Wilanów Palace or Wilanowski Palace (Polish: pałac w Wilanowie, Polish pronunciation: [ˈpawat͡s vvilaˈnɔvjɛ]) is a royal palace located in the Wilanów district, Warsaw. Wilanów Palace survived Poland's partitions and both World Wars, and so serves as a reminder of the culture of the Polish state as it was before the misfortunes of the 18th century.
It is one of Poland's most important monuments. The Palace's museum, established in 1805, is a repository of the country's royal and artistic heritage. The palace and park in Wilanów hosts cultural events and concerts, including Summer Royal Concerts in the Rose Garden and the International Summer Early Music Academy.
Wilanów Palace was built for king John III Sobieski in the last quarter of the 17th century and later was enlarged by other owners.[3] 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 generally European art with distinctively Polish building traditions.[3] Upon its elevations and in the palace interiors ancient symbols glorify the Sobieski family, especially the military triumphs of the king.[4]
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 stateswomanElżbieta Sieniawska who enlarged the palace.[3] 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.[5] 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.[5] 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.[5]
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.[3] A most notable example of the collections is Potocki's equestrian portrait made by renowned neoclassical French artist Jacques-Louis David in 1781.[6] 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,[7] 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.[8]
The structure was designed by Augustyn Wincenty Locci.[9] The architecture of the palace is a unique example of different building traditions - reminiscent of Polish aristocratic mansions with side towers, the Italian suburban villa and French palaces entre cour et jardin with two oblong wings on each side of the cour d'honneur.[10]
Sundial with Chronos.
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.[10] 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 spires, all resembling the Villa Doria Pamphili in Rome (especially its initial design by Giovanni Francesco Grimaldi).[10]
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.[10] Powerful Sieniawska was very concerned in maintaining the substantial historical residence of the Rex victoriossimus (Victorious King), as it was called.[18] 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).[19]
The most prominent Polish and foreign artists participated in the decoration of the palace interiors. It was entrusted to painters Martino Altomonte, Jan Rayzner of Lviv, Michelangelo Palloni, sculptor Stefan Szwaner and stucco decorators Szymon Józef Bellotti, Antoni of Wilanów and Abraham Paris.[20] 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 (plafonds in the state rooms, frescoes).[20] 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.[21][22]
African servant carrying a parrot (detail of a fresco by Giuseppe Rossi).
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 lifes), Raphael, Caracci brothers, Guido Reni and Bernardo Strozzi.[23] 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.[23] Unfortunately they were scattered by the successive proprietors, appropriated by Friedrich August of Saxony and transported to Dresden[24] or looted by the Germans during World War II (e.g. John III's tortoise-shell cabinet, never retrieved).[25]
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 Genoan velvet.[26] 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 fireplaces made of white-cherry marble and crowned with mirrors in rich rococo frames.[27]
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.[28] 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.[29]
An integral part of the palace, almost since its beginning, is the 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 arbours in the form of lanterns in each corner, and lower garden. During the third stage of the reconstruction of the palace the geometric garden parterres were replaced with embroidered parterres à la française inspired by André Le Nôtre's treaties.[30] At that time the garden was embellished with gildedlead sculptures by Gaspar Richter of Gdańsk and vases carved in cherry marble from Chęciny.[31] 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.[27] 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.[32]
Fijałkowski, Wojciech (1983), Wilanów. Rezydencja Króla Zwycięzcy (Wilanów. The residence of the Victorious King) (in Polish), Warsaw: Krajowa Agencja Wydawnicza.
Kieniewicz, Stefan (1984), Warszawa w latach 1526-1795 (Warsaw in 1526-1795) (in Polish), Warsaw: Krajowa Agencja Wydawnicza, ISBN83-01-03323-1.
Branicki Palace is a historical edifice in Białystok, Podlaskie Voivodeship, Poland.
It was developed on the site of an earlier building in the first half of the 18th century by Jan Klemens Branicki, a wealthy Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth hetman, into a residence suitable for a man whose ambition was to become king of Poland. The palace complex with gardens, pavilions, sculptures, outbuildings and other structures and the city with churches, city hall and monastery, all built almost at the same time according to French models was the reason why the city was known in the 18th century as Versailles de la Pologne and subsequently Versailles de la Podlachie.
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.
