The Radziwills, one of the wealthiest noble families in 17th-century Europe and the most powerful in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, owned one of the most important portrait collections in Sarmatia. As imperial princes, they collected effigies of members of European royal and noble families and owned numerous portraits of various family members and relatives. Extant inventories, such as that of Boguslaus Radziwill (1620-1669) from 1657 (AGAD 1/354/0/26/84), confirm the breadth of their art collections and their European character.

Today, however, apart from a few canvases from the Nesvizh collection, almost nothing has survived. Many original portraits that survived the Deluge (1655-1660) and the Great Northern War were reproduced in a series of engravings produced between 1747 and 1758 by the Jewish-born engraver Hirsz Leybowicz (Lejbowicz). With his father, Lejba Zyskielowicz of Sokal, at the Radziwill court in Nesvizh, they created the copper plates for Marcin Franciszek Wobe's Icones familiæ ducalis Radivilianæ ..., published in Nesvizh in 1758 (National Library of Poland, A.781). 

Earlier, probably shortly before the Deluge, several of these or similar portraits were also reproduced as drawings, most likely intended as preparatory studies for engravings, now in the State Hermitage Museum (known as the "Album of Drawn Portraits of Polish Figures", ink and bistre on paper, 33 x 28 cm). They were transferred from the Library of the Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg in 1941 and likely originally formed part of the Nesvizh collection.

The images of Anna Radziwill née Kettler (1567-1617) from the Hermitage collection (inv. OP-45857) and the Leybowicz print, based on similar originals as the painted portraits in the National Museum in Warsaw (inv. MP 2472 MNW) and the Vilnius Picture Gallery, as well as the effigy of Janusz Radziwill the Younger (1612-1655) from the Leybowicz print, similar to that from the full-length portrait in the National Art Museum of Belarus in Minsk (considered as the work of Daniel Schultz), prove that all these images were based on painted originals.

Many of the finest portraits in both series are effigies dating from the first quarter of the 17th century. The portraits of women, in particular, display a rich variety of clothing, fabrics, lace, and sumptuous jewelry, primarily inspired by Spanish fashion with local influences (jeweled headdresses). Among the most remarkable are the portraits of Anna Sapieha (1603-1627), daughter of the Chancellor of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania Leo Sapieha and Elizabeth Radziwill, who married Albert Ladislaus Radziwill in 1618 (Hermitage Museum, inv. ОР-45867), and that of Tekla Anna Valovich (also Valavičiūtė or Wołłowicz, 1608-1637), daughter of the Lithuanian Vice-Chancellor Jerome Valovich and Elżbieta Gosławska, who married Alexander Louis Radziwill in 1623 (Hermitage Museum, inv. ОР-45870). Equally interesting is the image of the Ruthenian princess Lavinia Leonilla Koretska (ca. 1587-1641), daughter of Prince Joachim Koretsky and Anna Chodkiewicz, who married Prince John Albert Radziwill (1591-1626) in 1609, as well as that of her husband in national costume, undoubtedly pendant portraits (Hermitage Museum, inv. ОР-45871, ОР-45872).

Similar portraits of Anna Sophia Zenovich (ca. 1615-1664), daughter of the castellan of Polotsk Nicolaus Boguslaus Zenovich and Anna Chodkiewicz, who in 1628 became the second wife of Albert Ladislaus Radziwill, and that of Regina von Eisenreich (ca. 1589-1637), a Bavarian aristocrat and lady-in-waiting to Queen Constance of Austria, first wife of the Grand Chancellor of Lithuania, Albert Stanislaus Radziwill, whom she married in 1619, probably come from the same series of portraits. The same is true for the portrait of a lady wearing a large ruff and a hat, which, in Leybowicz's engraving, was reproduced as an effigy of Anna Elizabeth Radziwill (1518-1558).

Several of these women came from Calvinist (originally Orthodox) families, who converted to Catholicism at the beginning of the 17th century. Based on the costumes and the age of the sitters, all of these portraits can be dated to the 1620s. The likely author of the portraits could be Jacob van Doort (d. 1629), a Flemish or Dutch painter who, according to my findings, painted portraits of members of the Calvinist branch of the Radziwill family at that time. The style of the work suggests that van Doort is the most likely author of the portrait of Teodor Denhoff (ca. 1570-1622), Voivode of Pärnu, now in Wilanów Palace. This portrait would have been painted around 1620-1622, when Denhoff was Voivode of Cēsis (Venden) in Latvia (inscription at top right: TEODORVS / DENHOF PALAT: / VINDENSIS). The same is likely true for the portraits of Countess Maria von Rautter (1576-1626) and her husband, Count Friedrich zu Dohna-Schlobitten (1570-1627), which come from the Drogosze Palace and were lost during World War II.

The second group of effigies is the one which, according to the costumes of the models and their dates of life, can be dated to the 1630s. This group, among the drawings kept in the Hermitage Museum, includes the effigy of Janusz Radziwill the Younger in Sarmatian costume, coat and hat lined with fur (inv. OP-45876), the portrait of his first wife Catherine Potocka (d. 1642), daughter of Stefan Potocki and Maria Mohylanka and granddaughter of the Prince of Moldavia Ieremia Movilă (inv. OP-45877), and that of Albert Stanislaus Radziwill (1593-1656) in a dark doublet, with a seal matrix on the table (inv. ОР-45874). These portraits are characterized by the richness of fabrics, lace, and jewelry, which, combined with a characteristic pose, hand resting on the table, and a three-quarter length representation, brings them close to the portrait of Prince Zaslavski by Bartholomeus Strobel and, more specifically in this context, to the portrait of Janusz Radziwill the Younger in a red and silver doublet, also by Strobel, housed in the National Art Museum of Belarus (oil on canvas, 114 x 90 cm, inv. ЗЖ-109). This latter portrait was painted in 1634, approximately two years after his return from the Netherlands. 

Janusz came from a Calvinist branch of a Lithuanian magnate family. In September 1628, he embarked on a four-year journey, primarily through Germany and the Netherlands, returning to Warsaw in the autumn of 1632. He began his studies in 1629 at the University of Leipzig, and from 1631, studied in Altdorf. He completed his higher education at the University of Leiden. Shortly before his return to Sarmatia, a magnificent full-length portrait of the prince, dressed in a silver and gold doublet and breeches, was painted in Leiden by David Bailly (1584-1657). This painting comes from the collection of King Frederick I of Prussia (1657-1713) and is now in the National Museum in Wrocław (oil on canvas, 202 x 114.7 cm, inv. MNWr VIII-578). It is interesting to note that in 1633, when the prince was back in his native country, the Dutch engraver Willem Hondius produced in The Hague an engraving reproducing a similar effigy of Janusz, but in bust form and wearing armor (Czartoryski Museum in Kraków). The inscription at the bottom confirms the identity of the portrayed person and that the engraving was published in 1633 in The Hague, as well as the fact that the original painting was painted by Bailly (Cujus effigiem à Celeberrimo Bailio depictam ...). The prince's age indicated on the print (ÆT SVÆ XIX) suggests that the original portrait dates from around 1631. Bailly likely continued to work for Radziwill after his return to the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, as well as for other Polish-Lithuanian-Ruthenian clients, as evidenced by his self-portrait from the 1640s, now in Wilanów Palace (inv. Wil.1752). He could potentially be the author of the portrait of Janusz's first wife, Catherine Potocka, reproduced in the Leybowicz print, resembling the posthumous portrait of her with the prince's second wife, Maria Lupu, painted by Johann Schretter in 1646 (National Art Museum of Belarus, inv. 3Ж-125). It is certain that Leybowicz did not base his portrait of Catherine on the one by Schretter, as he mistakenly confused a similar image of Maria Lupu with that of Katarzyna Tomicka (ca. 1517-1551). Therefore, there undoubtedly existed separate portraits of Janusz the Younger's two wives. Since Catherine's features differ from the drawing in the Hermitage, where she wears a similar costume but has a more elongated nose, it is highly probable that the prototype was created by different painter. Janusz married the Catholic Potocka in September 1638, against the wishes of his father.

The portraits of Albert Stanislaus made by Strobel were probably all destroyed during the Deluge and the Great Northern War, as Leybowicz reproduced in his engraving another likeness of the Grand Chancellor of Lithuania, similar to the full-length portrait held in Minsk (inv. ЗЖ-141). Another interesting fact is that the likeness of Albert Stanislaus's second wife, Anna Krystyna Lubomirska (1618-1667), in Leybowicz's series depicts her at an advanced age (CHRISTINA ANNA COMITISSA in Wisnic ...); it should therefore be dated to the 1660s, so several years after her husband's death. Anna Krystyna was the daughter of the Voivode of Ruthenia and Kraków Stanisław Lubomirski (1583-1649) and Zofia Ostrogska (1595-1622) and she married Albert Stanislaus on March 30, 1638 (therefore shortly before Janusz's marriage to Potocka). A portrait depicting her at the time of her marriage to Radziwill undoubtedly existed. In this regard, the portrait of Zofia Zborowska (SOPHIA De Zborow / ZBOROWSKA ...), who died after 1618 and was the wife of George Radziwill (1578-1613), castellan of Trakai, is particularly interesting. This is due to the fact that the lady is dressed in a fashion typical of the 1630s or early 1640s and is reminiscent of the aforementioned portraits of Catherine Potocka and Maria Lupu, as well as Lucretia Strozzi from Leybowicz's series. It is possible that, as with the image of Katarzyna Tomicka, Leybowicz confused the portrait of Anna Krystyna Lubomirska from around 1638 with a lost portrait of Zofia Zborowska.

