DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.23231#0240
Phidias, Michelangelo
and others: the royal and
university collection of
plaster casts in Warsaw
Summary by Jerzy Miziołek & Hubert Kowalski
Introductory remarks
"The noble owner in the mid-eighteenth century, being a great
lover of art, decided to lay the moulds over the finest original
statues in the museums of Rome and Florence: he had the loggias
of the Vatican copied, he had the remains of Roman antiąuities
translated into smali cork models, then gave over the first floor of
his palazzo to these refined art objects and invited young people to
make the most of his collection, giving out paper and pencils to all"
(L'Accademia di Venezia 2003). Francesco Hayez was writing about
Tommaso Giuseppe Farsetti (1720-91) and his activities in Venice
but he could just as easily - with minor changes - have been writ-
ing about Stanisław August Poniatowski (1764-95), the last King
of Poland or, more accurately, of the Polish-Lithuanian Common-
wealth (Fig. 1). In his youth Poniatowski visited Paris, Berlin, Dres-
den, London and other European capitals with their well-furnished
Academies of Fine Arts and, soon after his election, he decided
to create a similar academy in Warsaw. Although his ambitious
plans were only partially implemented, he acąuired almost 80,000
drawings and prints of various European schools during his reign,
including: Giovanni Volpato's etching of the frescoes in the Vatican
stanzas and loggias; Chichi's smali cork models of Roman antią-
uities, such as the Colosseum, as well as several hundred plas-
ter casts, which were kept at the Royal Castle and in his summer
and others: the royal and
university collection of
plaster casts in Warsaw
Summary by Jerzy Miziołek & Hubert Kowalski
Introductory remarks
"The noble owner in the mid-eighteenth century, being a great
lover of art, decided to lay the moulds over the finest original
statues in the museums of Rome and Florence: he had the loggias
of the Vatican copied, he had the remains of Roman antiąuities
translated into smali cork models, then gave over the first floor of
his palazzo to these refined art objects and invited young people to
make the most of his collection, giving out paper and pencils to all"
(L'Accademia di Venezia 2003). Francesco Hayez was writing about
Tommaso Giuseppe Farsetti (1720-91) and his activities in Venice
but he could just as easily - with minor changes - have been writ-
ing about Stanisław August Poniatowski (1764-95), the last King
of Poland or, more accurately, of the Polish-Lithuanian Common-
wealth (Fig. 1). In his youth Poniatowski visited Paris, Berlin, Dres-
den, London and other European capitals with their well-furnished
Academies of Fine Arts and, soon after his election, he decided
to create a similar academy in Warsaw. Although his ambitious
plans were only partially implemented, he acąuired almost 80,000
drawings and prints of various European schools during his reign,
including: Giovanni Volpato's etching of the frescoes in the Vatican
stanzas and loggias; Chichi's smali cork models of Roman antią-
uities, such as the Colosseum, as well as several hundred plas-
ter casts, which were kept at the Royal Castle and in his summer