Presidential Palace, Warsaw
The Presidential Palace in Warsaw, Poland, is the elegant classicist latest version of a building that has stood on the Krakowskie Przedmieście site since 1643. Over the years, it has been rebuilt and remodeled many times. For its first 175 years, the palace was the private property of several aristocratic families. In 1791 it hosted the authors and advocates of the Constitution of May 3, 1791.
Stanisław Kostka Potocki
Count Stanisław Kostka Potocki was a Polish noble, politician, writer, publicist, collector and patron of art.
Natolin
Natolin is a historic park and nature reserve (1.2 km²) on the southern edge of Warsaw, Poland. "Natolin" is also the name of a neighborhood located to the west of the park — a part of Warsaw's southernmost Ursynów district.
Since 1993 Natolin has been the site of one of two College of Europe campuses.
Łazienki Park
Łazienki Park is the largest park in Warsaw, Poland, occupying 76 hectares of the city center.
Aleksander Benedykt Sobieski
Aleksander Benedykt Stanisław Sobieski was a Polish prince, nobleman, diplomat, writer, scholar and the son of John III Sobieski, King of Poland, and his wife, Marie Casimire Louise de la Grange d'Arquien.
Konstanty Władysław Sobieski
Konstanty Władysław Sobieski was a Polish prince, nobleman, politician, diplomat, scholar and the son of John III Sobieski, King of Poland, and his wife, Marie Casimire Louise de la Grange d'Arquien. In 1708 he married Maria Józefa Wessel.
Jerzy Siemiginowski-Eleuter
Jerzy Siemiginowski-Eleuter was a prominent Polish painter and engraver of the Baroque style. He was court painter of king John III Sobieski and a Polish–Lithuanian noble. He is considered one of the most accomplished painters of Classical Baroque in Poland, who joined in his works classical theory with genuine motives.
Krasiński Palace
The Krasiński Palace Polish: Pałac Krasińskich, or Palace of the Commonwealth Polish: Pałac Rzeczypospolitej, is a baroque palace in Warsaw, Poland, on Krasiński Square.
Marywil
Marywil was a large commercial centre and a palace in Warsaw, occupying roughly the place where the Grand Theatre stands today.
Michelangelo Palloni
Michelangelo Palloni (1637—1712) was an Italian painter of the Baroque period, who worked in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth from 1674 onward.
Łazienki Palace
The Łazienki Palace is a classicist palace in Warsaw's Royal Baths Park, the city's largest park, occupying over 76 hectares of the city center.
Tylman van Gameren
Tylman van Gameren, also Tilman or Tielman and Tylman Gamerski, was a Dutch-born Polish architect and engineer who, at the age of 28, settled in Poland and worked for Queen Marie Casimire, wife of Poland's King John III Sobieski. Tylman left behind a lifelong legacy of buildings that are regarded as gems of Polish Baroque architecture.
Kotowski Palace
The Kotowski Palace was a 17th-century palace in Warsaw, Poland. It served as the main cloister building for the Benedictine Sisters of Perpetual Adoration.
Kazimierz Palace
The Kazimierz Palace is a rebuilt palace in Warsaw, Poland. It is adjacent to the Royal Route, at Krakowskie Przedmieście 26/28.
Elżbieta Sieniawska
Elżbieta Helena Sieniawskanée Lubomirska was a Polish noblwoman, 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 in the Rákóczi's War for Independence. She was considered the most powerful woman in the Commonwealth and called the uncrowned Queen of Poland.
Museum of King John III's Palace at Wilanów
The Museum of King John III's Palace at Wilanów is a museum in Warsaw, Poland considered to be one of the oldest in the country and the repository of the country's royal and artistic heritage. The collection consists of valuables collected by subsequent owners of the Wilanów Palace, the Kings of Poland - John III Sobieski and Augustus II, as well as by representatives of noble families of Potocki, and Lubomirski and a collection of Sarmatian art.
Myślewicki Palace
The Myślewicki Palace is a rococo-neoclassical palace in Warsaw's Royal Baths Park. It was created for King Stanisław August Poniatowski as one of the first buildings in the Royal Baths. Its name derives from that of the nearby now nonexistent village of Myślewice.
Radzyń Podlaski Castle
Radzyń Podlaski Castle - a complex of a palace and castle built between 1685 and 1709, and expanded between 1750 and 1759.
