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{{Short description|Polish painter (1838–1893)}}
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{{redirect|Matejko|other people people with the surname|Matejko (surname)}}
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{{Use British English|date=February 2023}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2023}}
{{Infobox artist
| name = Jan Matejko
| image = Jan Matejko.JPG
| image_size =
| caption = Matejko, before 1883
| birth_name = Jan Alojzy Matejko
| birth_date = 24 June 1838
| birth_place = ]
| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1893|11|1|1838|6|24}}
| death_place = ], ], ]
| resting_place = ], Kraków, Poland
| other_names = Jan Mateyko
| nationality = Polish
| known_for = Painting, drawing, teaching
| training = {{Plainlist|
* ]
* ]
}}
| movement = ], ]
| notable_works = {{Plainlist|
* '']''
* '']''
* '']''
* '']''
}}
| patrons =
| spouse = ]
| awards = {{Plainlist|
* ]
* ]
* ]
}}
}}


'''Jan Alojzy Matejko''' ({{IPA|pl|ˈjan aˈlɔjzɨ maˈtɛjkɔ|-|Pl-Jan Matejko.ogg}}; also known as '''Jan Mateyko'''; 24 June 1838{{refn|group=nb|While the date of 24 June is most commonly given, some recent biographers of Matejko note that there are reliable documents for two other dates: 28 and 30 July.<ref name="szypowska7-8">{{cite book|author=Maria Szypowska|title=Jan Matejko wszystkim znany|year=2016|publisher=Fundacja Artibus-Wurlitzer oraz Wydawn. Domu Słowa Polskiego|isbn=9788377858448|language=pl|pages=7–8}}</ref>}} – 1 November 1893) was a Polish painter, a leading 19th-century exponent of ], known for depicting nodal events from Polish history.<ref name="TPaP"/><ref name="MioPa"/> His works include large scale ] paintings such as '']'' (1862), '']'' (1866), '']'' (1869),'' ]'' (1873),<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/exhibitions/conversations-with-god-jan-matejkos-copernicus|title=Conversations with God: Jan Matejko's Copernicus, Exhibition, 21 May-22 August 2021|publisher=]|year= 2021}}</ref> or '']'' (1878). He was the author of numerous portraits, a gallery of ] in book form, and ]s in ]. He is considered by many as the most celebrated ], and sometimes as the "national painter" of Poland.<ref name="TPaP" /><ref name="MioPa" /><ref name="Reddaway1971">{{cite book|author=William Fiddian Reddaway|title=The Cambridge History of Poland|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=As43AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA547|year=1971|publisher=CUP Archive|page=547|id=GGKEY:2G7C1LPZ3RN}}</ref>
'''Jan Matejko''' (aka '''Jan Mateyko'''; ], ], ] – ], ], ]) was a ] artist famous{{fact}} for ] of notable historical Polish political and military events. The most famous{{fact}} work of his is likely the '']''; his other works include numerous ]s and ] scenes, and a gallery of Polish ]. He is counted among the most famous{{fact}} ].

Matejko spent most of his life in ]. He enrolled at the ] at age fourteen, where he studied under notable artists such as ] and ] and completed his first major historical painting in 1853. His early exposure to revolutions in Kraków and the military service of his brothers influenced his artistic themes. After studying art in Munich and Vienna, he returned to Kraków and set up a studio. He gradually gained recognition, selling key paintings that settled his debts and created some of his most famous works, including '']'' and '']''. Matejko's art played a key role in promoting ] and national identity at a time when Poland was ] and lacked political autonomy.

At the same time, Matejko's painting style has been criticised as old-fashioned and overly theatrical, labeled as "antiquarian realism". His works often lost their nuanced historical significance when displayed abroad due to the audience's unfamiliarity with Polish history. Matejko's support for the Polish cause was not just through his art; he also contributed financially and materially to the ]. Later, he became director of the art academy in Kraków, which was eventually renamed the ]. A number of his students became prominent artists in their own right, including ], ], ] and ]. He received several honors during his lifetime, including the ]. Matejko was among the notable people to receive an unsolicited letter from the German philosopher ], as the latter tipped, in January 1889, into his psychotic breakdown while in ].<ref>Matejko Adressat des Briefes ''Den erlauchten Polen'' vom 4. Januar 1889 (in German)</ref><ref></ref>


