A shared goal, the defence of Christian Europe against the expansionist ambitions of the Ottoman Empire in the second half of the seventeenth century, formed the cornerstone of relations between the court in Warsaw and the Holy See during the reign of King John III Sobieski (1674–1696). Sobieski’s celebrated victories over Ottoman forces, at Chocim (Khotin in modern-day Ukraine; 1673) and, most famously, at Vienna (1683), were greeted in the Eternal City with fervent enthusiasm. These triumphs gave rise to commemorative broadsheets, literary works and artistic creations that glorified John III and the kingdom over which he ruled. Around the tenth anniversary of the victory at Vienna, plans were drawn up to honour the Polish king with an equestrian statue to be placed in the vestibule of St Peter’s Basilica, opposite the monument to Emperor Constantine the Great. However, the circumstances of the day proved unfavourable, and the monument was never created.

Following John III’s death in 1696, a new chapter began in the Sobieski family’s relationship with Rome. In 1699, after the final failure to secure the Polish throne for one of her sons, the king’s widow, Marie-Casimire (Marysieńka), decided to settle in the Eternal City. As the spouse of the Defender of Christendom, she was received with marked goodwill. She eventually took up residence in the Palazzo Zuccari at Trinità dei Monti, which became a prominent centre of cultural and social life in Rome. She was joined by her granddaughter, also named Marie-Casimire, the daughter of her eldest son James Louis (Jakub Ludwik), and at times by her younger sons, Aleksander and Konstanty. Aleksander died in Rome in 1714 and was buried in the church of Santa Maria della Concezione, which belonged to the Capuchin order.

Marie-Casimire (Marysieńka) left Rome in 1714, but the memory of her presence lingers in the city’s surviving landmarks, historic monuments and collective memory. She invested considerable effort and resources in initiating various artistic projects designed to remind successive popes and Roman society of John III Sobieski’s service to Christian Europe.

The final chapter in the Sobieski family’s relationship with Rome overlap with the life of the king’s granddaughter, Maria Clementina (Maria Klementyna; 1701–1735). The youngest daughter of Prince James Louis (Jakub Ludwik) Sobieski, she married James Francis Edward Stuart, the Jacobite claimant to the thrones of England and Scotland. Following the Glorious Revolution of 1688, the Stuart dynasty had been deposed and lived in exile. James settled in Rome, where he enjoyed the support of the papacy. In 1719, despite opposition from the courts in Vienna and London, Maria Clementina joined him in the Eternal City. She remained in Rome until her death, and her presence there is commemorated in numerous sites and mementoes. Chief among them is her tomb in St Peter’s Basilica: an outstanding work of sculpture. It is here, in the Vatican, that our journey through the Sobieski legacy in Rome begins.

The Vatican
Map markers: 1 – Vatican Library, 2 – St Peter’s Basilica, 3 – Vatican Museums, 4 – Church of San Luigi dei Francesi

The collections of the Vatican Library include numerous manuscripts and printed works that reflect the close diplomatic ties between Warsaw and both the Vatican and Rome during the reign of King John III Sobieski. Among the manuscript holdings of the Vatican Archives (Archivio Segreto) is the celebrated letter written by the King two days after the victory at Vienna, which opens with the words: Beatissimo Padre, Venimus, Vidimus, Deus Vicit. However, let us leave the library’s treasures to the scholars and turn our attention to what may be discovered along the well-trodden paths of Rome.

In St Peter’s Basilica today, there are few direct references to King John III or the Battle of Vienna, though this was not always the case. Following Sobieski’s victories – at Chocim (Khotin in modern-day Ukraine; 1673) and especially at Vienna (1683) – spoils taken from the battlefield were sent to Rome. As emblems of triumph, they were formally presented to the popes and subsequently displayed in the Vatican Basilica. How long they remained there is uncertain, as the historical accounts differ. An equestrian statue of John III was also planned for the vestibule of the Basilica, opposite the monument to Emperor Constantine the Great. The idea, conceived around the tenth anniversary of the Battle of Vienna, was never brought to fruition. Today, the only surviving visual reference to the confrontation outside the Habsburg capital is a bas-relief on the tomb of Pope Innocent XI. It depicts a clash between warriors in classical armour and soldiers wearing turbans. Scholars disagree on whether the scene represents the Church’s eternal struggle with its enemies, or whether it does in fact depict the Battle of Vienna. Therefore, it is unclear whether King John III is among the Christian figures, though one theory suggests he may be seen in the background, on horseback, pointing towards an Ottoman standard.

