Jakub Potocki

Portrait of Jakub Potocki The painting, kept in the Sarmatian type, shows a portrait of Jakub Potocki in armour, standing at a table, against which he leans his hand holding a mace, the symbol of power (of the voivode which he was). The representation is accompanied on the left by an inscription specifying who the portrait depicts and his merits, and on the right by the Pilawa coat of arms. Painted by an unknown painter, it comes from the 17th century (partially repainted in the 19th century during an incompetent conservation) and meets all the criteria required for Sarmatian painting. The portrait comes from the former collection of the Potocki family, who took care to show their glorious lineage – ancestors meritorious for Poland. Some of these paintings, depicting members of the Potocki family from the Łańcut line, were taken by the last entailer when he left Łańcut for abroad, fleeing form the approaching Soviet front (July 1944). Jakub Potocki (born in Kamianets-Podilskyi around 1554, died in 1613 in Złoty Potok) was a Bratslav voivode, castellan of Kamianets and courtier at the court of Stefan Batory. He was also at the court of Sigismund Augustus, and during the reign of Sigismund III Vasa, he was castellan of Kamianets. For the merits during the conquest of Smolensk in 1611, he was appointed voivode of Bratslav. Married twice, he had five children.