Gallery of Masterpieces
The rooms on the ground floor display collections of European painting, sculpture and decorative art, as well as valuable specimens of historical weapons. A total of over 600 exhibits.
The most important part of the Gallery of Masterpieces is the Lanckoroński Gallery. The 37 objects displayed there were part of a gift made in 1994 to the Royal Castle in Warsaw by prof. Karolina Lanckorońska, the last heir of an aristocratic family who, over the course of two centuries, gathered in her Viennese palace one of the largest private collections of works of art in Europe. Of particular importance within this collection are 15 works that were the property of King Stanisław August in the 18th century and were sold by his heirs after the monarch's death.
The undisputed pearl of this collection are two portraits by Rembrandt van Rijn, one of the greatest painters in the history of European art: The Girl in a Picture Frame and The Scholar at the Lectern. They are among the few most valuable paintings permanently in Poland.
Other painting works exhibited in the Gallery of Masterpieces also deserve recognition: Adam and Eve from Lucas Cranach's St. workshop, The Smoker and the Drunkard by Adriaen van Ostade, Saint Mary Magdalene by Peter van Lindt, The Sea Storm by Ludolf Backhuysen and Still Life with a Violin, Painting Supplies and a Self-Portrait by Cornelius Norbertus Gysbrechts.
A separate group of exhibits consists of works of decorative art collected in the Gallery, selected from the collections of the Royal Castle and the Ciechanowiecki Foundation: candlesticks, cups, mugs, tableware items, clocks, trinkets and jewelry. One of the most valuable objects from this group is a sapphire and diamond medallion with the image of King Stanisław August – one of the royal gifts of the last king of Poland.
An important segment of the Gallery is also a permanent exhibition of historical militaria – cold and firearms, as well as protective equipment from the 17th and 18th centuries.