In St Peter’s Basilica stands the impressive tomb of Maria Clementina (Maria Klementyna) Sobieska (d. 1735), who became only the fourth woman in history to be commemorated in this way: after Charlotte of Cyprus, Matilda of Canossa and Christina of Sweden. The design work began in 1739, during the pontificate of Clement XII, and was completed three years later under Pope Benedict XIV. Exceptionally grand and solemn, even by the standards of Roman Baroque, the tomb was designed by Filippo Barigioni, with sculptural elements by Pietro Bracci and a mosaic portrait by Pietro Paolo Cristofari. The iconography is clear and deliberate: the Queen’s image is supported by the allegory of Divine Love, holding a flaming heart and accompanied by a winged putto. Two further putti bear the emblems of royal power: the British crown and sceptre. Opposite Maria Clementina’s monument stands the tomb of her husband, James III Stuart, and their two sons, Charles Edward and Henry Benedict, created in the nineteenth century by Antonio Canova.

In the Vatican Museums, one can find one of the most celebrated Polish artefacts in Rome associated with King John III Sobieski: Jan Matejko’s monumental painting Sobieski at Vienna (4.58 × 8.94 m), prominently displayed in the Sobieski Room. Created in 1883 to mark the bicentenary of the victory at Vienna, the painting was presented to Pope Leo XIII as a gift from the Polish nation. The anniversary celebrations held in Vienna had largely highlighted the achievements of the Austrian and German forces, while downplaying the role of the Polish king. In response, Matejko sought to remind Europe of the true hero of 1683. The canvas was first exhibited in the Austrian capital, before being formally handed over to the Pope during a ceremonial audience attended by the artist himself, a large Polish delegation and members of the Polish community in Rome. The painting depicts the moment shortly after the victorious battle, when King John III entrusts Canon Jan Kazimierz Denhoff, incidentally buried in Rome, with a letter addressed to Pope Innocent XI. That very letter is preserved today in the Vatican Library. In the same museum, visitors can also view a fresco by Ludovico Seitz depicting the ceremonial presentation of Matejko’s painting to the Pope.

As one walks from the Vatican towards other sites associated with the Sobieski family – whether heading for Piazza del Popolo, climbing the Spanish Steps to Palazzo Zuccari, or making one’s way to Piazza dei Santi Apostoli or the Capitoline Hill – it is well worth visiting San Luigi dei Francesi, the French national church in Rome, situated near Piazza Navona. Most visitors gather before the three celebrated Caravaggio paintings dedicated to Saint Matthew, but our attention is drawn instead to the tomb of Queen Marie-Casimire Sobieska’s father, Cardinal Henri de la Grange d’Arquien. He lived to the remarkable age of nearly ninety-four (1613–1707), an impressive feat at the turn of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. His tomb, completed between 1724 and 1725 by Pierre de Lestache, stands at the end of the right-hand side aisle. It depicts the cardinal with one hand placed on his heart and the other holding an open book. An inscription on the marble drapery records that he was the father of Marie-Casimire, Queen of Poland, and the father-in-law of King John III.

Sites:
Vatican Library https://maps.app.goo.gl/a62he1tXbuhJvmuD6
Access restricted; prior contact with the institution required
St Peter’s Basilica, Vatican City
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 forthcoming entries:
Vatican Library and Museums: Sobiesciana at the Vatican (Banners from Vienna, Archival Records)

St Peter’s Basilica: The Battle of Vienna – the Relief on the Tomb of Innocent XI

Along the Hills: Pincian, Quirinal and Viminal Routes
Map references: 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 – Santa Maria della Vittoria, 13 – Istituto Religiose Orsoline

