The Croatian archipelago has a total of around 1,000 islands, islets and reefs. It so happened that one of them was home to one of the best collections of Polish art. Or at least it was so until 1922, when its owner and one of the most prominent Polish collectors was forced by illness and financial circumstances to sell it. That collector was Count Ignacy Milewski (1846-1926), and the place was the island of St Catherine near the town of Rovinj in Istria, Croatia. There was a splendidly situated palace in a small, paradisiacal, marvellous garden, which Milewski had at one time ordered to be created on the island. He was also buried there, in the local cemetery. The collection he assembled, however, was not - if it can be described as such - simply a collection of around 200 works of Polish painting. It was a truly monumental collection, created with expertise, as the "Świat" wrote in 1923. Unfortunately, its dispersal could not be prevented. The skillful eye of the collector can be evidenced by the fact that the collection included paintings such as "Babie lata" by Jan Chełmoński, "Coffin of a peasant" or "Jewess with lemons" by Aleksander Gierymski, "Stańczyk" Jan Matejko, "Actors in front of Hamlet" by Władysław Czachórski, "Fishermen or Catching Crayfish" by Leon Wyczółkowski, paintings by Józef Pankiewicz, Leon Wyczółkowski, Jan Stanisławski, Jacek Malczewski and Jan Matejko and many other outstanding works. In addition to Aleksander Gierymski, whose work Milewski particularly valued, there were also several canvases by another artist of his liking, Wincenty Wodzinowski. He was, by the way, a demanding collector, even - as Franciszek Klein described it - 'Gierymski in Munich - when Milewski arrived - would lock himself away from him in his studio. Milewski, who bought almost everything that Gierymski painted - sometimes violently entered his studio. He was similarly loathed by Malczewski, which, however, did not deter the passionate collector from realizing his intention. It can be said that for a number of years around 1890, almost all eminent Polish painters worked mainly for Milewski".

Ignacy Milewski focused his attention on building up a collection of self-portraits of Polish artists - among the works he collected was a self-portrait, albeit unfinished, of Anna Bilińska-Bohdanowic. Such an undertaking was inspired by the famous collection of the Uffizi Gallery in Florence. Milewski expected the works to have a uniform format, showing the artists standing in the same pose - en face, depicted life-size, up to their knees, with a palette in hand, a characteristic attribute of each painter. Jan Matejko, however, decided not to follow this path, creating a self-portrait sitting in an armchair. In the end, the collector amassed almost twenty self-portraits, including the extremely highly regarded Aleksander Gierymski, but also paintings by Teodor Axentowicz, Jacek Malczewski, Józef Piotrowski, Wincenty Wodzinowski and Franciszek Żmurka. This consciously built-up part of the collection has also, unfortunately, not been preserved in a single collection, although some of the paintings were purchased by the National Museum in Warsaw in 1922. In Fine Arts (1926/1927, pp. 421-432), Franciszek Klein wrote about the irreparable loss of Milewski's collection not being purchased by the Polish government: "When Count Korwin Milewski died shortly after the World War, the threat of sale hung over his beloved gallery. One might have assumed that our government would take advantage of this unique opportunity and purchase the collection offered to it for sale immediately. However, the opposite happened. The collection was not purchased by the government, probably because those to whom it belonged in the first place did not know how to inform the decisive factors sufficiently of the need to buy it. I am convinced that if there had been a man at the head of the art department at the time who seriously understood the duties of the highest official in the state in the field of art and artistic culture - disaster would not have occurred. Instead of the art department keeping a watchful eye on such collections, so that no changes to the composition of the collection could have taken place without its knowledge, quite the opposite happened. The opportunity offered to sell the collection was completely missed. It was simply torn up, i.e. sold off one by one in Vienna. Those who wanted it bought it. Many of these masterpieces of painting became the property of art dealers, who then disposed of them at a high profit. One Warsaw dealer, Abe Gutnajer, among others, acquired a number of paintings by A. Gierymski, Chełmoński, J. Brandt, A. W. Kowalski, L. Wyczółkowski, J. Matejko and others. One of the finest canvases, Matejko's own portrait, was bought by the National Museum in Warsaw, paying about twenty times the original price paid by A. Gutnajer. Other paintings followed suit. And so this unique collection ceased to exist. For Polish culture, this is an irreparable loss, as it is impossible to collect it a second time. A small part of it, a dozen or so canvases, was bought by a Viennese lawyer, a Pole, Dr Emil Merwin, from the Polish embassy in Vienna. I saw the rest of this collection folded up in the attic, in a tiny room. There were fifteen self-portraits and a dozen or so large canvases by Malczewski, Wywiórski, Wodzinowski, and among them such magnificent paintings as A. Gierymski's "Angel of the Lord" and Pruszkowski's "Vision". Truly, this room in the tiny attic lavatory, where these huge canvases, one leaning against the other, crumple, rub and destroy each other - is awful. Seeing this - I ran away from there, because I could not watch this destruction of such great works of Polish art. A year or two ago - as I mentioned - Director Gembarzewski purchased a wonderful self-portrait by Matejko for the Warsaw Museum. What a pity it was not taken advantage of at the time, when the entire collection was for sale at a relatively low price. I am convinced that with goodwill the money would certainly have been found. But just as in the art department, there was no realisation of the significance of this unique collection. Thus, the lack of responsible people with expertise in leading positions did irreparable damage to Polish culture".

