Monument to Prince Józef Poniatowski

The Monument to Prince Józef Poniatowski in Warsaw is a monument currently located in the courtyard of the Presidential Palace. The statue shows Prince Józef Poniatowski riding a horse and holding a sword in his right hand. The figure of the prince is modeled on the monument of Marcus Aurelius from the Roman Capitoline Hill. The monument’s creation was at the behest of Polish aristocracy. Polish aristocrat Anna Potocka obtained permission from the Tsar to place the monument in front of the Governor’s Palace (which is now the Presidential Palace). The monument was commissioned in 1817 from Danish sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsen. In 1829, in Warsaw, he presented a life-size plaster model in classicist form. The project was not well received by critics and the public who were expecting to see the warrior clad in the armour of a soldier, while Thorvaldsen introduced him as a half-naked Roman general.