DOI issue:
Nr. 1-2
DOI article:Skrodzka, Agnieszka: Virtutis invidia comes, czyli o Rotundzie w Łazienkach Królewskich: =
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.35030#0117
fArCLAS' WL/D/a COALEX, CZYLI O ROTUNDZIE W ŁAZIENKACH KRÓLEWSKICH
111
Virtutis invidia comes; id est tAe PotnnJo /n rAe Poyo/
/ŁrA.s (ŁnztenA;^ A5;A7ce
The Rotunda comprising the middle section of the
so-called Pałace on the Water in Warsaw's Łazienki
(literally the Baths) Park acquired its present
appearance in the years during successive extension
carried out under the initiative of Stanislaus
Augustus Poniatowski from 1788 to 1795. It was at
this time that the interior space under investigation
began to function as an ante-chamber for public
gatherings of high State importance prior to
receptions by the king of official guests in the
Solomon Chamber. The Rotunda's newly created
decor was madę up in part of the statues of former
Polish monarchs: Casimir the Great, Sigismund the
Old, Stefan Bathory and John Sobieski, as well as
the busts, held aloft by winged cupids, of the Roman
emperors Titus, Trajan and Marcus Aurelius.
Originally, apart from these sculptural works, the
interiors would have contained tonJZ featuring
personifications of the virtues Prudence, Justice,
Clemency and Courage (currently removed for an
exhibition devoted to conservation organised on the
first floor level of the Łazienki Pałace). The middle
of the marble floor would have been taken up by the
head of Medusa.
This article presents a letter previously unknown
to researchers of the Łazienki Pałace by Stanisław
Trembecki, the court poet, to Stanislaus Augustus,
on the basis of which a reinterpretation of the
Rotunda's ideological programme has proven
possible. It so tums out that a significant role in this
programme must have been played by the non-extant
image of the Medusa that, personifying Jealousy,
would have exerted negative influences on all rulers
gathered in the Rotunda. One of these sovereigns,
most obviously, was Stanislaus Augustus himself,
7. JoAonn CAr At/on Gon7n7S'etze7; The Ujazdów
Bathhouse, cross-section of the grotto, 7775, y?re-
7959 co//ect/ons' o/ tAe Pr/nt.s' CoAinet o/" Ror.sow
Gn/yerj/tyTL/Arory/PGRO, /o^t
2. G/ocon70 ATono/J/, Casimir the Great, 7 795.
PotnnJo, Po/oce on tAe Rhter
5. GZovocA/no Ptogg/, Sigismund I the Old, 7 795.
PotonJo, Po/oce on tAe Rhter
7. GZovocA/'no ,S'toggi, ProncAzeA P/ncA, Stefan
Bathory, 7795. PotnnJo, Po/oce on tAe Rhter
5. ProncAzeA PincA, John 111 Sobieski, co. 7 795
PotonJo, Po/oce on tAe Rhter
personified as Courage. The four Polish monarchs
and Roman emperors were supposed to be the rulers
with whom the last king of Poland compared
himself, each of them evoking a specific virtue. As
such, the programme expressed in the Rotunda
presents the exceptionally popular motif in the art of
the later half of the 18th century of oye/np/nw
yóhotA.
The yirtues depicted in the cupola (i.e. Cardinal
yirtues) were intended to patronise the rulers who
gathered beneath them. They were also meant to
demonstrate the pillars upon which Stanislaus
Augustus's reign was based. In addition, it has been
possible to establish that the features of the three
remaining yirtues were modelled on those of three
women closely associated with the Polish court of
the time: Elżbieta Grabowska, Helena Radziwiłłowa
and Madam Rudnicka, who posed for Marcello
Bacciarelli. In this author's opinion, the Rotunda
interiors may also illustrate a Platonie vision of the
universe composed of two spheres. While the first of
these, representing the heavenly dimension, is
occupied by ideas (i.e. yirtues), the temporal sphere
is taken up by mirror images of ideas symbolising
eminent men of State. These, however, are imperfect
images, scarred by the weaknesses and misfortunes
of rulers, to which Trembecki referred in his letter.
The author believes that the non-existent image
of Medusa was brought over from Naples; most
probably from the city's AoAorotor/o Je//e y/etre
Jore. It may be hypothesised that, shortly after the
motifs completion, the destruction of /ny/J/o
ensued as a result of dampness, thereby effacing an
important theme in the Rotunda's ideological
programme.
