The Bust of Jan Kozietulski is a replica of a sculpture by Stanisław Jackowski ordered in 1930 by the Regiment of Masovian Chevau-Légers and initially situated in the town of Suwałki.
After the war, the bust found its way to the Royal Łazienki. In the recent years, the monument returned to Suwałki, while its contemporary bronze copy was set up in the Royal Łazienki. In February 2024, on the 203rd anniversary of Jan Kozietulski's death, the Royal Łazienki Museum transferred the bust to Belsko Duży for a 10-year deposit. The sculpture was placed near the church where the Polish soldier was buried.
Lieutenant Jan Kozietulski (1781-1821) took part in the campaigns of Napoleon Bonaparte and was his faithful companion. He gained renown as the commander in the heroic sortie of Polish Chevau-Légers in the Battle of Samosierra in Spain in 1808, which gave victory to the Napoleon’s army and opened the way to Madrid. It was one of the biggest sorties in war history, and it won Poles a significant recognition by Napoleon.
Although Józef Kozietulski was born in Skierniewice, he was attached to Warsaw. He spent his youth and died here. He knew the owner of the Myślewicki Palace - Prince Józef Poniatowski. After the Prince had died, during the mourning ceremonies in Leipzig, Lieutenant Kozietulski carried the coffin with Poniatowski’s remains.
The monument is a bust of Jan Kozietulski, dressed in a uniform with epaulettes, i.e. shoulder pieces with fringes. Three orders are pinned to his chest. One of them is the French Order of the Legion of Honour, which he received in 1809. The next is the Polish Virtuti Militari Order awarded to him in 1811. The third distinction is the Imperial Order of the Reunion awarded to him by Napoleon in 1813.