Paintings from the Belarusian Radziwill estate returned, but to Poland

As the Polish publication Rzeczpospolita reports, Maciej Radziwiłł, chairman of the "Three Pipes" Foundation, has acquired and transported a significant number of historical objects to Poland over the past twelve months.

Among them, several paintings from the palace in Mańkiewicze (now part of Stolin, Brest region) attract particular attention.

Collection from Mańkiewicze

The estate in Mańkiewicze belonged to Stanisław Wilhelm Radziwiłł, the last ordinat of David-Haradok. The owner's biography was very characteristic of his time: to preserve inheritance rights in the Russian Empire, he was forced to accept Russian citizenship. Radziwiłł graduated from the Military Academy in Berlin, fought in the Russo-Japanese War (1905), and served in the Russian "Wild Division" during World War I. Later, he joined the Polish Army as Józef Piłsudski's adjutant and died in 1920 in battles with the Bolsheviks, for which he was posthumously awarded the Order of Virtuti Militari.

Павялічыць

After his death, his widow Dolores evacuated to Paris, taking with her family relics from the palace, which was later completely destroyed by German troops during World War II.

Among the returned Mańkiewicze canvases, a painting depicting the marriage of Stanisław Wilhelm's parents stands out. The wedding took place on October 3, 1857, in Żagań in the presence of representatives of European elites, and Franz Liszt played the organ during the ceremony. These works of art have now been transferred as a deposit to the branch of the National Museum in Nieborów.

Paris — Łańcut — Austria — Paris

Complex historical routes are characteristic of other collections as well. At an auction in Paris, the foundation bought back a portrait of Mikołaj Potocki by François Flameng. Mikołaj was the grandson of Stanisław Szczęsny Potocki and inherited vast wealth in France from his father Mieczysław. Before his death in 1921, he bequeathed the property to a distant relative, Alfred Potocki of Łańcut. The portrait hung for a long time in the Parisian palace on Avenue Friedland, which Alfred later sold to the Confederation of Industry and Trade (the building became known as Hôtel Potocki), and he moved the painting itself to Łańcut.

In 1944, Alfred Potocki, saving his property from the advancing Red Army, evacuated the collection to Austria and Liechtenstein. As we wrote earlier, this is consistent work: in previous years, Polish foundations had already returned portraits from the same evacuated collection, found in the Austrian castle of Hohenems. In the 1970s, Alfred's widow sold some of the works at an auction in Paris, where the portrait of Mikołaj was bought back by the same Confederation. The painting hung in their headquarters for another half-century until, in 2025, the organization decided to change offices and put the canvas up for auction, where Maciej Radziwiłł finally acquired it.

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Bavarian Treasure Chest

A significant part of the heritage migrated across Europe exclusively through dynastic inheritance. The paired portraits of Zofia and Hieronim Wincenty Radziwiłł were initially kept in the palace in Biała (modern Biała Podlaska), then transported to the Verkiai estate near Vilnius, and from there passed to distant relatives from the Hohenlohe family at Schillingsfürst Castle in Bavaria. Maciej Radziwiłł managed to find and buy back these canvases from a dealer who had acquired them in a little-known antique shop in the Netherlands. The researcher suggests that the image of Zofia was created after Hieronim's death, as she holds his mourning profile portrait in her hands on the canvas.

Павялічыць

Павялічыць

According to Maciej Radziwiłł, the current owner of Schillingsfürst Castle has begun a large-scale sale of property in recent years. It was from him that the Belarusian museum complex "Mir Castle" recently bought about thirty portraits of Radziwiłł family members, which were old copies from the Nesvizh gallery.

Maciej Radziwiłł himself, through a direct exchange with the Hohenlohe family, received a unique coffin portrait of the Grand Chancellor of Lithuania Karol Stanisław Radziwiłł from the early 18th century.

Silver from Hôtel Lambert

The restitution process also affects decorative and applied arts. A deposit of family silver with the owners' coats of arms has been transferred to the Czartoryski Museum in Puławy. The items by Gdańsk master Marcin Holke (18th century) were confiscated by Russian authorities after the November Uprising of 1830–1831. After emigrating to the Hôtel Lambert in Paris, which became the center of Polish political life, the artifacts could only return to Puławy almost two hundred years later.

Павялічыць

Why the Polish government is not participating in this restitution

All the described restitution activities are carried out exclusively by private individuals. The Ministry of Culture and National Heritage of Poland does not support private initiatives due to strict legal restrictions. The state department officially does not consider as losses those art objects that were removed from the territory of the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth before the restoration of independence in 1918, as there was no legal framework regulating the export of historical valuables during the partitions.

This legal conflict regularly leads to direct clashes between private collectors and authorities. A striking example is the fate of Hetman Klemens Branicki's mace, which disappeared during World War II. When a private collector from Poznań legally bought the artifact from the descendants of the previous owner, the prosecutor's office and Ministry of Culture officials initiated the relic's seizure. Currently, the historical valuable is in a warehouse until the final resolution of the legal dispute over ownership.

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