Stanisław August Poniatowski (1732–1798) was the Pantler of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (1755–1764), and was elected King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania in 1764 (1764–1795), becoming the last monarch of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. He died just a few years after the liquidation of the state until his rule. An initiator of state reforms and measures to strengthen and centralise the state, Stanisław August Poniatowski was one of the authors and an ardent supporter of the Constitution of May 3, 1791.
This representational portrait of Stanisław August Poniatowski was created in 1783 by an artist who worked for the Radziwill princes, Józef Xawery Heski, and adorned their Nesvyzh residence for a long time. It could be that upon the advice of the Radziwill princes, the artist depicted the Lithuanian grand ducal cap on the table beside the royal crown of Poland. In doing this, he highlighted the dualism of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and the state status of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.
Exhibition organisers
National Museum – Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania
The National Art Museum of the Republic of Belarus (Нацыянальны мастацкі музей Рэспублікі Беларусь)
