Senators' Staircase of Wawel Castle

The second reception staircase, the Senators' Staircase, at Wawel Castle was built between 1599 and 1602 by Giovanni Trevano and Ambrogio Meazzi di Milano in the northwest corner of the castle. It was the first modern construction of its kind in Poland, facilitating movement between the floors of the residence and located within the castle itself. Unlike the Renaissance-style Deputies' Staircase, the marble steps are not steep, but are regularly interrupted on the intermediate floors by comfortable landings. The staircase's early Baroque portals, designed by Trevano, were crafted from Carpathian sandstone by Meazzi. The summary of royal expenses drawn up in the office of the Kraków governor Franciszek Rylski (d. 1603), for the years 1599 and 1600, preserved in the Central Archives of Historical Documents in Warsaw (I 299), records expenses of 2,991 florins, 15 groszy and 12 deniers "for the demolition of the old staircase and the construction of the new one, for Italians and various materials" and the wages of "Jan Trever (Giovanni Trevano), mason ad r[ation]em fl. 1300 datum fl. 1250" and "Ambrosio Meaczi (Ambrogio Meazzi) for inlaying the stairs and doors ad r[ation]em fl. 500 fl. 300".

The overdoors (supraporte) of the north wing of the castle, leading to the Senators' Staircase, were adorned with bronze cartouches mentioned in the castle inventories of 1655, 1692, 1709/10, 1739, and 1787 as "a brass coat of arms, gilded like fire, both of the Crown and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, surmounted by a brass crown". They were probably created by a foundryman from the circle of Trevano and Meazzi. However, one of the cartouches from Wawel Castle, also considered to have come from the Łobzów Palace, is considered to have probably been made in Gdańsk (Czartoryski Museum, gold, iron and bronze, 117.2 x 98.5 cm, inv. MNK XIII-1265).

The summary also mentions the payment of a considerable sum, namely 1160 florins and 9 groszy, as an additional payment "for the balance due to the Grand Painter and Mason", as well as a payment to the Kraków painter Kasper Kurcz, who received only 50 florins. The identity of this "Grand Painter and Mason" remains unknown (after "Nieznane źródło do historii przebudowy pałacu wawelskiego za panowania Zygmunta III Wazy" by Olga Solarz, p. 455, 457-458, 460).  

​The Senators' Staircase at Wawel Castle, built between 1599 and 1602 by Giovanni Trevano and Ambrogio Meazzi.

​Bronze cartouche with the coat of arms of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, without the Vasa emblem (missing), from Wawel Castle, ca. 1604, Czartoryski Museum. 

Marble fireplace with Vasa coat of arms in the Birds' Room by Ambrogio Meazzi, ca. 1600, Wawel Castle.