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Primary sourcePaintingbefore 1812

Portrait of Tadeusz Kościuszko

Kazimierz Wojniakowski · before 1812

An oil portrait of Kościuszko painted during his lifetime by Kazimierz Wojniakowski, noting his fame as the first and most celebrated graduate of the Cadet Corps.

A lifetime portrait of Kościuszko, celebrating him as the Cadet Corps' most famous alumnus.

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Oil painting of a man in a tall cream-colored turban with a dark plume, dark curly hair, a white shirt with a red-collared high neckcloth, and a dark sash across his chest. He grips a long dark sword blade diagonally across his body and gazes to the upper left against a brown background.
Kazimierz Wojniakowski, Portrait of Tadeusz Kościuszko, before 1812.

About this source

What it is

This oil portrait of Tadeusz Kościuszko was painted by Kazimierz Wojniakowski before 1812, during Kościuszko's lifetime. It shows him wearing a tall turban with a plume, a white shirt, and a sash, holding a sword blade across his body.

Why it matters

The portrait identifies Kościuszko as a member of the first graduating class of the Cadet Corps and its most famous alumnus. Made while he was alive, it reflects how he was presented and remembered as a military figure and a symbol of the institution that trained him.

Look closer

  • Why might the artist have chosen to show Kościuszko holding a sword rather than another object?
  • What does the choice of clothing and pose suggest about how he wanted — or was meant — to be seen?
  • Why would the Cadet Corps be proud to claim him as its most famous graduate?

This painting is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Tadeusz Kościuszko on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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Proclamation of Połaniec

Tadeusz Kościuszko · 7 May 1794 (this printing 30 May 1794)

Oil painting of a young man with curly brown hair in a dark coat and white cravat, reclining on a green day bed with one hand raised to his head. Red curtains frame a window showing a domed building. A desk with papers and an inkstand is at left, and a red book and letters lie on the bed.Painting

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General Thaddeus Kosciusko

Benjamin West · 1797

Oil painting of a man with dark, tousled hair in a dark coat over a blue sash, with a white collar and black cravat, looking toward the viewer against a grey-brown background.Painting

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Portrait of Tadeusz Kościuszko

Józef Grassi · c. 1792

Stone wall ruins of Fort Putnam at West Point with black cannons mounted on a stone parapet, a wooded mountain range under a hazy sky behind, and metal railings in the foreground.Artifact

Primary source

Fort Putnam

1778

Handwritten manuscript page in Polish, dark ink on aged paper, with an ornate title reading 'Ustawa Rządowa' and the opening invocation 'W Imię Boga w Trójcy Świętey Jedynego', followed by a list of royal titles and body text in cursive. A handwritten date notation appears at top right.Document

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Constitution of May 3, 1791

3 May 1791

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