Walerian Stroynowski

Walerian Stroynowski (1759-1834) was an economist and politician. He held the office of chamberlain of Busko and was the deputy of the Voivodeship of Volhynia at the Four-Year Sejm in 1788-1791. He was awarded the Order of St Stanislaus and the Order of the White Eagle. In later years, he was a senator and secret court councillor in the Russian Empire. He was married to Aleksandra née Tarnowska, with whom he had a daughter, Waleria. He was one of the most significant landowners in Volhynia, and the Horochów estate belonged to him. The marble bust of Walerian Stroynowski was made around 1804 in Rome by Francesco Massimiliano Laboureur (1767-1831). He was educated at St Luke's Academy in Rome and became its professor in 1812. He belongs to the artistic circle of Antonio Canova, the most eminent Italian sculptor of the Neoclassicism period. The bust depicts Stroynowski as a mature man, seen straight on. His face has been modelled perfectly, with extraordinary realism. His hair in swirling strands combed to the front is calligraphically worked out. The portrayed's naked torso covered only with drapery over his left shoulder is reminiscent of ancient representations of eminent persons. The bust was probably commissioned during the stay of Walerian Stroynowski, his daughter Waleria and son-in-law, Jan Feliks Tarnowski, in Italy in 1803-1804.