money for the journey, and in addition it is necessary for him to bring with him at the request of his Lord some things, for which among the provision for a journey and the said things I cannot fail to accommodate at least 200 scudi" (Signor Pollacco, a presso di chi è stato Michelagnolo, ha ultimamente scritto, che ei deva quanto prima andare là da lui, offerendoli partito honoratissimo, cioè la sua tavola, vestito al pari dei primi gentil' homini di sua corte, due servitori, che lo servino, et una carrozza da quattro cavalli, et di più 200 ducati ungari di provvisione l'anno, che sono circa 300 scudi, oltre ai donativi, che saranno assai; tal che lui è risoluto di andar via quanto prima, nè aspetta altro che l'occasione di buona compagnia, et credo che tra quindici giorni partirà, onde a me bisogna di accomodarlo di danari per il viaggio, et in oltre bisogna che porti seco ad instanza del suo Signore alcune robe, che tra 'l viatico et le dette robe non posso far di manco di non l'accomodare almeno di 200 scudi), informed his mother in a letter from Padua in the Venetian Republic of August 7, 1600 (Mss. Palatini, Parte I, Vol. IV, pag. 11.), Galileo Galilei, famous Italian astronomer, physicist and engineer.
Already in 1593 Michelagnolo Galilei (1575-1631), an Italian composer and lutenist, son of another composer and lutenist, Vincenzo Galilei, and the younger brother of Galileo went to the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, where foreign musicians were in great demand. Most likely invited by the influential Radziwill family, he stayed there till 1599 and returned to his previous employer in Poland-Lithuania in 1600 after a short stay in Italy. The "Polish Lord", Michelagnolo's parton, is somerimes identified as Christopher Nicolaus Radziwill (1547-1603) nicknamed "the Thunderbolt", voivode of Vilnius, Grand Hetman of Lithuania and a representative of the Birzai branch of the Lithuanian magnate family (after "Galileo Galilei e il mondo polacco" by Bronisław Biliński, p. 69), who employed several musicians at his court. Christopher Nicolaus was a son of Nicolaus "the Red" Radziwill (brother of Queen Barbara), a Calvinist and protector of the Calvinists in Poland-Lithuania. By his second wife Katarzyna Ostrogska (1560-1579), daughter of Zofia Tarnowska (1534-1570), he had a son Janusz I (1579-1620), educated in Strasbourg and Basel. Janusz also traveled to Germany, Bohemia, Austria, Hungary, and France. From 1599 he was a cupbearer of Lithuania and on 1 October 1600 he married the Orthodox Princess Sophia Olelkovich-Slutska (1585-1612), the heiress of Slutsk and Kopyl (in present-day Belarus) and the richest bride in Lithuania. Sophia, canonized by the Orthodox Church in 1983, died in childbirth on March 19, 1612, leaving all of her property to her husband, and just few months later, on March 27, 1613 in Berlin, Janusz married Elizabeth Sophia of Brandenburg (1589-1629), a daughter of the Brandenburg Elector John George (1525-1598) and a great-granddaughter of Barbara Jagiellon (1478-1534), Duchess of Saxony. It is possible that Michelagnolo was invited to the Commonwealth for the wedding feast of Janusz and Sophia. According to a Galileo's letter from Padua of November 20, 1601 to his brother in Vilnius, he also traveled to Kraków and Lublin. In April 1606 he returned to Italy to live with his brother in Padua. On May 11, 1606 Galileo wrote to him from Venice about negotiating with a German Lord (Signore tedesco) and he secured him a place at court of the Bavarian Elector in Munich. In 1608 Michelagnolo was married to Chiara Anna Bandinelli in Bavaria, whom he most likely met in Lithuania and who was the sister or daughter of Roberto Bandinelli, nephew of the famous Florentine sculptor Bartolommeo called Baccio, who settled with his family in Lithuania (after "Archivio storico italiano", Volume 17, p. 31). According to the catalogue of exhibition of portraits in the Hague in 1903 (Meisterwerke der Porträtmalerei auf der Ausstellung im Haag, p. 2, item 2a), in the collection of Princess Cecylia Lubomirska née Zamoyska (1831-1904) in Kraków there was a portrait of a lute player by Leandro Bassano. It was later owned by Cecylia's son Kazimierz Lubomirski (1869-1930), most probably lost during World War II. A young man with several rings on his left hand is playing a serenade on a lute to his beloved. He is listened to by his dog, conventional symbol for fidelity, especially marital fidelity, wearing an expensive collar, possibly bearing his coat of arms. The window in the background shows his house, an Italian-style villa similar to the pavillons of the Radziwill Palace in Vilnius, the larger palace of the Calvinist branch of the family. The Radziwill Palace, initially a renaissance manor house built in the 16th century, was reconstructed and extended between 1635 and 1653 for Janusz II Radziwill (1612-1655), nephew of Janusz I (1579-1620). The lavish edifice was constructed by Jan Ullrich and Wilhelm Pohl to design by Italian architect, most probably Constantino Tencalla, and was depicted in 1653 medal by Sebastian Dadler, minted on the occasion of the inauguration of Janusz II as the Voivode of Vilnius. The lute player from the Lubomirski collection was signed and dated by the artist. The inscription in Latin stated that the depicted man was 21 years old in 1600 (Anno aetatis suae XXI, MDC), exaclty as Janusz I Radziwill (born in July 1579 in Vilnius), when he married Sophia Olelkovich-Slutska. The sitter bear a great resemblance to other effigies of the Prince, especially a print by Jan van der Heyden after Jacob van der Heyden, created in 1609 (Herzog Anton Ulrich-Museum), a portrait by unknown artist (State Historical Museum in Moscow) and a medal with his bust, published in Berlin in "Medals of the princely house of Radziwill" (Denkmünzen des Radziwillschen Fürstenhauses, 1846). It is generally belived that Bassano's lute player is tantamount to a painting acquired in Venice by Count Stanisław Kostka Potocki (1755-1821), who recalled in a letter to his wife of September 22, 1785 from Venice: "I end my article on Venice by telling you that I have acquired one of the freshest paintings of Paolo Veronese that I have ever seen, it is a Holy Family of the size of your Rubens, I hope that you will be happy with it, adding here a portrait of Bassen playing the lute painted by himself which is really a masterpiece of this master, and you will be happy with this acquisition" (je finis mon article de Venise, par te dire que j'ai fait l'aquisition d'un des plus frais tablaux de Paule Véronèse que la aie jamais vue, c'est une St. Famille de la grandeur à peu près de ton Rubens, j'espère que la en sera contente, ajoute ici un portrait du Bassen jouant du luth peint par lui meme qui est vraiment un chef d'œuvre de ce maître, et tu sera contente de moi, Central Archives of Historical Records in Warsaw, 262 t. 1, Mikrofilm: 19007, page 60). Veronese's Holy Family is today most probably in the Wilanów Palace (inventory number Wil.1000, also considered to be the painting purchased in Paris in 1808) and it is currently attributed to his brother Benedetto Caliari. Even if the lute player from the Lubomirski collection was acquired by Potocki in Venice, it does not exclude that it represents a person from the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, as paintings commissioned abroad were frequently created in series, as gifts to relatives and friends. In this case the possibility that it was a gift to the tutor's brother, Galileo Galilei, or his family is probable. If Michelagnolo was a court musician of Christopher Nicolaus "the Thunderbolt", he could teach music to his son Janusz I. "It was customary that the orders of Polish clients abroad were paid through the bankers' offices that organized the transport. Thus, the intermediary between Sigismund III and Chancellor Zamoyski, on the one hand, and Italian painters, on the other, was the Montelupi company from Kraków, whose post office brought finished and paid works to Poland. Gdańsk bankers mediated between our country and the Netherlands, and thanks to their efforts, paintings and fabrics ordered by Ladislaus IV in Antwerp were transported by sea through the Danish straits" (after "Obrazy z kolegiaty łowickiej i ich przypuszczalny twórca" by Władysław Tomkiewicz, p. 119). In the 1620s, most probably after death of Leandro Bassano, who died on April 15, 1622, a painter from the circle of Bassano brothers settled in Pułtusk, a significant economic centre of Masovia. Between 1624-1627 he created three paintings showing scenes from the life of Mary for the Łowicz Cathedral, commissioned by Henryk Firlej (1574-1626), Archbishop of Gniezno and Primate of Poland, son of Jan Firlej (1521-1574), and a self-portrait, today in the Dominican Monastery in Kraków. 
Portrait of Janusz I Radziwill (1579-1620), aged 21 playing a lute by Leandro Bassano, 1600, Lubomirski collection in Kraków, lost.
Portrait of Sebastian Petrycy by Venetian painter
Sebastian Petrycy or Sebastianus Petricius Pilsnanus, was born in 1554 in Pilzno near Tarnów in south-eastern Poland as a son of Stanisław (died after 1590), a wine merchant. In 1583 he graduated with the degree in philosophy at the Kraków Academy and he began lecturing there. A year later, in 1584, Sebastian became a member of the Collegium Minus (College Minor) and took the chair of poetics and in 1588 he became a professor of rhetoric.
In February 1589, Petrycy was granted a leave to travel to Italy and study at a selected foreign university. He decided to study in Padua, where he received the degree of doctor of medical sciences at the beginning of March 1590. When he returned to Kraków, he applied for the recognition of his diploma at the Faculty of Medicine, but was refused admission and left for Lviv, where he got married with already pregnant eighteen-year-old Anna (he was almost forty), the daughter of a wealthy merchant Franz Wenig, and opened his own medical practice. The death of his wife (February 28, 1596) and of his only daughter, Zuzanna, as well as the lost trial for the inheritance of his father-in-law, prompted him to return to Krakow (around 1600). He became the personal physician of the bishop of Kraków Bernard Maciejowski, who in 1603 was made cardinal by Pope Clement VIII. Between 1603-1604 he went with the cardinal to France and Lorraine and in 1606, as a physician of Jerzy Mniszek and his daughter Marina, he left for Moscow, which cost him almost a year and a half in captivity. During his court career, he worked on translations of Aristotle into Polish. He then returned to the medical profession and successfully practiced for the last 10 years of his life. Petrycy died in 1626 in Kraków, and shortly before his death he founded a marble epitaph for himself depicting him in prayer, created by a royal court sculptor. Portrait of a bearded man holding glasses, comes from the collection of John Rushout, 2nd Baron Northwick (1770-1859) at Northwick Park. It was previously attributed to Titian and Lotto Lorenzo, however stylistically is also close to Jacopo Tintoretto (1518-1594) and his son Domenico (1560-1635). The man's costume of crimson silk is very similar to Polish żupan, his coat is lined with fur. This effigy is very similar to portraits of Sebastian Petrycy and his son Jan Innocenty Petrycy (1592-1641), who like father was a physician, professor at the Academy and studied in Bologna. Mentioned portraits are today in the Collegium Maius of the Jagiellonian University and were created in the 1620s by workshop of Tommaso Dolabella (1570-1650), a Venetian artist settled in Kraków and a court painter of king Sigismund III Vasa. It is possible that Dolabella's workshop copied some family owned portraits, created in Venice. Consequently the effigy can be dated to beginning of the 17th century when Petrycy was a court physician in Kraków. 
Portrait of Sebastian Petrycy (1554-1626) holding glasses by Venetian painter, possibly Domenico Tintoretto, 1600-1606, Private collection.
Portrait of Chancellor Jan Zamoyski and views of his villa in Zwierzyniec by Venetian painters
In the last decade of the 16th century, probably before 1597, in Zwierzyniec near Zamość, Jan Sariusz Zamoyski (1542-1605), Grand Chancellor of the Crown and Great Hetman of the Crown of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, had an Italian-style villa built for himself. The chancellor acquired the estate with Szczebrzeszyn and a huge forest from the Czarnkowski family in 1593. After two years of legal proceedings, he finally became the owner of the land in 1595 and immediately included it in his estate. He established a menagerie to protect particularly valuable game. To ensure the pleasure of hunting, Zamoyski ordered that hunting grounds be fenced and appointed a special service for the protection of forests and game (compare "Renesansowa willa Jana Zamoyskiego ..." by Lucyna Matławska - Patyk, Michał Patyk, p. 3, 5-6, 9, 11, 15-16). In a letter dated October 28, 1597, addressed to Prince Christopher Nicolaus "The Thunderbolt" Radziwill (1547-1603), voivode of Vilnius, from "Zwierzyniec" (Menagerie in Polish), Zamoyski reports, among other things, that one of the elks delivered to the menagerie broke its neck while rushing down the hill.
During his studies in Padua, in the Republic of Venice, from 1561 to 1563, the "betrothed of muses", as the poet Jan Kochanowski called the chancellor, had the opportunity to admire the great achievements of Italian architecture of the time, such as the Palladian villas of the Veneto, designed by Andrea Palladio (1508-1580): the Villa Badoer between Padua and Ferrara, built between 1557 and 1563, the Villa Foscari in Mira, near Padua, built between 1558 and 1560, or the Villa Saraceno, also not far from Padua, built before 1555 and considered one of the first works of Palladio, and many others. As an important figure in the Commonwealth, Zamoyski was also a frequent guest of elected Queen Anna Jagiellon in her elegant wooden palace in Ujazdów (Jazdów) in Warsaw. In January 1578, his wedding to Christine Radziwill took place in this summer residence of the queen. Like the palace in Ujazdów, the chancellor's villa was also made of wood and was probably designed in the Italian style by Italian architects, perhaps Santi Gucci or more likely Bernardo Morando, who are credited with designing the queen's palace. Morando, an architect from the Venetian Republic, signed an agreement with Zamoyski on July 1, 1578 in Lviv for a project of an ideal city, fortress and palace for the founder - Zamość. They also concluded a contract for the construction of a brick palace in Skokówka. Moreover, Italian architecture was so popular at that time that Polish scholars use the Italian expression in modo italiano to describe many of these structures. The abundance of wood and art of wooden construction, as well as the belief in the health benefits of this material, determined the use of wood for the construction of villas. There are no images of the Zamoyski villa or any plans from the 17th or 18th century. All the surviving plans are later, the oldest dating from 1829. However, the Renaissance layout of the villa with an old wooden residence surrounded by four outbuildings is noticeable. The residence was renovated and enlarged by subsequent owners and in the 17th century, Kings Ladislaus IV (in 1634), John Casimir with his wife Marie Louise Gonzaga (1662) and King Michael I with his wife Eleanor Maria Josepha of Austria (1671) were guests of the Zamoyskis in Zwierzyniec. The Italian gardener Jakub Gerhart, whom Jan Sobiepan Zamoyski (1627-1665) hired on August 7, 1652 in Warsaw with a salary of 700 zlotys per year, as well as clothing and food (barwą i stołem), most likely rebuilt the gardens in a new Baroque style. The wooden palace was demolished before 1842 to make way for a new brick palace, but unfavourable events after the Congress of Vienna, related to the nationalization of the city of Zamość, prevented the realisation of this project. The National Museum in Warsaw holds a late 16th-century drawing of a View of a villa with a garden, attributed to Lodewijk Toeput, known as il Pozzoserrato (ink and wash on paper, 20.3 x 31.4 cm, inv. Rys.Ob.d.175). It comes from the collection of a banker Jan Gotlib (Bogumił) Bloch (1836-1902). The Blochs held one of the most famous salons in Warsaw and had a large collection of valuable paintings and drawings in their residence. After Jan's death, part of this collection was donated by his widow to the Society for the Encouragement of Fine Arts in Warsaw. Toeput, a Flemish landscape painter and draughtsman active in Italy, died in Treviso between 1604 and 1605. He is thought to have arrived in Venice around 1573-1574 and to have initially worked in the workshop of Tintoretto. Lodewijk was also a portrait painter, since several paintings of this type are attributed to him. Although many of his compositions are imaginative, he is also the author of numerous realistic views, such as the painting depicting the burning of the Doge's Palace in Venice in 1577 (Musei Civici di Treviso), the View of Feltre near Venice (National Gallery of Canada) or the View of Verona (private collection). His Panorama of Treviso and his View of Acquapendente were engraved and included in volume V of Georg Braun and Frans Hogenberg's Civitates Orbis Terrarum, published in 1598 (Ex archetypo Lodouici Toeput). He also included real locations in his genre scenes, such as the View of the lagoon of Venice (Leiden University Libraries, inv. PK-T-AW-1254) in the right-hand part of his Allegory of Winter (Yale University Art Gallery, inv. 1961.63.65). In a private collection in Warsaw there is a painted version of the Allegory of Winter (oil on canvas, 84 x 134 cm), probably painted by Joos de Momper or circle, considered a pupil of Toeput (compare "Two Unknown Paintings by Lodewijk Toeput and Joos de Momper the Younger" by Mirosław Tomalak, p. 135-136, 139). Zamoyski never returned to Venice again (according to known sources), but he maintained cordial relations with the republic and other Italian states throughout his life. He undoubtedly had many souvenirs of his stay in Italy and, like the Radziwills, a view of Venice or other places in Italy that he had visited. A large painting of Venice (Obraz wielki Wenecyja) is mentioned in the 1671 inventory of the Radziwill collection (compare "Inwentarz galerii obrazów Radziwiłłów z XVII w." by Teresa Sulerzyska, item 472, p. 276). Zamoyski corresponded with the abbot of the Church of St. Valentine in Rome, Angelo Oddutio, about making engravings based on paintings of battles of the Livonian expedition, the originals of which were in the Zamoyski Library in Warsaw (created in Rome by Giacomo Lauro, between 1602-1603). For Abbot Oddutio, he ordered to make his medal, about which Samuel Knut wrote to the chancellor from Zamość on February 11, 1603: "I have ordered your face for Abbot S. Valentini Odduti for casting. When it will be ready, I will send it". In general, Zamoyski often distributed and sent silver and gold medals with his portrait in Poland and abroad. For such a gold medal, the hetman was thanked in a letter dated June 15, 1600 by the professor of medicine in Padua Giovanni Tommaso Minadoi (Joannes Thomas Minadous, d. 1618). For a similar medal with a chain, Zamoyski was also thanked in a letter dated March 10, 1601 by Ercole Sassonia (Hercules Saxonia, 1551-1607), professor of medicine in Padua and specialist in skin diseases and venereal diseases. Toeput's Allegory of Spring with a Nude Nymph (Yale University Art Gallery, inv. 1961.63.67), which shows the same villa seen from the right side of the garden, indicates that the building existed in reality. Toeput and Momper reproduced this latter view in several other compositions, with modifications, such as Toeput's Allegory of May (Rhode Island School of Design Museum, inv. 57.175) or Momper and Adriaen Collaert's Month of May (Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, RP-T-1890-A-2384, RP-P-BI-6078). It was probably the residence of an important person, but no trace of this splendid palace has survived, as it is not immediately recognizable like the mentioned Palladian villas of the Veneto. It is interesting to note that in the Warsaw drawing, in the foreground in the center, we can see two men bowing to a lady in a carriage, most likely a noblewoman. One of the men carries a sword and since only nobles were allowed to carry a weapon in the presence of other nobles, he must be representative of this group. The men look like a nobleman and his servant. The sword is not a court sword or rapier typical for the Italian nobility of the time, but an oriental sabre, typical for the Polish-Lithuanian nobility. The layout of the villa corresponds to that of the Zamoyski residence in Zwierzyniec. In this case, it is possible not only that the painter stayed in Poland-Lithuania, but also that he knew the plans of the Venetian-style villa, which was probably commissioned by Zamoyski in Venice (two decades later, between 1611-1612, Krzysztof Zbaraski commissioned a project for a fortified palace in Zbarazh from Vincenzo Scamozzi in Venice) or that he received an order for views of the villa. The fact that Morando worked for Zamoyski does not mean that he had to design his villa. In addition, in the National Museum in Lublin, further north of Zwierzyniec, there is an interesting painting depicting Saint John the Baptist, the patron saint of Jan Zamoyski, in the wilderness (oil on copper, 33 x 22.5 cm, S/Mal/1186/ML). Before 1604, the chancellor commissioned two large paintings depicting his patrons Saint John the Baptist and Saint John the Evangelist for the Collegiate Church in Zamość from the workshop of Domenico Tintoretto in Venice (today in the Church of the Transfiguration in Tarnogród). The painting is attributed to the Flemish school of the second quarter of the 17th century, but the resemblance to the works and style of Toeput is striking. The Landscape with scenes from the life of Christ (Sotheby's in New York, January 27, 2023, lot 478) and Pyramus and Thisbe (Civic Museums in Padua, inv. 259), we can cite as the paintings closest to the work in Lublin. On various occasions the chancellor travelled to nearby Lublin, which is confirmed by sources. A portrait from Jan Zamoyski's late life is also close to the Venetian school. This painting, whose location is unknown, is also comparable to Toeput's style, especially in the face area. The softer brushstrokes of the chancellor's crimson żupan bring it closer to Andrea Michieli, known as Andrea Vicentino, as in The Finding of Moses (Dorotheum in Vienna, April 24, 2024, lot 100), which was previously attributed to Toeput (Cambi Auction House in Genoa, June 12, 2019, lot 185). The portrait of Grand Chancellor Jan Sariusz Zamoyski from the Château de Beauregard (Gallery of Illustrious People, inscription: ZAMOSKI CHANer DE POLONGNE), painted between 1617-1638 after an original from the 1580s, proves that skilled painters created good effigies of the chancellor from other images. The 17th-century Italian painter who made another effigy of Zamoyski from a similar gallery of illustrious people (Sotheby's London, January 20, 2022, lot 75), probably copied the portrait attributed to Cristofano dell'Altissimo in Florence (Uffizi Gallery, inv. 415 / 1890) or another lost effigy. No permanent court painter is confirmed as working at the chancellor's court. The Lviv painter Jan Szwankowski (d. 1602) occasionally worked for Jan Zamoyski not only as a painter but also as a food supplier, according to his letter of 1600 (Dat. Leopoli [...] 1600. [...] mego mciwego Pana sluzebnik Jan Szwankowski malarz mp.). A poet in the chancellor's service, Szymon Szymonowic (Simon Simonides, 1558-1629), mentions in a letter of late 1601 to Jan Ursyn Niedźwiedzki of Lviv (Ioannes Ursinus Leopoliensis or Giovanni Ursino, a physician staying in Padua), a painter Bistrucii who painted a portrait of Zamoyski's son Tomasz (Effigiem Thomae Zamoyscii mitto tibi non ex vivo expressam, nam nunc ille cum matre degit, sed tamen satis ad vivum factam manu pictoris nostri Bistrucii). This painter is identified as Krzysztof Bystrzycki (Bistrucius, died in 1603 and active in Zamość from around 1583), probably trained in Venice, or the unknown Italian Bistrucci (perhaps the Polonized Italian Cristoforo Bistrucci or vice versa). According to Zamoyski's letter "Given in Zamość on the first day of July in the year 1600" (Datum Zamoscii die prima mensis Iulii Anno Domini 1600), probably written by his courtier Samuel Knut Obiesierski, to Charles of Austria (1560-1618), Margrave of Burgau, he promised to send him his portrait (misit effigiem sui Ser. Vestrae, verum pictura vultum referentem). The effigy intended for the son of such a patron as Archduke Ferdinand II of Austria (1529-1595) and grandson of Anna Jagellonica (1503-1547), must have been splendid. Charles was also a candidate for the Polish crown after the death of Stephen Bathory (1586) and contemporary sources describe his magnificent court at his residence, Günzburg Castle. The painting did not immediately receive the chancellor's approval, so it had to be corrected and completed. After the first sketch, it was sent for approval to Zamoyski, who was then in Terebovlia. From there, on August 16, 1600, Zamoyski wrote to Knut: "The painter knows wines, take him to the cellar and choose a barrel of wine for him [...] Bargain with the painter for my painting. You write that he was offered 30 zlotys, and now he wants 40. Bargain and pay him as agreed. Tell him to dry this painting right away if necessary, then put it in the box in which it is sent to you and cover it and fix it so that it does not rub or get wet on the way [...] When the painter has dried and prepared this painting as necessary, send it to Chrzanowski in Kraków with this letter that I am sending you. I am writing to him to give it to Thelani [Francesco Telani of Lublin] and whoever goes with him, please order him not to get the image wet on the way and let me have a copy from him" (after "Archiwum Jana Zamoyskiego ...", ed. Wacław Sobieski, Volume 1, p. XVI-XVII, XXIV-XXVI). On 30 August, Knut wrote to Zamoyski: "The painting that is to be sent to the Margrave of Burgau has not yet been corrected, because Rostocki was unable to meet the painter and see the painting in Zamość and he is not there at the moment. I have stopped because of this painting to send money to Mr. Ursin in Padua, so that it can be sent together. However, I am expecting Mr. Telani here at the next fair, to whom this painting, if corrected, could be given." Telani, who traded in Florentine cloth and velvet, probably brought the painting to Günzburg. Since the name of the painter is not mentioned, he could have been an itinerant artist, perhaps from Flanders or Italy. Italians also acted as intermediaries in payments for works commissioned in Venice or elsewhere in Italy, as in the case of Domenico Tintoretto's paintings for the church in Zamość, paid for through the Venetian merchants Capponi (Pagai li Signori Capponj di Venetia al pittore per suo premio di tutto il lavoro ..., after "Stosunki hetmana Zamoyskiego ze sztuką i z artystami" by Jerzy Mycielski, p. 7, 12, 15-16). 
Zamoyski villa in Zwierzyniec by Lodewijk Toeput, called il Pozzoserrato, ca. 1595-1603, National Museum in Warsaw.
Allegory of Spring with Zamoyski villa in Zwierzyniec by Lodewijk Toeput, called il Pozzoserrato, ca. 1595-1603, Yale University Art Gallery.
Saint John the Baptist in the wilderness by Lodewijk Toeput, called il Pozzoserrato, ca. 1595-1603, National Museum in Lublin.
Portrait of Jan Sariusz Zamoyski (1542-1605), Grand Chancellor of the Crown by Lodewijk Toeput, called il Pozzoserrato, or Andrea Michieli, ca. 1595-1603, location unknown.
Paintings for the collegiate church in Zamość by Domenico Tintoretto
The commission for paintings made by Jan Sariusz Zamoyski (1542-1605), Grand Chancellor of the Crown, from the workshop of Domenico Tintoretto in Venice is perhaps the best-documented painting commission from the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth before the Deluge (1655-1660). It should be noted, however, that the majority of the original documents were probably destroyed during World War II.
Already before 1600, Zamoyski had ordered altar paintings for the Zamość collegiate church, founded by him and built between 1587 and 1637 in the Lublin Renaissance style, according to the plans of the Venetian architect Bernardo Morando (ca. 1540-1600). The Florentine Sebastiano Montelupi (1516-1600), administrator of the first Polish post office, one of Zamoyski's agents in Kraków, through whom the chancellor was in constant contact with Venice, wrote to him on July 5, 1600 from Kraków: "From Venice we have received a report that the paintings for Your Excellency have been started and that they will soon be sent" (De Venezia haviamo avviso che le pitture di V. C. Illma. cominziavano per la fine et in breve le haverebbono spedite a questa volta). The son of Venice's fastest painter was not as fast as his father Jacopo Robusti (1518-1594), better known as Tintoretto, because the completion and shipment of four paintings for the main altar, including two depicting the chancellor's patron saints - St. John the Baptist and St. John the Evangelist (now in the main altar of the Church of the Transfiguration in Tarnogród), the central painting depicting the Risen Christ with St. Thomas the Apostle - the patron of the temple and the painting at the top of the altar - God the Father (both considered lost), took almost four years. However, the death of Sebastiano Montelupi (August 18, 1600) or perhaps other factors, such as the amount of work the painter had, delayed the completion. It is possible that other Polish-Lithuanian notables, including King Sigismund III, also commissioned paintings from Domenico and that Zamoyski commissioned more than four paintings, which would explain why there is no mention of complaints about the delay. On June 29, 1601, Zamoyski's servant Ambroży Wydruszewski wrote to the Chancellor who was staying in Lublin to inform him that the Montelupi's agent said that the paintings painted in Italy for the church in Zamość would be ready in six months at the latest. Through his agent in Venice, Jan Ursyn Niedźwiedzki, and Valerio Tamburini Montelupi (1548-1613), nephew of Sebastiano, Zamoyski gave Domenico Tintoretto various information and clarifications regarding the paintings and his wishes and intentions in this regard, information regarding the colours that were to appear on them, the position of the figures and "that the boards were to be made of cedar and cypress" (che le tavole fossero di cedro è cipresso, according to a letter to Valerio probably from 1602). Although we have no confirmation of this, several preparatory drawings must have been sent to Zamoyski for approval. On October 4, 1602, Samuel Knut reported to Zamoyski that "as for the paintings of the high altar, which the late Montelupi commissioned in Venice, I received a letter from Mr. Ursino, which I sent to you. He writes that all the faces are already painted". "This week the Capponi from Venice wrote to me that the paintings were almost finished and that in a few days they would be ready" (Questa settimana li signori Capponi di Venetia mi hanno scritto, che gia li quadri erano ridotti a bon termine e che fra brevi giorni sariano stati finiti), confirms Montelupi in a letter to Zamoyski dated November 27, adding however that further consultations with the chancellor regarding the colours are necessary. It was only in the summer of 1604 that the paintings arrived in Poland, about which Montelupi informed Zamoyski in a letter dated July 6 from Kraków, and on July 26 they were finally delivered to Zamość (according to a letter from Zamoyski to Knut). The bill, which was in the Zamoyski Library in Warsaw before World War II, confirmed that the paintings were made by Domenico Tintoretto and that they were paid for through the Venetian merchants Capponi. The total cost of the paintings was 812 florins, 22 groszy, including parcels, travel via Salzburg, Krems and Kraków to Zamość, and customs duties (Conto del costo et spese di piu quadri per chiesa fatti lavorare in Venctia per medio di quelli signori Capponj da Domenico Tintoretto pittore et per servitio dell' Illmo. et Colmo. Signore Gran Cancelliere et General di Polonia, after "Stosunki hetmana Zamoyskiego ze sztuką i z artystami" by Jerzy Mycielski, p. 7-12). 
