The Palace on the Isle (), also known as the Baths Palace (), is a

classicist Classics, also classical studies or Ancient Greek and Roman studies, is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, ''classics'' traditionally refers to the study of Ancient Greek literature, Ancient Greek and Roman literature and ...

palace in

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

Royal Baths Park Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family or royalty Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal ...

, the city's largest park, occupying over 76 hectares of the city center. From 1674 this palace and the nearby Ujazdów Castle belonged to

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The ...

Stanisław Herakliusz Lubomirski, who commissioned a

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

bath-house, or "''Łazienka''", named similarly to a number of other European historic sites, including England's city of

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

. The building, erected on a square plan, was richly decorated with stuccos, statues, and paintings; some of the original decorations and architectural details survive. In 1766 King

Stanisław August Poniatowski Stanisław II August (born Stanisław Antoni Poniatowski; 17 January 1732 – 12 February 1798), known also by his regnal Latin name Stanislaus II Augustus, and as Stanisław August Poniatowski (), was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuani ...

purchased the estate and converted the bathing pavilion into a classicist summer residence with an

English garden The English landscape garden, also called English landscape park or simply the English garden (, , , , ), is a style of "landscape" garden which emerged in England in the early 18th century, and spread across Europe, replacing the more formal ...

. During the final stages of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the retreating Germans devastated the interior of the Palace and drilled holes in the structure in preparation for destruction with explosives. However, the plan was never carried out. In 2019 the palace was 11th on the list of most visited palaces and monuments in the world, attracting over 4.9 million visitors.

History

The building began as a bath-house for Stanisław Herakliusz Lubomirski, owner of the adjacent Ujazdów Castle. After 1678 the Lubomirski palace complex in Warsaw's Ujazdów district was enhanced with four park

pavilions In architecture, ''pavilion'' has several meanings; * It may be a subsidiary building that is either positioned separately or as an attachment to a main building. Often it is associated with pleasure. In palaces and traditional mansions of Asia ...

: '' Arcadia'', '' Hermitage'', ''

Frascati Frascati () is a city and in the Metropolitan City of Rome Capital in the Lazio region of central Italy. It is located south-east of Rome, on the Alban Hills close to the ancient city of Tusculum. Frascati is closely associated with science, ...

'', and the largest, the ''Bath-house''. The marble building was constructed before 1683 to a design by Tylman Gamerski. Finished in 1689, it was intended to serve as a bath-house, habitable pavilion, and a garden

grotto A grotto or grot is a natural or artificial cave or covered recess. Naturally occurring grottoes are often small caves near water that are usually flooded or often flooded at high tide. Sometimes, artificial grottoes are used as garden fea ...

. Interiors of the newly built structure were embellished with profuse

stucco Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, exterior walls, and as a sculptural and ...

decorations, also designed by Gamerski. External decorations included

water deities A water deity is a deity in mythology associated with water or various bodies of water. Water deities are common in mythology and were usually more important among civilizations in which the sea or ocean, or a great river was more important. Anoth ...

(e.g., a

Nereus In Greek mythology, Nereus ( ; ) was the eldest son of Pontus (the Sea) and Gaia ( the Earth), with Pontus himself being a son of Gaia. Nereus and Doris became the parents of 50 daughters (the Nereids) and a son ( Nerites), with whom Nereus ...

) surrounding the pavilion's main decorative feature, the

fountain A fountain, from the Latin "fons" ( genitive "fontis"), meaning source or spring, is a decorative reservoir used for discharging water. It is also a structure that jets water into the air for a decorative or dramatic effect. Fountains were o ...

. Other chambers had richly decorated '' plafonds'' and '' supraportes'', and the walls were covered with Delft tiles. The façades and interiors were decorated with sculptures, reliefs, Latin inscriptions (e.g., "''Musa Dryas, Nymphaeque boves et Pastor Apollo / Hic maneant, fugiat diva Minerva domus''" – "

Muse In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, the Muses (, ) were the Artistic inspiration, inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the poetry, lyric p ...

dryad A dryad (; , sing. ) is an oak tree nymph or oak tree spirit in Greek mythology; ''Drys'' (δρῦς) means "tree", and more specifically " oak" in Greek. Today the term is often used to refer to tree nymphs in general. Types Daphnaie Thes ...

and

nymphs A nymph (; ; sometimes spelled nymphe) is a minor female nature deity in ancient Greek folklore. Distinct from other Greek goddesses, nymphs are generally regarded as personifications of nature; they are typically tied to a specific place, land ...

