Universitätsbibliothek HeidelbergUniversitätsbibliothek Heidelberg
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Miziołek, Jerzy; Kowalski, Hubert
Secrets of the past: Czartoryski-Potocki Palace home of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage — [Warszawa], 2014

DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.29195#0025

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The Palace’s history

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Fig. 10. Design for the elevation of the Pal-
ace's main building and portico, ca. 1840,
pen-and-ink drawing; BNW. A question aris-
es: when was the Palace's Classicising con-
version, including the addition of its Doric
portico, done? Perhaps not until the 19th cen-
tury?

farjade of the Palace’s main building, which must have been completed by the time
the engraving was made. From the written sources we know that its wings were built
in the early 1760s, and its embellishing corps de garde a few years later.

In the conversion the main building of the old Denhoff structure was extended
by the addition of six axes, the last pair at either end making up biaxial projections
in the form of separately roofed alcoves. The new, elongated fa^ade of fifteen axes is
accentuated by a central triaxial projection divided up by pilasters with Corinthian
capitals and topped with a tympanum decorated with a double cartouche crested with
a crown, and with a seated figure on either side. The pediments feature panoplies —
trophies of armour and helmets mounted on a post — matching the ones on the corps
de garde. On the ground floor there are semi-circular arcades over the three door-
ways; while the French windows on the upper floor are topped by segmental arches,
a favourite detail with Rococo architects. The two storeys are of the same height. The
end sections of the elevation are portioned off with a combination of lesenes and re-
cessed panels. The terminal projections are bordered with pilasters, and the interven-
ing spaces hold recessed panels decorated with delightful Rococo pendants derived
from the rocaille ornamental shells beloved of Rococo designers and applied not only
on facades and interior walls, but even on printed works, such as the title page of

Warsaw’s municipal register for 1750-1771. An examination of the Palace’s extant
structure shows beyond all doubt that around 1762 two alcoves were appended on the
south side of its main building. Today they are the only parts which have preserved
their authentic Rococo decoration, giving us an idea of the original ornamentation
on the facade.

Another of the Palace’s components which calls for a short description, are its wings,
not included in Ricaud de Tirregaille’s drawing. This elegant pair of edifices flanking
the court is closed off on the Krakowskie Przedmies'cie street-side with two-storey
pavilions on a square plan and topped with mansard roofs and dormer windows look-
ing down onto the street. The elevations on the pavilions are divided into sections
with vertical rusticated panels, and their friezes are decorated with triglyphs, which
makes them accord in almost perfect harmony with the portico of Doric columns
on the central projection put on the main building in the final decades of the 18th
century, when Princess Izabela Lubomirska nee Czartoryska owned the property.
There are three sculptures in the tympanum of the central projection. An additional
four, arranged in two pairs, top the two flanking projections (Fig. 10). The terrace
of the portico is decorated with four sculpted vases. Alas, a full reconstruction of the
original concept for the decoration would probably be impossible to achieve, as over

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