DOI issue:
Nr. 1-2
DOI article:Ajewski, Konrad: Denon a Polska i Polacy: =
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.35030#0155
DENON A POLSKA ] POLACY
149
Poniatowski had issued a permit for the surrender of
the said works demanded by Denon. In accordance
with a resolution from the second half of July, four
large-scale townscapes by Bernard Bellotto, known
as Canaletto, were removed from the castle wails;
i.e. F/ucAoz? a/ÓAazzz.s/azz.s' 4zrgzz.sazz.s' at Rb/a, Hew o/"
WYzAorwAzc Fz^ze<7zaz'exczE yhozrz tAe Cracow Gafę,
Hew of 77/YzAow.s'AzE Prze<7zazExcz'e tauazY/.S' Ga.st/c
^zzaru and Fzew of Rfzryawyhoza Prago, as well as
a picture of historical content titled Pra^fan GatA of
^//egzaace painted by the court artist Marcello
Bacciarelli. From 17th August )807, these works
requisitioned in Warsaw were sent to Paris to be
placed before the end of the same month in the Grand
Trianon or the main Pałace at Versailles. These,
alongside other artworks, were entered in the so-
called Pmenfazre Aapo/eon, with their place of origin
being registered as "Palais Royal de Varsovie", its
estimated worth and current location; i.e.: "Palais de
Trianon" or simply: "Versailles" As for the Palma il
Giovane masterpiece from Warsaw, it was placed in
the Louvre collections, where it was to remain until
1815.
When, at the end of June 1815, the allied forces
entered Paris, moves were taken to reclaim works of
art plundered by the regime of the First Empire. The
Prussian authorities proved especially quick to react
in this matter, sending to the French Capital a group of
specialists. Sonie of these so-named commissioners
occupied themselves with reclaiming the Memling
triptych, which was transported to Berlin soon after
and placed on exhibition in that city's Royal Academy
of Fine Arts. Even while the Berlin authorities did
what they could to keep the picture in the Prussian
Capital, the municipal council of Danzig proved able
to frustrate these attempts and have the masterpiece
retumed to its former place. To this day, the triptych
represents a major work of art, preserved in the
collections of the post-1945 Polish State.
The authorities of the Kingdom of Poland,
reestablished at the Congress of Vienna as a
successor to the Duchy of Warsaw, also undertook
efforts to regain the works of art plundered from the
Capital in 1807 from 1817 onwards. The earliest
moves came to nothing, partly due to lack of
awareness in Warsaw that (on the grounds that the
city formed a part of Prussia between 1795 and
1807) the pictures taken from the Royal Castle had
been claimed by the Prussian commissioners on
behalf of king Frederick William III. Denon as a
result was first approached by the Prussians: in a
letter dated 9th August, 1815, the six paintings from
Warsaw were included among the works they were
demanding the retum of, which led to the board of
directors of the renamed UAzsEc 7?oya/, represented
by Denon, handing them to the Prussians on 12th
August, and in the ensuing days they were
transported to Berlin. From Warsaw, on the other
hand, a Polish govemment commission sent the
French authorities an official reminder about the
missing pictures in 1818, demanding their retum or
otherwise compensation, to which a reply was duły
sent from Paris that the listed works were no longer
to be found in the country. Within two days of
receiving the official French response, the
authorities in Warsaw were informed by a private
source of the paintings' fate. With the assistance of a
Russian envoy in Berlin, the pictures were retumed
to Warsaw, where they were received by the grand
prince Constantine. Soon after, as the property of the
Russian emperor and king of Poland, Alexander I,
the paintings were retumed to their original places.
In the meantime, during the finał months of 1822,
the long drawn-out matter of regaining the Polish
works of art from Paris was finally acknowledged as
being closed. In summary, it may be stated that while
the four Bellotto-Canalettos and one Palma the
Younger came back to Warsaw, the original of
Bacciarelli's 7Yu.s'.s7an Ga/A a/N//egzance was never
recovered and the fate of the bust of the emperor
Augustus, regarded as being antique, remains
unknown.