Saint John the Evangelist and Saint John the Baptist from the Zamość Collegiate by Domenico Tintoretto, ca. 1604, Church of the Transfiguration in Tarnogród.
Portrait of Uriel Górka, Bishop of Poznań by Odoardo Fialetti
The full-length portrait of Uriel Górka (ca. 1435-1498), Bishop of Poznań in Kórnik Castle near Poznań is one of the oldest effigies of church hierarchs in Poland. This large painting on canvas (219 x 111.5 cm, inventory number MK 3360) bears an inscription in Latin on a band above the figure: VRIÆL / COMES DE GORCA DEI GRATIA EPISCOPVS POSNANI / ENSIS. The band, typical of Gothic paintings, as well as the general style of the work suggest that it is a copy of the original portrait of the bishop, as the painting itself is variably dated to the second half of the 16th century or the middle of the 17th century.
The original may be by Stanisław of Kórnik, who was the bishop's court painter for six years in the 1490s, but also commissioned from abroad. Uriel, the founder of the family's power, distinguished himself in the field of artistic patronage and he was in close contact with the artistic circles of Nuremberg. He ordered silverware from Albrecht Dürer the Elder, father of the painter (according to the bill of August 26, 1486 - Item mein her Uriel her bischoff von Poln hat Albrechtn Durer dem goltschmyd silber gebn), he commissioned various works from the sculptor Simon Leinberger, like the excellent composition of Christ in the Garden of Olives sculpted in 1490 for the Poznań Cathedral, and bronze tombstones for himself and his father Łukasz (died in 1475), the voivode, at the famous Vischer workshop (after "Kultura, naród, trwanie ..." by Maria Bogucka, p. 164). The full-length effigy of Uriel on his tomb slab by the Vischer workshop in Poznań Cathedral is comparable to this portrait. So maybe the original effigy of the bishop was also created in Nuremberg or it was a likeness from the gallery of portraits of Poznań bishops modo chronicae depicta made after 1508, commissioned by Bishop Jan Lubrański from the Kraków painter Stanisław Skórka. The style of the painting is obviously Venetian, close to the Bassanos and influenced by Tintoretto, but no Venetian artist is confirmed in Poznań and the surrounding area at that time, therefore the painting must be an import, ordered from Venice, such as the portraits of the daughters of Łukasz Górka (1482-1542). Stylistically closest is the portrait of Doge Antonio Priuli (1548-1623), reigning from 1618 until his death, in the Kensington Palace (inventory number RCIN 407153). The way the face, hands and gold patterned fabrics were painted is very similar. The portrait of Priuli was one of four portraits of Doges acquired by Sir Henry Wotton during his tenure as ambassador in Venice (1612-1616 and 1619-1621) "done after the life by Eduardo Fialetto", according Wotton's will. The other three portraits are also stylistically close, notably the effigy of Doge Giovanni Bembo (RCIN 407152). Odoardo Fialetti, born in Bologna in 1573 and initiated to painting with the Bolognese Giovanni Battista Cremonini, moved to Padua and then to Venice, where he entered Tintoretto's workshop. It is possible that he also spent some time in Rome, completing his training. From 1604 to 1612, Fialetti was a member of the Venetian Brotherhood of Painters (Fraglia dei Pittori). The most possible founder of the painting is therefore Jan Czarnkowski (d. 1618/19), royal courtier, one of the heirs of the Górka family after childless death of Lutheran magnate Stanisław Górka (1538-1592). Czarnkowski completed the Górka mausoleum in Kórnik in 1603 and handed over the church to the Catholics. The effigy of the Catholic bishop of Poznań, educated in Italy, owner of the Kórnik estate from 1475 who brought a gardener from Italy to Kórnik (after "Zamek w Kórniku" by Róża Kąsinowska, p. 17), fits perfectly into Czarnkowski's Counter-Reformation activity. It was commissioned in Italy possibly in opposition to the predominantly Protestant northern school of painting. 
Portrait of Uriel Górka (ca. 1435-1498), Bishop of Poznań by Odoardo Fialetti, ca. 1604, Kórnik Castle.
Portraits of Constance of Austria by Gortzius Geldorp
"Although the king was young, he was more inclined to peace than to war, and he did not even want to find employment in anything in the domain of the god Mars. I heard that one time, when the archbishop and chancellor informed him about the war, he wrote something down in a pugilares. They thought that he was anxious about the fate of the war until the king, who was a good painter, goldsmith and turner, showed them a painted little owl", recalled in his diary Albert Stanislaus Radziwill, Grand Chancellor of Lithuania about the beginnings of the reign of Sigismund III Vasa.
The King, so much inimical to idleness (tanto inimico dell'ozio), in his spare time he occupied himself with a certain artistic work, making his effigies, paintings and other items, which he offered as a gift, like "the one of which he painted with his own hand was the portrait of Saint Catherine of Siena last year" (una delle quali che fece di sua mano, fu il ritratto di S. Catherina di Siena l'anno passato), says of Sigismund III another contemporary witness, the papal nuncio Erminio Valenti (1564-1618), in a handwritten description of Poland and the royal court in 1603 (Relazione del Regno di Polonia). In 1605 the king married his distant relative (as a granddaughter of Anna Jagellonica), the sister of his first wife and sister of Queen of Spain, Constance of Austria (1588-1631). Many eminent guests arrived to Kraków for Sigismund's wedding, the bride with her mother Archduchess Maria Anna, and her sister - Maria Christina, Princess of Transylvania, Radu Șerban, Voivode of Wallachia or his envoy, Mechti Kuli Beg, Ambassador of Persia, Afanasy Ivanovich Vlasiev, Ambassador of Russia, among others. The city was beautifully decorated on the entry of the wedding procession (mechanical Polish eagle, most probably from ephemeral decorations, preserved in the St. Mary's Church in Kraków). Also many artists came to Kraków at that time. The so-called "Stockholm Scroll", a unique, fifteen-metre long painting depicting the 1605 wedding procession, acquired during the Deluge and returned to Poland in 1974 (donated to the Royal Castle in Warsaw), is attributed to Balthasar Gebhardt, court painter of Archduke Ferdinand (1578-1637), Constance's brother. Among the most distinguished works attributed to the king there is a gouache painting on parchment with Allegory of Faith in the Nationalmuseum in Stockholm. It bears the king's coat of arms, his monogram S under the crown, the date 1616 and monogram M.N.D.F.C. Below there is also a signature of king's wife Constantia Regina. Since the effigy of a woman bears resemblance to other effigies of the Queen, it was she who lend her features to the figure. Another painting traditionally linked with Sigismund is Mater Dolorosa in the Alte Pinakothek in Munich (inventory number 5082), painted on copper. It comes from the Castle Haag in Geldern in the district of Kleve, North Rhine-Westphalia and was most probably part of Anna Catherine Constance's dowry. However, the 1869 catalogue of the Royal Picture Gallery in Augsburg lists this or a similar painting as a gift from Sigismund to Duke William V of Bavaria, as confirmed by the inscription on the back of the painting in gold letters on a black strip: POTENTISSIMVS POLONIAE REX SIGISMVNDVS III. SINGVLARIS AMORIS ERGO PINXIT CHARISSIMO AFFINI SVO, SERENISSIMO GVILIELMO VTRIVSQVE BAVARIAE DVCI (after "Katalog der Königlichen Gemälde-Galerie in Augsburg" by Rudolph Marggraff, p. 58, item 184). Sigismund's painting is a copy of a work by Gortzius Geldorp depicting a female saint in adoration signed with monogram GG F, painted on wood (oil on panel, 54 x 44.5 cm, Artcurial in Paris, June 3, 2015, lot 238). Crispijn van de Passe the Elder created a print, published in Utrecht in 1612, with similar composition, showing the penitent Mary Magdalene (Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, RP-P-1906-2063), which is however more close to the Sigismund's painting then to the version by Geldorp. The woman in Geldorp's painting has more Habsburg facial features. The same woman with protruding lower lip was depicted in two other paintings by Geldorp one signed with monogram and dated AN ° 1605.GG.F. (oil on panel, 49.9 x 37.7 cm, sold in 2015 at Christie's, Amsterdam, lot 52, the other, oil on panel, 47.3 x 36.5 cm, sold in 2011 at Christie's, New York, lot 140). Both paintings represent a lady as Berenice, wife of pharaoh Ptolemy III Euergetes. Berenice pledged to sacrifice her hair to the goddess Venus if her husband was safely brought home from battle during the Third Syrian War. Her hair became the constellation called Coma Berenices (Berenice's hair) and the symbol of power of marital love. Very little is known about Gortzius Geldorp. He was born in Leuven (Louvain) in 1553 in what was then the Spanish Netherlands and learned to paint from Frans Francken I and later from Frans Pourbus the Elder. Around 1576 became court painter to the Duke of Terra Nova, Carlo d'Aragona Tagliavia (1530-1599), a Sicilian-Spanish nobleman, who in 1582 was appointed Governor of Milan and whom he accompanied on his trips. The Duke died in Madrid on September 23, 1599, and Geldorp died after 1619. It is very possible that he or his student came to Kraków in 1605. In 1599 Geldorp created a portrait of a young woman in Venetian costume (oil on panel, 43.8 x 36.2 cm, Christie's New York, 12 January 1994, lot 134, signed and dated top left: Anº.1599./GG.F), similar to costumes of Venetian ladies published in 1590 in De gli habiti antichi, e moderni di diverse parti del mondo libri due by Cesare Vecellio, cousin of the painter Titian (p. 97-112). The same year he also created a portrait of Hortensia del Prado (Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, inventory number SK-A-2081, signed and dated top left: Anº 1599./GG.F.). Either the painter went for a short time to Venice or Poland-Lithuania, or the lady in Venetian costume visited his studio or most likely sent a miniature, drawing or other portrait to be copied. The same woman as in the painting sold in New York, wearing a similar lace-trimmed Venetian dress, is depicted in another painting, possibly a copy or variant of Geldorp's painting. This painting is also in a private collection (oil on canvas, 47.5 x 38 cm, Bonhams London, 6 July, 2005, lot 113). It is attributed to the painter active in Bologna Lavinia Fontana (1552-1614). 
Portrait of Queen Constance of Austria (1588-1631) as Berenice by Gortzius Geldorp, 1605, Private collection.
Portrait of Queen Constance of Austria (1588-1631) as Berenice by Gortzius Geldorp, ca. 1605, Private collection.
Portrait of Queen Constance of Austria (1588-1631) as a Saint in adoration (Saint Constance?) by Gortzius Geldorp, ca. 1616, Private collection.
Portrait of a lady in Venetian costume by Gortzius Geldorp, 1599, Private collection.
Portrait of a lady in Venetian costume by Lavinia Fontana, ca. 1599, Private collection.
Portrait of Queen Constance of Austria as Venus by Gortzius Geldorp
"At that time, King Sigismund III of Poland commissioned from him the fable of Diana with Calisto bathing & other Poems. They pleased the King, who ordered him to be invited to his court with a worthy reward. However, the painter accustomed to the comforts of his home, refused such a good opportunity, sending there Tomaso Dolobella, his disciple […] He also painted for the same King part of the fable of Psyche, shared with Palma, and Antonio's work having pleased him, he then ordered from him a canvas with the martyrdom of Saint Ursula, which he executed with great diligence, and on the covers he painted the saints Vladislaus, Demetrius and other saints, whom the King surrounded with a cult, and for that worthy work he was commended with royal letters and presented with some gifts", comments on the works of the Greco-Venetian painter Antonio Vassilacchi (1556-1629) called L'Aliense, Carlo Ridolfi in a book published in 1648 presenting the history of Venetian painting (Le Maraviglie dell'arte). Saint Ursula was probably intended for King's mistress, influential Urszula Meyerin, who was most probably depicted as the saint martyr.
As it was said Palma il Giovane (1549-1628) worked with Vassilacchi on part of the fable of Psyche, and for the Cathedral in Warsaw he created two paintings - one with Baptism of Christ (tavola di Christo al Giordano), according to Ridolfi, and the Virgin and Child with St. John the Baptist and St. Stanislaus (destroyed in 1944). According to Palma's letter from January 1602 Aliense was to begin designs while in Salò, but he would then need to return to Venice to "finish certain works that he is doing for the king of Poland". Two drawings by Palma, one showing Venus and Psyche (British Museum, inventory number 1862,0809.74) and the other Cupid and Psyche (sold at Christie's, July 6, 2021, lot 3), could be preparatory drawing for the Psyche cycle. A letter from the Treasurer of the Crown, Jan Firlej (d. 1614), addressed to King Sigismund III Vasa (dated April 29, 1599) says that in one of the Italian rooms ("in the new buildings") at the Wawel Castle in Kraków, described as "the happiest", "paintings were made in Venice". The themes of these paintings decorating the interior, were most probably taken from erotic and mythological themes. They covered the walls and filled the gilded coffered ceilings in Venetian style. According to inventory description of Wawel from 1665 "Italian paintings with golden frames" were in the antechamber at the Hen's Foot tower, Italian "pictures" decorating "the ceiling carved with gold work" in the main room there and "around eleven Italian paintings with golden frames". In the room "under the birds", according to the inventory from 1692, there were "four pictures above the door, between which there are nine pictures above the panelling, only two with golden frames ... In this room there are nine pictures in the ceiling" (after "Weneckie zamówienia Zygmunta III" by Jan Białostocki). The king had undoubtedly other erotic and Italian rooms and studiolo in other royal residences in Kraków (Łobzów), Warsaw (Royal Castle, Ujazdów), Vilnius, Grodno and Lviv. Cardinal Ferdinando I de' Medici (1549-1609), who became Grand Duke of Tuscany in 1587, most likely owned such a studiolo or camerino in his Villa Medici in Rome, as suggested by the author of the Instagram profile ARTidbits (post published July 27, 2023). There is a pavilion there with two rooms, considered the most intimate in the entire complex. It was decorated by Jacopo Zucchi with frescoes representing a pergola, birds, plants and small animals. Zucchi is the author of numerous portraits of cardinal's mistress Clelia Farnese (1556-1613), Marchioness of Civitanova. She was depicted as Amphitrite, the goddess of the sea, and Ferdinando as her husband Poseidon, as well as various Roman ladies, in the painting entitled The Kingdom of Amphitrite (The Coral Fishers), which is now in the Lviv National Art Gallery (Ж-272, signed and dated lower right: Jacobus Zuchi fior fecci 159[0]). The painting comes from the Lubomirski collection, so provenance from the royal collection of Poland-Lithuania, as a gift for Sigismund III or his aunt Anna Jagiellon, cannot be excluded. Many copies of this painting exist, all however without the disguised portrait of the cardinal. The Grand Duke corresponded with the King of Poland and in a letter dated September 10, 1595, he even recommended two of his musicians Luca Marenzio and Francesco Rasi to Sigismund. According to Le vite de' pittori ... by Giovanni Baglione, published in 1642, a version adorned Ferdinando's studiolo in his Roman residence, the Palazzo Firenze (after "Jacopo Zucchi's The Kingdom of Amphitrite ..." by Federico Giannini, Ilaria Baratta). Clelia, as suggested by ARTidbits, was also depicted as one of the Three Graces, goddesses of charm, beauty, nature, human creativity and fertility in a painting from a private collection in Rome (Casa d'Aste Babuino in Rome, June 27, 2023, lot 280). The latter effigy closely resembles her portrait attributed to Scipione Pulzone from the Palazzo Farnese in Rome (Dorotheum in Vienna, October 22, 2019, lot 15). The huge popularity of erotic images and nudes caused concern to some preachers of the Counter-Reformation. In his poem "Roman and Christian Lucretia", published in Kraków in about 1570, Bishop Jan Dymitr Solikowski (1539-1603), secretary of King Sigismund II Augustus from 1564, demanded that paintings depicting "shameless arts and all Jupiter Vanities, Mars with Venus" to be burned and painters with them, it should be noted however, that the title page of his work shows a beautiful woodcut with half-naked Lucretia by Mateusz Siebeneicher or his circle (University of Warsaw Library). Over a half a century later, in 1629 the court preacher of Sigismund III and Ladislaus IV Dominican Fabian Birkowski (1566-1636) warned against "these painted fornications", which were very popular in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth before the Deluge (1655-1660): "and yet this eye poison can be seen everywhere, full of these filthy images in bedchambers, halls, dining rooms, gardens and fountains, above the doors, on the glasses and cups". He also added "and our heretics have so corrupted their eyes that they throw the image of the crucified Christ out of bedchambers and rooms, and in its place they hang Fauns and painted Cupids, Venus and Fortuna above the table, so that they may dine and sup with them. [...] And there is no image of the Blessed Virgin anywhere; and the image of filthy Venus has a place, and even better at home" (after "Kazania" by Fabian Birkowski, 1858, Vol. 1-2, p. 81-82). Somber and death-filled aura of the late 1620s provoked reflection. At that time the Commonwealth was struggling with Swedish invasion of Polish Prussia, military defeats and outbreaks of plague associated with troop movements. Only in Gdańsk 9,324 people died during epidemic of 1629-1630 (after "Przeszłość demograficzna Polski", Vol. 17-18, p. 66). In 1630 Mikołaj Wolski (1553-1630), Grand Crown Marshal, favorite and friend of Sigismund III Vasa, but above all an excellent collector, who invited to Poland the Italian painter Venanzio di Subiaco (1579-1659), ordered erotic paintings to be burned before his death except those in Venetian style coffered ceilings. He wrote in a letter of March 6 to Jan Witkowski "that images ad libidinem [to lust] and inciting to sin, which can be found in Krzepice castle, should all be burned; and those which are painted naked on the wall in my room where I slept and in my chamber, I beg you, let a painter who is able to paint any dresses and let him cover inhonestates [deceptiveness]. Ceiling paintings, let them remain as they are" (after "Zakon Kamedułów ..." by Ludwik Zarewicz, p. 197). Nevertheless, "a wall full of paintings with naked people" is mentioned in some manor houses still in 1650 (after "Miłość staropolska" by Zbigniew Kuchowicz, p. 165). Two paintings from the Poznań Society of Friends of Learning, lost during World War II, show how wonderful the interiors of the residences of the First Polish Republic were. According to tradition, they represented the interior of the Leszczyński Palace, most probably the Palace of Bogusław Leszczyński, Grand Treasurer of the Crown in Warsaw, built between 1650-1654 to a design by Giovanni Battista Gisleni. "Portrait of an elegant woman in the guise of Venus" by Gortzius Geldorp (oil on panel, 56.6 x 44.1 cm, sold at Sotheby's, New York, January 29, 2016, lot 454) is a version of portrait of Queen Constance of Austria (1588-1631) as Berenice, created in 1605. The face is identical, while the composition resembles portraits of Venetian courtesans by Domenico Tintoretto, especially the Lady revealing her breast in Prado (inventory number P000382) and the Portrait of a woman as Flora in the Wiesbaden Museum (inventory number M 296), also attributed to Domenico's half-sister Marietta Robusti. Also the style of the painting with bold brushstrokes is more Venetian and tintoresque, it seems that Geldorp copied a work by Tintoretto and inspired by his style. His Penitent Mary Magdalene in the Mauritshuis in The Hague (inventory number 319), was evidently inspired by Domenico's Magdalene in the Capitoline Museums in Rome (PC 32), painted between 1598 and 1602. He also copied Violante or "La Bella Gatta" by Titan (monogrammed upper left: GG. F., sold at Dorotheum in Vienna, April 19, 2016, lot 122). 
Portrait of Queen Constance of Austria (1588-1631) as Venus by Gortzius Geldorp, after 1605, Private collection.
Venus and Psyche by Palma il Giovane, first quarter of the 17th century, British Museum.
Cupid and Psyche by Palma il Giovane, first quarter of the 17th century, Private collection.
Entombment of Christ with the portrait of Nicolaus Christopher Radziwill "the Orphan" by Leandro Bassano or workshop
On September 16, 1582 Prince Nicolaus Christopher Radziwill "the Orphan" (1549-1616), Grand Marshal of Lithuania, accompanied by a dozen or so people (friends and servants), set off from his family castle in Nesvizh towards Venice from where in 1583 he went to the Holy Land. Through Dalmatia, the Greek islands, Tripoli, Damascus, he reached Jerusalem in the middle of the year, where in the Basilica of the Holy Sepulcher he was awarded the title of Knight of the Holy Sepulcher. Then through Egypt, where he had the opportunity to see the famous Great Sphinx, the eastern coast of Italy and again Venice he returned to his homeland on July 7, 1584.
Nicolaus Christopher was the son of Nicolaus Radziwill the Black and Elżbieta Szydłowiecka, daughter of Chancellor Krzysztof Szydłowiecki. After his father's death, as a result of his stay in Rome (he also visited Milan, Padua and Mantua), he converted in 1567 from Calvinism to Catholicism. Suffering from syphilis, in February 1580 he again went to Italy for treatment, near Padua and Lucca, and spent the turn of 1580-1581 in Venice, with an attempt to make an expedition to the Holy Land. He vowed that if his health would improve, he would go on a pilgrimage. Just few months after return from the Holy Land, on November 24, 1584, he married Princess Elżbieta Eufemia Wiśniowiecka (1569-1596), who was only 15 at the time and was 20 years younger than himself, and he had 6 sons and 3 daughters with her. In 1593, he and his wife left for the last time in his life the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, for treatment in a health resort in Abano Terme near Padua. Nicolaus Christopher died on February 28, 1616 in Niasvizh. During his lifetime Radziwill founded himself a tombstone in the Jesuit Church in Nesvizh - mentioned in the inscription on the pedestal, as well as in the sermon given by the Jesuit Marcin Widziewicz during his funeral. The co-founder was the wife of Nicolaus Christopher, therefore it should be dated to 1588-1596. The general conception of the tomb was probably modelled after the tomb of Pope Sixtus V in Rome, executed between 1585-1591 by Domenico Fontana and the tomb of Queen Bona Sforza in Bari, created between 1589-1593. Nicolaus Christopher saw the coffin with the body of the Queen in Bari in March 1584 and not without significance were his contacts with Queen Anna Jagiellon, the founder of the tombstone in Bari. The center of his tombstone is filled with a plate with a relief image of the prince in profile kneeling in prayer, with his head raised and in pilgrim's attire. It is crowned with a triangular pediment with the Order of the Knight of the Holy Sepulcher. The tomb was designed by a Jesuit architect Giovanni Maria Bernardoni (d. 1605) and created by an anonymous Italian sculptor active in Lesser Poland, possibly from the royal court. Szymon Starowolski (Starovolscius) in the book "A description of Poland or the state of the Kingdom of Poland" (Polonia sive status Regni Poloniae descriptio) issued in 1632, describing the investments made in his ancestral seat and its immediate vicinity by Nicolaus Christopher "the Orphan" (founding numerous monasteries, hospitals, the Jesuit college in Nesvizh, the palace and the town hall, as well as the reconstruction of the castle in nearby Mir, the arrangement of gardens, orchards and fish ponds, as well as the marking of roads along which there were moats and rows of fruit trees), ended with the statement that the voivode "arranged Italy for us in the middle of Sarmatia" (after "W podróży po Europie" by Wojciech Tygielski, Anna Kalinowska, p. 471). The painting by Leandro Bassano or workshop from the late 16th century in the Lithuanian National Art Museum in Vilnius (oil on canvas, 110 x 177 cm, inventory number LNDM T 3996), shows the scene of Entombment of Christ with a kneeling donor in the right corner, whose pose is identical with the pose of Nicolaus Christopher in his tombstone. Before 1941, the painting was owned by the Society of Friends of Science in Vilnius, to which it was given by count Władysław Tyszkiewicz (1865-1936), the owner of the Lentvaris estate, in 1907. Similar scene of the Entombment was published on page 61 of Stanisław Grochowski's "The Jerusalem procession in the church of the glorious tomb of the Lord Jesus [...] taken from the books of the Jerusalem Peregrination or the Pilgrimage [...] of Nicolaus Christopher Radziwill, prince on Olyka and Nesvizh [...]" (Hierozolimska processia w kosciele chwalebne[g]o grobu Pana Iezusowego [...] wzięta z ksiąg Hierozolymskiey Peregrynatiiey albo Pielgrzymowania [...] Mikołaia Chrzysstopha Radziwiła na Ołyce y Nieświeżu książęcia [...]), released in Kraków in 1607. A similar style painting depicting the Entombment of Christ was photographed around 1880 by Ignacy Krieger in the Prelate's House (Prałatówka) of Saint Mary's Basilica in Kraków (National Museum in Warsaw, DI 29611 MNW). In the basilica's collections are paintings by painters working for the royal court and magnates of Poland-Lithuania, such as the German Hans Suess von Kulmbach (ca. 1480-1522) and the Flemish Jacob Mertens (d. 1609). The man bears a great resemblance to effigies of Nicolaus Christopher "the Orphan", especially to his earliest known portrait, a drawing by David Kandel in the Louvre Museum, created between 1563 and 1564 during his studies in Strasbourg. In the Chapel of Our Lady of Peace (Cappella della Madonna della Pace) at the Santi Giovanni e Paolo in Venice, there is also a horizontal composition by Leandro Bassano. The church is considered the pantheon of Venice due to the large number of Venetian doges and other important figures buried there since its founding. The chapel was built between 1498 and 1503 to house the Byzantine icon of the Madonna, brought to Venice in 1349. The ceiling stuccoes are the work of Ottaviano Ridolfi and the majority of the paintings were done by artists working for King Sigismund III Vasa - Palma il Giovane painted four medallions on the ceiling representing the virtues of Saint Hyacinth of Poland (San Giacinto Odrovaz), Antonio Vassilacchi, known as Aliense, created a large Flagellation of Christ, on the right and Leandro the large canvas with Saint Hyacinth walking on the water of the Dnieper River (oil on canvas, 230 x 462 cm), on the left. This painting is dated around 1606-1610 and depicts the scene "Saint Hyacinth at the coming of the Tartars walks on the water of the River Dnieper bearing to safety the Holy Sacrament and the image of Our Lady". Leandro created other paintings for this temple, such as "Pope Honorius III approving the rule of Saint Dominic in 1216" in which the 13th century scene is transported to early 17th century Rome with many contemporary portraits, the pope in pontifical robes, the cardinals, the pope's Swiss Guards in typical robes with ruffs. The scene of 13th century Ruthenia is also brought back to the 17th century and the majority of the characters wear Italian costumes. Interestingly, in 1606 Tatar raids began in January. The steppe warlord Khan Temir (d. 1637) led 10,000 men to attack Podolia and was defeated by field hetman Stanisław Żółkiewski at the Battle of Udycz (January 28, 1606). "Christopher, Knight of Christ at the Sepulchre" (Christophorus Eques Christi dni Sepulchro) (257) is mentioned among the paintings from the collection of Princess Louise Charlotte Radziwill (1667-1695), inventoried in 1671 (after "Inwentarz galerii obrazów Radziwiłłów z XVII w." by Teresa Sulerzyska). 
Entombment of Christ with the portrait of Prince Nicolaus Christopher Radziwill "the Orphan" (1549-1616) as donor by Leandro Bassano or workshop, before 1616, Lithuanian National Museum of Art in Vilnius.
Portraits of Infanta Anna Vasa by Lavinia Fontana
Sigismund III's sister, Anna Vasa (1568-1625), was passionate about botany. In 1604 she received from her brother the office of starost of Brodnica, and in 1611 of Golub in Pomerania and settled in her estates. She created a real cultural center in Brodnica and Golub and gathered around her people of different backgrounds. Anna financed the printing of Szymon Syreniusz's Herbarium (Zielnik Herbarzem z ięzyka Łacinskiego zowią), published in Kraków in 1613, and she founded a large botanical garden in Golub, where she cultivated medicinal plants and rare herbs, including tobacco.
