On November 11, 1781, King Stanislaus Augustus Poniatowski (1732-1798), the last elected monarch of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, made a triumphant entry into the town of Kamianets-Podilskyi, then part of Commonwealth's southeastern border defenses, accompanied by Prince Adam Czartoryski and Voivode Józef Stępkowski. The king was received by General Jan de Witte, commander of the fortress (after "Jana Henryka Müntza podróże malownicze ...", ed. ‎Elżbieta Budzińska, p. 37).

Stanislaus Augustus arrived in Volhynia and Podolia to meet Crown Prince Paul of Russia (1754-1801) and his wife Natalia Alexeievna (1755-1776), who were traveling incognito as Count and Countess of the North (comte et comtesse du Nord) through Western Europe. He took this opportunity to inspect the most important fortresses. During his five-day stay in Kamianets, the king visited the churches and the old fortress, as well as the nearby villages of Zhvanets and Khotyn.

One of the most important souvenirs of this trip are two portraits from the collection of the National Museum in Warsaw of two Jewish women from Zhvanets (oil on canvas, 75 x 56 cm, inv. 129541 MNW and oil on canvas, 76 x 56.5 cm, inv. 129165 MNW). According to an inscription in Polish on the back of both canvases, they were commissioned by the king on November 14, 1781 and painted by Krzysztof Radziwiłłowski - Roku 1781 dnia 14 Listopada z / rozkazu Najiaśniejszego Pana Króla / JMości, zwiedzającego brzegi Dniestru / w Żwańcu, przedstawiona Chajka Córka / kupca Abramka Lwowskim zwanego / tym portretem odmalowana przez / urodzonego Krzysztofa Radziwiłowskiego. The inscription mentions the name of one of the women, Chajka (spelled Hayka in Polish), daughter of the merchant Abramek Lwowski ("from Lviv"). The two portraits were in the royal collection in Warsaw under the titles Portrait of the Jewish woman Czayka (Portrait de la juive Czayka, number 1278) and Portrait of the Jewish woman Elia (Portrait de la juive Elia, number 1280, after "Portrety osobistości polskich ..." by Stefan Kozakiewicz, ‎Andrzej Ryszkiewicz, p. 39).

Beautiful images of two women, one married with her hair covered, the other unmarried, likely a mother and daughter, are among the oldest surviving depictions of Jewish people from the territory of the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The king's romantic affection for one or both women is sometimes suggested as the reason for these portraits, although no formal evidence confirms this. While Stanislaus Augustus was notorious for his fleeting affairs and the palace of his chamberlain in Warsaw, the famous Rabbit House (Królikarnia), was described as a "high-class brothel" where the king was entertained by the most beautiful women (after "Amico: the life of Giovanni Battista Viotti" by Warwick Lister, p. 62), it is also possible that he was impressed by the two women or their attire and wished to immortalize this impression.

For such a historic event as the king's visit to their town, the women wore their finest clothes and jewelry. The sheer quantity of rare gold medals, pearls, and other jewels - quite out of fashion at the time - that they displayed was unusual for visitors from the cosmopolitan capital of the Commonwealth at the end of the Age of Enlightenment. The younger wore a necklace composed entirely of large gold medals and coins, one of which was very likely the gold coronation medal of John III Sobieski and Marie Casimire from 1676, as well as gold earrings. The eldest wore four pearl necklaces adorned with two large gold medals, diamond earrings and a diamond necklace, and a pearl-decorated bonnet.

These two portraits constitute an unprecedented document testifying to the great prosperity of the Jewish community of the Commonwealth shortly before its dismantling during the second and third partition (1793-1795).

​Portrait of Elia, Jewish woman from Zhvanets, by Krzysztof Radziwiłłowski, 1781, National Museum in Warsaw.

Portrait of Chajka, Jewish woman from Zhvanets, by Krzysztof Radziwiłłowski, 1781, National Museum in Warsaw.

Gold coronation medal of 15 ducats worth of King John III Sobieski (1629-1696) and Queen Marie Casimire d'Arquien (1641-1716) by Johann Höhn, 1676, Private collection. 

​Portrait of King Stanislaus Augustus Poniatowski (1732-1798) in a dressing gown by Giovanni Battista Lampi, ca. 1789, National Museum in Warsaw.

In early January 1606, Jan Buczyński, secretary to Tsar Dmitry I of Russia, arrived in Kraków with the mission of acquiring jewels for his patron. Several merchants from Kraków and Lviv, such as the goldsmith Mikołaj Siedmiradzki (c. 1550-1630), and from Augsburg, as well as the Milanese jeweler Giovanni Ambrogio Cellari (Czeliary dżiojelir), attracted by the prospect of a substantial profit, embarked on a journey to Moscow. Cellari, who arrived in Kraków via Vienna and Oświęcim, had brought magnificent jewels, including a ruby-adorned pendant representing the allegory of Faith, a flower-shaped jewel set with diamonds and rubies, a jewel representing Hercules on a lion, also set with diamonds and rubies, and a jewel in the shape of Perseus on horseback (after "Klejnoty w Polsce ..." by Ewa Letkiewicz, p. 145, 306, 464).

Infanta Anna Vasa (1568-1625), owner of a jewelry collection valued at 200,000 thalers, decided to secretly sell part of it to the Tsar. Stanisław Niemojewski (ca. 1560-1620), Steward of the Crown, was tasked with delivering jewels worth 70,000 zlotys, wrapped in colored silk, in an iron casket "painted green". Dmitry I was murdered on May 17, 1606, and it was not until 1609 that the new Tsar, Vasily Ivanovich Shuisky, returned the collection. Among the returned jewels was a double-headed eagle of diamonds and rubies, with two missing diamonds, valued at 5,000 zlotys (Orzeł o dwu głowach dyamentowy z rubinkami ..., after "Pamiętnik Stanisława Niemojewskiego ...", ed. Aleksander Hirschberg, p. 281), most likely from the princess's collection or pawned to Niemojewski from the State Treasury before 1599.

