Athanasius Raczyński (1788–1874). Aristocrat, Diplomat, and Patron of the Arts

Front matter

1788-1874

Aristocrat, Diplomat, and Patron of the Arts

Michał Mencfel

PART 1 Formation

1 Grandfather Kazimierz Raczyński 33 1 His Guardian's Long Shadow 33 2 Traitor? 40 3 Family and Fatherland 46 4 Three Principles 53

2 Brothers 56 1 No One Else 56 2 Mirror 59 3 Herr Bruder, Write to Me 66 4 My Poor, Poor Brother! 76

3 Apprenticeship and Journeyman Years 79 1 The Fist, Rod, and Cane, or Education 79 2 'AModelYoungPole' 84 3 ` In Warsaw Circles gı 4 Smelling ofthe Antechamber 95

AKeenEye 15

VI CONTENTS

PART 2 Politics

5 TheAristocrat 121 1 Decorum 121 2 Estate 130 3 AScandalous Picture: The Fiasco of Family Politics 140 4 Manifesto: The Portrait Gallery in Gaj 154

6 Political Creed 167 1 The Flight from Warsaw in 1794: The Spectre of Revolution 167 2 The Last Absolutist 172 3 Attitude towards the November Uprising in the Kingdom of Poland 182 4 Cara Patria: Being Polish as a Burden and a Challenge 192

7 APoleinBerlin 206 1 Decision 206 2 ‘A Nobleman of the First Class’ 220 3 A Good Catholic anda Pole 230 4 TheOldCount 234

8 Diplomat 247 1 Early Endeavours 247 2 The Power of Circumstances or ‘a Place Apart? 256 3 ‘Iberia 269 4 Friendships: Juan Donoso Cortés and Alphonse de Brotty dAntioche 293

PART 3 Art

9 Raczyński as an Artist 309 1 Picturesque and Sublime Nature 309 2 The Romantic Landscape 323 3 +Travel Notes 32 4 Views of Architecture 341

CONTENTS

Aesthetic Views, Writings on Art, Patronage 349 1 Basic Concepts: Beauty and Taste 349

2 Modern German Painting 355

3 Writings on Art 365

4 Raczyhski’s Friend Wilhelm Kaulbach 392

1 The Queen of the Elves 410 2 Italian Journey 420

3 A Single Goal 429

4 Contemporary Painting 441

1 A Temple to Art 447

2 AJoint Undertaking: The Gallery in Poznan 457 3 A Small but Tasteful Picture Gallery 466

4 The Museum: 2 Exercierplatz 477

Conclusion 484 Athanasius Raczyński: Timetable 487

Bibliography 493 Index 533

VII

Abbreviations

BR GStA LAB

MNP

NAL V&A RA

RSCL

ZNO

Politisches Archiv des Auswärtigen Amtes, Berlin

Arquivo Nacional da Torre do Tombo, Lisbon

Archiwum Panstwowe w Krakowie [The National Archive in Krakow] Archiwum Panstwowe w Poznaniu [The National Archive in Poznan] Archivio di Stato di Roma

Biblioteka Książąt Czartoryskich, Kraków [The Princes Czartoryski Library, Krakow]

Biblioteka Kornicka [The Kornik Library]

Biblioteka Narodowa [The National Library of Poland, Warsaw] Biblioteka Raczynskich, Poznan [The Raczynski Library Poznan] Geheimes Staatsarchiv Preußischer Kulturbesitz Berlin Landesarchiv Berlin

Muzeum Narodowe w Poznaniu [The National Museum in Poznan] National Art Library, Victoria & Albert Museum, London

Rauner Special Collection Library, Dartmouth Collage, Hanover,

New Hampshire

Zakład Narodowy im. Ossolińskich, Wrocław [The Ossoliński National Institute]

Figures

24 25

Federico Madrazo y Kunz, Portrait of Athanasius Raczyński, 1850 4

Title page of volume one of Athanasius Raczyński's Diary 10

Athanasius Raczyński, Street in Königsberg, watercolour from volume five of Raczyński's Diary, 9 September1840 12

