1805

Establishment of museum

Stanisław Kostka Potocki, a politician, reformer, collector and scholar, amasses in the Wilanów Palace his splendid collection of art, composed of paintings, sculptures and handicrafts obtained from his travels through Europe. He also owns a superb collection of antique vases found during excavation works carried out by him near Nola or purchased. Works of art, representing diverse styles and historical periods, are used not only to promote artistic education but also to shape aesthetic tastes of contemporary Poles, deprived of their own state.