Lorentz, Stanisław; Rottermund, Andrzej: Neoclassicism in Poland (Warsaw, 1986)

iiiiiiii

Różana, draft design of the Theatre Room at the pałace of the Sapieha family, J.S. Becker, c. 1784

In each of the columnar galleries over the bridges at the pałace were four busts of Roman
emperors, madę by Righi. They complemented the copies of classical works and their
imitations which in the late eighties and nineties occupied morę and morę space in the
Stanislavian architecture and the park. Certainly the park was not only decorated by
sculptures of classical character; there also stood copies of Ftienne Maurice Falconet’s
sculptures and works by the King’s artists. At any ratę, the most important sculpted element
of the Łazienki Park, the monument to John III Sobieski, was baroąue and not neoclassical. It
should be noted that it would be erroneous to interpret this monument, set in 1788, as an
expression of Stanislas Augustus’ taste. At Wilanów there was a plaster model for a monu-
ment madę after the death of John III Sobieski; moreover, a roughly dressed stone błock
meant for this monument had for a long time been lying in a ąuarry. Thus, only an old idea
was followed through, which was an easier and less time-consuming thing to do. If the
monument had been designed anew, its shape would doubtless have been different.
In 1790-1791, an amphitheatre with a stage on an island was built in the park, so placed on the
lakę that it could well be seen from the pałace terrace. Kamsetzer drew the pattern for the
amphitheatre from Herculaneum, and for the ruins which formed a permanent background
decoration on the stage, from Baalbek in Lebanon. In his design he used engravings, which he
did not copy, however, but freely interpreted the patterns.
In its first stage the Stanislas Augustus style took form at the Royal Castle, where Fontana and
Louis contributed as architects, and at Ujazdów, where Merlini was the main designer. In the
second stage, from 1774 to 1781, the area of his activity included the Royal Castle and
Łazienki, with Merlini as the main architect and Bacciarelli at the Castle and Plersch at
Łazienki as painters. In the third stage, from 1781 to 1785, Kamsetzer played an important
role in architecture as well as Merlini; in painting Bacciarelli, the author of ceiling paintings
and large murals, dominated both at the Royal Castle and at Łazienki. Le Brun played the

27