Decorative vignettes made by Raczyński, page from Diary preceding entries from 1816 and 1843 13

Mielżyński Palace in Chobienice in the early twentieth century 34 Athanasius Raczynski, Rogalin Palace, Seen from the Garden, watercolour,

Pompeo Batoni, Portrait of Philip Raczyński, 1780 36

Pompeo Batoni, Portrait of Kazimierz Raczyński, 1785 43

Carl Adolph Henning, Raczyński Family Portrait, 1839 58

Jan Gładysz, Portrait of Athanasius and Edward Raczyński as Children, 1797 61 Constantin Cretius after Marcello Bacciarelli, Portrait of Athanasius Raczyński at the Age of 21,1809 85

Karl Wilhelm Wach, Portrait of Athanasius Raczyński, 1826 89

Athanasius Raczynski, Panorama of Obrzycko, watercolour included in volume five of Raczyński's Diary, 31 March 1847 136

Karl Wilhelm Wach, Portrait of Anna Raczyńska (née Radziwitt),1827 142 Carl Begas, Portrait of Karol Raczyński, 1836 145

Anton Einsle, Portrait of Wanda Raczyńska, 1845 146

Adolph Schlesinger, Portrait of Teresa Raczyńska, c.1841 147

Julius Muhr after Franz Krüger, Portrait of Karol Raczyński, 1858 — 152 Constantin Cretius after Friedrich Kaulbach, Portrait of Caroline

Raczyńska, 1862 153

Athanasius Raczyński's Palace in Gaj Mały, colour lithograph in Alexander Duncker, Wohnsitze, Schlósser und Residenzen der ritterschaftlichen Grundbesitzer in der preussischen Monarchie, vol. 15,1880 156

Athanasius Raczyński's Palace in Gaj Mały, present state 156

Plans for the Expansion of the Palace in Gaj, drawing placed by Raczyński in his Diary under the date 25 November 1866 157

Building erected by Raczynski in Gaj to house his family portrait gallery, present state 159

Interior of the portrait gallery in Gaj Maly, present state 160

Teracotta statue of an elderly man with a dead lamb, a woman with a sheaf of grain, and a young man leaning against a grapevine, decorating the courtyard elevation of the family portrait gallery in Gaj from the courtyard side, present state 162

XI

FIGURES

26 Gaj teracotta statues in March factory's 1869 catalogue Ernst March’s Thonwaaren Fabrik Charlottenburg bei Berlin, Berlin, 1869, table 4 163

27 Raczynski’s Palace against a panoramic view of Berlin, photo c1870 165

28 Raczyński coat of arms with the motto “Vitam impendere vero” and two black “Prussian” eagles as supporters, anonymous painter, c.1884 203

29 Michał Bogusz Stęczyński, Castle in Zawada in the Tarnów District from the North, lithograph in Michał Bogusz Stęczyński, Okolice Galicji, 1847 209

30 Castle in Zawada, photo c.ı905 210

31 Athanasius Raczyński, View of the Church and the Castle in Zawada, Seen from Zwierzyniec, watercolour, 13 June 1823 2n

32 Athanasius Raczyński, View of the Castle in Zawada, watercolour, 31June1839 212

33 Athanasius Raczyński, View of Gościniec Cesarski from the Second Floor of the Eastern Tower of the Castle in Zawada, watercolour, 5 July1823 213

34 House at Unter den Linden no. 21 in Berlin, purchased in 1834 by Athanasius Raczyński, photo c.1910 223

35 Mirror Hall in the house at Unter den Linden 21, illustration in: Hans Jürgen von Nolcken, Ein Haus unter den Linden: Festgabe zum fünfjährigen Bestehen d Werberates d dt. Wirtschaft, 1938 224

36 Martin Johnson Heade, Portrait of Henry Wheaton, 1857 228

37 Franz Krüger, Parade on Opera Square in Berlin (Prussian parade),1839 230

38 Edward Czarnikow after Franz Krüger's, Athanasius Raczyński in the Company of Berlin Artists and Art Lovers, 1844 232

39 Franz Alexander Borchel, Count Raczyńskis Picture Gallery and Royal Painting Ateliers before their Expansion, lithograph, c.1848 235

