By the roads of Mykolaivshchyna By the roads of Mykolaivshchyna | Page 26

The Rzewuski /
the Lanckoronski palace

The Palace, constructed by the
Rzewuski in 1704, was owned by four
generations of this family. Subsequently,
the building became the property of the
Lanckoronski. In the years 1874–1903,
the palace went under the process of
extensive reconstruction, undertaken by
count Karol Lanckoronski. The structure
was embellished with medallions, which
presenting the gods from Olympus, and
the surrounding area was decorated with
several dozens of antique sculptures and
other objects. Count Karol was a wellknown patron of arts and a collector. In
fact, his collection was considered to be
the third largest one in Austria-Hungary.
The palace had workshops, arranged
specially for Jacek Malczewski – one of
the most revered painters of Poland, who
is regarded as father of Polish Symbolism.
In 1874–1939, the family collection
of antiquities and paintings as well
the library, collected by Karol Lancko­
ronski, were kept at the palace. The
most valuable exhibits were taken by
the count’s son to the family estates in
Austria and Switzerland whereas a part
of the collection, which remained in the
palace after World War II, was moved to
different museums of the USSR. Thus,
some exhibits are kept in the repositories
of Drohobych Natural History Museum
as well as in those of Lviv Picture Gallery
and of the Hermitage (St. Petersburg,
Russia). In the Soviet period, the
sanatorium “Rozdil” was located in the
building.

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The Rzewuski/The Lanckoronski Palace

In 2001, Borys Voznytsky, at that
time Director of Lviv Picture Gallery,
proved the authenticity of ancient marble
sculptures (2ndcentury BCE–2nd century
CE), which earlier were considered to be
later copies. In was only by chance that
the bronze statuette “Putto with Dolphin”
(1462) – made by Andrea del Verrocchio,
the teacher of Leonardo da Vinci – was
found at the metal scrap shop.
In March 2004, the palace was sold
to a private Kyiv company for UAH 467,
285. As of autumn 2008, the state of this
architectural monument was very poor.
Entrance to the territory is forbidden.
Those works of arts, which remained
there after the Soviet period, were taken
by unknown people in an unknown
direction.
Now, the Lanckoronski palace is
under protection of Rozdil activists.