DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.29195#0094
vivants:
facts and
anecdotes
from the
lives of the
princes,
counts, and
their guests
Fig. 90. Unidentified painter, Maria Zofia
Czartoryska nee Sieniawska, oils on canvas,
1st half of 18,h c.; Wilanow Palace Museum
In the previous chapter, in our discussion of the history of the architecture and in-
terior decoration of some of the rooms in the property which is now the headquar-
ters of Poland’s Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, we presented the main
characters in our dramatis persome, the most distinguished personalities among the
Palace’s proprietors and tenants. But it was only a partial review of the various archival
records, memoirs, portraits, and press reports. Now is the time to relate the anecdotes,
the stories of the memorable balls, musical events, and present the tableaux vivants
so fashionable in that age, which will help us understand the spirit prevailing in the
Palace and the works of art associated with it. In our own times, with their abundance
of reconstructions of historic events, it is well to remember that reconstructive per-
formances and displays of this kind were already being presented in the 18th and 19th
centuries. One of the most interesting events of the type was held in the Czartoryski-
Potocki Palace in 1828 and, like the ball attended by Napoleon and Maria Walewska,
was recorded in Leon Potocki’s book. It recalled the times of Poland’s past grandeur
100
facts and
anecdotes
from the
lives of the
princes,
counts, and
their guests
Fig. 90. Unidentified painter, Maria Zofia
Czartoryska nee Sieniawska, oils on canvas,
1st half of 18,h c.; Wilanow Palace Museum
In the previous chapter, in our discussion of the history of the architecture and in-
terior decoration of some of the rooms in the property which is now the headquar-
ters of Poland’s Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, we presented the main
characters in our dramatis persome, the most distinguished personalities among the
Palace’s proprietors and tenants. But it was only a partial review of the various archival
records, memoirs, portraits, and press reports. Now is the time to relate the anecdotes,
the stories of the memorable balls, musical events, and present the tableaux vivants
so fashionable in that age, which will help us understand the spirit prevailing in the
Palace and the works of art associated with it. In our own times, with their abundance
of reconstructions of historic events, it is well to remember that reconstructive per-
formances and displays of this kind were already being presented in the 18th and 19th
centuries. One of the most interesting events of the type was held in the Czartoryski-
Potocki Palace in 1828 and, like the ball attended by Napoleon and Maria Walewska,
was recorded in Leon Potocki’s book. It recalled the times of Poland’s past grandeur
100