Wilanów Palace
Encyclopedia
Wilanów Palace is a royal palace
located in the Wilanów district
, Warsaw
. Wilanów Palace survived the time of Poland's partitions
and both World Wars and has preserved its authentic historical qualities, also is one of the most important monuments of Polish culture.
The palace and park in Wilanów is not only a priceless testimony to the splendour of Poland in the past, but also a place for cultural events and concerts, including Summer Royal Concerts in the Rose Garden and the International Summer Early Music Academy. Since 2006, the palace has been a member of the international association of European Royal Residences.
in the last quarter of the 17th century and later was enlarged by other owners. It represents the characteristic type of baroque
suburban residence built entre cour et jardin
(between the entrance court and the garden). Its architecture is original - a merger of European art with old Polish building traditions. Upon its elevations and in the palace interiors antique symbols glorify the Sobieski family, especially the military triumphs of the king.
After the death of John III Sobieski in 1696, the palace was owned by his sons and later by the famous magnate families Sieniawskis, Czartoryskis, Lubomirskis, Potockis and Branicki family of the Korczak coat of arms. In 1720, the property was purchased by Polish stateswoman
Elżbieta Sieniawska
who enlarged the palace. Between 1730 and 1733 it was a residence of Augustus II the Strong
, also a king of Poland (the palace was exchanged with him for the Blue Palace at Senatorska Street), and after his death the property came to Sieniawska's daughter Maria Zofia Czartoryska. Every owner changed the interiors of the palace, as well as the gardens and grounds, according to the current fashion and needs. In 1778 the estate was inherited by Izabela Lubomirska, called The Blue Marquise. She refurbished some of the interiors in the neoclassical style
between 1792–1793 and build a corps de garde
, a kitchen building and a bathroom building under the supervision of Szymon Bogumił Zug.
In the year 1805 the owner Stanisław Kostka Potocki made a museum in a part of the palace, one of the first public museums in Poland. A most notable example of the collections is Potocki's equestrian portrait made by worldwide renowned French painter Jacques-Louis David
in 1781. Besides European and Oriental art, the central part of the palace displayed a commemoration of king John III Sobieski and the glorious national past. The palace was damaged by German forces in World War II, but it was not demolished after the 1944 Warsaw Uprising
. After the war, the palace was renovated, and most of the collection stolen by Germany
was repatriated. In 1962 it was reopened to the public.
and French palaces entre cour et jardin with two oblong wings on each side of the cour d'honneur
.
During the first stage of construction, between 1677 and 1680 it was a typical Polish manor house
with four alcove
towers attached to the one-storeyed square building. Between 1681-1688, the building was enhanced and two gallery wings ending with towers were added. This new appearance was probably inspired by Palladio
's Villa Montagnana
. Shortly after the king's death the third stage of the reconstruction was accomplished. Between 1688-1696 the pavilion
above the main building was erected and the towers were covered with baroque spire
s, all resembling the Villa Doria Pamphili
in Rome (especially its initial design by Giovanni Francesco Grimaldi
).
The king and his librarian
Adam Adamandy Kochański
took active part in the design and construction of the palace. The latter was responsible for the ideological and artistic programme, where motives and decoration elements played an essential role in glorifying the monarch, his wife and the Republic - busts
of king and queen among the effigies of ancient characters, gods and goddesses, roman emperors
and empresses (such as the Dioscuri
, Zeus-Amun
, Sibyl
, Romulus
, Rhea Silvia
, Alexander the Great, Cleopatra, Dido and Vespasian
among others), Eagle
and Pogonia, personifications of the Commonwealth regions (Masovia and Greater Poland
, Samogitia
, Red Ruthenia
and Royal Prussia
). They were issued by sculptors Andreas Schlüter
(many relief
s and other secondary aspects of the facade), Stefan Szwaner and a stucco
decorator named Antoni of Wilanów
. Some of the sculptures were made in the Low Countries
by Louis Willemsens and Artus Quellinus
' workshop, shipped to Gdańsk
and then transported to Warsaw. An ornate sundial
on the south wall with Chronos
, together with the opposite composition with Uranus
on the north wall, were intended to underline the king's patronage of science and orderliness in the Serenissima
during his reign. They were executed by Antoni of Wilanów, according to the design by Johannes Hevelius
(astronomical
aspect), Adam Adamandy Kochański (mathematical
aspect) and Augustyn Locci (art
istic aspect).
