The Shuysky Czars before King Sigismund III in 1611
A Showing of the Restored Painting from the Collections of the Lviv Historical Museum
Wawel Royal Castle, March 15, 2013
The painting is on view in the Eagle Room in the State Rooms
The picture represents a scene that took place in the Senate Room of the Royal Castle in Warsaw on October 29, 1611.
It was the consummating event of Crown Hetman Stanisław Żółkiewski’s triumphal entry into the city. The military leader had defeated the Russian army at Kłuszyn (Klushino) in July 1610 and taken Moscow itself later that year. Having captured Czar Vasily IV Shuysky and his brothers, Dmitri and Ivan, Hetman Żółkiewski now presented them to King Sigismund III and members of parliament. The homage paid by these distinguished captives to the king of Poland, pictured with his son, Ladislas Sigismund, represented the crowning moment of the Polish army’s victorious campaigns of 1610 and the capture of Smolensk the following year.
Painted in the mid-1620s by an artist from the circle of Tomasso Dolabella, the picture is one of the few extant pictorial representations of these events. The va-garies of its history are not fully known.
Wawel Royal Castle, March 15, 2013
The painting is on view in the Eagle Room in the State Rooms
The picture represents a scene that took place in the Senate Room of the Royal Castle in Warsaw on October 29, 1611.
It was the consummating event of Crown Hetman Stanisław Żółkiewski’s triumphal entry into the city. The military leader had defeated the Russian army at Kłuszyn (Klushino) in July 1610 and taken Moscow itself later that year. Having captured Czar Vasily IV Shuysky and his brothers, Dmitri and Ivan, Hetman Żółkiewski now presented them to King Sigismund III and members of parliament. The homage paid by these distinguished captives to the king of Poland, pictured with his son, Ladislas Sigismund, represented the crowning moment of the Polish army’s victorious campaigns of 1610 and the capture of Smolensk the following year.
Painted in the mid-1620s by an artist from the circle of Tomasso Dolabella, the picture is one of the few extant pictorial representations of these events. The va-garies of its history are not fully known.
After World War II, it was transferred to the Lviv Historical Museum from Pod-horce (now Pidhirtsi) Castle. Earlier, in 1872, the picture had been restored—in effect, painted over—by Jan Kanty Lorentowicz, completely obscuring the original composition. At some point it had also been cut down; its overall condition was very poor.
The Shuysky Czars before King Sigismund III
in 1611, circle of Tomasso Dolabella, mid-1620s
oil on canvas, 340 x 340 cm; detail, before conservation treatment
The Shuysky Czars before King Sigismund III
in 1611, circle of Tomasso Dolabella, mid-1620s
oil on canvas, 340 x 340 cm; detail, before conservation treatment
The picture has been on loan to the Wawel Royal Castle since 2010. The museum’s paintings con-servators used modern analytical techniques to study the picture and successfully restored the work as closely to its original state as possible. This is the second joint project undertaken by the Wawel Royal Castle and the Lviv Historical Museum.
Clerical Senators – detail, before conservation treatment
Clerical Senators – detail, after conservation treatment
King Sigismund III and his son, Ladislas Sigismund – detail, before conservation treatment
King Sigismund III and his son, Ladislas Sigismund – detail, after conservation treatment
Czar Vasily IV Shuysky and his brothers, Dmitri and Ivan – detail, after conservation treatmentThe conservation and study program was conducted from 2010 to 2012, as part of the cooperation between the Wawel Royal Castle and the Lviv Historical Museum, with financial support from the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage of the Republic of Poland.
The Eagle Room in the State Rooms