The Via Flaminia, the ancient road leading into Rome from the north, terminates at the expansive and grand Piazza del Popolo. For centuries, this square served as the backdrop to the formal entrances of visitors arriving in the Eternal City on political or religious missions. On 4 August 1680, the Piazza and the Romans gathered there bore witness to the arrival of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth’s ambassador, Michał Kazimierz Radziwiłł. Sent by King John III Sobieski, he had come to the banks of the Tiber to present an act of obedience, an official declaration of loyalty, to the reigning Pope, Innocent XI. A procession several hundred strong entered the square in carefully choreographed formation. The splendidly dressed ambassador was accompanied not only by numerous mounted attendants on richly adorned horses, servants, and detachments of janissaries and hussars, but also by exotic animals, including monkeys and camels. A priceless visual record of this event survives in a painting held in the collection of the Museum of King Jan III’s Palace at Wilanów. More than four metres in length, the canvas captures with remarkable precision not only the grandeur and pageantry of the procession, but also the architecture of the Roman square.

From the twin churches dedicated to the Virgin Mary, which mark the southern end of the Piazza del Popolo, three streets diverge: Via del Corso, Via di Ripetta and Via del Babuino. The latter leads to the famous Spanish Steps. Today, climbing the steps from Piazza di Spagna to the church of Trinità dei Monti is a staple of the tourist itinerary, but in the time of Marie-Casimire Sobieska, one could reach the Pincian Hill by a simple tree-lined path. The Spanish Steps were not constructed until the 1720s.

From their summit, one of the most striking views in Rome extends. At the southern edge of the square stands Palazzo Zuccari, with its distinctive portico – also referred to as a tempietto – its gently undulating façade supporting an upper balcony, now enclosed in glass. The structure was commissioned in 1711 by Marie-Casimire Sobieska and her son Aleksander, then residents of the palace. The design is usually attributed to Filippo Juvarra, the celebrated architect and set designer commissioned by the Sobieskis for their musical productions. Beneath the portico, above the palace entrance, is a crowned cartouche displaying the coats of arms of Poland and Lithuania: the White Eagle and the Pursuer (Vytis in Lithuanian, Pogoń in Polish, and Погоня in Ruthenian); and at the centre, in the heart-shaped escutcheon, the Sobieski family arms (Janina) and those of the de la Grange d’Arquien family, featuring three stags. This heraldic emblem remains the most visible trace of the fact that, more than three centuries ago, Marie-Casimire Sobieska once lived here. Today, the building houses the Bibliotheca Hertziana – Max Planck Institute for Art History, a leading German research centre.

In front of the portico, two streets converge, Via Gregoriana and Via Sistina, named in honour of Popes Gregory XIII and Sixtus V. Above Via Sistina, then still known as Via Felice, Marie-Casimire, shortly after taking up residence in the palace in 1702, ordered the construction of a wooden bridge linking Palazzo Zuccari with Casa Stefanoni, the residence of her father, Cardinal Henri de la Grange d’Arquien. Beyond his house stretched the grounds and gardens of Villa Torres (now Villa Malta), which also belonged to Marie-Casimire.

Continuing along Via Sistina brings us to the small street of Via dei Cappuccini, which leads to the façade of the Capuchin Church of Santa Maria della Concezione. It was here that Aleksander Sobieski was buried after his death on 19 November 1714 at Palazzo Zuccari, aged just thirty-seven. His tomb was created between 1727 and 1728 by the sculptor Camillo Rusconi. It is the final and one of the finest works of this great Roman master. He was assisted, among others, by Filippo della Valle, who will appear again in this guide in the context of the Sobieski family.

On the opposite side of Piazza Barberini stands Palazzo Barberini, now home to the Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Antica. Among its holdings are four painted medallions created for the funeral ceremonies of King John III Sobieski, held in the Church of St Stanislaus in Rome in 1696. Continuing along Via delle Quattro Fontane, one ascends the Quirinal, the highest of Rome’s seven hills. At its summit, to the west of the street, are located the former papal residence and the church of Sant’Andrea al Quirinale, designed by Gian Lorenzo Bernini. Our destination, however, is the small Church of San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane, the masterpiece of Francesco Borromini. In its sacristy is the tombstone of Cardinal Jan Kazimierz Denhoff (d. 1697), originally set into the nave. Denhoff served as King John III’s resident in Rome and, together with Tommaso Talenti, presented the banner 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 onto Via Nazionale. This time, the route leads us up the Viminal Hill. At the bustling Piazza della Repubblica stands the Church of Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri. Inside is an impressive sundial, inaugurated in 1702. Known as the meridiana or Linea Clementina, it was commissioned by Pope Clement XII. Set into the floor near the sundial are two bronze plaques installed by Marie-Casimire Sobieska. One refers directly to the Queen Dowager, who had arrived in Rome three years earlier; the other commemorates the triumph of her husband, John III Sobieski, at the gates of Vienna in 1683.