==Biography== ==Biography==
===Youth===
Matejko was born on June 24, 1838, in ], (] (later, ]) ]). His Czech father, Franciszek Ksawery Matejko, was a tutor and music teacher, who worked first for the Wodzicki family in ], then moved to ] where he married Joanna Karolina Rossberg from a Polish-German family of a well-to-do saddler. Jan was the 9th child from 11 that his parents had. After the death of his mother in 1846 Matejko and his siblings were taken care of by his aunt Anna Zamojska.
Matejko was born on 24 June 1838, in the ].<ref name="TPaP"/> His father, ] ({{langx|cs|František Xaver Matějka}}) (born 1789 or 13 January 1793, died 26 October 1860), a Czech from the village of ], was a graduate of the ] school who later became a tutor and music teacher.<ref name="TPaP"/> He first worked for the Wodzicki family in Kościelniki, Poland, then moved to ], where he married the half-German, half-Polish Joanna Karolina Rossberg (Rozberg).<ref name="TPaP"/> Jan was the ninth of eleven children. His mother died when he was very young and his older brother, Franciszek had a hand in the manner of his upbringing.<ref name="szypowska12">{{cite book|author=Maria Szypowska|title=Jan Matejko wszystkim znany|year=2016|publisher=Fundacja Artibus-Wurlitzer oraz Wydawn. Domu Słowa Polskiego|isbn=9788377858448|language=pl|page=12}}</ref> He grew up in a ] building on ].<ref name="szypowska11">{{cite book|author=Maria Szypowska|title=Jan Matejko wszystkim znany|year=2016|publisher=Fundacja Artibus-Wurlitzer oraz Wydawn. Domu Słowa Polskiego|isbn=9788377858448|language=pl|page=11}}</ref> After the death of his mother in 1845, Jan and his siblings were cared for by his maternal aunt, Anna Zamojska.<ref name="szypowska12"/>


]]]
], in 1979 named after Matejko's, was the place where Matejko studied, and where later he was a principal for many years.]]
]]]
From earliest days he showed exceptional artistic talent that let him advance from grade to grade as he had great difficulties with other subjects. He never mastered a foreign language and didn't do well even with ]. That's why any public appearances to which he was forced all his life were for him real nightmares. At a young age he witnessed the ] by the Austrians, events which ended the existence of the ] (two of his olders brothers served under general ], one died). He attended St.Anna high school which he dropped in 1851 because of poor results. Despite that because of his exceptional talent from 1852 to 1858 he studied at the ] under ] and ]. During this time he started exhibiting historical paintings with the Society of Friends of the Fine Arts there (e.g. ] Bestowing Nobility on the Professors of the ] in 1535.). After studying in ] (1859) under the history painter ] (where he got a bronze medal for a study of male act) and then briefly and less successfully in ], Matejko returned to Kraków, where he lived for the rest of his life and where, beginning in 1873, he was for many years the principal of the School of Fine Arts.
At a young age he witnessed the ] of 1846 and the 1848 ] by the Austrians, two events which put an end to the ].<ref name="TPaP"/> Two of his older brothers served in both armed conflicts, under General ]. One of them, ], fell in battle and the other was forced into exile.<ref name="TPaP"/> Matejko attended ], but he dropped out in 1851 because of poor grades. Matejko showed an early artistic talent, but had great difficulty with other academic subjects.<ref name="szypowska182223">{{cite book|author=Maria Szypowska|title=Jan Matejko wszystkim znany|year=2016|publisher=Fundacja Artibus-Wurlitzer oraz Wydawn. Domu Słowa Polskiego|isbn=9788377858448|language=pl|pages=18, 22–23}}</ref> He never fully mastered a foreign language.<ref name="szypowska18">{{cite book|author=Maria Szypowska|title=Jan Matejko wszystkim znany|year=2016|publisher=Fundacja Artibus-Wurlitzer oraz Wydawn. Domu Słowa Polskiego|isbn=9788377858448|language=pl|page=18}}</ref><!-- and did not do well even with his native ]. As a result, the public appearances he was obliged to make all his life must have been difficult for him. {{cn}} --> Despite that, and because of his exceptional skill, at the age of fourteen he entered the ], where he was a contemporary of ] from 1852 to 1858.<ref name="TPaP"/> His teachers included ] and ].<ref name="szypowska25">{{cite book|author=Maria Szypowska|title=Jan Matejko wszystkim znany|year=2016|publisher=Fundacja Artibus-Wurlitzer oraz Wydawn. Domu Słowa Polskiego|isbn=9788377858448|language=pl|page=25}}</ref> He opted for ] as his specialism, and finished his first major work, ''The Shuyski Tsars before Zygmunt III'' (''Carowie Szujscy przed Zygmuntem III''), in 1853 (he would return to this theme a year before his death, in 1892.<ref name="MatejkoMalinowski1993">{{cite book|author1=Jan Matejko|author2=Jerzy Malinowski|author3=Krystyna Sroczyńska|author4=Jurij Birjułow|title=Matejko: Album|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=O8suAQAAIAAJ|year=1993|publisher=Arkady|isbn=9788321336527|language=pl|quote=Matejko malował nadto dwukrotnie sceny hołdu carów Szujskich przed Zygmuntem III w 1853 i 1892 roku."}} </ref><ref name="szypowska25"/><ref name=psb185/> During this time, he began exhibiting historical paintings at the ] from 1855.<ref name=psb185>Bochnak (1975), p. 185</ref> His graduation project in 1858 was ''] ennobles professors of the ]'' (''Zygmunt I nadaje szlachectwo profesorom Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego'') and proved to be seminal.<ref name="szypowska39">{{cite book|author=Maria Szypowska|title=Jan Matejko wszystkim znany|year=2016|publisher=Fundacja Artibus-Wurlitzer oraz Wydawn. Domu Słowa Polskiego|isbn=9788377858448|language=pl|page=39}}</ref>


