The Sobieskis and Stuarts. The Wedding of Clementina Sobieska and James III/VIII, Jan Nepomucen Bizański, 1830

lithographed by Jan Nepomucen Bizański after Anton Fritz and Agostino Masucci
lithograph on paper, 1830
National Museum in Warsaw

The lithograph depicting the wedding of Clementina and James illustrated an article by historian and linguist Jerzy Samuel Bandtkie (1768–1835), entitled “Marya Klementyna Sobieska, fourth daughter of Prince Jakub Sobieski…,” published in the periodical Pamiętnik Krakowski Nauk i Sztuk Pięknych (vol. I, no. 2, Kraków 1830). Inside the chapel, in front of the altar, the bishop of Montefiascone blesses the kneeling couple as James puts a ring on Clementina’s finger. In this scene, reminiscent of a theatrical performance delivered in candlelight, they are accompanied by a handful of courtiers.

The lithograph, printed at Piotr Wyszkowski’s workshop in Kraków, was the work of Jan Nepomucen Bizański (1804–1878), painter, graphic artist, and teacher associated with the Kraków School of Fine Arts, a student of Josef Redl and Anton Petter at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna. Bizański was primarily an author of historical paintings, portraits, and illustrations. The artist used Anton Fritz’s copperplate engraving on the same subject as a model, copying a part of the inscription. Its Polish translation emphasises the origin of “Sobieska, of Jan III, King of Poland, a Granddaughter.”