​Portrait of Teodor Denhoff (ca. 1570-1622) by Jacob van Doort, ca. 1620-1622, Wilanów Palace in Warsaw. Virtual reconstruction, © Marcin Latka

​Hypothetical reconstruction of the portrait of Anna Sapieha (1603-1627) by Jacob van Doort, 1620s, lost. © Marcin Latka

​Hypothetical reconstruction of the portrait of Tekla Anna Valovich (1608-1637) by Jacob van Doort, 1620s, lost. © Marcin Latka

​Hypothetical reconstruction of the portrait of Lavinia Leonilla Koretska (ca. 1587-1641) by Jacob van Doort, 1620s, lost. © Marcin Latka

Hypothetical reconstruction of the portrait of John Albert Radziwill (1591-1626) by Jacob van Doort, 1620s, lost. © Marcin Latka

Hypothetical reconstruction of the portrait of a lady, said to be Anna Elizabeth Radziwill (1518-1558) by Jacob van Doort, 1620s, lost. © Marcin Latka

​Hypothetical reconstruction of the portrait of Regina von Eisenreich (ca. 1589-1637) by Jacob van Doort, 1620s, lost. © Marcin Latka

​Hypothetical reconstruction of the portrait of Anna Sophia Zenovich (ca. 1615-1664) by Jacob van Doort, 1620s, lost. © Marcin Latka

Portrait of Janusz Radziwill the Younger (1612-1655) by David Bailly, ca. 1631-1632, National Museum in Wrocław.

​Hypothetical reconstruction of the portrait of Janusz Radziwill the Younger (1612-1655) by David Bailly, ca. 1631, lost. © Marcin Latka

​Hypothetical reconstruction of the portrait of Janusz Radziwill the Younger (1612-1655) by David Bailly, ca. 1631, lost. © Marcin Latka

Hypothetical reconstruction of the portrait of Janusz Radziwill the Younger (1612-1655) by David Bailly, ca. 1638, lost. © Marcin Latka

Hypothetical reconstruction of the portrait of Catherine Potocka (d. 1642) by David Bailly, ca. 1638, lost. © Marcin Latka

​Hypothetical reconstruction of the portrait of Catherine Potocka (d. 1642) by David Bailly, ca. 1638, lost. © Marcin Latka

Hypothetical reconstruction of the portrait of Catherine Potocka (d. 1642) by David Bailly, ca. 1638, lost. © Marcin Latka

Portrait of Janusz Radziwill the Younger (1612-1655) by Bartholomeus Strobel, ca. 1634, National Art Museum of Belarus in Minsk.

​Hypothetical reconstruction of the portrait of Janusz Radziwill the Younger (1612-1655) by Bartholomeus Strobel, ca. 1638, lost. © Marcin Latka

Hypothetical reconstruction of the portrait of Catherine Potocka (d. 1642) by Bartholomeus Strobel, ca. 1638, lost. © Marcin Latka

​Hypothetical reconstruction of the portrait of Albert Stanislaus Radziwill (1593-1656) by Bartholomeus Strobel, ca. 1638-1646, lost. © Marcin Latka

​Hypothetical reconstruction of the portrait of Anna Krystyna Lubomirska (1618-1667) by Bartholomeus Strobel, ca. 1638-1646, lost. © Marcin Latka

The iconography of a monarch in the 16th century often relied on an initial portrait created by an artist close to the court, usually a drawn study, which was then reproduced on various media: paintings, miniatures, medals, and sculptures. This practice is perfectly illustrated by the portraits of one of the most influential women of the Renaissance: Joanna of Austria (1535-1573), Infanta of Spain and Princess of Portugal. Joanna was the daughter and sister of two important patrons of Titian: Emperor Charles V and King Philip II of Spain.

Around 1554, the Italian Renaissance sculptor and jeweller Jacopo da Trezzo (ca. 1515-1589), trained in Milan, who, like Jacopo Caraglio in Poland-Lithuania-Ruthenia, became court jeweller working for the Spanish court, created a medal with Joanna's likeness (Metropolitan Museum of Art, inv. 25.142.36), reminiscent of her portraits painted by the Portuguese painter Cristóvão de Morais, made around 1552 (Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium, inv. 1296) and by a follower of Antonis Mor, also painted around 1552 (Windsor Castle, inv. RCIN 407223), both depicting her at the age of 17 (ETATIS / XVII). The same applies to an engraving made by Pieter van der Heyden in Antwerp, very probably at the same time (Herzog August Bibliothek, inv. A 16831) and the one published in Venice in 1569 in Imagines Quorudam Principum, et Illustrium Virorum by Bolognino Zaltieri. The likeness on the 1564 medal by Giampaolo Poggini (National Gallery of Art, inv. 1998.108.16.a) and on the tondo engraving from the Teatro de las grandezas de la Villa de Madrid ... by Gil González Dávila (DOÑA IVANA DE AVSTRIA, p. 37), published in 1623, so many years after Joanna's death, resembles the portrait painted by Antonis Mor, made around 1560 (Prado Museum, inv. P002112), as well as that by Sofonisba Anguissola from the 1560s, holding a medal of her father Charles V (Dorotheum in Vienna, 12 October 2011, lot 431) and that by Alonso Sánchez Coello with a miniature of her brother Philip II (Museum of Fine Arts Bilbao, inv. 90/15). The onyx cameo with bust of the Infanta and incorrect inscription on the back identifying her as her sister Maria of Spain, carved around 1566 by Jacopo da Trezzo (Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna, Antikensammlung, inv. XII 70), resembles her full-length portrait with a dog, painted in 1557 by Alonso Sánchez Coello (Kunsthistorisches Museum, inv. GG 3127), as well as her bust portrait by Sofonisba, now in Sweden and identified as a portrait of the Swedish Queen Catherine Stenbock (Bukowskis in Stockholm, sale 621, December 11, 2019, lot 414), probably looted in Poland, and the portrait by Roland de Mois or his workshop (Royal Castle Warsaw, inv. ZKW/103/ab). The silver medal bearing Joanna's image, similar to the aforementioned cameo, attributed to Pompeo Leoni (1533-1608), is probably based on her portrait by Sánchez Coello (Kunsthistorisches Museum, Münzkabinett, inv. MK 7004bß). Her funerary sculpture in Carrara marble, in the church of the Descalzas Reales monastery in Madrid, created by Pompeo after 1574, is also likely based on Sánchez Coello's portrait. Joanna probably chose the portrait she wished to have reproduced on her cenotaph herself (after "Los retratos de Juana de Austria posteriores a 1554 ..." by Annemarie Jordan Gschwend, p. 57-58). The portrait made by Mor around 1560 depicts the Infanta with dark hair, which could indicate that she dyed her hair or that it was based on study drawings and not on observation of the actual model.

Unlike in Sarmatia, fashion in Spain, especially in the second half of the 16th century, was quite uniform, and in all the likenesses described, Joanna was portrayed in a costume typical of the Spanish fashion of the time. The diversity of costumes, combined with the significant destruction of the country's heritage, explains why no painted portraits reproducing the numerous effigies of the Jagiellonian dynasty appearing on medals, cameos, sculptures, and engravings have been preserved or are known to us. A notable exception is that of the effigies of Queen Bona created during her widowhood, when she was dressed almost exclusively in her characteristic costume. Another interesting fact is that the marble statue of the queen, from her funerary monument in the Basilica of Saint Nicholas in Bari, bears little resemblance to her other surviving effigies. This suggests that another portrait of the queen was made in Italy around 1556 or 1557, shortly before her death. This statue was commissioned by her daughter, elected Queen Anna Jagiellon (1523-1596), and sculpted by Italian sculptors between 1589 and 1593, more than thirty years after Bona's death. According to a letter dated May 26, 1590, the effigy was probably based on a portrait sent by Queen Anna from Warsaw. She wrote to Tomasz Treter, canon of the Basilica of Santa Maria in Trastevere in Rome, who was also a painter, engraver, and her advisor, regarding the preliminary texts for Bona's funerary inscription. The queen sent him three drafts to review and added: "We are also sending you a picture of our lady mother, which you should also send without delay [most likely to Naples, where the monument was created]" (after "Jagiellonki polskie w XVI. wieku ..." by Aleksander Przezdziecki, Volume 4, p. 325). It is unknown whether the effigy sent from Warsaw was used and, if so, which image it was precisely.

Regarding the lost painted portraits of the Jagiellons, very intersting is the mention in the posthumous inventory of the collection of Mary of Hungary (1505-1558), widow of King Louis II Jagiellon. It was drawn up in 1558 in Spain, where she moved in 1556. At the top of the list, among the portraits of the most important members of the family, is: "portrait of the King of Poland, in armor but without a helmet, painted on canvas" (number 4: En otra caja metido el retrato del rey de Polonia, armado é sin morrion, en lienzo). It was probably the likeness of Sigismund I or Sigismund Augustus. 

The painting was listed after the marble bust of Eleanor of Austria (1498-1558), sister of Charles V, by Master Jacob (Prado Museum, inv. E000259, attributed to Jacques Dubroeucq), a large canvas depicting the equestrian portrait of Charles V at Mühlberg, painted by Titian (Prado Museum, inv. P000410), and the portrait of Philip II, Mary's nephew, in half-armor, also by Titian (sent by Philip to his aunt in 1551, probably a lost copy of the painting now in the Prado Museum, inv. P000411) and before a portrait of Mary in "ordinary attire" by Titian (probably a copy or prototype of the painting in the Museum of Decorative Arts in Paris, inv. PE 243). Like other portraits, the one of the King of Poland was recorded as packed in a box; it had therefore been transported to Spain from the Netherlands and probably came from Mary's sumptuous palace in Binche (destroyed in 1554). Unlike many other paintings mentioned in the inventory, the painter is not indicated, but this does not rule out the possibility that the work was painted by Titian or in Venice. Several other paintings mentioned in this inventory were most likely commissioned by Mary or the Habsburgs directly from Titian, while the portrait of the King of Poland was probably sent to them, hence the authorship was not so obvious.

