The Royal Łazienki Museum hosts a masterpiece by Rembrandt van Rijn. The painting “Polish Rider” is part of the collection of The Frick Collection – one of the most important cultural institutions in New York. The vernissage was attended by the deputy minister of culture and national heritage, general conservator of monuments, Jarosław Sellin.

“We have the great pleasure to participate today in a unique ceremony, in the opening of an exhibition of international importance. (…) The masterpiece by the brilliant Rembrandt van Rijn from the collection of King Stanisław August Poniatowski will be available to the public in the Picture Gallery on the ground floor of the Palace on the Isle. At the beginning of the 19th century, it was exhibited here by the king’s heirs”, said Minister Sellin.

The deputy head of the Ministry of Culture recalled that the painting “The Polish Horseman” was offered to King Stanisław August in 1791 by Michał Kazimierz Ogiński – the great Lithuanian hetman, composer and writer. He noted that during the reign of the king, the work adorned the hall leading to the ruler’s private apartments on the first floor of the Palace on the Isle in the Royal Łazienki Park.

After the death of the monarch, the painting was handed over to various owners, but it remained in Poland for almost a hundred years. Finally, in 1910, Zdzisław Tarnowski sold it to the American financier, art patron and collector Henry Clay Frick. The masterpiece of considerable value at the time was hung in the magnificent interior of Frick’s New York mansion, which was converted into a museum after his death.

The Polish Rider will be on show at the Picture Gallery at the Palace on the Island until August 7th. The presentation of the painting was financed by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage. After four months in Warsaw, the painting will be on display at Krakow’s Wawel Museum.

Arkadiusz Słomczyński