THE ARCHITECT STANISŁAW ZAWADZKI IN ROME. REALITY — FASCINATION — BENEFITS
 
RYSZARD MĄCZYŃSKI
 
This article relates to one I wrote ten years ago entitled Rzymskie sukcesy architekta Stanisława Zawadzkiego [The Roman Successes of the Architect Stanisław Zawadzki] (“Kwartalnik Architektury i Urbanistyki” [Architectural and Town Planning Quarterly], 2002, fasc. 4) in which I discussed Zawadzki’s education at the Accademia di San Luca in Rome, his winning second prize (in second class) in 1771 in an architectural competition established by Pope Clement XII, and his entering the ranks of academicians of merit (di merito) in 1775.  The archives of St. Stanisław Hospice in Rome, which have recently been made accessible, enabled me to supplement the first years of Zawadzki’s stay in Rome with a variety of details, which show he was beset with constant financial problems throughout his studies and how the situation was only partially improved thanks to the financial support he received from Stanisław Mycielski, the Starosta of Lubiatów, when he visited Italy.  For Zawadzki, Rome was fascinating and a subject for contemplation.  Later, he would be considered a consummate expert on Roman architecture from antiquity to the end of the 18th century.  He also became — in so far as his finances permitted — a collector of Italian art and sculpture.  It was possible to supplement a group of items which were already known to have been in his collection, with five small sculptured busts of Roman Emperors and a pair of obelisks made using the pietra dura technique.  Zawadzki’s stay in Rome brought him into contact with many people, which resulted in subsequent friendships (Hugo Kołłątaj), artistic collaboration (Franciszek Smuglewicz), and above all enduring connections with patrons and clients (Stanisław Poniatowski).  Particular attention is paid to Ignacy Potocki, Grand Clerk of Lithuania, who first brought Zawadzki into contact with the Potocki family. It was for Potocki that Zawadzki drew up designs for the building housing the Zaluski Library in Warsaw, the presbytery for Grzgorz Piramowicz, the parish priest in Kurów, and the masonic lodge on the River Szeszupa [Šešupė].  Potocki used a lot of the architectural knowledge he gained from Zawadzki in a treatise of ca. 1770 entitled Uwagi o architekturze [Comments about Architecture].  St. Stanisław’s Hospice, which was the hub of all Polish life and matters connected with Poland in Rome, played an important part in all this.
 
Keywords: Stanisław Zawadzki, Stanisław Mycielski, Ignacy Potocki, Rome, St. Stanisław’s Hospice, 18th-century architecture in Rome, 18th-century architecture in Poland, classicism, collecting, architectural treatise