The Sobieskis and Stuarts. Filippo d’Azon, “Parentalia In Anniversario Funere Mariæ Clementinæ...”, 1736

Filippo d’Azon, Parentalia In Anniversario Funere Mariæ Clementinæ Magnæ Britanniæ &c. Reginæ Habita In Aula maxima Collegii Urbani Coram Sacro Collegio [...] S. R. E. Cardinalium Jvssv Sacræ Congregationis De Propaganda Fide, Rzym : Tipografia della Congregazione di Propaganda Fide, 1736
National Museum in Warsaw

In 1736, on the first anniversary of the queen’s funeral, a ceremony was held in Rome, at the Collegium Urbanum, a seminary which  trained missionaries, operated by the Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith.

In the same year, the Roman publishing house of the Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith released Filippo d’Azon’s work entitled Parentalia In Anniversario Funere Mariæ Clementinæ Magnæ Britanniæ &c. Reginæ Habita In Aula maxima Collegii Urbani Coram Sacro Collegio … S. R. E. Cardinalium Jvssv Sacræ Congregationis De Propaganda Fide.

The text contains a speech in Latin written by d’Azon, which he made to the cardinals at the ceremony, as well as poetic eulogies dedicated to the deceased in many European and Oriental languages. Among the Latin poems written for the occasion were: an anthem about the life of Clementina, elegies in which the queen bids farewell to her sons and husband, a poetic letter from the river Tiber addressed to the Vistula, ‘Poland’s royal river’, and odes to Clementina’s sons. The publication was complemented by shorter verses in tribute to the deceased, printed in twenty languages, mainly Oriental, such as Arabic, Turkish, Tatar and Malabar. The printing house of the Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith was among the few in Europe that possessed a rich collection of Oriental typefaces. In 1737, an Italian translation of the publication was published, dedicated to Isabella Strozzi, Princess of Forano, entitled ‘Accademia Funebre nel giorno anniversario della morte Di Maria Clementina Regina della Gran Bretagna’.

d’Azon’s Parentalia is decorated with copperplate vignettes with symbolic representations of putti, made based on drawings by Domenico Muratori by Roman engravers Girolamo Rossi (1680–after 1762), Jean-Charles Allet (1668?–1732), Maximilian Joseph Limpach (fl. 1700–1730), and Vincenzo Franceschini (1695–after 1770). In some copies, the title page displays  a full-page engraving of Clementina.

The copy belonging to the National Museum in Warsaw bears an engraved portrait of Clementina Sobieska made by Miguel de Sorelló, based on a drawing by Agostino Masucci.