After graduation in 1859,<ref name="szypowska39"/> Matejko received a scholarship to study with ] at the ].<ref name=psb185/> The following year he received a further scholarship to study at the ], but after only a few days and a major quarrel with ], Matejko returned to Kraków.<ref name=psb186/> He set up a studio at his family home in ].<ref name=psb186/> It took years before he met with commercial success. He struggled as the proverbial "starving artist", who finally celebrated when he managed to sell the ''Shuyski Tsars...'' canvas for five ].<ref name="TPaP"/>
] (Poland), ]," by Jan Matejko, ], oil on canvas, 156 × 232 cm, ], ]. Pictured is the aftermath of the failed January 1863 Uprising; one of the most ] and ] paintings by Matejko. Captives await ] to ]. ] officers and soldiers supervise a blacksmith placing ]s on a woman (]). The blonde next to her may represent ].]]
During the ] of 1863 in which he did not participate because of poor health he supported it financially and he ] to the insurgents' camp in ]). In 1864 he married Teodora Giebultowska. They had four children: Beata, Helena, Tadeusz and Jerzy. That year he became a member of Scientific Society in Cracow. At that time Matejko started to gain international recognition: literally a starving artist during his younger days, in 1865, his ''Skarga's Sermon'' painting won the gold medal at the annual ]. It was subsequently purchased by Count ] for 10,000 ]s. In 1867, ''Rejtan'' painting won the gold medal at the ]. French critics included Matejko among the most outstanding representatives of historical painting in Europe. Through his painting, he succeeded in reminding Europe that ] did exist in spite of political realities.


In 1860, against a background of cultural erosion in ] Matejko published an illustrated album, ''Clothing in Poland'' (''Ubiory w Polsce''), a project reflecting his intense interest in the historical record of his nation and his desire to promote it among Polish people and incidentally stir their patriotism.<ref name=psb186/> His financial situation improved when he sold two paintings, ''The assassination of Wapowski during the coronation of ]'' (''Zabicie Wapowskiego w czasie koronacji Henryka Walezego'', 1861) and ''] over the body of his daughter Urszulka'' (''Jan Kochanowski nad zwłokami Urszulki'', 1862), which settled his debts.<ref name="szypowska78">{{cite book|author=Maria Szypowska|title=Jan Matejko wszystkim znany|year=2016|publisher=Fundacja Artibus-Wurlitzer oraz Wydawn. Domu Słowa Polskiego|isbn=9788377858448|language=pl|page=78}}</ref>
He died on November 1, 1893, in Kraków and was buried in the middle of the Alley of the Meritorious at Kraków's ].
1862 saw the completion of his '']'', initially received without much acclaim, but in due course becoming one of Matejko's best known works.<ref name="szypowska85">{{cite book|author=Maria Szypowska|title=Jan Matejko wszystkim znany|year=2016|publisher=Fundacja Artibus-Wurlitzer oraz Wydawn. Domu Słowa Polskiego|isbn=9788377858448|language=pl|page=85}}</ref> It marks a manifest departure in Matejko's art, from mere illustrator of history to commentator upon its moral content.<ref name=psb186/>
]'', 1862, ]]]
]]]
During the ] of 1863, in which he did not directly take part on account of his poor health, Matejko supported it financially, donating most of his savings to the cause, and personally ] to an insurgents' camp.<ref name=psb186>Bochnak (1975), p. 186</ref> Subsequently, his '']'' (''Kazanie Skargi''), May 1864, was exhibited in the gallery of the ], which gained him much publicity.<ref name=psb186/> On 5 November that same year, he was elected member of the ''Kraków Scientific Society'' (''Towarzystwo Naukowe Krakowskie'') in recognition for his contributions to depicting great national historical themes.<ref name="Słoczyński2000">{{cite book|author=Henryk Marek Słoczyński|title=Matejko|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vUVMAAAAMAAJ|year=2000|publisher=Wydawn. Dolnośląskie|isbn=978-83-7023-820-9|page=81|language=pl}}</ref> On 21 November he married ], with whom he went on to have five children: Beata, ], Tadeusz, Jerzy and Regina.<ref name=psb186/> His daughter, Helena, also an artist, later helped ] victims and was awarded the ] by President ].<ref name="Helena z Matejków Unierzyska"/>