Such heraldic jewels, whether imperial-Austrian or Polish, belonged to various queens and princesses of Poland since at least 1543, when Elizabeth of Austria (1526-1545) received a "diamond eagle with rubies" (orzeł dyamentowy z rubinami) as a gift from Emperor Charles V on the occasion of her marriage to King Sigismund II Augustus. The inventory of the jewels of the Infanta Anna Catherine Constance Vasa (1619-1651), daughter of Sigismund III and Constance of Austria, mentions four pendants and two pairs of earrings adorned with eagles, three imperial-Austrian and two Polish: "a pendant representing a white enameled eagle, set with seven diamonds, three round pearls, and one large hanging pearl", valued at 120 thalers, and "a diamond eagle with a pointed diamond in the center, surrounded by diamonds and three pendant pearls" (after "Klejnoty heraldyczne na dworze Wazów" by Ewa Letkiewicz, p. 10).

The imperial eagle, described as a "white eagle bearing on its breast  a coat of arms adorned with two rubies set with diamonds and three hanging pearls" (Orzeł biały, herb na sercu mający, przy którym dwa rubiny a inne wszystkie dyamenty, ze trzema wiszącymi perłami), valued at 1,200 thalers, could very likely be the one currently in the Munich Residency Treasury (inv. 49). This pendant was probably made in Northern Italy around the mid-16th century (after "Raumbuch der Münchner Schatzkammer", p. 22, 108-109). Based on a drawing by Hans Mielich (1516-1573), now in the Bavarian National Museum in Munich (inv. R 8246), it is believed to have belonged to Elizabeth of Austria's younger sister, Anna of Austria (1528-1590), Duchess of Bavaria. However, this provenance is often questioned, as the drawing differs in several ways from the jewel itself (after "Meisterwerke Bayerns von 900-1900 ..." by Renate Eikelmann, p. 42). Since many objects from Anna Catherine Constance's dowry are also kept in the same treasury - such as the gold and crystal lavabo of Sigismund III Vasa, probably made in Milan (inv. 346-347) - it can be assumed that the eagle in Munich was made for Elizabeth around 1543 and that the one reproduced by Mielich was made later for her sister Anna.

Anna Vasa, a half-Polish princess, as the daughter of Catherine Jagiellon (1526-1583), and sister of King Sigismund III, had the right to use this emblem. After Sigismund's defeat at the Battle of Stångebro in 1598, she left Sweden to live with him in Poland, where she spent the rest of her life.

Therefore, the miniature portrait of a lady wearing an eagle-shaped pendant, kept in the Harrach collection in Vienna (Harrach Palace, Freyung Street) before the First World War, traditionally identified as the effigy of Anna of Austria (1573-1598), first wife of King Sigismund III, because of the strong resemblance of the model to the miniature portrait of Catherine Jagiellon by Lucas Cranach the Elder (Czartoryski Museum, inv. MNK XII-543), should be identified as the image of the king's sister, Anna Vasa, and not as that of his wife. The absence of a prominent lip, that famous "Habsburg jaw" found in surviving portraits of Anna of Austria (see, for example, the full-length portrait kept at Alte Pinakothek in Munich, inv. 6992), and the model's costume, conforming to the fashion of the North and not to that of the Spanish and imperial court, confirm this hypothesis.

This miniature was published in 1911 by Jerzy Kieszkowski (1872-1923) in his article entitled "Polish objects in Austrian collections", along with another miniature from the same collection, supposedly depicting Queen Eleonora Maria Josepha of Austria (1653-1697), wife of King Michael Korybut (1640-1673). However, the miniature representing Eleonora Maria Josepha is clearly a variant of the portrait of Empress Eleonore Magdalene of Neuburg (1655-1720), wife of Emperor Leopold I (1640-1705), half-brother of the Queen of Poland (see, for example, the full-length portrait kept at Hrádek u Nechanic Castle, with the imperial crown and the inscription in the lower left corner: KAISERIN LEONORA ...). In both cases, the first name, the period, and the relationship are comparable. Kieszkowski considered the first miniature, that of "Anna", to be the work of a Flemish artist, and the eagle on her pendant to be a Polish eagle (z orłem polskim, after "Rzeczy polskie w austryackich zbiorach", p. 9-12, images 5 and 6). In 1970, the Harrach art collection was moved from the Harrach Palace in central Vienna to Rohrau Castle in Lower Austria.

The eagle was a symbol of supreme imperial power, embodying magnanimity, the Ascension into heaven, and regeneration through baptism; it was then ubiquitous in jewelry throughout Europe. If we consider that the pendant is a heraldic symbol, the portrait should date from around 1592, when Sigismund was preparing to cede the throne of Poland to Ernest of Austria, who was about to marry Princess Anna Vasa (which would also explain the presence of the miniature in Austria), or from 1598, the year in which the princess had to legitimize her place in her new homeland.

Double-headed diamond eagle of the House of Austria, Milan, mid-16th century, Treasury of the Munich Residence. 

Double-headed diamond eagle of the House of Austria by Hans Mielich, ca. 1550, Bavarian National Museum in Munich. 

​Fragment of a portrait of Queen Anna of Austria (1573-1598) by Martin Kober, ca. 1595, Alte Pinakothek in Munich.

​Miniature portrait of Princess-Infanta Catherine Jagiellon (1526-1583) by Lucas Cranach the Younger, ca. 1553-1565, Czartoryski Museum.

​Miniature portrait of Princess-Infanta Anna Vasa (1568-1625), 1590s, Harrach collection in Vienna in 1911.

​Miniature portrait of Empress Eleonore Magdalene of Neuburg (1655-1720), ca. 1680, Harrach collection in Vienna in 1911.

When Queen Anna of Austria (1573-1598), the first wife of Sigismund III Vasa (1566-1632), died in 1598, Urszula Meyerin (ca. 1570-1635), the young chamberlain of the queen's court and governess to the royal children, took her place not only in the royal bed but also in the court and in the country's politics. This seven-year period between the king's first and second marriages, marked by the growing role of his mistress and "minister in a skirt", as she was called, is likely reflected in the reliquary of Saint Ursula in the Diocesan Museum in Płock (silver, 44 cm).

