History of the tombstone of Ladislaus Constantine Vasa
The history of the creation of the tombstone of Władysław Konstantin Vasa, located in Rome's Church of the Stigmata of St Francis, can be illustrated by the saying 'To be in Rome and not see the Pope'. For, as the last sentence of the inscription states, this 'monument was erected by Cardinal Giovanni Francesco Albani, friend of the deceased and testamentary heir'. We do not know the exact date when the work was completed, but we can suspect that it began after Vasa's death, on 19 March 1698, and was finished before 23 November 1700. The latter date coincides with the election of Albani as Pope (Clement XI). Two conclusions follow from this. Firstly, the work on the tombstone was completed before the conclave. Had it been otherwise, the new name of the founder would undoubtedly have been engraved by now. Secondly, Ladislaus Constantius did not have time to rejoice at the exaltation of his companion and did not see him in the papal tiara.

Polish tombstone chiseled by Lorenzo Ottoni
The wall-mounted tombstone of the last Polish Vasa was probably made by the renowned sculptor Lorenzo Ottoni. Among other things, this artist was responsible for elements of the Baroque decoration of the Baptismal Chapel in St Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, and he also restored, with Andrea del Pozzo, the Chapel of St Ignatius Loyola in Il Gesù. It should be noted that another possible creator of the Vasa statue, Ottoni's pupil Bernardino Cametti, is also mentioned.

Returning to the commission, however, it did not stand out for its grandeur or prestigious location, and yet the artist managed to create a valuable work, maintained in the spirit of the late Baroque, with elements of the coming breakthrough, and at the same time imbued with deep ideological semantics. For it is hard not to see that the tall, four-metre-high so-called blind polychrome portico became for the Polish prince - to paraphrase a saying about Rome as an eternal city - a gateway to eternal rest.

Wladyslaw Konstanty seems to face this fact proudly and looks down on us from the marble slab with unbroken serenity. His bust is decorated underneath with military and animalistic details; above, the cartouche shows the coats of arms of the Kingdom of Sweden and Gotland, the Vasa coat of arms depicting a sheaf, as well as the Polish Eagle and the Lithuanian Pahonia. Underneath the stele is a black slab with a shell-like shape, in which one can see a kind of foreshadowing of the Rococo style. It contains an inscription, which opens with a personal, emotional epitaph stating that the man buried here was famous for "purity of soul, courtesy and manners", and ends with information about the donor. Wladyslaw Konstantin Vasa, who is buried here, is not only periphrastically referred to as the son of the King of Poland, Wladyslaw IV, but also as "Count de Wasanhof" (comti de Wasanhof).

Vladislav Vasa's road from Lviv to Rome
Rome and Lviv - cities on seven hills. Why this titularity? Probably more than one will exclaim "Where Rome, where Crimea".
For an explanation, let us travel two thousand kilometres to the northeast - to Lwów, where King Władysław IV arrived in September 1634. He chose the representative Korniakt's Tenement House (known today as the Royal Tenement House) in the Market Square as his residence. It was there that he gave audiences and hearings. Among those who stood before the king were the Lvov bourgeois women, mother and daughter, Anna and Jadwiga Luszkowska. The women came to ask for support and succeeded in getting it, as the King appreciated the beauty of the eighteen-year-old Jadwiga.

Unlike in other cases, however, this was not a short-lived infatuation and the Lvov girl went with Waza to Warsaw, where she took rooms on the second floor of the Royal Castle. In 1635, a boy was born, the fruit of the union between Jadwiszka, as the favourite was called, and Władysław IV. The monarch was ready to give him up in marriage, but this was opposed by those who favoured a marriage between Vasa and a descendant of the Habsburgs or Gonzagas, led by Primate Jan Wężyk. The king, glad or not, sent his Venera, as he affectionately called Jadwiga, and his son to the provinces, having ensured them a prosperous life.

The situation changed after the King's death. From 1648, Jadwiga became the object of open attacks, which must have been so spectacular that to this day, the needle and pin cushion is called Jadwiga; this word reflects the number of insults aimed at Jadwiga, or, as others wish, reveals the sorcerous practices the woman committed.

The situation of the illegitimate son may have been even more difficult. In Poland, the young man was to take the surname de Wasenau (according to another version, this had already happened in Spain) and leave his homeland. So why does de Wasanhof appear on his tombstone? This could be explained by the Roman habit of germanising foreign-sounding surnames.

Władysław Konstanty in Rome
Although all roads led Ladislaus Constantine Vasa alias de Wasenau to Rome, they proved to be extremely winding. The prince first reached the court of King Charles II of England, and soon arrived in Spain via the Netherlands. Everywhere, he became known as a man of extraordinary refinement, education and love. He got involved in loud brawls, won the hearts of other people's wives, sang to his chosen ones under balconies, fought duels and sometimes, as was the case in Madrid, managed to escape.

In France, he negotiated with Jan II Casimir the Vasa so that the latter, after abdicating the Polish throne in 1668, would recognise him as his son-in-law (nephew). These efforts were only partially successful, and after his uncle's death in 1672, with a fraction of his inheritance, Władysław Konstanty Waza arrived in Rome, where his mistress was staying in one of the monasteries. At the Tiber, he not only continued his conquests of the heart, but also took up international politics thanks to his Swedish relative, Queen Christina Vasa. By the side of his powerful, educated relative, committed to promoting Catholicism in Europe, Ladislaus Constantine persevered to the end as captain of her guard. He spent the last 10 years of his life, already after Christine's death, in the habit, piously and virtuously.

The life of Ladislaus Vasa - a film history of the last descendant of the Vasa line
Roma locuta, causa finita (Rome has spoken, case closed) proclaims the Latin maxim, and this story would be crowned by the Roman tombstone of Wladyslaw Constantine Vasa. However, it is hard to resist the impression that this sepulchral monument is also like a Herbertian dot that makes us look more closely at events.

If only the earlier name of the church - in which Vasa's tomb is located - Santi Quaranta Martiri de calcarario, proves that in the Middle Ages this church belonged to the guild of lime kilns, who obtained their valuable material from the roasting of marbles, including statues. We dedicate this statement to the literati and directors. A scene of the firing of a marble Venus or a nymph in an embrace with a faun would be an excellent opening to a book or film based on the biography of the last representative of the Polish Vasa line.

1698-1700

Lorenzo Ottoni (rzeźbiarz; Rzym, Włochy), Bernardino Cametti (rzeźbiarz; Rzym, Włochy)

Andrzej Goworski, Marta Panas-Goworska