History of the Royal Castle in Warsaw
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Royal Castle, Warsaw
The Royal Castle in Warsaw is a castle residency and was the official residence of the Polish monarchs. It is located in the Castle Square, at the entrance to the Warsaw Old Town. The personal offices of the king and the administrative offices of the Royal Court of Poland were located there from...
in Warsaw was a seat of the Sejm
Sejm
The Sejm is the lower house of the Polish parliament. The Sejm is made up of 460 deputies, or Poseł in Polish . It is elected by universal ballot and is presided over by a speaker called the Marshal of the Sejm ....
and Senate of the first Rzeczpospolita
Rzeczpospolita
Rzeczpospolita is a traditional name of the Polish State, usually referred to as Rzeczpospolita Polska . It comes from the words: "rzecz" and "pospolita" , literally, a "common thing". It comes from latin word "respublica", meaning simply "republic"...
and also an official residence of the monarchs in Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
. It contained the offices of a number of political institutions, arranged around a central courtyard.
The castle is a symbol of Polish statehood and history. Its origins date back almost seven centuries and the design of its present structure has evolved in stages since the fourteenth century. (The actual structure is a mid-20th-century reconstruction of the original castle, which was mostly demolished by hostile foreigners during WWII.)
Castle in the Middle Ages
Papal legate
A papal legate – from the Latin, authentic Roman title Legatus – is a personal representative of the pope to foreign nations, or to some part of the Catholic Church. He is empowered on matters of Catholic Faith and for the settlement of ecclesiastical matters....
in Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
heard a case brought by the King of Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
, Kazimierz the Great, against the German Teutonic Order. He claimed that they had illegally seized a slice of Polish territory — Pomerania
Pomerania
Pomerania is a historical region on the south shore of the Baltic Sea. Divided between Germany and Poland, it stretches roughly from the Recknitz River near Stralsund in the West, via the Oder River delta near Szczecin, to the mouth of the Vistula River near Gdańsk in the East...
and the Kujawy region. The documents in this case are the earliest written testimony to the existence of Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
. At that time a fortified town surrounded by earthen and wooden ramparts
Defensive wall
A defensive wall is a fortification used to protect a city or settlement from potential aggressors. In ancient to modern times, they were used to enclose settlements...
, and situated where the Royal Castle
Royal Castle, Warsaw
The Royal Castle in Warsaw is a castle residency and was the official residence of the Polish monarchs. It is located in the Castle Square, at the entrance to the Warsaw Old Town. The personal offices of the king and the administrative offices of the Royal Court of Poland were located there from...
now stands, it was the seat of Trojden, Duke of Masovia. At the end of 13th century, during the Duke's Conrad II of Mazovia reign, the wooden-earthen gord
Gord (Slavic settlement)
Gord is a medieval Slavic fortified settlement. This Proto-Slavic word for town or city, later differentiated into grad , gard, gorod , etc. The ancient peoples were known for building wooden fortified settlements...
called Smaller Manor was built. The following duke, Casimir I
Casimir I of Poland
Casimir I the Restorer , was a Duke of Poland of the Piast dynasty and the de facto monarch of the entire country from 1034 until his death....
, decided to build here the first brick building at the burg-city's area the Great Tower .
In the middle of the 14th century the Castle Tower, whose structure up to the first storey has survived to our own day, was built, while towards the end of the 14th century, when Masovia was ruled by Duke Janusz I the Elder, the Curia Maior (Big Manor) was erected between 1407 and 1410. Its facade, which was still standing in 1944, was knocked down by the Germans
Planned destruction of Warsaw
The planned destruction of Warsaw refers to the largely realised plans by Nazi Germany to completely raze the city. The plan was put into full motion after the Warsaw Uprising in 1944...
, but has been rebuilt nowadays. The character of the new residence and its size (47,5 m/14,5 m) decided about the change of buildings status, from 1414 functioned as Prince Manor.
Renaissance
Kingdom of Poland (1385–1569)
The Kingdom of Poland of the Jagiellons was the Polish state created by the accession of Jogaila , Grand Duke of Lithuania, to the Polish throne in 1386. The Union of Krewo or Krėva Act, united Poland and Lithuania under the rule of a single monarch...
in 1526, the edifice which until then had been the Castle of the Dukes of Masovia became one of the royal residences. From 1548 onwards Queen Bona Sforza
Bona Sforza
Bona Sforza was a member of the powerful Milanese House of Sforza. In 1518, she became the second wife of Sigismund I the Old, the King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, and became the Queen of Poland and Grand Duchess of Lithuania.She was the third child of Gian Galeazzo Sforza and his wife...
resided in it with her daughters Izabela, who became Queen of Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
, Catherine
Catherine Jagiellon
Catherine the Jagiellonian of Poland was Duchess of Finland , Queen Consort of Sweden , Grand Princess of Finland and heir to her mother's claim to the title of King of Jerusalem....