In Brodnica, the Lutheran princess expanded and reconstructed the interiors of the so-called Palace of Anna Vasa. She also laid out a garden around the palace. Plan of Brodnica in the Military Archives of Sweden (Krigsarkivet) in Stockholm, made for military needs by the Swedes in 1628, just after the death of the princess, shows two gardens in the castle area. The Renaissance palace was built before 1564 by Rafał Działyński, starost of Brodnica, after the fire of the Teutonic castle in 1550 and rebuilt after 1604. The architect was most likely an Italian active at the royal court in Warsaw, possibly Paolo del Corte or Giacomo Rodondo, who were working at the time on the reconstruction of the Royal Castle. For all needs the Princess referred to Warsaw, as she considered herself abandoned in Polish Prussia. From the capital, she brought appropriate dresses, fabrics, beer, wine, mulberry juice, and even paper (after "Listy Anny Wazy (1568–1625)" by Karol Łopatecki, Janusz Dąbrowski, Wojciech Krawczuk, Wojciech Walczak, p. 20, 26, 38, 59, 157-158). From around 1615, Anna also owned a manor in Warsaw, not far from the Royal Castle. It is probably the old house in the garden mentioned in the document from 1622 near the summer residence of Queen Constance. She also resided in a Teutonic castle in Osiek by Lake Kałębie, between Grudziądź and Pelplin, which was transformed into a fine Renaissance residence by starost Adam Walewski in 1565 (demolished in 1772 by the Prussian administration). The princess had a particular fondness for music, dance and ballet. The letter of Nuncio Claudio Rangoni to Cardinal Pietro Aldobrandini (Kraków, July 18, 1604), describes the performance of the wife of Count Cristoforo Sessi signore di Riolo, a lady "excellent in singing and playing the viola", "in the room of the princess [Anna Vasa], also heard by the king [Sigismund III], remaining in a place where he could not be seen" (quel conte Christofaro di Ruolo è partito di ritorno a Praga dopo l'esser stato alcuni giorni qui, ove la moglie sua ha cantato una volta in camera della principessa, sentita anco dal re, ch'era in luogo onde non poteva esser veduto). In 1619 she helped the daughter of a court musician Wincenty Lilius (Vincenzo Gigli) to enter a convent in Braniewo (letter from Warsaw of November 17) and in 1624 she interceded with Urszula Meyerin to ask the king for an annual salary or the post of mayor for another Italian musician Zygmunt Petart (Sigismondo Patard) (letter from Brodnica of October 1). She enjoyed arranging weddings for her court ladies. In 1605, during the celebrations related to the wedding of Sigismund III in Kraków she organized an expensive "Masked Ball of the Ladies". Anna and her court ladies asked first the king, then the archduke, the prince, "and other gentlemen and courtiers, who also had to jump like them". They were especially amused by the gentlemen who weren't good dancers "even though they had been to Italy". A few days earlier, on December 13, 1605, a ballet had taken place in the presence of the whole court in a special dance hall in honor of the new Queen Constance. The masked dancers wore male and female Spanish costumes, there was also an Italian Commedia dell'arte (Pantaleonów włoskich, którzy długo po włosku z sobą się swarzyli), as well as Spanish, Italian and Polish dances. Masked aristocrats played both male and female roles (after "Balety na królewskich godach 1605 roku" by Jacek Żukowski). The masks were probably imported from Venice, because for example in 1609 in Kraków, Wincenty Zygante (Vincenzo Ziganti) together with the second elder of the painters' guild estimated the possessions of Adam Niestachowski (or Romanowski), namely several dozen Venetian masks, with beards, mustaches, trimmed beards, of Black people, old women, young girls, married women, etc. The ballet prepared for the birth of Princess Anna Catherine Constance Vasa on August 7, 1619 was equally splendid. Anna led "dances with a stomp" performed by noble women, and her nephew, Prince Ladislaus Sigismund, led young men dressed as Turks. The collection of the Museum of Warsaw includes a perfectly preserved outfit of Adam Parzniewski (1565-1614), burgrave of Kraków Castle and court marshal of Princess Anna Vasa, found before 1952 in the crypt of Warsaw Cathedral. It is an outfit made of materials of Italian origin, probably sewn in Warsaw and consists of a cloak, short puffy trousers and an Italian velvet caftan (velluto ceselato), originally purple, called pavonazzo in Italian (after "Marmur dziejowy ...", edited by Ewa Chojecka, p. 232), inspired by Spanish fashion. According to Gabriel Joannica, the publisher and author of the introduction to the herbarium by Szymon Syreniusz, Anna had "the ability to speak languages, first our Polish, as if native, then others, foreign: German, Italian, French, and partly learned Latin". She also spoke her native Swedish well. Her closest confidant at the court in Warsaw was the "minister in a skirt" and "Jesuit's bigotry" Urszula Meyerin (Ursula Meierin), king's mistress and a devout Catholic. She corresponded frequently with Jung frau Ursull, calling her Mein Liebt Vrsul (My Dear Ursul) in German or mosci Pano Vrsolo (Lady Ursola, close to Italian Orsola) in Polish in her letters. The majority of her letters are now kept in Stockholm (Svenska Riksarkivet), taken during the Deluge (1655-1660). In the oldest known letter from the princess to Urszula, dated in Warsaw on August 16, 1599, she asks her to buy hats for the princess and her ladies. To emphasize her hereditary rights to the Swedish crown, the princess, like her aunt Anna Jagiellon before the royal elections in Poland-Lithuania in the 1570s, used the Spanish title of Infanta (Serenissima Infant. Sueciae Annae, Infanti Sueciae Anna, Serenissimae Infantis Sueciae Anne). The inscription on the tin sarcophagus funded by Sigismund III Vasa, published in Monumenta Sarmatarum ... by Szymon Starowolski in 1655, calls her "The Most Serene Princess, D. [Domina/Donna/Doña] Anna Infanta of Sweden" (Serenissima Princeps, D. Anna Infans Sueciæ). Her letters in Polish were usually signed "Anna, Princess of Sweden" (Anna królewna szwedzka) or simply Anna, in letters in German to Urszula Meyerin. The king's favorite Urszula, close to the two wives of Sigismund III, corresponded with their mother Maria Anna of Bavaria (1551-1608), Archduchess of Austria, and she was probably an intermediary in certain artistic commissions from Anna Vasa. The Queen's official physician was the Venetian Giovanni Battista Gemma, who died in Kraków in 1608, sent by her mother to the court in Warsaw. As at the court of the Archduchess (her portraits by the Flemish painter Cornelis Vermeyen, the Italian Giovanni Pietro de Pomis or the Spanish painters) and at the royal court in Warsaw, in Brodnica also Spanish fashion and Flemish and Italian art must have been very popular. Very little is known about the artistic patronage of the Princess-Infanta. Nothing has been preserved in Brodnica or Golub (at least confirmed). The invaders, mainly Swedes, probably looted or destroyed everything. In a letter dated October 21, 1605 from Kraków (Polish Library in Paris, rkps 56/36, in Polish) to Hetman Jan Karol Chodkiewicz (died 1621), she expresses her great joy at the news of the victory of the Commonwealth's army led by Chodkiewicz in the Battle of Kircholm in 1605, during which he inflicted a major defeat on a Swedish army three times larger than his own. The Swedes invaded the Commonwealth in mid-1605, shortly before the marriage of Anna's brother to Constance of Austria (December 11, 1605). Poland-Lithuania was at that time one of the richest countries in Europe, and the Commonwealth could afford a much more powerful and larger army than that of Sweden. However, military spending was limited by Parliament (Sejm) because magnates in the Senate and nobles were afraid that such a powerful army will be used against them to strengthen the power of the king and turn the country into absolute monarchy (compare "Mecenat kulturalny i dwór Stanisława Lubomirskiego ..." by Józef Długosz, p. 33). "Anna, by the grace of God, [hereditary] princess of the Swedes, Goths, and Vandals, heiress of the Grand Duchy of Finland. Lord, dear to us. May God be eternally praised for such a great and significant victory, which he deigned to give against such a main and fierce enemy of the King His Highness and the nation here. [...] And since we have a special and great pleasure from this victory, so that we may have a more perfect one, we therefore urgently ask you in remembrance of this, Your Lordship, that you order an expert and conscious person, taking a painter, to paint the battle scene, formations and all actions how that battle was fought there, having learned the names, places and people, you will do a great and very grateful thing to us", writes the Infanta in the mentioned letter. The oldest and best painting depicting the battle is today in the Château de Sassenage, near Grenoble in France. It is attributed to Peter Snayers, active in Antwerp between 1612 and 1621 and later in Brussels, and probably comes from the collection of the son of Sigismund III, John II Casimir Vasa, who settled in France after his abdication in 1668. Sigismund most likely commissioned it, through his agent at the court of Archduke Albert VII in Brussels in the 1620s, and the original, possibly also by a Flemish or Italian painter, was most likely the painting commissioned by the princess in 1605. Anna died on February 6, 1625 in Brodnica, and the last moments of the Lutheran Princess-Infanta, were vividly commented on in Rome and Florence - letters of Nuncio Giovanni Battista Lancellotti to the Holy See from Warsaw, February 9 and February 18, 1625 and letter of Giovanni Battista Siri, envoy of the Medici family, February 21, 1625 from Kraków (Alii 7 stante passo ad'altra vita la Ser[enissi]ma infante ...). The first Polish monographer of Anna, Marian Dubiecki, wrote in Przegląd Powszechny in 1896 about the efforts of Sigismund III Vasa to obtain papal permission to bury his sister at the Wawel Cathedral. It is possible that through rumors of an alleged deathbed conversion of the Infanta, a devout Lutheran, the Polish court wanted to convince Rome that she should be buried with other members of the family and close to the Jagiellons. It was not until 1636 that her nephew, King Ladislaus IV Vasa, decided to bury Anna in nearby Toruń, in a Baroque mausoleum built especially for this purpose in 1626 at the Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, then a Protestant temple. The surviving sources confirm that Anna Vasa's body dressed in an expensive dress and decorated with jewels was waiting in Brodnica, in the "vaulted room", unburied. In May 1626 King Gustavus Adolphus launched his invasion of Polish Prussia. On October 4, 1628 Brodnica capitulated, surrendered by the commander of the Polish garrison, the Frenchman La Montagne, and fell into the hands of the Sweds for over a year. Only the truce concluded on September 26, 1629 (in Stary Targ) obliged them to leave the city on October 6, so the night before, the Swedish soldiers organized a plundering. A few of them broke into the tomb of Anna Vasa, where they profaned the corpse of the Princess-Infanta, tearing off her dress and stealing jewels. The citizens of Brodnica were shocked, so the Judicial Court quickly assembled and the royal court in Warsaw was notified. The Chancellor of the Commonwealth, Jakub Zadzik, sent a sharp letter to the king of Sweden, in which, based on a written statement of the Brodnica Court, he presented shameful acts. It was answered by the Chancellor of the Kingdom of Sweden, Axel Oxenstierna, who only partially admitted that the fault lies with his compatriots, while trying to shift the responsibility onto Poles (after "Skarb Anny Wazówny ..." by Piotr Grążawski). The sarcophagus was probably put back in order because the copy of receipt for the take over of Brodnica from the Swedish army issued by Mikołaj Hannibal Stroci (a descendant of the Florentine Strozzi family), a month later (October 26/November 6, 1629), does not mention the desecration of the corpse. Anna Vasa's crypt in Toruń was opened on April 7, 1994 and the exploration confirmed all known information about robberies. No funeral equipment were found. The skeleton was fairly well preserved, however, it turned out that the right forearm was missing, perhaps as the result of the brutal behavior of the burglars during the robbery of the jewels. No trace of the Infanta's jewelry was known until a document was found in Stockholm in the 1980s describing a find in the Uppsala Cathedral in 1777. A gold bracelet was found on the floor with an engraved monogram of Anna - APS (Anna Princeps Sveciae) and the symbols of the Vasa family, now kept at the Royal Armory (Livrustkammaren) in Stockholm (after "Śmierć i problemy pochówku Anny Wazówny ..." by Alicja Saar-Kozłowska, p. 76-77). The bracelet was probably made in Gdańsk or Toruń, since very similar are depicted in portraits of patrician ladies by Anton Möller from the 1590s (National Museum in Gdańsk and National Museum of Finland), in a portrait of a lady, probably a noblewoman from the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, in the National Museum in Stockholm (Gripsholm Castle, NMGrh 426) and a similar gold bracelet was found among the jewelry of Zofia Magdalena Loka (Skrwilno Treasure in Toruń), hidden during the Deluge. The collection of jewelry of Anna Vasa was famous and estimated at 200,000 thalers. Some of these jewels she inherited from her mother Catherine Jagellon. In 1606, to repay various debts intended to modernize the starosty and her residence, she decided to sell some of her jewelry to Tsar False Dmitry I. In 2022, a portrait of a lady in a rich costume adorned with jewels and a garden in the background was sold in New York (oil on canvas, 121 x 95.5 cm, Sotheby's, May 26, 2022, lot 223). The painting comes from a private collection in Connecticut and was previously believed to represent Queen Elizabeth I of England. The face resembles some effigies of the Queen, such as the "Darnley Portrait" or the "Rainbow Portrait", but the model is dressed in Spanish costume from the late 16th or early 17th century. The Queen of England wearing a dress of her greatest enemy, it is very unlikely, so the identification has been changed to Infanta Isabella Clara Eugenia (1566-1633). The portrait is very similar to the portrait of the Spanish Infanta by Juan Pantoja de la Cruz, painted between 1598-1599 (Prado Museum in Madrid, P000717). The costume, the pose, even the landscape are very much alike. In her portrait, Isabella Clara Eugenia holds a miniature of her father Philip II of Spain, while in the described portrait the main jewel is a large gold eagle pendant set with diamonds. Although the Spanish Infanta was not a close member of the Imperial family, she could inherit such a pendant from her grandfather, Emperor Charles V, or receive it from the Austrian branch of the Habsburg family. In 1543, Charles V offered such a "diamond eagle with rubies" (orzeł dyamentowy z rubinami) to his niece Elizabeth of Austria (1526-1545) on the occasion of her marriage with Sigismund II Augustus (today in the Treasury of the Munich Residence, Sch 49). In the majority of her portraits, Isabella Clara Eugenia wears a large diamond cross and no other portrait with an eagle is known. Two important elements are missing to consider the portrait in New York as her effigy - an eagle's head, as the imperial symbol is a bicephalous bird - a gold pendant with a double-headed imperial eagle from the 1600s, most likely belonging to Constance d Austria, is in the Monastery of Jasna Góra in Częstochowa, and the protruding lip of the Habsburgs, clearly visible in her portrait by Pantoja de la Cruz. Therefore, the model is not a member of the imperial family or a Habsburg. A similar eagle pendant can be seen on several portraits of Queen Constance of Austria - by Jakob Troschel from about 1610 (Germanisches Nationalmuseum in Nuremberg, Gm 699, 7009/7277), by unknown painter from the 1610s (Museum of Zamość, 62) or by Pieter Soutman from about 1624 (Staatsgalerie Neuburg, 985). In her portrait in Nuremberg, the queen also wears a gold diadem with a heraldic Polish eagle and a Spanish dress - saya, probably a gift from Spain or sewn alla moda from a Spanish model. The Queen of Poland was also depicted in a typical Spanish dress in her portrait by an Italian painter, now in the Philadelphia Museum of Art (oil on canvas, 186.1 x 107.3 cm, 1883-137), a companion to the portrait of her younger sister Maria Maddalena of Austria, Grand Duchess of Tuscany, in the same collection (1883-136). Spanish, Italian (Venetian and Florentine), Flemish, French and Turkish fashion was at that time very popular in the Commonwealth, as confirmed by Piotr Zbylitowski in his "Reprimand of Women's Extravagant Attire" (Przygana wymyślnym strojom białogłowskim), published in Kraków in 1600. The country became very wealthy from the grain trade and such "extravagant" and rich costumes were not expensive. The next queen of Poland, Cecilia Renata of Austria, was also depicted with an eagle jewel - portrait with a tulip (Alte Pinakothek in Munich, 6781) and an engraving by Eberhard Wassenberg, and a gold brooch with a Polish eagle in the Louvre Museum (MR 418) was probably made for her. Anna Vasa was depicted with an eagle pendant in a miniature by Sofonisba Anguissola from around 1592 (Rohrau Castle). The garden behind the woman in the New York painting was made for her and a villa in the center is her residence. The layout of this garden corresponds almost perfectly to the palace of Anna Vasa in Brodnica, as depicted in the mentioned drawing in Stockholm from 1628. Assuming that the two depictions are very accurate, the differences arise from the fact that the residence has been modified over time (Anna extended the building and built a kitchen) and there is about 20 years difference between them. The painting is attributed to a Flemish painter, however, the style of this work is very characteristic and typical of a great painter Lavinia Fontana (1552-1614) and her studio/workshop. It is comparable to her self-portraits - at the spinet with a maidservant (Accademia Nazionale di San Luca in Rome and private collection), in her studio (Uffizi Gallery in Florence and private collection) from the 1570s, signed portrait of the Gozzadini family from 1584 (Pinacoteca Nazionale in Bologna) and portraits of Margherita Gonzaga (1564-1618) and her ladies and Alfonso II d'Este (1533-1597), Duke of Ferrara in the scene of the visit of the Queen of Sheba to King Solomon from 1599 (National Gallery of Ireland). Lavinia was born in Bologna in the Papal States and she and her family moved to Rome in 1604 at the invitation of Pope Clement VIII. Her father was another prominent painter in the service of the popes - Prospero Fontana (1512-1597). A miniature portrait of a couple from a private collection (oil on copper, 19 cm), attributed to the circle of Prospero, is an effigy of William V, Duke of Bavaria and his wife, Renata of Lorraine. If he or his workshop were authors, he therefore accepted orders from abroad based on study drawings or effigies by other painters, his stay in Bavaria not being confirmed in the sources. The royal court and Polish-Lithuanian magnates frequently commissioned paintings from Rome at the turn of the 16th and 17th centuries. They were delivered to the king by foreigners who stayed in Rome, such as the Jesuit Antonio Possevino (1533-1611), his envoys and courtiers, such as Cardinal Andrew Bathory (1563-1599), Stanisław Reszka (1544-1600) and Tomasz Treter (1547-1610) and others, as well as passers-by, such as Marshals Mikołaj Wolski (1553-1630) and Zygmunt Gonzaga Myszkowski (ca. 1562-1615). Paintings, whose subjects are not known, sent from Rome by Reszka in 1588 must have pleased the king, since Bernard Gołyński reported that they were far superior to the paintings sent to the king by Possevino (after "Z dziejów polskiego mecenatu ..." by Władysław Tomkiewicz, p. 23). Eustachy Wołłowicz (1572-1630), provost (praepositus) of Trakai and a referendary at the court of Sigismund III Vasa possibly owned a painting by Michelangelo (Pietà), reproduced in a 1604 print by Lucas Kilian with his coat of arms and inscription MICHAEL: ANG. / B. pinxit Romae. They also had many portraits, especially of famous Italians. In the second edition of his autobiography, published in 1608, Bologna's best known poet, Giulio Cesare Croce (1550-1609), writes poetically on his portrait made by Lavinia, which was sent to Poland: "And a short time ago I had my portrait made by Lavinia Fontana and my portrait has been taken to live in Poland" (E' poco tempo ch'io mi fei ritrare, / A Lavinia Fontana, e'l mio ritratto, / Fù portato in Polonia ad habitare, "Descrittione della vita del Croce", p. 20). Stylistically the landscape behind the woman in the New York painting resembles the works of Domenico Tintoretto, in particular the portrait of Princess Anna Vasa in the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (P24e2). It is possible that Lavinia received a painting by Domenico or his workshop to copy and inspired by his style. The facial features of a woman greatly resemble the Polish-Lithuanian-Swedish Infanta from the mentioned portrait by Tintoretto and the oval portrait by Sofonisba Anguissola, as well as the effigies of her brother Sigismund III by Joseph Heintz the Elder (Alte Pinakothek in Munich, 11885) and by Jakob Troschel (Royal Castle in Warsaw, ZKW 1176). In her 1584 portrait of the Gozzadini family, Lavinia "resurrected" two family members – Ginevra (d. 1581) and her father, Senator Ulisse Gozzadini (d. 1561). If she could paint the deceased as a living person, she could also paint the people living far from her studio, like Anna Vasa. The woman was also depicted in a full-length portrait currently housed in the Lázaro Galdiano Museum in Madrid (oil on canvas, 198 x 114 cm, 08470). This painting was probably acquired between 1936 and 1939 and was part of the collection assembled by José Lázaro in Paris. The model's identity has not been established, although "she must have been a person of high courtly status, judging by her attire" (Se ignora todo de la retratada, que hubo de ser persona de elevada situación cortesana, a juzgar por su traje), according to the museum's description. Due to the woman's rich costume from the early 1600s which is obviously Spanish, the painting has been attributed to the Spanish painter whose style was comparable - Rodrigo de Villandrando (1588-1622). However, not only the face and costume are similar to the New York painting, but also the style of this work. The Madrid portrait resembles the style of the mentioned portrait of the Gozzadini family, but most similar is the way in which the portrait of Raffaele Riario (d. 1592), attributed to Lavinia, was painted (sold at Dorotheum in Vienna, April 24, 2018, lot 52). Also very comparable is the portrait of a lady with a fan and a dog from the beginning of the 17th century, now kept at Lysice Castle in Czechia (oil on canvas, 85 x 65 cm, LS00081a). The details of the costume and the way the hands and face were painted are very close to Fontana's style. The face from the portrait with eagle pendant, as a template, was copied in another painting from the same period sold in 2017, also in New York (oil on canvas, 66.7 x 53.7 cm, Christie's, auction 14963, October 18, 2017, lot 572). It comes from the collection of the Hispanic Society of America in New York. This "Portrait of a lady, bust-length" is also attributed to the Flemish school, but the closest in style is again a painting by Lavinia Fontana, which is now in the National Museum in Kraków (oil on canvas, 77 x 62.3 cm, MNK XII-A-664). The portrait of Bianca Lucia Aliprandi, née Crivelli (sold at Christie's London, auction 20055, December 7, 2021, lot 29) and the mentioned painting by Fontana in the National Gallery of Ireland are also very similar. Another portrait of the same woman by the same painter is in the National Art Gallery in Lviv, Ukraine (54.5 x 42, inventory number Ж-1945). It comes from the Lubomirski collection and was donated to the Ossolineum in Lviv by Prince Henryk Ludwik Lubomirski (recorded in 1826). It was allegedly purchased in 1826 in Vienna from P. della Rovere ("Exhibition catalogue: Peter Paul Rubens - Anthony van Dyck" by Svetlana Stets, pp. 576-577), thus possibly sent to the Habsburgs or coming from the older Lubomirski collections. The painting is attributed to follower of Anthony van Dyck. The style of her dress indicates that the painting was made in the late 1580s as it resembles the Spanish-Italian dress of Margherita Gonzaga (1564-1618), Duchess of Ferrara from her portrait by Jean Bahuet (private collection) or her effigy by Jacopo Ligozzi in Lisbon (National Museum of Ancient Art, 453 Pint), painted around 1593. The mentioned painting by Lavinia Fontana in the National Museum in Kraków may have come from the royal collection, probably mentioned in the collection of King John III Sobieski in the inventory of the Wilanów Palace from 1696 (No. 77). Before 1924 it was in the collection of Antoni Strzałecki in Warsaw. The painting was made at the beginning of the 17th century because her costume and hairstyle are similar to those seen in the effigies of the so-called Bellezze di Artimino in Palazzo Pitti or in the portrait of Margherita Gonzaga (1591-1632), Duchess of Lorraine from about 1605 (Metropolitan Museum of Art, 25.110.21). According to the museum's catalog entry by Dorota Dec and other publications, this is the artist's self-portrait and she depicted herself as the biblical heroine Judith (compare "Judith" by Lawrence M. Wills, p. 140), being basically a woman who overcomes a man's violence with her cunning intelligence. What better gift for patrons from the Realm of Venus? 
Portrait of Princess Anna Vasa (1568-1625) by Lavinia Fontana, ca. 1588, National Art Gallery in Lviv.
Portrait of Infanta Anna Vasa (1568-1625), starost of Brodnica, in Spanish dress with eagle pendant by Lavinia Fontana and studio, ca. 1605-1610, Private collection.
Portrait of Infanta Anna Vasa (1568-1625), starost of Brodnica, in Spanish dress by Lavinia Fontana and studio, ca. 1605-1610, Lázaro Galdiano Museum in Madrid.
Portrait of Infanta Anna Vasa (1568-1625), starost of Brodnica, bust-length by Lavinia Fontana, ca. 1605, Private collection.
Self-portrait as Judith with the head of Holophernes by Lavinia Fontana, 1600s, National Museum in Kraków.
Battle of Kircholm in 1605 by Pieter Snayers, 1620s, Château de Sassenage.
"Portrait of Baroness Ebba Grip" by Lavinia Fontana
In the 17th century Djursholm Castle, just 15 km north of central Stockholm, there is an interesting full-length portrait believed to depict the Swedish baroness Ebba Grip (1583-1666). She was the wife of Svante Gustafsson Banér (1583-1628), who, through his marriage to Ebba (August 28, 1617), became the owner of three large estates. Svante became a councilor and was granted a post of a governor in Riga, which was captured by the Swedish Empire from the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth after the siege. In 1628 her husband died in Riga. As a single mother, she continued to manage the Djursholm estate and other properties for almost 40 years.
The portrait is displayed in the main hall of the castle with a portrait of Ebba's husband painted by another painter. It bears the model's coat of arms and the appropriate inscription in Swedish identifying the model in the upper right corner, probably added later. The painting is attributed to Jacob Heinrich Elbfas (d. 1664), a Baltic German portraitist active in Sweden from 1622. The sitter's costume resembles that from another three-quarter portrait of Ebba, most likely in the same collection, known thanks to a black and white photo. There would be nothing unusual in all this if it were not for the fact that the collar and cuffs and partly the face of the model seem to have been painted by another painter. The mentioned fragments resemble Elbfas' style, but the rest appears to have been painted by a more talented painter. Another very unusual element of this portrait is Ebba's costume and jewelry, much richer than in her three-quarter portrait. She wears a Spanish-style saya, a court dress typical for European countries of the early 17th century in the Habsburg sphere. The Polish queens from the Habsburg dynasty, Anna of Austria and her younger sister Constance, wives of Sigismund III, were depicted in similar dresses in their official portraits. A similar dress can also be seen in a portrait of Sigismund's sister, Infanta Anna Vasa (1568-1625), starost of Brodnica, painted by Lavinia Fontana and her studio (Lázaro Galdiano Museum in Madrid, inv. 08470), identified and attributed by me. What is also interesting is that not only the costume and Spanish-style pose of the model are similar to the Madrid painting, but also the style of the painting itself, as if both were painted by the same painter. The style of the painting is also reminiscent of the portrait of Raffaele Riario (d. 1592), attributed to Fontana (Dorotheum Vienna, April 24, 2018, lot 52) or her signed portrait of the Gozzadini family (Pinacoteca Nazionale in Bologna). The little dog resembles that in the Gozzadini portrait or the portrait of a lady with a fan by Lavinia at Lysice Castle (LS00081a), attributed by me, all with clear Spanish influences. Portrait of a Swedish noblewoman, close to the ruling family of Sweden, depicted in Spanish costume and painted in Rome, seat of the papacy, by a painter patronized by the popes, all this is very unusual and indicates that the painting initially depicted someone else and was repainted with Ebba's likeness at a later date. Perhaps an x-ray of the painting would confirm this theory and the true identity of the sitter. Taking all factors into account, we can assume that originally the painting may have depicted Sigismund III's wife, Constance of Austria (comparable to her portrait in crimson saya at the Royal Castle in Warsaw, ZKW 2049 or another version at Wawel Castle, ZKnW-PZS 1783) or his sister Anna Vasa. A similar small dog is visible in the portrait of Constance in Spanish dress kept in the Germanisches Nationalmuseum (deposited in the Imperial Castle of Nuremberg, inv. Gm 699, 7009/7277). Therefore, the painting was probably looted from the estates of Anna Vasa in Polish Prussia between 1628 and 1629, during the Swedish invasion, or during the Deluge (1655-1660) and probably witnesses horrible crimes committed by the invaders, like the plundering of the Infanta's coffin or massacres of people, after the looting of rich castles in Ćmielów or Tenczyn (compare "Encyklopedia powszechna", Volume 5, p. 755 and "Szwedzi i siedmiogrodzianie w Krakowie od 1655 do 1657 roku" by Ludwik Sikora, p. 44), only to be finally repainted in the portrait of a Swedish aristocrat after its transport to Sweden. 
"Portrait of Baroness Ebba Grip" by Lavinia Fontana, ca. 1605-1610, Djursholm Castle.
Portrait of a lady with a fan and a dog by Lavinia Fontana, early 17th century, Lysice Castle.
Miniature portrait of Queen Constance of Austria by Lavinia Fontana
The portrait of Archduchess Constance of Austria (1588-1631), maternal and paternal descendant of Anna Jagellonica (1503-1547), held at the Clark Art Institute in Williamstown (oil on canvas, 183.6 x 105.2 cm, inv. 1982.127), is not only the most favorable representation of the future Queen of Poland and Grand Duchess of Lithuania, but also a masterpiece by the Swiss painter Joseph Heintz the Elder. The early provenance of this painting has not been established, whereas before 1969 the painting was probably in England, it is therefore possible that it came from the royal collection of Poland-Lithuania through Constance's son, John II Casimir, who settled in Paris in 1669.
