Ślady recepcji sztuki w źródłach do podróży edukacyjnych Rzewuskich po Europie w XVII–XVIII wieku

Abstract

Traces of the reception of art in the sources for the educational tours of the Rzewuski family through Europe in the 17th–18th century

In the 17th and 18th centuries, so-called educational tours were very popular among Polish social elites. The nobility and magnates, both from the Crown and Lithuania, willingly sent their sons abroad to continue their domestic education. Educational trips, the equivalent of European grand tours, consisted not only of taking lessons in France, Italy or the Netherlands. Their essential component was to explore the world and people, to be at courts and to visit various attractions, including monuments. Architectural objects and collections of artworks were admired. Usually, travel diaries are used to study the forms and level of reception of works of art by early modern travellers. However, there are many examples of journeys for which we do not have them. Yet we have access to other categories of historical sources. The case of travel of the representatives of the magnate Rzewuski family in the 17th and 18th centuries, which is discussed in the article, makes it possible to present this issue through the prism of using travel instructions, correspondence and lists of expenses from the times of magnate travellers’ stay abroad.