, later to become Queen of Sweden, and Anna Jagiellon
Anna Jagiellon
Anna Jagiellon was queen of Poland from 1575 to 1586. She was the daughter of Poland's King Sigismund I the Old, and the wife of Stephen Báthory. She was elected, along with her then fiance, Báthory, as co-ruler in the second election of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth...
, later King of Poland. In 1556–1557 and in 1564 the King of Poland, Zygmunt August, convoked royal parliaments in Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
. They met in the Castle. Following the Lublin Union (1569), by which the Polish Crown and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania
Grand Duchy of Lithuania
The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a European state from the 12th /13th century until 1569 and then as a constituent part of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth until 1791 when Constitution of May 3, 1791 abolished it in favor of unitary state. It was founded by the Lithuanians, one of the polytheistic...
-were united as a single country, Warsaw Castle was regularly the place where the parliament of the Two-Nations State met. In 1569–1572 King Zygmunt August started alterations w the Castle, the architects being Giovanni Battista di Quadro
Giovanni Battista di Quadro
Giovanni Battista di Quadro was a Polish-Italian renaissance architect, one of the most famous architects in Central Europe in his epoque....
and Giacopo Pario.
The Curia Maior was altered so as provide a meeting place for Parliament, which premises for the Chamber of Deputies (Sejm - delegates of the gentry) on the ground floor (the Old Chamber of Deputies), and the Senate Chamber (where the Senators debated in the presence of the King) on the first floor. This was one of the first attempts in Europe to create a building that would be used solely for parliamentary purposes. The parliamentary character of the Curia Maior is stressed by the paintings of the facade — the coats-of-arms of Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
, of Lithuania
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
, and of the various regions from which the delegates were elected. A new, Renaissance
Renaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
—style building, known as the "Royal House", was erected next to the Curia Maior. The king resided there when parliament was in session.
The Vasas Era and the Deluge
Sigismund III Vasa
Sigismund III Vasa was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, a monarch of the united Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth from 1587 to 1632, and King of Sweden from 1592 until he was deposed in 1599...
, who transferred the royal residence from Cracow to Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
. In 1598–1619 the Castle was enlarged. Giovanni Trevano was in charge of the reconstruction. His plans were probably amended by the Venetian architect Vincenzo Scamozzi
Vincenzo Scamozzi
thumb|250px|Portrait of Vincenzo Scamozzi by [[Paolo Veronese]]Vincenzo Scamozzi was a Venetian architect and a writer on architecture, active mainly in Vicenza and Republic of Venice area in the second half of the 16th century...
.
Between 1601–1603 Giacomo Rodondo finished the new northern wing. From 1602 Paolo del Corte was doing stonework. Later after 1614, when Matteo Castelli took the head, western wing was built(from today's Plac Zamkowy side) as a chancelleries and marshals office. The southern wing was built at the end. In that way five-wings mannerist
Mannerist architecture and sculpture in Poland
Mannerist architecture and sculpture in Poland dominated between 1550 and 1650, when it was finally replaced with baroque. The style includes various mannerist traditions, which are closely related with ethnic and religious diversity of the country, as well as with its economic and political...
-early baroque assumption, work of architects, was made. In 1619 building of New Royal Tower also called Sigismund's Tower was finished. It was 60 meters high and was placed in the middle of a new built west castle side of 90 meters length. At the top of the tower a clock with gilded hands and copper face was placed. New tower's spire was 13 meters high and had glided knobs and a copper flag at the top.
On 29 October 1611 in the Senator's Chamber Tsar Vasili IV of Russia
Vasili IV of Russia
Vasili IV of Russia was Tsar of Russia between 1606 and 1610 after the murder of False Dmitriy I. His reign fell during the Time of Troubles....
, captured by the hetman Stanisław Żółkiewski, paid homage to the Polish king Sigismund III Vasa
Sigismund III Vasa
Sigismund III Vasa was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, a monarch of the united Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth from 1587 to 1632, and King of Sweden from 1592 until he was deposed in 1599...
.
The Polish king Sigismund III
Sigismund III Vasa
Sigismund III Vasa was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, a monarch of the united Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth from 1587 to 1632, and King of Sweden from 1592 until he was deposed in 1599...
and his successors of the Vasa dynasty — Władysław IV and Jan Kazimierz — collected many rich works of art in the castle, such as oriental fabrics, tapestries, and numerous paintings by such famous artists as Titian
Titian
Tiziano Vecelli or Tiziano Vecellio Tiziano Vecelli or Tiziano Vecellio Tiziano Vecelli or Tiziano Vecellio (c. 1488/1490 – 27 August 1576 better known as Titian was an Italian painter, the most important member of the 16th-century Venetian school. He was born in Pieve di Cadore, near...
