favor of the cholera-stricken
of Rome. The other two sisters went to live in Paris, and became famous
for their brilliant elegance. Their sumptuous 'hotels' or palaces were
thrown open to the most prominent men of genius of their time, and
hither came Chopin, to meet not only with the homage due to his genius,
but with a tender and sisterly friendship, which proved one of the
greatest consolations of his life. To the amiable Princess de Beauvau
he dedicated his famous Polonaise in F sharp minor, op. 44, written in
the brilliant bravura style for pianists of the first force. To
Delphine, Countess Potocka, he dedicated the loveliest of his valses,
op. 64, No. 1, so well transcribed by Joseffy into a study in thirds."

Therefore the picture of the Grafin Potocka in the Berlin gallery is
not that of Chopin's devoted friend.

Here is another Count Tarnowski story. It touches on a Potocka episode.
"Chopin liked and knew how to express individual characteristics on the
piano. Just as there formerly was a rather widely-known fashion of
describing dispositions and characters in so-called 'portraits,' which
gave to ready wits a scope for parading their knowledge of people and
their sharpness of observation; so he often amused himself by playing
such musical portraits. Without saying whom he had in his thoughts, he
illustrated the characters of a few or of several people present in the
room, and illustrated them so clearly and so delicately that the
listeners could always guess correctly who was intended, and admired
the resemblance of the portrait. One little anecdote is related in
connection with this which throws some light on his wit, and a little
pinch of sarcasm in it.

"During the time of Chopin's greatest brilliancy and popularity, in the
year 1835, he once played his musical portraits in a certain Polish
salon, where the three daughters of the house were the stars of the
evening. After a few portraits had been extemporized, one of these
ladies wished to have hers--Mme. Delphine Potocka. Chopin, in reply,
drew her shawl from her shoulders, threw it on the keyboard and began
to play, implying in this two things; first, that he knew the character
of the brilliant and famous queen of fashion so well, that by heart and
in the dark he was able to depict it; secondly, that this character and
this soul is hidden under habits, ornamentations and decorations of an
elegant worldly life, through the symbol of elegance and fashion o