Alfred II Potocki

Painting of Alfred Potocki II, ordinary of Łańcut The painting from the collection of the museum constitutes a portrait of a middle-aged man, shown as a half figure, with the commandery of the Order of the Golden Fleece on his neck (on a red band). This is Alfred Józef Potocki (born in July 1817 in Łańcut, d. in May 1889 in Paris), son of Alfred Wojciech Potocki and Józefina Maria Czartoryska, count, 2nd ordinary of Łańcut, viceroy of Galicia and Lodomeria, prime minister of Austria. He was one of the richest people in Poland, he cared for the development of the industry – it was was his initiative to create a sugar refinery, a factory of the famous Rosolio liqueurs, a tannery in Łańcut, a sugar refinery in Uladivka in the Ukraine, a horse farm in Kurowice. He also cared for the establishment of a castle library in Łańcut, the collection of which he expanded and introduced several types of bookplates. The library of the Hunters’ Palace in Julin (near Łańcut) was expanded to include books from the 16th–19th centuries purchased from the manager of the forests of Łańcut; they contained among others very rare herbaria. He was a politician, emperor Franz Joseph trusted him. The portrait in Łańcut is a copy of an original by Franz Xaver Winterhalter (b. in April 1805 in Menzenschwand, died in July 1873 in Frankfurt am Main), a German painter and lithographer who gained popularity as a portrait artist for monarchs and the aristocracy. He came from a farmer family, and first learned painting in Freiburg and Munich. He went to Paris in 1834, where he first painted on the court of Louis Philip, later – emperor Napoleon III, and in 1841 he travelled to England, invited by the British queen, Victoria I. He made portraits of the majority of Europe’s monarchs, with the most famous one being the portrait of the Austrian empress Elisabeth (Sisi) of 1864. His mode of painting was conservative, with the smooth surface of the painting („enamelled”) being most characteristic. He gathered no praise from critics, but was valued among principals, and very popular. The discussed portrait is displayed in the Entrance Hall in the first floor of the Castle in Łańcut.