The side wings embracing a courtyard, initiated by the king, were built long after his death by Elżbieta Sieniawska. They were constructed in the fourth stage of the enlargement between 1720-1729. Powerful Sieniawska was very concerned in maintaining the substantial historical residence of the Rex victoriossimus (Victorious King), as it was called. Despite that she transformed the palace into a French style palais enchanté according to design by Giovanni Spazzio, with two new wings harmonious with the 17th century corps de logis. She employed the most renowned architects and artists for this undertaking, such as previously mentioned Spazzio, Johann Sigmund Deybel, Józef Fontana, Jan Jerzy Plersch and Giovanni Rossi. While the original royal palace was decorated with reliefs depicting the deeds of John III, the new wings were adorned with battlefield achievements of Sieniawska's husband and father-in-law - Adam Mikołaj and Mikołaj Hieronim Sieniawski (nota bene Sobieski's comrades).
, Jan Rayzner of Lviv
, Michelangelo Palloni
, sculptor Stefan Szwaner and stucco decorators Szymon Józef Bellotti, Antoni of Wilanów and Abraham Paris. They were supervised by the official court painters
Claude Callot and later by Jerzy Siemiginowski-Eleuter
. The latter, one of the greatest Polish painters of that time, had a significant influence on the palace's subsequent internal aspects (plafond
s in the state room
s, fresco
es). Internal decoration was also superintended by Adam Kochański, a great admirer of China, who supported closer economic relations of the Commonwealth with the "Central nation". Due to his influence, Wilanów and other residencies were full of luxury Chinese imports and chinoiserie
.
The 17th century palace inventories
included the works of the greatest contemporary and ancient masters, like Rembrandt (Portuguese rabbi, Jewish Girl in a beret, The Adoration of the Magi, Abraham and Hagar, Portrait of an old man in the so-called Dutch Room of the palace), Pieter van Laer
, called Bamboccio (Travellers), Anthony van Dyck
(Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane), Ferdinand van Kessel (batalistic scenes, allegorical
paintings and still life
s), Raphael
, Caracci brothers, Guido Reni
and Bernardo Strozzi
. The chambers were filled with precious furnishings, like silver folding screen
, silver pyramid with 11 baskets, a three-storeyed silver fountain or a silk baldachin
presented by the Shah of Persia. Unfortunately they were scattered by the successive proprietors, appropriated by Friedrich August of Saxony
and transported to Dresden
or looted by the Germans during World War II (e.g. John III's tortoise-shell
cabinet, never retrieved).
Among the artists appointed for decoration of the palace's interiors in the 18th century were Giuseppe Rossi, an Italian fresco
painter, who adorned the chambers with trompe-l'œil paintings and stucco decorators Francesco Fumo and Pietro Innocente Comparetti. Following the example of Queen Marie Casimire, who ordered a painting of herself as a goddess on the palace plafonds, Elżbieta Sieniawska embellished the Lower Vestibule
with a fresco of Flora
. On her initiative the walls in the royal chambers were covered with Genoa
n velvet. The walls of the second floor, that is the Great Dining Room, were covered with frescoes depicting Apollo
, Minerva
and Hercules
as an allegory
of Virtus Heroica (Heroic Valor), Hebe
symbolizing Venustas (Beauty) completed with panoplies
. Sieniawska's daughter, Maria Zofia Czartoryska, furnished the palace with new fireplace
s made of white-cherry marble
and crowned with mirrors in rich rococo
frames.
In the contract with King Augustus II Maria Zofia obliged him to preserve the palace unchanged. Therefore his actions were limited to finishing the new dining room, called the White Room in the southern wing and to the decoration of some unfinished interiors. The plafonds and other paintings were executed by Julien Poison, Johann Samuel Mock and Lorenzo Rossi, while the decorative lacquer
panneaux in the Chinese Room were made by Martin Schnell.
in the form of lantern
s in each corner, and lower garden. During the third stage of the reconstruction of the palace the geometric garden parterre
s were replaced with embroidered parterres à la française inspired by André Le Nôtre
's treaties. At that time the garden was embellished with gilded
lead
sculptures by Gaspar Richter of Gdańsk and vase
s carved in cherry marble from Chęciny
. In the beginning of the 18th century the garden was enlarged, the late baroque parterre ornamentation was replaced with régence motives completed with Sieniawska's coat of arms Szreniawa in the northern parts and her monogram in the southern part. In 1784 Izabela Lubomirska transformed neighbouring territories of Wilanów folwark
into a jardin anglo-chinois according to Szymon Bogumił Zug's design. This new garden with rich vegetation, sinuous paths and cascades was inspired by works of William Chambers, Thomas Whately
and August Moszyński.
