Marcjan Aleksander Ogiński (1632 – 5 January 1690 in Alovė, now Alytus district of Lithuania) was a Polish-Lithuanian nobleman, a military commander and a statesman of the

Grand Duchy of Lithuania The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a European state that existed from the 13th century to 1795, when the territory was partitioned among the Russian Empire, the Kingdom of Prussia, and the Habsburg Empire of Austria. The state was founded by Lit ...

in the

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and, after 1791, as the Commonwealth of Poland, was a bi- confederal state, sometimes called a federation, of Poland and Lithuania ...

. He advanced to

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge ...

('' pulkownik'') in 1657, served as Voivod of Trakai (since 1670) and

Grand Chancellor of Lithuania Chancellor of Poland ( pl, Kanclerz - , from la, cancellarius) was one of the highest Offices in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, officials in the historic Poland. This office functioned from the early History of Poland, Polish kingdom of ...

(since 1684). He was the signatory of the

Eternal Peace Treaty of 1686 A Treaty of Perpetual Peace (also "Treaty of Eternal Peace" or simply Perpetual Peace, russian: Вечный мир, , pl, Pokój wieczysty, in Polish tradition Grzymułtowski Peace, pl, Pokój Grzymułtowskiego) between the Tsardom of Russia ...

with the

Tsardom of Russia The Tsardom of Russia or Tsardom of Rus' also externally referenced as the Tsardom of Muscovy, was the centralized Russian state from the assumption of the title of Tsar by Ivan IV in 1547 until the foundation of the Russian Empire by Peter I ...

, on the side of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Since the Oginski's birth, he was Orthodox, and participated in the religious life of the church, being a member of the

Mogilev Mogilev (russian: Могилёв, Mogilyov, ; yi, מאָלעוו, Molev, ) or Mahilyow ( be, Магілёў, Mahilioŭ, ) is a city in eastern Belarus, on the Dnieper River, about from the border with Russia's Smolensk Oblast and from the bor ...

and

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ; see also other names) is the capital and largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the municipality of Vilnius). The population of Vilnius's functional u ...

Church fellowships. However, in the struggle for

Trakai Trakai (; see names section for alternative and historic names) is a historic town and lake resort in Lithuania. It lies west of Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania. Because of its proximity to Vilnius, Trakai is a popular tourist destination. ...

Voivodeship demanded of him transition from Orthodoxy to

Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

Uniate Church The Eastern Catholic Churches or Oriental Catholic Churches, also called the Eastern-Rite Catholic Churches, Eastern Rite Catholicism, or simply the Eastern Churches, are 23 Eastern Christian autonomous (''sui iuris'') particular churches of ...

, which he did in 1670 and became a commander. He initiated the establishment of Dominicans in the Peninsula Castle of

, which was approved in 1678. Marcjan Aleksander Ogiński may be the subject of a much debated work, Rembrandt's ''

The Polish Rider '' The Polish Rider '' is a seventeenth-century painting, usually dated to the 1650s, of a young man traveling on horseback through a murky landscape, now in The Frick Collection in New York. When the painting was sold by to Henry Frick in 1910 ...

''. The image was painted at the time he was studying in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. It has been suggested that Ogiński had the portrait painted on the eve of his return to his

military unit Military organization or military organisation is the structuring of the armed forces of a State (polity), state so as to offer such military capability as a military policy, national defense policy may require. In some countries paramilitary ...

during the devastating Swedish invasions in

the Deluge The Genesis flood narrative (chapters 6–9 of the Book of Genesis) is the Hebrew version of the universal flood myth. It tells of God's decision to return the universe to its pre- creation state of watery chaos and remake it through the micro ...

.Zygulski, Jr., Zdzislaw, ''Further Battles for the Lisowczyk (Polish Rider) by Rembrandt'', JSTOR, Vol. 21, No. 41. (2000), pp. 197-205.

References

External links

* http://www.wilanow-palac.art.pl/oginski_marcjan_aleksander.html Former Polish Orthodox Christians Converts to Eastern Catholicism from Eastern Orthodoxy Secular senators of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth Marcjan Aleksander Polish Eastern Catholics People from Alytus District Municipality 1690 deaths 1632 births Grand Chancellors of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania Voivodes of Trakai {{Poland-noble-stub