The travels of Izabela Czartoryska and Maria Wirtemberska : towards new artistic preferences

The purpose of the article is to compare two accounts of travel. The first, Dyliżansem przez Śląsk. Dziennik podróży do Cieplic [Travelling through Silesia by Stagecoach. A Diary of the Journey to Cieplice] by Izabela Czartoryska, is a documentary account of Duchess Czartoryska’s journey to Silesia in 1816. The other, Niektóre zdarzenia, myśli I uczucia doznane za granicą [Some Events, Thoughts and Feelings Experienced Abroad] by Maria Wirtemberska, focuses on the author’s journey to Italy which began in July 1816 and continued until June 1818. The article presents the two authors’ thoughts concerning people, landscapes and monuments, or, more broadly, the architecture of places visited throughout their travels. Both accounts contain numerous observations concerning people, their immediate surroundings, family love, and friendship. Nature also appears as an important theme and many of the authors’ observations are connected with its new, pre-Romantic perception. The places they see often encourage the two women to contemplate Poland and the country’s loss of independence In addition to comparing these two accounts and the authors’ views concerning nature and culture, the article also focuses on the evolution of "sentymentalizm puławski" (a type of Polish sentimentalism originating from Puławy). The presentation of this movement’s evolution is particularly interesting since it is shown in the writings of two generations (mother and daughter) of the Czaroryski family. Both accounts contain thoughts and remarks that highlight the most important issues related to this evolution. The final part of the article focuses on the two authors’ manner of writing. This factor is also particularly important when viewing the changes in the nature of sentimentalism at the time. The two accounts present two sentimental models of travel, which simultaneously constitute journeys towards new, pre-Romantic artistic preferences.