The painting is undated and probably shows her shortly before her marriage to Sigismund III Vasa. At the same time, Heintz also painted the portrait of Sigismund depicted with the "oriental" crown on the table, now in the Alte Pinakothek in Munich (oil on canvas, 148.5 x 116.5 cm, inv. 11885). The portrait of the King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania was documented at Schleissheim Palace near Munich in 1929, so it was probably a gift from the king to the Wittelsbachs, with whom he frequently exchanged gifts, or part of a dowry of one of the Polish-Lithuanian princesses who later settled in Bavaria, such as Sigismund's daughter Anna Catherine Constance Vasa (1619-1651), Louise Charlotte Radziwill (1667-1695) or Teresa Kunegunda Sobieska (1676-1730), Electress of Bavaria, who lived at Schleissheim Palace. Several elements of the portrait of Constance have a symbolic meaning, such as the colour of her Spanish style dress, green - a symbol of fertility, a monkey, with which she was also depicted in a similar portrait by Heintz, now in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna (GG 9452), is a symbol of tempered desire and the apple held by the monkey could refer to the initial sin (Eve's apple) or to royal status (an orb). Heintz is considered to have been an itinerant court painter. He worked for various clients in Rome, Florence, Venice, Augsburg and Prague. In 1604 his name appears as a "portrait painter" (konterfätter) in the tax register of the city of Augsburg, so it is probably there that he painted the portraits of Sigismund and Constance, although his visits to Graz, Prague (where Constance stayed most often at this time), Kraków, Warsaw and even Vilnius (where Sigismund had his residences) cannot be ruled out. The rediscovered portrait of Ali-Qoli Beg (d. 1615), ambassador of the Shah of Persia Abbas I, painted by Lavinia Fontana on the occasion of his meeting with Pope Paul V in 1609 (Pinci collection in Paris), is particularly interesting in the context of early 17th-century international relations and the involvement of court painters. Like another Persian ambassador of the period, Sir Robert Shirley (ca. 1581-1628), who first went to the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, where he was received by Sigismund III Vasa in Warsaw in February 1609, Ali-Qoli Beg also visited Sarmatia before arriving in Rome. He was sent with the Portuguese Jesuit Francisco de Acosta in the embassy that left Iran in 1605, but due to his long detention in Astrakhan, the embassy did not reach Europe until 1609, almost simultaneously with Shirley's embassy (after "The Relations of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth with Safavid Iran ...", ed. Stanisław Jaśkowski, Dariusz Kołodziejczyk, Piruz Mnatsakanyan, p. 74, 76). The portrait of the Persian ambassador was personally commissioned by Pope Paul V, and since Lavinia worked for the Polish-Lithuanian-Ruthenian market, it is possible that a copy of the painting was also created for Sigismund III. Balthasar Gebhardt, originally from Lahr (Baden), court painter to Archduke Ferdinand of Austria (1578-1637), the future emperor, is considered to be the author of the "Stockholm Roll" depicting the wedding procession of Sigismund III and Constance of Austria in Kraków in 1605 (Royal Castle in Warsaw, inv. ZKW/1528/1-39), which features the effigy of the Persian ambassador Mehdi-Qoli Beg (d. 1618). In 1605, a portrait of Mehdi-Qoli Beg was also painted by a lesser-known court painter of Rudolf II in Prague, Esaye le Gillon, probably a Frenchman trained in Italy (Christie's London, Auction 7871, October 5, 2010, lot 250, inscription: [...] Pittore in Corte Cesarea, mi fece in Praga [...]). In the same year, the Flemish engraver Aegidius Sadeler II, also active in Prague, produced an engraving depicting the portrait of Mehdi-Qoli Beg, while a year earlier, in 1604, Sadeler had produced a splendid engraving representing the portrait of King Sigismund III (National Museum in Warsaw, inv. 79209 MNW). In 1608, Constance's younger sister Maria Magdalena of Austria (1589-1631) married the future Grand Duke of Tuscany Cosimo II de' Medici (1590-1621), which intensified contacts between Poland-Lithuania and Tuscany. The two sisters exchanged portraits and other gifts - it is likely that many pietra dura objects were sent to Vilnius and Warsaw at this time, on the other hand the amber objects from the former territories of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, preserved in the Medici Treasury, are among the most important in Europe. The inventory of the Medici Villa del Poggio Imperiale from 1625 to 1629 lists "Three paintings on canvas [...] representing the king of Poland, his wife and a son, no. 3" (Tre quadri in tela, alti braccia 3 3/4 e larghi braccia 2 incirca, con adornamenti neri filettato d'oro, dipintovi drento il re di Pollonia la moglie e uno figliolo, n. 3, ASF, GM 479, c. 27 s.), undoubtedly Sigismund, Constance and Crown Prince Ladislaus Sigismund Vasa. While the portraits of Sigismund and his son preserved in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence are not disputed and could even correspond to this inventory entry (inv. 1890 / 2270 and 1890 / 2350), the portraits from the Medici collections identified as Constance of Austria (inv. 1890 / 3239 and 1890 / 2408) turned out to be the effigies of Magdalene of Bavaria (1587-1628), correctly identified by me in 2014 and 2017. In the Uffizi, in display case number 30, which contains miniatures by various painters of the early 17th century, there is a portrait of a lady with a ruff attributed to Lavinia Fontana (oil on silver, 4.5 x 6.7 cm, inv. 1890 / 8841). It is listed in the inventory after another miniature of an unknown lady, also attributed to Lavinia (inv. 1890 / 8840), and after a portrait miniature of Catherine de Medici (1593-1629), Duchess of Mantua, attributed to Frans Pourbus the Younger (inv. 1890 / 8839). The protruding lower lip of the woman indicates that this lady is undoubtedly a member of the House of Habsburg, but no similar effigy of Maria Magdalena is known, while the woman bears a striking resemblance to Constance of Austria from her full-length portrait in the Clark Art Institute. The painting must therefore be dated to around 1605-1610 and Fontana, who created the miniature portrait of King Stephen Bathory (National Museum in Kraków, inv. MNK I-290), most likely painted several portraits of the Queen of Poland, probably based on study drawings sent to her in Rome. 
Portrait of King Sigismund III Vasa (1566-1632) by Joseph Heintz the Elder, ca. 1604, Alte Pinakothek in Munich.
Portrait of of Archduchess Constance of Austria (1588-1631) by Joseph Heintz the Elder, ca. 1604, The Clark Art Institute.
Miniature portrait of of Queen Constance of Austria (1588-1631) by Lavinia Fontana, ca. 1605-1610, Uffizi Gallery in Florence.
Portrait of Ali-Qoli Beg (d. 1615), ambassador of Persia, by Lavinia Fontana, ca. 1609, Private collection.
Portrait of Queen Constance of Austria by Domenico Tintoretto
At the beginning of the 17th century, as in the previous era, Polish-Lithuanian monarchs and magnates collected portraits of rulers and famous people. In 1612 Jan Ostroróg (1565-1622), voivode of Poznań requested a portrait of the Elector of Brandenburg (letter from Salomon Leuper to John Sigismund, Elector of Brandenburg, February 3, 1612) and in the same year William V, Duke of Bavaria sent a portrait of his son Albert (1584-1666) to Queen Constance of Austria, on the occasion of Albert's marriage (letter of January 4, 1612). The queen exchanged portraits with Albert in 1624. In a letter dated October 15, 1613, Alessandro Cilli reported to the Duke of Urbino that Queen Constance "keeps in her room the portraits of the most serene princes and princesses sent to her from Florence by their Highnesses" (tiene in camera sua i ritratti dei s-mi principi et principesse mandatigli da Fiorenza dalle loro Altezze s-m) (after "Das Leben am Hof ..." by Walter Leitsch, p. 370-371, 911, 2377, 2378, 2381).
Almost two years later, in 1615, through the ambassador Krzysztof Koryciński, Queen Constance also requested and received from Spain portraits of the children and husband of her sister Margaret of Austria "as natural as possible" (los mas naturales que sea possible), according to the Consejo report of January 15, 1615 (El gran desseo que la serenisima reyna su señora tenia de los retratos de VM y de su felicissima prole. Y suplica agora a VM sea servido de mandar se hagan assi el de VM como los de la reyna de Francia, del serenisimo principe nuestro señor, infantes y infantas los mas naturales que sea possible y a proporcion de sus estaturas, porque no podra llevar a la reyna su señora cosa mas cara y que tanto recreasse su vista, como la effigie y semejança de VM y de sus serenisimos hijos y a que nuestro señor le ha quitado la comodidad de ver los originales. Al consejo parece que es muy justo que se le den al dicho embaxador los retratos que pide en nombre de al reyna de Polonia). This was followed by the decision of the Royal Council, probably from April 1615, to grant "portraits of their majesties" (y los retratos de sus majestades y altezas afin que la serenisima reyna su señora reciva el gusto y consuelo que dessea tal vista). In 1620, the new portraits of the Spanish monarchs were delivered to the Polish-Lithuanian royal court, including that of Elisabeth of France (1602-1644), wife of Prince Philip of Spain, future Philip IV (1605-1665), sent through a Polish Dominican Father, according to a letter from Francesco Diotallevi (1579-1622), apostolic nuncio in Poland (1614-1621), to Cardinal Scipione Borghese (1577-1633) (E giunto qua un padre dominicano Polacco, che per molti anni si è tratenuto in Spagna al quale è stato consignato dalla majestà cattolica per presentarlo in suo nome a questa majestà il ritratto della principessa venuta di Francia, moglie del principe figliolo di SM cattolica havendo gli gia per prima mandati i ritratti di tutti gl'altri principi della casa reale, January 10, 1620). Few yers later, in 1624, Queen Constance launched a major campaign to have a proper gallery of family portraits. However, it took time because the painter working in Vienna was very busy. He probably had to make similar or identical portraits for the courts in Madrid, Brussels and Florence. Nikolaus Nusser, Chamberlain of Ferdinand II, wrote at the end of November that completion could only be expected in three months and that Prince Ladislaus Sigismund Vasa will be able to take the pictures with him on the return journey from Italy. Through Prince Radziwill (presumably Sigismund Charles), Empress Eleonora Gonzaga (1598-1655) sent portraits of herself and the Archdukes Maximilian Ernest (1583-1616) and John Charles (1605-1619), both of whom had already died and whose portraits had to be copied in Graz. Nusser, thought that the portraits of the Emperor and Empress should be sent in the same size. "But the empress discovered that she had sent busts to the Polish court" (So hat aber die kaiserin vermelt, das sy bei dem polnischen gesandten brustbilder geschickt), wrote Nusser in June 1625, because the Polish-Lithuanian court did not want to be supplied with too many pictures. Some painters were active at the royal court, but apart from Jakob Troschel, Jan Szwankowski, Jakob Mertens, Tommaso Dolabella, Wojciech Borzymowski, who was supposedly commissioned by Sigismund III to decorate the chambers of the Warsaw castle, and in 1630 for Primate Łubieński he painted a portrait of Prince Ladislaus Sigismund in Gdańsk, and perhaps Philipp Holbein II (goldsmith, jeweller and painter), they were temporary workers or agents of foreign workshops. We only know that Archduchess Maria Anna brought the court painter Balthasar Gebhard with her to Constance's wedding in December 1605, because he had broken a rib during his stay in Kraków. Urszula Meyerin received 100 florins for the care of the patient. In the accounts from 1627 there is also a note: "200 florins given to the Polish painter at the Jasthof [Jazdów?]" (Dem polnischen mahler auf den Jasthof gegeben fl 200, Spetember 12, 1627). At that time, many objects were purchased in Italy, notably in Venice, including books. Gian Battista Gemma, a physician from Veneto, gave the king books to read, some of which were "heretical". This is why the very pious Queen Constance considered Gemma a heretic and even threatened to "throw him out of the room" (per heretico et minacciarli che lo cacciarà di camera), according to Claudio Rangoni's letter to Cardinal Scipione Borghese of November 11, 1606. When in 1606 the pope had a dispute with Venice and imposed prohibitions on the entire state (Venetian Interdict), the king did not want to speak openly against Venice and skillfully avoided making a decision. Crystal tankard with the coat of arms and monogram of Sigismund III Vasa and Constance of Austria (SCA - Sigmundus et Constantia Austriacae), floral motives and a handle in the form of a nude woman, attributed to Miseroni workshop in Milan (Bavarian National Museum, R 2157), is one of the few preserved objects commissioned by the king and his wife in Italy in the early 17th century. At the Prado Museum in Madrid, deposited at the Spanish Embassy in Bern, there is a portrait described as "Queen Eleanor of Austria" (La reina Leonor de Austria) from the early 17th century (oil on canvas, 108 x 88 cm, inventory number P001265). It is said to depict Eleanor of Austria (1498-1558), who subsequently became queen of Portugal (1518-1521) and France (1530-1547). Her Spanish dress and her large ruff indicate that this is rather a person living in the first quarter of the 17th century and not the 16th century. According to an article by Gloria Martínez Leiva ("El incendio de la Embajada española en Lisboa de 1975", January 16, 2018), it is an effigy of Anna of Austria (1573-1598), Queen of Poland from from a series created by Bartolomé González (Retrato de Ana de Habsburgo), but the woman has no resemblance to the effigies of the queen. The attribution of the painting to Juan Bautista Martínez del Mazo (inventory of Buen Retiro, 1794, no. 897) and Bartolomé González is now rejected and the painting is qualified as an anonymous work. The woman wears a tira similar to that visible on several effigies of Margaret of Austria, Queen of Spain (e.g. portrait in the Hungarian National Gallery in Budapest with inscription MARGARETA. AVS/TRIA. HISP. REGINA.) or Magdalene of Bavaria (1587-1628), Countess Palatine of Neuburg and Duchess of Jülich-Berg by Peter Candid (Bavarian State Painting Collections, 2471, 3217), so she is a reigning queen consort or duchess. The model therefore could not have been Margaret's younger sister, Archduchess Eleanor of Austria (1582-1620), who, after unsuccessful attempts at marriage on October 3, 1607, took the veil and became a nun in Hall in Tirol. A similar lace ruff and high hairstyle are seen in a portrait described as depicting a lady-in-waiting of Queen Constance of Austria, purchased in 1935 by the National Museum in Warsaw from Z. Iłowicki (deposited at the Wilanów Palace in Warsaw, oil on canvas, 82 x 65 cm, 120735), generally dated after 1605 (after "Portrety osobistości polskich" by Stefan Kozakiewicz, Andrzej Ryszkiewicz, p. 251). Comparison with several portraits from a series entitled "Beauties of Artimino" (Bellezze di Artimino), indicates that the two women are dressed according to southern Italian fashion, as the closest are the portraits of Roman and Neapolitan ladies - Countess of Castro (Uffizi, Inv. 1890, 2265), Emilia Spinelli (Palazzo Davanzati, Inv. 1890, 2262), Belluccia Carafa, Duchess of Cerce (Uffizi, Inv. 1890, 2263) and Porzia de' Rossi (Uffizi, Inv. 1890, 2266). The series included portraits of Florentine, Roman and Neapolitan ladies linked to the court of Ferdinand I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany. In the 1609 inventory of the Villa Medici "La Ferdinanda" in Artimino, drawn up on Ferdinand's death, there were sixty-five effigies of this type, forty-two Florentine, seventeen Roman and six Neapolitan. The effigies of Roman and Neapolitan ladies stand out from the series, not only by their hairstyle, but also by the style of the paintings which were probably painted in Rome between 1602 and 1608 and are attributed to the workshop of Jacopo Ligozzi, perhaps painted by Achille Gianré. The model bears a great resemblance to the effigies of Constance of Austria, notably the portrait by Frans Pourbus the Younger (Kunsthistorisches Museum, GG 3306), Joseph Heintz the Elder (Kunsthistorisches Museum, GG 9452), and by an unknown painter (Wawel Castle, 1783). A portrait painted in a very similar style and from the same period is also in the Prado Museum (oil on canvas, 112 x 92 cm, P002405). According to the museum catalog, it is an effigy of Eleanor de Medici (1567-1611), Duchess of Mantua, however, the model closely resembles the effigies of Margherita Gonzaga (1564-1618), Duchess of Ferrara, Modena and Reggio in mourning, as reproduced by Maike Vogt-Lüerssen (kleio.org, Die Gonzaga). The painting is considered a copy of Rubens, but in the late 18th century it was described as a work by Jacopo Tintoretto (Otra de Tintoreto, retrato de una madama Veneciana, inventory of Buen Retiro, 1794, no. 40). Margherita's portrait as a widow at the Palazzo Franchini in Verona (identified as the portrait of Eleonora Gonzaga by circle of Frans Pourbus the Younger), being a copy of the portrait attributed to circle of Jacopo Ligozzi (Castelvecchio Museum in Verona), is very Venetian in style and could be the work of Alessandro Maganza. The style of both descibed paintngs in Prado, resembles closely the paintings attributed to Jacopo's son Domenico Tintoretto - portrait of a man with a letter and a crucifix (Museo Soumaya in Mexico City) and portrait of a lady (Museum Wiesbaden). The style in which the hands were painted is particularly similar. The details of costume of Constance's Spanish satin saya can also be compared to early 17th century doublet of "a man wearing an elaborately embroidered costume" (Private collection). Although the Queen of Poland was most often depicted in Spanish saya, in two paintings created by her husband, she wears a more comfortable outfit - Allegory of Faith of 1616 (Nationalmuseum Stockholm, NMH 436/1891) and a miniature from the Royal Casket (Czartoryski Museum, DMK Cz 196/I), offered by the king to the court preacher Piotr Skarga (Hanc imaginem, Sigismvndvs Rex. Pol. manv propia pin/xit eamq. donavit Cancionatori svo R. Petro Scargae), according to the inscription on the reverse. Constance also wore an eastern-style jeweled headdress and similar to the Russian kokoshnik, which carried the idea of fertility and was popular in different Slavic countries. She was represented with such a headdress in her portrait from the collection of the Marquis of Leganés in Madrid (oil on canvas, 219 x 140 cm, inscription: La Reina de Polonia, Archivo Moreno, 19513 B), sold in May 2009 with attribution to the Flemish or Genoese school. The possible author could be Sofonisba Anguissola, who lived in Genoa until 1620. 
Portrait of Queen Constance of Austria (1588-1631) in Spanish/Italian costume by Domenico Tintoretto, ca. 1605-1610, Prado Museum in Madrid.
Portrait of Margherita Gonzaga (1564-1618), Duchess of Ferrara, Modena and Reggio in mourning by Domenico Tintoretto, ca. 1605-1610, Prado Museum in Madrid.
Portrait of Queen Constance of Austria (1588-1631) in Spanish dress by Flemish or Genoese school, possibly Sofonisba Anguissola, 1610s, Private collection.
Portrait of Professor Marcin Wadowita and disguised portrait of Maria Magdalena of Austria by Cigoli
In mid-July 1605, Marcin Wadowita (Campius Vadovius, 1567-1641), a 38-year-old priest, theologian, and professor at the Kraków Academy, went to study in Italy. On August 1 of the same year, he enrolled at the University of Padua in the Republic of Venice. He did not stay long there and, probably after a few weeks or months, he went to Rome to complete his theological studies at the famous Roman College (Collegium Romanum) of the Jesuits. At the latest in July or perhaps in early August 1606, he received his doctorate from the Roman College, because on August 27, Tomasz Swinarski, who wrote to him from Poland, congratulated him on this. In the same year, the city council of his hometown of Wadowice also welcomed Wadowita's doctorate. This was neither the first nor the last of his visits to Italy and, according to the sources, Wadowita was in Rome at least three times, that is, in 1602, in 1605/1606 and in 1617.
The professor was probably received at the solemn audience, had a theological discussion in the presence of Pope Paul V Borghese and was most likely invited to a feast. Although he was a priest, Wadowita had beautiful clothes and an anecdote about him tells of his velvet robe. From Mr. Witowski, returning from Turkey, he received the robe "of Turkish type, sewn from silver linen [...] in exchange for the purchase of a raincoat" and his servant Łucja Klementyna Brzezińska, who particularly often sued the executors of his will before the ecclesiastical court, had brought three robes from abroad and given them to Wadowita, and as "remuneration" she had received a cloak. Her testimony also mentions a carriage (currus alias rydwan, after "Marcin Campius Wadowita ..." by Tomasz Graff, p. 32, 55, 202-203, 206, 208, 415-416, 424). In his portrait from the Carmelite Monastery "in Piasek" in Kraków, only books and a Latin inscription remind us that this is not a nobleman or a wealthy merchant. He is dressed in a black robe trimmed with expensive white ermine fur, usually associated with royalty in Western Europe, and holds a prayer book and gloves in his hand. The son of Mateusz Kępka, "councillor and a Wadowice townsman", however, was not ashamed of his plebeian origins, and he even liked to joke about it, recalling his childhood years spent in Wadowice tending a herd of pigs. In this portrait he is depicted as an old man with grey hair, so it must have been made in the late 1630s or after an original painting from that time. In his other portrait from the series of notable professors of the Jagiellonian University (Collegium Maius, inv. MUJ 2541) he is depicted in the same way. This mediocre painting, by an unknown local painter, was probably painted after the Deluge (1655-1660), because the inscription on the painting (considered erroneous) states that he died in 1658 (OBIJT A.D. 1658. DIE 7 JULIJ.). This is also the mirror view of the painting in the Carmelite Monastery, which indicates that it was made by applying a template drawing. It was transferred from the Collegium Iuridicum, which served for a time as the main building of the university. The portrait of another professor, Jakub Naymanowic (ca. 1584-1641), who also studied in Padua and Rome, hanging nearby, is painted in the same style (inv. MUJ 2543). Both portraits bear relevant inscriptions on the painting and on the frame confirming the identity of the sitter. Between the two is the portrait of an unknown man (inv. MUJ 2542). Unlike the portraits of Wadowita and Naymanowic, it bears no inscription, however the books behind the man and the fact that the effigy was placed between two other professors indicate that he also worked at the oldest Polish university. The rounded reamed patté cross (croce patente a cerchio) on his ring is probably linked to a certain ecclesiastical dignity. His splendid black costume with floral patterns, his collar and his beard are typical of the first quarter of the 17th century. If his beard is more typical for the German fashion of the time, the costume reveals Italian influences. The style of the painting is obviously Italian too and close to that of Lodovico Cardi (1559-1613), also known as Cigoli, a painter born in Cigoli in Tuscany and trained in Florence, under the direction of Alessandro Allori and Bernardo Buontalenti. Among the most similar works, we can mention the attributed work - portrait of a young nobleman, perhaps Don Antonio de' Medici (1576-1621), from 1594 (Palazzo Pitti in Florence, inv. Palatina 226 / 1912), as well as a signed composition, an episode from the Old Testament - Joseph and Potiphar's Wife painted in 1610 for Antonio Ricci, who became Bishop of Arezzo in 1611 (Galleria Borghese in Rome, inv. 014, signed and dated: Lod. Cigoli F. 1610). This last painting, most likely depicting a Roman courtesan as Potiphar's wife, was probably offered by Ricci to Cardinal Scipione Borghese (1577-1633), nephew of Pope Paul V. In 1610, on the occasion of the construction of the magnificent Pauline Chapel of Santa Maria Maggiore, commissioned by Pope Paul V, Ludovico painted a fresco in the dome depicting the Madonna welcomed into heavenly glory. In the same year, Cardinal Scipione Borghese also commissioned him to paint the loggia of a casino in his villa on the Quirinal, depicting four stories from the fable of Psyche. As a reward for his work for the Pope and the Cardinal, and thanks to Scipione's support, he was named a knight of the Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem in April 1613. It was at this time that Sigismondo Coccapani created a copy of Cigoli's earlier self-portrait depicting him decorated with the Maltese Cross, now preserved in the Museum of Fine Arts in Chambéry (oil on canvas, 66 x 54 cm, M 990). The original self-portrait, dated around 1606 or 1607, is in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence (oil on canvas, 59.5 x 44 cm, inv. 1890 / 1729), as well as a copy attributed to Domenico Peruzzini from about 1657 (inv. 1890 / 5531). It was also reproduced in the series of engravings Museum Florentinum by Pietro Antonio Pazzi and Giovanni Domenico Ferretti, made in 1748. What is interesting in these self-portraits is that the painter wears a fur hat of the typical shape for the Polish-Lithuanian nobility of the time, called kolpak or kalpak, visible for example in the engraved portrait of King John III Sobieski (1629-1696) by Nicolas de Larmessin, made in Paris in 1684 (National Library of Poland, G.9909) or the portrait of the French painter Pierre Mignard I (Museum of Fine Arts in Dijon, CA 407). In the self-portrait dated between 1607 and 1613, now kept in the Galleria Estense in Modena (oil on canvas, 56.5 x 47.3 cm, inv. R.C.G.E. 6), the painter added a jewel to his kolpak, which is even more typical of the Sarmatian nobility of that time. Although it is possible that winters were particularly cold in Italy between 1606 and 1613, it is more likely that through this specific piece of garment, most probably received as a gift from his clients, the painter wanted to express his gratitude to them. Through Buontalenti, the young Lodovico entered the Medici court. The first commissioned works were seven portraits, executed in 1588 and sent to Mantua, and the following year some paintings of his most important clients, the Grand Duke Ferdinando I de' Medici (1549-1609) and his wife Christina of Lorraine (1565-1637). Between 1602 and 1603 he painted a series of larger-than-life portraits of the Medici Grand Dukes, including the portrait of Cosimo I de' Medici (1519-1574) in ceremonial dress and standing in a frescoed loggia (Uffizi, inv. 1890 / 3784), a very realistic portrait of the Grand Duke, painted almost thirty years after his death. In 1604 Cigoli moved to Rome, but returned to Florence from time to time, notably in 1608, when he prepared decorations for the marriage of Cosimo de' Medici (1590-1621) to Maria Magdalena of Austria (1589-1631), sister of Queen Constance, including the triumphal arch of the Canto dei Nelli (Uffizi, inv. Ferri 1882-1912 Arch n. 2647 A, also attributed to Coccapani). The Virgin Mary teaching the infant Jesus to read by Cigoli in the Pitti Palace (oil on canvas, 146 x 114 cm, inv. 1912 / Palatine 430), in which the Madonna bears a strong resemblance to Maria Magdalena from her early portrait by Frans Pourbus the Younger (Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, GG 3385) and her portrait as the penitent Mary Magdalene, also in the Pitti Palace (inv. 1890 / 563), should be identified as the disguised portrait of the young wife of Cosimo de' Medici. Such disguised portraits were so popular in Italy that even the Lutheran Prince Valdemar Christian of Schleswig-Holstein (1622-1656), son of King Christian IV of Denmark and his morganatic wife Kirsten Munk, who most likely visited Florence in 1638, was depicted as Saint Michael the Archangel in a painting by the Florentine painter Giovanni Battista Vanni (Van Ham Art Auctions, November 19, 2020, lot 1052). This portrait is similar to the best-known portrait of Valdemar Christian, who died in Lublin on February 29, 1656, during the Deluge (1655-1660), painted by the court painter of the Medicis Justus Sustermans (Pitti Palace, inv. 1912 / Palatine 190, inscription on the back: Il Figliolo del Re d'Animarca). Wadowita, who had received his doctorate in Rome and had been honoured by Pope Borghese, probably also commemorated this event by commissioning a portrait. In 1604, the Kraków Academy approached the Roman engraver Giacomo Lauro with an order for an engraving of John Cantius (1390-1473), paying him twenty Hungarian gold coins (after "XVII-wieczny obraz św. Jana Kantego ..." by Zbigniew Pastuszak, p. 118). Professor Jakub Naymanowic founded several paintings for Wawel Cathedral (not preserved) depicting historical events from the history of Poland-Lithuania and the Academy, connected with Queen Jadwiga and her husband Jogaila (the Christianization of Lithuania, the union of Poland and Lithuania and the founding of the Academy), unfortunately the name of the painter was not mentioned (after "Nowożytne portrety profesorów ..." by Anna Jasińska, p. 253), so it is possible that they were also commissioned in Italy. The man in the portrait described closely resembles Marcin Wadowita from his later portraits. 
Portrait of Professor Marcin Wadowita (1567-1641) by Lodovico Cardi, called Cigoli, ca. 1606, Jagiellonian University Museum.
Self-portrait in kolpak hat by Lodovico Cardi, called Cigoli, ca. 1606-1607, Uffizi Gallery in Florence.
Self-portrait in kolpak hat by Lodovico Cardi, called Cigoli, ca. 1607-1613, Galleria Estense in Modena.
Virgin Mary teaching the infant Jesus to read with disguised portrait of Maria Magdalena of Austria (1589-1631) by Lodovico Cardi, called Cigoli, ca. 1608, Pitti Palace in Florence.
Portrait of Lodovico Cardi (1559-1613), called Cigoli, in kolpak hat and with Maltese Cross by Sigismondo Coccapani, ca. 1613, Museum of Fine Arts in Chambéry.
Portraits of Constance of Austria and Hortensia del Prado by Gortzius Geldorp
"Long live King Sigismund the Third, under his auspices Everything that happened, the Lord restored from the foundations" (Vivat Sigismundus Rex Tertius, auspicio ejus Omne quod accepit restituit Dominus a fundamentis), is a fragment of a Latin inscription from 1610 on a non-preserved stone slab, which was before World War II on the façade of the Giza House in Warsaw (Old Town Market Square, number 6). It commemorates the reconstruction of the house after great fire of Warsaw in 1607, during which "many expensive Persian and Turkish goods were burned, 22 houses in the Market Square alone", according to Father Franciszek Kurowski. The Gothic house built between 1448-1455 was reconstructed for a merchant Jan Giza, who also added the following inscription "Bravery and human reason can do a lot, But money will always be the shortest way" (Multa vi et ingenio, sed citius pecunia Comparantur omnia). From 1655, this house was owned by Marcin Martens, a carpenter, possibly a relative of a Dutchman Willem Martens (Mertens, Mertensone, Martinson), who purchased stone and marbles for Sigismund III Vasa between 1618-1619.