, Veronese
Paolo Veronese
Paolo Veronese was an Italian painter of the Renaissance in Venice, famous for paintings such as The Wedding at Cana and The Feast in the House of Levi...
, Jacopo
Jacopo Bassano
Jacopo Bassano , known also as Jacopo dal Ponte, was an Italian painter who was born and died in Bassano del Grappa near Venice, from which he adopted the name.- Life :...
and Leandro Bassano
Leandro Bassano
Leandro Bassano , also called Leandro dal Ponte, was an Italian artist from Bassano del Grappa, the younger brother of Francesco Bassano the Younger and third son of Jacopo Bassano, who took their name from their town of Bassano del Grappa...
, Tintoretto
Tintoretto
Tintoretto , real name Jacopo Comin, was a Venetian painter and a notable exponent of the Renaissance school. For his phenomenal energy in painting he was termed Il Furioso...
, Palma il Giovane, Antonio Vassilacchi
Antonio Vassilacchi
Antonio Vassilacchi, also called L'Aliense, was a Greekpainter, who was active mostly in Venice and the Veneto.-Biography:...
, Tommaso Dolabella
Tommaso Dolabella
Tommaso Dolabella was a Baroque painter from Venice, who settled in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth at the royal court of King Sigismund III Vasa. He was later supported by Sigismund's son, Władysław IV Waza. In Warsaw he opened a workshop for artists.-External links:*...
, Guercino, Guido Reni
Guido Reni
Guido Reni was an Italian painter of high-Baroque style.-Biography:Born in Bologna into a family of musicians, Guido Reni was the son of Daniele Reni and Ginevra de’ Pozzi. As a child of nine, he was apprenticed under the Bolognese studio of Denis Calvaert. Soon after, he was joined in that...
, Joseph Heintz
Joseph Heintz
right|thumb|400pix|Reclining woman, by HeintzJoseph Heintz the Elder was a Swiss painter, draftsman and architect....
, Rembrandt, Pieter Soutman
Pieter Soutman
Pieter Claesz Soutman was a Dutch Golden Age painter and printmaker from Haarlem.- Biography :Soutman was born and died in Haarlem, where he was a contemporary of Frans Hals, Hendrick Gerritsz Pot, and Pieter Claesz, and seems to have been influenced by all three, considering the various...
, Peter Danckerts de Rij
Peter Danckerts de Rij
Pieter, Peeter, or Peter Danckerts de Rij, Dankers de Ry, or Peteris Dankersas was a Dutch Golden Age painter.-Biography:...
, Peter Paul Rubens, Jan Brueghel the Elder
Jan Brueghel the Elder
Jan Brueghel the Elder was a Flemish painter, son of Pieter Bruegel the Elder and father of Jan Brueghel the Younger. Nicknamed "Velvet" Brueghel, "Flower" Brueghel, and "Paradise" Brueghel, of which the latter two were derived from his floral still lifes which were his favored subjects, while the...
, Daniel Seghers
Daniel Seghers
Daniel Seghers was a Jesuit brother and Flemish Baroque painter who specialized in flower still lifes, and is particularly well-known for his contributions to the genre of "flower garland" painting. His paintings were collected enthusiastically by courtly patrons and he had numerous imitators...
, Georg Daniel Schultz
Georg Daniel Schultz
Daniel Schultz the Younger was a famous painter of the Baroque era, born and active in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth...
etc. and sculptures by Giambologna
Giambologna
Giambologna, born as Jean Boulogne, incorrectly known as Giovanni da Bologna and Giovanni Bologna , was a sculptor, known for his marble and bronze statuary in a late Renaissance or Mannerist style.- Biography :...
, Giovanni Francesco Susini
Giovanni Francesco Susini
Giovanni Francesco Susini was a Mannerist Florentine sculptor in bronze and marble, trained in the workshop of Giambologna....
and Adriaen de Vries
Adriaen de Vries
Adriaen de Vries was a Northern Mannerist sculptor born in the Netherlands, whose international style crossed the threshold to the Baroque; he excelled in refined modelling and bronze casting and in the manipulation of patina and became the most famous European sculptor of his generation...
. These splendid works of art were either destroyed or plundered during the invasions of Poland by Sweden and Germans of Brandenburg
Brandenburg
Brandenburg is one of the sixteen federal-states of Germany. It lies in the east of the country and is one of the new federal states that were re-created in 1990 upon the reunification of the former West Germany and East Germany. The capital is Potsdam...
