29 August 2018
Large Dining Room
The Large Dining Room, i.e. the former ballroom, is situated in the most representative part of the Palace and overlooks both Zachodnia and Ogrodowa Street. The room is characterised by sumptuous decor that alludes to the Baroque court art. All the decorations have their clear conceptual programme, highlighted by monumentality, sumptuousness and symbolism. On the walls panelled with oak wainscoting we can find such decorations as cartouches, ribbons, bows and fruit garlands, which were supposed to be the symbol of the owners’ wealth and affluence. Above them there runs a frieze, separated from the lower part with a wavy lodge. Its decoration consists in sculptures from polished plaster, elegant moulding and oil painting on canvas. They were painted upon order of the Poznański family by Samuel Hirszenberg in 1903 in Munich. They are ranked as post-impressionist art with elements of symbolism. Two of them, entitled ‘Entrance’ and ‘Muse’ were mounted high above the door on the western wall, while the two remaining ones (‘Women with fruit’ and ‘Farewell’) – on the northern wall, above the fireplace.
The interior furnishings come from the times of the last redevelopment of the Palace, begun after 1900, soon after the death of the patriarch of the family, Izrael Poznański. That is why the symbolism of the northern wall decorations is dominated by elements alluding to immortality, passing and recurrent rebirth of life. A panneau within the frieze presents a farewell scene, peacock as the symbol of immortality appears both in the painting and in the form of a decorative, stained-glass figurine on the mantelpiece, while the motif of wreaths on column heads and pilasters of the fireplace casing constitutes a metaphor of the four seasons and symbolises passing and rebirth of life.
In turn, the allegorical figural compositions placed on the western wall personify work and abundance, industry, trade and fortune. The couple situated on the capping of the high hutch dresser is an allegory of industry and trade. It presents two sitting figures, propped up on a sphere placed in a boat; the sphere symbolises the terrestrial globe. The man is holding in his hand a ball of cotton and a ribbon, while the woman is supporting a winged wheel, propped up on her thigh. The duo is accompanied on both sides by other representations situated above twin columns. The allegory of ‘Abundance’ presents a woman holding a bunch of plants, perhaps the goddess Demeter, and a man propped up on a plough. In turn, the allegory of ‘Fortune’ presents the goddess of good luck and prosperity, Fortuna, and a bearded man with a papyrus in his hand, standing in a boat. The figure of the bearded man is sometimes interpreted as the representation of Izrael Poznański, who opens up the road to the development of trade with the East as a pioneer and messenger.
In 1903, Samuel Hirszenberg, upon order of the Poznański family, painted a series of decorative paintings for the representative interiors of the Palace, which at that time was undergoing redevelopment.
The Dining Room is decorated with four oil paintings, up to the present day preserved in situ. Three of them, ‘Farewell’, ‘Entrance’ (‘Horseman against the city upon a hill’) and ‘Muse’, fitted into the decorative frieze, were glued to the wall, while the fourth one, ‘Girl with the fruit’ (‘Fortune’) was placed above the fireplace. The painting and sculpture decorations of the interior can be read as a symbolic story of the Poznański family and the ‘promised land’.
Samuel Hirszenberg’s works used to be present also in another representative room of the palace, i.e. the Ballroom, and they were placed in supraportes above the doors, on the eastern and western wall. Four larger panneaux are today known only from their reproductions in the ‘Ost un West’ magazine and archival photographs. They include allegorical representations of Music, Poetry, Fame and Dance. The topic and the appearance of the fourth one is unknown.
Further four, smaller paintings from the ‘Pastorale’ cycle, presenting male figures and female nudes against an arcadian landscape, originally apposed in pairs, were placed in the niches along the axis of the Room. Those canvases show numerous analogies to the style of such artists as Ludwig von Hofmann, Hans von Marées i Pierre Puvis de Chavannes.
The Ballroom was badly damaged during World War II. The Germans redeveloped it and divided it into two tiers, on which there were offices. The original furnishings were destroyed and Hirszenberg’s paintings, which decorated the interior, were removed. Luckily, smaller canvases were saved, while three of them: ‘Shepherd playing the pipe’, ‘Laura’ and ‘Woman with the water lily’ are now presented in the Museum. In turn, the fact that the other paintings from the supraportes have not yet reappeared as a whole, or at least in fragments, can suggest that they were destroyed.
Although the appearance of the interior was reconstructed in the 1980s and 1990s, the original furnishings of the Ballroom, together with the paintings, can be now seen only thanks to photographs from the interwar period, when the Palace was the seat of the Voivodeship Office.
