Elżbieta Sieniawska – A Queen without a Crown

Scientific editors of the catalogue: Konrad Morawski, Konrad Pyzel

Elżbieta Sieniawska (ca. 1669–1729) led an active life and travelled extensively. She wrote a vast number of letters, analysed reports, newspapers and correspondence and personally handled her own legal matters. She played an important role in contemporary politics, while managing her large estates, where goods were manufactured, livestock bred, plants cultivated, precious ores extracted and crafts developed. She took care of her many residences, beautiful palaces surrounded by gardens, but also supported various religious orders in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth with her numerous foundations.

Elżbieta Sieniawska’s success was attributable to her noble birth, an enormous fortune inherited from her ancestors and the offices held by her husband. Nevertheless, it was her shrewd business acumen, fortitude, management skills and pragmatism, which proved of greatest importance and enabled her to achieve so much across a range of activities.

The publication contains 14 essays, studies on Wilanów residence architecture, decor and furnishings in the times of Elżbieta Sieniawska, and a catalogue listing selected objects connected with this remarkable figure. The main protagonist and her achievements are discussed in the broad political, economic and cultural context of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth at the turn of the 18th century.