The space has just opened. The Lanckoroński Gallery is located in the Royal Castle in Warsaw. Among the works on display there are two paintings by Rembrandt and Italian art. The gallery has been enlarged and the works have been given better descriptions of their history and origin.
The gallery is located on the ground floor of the Royal Castle. In accordance with the will of Karolina Lanckorońska, the space was named after the entire family. This emphasises the merits not only of the donor, but also of her ancestors who contributed to the collection.
In the gallery on the ground floor of the Castle, the majority of the works are those donated by Professor Karolina Lanckorońska. The Lanckoroński family amassed one of the largest private collections of works of art in Poland. In the mid-1990s, part of the collection was donated by Karolina Lanckorońska to the Wawel Castle and part to the Royal Castle in Warsaw. The gift included portraits by the Rzewuskis and Lanckorońskis, as well as several paintings from the former collection of King Stanisław August. The most valuable works donated by Karolina Lanckorońska are two paintings by Rembrandt van Rijn: Girl in a Picture Frame and Scholar at the Pulpit.
In addition to the works donated by Prof. Karolina Lanckorońska, paintings from other donations and purchases are also on display in the gallery, such as: Lucas Cranach St.’s Adam and Eve and Jacob van Ruisdael’s Winter Landscape with Travellers, as well as repurchased works once belonging to King Stanislaw August: The Sea Storm by Ludolf Backhuysen and The Rooster, Hen with Chickens and Pigeons by Melchior de Hondecoeter.
A new space has been prepared for visitors to the gallery. The Italian Annex consists of three rooms that display works created between the 14th and 18th centuries. Among the works on display are Mattia Preti’s painting Partia tricolor, Jacop Bassan’s Miracle of the leading of the water out of the rock, 32 Renaissance majolica plates from Montelupo, and the only deschi da parto in Poland – beautifully decorated Renaissance birthing trays on which, in Tuscany, symbolic gifts were given to midwives after the birth of their firstborn.
New information plaques have been placed next to the works on display. These will tell the story of the works and their origins.
Undoubtedly, the most interesting new acquisition is the painting Partia tricolor. This eye-catching work by Mattia Preti, an imitator of Caravaggio, is an example of a convention involving sharp chiaroscuro, realism and a theatrical take on the scene. The painting is arguably an allegory of life, where youth, maturity and old age measure each other in a symbolic showdown.
The gallery also features three works by Agostino Tassi. The first, The Festivus on the Coast of the Bay, is a gift from Carolina Lanckorońska and depicts a scene of celebration to mark the beginning of spring, the so-called Calendimaggio. While the other two, this time with a darker atmosphere – The Shipyard and The Conquest of Troy – have recently been purchased.
In the Italian annex, Queen Bona’s prayer book, which had hitherto only been occasionally exhibited, has found its permanent place on display. It is a Renaissance illuminated manuscript with 259 pages, decorated with 12 striking full-page miniatures. For conservation reasons, the prayer book will be opened on a different page each week.
The newly opened Italian section also contains examples of applied art, a richly carved sarcophagus box, a terracotta model of an arabesque wall decoration and an olive oil lamp by Andrea Riccia, in the bizarre form of an African head on a chicken’s foot.
source: The Royal Castle
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