==Works== ===Rise to fame===
] was named in honour of Matejko in 1979, where he served as president for many years]]
]", a major battle of the ], 1794. Oil on canvas, 1888, National Museum in ]. ] ], ]]]
]]
In 1860 Matejko issued an illustrated album, ''Ubiory w Polsce'' (Clothing in Poland), a project reflecting his intense interest in historical records of all kinds and his desire to promote such interest among the Polish people in an effort to intensify their patriotic feelings. In 1861 he had an exhibition "Otrucie królowej Bony" (Poisoning of ]) in ]'s ]. The national defeats forced him to abandon the ] which, he believed, was his vocation and to devote himself almost exclusively to ]. In fact he created a vision of ] from which we can not liberate ourselves despite of perennial criticism of the scientists. Matejko often placed on his paintings people who were not present at this location (f.ex. ], and General ], on "The ]"). He was not interested in presenting factual events but in representation of a historical-philosophical synthesis. Matejko's work has to be viewed not only in artistic terms, but also in terms of the ] it performed and continues to perform today. He considered history as a function of the present and the future. His paintings are not historical illustrations, rather they are powerful expressions of the artist's psyche and his attitude to the world.
After 1865 Matejko's international recognition grew. His ''Skarga's Sermon'' was awarded a gold medal at the 1865 Paris Salon, prompting Count {{ILL|Maurycy Potocki|pl}} to buy it for 10,000 florins.<ref name="TPaP"/> In 1867, his painting '']'' was awarded a gold medal at the ] in Paris and was acquired by Emperor ] for 50,000 franks.<ref>{{cite book|title=Projekt|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RDAtAQAAIAAJ|year=1992|publisher=Prasa-Książka-Ruch|page=cxliii}}</ref><ref name="Matejko1993-1963">{{cite book|author=Jan Matejko|title=Matejko: obrazy olejne : katalog|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WMsuAQAAIAAJ|year=1993|publisher=Arkady|isbn=978-83-213-3652-7|page=1963}}</ref> His next major painting was the '']'' (''Unia Lubelska''), created during 1867–1869. Acclaimed in Paris, it won Matejko the ].<ref name=psb187>Bochnak (1975), p. 187</ref> and was purchased by the ].<ref name=psb188/> It was followed by ''] at ]'' (''Stefan Batory pod Pskowem''), finished in 1871.<ref name=psb187/> In 1872, he visited ] and upon his return to Kraków finished ''The ]'' (''Astronom Kopernik, czyli rozmowa z Bogiem''), which was acquired by the ].<ref name=psb187/> From the 1870s onwards he was aided by a secretary, Marian Gorzkowski, who became his personal assistant, his closest friend, a model for a number of his paintings, and the author of a memoir about Matejko.<ref name=psb188/><ref name="WyspiańskiRydlowa1994">{{cite book|author1=Stanisław Wyspiański|author2=Maria Rydlowa|title=Listy Stanisława Wyspiańskiego do Józefa Mehoffera, Henryka Opieńskiego i Tadeusza Stryjeńskiego|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jVphAAAAMAAJ|year=1994|publisher=Wydawnictwo Literackie|isbn=978-83-08-02562-8|page=75|language=pl}}</ref>


