Constitution of May 3, 1791 (painting)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Constitution of May 3, 1791 (Jan Matejko)
The Constitution of May 3, 1791
Jan Matejko , 1891
Oil on canvas
246 × 445 cm
Royal Castle, Warsaw

The constitution of May 3, 1791 ( Polish : Konstytucja 3 Maja 1791 roku ) is a history painting by Jan Matejko from 1891. It was created on the occasion of the centenary of the constitution of May 3, 1791 and is not intended to be a photographic representation of the real event. but a synthesis of the last years of the aristocratic republic of Poland-Lithuania in order to capture the spirit of the constitution. The painting is one of Matejko's last painted and best known works today.

description

Painting guide

1 Stanislaw Małachowski, 2 Aleksander Linowski, 3 Ignacy Zakrzewski, 4 Tadeusz Kosciuszko, 5 Kazimierz Sapyeha, 6 Julian Niemcewicz, 7 MichaĹ zabiello, 8 Jan Suchorzewski, 9 Stanislaw Kublicki, 10 Franciszek Branicki, 11 Hugo Kołłątaj, 12 Feliks Turski, 13 Ignacy Potocki, 14 Adam Czartoryski, 15 Scipione Piattoli, 16 Tadeusz Matuszewicz, 17 Stanisław August, 18 Dorothea of Medem, 19 Elżbieta Grabowska, 20 Jan Dekert, 21 Antoni Czetwertyński-Światopełk, 22 Antoni Złotnicki, 23 a French Royalist, 24 Jan Kiliński , 25 St. Clemens Maria Hofbauer, 26 Stanisław Staszic, 27 Andrzej Zamoyski, 28 Tymoteusz Gorzeński, 29 Kazimierz Konopka, 30 a Christian Orthodox priest, 31 Paweł Brzostowski, 32 Antoni Tyzenhauz, 33 a farmer, 34 Józef Poniatowski, 35 Stanowski , 36 a young Jew, 37 an older Jew

The painting with the title Konstytucja 3 Maja 1791 roku corresponds to the dimensions 246 × 445 cm and is painted in oil on canvas. It shows the procession of the recently adopted constitutional document from the late afternoon of May 3rd, 1791 along ulica Świętojańska , starting from the Warsaw Royal Castle (seen in the background) to the Warsaw St. John's Cathedral (left background). The Royal Castle is the place where the Constitution was passed and the Cathedral is where the head of state will take his oath of allegiance to it.

Center

The main motif of the painting is the constitutional document in the right hand of Sejm Marshal Małachowski (1), who was the main author of the constitution. Here he is wearing a white French costume and is holding the marshal's baton in his left hand. Since the title page of the historical document only contains the weakly expressive title Ustawa rządowa (Law on the Government), the history painter Matejko chose the name of his painting for the title of the paper and thus determined it as the actual, central focus of the picture.

Stanisław Małachowski, the main author of the constitution, is supported by his two deputy Sejm Marshals Aleksander Linowski (2) and Ignacy Zakrzewski (3). They represent two of the most important regions in Poland-Lithuania: Lesser Poland (2) and Greater Poland (3). Under Małachowski's right hand a person can be seen with a bandaged head, carrying a flag with the national coat of arms of the aristocratic republic of Poland-Lithuania; this is Tadeusz Kościuszko (4). His wounded head is an allusion to the Battle of Maciejowice , which did not occur until three years later during the Kościuszko uprising in 1794. To Kościuszko's left is a person named by Wrona et al. identified as Prince Adam Kazimierz Czartoryski . Other sources deny that it was him.

To the right of Małachowski another person is carried: this is the second Sejm Marshal and Marshal of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania Kazimierz Nestor Sapieha (5). He wears more traditional Polish clothing. Between Małachowski and Sapieha, you can see the head of Julian Ursyn Niemcewicz (6), a well-known writer. He appears here to wear sapieha. The other one who carries sapieha on his right is Michał Zabiełło (7).

