Athanasius Raczynski (1788-1874) : aristocrat, diplomat, and patron of the arts / Michał Mencfel ; translated by Thomas Anessi, in collaboration with Małgorzata Olsza

Includes bibliographical references and index

Contents -- Abbreviations -- List of Figures -- Introduction -- 1 Polyoptric Portrait -- 2 Sources -- 3 State of Research -- 4 Acknowledgements -- part 1: Formation -- 1 Grandfather Kazimierz Raczyński -- 1 His Guardian's Long Shadow -- 2 Traitor? -- 3 Family and Fatherland -- 4 Three Principles -- 2 Brothers -- 1 No One Else -- 2 Mirror -- 3 Herr Bruder, Write to Me -- 4 My Poor, Poor Brother! -- 3 Apprenticeship and Journeyman Years -- 1 The Fist, Rod, and Cane, or Education -- 2 'A Model Young Pole' -- 3 In Warsaw Circles -- 4 Smelling of the Antechamber -- 4 Rapture -- 1 Wasteful Times -- 2 Melancholy Self-Portrait -- 3 Wertherism -- 4 A Keen Eye -- part 2: Politics -- 5 The Aristocrat -- 1 Decorum -- 2 Estate -- 3 A Scandalous Picture: The Fiasco of Family Politics -- 4 Manifesto: The Portrait Gallery in Gaj -- 6 Political Creed -- 1 The Flight from Warsaw in 1794: The Spectre of Revolution -- 2 The Last Absolutist -- 3 Attitude towards the November Uprising in the Kingdom of Poland -- 4 Cara Patria: Being Polish as a Burden and a Challenge -- 7 A Pole in Berlin -- 1 Decision -- 2 'A Nobleman of the First Class' -- 3 A Good Catholic and a Pole -- 4 The Old Count -- 8 Diplomat -- 1 Early Endeavours -- 2 The Power of Circumstances or 'a Place Apart'? -- 3 Iberia -- 4 Friendships: Juan Donoso Cortés and Alphonse de Brotty d'Antioche -- part 3: Art -- 9 Raczyński as an Artist -- 1 Picturesque and Sublime Nature -- 2 The Romantic Landscape -- 3 Travel Notes -- 4 Views of Architecture -- 10 Aesthetic Views, Writings on Art, Patronage -- 1 Basic Concepts: Beauty and Taste -- 2 Modern German Painting -- 3 Writings on Art -- 4 Raczyński's Friend Wilhelm Kaulbach -- 11 Collector -- 1 The Queen of the Elves -- 2 Italian Journey -- 3 A Single Goal -- 4 Contemporary Painting -- 12 The Gallery -- 1 A Temple to Art -- 2 A Joint Undertaking: The Gallery in Poznań -- 3 A Small but Tasteful Picture Gallery -- 4 The Museum: 2 Exercierplatz -- Conclusion -- Athanasius Raczyński: Timetable -- Bibliography -- Index.

"This book depicts the long rich life and wide ranging work of Count Athanasius Raczyński (1788-1874). By exploring his complex personality, his processes of thought and his accomplishments, it reveals a man at once a wealthy aristocrat, a Pole in the Prussian diplomatic service, an active participant in and perceptive observer and critical commentator on political life, a connoisseur and art collector of European renown, and the author of ground breaking studies on German and Portuguese art - in short a distinguished and fascinating nineteenth century figure"--