The District Museum in Tarnów

The District Museum in Tarnów presents the rich and diverse culture of Tarnów and its surroundings. The history of the region is linked with its great aristocratic family of Sanguszko, its minor nobility and the local peasant community. The museum pieces are presented in nine departments and branches.
In one of them – the Ethnographic Museum – there is the first and so far the only permanent exhibition devoted to the culture and history of the Romani in Poland. Among the exhibits, one can see, for example, Romani costumes and original Romani wagons. Felicja Curyłowa’s Farm in Zalipie, famous for its distinctive folk paintings, is a branch of the Ethnographic Museum. It presents the interior of the painter’s former house, decorated with floral motifs, cut-outs, and painted figures on paper.

Branches:
Main Building [Gmach Główny] – temporary and historic exhibitions
Ethnographic Museum [Muzeum Etnograficzne] – the history and culture of the Romani
Town Hall [Ratusz] – works of arts from the collection of the Sanguszko family
Castle in Dębno [Zamek w Dębnie] – furnishing of castle interiors
Wincenty Witos’ Museum [Muzeum Wincentego Witosa] – the biography of the peasant activist in his family home
Manor in Dołęga [Dwór w Dołędze] – a traditional Galician manor of the nobility
Jan Matejko’s Memorabilia Museum in Nowy Wiśnicz [Muzeum Pamiątek po Janie Matejce w Nowym Wiśniczu] – drawings and notes kept in a house of the artist’s relatives
Felicja Curyłowa’s Farm in Zalipie [Zagroda Felicji Curyłowej w Zalipiu] – Zalipie paintings
Hall of Memory of the World Association of Home Army Soldiers [Izba Pamięci Światowego Związku Żołnierzy Armii Krajowej] – guerrilla activity of Home Army soldiers during World War II

Elaborated by Julia Czapla, Joanna Kotarba,

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Poland License.

Photograph by Marek Antoniusz Święch, arch. MIK (2014),

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Poland License.

www.muzeum.tarnow.pl

Rynek 3,
33-100 Tarnów

phone 14 621 21 49
phone 14 639 08 64
Fax 14 639 08 65
page museum

How to get there :

on foot

by car

Opening hours

Rynek 3, Tarnów

Monday

closed

Tuesday

9.00 — 15.00

Wednesday

9.00 — 15.00

Thursday

9.00 — 17.00

Friday

9.00 — 15.00

Saturday

closed

Sunday

10.00 — 14.00

Ticket Prices

normal 8 PLN reduced 5 PLN family 16 PLN normal pass 16 PLN reduced pass 10 PLN Sunday — free admission to the permanent exhibition

Sculpture “Roman Damian Sanguszko's bust”

In the collection there is a bust sculpture depicting an image of Roman Damian Sanguszko (1832–1917). Roman Damian was the eldest son of Władysław and Izabela née Lubomirski, and a landowner in the Zaslav Region, an heir to the family property in Volyn. He managed property in the Slavuta Region and the famous horse stud in Chrystivka.

Cup with Orpheus

The decoration engraved on the bowl depicts the mythological scene presenting Orpheus sitting under a tree and playing the lyre, surrounded by animals. On the other side the inscription, “Orpheus playing assumedly with a tree and animals”, with spelling mistakes, which allows for attributing this exhibit to Saxon engravers from the Hein family working at that time in the Radziwiłł glassworks in Naliboki.

Soup vase with a monogram of Prince Eustachy Erazm Sanguszko

Sets of tableware were initially assembled of objects made in a different style, time, and places. Only in the 17th and 18th centuries uniformly decorated tableware, known today as services, began to appear. Until the beginning of the 19th century, there were no strict rules determining what dishes should be included in such a set; therefore, they were put together according to current fashions or the personal preference of the person ordering them...

“Roztruchan” decorative cup

Aside from its practical functions, the silver tableware collected and stored in Old Polish houses also had representative functions. There was also a separate group of dishes of a primarily decorative character, whose original, sophisticated form, perfection of composition, and materials used for their production were to dazzle and delight the guests.

“Obesłanie” – metal plate bearing the emblem of the grand guild of Tarnów

One common object which was very useful in the life of a guild was the obesłanie – a sign used to authenticate transferred messages. The Obesłanie was used by a messenger when he had to pass a message from the guild elders to other members of the guild. They were informed of all important issues concerning the guild: meetings, funerals, celebrations and the like, and obesłanie had a similar function to a contemporary membership card.

Hunting arquebus

Hunting arquebus with a wheel-lock, after Jan Klemens Branicki (1689–1771), the Grand Hetman of the Crown. Old-time hunting, being an elite form of entertainment for the highest levels of society, required an adequate frame, created by, e.g., luxurious firearms. This kind of weapon was usually made from precious materials and artfully decorated in a style typical of the epoch.

Painting “Portrait of Teresa née Czartoryska Lubomirska”

The pride of the palace in Slavuta was a small pastel portrait which presented a charming teenage girl. It depicts Teresa née Czartoryska, the daughter of Józef Klemens, the founder of the china manufacturing plant in Korets. The girl’s mother was duchess Dorota née Jabłonowska, who was famous for her beauty. The author of the portrait was one of the most outstanding French painters, Elisabeth Louise Vigee-Lebrun /1755–1842/.

