Monument to Prince Jozef Poniatowski
Poland, Warsaw, ulica Krakowskie Przedmieś cie 48/50.
Description:
The monument to Prince Józef Poniatowski by the famous Danish sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsen was cast in bronze in 1832, but due to the changed political situation in the country could not be installed in the planned place - in front of the Palace of the Viceroy.
The monument was confiscated and taken away from the city, then changed several owners and locations, after which he returned to Poland in 1922 and was installed in the courtyard of the Royal Palace. On December 19, 1944, the monument was blown up after the Warsaw Uprising was suppressed. The new sculpture, made in 1951, was presented to Poland by the Danish government, and since 1965 it has stood in front of the Viceroyal Palace, now the residence of the Polish president.
Prince Józef Poniatowski, a national hero, a participant in the Napoleonic Wars, died in 1913 in the Battle of Leipzig. In the sculpture, the prince is depicted on a horse in Roman antique armor, as on the famous monument of Marcus Aurelius on the Roman Capitol.