On November 16, 1601, the chapter of Płock Cathedral decided to renovate the covering of the head of the reliquary of Saint Sigismund, patron saint of the reigning monarch, now kept in the Diocesan Museum of Płock (silver, 45 cm): "so that the silver covering of the head of St. Sigismund might be restored as suitably as possible" (ut argentea tectura capitis S. Sigismundi quanto competentius reformaretur). Stanisław Zemelka, a goldsmith from Płock, was entrusted with this task and left the corresponding inscription inside the new crown (Stanisla Zemelka Aurifaber Ploc. me fecit Anno 1601). The chapter offered eight silver chalices with their patens and the base of the old censer for this purpose (after "Portret Kazimierza Wielkiego" by Jan Dąbrowski, p. 63). However, the document attesting to this fact makes no mention of the 13th-century gold crown used by the goldsmith to adorn the bust. It is likely that this was a gift from the king.

It is interesting to note that the crown was probably made in the Rhineland (also considered a Hungarian or Venetian work), while the reliquary was made before 1370, probably in Prague (after "Trzy arcydzieła średniowiecznego złotnictwa w Krakowie i Płocku ..." by Dariusz Nowacki, p. 292, 294-295). Furthermore, the effigy of Saint Sigismund is believed to be a portrait of the founder, King Casimir III the Great (1310-1370) (after "Relikwiarz hermowy na relikwie św. Zygmunta" by Ryszard Knapiński, p. 249).

Around the same time, Wojciech Baranowski (1548-1615), Bishop of Płock and a close ally and protégé of the king, commissioned a silver bust from the royal goldsmith's workshop for the relics of Saint Ursula in Płock Cathedral, which were to be transferred to the newly established Jesuit college in Pułtusk. The bust of Saint Ursula is unsigned, but it was presented to the collegiate church of Pułtusk along with a reliquary bust of Saint Maurice, in a similar style, signed and dated on the back by the royal goldsmith Stanisław Ditrich (STAN: DITRICH AURIFABER.R.P. FECIT ANNO 1.6.0.0.). While Saint Maurice was depicted as a Roman knight, Saint Ursula is depicted in clothing and with a hairstyle more in keeping with the time of creation. She also wears a Mannerist necklace adorned, like her headdress, with amethysts and sapphires (after "Hermy św. Maurycego i św. Urszuli oraz ich autor Stanisław Ditrich" by Dariusz Kaczmarzyk, p. 333, 336, 337, 341). 

Urszula Meyerin, a fervent supporter of the Jesuits who corresponded with the Pope and used her influence with the King to place her favorites in government positions, deserved the honor of lending her image to the Virgin Martyr Ursula, which would have been another reason for the king's gratitude to Baranowski. It is also possible that the King, himself a talented goldsmith, participated in the commission, thus explaining the absence of a signature on the work.

​In 1637, when the 42-year-old King Ladislaus IV Vasa (1595-1648) finally decided to marry, the situation at court of his mistress, Jadwiga Łuszkowska (ca. 1616 - after 1648), became complicated. It was probably thanks to the efforts of the king's wife, the imperial daughter Cecilia Renata of Austria (1611-1644), that Jadwiga married Jan Wypyski, starost of Merkinė in Lithuania, and left the court in Warsaw.

Two years earlier, around 1635, Jadwiga had given the king a son named in his honor: Ladislaus Constantine (d. 1698). Nothing is known of his early life. However, the portrait held at the National Gallery in Prague, depicting Prince Sigismund Casimir Vasa (1640-1647), the king's legitimate son by Cecilia Renata, is considered to include the portrait of Ladislaus Constantine (oil on canvas, 71 x 56 cm, inv. O 8675). Sigismund Casimir rests his hand on the head of a boy, probably his half-brother (after "Orzeł i trzy korony ...", ed. Katarzyna Połujan, p. 166). The portrait of the prince is a variant of a portrait from the collection of the National Museum in Warsaw, probably painted around 1647 (on deposit at the Royal Castle in Warsaw, oil on canvas, 56 x 44.7 cm, inv. MP 5273 NW / ZKW 262/Dep.). A copy of the double portrait, attributed to the Austrian painter Hermann Ritschl (1865-1935), was sold at auction in Prague in 2025 (oil on canvas, 71 x 55 cm, Obrazy v aukci, lot 144026, August 27, 2025, unsigned, artist's label on the back). It is possible, in this case, that Ritschl only restored the painting, as it appears to be much older than the late 19th or early 20th century.

After the death of his parents, Ladislaus Constantine likely fell under the care of his uncle, John II Casimir (1609-1672), successor of Ladislaus IV to the Polish throne. The prince then lived abroad, calling himself Count of Wasenau. The Pope appointed him chamberlain, and he died in Rome in 1698.

In 1659, as the great war, known in Polish history as the Deluge (1655-1660), was coming to an end, it became clear to everyone that Queen Marie Louise Gonzaga (1611-1667), aged 48, would not bear a child. At the Warsaw court, everyone was considering a possible heir to the throne. The queen had given birth to a son in 1652, but the child died a month later. The elderly King John Casimir Vasa, a former cardinal, who, deeming himself unfit for the clergy, stood for election to the Polish throne after his brother's death and married his sister-in-law, had at least one illegitimate daughter, Marie Catherine (born after his abdication in 1670, in France), and possibly a son.