40 Situational plan of the plot of land belonging to Count Raczyński, located by Exercierplatz at Brandenburg Gate 236

41 Functional lay-out of the Raczyński palace 237

42 Johann Heinrich Strack, Plan for the Addition of a Side Wing to the Raczyński Palace, c.1866 238

43 Athanasius Raczyński: Palace after its Expansion, anonymous watercolour, c1870 239

44 Hermann Brasch, Portrait of Athanasius Raczynski, made after his death on the basis of a photograph (from the 1860s?), 1903 245

45 Athanasius Raczynski’s gravestone in the Catholic cemetery at Liesenstraße in Berlin, present state 246

46 Athanasius Raczyński, View of the Port in Copenhagen, watercolour, July 1830 258

47 Athanasius Raczyński, Christiansborg Palace in Copenhagen, watercolour,

XII FIGURES

48 View of Holmens Kanal, the house in which Raczynski lived on the right (No. 259, later No. 12), with Christiansborg Palace in the distance, illustration c.1850 260

49 Nicolai Severin Sterm, Plan of the Eastern Quarter of Copenhagen, 1840 261

50 Theodor Kloss, Port in Copenhagen, drawing given to A. Raczyński on 27 March 1834, on the day of Raczynski’s departure from the Danish capital 263

51 Athanasius Raczynski, View from the Window of Athanasius’ Lodgings in Aachen, watercolour, June 1834, during Raczyński's recovery in the city 264

52 Athanasius Raczynski, Seascape in Falmouth, watercolour, 8 May 1842, on the day he left for Portugal 270

53 August Roquemont, Portrait of Athanasius Raczyński as a Prussian Envoy inLisbon, 1843 271

54 Athanasius Raczyński, Self-portrait as a Prussian Envoy in Lisbon, watercolour, 22 August 1842 273

55 Athanasius Raczynski, View on Tagus from the Window of Madame de Belem’s Palace, watercolour, 13-24 May 1842, on the first day of his stay in Lisbon 274

56 WB. Clarke and J. Henshall, City Map of Lisbon, c.1840, London: Chapman and Hall 1844 274

57 Athanasius Raczyński, View from Raczyński's Apartment at Rua do Moinho de Vento on the Rua da Rosa, watercolour, 30 June 1842 275

58 Athanasius Raczynski’s Apartment in Lisbon, drawing in a letter from A. Raczyński to Henry Wheaton 276

59 Joaquim Pedro de Sousa, View of Lisbon, from the East Side of the Garden of St. Pedro da Alcantara Church, lithograph, 1844 281

60 Charles Chabot and W.A. Delamotte, Steamer Lady Mary Wood in the Straits of Gibraltar, colour lithograph, c.1845 282

61 Juan Noguera, City Map of Madrid, 1849 287

62 Athanasius Raczyński, Prussian Embassy at the Calle de las Rejas in Madrid, watercolour, 17 May 1852 288

63 Athanasius Raczyński, Portrait of Georg Esterhazy as Abdelkader, watercolour, 24 October 1844 296

64 German Hernandez Amores, Portrait of Juan Donoso Cortés, c.1870 297

65 Athanasius Raczynski, View of the Castle of Count Antioche in Nernier, watercolour, 19-29 July 1861 305

66 Palace in Nernier after its expansion, photo c.189o. in, A. Rouget, Les Monuments historiques de Haute-Savoie, Lyon 1895 306

67 Athanasius Raczyński after Johann Christian Klengel, Head of a Bull, c.1806, drawing in Raczyński's Diary (Souvenirs denfance) 310

FIGURES XIII

82 83

86 87 88

89 90

91 92

Athanasius Raczynski, Portrait of Wilhelm Kaulbach, watercolour in Diary,

Athanasius Raczyński, View of Heligoland Island, watercolour,

Athanasius Raczyński, Landscape of the Environs of the Town of Santarém, watercolour, 10 October1843 313

Athanasius Raczyński, Landscape of the Cintra and its Environs, watercolour,

Athanasius Raczyński, Pissevache Waterfall in the Swiss Alps, pencil and ink drawing, September 1815 315