Huge profits from grain trade, which was exported from Gdańsk the king and nobles spend on luxury goods commissioned or purchased in different parts of Europe (the Royal Granary in Gdańsk, designed by Abraham van den Blocke, was built by Jan Strakowski in about 1621). Descriptions in the registers of movable property belonging to the nobility often provide information about the place of origin of works of art. They show that they came mostly from abroad (for example, silverware mainly from Augsburg, textiles from France, Italy or the East, furniture and clocks from France) (after "Kolekcjonerstwo w Polsce ..." by Andrzej Rottermund, p. 40). Sigismund III conducted extensive diplomatic correspondence with the rulers of the Southern Netherlands on artistic matters, e.g. concerning stone elements forged on the Meuse River on the basis of patterns delivered directly from Poland. "Archives in Brussels, The Hague and Gdańsk reveal the names of Dutch stonemasons and commercial agents working for Sigismund III. In this context, one can even talk about a well-organized and efficiently functioning trade network between both regions of Europe" (after "Dostawy mozańskiego kamienia budowlanego ..." by Ryszard Szmydki). The king's second wife, Constance, with due care for financial matters, managed the royal court and the lands of her dowry. In 1623 she visited Gdańsk for the first time and a year later for 600,000 zlotys, she acquired Żywiec and made this possession the private property of the House of Vasa, because the monarchs in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth were generally prohibited from acquiring land. She diligently engaged in charity, patronized poets and painters and composer Asprilio Pacelli taught her to sing. Constance was also notoriously famous for her great Catholic piety, intolerance towards other religions and favor towards German speakers, she also attached great importance to strict etiquette, following the Spanish-Habsburg model (after "Dynastia Wazów w Polsce" by Stefania Ochmann-Staniszewska, p. 128). As an example, in Jastrowie, which was part of her dower, the queen asked her husband to confiscate the temple from heretics and in Żywiec, she issued a privilage (on March 5, 1626 in Warsaw), forbidding Jews to trade and live in her city. The queen also arranged marriages of her German ladies-in-waiting with Catholic nobles, thus, representatives of the nobility who professed Protestantism and Orthodoxy and wanting to make a career at court had to convert to Catholicism. She showed great care in her effigies and refused to give her portrait to Marshal Zygmunt Myszkowski, citing the lack of such a custom. Nor did she want to present a similar artifact to an excommunicated Franciscan who begged for such a substitute for an audience (after "Prawna ochrona królewskich wizerunków" by Jacek Żukowski). All this contributed to her great unpopularity in multireligious and multicultural country. Among her artistic agents was Augsburg goldsmith and merchant Simon Peyerle, who took care of sending items inherited by Urszula Meyerin from her mother from Munich to Warsaw as well as large painting inherited by Queen Constance, after the death of her uncle, the Duke of Bavaria (after "Świat ze srebra ..." by Agnieszka Fryz-Więcek, p. 32). Through him, she acquired large amounts of jewelry. It is worth noting that at that time paintings were almost at the very end of the hierarchy, listed among household tools and kitchen utensils and after jewels, parade weapons, silver vessels, decorative fabrics, which were considered the most valuable (after "Kolekcjonerstwo w Polsce ..." by Andrzej Rottermund, p. 40). A small cabinet painting with the Allegory of merchant justice from the first quarter of the 17th century in the National Museum in Warsaw (oil on panel, 37.7 x 28, M.Ob.181 MNW), comes from the collection of Piotr Fiorentini (1791-1858) in Warsaw. The female figure with scales and a sword, a commonly accepted personification of Justice, sits among objects related to trade (weights, barrels, packaged goods, a large scale in the background). The woman has a little crown on her head and her face features with protruding lower lip (Habsburg jaw) resemble other effigies of Constance of Austria. The style of the painting refers strongly to that of Gortzius Geldorp. Another painting very much in the style of Geldorp from the Fiorentini collection in the same museum is the portrait of a young lady, aged 21, dated '1590' (oil on panel, 45.2 x 34.4 cm, M.Ob.196 MNW). Her face and costume resemble greatly that of Hortensia del Prado (d. 1627) from her two portraits by Geldorp in the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, one dated '1596' (SK-A-2072) and the other '1599' (SK-A-2081). Hortensia, a noblewoman of Spanish descent as her surname indicates, was first married to the merchant Jean Fourmenois and after his death she married Peter Courten in Cologne. The couple settled in Middelburg in the south-western Netherlands, where they lived in Het Grote Huis in Lange Noordstraat, which Courten had commissioned and Hortensia had a beautiful garden with fruit trees "from all foreign lands", plants "from every foreign shore", described by poet Jacob Cats. Portrait of a man by Gortzius Geldorp from the collection of Jan Popławski, identified as depicting a noble Jacques du Mont, shows him in a large ruff from the first quarter of the 17th century (National Museum in Warsaw, inventory number M.Ob.2415 MNW, earlier 35817). It is possible that both portraits found their way to the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth shortly after being painted as gifts for contractors or friends. 
Portrait of Queen Constance of Austria (1588-1631) as personification of Justice by Gortzius Geldorp or follower, 1605-1625, National Museum in Warsaw.
Portrait of Hortensia del Prado (1569-1627), aged 21 by Gortzius Geldorp or workshop, 1590, National Museum in Warsaw.
Miniature portrait of Rafał Leszczyński by workshop of Frans Pourbus the Younger
Rafał Leszczyński, great-grandfather of King Stanisław Leszczyński (Stanislas Leczinski), was born in October 1579 as the only son of Andrzej Leszczyński (d. 1606), voivode of Brześć Kujawski and Anna Firlej, a daughter of Andrzej Firlej (d. 1585), castellan of Lublin. He had three half-brothers: Jan, Grand Chancellor of the Crown, Wacław, the Primate of Poland, and Przecław, voivode of Tartu.
He studied at the school of the Czech Brethren in Koźminek, then he was educated in Silesia (Głogów), Heidelberg (1594), Basel (1595), Strasbourg (1596-1598) and Geneva (1599). He visited England, Scotland, the Netherlands and Italy, where in Padua in 1601 he was a student of the famous Italian physicist, astronomer and mathematician Galileo Galilei. He began his public activity as an envoy to the Sejm from the Sandomierz Voivodeship in 1605. In 1609, he became the marshal of the Central Tribunal, in 1612 - castellan of Wiślica and in 1618 - castellan of Kalisz. As one of the leaders of the Polish Protestants, he was in opposition to the pro-Habsburg policy of King Sigismund III Vasa. He was also called the "Pope of the Polish Calvinists". After return to Poland (1603), he maintained contacts with foreign scientists. He was interested in military and cartography. He commissioned a map of the south-eastern borderlands of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, unfortunately, despite the help of the geodesist and cartographer Maciej Głoskowski, the work was not completed. In addition to Latin, he spoke French, German, and Italian fluently. He wrote poems, like a paraphrase of Guillaume du Bartas's poem "Judith", published by Andrzej Piotrkowczyk in Baranów in 1620. In his beautiful Renaissance castle in Baranów, built by Santi Gucci, he kept a large library, which, according to an inventory from 1627, had about 1,700 volumes. A miniature portrait from Leon Piniński's collection, today in the Lviv National Art Gallery (inventory number Ж-50), shows a man in a fashionable Italian/French costume. It was painted on copper and according to inscription in Latin the man was 28 years old in 1607 ([...] SVAE 28. ANNO DOMINI 1607.), exacly as Rafał Leszczyński. The style of this miniature resemble greatly a miniature portrait of an unknown man from about 1600 in the Victoria and Albert Museum, also painted on copper, and attributed to a Flemish painter (inventory number P.28-1942) and miniature portrait of an unknown man in the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, created in 1614 (Aº 1614), painted on copper and attributed to a Dutch painter (inventory number SK-A-2104). Portrait of the sculptor Pierre de Francqueville (Pietro Francavilla, 1548-1615) by workshop of Frans Pourbus the Younger in private collection, created between 1609-1615 (after original in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, inventory number 746 / 1890), represent similar style of painting and costume. Such collar is also visible in a portrait of an unknown man in the Wilanów Palace in Warsaw, created in about 1600 and attributed to Agostino Carracci (inventory number Wil.1627). Major Flemish portrait and miniature painter working in northeast Italy at the beginning of the 17th century was Frans Pourbus the Younger (1569-1622), who from October 1600 was a court painter of Duke Vincenzo Gonzaga in Mantua. He also travelled to Innsbruck (1603 and 1608), Turin (1605 and 1608), Paris (1606) and Naples (1607), and in 1609 Queen Marie de' Medici called him to Paris as court painter. Frans and his workshop also took orders from abroad, not seeing the actual model. Several portraits of Philip III, King of Spain and his wife Margaret of Austria are attributed to him or his workshop (Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, The Phoebus Foundation). His visits to Prague and Graz are not confirmed, however a portrait of Emperor Rudolf II (bust-length, wearing a breastplate, private collection) and a portrait of Archduchess Constance of Austria (1588-1631), future Queen of Poland, and her sisters (Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna) are all attributed to him. Around 1604 Hans von Aachen and the second court painter in Prague, Joseph Heintz, also painted their portraits in direct rivalry with Pourbus. Most likely on the occasion of his marriage to Margaret of Savoy in Turin in 1608, Pourbus or his workshop created a miniature portrait of Francesco Gonzaga, the eldest son of Duke Vincenzo I (sold as a "Portrait of a mustachioed young man" by Italian school at Gallery Bassenge in Berlin, Auction 113, lot 6003). In 1609 a painter from the circle of Hans von Aachen created a portrait of a gentleman, aged 40 (inscribed and dated A 1609 A 40., upper right), painting a miniature (private collection). The man was the same age as Pourbus when he moved to Paris in 1609. In 1607 the second son of Rafał Leszczyński was born, named Rafał after his father. On this occasion, Leszczyński, who just inherited the Baranów estate from his father, could commission a series of effigies of himself and his family in Italy. It is also possible that a painter from the workshop of Frans Pourbus in Mantua was at that time in Poland. The man from the described miniature resemble the effigies of Rafał Leszczyński's stepbrothers Jan (1603-1678) and Wacław Leszczyński (1605-1666). 
Miniature portrait of Rafał Leszczyński (1579-1636) aged 28 by workshop of Frans Pourbus the Younger, 1607, Lviv National Art Gallery.
Miniature portrait of Francesco Gonzaga (1586-1612) by workshop of Frans Pourbus the Younger, ca. 1608, Private collection.
Portrait of Frans Pourbus the Younger (1569-1622) aged 40, painting a miniature by circle of Hans von Aachen, 1609, Private collection.
Portrait of Queen Constance of Austria by workshop of Valore and Domenico Casini
Important commercial and diplomatic relations united Poland-Lithuania with Tuscany already in the 16th century. Ships from Gdańsk bring to the newly built port of Livorno (Porto Mediceo) in Tuscany the greatest treasure of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth - grain (in 1590 several ships loaded with Polish grain sailed from Gdańsk to Livorno). From there, ships brought to the Commonwealth the treasures of Italy - paintings and sculptures.
The Italian-born merchants Sebastiano Montelupi (1516-1600) and his nephew and adopted heir Valerio Tamburini Montelupi (1548-1613), the richest citizens of Kraków, corresponded with Ferdinando I de' Medici (1549-1609), Grand Duke of Tuscany. In one letter they expressed gratitude for a gift from a Florentine mosaic, including for two pietra dura tables for Sigismund III (sent in 1593), or medicines from the Grand Duke's pharmacy (after "Biblioteka warszawska", Volume 1, 1850, p. 549). In another dated June 5, 1593, they commented on the acquisitions made in Florence by the king's wife Anna of Austria, who also acquired numerous goods in Gdańsk (after "Das Leben am Hof ..." by Walter Leitsch, p. 1267). At the beginning of the 17th century, important ruling family connections were added to commercial and diplomatic relations. "I therefore ask Your Royal Highness to recommend me most humbly to His Majesty, and I most cordially entrust myself, together with my son, the Grand Duke [Ferdinando II de' Medici], and all my children. I ask Your Royal Highness to convey my gracious and cordial greetings to all your children. Given at Pisa, March 14, 1625", wrote Maria Maddalena of Austria (1589-1631), Grand Duchess of Tuscany, to her older sister, Queen Constance of Austria (1588-1631), second wife of King Sigismund III (letter preserved in the National Archives of Sweden, compare "Listy Władysława IV Wazy ..." by Jacek Żukowski, p. 116). The Polish-Lithuanian Vasas who visited Florence were entertained by their aunt with a splendid feasts and theatrical and opera performances. La precedenza delle dame barriere nell'arena di Sparta by Andrea Salvadori, published in Florence in 1625, dedicated to Prince Ladislaus Sigismund Vasa with a title page decorated with his coat of arms, commemorates the tournament in honor of the prince and is one of many works created on this occasion. Gifts were exchanged. Constance sent the sons of the Grand Duchess of Tuscany rich Polish costumes in which they were painted. Many exquisite amber objects, kept in the Treasury of the Grand Dukes at the Pitti Palace in Florence (Museo degli Argenti), such as the beautiful amber table fountain, created in Königsberg around 1610 (Sala delle Ambre, 78 cm, inv. Bargello (I) n. 95 (1917)), were probaly gifts from the Commonwealth, as well as probably a silver plaque with the Washing of the Feet (upper part) and the Last Supper (lower part), made between 1623-1625 in Augsburg by Matthias Walbaum (Museo del Bargello, 78 x 62 cm, inv. Oreficerie religiose n. 47) - several similar were created for Sigismund III and members of his family (one in Diocesan Museum in Płock, two in Visitandines Monastery in Warsaw and one in Vilnius Cathedral). Several beautiful works of art sent by the family from Tuscany must have adorned the residences of the Polish-Lithuanian Vasas, however nothing preserved in the former territories of the Commonwealth. Many portraits must also have been exchanged, however two portraits of Queen Constance from the Medicean collections turned out to be effigies of Duchess Magdalene of Bavaria (1587-1628) (Uffizi Gallery, inv. 2408/1890 and Villa del Poggio Imperiale, inv. 3239/1870). In 2023, a portrait of the young Prince John Casimir Vasa (1609-1672), eldest son of Constance, in Spanish costume, attributed to the Tuscan painter, was sold in L'Aquila near Rome (Gliubich Casa d'Aste, July 7, 2023, lot 164, inscription: IOANNES CASIMIRVS). Italian painters produced many such paintings depicting distant monarchs and their relatives. An example is the portrait of Maximilian I (1573-1651), Duke of Bavaria holding his hand on a globus cruciger, painted by Jacopo Chimenti da Empoli or workshop around 1635 (Métayer in Paris, October 18, 2018, lot 66), identified and attributed by me. At the Philadelphia Museum of Art, there is a full-length portrait from around 1610, identified as possibly depicting Grand Duchess Maria Maddalena (oil on canvas, 186.1 x 107.3 cm, 1883-136). The grand ducal crown on the table next to the woman indicates that she is indeed the wife of the ruler of Tuscany, while the protruding lower lip, known as the "Hapsburg lip", indicates that she is a member of this dynasty. The effigy resembles another portrait of Maria Maddalena with her husband Cosimo II, in a private collection in Florence (Codice di catalogo nazionale, 0900623102). In both portraits, the Grand Duchess is dressed in a Spanish court dress - saya. The port visible through the window in the Philadelphia portrait is most likely Livorno. This portrait has a complementary piece, depicting a similar woman in similar Spanish dress (oil on canvas, 186.1 x 107.3 cm, 1883-137). The closed crown (corona clausa) on the table indicates that she is a queen, but it cannot be Marie de Medici, queen of France, as indicated on the museum website, because the woman like Maria Maddalena has a protruding lip, so it is her sister. Three sisters of Maria Maddalena become a queen: Anna of Austria, Queen of Poland and Sweden from 1592, Margaret of Austria (1584-1611), Queen of Spain and Portugal from 1599 and Constance, Queen of Poland from 1605. Since Anna died in 1598 and Margaret was never depicted with a royal crown (compare with paintings in the Uffizi, inv. 2392/1890 and 2356/1890), it is undoubtedly Constance who is depicted in this portrait. Her facial features were similarly depicted in a gouache miniature by the Monogrammist I. K., made around 1600 (Bavarian National Museum in Munich, inscription in Spanish: La Archiduquesa Constantina / Reyna de Polonia, i.e. Archduchess Constance, Queen of Poland), in a destroyed portrait with a parrot (Germanisches Nationalmuseum in Nuremberg, Gm 707) or a portrait in a maternity dress (Zamość Museum, inv. 62). The style of the two paintings recalls works attributed to Valore (1590-1660) and Domenico Casini (1588-1660), two brothers, active in Florence, mainly as portraitists, such as the portrait of a young man holding a letter to Mr. Ruberto Bonsi in Florence (Wannenes Art Auctions in Genoa, March 15, 2022, lot 86) or portrait of Catarina de' Medici (1593-1629), governor of Siena, attributed to Domenico (Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, GG 8272). Since the Philadelphia paintings are less elaborately painted than these two, they were most likely created with the help of assistants in their studio, perhaps as part of a series of similar paintings. A painting painted in a similar style is now in the Nationalmuseum in Stockholm (oil on canvas, 64 x 49 cm, NMGrh 1499, inscription: FERDIN II M. DVX ÆTRVR.). It represents the eldest son of Maria Maddalena - Ferdinando II (1610-1670), aged around 15, thus created in 1625, the year of the visit to Florence of his cousin Ladislaus Sigismund Vasa. The painting comes from Gripsholm Castle, housing the Swedish royal collections and spoils of war, so it was probably looted from Poland-Lithuania. 
Portrait of Constance of Austria (1588-1631), Queen of Poland and Grand Duchess of Lithuania by workshop of Valore and Domenico Casini, 1610s, Philadelphia Museum of Art.
Portrait of Maria Maddalena of Austria (1589-1631), Grand Duchess of Tuscany by workshop of Valore and Domenico Casini, 1610s, Philadelphia Museum of Art.
Portrait of Ferdinando II de' Medici (1610-1670), Grand Duke of Tuscany by workshop of Valore and Domenico Casini, ca. 1625, Nationalmuseum in Stockholm.
Portraits of Queen Constance of Austria as Saint Mary Magdalene and Saint Veronica by Gortzius Geldorp
Everything changes so quickly, we say. Fashion, technology, but also customs. Some natural aspects of our current lives might be funny or strange to future generations. Certain dramatic events like natural disasters or wars also have an impact on the way people live and perceive the world.
More and more researchers today study the effects of foreign invasions on the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, which for many reasons have been forgotten. The Deluge (1655-1660), which some say was more destructive to Poland than the Second World War, was undoubtedly an event that changed many things. For many people, it was a punishment sent from heaven for a sinful life, so reform was much needed. Apart from political instability and other causes, the invasions and pillaging of the country have contributed to its impoverishment, the fall of the economy, education, art and other areas. Men "raised in pillows" by "Italian courtesans" (i.e. Italianized Polish women), according to Szymon Starowolski's "Votum on the improvement of the Commonwealth" (Votvm o naprawie Rzeczypospolitey, p. 18), published in 1625, who did not want to defend the eastern lands against invasions, over a quarter a century later, had to face the incredible brutality of different invaders who broke into the center of the Commonwealth. In the Commonwealth, the prudish invaders were confronted with a more frivolous Latin culture and Italian influences, as well as Renaissance and early Baroque art that often included nudity. In addition to the sometimes lascivious images of Catholic saints, the residences of the Commonwealth were filled with numerous images of Roman gods and disguised or historicised (historié) portraits, which probably increased the aggressiveness and contempt of the conquerors, terrified by the "impious" lifestyle of the Sarmatians. Many sources confirm that the barbaric invaders had no mercy for the conquered country. In the center of Stockholm, visitors can admire a "monument" to the inhuman imperialism of the invaders - the warship Vasa prepared for the invasion of the Commonwealth, which was nevertheless so overloaded with heavy military equipment that it sank shortly after leaving port on August 10, 1628. The people of the Commonwealth were ridiculed with figures of Polish nobles hiding under the table or bench and allegedly barking like a dog, located next to the toilet (compare Vasamuseet website, "The Sculptures of Vasa. Insulting the enemy"). The invaders shaped the image of the population of the conquered land and also had an impact on cultural changes. Moreover, in the post-Deluge Commonwealth, steeped in mourning, there was little room for extravagance and eroticism. In the Czartoryski Museum in Kraków there is a mysterious image of Queen Constance of Austria (1588-1631), second wife of King Sigismund III Vasa (oil on copper, 22.3 x 18.8 cm, DMK Cz 196/I). The painting comes from the Royal Casket, a collection of royal memorabilia of the Commonwealth assembled by Princess Izabela Czartoryska (1746-1835). The casket was looted by the Nazi German invaders during World War II, however, this image has survived. On the reverse is an inscription engraved in Latin according to which this effigy was painted by King Sigismund III, who was a talented painter, and offered to his court preacher Piotr Skarga (1536-1612): Hanc imaginem, Sigismvndvs Rex. Pol. manv propia pin/xit eamq. donavit Cancionatori svo R. Petro Scargae ... (after "Sztuka dworu Wazów w Polsce ...", ed. Andrzej Fischinger, item 38, p. 51-52, 150-151). The painting must have been produced between 1605 (year of the marriage to Constance) and 1632 (year of the king's death). The woman's royal regalia and Habsburg features indicate that she is indeed Queen Constance. The most unusual element is the model's costume and hairstyle, more typical of the third quarter of the 17th century. This led to the sitter being identified as Queen Marie Louise Gonzaga (1611-1667). The format and style of the painting indicate that it is a Flemish work, comparable to paintings attributed to Gonzales Coques (died 1684), active in Antwerp. A somewhat similar painting depicting a boy counting his coins, attributed to the circle of Gonzales Coques, comes from a private Swedish collection (ClassicArtworks Stockholm, AnticStore, Ref : 104843). It seems that around 1660, so after the Deluge, someone decided to recreate the painting made by the king, an important souvenir, and to dress the queen in a costume from that year. The original painted by Sigismund was probably destroyed or damaged during the invasion. Also taking into account my findings regarding portraiture in Poland-Lithuania, it is also quite possible that the original painting was "inappropriate" by post-Deluge standards. In the 18th century, a beautiful partly gilded silver riza or oklad (shaty in Ukrainian or sukienka in Polish), i.e. a robe with frame, was added to the portrait (silver, almandine, turquoise, 24.8 x 24 cm, MNK IV-V-1415/2). This repoussé work, pierced to expose elements of the underlying painting, is typical of Orthodox sacred icons (for example silver-gilt riza for the icon of Our Lady, made between 1676 and 1684 in Gdańsk by Peter Rohde II, State Historical Museum of Moscow, ОК 9639 / ГИМ 75940). Poland's most famous riza is the ruby robe of the Black Madonna of Częstochowa, decorated with jewels from private donations and made after the Deluge, in gratitude to the Virgin for saving the country from the total annihilation by the invaders. It should be noted here that, according to Translacio tabule, a source from the first half of the 15th century, the real author of the icon of the Black Madonna is said to be Saint Luke the Evangelist, who painted the first image of the Virgin Mary (Translacio tabule Beate Marie Virginis, quam Sanctus Lucas depinxit propriis manibus, Archive of Jasna Góra, sygn. II 19, fols 216v-220r). The rococo riza of the queen's potrait is dated to the second half of the 18th century, but we cannot exclude that the portrait originally had another riza created at the same time as the painting, which however did not survive to another disastrous invasion - the Great Northern War (1700-1721). It is quite unusual that the riza, typical of sacred images, was added to this portrait of the queen. Was it originally a portrait in guise of a Christian saint or a tradition has survived that portraits of Queen Constance should be "venerated" in this way? Or maybe people believed that Queen Constance needed appropriate dress? It is difficult to determine this due to the lack of sources and comparable works. In the Prado Museum in Madrid, there is a painting of Saint Mary Magdalene holding a crucifix, considered to be a work of unknown 16th century painter (La Magdalena, oil on panel, 70 x 58 cm, P003657). The painting was offered in 1889 by María Dionisia Vives y Zires, Duchess of Pastrana, and it was considered to be the work of Flemish painter Frans Floris de Vriendt (1519-1570). The Dukes of Pastrana were important landowners in Spain and the III Duke of Pastrana Ruy III Gómez de Silva Mendoza y de la Cerda (1585-1626) was State Councilor and Ambassador to Rome between 1623-1626. The effigy of a woman represented as Mary Magdalene resembles the disguised portraits of Queen Constance, painted by Gortzius Geldorp, notably the effigy as Venus (Sotheby's in New York, January 29, 2016, lot 454). The style of the painting is also similar. Facial features were depicted in the same way as in the portrait of Constance with a parrot (Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Gm 707, lost) or in the portrait with a crown (Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1883-137). A similar costume is visible in the portrait of the queen in the Allegory of Faith of 1616 (Nationalmuseum Stockholm, NMH 436/1891) and in the scene of the feasting courtiers, detail of the painting "Before the Deluge" by Isaac van den Blocke, painted after 1608 for the Main Town Hall of Gdańsk. Among the aristocrats and "courtesans" in rich costumes, some in Roman style, one can see the mayor of Gdańsk - Johann von (van) der Linde (1542-1619), a pious Protestant close to the Radziwill family to whom he rented a house in Gdańsk. Another painting from the series titled "Division of Nations" depicts figures dressed in other costumes typical of Gdańsk and the Commonwealth. A comparison with the portraits of Queen Anne of Denmark (1574-1619), wife of King James VI, is very appropriate here. They differ not only in costumes, but also in hair color (blonde, red and dark) and facial features. Around 1606, a marriage between James VI's daughter, Elizabeth (1596-1662), and Sigismund III's son, Ladislaus Sigismund, was seriously considered. In 1607, Sigismund sent Queen Anne a portrait of himself with his son and some amber through the English envoy to Poland William Bruce (after "Anglia a Polska w pierwszej połowie XVII w." by Edward Alfred Mierzwa, p. 34), while according to Jakub Sobieski's 1609 account, the princess Elizabeth had a portrait of the Prince of Poland above her bed. Effigies of the English monarchs must also have been sent to Poland-Lithuania, and it should be noted that the big décolletage dominated English women's fashion in the first quarter of the 17th century, as evidenced by portraits of Queen Anne, the portrait of Elizabeth Gray (1582-1651), Countess of Kent (Tate Britain, T00398) or portrait of Amalia of Solms-Braunfels (1602-1675), Princess of Orange, in English costume (Museum of Warmia and Masuria, MNO 100 OMO). Another similar portrait of Constance in the guise of another Christian saint - Saint Veronica, attributed to Geldorp, was sold in Germany in 2023 (oil on panel, 71 x 55 cm, Auktionshaus Plückbaum in Bonn, June 3, 2023, lot 1475). It comes from a private collection (owned for two generations). On the reverse there is an old adhesive label with attribution and note of restoration carried out in 1933 by Gerhard Fischer (City Archives of Cologne). In 1617, Pope Paul V presented Queen Constance with a copy of an important relic - the Volto Santo or Vera Icon (Veil of Veronica), today kept in the Diocesan Museum in Łowicz. It was made by Pietro Strozzi in Rome. Jacopo Grimaldi, notary at St. Peter's Basilica, recounted how those responsible for guarding the relic prepared a copy of the Volto Santo for the Queen of Poland. The silver-gilt frame of the picture was founded by Primate Jan Wężyk around 1631. The "Saint Veronica" is less finely painted than the other mentioned works by Geldorp, which indicate the work of the workshop. Among the gifts given to the Black Madonna of Częstochowa by King Sigismund III are a so-called Vasa chain from the so-called diamond dress of Our Lady, possibly the work of the king, and a disguised likeness of his second wife, Queen Constance depicted as the Virgin and Child, painted by his own hand around 1617. This small painting was formerly mounted in a mannerist metal frame, originally a mirror frame made in Lüneburg, gilded and decorated with precious stones, which probably came from the queen's dowry (after "Jasnogórska Bogurodzica: 1382-1982" by Jan Majdecki, p. 115). The frame was previously believed to be a gift from King Augustus III and currently, a much later image of Our Lady of Częstochowa is placed there. The portrait of the queen in this frame was photographed around 1896 by Stanisław Trzciński (National Museum in Warsaw, DI 16540 MNW) and shows Constance in a crown and holding the Child. The mirror, a symbol of vanity in Renaissance painting, was replaced by a divine (virtuous) effigy (reflection) of the queen. The portrait of Queen Constance's approximately 10-year-old nephew - Cardinal-Infante Ferdinand of Austria (Don Fernando de Austria, 1609-1641), Archbishop of Toledo, depicted as Salvator Mundi in a painting by the Spanish school of circa 1620 (Setdart Auction House in Barcelona, December 29, 2022, lot 30), as well as Adoration of the Magi with King Sigismund III Vasa as Saint Melchior, his son Prince Ladislaus Sigismund as Saint Caspar and their courtiers, painted by Jakub Charzyński (or Harzyński) in 1629 (Church St. Hedwig in Nieszawa, Chapel of St. John the Baptist, founded by Bishop Andrzej Lipski for the Włocławek Cathedral, NID/WLX 114 000533, compare "W asystencji, w przebraniu ..." by Jacek Żukowski, p. 21-24), proves that such depictions were popular in the first quarter of the 17th century. In a small painting, also attributed to King Sigismund III, according to Marian Sokołowski (1839-1911), Saint Peter leads the king's son, the young prince Ladislaus Sigismund Vasa (the painting is now attributed to an 18th century painter and interpreted as representing Saint Joseph and the Infant Jesus, Czartoryski Museum, MNK XII-550). In the funeral oration on the occasion of the royal couple's funeral in 1633, published by the Kraków canon Jan Lipski (1589-1641), who was secretary to Sigismund III from 1616 and then chancellor to the queen, he praised the king as the Constantine the Great (venerated as a saint in Eastern Christianity) and compared his wife to the emperor's mother, Saint Helena: "Oh, also the new Helena and the new mother of Constantine, Constance! Not a finder, indeed, but a pious worshiper and cross-bearer who, during her life, worshiped with the utmost piety the wonderful image in this basilica [the crucifix of Queen Jadwiga in the Wawel Cathedral], which spoke to the Holy Relative, and before her death decorated it with a net veil woven with her own hands" (O nouam etiam Helenam, & nouorum Constantinorum Matrem Constantiam! non inuentricem quidem Crucis, sed piam cultricem, ac gestatricem: cuius & in hac Basilica admirandam effigiem, Cognatae Diuae olim locutam, summa pietate viuens coluit, & prope moriens, reticulato velamine propria manu intexto, ornauit, after "Konstancja Austriaczka w kręgu świętych niewiast i władczyń ..." by Krzysztof J. Czyżewski, p. 10). Constance of Austria was the queen of a large and wealthy country in central Europe and the mother of King John II Casimir. She corresponded and exchanged gifts and portraits with her older sister Margaret of Austria (1584-1611), Queen of Spain (depicted as the Virgin Mary in the paintings by Juan Pantoja de la Cruz), and with her younger sister Maria Maddalena of Austria (1589-1631), Grand Duchess of Tuscany (depicted as Saint Mary Magdalene in the paintings by Justus Sustermans). The portraits of Queen Constance must have been as numerous as her sisters. Besides enormous destruction, the oblivion of the person after the fall of the Commonwealth as a European power after 1655, among other factors which contributed to the fact that so few of her portraits (before this article) were known are a great diversity of representations, costumes and painters, idealization and copying which distorted facial features, disguised portraits and finally nudity, considered inappropriate in some countries. 
Portrait of Queen Constance of Austria (1588-1631) as Saint Mary Magdalene holding a crucifix by Gortzius Geldorp, 1610s, Prado Museum.
Portrait of Queen Constance of Austria (1588-1631) as Saint Veronica holding her veil by workshop of Gortzius Geldorp, ca. 1617, Private collection.