The painting given by Queen Marie Louise to the Church of the Holy Cross in Warsaw around 1667 and made by a court artist in 1659 was associated by Wanda Drecka (1904-1993) in her article published in 1959 with the king's favorite, Katarzyna Franciszka (Catherine Frances) Denhoffowa (d. 1695), née von Bessen (or von Bees), originally from Olesno in Silesia. Drecka also detected the influence of Flemish painting and suggested the court painter Jan Tricius as a possible author (Tricius had trained in the workshop of Jacob Jordaens around 1642 and had been appointed royal painter on September 26, 1657). The painting depicts the religious scene of the mystical marriage of Saint Catherine (National Museum in Warsaw, oil on canvas, 177 x 162 cm, inv. MP 2461, earlier 441). The French abstract of the aforementioned article summarizes it more clearly: Madonna has the facial features of Queen Marie Louise, Katarzyna Denhoffowa was portrayed as Saint Catherine, while a lady holding a laurel wreath above Saint Catherine's head is the young Marie Casimire d'Arquien (1641-1716), then Lady Zamoyska. "The depiction of lay people in contemporary attire in paintings with religious content became widespread from the Renaissance. In the post-Tridentine period, church legislation fought against this custom. The decree of February 11, 1645, does not want to see Maldonna in communi garments", adds Drecka regarding the disguised portraits in old religious paintings (after "Warszawski obraz „Mistyczne zaślubiny św. Katarzyny”, p. 57, 60-62, 65, 68-69). It is also worth noting that the image of the Virgin Mary resembles that from the portrait of a lady from the 1650s, probably a lady-in-waiting to Marie Louise in Warsaw, identified as Urszula Kątska née Denhoff (1658-1706), also reproduced by Drecka (National Museum Warsaw, oil on canvas, 68 x 54 cm, inv. 129773).

In this context as well, the Christ Child is undoubtedly a portrait of a real person. Katarzyna Franciszka and her younger sister Anna Susanna (d. 1697) were ladies-in-waiting to Queen Cecilia Renata and remained at court after the latter's death. In January 1648, Anna Susanna married Franz Eusebius von Oppersdorff (1623-1691). The elder sister became a trusted lady-in-waiting to the new queen and her second husband, John Casimir. In 1648, she married a courtier of John Casimir, Teodor Denhoff, and a year later, on June 6, 1649, she gave birth to Jan Kazimierz (John Casimir) Denhoff, the future cardinal, named in honor of the king. The godparents of young Denhoff were none other than the king and queen themselves. In 1666, at the age of 17, he was appointed abbot of Mogiła Abbey, and between 1670 and 1674, he studied canon law in Paris under the patronage of John Casimir Vasa. This is why, in the painting described, Jan Kazimierz, aged 10, is undoubtedly depicted as the young Jesus offering a ring to his mother, who is dressed as Saint Catherine.

Moreover, it is probably no coincidence that in his later portraits made in Rome, the young cardinal bears a striking resemblance to the portraits of the king, such as the one given by John Casimir to the Camaldolese monastery in Bielany (Warsaw), during his visit on May 17, 1659 and painted by Daniel Schulz (now in the Palace on the Isle in Warsaw, oil on canvas, 90 x 71.4 cm, inv. ŁKr 776). In his portraits held at Wilanów Palace (oil on canvas, 67 x 54 cm, inv. Wil.1124, earlier 515) and in another version belonging to a private collection (oil on canvas, 71.7 x 61 cm, Doyle New York, May 19, 2010, lot 69, as "Portrait of a Cardinal, within a painted oval"), Jan Kazimierz sports a thin mustache very similar to the one seen in the king's portrait (also comparable to his portraits as cardinal in Italian collections). The style of both paintings corresponds to that of Giovanni Maria Morandi (1622-1717), active in Rome, who was also the author of the original portrait of the cardinal reproduced in an engraving by Jacques Blondeau (1655-1698) - Io Maria Morandi Pinxit. / LaBlondeau Sculp.
 
Perhaps future DNA tests will confirm or refute the hypothesis that Jan Kazimierz Denhoff was in fact the illegitimate son of John Casimir Vasa, which the works in question clearly suggest.

Silver reliquary of Saint Sigismund with gold Płock Diadem, Prague or Kraków (reliquary) and Hungary or Germany (diadem), second quarter of 13th century and before 1370, Diocesan Museum in Płock.

Silver reliquary of Saint Ursula in the form of a bust by Stanisław Ditrich, ca. 1600, Diocesan Museum in Płock.

Portrait of Prince Sigismund Casimir Vasa (1640-1647), ca. 1647, National Museum in Warsaw.

​Portrait of Prince Sigismund Casimir Vasa (1640-1647) with a page (possibly Ladislaus Constantine Vasa), ca. 1647, National Gallery in Prague.

​Portrait of Prince Sigismund Casimir Vasa (1640-1647) with a page (possibly Ladislaus Constantine Vasa), ca. 1647 or 19th century, Private collection.

Mystical marriage of Saint Catherine by Jan Tricius (?)​​, 1659, National Museum in Warsaw.

Portrait of a lady, said to be Urszula Kątska née Denhoff (1658-1706), 1650s, National Museum in Warsaw.

Portrait of King John II Casimir Vasa (1609-1672) by Daniel Schultz, 1659, Royal Baths Museum in Warsaw.

Portrait of Cardinal Jan Kazimierz Denhoff (1649-1697) by Giovanni Maria Morandi, ca. 1687, Wilanów Palace in Warsaw. 

Portrait of Cardinal Jan Kazimierz Denhoff (1649-1697) by Giovanni Maria Morandi, ca. 1687, Private collection. 

​Portrait of Cardinal Jan Kazimierz Denhoff (1649-1697) by Jacques Blondeau after original painting by Giovanni Maria Morandi, ca. 1687, Private collection. 

Two marble lions, located at the main entrance of Drottningholm Palace in Sweden, on the eastern side, are said to have been taken by Swedish troops from Frederiksborg Castle in Denmark (after "Drottningholmsparken - Promenadguide" by Lars Wesslau, p. 5, 36). These two lions were in place in 1726, however their origin is not clearly documented and their provenance from Frederiksborg is only a supposition.

These statues could instead be identified with the four marble lions described by Adam Jarzębski in his "Short Description of Warsaw" of 1643, as adorning the Ujazdów Castle in Warsaw:

In the spacious, bold courtyard,
Where we saw great
Columns, all lying on the ground.
And four main lions
Among them, natural,
Carved just like living ones,
And they are made of marble:
These are not cast items,
Fine through masterly craft.
Then we shall come to the stairs,
Not much of a walk to go up (2270-2280). 

