DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.23229#0184
CHOPIN AND THE VISUAL ARTS
In 1808 this palace became the property of Anna Potocka nee Tyszkie-
wicz, the authoress of Voyage d'ltalie 1826-1827, published only in 1899 in
Paris, and the already quoted Memoirs of an Eyewitness. She is relatively
well known abroad, since Voyage d'ltalie appeared in France, and Memoirs
were translated into English in 1901. The gate of the palace leading to the
church, designed by Fryderyk A. Lessel, was built during the period of her
ownership, in 1821-1822. The beautiful church of the Nuns of the Visitation
was at that time the University church; young Chopin used to play the or-
gan there when he was a pupil of the Lycee (see chapter II). He continued
to do so also before his departure in 1830. Frederick's contemporary, Jozef
Sikorski, wrote of his exceptional skills as an organist in the following man-
ner:
Every Sunday and holy day [...] a morning mass was held for the Uni-
versity's students at the Visitation Church. [...] Chopin, [...] in the last
year of his residence in Warsaw, was often a guest in the choir, and ea-
gerly played the fugues of a number of masters on the organ, as well as
his own improvisations. [...] And once it happened in the break between
sections of the mass performed with the orchestra, that Chopin sat at
the organ and, following the example of famous organists, took as his
theme the motif of the previous section, and a wealth of ideas so great
and in such an uninterrupted flow poured from his hands that everyone
[...], astonished, captivated, forgot their place and the duties they had
gathered to perform"38.
To return to the question of the Royal sculpture collection, it is worth
recalling first the plaster cast of the Borghese Gladiator featured in Nor-
blin's drawing, and also visible in the 1866 print. This sculpture must
have captivated King Stanislaus Augustus, considering that he had two
copies of it placed on the north terrace of the Palace on the Water in
his summer residence at Eazienki. He was clearly even more charmed
with the famous Sleeping Ariadne from the Vatican Museums: he com-
missioned no less than three copies of it39. Due to the serpent-shaped
bracelet on the left arm of the sleeping lady, this statue was until the
turn of the 18th century interpreted as the Dying Cleopatra40; it was also
sometimes called the Sleeping Nymph. Its presence in the royal collec-
tions is corroborated by the drawing by Ferdynand Pinck (fig. 188); now
in the University Print Room); it is also found among the Eazienki sculp-
tures. Two of its copies are found there: a smaller-scale one in marble,
now in the Old Orangery, and a stone one at the 1:1 scale in the park
theatre, patterned on the theatre discovered during the excavations at
Herculaneum41. The latter copy was made by the royal sculptor Tomasz
Righi in 1789. Its story, as clarified by the late Professor Anna Sadurska,
is rather unusual: the sculpture was placed in the amphitheatre after the
celebrations of the 25th anniversary of Stanislaus Augustus's election
to the Polish throne, and it commemorates the general enthusiasm of
the period of the Four-Year Seym (1788-1792) and the 3rd May Consti-
tution (see chapter I). Due to the complex political situation of the time,
the king's jubilee was celebrated after a substantial delay, only on 7th
September 179142. The ballet Antony and Cleopatra with a libretto by
Abbe Renaud was staged in the theatre; four gouaches by Jean-Pierre
200
In 1808 this palace became the property of Anna Potocka nee Tyszkie-
wicz, the authoress of Voyage d'ltalie 1826-1827, published only in 1899 in
Paris, and the already quoted Memoirs of an Eyewitness. She is relatively
well known abroad, since Voyage d'ltalie appeared in France, and Memoirs
were translated into English in 1901. The gate of the palace leading to the
church, designed by Fryderyk A. Lessel, was built during the period of her
ownership, in 1821-1822. The beautiful church of the Nuns of the Visitation
was at that time the University church; young Chopin used to play the or-
gan there when he was a pupil of the Lycee (see chapter II). He continued
to do so also before his departure in 1830. Frederick's contemporary, Jozef
Sikorski, wrote of his exceptional skills as an organist in the following man-
ner:
Every Sunday and holy day [...] a morning mass was held for the Uni-
versity's students at the Visitation Church. [...] Chopin, [...] in the last
year of his residence in Warsaw, was often a guest in the choir, and ea-
gerly played the fugues of a number of masters on the organ, as well as
his own improvisations. [...] And once it happened in the break between
sections of the mass performed with the orchestra, that Chopin sat at
the organ and, following the example of famous organists, took as his
theme the motif of the previous section, and a wealth of ideas so great
and in such an uninterrupted flow poured from his hands that everyone
[...], astonished, captivated, forgot their place and the duties they had
gathered to perform"38.
To return to the question of the Royal sculpture collection, it is worth
recalling first the plaster cast of the Borghese Gladiator featured in Nor-
blin's drawing, and also visible in the 1866 print. This sculpture must
have captivated King Stanislaus Augustus, considering that he had two
copies of it placed on the north terrace of the Palace on the Water in
his summer residence at Eazienki. He was clearly even more charmed
with the famous Sleeping Ariadne from the Vatican Museums: he com-
missioned no less than three copies of it39. Due to the serpent-shaped
bracelet on the left arm of the sleeping lady, this statue was until the
turn of the 18th century interpreted as the Dying Cleopatra40; it was also
sometimes called the Sleeping Nymph. Its presence in the royal collec-
tions is corroborated by the drawing by Ferdynand Pinck (fig. 188); now
in the University Print Room); it is also found among the Eazienki sculp-
tures. Two of its copies are found there: a smaller-scale one in marble,
now in the Old Orangery, and a stone one at the 1:1 scale in the park
theatre, patterned on the theatre discovered during the excavations at
Herculaneum41. The latter copy was made by the royal sculptor Tomasz
Righi in 1789. Its story, as clarified by the late Professor Anna Sadurska,
is rather unusual: the sculpture was placed in the amphitheatre after the
celebrations of the 25th anniversary of Stanislaus Augustus's election
to the Polish throne, and it commemorates the general enthusiasm of
the period of the Four-Year Seym (1788-1792) and the 3rd May Consti-
tution (see chapter I). Due to the complex political situation of the time,
the king's jubilee was celebrated after a substantial delay, only on 7th
September 179142. The ballet Antony and Cleopatra with a libretto by
Abbe Renaud was staged in the theatre; four gouaches by Jean-Pierre
200