LOCCI, Augustyn

Polish architect of Italian origin. He was an amateur architect and King Jan Sobieski's secretary and artistic adviser. He received primary education from his father - a royal architect of the house of Vasa - and then was trained by the architect Giovanni Battista Ghisleni (1600-1672). Further knowledge was supplemented by a stay in Rome (about 1680) and direct contacts at the Sobieski court with the leading architect Tylman van Gameren and other royal artists.

Augustyn worked primarily for Jan III, building the residence in Wilanów in 1677-1696 for which he created the fundamental architectural plans, provided construction solutions and arranged the decoration programmes for the interiors and palace façades. Furthermore, Augustyn supervised painters, sculptors, stuccoGLOSSARYA type of light, malleable plaster made from dehydrated lime (calcium carbonate) mixed with powdered marble and glue and sometimes reinforced with hair. It is used for sculpture and architectural decoration, both external and internal. In a looser sense, the term is applied to a plaster coating applied to the exterior of buildings, but stucco is a different substance from plaster (which is calcium sulphate). Stucco in the more restricted sense has been known to virtually every civilization. In Europe it was exploited most fully from the 16th century to the 18th century, notable exponents being the artists of the School of Fontainebleau and Giacomo Serpotta. By adding large quantities of glue and colour to the stucco mixture stuccatori were able to produce a material that could take a high polish and assume the appearance of marble. Indeed, sometimes it is difficult to distinguish from real marble without touching it (stucco feels warmer). masters and all sorts of artisans.