The depiction of Jan Szembek with a naked torso and bare head was part of the Royal Castle’s historic collections. Alongside the sculptures of Chronos and Fame, as well as a series of bronze busts of famous Polish personages and the painted decoration, it constitutes the iconographic scheme for the Knights’ Hall which was furnished in the years 1781–6 and was intended to commemorate distinguished individuals as well as glorious events in Polish history. The sculpture is one of 18 smaller busts that were placed in the Knights’ Hall.

The bust may have been modelled on a portrait of Szembek by the hand of Adam Mányoki, which was formerly in the collection of King Stanisław August (now in the Royal Łazienki in Warsaw). If Le Brun actually used this likeness, he only repeated the model’s features. The lavish dress and a la lion wig in which Mányoki portrayed Szembek were replaced in the bust with a naked torso and bare head, thus testifying to the wish to idealize the model in an ancient manner.

Inscribed SeMBek Kanc: on front, under the bust.
Inscribed JOAN: SZEMBEK / + MDCCXXXI. in gold letters on front of base.

Jan Szembek of the Szembek coat of arms (d. 1731). Son of Franciszek, Castellan of Kamieniec and Barbara née Rupniowska. Marshal of the Deputies’ Chamber in 1701. Close collaborator of King August II; one of the leaders of the Sandomierz Confederacy of 1704. Grand Chancellor of the Crown from 1712.