Royal Palace
** Palace of Nakhchivan Khans, Nakhchivan* Belgium: Royal Palace of Brussels* Brazil** Paço Imperial** Paço de São Cristóvão** Summer Palace* Bulgaria: Royal Palace, today housing the National Art Gallery* Cambodia: Royal Palace of Cambodia* China...
located in the Wilanów district
Wilanów
Wilanów is a district of the city of Warsaw, Poland. It is home to historic Wilanów Palace, the "Polish Versailles," and second home to various Polish kings.-History:...
, 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...
. Wilanów Palace survived the time of Poland's partitions
Partitions of Poland
The Partitions of Poland or Partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth took place in the second half of the 18th century and ended the existence of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, resulting in the elimination of sovereign Poland for 123 years...
and both World Wars and has preserved its authentic historical qualities, also is one of the most important monuments of Polish culture.
The palace and park in Wilanów is not only a priceless testimony to the splendour of Poland in the past, but also a place for cultural events and concerts, including Summer Royal Concerts in the Rose Garden and the International Summer Early Music Academy. Since 2006, the palace has been a member of the international association of European Royal Residences.
History
Wilanów Palace was built for the Polish king John III SobieskiJohn 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...
in the last quarter of the 17th century and later was enlarged by other owners. It represents the characteristic type of baroque
Baroque
The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...
suburban residence built entre cour et jardin
Cour d'Honneur
Cour d'Honneur is the architectural term for defining a three-sided courtyard, created when the main central block, or corps de logis, is flanked by symmetrical advancing secondary wings, containing minor rooms...
(between the entrance court and the garden). Its architecture is original - a merger of European art with old Polish building traditions. Upon its elevations and in the palace interiors antique symbols glorify the Sobieski family, especially the military triumphs of the king.
After the death of John III Sobieski in 1696, the palace was owned by his sons and later by the famous magnate families Sieniawskis, Czartoryskis, Lubomirskis, Potockis and Branicki family of the Korczak coat of arms. In 1720, the property was purchased by Polish stateswoman
Statesman
A statesman is usually a politician or other notable public figure who has had a long and respected career in politics or government at the national and international level. As a term of respect, it is usually left to supporters or commentators to use the term...
Elżbieta Sieniawska
Elżbieta Sieniawska
Elżbieta Helena Sieniawska née Lubomirska was a Polish noble lady, Grand Hetmaness of the Crown and renowned patron of arts. As an influential woman politician in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth during the reign of Augustus II the Strong she was deeply embroiled in the Great Northern War and...
who enlarged the palace. Between 1730 and 1733 it was a residence of Augustus II the Strong
Augustus II the Strong
Frederick Augustus I or Augustus II the Strong was Elector of Saxony and King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania ....
, also a king of Poland (the palace was exchanged with him for the Blue Palace at Senatorska Street), and after his death the property came to Sieniawska's daughter Maria Zofia Czartoryska. Every owner changed the interiors of the palace, as well as the gardens and grounds, according to the current fashion and needs. In 1778 the estate was inherited by Izabela Lubomirska, called The Blue Marquise. She refurbished some of the interiors in the neoclassical style
Neoclassicism
Neoclassicism is the name given to Western movements in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that draw inspiration from the "classical" art and culture of Ancient Greece or Ancient Rome...
between 1792–1793 and build a corps de garde
Guardhouse
A guardhouse is a building used to house personnel and security equipment...
, a kitchen building and a bathroom building under the supervision of Szymon Bogumił Zug.
In the year 1805 the owner Stanisław Kostka Potocki made a museum in a part of the palace, one of the first public museums in Poland. A most notable example of the collections is Potocki's equestrian portrait made by worldwide renowned French painter Jacques-Louis David
Jacques-Louis David
Jacques-Louis David was an influential French painter in the Neoclassical style, considered to be the preeminent painter of the era...
in 1781. Besides European and Oriental art, the central part of the palace displayed a commemoration of king John III Sobieski and the glorious national past. The palace was damaged by German forces in World War II, but it was not demolished after the 1944 Warsaw Uprising
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...
. After the war, the palace was renovated, and most of the collection stolen by Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
was repatriated. In 1962 it was reopened to the public.
Exterior structure
The structure was designed by Augustyn Wincenty Locci. The architecture of the palace is a unique example of different building traditions - reminiscent of Polish aristocratic mansions with side towers, the Italian suburban villaRoman villa
A Roman villa is a villa that was built or lived in during the Roman republic and the Roman Empire. A villa was originally a Roman country house built for the upper class...
and French palaces entre cour et jardin with two oblong wings on each side of the cour d'honneur
Cour d'Honneur
Cour d'Honneur is the architectural term for defining a three-sided courtyard, created when the main central block, or corps de logis, is flanked by symmetrical advancing secondary wings, containing minor rooms...
.