(The Deluge, 1655–1657). Swedes and Germans took all the priceless pictures, furniture, tapestries, royal library, crown archive, numerous sculptures, whole floors and royal flags. In the castle they held a military Lazareth field hospital, which additionally contributed to the devastation of the buildings. A few months later armies destroyed the rest, plundering most of the copper elements and tearing up the rest of castle's floor.
In 1628 the first Polish opera
Polish opera
Polish opera may be broadly understood to include operas staged in Poland and works written for foreign stages by Polish composers, as well as opera in the Polish language....
- Galatea, was staged at the Castle. The great opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
hall (double-storied, over 50m long), which existed at the Royal Castle, was demolished by Sweds and Germans and rebuilt in 1660s by King Jan Kazimierz.
Late Baroque period
Ujazdów Castle
Ujazdów Castle is a castle in the historic Ujazdów district, between Ujazdów Park and the Royal Baths Park , in Warsaw, Poland.-History:...
in 1669. Until 1696 when the next Polish king, John III Sobieski
John III Sobieski
John III Sobieski was one of the most notable monarchs of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, from 1674 until his death King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania. Sobieski's 22-year-reign was marked by a period of the Commonwealth's stabilization, much needed after the turmoil of the Deluge and...
died, no serious works were done. They only limited work to current
inspections of the building's condition. Sessions of Parliament continued to be held in the castle, as well as various State occasions, such as when the Hohenzollern Dukes of Prussia paid homage to the Kings of Poland and occasions when the king received the ambassadors of foreign countries.
After choosing Augustus II in an election in 1697, the castle again began to deteriorate. A new conflict with the king of Sweden Charles XII
Charles XII of Sweden
Charles XII also Carl of Sweden, , Latinized to Carolus Rex, Turkish: Demirbaş Şarl, also known as Charles the Habitué was the King of the Swedish Empire from 1697 to 1718...
significantly charged king's budget. Despite problems, in 1698 Augustus II commissioned to prepare a residence reconstruction project. In 1700 it was done by Johann Friedrich Karcher, fetched from abroad. On 25 May 1702 Swedes reseized the Royal Castle in Warsaw, arranging there a hospital with 500 beds, and in The Chamber of Deputies and ministers’ rooms a stable. During the Polish army's siege in 1704 the castle was retaken. However, it soon moved to Sweden's army. In 1707, by virtue of the peace treaty between Augustus II and Charles XII of Sweden
Charles XII of Sweden
Charles XII also Carl of Sweden, , Latinized to Carolus Rex, Turkish: Demirbaş Şarl, also known as Charles the Habitué was the King of the Swedish Empire from 1697 to 1718...
, Russian allied troops entered Warsaw, and Tsar Peter I of Russia
Peter I of Russia
Peter the Great, Peter I or Pyotr Alexeyevich Romanov Dates indicated by the letters "O.S." are Old Style. All other dates in this article are New Style. ruled the Tsardom of Russia and later the Russian Empire from until his death, jointly ruling before 1696 with his half-brother, Ivan V...
settled in the castle. After two months, Russian forces were removed from Warsaw, robbing from the castle works of art, for example Tommaso Dolabella
Tommaso Dolabella
Tommaso Dolabella was a Baroque painter from Venice, who settled in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth at the royal court of King Sigismund III Vasa. He was later supported by Sigismund's son, Władysław IV Waza. In Warsaw he opened a workshop for artists.-External links:*...
's pictures, among them two, important for Russians, paintings: The Defense of Smolensk and Russian Tsar Vasili IV compelled to kneel before Polish King Sigismund III of Poland. The Władysław's Opera Hall was completely devastated and was never restored.
The reconstruction according to Karcher's project began during 1713-1715. In 1717 the Parliament Hall was completely rebuilt. It was to serve the Saxon rulers as a coronation hall. During the following years, between 1722-1723, the other castle halls were converted-under the direction of architect Joachim Daniel von Jauch
Joachim Daniel von Jauch
Joachim Daniel von Jauch was a German architect who supervised the baroque development of the city of Warsaw.-Early life and work:...
the new Senate Chamber was built, and all the furnishings moved from the old to the new location, among others 60 Polish province emblems, paneling, mouldings and lizens. On 31 May 1732, a fire broke out in the castle destroying the west elevation and part of the Zygmunt's Tower and the exterior façade sculptures, known as armature
Armature
Armature may refer to:* Armature , the kinematic chains used in computer animation to simulate the motions of virtual characters...
.
The next reconstruction project of the Royal Castle appeared after Augustus III took to the Polish throne in 1733. New plans, which were formed in 1734 and developed in 1737 by architect Gaetano Chiaveri
Gaetano Chiaveri
Gaetano Chiaveri was an Italian Baroque architect and master builder, most notable for his work as part of the second phase of the Dresden Baroque. His works include the Katholische Hofkirche in Dresden and a new wing of the Royal Castle in Warsaw, whilst he also oversaw the construction of the...