In the 1630s, before his marriage to Cecilia Renata of Austria (1611-1644), King Ladislaus IV Vasa (1595-1648) commissioned several sculptures in Florence (the Grand Duke of Tuscany reigning at that time was a cousin of Ladislaus IV), possibly including lions for his palace at Ujazdów.

The papal nuncio Mario Filonardi (1594-1644) mentions such a shipment in a letter to Cardinal Barberini in 1637. He reports the arrival in Warsaw of numerous bronze statues and several marble bas-reliefs, made in Florence for 7,000 Dutch thalers. This shipment was transported by sea from Genoa to Gdańsk, and then via the Vistula River to Warsaw. The sculptures were moved to the Italian-style palace that the king had built (perhaps Villa Regia), and the architect Agostino Locci (ca. 1601-1660) installed them in the garden (Sono in questi giorni stati portati qua da Danzica sopra la Vistola quantità di statue di bronzo et alcune tavole di marmo con figurine che si lavorano in Fiorenze, compre da Sua Maestà per 7 mila talari da Olandesi, che da Genova ove le comprorno, per lungo tratto di mare le portono in Danzica, si ripongono hora nel palazzo che ha Sua Maestà fabricato all'Italiana in un di suoi giardini più vicin'a questa città, per esser poi disposte a suoi lochi dall'architetto Locci Romano, after "Agostino Locci ..." by Hanna Osiecka-Samsonowicz, p. 170).

It is known that Ladislaus IV also acquired sculptures in Prague and antique sculptures in Italy, possessing a rather impressive collection that was dispersed during the Deluge (after "Polska XVII wieku ..." by Janusz Tazbir, p. 325). Sculptures and architectural elements captured by the invaders were transported by barges across the Vistula to Prussia and Sweden. Several such barges, laden with heavy marbles that sank during transport, were discovered in the Vistula in the 20th and 21st centuries.

The material used, Italian marble, and a shape similar to that of the Medici lions or Florentine marzocco, reinforce the hypothesis that the Drottningholm lions originated in Ujazdów. Moreover, the four-part arrangement of lion shields with effaced coats of arms is more reminiscent of the Polish-Lithuanian coat of arms consisting of an eagle and a knight than of the more complex coats of arms of Christian IV of Denmark (1577-1648), who decorated Frederiksborg Castle in the Flemish-Dutch Mannerist style before 1620. The original coat of arms was probably erased after arrival in Sweden and the other two lions were likely lost or damaged during transport. 

​Hypothetical arrangement of the four marble lions in the courtyard of Ujazdów Castle in Warsaw around 1643. © Marcin Latka

Marble lion from Ujazdów Castle, Italy, 1630s, Drottningholm Palace. ​

​Marble lion from Ujazdów Castle, Italy, 1630s, Drottningholm Palace. ​

Poland's main religious centers were also important hubs of religious craftsmanship. Kraków, by virtue of its status as a coronation city and its position as the largest city in the south of the country, enjoyed a distinct advantage over other localities, concentrating a large number of goldsmiths. A diploma issued in 1478 by Jan Rzeszowski, Bishop of Kraków, Jakub Dembiński, castellan and starost of Kraków, Zejfreth, mayor of Kraków, Karniowski and Jan Theschnar, councilors of Kraków, to Jan Gloger, son of Mikołaj Gloger, a goldsmith of Kraków, attests to Jan's reputation and skill, making him worthy of joining the goldsmiths' guild (after "Encyklopedja staropolska ilustrowana" by Zygmunt Gloger, p. 504). This document confirms the profound influence of the Church on the development of this craft in the country.

The splendor of the preserved religious objects gives an impression of the magnificence of the secular treasures of Sarmatia, of which very few have survived. 

​Reliquary cross of Andrzej Nosek of Rawicz coat of arms, Abbot of the Tyniec Abbey, Kraków, ca. 1480, Cathedral Treasury in Tarnów. 

Fragment of a golden reliquary for the head of St. Stanislaus with a scene of the sale of a village by Marcin Marciniec, 1504, Cathedral Museum at Wawel Hill in Kraków.

​Silver crosier of Bishop Andrzej Krzycki (1482-1537), Kraków, ca. 1527-1535, Płock Cathedral. 

​Gold and rock crystal reliquary of Saint Thomas the Apostle, Poland, after 1601 or 1618, Sacred Museum of Zamość Cathedral. Commissioned by Tomasz Zamoyski (1594-1638), who was the executor of his father's will. In last will of Jan Zamoyski (1542-1605) from 1601 there is an instruction to the inheritors to fund reliquaries for the relics of Saint Thomas and fragment of dress of the Virgin Mary (Velum Peplum) obtained from Rome. 

​Gold and rock crystal reliquary of fragment of dress of the Virgin Mary (Velum Peplum), Armenian workshop, after 1601 or 1618, Sacred Museum of Zamość Cathedral. 

Portrait of Primate Bernard Maciejowski (1548-1608), ca. 1606, Franciscan Monastery in Kraków. The primate was depicted holding a silver legate's cross in front of a silver altar set he had commissioned before 1601 in Italy and a 15th-century gem-encrusted mitre that had belonged to Cardinal Frederick Jagiellon (1468-1503). 

Reliquary of Saint Stanislaus founded by Bishop Marcin Szyszkowski (1554-1630), Poland, ca. 1616-1621, Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi.

​​Silver altar cross offered by Primate Wacław Leszczyński (1605-1666) to the Gniezno Cathedral, Poland, first quarter of the 17th century, Archdiocesan Museum in Gniezno. 

Brass baptismal font by French workshop, 1627, Sacred Museum of Zamość Cathedral. The font was founded by Tomasz Zamoyski (1594-1638) for the baptism of his heir Jan (1627-1665), later known as Sobiepan.This is related to the French bell founders who worked in Zamość from 1626 to 1627 and cast bells for the collegiate church. 

Gold chalice founded by Anna Alojza Chodkiewicz (1600-1654), Poland, ca. 1633, Treasury of the Lublin Archcathedral. 

​Fragment of a monstrance adorned with jewels from private donations, Lublin, ca. 1650, Dominican Monastery in Lublin. 

