The common goal of protecting Christian Europe from the offensive policy of the Ottoman Empire pursued in the second half of the 17th century was at the heart of relations between the court in Warsaw and the Holy See and Rome during the reign of King John III (1674-1696). Sobieski's famous victories in clashes with Turkish forces, at Chocim (1673) and especially at Vienna (1683), were celebrated enthusiastically and intensively in the Eternal City. To celebrate these triumphs, pamphlets were also published, and literary works and art were produced to glorify John III and the country in which he reigned. Around the tenth anniversary of the victory at Vienna, the idea was taken up of honouring the Polish king with an equestrian statue, which was to stand in the vestibule of the Vatican Basilica, opposite the statue of Emperor Constantine the Great. Circumstances, however, were not favourable to the idea and the monument was ultimately not built.

After the death of John III (1696), a new chapter in the Sobieski family's relationship with Rome opened - in 1699, the king's widow, Maria Kazimiera, after the final failure of her efforts to obtain the crown for one of her sons, decided to settle in the city on the Tiber. As the spouse of the Defender of Christianity, she was received extremely kindly here. She eventually settled in the Palazzo Zuccari on Trinità dei Monti, which became an important centre of Rome's cultural and social life. She was accompanied by her granddaughter (daughter of her eldest son Jacques Louis), also Maria Kazimiera, and periodically by her younger sons, Alexander and Constantine. Alexander died in Rome in 1714 and was buried in the church of Santa Maria della Concezione, belonging to the Capuchin congregation.

Maria Kazimiera left Rome in 1714, but the memory of her presence persists in the places, monuments and collective memory that still exist today. With great effort and without sparing resources, she also initiated various artistic activities that reminded successive popes and the Roman public of the merits of John III for Christian Europe.

The final chapter in the story of the Sobieski family's relationship with Rome is the fate of the king's granddaughter, Maria Klementyna (1701-1735). The youngest daughter of Prince James, she married James III, a claimant to the throne of England and Scotland from the Stuart dynasty. As a result of the Glorious Revolution of 1688, the Stuarts were deprived of their throne and were in exile. James settled in Rome, where he enjoyed the support of the papacy. In 1719, against obstruction from the courts of Vienna and London, he was joined by Mary Clementine. John III's granddaughter remained a resident of Rome for the rest of her life, and her presence in the city on the Tiber is documented by at least a few mementos and many places. Foremost among these is an outstanding sculptural work, her tombstone in St Peter's Basilica at the Vatican. We therefore begin our journey through Sobieski's Roman traces from the Vatican.

Vatican City
Markings on the map: 1 (Vatican Library), 2 (St Peter's Basilica at the Vatican), 3 (Vatican Museums), 4 (Church of San Luigi Dei Francesi)

The collection of the Vatican Library contains a large number of documents - manuscripts and prints - which reflect the intense diplomatic relations between Warsaw and the Vatican and Rome during the reign of King John III. The manuscript sources section of the Vatican library, Archivio Segreto, holds, among other things, the King's famous letter written two days after his victory at Vienna beginning with the words: "Beatissimo Padre, Venimus, Vidimus, Deus Vicit". However, let's leave the library collections to the researchers, and turn our attention to what we can see when traversing the tourist routes of Rome.

In St Peter's Basilica in the Vatican , there are few references to King John III or the Battle of Vienna, although this was not always the case. After the victorious battles commanded by Sobieski - at Chocim (1673) and at Vienna (1683) - conquests were sent to Rome. As symbols of triumph, they were solemnly handed over to the popes and then hung in the space of the Vatican Basilica. We do not know how long they remained there, as accounts of their fate are divergent. An equestrian statue of John III was also to be erected in the vestibule of the temple, opposite the monument to Emperor Constantine the Great. The idea, conceived on or close to the tenth anniversary of the Battle of Vienna, never materialised, however. Today, the only reference to the clash at the walls of the capital of the Habsburg Empire is the relief on the tombstone of Pope Innocent XI. It depicts a battle between warriors in ancient armour and soldiers in turbans. Researchers disagree as to whether this depicts the idea of a struggle between the Church and its opponents or indeed a Viennese battle. So we are not sure whether King John III is shown somewhere among the Christian warriors, although according to one theory we can see him in the background, on horseback, pointing at the Ottoman banner.