, saw among other things the reconstruction of the castle's façade on the Vistula
Vistula
The Vistula is the longest and the most important river in Poland, at 1,047 km in length. The watershed area of the Vistula is , of which lies within Poland ....
side in the rococo
Rococo
Rococo , also referred to as "Late Baroque", is an 18th-century style which developed as Baroque artists gave up their symmetry and became increasingly ornate, florid, and playful...
style, which was meant to form a new so called Saxon elevation and also the conversion of the north-east part with the Altana Tower, where it was planned for 3 two-storey rysalits to be built on. The reconstruction work according to these projects was carried out with various intensity between 1740-1752. During the period of 1740-1747 the façade on the Vistula side was reconstructed in the late baroque style (architects: Gaetano Chiaveri, Carl Friedrich Pöppelmann, Jan Krzysztof Knöffel). One of the best sculptors who did work on the castle of this period was Jan Jerzy Plersch, who made the royal decorative frames, mouldings and statues called the Famous Figures, which held the royal crowns on the top of the middle rysalit, of the Saxon elevation, on the Vistula side. The last reconstruction work of this period was finished by late 1763, after the death of Augustus III, when Plersch made the last sculptures and frames with province emblems for the Parliament Hall.
The Stanisław August period
That monarch collected exquisite works of art, many of which have survived to our own time. He recruited first-rate architects such as Jakub Fontana, Merlini
Domenico Merlini
Domenico Merlini was an Italian-Polish architect whose work was mostly in the classical style.-Life and Style:...
, Kamsetzer, and Kubicki
Jakub Kubicki
Jakub Kubicki was a renowned Polish classicist architect and designer. One of the most renowned architects of his epoch, since 1781 he was the personal architect of king Stanisław August Poniatowski. Among the most notable of his works are a number of palaces and summer residences in Poland,...
, to work on the castle, as well as splendid painters such as Marcello Bacciarelli
Marcello Bacciarelli
Marcello Bacciarelli was an Italian painter of the late-baroque and Neoclassic periods.He studied in Rome under Marco Benefial. In 1750 he was called to Dresden, Saxony, where he was employed by Elected King Augustus III of Poland; after whose death he went to Vienna, and thence to Warsaw...
, Bernardo Bellotto
Bernardo Bellotto
Bernardo Bellotto was a Venitian urban landscape painter or vedutista, and printmaker in etching famous for his vedutes of European cities . He was the pupil and nephew of Canaletto and sometimes used the latter's illustrious name, signing himself as Bernardo Canaletto...
(otherwise Canaletto), Franciszek Smuglewicz
Franciszek Smuglewicz
Franciszek Smuglewicz or Pranciškus Smuglevičius, October 6, 1745 – September 18, 1807) was a Polish-Lithuanian draughtsman and painter. Smuglewicz is considered a progenitor of Lithuanian art in the modern era. Some consider him as a spiritual father of Jan Matejko's school of painting....
, Kazimierz Wojniakowski
Kazimierz Wojniakowski
Kazimierz Wojniakowski was a Polish painter.-Works:His work as a portraitist was influenced by that of the Polish painter Józef Grassi, as in Wojniakowski's 1796 Portrait of Izabela Czartoryska, née Fleming....
, and Jean-Baptiste Pillement
Jean-Baptiste Pillement
Jean-Baptiste Pillement was a painter and designer, known for his exquisite and delicate landscapes, but whose importance lies primarily in the engravings done after his drawings, and their influence in spreading the Rococo style and particularly the taste for chinoiserie throughout...
eminent sculptors such as André le Brun and Jakub Monaldi, and famous French artists such as the architect Victor Louis
Victor Louis
Victor Louis was a French architect, winner of the Prix de Rome in 1755.Louis was responsible for the Grand Théâtre de Bordeaux of 1780 and the galleries of the Palais-Royal in Paris. A full biography was published in Bordeaux in 1881. In 1770 he married the pianist and composer .-References:...
. The total reconstruction of the castle planned by the king did not come to fruition, but the interior was changed to the neoclassical style - although this, known in Poland as the Stanisław August style, was rather different from neo—classicism in the rest of Europe.
Bernardo Bellotto
Bernardo Bellotto was a Venitian urban landscape painter or vedutista, and printmaker in etching famous for his vedutes of European cities . He was the pupil and nephew of Canaletto and sometimes used the latter's illustrious name, signing himself as Bernardo Canaletto...