Not far from Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri stands the Church of Santa Maria della Vittoria. In its sacristy, several Turkish banners are preserved. Scholars disagree on which battle they should be associated with. While the 1683 relief of Vienna is often cited, other possibilities include the Battle of Lepanto (1571), the first Ottoman siege of Vienna (1529), or even the Battle of Ceuta in 1415. Janusz St. Pasierb and Michał Janocha suggest that the banners, or at least some of them, were donated to the church by Eleonora Maria of Austria, wife of Duke Charles V of Lorraine, and that they represent his spoils from campaigns against the Turks, including the siege of Vienna. Roughly one and a half kilometres to the north-east lies the building of the Istituto Religiose Orsoline. Its collection includes a beautiful plaster bust of Maria Clementina Sobieska, probably created in the second quarter of the eighteenth century. The sculpture, paired with a companion bust of Pope Clement XII, was recently restored.

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

Palazzo Zuccari: https://maps.app.goo.gl/3uWsjPrx64hBnkxe7 Viewable from the outside only

Villa Torres: https://maps.app.goo.gl/gAqmi2WMnE5DhYgt5 Access restricted; viewable from the outside only

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; prior contact with the institution required

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 restricted; prior contact with the institution required

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 linked to John III Sobieski from Palazzo Barberini”

Church of San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane: “Funerary plaque of Cardinal Jan Kazimierz Denhoff in 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

“The meridian in Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri”

Around Piazza dei Santi Apostoli
Map references: 14 – Palazzo Odescalchi, 15 – Palazzo Muti, 16 – Church of Santi Apostoli, 17 – Church of the Santissimo Nome di Maria.

Piazza dei Santi Apostoli may be said to mark both the symbolic beginning and end of the Sobieski family’s presence in Rome. The monumental Palazzo Odescalchi was the first residence of Queen Marie-Casimire Sobieska, widow of King Jan III, who arrived in the Eternal City on 23 March 1699. She was received by Livio Odescalchi, nephew of Pope Innocent XI, who had died a decade earlier in 1689. The palace made a deep impression on Marie-Casimire, who noted that it was “entirely furnished with extraordinary splendour: so many furnishings, paintings, statues and treasures.” Even after she took up permanent residence in Palazzo Zuccari in 1702, she continued to receive distinguished guests in the state rooms of Palazzo Odescalchi.

On the northern side of Piazza dei Santi Apostoli stands Palazzo Muti (then known as Palazzo del Re), which became the residence of James III Stuart, the Catholic claimant to the British throne, and his wife Maria Clementina Sobieska, the granddaughter of John III Sobieski and Marie-Casimire, and daughter of James Louis (Jakub Ludwik) Sobieski. Maria Clementina arrived in Rome in 1719. The early years of her life in the city were happy, but a protracted conflict with her husband, combined with her ascetic lifestyle, took its toll. She died at Palazzo Muti on 18 January 1735. After embalming, her body lay in state at the residence, before a grand funeral was held in the nearby Church of Santi Apostoli. Although she was interred in St Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican, her internal organs, removed during embalming, were buried in the church at Piazza dei Santi Apostoli. The Franciscan friars who administered the church commissioned a funerary monument to house the queen’s heart, completed between 1737 and 1738 to a design by the sculptor Filippo della Valle.

A short distance to the south, on Trajan’s Forum, stands the Church of the Santissimo Nome di Maria. On 12 September 1683, the Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Christian forces under the command of King John III Sobieski defeated the Ottoman army at the Battle of Vienna. To commemorate this event, Pope Innocent XI instituted the Feast of the Most Holy Name of Mary in 1685. The church dedicated to this title, conceived as a votive offering for the victory, was not erected until 1736–1751, to a design by Antoine Derizet. Masses are still celebrated there in remembrance of the Christian triumph at the gates of the Habsburg capital. The church also preserves mementoes linked to the relief of Vienna: a bunchuk said to have been captured by John III Sobieski himself, and a carpet traditionally believed to have come from the Grand Vizier’s tent. In the sacristy is a portrait of Maria Clementina Sobieska, one of many copies and variants of her likeness painted by Antonio David.

