Stanisław Ernest Denhoff
- Date
- c. 1722
- Object type
- painting
- Technique
- oil
- Material
- canvas
- Dimensions
- 78,5 x 62,3 cm
- Acquisition date
- 1764
- Location
- The Palace on the Isle - Bacchus Room, ground floor
- Marks and inscriptions
- red number 970 of the Stanisław August collection, bottom right (barely legible)
- Place of Origin
- Europe (continent)
- Owner
- The Royal Łazienki
- Museum number
- ŁKr 876
The portrait of Stanisław Ernest Denhoff (c. 1673–1728) 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 bought by the King, together with Ujazdów Castle in 1765 … does not mention the likeness of Denhoff. It is possible, however, that it is one of the ‘portraits of various people’, or ‘portraits in armour’ recorded there. The painting may have also belonged to King August II the Strong, who leased the estate in the years 1720–33. …
Stanisław Michał Ernest Denhoff was Field Hetman of Lithuania 1709–28 and Voivode of Połock 1722–28. He is shown wearing the Order of the White Eagle, probably awarded in 1705 … . He was thus a knight of the first order established by King August II of the Wettin dynasty. Denhoff was rewarded for his loyal service, especially at the difficult moment of the monarch losing the throne to Stanisław Leszczyński, during the Great Northern War. August II was dethroned in 1704, and Leszczyński crowned king of Poland in 1704. In 1709 August regained the Polish crown. Denhoff was a marshal associated with the 1704 Sandomierz Confederation, defending the rights of the Wettins to the Polish throne.
The Łazienki portrait shows Denhoff as a mature man, but still youthful, c. 30 years old, with rosy cheeks and curly hair peppered with grey. The painting can be dated to 1705, or shortly after. Another likeness of Denhoff shows him at a significantly older age: e.g. in Portrait of the Sieniawski Family, dated to 1724–26, in Wilanów Palace Museum (inv. no. 1264 Wil. … ), or in a copper engraving published in 1724, in: A.I. Naramowski, Facies rerum Sarmaticarum … . … [D. Juszczak, H. Małachowicz, The Stanisław August Collection of Paintings at the Royal Łazienki. Catalogue, Royal Łazienki Museum, Warsaw 2016, no. 135, pp. 488–490.]