Painting “Portrait of Teresa Karolina Radziwiłłowa”

The portrait shows Teresa Karolina Radziwiłłowa, the daughter of the Grand Hetman of the Crown, Wacław Rzewuski and Anna née Lubomirska. From 1764 she was married to Karol Stanisław Radziwiłł, the voivode of Vilnius, popularly known as My Dear Sir [Panie Kochanku]. Divorced in 1781, she remarried Feliks Chobrzyński.

Painting “Portrait of Łukasz Węgliński”

The painting is a small, intimate image which belongs in a collection of the most exquisite portraits displaying an excellent characterisation of a Polish nobleman. The tawny face of the man endowed with great temperament, with a distinct nose and shiny lively eyes, reveals his high intelligence. The creator of this portrait was an anonymous artist, exactly as in the case of most “Sarmatian portraits.”

Painting “Portrait of Seweryn Józef Rzewuski”

The portrait depicts Seweryn Jan Rzewuski of the Krzywda coat of arms, a son of Stanisław Mateusz, the Grand Crown Hetman, an older brother of Hetman Wacław Rzewuski, and of Ludwika née Kunicka.

Painting “Portrait of Kazimierz Boreyko”

Kazimierz Boreyko is yet another interesting figure in the colourful procession of noble types in the Podhorce gallery. The nobleman depicted in this portrait was the son of Jan, the Pobersztyn starost and Katarzyna née Terlecka. He held numerous offices in the old Commonwealth. He was the lieutenant of the armoured chorągiew [banner] military unit in the fee tail estate of the Ostrogski family, master of the hunt in the Lviv Land, the standard-bearer in Latyczów as well as a deputy for Sejms [parliament].

Painting “Portrait of Jan Sobieski”

The portrait presents Jan Sobieski (1629–1696) of the ”Janina” coat of arms, the son of the Kraków castellan and Teofilia née Daniłowicz. It is one of the rare images of Sobieski, the Grand Hetman of the Crown (1688) before his election for the King of Poland in 1674. Jan Sobieski, the hero of Chocim and Vienna, was born in the castle in Olesko, near Podhorce. He was the descendant of the famous hetman, Stanisław Żółkiewski.

Painting “Portrait of a Young Dutch Girl”

Portraits of the members of the Sanguszko family, one of the wealthiest and most influential families in the former Commonwealth, as well as of their closest relatives make a large group in the collection of the Museum in Tarnów. They were a part of the furnishing and decoration of palace interiors in numerous ducal mansions. The portrait presented here comes from Slavuta situated on the Horyn, one of the main rivers of Volhynia (Ukraine).

Painting “Portrait of Klementyna Sanguszko Ostrowska” of Vincenzo Camuccini

The portrait of Klementyna Countess Ostrowska, of the aristocratic Sanguszko family (1786–1841), was made around 1822. The author was Vincenzo Camuccini, a famous Italian artist, professor of the Academy of St. Luke in Rome. It comes from the palace of the Sanguszko family in Gumniska where, among a rich collection of works of art, there was also a collection of family portraits.

Painting “Jacek Malczewski Self-portrait”

Jacek Malczewski, one of the most outstanding Polish Symbolism painters left a rich artistic legacy. The work of Malczewski is extremely extensive and multi-layered. His paintings present his personal desires as well as the national tragedy and traditions. Mythology intertwined with religion, folk motifs mixed with tale themes.

Hanukkah lamp

Chanukah — the eight-day Jewish festival of lights – in its historical aspect commemorates the victorious Maccabean Revolt against the Greeks under Antiochus IV Epiphanes, whereas in its ethical aspect refers to the salvation of Judaism, the only existing monotheistic religion based on the coherent system of moral values in the 2ndcentury BC.

Manuscript of the “Letter granting freedom to the town of Tarnów by Emperor Francis”

Francis II, the Holy Roman Emperor, King of Germany, Hungary, Czech, Dalmatia, Croatia, Slavonia, Galicia, Lodomeria and Jerusalem, Archduke of Austria, Duke of Burgundy and Lorraine, Grand Duke of Tuscany, etc., confers a privilege granting freedom to Tarnów and its inhabitants. It approves the property of Tarnów burghers and the possessions of the town.

Bond Committee for the Construction of the New Synagogue in Tarnów

The document was issued by the Committee for the Construction of New Synagogue in Freunds Druckerei in Breslau in the autumn of 1864. The bond amount is 50 Austrian guilders, and it was issued in the name of Zelig Offner. Exactly 44 years separate the date of the bond issuing and the moment when the New Synagogue was opened, which took place on the 18th of September 1908. The grand opening of the magnificent building, which is the pride of the Jews of Tarnów, was preceded by an excruciatingly long period of several decades when the walls were built slowly.

“Corda Fidelium” cup

In the case of the Tarnów collection, the cultural background of the epoch has its counterparts in the Sarmatian culture, characterised by the owner’s need for the ostentatious presentation of his affluence and wealth. The primacy of nobility and magnates, who were in possession of huge estates and enjoyed wide privileges in the 18th century, influenced the development and industrialisation of the country.

Chalice with 12 months representation

One of the most valuable objects in the Museum in Tarnów, due to its artistic status, is a goblet with a lid, and with a depiction of 12 months. It is associated with Saxony, with the Royal Glassworks in Dresden. It has a structure typical of celebratory chalices, and it is additionally enriched with a conical decorative lid.

1 2