), the Chapel, the Audience Chamber, and the Bedchamber, while between 1779 and 1786 the Senate Apartments were completed, consisting of the Ballroom, the Knights Hall, the Throne Room, the Marble Room, and the Conference Chamber. These rooms contained pictures and sculptures depicting great events in Poland's history, as well as portraits of Polish kings, generals, statesmen and scholars (e.g. Copernicus, Adam Naruszewicz
Adam Naruszewicz
Adam Stanisław Naruszewicz was a Polish nobleman from an impoverished aristocratic family, poet, historian, dramatist, translator, publicist, Jesuit and titular Bishop of Smolensk and bishop of Łuck .His family had a small estate in Polesie and he was educated at Pinsk.As a senator he...
). The Castle also housed the rich royal collections including 3200 pictures, classical statues, about 100 000 graphics, in addition to medals, coins, and a fine library
Library at the Royal Castle, Warsaw
The Library at the Royal Castle is a large building adjacent to the Royal Castle in Warsaw, Poland. It was built between 1779 and 1783 according to design of Dominik Merlini and Jan Chrystian Kamsetzer in order to accommodate the royal collection of books belonging to King Stanisław August...
, to house which a separate building was erected in 1780-1784. The new library building housed many books, gems, drawings, coins, maps and plans belonging to the monarch. The Royal Library's book collection amounted to 16 000 volumes of various works, 25,525 drawings, 44,842 etchings in 726 bound volumes, overall a number of 70,000 etchings—fancy dress balls were also held in this hall.
Up until 1786 Stanisław August Poniatowski tried a few times to change the outside decor of the Castle and to build an architectural castle square, he was not however successful in carrying out these plans.
At that period the Castle was the place where the ideas of the Polish Enlightenment first flourished. The king held "Thursday lunches" at the Castle, for scientists, scholars, writers and artists. This was where the idea for the National Education Commission; one of the first secular Ministries of Education in Europe, was mooted. The Castle was the place where the first proposals were made for a Knights’ School, for a national theatre, etc. It was in the Senate Chamber in the Castle that what was known as the "Great Sejm
Great Sejm
The Great Sejm, also known as the Four-Year Sejm was a Sejm of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth that was held in Warsaw, beginning in 1788...
" (Great Parliament) passed the famous Polish Constitution of 3rd May, 1791. During the ceremony the King was carried out to the nearby church of St.John. In honour of this occasion a marble plaque with Ignacy Krasicki's
Ignacy Krasicki
Ignacy Krasicki , from 1766 Prince-Bishop of Warmia and from 1795 Archbishop of Gniezno , was Poland's leading Enlightenment poet , a critic of the clergy, Poland's La Fontaine, author of the first Polish novel, playwright, journalist, encyclopedist, and translator from French and...
text written on it was set in the wall of the Castle.
In partitioned Poland and the Second Republic
Between 19–20 December 1806 and 1–30 January 1807, Napoleon Bonaparte, the French emperor, spent his time at the Castle. Here in 1807 he made the decision to form a Warsaw duchyDuchy of Warsaw
The Duchy of Warsaw was a Polish state established by Napoleon I in 1807 from the Polish lands ceded by the Kingdom of Prussia under the terms of the Treaties of Tilsit. The duchy was held in personal union by one of Napoleon's allies, King Frederick Augustus I of Saxony...
, which was to be ruled by the Saxon prince Frederick August I
Frederick August I, Duke of Oldenburg
Friedrich August, Duke of Holstein-Oldenburg was the son of Christian August, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp and his wife Margravine Albertine Friederike of Baden-Durlach.-Marriage and issue:...
, using the Royal castle as his residence. Prince Józef Poniatowski, Commander-in-Chief of the Polish Army and Marshal of France, resided in the Copper-Roof Palace joined to the Castle. After the creation of the constitutional Kingdom of Poland
Congress Poland
The Kingdom of Poland , informally known as Congress Poland , created in 1815 by the Congress of Vienna, was a personal union of the Russian parcel of Poland with the Russian Empire...
(1815) its parliaments met here at the Castle. As Kings of Poland, the Russian Tsars Alexander I
Alexander I of Russia
Alexander I of Russia , served as Emperor of Russia from 23 March 1801 to 1 December 1825 and the first Russian King of Poland from 1815 to 1825. He was also the first Russian Grand Duke of Finland and Lithuania....
and Nicholas I
Nicholas I of Russia
Nicholas I , was the Emperor of Russia from 1825 until 1855, known as one of the most reactionary of the Russian monarchs. On the eve of his death, the Russian Empire reached its historical zenith spanning over 20 million square kilometers...
also resided in the castle when they stayed in Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
. During the November Uprising
November Uprising
The November Uprising , Polish–Russian War 1830–31 also known as the Cadet Revolution, was an armed rebellion in the heartland of partitioned Poland against the Russian Empire. The uprising began on 29 November 1830 in Warsaw when the young Polish officers from the local Army of the Congress...
