Portrait of Kajetan Hryniewiecki, Lublin Voivode

Kajetan Hryniewiecki came from a family of not very wealthy nobility. He owed his wealth, titles and highest distinctions to his energy, intelligence and diligence. The Sarmatian portrait in the museum's collection depicts him in a robe. The inscription at the bottom of the picture leaves no doubt as to the merits of the model. He was active in local and national politics. Thanks to his friendship with Stanisław August Poniatowski's father, he found himself in the circle of the ruler's trusted people (as an affiliated friend). In 1764, he was elected to the first composition of the Commission of the Crown Treasury. He did not participate in the Bar Confederation, taking the King's side, which the latter appreciated by granting him the Order of Saint Stanislaus in 1772 and the Order of the White Eagle in 1780.

Stanisław August Poniatowski visited Hryniewiecki in Markuszów near Lublin. In 1782, he made him the Voivode of Lublin. His numerous duties did not prevent him from taking an active part in the Sejm's work. Apart from the time spent of Sejm sessions, he stayed mainly in his estates in Markuszów and Lublin, where he made a name for himself as a conscientious chairman of the Committee of Good Order. The streets were paved, town gates were renovated, and a bridge was built during his presidency. He was also remembered as a homemaker, an exacting and thrifty man, an ‘original’, who, wanting to take care of the waxed floors, ordered the ordered the spurs to be removed from guests’ riding boots...

Although he was sickly, he had inexhaustible energy. He spent the last years of his life mainly in Markuszów, not neglecting his public duties, and died in 1796. Kajetan Hryniewicki's portrait could have been created as an official image, commemorating the extremely energetic figure actively present in politics. Looking at the conventional and anachronistic Sarmatian portrait, we see a realistically depicted figure of a voivode and chairman of the Commission of Good Order, a nobleman proudly displaying his orders.

Magdalena Norkowska