Genius of the Baroque. Szymon Czechowicz (1689-1775)
Friday, October 16, 2020 - Sunday, February 21, 2021
Rome was the cradle of the Baroque. Artists flocked from all over Europe to hone their skills at the acclaimed Accademia di San Luca, and one of the few Polish painters to have found their way there was Szymon Czechowicz. Born to a Cracovian family of goldsmiths, he travelled to the Eternal City around 1710 and spent the following twenty years learning the secrets of the style, perfecting his ability to compose expansive, effective scenes in which the earthly and celestial spheres intertwine. Czechowicz remained faithful to features of late Roman Baroque such as monumentalism, refined colour palettes and ephemeral sensitivity after his return to Poland. He was commissioned by monasteries, magnates and bishops to create paintings for churches throughout the country. The exhibition at the Main Building of the National Museum in Krakow presents almost 200 items loaned by museums and churches in Poland, France, Lithuania, the US, Ukraine and Italy. Many are going on display for the first time, and they all come together to showcase the extraordinary talent of the greatest master of the Baroque in our region. (Dorota Dziunikowska, “Karnet” monthly)
The Main Building
al. 3 Maja 1
The central phenomena of the Polish art of the 20th and 21st century, the history of Polish weaponry and uniforms, a gallery of crafts, and a dozen major temporary exhibitions each year.
The quickly expanding collection of the National Museum, set up in 1879, soon needed space that Kraków did not have at that time. That is why the idea to erect a new building that at the same time would commemorate the many years of efforts to regain Poland’s independence was born early in the 20th century. Immediately after the end of the First World War, already in free Poland, funds for the construction of an appropriate seat began to be raised. The construction of the building by the imposing Aleje Trzech Wieszczów, staked out just two decades earlier, began in 1934. Today, the National Museum in Kraków boasts several branches, with no fewer than three permanent galleries in the Main Building alone. Deposited on the ground floor are the collections of militaria: the exhibition Arms and Uniforms in Poland (gallery closed until further notice) presents the history of the Polish military from the Middle Ages to the Second World War. The Gallery of Decorative Arts boasts collections of fabrics, goldsmithry, glass, ceramics, furniture, musical instruments, and Judaica that let the visitor trace changes in style from the early Middle Ages to the 20th century. The Polish Art Gallery presents the chronology and key tendencies in painting, sculpture and printmaking as created by the Polish artists of the 20th and 21st century. The largest temporary exhibitions of the National Museum in Kraków are organised in specially designed halls.
Tickets to permanent galleries: normal PLN 32, concessions PLN 25, family PLN 64, admission free to permanent exhibitions on Tuesday
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