, on 25 January 1831, the Sejm debating in the castle dethroned Tsar of Russia Nicholas I
Nicholas I of Russia
Nicholas I , was the Emperor of Russia from 1825 until 1855, known as one of the most reactionary of the Russian monarchs. On the eve of his death, the Russian Empire reached its historical zenith spanning over 20 million square kilometers...
as the Polish king.
Congress Poland
The Kingdom of Poland , informally known as Congress Poland , created in 1815 by the Congress of Vienna, was a personal union of the Russian parcel of Poland with the Russian Empire...
, they were replaced by the guberniya
Guberniya
A guberniya was a major administrative subdivision of the Russian Empire usually translated as government, governorate, or province. Such administrative division was preserved for sometime upon the collapse of the empire in 1917. A guberniya was ruled by a governor , a word borrowed from Latin ,...
s. In that time, the Royal Castle became the residence of tsar's governor Ivan Paskievich. Paskievich charged Ludvik Corio–Russian Colonel and architect – with designing new elevation and facades (the west, south and east parts). However, Russian authorities were not satisfied with the new designs and Corio was told to prepare another project – one that would refer to Kubicki's solutions (and his co-workers Lelewel and Thomas). Finally, Corio rebuilt all elevations and facades in the neoclassical
Neoclassical architecture
Neoclassical architecture was an architectural style produced by the neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century, manifested both in its details as a reaction against the Rococo style of naturalistic ornament, and in its architectural formulas as an outgrowth of some classicizing...
style, but the Saxon Elevation was left the same. After the death of Paskievich in 1856, all of the next governors resided in the Royal Castle's Chamberlain's Room. The Russian officials occupied rooms on both floors of the west and north wings of the castle. The governors were heavily guarded by the Russian army. Unfortunately, the living space that was assigned to these soldiers was the Parliamentary Hall, Library and barracks
Barracks
Barracks are specialised buildings for permanent military accommodation; the word may apply to separate housing blocks or to complete complexes. Their main object is to separate soldiers from the civilian population and reinforce discipline, training and esprit de corps. They were sometimes called...
under the Castle. As a result the object was left devastated.
After the January Uprising
January Uprising
The January Uprising was an uprising in the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth against the Russian Empire...
in 1863, the Russian army totally destroyed the Royal garden on the Vistula side (which was transformed into the military parade square), building a few barracks made of brick for stables and Cossacks’ barracks. In 1862-1863 some maintenance work was held in the Royal Castle under the supervision of Jerzy Orłowicz, Ludwik Gosławski and Potolov. In 1890 the Saxon Elevation was rebuilt under the supervision of a builder January Kiślański, when the arcades of both viewing galleries, dated back to August III period, were deformed. The last repair works, which cost 28 000 rubles, during the reign of Russia, were in 1902 in the rooms which had been occupied by the Russian army.
During the First World War
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
it was the residence of the German military governor. After Poland regained her independence in 1918, the Castle became the residence of the President of Poland. It was lovingly restored under the guidance of Kazimierz Skórewicz (1920-1928) and Adolf Szyszko-Bohusz
Adolf Szyszko-Bohusz
Adolf Szyszko-Bohusz was a Polish architect and conservator of monuments. Between 1902 and 1909, he studied in Sankt Petersburg, later also in Austria in Germany. In 1910 Szyszko-Bohusz began lecturing at the Jagiellonian University and at the Jan Matejko Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow...
(till 1939). Under the terms of the Peace Treaty signed with Soviet Russia at Riga in 1920
Peace of Riga
The Peace of Riga, also known as the Treaty of Riga; was signed in Riga on 18 March 1921, between Poland, Soviet Russia and Soviet Ukraine. The treaty ended the Polish-Soviet War....
, works of art and other precious things, including all the castle furnishings, which had been taken away to Russia, were brought back to Poland. As a result, it was possible to restore the historic rooms to their appearance in the reign of Stanisław August Poniatowski.
During World War II
Marcello Bacciarelli
Marcello Bacciarelli was an Italian painter of the late-baroque and Neoclassic periods.He studied in Rome under Marco Benefial. In 1750 he was called to Dresden, Saxony, where he was employed by Elected King Augustus III of Poland; after whose death he went to Vienna, and thence to Warsaw...
's beautiful ceiling fresco
Fresco
Fresco is any of several related mural painting types, executed on plaster on walls or ceilings. The word fresco comes from the Greek word affresca which derives from the Latin word for "fresh". Frescoes first developed in the ancient world and continued to be popular through the Renaissance...
The Creation of the World. The other rooms were slightly damaged. But immediately after the seizure of Warsaw by the Germans, their occupation troops set to demolish the castle. The more valuable objects, even including the central heating and ventilation installations, were dismantled and taken away to Germany.