The links between Denon and the Poles go back
to the 1780s, when, while conducting a diplomatic
mission to Naples, the futurę baron also occupied
himself with the collecting of antiques. It was here
that he became acquainted with a number of Polish
aristocrats travelling around Europę, including the
erudite collector count, Stanisław Kostka Potocki
with his spouse, Aleksandra and sister-in-law,
Elżbieta, as well as an accompanying priest, father
Grzegorz Piramowicz. In 1785, also in Naples,
Denon met the Polish writer Julian Ursyn
Niemcewicz. On his return to Paris in or around
1787, Denon was frequently received as a guest in a
ya/on of the Palais Royal belonging to the collector
marshal-princess Izabella Lubomirska. Here he had
the opportunity to meet again Niemcewicz as well
S.K. Potocki, Stanisław Małachowski and the young
count Adam Jerzy Czartoryski. Potocki, who
published anonymously at this time Acttz*c <7Aza
ćAaagez^ /e Sa/oa 7 7<$7, presenting himself as
one of the severest critics of the &z/oz? and French
art in generał. His brochure provoked an intense
polemic and response from Denon, writing in the
name of the Academics. Following on from the
acquaintances he had madę in Paris, Denon during
the time he was based in Warsaw visited Potocki at
Wilanów Pałace. A collection of copies of medals
depicting events relating to the Napoleonie apogee
were to be later housed here, the larger proportion of
which were designed either wholly by Denon or
149
Poniatowski had issued a permit for the surrender of
the said works demanded by Denon. In accordance
with a resolution from the second half of July, four
large-scale townscapes by Bernard Bellotto, known
as Canaletto, were removed from the castle wails;
i.e. F/ucAoz? a/ÓAazzz.s/azz.s' 4zrgzz.sazz.s' at Rb/a, Hew o/"
WYzAorwAzc Fz^ze<7zaz'exczE yhozrz tAe Cracow Gafę,
Hew of 77/YzAow.s'AzE Prze<7zazExcz'e tauazY/.S' Ga.st/c
^zzaru and Fzew of Rfzryawyhoza Prago, as well as
a picture of historical content titled Pra^fan GatA of
^//egzaace painted by the court artist Marcello
Bacciarelli. From 17th August )807, these works
requisitioned in Warsaw were sent to Paris to be
placed before the end of the same month in the Grand
Trianon or the main Pałace at Versailles. These,
alongside other artworks, were entered in the so-
called Pmenfazre Aapo/eon, with their place of origin
being registered as "Palais Royal de Varsovie", its
estimated worth and current location; i.e.: "Palais de
Trianon" or simply: "Versailles" As for the Palma il
Giovane masterpiece from Warsaw, it was placed in
the Louvre collections, where it was to remain until
1815.
When, at the end of June 1815, the allied forces
entered Paris, moves were taken to reclaim works of
art plundered by the regime of the First Empire. The
Prussian authorities proved especially quick to react
in this matter, sending to the French Capital a group of
specialists. Sonie of these so-named commissioners
occupied themselves with reclaiming the Memling
triptych, which was transported to Berlin soon after
and placed on exhibition in that city's Royal Academy
of Fine Arts. Even while the Berlin authorities did
what they could to keep the picture in the Prussian
Capital, the municipal council of Danzig proved able
to frustrate these attempts and have the masterpiece
retumed to its former place. To this day, the triptych
represents a major work of art, preserved in the
collections of the post-1945 Polish State.
The authorities of the Kingdom of Poland,
reestablished at the Congress of Vienna as a
successor to the Duchy of Warsaw, also undertook
efforts to regain the works of art plundered from the
Capital in 1807 from 1817 onwards. The earliest
moves came to nothing, partly due to lack of
awareness in Warsaw that (on the grounds that the
city formed a part of Prussia between 1795 and
1807) the pictures taken from the Royal Castle had
been claimed by the Prussian commissioners on
behalf of king Frederick William III. Denon as a
result was first approached by the Prussians: in a
letter dated 9th August, 1815, the six paintings from
Warsaw were included among the works they were
demanding the retum of, which led to the board of
directors of the renamed UAzsEc 7?oya/, represented
by Denon, handing them to the Prussians on 12th
August, and in the ensuing days they were
transported to Berlin. From Warsaw, on the other
hand, a Polish govemment commission sent the
French authorities an official reminder about the
missing pictures in 1818, demanding their retum or
otherwise compensation, to which a reply was duły
sent from Paris that the listed works were no longer
to be found in the country. Within two days of
receiving the official French response, the
authorities in Warsaw were informed by a private
source of the paintings' fate. With the assistance of a
Russian envoy in Berlin, the pictures were retumed
to Warsaw, where they were received by the grand
prince Constantine. Soon after, as the property of the
Russian emperor and king of Poland, Alexander I,
the paintings were retumed to their original places.
In the meantime, during the finał months of 1822,
the long drawn-out matter of regaining the Polish
works of art from Paris was finally acknowledged as
being closed. In summary, it may be stated that while
the four Bellotto-Canalettos and one Palma the
Younger came back to Warsaw, the original of
Bacciarelli's 7Yu.s'.s7an Ga/A a/N//egzance was never
recovered and the fate of the bust of the emperor
Augustus, regarded as being antique, remains
unknown.
The links between Denon and the Poles go back
to the 1780s, when, while conducting a diplomatic
mission to Naples, the futurę baron also occupied
himself with the collecting of antiques. It was here
that he became acquainted with a number of Polish
aristocrats travelling around Europę, including the
erudite collector count, Stanisław Kostka Potocki
with his spouse, Aleksandra and sister-in-law,
Elżbieta, as well as an accompanying priest, father
Grzegorz Piramowicz. In 1785, also in Naples,
Denon met the Polish writer Julian Ursyn
Niemcewicz. On his return to Paris in or around
1787, Denon was frequently received as a guest in a
ya/on of the Palais Royal belonging to the collector
marshal-princess Izabella Lubomirska. Here he had
the opportunity to meet again Niemcewicz as well
S.K. Potocki, Stanisław Małachowski and the young
count Adam Jerzy Czartoryski. Potocki, who
published anonymously at this time Acttz*c <7Aza
ćAaagez^ /e Sa/oa 7 7<$7, presenting himself as
one of the severest critics of the &z/oz? and French
art in generał. His brochure provoked an intense
polemic and response from Denon, writing in the
name of the Academics. Following on from the
acquaintances he had madę in Paris, Denon during
the time he was based in Warsaw visited Potocki at
Wilanów Pałace. A collection of copies of medals
depicting events relating to the Napoleonie apogee
were to be later housed here, the larger proportion of
which were designed either wholly by Denon or