International exhibition “Sigismund Augustus’ Symbol of Love. Diptych with the portraits of Elizabeth and Barbara”

The love story of Sigismund Augustus (1520–1572) and Barbara Radziwill (1522/1523–1551) is one of the most romantic historical tales, which has inspired numerous works of fiction, musical compositions, paintings, and films. Sigismund Augustus built a mausoleum in the Lower Castle of Vilnius dedicated to the memory of himself and his first two wives – the Church of St. Anne and Barbara – which was never completed. Barbara Radziwill, like the ruler’s first wife, Elizabeth of Habsburg (1526–1545), was buried in Vilnius Cathedral.

 

 

The inside of the diptych features oil on copper plate portraits of the first two wives of the King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, Sigismund Augustus (1520–1572). The left wing has the representative of the Habsburg dynasty Elizabeth of Habsburg (1526–1545), turned slightly to the left, while in a similar vein, on the right wing one can see the representative of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania magnate family, Barbara Radziwiłł (1520/1523–1551). Both rulers are depicted in a half-figure format on a green background, their hands placed one on the other. Elizabeth is dressed in a black velvet gown with a stiff collar embroidered in golden thread and decorated with a plant motif ornament. Barbara Radziwiłł’s gown is decorated with a pearl and gemstone embroidered border, with a long gold chain hanging from her neck containing a pendant with a portrait of Sigismund Augustus, while on her fingers there are countless rings. 

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The portraits are encased in a book binding, likely dating to the same period, which is lined in red velvet and has golden and red tassels at the corners. The corners are decorated with ornamented golden bosses, with two clasps fixed to the sides. There are two oval medallions in the centre of the covers, on the front and on the back, which are framed with a binding ornament with cabochons and laurel wreaths. The decorative medallion on the front features a portrait of the King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania Sigismund Augustus in profile, dated to 1568, as well as the inscription: AUG: D: G: REX: PO: MAG: D: L: (Augustus Dei Gratia Rex Poloniae Magnus Dux Lithuaniae). The back cover bears Sigismund Augustus’ initials SA (Sigismundus Augustus) and the letters RP (Rex Poloniae).

 

The image of Elizabeth of Habsburg was most likely created after a prototype that has not survived, which has been associated with Jacob Seisenegger (1505–1567) – one of the most prominent portraitists of the Viennese imperial court in the first half of the 16th century. His portrait could have also been the prototype for a full-figure image of the queen created for a portrait by monogrammist PF and dated to after 1542. A copy of this painting is on display in the Renaissance Audience Hall at the National Museum – Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania. 

 

The prototype image of Barbara Radziwiłł remains a mystery – in the diptych, the image of this representative of a Grand Duchy of Lithuania magnate family differs from that in the series of the Jagiellon family from the collection of the Czartoryski princes. In the miniature, her costume is more similar to the gown worn by Elizabeth of Habsburg in the diptych, her hands are arranged differently, and her facial features are different. 

The double portrait, presented in diptych format, was not such a rare phenomenon in the 16th century – a number of works survive in museum and private collections that depict individuals facing one another, usually these are spouses or family members. Such images usually came in a larger format and were housed in ornate wooden frames, although sometimes, as in the case of the exhibited diptych, they could be presented in a book-binding fashion. 

 

This diptych was created in either Vilnius or Kraków, most likely at the private expense of Sigismund Augustus, and probably already after the passing of the ruler’s second wife Barbara in 1551. Most likely, this diptych would have been part of the Wawel royal castle’s treasury. It entered Princess Izabela Czartoryska’s Puławy collection before 1815, and was thereafter mentioned in inventories of the contents of the so-called Royal Casket. This casket, kept in a place of honour at the Temple of the Sibyl in Puławy, held various valuable relics of the rulers of Poland and Lithuania and their wives. A comment appears in an inventory of the Puławy collection compiled prior to 1827, despite the lack of corroboration in other sources, that Sigismund Augustus would always have the diptych with him. This legend is reflected in Jan Matejko’s painting The Death of Sigismund Augustus in Knyszyn, where the artist portrayed the dying ruler with the opened diptych near the headboard. Up to World War II, it was kept in the Royal Casket.