Portrait of Jadwiga Leonowa Sapieżyna, née Zamoyska

The miniature depicts Jadwiga Sapieżyna, née Zamoyska, Jelita coat of arms.

Jadwiga was born on 9 July 1806 in Podzamcze as the sixth child of Stanisław Kostka Zamoyski and Zofia née Czartoryska. On 9 December 1825, she married Leon Sapieha in Puławy. She was a mother of Adam Stanislaw who survived as the only of her nine children.

In spring 1830, she left for Paris and returned to Poland only after the defeat of the November Uprising, in which her husband took part.

She frequently went to health resorts with her children who often fell sick. She was known primarily for her work for those in need. In Lviv, she presided over the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul. She carried out charity work to fight hunger and help improve the living conditions of people in the Lviv area. What is more, she founded the Society and an orphanage in Przemyśl. She organised fundraising, concerts, festivals and tombolas to raise money to help the poorest. She died on 29 March 1890 in Krasiczyn.

The miniature from our collection depicts Jadwiga en face as a young woman, down to her waist. The portrayed lady has a fine, oval face and large blue eyes with dark eyebrows and eyelashes. Her dark hair with a parting is pinned up in the so-called English curls on the sides and in a braided crown on top of her head. The coiffure is adorned with a thin chain with a decorative pendant on the forehead. The lady is wearing a white robe cut off below her bust with puffed sleeves and made from a fine, heavily craped textile. Over the shoulders, she has a thin blue shawl which is in wonderful harmony with the colour of her eyes. The miniature can be seen in Room 62 on the second floor of our exhibition.

Anna Szczęsny