to be harmonious. Due to her business acumen and contacts, she was able to cover her husband's colossal debts. In return, he spent even more money in creating Oleksandriya, an impossibly lavish summer palace and park in her honour, making it the epitome of Polish classicism. They had five surviving children: Katarzyna BranickaAleksander BranickiWładysław Grzegorz BranickiZofia BranickaElżbieta Branicka As a memorial to their children who did not survive, the couple had a waterfall and folly constructed in the grounds of Oleksandriya. Treason Death sentence During the Kościuszko Insurrection, the Supreme Court of the Kingdom of Poland sentenced him to death by hanging, to eternal infamy and to the confiscation of all his property and titles. Because of the absence of the accused, the sentence was carried out symbolically in absentia on 29 September 1794. His portrait, painted by an anonymous artist was hung from the gallows. The portraits of Stanisław Szczęsny Potocki and Hetman Seweryn Rzewuski, who were not captured either, but were convicted for treason, were also hung the same day. Infamy Branicki's reputation was subsequently immortalized as a symbol of national treason by Poland's leading writers and artists, most notably by Stanisław Wyspiański. Branicki had been a brawler, but a close friend of King Stanisław II Augustus. He liked to give the impression of a great military strategist and leader – but according to historians, he hardly equalled the ability of Russian cavalry colonels, despite his supposed bravery during the Seven Years' War. After that conflict he was praised by some but hated by others, especially among the Polish royal court, who considered him an enemy to be quickly eliminated. He was seen as a stubborn and obstinate man, always claiming to know best. He was also generally disliked by the Polish nobility. Branicki was described as selfish and prone to overweening pride. He was in constant rivalry with other powerful magnates such as, Karol Stanisław "Panie Kochanku" Radziwiłł. Trivia In 1766, as a result of a pistol duel over an Italian actress in Warsaw with the adventurer and notorious predator, Giacomo Casanova, who happened to be in Poland at that time, Branicki sustained a serious wound to his stomach. Casanova was injured in the hand and was recommended an amputation which he declined. They both survived. Representations in art He is one of the figures immortalized in Jan Matejko's 1891 painting, Constitution of 3 May 1791. Branicki's