Below the central center, Matejko shows a scene that took place in the Warsaw Royal Castle shortly before the constitution was passed: The constitutional opponent Jan Suchorzewski (8), a Sejm MP from Kalisz , wanted to dissuade the king from signing the constitution at the last moment by threatening to kill his own son if the Constitution were passed, so that he would be spared the loss of the Golden Liberty and saved from "slavery to the Constitution". Here in the painting he falls to the ground and tries with one hand to pull his son down to him; He wants to kill him with a knife in his other hand, but Stanisław Kublicki (9) from Polish Livonia , standing next to him, is holding his hand back. Playing cards fall out of Suchorzewski's pocket, revealing his true motives for preventing the constitution: Bribery by the Russian ambassador Otto Magnus von Stackelberg and Hetman Branicki . In reality, Suchorzewski was not present at the procession (like most opponents of the constitution).

Other important people at the center are supporters of the constitution, among whom the Vice Chancellor of the Crown and co-author of the constitution Hugo Kołłątaj (11) is the most prominent. In the picture he gestures contempt for Suchorzewski. The priest who carried the Bible was supposed to be the Krakow Archbishop Feliks Turski (12), some also identify him as Tymoteusz Gorzeński . The people to the right of Kołłątaj are the Lithuanian Grand Marshal Ignacy Potocki (13) and perhaps Adam Kazimierz Czartoryski (14) (although some sources identify Czartoryski in the painting somewhere in the vicinity of Kościuszko). The people who surround Kołłątaj are the two co-authors of the constitution Scipione Piattoli (15) and Tadeusz Matuszewicz (16).

Left picture side

Matejko was not very enthusiastic about King Stanisław August Poniatowski (17). He portrayed him in a moderately pompous posture, hands outstretched to kiss, surrounded by numerous, pretty ladies; an allusion to his reputation as a womanizer. He climbs the stairs of the church portal and goes to St. John's Cathedral, where he is about to take his oath of allegiance to the new constitution. A woman hands him a laurel wreath (18); Sources identify her as Princess Dorothea of ​​Medem . Behind her (on the far left in the group of two women, of whom only the face can be seen) stands Elżbieta Grabowska (19), the king's mistress and mother of his children. Poniatowski's involvement in the procession in the painting is also one of Matejko's artistic freedoms. In reality, the head of state of Poland-Lithuania had already arrived at the cathedral before the procession.

The gentleman bowing to the king at the church portal is the former mayor of Warsaw Jan Dekert (20). He is accompanied by his daughter Marianna (38), who is turned away from the viewer of the picture, who occupies a leading position near the king. Dekert's inclusion in the painting is another example of Matejko's artistic freedoms with the historicity, as the former Warsaw mayor had already died six months at the time of the procession. Under the influence of Hugo Kołłątaj and Stanisław Małachowski, however, he campaigned for the strengthening of the cities and the bourgeoisie. During the four-year Sejm the representatives of the royal cities met in Warsaw, with Jan Dekert at the head of the delegation (called the “black procession”). On December 2nd he presented the king with a memorandum with postulates. In Polish history to this day it is associated with the Free Royal Cities Act , which was incorporated as Article III into the constitution of May 3, 1791. Matejko therefore wanted to have it immortalized in the painting, which seeks to capture the spirit of the constitution.

In addition to the two opponents of the Constitution, Prince Antoni Stanisław Czetwertyński-Światopełk (21) and Antoni Złotnicki (22), the black- clad French royalist (23), who looks scared, as if he feels the emergence of a second revolution in Europe, stands out. he tears his hand over the king's head. Among the onlookers at the bottom left of the picture is the citizen and leader of the Kościuszko uprising, Jan Kiliński (24). On his right is St. Clemens Maria Hofbauer (25), who, in keeping with the times, founded a school for the poor in Warsaw for 350 boys, a secondary school for girls and an orphanage. From Warsaw he worked as far as southern Germany and Switzerland.

Right picture side

The two reformers Stanisław Staszic (26) and Andrzej Zamoyski (27) immediately catch the eye. Zamoyski, who puts his arm around Staszic, is the author of the Zamoyski Code , with which he had previously tried to reform the aristocratic republic. Bishop Tymoteusz Gorzeński (28) from Smolensk can only be seen very small in the background. Below Staszic and Zamoyski, the secretary and Polish Jacobin Kazimierz Konopka (29) with an outstretched hand is more conspicuous ; he wears a blue-white-red flower on his hat and an ice ax in his hand. The inclusion of an eye-catching farmer who is on the fringes of (processional) society (33) also seems interesting: his passive expression is interpreted as a symbol of the indifferent attitude of the Polish peasants towards the reforms of those years.

