Łazienki. Myślewicki Palace
Artist
Zygmunt Vogel
Date
1794
Material
Paper
Technique
Watercolour
Dimensions
42 × 58 cm
Collection
The State Hermitage Museum
Provenance
Entered the Hermitage in 1922; previously in the Rudanovsky collection.
Inventory Number
ОР-27283
The Myślewicki Palace was one of the additional residential buildings constructed at Łazienki between 1775 and 1778 to accommodate the royal court. Designed by the Italian architect Domenico Merlini, the palace takes its name from the nearby village of Myślewice.
Built in the style known as “Stanisław August Classicism,” the palace was initially occupied by members of the king’s court. By 1779, it had become the residence of the king’s nephew, Józef Poniatowski, whose initials can still be discerned in the cartouche above the main entrance.
Much of the palace’s original interior and exterior decoration has survived. A comparison between the watercolour and the building itself reveals that the artist altered its proportions, giving the palace a more horizontally compressed appearance.
As in other works by Zygmunt Vogel, the architectural landscape is animated by small staffage figures, introducing movement and everyday life into the carefully observed setting.
