History of Wilanów Palace
Initially, it was a typical suburban baroque residence in a shape of Polish manor-house with oriels. With a shape from 1696 it represents the characteristic type of baroque suburban residence entre cour et jardin . Between 1720 and 1728 side wings were added (the author of the design: Giovanni Spazzio – main architect of Elżbieta Helena Sieniawska née Lubomirska).
After death of Sobieski in 1969 the palace was owned by his sons and then – since 1720 – it was a seat of well-known magnate families: Sieniawski, Czartoryski, Lubomirski, Potocki and Branicki. Between 1730 and 1733 it was a residence of Augustus II the Strong. Each of the families made alterations to the palace’s interior, garden, and neighbourhood according to the fashion and needs of the time.
In 1805 on the initiative of Stanisław Kostka Potocki, the owner of that time, in a part of the palace there was one of the first public museums in Poland. Apart from the exhibition of the rich collection of European and Far Eastern pieces of art, the central part of the Palace was dedicated to memory of John III and the magnificent past of the nation. Taken over to public ownership after the last war, after thorough maintenance and renewal works, as well as, revindication of the considerable part of collection exported by the Germans, it was made accessible to the public in 1962.
Since 1995 the palace and the palace-park complex has been managed by the Wilanów Palace Museum.
Architecture and interior design of the Palace
The architecture of the palace is unique – it is a merger of European art and Old Polish building tradition. The preserved painting and sculptor’s design of the palace’s façade and interiors in connection with ancient symbolism proclaims apotheosis of the Sobieski family and glorification of military triumphs of the king.
The stuccowork and paintings of the palace was made by such artists as: Józef Szymon Bellotti, Jerzy Siemiginowski-Eleuter, Michelangelo Palloni, Claude Callot, Jan Samuel Mock (portraits of Augustus II the Strong in the Dutch Room). Stucco decorations were made by Francesco Fumo. Regent ornaments (the 20s and 30s of the 18th century) were a creation of Pietro Innocente Compereti. The author of the study sculpture was Eliasz Hofmann from the south-east Poland (Puławy) from the family of sculptors working for the Lubomirski family.