Sites:
Palazzo Odescalchi https://maps.app.goo.gl/4VLiUQX8NzVo3Dzh7 Viewable from the outside only

Palazzo Muti https://maps.app.goo.gl/MgNnFx93nxjsiVvPA Viewable from the outside only

Church of Saint Apostles (Santi Apostoli) https://maps.app.goo.gl/HtFQ1nFrMmtFm5tj6

Church of the Most Holy Name of Mary (Santissimo Nome di Maria) https://maps.app.goo.gl/ZgWcrSXJYaUoiirV7 Access restricted; prior contact with the institution required

“Epitaph for the Heart of Maria Clementina Sobieska”

On the Capitoline Hill and the Roman Forum
Map references: 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 – Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer

On Via delle Botteghe Oscure stands the Church of St Stanislaus the Martyr (San Stanislao), the national church of Poles in Rome. Together with the adjoining hospice, it once offered care to the many pilgrims arriving from the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. The church also served as a focal point for celebrating events of national importance. During the reign of King John III Sobieski, Pope Innocent XI is said to have prayed here, commending the King and his soldiers to God on the eve of their confrontation with Ottoman forces at the gates of Vienna in 1683. The funeral rites held in the church on 10 December 1696, following John III’s death, were especially solemn. Initiated by Cardinal Carlo Barberini, protector of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, the ceremonies were a major public expression of mourning. Among the church’s artistic holdings are three paintings associated with the Sobieski family: two portraits of King John III and one of Queen Marie-Casimire. Two of these: one depicting the king, the other the queen, were likely donated to the church during their lifetime. Also in the church is a floor-mounted epitaph to Franciszek Bogoria Zakrzewski, a member of Queen Marie-Casimire’s household. Born in 1680, Zakrzewski joined the Queen’s court at a young age and accompanied her to Rome, where he died unexpectedly in 1700, aged just twenty.

Following John III Sobieski’s triumph at the Battle of Vienna and his ensuing popularity, proposals were made to honour the Polish king in Rome with an equestrian monument. Alongside plans to place it in the vestibule of St Peter’s Basilica, the Capitoline Hill was also considered as a possible location. However, these ideas never advanced beyond the planning stage. Today, the only surviving trace of this ambition is a marble plaque in the Capitoline Museums, housed in the Palazzo Nuovo. It chiefly commemorates Pope Innocent XI and the heroes of the relief of Vienna. Among those named is “IOANNE TERTIO POLONIAE REGE SEMPER INVICTO” (“John III, King of Poland, Ever Unconquered”), the commander of the Christian forces. Unfortunately, the plaque is now difficult to see, as it was subsequently placed high up in a niche behind a staircase.

Also in the Capitoline Museums, in the Palazzo dei Conservatori, is a plaque dedicated to Marie-Casimire Sobieska. It commemorates her official arrival on the Capitoline on 2 December 1700. Set within a moulded frame, the plaque bears a lengthy Latin inscription and is surmounted by a sculpted bust of the Queen, executed by Lorenzo Ottoni. The text, rich in allusion, offers insight into the image Marie-Casimire sought to project in Rome. In the opening lines, she is credited with encouraging, or indeed urging, her husband to lead the relief of Vienna. Her piety is highlighted as the reason for her journey to Rome for the Jubilee Year of 1700. The inscription further notes that her visit to the Capitoline and the formal reception she received mirrored the ceremonial honours once granted to Queen Christina of Sweden. This was a deliberate and meaningful parallel: Marie-Casimire regarded the Swedish queen – who had converted to Catholicism, abdicated her throne in favour of her intended, Charles Gustav, and later settled in Rome – as a ceremonial and prestigious model for her own Roman presence.

