The Royal Castle in Warsaw has added several hundred new works of art to its collection in the past few years, including paintings, drawings, engravings, furniture, porcelain, items of silver and also militaria. Among the acquired objects were over 60 paintings dating from the fourteenth to nineteenth centuries, executed by representatives of important European art centres, as well as Polish and contemporary artists active in Poland. The acquisition of paintings is conducted strictly in compliance with the most significant tenets of the Royal Castle's approved activities, which include gathering historically significant items, putting on temporary and permanent exhibitions, and making its collections accessible to the public for scientific and educational purposes.

The eleven paintings on display in this exhibition span a wide range of genres, periods, themes and origins, including the Quattrocentro of Florence, the trend in Baroque painting initiated by Caravaggio's students and continuators, the animal portraits of the Dutch Golden Age, Venetian vedute, the Renaissance works of Piedmont and Venice, the portrait painting of the Enlightenment, and the Classicist depiction of ancient history.