The mentions of portraits of Christina of Denmark (1521-1590), Duchess of Milan and Lorraine, the widowed Duchess of Bavaria, probably Cunigunde of Austria (1465-1520) or Marie Jakobaea of ​​Baden-Sponheim (1507-1580), Duke Maurice of Saxony (1521-1553) in armor, Dorothea of ​​Denmark and Norway (1520-1580), Electress of the Palatinate, and of that of Anna of Austria (1528-1590), daughter of Anna Jagiellonica (1503-1547) and Duchess of Bavaria, all by Titian (items 7, 8, 11, 12, 14, after "Tableaux et sculptures de Marie d'Autriche, reine douarière de Hongrie (1558)" by Alexandre Pinchar, p. 139-140) and probably based on other effigies, are also very interesting.

The most important preserved works of art, depicting Isabella of Portugal (1503-1539), wife of Emperor Charles V and mother of King Philip II, were created several years after her death: medal by Leone Leoni, created between 1543 and 1549 (Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, Münzkabinett, inv. 742bβ), portrait by Titian, painted in 1548 (Prado Museum, inv. P000415), cameo created in Milan in 1550 by Leoni (Metropolitan Museum of Art, inv. 38.150.9), full-length portrait by the circle or a follower of Jakob Seisenegger from the third quarter of the 16th century (Ambras Castle in Innsbruck, inv. GG 3999) and double portrait with her husband by Rubens, probably painted between 1628 and 1629 (Liria Palace in Madrid, inv. P.489). All these images were therefore based on other portraits made during the empress's lifetime.

In 1532 or 1533, Titian painted the portrait of Cardinal Ippolito de' Medici (1511-1535) in Hungarian costume, but it is unknown whether it was created in Bologna or Venice (Pitti Palace in Florence, oil on canvas, 139 x 107 cm, inv. Palatina 201 / 1912). Ippolito, created cardinal and archbishop of Avignon by his cousin, Pope Clement VII, on January 10, 1529, at the age of 18, was sent to Hungary in the spring of 1532 as a papal legate. There he displayed considerable military skill, leading 8,000 Hungarian soldiers against the Ottoman Turks, hence his attire, which is also similar to the Sarmatian costume of the time. On July 3, 1532, Cardinal Ippolito was appointed Vice-Chancellor of the Holy Roman Church. Because of its great resemblance to a portrait by Titian, the double portrait of Marco Bracci with Cardinal Ippolito, attributed to Girolamo da Carpi, is considered not to have been painted from life, but as a copy of a portrait by Titian, concerning the features of the cardinal's face (National Gallery in London, inv. NG20). As its style indicates, the painting by Titian was executed rather quickly, and it is likely not the only copy of this portrait, as other versions were undoubtedly made for the Pope and the Emperor. A reduced copy, from the collection of the Kings of France and perhaps executed by Titian's workshop, is in the Louvre (INV 769; MR 523; MV 7390). It is mentioned at the Palace of Fontainebleau at the beginning of the 17th century.

If the portrait of the King of Poland did indeed represent Sigismund I, it could reproduce the king's features similar to those of a medal created in 1532 and signed by Giovanni Padovano (Giovanni Maria Mosca), a sculptor and medalist originally from Padua, in the Republic of Venice, active between 1515 and 1573, first in Veneto, then in Poland after 1529. Two copies of this medal, presumably given to the Este family, related to Queen Bona, are kept in the Galleria Estense in Modena (inv. R.C.G.E. 9315 and R.C.G.E. 9316). The Latin inscription on the obverse indicates that the king was depicted at the age of 64, in the 26th year of his reign, which generally corresponds to the year 1532, and designates him as the "king of Sarmatia" (Sarmatie Sigismundi Regis [...] XXVI [...] LXIII). The reverse features a Polish eagle with the royal monogram S and an inscription indicating the author and date (IOHANNES MARIA PATAVINVS · F · ANNO [...] M · D · XXXII). Also in the same collection are three other medals of Sigismund's wife, Bona, and their children, Sigismund Augustus and Isabella, also made by Padovano in 1532. The medal of Sigismund Augustus depicts him at the age of 13 and in the third year of his reign, which is inaccurate, and bears the letter D added before his name, derived from divus ("divine"); the reverse depicts a lion (inv. R.C.G.E. 9317). Isabella's medal depicts her wearing a wreath and at the age of 14, which is inaccurate, and with a rounded neckline typical of Sarmatian fashion of the time; the reverse features an allegory of Modesty represented as a semi-nude woman with an ermine (inv. R.C.G.E. 9313). The medal with Bona's bust shows the queen in Sarmatian costume with a wide, rounded neckline, similar to that of the funerary sculpture of Maryna Sobkowa (d. 1530) in Opatów. The inscription states that she was 32 years old, which is incorrect, as she was 38 at that time, and this may be a deliberate action. The artichoke on the reverse is a symbol of fertility. A similar costume, with white puffed sleeves, appears in the profile portrait of a blonde noblewoman from a Florentine private collection (oil on canvas, 99.5 x 69 cm, Pandolfini Casa d'Aste, Live auction 1114, March 1, 2022, lot 66). This outfit is very similar to the one in the portrait of Queen Catherine of Austria (1533-1572), the third wife of Sigismund II Augustus, in an engraving made before 1562 by Frans Huys in Antwerp (Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, inv. RP-P-1892-A-17332). The inscription in the upper left reads: LA[V] FAG., DE , CAR. The comma suggests that it is most likely an abbreviation of the Latin phrase Labora Fac Gradatim De Cetero, which could be translated as "Work and act step by step from now on". This phrase encourages consistent and regular progress in one's efforts, while the woman's gesture, her right hand on her heart, indicates that this is her life motto. The woman's headdress adorned with pearls and her profile, as well as her body turned towards the viewer, are reminiscent of those in Queen Bona's medal kept at the Galleria Estense (inv. R.C.G.E. 9502). The facial features and hairstyle are also similar. This portrait of the Queen of Poland is particularly close to that of her mother, Isabella of Aragon (1470-1524), Duchess of Milan, with blonde hair, from the Rothschild collection (Christie's London, Online Auction 19640, July 30, 2020, lot 6, indistinct inscription: ISABELLA / SFORZAAL / LAS.DVCHESSA / DICASTRO). The style of the painting is similar to that of the Milanese painter Gaudenzio Ferrari (ca. 1471-1546), for example, his Virgin and Child in the Pinacoteca di Brera in Milan (inv. 1157), which also depicts a similar woman. This latter painting is dated to around 1517-1518; who knows, perhaps the painter was inspired by the features of the Milanese-Aragonese princess.

According to Mateusz Grzęda, Padovano is probably the creator of the final medals and sculptures appearing on the reverse, while the bust of the king, his wife and children should be attributed to Christoph Weiditz (1498-1559), active in Satrasburg and Augsburg. Between 1528 and 1529, Weiditz traveled to Spain. From 1529 to 1531, he produced medals bearing the likeness of Jan Dantyszek (1485-1548), Bishop of Chełmno and envoy to the imperial court. In 1531, Dantyszek was in Brussels. In a letter to the envoy dated March 6, 1531, Christoph Mülich, an Augsburg merchant in the service of the Fugger family, refers to Weiditz as Dantyszek's "servant". Around that time, in 1531, Weiditz produced a medal with the effigy of Francisco de los Cobos (circa 1477-1547), Secretary of State to Charles V and important patron of the arts, whose portrait was painted by Jan Gossaert (Getty Center). Cobos arranged portraits of Emperor Charles V and owned works by Titian, such as the portrait of his mistress Cornelia Malaspina, commissioned by Federico Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua. 

Padovano probably received models made by Weiditz based on painted effigies of the Sarmatian royal family, and the whole commission was likely orchestrated by Dantyszek (after "Kilka uwag o medalach portretowych Zygmunta I Starego", p. 9-18, 21). The Bishop of Chełmno, known as Juan Dantisco in Spanish sources, is the author of a voluminous correspondence containing references to portraits, such as the one he sent in 1529 to Isabel Delgada, a woman from Valladolid with whom he had a daughter in 1527, Juana Dantisco, or the portrait of Juana painted in Valladolid in 1539 on the instructions of Johan Weze (1490-1548), Archbishop of Lund, by a German painter and royal guard (un pintor alemán y Guardia de Corps de S.M.), identified as Jacob Seisenegger (after "The Spanish Portrait: From El Greco to Picasso" by Javier Portús Pérez, p. 78). 

If the prestigious commission for painted portraits of the Sarmatian royal family was entrusted to Titian in Venice, they were probably based on study drawings sent to Venice and resembled the Przybyła portrait created around that time or in the late 1520s (the models are depicted in profile, their bodies turned towards the viewer, as on medals).

Another beautiful medal bearing the image of Sigismund I, decorated with the Order of the Golden Fleece of the Habsburgs and whose lower lip, inherited from his Habsburg mother, is highlighted, is, according to Mr. Grzęda, the work of another medalist connected to the imperial court, Matthes Gebel (ca. 1500-1574). A citizen of Nuremberg, he attended the imperial diets of Speyer in 1529 and Augsburg in 1530, where he probably created the medal bearing the image of Charles V at the age of 30 (Victoria & Albert Museum, inv. A.384-1910). The medal of Sigismund, kept at the Ossolineum in Wrocław, is also attributed to Caraglio and is considered to have been created in Venice shortly before his arrival in Poland, as it bears the date 1538. The similarity of this work to the 1535 medal of Louis X (1495-1545), Duke of Bavaria, by Gebel, is particularly striking. The medal was probably made to commemorate the betrothal of Sigismund Augustus and Elizabeth of Austria, celebrated on June 16 of that year. The medal was distributed to guests at their wedding in 1543, and its gold copies came from Elizabeth's dowry. A work signed by Caraglio, which could be dated to the same period as the 1538 medal of Sigismund, is a cameo with bust of Bona preserved at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (inv. 17.190.869, signed under the shoulder: IACOBV/VERON), as indicated by her costume. The cameo is inlaid with gold, highlighting the details of queen's chain and hairnet, while the details of her costume are meticulously crafted. The most distinctive element of this costume is the silver Medusa's head inset on her breast. The mythological Medusa symbolizes feminine power, seduction, and protection, often perceived as a fierce guardian against evil. It thus evokes "a manifestation of strength, tenacity, and effectiveness - exercised by the weapon", as Katarzyna Kluczwajd notes in her commentary on the cameo. The author adds that "the Bona jewel is a unique representation, taken 'from the point of view' of a male portrait (facing right). This underlines its independent and solitary significance, important from a propaganda standpoint for this power-hungry Italian woman, who [later] sought Philip II to grant her the rule in the Kingdom of Naples" (after "Biżuteria w Polsce ...", p. 30). 

