Three Marys at the Tomb of Christ Three Marys at the Tomb of Christ (mid-19th century) by Jan Wnęk The Ethnographic Museum in Kraków
The life of Jan Wnęk from Odporyszów is the stuff of legends
A carpenter by trade, he was a passionate sculptor and a pioneering constructor of gliders, which he called "loty" [fliers]. Little is known about him – aside from a few documents, biographers can only rely on stories handed down from generation to generation.
Fans of his work call him ‘the Gothic-inspired master’. Those who remember his flights refer to him as the ‘Icarus of the Dunajec’.
How come modern residents of Odporyszów still remember him? What made ethnographers and regional researchers take an interest in him?
Map of the Dąbrowa Tarnowska Area (1965) by unknown The Ethnographic Museum in Kraków
Jan Wnęk was born in 1828 in Kaczówka
He spent his entire adult life in Odporyszów, a small village a few dozen kilometers northwest of Tarnów. His parents, Jan and Tekla née Droszcz (Drożdż), were serfs.
In 1848, when serfdom was abolished in the Austrian Partition, the Wnęk family gained the freedom they longed for. Despite money troubles, his parents sent Jan to learn the trade of a carpenter. This is how he learned building techniques and developed his sculpting talent.
Church in Odporyszów (2024) by Natalia Ciemborowicz-Luber The Ethnographic Museum in Kraków
After apprenticeship, he worked on reconstructing a church.
The then-parish priest of Odporyszów, Fr. Stanisław Morgenstern, commissioned him to renovate the roof and mount a cross on the bell tower. Thanks to his diligence and ingenuity, he quickly earned a reputation as an great carpenter and gained recognition in the local community.
Sleeping Apostles (1928) by Tadeusz Seweryn The Ethnographic Museum in Kraków
After a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, Fr. Morgenstern, inspired by the sites he had seen, decided to enrich the Odporyszów church with sculptures. He held a competition to find the best sculptor, and Jan Wnęk won.
The priest, as the sponsor, wanted the sculptures to amaze visitors to the sanctuary, so he took Wnęk to Kraków, where he showed him Veit Stoss's altarpiece in the St. Mary's Basilica. They also visited other churches.
Apostle Asleep in the Garden of Gethsemane (2) The Ethnographic Museum in Kraków
In the mid-19th century, Wnęk produced sculptures for 52 chapels located around the church in Odporyszów. They showed the Stations of the Cross, scenes from the life of the Holy Family, the Passion, and the Resurrection of Christ.
Approximately 300 figures were carved in linden wood and carefully polychromed, depicting biblical characters realistically, almost life-sized.
Prophet Simeon The Ethnographic Museum in Kraków
The story goes that Wnęk used the images of saints to memorialize the faces of his loved ones and acquaintances. The prophet Simeon (currently on display at the Ethnographic Museum in Krakow) is said to be his self-portrait.
History was not kind to most of Wnęk's works. Many were destroyed during World War I. Those that have survived can be seen in Odporyszów, in the church museum, and in the Ethnographic Museums in Tarnów and Kraków.
Jan Wnęk's flights (1970) by Aleksander Minorski The Ethnographic Museum in Kraków
Jan Wnęk also became famous as a self-taught inventor.
Sculpting was not his only passion. Observing the movement and structure of bird wings, he set about constructing his first glider. In 1966, during the Pentecost fair, a show was held in which Wnęk took off from the church tower and covered a distance of about 2 km.
From 1866 to 1869, Wnęk performed flights repeatedly, continuously improving the design. Flights from the bell tower attracted pilgrims and added to the significance of the Marian sanctuary in Odporyszów. His longest flights reached up to three kilometers.
On June 10, 1869, he made his final flight, which ended tragically. Two months after the accident, the severely injured Wnęk died. No documents about his achievements or sketches of the flying machine have survived, and his burial place remains unknown.
Model of Jan Wnęk's Wings The Ethnographic Museum in Kraków
In 1932, ethnographer Tadeusz Seweryn, later the director of the Ethnographic Museum in Krakow, found witnesses of Wnęk's flights and conducted numerous interviews with them. Thanks to his research, we know the story of the brilliant peasant sculptor and aviator.
This research, in 1956, made it possible for the conservation workshop of the Ethnographic Museum to recreate Wnęk's glider. The model was made by Zdzisław Szewczyk and Marta Gąsowska. The frame was made of wooden slats, the covering from linen cloth, and the stays from string.
Concept and Execution: Natalia Ciemborowicz-Luber, Olga Łuczyńska-Gawron