Athanasius Raczyński, La mer de glace near Chamonix, drawing, 1815 316 Athanasius Raczyński, La perte du Rhône, drawing, 18 September 1815 317 Ruins of Schónberg and Fiirstenberg Castles, drawings from Athanasius Raczyński's Diary 326

Athanasius Raczyński, Allaman Castle in Lugrin, watercolour, 23 July 1861 326 Athanasius Raczyński, View of Nyon Castle, watercolour, 22-24 June 1864 327 Athanasius Raczyński, View of the Castle in Tuczno, watercolour, 1860s(?) 328 Athanasius Raczynski, View of the Castle in Zawada, watercolour,

Athanasius Raczyński, Aachen Cathedral, watercolour, 1834 330

Athanasius Raczyński, Mr. Wellard's Cottage, watercolour 332

Athanasius Raczyński, Panorama View of Madrid, watercolour, July 1852 333 Athanasius Raczynski, “Important and Pleasant Conversation,” watercolour, Lisbon, 12 June 1842 335

Renaissance window frame brought by Raczynski from the Portuguese town of Batalha and placed in 1857 in the exterior wall of the town hall in Obrzycko, present state 336

Portuguese sedan-chair (literia), illustration in William Morgan Kinsey, Portugal illustrated, 1828 337

Charles-Louis Baugniet, Portrait of Joseph James Forrester, lithograph, 1845 338 Athanasius Raczyński, Belém Tower, watercolour, 2 September 1842 339 Athanasius Raczynski, Rossio de Pombal in Estremoz, watercolour,

Athanasius Raczyński, Leiria, watercolour, 29-30 August 1843 341 Athanasius Raczyński, Jerónimos Monastery in Belém, watercolour,

Athanasius Raczyński, Lamego Cathedral, watercolour, 31 July 1844 343 Athanasius Raczynski, Church of San Francis in Porto, watercolour,

XIV

95 96

105 106

107 108

FIGURES

Alcobaga Monastery in a watercolour by Raczyński (from 26 August 1843) and a contemporary photograph 344

Convent of Christ in Tomar in a watercolour by Raczynski (from 7 October 1843) andacontemporary photograph 345

Athanasius Raczyński, Toledo Cathedral, watercolour, 7-14 April 1852 345 Athanasius Raczynski, Sketches of a Fresco and Column Capitals in

S. Isidoro Church in Léon, drawing in Diary 346

Górka Family Tomb in Poznań, illustration in Edward Raczyński's Wspomnienia Wielkopolski, to jest województw poznańskiego, kaliskiego i gnieźnieńskiego, after a drawing by Athanasius Raczyński (1842) 348

Athanasius Raczyński, Academy of Fine Arts in Munic in Wilheminum (former Jesuit college), watercolour, 10 October 1835 359

Wilhelm Kaulbach, Cornelius and Schadow, sketch for a section of the title page of volume two of Raczynski’s Geschichte der neueren deutschen Kunst, pencil drawing, 1836 364

Adolph Schroedter, title page of volume one of Athanasius Raczynski’s Geschichte der neueren deutschen Kunst, 1836 369

Wilhelm Kaulbach, title page of volume two of Athanasius Raczynski’s Geschichte der neueren deutschen Kunst, 1838 370

Adolph Menzel, title page of volume three of Athanasius Raczynski’s Geschichte der neueren deutschen Kunst,1840 371

Page from volume one of Raczyński's Geschichte der neueren deutschen Kunst showing a reproduction of Karl Ferdinand Sohn's painting Two Leonores 372 A combination of motives from paintings: J.L. David's Oath of the Horatii,

J.-G. Drouais’ Marius at Minturnae and P.N. Guérin’s Coriolan — drawing in volume one of Geschichte der neueren deutschen Kunst 380

Wilhelm Kaulbach, Portrait of Athanasius Raczyński, pencil drawing, 1835 393 Wilhelm Kaulbach, Athanasius Raczyński Greets the Painter Wilhelm Kaulbach in his Home, caricature in a letter from Kaulbach to his wife Josephine from August 1846, in: Josefa Diirck-Kaulbach, Erinnerungen an Wilhelm von Kaulbach und sein Haus,1921 394

