The busts of Maria Clementina Sobieska and Pope Clement XII, kept in the Ursuline convent in via Nomentana in Rome, have long remained beyond the interest of researchers. In the meantime, they are high-class sculptures, most likely made by Filippo della Valle.

The works are of plaster, so it can be assumed that they were models for bronze casts. However, such models are not known, perhaps they were never made and therefore both sculptures were eventually painted in a colour that imitated the nobler material. The busts were attributed to Filippo della Valle by Francesco Petrucci. The Florentine-born sculptor, active in Rome between 1725 and 1768, remained at the service of Clement XII (Lorenzo Corsini, elected Pope in 1730.), he was also involved in the execution of two prestigious works related to the Sobieski family in Rome - the tombstone of Prince Alexander Sobieski in the Capuchin church (as one of Camillo Rusconi's collaborators, 1727-1728) and the epitaph of the heart of Maria Clementina Sobieska in the Santi Apostoli church (1737-1738).

In addition, two busts of Pope Clement XII, clearly linked formally to the sculpture in question from the Ursuline convent, have been attributed to Filippo della Valle: a terracotta one from the collection of the Museum voor Schone Kunsten in Ghent and a marble one from the collection of the Museo di Roma -Palazzo Braschi. All these circumstances make the attribution of the sculptures belonging to the Italian Province of the Ursuline Sisters of the Roman Union to Filippo della Valle very likely. After all, it should be noted that, in the case of the bust of Maria Clementina, there are no known repetitions of it in any material.

The sculptures were originally housed in the Ursuline convent in the Via Vittoria in Rome. There Maria Clementina spent the first months after her arrival in Rome in May 1719, in anticipation of the official marriage ceremony with James III Stuart, the Catholic pretender to the English throne, which took place on the night of 1 to 2 September at Montefiascone (the wedding 'per procura' took place on 9 May that year in Bologna). Sumptuous flats were prepared for Sobieska at the Ursuline convent on the orders of Pope Clement XI (Giovanni Francesco Albani).

Clement XI was well acquainted with the Polish royal family: the widow of John III Sobieski, Maria Kazimiera, the three royals, and the granddaughter of the royal couple, Maria Kazimiera, Maria Clementina's elder sister. So when Maria Clementina arrived in Rome, he received her with great honours. Reportedly, he even offered her hospitality in the palace, but the royal Sobieska did not accept it and stayed at the Ursuline convent. The choice of location was not accidental: the convent was founded by James III Stuart's grandmother, Laura Martinozzi, a devout Catholic who died in Rome. The reception here of the pretender's wife to the English throne was a clear signal of the papacy's support for his cause. Mary Clementine remembered her stay well and appreciated the shelter provided by the Ursulines. In later years, she often visited them and donated numerous valuable objects, including embroideries and a richly decorated monstrance, and supported the convent financially.

The Ursuline convent in via Vittoria was confiscated by the Italian state in 1876. The National Academy of St Cecilia was established there and the sisters eventually moved to the building in via Nomentana 34, probably in 1900. The two busts also moved with the Ursulines. The sculpture of Maria Clementina is accompanied by a marble plaque with a Latin inscription, which came from the sacristy of the chapel of the former convent. It was founded in 1734 by Mother Superior Marie Josephine de Middelburg.

Next to the bust of Marie Clementina is a marble plaque with the Latin inscription:
. CLEMENTINÆ SOBIESKI MAGNÆ BRITANNIÆ
REGINÆ
QUOD SVA DIVTVRNA COMMEMORATIONE PRÆCLARISQUE
VIRTVTVM EXEMPLIS MONASTERIVM CELEBRIVS REDDITVM
DIGNIS REGALI SVA LIBERALITATE DONARIIS CVMVLAVERIT
MARIA IOSEPHA DE MIDDELBORG PRÆSES ET MONIALES
GRATI ANIMI MONIMENTVM POSVERE ANNO - D - MDCCXXXIV

In translation:
To Clementina Sobieska of Great Britain, Queen Mary Joseph of Middelborg, the Prioress and nuns gratefully erected in memory of her in the year of our Lord 1734, because by her long-lasting remembrance and by the splendid examples of her virtues [the famous monastery was] restored, where on dignified altars she deposited her royal freedom.

Both busts underwent conservation in November 2024, thanks to funding from the National Institute of Polish Cultural Heritage Abroad POLONICA. The work was carried out by Matilde Migliorini.

Technical data: plaster, painted in imitation bronze
Dimensions:

• bust of Maria Klementyna Sobieska: 100 x 74.5 cm (wooden plinth 20 cm high)
• bust of Clement XII: 105 x 83 cm (wooden plinth height 21 cm)