On 4 October 1939 in Berlin, Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
issued the order to blow up the Royal Castle. On 10 October 1939, special German units, under the supervision of history and art experts (Dr. Dagobert Frey, an art historian at the University of Wrocław; Gustaw Barth, the director of museums in Wrocław, and Dr. Joseph Mühlmann, an art historian from Vienna) started to demount floor, marbles, sculptures and stone elements such as fireplaces or moulds. The priceless artifacts were taken to Germany or stored in Kraków
Kraków
Kraków also Krakow, or Cracow , is the second largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in the Lesser Poland region, the city dates back to the 7th century. Kraków has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Polish academic, cultural, and artistic life...
's warehouses. Many of them were also seized by various Nazi dignitaries who resided in Warsaw. The Castle was totally emptied. Disobeying German orders, and always in danger of being shot, Polish museum staff and experts in art restoration
Art restoration
Art restoration is related to art conservation. Restoration is a process that attempts to return the work of art to some previous state that the restorer imagines was the "original". This was commonly done in the past...
managed to save many of the works of art from the castle, as well as fragments of the stucco
Stucco
Stucco or render is a material made of an aggregate, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as decorative coating for walls and ceilings and as a sculptural and artistic material in architecture...
-work, the parquet floors, the wood panelling, etc. These were used in the reconstruction. The great service done to Poland by Professor Stanisław Lorentz, in leading this campaign to save the castle's treasures, is well known. Wehrmacht
Wehrmacht
The Wehrmacht – from , to defend and , the might/power) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe .-Origin and use of the term:...
sappers then bored tens of thousands of holes for dynamite charges in the stripped walls.
Warsaw Uprising
The Warsaw Uprising was a major World War II operation by the Polish resistance Home Army , to liberate Warsaw from Nazi Germany. The rebellion was timed to coincide with the Soviet Union's Red Army approaching the eastern suburbs of the city and the retreat of German forces...
, when hostilities had already ceased, the Germans blew up the Castle's demolished walls. Leveling the Royal Castle was only a part of a larger plan – the Pabst Plan – the goal of which was to build a monumental Folks Hall (ger. Volkshalle) or an equally sizable Congress Hall of NSDAP (National Socialis German Workers Party - ger. Parteivolkshalle) in the Royal Castle's place and to replace the Zygmunt's Column with the Germania Monument.
A pile of rubble, surmounted by only two fragments of walls that somehow managed to survive, was all that was left of the six hundred year old edifice. On one of these fragments, almost like a symbol, part of the stucco
Stucco
Stucco or render is a material made of an aggregate, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as decorative coating for walls and ceilings and as a sculptural and artistic material in architecture...
decoration remained. This was a cartouche with the royal version of the motto of the Order of the White Eagle — "PRO FIDE, LEGE ET GREGE
Pro Fide, Lege et Rege
Pro Fide, Lege et Rege was an 18th century motto of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and then of Poland. It superseded the earlier Si Deus Nobiscum quis contra nos...
" (for Faith, Law, and the Nation - literally translated, the last word means a herd
Herd
Herd refers to a social grouping of certain animals of the same species, either wild or domestic, and also to the form of collective animal behavior associated with this or as a verb, to herd, to its control by another species such as humans or dogs.The term herd is generally applied to mammals,...
).
Reconstruction
Immediately after the liberation in 1945, work started on rescuing the surviving fragments of the castle's walls, foundations, and cellars as well as the fire-blackened walls of the Copper-Roof Palace and the Royal LibraryLibrary at the Royal Castle, Warsaw
The Library at the Royal Castle is a large building adjacent to the Royal Castle in Warsaw, Poland. It was built between 1779 and 1783 according to design of Dominik Merlini and Jan Chrystian Kamsetzer in order to accommodate the royal collection of books belonging to King Stanisław August...
building, from further destruction. In 1949 the Polish Parliament passed a bill to rebuild the Castle as a monument to Polish history and culture. Meanwhile special architectural designing offices, under Jan Dąbrowski, Piotr Biegański and Jan Zachwatowicz
Jan Zachwatowicz
Jan Zachwatowicz was a Polish architect, architectural historian, and restorer.- Biography :...
, drew up blueprint for restoring the framework of the building and furnishing the historical rooms. The decision to start work was postponed several times, but was finally taken on 20 January 1971. A Civic Committee was set up. Amid universal applause it was decided to rebuild the castle from voluntary contributions. Both, in Poland and abroad fund-raising committees were set up.
By May 1975 the Fund had already reached the 500 million złotys. By the same date more than a thousand valuable works of art had been gifted to the Castle by numerous Poles resident both in Poland and abroad. Official representatives of other countries have likewise presented to the Castle works of art of great artistic and historic value.