Rzeźby ogrodowe w Młynowie na Wołyniu i ich twórca Grzegorz Czaykowski

English Title: The garden sculptures at the Volhynian aristocratic residence of Mlynów and their creator, Grzegorz Czaykowski

In: Biuletyn Historii Sztuki, 67 (2005), Nr. 3-4. pp. 251-258

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Translation of abstract (English)

At the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries, a magnificent residence was raised at Mlynów in Volhynia for its contemporaneous owner, Ludwika Chodkiewiczowa of the Rzewuskis. Work was commenced in 1785 with the laying out on both sides of a palatial parade courtyard of an extensive garden, in which pavilions, arbours, grottoes, cascades and miniature bridges were created. The main decorative element, however, were its stone statues. Little has been discovered on the subject of these sculptures, apart from their inclusion in an inventory of the residence at the end of the 18th century, in which no mention is made of their designer. Grzegorz Czaykowski, the sculptor commissioned was a completely unknown figure until now, and nothing is known about his other works. Archival materials preserved in the Wawel at Cracow reveal that he was a resident of Podkamien - a village situated close to Mlynów - that he sculpted in wood and stone and he died sometime after 1828. His creative work does not appear to have been of a particularly skilled level, although the fact he was entrusted with a contract of this importance seems to suggest that he must have enjoyed some renown among the local Polish aristocracy.