The Roman Forum includes one more site indirectly linked to John III Sobieski. The Baroque Church of Santi Luca e Martina once served as the place of worship for artists affiliated with the nearby Accademia di San Luca. This institution offered theoretical instruction, hosted discussions for aspiring artists, and organised competitions in painting, sculpture and architecture. For several years, between around 1678 and 1682, two artists sent to Rome by King John III Sobieski were associated with the academy: Jerzy Szymonowicz, who adopted the noble name Siemiginowski, and Jan Reisner. Szymonowicz was awarded first prize in the academy’s top category for painting in 1681, while Reisner won the architectural competition the following year. At the time, the academy was housed next to the church, at what is now Via Bonella 44. In 1934, it was relocated to its present site near the Trevi Fountain.

Just beyond the Roman Forum and the Colosseum stands the Basilica of San Clemente. In the reception room of the Dominican monastery that oversees the church hangs a portrait of Maria Clementina Sobieska: a copy after a painting by Antonio David, depicting the Queen in a brown gown and a shawl covering her hair. North of San Clemente, beyond Nero’s famed Domus Aurea and the Baths of Trajan, lie two further sites connected with the Sobieski family. In the vault beneath the Basilica of Santi Silvestro e Martino ai Monti is a commemorative plaque to Cardinal Opizio Pallavicini, who served as Apostolic Nuncio to the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth between 1680 and 1688. The inscription records that funds were raised in the basilica to support King John III Sobieski’s campaign against the Ottoman Empire. Nearby, on Via Merulana, in the courtyard of the Congregazione del Santissimo Redentore (College of Saint Alphonsus), stands a marble plaque bearing a lengthy Latin inscription dedicated to Pope Innocent XII and Marie-Casimire Sobieska, dating from 1700. Before ascending the papal throne as Innocent XII, Antonio Pignatelli had served as nuncio to Poland between 1660 and 1668. He was the one who, in 1665, officiated at the wedding of Crown Standard-Bearer Jan Sobieski and Marie-Casimire de la Grange d’Arquien.

Sites:
Church of Saint Stanislaus the Martyr
https://maps.app.goo.gl/vP4HQ6X3YbvhqTav7
Access restricted; prior contact with the institution required

Capitoline Museums, Palazzo Nuovo
https://maps.app.goo.gl/5XPuBSyfVqW68qys9

Capitoline Museums, Palazzo dei Conservatori
https://maps.app.goo.gl/rFQDSHH7WnPRpmEC7

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

Church of San Clemente
https://maps.app.goo.gl/Z6Uw1gMeEAM49ca7A
Access restricted; prior contact with the institution required

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

Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer
https://maps.app.goo.gl/mxZt8cxP2wNPrY549
Access restricted; prior contact with the institution required

Trastevere
Map reference: 25 – Church of Santa Cecilia in Trastevere

When visiting the Church of Saint 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, amid growing tensions in her marriage, she left the Stuart court at Palazzo Muti and took up residence in the Benedictine convent adjoining the church. Two stone plaques commemorating her time at the convent have survived, though they are no longer accessible to visitors as they lie within the cloister. One is affixed to the external wall of the convent, facing the courtyard, by the window of the room once occupied by Maria Clementina and her small household. The second is set into the wall of a tiny gallery opening onto the church, where the queen would pray. Both plaques were commissioned by the Benedictine nuns themselves. The inscriptions reflect the warmth and affection the sisters felt for their royal guest. Numerous memories of her stay were also recorded in the convent’s chronicle.

Site:
Benedictine Convent at the Basilica of Saint Cecilia in Trastevere https://maps.app.goo.gl/RxDrbXC2JTJVHDcf6
Access restricted; prior contact with the institution required

“Plaque commemorating Maria Clementina’s stay at the Benedictine Convent by the Basilica of Saint Cecilia”

For advanced explorers – behind closed doors
Map references: 26 – Istituto Centrale per la Grafica, 27 – Museo di Roma – Palazzo Braschi, 28 – Biblioteca Casanatense

Rome is home to numerous institutions that preserve valuable works and historical objects connected with the Sobieski family: primarily prints and rare books, but also letters and manuscripts. These items are not on public display. A comprehensive account of all the libraries, archives, museum repositories and cultural institutions holding Sobiesciana would require extensive research, and likely a dedicated guide. Some of these paths have already been explored: the National Library of Poland, for example, continues to publish volumes in the series Polonica of the 16th–18th Centuries in Roman Libraries, available online: https://ksiegarnia.bn.org.pl/s/wyniki/seria/9/Polonika-XVIXVIII-wieku-w-bibliotekach-rzymskich. What follows is therefore a brief selection of sites and noteworthy items, leaving the rest to the most dedicated seekers of Sobieski traces in Rome.

