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Did you know that A maze of sense and meaning The fragment taken from Tadeusz Kantor’s Writings is an invitation. More than 770 objects, which you will find on the portal, are also 770 stories, 770 separate yet intertwined worlds. Małopolska’s Virtual Museums constitute a large library, which, as Umberto Eco wanted, is a place to hide (to store), but also to find; a labyrinth of various, often transient, objects and meanings. They can also be a space for the dialogue and discovery of the secret language of relics which, although once part of someone’s life, have been placed in museum collections. Now they breathe a different air – museum cabinets and storerooms... |
Did you know that The fox terrier Nipper is still alive Museum exhibitions and depots are not only treasuries of works of art but also places where objects, whose usefulness has recently come to an end, are given a second chance to live. Thanks to a museum, we can learn about the function and history of such objects — from the moment of their creation, through the period of their heyday, until the end of their useful lives. But is it really necessary to restore objects to life and does some part of them endure? History suggests: “non omnis moriar” [I shall not wholly die]. |
Did you know that Szkoła Rysunku i Malarstwa przy Uniwersytecie Jagiellońskim (1818–1833) – zalążek krakowskiej Akademii Sztuk Pięknych W Polsce przedrozbiorowej nie funkcjonowała żadna wyższa szkoła artystyczna, mimo że planowano stworzenie tego rodzaju placówki. Marzenia o akademii snuł już u schyłku XVII wieku Jan III Sobieski. Najbliżej do urzeczywistnienia tych planów było w czasach stanisławowskich... |
Did you know that Krakowski cech malarzy w XV–XIX wieku Na ziemiach polskich, spośród wszystkich korporacji skupiających malarzy, cech krakowski powstał najwcześniej. W jego skład wchodzili też inni rzemieślnicy, jak to zwykle bywało w przypadku stosunkowo nielicznych grup zawodowych. Cech, do którego należeli malarze, powstał przypuszczalnie na początku XV wieku... |
Did you know that Insects prints What did the dragonflies and other insects that lived millions of years ago look like? Their shapes can now be accurately recreated thanks to the impressions preserved in the lithographic limestone. |
Did you know that On the creation of natural collections, dermoplasts and the art of dissection Włodzimierz Tomek was a representative of a wide group of experts and aficionados of nature. He worked as a forester, and his hobby was hunting. Having linked his life to Ciężkowice, he decided to create a natural collection representing the flora and fauna of the Pogórze Ciężkowickie region... |
Did you know that Marian Gorzkowski, a friend of Jan Matejko Marian Gorzkowski was born in Biała Cerkiew [Ukr. Bila Tserkva] in 1830 in Ukraine. He studied at the University of Kiev. He travelled to Greece and Italy. He came from Russia and was strongly attached to his homeland region; he collected documents and books dealing with the history of Russia. In 1870 he came to Kraków for the first time, and two years later he settled there permanently. He was a journalist by trade; he belonged to the editorial staff of “Czas” [“Time”] magazine. He also worked part-time for the Czartoryski Museum. Together with Matejko, he shared a passion for history of the old Polish Commonwealth and love for collecting, which resulted in their friendship. |
Did you know that Ichthyosaurs Ichthyosaurs, known otherwise as fish lizards, reigned supreme in the waters of the oceans for 155 million years. No other tetrapod (with the exception of cetaceans) staged a return to the aquatic environment in such style. However, to this day we do not know where ichthyosaurs came from and why they became extinct so long before the dinosaurs... |
Did you know that Grass from 5 million years ago! As short-lived as a blade of grass... And yet this common comparison does not always turn out to be true. In the collection of Małopolska’s Virtual Museums you can see blades of grass that have survived over 5 million years! Frozen in a halite crystals, they are like jewels in a transparent frame. Although the green hue has lost its vibrancy... |
Did you know that A collection subject to special care. On the preservation of modern art using the example of the digitized resources of the Bunkier Sztuki Art Gallery, made available on the Malopolska’s Virtual Museums website Is a conservator needed for contemporary art, if it is new? The availability of increasingly refined artistic materials should potentially translate into the greater durability of works of art, resulting in a gradually smaller need for maintenance treatment. It would then be sufficient to cover them with so-called preventive maintenance, which consists in providing appropriate storage conditions and in preventing damage and undesirable changes. Such reasoning, however, does not fully fit modern works of art, which only in a few cases rely on the use of innovative technologies and professional materials that have stability certificates. |
Did you know that Albinism – taming/condemning otherness The notion of otherness – i.e. something foreign – functions in almost every culture, often synonymous with evil, and is burdened with negative connotations and responsibility for what the members of a given community experience (disease, poverty, conflicts, acts of violence)... |
Did you know that Self-portraits and “selfie” fashion ... The puzzle of the self-portrait Currently, there is a fashion for self-portraits, popularly called selfies. Anyone can take them — using not even a camera — just a telephone. There is a narcissistic craving in us to show and see our own images. Once, creating a self-portrait was a process. Self-portraiture created the possibility of immortalising one’s image, while fulfilling the function of a tool of self-knowledge and self-reflection. |
Did you know that Confraternities and church fraternities — Kraków and Castelsardo According to medieval tradition, the laymen who gathered around churches organised themselves into fraternities and confraternities, which was supposed to consolidate their faith, build a community and also celebrate the moments important to society, including funerals for fellow brothers. |
Did you know that Touching There is a plant called the “touch-me-not balsam”, in English. Its Latin name, which is impatiens noli-tangere, seems to be much more interesting. This plant turns out to be not only impatient (impatiens), but also unwilling to be touched (noli-tangere). This Latin name refers to the words that the resurrected Jesus directed to Mary Magdalene: noli me tangere, meaning “do not touch” or “do not stop me”. |
Did you know that How skis were hidden during the war At the Regional Museum of the Association of Piwniczna Enthusiasts in Piwniczna Zdrój, you can find a pair of skis which might appear akin to fence boards to a shrewd eye. They are straight and do not feature tapered tips, characteristic of skis. |
Did you know that Kontusz sash and opasek Kontusz sash was considered to be the most colourful piece of gentry dress. The sash was popular since the mid-16th century, but it gained particular significance in the 18th century (it was also then that the tying of the sash changed in a way to highlight its ends). |
Did you know that Feliks “Manggha” Jasieński. Creating a collection Feliks Jasieński collected art for thirty years of his life. The collection numbered about 15,000 items and included paintings and graphics from the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, a set of Asian art objects, carpets, kilims, furniture and arts and crafts, as well as a library. The unique collection became a testimony to the time of its creator, who initially collected works in his apartment, and then, on 11 March 1920, donated them to the city of Kraków... |
Did you know that Cathedral guards Who were the Wawel saints? What was their task, and what does this have to do with the place near Kraków? Well, in the 11th century, the then Górki, and today’s Świątniki Górne, became a servant village for Kraków cathedral, next to the nearby Szczytniki, Trąbki, and Świątniki Dolne. |
Did you know that In a weaving workshop Brussels weaving workshops worked for the wealthiest clients: popes and rulers. These were large enterprises, employing from a few to a dozen qualified weavers, capable of bearing the very high costs of making fabrics. Expensive materials — the best wool, often Spanish or English, silk and the most expensive threads of gold and silver — constituted a very serious expense, not only for the workshop, but also for the client. |
Did you know that When does the new year begin? Starting the count-down of a new twelve-month cycle from the first day of January seems to us to be both a natural and objective way of measuring time. Meanwhile, this date is quite conventional... |