2025-03-06
In 1994, Professor Karolina Lanckorońska donated 37 paintings to the Royal Castle in Warsaw, including works by Rembrandt: ‘The Girl in a Picture Frame’ and 'The Scholar at the Lectern', originally in the collection of King Stanislaw August. Today, they can be admired in the recently expanded Lanckoroński Gallery.
The gallery on the ground floor of the Castle, reopened on February 18th, has been enriched with a so-called Italian annex, consisting of three rooms. It presents examples of Italian art from the 14th to the 18th century. Among them is the painting ‘The Israelites gathering Water from the Rock’ by Jacopo Bassano, the last of the great painters of the 16th century Veneto. The composition, dominated by a group of tightly packed figures, is an example of mannerism. The placement of Moses – the main figure of this biblical story – in the third plan is an element of suprise here.
Among the slightly later works on display in the Lanckoroński Gallery is the Baroque painting ‘Game of Backgammon’ by Mattia Preti, one of the most important Caravaggisti. In the Italian annex, you can also see the unique deschi da parto – Renaissance birthing trays, the only ones on view in Poland. These objects, popular in 15th-century Tuscany, were used to give gifts and refreshments to the midwife. They were above all a valuable gift and were often kept as a memento of the birth of a child.