This part of the Gallery exhibits paintings by artists active in the Polish Commonwealth, enriched  by selected works from Silesia and paintings of other European artists executed under royal patronage. Portraits – a genre dominating in Renaissance and Baroque times - predominate; there are also examples of sacral and allegorical paintings and of battle scenes. Most are by anonymous artists working for various magnat and noble houses. Those authors of the 16th and 17th century paintings whose names are known (Marcin Kober, Daniel Schultz the Younger and Bartłomiej Strobel) worked mainly at the courts of successive Polish rulers. Only when we arrive at 18th century paintings does the circle of artists whose biographies are historically documented widen. The names which should be mentioned here include Tadeusz Kuntze, Szymon Czechowicz, Jakub Wessel, and Augustyn Mirys.

In the body of portrait paintings, the most distinguished are full-length official portraits which are significantly influenced by the models established at the Habsburg court, such as the oustanding quality Portrait of Katarzyna Ostrogska née Lubomirska (1597), Portrait of Sebastian Lubomirski (before 1600) or the later, French-inspired pair of  portraits of Hieronim Florian Radziwiłł and Magdalena Radziwiłł née Czapska (around 1746). Also representative Baroque portrait painting are the less official, better reflecting the psyche of a model  half-length images which reveal the influence of Italian and Dutch painting. Examples include Portrait of Tomasz Zamoyski (ca 1608) or Portrait of Wilhelm Orsetti by Bartłomiej Strobel dated to ca 1644.

A separate, extremely  interesting group comprises coffin portraits (mainly 17th century); this genre practiced only in lands of then Poland and  typical for elaborate old Polish funerary rituals.

In the field of battle paintings, special attention should be given to  The Battle of Orsza (ca 1524–1530), the work of an artist remaining under the influence of Lucas Cranach the Elder  (given the time of its execution and the way of approaching the subject). The small group of sacral and allegorical paintings is predominated by the works of 18th century artists; the most famous of them Szymon Czechowicz and Tadeusz Kuntze - both artists educated in Rome and painting under the patronage of Polish aristocracy.

An interesting Polonicum has enriched the collection of Polish painting from the 16th century to 1794 - the body of eight paintings by the brothers Krzysztof and Teodor-Bogdan Lubieniecki, who spent most of their life abroad and whose work is rooted within Dutch art.