Mythologizing the death of prince Józef Poniatowski in the light of commemorative practices in the years 1813-1817

Abstract

Taking as its starting point the tragic death of Prince Józef Poniatowski on the 19th of October 1813, the article explores the process of creating a political myth as illustrated by this particular event and its  interpretation as a heroic death. The process of creating a myth, understood as a construct serving particular goals, can be divided into three phases. The first one involves exploring the mindset and mood of the society, which provide the context of an emerging myth. The second one is transforming the original information and endowing it with a new sense. The last one is the verbalization of the myth and its popularization by works of art. The death of the Prince, its significance and alleged heroic quality, were analyzed according to the above scheme. Initially, due to the current mood of the society, Poniatowski’s death could have been perceived as a defeat, crushing the Poles’ hopes for regaining their own state, in which the Prince had been expected to play a crucial role due to his faithful service to Emperor Napoleon. Therefore, it was necessary to reinterpret this death to use it to consolidate the Polish nation and sustain its hopes. The myth of the Prince’s heroic death was spread by literary works and paintings, therefore the article analyses relevant iconography, including a painting by Horace Vernet. When depicting Poniatowski’s final leap into the White Elster, the French artist applied the scheme of the ancient hero Marcus Curtius and his death in defense of his fatherland. Vernet painted two versions of this picture but only the earlier one, due to some elements identified as typically Polish, can be supposed to have been commissioned by a Pole; many clues suggest that the commissioner was General Wincenty Krasiński. The painting was fully  convergent with the myth and it contributed to solidifying a particular vision of the event in Polish society. Contradictory to this mythologized version, as it turned out, was an equestrian statue showing Poniatowski as an ancient commander, sculpted by the Rome-based Danish artist Bertel Thorvaldsen. Poniatowski’s heroic death was supposed to become a model for his compatriots and to sustain their hope for renewing an independent state. His burial in the Wawel cathedral was the highest honour for a Polish national hero; thanks to it the place also became a necropolis of military leaders and a shrine of the nation’s glory.