Carl Adolph Hennig, Portrait of Wilhelm Kaulbach (from Athanasius Raczyński's collection), 1847 395

Wilhelm Kaulbach, The Battle of the Huns, 1835-1837 396

Wilhelm Kaulbach, Artists Appointed by King Ludwig I to Realise his Ideas in

the Field of Historical, Battle-scene, Landscape and Genre Painting, sketch for a fresco to be placed on the facade of the Pinacotheca in Munich, c.1849 401 Hans Makart, Queen of the Elves, 1869-1870 413

Ferdinand Theodor Hildebrandt, Murder of the Sons of Edward IV, 1835 416

FIGURES XV

13 14 15 16 17

18 119

Léopold Robert, Lord Drummond and Two Friends, the Chamberlain to the King of The Netherlands and Count Athanasius Raczyński, 1821 428 Quentin Massys, Madonna with Child and a Lamb, c.1520 430

Sofonisba Anguissola, The Chess Game,1555 431

Bernardo Strozzi, The Abduction of Europa, c.1640-1644 432

Girolamo Siciolante da Sermoneta, Pietà, 1540-1550 436

Francisco de Zurbarán, Madonna of the Rosary Worshipped by Carthusian Monks, 1638-1639 439

Friedrich Overbeck, The Marriage of the Virgin (Sposalizio), 1836 442 Léopold Robert, Summer Reapers Arriving in the Pontine Marshes, 1834-1835 446

Edward Raczyńskis Library and Athanasius’ Gallery in Poznan, drawing in Edward Raczyński's Wspomnienia Wielkopolski, 1843 461

Athanasius Raczyński, The Gallery Building at Unter den Linden 21, sketch in a letter to Karl Friedrich Schinkel, dated 24 January 1834 473 Reconstruction of the walls and placement of paintings in Raczynski’s first gallery in Berlin, set up in his home at Unter den Linden 21 474

Franz Alexander Borchel and Joseph Maximilian Kolb, Eine Partie am ehemaligen Exercierplatz in Berlin, Raczyński's Palace-Gallery on the right, coloured steel engraving, 1854 478

Athanasius Raczyński, Sketch of the Placement of Works Exhibited in Raczyńskis Gallery, 1859, drawing in Libri Veritatis, vol. 47b, p.937 480

Athanasius Raczyńskis Picture Collection in the Kaiser-Friedrich-Museum in Poznan, 1904, postcard 483

Introduction

1 Polyoptric Portrait

Twelve volumes of diaries covering nearly the whole of his life; a vast corpus of private and official correspondence concerning personal, artistic, and political matters; highly detailed documentation of his activities as a collector, including letters, bills of sale, and notes; several weighty tomes devoted to art and his family’s history; an impressive collection of his own watercolours and drawings: from these thousands of pages of material, a detailed self-portrait of Athanasius Raczynski emerges, one produced at times consciously but more often inadvertently. It is that of a wealthy aristocrat; a Pole in the Prussian diplomatic service; an active participant in and observer and critical commentator of political life; a connoisseur and collector of art of European renown; in short, a distinguished yet complicated nineteenth-century figure. At first glance, this portrait appears to be clearly and carefully drawn. After all, Raczynski’s texts do contain many strong declarations, clearly expressed views, and repeated confessions of faith. And while Raczyński's personality did indeed evolve, from his youth he embraced a set of core beliefs that provided the raw material from which he developed his identity and the principles guiding his activities throughout his life. These principles can be grouped around a few key words: aristocracy, loyalty, monarchism, anti-democratism, and continuance of the social and legal order. Yet a more careful look at Raczynski’s self-portrait reveals both flaws and inconsistencies in its construction. In various situations, some quite surprising and seemingly trivial, the pressure of the moment caused the armour which Raczynski had forged over the years out of his principles, ideals, and beliefs to begin to buckle and crack. Realizing this Athanasius, who was undoubtedly a keen observer of both the world and himself, would on occasion express his irritation and anger but usually responded with self-deprecating humor.

