On display at Versailles is a valuable Polonicum Portrait of Stanislaus Augustus, the last Polish king, painted by the eminent French painter Élisabeth Louise-Vigée-Le Brun.

Portrait of Stanisław August in an ermine coat
A portrait in French collections depicts the Polish king, Stanislaus Augustus (1732-1798), coat of arms Ciołek. In the painting, the painter has depicted the bust of the king, in a slight turn towards the left, with his head turned to the right, looking out of the painting. The king is dressed in a royal red coat lined with ermine, a navy blue tailcoat and waistcoat, from under which a halter, i.e. a white neck scarf, is visible. The blue ribbon of the Order of the White Eagle is draped across the portrait's chest, while the star of the Order is visible on the coat. In the painting, the King is 65 years old, which the French portraitist depicted through the model's grey hair pinned back, the rounded oval of his face and the wrinkles, though few in number. The painter furthermore used an interesting trick, she framed the painted bust in an oval frame painted on a rectangular canvas. This made the image more intimate, according to researchers. The king in the portrait is serene and his image is full of dignity. And let us remember that Élisabeth Louise Vigée-Le Brun (1755-1842) painted this portrait of the king in tragic circumstances for him. After the third partition of Poland, Stanislaus Augustus was forced to abdicate in 1795 and went into exile. In March 1797, he arrived in St Petersburg, where he settled in the Marble Palace.

Stanislas Augustus and Élisabeth Louise Vigée-Le Brun
At the same time, Élisabeth Louise Vigée-Le Brun, a prominent French painter, portraitist of Queen Marie Antoinette and many European and Polish personalities, was in Russia. The painter had to flee France after the outbreak of the French Revolution. The King and Vigée-Le Brun met immediately after Poniatowski's arrival in Saint Petersburg, and the painting described must have been painted between late March and July 1797.

The king and the painter were united by their fate as exiles, their mutual affection and the king's admiration for the artist's talent. In turn, the painter wrote in her diaries of their relationship 'he called me his friend' [Élisabet Vigée Le Brun, 'Souvenirs 1775-1842', Paris 2015, p. 584 - Italian translation]. Furthermore, in chapter XXII of her diarium, Vigée-Le Brun described the king's visits to her studio and his appearance: 'Stanislaus Poniatowski was tall. His handsome face expressed gentleness and kindness. The sound of his voice was penetrating and his gait infinitely dignified, without any pretentiousness. He spoke with particular charm, possessing a high degree of love and knowledge of literature. He loved art so passionately that in Warsaw, when he was king, he constantly visited the best artists of the time" [Élisabet Vigée Le Brun, "Souvenirs 1775-1842", Paris 2015, pp. 584-585, - Italian translation].

This attitude, full of solemnity and respect for the king, seems to have been conveyed by the painter in the portrait she painted. Interestingly, she probably decided to paint the portrait herself, perhaps precisely because of the affection and respect she described for the exiled king. Equally interestingly, at the same time and in the same circumstances, the painter painted another portrait of Stanisław August, this time in the attire of Henry IV of Bourbon (now in the collection of the Bohdan and Varvara Khanenko National Museum of Art in Kyiv), commissioned by the king's niece, Ursula Mniszech of Zamoyski.

Immediately after the king's death, that same year, i.e. in 1798, the German engraver Ignaz Sebastian Klauber (1753-1817) produced a copperplate engraving of Stanisław August, based on the portrait described above, wearing an ermine coat by Élisabet Vigée Le Brun.

The fate of the painting
After painting the 'Portrait of Stanislaus Augustus in an ermine coat', Élisabeth Louise Vigée-Le Brun left it in her collection. After returning to France from many years of exile, the painter exhibited the painting at a public exhibition in Paris, the so-called Salon of 1802. Until the artist's death in 1842, the painting was in her possession and hung in her flat near Paris. After her death, her husband bequeathed the painting to the Louvre in 1881. Since 1921, the portrait of the Polish king has been on long-term deposit at the Palace of Versailles.

It is worth mentioning that the 'Portrait of Stanisław August in an ermine coat', by Élisabeth Louise Vigée-Le Brun, was first shown in Poland in 2011 at the exhibition 'Stanisław August the last king of Poland. Politician, patron, reformer 1764-1795' which took place at the Royal Castle in Warsaw.