Augustus II of Saxony

Portrait of King Augustus II. Painting belonging to the former collection of the Potocki family, owners of Łańcut and the castle; it depicts the portrait of Augustus II, King of Poland. The painting dates from the 18th century and is attributed to the French painter Louis de Silvestre (born in 1675 in Sceaux, died in 1760 in Paris). He was a representative of Baroque court painting, a pupil of Charles le Brun, and from 1709 a professor at the Royal Academy in Paris. Between 1716 and 1748, he stayed in Dresden, where he portrayed King Augustus II and important court personalities. He also visited Warsaw, where he worked on the façades of the Saxon Palace. He was the author of numerous royal portraits, in which he emphasised the splendour and dignity of the monarch. The portrait kept in Łańcut also belongs to this type of paintings. The king is shown standing, wearing armour of the Western European type and a coat lined with ermine fur (ermine was a monarch’s privilege), with a large ribbon and a large star of the Order of the White Eagle and the Golden Fleece. On the head, powdered wig à la lion. Augustus II the Strong (born in 1670, died in 1733) was the electoral king of Poland from 1697 to 1706 and then from 1709 to 1733 and the first king of Poland from the Wettin dynasty. The King’s Decree of 23 January 1710 established the Royal Polish and Electoral Saxon Porcelain Manufacture, as the first such plant in Europe. Augustus II died at the Royal Castle in Warsaw and was buried at the Wawel Cathedral.