It is precisely these cracks that make Athanasius Raczynski an attractive figure for the biographer, allowing him to be viewed as a protagonist enmeshed in conflict — both internally and with the world around him. This conflict sometimes takes the form of minor struggles, and at other times, truly dramatic battles. It manifested itself in his endeavours to achieve the social position to which he aspired, his efforts to be recognized by Berlin's and Europe's political and intellectual elites, his striving to fulfil the duties he believed rested upon him as the heir to an aristocratic family name. But it also resulted from

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internal conflicts, struggles within him, conflicting feelings about ideas that attracted him but at the same time repelled him because they made it difficult for him to inscribe himself into the worldview he professed. The critical view of Raczynski expressed by his contemporary, the writer and historian Julian Ursyn Niemcewicz, who was generally hostile towards Athanasius (‘a bad citizen, a worse husband’) reveals an essential aspect of our protagonist’s personality: he was indeed ‘full of unpleasant and incomprehensible rages.

In a sense, Raczyński was — at least at times — a prisoner of his own strong beliefs, principles, ideals, and clearly defined goals. He demanded exact definitions and adopted those that best suited his needs. His aspirations in life, regardless of whether they concerned professional or private matters, were defined with great precision, and at times, quite bluntly expressed. His diplomatic career, and his efforts to enlarge his estate, establish an entail, enter into a favourable marriage, and achieve a high social standing and recognition in the King's court and among the intelligentsia — for Athanasius, these were not abstract goals, but tasks to be carried out, and he devoted himself to doing just that, showing great persistence and tenacity in his efforts and ultimately, in some cases, achieving success, though success that sometimes proved illusory.

Count Adhémar d’Antioche, the publisher of Raczyński's correspondence and author of an excellent psychological portrait of our protagonist, wrote of him — perhaps drawing on the recollections of his father, Alphonse d'Antioche, one of the Polish aristocrat's closest friends later in life — as follows:

This goal came to his mind in the most precise form: as a nobleman, he wanted to help provide for his family’s success, add to its wealth, and ensure its continued prosperity. Feeling deeply attached to his country and his King, he was determined to use his zeal, devotion, and talents to attain an important position in the Polish state. While still a young man, he drew up for himself a lifetime programme. He defined in advance all the stages that needed to be completed, anticipated all the means required to advance from one stage to another, and then, having staked out his path, he set off at once on his journey, full of unflagging perseverance and energy.”

1 Julian Ursyn Niemcewicz, Dzienniki 1835-1836, do druku przygotowała i przypisami opatrzyła Izabella Rusinowa (Warszawa: Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego, 2005), 281.

2 Deux diplomates le comte Raczynski et Donoso Cortes marquis de Valdegamas. Dépéches et correspondence politique 1848-1853, Publićez et mises en ordre par la comte Adhémar dAntioche (Paris: E. Plon, 1880), VII-VIII.

D'Antioche adds that Raczyński's intellect was cool but lively, keen, perceptive, and analytical, considering everything in the smallest detail. Indeed, his constant need to analyse, and his ability to maintain control over both his own psyche and his external reality were essential features of the Count's character.

This does not mean, however, that Raczynski was not inclined to spontaneous behaviour. On the contrary, he experienced moments of great excitement, unrestrained enthusiasm, and profound emotions, as noted by himself and those around him. These feelings were provoked, above all, by his contact with art. Although he was often analytical and rational in his reactions to art, it also brought him feelings of utter joy and delight, at times even in response to works that went beyond his clearly defined aesthetic horizons. He was also not free from tendencies toward melancholy or of doubt of his capabilities and the value of the work he carried out with such great determination. This was a source of numerous self-deprecating statements made during his youth, but which also expressed his maturity and his sophisticated sense of self-irony. These ultimately led him to develop a strong sensitivity to criticism of his competence and achievements.

