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DOI Artikel:Mikocka-Rachubowa, Katarzyna: Rzeźby ogrodowe w Młynowie na Wołyniu i ich twórca Grzegorz Czaykowski
DOI Seite / Zitierlink:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.49519#0268
258
Katarzyna Mikocka-Rachubowa
The Garden Sculptures at the Volhynian aristocratie
residence of Młynów and their creator,
Grzegorz Czaykowski
At the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries, a magnifi-
cent residence was raised at Młynów in Volhynia for
its contemporaneous owner, Ludwika Chodkiewi-
czowa of the Rzewuskis. Work was commenced in
1785 with the laying out on both sides of a palatial
parade courtyard of an extensive garden, in which
pavilions, arbours, grottoes, cascades and miniature
bridges were created. The main decorative element,
however, were its stone statues. Little has been dis-
covered on the subject of these sculptures, apart
from their inclusion in an inventory ofthe residence
at the end ofthe 18th century, in which no mention is
made of their designer.
In the State Archives housed in the Wawel
Castle in Cracow, in the Młynów Archive of the
Chodkiewicz family, a contract has been preserved
signed on 31st May 1795 between the architect
Leopold Szlegiel (designer and supervisor of the
building work carried out at Młynów) and the sculp-
tor Grzegorz Czaykowski. This contract was for
seven allegorical figures: Flora, Pomona, Minerva,
Leda, Adonis and Faun; each in erect positions and
c. 2m in height, as well as a prostrate Cleopatra (c.
2.30m in length), all intended for the pałace gardens.
These sculptures had to be composed in accordance
with the prints contained in a book that was handed
to Czaykowski by Szlegiel. For each completed
sculpture the artist was to receive 270 złotys. Each
of the statues referred to in the contract was appar-
ently completed by the summer of 1796.
In 1797 Czaykowski was paid for an additional
three statues, while a year later he was paid for work
carried out on stone figures as part of a new contract.
It is not known ifthese sculptures were also the work
of Czaykowski, since no reference is made to his
name in the documents preserved. It is elear that in
total there would have been a dozen figures (i.e. in
addition to the previously identified one there would
also have been: Antonius, Latona, Themis, Apollo
and Psyche), while in addition to these there also
stood a monument in honour of Wacław Rzewuski,
father of Ludwika Chodkiewiczowa, in the form of
an urn with insignia and inscriptions. In 1939, ofthe
entire group, just one sculpture survived.
Grzegorz Czaykowski, the sculptor ofthe above-
mentioned sculptures, was a completely unknown
figure until now, and nothing is known about his
other works. Archival materials reveal that he was
a resident of Podkarmień, a village situated close to
Młynów, that he sculpted in wood and stone and he
died some time after 1828. His creative work does
not appear to have been of a particularly skilled
level, although the fact he was entrusted with a con-
tract of some importance such as the one for the
Młynów statues seems to suggest that he must have
enjoyed some renown among the local elite.
Translated by Peter Martyn
1. G. Czaykowski, garden statue, palace at Młynów
in Volhynie
Katarzyna Mikocka-Rachubowa
The Garden Sculptures at the Volhynian aristocratie
residence of Młynów and their creator,
Grzegorz Czaykowski
At the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries, a magnifi-
cent residence was raised at Młynów in Volhynia for
its contemporaneous owner, Ludwika Chodkiewi-
czowa of the Rzewuskis. Work was commenced in
1785 with the laying out on both sides of a palatial
parade courtyard of an extensive garden, in which
pavilions, arbours, grottoes, cascades and miniature
bridges were created. The main decorative element,
however, were its stone statues. Little has been dis-
covered on the subject of these sculptures, apart
from their inclusion in an inventory ofthe residence
at the end ofthe 18th century, in which no mention is
made of their designer.
In the State Archives housed in the Wawel
Castle in Cracow, in the Młynów Archive of the
Chodkiewicz family, a contract has been preserved
signed on 31st May 1795 between the architect
Leopold Szlegiel (designer and supervisor of the
building work carried out at Młynów) and the sculp-
tor Grzegorz Czaykowski. This contract was for
seven allegorical figures: Flora, Pomona, Minerva,
Leda, Adonis and Faun; each in erect positions and
c. 2m in height, as well as a prostrate Cleopatra (c.
2.30m in length), all intended for the pałace gardens.
These sculptures had to be composed in accordance
with the prints contained in a book that was handed
to Czaykowski by Szlegiel. For each completed
sculpture the artist was to receive 270 złotys. Each
of the statues referred to in the contract was appar-
ently completed by the summer of 1796.
In 1797 Czaykowski was paid for an additional
three statues, while a year later he was paid for work
carried out on stone figures as part of a new contract.
It is not known ifthese sculptures were also the work
of Czaykowski, since no reference is made to his
name in the documents preserved. It is elear that in
total there would have been a dozen figures (i.e. in
addition to the previously identified one there would
also have been: Antonius, Latona, Themis, Apollo
and Psyche), while in addition to these there also
stood a monument in honour of Wacław Rzewuski,
father of Ludwika Chodkiewiczowa, in the form of
an urn with insignia and inscriptions. In 1939, ofthe
entire group, just one sculpture survived.
Grzegorz Czaykowski, the sculptor ofthe above-
mentioned sculptures, was a completely unknown
figure until now, and nothing is known about his
other works. Archival materials reveal that he was
a resident of Podkarmień, a village situated close to
Młynów, that he sculpted in wood and stone and he
died some time after 1828. His creative work does
not appear to have been of a particularly skilled
level, although the fact he was entrusted with a con-
tract of some importance such as the one for the
Młynów statues seems to suggest that he must have
enjoyed some renown among the local elite.
Translated by Peter Martyn
1. G. Czaykowski, garden statue, palace at Młynów
in Volhynie