Skip to main content

Primary sourcePaintingc. 1792

Portrait of Tadeusz Kościuszko

Józef Grassi · c. 1792

A 1792 portrait by Józef Grassi showing Kościuszko as a major general during the war against Russia.

This portrait shows Kościuszko as a major general during the 1792 war defending the Constitution of May 3.

Ask Tadeusz Kościuszko about this sourceView the original(opens in new tab)
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.
Józef Grassi, Portrait of Tadeusz Kościuszko, c. 1792.

About this source

What it is

This oil portrait of Tadeusz Kościuszko was painted by Józef Grassi around 1792. It is Kościuszko's main Wikidata reference image.

Why it matters

The portrait dates from the year of the Polish–Russian War, when Kościuszko served as a major general in the army of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. It shows him as a serious military officer rather than the wounded or elderly figure seen in some later images, giving a sense of how he appeared at the height of his active command.

Look closer

  • What does his clothing and sash suggest about his rank and role in 1792?
  • How does this image compare with other portraits of Kościuszko made at different points in his life?
  • What might a formal portrait like this be meant to communicate to the people who saw it?

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.

More Tadeusz Kościuszko sources

Meet the AI Tadeusz Kościuszko →
Printed broadside proclamation headed 'RADA NAYWYZSZA NARODOWA' with the name Tadeusz Kosciuszko in large capitals, dated Warsaw 30 Maja 1794, in Polish, printed in two columns on aged paper with a signature and seal mark at the bottom.Document

Primary source

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

Primary source

General Thaddeus Kosciusko

Benjamin West · 1797

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

Primary source

Constitution of May 3, 1791

3 May 1791

Line engraving in an ornate scrolled border titled JEFFERSON. Inside an inner frame, a profile bust portrait in three-quarter view facing right of a man with a laurel wreath in his powdered hair, wearing a dark coat and white cravat against a cloudy background. Printed caption is along the bottom edge of the image.Painting

Secondary source

Thomas Jefferson, Line Engraving by A. Oleszczynsky after T. Kosciuszko

A. Oleszczynsky, after Tadeusz Kościuszko · 1829

Ready when you are

Start chatting with Tadeusz Kościuszko now.

20 messages free · No credit card · Available in 50+ languages.

Trial Humy for freeGet a quote for institutions