Tylman van Gameren

Tylman van Gameren (also Tilman, Tylman, Tielman; Utrecht, July 3, 1632 – 1706, Warsaw?) was a Dutch architect and engineer who worked for Poland's Queen Maria Kasimira, wife of Poland's King Jan III Sobieski.

Life

Tylman was born in Utrecht, and trained by Jacob van Campen whilst the latter was busy with the building of the Stadhuis on the Dam. At the height of the Dutch Golden Age, like many Dutch artists, he left in 1650 for Italy. In 1660, he met prince Jerzy Sebastian Lubomirski in Leiden and accepted his invitation to come to Poland as a military engineer.

Once in Warsaw, taking the name Tylman Gamerski, he soon became a rising star at court. For his first ten years there he served as an artillery officer then, beginning in 1670, he won fame as a court architect of palaces, gardens, country houses, monasteries and churches in and around Warsaw, adapting the Churches of the Holy Ghost, St. Casimir and St. Boniface. His designs were the pearls of the Polish baroque and show Dutch, German and Italian influences.

He acted as chief architect to Michał Korybut Wiśniowiecki. His works include the Gniński and Radziwiłł Palaces. He also completed the Krasiński Palace, begun in 1682 by Giuseppe Bellotti, whose sculptures were executed by Andreas Schlüter. Van Gameren left behind more than 70 grand buildings. He also left a collection of 118 books and some 1,000 drawings. Nearly all his designs, from sketches to detailed plans, have been kept and show exceptional artistic quality, though 200 of them were lost in World War II.

Literature

Ottenheym, K.A., & Goossens, E.J.H.P (2002). De Nederlandse jaren van Tilman van Gameren. Bronnen van inspiratie en scholing. In: E.J. Goossens & K.A. Ottenheym (Eds.), Tilman van Gameren. Een Nederlandse architect aan het hof in Polen (pp. 24-39). Amsterdam: Stichting Koninklijk Paleis Amsterdam.