The Istituto Centrale per la Grafica houses numerous portrait engravings, chiefly of John III Sobieski, but also of his son James Louis (Jakub Ludwik) and his granddaughter Maria Clementina. The collection includes prints depicting ephemeral decorations created at the Church of St Stanislaus for the funeral ceremonies of John III, the marriage of Maria Clementina to James III Stuart, her funeral procession from the Church of the Holy Apostles to St Peter’s Basilica, and the monument erected in her honour. Of particular interest are the copperplate matrices from which the prints were made. Three such plates, preserved at the Istituto, together form a striking and complex composition known as the Thesis of Taddeo and Urbano Barberini, the symbolic content of which includes references to John III Sobieski’s role in the Holy League. The plates were engraved in 1684 by Jacques Blondeau and Arnold van Westerhout after a design by Agostino Scilla. Also in the collection is a plate depicting the commemorative decoration of the Church of St Stanislaus created for John III’s funeral, executed by Francesco and Pietro Santi Bartoli after a drawing by Sebastiano Cipriani (1696).

Many remarkable paper-based objects related to the Sobieski family can also be found in the collections of the Museo di Roma at Palazzo Braschi. Among its prints are engravings also known from the copperplates held at the Istituto Centrale per la Grafica, such as the Thesis of Taddeo and Urbano Barberini and the depiction of the decoration in the Church of St Stanislaus for the funeral of John III. In addition, the museum holds several prints associated with Maria Clementina Sobieska: a frontispiece bearing her portrait from Parentalia Mariae Clementinae…, a representation of her funeral procession from the Church of the Holy Apostles to St Peter’s Basilica, and an image of the ceremonial decoration in that church. The ceremonies and ephemeral furnishings at Santi Apostoli are also depicted in an oil painting by the brothers Giuseppe and Domenico Valeriani, produced between 1735 and 1739. The Museo di Roma also houses an engraving of the funeral decorations prepared in the Capuchin Church for the burial of Alexander Sobieski, created by Francesco Faraone Aquila and Alessandro Specchi.

A copy of this print is also held in the collection of the Biblioteca Casanatense. This library, which dates back to the early eighteenth century, also preserves a fine engraving documenting the commemorative ceremonies for Maria Clementina Sobieska, organised at the Church of San Paterniano in Fano by the local bishop, Jakob Beni. The collection includes numerous early printed works associated with the Sobieski family. Among them are Les anecdotes de Pologne, ou Mémoires secrets du règne de Jean Sobieski III by François Paulin Dalairac, Histoire de Jean Sobieski, roi de Pologne by Gabriel François Coyer, letters addressed to John III and Marie-Casimire, and several dozen accounts of Sobieski’s victories at Chocim (Khotin in modern-day Ukraine; 1673) and, above all, at Vienna (1683). The Biblioteca Casanatense also holds a complete run of the newspaper Foglio di Foligno (founded in 1677 under the title Avvisi) from the period of Marie-Casimire Sobieska’s residence in Rome (1699–1714). Reports in this paper, including news of the Queen’s presence in the Eternal City, reached audiences beyond Italy, including in France and the German Empire.

Selected examples from the three institutions mentioned above offer a glimpse into the richness of Sobiesciana preserved in Rome. However, they represent only a fraction of what survives. As noted at the beginning of this guide, the Vatican Archives and the Vatican Library remain to be explored, along with the Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale Vittorio Emanuele, the Archivio Storico Capitolino, the Archivio di Stato di Roma, and many other repositories. In these institutions, determined researchers will find a wealth of invaluable material on the history of the Sobieski family in the Eternal City.

Sites:

Istituto Centrale per la Grafica https://maps.app.goo.gl/BzfCg37TqnQusNoH6 Access restricted; prior contact with the institution required

Museo di Roma – Palazzo Braschi https://maps.app.goo.gl/upM3Zkfz1sQAEohz5 Access restricted; prior contact with the institution required

Biblioteca Casanatense https://maps.app.goo.gl/jYt431PHq7RCsDqn8 Access restricted; prior contact with the institution required