The two effigies, that from the 1538 medal and that from the cameo by Caraglio, were very likely inspired by painted portraits, perhaps by Titian, painter to the Habsburg dynasty (in 1531, the painter moved to a substantial palatial house in Venice and, in 1532, went to Bologna to paint the emperor, who, the following year, appointed him court painter and raised him to the rank of Count Palatine; according to known sources, in the late 1530s he was active mainly in Venice), or by Paris Bordone, the artist who painted Caraglio's portrait (in 1538, according to Vasari, or 1559, according to Federici, he was invited to work at the court of king of France). Given its crucial political significance, Bona's effigy with Medusa's head must have been reproduced in numerous forms, such as the cameo depicting the bust of Joanna of Austria. The involvement of artists such as Giovanni Cariani or Bernardino Licinio, who, according to my findings, painted images of the queen, is also conceivable.

​Portrait of Queen Bona Sforza d'Aragona (1494-1557) in Sarmatian costume by workshop of Gaudenzio Ferrari, 1520s, Private collection. 

​Main objects from the collection of Mary of Hungary (1505-1558) in 1558 (items 1 to 5 of the inventory).

​Hypothetical reconstruction of the portrait of King Sigismund I (1467-1548) in armor by Titian, ca. 1532, lost. © Marcin Latka

​Hypothetical reconstruction of the portrait of Queen Bona Sforza d'Aragona (1494-1557) in Sarmatian costume by Titian, ca. 1532, lost. © Marcin Latka

​Hypothetical reconstruction of the portrait of King Sigismund II Augustus (1520-1572) in a hat by Titian, ca. 1532, lost. © Marcin Latka

​Hypothetical reconstruction of the portrait of Crown Princess Isabella Jagiellon (1519-1559) in Sarmatian costume by Titian, ca. 1532, lost. © Marcin Latka

​Hypothetical reconstruction of the portrait of Crown Princess Isabella Jagiellon (1519-1559) in Sarmatian costume by Titian, ca. 1532, lost. © Marcin Latka

​Hypothetical reconstruction of the portrait of Queen Bona Sforza d'Aragona (1494-1557) in Sarmatian costume by Bernardino Licinio, ca. 1532, lost. © Marcin Latka

​Hypothetical reconstruction of the portrait of Queen Bona Sforza d'Aragona (1494-1557) in Sarmatian costume by Bernardino Licinio, ca. 1532, lost. © Marcin Latka

​Hypothetical reconstruction of the portrait of King Sigismund I (1467-1548) with the Order of the Golden Fleece by Paris Bordone, ca. 1538, lost. © Marcin Latka

​Hypothetical reconstruction of the portrait of Queen Bona Sforza d'Aragona (1494-1557) with silver Medusa's head by Paris Bordone, ca. 1538, lost. © Marcin Latka

​Hypothetical reconstruction of the portrait of Queen Bona Sforza d'Aragona (1494-1557) with silver Medusa's head by Titian, ca. 1538, lost. © Marcin Latka

​Hypothetical reconstruction of the portrait of Queen Bona Sforza d'Aragona (1494-1557) with silver Medusa's head by Giovanni Cariani, ca. 1538, lost. © Marcin Latka

​Hypothetical reconstruction of the portrait of Queen Bona Sforza d'Aragona (1494-1557) with silver Medusa's head by Bernardino Licinio, ca. 1538, lost. © Marcin Latka

Portrait of Cardinal Ippolito de' Medici (1511-1535) in Hungarian costume by Titian, ca. 1532-1533, Pitti Palace in Florence. 

In 1530, the nine-year-old Sigismund Augustus, son of Sigismund I the Old and his second wife Bona Sforza was crowned as co-ruler of Poland-Lithuania alongside his father. That same year he was also engaged with his four-year-old cousin Elizabeth of Austria, daughter of Anna Jagellonica, Queen of Germany, Bohemia, and Hungary. On May 5, 1543 then 16-year-old Elizabeth married 22-year-old Sigismund Augustus. The king, who already had several mistresses, did not find Elizabeth attractive and continued to have extramarital affairs.

In the course of the year 1545, on June 15, the young queen Elizabeth died of an epileptic seizure in Vilnius. Her body filled with lime was awaiting the king's arrival from Kraków on July 24, over one month after her death. On August 25, 1545 the body of Elizabeth was buried in Saint Casimir Chapel of the Vilnius Cathedral. After half a year, on January 9, 1546, in Kraków, Seweryn Boner, the commissioner of Sigismund Augustus, signed a contract with the sculptor Giovanni Maria Mosca called Padovano, to create a tombstone for Elizabeth (after "Giammaria Mosca Called Padovano, a Renaissance Sculptor in Italy and Poland" by Anne Markham Schulz, p. 220, 301). Padovano, born in Padua and summoned to Sigismund I's court in 1529, became the main sculptor in Kraków after the tragic death of Bartolommeo Berrecci, murdered in 1537 by another jealous Italian artist. He created several tombstones for Vilnius Cathedral, including most probably tombstone for Vytautas the Great, commissioned by Bona Sforza. As early as 1546 Padovano undertook, together with Giovanni Cini, to create the tombstone for Elizabeth.

Sometime in 1547, in spite of his mother's disapproval, Sigismund Augustus secretly wed his mistress Barbara Radziwill, she died however on May 8, 1551 in Kraków, five months after long battled coronation, of syphilis, cancer or poisoned by Bona. Barbara asked to be buried in Vilnius and her body was transported to Vilnius Cathedral, where she was buried on June 23 next to Sigismund Augustus' first wife. One of her state portraits (a copy in the Royal Castle in Warsaw, inv. R-ZKW-161), which was probaly used as model for the tomb monument, reflects her great love for precious stones and pearls. She was depicted in a traditional wimple of a married woman covered with pearls and gold-diamond brooches, gold-diamond pendant on a gold chain with a large pearl, comparable with famous La Peregrina or the Tudor pearl, and another gold chain with a precious stone cameo with a bust of her husband, most probably created by Jacopo Caraglio, court goldsmith and medallist of Sigismund Augustus.

In January 1552, Jan Lutomierski, royal court treasurer, ordered 8 blocks of red "marble" (Adnet limestone) in Salzburg from Rupert Beyr (pro sepulchro Ser. olim Dominae D. Reginae Barbarae marmores octo iuxta ...), together with one block for the monument of Bishop Samuel Maciejowski in the Wawel Cathedral. The marble was transported to Kraków, from where, after preliminary processing, the blocks were floated down the Vistula to Gdańsk and Królewiec (Königsberg), then up the Nemunas and Neris rivers to the capital of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania covering a total of over 1,500 km. On June 24, 1552 the tomb monument of Queen Elizabeth, created in Kraków, was brought to Vilnius and put in storage in the Franciscan monastery, and on April 18, 1553, Lutomierski signed a contract with Padovano with an advance payment of 280 florins for execution of the monument to Queen Barbara (convenit cum Joanne Maria, Italo lapicida, de labore sepulchri Ser. olim D.D. Barbarae ...). The main sculptural work Padovano performed together with Giovanni Cini on site, in Vilnius. The final bill of 971 florins and 13 groszy for the monuments to both queens was issued in 1562 (In sepulchrum et marmores Serenissimarum Elizabethae et Barbarae Reginarum, after "Źródła do historii sztuki i cywilizacji w Polsce" by Adam Chmiel, Volume 1, p. 8-9, 99).

Similar to Maciejowski's monument, created by Padovano in 1552, the royal tombs in the form of arcosolium (an arched recess), undoubtedly portrayed the deceased queens' in the fashionable "Sansovino pose", referring to the statues of Roman courtesans of the Flavian era, sleeping above the sarcophagus and turned towards the viewer. It was a revival of the Etruscan models, as opposed to the traditional medieval model which saw the deceased lying in a more rigid way and celebrating a dead person, in favor of a new conception exalting the living person. The works inspired later realisations, like monument to Barbara Tarnowska in Tarnów from the 1550s, monument to Elżbieta Zebrzydowska in Kielce, created by Padovano after 1553, monument to Urszula Leżeńska by Jan Michałowicz of Urzędów in Brzeziny, created between 1563-1568 or monument to Barbara Górka by Girolamo Canavesi in Poznań, executed after 1574. These depictions, with their characteristic pose, clearly refer to early Renaissance images of the Sleeping Venus.

In the last years of his reign Sigismund Augustus decided to built in the Vilnius Lower Castle, on the site of the former medieval chapel of St. Anne, destroyed by a fire in 1530, the new church of St. Anne and St. Barbara as a mausoleum for his wives. In 1553, an altar for the new church was commissioned from Giovanni Cini, who was probably also the author of the design of the entire building (the wooden model was made in 1551), however the church was not yet completed in 1571 (after "Z działalności budowlanej Zygmunta Augusta ..." by Helena Kozakiewiczowa, p. 440-441, 443). The coffins of the two queens were to be stored in Vilnius Cathedral, only until the construction of the church would be accomplished, which the monarch expressed in his last will:

The testament of His Majesty Sigismund Augustus, who died in Knyszyn on July VIIth of the year from the Nativity of Our Lord MDLXXII (Library of the Kórnik Castle, copy of the Puławy manuscript by Kielisiński, sygn.BK 00974; Mf1549; CD 91a, also "Jagiellonki polskie w XVI. wieku ..." by Aleksander Przeździecki, Volume 3, p. 245, 253)

[...] The bodies of deceased Ladies our Spouses, dead in Our Lord, we want them to be from the Chapel of St. Casimir, where they are put in depository, in this church of St. Anne to be transferred and buried there. The body Her Majesty Halska [Elizabeth] on the right side of the Church by the altar on the side of choir in the corner of the Church. And the Queen Her Majesty Barbara also from this side of the choir in the corner of the Church on the left side.