The Vatican Basilica also houses the impressive tomb of Maria Clementina Sobieska (d. 1735), who was honoured in this way as the fourth woman in history: after Charlotte of Cyprus, Matilda of Canossa and Christine of Sweden. Design work began in 1739, still during the pontificate of Clement XII, and the tomb was completed three years later, when Benedict XIV was already on the Throne of Peter. This exceptionally monumental and pompous work - even for Baroque art in Rome - was designed by Filippo Barigioni, the sculptural parts were done by Pietro Bracci, and the mosaic portrait was designed by Pietro Paolo Cristofari. The iconography is clear and legible: the queen's image is supported by an allegory of Divine Love with a burning heart in her hand, supported by a winged putto; two further putti hold the symbols of royal power - the British crown and sceptre. Opposite Mary Clementine's tombstone is the tombstone of her husband James III Stuart and their two sons, Charles Edward and Henry Benedict, already made in the 19th century by Antonio Canova.

In the Vatican Museums , on the other hand, we can see one of the most famous Roman Polish artifacts related to John III: a huge canvas by Jan Matejko (4.58 × 8.94 m) 'Sobieski at Vienna', displayed in the Sobieski Room. The work was painted on the occasion of the 200th anniversary of the Vienna Victory, in 1883, and presented to the then Pope Leo XIII as a gift from the Polish nation. The jubilee celebrations in Vienna mainly emphasised the merits of the Austrian and German armies, belittling the role of the Polish king. Jan Matejko therefore decided to remind Europeans who the hero of 1683 was: his painting was first shown in the Austrian capital, and then presented to the Pope during a solemn audience attended by the artist himself, a large Polish delegation and the Polish community living in Rome. The work depicts the moment shortly after the victorious battle: King John III submits a letter to Innocent XI, the same one preserved to this day in the Vatican Library, into the hands of Canon Jan Kazimierz Denhoff (nota bene deceased and buried in Rome). In the same museum, we can see a fresco documenting the scene of the handing over of Matejko's canvas to the Pope, by Ludovic Seitz.

When walking from the Vatican towards other sites connected with the Sobieski family - whether heading towards Piazza del Popolo, heading towards the Spanish Steps leading to Palazzo Zuccari, or towards Piazza dei Santi Apostoli or the Capitoline Hill - it is worth entering the church of the French nation in Rome, San Luigi dei Francesi , located near Piazza Navona. Most visitors flock there in front of Caravaggio's three outstanding paintings dedicated to St Matthew, but we will be attracted by the tombstone of Queen Marie Kazimiera Sobieska's father, Cardinal Henri de la Grange d'Arquien. He lived for nearly 94 years (1613-1707), a truly impressive 'achievement' at the turn of the 17th and 18th centuries. The tombstone, made between 1724 and 1725 by Pierre de Lestache, is located at the end of the right side aisle. It depicts the cardinal with one hand on his heart and holding an open book in the other; the inscription on the marble drapery indicates that he was the father of Maria Kazimiera, Queen of Poland and father-in-law of John III.

Locations:
Vatican Library https://maps.app.goo.gl/a62he1tXbuhJvmuD6 * access to the objects limited / requires prior contact with the institution
St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican https://maps.app.goo.gl/nVgVKKavQisTadeM6
Vatican Museums https://maps.app.goo.gl/kpb79QRX1r5Nu5mr8

Church of San Luigi dei Francesi https://maps.app.goo.gl/N3vszF1X7XLkaejp6

Links to existing and emerging texts:
Vatican Library and Vatican Museums: "Sobiesciana in the Vatican (Banners from under Vienna, Archives) " - text by Marta

St Peter's Basilica at the Vatican: "The Battle of Vienna - relief from the tomb of Innocent XI" - text by Konrad

