A portrait of exceptional beauty by the eminent Polish painter Henryk Siemiradzki, now held in the collection of the Detroit Institute of Arts, depicts the Polish duchess Maria Lubomirska. 

Maria Wanda Eleonora Lubomirska, née Zamoyska, is shown in a three-quarter pose, from an oblique angle, with her face turned slightly towards the viewer. She wears a navy-blue dress trimmed with lace at the neckline and sleeves. Her hair is dressed up and adorned with a string of pearls; she also wears a triple strand of pearls around her neck, pearl earrings, and bracelets. In her left hand she holds a patterned red silk shawl and a fan: fashionable accessories of the period. The duchess is placed before a richly patterned background: bright oriental carpets, and behind her a decorative vase with ivy on a dresser. In the lower right corner, on the furniture, appear the coats of arms of the Lubomirski family (Szreniawa without the Cross) and of the Zamoyski family (Jelita). These emblems confirm the sitter’s identity and lineage, preventing confusion with her cousin of the same name, Maria Lubomirska, née Branicka (1873–1934), who was alive at the time. The portrait was painted in 1881 and belongs to a small group of portraits executed by Siemiradzki at that time. Among these is the “Portrait of Ludwik Wodzicki” of 1880, now in the National Museum in Kraków, in which the artist likewise portrayed his sitter in a three-quarter pose against a patterned background. “The Portrait of Maria Lubomirska”, however, is distinguished by its higher artistic quality, particularly in the masterful rendering of glossy, patterned fabrics.

Maria Wanda Eleonora Lubomirska
The sitter is Maria Wanda Eleonora Lubomirska, née Zamoyska, born on 16 October 1862 in Mołoczki. She was the only daughter of Franciszek Ksawery Zamoyski of the Jelita arms (1826–1916) and Albertyna Giżycka (1826–1917). In January 1881, in Vienna, she married Adam Lubomirski (1852–1893) of the Rzeszów and Rozwadów line, a deputy to the Galician National Sejm. Known as “Princess Mary”, she became a prominent figure in Viennese society, where she organised the social life of the local Polish community and was active in Polish patriotic causes. From 1901 she was co-owner of the castle at Nowy Wiśnicz. She died in 1945 in Kraków.

Henryk Siemiradzki
The painter Henryk Siemiradzki (1843–1902) was one of the foremost representatives of Academic art in Poland. He is best known for his large-format canvases depicting scenes from ancient Roman history, though he also produced biblical and allegorical compositions. Portraits, however, were only an occasional part of his oeuvre. Siemiradzki was born in Kharkiv and received his early education there, later studying at the Imperial Academy of Fine Arts in St Petersburg. After completing his training he travelled widely, visiting Warsaw, Kraków, Vienna, Munich, Dresden, Florence, Verona and Naples, before settling permanently in Rome in May 1872. It was there that his artistic career flourished, and the late 1870s and early 1880s marked the apogee of his fame. His works were shown not only in Rome but also in other European capitals, bringing him international recognition. He was elected to the Academy of St Luke in Rome, as well as to the academies in Paris, Berlin, Turin and Stockholm. His success enabled him to build a luxurious villa in the Eternal City, which became both his residence and studio. The villa soon turned into a social landmark: a meeting place for members of the Polish elite and a tourist attraction for visitors to Rome.

History of the Painting
Signed and dated in the lower left corner, the portrait was painted in Rome in 1881, when Maria was nineteen years old and newly married to Adam Lubomirski (1852–1893). It was probably executed during the couple’s stay in the Eternal City, perhaps on their honeymoon, when they visited Siemiradzki’s celebrated atelier. From the time of its creation the painting remained in family hands. In 1977 it was inherited by Maria Lubomirska’s great-granddaughter, who in 1981 sold it to the Heim Gallery in London, run by the Polish art dealer and collector Andrzej Stanisław Ciechanowiecki. Later that same year the gallery sold the work to the Detroit Institute of Arts, as confirmed by Heim Gallery invoices preserved at the Getty Research Institute.