[...] For all this benevolence to Her Majesties our Sisters, often mentioned, the Church of St. Anne, aforementioned and begun by us [...] and as it is acceptable according to custom, if we will be buried there, to built a grave on the aforementioned site worthy our state. Also to Queen Her Majesty Halska [Elizabeth] to erect a grave, which is ready at Jop's. Also to Queen Her Majesty Barbara, after moving their bodies, to erect a grave on the above-described places.

Sigismund II Augustus died childless on July 7, 1572 in Knyszyn. The Union of Lublin signed on July 1, 1569 created a single state, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, a republic of nobles with elective monarchy. On December 15, 1575 Sigismund Augustus' sister Anna Jagiellon was elected as co-ruler of the Commonwealth, together with her husband Stephen Bathory.

The king's sisters were reluctant to fullfill his last will concerning the burial of his wives. It is probably due to Bona Sforza's animosity with both wives of her son, that Anna, who was very active in religious foundations (in 1578 she established at Warsaw's Bernardine Church of Saint Anne the St. Anne's Brotherhood), and supervised the construction of tomb monuments for herself, her brother, husband and mother, also not accomplished the delivery of this deed. Anna Jagiellon promote her niece Anna Vasa or her nephew Sigismund Vasa, children of her beloved sister Catherine, Queen of Sweden as candidates the the Commonwealth's throne after her death. Sigismund was elected the monarch of the Commonwealth in 1587 and in 1592 he succeeded his father as the King of Sweden, hence creating one of the largest federal states of the 16th century Europe, but was deposed in Sweden by his uncle Charles IX in 1599.

In July 1655, the grandson of Charles IX, "the Brigand od Europe", as he was called by Stefan Czarniecki, Charles X Gustav of Sweden willing to enlarge the Swedish Empire and taking advantage of the Russian invasion, advanced on the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, thus triggering one of the most devastaing wars in the history of the Central Europe, the so-called Deluge (1655-1660). The Commonwealth was attacked from north, south, east and west. 

On August 8, 1655 Russian and Cossack forces captured Vilnius. The city was pillaged, burned and the population was massacred. According to the Russian historian Flavian Nikolayevich Dobryansky (1848-1919) "everything that was holy and beautiful inside and outside the city was burned; the rest was destroyed, not only the roofs, but also the tombs" (after "Old and New Vilnius", 3rd edition of 1904, p. 65-66). Just as marble tombstone of Paul Olshanski, Bishop of Vilnius in the Vilnius Cathedral, created by Padovano in 1555, and monument to Lew Sapieha, Great Lithuanian Hetman and his two wives in the Church of St. Michael in Vilnius from the 1620s, wich were damaged during that time, the royal effigies were most probaly also devastated.

The unfinished and dilapidated church of St. Anne and St. Barbara was left empty until 1666, when, at the request of the prelate Mikołaj Słupski, the king John II Casimir Vasa, great grandson of Bona Sforza, allowed the architect Jan Salwador to dismantle the building and use the materials and funds obtained from it to repair another badly damaged building, the Vilnius Cathedral (after "Kościół Zamkowy czyli Katedra wileńska ..." by Jan Kurczewski, 1913, part 3, p. 180). The precious marbles from the royal monuments were probably also reused. 
​
Marble tondo of 46.5 cm in diameter from the collection of the Vilnius Univeristy, depicting a woman with long hair in antique costume, which was before the World War I in the Rumyantsev Museum in Moscow, was supposed to come from Elizabeth of Austria's tombstone. ​The woman brought her hand to her lips, which led to the interpretation that it was a personification of echo, "the humanist idea of ​​immortalizing the dead through art (sculpture), multiplying their fame (echo) even after death", concluded Marian Morelowski (1884-1963) in his article published in Vilnius in 1930 ("Korona i hełm znalezione w Sandomierzu a sprawa korony Witolda i grobowców dynastycznych w Wilnie", p. 617-618, 621, 680).

Hypothetical reconstruction of the marble funerary monument of Elizabeth of Austria (1526-1545), Queen of Poland and Grand Duchess of Lithuania, first wife of Sigismund II Augustus by Giovanni Maria Mosca called Padovano and Giovanni Cini in Kraków, 1546-1552, lost. © Marcin Latka 

Hypothetical reconstruction of the marble funerary monument of Barbara Radziwill (1520/23-1551), Queen of Poland and Grand Duchess of Lithuania, second wife of Sigismund II Augustus by Giovanni Maria Mosca called Padovano and Giovanni Cini in Vilnius, 1553-1562, lost. © Marcin Latka 

​Hypothetical reconstruction of the personification of the echo by Giovanni Maria Mosca called Padovano or Giovanni Cini, mid-16th century, lost. © Marcin Latka  

Before the invasion by neighbouring countries, known as the Deluge (1655-1660), the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (also Sarmatia or Poland-Lithuania-Ruthenia) ranked among the wealthiest countries in Europe and its monarchs successfully rivaled the leaders of other nations as patrons of the arts.

King Sigismund III Vasa, elected monarch of the multicultural Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, was known for his refined artistic taste inherited from the Jagiellons and his grandmother Queen Bona Sforza. He commissioned the most exquisite works of art not only in Europe, but also in Persia. In 1601, the king sent Sefer Muratowicz an Armenian merchant from Warsaw to Persia, where he ordered carpets woven with silk and gold, a tent and swords from Damascus steel and other luxury items. Safavid kilims with coat of arms of Sigismund III Vasa (Polish Eagle with Vasa sheaf) preserved in many collections. 

The king was so pleased with the results of Muratowicz's expedition that after his return on October 26, 1602, he gave him the title of servitoris ac negotiatoris and obliged him in the future to present all goods brought to Poland from Turkey and Persia, before they were put up for sale, at the royal court, so that he could choose those he liked the most (after "Sztuka islamu w Polsce w XVII i XVIII wieku" by Tadeusz Mańkowski, p. 25). Sigismund III had a particularly rich collection of oriental arms and Persian or Turkish kalkan shield from the Lubomirski collection in Kruszyna was, according to tradition, the property of the king (Wawel Royal Castle). Mechti Kuli Beg, Ambassador of Shah Abbas of Persia, participated in the king's wedding in Kraków in 1605 and Robert Shirley (d. 1628), sent by the shah on a diplomatic mission to European princes, was received solemnly by Sigismund at the Sejm in Warsaw on February 25, 1609.

Most probably in Italy the king ordered partially gilded shishak, an oriental-style steel helmet with Hercules killing the Lernean hydra on one side and Hercules fighting Antaeus on the other as well as coat of arms of Muscovy, as a gift to Tsar Feodor I of Russia, handed over by Ambassador Paweł Sapieha in 1591 (Kremlin Museum). In Milan in Italy or in Prague he commissioned the crystal lavabo with his coat of arms and monogram (Treasury of the Munich Residence) and in Augsburg in Germany a silver service for 20,000 florins for the ceremony of receiving the Order of the Golden Fleece (used for the first time during a banquet at the Castle in Warsaw on February 25, 1601) and many other precious items. In Flanders and the Netherlands he purchased tapestries, like 6 pieces with the Story of Diana by workshop of François Spierincx in Delft, in about 1611-1615, paintings in Venice, like the Virgin and Child with St. John the Baptist and St. Stanislaus by Palma il Giovane for the St. John's Cathedral in Warsaw, before 1618, amber items in Gdańsk and Königsberg, like amber games board of Queen Anne of Denmark and other amber gifts, sent to England in 1607 through English envoy in Poland William Bruce (compare "Anglia a Polska w pierwszej połowie XVII w." by Edward Alfred Mierzwa, p. 34). The chain with stylized eagle heads and the Order of the Golden Fleece belonging to Sigismund III, reproduced in a drawing in the National Museum in Warsaw (inv. DI 10971 MNW), was probably the work of a court goldsmith. The quality of this work testifies to the talent of the artists of the royal court, as well as to the refined taste of the king, a descendant of the Jagiellons, whose jewelry collections were among the most splendid in Europe.

The orders for works of art were related to important dates in king's life. In 1605 he spent large sums for his wedding including costly dresses emboidered with pearls. The bride was a younger sister of his first wife Anna, Constance of Austria (1588-1631), on paternal and maternal side a descendant of Anna Jagellonica (1503-1547). In July 1604, Sigismund sent letters to senators, in which he informed that Emperor Rudolf II did not give his consent for his marriage to Anna of Tyrol (1585-1618), and at the same time informed the lords of the Commonwealth of his intention to marry Constance (after "Najsłynniejsze miłości królów polskich" by Jerzy Besala, p. 169). That same year Joseph Heintz (or Heinz) the Elder, court painter of the emperor, who lived and worked in Rome, Venice, Prague and Augsburg (from 1604), created two portraits of the bride with her favourite monkey. One, less favorable, was originally probably in her family's castle in Graz (Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna, inv. 9452), the other in green dress, a color being symbolic of fertility, was sold in London in 1969 and later acquired by The Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute in Williamstown (inv. 1982.127). Many objects from the collection of King John II Casimir Vasa, Constance's son, sold in Paris, found its place in England, including most probably this portrait of his mother. Around that time Heintz created also a copy of portrait of Queen Bona Sforza (1494-1557), Sigismund III's grandmother, as Salome by Lucas Cranach the Elder (Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, inv. GG 862), identified by me, and a portrait of Sigismund III himself (Alte Pinakothek in Munich, inv. 11885), signed: J. Heintzen F. / SIGISMVNDVS .../REX POLONIAE/ & SVECIAE ... on a letter on the table. The portrait of the king was before 1929 in the Schleissheim Palace near Munich, therefore it was was most probably a gift from Sigismund to William V (1548-1626), Duke of Bavaria, like the silver reliquary of Saints John the Baptist and Dionysius the Areopagite, created in 1602 for Tsar Boris Godunov and his son and given to William V in 1614 by the Polish king (Treasury of the Munich Residence, inv. 63). 

