Reconstruction of portraits of the Sarmatian royal family from the 1530s

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.

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.

​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.