Rome, 10 December 1696, a symbolic funeral: decorations placed in the Polish church of St Stanislaus to commemorate the death of John III Sobieski

The Church of St Stanislaus the Bishop and Martyr in Rome is national church Poland, where funeral ceremonies Polish rulers were celebrated. After death King John III Sobieski, ceremonial symbolic obsequies held. Carlo Barberini, as cardinal protector organized public expensive to properly honour king’s death. course service decoration are known detail through three contemporary printed reports an engraving describing every aspect ceremony king. was decorated with six painted medallions celebrating important events life Sobieski. surviving four now kept at Galleria Nazionale di Arte Antica Palazzo Barberini Rome. In 2018, researcher Giovan Battista Fidanza found documents family archives regarding cost ceremony. According sources, artist who made funerary oval paintings Giacomo Wernele, which indicates Italianization name Philip Jakob Wörndle. Currently, state preservation canvases poor. It imperative preserve order save them from destruction make available for museum display.