Liturgical Paraments Donated by Duchess Barbara Franciszka Radziwiłł, née Zawisza Kieżgajłło (1690-1770) in the Monastery of the Dominican Order in Lublin

Abstract

The liturgical paraments donated by Duchess Barbara Franciszka Radziwiłł (née Zawisza Kieżgajłło), the wife of the voivode of Nowogródek, which are stored in the Monastery of the Dominican Order in Lublin, include a few high-quality liturgical garments not previously mentioned in any records. An impressive handwritten inscription on the blue chasuble identifies the donor.  

The paraments donated to the glory of the Wood of the Holy Cross have inspired an inquiry into the patronage of Duchess Barbara Franciszka Radziwiłł, including her interests in art and handicraft. The liturgical items donated by the Duchess, with exquisite embroideries made on costly silk damask fabric, represent the refined craftsmanship of the first half of the 18th century, probably of the Polish royal court manufactory or embroidery workshop.

Barbara Zawisza, the wife of Duke Mikołaj Faustyn Radziwiłł, voivode of Nowogródek, was a public figure in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and one of the most active female members of the Radziwiłł family on the political scene. That activity is evidenced, inter alia, by representative portraits of Duchess Barbara Franciszka Radziwiłł, depicting her as a significant figure in the history of the Radziwiłł family, Grand Mistress of the Order of the Starry Cross, and a humanist. A well-educated creator of intellectual life dedicated to her homeland and family, she successfully took care of the property matters of the Radziwiłł estates in Ukraine ‒ today’s Belarus and Lithuania. The great estate in Berdychiv inherited by Barbara Radziwiłł distinguished the Radziwiłł family line referred to by historians as the “Berdychiv line”.