DOI article:
Markiewicz, Anna: "Różne sztuki wód" i Bernini: Wersal Ludwika XIV w relacjach polskich podróżników (1661-1715)
Citation link:https://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/modus2020/0130
marble stairs, the work of Franęois Orbay, with the representation of the victories
of Louis xiv; the young man noted the innovation of the architectural solution
itself, the original structure of the stairs, and the glass roof.59
Descriptions of Versailles from the reign of Louis xiv are symbolically con-
cluded with an account of the journey of the Polish heir to the throne, Prince
Frederick Augustus ii, later Augustus iii of Saxony (1696-1763), who stayed in
the French Capital in 1714.60 The extensive diary written by the Voivode of Livonia,
Józef Kos, focuses on the social and representative aspects of the entire journey,
but it is known that the prince, together with the entire group of accompanying
nobles, repeatedly visited the gardens of Versailles and admired the “pałace apart-
ments, offices, the gallery, etc., le cabinet de medaillies, et lorangerie”61
From the travel accounts, recorded on the pages of diaries and letters, a fasci-
nating picture of Versailles during the reign of Louis xiv is emerging. This short
sketch only allows me to outline the impressions of the nobles and magnates
who visited the pałace, but undoubtedly Versailles and its gardens delighted
experienced peregrinators visiting the most splendid residences of all Europę.
The łąck of an appropriate conceptual apparatus and artistic terminology usu-
ally madę it impossible for the young travellers to draw up a formal description
of the viewed residential complex or the works of art in linę with the precepts
of art history, yet they compensated for these shortcomings with an almost in-
exhaustible curiosity about the world and a sincere admiration for the grandeur
of the entire pałace. In their descriptions, travellers visiting Versailles emphasized
the Baroque splendour, the luxury and richness of the entire residence and its
furnishings; they appreciated the impressive, extraordinary size of the pałace and
its representative rooms, and also emphasized the types of precious materials
and metals used. For a typical traveller, the materiał aspect of the works of art
was important, which translated into the language that they understood: that
of costs and measures. Especially in the case of the painting galleries at Versailles,
an important criterion distinguishing the canvas was its usually dizzying price,
and the cost of a given artefact was emphasized with veritable reverence. The
visitors also appreciated the extraordinary inventiveness; they were fascinated
by the unusual concept and each Baroque curiositas - therefore the original
spectacle fuli of theatrical effects played by the Versailles fountains and the so-
phistication of the local garden architecture invariably delighted guests coming
59 “Wyszedłszy z pokojów podały się schody nową inwencyją zrobione, że się poselskie nazywają,
a to dla tej racyjej, że postronnych panów posłowie przez nie prowadzeni bywają. Te są naprzód
z ganków z obu sali będących spuszczone niedaleko już od samej ziemi schodzące się, z wy-
bornego i dobrze akomodowanego marmuru, między niemi w ścianie jest fontanna. Światło
zaś aby wszystkim in aeąuali divisione dostało się stronom wchodzi przez okno w sklepieniu
na górze misternie zrobione, że ani deszczu, ani śniegu dopuszczać nie może [...]” [On leav-
ing the rooms, one notices the staircase madę according to the new invention, called envoy
stairs, and this because envoys and sometimes ushered through them. They flow down from
the porches of both sides of the hall, and come together near the ground, madę of excellent and
well-matched marble, and between them there is a fountain fitted within the wali. For the light
to illuminate all sides in aeąuali divisione, it enters through the window in the ceiling above, so
meticulously crafted that neither the rain nor the snów will get there [...]], ibidem, p. 3.
60 [J. Kos], Podróże królewicza polskiego późniejszego króla Augusta iii (Niemcy - Francya - Włochy),
1711-1717 Z dyaryusza rękopiśmiennego, A. Kraushar (ed.), part 2, Lviv 1911 (= Miscellanea His-
toryczne, 11).
61 Ibidem, p. 15.
130
ARTICLES
Anna Markiewicz
of Louis xiv; the young man noted the innovation of the architectural solution
itself, the original structure of the stairs, and the glass roof.59
Descriptions of Versailles from the reign of Louis xiv are symbolically con-
cluded with an account of the journey of the Polish heir to the throne, Prince
Frederick Augustus ii, later Augustus iii of Saxony (1696-1763), who stayed in
the French Capital in 1714.60 The extensive diary written by the Voivode of Livonia,
Józef Kos, focuses on the social and representative aspects of the entire journey,
but it is known that the prince, together with the entire group of accompanying
nobles, repeatedly visited the gardens of Versailles and admired the “pałace apart-
ments, offices, the gallery, etc., le cabinet de medaillies, et lorangerie”61
From the travel accounts, recorded on the pages of diaries and letters, a fasci-
nating picture of Versailles during the reign of Louis xiv is emerging. This short
sketch only allows me to outline the impressions of the nobles and magnates
who visited the pałace, but undoubtedly Versailles and its gardens delighted
experienced peregrinators visiting the most splendid residences of all Europę.
The łąck of an appropriate conceptual apparatus and artistic terminology usu-
ally madę it impossible for the young travellers to draw up a formal description
of the viewed residential complex or the works of art in linę with the precepts
of art history, yet they compensated for these shortcomings with an almost in-
exhaustible curiosity about the world and a sincere admiration for the grandeur
of the entire pałace. In their descriptions, travellers visiting Versailles emphasized
the Baroque splendour, the luxury and richness of the entire residence and its
furnishings; they appreciated the impressive, extraordinary size of the pałace and
its representative rooms, and also emphasized the types of precious materials
and metals used. For a typical traveller, the materiał aspect of the works of art
was important, which translated into the language that they understood: that
of costs and measures. Especially in the case of the painting galleries at Versailles,
an important criterion distinguishing the canvas was its usually dizzying price,
and the cost of a given artefact was emphasized with veritable reverence. The
visitors also appreciated the extraordinary inventiveness; they were fascinated
by the unusual concept and each Baroque curiositas - therefore the original
spectacle fuli of theatrical effects played by the Versailles fountains and the so-
phistication of the local garden architecture invariably delighted guests coming
59 “Wyszedłszy z pokojów podały się schody nową inwencyją zrobione, że się poselskie nazywają,
a to dla tej racyjej, że postronnych panów posłowie przez nie prowadzeni bywają. Te są naprzód
z ganków z obu sali będących spuszczone niedaleko już od samej ziemi schodzące się, z wy-
bornego i dobrze akomodowanego marmuru, między niemi w ścianie jest fontanna. Światło
zaś aby wszystkim in aeąuali divisione dostało się stronom wchodzi przez okno w sklepieniu
na górze misternie zrobione, że ani deszczu, ani śniegu dopuszczać nie może [...]” [On leav-
ing the rooms, one notices the staircase madę according to the new invention, called envoy
stairs, and this because envoys and sometimes ushered through them. They flow down from
the porches of both sides of the hall, and come together near the ground, madę of excellent and
well-matched marble, and between them there is a fountain fitted within the wali. For the light
to illuminate all sides in aeąuali divisione, it enters through the window in the ceiling above, so
meticulously crafted that neither the rain nor the snów will get there [...]], ibidem, p. 3.
60 [J. Kos], Podróże królewicza polskiego późniejszego króla Augusta iii (Niemcy - Francya - Włochy),
1711-1717 Z dyaryusza rękopiśmiennego, A. Kraushar (ed.), part 2, Lviv 1911 (= Miscellanea His-
toryczne, 11).
61 Ibidem, p. 15.
130
ARTICLES
Anna Markiewicz