Gryphon in harness

Pompeian style painting „Griffon pulling a chariot” This painting, from the former collection of the Lubomirscy family, who owned the castle between the 17th and the beginning of the 19th centuries, purchased at the order of duchess Lubomirska, wife to marshal Lubomirski, depicts a fantastic and allegorical scene – a griffon pulling a chariot, with a butterfly as the rider. The griffon, coloured bright beige with bluish wings, the butterfly is grey and blue. This is a copy of a wall painting uncovered in a house from the lava- and volcanic ash-covered Herculaneum. The eruption of the Vesuvius took pace in the year 79, and the covered cities, Pompeii and Herculaneum, were discovered in the 1780s – and from that time onwards, painting referred to as being in Pompeian style, became very popular among aristocracy. Four styles of Pompeian painting were distinguished between – the first style, or incrustation, describes wall decorations that use stucco and divisions of the wall into three horizontal parts, with flat panels akin to marble in the central part. The second style – referred to as architectural – lasted between ca. 90 BC and 15 AD, with illusion paintings and elements of architecture. The third Pompeian Style lasted between ca. 20-10 BC [and is called ornamental]. The fourth style was popular between ca. 50 and 100 AD, and is sometimes called the fantastic architecture style, as the depicted buildings did not adhere to rules of perspective, and they were shown to create the illusion of depth. The walls are no longer divided into three parts, copies of paintings on wood or canvas dealing with mythology are seen. Naturally, ”apart from these styles” so to speak, painting did develop that depicted still life to decorate dining rooms, made up of birds, fruit, fish or vessels of water. Beside these, one sees portraits of house inhabitants painted directly on the walls. The painting from Łańcut, ordered by duchess Lubomirska, is a decoration of the Chinese Apartment in the first floor of the castle, or actually the Pompeian Room at this apartment.