The portrait shows the king with a crown, which was most probably also created around that time, possibly for the coronation of the new queen. Like the portrait, it was made either in Prague or in Augsburg, as Heintz's presence in Poland-Lithuania is not confirmed in sources. However, it cannot be ruled out that the painter or one of his students traveled to Kraków, Warsaw or Vilnius at that time to bring to Poland the portrait of the bride and the crown. Just two years earlier, in 1602, the crown of Emperor Rudolf II, a major work of European goldsmithery was made in Prague by Jan Vermeyen from Brussels (d. 1606), as a private crown for the emperor. Sigismund's crown resemble slightly the crown of Rudolf II (side view), therefore it was most probably created by the same author, nevertheless, it is in many respects atypical of Polish-Lithuanian and European monarchs in general. Unlike the crown seen in the portraits of Queen Anne of Austria (1573-1598) by Martin Kober (1595), only one rim is visible instead of two and the globe and a cross on their intersection is replaced with a pearl or a sharply cut diamond in the form evoking a pyramid, so-called diamatus punctatus. Rudolf II was depicted with his new crown in some effigies (portrait by Hans von Aachen in Apsley House, inv. WM.1509-1948 and engraving in the State Graphic Collection in Munich, inv. 241589D), as well as his successor Matthias (engraving by Aegidius Sadeler in the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, inv. RP-P-OB-5021) in which some differences with the original are visible, however, despite the fact that no other image of Sigismund's crown is known we cannot attribute it to the fantasy of a painter. 

Also, the overall shape of described crown is unusual and resemble more the crowns visible in Persian and Indian miniatures. Similar diadems with bent petals can be found in the investiture scene of Malik-Shah I, sultan of the Great Seljuk Empire, from the 14th-century book "Jami' al-tawarikh" (Edinburgh University Library), an illustrated leaf from a manuscript of Nizami's "Khamsa": Bahram Gur entertained in the red pavilion, created in Isfahan, Persia in the mid-17th century (private collection) or a miniature painted between 1610-1618 by Bichitr, an Indian painter during the Mughal period, and showing Moinuddin Chishti, a Persian preacher holding a globe (Chester Beatty Library in Dublin). The oriental style crown visible in king's portrait, as a private possession of the House of Vasa, was most probably melted down during the turbulent reign of his son John II Casimir Vasa, melted and material reused by Sigismund himself who was a talented goldsmith or offered as a gift to someone before 1623, as it was not mentioned in the king's last will from May 5. On May 11, 1606 the gifts from the king were presented to Tsaritsa Marina Mniszech in Moscow - 30 very valuable vessels, while the king's envoy Mikołaj Oleśnicki (1558-1629), castellan of Małogoszcz offered many pieces of jewellery "from himself and from his Wife", including "a crown with pearls, diamonds and rubies" (after "Dzieje panowania Zygmunta III, króla polskiego" by Julian Ursyn Niemcewicz, Volume 2, 1819, p. 569). The crown visible in the portrait by Heintz was also set with pearls, diamonds and rubies. It is therefore highly possible that Oleśnicki and his wife purchased the oriental crown from Sigismund as a gift for Marina.

Another "oriental" insignia that entered the collection of Sigismund III Vasa around that time was the so-called Muscovy crown. This crown was supposedly sent to the king by False Dmitry after his coronation as Tsar of Russia in 1605 or it was made in Poland around 1610, after the election of Prince Ladislaus Sigismund (later Ladislaus IV), Sigismund III's son, as tsar (after "Klejnoty w Polsce: czasy ostatnich Jagiellonów i Wazów" by Ewa Letkiewicz, p. 139). Ladislaus bequeathed the crown to the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth's State Treasury, but after the king's death in 1648 his brother and successor John II Casimir ordered the insignia to be melted down into coins.

One of the gems from the original crown became the property of Jan Kazimierz Krasiński (1607-1669), Grand Treasurer of the Crown. In the 19th century it was given to Tsar Nicholas I of Russia with a piece of parchment with the inscription in Latin EX CORONA MOSCOVIAE and found its place in the collections of the Kremlin Armoury in Moscow (inv. ДК-752). The jewel is a double-faced sapphire icon-cameo with Christ Enthroned and Golgotha's Cross, attributed to a Byzantine artist from the 15th century. Sigismund III was depicted with the "crown taken in Moscow" on his head (after "Dzieje panowania Zygmunta III, króla polskiego" by Julian Ursyn Niemcewicz, Volume 2, 1819, p. 557) in a painting attributed to Christian Melich (Wawel Royal Castle). The painting represent the king on his death-bed displayed in the Guard Chamber at the Royal Castle in Warsaw in 1632. It was also depicted in a portrait of Sigismund's successor Ladislaus IV Vasa, attributed to Pieter Soutman and painted in about 1634, therefore created in Haarlem where the painter returned in 1628. The king was portrayed in a pourpoint lavishly adorned with laces and a high crown with a cross at the top on a table beside him (National Museum in Warsaw, inv. 186555). Although Ladislaus was not crowned, he was officially elected and recognized as the Tsar of Muscovy in 1610 and used the title of Grand Duke of Muscovy until 1634. The crown was mentioned in Sigismund III's last will and testament made on May 5, 1623 in Warsaw as part of his successor's inheritance. The will also include "a golden basin with ewer with the Muscovy coats of arms, bought from the soldiers" left to king's wife Constance of Austria. 

The number of West European-style works of art and portraits connected with Tsar False Dmitry I, suggest that he purchased and ordered directly such items. His beautiful armour created between 1605-1606 in Milan by Pompeo della Cesa is in the Military History Museum in Saint Petersburg and a silver pocket watch with an eagle, possibly owned by Dmitriy, made by German or Polish workshop is in the Moscow Kremlin. At the beginning of January 1606 arrived to Kraków Jan Buczynski, secretary of the tsar, with the mission to acquire jewels for his patron. Several merchants from Kraków and Lviv, as well as jewellers Mikołaj Siedmiradzki and Giovanni Ambrogio Cellari from Milan, encouraged by the prospect of a large gain, embarked on a journey to Moscow. It was probably one of them who created the scepter (Moscow Kremlin, inv. R-18) and orb (inv. R-15), later owned by Tsar Michael I (1596-1645). The style of the orb resemble the mentioned crown of Sigismund III depicted in a portrait of his first wife Anna by Martin Kober. In 1606 Philip II Holbein "a court servant and agent in Augsburg" of Sigismund III, who as S.R.M. jubilerus was present in Kraków in 1605, delivered a considerable number of valuables to the court of False Dmitry I (after "Philip II Holbein – złotnik i agent artystyczny Zygmunta III ..." by Jacek Żukowski, p. 23). Holbein also worked for Emperor Rudolf II, and then - Emperor Matthias. It is possible that Dmitry's emissaries arrived also to Augsburg and Hamburg in Germany. 

A drawing from Album Amicorum of merchant and banker from Augsburg Philipp Hainhofer (1578-1647), who created the famous so-called Pomeranian Curiosity Cabinet (Pommerscher Kunstschrank) for Duke Philip II of Pomerania, is a copy of a painting by Szymon Boguszowicz depicting the reception of the Polish envoys by Tsar False Dmitriy I in 1606 (Herzog August Library and Hungarian National Museum). Among the designs for the crowns by Hamburg goldsmith Jakob Mores (Mörs) the Elder, who was born around 1540 and lived until around 1612 (after "Archiv Fur Geschichte Des Buchwesens", Volume 65, p. 158) in his "Jewelry book" (Kleinodienbuch, Hamburg State and University Library) there are two crowns which resemble the crown depicted in mentioned portrait of Ladislaus IV by Pieter Soutman, as well as the crowns visible in Coronation of Marina Mniszech in Moscow on May 8, 1606 by Szymon Boguszowicz or follower, created in about 1613 (State Historical Museum in Moscow). 

It is generally belived that these are designs for the crown of Rudolf II, however the overall shape resemble more the crowns usually associated with Russia (e.g. great imperial crown from 1762) - the "mitre" is more open then in the Rudolf's crown and there is a globe and a cross (globus cruciger) on the intersection of the rims and not a large stone like in the crown created by Vermeyen. A few years earlier, between 1593-1595 Mores created two drawings for the open crown of King Christian IV of Denmark-Norway, which were also included in his "Jewelry book". It was, however, Dirich Fyring and Corvinianus Saur, who between 1595-1596 made the crown for the coronation of Christian IV (Rosenborg Castle), nevertheless the designs by Mores resemble the shape of the final crown. Some pieces of jewellery in Poland are also attributed to Mores or his circle, like hat decorations of Francis of Pomerania (1577-1620), created in about 1600 (National Museum in Szczecin) or a chain of Constance of Austria from the 1600s (Wawel Royal Castle, inv. ZKnW-PZS 1323), while double-headed imperial eagle from the Diamond Robe of the Black Madonna of Częstochowa also created around that time, may have been created by one of the named court goldsmiths for Constance of Austria or Marina Mniszech.

The shape of the mentioned imperial insignia with a smaller crown at the top is also similar to the Cap from the Grand Set of Tsar Michael I, created by Moscow Kremlin workshops in 1627. It is also possible that the smaller crown in the "Jewelry book" is not a variant, but the insignia intended for the coronation of Marina Mniszech.

