Art pieces from the Royal Łazienki on exhibition in the Russian Hermitage Museum

Michail Piotrowski, the director of the State Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg and Tadeusz Zielniewicz, the director of the Royal Łazienki Museum in Warsaw, have inaugurated an exhibition entitled “Catherine II and Stanisław August. Two Enlightened Monarchs in Eastern Europe” in the Russian Hermitage Museum. Among other things the exhibition is composed of works of art from the Royal Collection of Paintings.

The exhibition in the Russian Hermitage Museum features: “The Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard“ (Christian Wilhelm Ernst Dietrich), “An Old Woman Holding a Flower Pot” (Frans van Mieris), “Apollo and Daphne” (Benedetto Luti), “A guardroom with a soldier sounding a trumpet” (Anthonie Palamedes), “Esau and the Mess of Pottage” (Jan Victors), “Lot And His Daughters” (Adriaen van der Werff), “Amphitrite” (author unknown). The paintings are permanently displayed in the Palace on the Isle.

The aim of the exhibition entitled “Catherine II and Stanisław August. Two Enlightened Monarchs in Eastern Europe” is to show the parallel evolution of culture and art in Russia and Poland. Numerous similarities can be noticed between the enterprises of Catherine II and Stanisław August in the domains of culture and art.

Among key similarities between the cultural ventures of Stanisław August and Catherine II are connections with the most prominent philosophers of the Enlightenment, patronage of artists and architects, entrusting Italian and French masters with work in the capitals of both countries, and collecting art, including paintings and sculptures.

The exhibition in the State Hermitage Museum (Nicholas Hall of the Winter Palace) in Saint Petersburg in Russia will be on display until 21 May 2016.