The Krasiński Palace ( pl, Pałac Krasińskich), also known as the Palace of the Commonwealth, is a reconstructed Baroque palace in

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

, on Krasiński Square (''Plac Krasińskich''). Initially erected between 1677 and 1683 for the powerful

Krasiński family The House of Krasiński (plural: Krasińscy) is the surname of a Polish noble family. Krasińska is the feminine form. The name derives from the village of Krasne in Masovia. The family dates from the 14th century. Its members were landowner ...

, it was heavily damaged during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

and rebuilt in the mid-20th century.

History and architecture

The palace was built in 1677–83 for the Voivode of Płock,

Jan Dobrogost Krasiński Jan Dobrogost Bonawentura Krasiński ('' en, John Krasinski'', 10 June 1639 – 21 February 1717) was a Polish nobleman ( szlachcic). Biography He was the son of Jan Kazimierz Krasiński and Ursula Grzybowska. In his youth he studied in the Neth ...

, according to design by

Tylman van Gameren Tylman van Gameren, also ''Tilman'' or ''Tielman'' and Tylman Gamerski, (Utrecht, 3 July 1632 – c. 1706, Warsaw) was a Dutch-born Polish architect and engineer who, at the age of 28, settled in Poland and worked for Queen Marie Casimire, w ...

. It was decorated with

pediment Pediments are gables, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the lintel, or entablature, if supported by columns. Pediments can contain an overdoor and are usually topped by hood moulds. A pedim ...

reliefs showing the

triumph The Roman triumph (Latin triumphus) was a celebration for a victorious military commander in ancient Rome. For later imitations, in life or in art, see Trionfo. Numerous later uses of the term, up to the present, are derived directly or indirectl ...

of the legendary "ancestor" of the Ślepowron and

Korwin The New Hope (, NN), previously known as Confederation for the Renewal of the Republic Liberty and Hope (, KORWiN/Liberty), is a right-wing populist political party in Poland. It is currently led by Sławomir Mentzen. It was founded in 2015 by ...

Polish clans, the Roman commander Manius Valerius Maximus Corvinus Messalla (263 BC) and sculptural work, all by

Andreas Schlüter Andreas Schlüter (1659 – c. June 1714) was a German baroque sculptor and architect, active in the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, and the Russian Tsardom. Biography Andreas Schlüter was b ...

. Jan Dobrogost Krasiński, who also served as the royal clerk (''Referendarz''), was a descendant of old

Mazovia Mazovia or Masovia ( pl, Mazowsze) is a historical region in mid-north-eastern Poland. It spans the North European Plain, roughly between Łódź and Białystok, with Warsaw being the unofficial capital and largest city. Throughout the centurie ...

n nobility and an heir to a large fortune. After his father's death he wished to erect a magnificent residence in the capital which was to fulfill his excessive political ambitions and show his enormous pride, which made him cultivate and develop a 16th-century legend about the antique origin and alleged royal connections of his family. Krasiński was well acquainted with French culture and architecture; he was interested in hiring qualified and renowned French artists and architects that would perform the work. He kept a detailed accountancy book in which he systematically recorded progress in construction. The whole idea was realized according to the design of Tylman van Gameren. He was of Dutch origin, educated in Italy, and he was brought to Poland by the

Lubomirski family The House of Lubomirski is a Polish princely family. The Lubomirski family's coat of arms is the Drużyna coat of arms, which is similar to the Szreniawa coat of arms but without a cross. Origin and the coat of arms The Lubomirski fam ...

. He made a large number of various designs for Lubomirskis, the Royal Family, the representatives of different noblemen and gentry families as well as for the Catholic Church. Some Warsaw architects were also employed to build the palace as building contractors, as suppliers of materials or to control the master craftsmen, bricklayers or artisans. These people were Joseph Bellotti, Jacob Solari, Izydor Affaita and Maderni. The main role in decorating the palace was played by German sculptor, Andreas Schlüter, who had previously cooperated with Tylman. Palloni Jan Dobrogost Krasiński

The first floor ''porte-fenêtre'' (vertical French door and window) was crowned with a

cartouche In Egyptian hieroglyphs, a cartouche is an oval with a line at one end tangent to it, indicating that the text enclosed is a royal name. The first examples of the cartouche are associated with pharaohs at the end of the Third Dynasty, but the f ...

supported by two angels bearing the founder's monogram ''JK'' for Jan Krasiński. The frescoes were made by John III Sobieski's court painter

Michelangelo Palloni Michelangelo Palloni (1637—1712) was an Italian painter of the Baroque period, who worked in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth from 1674 onward. Palloni was born at Campi Bisenzio, Florence. In 1688, he became a court painter of the ...

