Lot 31: Richard Brompton 1734-1783 , The Polish Count Franciszek Ksawery Branicki (1731-1819) and his Russian wife Alexandrine Vassilievna Engelhardt (1754-1838) oil on canvas

both full length, he standing, wearing armour, flanked by two boys, she standing, wearing a white satin dress, blue shawl, and imperial badges and cyphers a pair oil on canvas Quantity: 2

measurements note each 230 by 160 cm., 90½ by 63 in.

VARIOUS PROPERTIES
Franciszek Ksawery Branicki was the son of Piotr Branicki and his wife Melania Teresa Szembek. He married in 1781, Alexandrine Vassilievna Engelhardt. Of their five children, the two included in the portrait either side of the Count are probably Aleksander and Wadysaw Grzegorz. Branicki was appointed Podstoli in 1764, and he was awarded Poland's highest decoration, the Order of the White Eagle in December 1764. He fulfilled many high ranking government positions including, Ambassador to Berlin in 1765, Master of the Hunt of the Crown from 1766 to 1773, Artillery General of Lithuania from 1768 to 1773, Field Crown Hetman in 1773 and Great Crown Hetman of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth from 1774 to 1794.

Clearly a man of great personal character, in 1766 Branicki fought a pistol duel with the Venetian adventurer and philanderer Giovanni Casanova over an Italian actress. They were both wounded and Casanova was expelled from Warsaw as a result. Branicki was an opponent of the reforms of the Great Sejm (1788-1792) and a supporter of the Targowica Confederation. During the Kooeciuszko uprising in 1794, Branicki was sentenced to death but never apprehended. He emigrated to Russia with his wife and family and died in 1819. Alexandrine was the eldest niece of Potemkin, and lady in waiting to Empress Catherine the Great of Russia during her long reign from 1761-1796. In this portrait Alexandrine wears the ribands and the badge of the Order of Saint Catherine of Russia, the Imperial Cypher of Catherine the Great. The Order of Saint Catherine had been founded by Peter the Great in 1714 as an award to ladies from Russia's highest nobility, and to high ranking foreign female royalty. It was first awarded for bravery during the Russian campaign against Turkey in 1711 to Peter's second wide Catherine Alekseyevna (1684-1727), who ironically was from humble Latvian origins, but became wife of Peter the Great and eventually Empress Consort.

Whilst little is known about Richard Brompton, he clearly caught the attention of an aristocratic and even Royal clientele. He portrayed the Earl of Northampton, the Duke of York and the Prince of Wales amongst others. However, Brompton's extravagant personal habits led to his confinement in the King's Bench Prison for debt in 1780. His misfortunes were short lived, and he was soon released to fulfil an appointment as portrait painter to Empress Catherine of Russia. He travelled to St. Petersburg where he painted two versions of these portraits (the other versions were last recorded in the Comtesse M. Branicki Collection in 1909). Brompton died in St. Petersburg in 1783.