Red beads were one of the basic elements of traditional folk costumes. However, not all beads adorning our great-grandmothers' necks had noble origins. Genuine coral beads could be so expensive that many girls could only dream of them. With a bit of dexterity and ingenuity, this obstacle was successfully overcome.

Skrzyneczka z kości słoniowej ze skarbca krakowskiej katedry należy do grupy zabytków wykonanych w Paryżu w 2. ćwierci XIV wieku – zabytki te dekorowane są scenami ze średniowiecznych romansów (zob. tekst Średniowieczne kobiety fatalne). Zestawienia poszczególnych epizodów uzupełniają się na zasadzie przeciwieństw: na przykład opowieści o miłości czystej zostały skontrastowane z legendami o cudzołóstwie. Szkopuł jednak w tym, że wiele średniowiecznych romansów jest tak skonstruowanych, że zamiast potępiać grzesznych kochanków, kibicujemy ich niemoralnemu związkowi.

The creative position of women in the 19^th century was subject to numerous conditions and threats. Conditions primarily originated in the professionalization and institutionalization of artistic life, which — at least for women of this generation — were a hindrance to an artistic career. Difficulties arose from the limited access to institutions, from customary conventions, but also from a life full of personal tragedies and financial dependency. The women of Olga Boznańska’s generation constituted the first distinct group practicing art professionally, unlike their predecessors, who, with few exceptions, were amateurish, often talented and artistically educated.

Beautiful women of the oiran offered an attractive subject for artists dealing with Japanese wood engravings; it peaked in the Edo epoch (1603–1868). Elusiveness and passing, so strongly featured in the philosophy of this period, made people seize the current moment and celebrate the joy stemming from watching flowers or admiring the Moon.

During the mid-18^th century it was popular to set the table on the occasion of the most important ceremonies with porcelain statuettes forming rich iconographic stories. Along the entire length of the table, next to the silverware and the china, sat an arrangement of many statuettes in the form of garden paths, streets or castle arcades, placed on a mirror sheet or coloured sand.

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/.

The artist plays the image off against the text. He juxtaposes images of people with information about their job and the situational context. By these means he creates multidimensional portraits of well-known media individuals.

The bust of Maria, née Skrzyńska Sobańska, made in the Art Nouveau style, was carved out of Carrara marble. The object—acquired after the liquidation of a mansion—was transferred to the Regional Museum in Gorlice. Maria Sobańska came from the influential Skrzyński noble family, which had the title of “Count” .

The situation for actresses of the city theatre at the beginning of the 20^th century was not easy. Work conditions were difficult; contracts obliged actors to, for example, learn two sheets of prose or one sheet of poetry within twenty four hours (up to 100 new titles and revivals were played...

The sculpture In the Theatre Box invites us to the world created by its author, to her contemporaneous “here and now”; it arouses our curiosity. We want to know what the portrayed woman is involved in, what makes her look so dreamy, who she is looking at, and why she has put down her opera glasses. Who is she? Where is she? In the theatre, in the opera? We shall never know. The sculpture probably dates from 1909, and was created by Luna Amalia Drexler, whose background is not covered by contemporary studies.