In the collections of several museums in France and at the Royal Castle in Warsaw, there is a set of sculptural decorations from the monument to King John III. The sculpture commemorates the monarch's victory at the Battle of Vienna. It was commissioned by the French bishop Armand de Béthune (1635-1703) and realised by his court artist Pierre Vaneau (1653-1694) in the capital of the diocese of Le Puy in Auvergne (central France). However, the monument never stood in the planned location and its elements were sold off after the founder's death.

Unusual discovery of the monument to John III
Just as the bicentenary of the Vienna Victory was approaching (1883), two historians (a Frenchman, Marius Vachon, and a Pole, Józef Łoski) independently of each other published information about a hitherto unknown monument glorifying John III Sobieski and attempted to reconstruct it. Elements of the monument were then in three different private collections in France. The researchers linked them to the patronage of Armand de Béthune, bishop of Le Puy, with family connections to the Sobieski family.

Monument to John III - general view
The assemblage of monument elements recognised by the researchers consisted of eleven relief panels and five full-plastic figures. The large rectangular relief panels show allegorical representations. These are: "Apotheosis of John III", "Apotheosis of John III and Prince James", "Hercules resting" and "Triumph over Islam" and 'Islam defeated', as well as two narrative battle scenes - 'Battle of Vienna' and 'Triumphal entry into Vienna'. This is complemented by four smaller panels with compositions of panoplies (decorative-symbolic motifs composed of white weapons and protective armour).

The Monument to John III and its elements
The main element of the monument, however, is the full-figure statue of John III and the four accompanying statues of captives.

The reconstructed monument was as follows. A monumental pedestal, formed by a two-tier plinth, provided the base for a life-size statue of the king standing wearing a laurel wreath and antique armour covered with a fur-lined delicatessen. John III Sobieski is girded on his chest with the sash of the French Order of the Holy Spirit (bestowed on him by Louis XIV) and supports himself on an ornamental Roman dagger (parazonium) held in his hand, now replaced by a sword. "Rhetorical" composition was completed by four figures of half-naked, chained captives, shown in dynamic poses and seated at the corners of the lower tier of the plinth. Two, with oriental hairstyles (donkey hair on shaved heads) and distinctive moustaches, can be considered Turks and Tartars, the other two - bearded - are representatives of Christian nations conquered by the Turks, who were forced to fight in the Ottoman ranks.

Two large panels on the lower part of the pedestal commemorate John III's decisive participation in the Battle of Vienna and his triumphal entry into the city after the victorious battle. They take the form of dynamic multi-figural compositions, with the Polish monarch and his son, Prince James, centrally exposed.

The next two compositions are allegorical representations whose subject is the apotheosis of the two Sobieskis. The first bears the Latin inscription: "VENIET DIVIS SUPERADDITUS ORDO / ALTERNO SURGIT LUX AEMULA SOLI" ("The divine order will come, the victorious light of the sun will emerge"). In the centre, against a background of orderly architecture reminiscent of a triumphal arch, is a standing figure of John III in Polish dress, supported by a shield with an eagle, with a laurel on his head, additionally crowned with a laurel by two female personifications (presumably of Peace and Consent). To the sides, Mars and Victoria point towards the king. In the background, statues of Bacchus and Neptune are set in niches, and to the right is an image of St Peter's Basilica at the Vatican. At the bottom - figures of cuffed Turkish captives among panoplies.

The second panel is completed with the inscription 'ARTIS OPUS, QUOD OPUS MARTIS, ERIT, / QUOD PRAELIAS PALMAE' ('The art is [to judge] how much the palm [of victory] was deserved by Mars, and how much by the battle'). In the centre of the composition is a medallion with a bust of John III wearing a wreath of flowers, held up by Slavs, and below it an oval tondo with the same image of James Sobieski wearing a laurel wreath, held up by Chronos, Hercules and a captive in chains. Surrounding this is a group of shackled, defeated Turkish captives among panoplies, and in the background, at the top, statues of the gods: Apollo, Mars, Hercules and Jupiter.

The third of the purely allegorical compositions - 'Hercules resting' - shows a semi-reclining sleeping hero. The hero rests leaning against a pile of objects symbolising various life activities and armaments, among which are an overturned jug, a crown, a torch, a quiver with arrows, a cuirass, and shields. On the sides, his attributes and symbols of his works are shown - a mace, the head of a Nemean lion and the heads of Cerberus.

On the second tier of the pedestal were panels referring to the victory over the Turks. "Triumph over Islam" shows, in an expressive, almost naturalistic manner, the bodies of the defeated Muslims lying amidst elements of weapons, with Jan III and four Polish soldiers on horseback with sabres in the background. "Islam defeated", meanwhile, depicts an eagle pecking out the heart of one of the defeated Turks, knocked down among piles of captured weapons and flags. It was crowned by four panoply compositions.

John III and the founder of the monument
After his victory at Vienna, Armand de Béthune wrote to John III that he would like to 'commemorate him for eternity' with images set up in nine towns of his diocese, depicting the king at the moment of defeating the enemies of the Christian religion. The commissioning of a monument commemorating the Polish king's triumphs by a French clergyman was due to family colligations. The bishop was related to John III's wife, Queen Marie Kazimiera (1641-1716). Her elder sister and at the same time godmother to Prince James, Marie Louise (c.1638-1728) married the bishop's brother, the Marquis François Gaston de Béthune (1638-1692), a French resident at the Polish court. Bishop de Béthune employed his court sculptor Pierre Vaneau to create the monument.

The monument was not the only work of de Béthune's foundation associated with the figure of Sobieski. It is known that the bishop's residence, the château at Monistrol-sur-Loire, had a large plafond with an image of the Polish king and four bas-reliefs depicting battles, also made by Vaneau. On the other hand, the bishop's palace at Le Puy had two portraits and a bust of John III, and there was also a room referred to as the 'chambre du Roi de Pologne'. It can be considered that the monument was an element of the bishop's self-promotion by emphasising his links with the person of the victor from Vienna and the Polish royal family.

The monument to John III and its fate
In the end, the monument made by Vaneau never stood in the public space. Moreover, it remains a mystery where exactly it was to stand. Perhaps the wooden elements were merely a model of the future stone monument. There is also an implication that it was to be sent to John III in Poland.

The detailed fate of the commissioned monument after Armand de Béthune's death is not fully clear. It is known that during his lifetime it was located in the castle of Monistrol-sur-Loire. When the bishop died in 1703, his private estate was inherited by his sister, who sold the sculptures to three different buyers. Finally, in 1866, the majority of the panels were acquired by Count Ksawery Branicki, who built up a collection of Polonica in his château in Montrésor. Seven pieces are still there today, including battle scenes and royal apotheoses. The sculptures of the captives, meanwhile, are on deposit at the Louvre in the Musée Crozatier in Le Puy-en-Velay. The statue of King John III, meanwhile, has found its way into the collection of the Royal Castle in Warsaw.