On the trail of the hills - Pincio, Quirinal and Viminale
Markings on the map: 5 (Piazza del Popolo), 6 (Palazzo Zuccari), 7 (Villa Torres), 8 (Capuchin church of Santa Maria della Concezione), 9 (Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica), 10 (San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane), 11 (Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri), 12 (church of Santa Maria della Vittoria), 13 (Istituto Religiose Orsoline)

The Via Flaminia, an ancient road leading into Rome from the north, ends in a vast, representative square called Piazza del Popolo . For centuries, it was the backdrop for the ceremonial entrances of visitors arriving in Rome for political or religious purposes. On 4 August 1680, the Piazza del Popolo and the Romans gathered there were able to witness the arrival of the ambassador of the Republic, Michał Kazimierz Radziwiłł. He had appeared at the Tiber by order of King John III to make an obedience on the monarch's behalf, that is, an act of obedience to the currently seated Pope Innocent XI on the Throne of Peter. The procession of several hundred people entered the square according to a precisely established formation. The splendidly dressed ambassador was accompanied not only by numerous riders on decorated horses, servants, troops of Janissaries and hussars, but also exotic animals such as monkeys and camels. The painting preserved in the collection of the King John III Palace Museum in Wilanów remains a priceless memento of the entry today. The canvas, which is more than four metres long, shows not only the magnificence and splendour of the retinue, but also captures the architecture of the Roman square with great accuracy.

From the twin churches dedicated to the Virgin Mary, closing the southern perspective of the Piazza del Popolo, the via del Corso, via di Ripetta and via del Babuino streets diverge. The last of these leads us to the famous Spanish Steps. Today, climbing them from Piazza di Spagna to the church of Trinità dei Monti is one of the must-do points for tourists, but in the time of Maria Kazimiera Sobieska it was possible to reach the Pincio hill by a simple path among the trees. The Spanish Steps were not built until the 1820s.

From the top of them you can enjoy one of the most beautiful views in Rome. The perspective of the Piazza Trinità dei Monti is closed on the south side by Palazzo Zuccari , with a charming portico (also called tempietto), based on a slightly undulating line, with a balcony on top - now glazed. This portico was built in 1711 on the initiative of Maria Kazimiera Sobieska and her son Alexander, who lived in the palace at the time. The designer of the building is usually considered to be Filippo Juvarra, an excellent architect employed by the Sobieski family as a stage designer for musical performances. Under the portico, above the entrance to the palace, there is a crowned cartouche, and in addition to the coats of arms of Poland and Lithuania (Eagle and Pogo), in the centre, in the heart field, there is the Sobieski coat of arms with the shield Janina and the coat of arms of the family de la Grange d'Arquien with three stags. This is today the most visible sign that Maria Kazimiera Sobieska once lived here, over three hundred years ago. Today, the palace is home to a German research centre, the Bibliotheca Hertziana Max-Planck-Institut für Kunstgeschichte.

Two streets converge in front of the portico - via Gregoriana and via Sistina, named after Popes Gregory XIII and Sixtus V. Above via Sistina, then still via Felice, Maria Kazimiera ordered a wooden bridge to be built as soon as she moved into the palace in 1702, connecting Palazzo Zuccari with Casa Stefanoni, where her father, Cardinal Henri de la Grange d'Arquien, lived. Further on, behind his house, stretched the buildings and gardens of Villa Torres (now Villa Malta), which also belonged to Maria Kazimiera.

Continuing along via Sistina, we come to a small street, via dei Cappuccini, which will lead us in front of the façade of the Capuchin church of Santa Maria della Concezione . In this church is buried Alexander Sobieski, who died on 19 November 1714 in the Palazzo Zuccari at the age of just 37. His tombstone was made between 1727 and 1728 by the sculptor Camillo Rusconi. It is the last and one of the best works of the great Roman master. He was assisted by, among others, Filippo della Valle, who will still appear in our guide in the context of the Sobieski family.

