"The Lubomirski Family at Wilanów. Politics and private life"
"The Lubomirski Family at Wilanów. Politics and private life” – exhibition in Wilanów
The presence and activities of the Lubomirski family in Wilanów in the 18th and 19th century is the subject of a new exhibition in the Wilanów Palace Museum. The exhibition will be open to visitors from Saturday. You can see, among others painting portraits and palace interiors.
“For the large majority of our guests, the Wilanów palace is primarily a residence of John III Sobieski. Tradition of looking at Wilanów as a memento of John III was established by Elżbieta Sieniawska – the daughter of Stanisław Herakliusz Lubomirski. She bought the decaying palace from the king’s sons and commissioned the building of side wings, probably realizing the old plans of Sobieski” – the exhibition curator Anna Ekielska notices.
Elżbieta Sieniawska paid 400 thousand of tynf, that is silver Polish zlotys to Konstanty Sobieski – the son of the king John for the Wilanów estate with the palace.
On the 3rd of July 1720, Sieniawska – Grand Hetmaness of the Crown, called “queen without a crown”, the daughter of Stanisław Herakliusz Lubomirski became the owner and conservator of the summer residence of John III Sobieski. She commissioned her court architect to extend the palace with side wings, renewed baroque garden, hired interior artists.
Due to being thrifty, having good taste and wealth, she and the next owners of Wilanów of the Lubomirski family: daughter – Maria Zofia Denhoffowa and granddaughter – Izabela Lubomirska née Czartoryska, the residence gained the artistic face in the spirit of the 18th century of Baroque and Rococo. Izabela’s daughter – Aleksandra helped her husband Stanisław Kostka Potocki in collecting works of art and the establishment of the first Polish museum of art in Wilanów.
Artistic patronage of the Lubomirski family shaped the Wilanów residence for almost the entire 18th century. Until this day, works of art from this period have survived in the palace and the historical collections of the museum. Among them the richest in the Polish collection is the one of portraits of members of the Lubomirski family with over 60 paintings.
The first part of the exhibition “The Lubomirski Family at Wilanów. Politics and private life” – “Politics” – will be presenting portraits of the most eminent representatives of the Lubomirski family – Stanisław, Jerzy Sebastian, Hieronim Augustyn and Stanisław Herakliusz.
The second part of the exhibition – “Private life” – will be devoted to Izabela Lubomirska née Czartoryska and her family and friends. The portraits will be presented in her apartment in the southern wing of the palace – the hall, the living room and the golden bedroom. During the exhibition you can see the interior of the bath apartment – Lubomirska’s Bathroom, inaccessible to visitors on a daily basis.
The thematic path devoted to the patronage of the Lubomirski family in Wilanów will be led through the interior of the palace.
The exhibition has been prepared thanks to the support of and cooperation with the Princes Lubomirski Foundation and is part of the permanent exhibition of the museum; it is initially planned for 3 years.
The Polish Press Agency (“PAP”) – Education in Poland
Source: The Polish Press Agency “PAP”
