Portrety Marcella Bacciarellego jako kronika strojów modnych Polaków w 2. połowie XVIII w.
Portraits by Marcello Bacciarelli as a chronicle of fashionable costumes of poles in the second half of the eighteenth century.

Summary/Abstract: Marcello Bacciarelli, one of the most important court painters of the last Polish King Stanislaus Augustus Poniatowski, was the author not only of historical paintings and images of Polish monarchs, so important to Polish culture, but also of many portraits depicting representatives of various social strata of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth of that time. When painting these counterfeits, the artist sought not only to faithfully represent the appearance of his models but also to capture their costumes. For this reason, Bacciarelli’s portraits can be regarded as a kind of ‘painted’ chronicle of trendy Poles and be an important supplement to the literary descriptions of contemporary fashion which are to be found in the works by Jędrzej Kitowicz, Antoni Magier or Jan Duklan Ochocki. In the portraits we will find fashionable clothes of women, men, and children in the French and English variety, as well as examples of Polish national costume. The present analysis of the works by the Italian master allows us to show studies of costumes and fashion as an important auxiliary science of history and makes a valuable auxiliary material not only for historians, but also for historical re-enactments. Until now, portraits by Bacciarelli, contrary to these by his fellow countryman Canaletto, have not been thoroughly analysed in this respect. The present article attempts to fill this gap.

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