On the opposite side of Piazza Barberini is the Palazzo Barberini, now home to the Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica . In the collection of this institution we can find, among other things, four painting medallions made on the occasion of the funeral ceremony of King John III Sobieski in the church of St. Stanislaus in Rome in 1696. Continuing along via delle Quattro Fontane, we climb to the Quirinal - the highest of the seven hills of Rome. On its summit, located to the west of this street, are the former residence of the popes and the church of San Andrea al Quirinale, designed by Gianlorenzo Bernini. We, however, head to the small church of San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane , the work of Francesco Borromini. In it, in the sacristy, is the tombstone of Cardinal John Casimir Denhoff (d. 1697), originally set into the nave of the church. Denhoff was King John III's resident in Rome and, together with Tommaso Talenti, presented the pennant captured at Vienna to Pope Innocent XI in the chapel of the nearby Quirinal Palace.

We continue along via delle Quattro Fontane and turn left into via Nazionale. This time we climb the hill of the Viminale. At the busy Piazza della Republica is the church of Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri . Inside it we find the impressive sundial, inaugurated in 1702. It is called the meridiana or Linea Clementina, after Pope Clement XII, who commissioned its construction. In the floor, not far from the clock, are two bronze plaques, embedded there by Maria Kazimiera Sobieska. One refers directly to the widowed queen, who had arrived in Rome three years earlier, while the other recalls the triumph of her spouse, John III Sobieski, achieved at the walls of Vienna in 1683.

Close to Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri is the church of Santa Maria della Vittoria . Turkish flags can be seen in the sacristy. There is no consensus among scholars as to which battle they should be associated with, with, in addition to the relief of Vienna in 1683, the Battle of Lepanto (1571), the first siege of the Habsburg capital (1529) or even the Battle of Ceuta in 1415 being cited! Janusz St. Pasierb and Michał Janocha report that the flags (or at least some of them) were donated to the shrine by Eleonora Maria Habsburg, wife of Duke Charles V of Lorraine, and are his trophies from the wars against the Turks, including the Battle of Vienna. One and a half kilometres further north-east is the Istituto Religiose Orsoline building . Its collection includes a beautiful bust of Maria Clementina Sobieska, probably made of plaster in the 2nd quarter of the 18th century. The sculpture, together with the other pair, a bust of Pope Clement XII, has recently undergone conservation work.

Locations:
Piazza del Popolo https://maps.app.goo.gl/KtEPsERUyDNVcc9J8

Palazzo Zuccari https://maps.app.goo.gl/3uWsjPrx64hBnkxe7 * external access only

Villa Torres https://maps.app.goo.gl/gAqmi2WMnE5DhYgt5 * limited access (also from the outside)

Capuchin Church of Santa Maria della Concezione https://maps.app.goo.gl/dnS2JhzpbKfTnjJy9

Palazzo Barberini, Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica https://maps.app.goo.gl/1TMDjF9VBnZH9QJaA * access restricted / requires prior contact with the institution

Church of San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane https://maps.app.goo.gl/8H6QfmALj84NL3JY9

Church of Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri https://maps.app.goo.gl/CZePKxg2aBbkMYmc7

Santa Maria della Vittoria https://maps.app.goo.gl/u4zqKbj1mum8qty27

Istituto Religiose Orsoline https://maps.app.goo.gl/mVRAPiZwWfrDctxb7 * access to facilities restricted / requires prior contact with the institution

Capuchin Church of Santa Maria della Concezione: https: //baza.polonika.pl/pl/obiekty/nagrobek-aleksandra-sobieskiego-w-kosciele-kapucynow-w-rzymie

https://baza.polonika.pl/pl/obiekty/opis-pomnika-nagrobnego-aleksandra-sobieskiego-w-kosciele-ks-kapucynow-w-rzymie

Palazzo Barberini, Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica: "Castrum doloris and medallions related to John III Sobieski from the Palazzo Barberini" -article by Marta

Church of San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane: Tombstone of Cardinal John Casimir Denhoff from the Church of San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane https://baza.polonika.pl/pl/obiekty/pomnik-denhoffa-w-rzymie

Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri: https: //baza.polonika.pl/pl/obiekty/plakiety-pamiatkowe-jana-iii-sobieskiego-i-marii-kazimiery-w-rzymie

"Meridiana in Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri".

