Krasiński Palace

The Krasiński Palace (Pałac Krasińskich, otherwise known as Palace of the Commonwealth) is a baroque palace in Warsaw, Poland. It is located on Krasiński Square (Plac Krasińskich).

The palace was built in 1677-83 for the Voivode of Płock, Jan Dobrogost Krasiński, according to design by Tylman Gamerski. It was decorated with the pediment reliefs showing the triumph of the legendary "ancestor"of the Ślepowron and Korwin Polish clans, the Roman commander Manius Valerius Maximus Corvinus Messalla (263BC) and sculptural work, all by Andreas Schlüter. First floor porte-fenêtre (vertical French door/window) was crowned with a cartouche supported by two angels bearing the founder's monogram JK. It had too a profuse baroque decoration inside. The frescoes was made by Jan III Sobieski 's court painter Michelangelo Palloni. Among his notable works in the palace, the most worth mentioning were plafond and frescoes in the supraportes(space between portal and ceiling, usually richly decorated) of the palace's vestibule. The interiors were partially finished in 1699. Other paintings by Albrecht Dürer, Antonio da Correggio, Rembrandt and Peter Paul Rubens are no longer present.

According to Gamerski's conception the palace was intended as a French style palace entre cour et jardin (between the entrance court and the garden) with cour d'honneur, two symmetrical outbuildings, parterre garden (à la française) with three radial alleys and a palace in the center of the axis, but it was never fully accomplished.

In 1765 the palace was purcheased by the Rzeczpospolita as a seat of Treasury Commission. After the fire in 1783 it was partly rebuilt inside according to Domenico Merlini 's design. During the interwar period, the palace housed the Supreme Court of Poland.

The palace was burned down and demolished by the Germans during the World War II. It was later rebuilt. Today it is a part of the Polish National Library 's Special Collections Section (Manuscripts and Old Prints) from the Załuski Library (only 5% of former rich collection located in the palace, which was deliberately destroyed by the Germans after collapse of the Warsaw Uprising in October 1944).

The building's facade features sculptures by Andreas Schlüter. The decorations inside the building were designed in the 1780s by Domenico Merlini and were restored after World War II. Nearby there is Krasiński Garden, accessible to the public since 1768.