​Fragment of monstrance adorned with enamel, Poland, 1670s, ​Treasury of the Jasna Góra Monastery. 

Monstrance with figurines of Saint Benedict and Saint Scholastica from Tyniec Abbey, Lesser Poland, 1679, Treasury of Tarnów Cathedral. 

​​Ciborium adorned with nacre founded by guardian Stefan Opatkowski, Kraków, 1700, Franciscan Monastery in Kraków. 

The invasion of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (also Poland-Lithuania-Ruthenia or Sarmatia) by neighboring countries in 1655 brought an end to nearly a century of prosperity since the Commonwealth's founding in 1569. This war, one of the most devastating in the country's history, known as the Deluge (1655-1660), resulted in the loss of approximately 25% of the population in four main provinces, the destruction of 188 towns, 81 castles, and 136 churches (estimated data, only for Poland). It had a profound impact on all aspects of life and on future generations, as well as on the country's culture.

The invasion and occupation by Lutherans from the north and west (Sweden and Brandenburg), Calvinists from the south (Transylvania), and Orthodox Christians from the east and south (Russia, Wallachia, and Moldavia) significantly strengthened Catholicism in the previously multi-faith nation. The invaders were known to plunder everything from marble floors to liturgical vestments. In 1658, Swedish troops of Commander Pleitner murdered the local vicar, Father Walerian Cząpski, in the church at Skrwilno for refusing to reveal where he had hidden "the church's treasure" (after "Odkrycie skarbu w Skrwilnie w pow. rypińskim" by Stanisław Kostanecki, p. 32-33). 

Under these circumstances, between 1655 and 1660, Zofia Magdalena Loka or Lokówna of the Rogala coat of arms, owner of the Okalewo estate and widow of Stanisław Piwo of the Prawdzic coat of arms, deputy cupbearer of Płock, hid her most precious possessions in the remains of the 11th-century settlement at Skrwilno. In 1961, in a shallow excavation about 50 cm deep, gold objects weighing over 2 kg and silver objects weighing about 5 kg were discovered. The treasure consists of exceptional works of art, including gold jewelry from the first half of the 17th century: a pendant representing Fortune set with precious stones and covered with blue, white and green enamel; six chains, one of which is adorned with precious stones, composed of circular openwork links and eight rosettes set with rubies and turquoises; four bracelets, two of which have clasps covered with green, blue or white enamel, and the third covered with black enamel bearing the monogram I.H.S., engraved in the middle of an acanthus leaf motif; sixteen żupan ​​buttons of Stanisław Piwo, five in gold set with rubies, five set with rock crystal and six in gilt silver. There is also a silver belt with decoration imitating a gemstone inlay, a silver filigree chain, a fragment of gold filigree chain with enameled elements, 4 rings and 51 pearls.

The other part of the treasure consists of silver tableware. It includes a silver lavabo set decorated with the coat of arms of Rogala, created by Balthasar Grill in Augsburg and commissioned by Jan Loka (d. 1623), starost of Borzechowo, father of Zofia; a pair of candle wick scissors decorated with the coat of arms of Prawdzic; two silver candlesticks made in Toruń and Brodnica; twelve silver spoons signed by Hans Nickel, William de Lassensy, Reinhold Sager and Hans Martelius, the best silversmiths of Toruń at the time; and a tankard.

Stanisław Piwo died on January 17, 1649, at the age of 53, before the invasion, and was buried in the Benedictine church in Sierpc, where his wife had a funerary monument erected in marble and alabaster depicting him kneeling before the crucified Christ. The tomb was most likely destroyed in 1655, when Swedish troops plundered the Benedictine monastery, or in 1794 during a fire in the church.

Zofia was ten years younger than her husband, and they were married for 26 years. The couple were benefactors of many local churches. In 1644, Stanisław presented the church in Sierpc with a chasuble of gold cloth, and in 1649, his wife donated a silver plaque. In 1650, a year after her husband's death, she presented a veil embroidered with gold thread for the image of Our Lady of Sierpc. She lived for a few years in her large wooden manor house in Okalewo and, during the Deluge, likely moved to Gostynin. Nothing is known of her later years.

​Fragments of a gold chain of Zofia Magdalena Piwowa née Lokówna, Transylvania or Poland, second half of the 16th century, District Museum in Toruń.

​Gold chain set with precious stones of Zofia Magdalena Piwowa née Lokówna, Germany or Poland, ca. 1600, District Museum in Toruń.

​Gold pendant depicting the Fortune of Zofia Magdalena Piwowa née Lokówna, Transylvania or Poland, turn of the 16th and 17th centuries, District Museum in Toruń.

Gold bracelet adorned with a stylized cartouche of Zofia Magdalena Piwowa née Lokówna, Poland, first quarter of the 17th century, District Museum in Toruń.

Gold and silver żupan buttons of Stanisław Piwo (d. 1649), deputy cup-bearer of Płock, Poland, second quarter of the 17th century, District Museum in Toruń.

​​Silver lavabo set of Jan Loka (d. 1623), starost of Borzechowo, by Balthasar Grill in Augsburg, ca. 1615-1617, District Museum in Toruń.

​Silver scissors for trimming candle wicks with the coat of arms of Prawdzic and the initials of Stanisław Piwo (d. 1649), deputy cupbearer of Płock, and a monogram of his wife (Z) above by Hans Martelius, ca. 1641-1649, District Museum in Toruń.

​Further reading:

​"Polonica svecana artistica" by Zygmunt Łakociński

"Skarb ze Skrwilna. Skarb z Nieszawy. Klejnoty szlachty polskiej ze zbiorów Muzeum Okręgowego w Toruniu [The Treasure of Skrwilno. The Treasure of Nieszawa. Jewels of the Polish nobility from the collections of the District Museum in Toruń]" by Katarzyna Kluczwajd

"Zniszczenia dokonane przez Szwedów w Polsce w latach 1655-1660 [Destruction inflicted by the Swedes in Poland in 1655-1660]", ed. Mirosław Nagielski

​Silver filigree basket by Hil Jakubowicz, ca. 1785-1787, National Museum in Warsaw. ​

The inventory was drawn up by a special commission appointed by King John III Sobieski (1629-1696) and formed in 1681 on the basis of a decision of Parliament of the same year.