During the first stage of construction, between 1677 and 1680 it was a typical Polish manor house
Manor house
A manor house is a country house that historically formed the administrative centre of a manor, the lowest unit of territorial organisation in the feudal system in Europe. The term is applied to country houses that belonged to the gentry and other grand stately homes...
with four alcove
Alcove
Alcove , a vault) is an architectural term for a recess in a room, usually screened off by pillars, balustrades or drapery.In geography and geology, the term Alcove is used for a wind-eroded depression in the side of a cliff of a homogenous rock type, famous from sandstones of the Colorado Plateau...
towers attached to the one-storeyed square building. Between 1681-1688, the building was enhanced and two gallery wings ending with towers were added. This new appearance was probably inspired by Palladio
Andrea Palladio
Andrea Palladio was an architect active in the Republic of Venice. Palladio, influenced by Roman and Greek architecture, primarily by Vitruvius, is widely considered the most influential individual in the history of Western architecture...
's Villa Montagnana
Villa Pisani (Montagnana)
The Villa Pisani is a patrician villa outside the city walls of Montagnana, Veneto, northern Italy.- Architectural details :It was designed by Andrea Palladio about 1552, for Cardinal Francesco Pisani...
. Shortly after the king's death the third stage of the reconstruction was accomplished. Between 1688-1696 the pavilion
Pavilion (structure)
In architecture a pavilion has two main meanings.-Free-standing structure:Pavilion may refer to a free-standing structure sited a short distance from a main residence, whose architecture makes it an object of pleasure. Large or small, there is usually a connection with relaxation and pleasure in...
above the main building was erected and the towers were covered with baroque spire
Spire
A spire is a tapering conical or pyramidal structure on the top of a building, particularly a church tower. Etymologically, the word is derived from the Old English word spir, meaning a sprout, shoot, or stalk of grass....
s, all resembling the Villa Doria Pamphili
Villa Doria Pamphili
The Villa Doria Pamphili is a seventeenth century villa with what is today the largest landscaped public park in Rome, Italy. It is located in the quarter of Monteverde, on the Gianicolo , just outside the Porta San Pancrazio in the ancient walls of Rome where the ancient road of the Via Aurelia...
in Rome (especially its initial design by Giovanni Francesco Grimaldi
Giovanni Francesco Grimaldi
Giovanni Francesco Grimaldi was an Italian architect and painter, named Il Bolognese from the place of his birth. Grimaldi was a relative of the Carracci family, under whom it is presumed he first apprenticed....
).
Librarian
A librarian is an information professional trained in library and information science, which is the organization and management of information services or materials for those with information needs...
Adam Adamandy Kochański
Adam Adamandy Kochanski
Adam Adamandy Kochański was a Polish mathematician.Kochański was born in Dobrzyń nad Wisłą. He began his education in Toruń, and in 1652 he entered the Society of Jesus in Vilnius under Cardinal Brandr Beekman-Ellner. He studied philosophy at Vilnius University . He also studied mathematics,...
took active part in the design and construction of the palace. The latter was responsible for the ideological and artistic programme, where motives and decoration elements played an essential role in glorifying the monarch, his wife and the Republic - busts
Bust (sculpture)
A bust is a sculpted or cast representation of the upper part of the human figure, depicting a person's head and neck, as well as a variable portion of the chest and shoulders. The piece is normally supported by a plinth. These forms recreate the likeness of an individual...
of king and queen among the effigies of ancient characters, gods and goddesses, roman emperors
Roman Emperor
The Roman emperor was the ruler of the Roman State during the imperial period . The Romans had no single term for the office although at any given time, a given title was associated with the emperor...
and empresses (such as the Dioscuri
Castor and Pollux
In Greek and Roman mythology, Castor and Pollux or Polydeuces were twin brothers, together known as the Dioscuri . Their mother was Leda, but Castor was the mortal son of Tyndareus, king of Sparta, and Pollux the divine son of Zeus, who visited Leda in the guise of a swan...
, Zeus-Amun
Amun
Amun, reconstructed Egyptian Yamānu , was a god in Egyptian mythology who in the form of Amun-Ra became the focus of the most complex system of theology in Ancient Egypt...
, Sibyl
Sibyl
The word Sibyl comes from the Greek word σίβυλλα sibylla, meaning prophetess. The earliest oracular seeresses known as the sibyls of antiquity, "who admittedly are known only through legend" prophesied at certain holy sites, under the divine influence of a deity, originally— at Delphi and...
, Romulus
Romulus and Remus
Romulus and Remus are Rome's twin founders in its traditional foundation myth, although the former is sometimes said to be the sole founder...
, Rhea Silvia
Rhea Silvia
Rhea Silvia , and also known as Ilia, was the mythical mother of the twins Romulus and Remus, who founded the city of Rome...
