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Did you know that Ruben’s innovations Peter Paul Rubens developed a new type of equestrian portrait. The system that had been used up until then, in the Titian tradition (Horse portrait of Charles V), depicted a rider on a horse in profile. Rubens changed this, depicting the figure and mount slightly turned en trois quarts in a short perspective, so that they seemed to be heading directly towards the viewer. |
Sculpture “Portrait of Zofia Potocka” by Walery Gadomski Walery Gadomski studied at the School of Drawing and Painting under Wojciech Stattler (drawing and painting) and Henryk Kossowski (sculpture) in the period 1850–1858. He was simultaneously educated in Franz Bauer’s workshop at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna (1856–1858). He fought in the January Uprising. In the years 1876–1889, he taught sculpting at the School of Fine Arts in Kraków. He became famous for his busts of contemporaries, for example, Jan Matejko or Józef Szujski, and historical figures (Veit Stoss, Jan Długosz). |
Fayum portrait The portrait was purchased in Cairo by soldiers of the Polish Independent Carpathian Rifle Brigade during WW II. The face of the man is oval-shaped, with almond-like eyes with marked pupils, lashes and bushy eyebrows. He has a long moustache and a black beard encircling his face. |
“Portrait of a man” by Ján Kupecký Ján Kupecký was born in 1666 or 1667 into the family of a weaver in Pezinok, on the territory of today’s Slovakia. To avoid having to learn weaving, which his father insisted on, the young man ran away from home at the age of 15. In the castle of Holíč, belonging to Count Adam Czabor of Czabor (d. 1691), he met the Swiss painter Benedict Klaus, who was employed as a conservator in the residence. |
“Double portrait of the Markowski married couple” by Józef Peszka The present portrait depicts the Markowski married couple: Józef and Maria née Langelot. The painting was created during the second period of Peszka’s artistic activity in Kraków (from 1813). Józef Markowski (1758–1829), portrayed together with his wife, was one of the most important Polish scientists of that time. |
“Bust of Julian Fałat” by Konstanty Laszczka The bronze bust portrait depicts Julian Fałat (1853–1929), the successor of Matejko in the post of director of the School of Fine Arts and the first rector of the Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków. Fałat, who was appointed to the post of director of School of Fine Arts in 1895, carried out the reform of the university. He closed Matejko’s studio of historical painting and brought to Kraków a large group of professors representing new trends in art... |
Painting “Portrait of Bogusław Janota Bzowski” by Mikołaj Strzegocki This painting depicts the image of Stefan Bogusław Janota Bzowski known by the name of Bogusław. He was the son of Kazimierz and Marjanna née Dąbski, born in 1821 in Gruszów, who died in 1911 in Krakow. He was buried with his wife at the Rakowicki Cemetery in Kraków. He managed estates in the villages of Droginia, Radwan and Buk. After autonomy had been granted to Galicia, he served as the first marshal of the District Council in Myślenice. At his own initiative, the District Savings Bank was established in this city. In 1854, he married Leonia, Countess Stadnicka, with whom he had nine children. |
Woodcut “Portrait of actor Kōraiya Kinshō” by Toshūsai Sharaku Toshūsai Sharaku is one of the most enigmatic Japanese artists. The woodcuts signed with his name come from the period between May 1794 and January 1795. A total of about 150 Sharaku card images depict actors from the Kabuki theatre; these are projects with a completely different new form of expression, often close to a caricature. |
Sculpture “Portrait of a Roman woman” The portrait of a head comes from a bust of a Roman woman who lived in the mid–3rd century. With a realistic expression of facial features, it depicts a middle-aged woman. The big eyes looking straight and thin, slightly tight lips suggest a firm character. The cheeks are fleshy but with visible zygomatic bones; the jaw is massive, with a clearly marked full chin. The hairdo expresses the fashion at the time, referring to a hairstyle introduced by Julia Domna, the wife of Emperor Septimius Severus. |
Sculpture “Bust of Kazimierz Count Potulicki” by Tomasz Oskar Sosnowski The sculpture comes from the palace in Bobrek and represents one of the Potulicki Counts (the trouble is that it is unclear which one). The name “Kazimierz Count Potulicki” was used in the case of Kazimierz Ludwik Łukasz Count Potulicki of Więcborg, of the Grzymała coat of arms (1793–1871) and his son, Kazimierz Wojciech Count Potulicki of Więcborg, of the Grzymała (1820–1880) coat of arms. |
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/. |
Sculpture “Bust of Józef Szujski” by Józef Hakowski A small, barely 40 centimetre tall statuette depicts one of the greatest Krakow historians and journalists of the 19th century: Professor of Kraków Alma Mater, Józef Szujski. The bronze bust depicts a middle-aged man with a distinctive look: a high forehead, combed hair, and a short beard with moustache. |
Painting “Portrait of General Henryk Dembiński” The painting shows Henryk Dembiński (1791–1864), a veteran of the Napoleonic Wars, an outstanding commander and strategist in the November Uprising, and one of the leaders of the Hungarian Revolution of 1848–1849, sitting thoughtfully, in a staff tent. Under a veiled curtain, a battle scene is visible in the distance. The painting symbolically refers to the work of the master Rodakowski, Léon Cogniet (1794–1880), who — after the failure of the November Uprising — painted the picture Prague 1831, showing a fresh battlefield and an officer standing in front of it, whose attitude and facial expression were marked by determination and a desire for revenge. |
Sculpture “Portrait of Józef Poniatowski” by Jakub Tatarkiewicz Prince Józef Poniatowski — nephew of the last king of Poland, general commander of the army of the Duchy of Warsaw — died in the Battle of Leipzig in 1813. Death in the waters of the Elster River initiated the cult of his character, strongly associated with the legend of Napoleon. In 1817, the prince's body was placed in the St. Leonard's Crypt under Wawel Cathedral. The bust is an original copy of a study for the famous Warsaw monument of Prince Józef Poniatowski, sculpted by Bertel Thorvaldsen. Jakub Tatarkiewicz, who — like Konstanty Hegel and Paweł Maliński — was Thorvaldsen's student at the Roman Academy of St. Luke, successfully adapted the cold neoclassicism of his teacher here. |
Marcin Maciejowski, “Elżbieta Jaworowicz Trouble-Shooting” 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. |
Marcin Maciejowski, “Krzysztof Rutkowski Tracks Villains” 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. |
Paweł Althamer, “Daniel” One of some one hundred figures made during Althamer’s project Almech at the Deutsche Guggenheim. From his father’s plastics-manufacturing company, the artist transferred some machines to the gallery. The exhibition space was turned into a sculptor’s studio, where factory machines and molten plastic poured over a metal frame replaced chisel and marble. |
Painting “Jews” by Piotr Michałowski The group portrait of the Galician Jews belongs to the late works by Piotr Michałowski (1800—1855). It was created in a time when the artist — treating painting as a hobby — managed the estate in Bolestraszyce near Przemyśl. This painting, being actually an oil study, is similar in character to the 17th-century Dutch portraits. From the dark, abstract space busts of five Jews emerge. |
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. |
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. |