, bullocks, and

Apollo Apollo is one of the Twelve Olympians, Olympian deities in Ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek and Ancient Roman religion, Roman religion and Greek mythology, Greek and Roman mythology. Apollo has been recognized as a god of archery, mu ...

the

shepherd A shepherd is a person who tends, herds, feeds, or guards flocks of sheep. Shepherding is one of the world's oldest occupations; it exists in many parts of the globe, and it is an important part of Pastoralism, pastoralist animal husbandry. ...

let stay here / divine

Minerva Minerva (; ; ) is the Roman goddess of wisdom, justice, law, victory, and the sponsor of arts, trade, and strategy. She is also a goddess of warfare, though with a focus on strategic warfare, rather than the violence of gods such as Mars. Be ...

let disdain this house", on the portal of the southern façade), and the

Lubomirski coat of arms The House of Lubomirski is a Princely Houses of Poland, 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 ...

, ''Szreniawa''. King

decided to convert the property into private quarters, and between 1764 and 1795 it was remodeled by Domenico Merlini. During the Nazi occupation, the Palace (along with

Belweder Belweder (; from the Italian ''belvedere'', "beautiful view") is a neoclassical palace in Warsaw, Poland. Erected in 1660 and remodelled in the early 1800s, it is one of several official residences used by Polish presidents as well as a state ...

) was marked as a potential future Warsaw residence for Adolf Hitler; these two were among a select few pre-war buildings to have been spared from the destruction of the city contemplated by the so-called Pabst Plan. Prior to evacuating Warsaw, the Germans drilled holes into the walls for explosives, but in the end did not blow up the Palace. The Palace also served as a German barracks during the German occupation.

Architecture

The palace is built on an artificial island that divides the lake into two parts, a smaller northern lake and a larger southern one. The palace is connected to the surrounding park by two Ionic-colonnaded bridges. The façades are unified by an

entablature An entablature (; nativization of Italian , from "in" and "table") is the superstructure of moldings and bands which lies horizontally above columns, resting on their capitals. Entablatures are major elements of classical architecture, and ...

carried by giant Corinthian pilasters that link its two floors and are crowned by a balustrade that bears statues of mythologic figures. The north façade is relieved by a central pedimented portico. On the south front, a deep central recess lies behind a screen of

Corinthian column The Corinthian order (, ''Korinthiakós rythmós''; ) is the last developed and most ornate of the three principal classical orders of Ancient Greek architecture and Roman architecture. The other two are the Doric order, which was the earliest, ...

Interiors

On the palace's ground floor is the Bacchus Room, decorated with 17th-century Dutch blue tiles and a painting by

Jacob Jordaens Jacques (Jacob) Jordaens (19 May 1593 – 18 October 1678Jacques Jordaens
in the Netherlands Institute for Ar ...

depicting ''Silenus and

Bacchantes In Greek mythology, maenads (; ) were the female followers of Dionysus and the most significant members of his retinue, the '' thiasus''. Their name, which comes from μαίνομαι (''maínomai'', “to rave, to be mad; to rage, to be angr ...

''. The 1778 ceiling painting, ''Bacchus, Ceres, Venus and Cupid'' by Jan Bogumił Plersch, was burned by German forces in 1944. The Rotunda, designed by Domenico Merlini, occupies the central portion of the palace. Decorated in yellow and white marble, with 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 and the Ballroom. On the other side of the Rotunda is the lower Picture Gallery, which contains works by

Rubens Sir Peter Paul Rubens ( ; ; 28 June 1577 – 30 May 1640) was a Flemish artist and diplomat. He is considered the most influential artist of the Flemish Baroque tradition. Rubens' highly charged compositions reference erudite aspects of clas ...

and

Rembrandt Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (; ; 15 July 1606 – 4 October 1669), mononymously known as Rembrandt was a Dutch Golden Age painter, printmaker, and Drawing, draughtsman. He is generally considered one of the greatest visual artists in ...

, and the chapel. Also on the ground floor is the Dining Room in which the famous Thursday Dinners took place, to which King Stanislaus Augustus invited leading

Freemasons Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...

and other notables of the

Polish Enlightenment The ideas of the Age of Enlightenment in Poland were developed later than in Western Europe, as the Polish bourgeoisie was weaker, and szlachta (nobility) culture (Sarmatism) together with the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth political system (Gol ...

. Its furniture and paintings are in the Classicist style. The Solomon Room, one of the largest of the palace's ground-floor interiors, was embellished with a series of paintings depicting the ''History of Solomon''. It comprised six paintings: ''The Dream of Solomon'' ( plafond), ''The Queen of Sheba before Solomon'', ''The Judgment of Solomon'', ''Consultation with King Hiram'' (friezes), ''Dedication of the Temple'' and ''Solomon's Sacrifice'' (walls). They were executed for Stanislaus Augustus in 1791–93 by

Marcello Bacciarelli Marcello Bacciarelli (; 16 February 1731 – 5 January 1818) was an Italian-born painter of the late-baroque and Neoclassicism, Neoclassic periods active in Poland and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Biography He was born in Rome, and stud ...

and depicted the monarch himself as the biblical king. All these paintings were deliberately and completely destroyed by the Germans in 1944 (burned in a fire before the palace) during the preparations to blow up the building. 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. In the years 2012–2015, the palace underwent further renovations, which covered the roof as well as all the rooms of the palace including the Ball Room in which 17th-century wall paintings by Jan Bogumił Plersch were unveiled. In 2016, the palace and park received an estimated 2.1 million visitors.