Mannerist frame of a mirror of Queen Constance of Austria (1588-1631) with her portrait as Madonna and Child by the Lüneburg workshop (frame) and King Sigismund III Vasa (painting), before 1617, Treasury of the Jasna Góra Monastery. Virtual reconstruction, © Marcin Latka
Portrait of Queen Constance of Austria (1588-1631) by circle of Gonzales Coques, ca. 1660, Czartoryski Museum. Virtual reconstruction, © Marcin Latka
The Virgin and Child with Saints from the high altar of Warsaw Cathedral by Palma il Giovane
The painting, commissioned in Venice for the high altar of the medieval St. John's Cathedral, the main church in Warsaw's Old Town, survived several tragic events in the city's history, including the Deluge, the Great Northern War, the Partitions, and World War I. However, it did not survive the greatest tragedy: World War II and the near-annihilation of the Polish capital by German forces. In September 1939, the church was bombed by Luftwaffe and artillery fire, on August 17, 1944, it was shelled by artillery and the altar burned, and on August 21, the invaders drove a tank loaded with explosives into the temple, and a huge explosion destroyed much of the building. Warsaw and its cathedral rose like a phoenix from the sea of rubble left by the invaders after the war, thanks to the tremendous efforts of the Polish nation. Unfortunately, the Baroque high altar and the Venetian painting were not reconstructed.
The altar, with its rich early Baroque forms, was founded in 1610 by the local chapter at a cost of 7,000 złotys to replace the late Gothic altar established by Bishop Jan Lubrański and executed in 1510. The old altar, considered a work of the Wrocław workshop, was transferred to the parish church in Cegłów. The initiator of the new altar was King Sigismund III Vasa and it was considered the work of several sculptors. Three Italian architects, active in Sarmatia in the early 17th century, are cited as the probable authors of the altar design: Giovanni Succator, Giovanni Maria Bernardoni, and Giovanni Trevano. The upper part featured the figurative group of the Baptism of Christ, while the central part of the lower part was decorated with the Venetian painting. According to Wiktor Czajewski (1857-1922), who gave a detailed description of the altar in his book published in Warsaw in 1899, the statue of Saint Sigismund of Burgundy on the right of the painting closely resembled Sigismund III (after "Katedra ś. Jana w Warszawie ...", p. 66-67, 69). It is therefore likely that this was a crypto-portrait of the king in the guise of his patron. The painting depicted the Virgin and Child in glory with cherubs in the upper part, and Saint John the Baptist (patron of the temple) and Saint Stanislaus (patron of the Kingdom) in the lower part (oil on canvas, 374 x 209 cm). In his description of the Warsaw temple from 1827, Łukasz Gołębiowski (1773-1849), states that King Sigismund III "placed in 1618 on the high altar the painting by Palma nuovo or giovine, the Venetian" (after "Opisanie historyczno-statystyczne miasta Warszawy", p. 73). It is not known whether the painting was signed, but all other sources also maintain the attribution to Jacopo Negretti (1549-1628), known as Palma the Younger (Palma il Giovane), to distinguish him from his great-uncle Jacopo Palma the Elder (Palma il Vecchio). The style and composition of the Warsaw painting were typical of Palma the Younger, and a similar painting, the Virgin and Child in glory with Saints, is in the chapel of the Church of San Marco in Milan; painted for the Church of San Carlo Borromeo in Gargnano and signed in the right-hand corner: JACOBUS PALMA F. The cherubs cheerfully playing with the Madonna's mantle were not only charming, but also very innovative, especially in comparison with previous Late Gothic altar. Such a large and important commission undoubtedly required extensive consultations. The king must have received and approved an initial study drawing, which, undoubtedly, led Czajewski to assume that the painter had traveled to Poland. The author claimed that "he was invited to Poland by Sigismund, on the recommendation of the Duke of Urbino". Although the recommendation of the Duke of Urbino, Francesco Maria II della Rovere (1549-1631), cannot be ruled out in this case, as it was common for monarchs to recommend artists, and Palma il Giovane worked for Francesco Maria's father, Guidobaldo II della Rovere (1514-1574), the painter's stay in Poland is not confirmed by any source and is not considered likely (compare "Weneckie zamówienia Zygmunta III" by Jan Białostocki, p. 163). Therefore, all consultations regarding the painting must have been conducted by correspondence. Carlo Ridolfi (1594–1658), in his biography of Palma the Younger, included in his work Le Maraviglie dell'arte, published in 1648, confirms that the painter worked for the Polish monarch and that he painted for Sigismund "the fable of Psyche, and for the Warsaw Cathedral the picture of Christ in the Jordan" (Al Re Sigismondo III. di Polonia fece ancora parte della favola di Psiche, e per lo Duomo di Varsavia la tavola di Christo al Giordano). The erotic Psyche series was probably made for one of the king's residences in Warsaw, while for the cathedral Palma created at least two paintings: the one destroyed in 1944 and another depicting the Baptism of Christ by Saint John the Baptist, mentioned by Ridolfi. In 1807, Palma the Younger's painting was taken by the French, along with several others from the castle. Dominique Vivant (1747-1825), Baron Denon, director of Napoleon I's museums, took it to a Parisian gallery. Marcello Bacciarelli (1731-1818), already in his old age, was commissioned to paint a new one from memory, of the same size and content (probably now preserved in the Chapel of St. Stanislaus in Poznań Cathedral). In 1815, Palma's original work was returned to Warsaw, but it was not until 1864 that it was renovated and placed back in the altar. Despite huge losses in historical collections, some of Palma's paintings are exhibited in Polish museums. At Wawel Castle there are two paintings: Joseph and Potiphar's wife (inv. ZKnW-PZS 1068) and The Crucifixion, from the Lanckoroński collection (inv. ZKnW-PZS 7965). The collection of the Wilanów Royal Palace in Warsaw houses an erotic work: Leda and the swan, attributed to Palma the Younger (inv. Wil.1053). The catalogue of the Potocki collection evacuated to New York at the beginning of World War II reproduces a Last Supper, also attributed to him ("For Peace and Freedom. Old masters: a collection of Polish-owned works of art ...", item 26, National Library of Poland, DŻS XIXA 3a), while the painting representing the Woman taken in adultery (or Susanna and the elders), attributed to Tintoretto in this catalogue, is today considered a work by Palma (private collection, oil on canvas, 68.7 x 89.5 cm, item 13). Within the borders of historical Sarmatia, generally speaking, one can also mention the Saint Veronica wiping the face of Christ on the road to Calvary by Palma il Giovane, which was in the private collection of Major Kündl until 1940, from there it entered the collection of the princes of Lubomirski, and in 1949 - to the Lviv Art Gallery (inv. Ж-1301). Their earliest provenance is not known, however their number and the contexts described (losses and works by Palma created for the King of Poland) indicate that some of them could have been made for the Sarmatians or imported into Sarmatia during the painter's lifetime. 
Virgin and Child in glory with cherubs, Saint John the Baptist and Saint Stanislaus by Palma il Giovane, before 1618, St. John's Cathedral in Warsaw, destroyed during World War II. Virtual reconstruction, © Marcin Latka
Susanna and the elders from the Potocki collection by Palma il Giovane, ca. 1600, Private collection.
Portrait of Sigismund Charles Radziwill by Gortzius Geldorp
In 1616, Sigismund Charles Radziwill (1591-1642), son of Nicolaus Christopher Radziwill "the Orphan" (1549-1616) and Elżbieta Eufemia Wiśniowiecka (1569-1596) arrived at the royal court in Warsaw and obtained, in 1617, the titular dignity of Carver of the court of Queen Constance of Austria.
He studied at the Jesuit College in Nesvizh, and then in Bologna. In 1612, he joined the Order of the Knights of Malta (Knights Hospitaller) and fought with the Turks in the Mediterranean. After returning to Poland in 1614, his father founded him a Maltese commandery in Lithuania. At the beginning of 1618, summoned by the Grand Master, he went to Malta. In January 1619, he was in Vienna where a great congregation of Knights Hospitaller was held. He was appointed by the Grand Master general commissioner, together with Charles II Gonzaga (1609-1631), Duke of Nevers. "Having received a license from His Highness the Emperor ... tomorrow, God willing, I am leaving", he wrote in a letter dated January 15, 1619 from Vienna to his brother John George Radziwill (1588-1625). In February 1619 he was in Venice, and he reported again to his brother: "I found his lordship Alexander, our brother, in good health in Venice and I hope that Our Lord will brought him quickly back and your Majesty will see him in our country". After return to the Commonwealth in 1621 he participated in the battle of Khotyn and in 1622 he commanded the unit of the Polish-Lithuanian light cavalry (Lisowczyks) in the Imperial army. He died on November 5, 1642 in Assisi in Italy. Before the discovery of a portrait of a man in black costume dated 1619 and signed by Gortzius Geldorp with his monogram GG.F. (oil on panel, 58 x 39 cm), it was generally believed that he died in 1616 in Cologne. A copy of Titian's Violante by his hand, sold in 2016 in Vienna (Dorotheum, lot 122, monogrammed upper left: GG.F.), indicate that he was in Venice and in Vienna. According to inscription in Latin in upper right corner of mentioned portrait of a man in black costume the sitter was aged 28 in 1619 (AETATIS. SVAE. 28. / .1619.) exactly as Sigismund Charles Radziwill when he was in Venice and in Vienna. The costume of a man and his facial features bear a startling resemblance to effigy of Sigismund Charles Radziwill in the State Hermitage Museum (ОР-45868), created after original from about 1616. His Spanish style costume, typical for the Imperial court in Vienna, is almost identical to that visible in the portrait of Antonio Barberini, Grand Prior of Rome of the Order of Malta, created in 1625 by Ottavio Leoni. Similar outfits are also visible in portraits by Bernardo Strozzi, like in the likeness of Giovanni Battista Mora the Elder, nobleman of Vicenza near Venice, in the Walters Art Museum and in the portrait of Mikołaj Wolski (1553-1630) by Venanzio di Subiaco in the Camaldolese Monastery in Bielany, created in about 1624. 
Portrait of Sigismund Charles Radziwill (1591-1642) aged 28 by Gortzius Geldorp, 1619, Private collection.
Portrait of Łukasz Żółkiewski by Johann Philipp Kreuzfelder
At the end of the 16th century, Flemish/Dutch art was the dominant model for Nuremberg portrait painters. Under the influence of Nicolas Neufchatel and Nicolas Juvenel, two prominent Flemish/Dutch artists settled in the imperial city, the highly developed Antwerp portraiture found its way into local portraiture (after catalogue entry by Judith Hentschel for 1626 portrait of a woman). The pupils of Juvenel were among the most successful and sought-after portrait painters in the city and outside.
Jakob Troschel (1583-1624) from Nuremberg, a court painter of King Sigismund III Vasa, was trained in Juvenel's close circle - according to Johann Gabriel Doppelmayr's "Historische Nachricht ..." he learned from Johann Juvenel and Alex Lindner, and Johann Philipp Kreuzfelder (1577-1636), son of a Nuremberg goldsmith, completed his apprenticeship at Juvenel's workshop between 1593 to 1597. In 1612 and 1617 Kreuzfelder portrayed the Nuremberg councillors and in 1614 Bartolomeo Viatis (1538-1624), a merchant from Venice (City of Nuremberg's Art Collections), then he worked as a portrait painter for the Counts of Oettingen and Hohenlohe-Langenburg. He is believed to have stayed in Rome with the artist Adam Elsheimer (1578-1610) and influences from both Flemish and Italian portraiture may be found in his work. Kreuzfelder has been assigned the monogram 'JC' (for Johannes Creutzfelder) by researchers. In 1626 the painter probably also travelled to Munich, as signed portrait by his hand depicting a lady in rich black dress (sold at Koller Auctions, October 01, 2021, Lot 3013) bears a coat of arms similar to that of Sentlinger family, a wealthy Munich patrician family, and to Constance in the south of Germany in 1628, as effigy of Nikolaus Tritt von Wilderen, a member of the city council of Constance, is attributed to him. A small portrait of a young nobleman (34 x 25.5 cm, oil on copper) from private collection in the south of Germany (sold at Lempertz KG, November 19, 2022, Lot 1516) was painted in the style symilar to the portrait of a woman from the Sentlinger family. He wears elaborately painted, silk, black doublet and loose breeches. The finely painted white lace trimmings of the lavish collar and cuffs, is characteristic of Kreuzfelder. Also the artist's signature in upper right is very similar. The painting was attributed to German School early 17th century and the monogram was deciphered as TB f. (?) (overlapping), however, it could be also JPC f. for Johannes Philippus Creutzfelder fecit in Latin. According to the rest of inscription, also in Latin, the depicted man was 25 years old in 1619 (Aetatis. 25 / 1619), exactly as Łukasz Żółkiewski (1594-1636), the younger son of the Chamberlain of Lviv Mikołaj Żółkiewski (d. 1596). He studied abroad, possibly at the Jesuit College of Ingolstadt, a city between Nuremberg and Munich in the Duchy and Electorate of Bavaria, very popular among Polish-Lithuanian nobility at that time. King Sigismund III ordered works of art in Bavaria and sent them to William V, Duke of Bavaria, while king's mistress, influential "minister in a skirt" or "Jesuit's bigotry" Urszula Meyerin (1570-1635), was most likely born near Munich in Bavaria. Nephew of the famous hetman Stanisław Żółkiewski (1547-1620), Łukasz took part in the Turkish campaign of 1620 and was captured at the battle of Cecora, in which his uncle lost his life. Four years later, in 1624, he accompanied Prince Ladislaus Sigismund Vasa (future Ladislaus IV) on a foreign trip at the behest of King Sigismund III. Żółkiewski, who become the voivode of Bratslav, died childless in a battle with the Cossacks in November or December 1636 and was buried in the Jesuit church in Pereiaslav, which he founded a year earlier (1635) along with the Jesuit College. Later, the Cossacks destroyed Pereiaslav including the church, and they threw out the body of the founder from the coffin (after "Ilustrowany przewodnik po zabytkach kultury na Ukrainie" by Jacek Tokarski, Zbigniew Hauser, Volume 4, p. 180). The family resemblance of the 25-year-old man to effigies of hetman Stanisław Żółkiewski, Łukasz's uncle, is striking. The shape of the face, lower jaw and lower lip, hair color and hairstyle are very much alike. The style of the portrait resemble greatly two miniatures from the National Museum in Warsaw (inventory number Min.1014 and Min.1015), identified as effigies of Gotthard Kettler (1517-1587), Duke of Courland, which was part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, and his wife Anna of Mecklenburg (1533-1602). It cannot be excluded that Kreuzfelder arrived at some point of his career to the Commonwealth or Żółkiewski commissioned a series of his effigies during his potential sojourn in Nuremberg, because the painter was known among Polish-Lithuanian clients. 
Portrait of Łukasz Żółkiewski (1594-1636), aged 25 by Johann Philipp Kreuzfelder, 1619, Private collection.
Miniature portrait of Gotthard Kettler (1517-1587), Duke of Courland by Johann Philipp Kreuzfelder, first quarter of the 17th century, National Museum in Warsaw.
Miniature portrait of Anna of Mecklenburg (1533-1602), Duchess of Courland by Johann Philipp Kreuzfelder, first quarter of the 17th century, National Museum in Warsaw.
Portraits of Tomasz Zamoyski and Katarzyna Ostrogska by Domenico Tintoretto
In the years 1615-1617, "fulfilling the last will of his father", Tomasz Zamoyski (1594-1638), son of Jan Zamoyski, Grand Chancellor of the Crown (1542-1605) and Barbara Tarnowska (1566-1610), daughter of Stanisław Tarnowski (d. 1618), castellan of Sandomierz, undertook foreign peregrinations. Almost all young magnates made such educational journeys at that time.
Through Kraków in the south of Poland, he reached Gdańsk in the north, where he stayed "about six Sundays" - from around December 12, 1614 to the last days of January 1615, also visiting Malbork and Elbląg. In the last days of January 1615, after receiving letters of recommendation from king Sigismund III Vasa, young Zamoyski set off from Gdańsk accompanied by a small court with Father Wojciech Bodzęcki, professor at the Zamość Academy, and Piotr Oleśnicki, Tomasz's cousin, who studied in Paris and Padua at the expense of Jan Zamoyski. From Lübeck he went to Amsterdam, and from there to England. He arrived in London in mid-July 1615 and spent about 5 months there. James I, captured by Tomasz's wit and kindness, often invited him to hunting and banquets. At the request of Zamoyski the king released several English Catholics from prison - including Father Fludd who was held at Gatehouse Prison. "He was held in high esteem by the King, who often had audiences with him. He often went hunting with his son Charles. The royal horses were always at the disposal of the Lord himself and his servants for fun. King James was given an expensive hat decoration with heron feathers", wrote Tomasz's servant Stanisław Żurkowski in a biography. Wanting to get to know the country better, he went on a trip around the island, which lasted about two months. Then he travelled to France. Zamoyski probably arrived to Tours, where King Louis XIII was staying at that time, in the first days of March 1616. From Tours the he went to Orléans then to Paris. His stay in the capital of France was very busy: he learned the French language, "listened to the courts in the parliament", he was "in academies on various acts and disputes", he improved his skills in fencing and horse riding, and he learned to play the lute. He attended the audiences of King Louis XIII, held receptions for officials and officers of the French court and visited them. He befriended the princes de Guise, de Rohan, de Nevers and de Montmorency. From France young Zamoyski came to Italy in January 1617. From an early age, he had contact with the culture of Italy as his father was educated there. He visited Naples and Rome, where he had audiences with Pope Paul V. Then he went to Loreto, Padua and Venice. Also in Italy he maintained the splendor of his retinue. He visited the studios of masters of engraving, painting and goldsmiths, he acquired luxury goods, he organized parties and gave gifts to people from the ruling class. The cost of Zamoyski's journey was amounted to enormous sum of over 20,000 zlotys, while the income from 1 village at that time fluctuated between 140 and 240 zlotys annually. In the first days of November 1617, through Switzerland, Bavaria, Bohemia and Silesia, Zamoyski returned to Poland, where in Kościan, he was welcomed by servants from Zamość and soldiers from his private units. A few days later, he arrived in Poznań, where "he put away his foreign clothes, cut his hair and returned to Polish attire", as recalled Żurkowski in his biography. From Poznań he went to Łowicz, to pay a visit to the Archbishop of Gniezno, Wawrzyniec Gembicki in his magnificent palace, and then to Warsaw, where he stayed for about two weeks. It was not until December 20 that he arrived in Zamość, where he was solemnly welcomed. Soon after his return his political career advanced, in 1618 he became the voivode of Podolia and in 1619 the voivode of Kiev (after "Peregrynacje zagraniczne Tomasza Zamoyskiego w latach 1615-1617" by Adam Andrzej Witusik). He also decided to marry Katarzyna Ostrogska (1602-1642), granddaughter of Zofia Tarnowska (1534-1570), Princess of Ostroh on paternal side, and great-granddaughter of Duchess Anna of Masovia (1498-1557) on maternal side. 18-year-old Katarzyna and 25-year-old Tomasz were married in the Corpus Christi Church in Jarosław on March 1, 1620. As a dowry, Katarzyna received 53,333 zlotys, 6 castles, 13 cities, about 300 villages and folwarks. She was born in 1602 in the family of Alexander Prince of Ostroh, voivode of Volhynia, and his wife Anna Kostka (1575-1635), as the youngest of eight children. The family lived in the city of Jarosław. Her father died suddenly the year after her birth, leaving a rich inheritance to his three daughters who reached adulthood: Zofia, Anna Alojza and Katarzyna. The portrait of a young man in a black coat lined with fur, attributed to Domenico Tintoretto, today in the National Gallery in London (oil on canvas, 119.5 x 98 cm, inv. NG173), was presented in 1839 by Henry Gally Knight (1786-1846), a British politician and writer. His right hand rests on a table placed before an open window, and on which is a silver vase containing a sprig of myrtle, consecrated to Venus, goddess of love and used in bridal wreaths. In his left hand he holds a black cap. An open window looks out over a landscape of farmland with two rustic buildings, possibly barns, with what look like thatched roofs supported on wooden trunks or poles, typical for Poland, Ukraine and large estates of the Zamoyskis near Zamość. Merchants from such distant countries as Spain, England, Finland, Armenia and Persia arrived for the annual three-week-long big fair, one of the largest in Europe, in nearby Jarosław - according to Łukasz Opaliński (1612-1662), 30,000 cattle were sold at one Jarosław fair (Polonia Defensa Contra Joan. Barclaium, 1648). The same man was also depicted in a full-length portrait, also by Domenico Tintoretto, which before World War II was in the Łańcut Castle close to Jarosław (catalogue "For Peace and Freedom. Old masters: a collection of Polish-owned works of art ...", pic. 37). He wears a fashionable French/English black costume, very similar to the one shown in the portrait of a young man, attributed to Salomon Mesdach, dated on the table: Aº 1617 (Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, inventory number SK-A-913). A view of a canal in Venice is visible through the window behind him, suggesting that the portrait is a souvenir of his visit to the city. The man in both portraits bear great resemblance to effigies of Tomasz Zamoyski in Polish costume, as a child aged 12, created by Peter Querradt in 1606 (Österreichische Nationalbibliothek) and aged 44, created by Jan Kasiński in 1637 (Diocesan Museum in Sandomierz). Another version of the Łańcut portrait, also attributed to Domenico Tintoretto, was sold in Vienna in 2020 (oil on canvas, 194 x 119.5 cm, Dorotheum, November 10, 2020, lot 54). This painting comes from the Donà delle Rose collection in Venice. The man's pose is almost identical in terms of the positioning of the legs, as well as the face. The differences are in the background view and in the man's costume. In the Łańcut portrait he is wearing French costume, while in the Venetian portrait he is dressed in Spanish fashion. A perfect complement to these two portraits is another full-length portrait of Tomasz, painted by Jan Kasiński in the 1630s, now in the Zamość Museum (inv. MZ/ 1 105/S), which shows him in Polish costume inspired by Hungarian fashion. The composition of the portrait by Kasiński is also comparable. The three portraits - from Łańcut in French costume, from Venice in Spanish costume and from Zamość in Polish costume are a perfect counterpart to three engravings, all by Crispijn van de Passe the Younger and dated between around 1620 and 1625 (Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, inv. RP-P-2002-689, RP-P-2002-691, RP-P-2002-697). They depict couples in French, Spanish and Hungarian costumes, which almost perfectly match the costumes of the three portraits mentioned. The man in Domenico's portrait clearly wanted to boast about his splendid costumes that he had acquired before 1620. Another aspect that speaks in favor of the fact that he was a stranger to Venice is the view. If he were a Venetian nobleman or merchant, the view would undoubtedly represent his palace or estate, but in both paintings we can see general views of a Venetian canal with gondolas, like a tourist wanting a photo in front of a beautiful view. Furthermore, none of his Venetian relatives bothered to add an inscription or coat of arms commemorating this very wealthy man, which is a further indication that his ties with Venice were rather loose and his stay temporary, but he probably had friends in Venice to whom he could have offered his effigy. Portrait of a lady, known as Donna delle Rose, in Villa Gyllenberg in Helsinki was painted in the same style as the portrait of a man with myrtle in the National Gallery in London. This work is also attributed to Domenico Tintoretto, it has similar composition and similar dimensions (oil on canvas, 116.5 x 85.5 cm, inv. G-2011-223), therefore can be considered as a pendant or a portrait from a series created at the same time. The modish attire worn by this young woman bespeaks great affluence. Her costume is very similar to Venetian court dresses visible in a print published in 1609 in Giacomo Franco's "Costumes of Venetian Men and Women" (Habiti d'hvomeni et donne venetiane). The northern ruff, however, was replaced with a reticella collar from the late 1610s, like an open peacock's tail behind the head, propped up with sticks, similar to Italian and French collars of courtiers of King Sigismund III Vasa. The Procession with St. Anianus by workshop Tommaso Dolabella (Corpus Christi Church in Kraków) and Banner with Adoration of St. Francis by Jan Troschel (Leżajsk Monastery), testifies to the diversity of the court fashion in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in the 1620s with Polish, Spanish, Italian, French and German styles represented. White rose in her hair symbolizes purity and innocence of a bride. The woman's face bear great resemblance to preserved portraits of Katarzyna Ostrogska, all created when she was a widow and offered to different monasteries (Museum of Zamość), or to the portrait of her daughter Gryzelda Wiśniowiecka (Kozłówka Palace). Lady Zamoyska in a Venetian costume painted by Domenico Tintoretto? This was not surprising for the inhabitants of the Zamoyski estates. There were many Italians in Zamość, at the Academy, in the service of the Chancellor Jan Zamoyski, starting with the court architect, Venetian Bernardo Morando. In 1596 Boniface Vanozzi, secretary of Cardinal Enrico Gaetani in Poland, described Zamość, Renaissance ideal city build for the Chancellor, "a lover of the Italian nation" (amatore della natione italiana), from scratch: "He began to build this town in 1581 and already today it has up to 400 houses, mostly built in Italian style". Before 1604 he commissioned to the main altar of the Collegiate Church in Zamość, several paintings in the workshop of Domenico Tintoretto. Negotiations with the artist were conducted on behalf of Zamoyski by representatives of the Italian Capponi and Montelupi families and completed paintings were delivered to Poland in 1604. The largest painting depicted the Risen Christ with St. Thomas the Apostle - the patron of the temple, paintings in the side parts: St. John the Baptist and St. John the Evangelist - the patrons of the founder, and the painting in the top of the altar - God the Father. This altar was transported to the church in Tarnogród in 1781 and only the side paintings preserved. Tomasz, his father and his wife in Venetian costume were also depicted in two paintings in the Church of the Assumption in Kraśnik (Thanksgiving mass and Rosary procession). Both were created by Tommaso Dolabella in 1626. From 1604 Kraśnik was part of the Zamość estate and the protector of the church was Tomasz Zamoyski, voivode of Kiev. The voivode and his wife founded stalls for the church with their coat of arms and in one of the side altars there is painting of Salvator Mundi by Paris Bordone or his workshop. 
Portrait of Tomasz Zamoyski (1594-1638) in French/English costume from the Łańcut Castle by Domenico Tintoretto, ca. 1617, present whereabouts unknown. Virtual reconstruction, © Marcin Latka
Portrait of Tomasz Zamoyski (1594-1638) in Spanish costume by Domenico Tintoretto, ca. 1617-1620, Private collection.
Portrait of Tomasz Zamoyski (1594-1638) by Domenico Tintoretto, ca. 1620, National Gallery in London.
Portrait of Katarzyna Ostrogska (1602-1642) in Venetian costume by Domenico Tintoretto, ca. 1620, Villa Gyllenberg in Helsinki.
Portrait of Crown Prince Ladislaus Sigismund Vasa in a ruff by Peter Paul Rubens or workshop
"This prince who was the delight of the Poles alone has now become, o Belgians, the object of your affection and that of the world" (Quod sibi delicium soli tenuere Poloni, / Nunc est, o Belgæ, vester, et orbis amor) is the inscription in Latin, paraphrasing Titus, under an engraving with the portrait of Crown Prince Ladislaus Sigismund Vasa (1595-1648), eldest son of King Sigismund III Vasa (after French translation by Alain van Dievoet in "Les Lignages de Bruxelles", No. 75-76, 1978, p. 59). This print was made in Antwerp by Pieter de Jode the Elder (P. de Iode sculp.) and Joannes Meyssens (Ioann. Meyssens exc.), most likely between 1625-1632, and shows the prince in profile in armor, with an order of the Golden Fleece and holding military baton (National Museum in Kraków, MNK III-ryc.-40877).
