La Fontaine

Oval miniature depicting a portrait of a middle-aged man, shown in bust, signed on the frame in black paint LA FONTAINE; it dates from the 18th century. It belonged to the collection of the Potocki family, or rather the Lubomirski family, who owned the Łańcut castle in the 18th century (it was then that the picture was painted by an unknown French pastel painter). It is one of three miniatures currently owned by the Castle Museum in Łańcut and depicting busts of famous men. It was Princess Izabela Lubomirska, the last owner of the castle from the Lubomirski family, who was a patron of the arts and enriched her collection with many paintings, sculptures and crafts, including works of French artists, of which the Princess was a big enthusiast. Well-educated and familiar with all the latest innovations in the fields of art, she certainly wanted to have images of famous people in her collection, including the portrait of La Fontaine. Jean de La Fontaine (born in July 1621 in Chateau-Thierry, died April 1665 in Paris) was a famous fabulist, author of about 250 fables collected in the books Contes (1665) and Fables (1668 six books, 1678 five books and the twelfth in 1694). In the narration of his fables, he relied on ancient writers, but also drew on Italian novelists and Old French satirical plebeian tales, which often featured knights and their adventures. Simplicity of expression, truth, naturalness and even a certain naivety ensured his work a permanent, supreme place in the history of literature. All his collected writings were published in Paris in the 19th century.