Ignacy Milewski began to compile his collection around 1880, doing so very consciously from the outset - as he himself wrote: "Wanting to have a collection that is more or less complete and constitutes an original whole, even if modest in size, I must limit myself to certain frames and as such I have chosen a speciality such as the New Pinakothek in Munich. I therefore buy paintings by artists-originals, currently living, and only among those who belong or belonged to the Munich school". An important feature of Milewski's collection was its national character. And it was not just that he bought works by Polish artists, but also their selection; he was primarily interested in the native landscape and historical scenes. This collection was a story about the persistence of Polish identity under the partitions. On the other hand, Munich realism seemed to him a remedy for the excessive pathos and exaltation often accompanying the Poles. He believed that the time had come for great artists, individuals whose work became the spirit of the nation, and who - as he himself remarked - "will probably not have their successors". By the way, for all his sensitivity, it has to be said that he concentrated almost exclusively on artists with their origins in Munich, with some of whom he was in fact still closely acquainted from his student days. He was probably a little sentimental in this view, but it also allowed him to create a very coherent collection. And his excellent knowledge of this school allowed the count to brilliantly pick up outstanding works originating from this school.

After studying law at Dopart in 1870, Milewski entered the Munich academy, where he realised there was no chance of a career as an artist. Thanks to his family fortune, he could instead afford to become a collector. During this time, he also acquired a count's title from the Vatican, which was also due to his family. The latter, however, did not appreciate the supposed honour, which may have been due to family conflicts; suffice it to say that they happened to sign 'not count'. He led an eccentric and adventurous life in which there was no shortage of scandals, such as his affair with the much younger Krakow beauty Cecylia Włodzimierska, who at the time pretended to be his daughter. The story ended in scandal, and Wlodzimierska's new admirer was shot by the Count. The press of the time described the incident as follows: "The dailies devoted whole columns to the scandalous incident between Ignacy Korwin Milewski of Vilnius and Cecilia Wlodzimierska, wife of a divorced industrialist from Krakow. Wlodzimierska, who had formerly maintained relations and travelled with Milewski, demanded, through her lawyer Frischeiner in Vienna, the payment of promised money and the return of compromising letters. Yesterday Milewski arrived in Vienna. Waiting for him at the station were Wlodzimierska and a certain Barber, a young estate owner from Bukovina. Milewski responded to the demand for the return of the letters with a verbal insult. Barber punched him in the face. Milewski took out a revolver and fired several shots, wounding Barber in the stomach. Milewski was arrested and taken to criminal court. Today he was released on his own recognizance with a heart condition, with bail of 80,000 kroner. Barber, who introduced himself as Vladimierskaya's fiancé, is not in danger". It was after this scandal that Milewski decided to purchase the island of St Catherine from the Archduke heir to the throne Ferdinand d'Este and settle there.

The island is indeed unique, opening onto a picturesque town on one side and open sea waters on the other. It is close enough to the mainland to provide comfortable movement, but at the same time a certain remoteness offers protection from intruders. These Milewski did not wish in his private arcadia and the townspeople were forbidden access to the island. The project itself was quite an undertaking, with the stony island being covered with earth to create a park, the beaches arranged, and the culmination of the project was a palace commissioned to Teodor Talowski. In 2000, after years of neglect, it was converted into an elegant hotel, at the same time as being rebuilt. However, its classicist form is somewhat surprising compared to Talowski's extravagant designs. The palace in the centre of the island, which belonged to the previous owners of the island, the Califfi family, was partly used in its construction. At first glance, the palace has a classicist character, but not entirely. There are elements that give the building a more individual character, such as the wooden staircase. Probably also the furnishings and unpreserved details gave the palace a slightly different character, traces of which can be found in the chandeliers or the decorative floor. The second building on the island was designed from scratch by Talowski, was located near the former monastery complex, which was falling into disrepair, and was intended for Milewski's guests.

However, it was not only scandals and a love of art that accompanied Milewski. His journalism was valued, and he was involved in social issues, including being one of the founders of the first ambulance service in Vilnius.

Regardless of the scandals and brawls in which the Count got involved, his knowledge of art and intuition cannot be denied. Unfortunately, despite the fact that he wanted to donate his collection to public collections several times, this did not materialise. For some time, the collection was located in Vilnius at the Milewski Palace, where it was made available to the public. Later, he wanted to place it in Kraków, where he wanted to build a special pavilion for this purpose in 1934. However, the city did not agree to donate the land on Szczepański Square for this purpose. He then tried to place it in Lviv. He saw Krakow and Lviv as potentially the safest places in the difficult Polish situation. However, he found no understanding for his ideas. In the end, he decided to take it with him, first to show it in Europe and then to his residence in Rovinj, where it was exhibited in a special gallery. in the palace, which, like the whole of the island of St Catherine he had purchased, was a special place for him, probably chosen very consciously. Milewski was an excellent sailor, a member of the Yachtgeschwader - a sailing club founded in Pula under the patronage of Emperor Franz Joseph. He enjoyed sailing the Adriatic Sea on his yacht Lithuania. He also sponsored prizes at regattas, usually in the form of works of art.

A commemorative plaque was built into the building of the former palace in September 2016, providing information about Milewski's life and stay here. The Polish authorities and the Polish Cultural Society 'Fryderyk Chopin' were involved in the commemoration and restoration of his tombstone.

Towards the end of his life, Milewski's fortune deserted him. After the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, rapid inflation significantly depleted his fortune. He died in a hospital in Pula in 1926 at the age of 81 and was buried in the cemetery in Rovinj. His tombstone in the form of a slab on a band is preserved there. The slab is made of marble supposedly from Ignacy Milewski's desk. The slab bears the Milewski family's coat of arms in relief and an inscription. During conservation work carried out in 2016, a glass plaque with Milewski's image and biography was placed behind the monument. It may be added that Milewski's heart was placed in Vilnius in his mother's grave, which he founded.