The Egyptian Orangery of Stanislaw and Anna Malachowski in Konskie

There is an interesting yet forgotten work of Egyptianizing architecture situated on the premises of a vast park-palace complex in Konskie (a city in central Poland, between Kielce and Opoczno). It is an orangery/hothouse (54,75 x 7,25 m) that was built in the years 1825-1830 on commission for Stanislaw and Anna Malachowski, the owners of the property at that time. The creator of the building was Francesco Maria Lanci (1799-1875), a young Italian architect who had been invited to develop the palace complex. Following that commission, Lanci spent the rest of his career in Poland, where he created numerous neo-Gothic and neo-Renaissance works. Using a knowledge of the basic forms of Egyptian architecture that he drew from French treatises written after Napoleon's expedition to Egypt, Lanci employed monumental pylons, statues of Memnons in niches, composite capitals, cavetto cornices, a winged sun disc and masks derived from transformed Hathor capitals. In many places he also designed pseudo-hieroglyphic inscriptions. It may be presumed that the investor demanded such Egyptian forms, since Stanislaw Malachowski (1770-1849) was strongly involved with the Freemasons after 1790. The orangery in Konskie is quite well preserved (with a style-less annex added on the northern side in 1969), but neglected, and surely demands the thoughtful care of a conservator.