, Alexander the Great, Cleopatra, Dido and Vespasian
Vespasian
Vespasian , was Roman Emperor from 69 AD to 79 AD. Vespasian was the founder of the Flavian dynasty, which ruled the Empire for a quarter century. Vespasian was descended from a family of equestrians, who rose into the senatorial rank under the Emperors of the Julio-Claudian dynasty...
among others), Eagle
Coat of arms of Poland
The White Eagle is the national coat of arms of Poland. It is a stylized white eagle with a golden beak and talons, and wearing a golden crown, in a red shield.- Legal basis :...
and Pogonia, personifications of the Commonwealth regions (Masovia and Greater Poland
Greater Poland
Greater Poland or Great Poland, often known by its Polish name Wielkopolska is a historical region of west-central Poland. Its chief city is Poznań.The boundaries of Greater Poland have varied somewhat throughout history...
, Samogitia
Samogitia
Samogitia is one of the five ethnographic regions of Lithuania. It is located in northwestern Lithuania. Its largest city is Šiauliai/Šiaulē. The region has a long and distinct cultural history, reflected in the existence of the Samogitian dialect...
, Red Ruthenia
Red Ruthenia
Red Ruthenia is the name used since medieval times to refer to the area known as Eastern Galicia prior to World War I; first mentioned in Polish historic chronicles in the 1321, as Ruthenia Rubra or Ruthenian Voivodeship .Ethnographers explain that the term was applied from the...
and Royal Prussia
Royal Prussia
Royal Prussia was a Region of the Kingdom of Poland and of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth . Polish Prussia included Pomerelia, Chełmno Land , Malbork Voivodeship , Gdańsk , Toruń , and Elbląg . It is distinguished from Ducal Prussia...
). They were issued by sculptors Andreas Schlüter
Andreas Schlüter
Andreas Schlüter was a German baroque sculptor and architect associated with the Petrine Baroque style of architecture and decoration.-Biography:...
(many relief
Relief
Relief is a sculptural technique. The term relief is from the Latin verb levo, to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is thus to give the impression that the sculpted material has been raised above the background plane...
s and other secondary aspects of the facade), Stefan Szwaner and a 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...
decorator named Antoni of Wilanów
Wilanów
Wilanów is a district of the city of Warsaw, Poland. It is home to historic Wilanów Palace, the "Polish Versailles," and second home to various Polish kings.-History:...
. Some of the sculptures were made in the Low Countries
Low Countries
The Low Countries are the historical lands around the low-lying delta of the Rhine, Scheldt, and Meuse rivers, including the modern countries of Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and parts of northern France and western Germany....
by Louis Willemsens and Artus Quellinus
Artus Quellinus
Artus Quellinus also known as Artus Quellijn, Artus I Quellinus or Artus Quellinus the Elder , was a Flemish sculptor.-Life:...
' workshop, shipped to Gdańsk
Gdansk
Gdańsk is a Polish city on the Baltic coast, at the centre of the country's fourth-largest metropolitan area.The city lies on the southern edge of Gdańsk Bay , in a conurbation with the city of Gdynia, spa town of Sopot, and suburban communities, which together form a metropolitan area called the...
and then transported to Warsaw. An ornate sundial
Sundial
A sundial is a device that measures time by the position of the Sun. In common designs such as the horizontal sundial, the sun casts a shadow from its style onto a surface marked with lines indicating the hours of the day. The style is the time-telling edge of the gnomon, often a thin rod or a...
on the south wall with Chronos
Chronos
In Greek mythology, Chronos in pre-Socratic philosophical works is said to be the personification of time. His name in Greek means "time" and is alternatively spelled Chronus or Khronos.Chronos was imagined as an incorporeal god, serpentine in form, with three heads—those of a man, a bull, and...
, together with the opposite composition with Uranus
Uranus (mythology)
Uranus , was the primal Greek god personifying the sky. His equivalent in Roman mythology was Caelus. In Ancient Greek literature, according to Hesiod in his Theogony, Uranus or Father Sky was the son and husband of Gaia, Mother Earth...
on the north wall, were intended to underline the king's patronage of science and orderliness in the Serenissima
Most Serene Republic
Most Serene Republic is a title attached to the following countries:* Republic of Venice , city-state that existed from 697 to 1797 based in the city of Venice with continuously controlled territory along the eastern Adriatic at its strongest period...
during his reign. They were executed by Antoni of Wilanów, according to the design by Johannes Hevelius
Johannes Hevelius
Johannes Hevelius Some sources refer to Hevelius as Polish:Some sources refer to Hevelius as German:*Encyplopedia Britannica * of the Royal Society was a councilor and mayor of Danzig , Pomeranian Voivodeship, in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth...