The conflict mentioned above was largely a product of Raczynski’s personality and part of his nature, but it was also fuelled by external circumstances. Raised in the spirit of the Enlightenment and loyal to its ideals, he followed new intellectual currents and expressed a fascination with some of them. He also took part in heated discussions about the Polish nation and struggled with his Polishness, treating it as both a burden and a challenge. While he was a firm believer in a specific social and political order, he also noted the inevitability of its collapse. If one sentence were to explain the purpose of the present book, it would read as follows: it is an attempt to describe a complicated, wealthy, multi-faceted, creative personality and intellect caught up in ‘history broken from its chains’ to borrow Jerzy Stempowski's expression.

Athanasius Raczynski (Fig. 1) was born on 2 May 1788 in Poznan, in Wielkopolska region in Poland, which at that time still enjoyed independence.? He was the

3 The politically weakened Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (Rzeczpospolita) became the target of expansion by neighbouring powers — Prussia, Russia, and Austria — in the late eighteenth century. In the course of the so-called ‘three partitions, it was gradually reduced in size and finally, in 1795, divided among its neighbours. Poland disappeared from the map

Za Macdrano o be (ër, ENK

FIGURE 1 Federico Madrazo y Kunz, Portrait of Athanasius Raczyński, 1850 RACZYNSKI FOUNDATION AT THE NATIONAL MUSEUM IN POZNAN, INV. NO. MNP FR 528 of independent European states for more than 120 years, until 1918. The western part of the fallen Polish state, so-called Greater Poland (Wielkopolska), together with its capital Poznan, became the domain of Prussia in 1793. By virtue of the resolutions of the Congress of Vienna, the formally autonomous Grand Duchy of Posen was established in the region in 1815, and after 1848, renamed the Province of Posen.

second son of General Philip Raczyński and Michalina née Raczyńska, daughter of a highly influential Crown Court Marshal, Kazimierz Raczyński, who secured the family's economic and political position. Thoroughly educated, first in his home in Rogalin near Poznań, and then at the university in Frankfurt (Oder) and by private tutors in Berlin and Dresden, he was prepared for public service from an early age. Being very wealthy and a man of outstanding intellect and character, he devoted his adult life to two passions: politics and art.* Both of these passions were realized mainly in Berlin, where he lived permanently from the mid-1830s until his death on 21 August 1874. Despite residing in the Prussian capital, he maintained solid but complicated ties with his native Wielkopolska where his brother Edward lived until 1845, where he himself owned vast estates, and where he held political office. At the same time, he participated freely in the life of the European elite.

He engaged in politics both professionally as an active practitioner, namely as a Saxon (1813—1815) and later Prussian (1830—1852) diplomat, as a delegate to the Provincial Sejm (parliament) in Poznań, as a hereditary member (from 1854) of the Prussian Chamber of Lords (Herrenhaus), and as a theorist who developed sophisticated and coherent doctrines for his own use in the spirit of his categorical conservatism, and who laid these out in detail in his diary and correspondence. His position as an envoy extraordinary and plenipotentiary minister of the Kingdom of Prussia, which he held for several years in the Danish (1830—1834), Portuguese (1842—1848), and Spanish (1848—1852) courts, guaranteed Raczyński a prominent position in the circles of the Prussian state administration and among the European diplomatic elite. His extensive contacts in political spheres, excellent orientation in European affairs, sharp eye and analytical skills, and finally, his attractive, somewhat aphoristic writing style gave Raczyński's political concepts value and made him a prominent representative of European conservative thought. Although Juliusz Falkowski's statement that Athanasius Raczyński 'established around himself a school for politicians and diplomats’ is exaggerated,° all that has been said above allows us to see him as an active participant in and commentator on contemporary political life who, though perhaps not especially influential, was gifted with

4 A document preserved in Raczyński's records speaks in a particularly clear and concise way about his greatest fascinations and main fields of activity. This is a single sheet of paper included in the so-called Libri veritatis: on its obverse there is a schedule for a meeting of the Prussian Chamber of Lords on 19 March 1859, on the reverse side there is a project in Athanasius’ handwriting to hang paintings in his gallery; Lv, vol. 47b, MNP, MNPA 1414/47b, PP. 937-938.