Around Piazza dei Santi Apostoli
Map markers: 14 (Palazzo Odescalchi), 15 (Palazzo Muti), 16 (Church of the Santi Apostoli), 17 (Church of the Santissimo Nome di Maria)

It could be said that the Piazza dei Santi Apostoli symbolically marks the beginning and end of the Sobieski family's stay in Rome. The monumental Palazzo Odescalchi was the first residence of the queen-widow Maria Kazimiera Sobieska, who arrived in the Eternal City on 23 March 1699. She was given hospitality by Livio Odescalchi, nephew of Pope Innocent XI, who died in 1689. The palace made a great impression on Maria Kazimiera, she reported that it was 'completely furnished with extraordinary splendour, how many pieces of furniture, paintings, statues and valuables'. Even when the Queen took up permanent residence at Palazzo Zuccari from 1702, she continued to receive distinguished guests in the representative interiors of Palazzo Odescalchi.

On the northern frontage of the Piazza dei Santi Apostoli is Palazzo Muti (then called Palazzo del Re ), which was the residence of James III Stuart, the Catholic pretender to the English throne, and his wife Maria Clementina Sobieska, granddaughter of John III Sobieski and Maria Kazimiera, daughter of James Louis Sobieski. Maria Clementina arrived in the Eternal City in 1719. The first years of her stay on the Tiber passed happily, but a long-standing conflict with her husband strained her strength, also damaged by her ascetic lifestyle. Maria Clementina died at the Palazzo Muti on 18 January 1735. After being embalmed, her body was put on display at the residence and a grand funeral ceremony was later held at the nearby Santi Apostoli church. Maria Clementina was buried in the Vatican Basilica, but her entrails, removed from her body in the embalming process, were deposited in the temple in the Piazza dei Santi Apostoli. The Franciscans in charge of the temple funded a tomb for the queen's heart, made between 1737 and 1738 to a design by sculptor Filippo della Valle.

A little further south, in the Forum of Trajan, is the church of Santissimo Nome di Maria . On the day of the Nativity of Mary, 12 September 1683, Christian troops led by John III Sobieski defeated the army of the Ottoman Empire at Vienna. To commemorate this, Pope Innocent XI established the Feast of the Holy Name of Mary in 1685. The church dedicated to it, which was also a votive offering for the victory in Vienna, was not built until 1736-1751 and was designed by Antoine Derizet. Mass is still celebrated in the church today to mark the victory at the walls of the Habsburg capital. The interior also houses memorabilia associated with the relief of Vienna: a mace believed to have been the booty of John III Sobieski or a carpet believed to have come from the Vizier's tent. The sacristy also contains a portrait of Marie Clementina Sobieska, one of the many copies and replicas of her portrait by Antionio David.

Locations:
Palazzo Odescalchi https://maps.app.goo.gl/4VLiUQX8NzVo3Dzh7 * access only from the outside

Palazzo Muti https://maps.app.goo.gl/MgNnFx93nxjsiVvPA * exterior access only

Church of Santi Apostoli https://maps.app.goo.gl/HtFQ1nFrMmtFm5tj6

Church of Santissimo Nome di Maria https://maps.app.goo.gl/ZgWcrSXJYaUoiirV7 * access to the sites limited / requires prior contact with the institution

"Epitaph of the Heart of Maria Clementina Sobieska" - text by Konrad

On the Capitoline Hill and the Roman Forum
Markings on the map: 18 (Church of St. Stanislaus the Martyr), 19 (Capitoline Museums, Palazzo Nuovo), 20 (Capitoline Museums, Palazzo dei Conservatori), 21 (Church of Santi Luca e Martina), 22 (Church of San Clemente), 23 (Church of Santi Silvestro e Martino ai Monti), 24 (Congregazione del Santissimo Redentore)