On the right side of the picture, the king's nephew, Prince Józef Poniatowski (34), dominates the scene, who is shown here as the Commander-in-Chief of the Warsaw Ducal Army riding a gray horse and, together with his soldiers, keeps a protective eye on the procession. At the time of the procession, however, he was only in command of the Warsaw garrison. With his uniform, Matejko alludes to the fact that Prince Józef Poniatowski fell as commander-in-chief of the ducal army for his people in the Battle of Leipzig after the turn of the century .

After looking at it for a long time (as it is partly covered by Poniatowski's horse's head), the Sejm MP and General Stanisław Mokronowski (35) can also be seen in the painting. He was the leader of the Kościuszko uprising in Lithuania.

The portrayal of the two Polish Jews at the very margins of society was much discussed among art historians : The younger Jew (36) was described, if at all, as moved by the events . Most art historians, however , occupied themselves with the depiction of the elderly Jew (37), whose hand is making a sy , git gesture ("That's good" gesture). Some art historians want both Jews to be an expression of hope for further reforms that will improve their standard of living, while others clearly assign them to anti-constitutional opponents and describe the Jews as frowning as they see the end of the aristocratic republic coming. The latter interpretation is reinforced by the fact that Matejko assigned negative roles to the portraits of Jews in all of his paintings.

history

Matejko's sketch for the painting in oil on canvas, 1890

Jan Matejko began sketching paintings for his masterpiece as early as 1890, but did not actually start working on the original until mid-January 1891, shortly before the centenary. Although it remained unfinished by October of the anniversary year, during the May 3, 1891 celebrations, it had matured to the point where it was presented at the anniversary exhibition in the Krakow Cloth Hall . On April 7, 1892, Matejko finally presented his finished work of art to the Sejm Marshal of Galicia, Prince Eustachy Stanisław Sanguszko, and had it hung in the building of the Sejm of Lviv (today the main building of the University of Lviv ). It hung there until his death.

In 1920, two years after the re-establishment of Poland and the beginning of the history of Poland in the interwar period , the painting was transferred from the Sejm building in Lviv to Krakow, where it was hung again in the Sejm building from 1923. It was hidden by the Polish resistance during the invasion of Poland and World War II .

Painting Konstytucja 3 Maja 1791 in the exhibition of the Royal Castle in Warsaw

After the war, the painting became the property of the National Museum in Warsaw and only occasionally hangs in what is now the Sejm . It has also been in the collection of the Warsaw Royal Castle branch since 1984 and can be seen in the place Matejko wanted: in the anteroom of the Senatorial Chamber, where the constitution of May 3, 1791 was passed. After an extensive restoration in 2007, the painting shines again in its original beauty.

Painting technique

Matejko's painting technique used in this painting is very different from his earlier work. The art historian Wrede et al. returns this to his search for new techniques but notes that Matejko's contemporaries saw his departure from the old style as a setting star and did not welcome his change. It is also noticeable that Matejko usually took two years to produce paintings of this size, but that the "Constitution of May 3, 1791" was completed in less than a year (during a period when Matejko was working on and under suffered severe stress and depression). He also didn't like the 18th century with his Polish Enlightenment so much and stated that he preferred painting any other century. On the occasion of the centenary of the constitution on May 3, 1791, he felt only urged to create a work that dignifiedly commemorates the great event in Polish and European history.

particularities

The painting does not want to be a photographic representation of the real event, but a synthesis of the last few years of the aristocratic republic of Poland-Lithuania in order to capture the spirit of the constitution.

To identify the people in his paintings, Matejko generally provided a caption, but not with this painting. As a result, some people cannot be clearly identified to this day. Matejko's secretary Marian Gorzkowski made a sketchy caption, and although 39 people are recorded in it, Wrede et al. Claims that this "chaotic description" is of little help. Significant recent image analyzes were carried out by the two Polish historians Jarosław Krawczyk and Emanuel M. Rostworowski.

reception

During Matejko's lifetime, the painting was heavily criticized for its unclear composition or as "too crowded". Today it is one of the most famous masterpieces of Matejko, which in Poland and Lithuania is considered by the general public as a "lesson in national history". Historians refer to the constitution of May 3, 1791 internationally as the first modern constitution in Europe and, after the US constitution, the second modern constitution in the world.

literature

  • Włodzimierz Chybowski: Konstytucja 3 Maja [in:] Polaków dzieje malowane , Warszawa 2007

Web links