(astronomical
Astronomy
Astronomy is a natural science that deals with the study of celestial objects and phenomena that originate outside the atmosphere of Earth...
aspect), Adam Adamandy Kochański (mathematical
Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
aspect) and Augustyn Locci (art
Art
Art is the product or process of deliberately arranging items in a way that influences and affects one or more of the senses, emotions, and intellect....
istic aspect).
The side wings embracing a courtyard, initiated by the king, were built long after his death by Elżbieta Sieniawska. They were constructed in the fourth stage of the enlargement between 1720-1729. Powerful Sieniawska was very concerned in maintaining the substantial historical residence of the Rex victoriossimus (Victorious King), as it was called. Despite that she transformed the palace into a French style palais enchanté according to design by Giovanni Spazzio, with two new wings harmonious with the 17th century corps de logis. She employed the most renowned architects and artists for this undertaking, such as previously mentioned Spazzio, Johann Sigmund Deybel, Józef Fontana, Jan Jerzy Plersch and Giovanni Rossi. While the original royal palace was decorated with reliefs depicting the deeds of John III, the new wings were adorned with battlefield achievements of Sieniawska's husband and father-in-law - Adam Mikołaj and Mikołaj Hieronim Sieniawski (nota bene Sobieski's comrades).
Interior space
The most prominent Polish and foreign artists participated in the decoration of the palace interiors. It was entrusted to painters Martino AltomonteMartino Altomonte
Martino Altomonte, born Johann Martin Hohenberg was an Italian Baroque painter of Austrian descent who mainly worked in Poland and Austria.-Life and work:...
, Jan Rayzner of Lviv
Lviv
Lviv is a city in western Ukraine. The city is regarded as one of the main cultural centres of today's Ukraine and historically has also been a major Polish and Jewish cultural center, as Poles and Jews were the two main ethnicities of the city until the outbreak of World War II and the following...
, Michelangelo Palloni
Michelangelo Palloni
Michelangelo Palloni was an Italian painter of the Baroque period, who worked in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth from 1674 onward....
, sculptor Stefan Szwaner and stucco decorators Szymon Józef Bellotti, Antoni of Wilanów and Abraham Paris. They were supervised by the official court painters
Court painter
A court painter was an artist who painted for the members of a royal or noble family, sometimes on a fixed salary and on an exclusive basis where the artist was not supposed to undertake other work. Especially in the late Middle Ages, they were often given the office of valet de chambre...
Claude Callot and later by Jerzy Siemiginowski-Eleuter
Jerzy Siemiginowski-Eleuter
Jerzy Eleuter Szymonowicz Siemiginowski was a prominent Polish painter and engraver of the Baroque, court painter of king John III Sobieski and a Polish–Lithuanian noble...
. The latter, one of the greatest Polish painters of that time, had a significant influence on the palace's subsequent internal aspects (plafond
Plafond
Plafond , in a broad sense, is any ceiling of any premise.Plafond can be product of monumental and decorative painting and sculpture; subject or ornamental – also is designated by the term "Plafond"...
s in the state room
State room
A state room in a large European mansion is usually one of a suite of very grand rooms which were designed to impress. The term was most widely used in the 17th and 18th centuries. They were the most lavishly decorated in the house and contained the finest works of art...
s, 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...
es). Internal decoration was also superintended by Adam Kochański, a great admirer of China, who supported closer economic relations of the Commonwealth with the "Central nation". Due to his influence, Wilanów and other residencies were full of luxury Chinese imports and chinoiserie
Chinoiserie
Chinoiserie, a French term, signifying "Chinese-esque", and pronounced ) refers to a recurring theme in European artistic styles since the seventeenth century, which reflect Chinese artistic influences...
.
The 17th century palace inventories
Inventory
Inventory means a list compiled for some formal purpose, such as the details of an estate going to probate, or the contents of a house let furnished. This remains the prime meaning in British English...
included the works of the greatest contemporary and ancient masters, like Rembrandt (Portuguese rabbi, Jewish Girl in a beret, The Adoration of the Magi, Abraham and Hagar, Portrait of an old man in the so-called Dutch Room of the palace), Pieter van Laer
Pieter van Laer
Pieter van Laer was a Dutch Golden Age painter of genre scenes, active for over a decade in Rome, where his nickname was Il Bamboccio...
, called Bamboccio (Travellers), Anthony van Dyck
Anthony van Dyck
Sir Anthony van Dyck was a Flemish Baroque artist who became the leading court painter in England. He is most famous for his portraits of Charles I of England and his family and court, painted with a relaxed elegance that was to be the dominant influence on English portrait-painting for the next...
(Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane), Ferdinand van Kessel (batalistic scenes, allegorical
Allegory
Allegory is a demonstrative form of representation explaining meaning other than the words that are spoken. Allegory communicates its message by means of symbolic figures, actions or symbolic representation...
paintings and still life
Still life
A still life is a work of art depicting mostly inanimate subject matter, typically commonplace objects which may be either natural or man-made...
s), Raphael
Raphael
Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino , better known simply as Raphael, was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. His work is admired for its clarity of form and ease of composition and for its visual achievement of the Neoplatonic ideal of human grandeur...
, Caracci brothers, 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...
and Bernardo Strozzi
Bernardo Strozzi
Bernardo Strozzi was a prominent and prolific Italian Baroque painter born and active mainly in Genoa, and also active in Venice.-Biography:Strozzi was born in Genoa. He was probably not related to the other Strozzi family....
. The chambers were filled with precious furnishings, like silver folding screen
Folding Screen
A folding screen , is a piece of free-standing furniture which consists of several frames or panels connected by hinges. It can be made in a variety of designs and with different kinds of materials. Screens have many practical and decorative uses...
, silver pyramid with 11 baskets, a three-storeyed silver fountain or a silk baldachin
Baldachin
A baldachin, or baldaquin , is a canopy of state over an altar or throne. It had its beginnings as a cloth canopy, but in other cases it is a sturdy, permanent architectural feature, particularly over high altars in cathedrals, where such a structure is more correctly called a ciborium when it is...
presented by the Shah of Persia. Unfortunately they were scattered by the successive proprietors, appropriated by Friedrich August of Saxony
Saxony
The Free State of Saxony is a landlocked state of Germany, contingent with Brandenburg, Saxony Anhalt, Thuringia, Bavaria, the Czech Republic and Poland. It is the tenth-largest German state in area, with of Germany's sixteen states....
and transported to Dresden
Dresden
Dresden is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe, near the Czech border. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon Triangle metropolitan area....
or looted by the Germans during World War II (e.g. John III's tortoise-shell
Tortoiseshell material
Tortoiseshell or tortoise shell is a material produced mainly from the shell of the hawksbill turtle, an endangered species. It was widely used in the 1960s and 1970s in the manufacture of items such as combs, sunglasses, guitar picks and knitting needles...
cabinet, never retrieved).
Among the artists appointed for decoration of the palace's interiors in the 18th century were Giuseppe Rossi, an Italian 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...
painter, who adorned the chambers with trompe-l'œil paintings and stucco decorators Francesco Fumo and Pietro Innocente Comparetti. Following the example of Queen Marie Casimire, who ordered a painting of herself as a goddess on the palace plafonds, Elżbieta Sieniawska embellished the Lower Vestibule
Vestibule (architecture)
A vestibule is a lobby, entrance hall, or passage between the entrance and the interior of a building.The same term can apply to structures in modern or ancient roman architecture. In modern architecture vestibule typically refers to a small room or hall between an entrance and the interior of...
with a fresco of Flora
Flora (mythology)
In Roman mythology, Flora was a goddess of flowers and the season of spring. While she was otherwise a relatively minor figure in Roman mythology, being one among several fertility goddesses, her association with the spring gave her particular importance at the coming of springtime...
. On her initiative the walls in the royal chambers were covered with Genoa
Genoa
Genoa |Ligurian]] Zena ; Latin and, archaically, English Genua) is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria....
n velvet. The walls of the second floor, that is the Great Dining Room, were covered with frescoes depicting Apollo
Apollo
Apollo is one of the most important and complex of the Olympian deities in Greek and Roman mythology...
, Minerva
Minerva
Minerva was the Roman goddess whom Romans from the 2nd century BC onwards equated with the Greek goddess Athena. She was the virgin goddess of poetry, medicine, wisdom, commerce, weaving, crafts, magic...
and Hercules
Hercules
Hercules is the Roman name for Greek demigod Heracles, son of Zeus , and the mortal Alcmene...
as an allegory
Allegory
Allegory is a demonstrative form of representation explaining meaning other than the words that are spoken. Allegory communicates its message by means of symbolic figures, actions or symbolic representation...
of Virtus Heroica (Heroic Valor), Hebe
Hebe (mythology)
In Greek mythology, Hēbē is the goddess of youth . She is the daughter of Zeus and Hera. Hebe was the cupbearer for the gods and goddesses of Mount Olympus, serving their nectar and ambrosia, until she was married to Heracles ; her successor was the young Trojan prince Ganymede...
symbolizing Venustas (Beauty) completed with panoplies
Panoply
A panoply is a complete suit of armour. The word represents the ancient Greek πανοπλια. The word παν means "all", and όπλον, "arms". Thus "panoply" refers to the full armour of a hoplite or heavy-armed soldier, i.e...