Although the monarchs of Poland-Lithuania commissioned many works of art from Antwerp and Brussels from at least the early 16th century (mainly tapestries and paintings), after the prince's stay in these cities in 1624 these commissions increased considerably. The prince was painted for the Infanta Isabella Clara Eugenia of Spain by Peter Paul Rubens, ordered ten tapestries depicting the story of Ulysses (Odysseus) from the Brussels weaver Jacob Geubels the Younger and purchased many valuable objects. It should be noted, however, that already a decade earlier, around 1615 or even earlier, the Flemish engraver Pieter Serwouters (1586-1657), who was born and worked in Antwerp before moving to Amsterdam in 1622, created an engraving with another effigy of the prince in national costume (inscription: Vladislaus Sigismundus Dei Gratia Polonia Sueciæq Princeps, signed: P. Serwouters fecit, Veste Coburg, VII,347,1). Regarding costume, Ladislaus was depicted in different outfits and in the first known portraits, mainly in foreign costume - Italian, French or Spanish. The principal tailor of the royal court at that time was Nicolas Dugietto or Nicolas Dugudt (Nicolò Dughetto da Parigi, Dziugiet), serving at least until 1616, most likely a Frenchman from Paris, who was paid 612 florins per year. In June 1617 the prince's servant, actor and musician Jerzy Wincenty, purchased in England for his master, his father and stepmother 36 pairs of silk stockings (black and color), 15 pairs of gloves, perfumes, 2 beaver hats, vest (wastcot) and 6 expensive gloves, 6 other vests and as much nightcaps (night capps) and a dozen equestrian gloves. In 1617 the prince used the services of his father's tailor Sebastian (active at least from 1601), and in April 1624 he was served by a certain Pallioni (after "Pompa vestimentis" by Jacek Żukowski, p. 54-55, 58). Although during his journey he frequently ordered clothes from the best local tailors, the Spanish-style outfit depicted in his portrait by Rubens was most likely made before his departure from Warsaw, as the black satin doublet, perhaps from a fabric ordered in Venice, was decorated with the monogram S, referring to his father Sigismund III. Around September 13, 1624, the French ambassador Nicolas de Bar, lord of Baugy, reported from Brussels to the Secretary of State that: "The painter Rubens is in this town. The Infanta ordered him to take the likeness of the prince of Poland" (Le peintre Rubens est en cest ville. L'Infante luy a commandé de tirer le pourtraict du Prince de Pologne). The original painting by Rubens, mentioned in the inventory of the Coudenberg Palace in Brussels from 1659 (No. 122/84), was probably lost when the palace burned down in 1731, but the prince ordered several copies of this effigy for himself and his friends and some of them have been preserved. The most famous and perhaps the most faithful copy made by Rubens and his workshop is that kept at Wawel Castle in Kraków (oil on canvas, 125.1 x 101 cm, purchased by Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1929, earlier in England, offered by the Met in 2020). Another copy, of which nothing is known, is most likely in a private collection. The oval copy kept at the Durazzo-Pallavicini Palace in Genoa (oil on canvas, 77 x 66 cm, 1890 A), was perhaps a gift for Agostino Balbi, whose palace the prince saw in November 1624. There is also a good 17th century copy in the National Museum in Warsaw (oil on canvas, 76 x 58 cm, M.Ob.2434, earlier 34348), which, however, more closely resembles the works of Gaspar de Crayer and his workshop, such as the portrait of Ladislaus' cousin Philip IV of Spain (1605-1665) in parade armor at the Met (45.128.14). This painting is on display at the Nieborów Palace and most likely comes from the Radziwill collection. The copy lost during the Warsaw Uprising of 1944 when the city was destroyed by German forces was comparable in style. This painting was donated by Henryk Bukowski in 1886 to the Polish Museum in Rapperswil (received from the King of Sweden, oil on canvas, 72 x 57 cm, inventory number 501). Willem van Haecht included the same effigy of the prince in his painting of the gallery of Cornelis van der Geest, painted in 1628 (Rubenshuis, oil on panel, 102.5 x 137.5 cm, RH.S.171). Rubens posibly also painted full-length portrait of the prince during the siege of Breda - "he made his portrait from nature" (lo ritrasse al naturale), according to Le vite de' pittori ... by Giovanni Pietro Bellori, published in Rome in 1672, which is sometimes interpreted as life-size. There are several indications that significant contacts between the Polish-Lithuanian monarchs and Rubens' workshop began before 1624. At the turn of 1619 and 1620, Piotr Żeromski vel Żeroński (Petro Jeronsquy), envoy of Sigismund III Vasa, who appeared in Antwerp, bought paintings from Rubens for which the loan amounted to 1,125 Polish ducats (after "Rubens w Polsce" by Juliusz A. Chrościcki, p. 135, 139, 161, 164, 166, 207, 214). Żeromski presented the Cathedral of Saint Nicholas in Kalisz with a large painting by Rubens or workshop, representing the Descent from the Cross (destroyed or stolen in 1973). In 1619 Jan Brueghel the Elder, who frequently cooperated with Rubens, was released from customs by Albert of Austria for paintings made for King of Poland including 9 portraits and in 1621, he painted three portraits of Polish kings for which he was paid 300 florins by the secretariat of Archduke Albert and Infanta Isabella Clara Eugenia on December 16 (En Brusselas, a 11 de deciembre se libraron 300 fl. a Juan Brueghle, pintor, vecino de Amberes, por tres retratos que ha hecho de los reyes de Polonia en el tercio postrero deste anno 1621). Many of Rubens' paintings were in the royal and magnate collections of the Commonwealth before the Deluge (1655-1660). Roger de Piles in his Dissertation sur les ouvrages ..., published in Paris in 1681, states that "The Lion Hunt, for example, and the fall of Saint Paul [The Conversion of Saint Paul] were made for the king of Poland, and four others hunts for the Duke of Bavaria" (La chasse aux Lions, par exemple, & la chûte de S. Paul ont esté faites pour le Roy de Pologne, & quatre autres chasses pour le Duc de Bavières, p. 25). Rubens most likely created a series of effigies of historical kings of Poland and Wespazjan Kochowski in his panegyric written in 1669 on the occasion of the coronation of King King Michael Korybut Wiśniowiecki refers to a painting by the master depicting King Casimir the Great (Na cóż tu Rubens Kazimierzu tobie / Wielki, te mury przydał ku ozdobie?). Another series was probably commissioned in Vienna from Frans Luycx, a student of Rubens, because the large painting depicting Casimir the Great's father - Ladislaus the Short was in the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister in Dresden before the Second World War (oil on canvas, 145 x 115 cm, Gal-Nr. 514/Gal.-Nr. 2674 L). Unfortunately, today we can only imagine these paintings, because nothing is preserved in Poland from the original collections. The invaders during the Deluge and other invasions had no respect whatsoever for the country and its people, not to mention its artistic collections. Pierre des Noyers, secretary to Queen Marie Louise Gonzaga, describes the numerous atrocities and barbarities of the invaders between 1655 and 1660, the pillaging of everything including marble floors, windows, the destruction of gilded panels just to obtain a few grams of gold and that "they had even taken the old skirts of the queen's maids of honor and sent them to Sweden" (Ils avaient pris jusqu'aux vieilles jupes des filles de la reine et les avaient envoyées en Suède). In the letter of July 27, 1656 from Warsaw, he added that "the Swedes have done so much damage to Warsaw Castle that it is uninhabitable; they put their horses up to the rooms on the third floor which are full of manure and the dead bodies of their soldiers (Les Suédois ont fait tant de saletés dans le château de Varsovie, qu'il est inhabitable; ils ont mis leurs chevaux jusque dans les chambres du troisième étage qui sont pleines de fumier et de corps morts de leurs soldats). Other towns in the Commonwealth were also pillaged and ruined. In Vilnius, the Russian army destroyed the rich chapel of Saint Casimir and transformed the cathedral into a stable for their horses (after "Lettres de Pierre Des Noyers ...", published in 1859, p. 40, 212). A painting by Peter Paul Rubens, which could possibly come from Lithuanian historical collections, perhaps acquired before the Deluge and which survived the invasions, is now in the National Museum of Art in Kaunas. This is the Crucifixion (oil on panel, 107 x 76 cm, ČDM Mt 1335), which in the second half of the 19th century was in the palace of Counts Tyszkiewicz (Tiškevičius) in Astravas, near Birzai, where the Radziwill family's rich artistic collections were kept. It is interesting to note that this painting is generally dated to the earliest period of Rubens' activity, between 1600-1615, when he was in Italy (1600-1608), Spain (1603) and the Netherlands (1612). In the Neuburg Castle near Munich, where many items from the dowry of sister of Ladislaus Sigismund Vasa were stored before 1804, there is a "Portrait of a young man" by Peter Paul Rubens or his workshop (Neuburg State Gallery, oil on panel, 57.7 x 43.1 cm, 342). The painting comes from the Electoral Gallery in Munich and the Polish-Lithuanian monarchs and the electors of Bavaria frequently exchanged gifts. Already in 1612, Queen Constance praised the artistic interests of her stepson in a letter to Duke William V, Duke of Bavaria, who in February 1623 sent several paintings to Poland-Lithuania and the painting in front of which the duke celebrated services was sent to Warsaw after his death - the transport (via Vienna) lasted from June 1626 to February the following year (after "Świat polskich Wazów: eseje", p. 298-299, 311). The effigy of Polish Saint Stanislaus Kostka in prayer by circle of Rubens, from the collection of the Electors of Bavaria in the Munich Residence (Alte Pinakothek, 7520), could be a gift from Poland, but created in Flanders. The resemblance of the young man to the effigies of Crown Prince Ladislaus Sigismund Vasa, depicted in the mentioned engravings by Serwouters and de Jode, as well as in the medals with the profile of the prince by Alessandro Abondio (Kunsthistorisches Museum, Landesmuseum Württemberg or Bode Museum in Berlin), is striking. Also noteworthy is the resemblance to the likeness in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence (Inv. 1890, 2350) as well as the prince's face in the mentioned painting from Rubens' workshop at Wawel Castle. In his early portraits, such as the paintings from the Wittelsbach collections (Royal Castle in Warsaw, ZKW 66, donated by the government of West Germany in 1973) and Neuburg Castle (Bavarian State Painting Collections, 6817), the prince wears a ruff. A very similar ruff is visible on a portrait of Ladislaus Sigismund's uncle, King Philip III of Spain (1578-1621), attributed to Andrés López Polanco and dated around 1617. The portrait of Philip III can now be found at Skokloster Castle (LSH DIG3535) and was probably plundered in Poland-Lithuania by Carl Gustaf Wrangel (1613-1676), close friend and trusted advisor to the "Brigand of Europe" King Charles X Gustav of Sweden. In this portrait the prince does not wear the Order of the Golden Fleece, which he received in 1615, so the portrait could be dated shortly before he received the order, however, in many later effigies, Ladislaus was depicted without the Golden Fleece. For example, in the series of portraits of Polish monarchs commissioned by the Toruń City Council for the Royal Chamber of the City Hall, Sigismund III Vasa wears the order, while his son and successor is depicted without this distinction. In 2019, a miniature copy of this effigy, attributed to Abraham van Diepenbeeck, a student of Rubens who worked for the clients from the Commonwealth and moved to Antwerp in 1621, was sold in the United States (oil on vellum, 13.34 x 9.53 cm, Concept Art Gallery in Pittsburgh, PA, June 8, 2019, lot 1239). In this version of the effigy, the young prince particularly resembles the effigies of his father Sigismund III, notably the profile portrait at Wawel Castle (9009), purchased in Munich in 2008 (Hermann Historica, Auction 54, April 10, 2008, lot 3223). 
Crucifixion by Peter Paul Rubens, ca. 1600-1615, National Museum of Art in Kaunas.
Portrait of King Philip III of Spain (1578-1621) by Andrés López Polanco, ca. 1617, Skokloster Castle.
Portrait of Crown Prince Ladislaus Sigismund Vasa (1595-1648) in a ruff by Peter Paul Rubens or workshop, ca. 1615-1621, Neuburg State Gallery.
Portrait of Crown Prince Ladislaus Sigismund Vasa (1595-1648) in a ruff by Abraham van Diepenbeeck, after 1621, Private collection.
Portrait of Crown Prince Ladislaus Sigismund Vasa (1595-1648) in a hat by workshop of Peter Paul Rubens, ca. 1624, Wawel Royal Castle.
Portrait of Crown Prince Ladislaus Sigismund Vasa (1595-1648) in a hat by workshop of Peter Paul Rubens, ca. 1624, present whereabouts unknown.
Portrait of Crown Prince Ladislaus Sigismund Vasa (1595-1648) in a hat by workshop of Peter Paul Rubens, ca. 1624, Durazzo-Pallavicini Palace in Genoa. Virtual reconstruction, © Marcin Latka
Portrait of Crown Prince Ladislaus Sigismund Vasa (1595-1648) in a hat by workshop of Gaspar de Crayer, ca. 1624, Nieborów Palace.
Portrait of Crown Prince Ladislaus Sigismund Vasa (1595-1648) in a hat by workshop of Gaspar de Crayer, ca. 1624, Polish Museum in Rapperswil, lost. Virtual reconstruction, © Marcin Latka
Portrait of Crown Prince Ladislaus Sigismund Vasa (1595-1648) in a hat, detail of the Gallery of Cornelis van der Geest by Willem van Haecht, 1628, Rubenshuis in Antwerp.
Forgotten portraits of the Dukes of Pomerania, Dukes of Silesia and European monarchs - part III2/14/2022
Portraits of Bianca Cappello, Grand Duchess of Tuscany by Lavinia Fontana and Alessandro Maganza
During the third free election in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth after the death of Stephen Bathory (1533-1586), husband of Anna Jagiellon (1523-1596), two main camps, that of Jagiellons (Sigismund Vasa) and that of the Habsburgs (Archduke Maximilian), emerged as the strongest (others were supporters of Muscovy, those supporting a Piast, or native citizen of the Commonwealth, and supporters of Italian candidate). The Swedish candidacy in the person of Prince Sigismund (1566-1632), son of Catherine Jagiellon, was pushed by Queen Anna Jagiellon, who renounced her rights to the crown and who was supported by Jan Zamoyski. The Zborowski brothers, the voivode of Poznań Stanisław Górka, the bishop of Vilnius George Radziwill and Stanisław Sędziwój Czarnkowski supported the candidate of the Habsburg dynasty, Archduke Maximilian of Austria (1558-1618), grandson of Anna Jagellonica (1503-1547), and received significant funds from his brother Emperor Rudolf II to advance their candidate.
After two defeats in the royal elections, the House of Habsburg concluded that their candidate might this time have a chance of success if they could raise a sufficient sum of money. Therefore, on April 29, 1587, Archduke Maximilian directly approached Francesco I (1541-1587), Grand Duke of Tuscany, requesting a loan of 100,000 scudi to finance his efforts to obtain the Polish crown. On the same day, the Archduke sent a similar petition to Grand Duchess Bianca Cappello (1548-1587), asking her to persuade her husband to grant him the much-needed sum. On May 18, 1587, Francesco I responded courageously to this request. In the introduction, he mentioned his great hope that his exceptional virtues and personal advantages would undoubtedly enable the Archduke to win the next election. At the same time, he pointed out that the Austro-Spanish House of Habsburg had long owed him more than a million florins. He now claimed to have incurred significant expenses in purchasing the Capestrano estate in the Kingdom of Naples for his and Bianca's son, Don Antonio de' Medici (1576-1621), and that considerable sums had also been spent on strengthening the country's defenses. It is also worth mentioning that the Grand Duke of Tuscany's own candidacy for the crown was considered in Poland, as confirmed by a letter from an architect and engineer in the service of the late King Bathory - Simone Genga (1530-1596), who assured the Duke that his candidacy would certainly be supported by the Pope. In a letter addressed to the voivode of Sieradz, Olbracht Łaski, dated March 22, 1587, Francesco did not give a definitive answer regarding his candidacy. But was there another reason for refusing to grant Maximilian the loan? The Habsburgs must have been aware of the influence his Venetian wife had over the Grand Duke, since the Archduke, who had not yet corresponded with her, as his letter confirms, decided to write to Bianca to make this request (Serenissima Signora, Il non haver in tanto tempo fatto il debito mio in salutar et visitar la Altezza V(ost)ra con lettere mie [...] ho preso ardire di pregarla a favorirme apresso a deta Alteza in deto negocio acioche io possa ottener il mio intento). Bianca's friendly relations with Anna Jagiellon, who supported her nephew for the crown, provide a further explanation. On August 19, 1587, the majority of the nobility gathered in the electoral field voted in favor of Sigismund Vasa, nevertheless, on August 22, Archduke Maximilian was proclaimed king by his supporters. Emperor Rudolf II took feverish steps in this regard, addressing requests for loans to the electors of Brandenburg and Saxony, and then sending emissaries to the Pope, Spain, the Duke of Ferrara, and Urbino. At the same time, Archduke Maximilian again approached Grand Duke Francesco and sent Duke Alfonso Montecuccoli on August 28, 1587 to request a loan of 100,000 scudi. Since Maximilian's chances had increased significantly, Francesco decided to allocate a sum of 50,000 scudi, of which he immediately informed Archduke Maximilian in a letter dated September 10, 1587. The tone of the letter and the characteristic manner in which the transaction was settled are, however, significant. The Augsburg bankers, Hans and Markus Fugger, were to guarantee the return of the paid cash and through whom the Grand Duke of Tuscany was to receive the return of the paid sum at the beginning of the following year (after "Dwór medycejski i Habsburgowie a trzecia elekcja w Polsce" by Danuta Quirini-Popławska, p. 123, 128, 130-131). Francesco and Bianca died in mysterious circumstances over a month later, on October 20, 1587. Cardinal Ferdinando de' Medici (1549-1609) refused a state funeral for Bianca, and her burial is therefore unknown. Francesco was buried in the Medici Chapels, alongside his first wife, Joanna of Austria (1547-1578), Maximilian's aunt. Francesco was also a candidate in the first free election of 1573, and the portrait of the Grand Duke, now preserved in the Wilanów Palace (oil on panel, 47.5 x 37 cm, inv. Wil.1494), could be a souvenir of his candidacy. The described relationships indicate that several portraits of the Grand Duke and his wife belonged to Anna Jagiellon and her nephew Sigismund III. Although the portraits sent to Polish monarchs may have been made by painters active in Florence, such as Alessandro Allori (1535-1607), some of Bianca's portraits are attributed to Scipione Pulzone (1544-1598), a Neapolitan painter active mainly in Rome (painting in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, inv. GG 1138), another is attributed to the Venetian painter Francesco Montemezzano (Auktionshaus Stahl, May 2013, lot 20) and the painting attributed to another Venetian painter Alessandro Maganza (Ritratto di donna con collana di perle, oil on canvas, 53 x 40 cm, Capitolium Art in Brescia, May 30, 2017, lot 288), is clearly another portrait of the Grand Duchess of Tuscany. The portrait of Bianca, from "an important Swedish private collection", is also closer to Venetian painting, although attributed to Pulzone (oil on canvas, 46.5 x 38 cm, Uppsala Auktionskammare, April 17, 2024, lot 606). Stylistically, it recalls the work of Maganza; who knows, perhaps it originally adorned the walls of a residence in Sarmatia. The traditional approach, according to which the painter and the model must have met during the creation of the painting, sometimes leads to strange conclusions. The best example is the Portrait of a Lady (Ritratto di dama), now preserved in the Municipal Art Collections of Bologna, in the Palazzo d'Accursio (oil on canvas, 97 x 79.5 cm, inv. P 9). This painting was long considered to be a work by the Bolognese painter Lavinia Fontana (1552-1614), as confirmed by the old plaque under the painting. However, when it turned out that the painting depicts Bianca Cappello, further confirmed by the inscription in the upper right corner: BIANCA CAPEL ... / DVCCESA DI T ..., it is now considered to be a work by a Florentine painter. It is unlikely that Lavinia met Bianca, but the way the Duchess's sumptuous dress and the little dog on her lap have been painted are very characteristic of Fontana, who could receive a portrait by Allori or Pulzone to copy. In the same collection there is another portrait of a lady from the same period, also previously linked to Lavinia and now generally to the Bolognese school (oil on panel, 68 x 54.5 cm, inv. P 26). Interestingly, this woman also bears a strong resemblance to the features of the Grand Duchess of Tuscany, as evidenced by her portrait in the Uffizi Gallery (inv. 1890, 1514) or in a private collection (Pandolfini, Auction 1163, October 12, 2022, lot 125). The case of the "self-portrait" of Lavinia in the Pitti Palace in Florence (inv. 1890, 1841) is somewhat similar: it is clearly a copy of the effigy of Margaret of Parma (1522-1586), illegitimate daughter of the Emperor Charles V. In reference to my discoveries concerning the portraiture of Anna Jagiellon and her husband, we can conclude that the Venetian Grand Duchess of Tuscany and elected Queen of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, used the services of the same painters. The fact that, despite the considerable resources and diplomatic efforts deployed by the Habsburgs in the third royal election, it was Anna's candidate who won, gives an idea of the queen's abilities and influence, her personal wealth, as well as patronage, which undoubtedly surpassed that of Bianca. 
Portrait of Francesco I de' Medici (1541-1587), Grand Duke of Tuscany by workshop of Alessandro Allori, ca. 1573, Wilanów Palace in Warsaw.
Portrait of Bianca Cappello (1548-1587), Grand Duchess of Tuscany by circle of Lavinia Fontana, ca. 1578-1580, Municipal Art Collections of Bologna.
Portrait of Bianca Cappello (1548-1587), Grand Duchess of Tuscany by Lavinia Fontana, ca. 1580-1587, Municipal Art Collections of Bologna.
Portrait of Bianca Cappello (1548-1587), Grand Duchess of Tuscany by Alessandro Maganza, ca. 1580-1587, Private collection (Sweden).
Portrait of Bianca Cappello (1548-1587), Grand Duchess of Tuscany by Alessandro Maganza, ca. 1584, Private collection (Brescia).
Portraits of Dukes of Savoy by Sofonisba Anguissola
The diplomatic contacts of Poland-Lithuania with the Duchy of Savoy in the 16th century date back with certainty to the year 1535, when Queen Bona planned to marry her eldest daughter Isabella Jagiellon with Louis (Ludovico) of Savoy (1523-1536), Prince of Piedmont, son of Charles III and Beatrice of Portugal. She wrote about this to the ambassador of King Ferdinand I, Sigismund von Herberstein, from Vilnius on December 14, 1535 and the matter was discussed earlier by her envoy Ludovico Alifio (after "Królowa Bona ..." by Władysław Pociecha, p. 206). As was customary, the portrait of the Jagiellonian princess was certainly sent to Savoy, while she received the portrait of Louis. Sadly the prince died in Madrid on November 25, 1536. Some informal contacts were much earlier, for example in February 1416 in Chambéry Janusz of Tuliszków, a knight of the Dryja coat of arms from Greater Poland and a diplomat, received the Order of the Collar (later Order of the Most Holy Annunciation) from Amadeus VIII (considered the last historical antipope). They undoubtedly increased around 1587 when the candidature of the Duke of Savoy in the third free election was discussed in Madrid (after "Dwór medycejski i Habsburgowie ..." by Danuta Quirini-Popławska, p. 123).
In the 16th and 17th centuries portraiture was part of diplomacy and monarchs of different countries in Europe frequently exchanged their effigies. Portraits were also sent to friends and family members. In 1558, Georgius Sabinus (1508-1560), a German poet and diplomat, was sent to Poland-Lithuania to win the support of Polish-Lithuanian lords, including Stanisław Ostroróg, Jan Janusz Kościelecki, Łukasz Górka, Jan Tarnowski and Jan Zborowski, to the candidacy of Sigismund of Brandenburg (1538-1566), son of Joachim II Hector, elector of Brandenburg from his second marriage with Hedwig Jagiellon (1513-1572), for the throne after his uncle Sigismund Augustus. In the name of young Prince Sigismund, he gave each of them a gold chain, from which hung the portrait of the prince. As he was only known to a few of them, he wanted to present his effigy to them "as a symbol of friendship" (als ein Symbol der Freundschaft). The Polish-Lithuanian lords reciprocated so that "hardly any other envoy sent to Poland has ever returned home with as much wealth and gifts as he does" (mit so vielem Reichtum und Gaben wie er, sei wohl kaum je ein zweiter nach Polen beordneter Gesandter heimgekehrt, after "Forschungen zur brandenburgischen und preussischen Geschichte ...", Volume 11, p. 156). The miniatures probably came from Cranach's workshop, like the portraits of Sigismund's father, although it cannot be ruled out that they were commissioned in Italy by the prince's mother Hedwig. Diplomatic missions were frequently accompanied by the exchange of valuable gifts and they generally represented the country's most valuable exports, so the Italians offered paintings, rich fabrics and luxury cosmetics and the Poles offered clocks, sables, horses and amber. Cardinal Enrico Gaetani, papal legate in Poland from April 1596 to June 1597, offered King Sigismund III Vasa some paintings by famous masters, the queen richly embroidered veils and a conch with musk set in a rich setting, all worth at least 800 scudi. The king gave the cardinal a beautiful temple-shaped clock with moving figurines showing the procession and blessing of the Holy Father worth over 3,000 scudi, and 40 sables worth 500 scudi. The Bishop of Kuyavia in Wolbórz gave the legate two horses with rich Turkish-style shabracks, and the cardinal distributed gold medals with his image to the courtiers. Boniface Vanozzi, sent from the same Cardinal Gaetani to Chancellor Jan Zamoyski, distributed beads, rosaries, medals, agnus dei, pictures on metal sheet in ebony frames and he received a horse with velvet Turkish-style shabrack, a large gold medal depicting King Stephen Bathory, an elk hoof, lots of game, vinegar, oil and sweets. To the king and queen Vanozzi presented paintings, tapestries woven in Spain (or more likely in the Spanish Netherlands), colorful gloves with scent, and musk. The king gave him very expensive sables and a clock worth 1,000 thalers and the queen, various utensils made of white amber for the chapel, a crucifix, a tray for altar cruets, a pax and a monstrance, all beautifully carved in Gdańsk. In 1597, the ambassador of the Spanish king, Don Francisco de Mendoza (1547-1623), Admiral of Aragon and Marquis of Guadalest, received from Sigismund III sables worth 2,000 scudi and his courtiers were offered golden cups (after "Domy i dwory ..." by Łukasz Gołębiowski, pp. 258-259). At that time, the elected monarch of the Commonwealth also sent his brother-in-law, the King of Spain, portraits of his children by Martin Kober, both dated '1596' (Monastery of las Descalzas Reales in Madrid) and in 1621, the Polish ambassador in London, Jerzy Ossoliński, was given portraits "att length" of the King and Prince Charles. The royal collections of the Commonwealth before 1655 were therefore comparable to those of the Spanish monarchs (Prado Museum in Madrid and El Escorial), Holy Roman Emperors (Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna and Hofburg), Dukes of Tuscany (Uffizi Gallery in Florence and Pitti Palace) or Dukes of Savoy (Galleria Sabauda in Turin and Palazzo Madama). Unfortunately very little preserved today in the former territories of the Commonwealth, including inventories and other documents. In the National Museum in Warsaw there is a portrait of two boys, attributed to circle of Dutch painter Anthonis Mor, who worked for Spanish and Portuguese monarchs (oil on canvas, 56.5 x 46 cm, inventory number M.Ob.941 MNW, earlier 231117). It was purchased in 1962 from Romuald Malangiewicz. Its earlier history is unknown, so we cannot exclude the provenance from the royal or magnate collection in Poland-Lithuania. The painting was cut from a larger group portrait painting, as a fragment of a woman's dress, most likely the mother of the two boys, is visible to the right. Such portraits were particularly popular in Italy at the turn of the 16th and 17th centuries - portrait of Maria di Cosimo Tornabuoni, a Florentine noblewoman, and her two little sons, one dressed in dominican habit, by Tiberio di Tito (Tiberio Titi) or a portrait of Bianca degli Utili Maselli surrounded by six of her children, painted by Lavinia Fontana in Rome. If the painting comes from the royal or magnate collection then the main part depicting the woman was destroyed when Commonwealth residences were ransacked and burned during the Deluge (1655-1660) or later, or it was cut into pieces to sell the picture more profitably when the country became impoverished due to wars and invasions. A portrait painted in a similar style and with a woman resembling the two boys in the Warsaw painting is now in Kensington Palace in England (oil on canvas, 42.3 x 33 cm, RCIN 402954, inscription: 305). It comes from the Royal Collection, possibly recorded in the King's Dressing Room next Paradise at Hampton Court in 1666 (number 60), and was previously thought to represent Elisabeth of Valois (1545-1568), Queen of Spain. Consequently, it was attributed to Spanish court portraitist Anthonis Mor and later to his pupil and successor under Phillip II, Alonso Sánchez Coello. It is now identifed to possibly depict Elisabeth's eldest daughter, Infanta Isabella Clara Eugenia. A companion portrait is therefore thought to possibly represent her sister Infanta Catalina Micaela of Spain (oil on canvas, 42.2 x 32.6 cm, RCIN 402957, 306). These effigies indeed resemble other effigies of the infantas, however comparing with portraits of Isabella Clara Eugenia by Coello in the Prado Museum in Madrid, painted in 1579 (P01137) and by Juan Pantoja de la Cruz from about 1599 (P000717) and signed portraits of her sister Catalina Micaela from the Castle of Racconigi (0100399544) and attributed to Sofonisba Anguissola (sold at Christie's New York, October 14, 2021, lot 101), indicate that it should be the other way around - 305 is the portrait of Catalina Micaela and 306 of Isabella Clara Eugenia. In 1585, Catalina Micaela became Duchess of Savoy by marrying Charles Emmanuel I, Duke of Savoy in Zaragoza. A similar small portrait (oil on canvas, 55.9 x 45.7 cm) bearing the inscription: DVQUESA / DE.SAVOI, was sold at Period Oak Antiques. The style of the portrait of Catalina Micaela in the Royal Collection resembles the portrait of her mother in the Prado, attributed to Sofonisba Anguissola (P001031) and Sofonisba's self-portrait at the easel (Łańcut Castle). The composition and style of the portrait of two boys in Warsaw is in turn similar to the portrait of Infanta Juana de Austria (Joan of Austria) with female dwarf Ana de Polonia by Sofonisba (Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, P26w15). The two boys should therefore be identified as the eldest sons of Catalina Micaela - Philip Emmanuel (1586-1605) and Victor Amadeus (1587-1637) and their known iconography matches perfectly. Both princes were frequently depicted in their youth and in many of their effigies, mostly created by the Dutch painter Jan Kraeck, known as Giovanni Caracca, they wear a similar smaller ruff (e.g. double portrait from private collection in Naples, sold at Blindarte, November 30, 2019, lot 153). Some of them were created in several versions, such as the triple portrait from 1589 (sold at Aste Bolaffi, September 25, 2013 and in Quirinale Palace in Rome). From around 1584 to 1615, Sofonisba resided in Genoa. Although in 1585 she met the Infanta Catalina Micaela on her arrival in Genoa and probably accompanied her on the way to Turin, all the portraits mentioned were probably made from sketches, study drawings or paintings by other painters, such as Kraeck. It was she who, around 1590, produced a miniature portrait of Charles Emmanuel I (sold in 2005, Christie's in London, lot 1009, as the effigy of Victor Amadeus I) and the portrait of the duke with his wife Catalina Micaela and their children (Palazzo Madama in Turin, 0611/D), as indicate the style of the two paintings. The portrait of two princes in Warsaw was therefore a gift to Sigismund III Vasa or his aunt Anna Jagiellon and was probably brought by the Spanish ambassador Mendoza or another envoy. 
Portrait of Infanta Catalina Micaela (1567-1597), Duchess of Savoy by Sofonisba Anguissola, ca. 1590, Kensington Palace.
Portait of Victor Amadeus (1587-1637) and Philip Emmanuel (1586-1605), sons of Infanta Catalina Micaela (1567-1597), Duchess of Savoy by Sofonisba Anguissola or workshop, ca. 1596-1597, National Museum in Warsaw.
