The National Museum in Krakow
Compiled by Agata Jabłońska, based on the materials of the National Museum in Krakow
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The Matejko House
The artist's family home is located on the Royal Route in Krakow, in the center of the Old Town
An important place is occupied by portraits of family and friends, as well as ‘Self-portrait’ from 1887. Jan Alojzy Matejko was born in Krakow on 24 June, 1838 and was associated with the city throughout his life.
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How did the painter of the historicist era live? Who was the 19th century Cracovian? Jan Matejko lived in the heart of the Old Town, near the Florian Gate. In his House there are works representing all phases of his creativity: mainly small-size historical compositions, sketches for large canvases decorating the largest Polish national galleries and images of historical figures.
One of the most outstanding Polish painters died on 1 November, 1893, and with him the bourgeois Krakow of the 19th century passed into the past. Matejko represented the trend of historical painting, he was a draughtsman, collector, professor and long-term director of the School of Fine Arts in Krakow. He was a precursor of the conservation and protection of monuments, and a member of many artistic, scientific and social societies.
Maid of Orleans (1883) by Jan MatejkoThe National Museum in Krakow
Before big pictures are created
Sketches for large-format works by Jan Matejko
Costume studios (1858/1860) by Jan MatejkoThe National Museum in Krakow
Collection
The Jan Matejko House is a meeting place with a collection of handicrafts, fabrics, clothes, and military items, which were often used by the painter as props in his artistic work
Interestingly, the objects were not always used in accordance with the historical truth and so, for example, in his paintings, men's and women's richly ornamented headgear often appeared on their heads.
Cardboard for the polychrome of St. Mary's Church (1889) by Jan MatejkoThe National Museum in Krakow
St. Mary's Church in Krakow
Works on the renovation of the interior of the city parish church
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The interior of the Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary at the Main Square in Krakow
Jan Matejko's work on the renovation of the interior of St. Mary's Church in Krakow played a special role in his artistic activity. The collection of the National Museum in Krakow has preserved the design of the polychrome for the church.
In his paintings, Jan Matejko often used the images of his relatives and friends from the world of the Krakow bourgeoisie.
This undertaking, combined with research on the art of Krakow, contributed to the renewal and flourishing of monumental art in the works of talented students of Matejko, artists of the next generation: Stanisław Wyspiański and Józef Mehoffer.
Jan Matejko's family
He is remembered as a devoted husband and father of five
In some paintings, such as a sketch showing King Zygmunt August and his beloved Barbara Radziwiłł hugging each other, one can notice references to the emotions that bound him with his family. Matejko himself and his wife Teodora née Giebułtowska probably posed for the painting.
More: History of the collections of the Jan Matejko House on the website of the National Museum in Krakow.