In ul delle Botteghe Oscure we find the church of St Stanislaus the Martyr ( San Stanislao ), the national shrine of the Poles. Together with the neighbouring hospice, it was a place providing care for the numerous Polish pilgrims arriving in Rome. The temple was also a centre for celebrating important events for our country. During the reign of John III, Pope Innocent XI prayed here, commending the King and the soldiers he commanded to God in the battle against the Turkish army at the gates of Vienna in 1683. A particularly solemn character was given to the exequies organised after the death of John III, which took place in this church on 10 December 1696 on the initiative of Cardinal Carlo Barberini, protector of the Republic. In the artistic collection of St Stanislaus Church there are three paintings connected with the Sobieski family - two portraits of King John III and a portrait of Queen Maria Kazimiera. Two of them (one of the king and one of the queen) may have been donated to the church during the reign of the Sobieskis. The church also contains an epitaph of Maria Kazimiera's courtier, Franciszek Bogoria Zakrzewski, embedded in the floor of the nave. Zakrzewski, born in 1680, found himself at the queen's court at a young age and travelled with her to Rome, where he unexpectedly died in 1700, aged just 20.

On the wave of Jan III Sobieski's popularity after the victorious Battle of Vienna, it was postulated that the Polish king should be honoured in Rome with an equestrian statue. In addition to its location in the vestibule of St Peter's Basilica in the Vatican, consideration was also given to placing it on the Capitoline Hill. However, these concepts did not progress beyond the idea stage. There is only a marble plaque on the Capitoline Hill in the Capitoline Museums in the Palazzo Nuovo . It primarily mentions Pope Innocent XI, as well as the heroes of the relief of Vienna. Among them, the commander of the Christian troops "IOANNE TERTIO POLONIAE REGE SEMPER INVICTO" (John the Third King of Poland Always Invincible) is also mentioned. Unfortunately, it is difficult to see it today, as it was secondarily placed quite high in a niche behind the staircase.

Also in the Capitoline Museums , in the Palazzo dei Conservatori , there is a plaque dedicated to Maria Kazimiera Sobieska. It commemorates her official arrival in the Capitoline Hill on 2 December 1700. The plaque, in a profiled frame, consists of an extensive Latin sentence and is topped with a bas-relief bust of Maria Kazimiera by Lorenzo Ottoni. The Latin text contains many references and, as we can imagine, presents the image of the Queen that she wished to create in Rome. In the first sentences, it presents her as the one who encouraged or urged her spouse to liberate Vienna. Then her piety, which prompted her to come to Rome for the Jubilee Year (1700), is highlighted. The text goes on to emphasise that her visit to the Capitol and the ceremonial welcome took place in analogous forms to that of Queen Christina of Sweden. This is a particularly important point of reference: for in a ruler who had converted to Catholicism and abdicated in favour of her would-be husband, Charles Gustav, and then settled in Rome, Maria Kazimiera saw a ceremonial and prestigious model for her stay on the Tiber.

The Roman Forum houses yet another site indirectly linked to Sobieski. The Baroque church of Santi Luca e Martina was once the sanctuary of artists associated with the nearby Academy of Saint Luke. This institution organised theoretical courses and discussions for art students, as well as competitions in the fields of painting, sculpture and architecture. For several years, between about 1678 and 1682, two artists sent to Rome by King John III Sobieski were associated with it - Jerzy Szymonowicz (who took the surname Siemiginowski after his ennoblement) and Jan Reisner. Szymonowicz won first place in the competition for the first (i.e. highest) painting class in 1681, while Reisner triumphed in architecture a year later. The academy was located next to the church, at via Bonella 44. In 1934 it was moved to its present location, near the Fontana di Trevi.