. Among his notable works in the palace, most worth mentioning are the

plafond A plafond (French for "ceiling"), in a broad sense, is a (flat, vaulted or dome) ceiling. A plafond can be a product of monumental painting or sculpture. Picturesque plafonds can be painted directly on plaster (as a fresco, oil, glutinous, s ...

and frescoes in the (the space between the portal and ceiling) of the palace's vestibule. Moulding which remain in vestibule and partly in the stairwell, also the heads of pilasters or festoons on external elevations made of stucco as well as the armorial cartouche of the façade from the garden side were made by unknown artists under the supervision of Joseph Belloti. The lost paintings in the vestibule destroyed during World War II were painted by Michael Palloni. The interiors were partially finished by 1699. Other paintings by Albrecht Dürer, Antonio da Correggio, Rembrandt and

Peter Paul Rubens Sir Peter Paul Rubens (; ; 28 June 1577 – 30 May 1640) was a Flemish artist and diplomat from the Duchy of Brabant in the Southern Netherlands (modern-day Belgium). He is considered the most influential artist of the Flemish Baroque tradi ...

are no longer present. The palace-garden complex was created on a vast property between Długa and Świętojerska Streets, in the place of the old manor house with small garden that belonged to Krasiński. Krasiński purchased some surrounding plots to extend the gardens. According to Gameren's conception, the palace was intended as a French style palace ''entre cour et jardin'' (between the entrance court and the garden) with

cour d'honneur A ''cour d'honneur'' (; ; german: Ehrenhof) is the principal and formal approach and forecourt of a large building. It is usually defined by two secondary wings projecting forward from the main central block ('' corps de logis''), sometimes w ...

, two symmetrical outbuildings,

parterre A ''parterre'' is a part of a formal garden constructed on a level substrate, consisting of symmetrical patterns, made up by plant beds, low hedges or coloured gravels, which are separated and connected by paths. Typically it was the part of ...

garden ('' à la française'') with three radial alleys and a palace in the center of the axis, but it was never fully accomplished. In 1765 the palace was purchased by the

Rzeczpospolita () is the official name of Poland and a traditional name for some of its predecessor states. It is a compound of "thing, matter" and "common", a calque of Latin ''rés pública'' ( "thing" + "public, common"), i.e. ''republic'', in Engli ...

(Commonwealth; the Polish State) and became the seat of the Treasury Commission. After a fire in 1783 it was remodelled according to Domenico Merlini's design. During the interwar period, the palace housed the

Supreme Court of Poland The Supreme Court ( pl, Sąd Najwyższy) is the highest court in the Republic of Poland. It is located in the Krasiński Square, Warsaw. One of the chambers of the Supreme Court, the Disciplinary Chamber, was suspended by a judgment of the CJ ...

. The palace was burned down and partially demolished by the Germans during

, with the outer shell remaining mostly intact. Today it is a part of the

Polish National Library The National Library ( pl, Biblioteka Narodowa) is the central Polish library, subject directly to the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage of the Republic of Poland. The library collects books, journals, electronic and audiovisual publicat ...

's Special Collections Section (specializing in manuscripts and old prints) from the

Załuski Library The Załuski Library ( pl, Biblioteka Załuskich, la, Bibliotheca Zalusciana) established in Warsaw in 1747 by Józef Andrzej Załuski and his brother, Andrzej Stanisław Załuski, both Roman Catholic bishops, was a public library nationalized ...

(only 5% of the former collection remains in the palace, the rest was deliberately destroyed by the Germans after the collapse of the

Warsaw Uprising The Warsaw Uprising ( pl, powstanie warszawskie; german: Warschauer Aufstand) was a major World War II operation by the Polish underground resistance to liberate Warsaw from German occupation. It occurred in the summer of 1944, and it was led ...

in October 1944).

Images

Image:Krasinski Square Warsaw.jpg, Krasinski Square, 1890s Image:Pałac Krasińskich w Warszawie przed 1939.jpg, The Palace in 1939 Image:Pomnik Kilińskiego waf 2012-2719-23 (1945).jpg, Soon after

File:2018 Warszawa Pałac Krasińskich, 8.jpg,

Garden A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the cultivation, display, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The single feature identifying even the wildest wild garden is ''control''. The garden can incorporate bot ...

façade A façade () (also written facade) is generally the front part or exterior of a building. It is a loan word from the French (), which means ' frontage' or ' face'. In architecture, the façade of a building is often the most important aspect ...

File:Andreas Schlueter Palac Krasinskich 1.jpg,

Pediment Pediments are gables, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the lintel, or entablature, if supported by columns. Pediments can contain an overdoor and are usually topped by hood moulds. A pedim ...

: ''Triumph of Marcus Valerius Corvinus'' by

File:Ogród Krasińskich- IV 2016.jpg, Krasiński Garden

Notes

References

External links

*
Sąd Najwyższy
Historical pictures of the palace. *

{{DEFAULTSORT:Krasinski Palace Houses completed in 1683 Palaces in Warsaw Baroque palaces in Poland Rebuilt buildings and structures in Poland 1683 establishments in Europe

History and architecture

Images

See also

Notes

References

External links