Forgotten portraits of the Dukes of Pomerania, Dukes of Silesia and European monarchs - part III

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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).
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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. ​