5 Juliusz Falkowski, Obrazy z życia kilku ostatnich pokoleń w Polsce, vol. 11 (Poznan: Księgarnia Jana Konstantego Żupańskiego, 1882), 211.

a keen critical sense. Or, more broadly, we can see him as a public figure who deserves to be considered one of the outstanding and indeed most interesting Polish political figures of the nineteenth century.

When we leave the realm of politics and enter the realm of art, Raczyński's position becomes unequivocal. In terms of his comprehensive and widely acclaimed patronage, his critical and authorial activities, his refined and at times original artistic reflections, his ambitious and sophisticated approach to his role as a collector — Raczyński simply had no rivals in these areas among Poles in the middle decades of the nineteenth century. Even if we view his activities from a supra-local, European perspective, his prominent rank remains undisputed. The author of the entry devoted to Raczynski in the thirteenth volume of Larousse’s Grand dictionnaire universel du XIX” siècle, published in Paris one year after the Count's death, had no doubt that he had 'carried out quite exceptional research on the fine arts and quickly acquired a great certainty in his tastes.’

In short, in the case of Athanasius Raczyński, we are dealing with an aristocrat who was aware of the privileges and obligations of his estate and who participated freely in the cultural and social life of Europe’s elites; a Pole who was engaged in a difficult, dramatic and critical dialogue with Polishness throughout his life; a high-ranking Prussian diplomat who did not play a significant political role, but who occupied a prestigious position in the administration of the Kingdom of Prussia; a penetrating observer of and brilliant commentator on political events, who only occasionally spoke in public, but who expressed extremely insightful opinions in his private notes and abundant correspondence;’ a conservative political thinker in the fullest sense of the word, a correspondent of one of the most interesting and important anti-revolutionary thinkers in Europe in the mid-nineteenth century, the Spanish politician and writer Juan Donoso Cortés; a collector of Old Masters and contemporary paintings and founder of a publicly accessible art gallery of European renown; a patron, connoisseur, researcher and promoter of art; an active participant in artistic life and author of widely acclaimed, pioneering books on German and Portuguese; and finally, a man of great erudition and culture, with a rich personality and a penetrating mind.

6 Pierre M. Larousse, ed., Grand dictionnaire universel du XIX* siécle: francais, historique, géographique, mythologique, bibliographique, vol. 13 (Paris1875), 619.

7 InJanuary 1857, Raczyński wrote an article in the Brussels newspaper ‘Le Nord’ on the political situation in England (Les journaux qui attaquent Lord Palmerston..., Le Nord. Journal quotidien, 3° Année, N° 13, Mardi, 13 Janvier 1857, pp. 1-2). It was one of a few Raczynski’s public statements on political issues.

Raczynski’s biography, fascinating in its own right, assumes added dimensions when analyzed in its broader context. It should be seen against the background of the profound changes taking place in the nineteenth century in Europe’s political, social, economic, communicative, moral, and mental spheres as a result of, among other things, a ‘dual revolution’: the French revolution of 1789 and the British industrial revolution. For these reasons, Raczyński's biography transcends the borders of a single (Polish) cultural and national tradition and carries with it multiple identities. Described in today’s terms, it can be considered an example of a multicultural and multinational biography.? For these reasons, Raczyński's biography can contribute to research on many important nineteenth-century phenomena: the winding paths of the careers of Poles in the administration of the partitioning states, assimilation and acculturation processes, the history of European conservative thought, the history of collections and art patronage, etc. In preparing the present book, I have tried to draw useful conclusions in each of these spheres.

Among the entertainments available to members of the Paris salons in the latter half of the seventeenth century was a peculiar form of painting that depicted images of various people arranged in a disjointed order. However, when one looked at the picture through a special lens, a single image was formed from this multitude of faces — a faithful portrait of the ruler. These were called polyoptric images.

This book is somewhat similar in character. It contains a collection of studies presenting the various faces of Athanasius Raczynski, that is, selected parts and aspects of his personality and activities. Will a coherent and credible overall picture emerge from this collection of images as well? This will be up to the reader to judge.

The book consists of three parts. The first one, entitled Formation, aims to describe Raczynski’s personality and to indicate the essential features of his character, allowing us to better understand his political activity and his activities as a collector and patron. In this chapter, I examine the possible sources