Portrait of Sigismund III Vasa with the "oriental" crown by Joseph Heintz the Elder, ca. 1604, Alte Pinakothek in Munich.

Hypothetical reconstruction of the "oriental" crown of King Sigismund III Vasa (1566-1632) by Jan Vermeyen, ca. 1604, lost. © Marcin Latka

Gold chain with stylized eagle heads and the Order of the Golden Fleece belonging to King Sigismund III Vasa (1566-1632), 1610s or 1620s, lost. Virtual reconstruction, © Marcin Latka

Portrait of Ladislaus IV Vasa (1595-1648) with the so-called "Muscovy" crown by Pieter Soutman, ca. 1634, National Museum in Warsaw.

Design for the so-called "Muscovy" crown by Jakob Mores the Elder, ca. 1605-1610, Hamburg State and University Library.

Design for the so-called "Muscovy" crown or the crown of Marina Mniszech by Jakob Mores the Elder, ca. 1605-1610, Hamburg State and University Library.

Although the existence of royal busts is purely hypothetical and not confirmed by sources, the fashion for such antique sculptures, stemming from Italy and Imperial court in Prague and Vienna, udoubtedly found its reflection in the cosmopolitan court of the Vasas in Kraków and Warsaw. Bronze cartouche with coat of arms of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth from the Wawel Castle, a full plastic bronze cast that preserved to our days and commissioned by Sigismund III in about 1604 to adorn overdoor in the northern wing of the castle leading to the Senators' Staircase, confirms that the Vasa residences were filled with such items. 
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In 1624, the Bishop of Kraków, Marcin Szyszkowski, who titled himself "the most faithful servant of the House of Austria" and who together with Zygmunt Myszkowski brought the Queen Constance from Graz to Poland, sponsored a new architectural dome canopy over the reliquary of Saint Stanislaus in the Wawel Cathedral in the style of Roman baroque. It is the work of the royal architect Giovanni Battista Trevano, the same who rebuilt the Royal Castle in Warsaw, made of black and rose marble, gilt-bronze and wood, created in the years 1626-1629. Gilt bronze figures of the Evangelists and Patrons Saints of Poland, flanking the cupola over the canopy, were cast by Antonio Lagostini, active in Kraków from around 1624. In the year of completion of this work, the bishop also ordered a tomb monument for himself in the cathedral near the canopy. According to the letter from Marcin Szyszkowski to Andrzej Łukomski, a Canon of the Cracow Cathedral Chapter, of 20 January 1629, this was also commissioned from Trevano and Lagostini (after "The Tomb Monuments with Portrait Busts of the Bishops of Cracow ..." by Marek Walczak and Krzysztof J. Czyżewski, p. 185-186). The model for the cast bronze bust should be attributed to the sculptors related to Trevano, Andrea and Antonio Castelli, sculptors from Lugano, active in Kraków from about 1623. 

Busts, inspired by the imagery of ancient Rome, were created in all European countries during the Renaissance. The bronze bust of Erazm Kretkowski (1508-1558), castellan of Gniezno, from his epitaph created before 1560 (Basilica of Saint Anthony of Padua), is among the oldest such representations of Poles. A marble bust of a lady wearing a ruff, dating from the first quarter of the 17th century and belonging to the collection of Emilio Sala in Madrid before 1910, may have represented Queen Margaret of Austria (1584-1611), sister of Queen Constance of Austria. Archduchess Isabella Clara Eugenia (1566-1633) and Archduke Albrecht VII (1559-1621), whose artistic patronage inspired that of Sigismund III and his second wife, were commemorated by a pair of busts which were in the Hofmuseum in Vienna before 1915. William V (1548-1626), Duke of Bavaria, with whom Sigismund III corresponded and exchanged gifts, was immortalized in a bronze bust, probably made by Carlo di Cesare del Palagio or Hubert Gerhard around 1596-1597 (Royal Collection Trust, inv. RCIN 35326). In the first quarter of the 17th century, Hubert Gerhard created a small gilt-bronze bust of Archduke Maximilian III of Austria (1558-1618), Grand Master of the Teutonic Order (Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, inv. Kunstkammer 5793). The archduke was a cousin of Queen Constance and a candidate for the throne of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1587.

We can also cite, by analogy, the busts of the Saxon electors of the Renaissance. Several of these were made after the death of the sitter or by artists who, according to known sources, never had the opportunity to meet him personally. This is the case with the marble bust of Elector Maurice of Saxony (1521-1553) by Giovanni Battista Bonometti, created around 1570, several years after Maurice's death, in Dresden (Skulpturensammlung, inv. H4 1/2). The bronze bust of Elector Christian I of Saxony (1560-1591) by Carlo di Cesare del Palagio was cast around 1592, at the request of the elector's wife, based on Carlo's bronze statue located in the funerary chapel in Freiberg Cathedral (Skulpturensammlung, inv. H4 1/3). The bronze bust of Elector Christian II of Saxony (1583-1611) was cast by Martin III Hilliger in Prague in 1603 after a model by Adriaen de Vries (Skulpturensammlung, inv. H4 1/4). It was personally presented to the Elector by Emperor Rudolf II during his visit to the imperial court in Prague in 1607 (after "Alchemy of the gift ..." by Ivana Horacek, p. 31-33). 

If existed, the royal busts were undoubtedly made in gilded bronze, just as majority of the similar works preserved in many European countries and Bishop Szyszkowski's bust. The material and its frequent military reuse, would also explain why the works have not preserved, as in case of bronze garden statues of Ladislaus IV's garden of the Villa Regia Palace in Warsaw, which are confirmed in sources. The preserved bronze statue of King Sigismund III at the column, so-called Sigismund Column in Warsaw, was also initially gilded.

The reconstruction is based on royal portrait paintings with Spanish composition from the 1610s created by workshop of court painter Jakob Troschel, which were in the collection of the Germanisches Nationalmuseum in Nuremberg before World War II (inv. Gm687 and inv. Gm707). Both effigies, possibly from dowry of Polish-Lithuanian Princess Anna Catherina Constance Vasa, are highly schematical and idealized, hence facial features are based on more realistic effigies of the royal pair created by other court painters. 

Hypothetical reconstruction of the gilded bronze bust of King Sigismund III Vasa (1566-1632), mid-1610s to 1631, lost. © Marcin Latka

Hypothetical reconstruction of the gilded bronze bust of Queen Constance of Austria (1588-1631), mid-1610s to 1631, lost. © Marcin Latka

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Princess Anna Catherine Constance Vasa was born in Warsaw on August 7, 1619. She was the only daughter of Sigismund III Vasa and his second wife Constance of Austria that survied the childhood and the youngest of royal pair's children. 

Large Spanish style pendants, like the one described here, become less fashionable with the introduction of the French style in the mid-1630s, that prompted frontal brooches. The creation of the pendant could be then closed in the time span between mid-1620s and 1638 when Anna Catherine Constance came of age and came into possession of counties bestowed to her by the parliament. It was also probably in 1638 that Princess' portrait in red Spanish dress with two gold pendants was created (today in the Imperial castle in Nuremberg, inv. NbgKbg.L-G0007).

King Sigismund III, himself a talented goldsmith, possibly stood behind the compex emblematic program of this jewel, although it is also possible that it was created long after his death (1632). Since 1637, a marriage was suggested between Anne Catherine Constance and Ferdinand Charles, Archduke of Austria, heir of Tyrol and nephew of Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor. Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg, and Gaston, Duke of Orléans (brother of King Louis XIII of France), were also candidates for her hand. A jewel stressing splendid dynastic connections and emphasizing vastness of territories ruled by the family would perfectly fit into the Princess' situation at that time. Several heraldic jewels were featured in the official portraits of Anna Catherine Constance's mother Constance of Austria - for example, portraits with eagle-shaped pendants in the Zamość Museum and the Germanisches Nationalmuseum (inv. Gm699). The portrait in the Germanisches Museum depicts the queen wearing a rich Spanish-style gown and with two heraldic eagles: one, fixed to a hairpin atop her high hairstyle, and the other, a pendant on a chain, both in gold, set with diamonds and embellished with pearls. The queen's pendant features a globe beneath the eagle, an attribute of a member of the Habsburg imperial family claiming the title Monarchus Mundi (after "Orzeł w Skarbcu Koronnym na Wawelu ..." by Magdalena Piwocka, Dariusz Nowacki, p. 163). A similar pendant can be seen on the portrait of Constance in the Neuburg State Gallery (inv. 985). Interestingly, Sigismund III's second wife was depicted wearing a crescent moon pendant in two of her early portraits as Archduchess of Austria by Frans Pourbus the Younger and Joseph Heintz the Elder (Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, inv. GG 3306 and GG 9452). The crescent moon symbolizes the perpetual chastity of the Virgin Mary and can sometimes refer to her Immaculate Conception or Assumption. It is likely that Constance presented the Norbertine Monastery in Kraków with a splendid filigree brooch adorned with a crescent moon and a crown. An eagle-shaped brooch, similar to that of Queen Constance's hairpin, appears on the portrait of Ladislaus IV Vasa's first wife, Cecilia Renata of Austria (1611-1644), now in the Alte Pinakothek in Munich (inv. 6781). A gold brooch depicting a white eagle with a garnet body, made around 1640 and now in the Louvre Museum (inv. MR 418), may have belonged to Cecilia Renata.

Anna Catherine Constance's father Sigismund III Vasa was elected monarch of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, bi-federation of Poland and Lithuania ruled by a common monarch in real union, who was both King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania. Since Sigismund's crowning in 1592, Polish Vasas claimed themselves rightful hereditary rulers of Sweden, consequently ignoring Sigismund's dethronement of 1598 by the Swedish parliament. 