Already behind the Roman Forum and behind the Colosseum is the Basilica of San Clemente . In the reception room of the Dominican monastery looking after the shrine hangs a portrait of Maria Clementina Sobieska - a copy according to a painting by Antonio David, in which the queen is depicted wearing a brown dress and a shawl covering her hair. To the north of San Clemente, beyond the famous Golden House of Nero and the Thermae of Trajan, we find two more sites related to the Sobieski family. In the basement under the basilica of Santi Silvestro e Martino ai Monti , you can see a plaque dedicated to Cardinal Opizio Pallavicini, who was Apostolic Nuncio to the Republic from 1680 to 1688. The text on the plaque mentions that the basilica was used to raise funds for King John III Sobieski's campaign against the Ottoman Empire. Just next door, in via Merulana, in the courtyard of the Congregazione del Santissimo Redentore (College of St Alphonsus), there is a marble plaque with an extensive Latin epigraph dedicated to Pope Innocent XII and Maria Kazimiera Sobieska, dating from 1700. Antonio Pignatelli, before assuming the Petrine Throne as Innocent XII, was Nuncio to Poland from 1660 to 1668, and in 1665 he performed the wedding of the Crown Ensign John Sobieski and Marie Kazimiera de la Grange d'Arquien.

Locations:
Church of St Stanislaus the Martyr https://maps.app.goo.gl/vP4HQ6X3YbvhqTav7 * access to some sites restricted / requires prior contact with the institution

Musei Capitolini, Palazzo Nuovo https://maps.app.goo.gl/5XPuBSyfVqW68qys9

Musei Capitolini, Palazzo dei Conservatori https://maps.app.goo.gl/rFQDSHH7WnPRpmEC7

Santi Luca e Martina Church https://maps.app.goo.gl/u5gqWHqUwfM1WbJX8

Church of San Clemente https://maps.app.goo.gl/Z6Uw1gMeEAM49ca7A * access to facilities limited / requires prior contact with the institution

Church of Santi Silvestro e Martino ai Monti https://maps.app.goo.gl/aUQjCzyXsAXPox5f7

Congregazione del Santissimo Redentore https://maps.app.goo.gl/mxZt8cxP2wNPrY549 * access to the sites limited / requires prior contact with the institution

Zatibra
Markings on the map: 25 (Church of Santa Cecilia in the Zatibiria)

When visiting the church of Santa Cecilia in Trastevere, it is worth remembering Maria Clementina Sobieska, granddaughter of King John III, who lived in the Eternal City from 1719 until her death. Between 1725 and 1727, she regularly attended services held in this church. At that time, against the background of conflicts in her marriage, she left the court of Palazzo Muti and took up residence in the Benedictine nuns' convent that existed next to the church. Two stone plaques commemorating her stay there have been preserved to this day. Unfortunately, they cannot be seen because they are behind a cloister. One can be seen on the outer wall of the monastery building, facing the courtyard, by the window of the room inhabited by Marie Clementine and the small court that accompanied her. The other plaque is embedded in the wall of the tiny emporium, open to the sanctuary, where the Queen prayed. The founders of these memorials were the Benedictines themselves. The contents of the engraved inscriptions reveal the cordiality of the sisters and their great affection for their temporary resident. Numerous memories of the queen's stay at the monastery are also recorded in the congregation's chronicle.

Location:
Benedictine monastery at the Basilica of St. Cecilia in the Zatibirie https://maps.app.goo.gl/RxDrbXC2JTJVHDcf6 * access to the facilities restricted / requires prior contact with the institution

"Plaque commemorating Maria Clementina's stay at the Benedictine Monastery at the Basilica of St Cecilia" - article by Marta

For advanced visitors - behind closed doors
Map designations: 26 (Istituto Centrale per la Grafica), 27 (Museo di Roma - Palazzo Braschi), 28 (Biblioteca Casanatense)

There are a number of institutions in Rome storing valuable works and historical objects related to Sobieski made on paper, mainly engravings and old books, but also letters. These are not shown to the public. Describing all the libraries, archives, museum storerooms and cultural institutions of various kinds that have Sobieski in their collections would require extensive searches and probably a separate guide. Some routes have already been blazed, e.g. the National Library publishes further volumes in the series "Polonica XVI-XVIII Centuries in Roman Libraries" - they can be downloaded online: https: //ksiegarnia.bn.org.pl/s/wyniki/seria/9/Polonika-XVIXVIII-wieku-w-bibliotekach-rzymskich . Below, therefore, we will present just a few selected sites and a few interesting objects, leaving the rest to the most inquisitive seekers of Sobieski's traces on the Tiber.

