The Dining Room

The interior was part of the
17th century pavilion of the Lubomirski’s Bathhouse. In 1772, it was
given a new architectural arrangement which conformed to the preferences
of the new owner, as well as a new function – of the Royal bedchamber.
It was decorated with colourful yellow and red stuccos, and the ceiling
was covered with a whimsical painting emulating the sky, and framed with
a laurel wreath. Many portraits hung here including the portraits of
Stanisław August’s parents. In 1784, the southern side of the room was
expanded and gained a new function: it became a dining room into which –
for the dinner time – tables were brought from the kitchen building.
The decor of the rectangular Dining Room is relatively modest, but it is
characterised by refined and cool elegance. It owes its beauty to the
marbleised walls with contrasting, straight, geometric divisions made of
panels in the colour of porphyry. A pair of stucco columns in the same
colour adds gravity to the interior. Porphyry-based decorations are
typical of the art of the late Antiquity; it is a possible reason why
this colour was selected for the decorations of the new Stanislavian
interiors – designed in the spirit of Classicism. Today, the rather raw
decor is complemented with busts of the following Roman emperors
standing on pedestals: Caracalla, Julius Ceasar, Galba, and Hadrian.
They are copies of Ancient sculptures – made on the request of Stanisław
August. This type of sculpted decoration also adorned the Versailles’
apartments in the time of Louis XIV. It is worth paying attention to the
Antique-styled bust of Stanisław August, portrayed as an Ancient ruler –
with hair tied with a band, and wearing armour. It was made by Domenico
Cardelli from Italy. What is interesting, although the artist had never
travelled to Poland – he was given the title of the “Sculptor of his
Royal Majesty Stanisław August”. Another important work of art is the Bust of Diana; it is a copy of the original sculpture by Jean Antoine Houdon from the old Royal collections.

The function of the Dining Room was highly elevated. It was here that
the Thursday Dinners took place in the summer season. They were an
unprecedented phenomenon in the Enlightened Europe of the period. They
followed the convention of French meetings, in which Stanisław August
used to take part during his stay in Paris – in the salon of Mrs.
Geoffrin – a place of scholarly discussions of the luminaries of science
and culture of the period. The special nature of the Polish
“intelligent dinners” – as they were called at the time – was due to the
fact that the King himself participated in them, and the fact that they
fulfilled unofficially the function of a state institution. This was
the place for discussing matters which would later be presented before
the Sejm, and often become official laws. Considering the above, it is
possible that the busts of Roman emperors were placed in the location
where important state issues were discussed in order to allude to the
topos of conversations between the living and the dead on the Elysian
Fields, which was popular in the Enlightenment and derived from the Aeneid by Virgil – widely read in the period.