. Sieniawska's daughter, Maria Zofia Czartoryska, furnished the palace with new fireplace
Fireplace
A fireplace is an architectural structure to contain a fire for heating and, especially historically, for cooking. A fire is contained in a firebox or firepit; a chimney or other flue allows gas and particulate exhaust to escape...
s made of white-cherry marble
Marble
Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite.Geologists use the term "marble" to refer to metamorphosed limestone; however stonemasons use the term more broadly to encompass unmetamorphosed limestone.Marble is commonly used for...
and crowned with mirrors in rich 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...
frames.
In the contract with King Augustus II Maria Zofia obliged him to preserve the palace unchanged. Therefore his actions were limited to finishing the new dining room, called the White Room in the southern wing and to the decoration of some unfinished interiors. The plafonds and other paintings were executed by Julien Poison, Johann Samuel Mock and Lorenzo Rossi, while the decorative lacquer
Lacquer
In a general sense, lacquer is a somewhat imprecise term for a clear or coloured varnish that dries by solvent evaporation and often a curing process as well that produces a hard, durable finish, in any sheen level from ultra matte to high gloss and that can be further polished as required...
panneaux in the Chinese Room were made by Martin Schnell.
Garden
Integral part of the palace, almost since its beginning, was a garden. Initially it had the character of a baroque Italian garden in a semicircular form surrounding the palace on the east. In its composition this geometric garden fitted in well with the ancient patterns and the palace arrangement. It consisted of an upper garden located on a terrace with two arboursPergola
A pergola, arbor or arbour is a garden feature forming a shaded walkway, passageway or sitting area of vertical posts or pillars that usually support cross-beams and a sturdy open lattice, often upon which woody vines are trained...
in the form of lantern
Lantern
A lantern is a portable lighting device or mounted light fixture used to illuminate broad areas. Lanterns may also be used for signaling, as 'torches', or as general light sources outdoors . Low light level varieties are used for decoration. The term "lantern" is also used more generically to...
s in each corner, and lower garden. During the third stage of the reconstruction of the palace the geometric garden parterre
Parterre
A parterre is a formal garden construction on a level surface consisting of planting beds, edged in stone or tightly clipped hedging, and gravel paths arranged to form a pleasing, usually symmetrical pattern. Parterres need not have any flowers at all...
s were replaced with embroidered parterres à la française inspired by André Le Nôtre
André Le Nôtre
André Le Nôtre was a French landscape architect and the principal gardener of King Louis XIV of France...
's treaties. At that time the garden was embellished with gilded
Gilding
The term gilding covers a number of decorative techniques for applying fine gold leaf or powder to solid surfaces such as wood, stone, or metal to give a thin coating of gold. A gilded object is described as "gilt"...
lead
Lead
Lead is a main-group element in the carbon group with the symbol Pb and atomic number 82. Lead is a soft, malleable poor metal. It is also counted as one of the heavy metals. Metallic lead has a bluish-white color after being freshly cut, but it soon tarnishes to a dull grayish color when exposed...
sculptures by Gaspar Richter of Gdańsk and vase
Vase
The vase is an open container, often used to hold cut flowers. It can be made from a number of materials including ceramics and glass. The vase is often decorated and thus used to extend the beauty of its contents....
s carved in cherry marble from Chęciny
Checiny
Chęciny is a town in Kielce County, Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, Poland, with 4,252 inhabitants .The town is first mentioned in historical documents from 1275. It obtained its city charter in 1325. The most important sight in the town is the royal castle built in the late 13th or early 14th century...
. In the beginning of the 18th century the garden was enlarged, the late baroque parterre ornamentation was replaced with régence motives completed with Sieniawska's coat of arms Szreniawa in the northern parts and her monogram in the southern part. In 1784 Izabela Lubomirska transformed neighbouring territories of Wilanów folwark
Folwark
Folwark is a Polish word for a primarily serfdom-based farm and agricultural enterprise , often very large. Folwarks were operated in the Crown of Poland from the 14th century and in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania since the 15th century, from the second half of the 16th century in the joint...
into a jardin anglo-chinois according to Szymon Bogumił Zug's design. This new garden with rich vegetation, sinuous paths and cascades was inspired by works of William Chambers, Thomas Whately
Thomas Whately
Thomas Whately , an English politician and writer, was a Member of Parliament , who served as Commissioner on the Board of Trade, as Secretary to the Treasury under Lord Grenville, and as Under- secretary of State under Lord North . As an M.P...
and August Moszyński.
Sources
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