UNDER THE RAMS PALACE
Under the Rams palace
Ul. Św. Anny 1
31-010 Cracow
Poland
A house located at the corner of the Main Market Square and St. Anne’s Street, built around 1300, was reconstructed around 1450 and merged with an adjacent building in the 2nd half of the 17th century, becoming the largest noble palace in Cracow (Fig. 1). In 1690, it passed to Hieronim August Lubomirski (1647–1707), Court Marshal of the Crownand Field Marshal, who distinguished himself in the 1683 campaign against the Turks. Together with his wife, Konstanz von Bockum, he was among the main donors of St. Anne's Church. In the 18th century, the palace passed to the Wodzicki family, who renovated its interiors, and in 1822 to the Potocki family of Krzeszowice. It was confiscated during World War II but returned to the family in 1990.
Ground floor room
The room, located on the ground floor in the third from the northeast, faces St. Anna Street. An arcade connects it to an adjacent room accessible from the street, both currently used as a shop. The flat ceiling features stucco low-reliefs on two sides, separated by a large circular space likely intended for a painting (Fig. 2). The medallions, adorned with palm fronds tied with ribbons, depict two seated putti and one holding a mirror (Fig. 3, 4).
The original function of the room around 1700 is unknown; a 1781 source describes it as adjoining a bedroom, and covered with " the old fashioned soffitto of gypsum and stucco". Theadjacent room has ceiling described similarly. The work is attributed to Baldassare Fontana 1 and was damaged over time. Between 1990 and 1995, the hall was restored following a fire, but the stucco decoration requires further restoration to remove the many layers of whitewash.
