3-068-937 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

Portrait of Primate Michal Jerzy Poniatowski (1736-1794), between 1785-1790. Ordained a priest in 1760, fifteen years later he became the bishop of Plock; he was also the administrator of the Diocese of Krakow under Bishop Kajetan Soltyk. In 1784 he obtained the highest church title in Poland: the Archbishop of Gniezno and the Primate. In addition to church offices, he also held essential state functions, being responsible for education reform as the Head of the Commission of National Education. The portrait shows the Primate in the official purple outfit. The star of the Order of the White Eagle, which he received in 1764, is sewn to the mozzetta, i.e. a cape; the order itself is hung on a wide, a blue ribbon on the neck, in a manner adopted by clergy. Above we can see a pectoral, the sign of the bishop title. Tomasz Zaucha