Located 79km south of the Latvian capital of Riga, Rundale Palace and Museum lie just outside the town of Bauska. The Rundale Palace is one of the most outstanding monuments of Baroque and Rococo art in Latvia, built between 1736 and 1740 as a summer residence of the Duke of Courtland Ernst Johann Biron. The construction work was designed and supervised by Russian architect Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli. Carlo Zucchi created the paintings on the ceilings and walls while the sculptor Johann Michael Graff from Berlin and his team made stucco decorations on the background of artificial marble. Following the annexation of the Duchy of Courland-Semgallen to the Russian Empire, the Rundle Palace became the property of Count Valerian Zubov.
Latvian museums hold a wealth of objects that tell us many stories about the past. These 20 objects have been selected from a variety of museums in Latvia to give the reader a view into times, people and places in the history. The palace complex consists of the palace with inner courtyard, semicircular stables, large household yard, and formal park surrounded by a canal. Behind the canal there is a hunting ground. The visitors will admire the splendour of the rococo hall: the golden throne room, the white dance hall, the big gallery, small cabinets where Japanese and Chinese porcelain collections are located. The ancient music played by a traditional ensemble creates the genuine atmosphere of the 18th century. Sometimes in the palace’s corridors the silhouettes of the White and the Black Ladies can be seen.