Portrait of Infanta Catalina Micaela (1567-1597), Duchess of Savoy with her sons by Sofonisba Anguissola or workshop, ca. 1596-1597. Possible layout of original painting. © Marcin Latka
Disguised portrait of Christina of Denmark by Engelhard de Pee
In the antechamber of the so-called Rich Chapel (Reiche Kapelle) of the ducal residence in Munich there is an interesting painting depicting the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple (oil on canvas, 206.5 x 188.2 cm, inv. 3511). Anyone familiar with the portraits of the dukes of Bavaria and the rulers of neighbouring Austria at the turn of the 16th and 17th centuries will immediately recognise that the scene is filled with numerous disguised portraits. The painting is attributed to Engelhard de (van) Pee (d. 1605), court painter to William V (1548-1626), Duke of Bavaria, and later to his son Maximilian I (1573-1651), for whom the Rich Chapel was magnificently decorated before 1607. The scene is supposed to commemorate the birth of Maximilian, depicted as the infant Jesus, presented in the temple by his parents and dated around 1580. The protagonists are therefore identified as members of the Bavarian ruling family at that time, including William and his wife Renata of Lorraine (1544-1602) in the roles of Joseph and the Virgin and William's brother Ernest of Bavaria (1554-1612), dressed as the high priest (compare "Prentwerk: 1500-1700" by Jan de Jong, p. 56).
On closer inspection, it seems that it is not the Wittelsbachs who dominate this scene, but the Habsburgs. It can be compared to the Communion of the Virgin in the Monastery of Las Descalzas Reales in Madrid, a painting attributed to Ottavio Zanuoli and painted around 1600. The Madrid painting shows the family of Archduke Charles of Styria (1540-1590), who was already dead when the painting was created, depicted as Saint John the Apostle, giving communion to his wife Archduchess Maria Anna of Bavaria (1551-1608) in the guise of the Virgin Mary and dressed as a nun. The effigy of a nun in the right corner of the Munich painting closely resembles that of Maria Anna in the Madrid painting. The man standing directly behind the high priest bears a strong resemblance to Archduke Charles in the aforementioned painting by Zanuoli as well as other portraits, such as the portrait by Bartolomé González y Serrano in the Prado (inv. P002433) or the portrait from the Medici collection at the Villa di Poggio a Caiano (OdA Poggio a Caiano 280 / 1911). The man standing behind Charles bears a strong resemblance to his brother Archduke Ferdinand II of Austria (1529-1595), Imperial Count of Tyrol, as in the engraving with his portrait by David Custos from around 1601 (Veste Coburg, inv. XIII,150,181). The man directly opposite Charles, on the right, depicted as the husband of the Virgin Saint Joseph, cannot be William V because he bears a striking resemblance to Charles, so he must be his son Ferdinand (1578-1637), later Holy Roman Emperor, King of Bohemia, Hungary and Croatia, as depicted in a full-length portrait from around 1604 by Joseph Heintz the Elder (Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, GG 9453). The Virgin Mary bears a strong resemblance to Maria Anna of Bavaria (1574-1616), daughter of Wilhelm and wife of Ferdinand, as depicted in her portrait by Heintz the Elder (Kunsthistorisches Museum, GG 3133 and Alte Pinakothek in Munich, inv. 3004). The woman depicted as the old prophetess Anna should therefore be identified with Maria Anna's mother, Renata of Lorraine, wife of William, while the high priest is not William's brother Ernest, but the duke himself, who abdicated in 1597 in favour of his son Maximilian I and and took up residence in a palace called Wilhelminische Veste (Herzog-Max-Burg), connected by a passage to the nearby Jesuit monastery, where he spent the rest of his life in contemplation and prayer. The duke's features are very similar in his portrait made by the circle of Hans von Aachen, now kept at the Palazzo Pitti in Florence (oil on canvas, 53.5 x 43.5 cm, in. 1911 / OdA Castello 273), identified by me. Like the Madrid painting, the canvas commemorates family relationships, in this case the ties between the Wittelsbachs of Bavaria and the Habsburgs of Austria when, on April 23, 1600, Maria Anna married her cousin Ferdinand and their first child, Archduchess Christina, was soon born (May 25, 1601). Christina died in infancy, just one month after her birth. She was named after her maternal great-grandmother Christina of Denmark (1521-1590), Duchess of Milan and Lorraine. All the people depicted in this painting were therefore direct descendants of Philip the Handsome (1478-1506) and Joanna of Castile (1479-1555). With the exception of Renata of Lorraine, they all descended from Emperor Ferdinand I (1503-1564) and Anna Jagellonica (1503-1547). The painting should therefore be dated to around 1601, the year when Engelhard de Pee created his masterpiece - Self-portrait as Saint Luke painting the Madonna. The painting, now in the Alte Pinakothek in Munich (oil on canvas, 105 x 92.5 cm, inv. 41), comes from the Electoral Gallery in Munich. De Pee, who appears in the Landshut tax lists from 1570 to 1577 as a Brussels painter, had been a court painter in Munich since 1578. The canvas was dated and signed with a monogram on the cover of the book held by the Child in the centre of the painting: 1601 / E.V.P. The painter depicted himself as the apostle Saint Luke the Evangelist, while the image of the Virgin is based on the Byzantine icon Salus Populi Romani ("Protectress of the Roman People") in the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome, one of the so-called "Luke images" thought to have been painted from life by Saint Luke himself (including the Black Madonna of Częstochowa). The effigy of the Virgin is not an idealized image, but a personalized one and the model, like the painter, looks at the viewer with meaning. It is interesting to note that the woman bears a great resemblance to the mother of Renata of Lorraine - Christina of Denmark from her portrait by Antonis Mor, painted in 1554 (Hampton Court Palace, RCIN 405799), and especially the portrait by François Clouet from the collection of Antoine de Mailly, Marquis de Châteaurenaud, dated 1558 (Sotheby's Paris, June 21, 2012, lot 33) and a similar miniature portrait from the Medici collection (Uffizi Gallery, inv. 1890 / 4440). From 1567, Christine lived at Friedberg Castle in Bavaria. In August 1578, she decided to move permanently to Italy and spent her last years in her widow's residence in Tortona between Milan, Genoa and Turin, which she had inherited from her first marriage to Francesco II Sforza. She died in 1590 and was buried next to her second husband in the crypt of the ducal chapel of the Church of the Cordeliers in Nancy. In Tortona, she distinguished herself for her intense activity in the government of the city, reforms, ending the conflict with Ravenna, obtaining the restitution of some previously lost privileges and protecting the rights of the Tortonese against the unpopular Spanish rule. Queen Bona Sforza d'Aragona (1494-1557) sent her "Dearest and most illustrious Cousin" a letter of congratulations on her first marriage to Francesco II Sforza (from Kraków, July 15, 1534) and after Bona's death, when the castles of Tortona and Vigevano were not available, Christina petitioned Philip II of Spain through her Italian secretary, asking him to give her the Duchy of Bari and offering to repay the debt of 100,000 crowns to Bona's son Sigismund Augustus. In 1547 Christina's marriage with the King of Poland was seriously discussed at Augsburg. After the death of Christian II of Denmark in 1559, when her elder sister Dorothea made no claims to the throne, she claimed the Danish throne for herself. Between 1563 and 1569, Christina signed official documents with the addition "Queen of Denmark". In 1566, a medal was minted in which she was designated as Queen of Denmark with the motto: Me sine cuncta ruunt ("Without me all things perish", compare "Christina of Denmark ..." by Julia Cartwright, p. 95, 321, 453, 483), indicating that she saw herself as the salvation and protectress of the people. Considering the close and cordial relations between Sigismund III and William V, it is quite possible that copies of the paintings described were also in Warsaw and Vilnius. 
Portrait of William V (1548-1626), Duke of Bavaria by circle of Hans von Aachen, 1580s, Pitti Palace in Florence.
Presentation of Jesus in the Temple with disguised portraits of the Wittelsbachs and Habsburgs by Engelhard de Pee, ca. 1601, Alte Pinakothek in Munich.
Self-portrait as Saint Luke painting the portrait of Christina of Denmark (1521-1590), Duchess of Milan and Lorraine, as Madonna by Engelhard de Pee, 1601, Alte Pinakothek in Munich.
Portraits of Duke Joachim Frederick by Flemish painters
During the tenure of Andreas Jerin (1585-1596) as the Bishop of Wrocław the counter-reformation began in Silesia. The pressure of militant Catholicism made itself felt also in the Duchy of Brzeg, when, among others, the commander of the Joannites in Oleśnica Mała near Oława removed Lutheran pastors from his estates (1589), while Joachim Frederick's attempt to intervene become futile (after "Brzeg: dzieje, gospodarka, kultura" by Władysław Dziewulski, p. 59).
Joachim Frederick of Brzeg modeled himself on his father George II (1523-1586), but he was a better administrator than him. He confirmed former city privileges and supported the crafts. The castle in Oława was rebuilt and enlarged for Joachim Frederick in the years 1587-1600 by the Italian architect Bernard Niuron from Lugano. Thanks to his family connections and his good relations with the imperial court in Prague and the court in Berlin, he obtained a number of honorary positions. Since 1585 he was Lutheran provost of the chapter of Magdeburg, and in 1588 he was appointed general commander of the regular army of Silesia. After the death of his brother John George, who died without issue in 1592, Joachim Frederick inherited Wołów and after death of his mother and his cousin Frederick IV of Legnica (1552-1596), he become the sole Duke of Legnica-Brzeg-Oława-Wołów (Liegnitz-Brieg-Ohlau-Wohlau in German). Joachim Frederick gained great popularity for his gentleness and diligence. He liked science and he tried to improve the administration of justice in 1599. Since he ranked first among the Silesian princes, from 1592 until his death he had to deal with the matter of helping the emperor, who was at war with the Turks. In 1599, the Duke and his brother-in-law, Charles II of Ziębice-Oleśnica, refused to participate in the election of Bishop Paul Albert because he was not a Silesian and he acquired from Peter Wok von Rosenberg the towns of Złoty Stok (Reichenstein) and Srebrna Góra (Silberberg), rich in gold and silver mines. Joachim Frederick died on March 25, 1602 in Brzeg. The man from the portrait in the National Museum in Poznań (oil on panel, 47 x 38 cm, inv. Mo 855) resemble the man from the portrait in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna (inv. GG 808). Many splendid paintings that once adorned the walls of the Silesian Wawel - the Piast Castle in Brzeg and survived the bombing in 1741, when the castle was destroyed by the Prussian forces in the First Silesian War, were moved to Berlin. Possibly also this picture. The image in Poznań was acquired in 1930 from private collection Karl von Wesendonk in Berlin. Both paintings, in Poznań and in Vienna, are attributed to Adriaen Thomasz. Key, however the man from Poznań version is much older. If he was around 25 when the Vienna painting was created in about 1575, then the Poznań version should be dated around 1600, which rules out Key's authorship, as he died in 1589 or after. The most important arts and crafts center in this part of Europe at that time was the imperial court of Emperor Rudolf II in Prague. Many Flemish artists worked for the Emperor and two of them, created very similar portraits of Rudolf. One with light blue eyes, bust-length, wearing a breastplate (sold at Christie's, 27 Jan 2010, lot 344), is attributed to circle of Frans Pourbus the Younger (1569-1622), a Flemish painter from Antwerp, who at the end of the 16th century worked for Archduke Albert and Infanta Isabella in Brussels. The other with dark eyes, attributed to Lucas van Valckenborch (d. 1597) from Leuven, is today in the Liechtenstein collection in Vienna (inv. GE 2484). The style of the image in Poznań resemble that of Pourbus, especially the portrait of a man in the Museum of Fine Arts in Budapest (inv. 5862). The same man was depicted in another painting created in about 1600, in which however his face resemble more the Warsaw portrait from 1574 (inv. M.Ob.819 MNW). His servant gives him a cup of wine. This painting titled sometimes "Two Fools", because of the old man's extravagant outfit, or "Emperor Rudolf II taking the cure", is today in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna (oil on canvas, 175.5 x 109 cm, inv. GG 2773, verifiable in the gallery depot in 1868). It was attributed to Pieter Isaacsz (d. 1625), circle of Cornelis Ketel (1548-1616) or to Lucas van Valckenborch. The comparison with the painting in the Silesian Museum in Opava (inv. In 2036 A), which was created by Valckenborch, most probably together with his assistant or only by him - Georg Flegel (1566-1638) is the most accurate. In his only known so far painted effigy from a fresco by Balthasar Latomus, the court painter of George II, in the ducal study of the Brzeg Castle, painted in 1583-1584, Joachim Frederick was depicted in colouful red-brown striped doublet, while his father is wearing a black attire. The Duke of Brzeg is also wearing a ruff and heavy gold chains with a medallion, like in the described painting by Valckenborch or Flegel in Vienna. The man from a large gold medal, most likely minted from the Złoty Stok gold, resemble the most George the Pious (1484-1543), Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach. George, son of Sophia Jagiellon, was an early adherent of Protestantism. He maintained correspondence with Martin Luther and introduced the Reformation in his Silesian possessions - Krnov, Bytom, Racibórz and Opole, one of the largest centers of Silesian cloth weaving. His son George Frederick (1539-1603), who from 1577 was also Administrator of the Duchy of Prussia, maintained good relations with Poland-Lithuania. He minted coins with the official motto of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth: "If God be with us, who shall be against us?" (Guldentaler, 1586, Königsberg), his tomb monument in the Heilsbronn monastery, attributed to Endres Dietrich Seidensticker, is adorned with coat of arms of Poland (White Eagle), repeated three times (after "Kloster Heilsbronn ..." by Graf Rudolph Stillfried-Alcántara, p. 163) and his portrait in the National Museum in Wrocław (inv. VIII-1514), was created by Silesian painter Andreas Riehl the Younger from Wrocław. The portrait of George Frederick was created in 1601 and he is wearing a medal of King Stephen Bathory with the inscription in Latin STEFANVS. REX. POLONIA. 1581 (after "Portret na Śląsku ..." by Ewa Houszka, p. 12). An earlier version of this portrait, painted in 1599 as a pendant to the likeness of George Frederick's wife, both from a private collection in Moscow, was sold in London in 2024 (Sotheby's, April 10, 2024, lot 7). Riehl is also the author of the portrait of King Stephen Bathory (National Museum in Wrocław, VIIl-2711). In 1571, the Regent of Prussia also commissioned a series of portraits of his father George the Pious in the workshop of Lucas Cranach the Younger (two are in the Grunewald hunting lodge in Berlin, GKI1192 and GKI1048) and for his wife Elizabeth of Brandenburg-Küstrin (1540-1578), who died while she was staying at the Warsaw court, where George Frederick was to be awarded the dukedom by the Polish king, he commissioned the Dutch sculptor Willem van den Blocke to construct the monument in Königsberg Cathedral, which was completed in 1582. His Silesian lands were close to Brzeg and Legnica, so the Margrave, who stayed mostly in Ansbach, entrusted George II od Brzeg with the implementation of the new laws in his Krnov domain. The bust of a bearded man in mentioned gold medal in the Vienna portrait resemble the portraits of George the Pious by Cranach the Younger and 1534 medal with his bust in the Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Nuremberg. Joachim Frederick, a Lutheran and the most important among the Silesian princes, minted coins in Złoty Stok, like the gold ducat from 1602 (National Museum in Warsaw, NPO 350 MNW). It was therefore him who most probably ordered both the medal and the portrait in the workshop of Flemish painter. In 1582 41 representations of Dutch wars painted on canvas were purchased by the Brzeg city council (after "Op Nederlandse manier ..." by Mateusz Kapustka, p. 35), indicating that Netherlandish art was strongly represented in his domains. 
Portrait of Joachim Frederick (1550-1602), Duke of Legnica-Brzeg-Oława-Wołów by circle of Frans Pourbus the Younger, 1597-1602, National Museum in Poznań. Virtual reconstruction, © Marcin Latka
Portrait of Joachim Frederick (1550-1602), Duke of Legnica-Brzeg-Oława-Wołów with gold medal with bust of Margrave George the Pious by Lucas van Valckenborch or Georg Flegel, 1597-1602, Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna.
Portrait of Adam Wenceslaus, Duke of Cieszyn by Bartholomeus Strobel or circle
Another painting created by Prague school of painting of Joseph Heintz the Elder and Hans von Aachen is a small oval portrait of a man in a gorget. The man also wears a white silk doublet, a military tunic embroidered with gold and a wired reticella lace collar. The painting comes from a private collection in Warsaw and was sold in 2005 (oil on canvas mounted on panel, 69 x 59.5 cm, Agra-Art SA, December 11, 2005, lot 7831). The style of the painting is close to Bartholomeus Strobel, a Mannerist-Baroque painter from Silesia, born in Wrocław, who worked in Prague and in Vienna from about 1608. In 1611 he returns to Wrocław to help his father with work in the Augustinian church and in 1619, thanks to the support of King Sigismund III Vasa, he obtained the status of a court painter (servitor) of Emperor Matthias.
This portrait can be compared with signed works by Strobel, portrait of Władysław Dominik Zasławski-Ostrogski from 1635 in the Wilanów Palace in Warsaw (signed and dated: B. Strobell 1635) and the Crucifixion in the Church of St. James in Toruń (signed and dated: B. Strobel 1634). According to inscription in Latin (AETATIS SVAE 37 / ANNO 1611), the man was 37 years old in 1611, exaclty as Adam Wenceslaus (1574-1617), Duke of Cieszyn when he was appointed supreme commander of the Silesian troops by the new King of Bohemia Matthias, Emperor from 1612. Counting on imperial favors Adam Wenceslaus, raised in Protestantism, converted to Catholicism and expelled the pastor Tymoteusz Lowczany from Cieszyn on February 23, 1611. He accompanied King Matthias at the ceremonial entry to Wrocław with a retinue of almost three hundred horses. The portrait is similar to the effigy of Duke Adam Wenceslaus in the Museum of Cieszyn Silesia, attributed to Piotr Brygierski (ca. 1630-1718). The costume (gorget, silk doublet, military tunic and collar) and facial features are very much alike. 
Portrait of Adam Wenceslaus (1574-1617), Duke of Cieszyn, aged 37 by Bartholomeus Strobel or circle, 1611, Private collection.
Lamentation of Christ with disguised portrait Infanta Isabella Clara Eugenia by workshop of Hendrick de Clerck
"The Most Serene Princess, our beloved cousin and relative. Called by the most illustrious castellan of Kraków, to Poland, a year before, Henricus Von Peene [Flemish military engineer Hendrik van Peene], who was engaged in the art of architecture, and an inhabitant of the dominions of Your Serenity, was bound by a great desire to see his wife and beloved child. [...] Wherefore, with his desire, and the most illustrious castellan of Kraków, the duke in Zbarazh [Prince Jerzy Zbaraski (1574-1631)], willingly supporting the request, we earnestly ask Your Serenity that his wife be permitted, by order of Your Serenity, together with her children and some of her servants from the domains of Your Serenity to emigrate to Poland via Amsterdam, because the journey by sea is shorter and more economical than by land" (Serenissima princeps domina cognata et affinis nostra charissima. Vocatus ab illustrissimo castellano Cracoviensi, in Poloniam, ante elapsum annum, in arte architectonica versatus Henricus Von Peene, dominiorum Serenitatis Vestræ incola, magno tenetur desiderio, videndi suam uxorem atque caram sobolem. [...] Quamobrem cum ipsius desiderio, tum illustrissimi castellani Cracoviensis, ducis in Zbaraz, postulationi libenter suffragantes, petimus diligenter a Serenitate Vestra liceat eius uxori ex mandato Serenitatis Vestræ unacum liberis et aliquot e famulatu ipsius personis ex ditionibus Serenitatis Vestræ in Poloniam per Amsterodamum commigrare, cum mari quam terra tulius sit atque compendiosius iter), wrote Crown Prince Ladislaus Sigismund Vasa (1595-1648) in a letter dated April 29, 1626 from Warsaw (Data Varsaviæ, die xxix mensis aprilis anno Domini Mo DCO XXVI) to Infanta Isabella Clara Eugenia (1566-1633), sovereign of the Spanish Netherlands (after "Messager des sciences historiques, des arts et de la bibliographie de Belgique", Volume 24, p. 209-210).
This letter, as well as several others, such as the letter from Sigismund III to the husband of the Infanta, Archduke Albert of Austria (1559-1621), dated January 20, 1619 (Datum Varsoviæ, xx mensis januarii anno Domini M. DCXIX), concerning "the excellent Wilhelm [or Guillaume] Marten, citizen of Elbląg, stonemason, to bring us marble stones cut in the domains of Your Serenity for the construction of our castle" (egregio Vilhelmo Marten, civi Elbingen, lapiride, ut in ditionibus Serenitatis Vestræ lapides marmoreos pro structura arcis nostræ incisos ad nos adveheret), proves intensified contacts between the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Spanish Netherlands in the artistic field. The inventories of the Infanta's splendid residence in Brussels - Coudenberg Palace, list several portraits of Sigismund III and members of his family. In addition to architects and stonemasons, many Flemish painters, such as Peter Paul Rubens or Jan Brueghel the Elder, worked for Polish-Lithuanian monarchs and aristocrats. The court painters of the Infanta, such as Gaspar de Crayer, were also employed by her relatives and friendly courts in Europe (Crayer created several portraits of monarchs and nobles of Spain and some of his paintings were also sent there during his lifetime). Polish-Lithuanian nobles, such as Christopher Michael Sapieha/Sapega (1607-1631), who studied in Leuven in 1627, brought to their country many effigies of the rulers of the Spanish Netherlands. The Infanta undoubtedly also sent her effigies to Poland-Lithuania, and Sigismund and his son commissioned portraits of their relatives and other European monarchs from the Spanish Netherlands. In 1625, the Frenchman Mathieu Rouault was commissioned to transport such portraits, including that of the Infanta and her husband, from Antwerp to Gdańsk (after "Świat polskich Wazów: eseje", p. 291). In the Lithuanian National Museum of Art in Vilnius there is a painting of The Lamentation of the Dead Christ, attributed to a Flemish painter from the turn of the 16th and 17th centuries (oil on copper, 147 x 89 cm, inv. LNDM B 485). It was probably donated to the museum of the Society of Friends of Science in Vilnius in 1931 by Marja Kiersnowska, because the report for the year 1931 (25 years of existence) mentions "'The Lamentation of Christ', an oil copy of a painting by Vans Dyck in Antwerp from the end of the 17th or beginning of the 18th century", offered by her (after "Zarys Stanu i Działalności Towarzystwa Przyjaciół Nauk w Wilnie ...", 1932, p. 73). The three central figures of Christ, the Virgin Mary and an angel are directly taken from The Lamentation by Paolo Veronese, painted between 1576 and 1582 (Hermitage Museum, ГЭ-49), acquired from the collection of Louis Antoine Crozat, Baron of Thiers, in Paris in 1772. The style, however, closely resembles works attributed to Hendrick de Clerck (ca. 1560-1630), a Flemish painter active in Brussels, and his studio, such as the Pietà in the National Museum in Warsaw (inv. M.Ob.2168 MNW). In 1594 de Clerck entered the service of Archduke Ernest of Austria as court artist, and after his death in 1595 he worked for the Infanta Isabella Clara Eugenia and Archduke Albert. Before 1605, the painter produced his presumed self-portrait as Saint John the Apostle (Saint Paul's Church in Opwijk). Interestingly, the effigy of Saint Mary Magdalene on the right of the Vilnius painting also looks very much like a portrait. The characteristic features of a woman with loose blond hair indicate that this is most likely a disguised portrait of the founder of the painting. She bears a striking resemblance to the Infanta Isabella Clara Eugenia from her portrait in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna (inv. GG 6345), formerly attributed to Rubens and now to Jacob Jordaens. The Vienna painting is dated around 1618 and, unlike her early portraits, such as Juan Pantoja de la Cruz's painting from around 1598-1599 (Prado Museum in Madrid, P000717), shows her with blond-red hair, indicating that she dyed her hair. The resemblance to the portraits of Isabella Clara Eugenia by Rubens and Jan Brueghel the Elder (Prado, P001684) and by Gaspar de Crayer (National Gallery in London, NG3819) from the same period is also great. 
Portrait Infanta Isabella Clara Eugenia (1566-1633), sovereign of the Spanish Netherlands by Gaspar de Crayer, ca. 1615, National Gallery in London.
Lamentation of Christ with disguised portrait Infanta Isabella Clara Eugenia (1566-1633), sovereign of the Spanish Netherlands, as Saint Mary Magdalene by workshop of Hendrick de Clerck, ca. 1615-1618, Lithuanian National Museum of Art in Vilnius.
The palace was built between 1639-1642 by Lorenzo de Sent for the Grand Crown Chancellor Jerzy Ossoliński in Mannerist style. It was constructed on the plan of an elongated rectangle with two hexagonal towers at garden side of the building. The palace was crowned with a terrace with a balustrade, above which stood the upper part of the great representative hall, covered with a spherical roof. A possible inspiration for the palace's upper pavilion and its characteristic roof was Bonifaz Wohlmut's reconstruction of Queen Anne's Summer Palace in Prague, 1557-1563.
Adam Jarzębski, styling himself as Musician of His Highness Ladislaus IV and manager of the construction of the royal palace at Ujazdów, in his "Short Description of Warsaw" (The Main Road, or a Short Description of Warsaw) from 1643, described the residence of Jerzy Ossoliński: Facade with statues of four kings, below inscriptions and a brass statue of Poland holding a sickle, with a plow and a sheaf and marble portal (2427-2435), in the middle of a building a hall covered with roof tiles with gilded brass statues in the corners (2445-2450), Elongated outbuilding with servant lodgings and a kitchen (2711-2713), stables building opposit with a gate (2720-2725), Vestibule with marble portals and iron doors of master craftsmanship (2505-2508), and a staircase with a grille and a large, solid lock (2520-2525), Large dining room (2465) with niches with statues of white marble and a brass statue of a Cupid holding a bow above the door, chandelier and tapestries (2475-2485), with a door to a wine cellar (2491) and a room with silver and gold tableware (2495-2496), Hall with upper windows and a fireplace of black highly polished marble with equestrian portrait of king Ladislaus IV Vasa on white horse against a battle scene (2527-2538), a row of family portraits by painter Hans (?) Amman, and paintings reproducing the epic tales of the ancestors, including a story of a knight wounded during a jousting tournament who was healed by Saint Anne, other stories and battle scenes, above busts of Roman Emperors of white marble (2553-2570), stucco trees in corners, most probably by Giovanni Battista Falconi, ceiling decorated with figures, animals and floral motifs and a painting depicting coronation of Queen Cecilia Renata of Austria in presence of chancellor Ossoliński, door portals of black marble with portiere tapestries with Topór (the Axe) coat of arms (2575-2600), polished marble floor (2605-2607), Lord's chambers with tapestries, French-style parade bed, tables with gold trinkets and silverware and decorative clocks beside the bed, coffers, fireplace adorned with a mosaic (2611-2632), Cabinet of curiosities in a right side tower with bronze statues of different horses, birds and people (2635-2644), silver plated cupboard-cabinet with gold inscriptions describing the contents of each drawer (2649-2652), marble table with rarities on it (2659-2662), Chapel in the left side tower with an altar with an exquisite painting, relics in glass vessels, offered by the Pope, silver coffer reliquary with bones bound by gold chains, wax miniatures, a table with a casket and a door to a staircase (2667-2692). In 1633 Ossoliński was sent with a diplomatic mission to the Pope in Rome by newly elected monarch of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Ladislaus IV Vasa. The King offered him the starostwo of Bydgoszcz, 60,000 zlotys, six horses, a saber (scimitar) worth 10,000 zlotys, five Brussels' tapestries making up the series of the Story of Moses commissioned by King Sigismund Augustus in the 1550s, three of which were given to the Pope, and a construction site in Warsaw. An event from 1633 is also worth mentioning when Ossoliński, traveling to Rome via Veneto, fascinated by the beauty of one of the villas near Padua, ordered to immediately take its dimensions. He made his entry to Eternal City wearing a żupan, richly embroidered with gold, buttoned up with 20 large buttons with diamonds, gold sabre set with jewels valued at 20,000 Polish zlotys and mounting a Turkish stallion having golden horseshoes and a horse tack set with precious stones. In 1638 a life-size statue was cast in brass by Gerdt Benning in Gdańsk according to the design by Georg Münch for then the vice-chancellor Jerzy Ossoliński, most probably to his Castle in Ossolin. It is possible that the same workshop created statues to his Warsaw's palace. Contrary to the Crown Court Marshall Adam Kazanowski, who had a transgender man at his court, the Chancellor Ossoliński kept a transgender woman in his palace: "a boy who thinks he is a girl, and who also wears a dress: He imitates a girl quite well; especially in that, he is very eager of being cuddled", as recounted Jean Le Laboureur in his "Account of the voyage of the Queen of Poland", published in Paris in 1647 (p. 212). An engraved effigy of the Chancellor by Willem Hondius from 1648 was created after a portrait by Bartholomäus Strobel. It is possible then that Strobel created more painting for Ossoliński, including for his Warsaw's residence. In 1645 the chancellor commissioned the silver-ebony altar for the Chapel of Black Madonna of Częstochowa adorned with his coat of arms. The design was most probably by a Royal court artist Giovanni Battista Gisleni, while silver elements were created by the Royal goldsmith Johann Christian Bierpfaff in Warsaw in 1650. The "Inventory of belongings spared from Swedes and escapes made on December 1, 1661 in Wiśnicz" in the Central Archives of Historical Records in Warsaw, lists some of the preserved paintings from Chancellor's rich collection inherited by his daughter Helena Tekla Ossolińska, wife of Aleksander Michał Lubomirski, owner of the Wiśnicz Castle. 30 paintings from Chancellor's collection in the inventory include the paintings by Raphael, Titian, Guido Reni, Guercino, Domenichino, Veronese, Ribera, Albrecht Dürer and Daniel Seghers. There were also there a painting of the Leda and a swan, a gift from the Emperor, a Cupid sharpening his bow, possibly a copy of the famous work by Parmigianino, acquired in Rome, a "large Blessed Virgin Mary, a wreath around her made of fruits, which the angels holds", most probably by duo of Rubens and Jan Brueghel, and a large canvas showing Chancellor's Entry into Rome in 1633. Ossoliński died in his palace in Warsaw on August 9, 1650, at the age of 55. He was buried in the church of St. Joseph in Klimontów, which he built. His opulent palace in Warsaw was destroyed during the invasion of the Commonwealth by neighbouring countries, known as the Deluge (1655-1660). |
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