Łazienki Palace

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Building information
Łazienki Palace
The southern façade of the palace
Town	Warsaw
Country	Poland
Architect	Domenico Merlini (1775-1795)
Client	Stanisław Herakliusz Lubomirski, Stanisław August Poniatowski
Construction start date	after 1683^[1]
Completion date	1689
Style	Neoclassical

Łazienki Palace [ɫaˈʑenki] (Polish: Pałac Łazienkowski) also called Palace on the Water (Polish: Pałac na Wodzie) or Palace on the Isle (Polish: Pałac na Wyspie) is a Neoclassical palace in Łazienki Park in Warsaw.

It was a barracks until the 1960s.

1 History
2 Architecture
3 Interiors
4 References
5 Images
- 5.1 Historical
- 5.2 Present day
6 See also
7 External links

[edit] History

Originally a bathhouse for powerful aristocrat Stanisław Herakliusz Lubomirski, built on an islet in the middle of a lake by Tylman van Gameren.^[1] It was completely remodelled by Domenico Merlini between 1764 and 1795 to fulfil Stanisław August Poniatowski's need for a private residence where he could relax. Stanisław August was a great patron of the arts, and this is reflected in the sumptuous interiors of the main palace. A good deal of the monarch's original collection has survived. During World War II, Wehrmacht sappers bored tens of thousands of holes in the Palace in the stripped walls that they intended to fill with dynamite, but they only succeeded in setting the Palace alight and causing limited damage to the first floor.^[2]

[edit] Architecture

The palace is built on an artificial island that divides the lake into two parts, a smaller northern lake and a bigger southern lake; it is connected by two Ionic colonnaded bridges to the rest of the park. The façades are unified by an entablature carried by a giant Corinthian order of pilasters that links its two floors and is crowned by a balustrade that bears statues of mythological figures. The north façade is relieved by a central pedimented portico. On the south front a deep central recess lies behind a screen of the Corinthian order carried across its front.

[edit] Interiors

Portrait of Wincenty Korwin Gosiewski by Daniel Schultz in the palace's Gallery of Paintings

On the ground floor of the palace is the Bacchus Room decorated with 17th century Dutch blue tiles and a paintind from Jacob Jordaens' workshop depicting Silenus and Bacchantes. The 1778 ceiling painting, Bacchus, Ceres, Venus and Cupid by Jan Bogumił Plersch was destroyed by the Germans in 1944.^[3] The Rotunda designed by Domenico Merlini, occupy the central portion of the palace. Decorated in yellow and white marble, with the figures of the Polish kings, it is one of the most important examples of neoclassical decoration within the palace. It leads to the Bath Room, dominated by the stucco ornaments from the Baroque era and the sumptuous stucco ceiling, together with other exclusive interior details, including walls covered with 17th century Dutch blue tiles and Chinese vases. The Ballroom designed by Johann Christian Kammsetzer was intended for more important receptions such as balls, formal dinners, and masquerades. On the other side of the Rotunda is the lower Gallery of Paintings, which contains minor works by Rubens and Rembrandt,^[4] and the chapel. Other interiors include the Portrait Cabinet and the Salomon Room (before 1944 its decorations included several paintings by Marcello Bacciarelli, which were burned by the Germans).^[5] Also on the ground floor is the Dining Room in which the famous "Thursday Dinners" took place, to which king Stanisław August Poniatowski invited important Freemasons and other notable members from the era of Enlightenment in Poland. Its furniture and paintings belong to the Classicist style. On the first floor are the royal apartments, the upper picture gallery, the balcony room, the king's cabinet, the royal bed chambers, the cloakroom, and the officer's room.

[edit] References

In-line:

^ ^a ^b (Polish) "Lubomirski's Bathhouse", Varsovia.pl. Retrieved on 2008-02-09.
^ (Polish) "Historia", Muzeum Łazienki Królewskie. Retrieved on 2008-02-09.
^ (Polish) "Pokój Bachusa", Muzeum Łazienki Królewskie. Retrieved on 2008-02-09.
^ (Polish) "Royal Baths Museum", culture.pl. Retrieved on 2008-02-09.
^ (Polish) "Sala Salomona", Muzeum Łazienki Królewskie. Retrieved on 2008-02-09.