During the Great Sejm from 1788 until his death in 1790 he was a leading opponent of reform, King Stanisław Augustus and his allies; the members of the so-called Familia political party headed by the Czartoryski family.

[4] Suffering from obesity and the after-effects of alcoholism, in the spring of 1790 Karol Stanisław Radziwiłł moved to the town of Biała Podlaska in the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, where he died on November 21 leaving no issue to inherit his enormous wealth.

[5] Julian Ursyn Niemcewicz stated that Radziwiłł was a "citizen with a heart of stone whose sacrifices for the Polish nation were remarkable and unforgettable".

Both a depiction of a historical moment, and an allegory for the surrounding period of Polish history, the painting is one of Matejko's most famous works, and an iconic picture of an emotional protest.

[7] Pantler Horeszko, from the epic poem Pan Tadeusz by Adam Mickiewicz, was loosely based on Karol Stanisław Radziwiłł.