King Sigismund I the Old, who ascended to the throne in 1507, was a sponsor of many artists, and begun a major project - under Florence architect Bartolommeo Berrecci - of remaking the ancient residence of the Polish kings, the Wawel Castle, into a modern Renaissance residence.
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Prominent examples include: the castle at Płakowice (16th century), the castle at Brzeg, (rebuilt from a Gothic stronghold in 1544–60), the castle at Niepołomice (rebuilt after a fire in 1550–71), the castle at Baranów Sandomierski (built in 1591–1606 by Santi Gucci), and the castle at Krasiczyn.
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An important local personality was Maciej of Miechów, Polish Renaissance scholar, doctor of medicine, canon, astrologist, historian, who was elected eight times as Rector of the Academy of Kraków.
In architecture, Renaissance and Mannerism prevailed (see Renaissance in Poland, Mannerist architecture and sculpture in Poland), with best examples being the Sigismund's Chapel of the Wawel Cathedral, tenement houses, churches and town halls in Poznan, Krakow, Zamosc, Kazimierz Dolny, Lublin, Lwow, Gdansk and other cities, as well as castles (Pieskowa Skala, Krzyztopor, Krasiczyn, Baranow Sandomierski and others).
Around the middle of the sixteenth century, the castle was frequented by Mikołaj Rej, Jan Kochanowski, Piotr Kochanowski and other important figures of the Polish Renaissance.