The Istituto Centrale per la Grafica holds numerous portrait engravings, above all of John III Sobieski, but also of his son James Louis and his granddaughter Maria Clementina. The collection also contains graphic prints depicting the commemorative decoration in the Church of St Stanislaus made for the funeral ceremonies of John III, the marriage of Mary Clementine to James III Stuart, the funeral procession of Mary Clementine from the Church of Santi Apostoli to the Vatican Basilica, and her tombstone there. Of particular interest are the copperplate prints. As many as three matrices preserved at the Istituto Centrale per la Grafica make up an extremely interesting and complex composition of the so-called Thesis by Taddea and Urban Barberini, whose symbolic content speaks, among other things, of the role of John III Sobieski in the Holy League. The panels were designed in 1684 by Jacques Blondeau and Arnold van Westerhout according to a drawing by Agostino Scilla. The institution's collection also includes a plate depicting the commemorative decoration in the Church of St Stanislaus made for the funeral ceremonies of John III - a work by Francesco and Pietro Santi Bartoli according to a drawing by Sebastiano Cipriani (1696).

Many interesting objects on paper related to the Sobieski family can also be found in the collection of the Museo di Roma - Palazzo Braschi . In the collection of engravings are kept, already known to us from copperplate engravings from the Istituto Centrale per la Grafica, the Thesis by Taddea and Urban Barberini, or the depiction of the decoration of the church of St Stanislaus from the funeral ceremony of John III. In addition to these, the Museo di Roma has prints related to Maria Clementina Sobieska in its collection: a frontispiece with her portrait from the 'Parentalia Mariae Clementinae...', a funeral procession to the Vatican Basilica from the church of Santi Apostoli, or an occasional decoration in that church. The ceremonies and decorations in the Santi Apostoli are depicted in an oil painting by the brothers Giuseppe and Domenico Valeriani, made between 1735 and 1739. The Museo di Roma also holds an engraving showing the decoration of the Capuchin church made for the funeral ceremony of Alexander Sobieski, by Francesco Faraone Aquila and Alessandro Specchi.

A copy of this engraving is also in the collection of the Biblioteca Casanatense . In this bookshop, which dates back to the early 18th century, we can also find a beautiful graphic print documenting the memorial celebration for Maria Clementina Sobieska organised in the church of San Paterniano in Fano, Italy, by the local bishop, Jakob Beni, as well as many old prints related to Sobieski. In the catalogue we find, among others, François-Paulin Dalairac's 'Les anecdotes de Pologne, ou Memoires secrets du regne de Jean Sobieski III', or Gabriel François Coyer's 'Histoire de Jean Sobieski, roi de Pologne', letters to John III and Maria Kazimiera, or dozens (!) accounts of Sobieski's victories at Chocim (1673) and, above all, at Vienna (1683). The Biblioteca Casanatense also preserves a set of editions of the newspaper "Foglio di Foligno" (founded in 1677 under the title "Avvisi") from the period of Maria Kazimiera Sobieska's residence in Rome (1699-1714). The information it provided, also concerning the Polish queen's stay in the Eternal City, reached beyond Italy, including France and the German Empire.

The selected examples of objects from the three institutions mentioned above show how rich collections of "Sobiescians" have been preserved in Rome. After all, there are also - mentioned at the beginning of this guide - the Vatican Archives and the Vatican Library, there is the Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale Vittorio Emanuele, the Archivio Storico Capitolino, the Archivio di Stato di Roma and many other places where inquisitive researchers into the history of the Sobieski family in the Eternal City will find numerous and priceless materials.

Locations:
Istituto Centrale per la Grafica https://maps.app.goo.gl/BzfCg37TqnQusNoH6 * access to the sites limited / requires prior contact with the institution

Museo di Roma - Palazzo Braschi https://maps.app.goo.gl/upM3Zkfz1sQAEohz5 * access to facilities limited / requires prior contact with the institution

Biblioteca Casanatense https://maps.app.goo.gl/jYt431PHq7RCsDqn8 * access to facilities limited / requires prior contact with the institution