The portrait - one of two images of John III preserved in the collection of the church and hospice of St Stanislaus in Rome - shows a bust silhouette, framed by an oval inscribed in a rectangle. The king, with his face and gaze directed at the viewer, is dressed in a caracena, with a red delia lined with dark fur, fastened with an elongated camouflaged buckle. From beneath the delia one can see the portrayed man's left arm, protected by a shoulder pad in the form of a lion's maw, from which flow leather straps, cut in half at one third of their height and braided. At the bottom of the composition one can see part of a sabre handle.

The portrait is in keeping with the popular type of likenesses of Jan Sobieski, the prototype of which was created even before the election. Despite Sobieski's assumption of royal dignity in 1674, this pattern was still taken up and - what is more - is the most numerous among the images of John III to be found outside Poland. Although his versions differ in facial characteristics, costume and armament components, and painting quality, the common iconographic source is clear. Janina Ruszczycówna convincingly pointed out that the prototype for this portrayal of Jan Sobieski was the representation recorded on a medal minted by Jan Höhn the younger in Gdańsk on the occasion of the victory at Chocim in 1673. Despite the different facial characteristics, a set of motifs building up the image of John III was found here, spread by numerous works that we can classify as belonging to the same iconographic type.

The painting, which formerly belonged to the collection of Count Izydor Czosnowski (1857-1934), chairman of the administrative council of the hospice at St Stanislaus Church, had previously belonged to Konstancja Piacentini-Okraszewska. It appeared in the collection of the Polish church in 1976 as a gift from Izydor Czosnowski's son, Leon. The portrait is distinguished by its artistic quality, although on closer inspection one can notice parts painted in a different way: the parts of the attire, especially the caracene, are worked out rather simply and schematically, while the king's face is painted with great sensitivity, valour, with strong contrasts of light and dark parts, which enhances the expression. The portrait reveals the painter's desire to render an in-depth characterisation with psychological features of the model. Despite the absence of royal insignia, the image exudes strength and majesty. Very close in composition and expression to the portrait of John III, dated 1675-1676, is in the Uffizi collection in Florence ( https://baza.polonika.pl/pl/obiekty/portret-jana-iii-sobieskiego-w-kosciele-sw-stanislawa-w-rzymie-1#photo=81951 ). This relationship certainly deserves further careful observation and research. Giuseppe Gerola, who wrote about this painting in 1935, concluded that the two Florentine images of John III were based on the works in question from the Czosnowski collection. Other examples falling into this iconographic type are represented by portraits preserved, among others, in the collections of the National Museum in Warsaw, the Capuchin monastery in Cracow, and, outside Poland, in the Bayerisches Staatsgemäldesammlungen in Munich ( https://baza.polonika.pl/pl/obiekty/portret-jana-iii-sobieskiego-w-kosciele-sw-stanislawa-w-rzymie-1#photo=81952 ).
It is also worth mentioning that in the collection of the Museum of the Polish Army there is a portrait of John III, identical in terms of composition and treatment, painted by Stefan Bakałowicz (1857-1947) at an unspecified time and donated to the Warsaw collection by Count Izydor Czosnowski in 1934. It is most likely that the painting is a copy of the portrait in question from St Stanislaus Church. Both Bakałowicz and Czosnowski resided in Rome, and the latter donated numerous cultural objects to institutions in Poland.

The portrait underwent restoration in 2024, thanks to funding from the National Institute of Polish Cultural Heritage Abroad POLONICA.

Technical data: canvas, oil; on the reverse there is a stamp with the coat of arms Kolumna and a sticker with the annotation 'Property of Count Leon Czosnowski'
. Dimensions: 72 x 59 cm (in frame 89 x 77 cm)
Origin: gift of Count Leon Czosnowski to St. Stanislaus Church