Polish Enlightenment

The ideas of the Age of Enlightenment in Poland were developed later than in Western Europe, as the Polish bourgeoisie was weaker, and szlachta (nobility) culture (Sarmatism) together with the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth political system (Golden Liberty) were in deep crisis.

Polish reforms desired the elimination of laws that transformed their system into a near-anarchy, resulting from abuse of consensus voting in Sejm (liberum veto) that paralyzed the Commonwealth, especially during the times of the Wettin dynasty, reducing Poland from a major European player to the puppet of its neighbours.

Commonwealth szlachta (forming 10% of its population) considered the idea of equality to be one of the foundations of its culture, and reformers fought to expand it towards other social classes.

The best known architects and artists, who worked in Poland were Dominik Merlini, Jan Chrystian Kamsetzer, Szymon Bogumił Zug, Stanisław Zawadzki, Efraim Szreger, Antonio Corazzi, Jakub Kubicki, Christian Piotr Aigner, Wawrzyniec Gucewicz and Bertel Thorvaldsen.

From the period of the Congress Kingdom are Koniecpolski Palace and the St. Alexander's Church in Warsaw, the Temple of the Sibyl in Puławy, rebuilding the Łańcut Castle.