Virtuali Radvilų paroda

THE RADZIWILLS. History and Legacy of the Princes

The idea of organising an exhibition dedicated to the Radziwill princes came about a number of years ago. A previous comprehensive exhibition dedicated to the Sapieha princes held in 2011 and 2012 at the Krakow Wawel Royal Castle and the Vilnius Picture Gallery, organised through the joint efforts of primarily the Wawel Royal Castle and the National Museum – Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania and other partners also prompted this exhibition about the Lithuanian-born Radziwill magnate family of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The Sapieha princes were another famous Lithuanian magnate family that rose to prominence in the same environment as the Radziwills, only to become their opponents. Organising an exhibition about the Sapiehas was somewhat easier due to the collection amassed at the Sapiehas' Krasichyn residence, now kept at the Wawel Royal Castle in Krakow. Due to various historical circumstances meanwhile, the relics of the Radziwills' legacy are spread not just through Poland, Lithuania, Belarus and Ukraine, but also around Europe and even further afield, there are considerably more objects, and quite often there is news about the discovery of another Radziwill treasure, which might have been considered lost or whose existence was still unknown. One option that was discussed was a less-extensive, compromise for the monumental monographic exhibition – to simply organise an exhibition of around fifty historical, cultural and artistic masterpieces associated with the Radziwills. A significant scientific conference was held at the National Museum – Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania in 2015, dedicated to presenting the Radziwill princes and their multi-faceted activities and heritage. It served as preparation work for future exhibitions, even though the conference material is still just being prepared for publication. In 2018, the National Museum – Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania and Prince Maciej Radziwill, who lives in Warsaw, took up the initiative to organise a comprehensive exhibition in Vilnius, the historical capital of Lithuania, focusing on the Radziwill family.