Large Dining Room
The Large Dining Room, i.e. the former ballroom, is situated in the most representative part of the Palace and overlooks both Zachodnia and Ogrodowa Street. The room is characterised by sumptuous decor that alludes to the Baroque court art. All the decorations have their clear conceptual programme, highlighted by monumentality, sumptuousness and symbolism. On the walls panelled with oak wainscoting we can find such decorations as cartouches, ribbons, bows and fruit garlands, which were supposed to be the symbol of the owners’ wealth and affluence. Above them there runs a frieze, separated from the lower part with a wavy lodge. Its decoration consists in sculptures from polished plaster, elegant moulding and oil painting on canvas. They were painted upon order of the Poznański family by Samuel Hirszenberg in 1903 in Munich. They are ranked as post-impressionist art with elements of symbolism. Two of them, entitled ‘Entrance’ and ‘Muse’ were mounted high above the door on the western wall, while the two remaining ones (‘Women with fruit’ and ‘Farewell’) – on the northern wall, above the fireplace.
The interior furnishings come from the times of the last redevelopment of the Palace, begun after 1900, soon after the death of the patriarch of the family, Izrael Poznański. That is why the symbolism of the northern wall decorations is dominated by elements alluding to immortality, passing and recurrent rebirth of life. A panneau within the frieze presents a farewell scene, peacock as the symbol of immortality appears both in the painting and in the form of a decorative, stained-glass figurine on the mantelpiece, while the motif of wreaths on column heads and pilasters of the fireplace casing constitutes a metaphor of the four seasons and symbolises passing and rebirth of life.
In turn, the allegorical figural compositions placed on the western wall personify work and abundance, industry, trade and fortune. The couple situated on the capping of the high hutch dresser is an allegory of industry and trade. It presents two sitting figures, propped up on a sphere placed in a boat; the sphere symbolises the terrestrial globe. The man is holding in his hand a ball of cotton and a ribbon, while the woman is supporting a winged wheel, propped up on her thigh. The duo is accompanied on both sides by other representations situated above twin columns. The allegory of ‘Abundance’ presents a woman holding a bunch of plants, perhaps the goddess Demeter, and a man propped up on a plough. In turn, the allegory of ‘Fortune’ presents the goddess of good luck and prosperity, Fortuna, and a bearded man with a papyrus in his hand, standing in a boat. The figure of the bearded man is sometimes interpreted as the representation of Izrael Poznański, who opens up the road to the development of trade with the East as a pioneer and messenger.
In 1903, Samuel Hirszenberg, upon order of the Poznański family, painted a series of decorative paintings for the representative interiors of the Palace, which at that time was undergoing redevelopment.
The Dining Room is decorated with four oil paintings, up to the present day preserved in situ. Three of them, ‘Farewell’, ‘Entrance’ (‘Horseman against the city upon a hill’) and ‘Muse’, fitted into the decorative frieze, were glued to the wall, while the fourth one, ‘Girl with the fruit’ (‘Fortune’) was placed above the fireplace. The painting and sculpture decorations of the interior can be read as a symbolic story of the Poznański family and the ‘promised land’.
Samuel Hirszenberg’s works used to be present also in another representative room of the palace, i.e. the Ballroom, and they were placed in supraportes above the doors, on the eastern and western wall. Four larger panneaux are today known only from their reproductions in the ‘Ost un West’ magazine and archival photographs. They include allegorical representations of Music, Poetry, Fame and Dance. The topic and the appearance of the fourth one is unknown.
Further four, smaller paintings from the ‘Pastorale’ cycle, presenting male figures and female nudes against an arcadian landscape, originally apposed in pairs, were placed in the niches along the axis of the Room. Those canvases show numerous analogies to the style of such artists as Ludwig von Hofmann, Hans von Marées i Pierre Puvis de Chavannes.
The Ballroom was badly damaged during World War II. The Germans redeveloped it and divided it into two tiers, on which there were offices. The original furnishings were destroyed and Hirszenberg’s paintings, which decorated the interior, were removed. Luckily, smaller canvases were saved, while three of them: ‘Shepherd playing the pipe’, ‘Laura’ and ‘Woman with the water lily’ are now presented in the Museum. In turn, the fact that the other paintings from the supraportes have not yet reappeared as a whole, or at least in fragments, can suggest that they were destroyed.
Although the appearance of the interior was reconstructed in the 1980s and 1990s, the original furnishings of the Ballroom, together with the paintings, can be now seen only thanks to photographs from the interwar period, when the Palace was the seat of the Voivodeship Office.