by Ioana Caraman

1. Wilanów
Palace
Wilanów Palace
Caraman Ioana
Colegiul Naţional Pedagogic ,, Constantin
Brătescu”

2. Presentation
 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

3. History
 Wilanów Palace was built for the Polish king John III Sobieski 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.
 Wilanów Palace as seen from north-east by Bernardo Bellotto (1777).
 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.[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. 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.

4.  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
villa and French palaces entre cour et jardin with two oblong wings on each side of the cour d'honneur.
 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.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).
 The north wing, erected by Elżbieta Sieniawska.
 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 reliefs 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 (artistic 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

5. Images
Sundial with Chronos
The north wing, erected by Elżbieta
Sieniawska

6.  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.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).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 lifes), 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).
 African servant carrying a parrot (detail of a fresco by Giuseppe Rossi).
 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.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.
 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.

7. Images
African servant carrying a Plafond with Allegory of
parrot (detail of a fresco by Autumn by Jerzy
Giuseppe Rossi) Siemiginowski.

8.  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 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.At that time the garden
was embellished with gilded lead sculptures by
Gaspar Richter of Gdańsk and vases 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