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Portrait of Waclaw Rzewuski

Vasyl Petranovych

Basic information

ID: Ж-4070
Author: Vasyl Petranovych
Name: Portrait of Waclaw Rzewuski
Date of creation: 1760
Technique: oil painting
Material: canvas oil
Dimensions: 83.5 x 67.7 cm (height x width)

Additionally

Type: painting
Genre: portraiture
Provenance: the Rzewuski collection (Pidhirtsi Castle)
Exposition: Olesko Castle

Information about author

Author: Vasyl Petranovych
Artist's lifetime: 1680–1759
Biography: Vasyl Petranovych (1680–1759) was a court artist of Konstanty Sobieski. It made him independent of casual earnings. He was a well-known artist, public figure – the mayor (wójt) of Zhovkva, and a representative of the Zhovkva painting school. He found himself in traditional religious painting and portraiture. The artist created icons, portraits, and copies after European masters, as well as decorative and wall paintings, in particular, he painted the interiors of the Zhovkva Castle. The influence of European schools is present in his works. No signed work by Vasyl Petranovych has been found, but there are many records with indications of the names of paintings or large works on which he worked with his students.

Object description

Waclaw Rzewuski (1706–1779, Krzywda coat of arms) was the son of Stanislaw Mateusz Rzewuski and Ludwika Kunicka. His wife was Anna Lubomirska (c. 1717–1763), a daughter of Josef Lubomirski, voivode of Chernihiv. Waclaw Rzewuski was a Grand Crown Hetman, statesman and politician of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The portrait is painted in the tradition of ceremonial portraiture of the 18th century. Waclaw Rzewuski is depicted in knightly armour; over his left shoulder is a blue ribbon of the Order of the White Eagle, which he was awarded in 1735. The grandeur of the portrait is emphasised by a hetman's mace and a red cape lined with white fur. The artist detailed the noble features of the man's face, particularly big grey eyes, a fashionable shaved forehead, a curled moustache, and a shaved chin. Pride and confidence are felt in the image of the person portrayed. There is an inscription "Vaclaus Ryewuski" on the canvas. The portrait belongs to the Rzewuski family collection that included another similar image (Ж-1542).

Portrayed person