Gallery

File:Galeria obrazów Pałac na Wyspie w Łazienkach.JPG, Paintings gallery File:Dymitrowicz Solomon Room.jpg, Solomon Room (1892), by Ludomir Dymitrowicz (1844-1923) File:Gryglewski Bathing Room.jpg, Bathing Room (1875), by Aleksander Gryglewski File:Pałac na wyspie, Łazienki Królewskie.jpg, The northern

façade A façade or facade (; ) is generally the front part or exterior of a building. It is a loanword from the French language, French (), which means "frontage" or "face". In architecture, the façade of a building is often the most important asp ...

of the palace File:2018-07-07 Ogród Królewski w warszawskich Łazienkach 03.jpg, One of two bridges leading to the palace File:Łazienki - Pałac na wodzie - 20.jpg, Statue depicting allegory of the

Bug River The Bug or Western Bug is a major river in Central Europe that flows through Belarus (border), Poland, and Ukraine, with a total length of . File:Rubens Jacqueline de Caestre.jpg, ''Portrait of Jacqueline de Caestre'',

Peter Paul Rubens Sir Peter Paul Rubens ( ; ; 28 June 1577 – 30 May 1640) was a Flemish painting, Flemish artist and diplomat. He is considered the most influential artist of the Flemish Baroque painting, Flemish Baroque tradition. Rubens' highly charged comp ...

, ca. 1618 File:Rubens Jean Charles de Cordes.jpg, ''Portrait of Jean Charles de Cordes'', Peter Paul Rubens, ca. 1618 File:Brueghel the Younger Temptation of St. Anthony.jpg, '' Temptation of St. Anthony'',

Jan Brueghel the Younger Jan Brueghel (also Bruegel or Breughel) the Younger ( , ; ; 13 September 1601 – 1 September 1678) was a Flemish Baroque painter. He was the son of Jan Brueghel the Elder, and grandson of Pieter Bruegel the Elder, both prominent painters who ...

, 17th century File:Dyck Philip Herbert.jpg, ''Portrait of

Philip Herbert, 4th Earl of Pembroke Philip Herbert, 4th Earl of Pembroke and 1st Earl of Montgomery, (10 October 158423 January 1650) was an English courtier, nobleman, and politician active during the reigns of James I of England, James I and Charles I of England, Charles I. ...

'',

Anthony van Dyck Sir Anthony van Dyck (; ; 22 March 1599 – 9 December 1641) was a Flemish Baroque painting, Flemish Baroque artist who became the leading court painter in England after success in the Spanish Netherlands and Italy. The seventh child of ...

, ca, 1634 File:Somer Francis Bacon.jpg, ''Portrait of

Francis Bacon Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Alban (; 22 January 1561 – 9 April 1626) was an English philosopher and statesman who served as Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England under King James I. Bacon argued for the importance of nat ...

'',

Frans Pourbus the Younger Frans Pourbus the Younger or Frans Pourbus (II) (Antwerp, 1569 – Paris, 1622)Frans Pourbus (II)
at the Jacob Jordaens Jacques (Jacob) Jordaens (19 May 1593 – 18 October 1678Jacques Jordaens
in the Netherlands Institute for Ar ...

, first half of 17th century File:Bacciarelli Allegory of Graciousness.jpg, ''Allegory of Graciousness'',

, ca. 1792 File:Zaleski Royal Baths Palace in summer.jpg, ''View of the Royal Baths Palace in Summer'', Marcin Zaleski, ca. 1837 File:Italy Allegory of Africa.jpg, ''Allegory of Africa'', turn of 17/18th century File:China Earthenware pot with a lid.jpg, China

earthenware Earthenware is glazed or unglazed Vitrification#Ceramics, nonvitreous pottery that has normally been fired below . Basic earthenware, often called terracotta, absorbs liquids such as water. However, earthenware can be made impervious to liquids ...

, 18th century File:Japan Imari vase with Foo Dog.jpg, Japanese Imari vase with Foo Dog, late 18th century File:Le Brun Rococo putto.jpg, A Rococo

putto A putto (; plural putti ) is a figure in a work of art depicted as a chubby male child, usually naked and very often winged. Originally limited to profane passions in symbolism,Dempsey, Charles. ''Inventing the Renaissance Putto''. University ...

by André Le Brun, ca. 1783 File:Savini Peter Table top with a bull.jpg, Table top with a bull by Pompeo Savini, ca. 1788

Notes

External links

*
Official site
*

{{Authority control Palaces in Warsaw Residences of Polish monarchs Royal residences in Poland Neoclassical architecture in Warsaw Neoclassical palaces in Poland Houses completed in 1689 Registered museums in Poland Art museums and galleries in Warsaw Historic house museums in Poland 1680s in Poland 1689 establishments in Europe 17th-century establishments in Poland Łazienki Park