Bust of Alfred Józef Potocki

Alfred Józef Potocki (1822-1889) was the son of Alfred Potocki, the first Ordynat of Łańcut, and Józefa Maria, née Czartoryska. In 1862 he became the second Ordynat of Łańcut. He was a politician who held the following offices: Minister of Agriculture, Prime Minister of the Austrian Government, and then Governor of Galicia.

The marble bust of Alfred Józef Potocki was made together with the bust of his wife Maria Klementyna, née Sanguszko (1830-1903) in Rome in 1856 by Pietro Tenerani (1789-1869), one of the most outstanding sculptors of late classicism. This artist was influenced by the work of the greatest sculptors of classicism: initially he was a student and assistant of Antonio Canova, later he became a collaborator of Bertel Thorvaldsen. He mainly made portrait busts. He portrayed his master Thorvaldsen, Roman personalities such as Pope Pius IX, and the European aristocracy. He was highly regarded by the Polish aristocracy who travelled to Rome.

The busts of the young Potocki couple (Alfred and Maria were married on 19 March 1951) were probably commissioned during their trip to Italy. They are maintained in the convention of a classicist, idealized portrait (on the bust of Maria, see Barbara Trojnar, "Bust of Maria Potocka, née Sanguszko, as in the past, in the castle in Łańcut", "Precious, priceless, lost", 2018, no. 1). The Count is depicted en face. His torso is covered by an antique-style, loose robe draped around his neck and draped over his left shoulder. Potocki's face is long, with a high forehead, expressive features, a hairstyle with lush curls at the temples.

Both busts of the Potocki family were exhibited in the Łańcut Castle in the Sculpture Gallery. In the times of the last Ordynat of Łańcut, Alfred Antoni Potocki, in the twenties of the twentieth century, the sculptures adorned the eastern corridor on the first floor of the castle, and in 1944 they were taken abroad. The bust of Maria, née Sanguszko was purchased around 1970 in Paris by Andrzej Ciechanowiecki and is the property of the Ciechanowiecki Foundation at the Royal Castle in Warsaw. Since 2017, it has been exhibited as a deposit in the castle in Łańcut. The bust of Alfred Józef Potocki was purchased in 2022 by the Museum-Castle in Łańcut.

Barbara Trojnar