Here is a statue that thousands of passersby see every day at the Presidential Palace in Warsaw. Unlike the medal, which only a few advanced collections can boast. Which is virtually unheard of in the trade.
A medal commemorating the turbulent history of this important monument. A history that is more than 200 years old.
In October 1813, in the battle of Leipzig, Prince Józef Poniatowski - the Commander-in-Chief of the Polish Army - dies. Moved countrymen almost immediately make efforts to honor his memory. Already at the beginning of 1814, a public fund-raising campaign is launched, and soon the tsar's permission is obtained to erect a monument in Warsaw. From this point on, however, complications begin.
It is not until 1820 that the contract for the model is signed - the order goes to the famous Danish sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsen, who... delays execution for as long as six years. When the plaster model is finally made, its transportation from Italy to Poland takes another two years.
Finally, fifteen years after the collection began, in June 1829, the model of the monument is presented to the public for the first time. In celebration of this important moment, this medal is also minted. Its author, according to Emeryk Hutten-Czapski, is Jozef Majnert, who, out of fear of losing his position at the Mint, has acquired his monogram reversed (W).
In turn, the model itself faces criticism from the public, who expected realism, not idealization in the spirit of antiquity. Bertel opted for a classical take, clearly "inspired" by the equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius. The dissatisfaction of the Poles, on the other hand, did not particularly concern him, quoted with words about "lack of sense of art."
Despite his doubts, the model was eventually sent to a Warsaw foundry, where work on its realization began.... interrupted by the outbreak of the November Uprising. And although it did not prevent the completion of work on the casting, it completely changed the attitude of the Russian authorities. In 1834 they withdrew permission for the monument to be displayed.
This began a long period of non-existence for the monument, which traveled from the crates in the Modlin Fortress to the foreign possession of the Russian general. It did not return to Poland until 1922. And despite being blown up by the Germans in 1944, it was cast again so that we could admire it in person, unlike our ancestors during the partition period, who were left with only this medal....
A beautiful and very rare testimony to a multifaceted history.
