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Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and is published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.
After news emerged that Robert De Niro was visiting Poland, a Polish museum suggested that he come and view their portrait of a local 17th-century nobleman who many have noted looks remarkably similar to the Hollywood star, right down to the moles on their cheeks.
The painting, dating from 1629, hangs at the National Museum in Wrocław, Poland’s third-largest city, and depicts Johann Vogt, a landowner and member of the city council of Wrocław, who was aged in his 50s at the time.
While Vogt is himself a largely forgotten figure, the painting, which has been attributed to local artist Bartholomeus Strobel, has gained fame for the subject’s remarkable likeness to De Niro.
The museum’s director, Piotr Oszczanowski, noted that Vogt and De Niro have “a few distinctive features in common” – and even “the same twinkle in their eyes”.
Last weekend, the actor visited Warsaw and Kraków, two cities where his Nobu hospitality group has investments. A Nobu hotel and restaurant opened in the capital in 2020. In Kraków, the firm is in the process of building a new luxury development.
“Robert de Niro in Poland!” wrote the National Museum in Wrocław. “During his stay, will he visit Wroclaw to see the portrait of his ‘ancestor’ displayed in our museum?”
However, it appears that De Niro, who has now left Poland, did not take up the offer. The museum also attempted unsuccessfully to invite the star to visit in 2017, after getting in touch with his agent.
Those who do wish to view the painting can find it on the first floor of the museum, in its gallery presenting Silesian art from the 16th to 19th century.
Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.
Main image credit: Narodowe Muzeum we Wrocławiu and David Shankbone/Flickr (under CC BY 2.0)
Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland. He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications, including Foreign Policy, POLITICO Europe, EUobserver and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.