(Extract)

Casket IV.

14. Diamond pendant with monogram S.A. [of Sigismund Augustus, Stephen Bathory and Anna Jagiellon or Sigismund III and Anna of Austria], under a crown set with rubies, with three additional rubies and a large pear-shaped pearl.

17. Clasp with diamond Saint Michael, set with a large ruby [?], an emerald, 6 smaller rubies, 3 pearls.

18. Diamond cross, 6 rubies, 3 emeralds.

19. Cross with 10 diamonds, 3 pearls.

21. Medallion with Venus and Mars with 2 sharp diamonds, 12 smaller diamonds, 10 rubies.

28. Pendant with letter A [of Queen Anna Jagiellon?] made from 4 rubies, round pearl.

36. Whistle in the form of a owl, 2 rubies, 2 diamonds, 2 diamond roses, 5 pearls.

37. Medallion with Leda and the swan, 8 diamonds, 3 rubies, emerald.

39. Cameo with bust of Charles V on yellow stone.

41. Medallion with the Judgement of Paris, diamonds, rubies.

50. Medallion with the Gigantomachy with a ruby in the center, 6 other rubies, 7 diamonds.

52. Clasp with King David, 2 rubies, smaller diamond, 25 diamonds, rubies, emeralds.

53. Large clasp with diamond Saint George, pearl dragon, 6 pearls, 24 other stones.

55. Gold lion, 6 rubies, 4 diamonds, emerald.

Casket V.

2. Medallion with god Vulcan, 13 diamonds, small ruby, emerald.

4. Medallion with Gaius Mucius Scaevola, 5 diamonds, 4 rubies.

5. Clasp with diamond Saint George or Saint Michael with different tablets and diamond lilies.

7. Gold effigy of Charles V on stone.

9. Clasp with diamond Saint George without a horse.

11. Pendant with diamond Christogram IHS, a ruby at the top and a tablet with diamonds, 2 pearls.

13. Clasp with diamond King David, 6 emeralds, 18 rubies, 4 diamonds.

14. Gold dragon pipe with two large diamonds, smaller diamonds, rubies, emeralds, turquoises, 2 pearls.

15. Large clasp with diamond Saint Michael, 3 Indian pearls.

24. Diamond Saint George with emeralds and diamonds, 3 stones missing.

31. Whistle in the form of a Melusine with diamonds and rubies, 1 stone missing, 2 pearls.

33. Medallion with Mars and Venus, 3 rubies, 3 diamonds.

34. Medallion with Judgement of Solomon, emerald rows, 11 rubies, 8 emeralds.

35. Medallion with Deborah and Sisera, 6 diamonds, 4 rubies.

37. Medallion with Marcus Curtius, 3 diamonds, 2 rubies.

38. Medallion with Orpheus, 5 stones.

Casket VI.

3. Agate medallion with a Roman face, diamond frame, 3 rubies.

4. Clasp with diamond Saint George, 3 rubies, 3 emeralds, pearls.

5. Medallion with Venus with a mirror, 7 diamonds, small ruby and a small pearl.

7. Pendant with a folded diamond rose, two ruby figures, 3 emeralds, large pearl, 43 tablets of diamonds.

Casket VII.

7. Gold fan handle with 5 diamonds, 4 emeralds, 2 turquoises, 11 pearls.

8. Another fan handle, 12 diamonds, 8 rubies, 1 emerald, 16 pearls.

Casket X.

3. Large pendant with elongated diamond of 22 1/4 carates, small pearl 12.

14. Largest diamond with a pearl of 27,5 carates weight, valued at 20.000 aureos, pearl 2.500 aureos.

Summary of the Jewel Commission
presented to the Lord Treasurer of the Crown, Year 1683
Value of all jewels of the Commonwealth in red zlotys ... 101.670 (after "Inventarium omnium singulorum privilegiorum, litterarum, diplomatum, scripturarum et monumentorum quaecunque in Archivo Regni in Arce Cracoviensi continentur ..." by Erazm Rykaczewski, p. 467, 474-478, 480). 

The turbulent times that followed the Deluge (1655-1660) stripped the Crown Treasury at Wawel Castle of the majority of its valuables by the mid-18th century, as the monarchs used its contents to finance wars. The last inspection of the Treasury was ordered by the Diet (lower house of Parliament) on April 18, 1792. The historical artifacts it contained were displayed to the public for four days. In 1795, Prussian forces, led by King Frederick William II (1744-1797), looted the Kraków Royal Treasury after the Third Partition. State associates General Leopold von Reuts and Ludwig von Hoym stole priceless, centuries-old royal regalia, much of which was later melted down to recover the gold and precious stones and thus repay the Prussian state's debts (after "Treasures Lost & Found: Poland's Royal Regalia" by Marek Kępa). 

Since regaining independence, an attempt to reconstitute the treasury at Wawel Castle was undertaken in the early 20th century. Many valuable items were acquired from private collections, both domestically and internationally, for this purpose. The richest collection of Sarmatian memorabilia in the country, which gives an idea of ​​the wealth of the original royal treasury, is housed at Jasna Góra Monastery, which contains numerous objects donated by Polish monarchs and nobles. Abroad, there is the Green Vault in Dresden (objects appropriated by the rules of the Wettin dynasty, as well as those created for them), the Treasury of the Munich Residence (objects from the dowries of Polish princesses), the Royal Armoury and the Royal Palace in Stockholm (objects looted during the Deluge and the Great Northern War), the Kremlin Armoury (objects presented to the tsars) and the Hermitage Museum (objects transferred to Russia by Stanislaus Augustus Poniatowski and other aristocrats).

