Unknown artist, Poland, 18th/19th century, Portrait of a young woman, 18th/19th century

pastel on parchment, 29x23 cm; portrait in an oval frame on an octagonal stretcher; on the original frame, a later inscription reads: Ludwika Byszewska, née von Baden / + 1831; above, faded traces of earlier inscriptions;

a high-quality and excellently preserved pastel portrait; executed in the late 18th century or the first quarter of the 19th century; it is possible that it depicts Ludwika née Countess Badenich Byszewska (1793–1873), who in 1808 married Antoni I. Byszewski (1782–1854), owner of the Ujejsce estate; Ludwika was a well-known and much-described beauty; Teodor Żychliński, The Golden Book of the Polish Nobility, Poznań 1890, p. 10: "Ludwika Byszewska, née Badenich, was renowned in her youth for her rare beauty and charm, and in later life, as a matron, she shone as an example of extraordinary virtues and patriotism.";