Józef Potocki
- Date
- 1st half of the 18th c.
- Object type
- painting
- Technique
- oil
- Material
- canvas
- Dimensions
- 79,8 x 63,0 cm
- Acquisition date
- 1764
- Location
- The Palace on the Isle - Bacchus Room, ground floor
- Marks and inscriptions
- red number 974 of the Stanisław August collection, bottom right
- Place of Origin
- Poland (Europe)
- Owner
- National Museum in Warsaw
- Acquisition name
- deposit; inv. no. M.Ob.1960
- Museum number
- Dep 933
The portrait of Józef Potocki (1673–1751), the Voivode of Kijów [now Kiev, Ukraine], 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 Potocki. It is possible, however, that it is one of the ‘portraits of various people’, or ‘portraits in armour’ recorded there.
Józef Potocki was the Voivode of Kiev from 1702, Great Hetman of the Crown from 1735, Voivode of Poznań in 1744, and Castellan of Kraków in 1748. During the Great Northern War when August II was dethroned in 1704 and forced to abdicate, Potocki supported his political opponent, Stanisław Leszczyński, who was crowned king of Poland in 1705 (August II regained the throne in 1709). Nevertheless, in 1719 August II awarded him the Order of the White Eagle—the riband and star of which are shown on the portrait. The date of receiving the order indicates the terminus post quem for the execution of the portrait—or more precisely, its hypothetical full-length prototype mentioned above. … [D. Juszczak, H. Małachowicz, The Stanisław August Collection of Paintings at the Royal Łazienki. Catalogue, Royal Łazienki Museum, Warsaw 2016, no. 126, pp. 461–463.]