​Hypothetical reconstruction of the Byzantine-style crown, Ruthenia (?), 13th century, Treasury of the Jasna Góra Monastery. Sometimes associated with Lithuanian rulers, it was most likely part of the Ruthenian treasury inherited by Casimir the Great (1310-1370), which included regalia of Kievan Rus'. In the 16th or 17th century, fragments of the crown were placed on the chasuble presented by Queen Bona Maria Sforza d'Aragona (1494-1557). © Marcin Latka

Agate and gold rosary with diamond cross of Queen Bona Maria Sforza d'Aragona (1494-1557), Italy (?), first quarter of 16th century, Treasury of the Jasna Góra Monastery.

Gold medallion with Sacrifice of Isaac, France (?), mid-16th century, Treasury of the Jasna Góra Monastery.

​​Gold pendant with Annunciation to Mary, Antwerp (?), second half of the 16th century, Treasury of the Norbertines Convent in Kraków. A similar scene appears on the pendant in the British Museum (inv. WB.153). 

​​Gold pendant with Annunciation to Mary, Antwerp (?), second half of the 16th century, Treasury of the Jasna Góra Monastery.

​Hypothetical reconstruction of a gold earring set with diamonds and adorned with the intertwined monogram SA (Sigismundus and Anna) that belonged to Queen Anna of Austria (1573-1598), ca. 1592-1595, lost. Based on the portrait of the queen in the Alte Pinakothek in Munich (inv. 6992). © Marcin Latka

Fragment of a chain bearing the Order of the Golden Fleece belonging to King Ladislaus IV Vasa (1595-1648), Warsaw (?), before 1633, Treasury of the Jasna Góra Monastery.

Gold statuette of the Virgin of the Immaculate Conception set with precious stones, offered by King Ladislaus IV Vasa (1595-1648), Warsaw (?), 1630s, Treasury of the Jasna Góra Monastery.

Gold plaque depicting the Veil of St. Veronica, Warsaw (?), ca. 1635, Treasury of the Jasna Góra Monastery. Fragment of decoration from the crown of the painting of the Black Madonna of Częstochowa, offered by King Ladislaus IV Vasa (1595-1648).

Winged heart-shaped pendant with a Cupid, Warsaw (?), before 1642, Jasna Góra Monastery. From the Black Madonna's Diamond Robe. A spiritual analogy of God as a lover wounding his beloved to prepare them for union with him. Likely a gift from Princess-Infanta Anna Catherine Constance Vasa (1619-1651). In 1642, the princess visited Jasna Góra Monastery with her fiancé, the Count Palatine of Neuburg. It is known that among Anna Catherine Constance's possessions were a pendant set with 48 diamonds, two heart-shaped pendants, a ruby ​​heart, and a necklace with a heart-shaped Conterfet (effigy), a gift from the Duke of Brandenburg.

​Ceremonial staff adorned with tortoiseshell, mother-of-pearl, gold, rubies, turquoise, agate and enamel, Poland or Turkey (?), mid-17th century, National Museum in Warsaw (inv. 4379 MNW). The staff bears the coat of arms of Lis beneath a ducal mitre and the engraved date 1632. It is possible that it was made for Jan Stanisław Sapieha (1589-1635), of Lis coat of arms, Grand Marshal of Lithuania from 1621, although its style is closer to the craftsmanship of the second half of the 17th century. Another member of the Sapieha family to hold the office of Marshal was Aleksander Paweł Sapieha (1672-1734), Grand Marshal of Lithuania from 1699.

The richly decorated 17th-century monstrance from the foundation of Bishop Stanisław Kazimierz Dąmbski (ca. 1638-1700), is used exclusively to expose the Blessed Sacrament on Good Friday and during the solemn Resurrection procession on Holy Saturday. It was created between around 1680 and 1699 by the Silesian silversmith Christian Schrötter in Kamienna Góra (height 94 cm, foot 22.4 x 26.6 cm, width of the glory 35.8 cm; municipal hallmark of Kamienna Góra: LH in an oval, goldsmith's hallmark: CS in an oval, after "Wawel 1000-2000 ...", Volume 1, p. 229-230). Made of silver and adorned with glass, it depicts Christ in the form of a consecrated host, accompanied by figures from the Old Testament (Abraham, Melchizedek) and the New Testament (the Virgin Mary, Saint Joseph and Saint Peter). It was bequeathed to Wawel Cathedral by the founder in place of the gold chalice and silver sacred lamp traditionally presented by bishops upon their inauguration.

​Monstrance of Bishop Stanisław Dąmbski by Christian Schrötter, ca. 1680-1699, Cathedral Museum at Wawel Hill in Kraków.

The monstrance, a remarkable example of 17th-century Polish goldsmithing, was commissioned by Augustyn Kordecki (1603-1673), abbot of Jasna Góra Monastery and later provincial of the Pauline Fathers, as a votive offering for the defense of the monastery during the invasion of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth by neighboring countries in 1655, known as the Deluge. It was crafted in Warsaw in 1672 by the royal goldsmith Wacław Grotko, originally from Prague (also known as Grottke or Grottkau, active in Warsaw between 1665 and 1675), who was paid 30,000 zlotys in gold.

The work was created using jewelry donated to the monastery by pilgrims. This monstrance, over one meter tall (103 cm) and weighing over 13 kg, was adorned with 2,366 diamonds, 2,208 rubies, 30 sapphires, 81 emeralds, 215 pearls, and enamel (after "Klejnoty Jasnej Góry" by Jan Samek, ‎Janusz Zbudniewek, p. 19). A large diamond set in the crown at the top was bequeathed to the monastery by Zygmunt Przerembski, Voivode of Sieradz, in 1668. The prophet Aaron and King David, kneeling on either side of the glory, hold sheaves of wheat, a Eucharistic symbol. The scenes at the base of the monstrance relate to two themes: the sacrifice of Christ (the sacrifice of Abraham and Passover) and the Eucharist (Elijah in the desert and the Last Supper).

According to the inscription on the base of the monstrance, Father Augustyn Kordecki was provincial, Father Stanisław Ligęza was abbot of the Jasna Góra monastery and Father Romuald Dymalski was sacristan of the monastery at the time of its creation.

​Monstrance of Abbot Augustyn Kordecki by Wacław Grotko, 1672, Treasury of the Jasna Góra Monastery.