Aron.s/oteJ Ay Peter Mortyo
5. G/ocon7o AJono/J/, Titus, 7 795; P/gA/,
Putti, 7 795. Poton Jo, Po/oce on tAe Rhter
7. JnJrePeP/^on, Trajan, co. 7 795; 7o/77n7oyoP/gA/,
Putti, 7 795. Poton Jo, Po/oce on tAe Rhter
5. GnAnown ortAt, Marcus Aurelius, co. 7 795;
7bw?noxo P/gA/, Putti, 7 795. Potonc7o, Po/oce on tAe
Rh ter
9. Jon Pogonu'7 P/ers-cA, The Four Parts of the Day,
/7P/A. PotonJo, Po/oce on tAe Rhter
79. Morce/Zo Pocc/ore///, Prudence, 7795. Pron7
PotonJo copo/o, ten7pororJy ren7oi-eJ, Po/oce on
tAe Rh ter
111
Virtutis invidia comes; id est tAe PotnnJo /n rAe Poyo/
/ŁrA.s (ŁnztenA;^ A5;A7ce
The Rotunda comprising the middle section of the
so-called Pałace on the Water in Warsaw's Łazienki
(literally the Baths) Park acquired its present
appearance in the years during successive extension
carried out under the initiative of Stanislaus
Augustus Poniatowski from 1788 to 1795. It was at
this time that the interior space under investigation
began to function as an ante-chamber for public
gatherings of high State importance prior to
receptions by the king of official guests in the
Solomon Chamber. The Rotunda's newly created
decor was madę up in part of the statues of former
Polish monarchs: Casimir the Great, Sigismund the
Old, Stefan Bathory and John Sobieski, as well as
the busts, held aloft by winged cupids, of the Roman
emperors Titus, Trajan and Marcus Aurelius.
Originally, apart from these sculptural works, the
interiors would have contained tonJZ featuring
personifications of the virtues Prudence, Justice,
Clemency and Courage (currently removed for an
exhibition devoted to conservation organised on the
first floor level of the Łazienki Pałace). The middle
of the marble floor would have been taken up by the
head of Medusa.
This article presents a letter previously unknown
to researchers of the Łazienki Pałace by Stanisław
Trembecki, the court poet, to Stanislaus Augustus,
on the basis of which a reinterpretation of the
Rotunda's ideological programme has proven
possible. It so tums out that a significant role in this
programme must have been played by the non-extant
image of the Medusa that, personifying Jealousy,
would have exerted negative influences on all rulers
gathered in the Rotunda. One of these sovereigns,
most obviously, was Stanislaus Augustus himself,
7. JoAonn CAr At/on Gon7n7S'etze7; The Ujazdów
Bathhouse, cross-section of the grotto, 7775, y?re-
7959 co//ect/ons' o/ tAe Pr/nt.s' CoAinet o/" Ror.sow
Gn/yerj/tyTL/Arory/PGRO, /o^t
2. G/ocon70 ATono/J/, Casimir the Great, 7 795.
PotnnJo, Po/oce on tAe Rhter
5. GZovocA/no Ptogg/, Sigismund I the Old, 7 795.
PotonJo, Po/oce on tAe Rhter
7. GZovocA/'no ,S'toggi, ProncAzeA P/ncA, Stefan
Bathory, 7795. PotnnJo, Po/oce on tAe Rhter
5. ProncAzeA PincA, John 111 Sobieski, co. 7 795
PotonJo, Po/oce on tAe Rhter
personified as Courage. The four Polish monarchs
and Roman emperors were supposed to be the rulers
with whom the last king of Poland compared
himself, each of them evoking a specific virtue. As
such, the programme expressed in the Rotunda
presents the exceptionally popular motif in the art of
the later half of the 18th century of oye/np/nw
yóhotA.
The yirtues depicted in the cupola (i.e. Cardinal
yirtues) were intended to patronise the rulers who
gathered beneath them. They were also meant to
demonstrate the pillars upon which Stanislaus
Augustus's reign was based. In addition, it has been
possible to establish that the features of the three
remaining yirtues were modelled on those of three
women closely associated with the Polish court of
the time: Elżbieta Grabowska, Helena Radziwiłłowa
and Madam Rudnicka, who posed for Marcello
Bacciarelli. In this author's opinion, the Rotunda
interiors may also illustrate a Platonie vision of the
universe composed of two spheres. While the first of
these, representing the heavenly dimension, is
occupied by ideas (i.e. yirtues), the temporal sphere
is taken up by mirror images of ideas symbolising
eminent men of State. These, however, are imperfect
images, scarred by the weaknesses and misfortunes
of rulers, to which Trembecki referred in his letter.
The author believes that the non-existent image
of Medusa was brought over from Naples; most
probably from the city's AoAorotor/o Je//e y/etre
Jore. It may be hypothesised that, shortly after the
motifs completion, the destruction of /ny/J/o
ensued as a result of dampness, thereby effacing an
important theme in the Rotunda's ideological
programme.
Aron.s/oteJ Ay Peter Mortyo
5. G/ocon7o AJono/J/, Titus, 7 795; P/gA/,
Putti, 7 795. Poton Jo, Po/oce on tAe Rhter
7. JnJrePeP/^on, Trajan, co. 7 795; 7o/77n7oyoP/gA/,
Putti, 7 795. Poton Jo, Po/oce on tAe Rhter
5. GnAnown ortAt, Marcus Aurelius, co. 7 795;
7bw?noxo P/gA/, Putti, 7 795. Potonc7o, Po/oce on tAe
Rh ter
9. Jon Pogonu'7 P/ers-cA, The Four Parts of the Day,
/7P/A. PotonJo, Po/oce on tAe Rhter
79. Morce/Zo Pocc/ore///, Prudence, 7795. Pron7
PotonJo copo/o, ten7pororJy ren7oi-eJ, Po/oce on
tAe Rh ter