Anna Constantia von Cosel
- Date
- before 1713 (?)
- Object type
- painting
- Technique
- oil
- Material
- canvas
- Dimensions
- 79,2 x 62,8 cm
- Acquisition date
- 1764
- Location
- The Palace on the Isle - Bacchus Room, ground floor
- Place of Origin
- Europe (continent)
- Owner
- The Royal Łazienki
- Museum number
- ŁKr 872
Anna Constantia von Brockdorf (1680–1765), wife of Adolf Magnus Hoym, Inspector General of Saxon Excise, from 1705 ‘maîtresse en titre’ of August II the Strong, she held the title Contesse de Cosel. After sympathizing with the Protestant opposition in Saxony, she was arrested and imprisoned at the Castle in Stolpen.
The painting belongs to a group of 15 portraits which are traditionally believed to have been acquired by Stanisław August in 1764 from Kasper Lubomirski, together with the Ujazdów estate … . The list of paintings which could be found in Ujazdów Castle in 1765 … does not mention a portrait of the Contesse de Cosel, although it is possible the Łazienki likeness is one of the 19 ‘portraits of ladies’ recorded there. It is to be assumed that these were the portraits of famous beautiful women from the time of August II, which the king may have accumulated at Ujazdów Castle in the period when he leased it from the Lubomirskis—in the years 1720–33.
The 1739 inventory of the Saxon residences in Warsaw records a portrait of ‘La Comtesse Cossel’, but en pied … , which could be the prototype of the Łazienki version. … [D. Juszczak, H. Małachowicz, The Stanisław August Collection of Paintings at the Royal Łazienki. Catalogue, Royal Łazienki Museum, Warsaw 2016, no. 134, pp. 485–487.]
