Barbara Radziwiłł

This engraving was based on the image of Queen Barbara Radziwiłł in the Radziwiłł family’s portrait gallery at Nesvizh. An earlier full-dress mid-18th century copy from the Nesvizh gallery is held in the National Museum in Warsaw. At that time, copies of the portrait engraved by Hirsch Leibowitz, showing primitive features that are characteristic of the prototype, were quite popular. The composition of the Nesvizh portrait is replicated in this engraving, made in the first half of the 19th century by an unknown artist, as is the costume and the inscription; but the Queen’s face is sublimated, thus approximating it to the ideal of female beauty in the Romantic Age. It should be noted that the artists of all the copies mentioned pictured Barbara’s famous pearls prominently. They are thought to have found their way into the possession of the English royal family after the death of Sigismund Augustus.

Text author Giedrė Jankevičiūtė

This engraving was based on the image of Queen Barbara Radziwiłł in the