Anna Catherine Constance finally married Philip William of Neuburg (1615-1690), in Warsaw on June 8, 1642. She brought a considerable dowry in jewels and cash, calculated at a total of 2 million thalers. The inventory of Princess' jewels preserved in the Czartoryski Library in Kraków summarizes their value to 443,289 1/3 hard thalers (SPISANiE Kleynotow Xiężney Iey Mosci Neyburskiej, Krolewney Polskiej. Anno Domini MDCXLV, 2730 III T.2 Rkps).

The heraldic pendant is listed 18th in the section Pendants: A diamond pendant with Figures of the late King Sigmunt and Constantia with crowns on their heads, in the middle ruby grain, and beneath white Eagle, at the bottom coat of arms of the Duchy of Lithuania, on the right hand Swedish and on the left hand Austrian; above this ruby grain a yellow Lion with open jaw, in the front two fangs holds Zygmunt and Constantia together, on the sides and on the bottom five carved round hanging diamonds, valued at 2,000 thalers.

It is hard to determine the degree of accuracy of the inventory both in terms of description of items as well as valuation. One "large diamond" in a ring was valued at 30,000 thalers and a ring with "coat of arms of Austria" was valued at only 40 thalers. Also traditionally the Queen was depited to the right and the King to the left, and not like in the description of the pendant, which finds confirmation in Sigismund and Constance's portraiture, as well as location of the royal stalls in the Cathedral of Saint John in Warsaw.

The inventory also includes:

A necklace of 22 parts, among which 11 with a diamond in a middle, 3 square cut, 3 triangle cut, and set with two pearls. Another 11 parts in which a Lion's head in the center having a pearl in its mouth, four diamonds and four pearls set around it. All with a pendant with sixty two cut diamonds, and on top of a Lion's head and six hanging pearls, a gift from the Queen to the Princess, valued at 80,000 thalers;

A pendant in which a Lion with three crowns in the shape of the Swedish coat of arms with twenty-six different diamonds, and three hanging pearls, valued at 150 thalers and
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A pendant in which a white Eagle with a large ruby on the chest, three small ruby parts, and three large pearls, valued at 700 thalers.

The inventory also lists A white Eagle, having a coat of arms on his cheast at which two rubies, all set with diamonds, with three hanging pearls, valued at 1,200 thalers, which is most probably identical with "diamond eagle with rubies" of the House of Austria received in 1543 by Elizabeth of Austria (1526-1545) from Emperor Charles V on the occasion of her marriage with Sigismund II Augustus of Poland, and preserved in the treasury of the Munich Residence. 

Among renowned jewellers of the Vasas in the first half of the 17th century, that could create the work, were Mikołaj Siedmiradzki (ca. 1550-1630) from Lviv in today's Ukraine, who was in service of Sigismund III since 1604, and who in turn employed in his workshop Mikołaj Pasternakowicz and Zygmunt Frączkiewicz. There were also Jean Barbier from Lorraine, active in Kraków from about 1605, who moved to Gdańsk in 1625 and Beniamin Lanier (d. 1630) from Vitry-le-François in north-eastern France, who was active in Kraków from 1606, both court jewellers of Sigismund III. Jakub Burnett from Edinburgh who settled in Lviv in the first half of the 17th century was employed by Ladislaus IV. He could potentially be the author of the magnificent crown depicted in the oval portrait of Ladislaus in coronation robes, painted around 1633 (National Museum in Warsaw, inv. MP 4982 MNW). Members of the family also commissioned jewels abroad, like Prince John Casimir Vasa who in 1643 paid 9000 florins for jewels to Samuel von Sorgen from Vienna and 189 florins "For diamond heart to Mr Jakub jeweller" (after "Zbiory artystyczne królewicza Jana Kazimierza ..." by Ryszard Szmydki, p. 41).

Anna Catherine Constance died childless in Cologne on October 8, 1651 and was buried in the church of the Jesuits in Düsseldorf. It is due to purely heraldic character of the jewel, high value of the material and new fashion for more simple jewels that the pendant was most probably melted down, possibly still in the 17th century. 

​Filigree brooch with a crescent moon and a crown, first quarter of the 17th century, Norbertine Monastery in Kraków. © Marcin Latka

​Hypothetical reconstruction of the heraldic hairpin of Queen Constance of Austria (1588-1631), 1610s, lost. © Marcin Latka

​Hypothetical reconstruction of the heraldic pendant of Queen Constance of Austria (1588-1631), 1610s, lost. © Marcin Latka

​Heraldic pendant, fragment of portrait of Queen Constance of Austria (1588-1631), ca. 1630, Neuburg State Gallery. © Marcin Latka

​Hypothetical reconstruction of the crown of King Ladislaus IV Vasa (1595-1648), ca. 1633, lost. © Marcin Latka

Excerpt from Inventory of Jewels of Her Highness Duchess of Neuburg, Crown Princess of Poland by Royal Chancery in Warsaw, 1645, Czartoryski Library in Kraków. Fragment describing Heraldic pendant of Princess-Infanta Anna Catherine Constance Vasa (1619-1651).

Hypothetical reconstruction of the heraldic pendant of Princess-Infanta Anna Catherine Constance Vasa (1619-1651), mid-1620s to 1638, lost. © Marcin Latka

Gold brooch in the shape of a White Eagle with a garnet body, ca. 1640, Louvre Museum in Paris. © Marcin Latka

​Gold brooch in the shape of a White Eagle, fragment of portrait of Queen Cecilia Renata of Austria (1611-1644), ca. 1640, Alte Pinakothek in Munich. © Marcin Latka

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During his stay in Antwerp in 1624, the Crown Prince of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Ladislaus Sigismund Vasa visited Peter Paul Rubens' workshop, admired Jan Brueghel the Elder's paintings and visited the famous art collection of Cornelis van der Geest. He also went to see the tapissierspand (Tapestry house), on the site of the current Bourla Theater, on September 24, 1624. We visited a house, writes Stefan Pac, in his diary where they sell beautiful and precious tapestries that are sent all over the world. A few days later, on October 5, 1624 Gaspard Nagodt, treasurer of the Prince of Poland, signed a contract with a Brussels' weaver Jacob Geubels the Younger for delivery of ten tapestries representing the Story of Odysseus (Ulysses) of six ells height each (Flemish ell was equal to about 70 cm or 27 inches), interwoven with gold and silver thread. The complete set comprised 594 ells and cost 19,008 florins. On October 12, 1624 another contract was signed for a series called "with greenery" i.e. verdure tapestries or "Landscapes and Bocages in fresco", for 9207 florins (after "Annotations concernants 'Sieur Jefan Bierens, agent et domesticque de son Alteze le Serenissime Prince Wladislaus Sigismundus, Prince de Pologne et de Suede' à Anvers" by Erik Duverger, p. 144-146, 151). 

An Antwerp merchant, Jan Bierens, "agent and domestic of His Highness the Serene Prince Wladislaus Sigismundus, Prince of Poland and Sweden", oversaw the weaving of the tapestries of the Story of Odysseus and verdures that Geubels the Younger made in Brussels (after "Le commerce d'art entre la Flandre et l'Europe centrale au XVIIe siècle. Notes et remarques" by Erik Duverger, p. 158). A lawsuit brought by Geubels against Jan Bierens in December 1626 for payment, confirms that at least a part of the commissioned tapestries was ready by this date.

Notations in the archives reveal the existence of the prince's agents, such as mentioned Jan Bierens and Georges Deschamps or the Frenchman Mathieu Rouault. They had to satisfy Ladislaus Sigismund's creditors and ensure that everything was executed and sent to Poland.

Probably due to Prince's financial difficulties the whole set not executed till Geubels' death in 1629 and the commission was accomplished by an unknown workshop. 

It is uncertain when the Story of Odysseus and verdure tapestries were dispatched from Antwerp and when they arrived in Poland. Ladislaus Sigismund, the newly elected monarch of the Commonwealth as Ladislaus IV, wanted to have them before his coronation on February 6, 1633 in Kraków.

By a notarial deed of January 12, 1632 we learn that Jan Bierens had received three chests containing approximately two hundred and fifty - three silver marcs from the hands of Francesco Gissa and Joannes Curius, one butler and the other secretary of Abbot Mikołaj Wojciech Gniewosz (d. 1654), Ambassador of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The Antwerp merchant had given them two thousand three hundred and ten rixdales as a pledge and had promised to send the precious delivery to Gdańsk to the address of Abraham Pels.

In the letter from September 15, 1632 Ladislaus IV asked Christian IV of Denmark to release his tapestries from customs (Rkps Riqsarkivet, Polen A. I, 3).

According to François Mols, a number of tapestry cartoons by Jacob Jordaens with the date 1620 were sold at Antwerp in 1774. It is belived that these tapestries were inspired by knowledge of Primaticcio's lost frescoes of the same subject at Fontainebleau. A document from May 15, 1656 in the archives of Antwerp in which Jacob Geubels, son of Jacob Geubels the Younger, had undertaken to weave, tapestries representing the Story of Ulysses after cartoons by Jordaens, confirms that the series were made to his design.

Lavish tapestries "hang up in foreign style" among "golden Netherlandish arts" are mentioned in Adam Jarzębski's "Short Description of Warsaw" (The Main Road, or a Short Description of Warsaw) from 1643, as adorning Ladislaus IV's Palace Villa Regia in Warsaw (verses 1950-1956).

The series was inherited by Ladislaus' brother John II Casimir, who took them to France after his abdication in 1668 and was sold on auction in Paris in 1673 to the agent of the Charles I Louis, Elector Palatine for 12,000 French pounds (position 728 of the inventory).

Hypothetical reconstruction of the tapestry with Odysseus threatening Circe and coat of arms of the Crown Prince Ladislaus Sigismund Vasa (1595-1648) by workshop of Jacob Geubels II after cartoon by Jacob Jordaens, ca. 1624-1632, lost. © Marcin Latka

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