In 1872, during an exhibition in ] he was offered the directorship of the ], quickly followed by a similar offer from the Kraków School of Fine Arts.<ref name=psb187/> He accepted the Kraków position, and was for many years its principal (]).<ref name=psb187/> In 1874, he finished '']'' (''The Hanging of the Sigismund bell'').<ref name=WM/> In 1878, he produced another masterpiece, ''The ]''.<ref name=psb188>Bochnak (1975), p. 188</ref> That year he received an "honorary grand gold" medal in Paris, while Kraków city council presented him with a ceremonial ], as a symbol of his "royal status in fine art".<ref name=psb188/> In 1879 came his ''Rok 1863 - Polonia'' (''The Year 1863 - Polonia''), his depiction of the ]. Begun in 1864 as the Uprising was waning, he abandoned the canvas for a number of years, perhaps due to the loss of several close friends and family members in the conflict. It languished unfinished until prince ] became interested in acquiring it. To this day it is considered unfinished.<ref name=psb186/><ref name="Sztuki1979">{{cite book|author=Stowarzyszenie Historyków Sztuki|title=Sztuka XIX wieku w Polsce|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-ExXAAAAIAAJ|year=1979|publisher=Państwowe Wydawn. Naukowe|pages=31–32|isbn=9788301010485|language=pl}}</ref><ref name="Treter1939">{{cite book|author=Mieczysław Treter|title=Matejko: osobowosc artysty, tworczosc, forma i styl|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Q3RHAQAAIAAJ|year=1939|publisher=Książnica-Atlas|page=611|language=pl}}</ref>
]" (1536-1612) - predicting the end of the ]. Oil on canvas, 1862, 224 x 397 cm, ].]]
Matejko was focusing on major themes in Polish history and using historical sources to paint events in minute historical detail. He created two groups of historical paintings. The earlier one starting with the painting ] (1862) was directed against the magnates whose lack of ] caused, in his opinion, the fall of Poland. Stanczyk, the court jester to King ] (1437-1548), to whom Matejko gave his own features. The jester is presented as a symbol of the nation's conscience: he sits glumly in a chair apart from the other figures, alone in seeing that events during the ] would ultimately end in tragedy. This group of paintings included among others also ''Kazanie Skargi'' (Sermon of ]) (1864) and ] (1866).


1880-1882 were taken up with another large work, ''The ]'' (''Hołd Pruski'') which Matejko gifted to "the Polish nation". It earned him the ] of Kraków.<ref name=psb188/> One of the city's squares was renamed Matejko Square.<ref name=psb188/> In 1883 he finished ''] at ]'' (''Jan Sobieski pod Wiedniem'') which came to be presented to ] as a "gift of the Polish nation".<ref name=psb185/><ref name=psb188/> Being a member of the delegation delivering the canvas to Rome, Matejko was awarded the ].<ref name=psb189>Bochnak (1975), p. 189</ref> The painting is on permanent exhibition in the ''Sobieski Room'' at the ].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.vaticanstate.va/content/vaticanstate/en/monumenti/musei-vaticani/sala-sobieski-e-dell-immacolata.paginate.1.html|title=The Immaculate Conception and Sobieski Rooms|website=vaticanstate.va|access-date=2 April 2018|archive-date=7 June 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190607192805/http://www.vaticanstate.va/content/vaticanstate/en/monumenti/musei-vaticani/sala-sobieski-e-dell-immacolata.paginate.1.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> Around that time he also became vocal on a number of political issues, publishing letters on topics such as ].<ref name=psb189/> He was also very engaged in efforts to protect and reconstruct historical monuments in Kraków.<ref name=psb190/> In 1886, he finished a painting relating to French rather than Polish history, ''The Virgin of Orléans'', a portrayal of ].<ref name=psb189/><ref name="RadvanAsmus2010">{{cite book|author1=Roxana Radvan|author2=John F. Asmus|author3=Marta Castillejo|author4=Paraskevi Pouli |author5=Austin Nevin|title=Lasers in the Conservation of Artworks VIII|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ev29OVkHLtgC&pg=PA173|date=1 December 2010|publisher=CRC Press|isbn=978-0-415-58073-1|page=173}}</ref>
]", oil on canvas, 1878, 426 x 987 cm, National Museum in ]. The ''Battle of Grunwald'' took place on ] ] between the ] and the ] on one side (estimated 39,000 troops), and the ] on the other (about 27,000 troops). In this battle the ] was defeated and never recovered its former influence.]]
The second group, painted after the defeat of ], is dedicated to famous events in Polish history. Matejko depicted many major events and battles in Polish history. His most famous work is ''Bitwa pod Grunwaldem'' (]) (1878) depicting the 1410 Polish victory over the ] which garnered him international acclaim. Other paintings in this group include ''Unia Lubelska'' (]) (1869), ''Stefan Batory pod Pskowem'' (] at the ]) (1872), ''Kopernik'' (]), ''Dzwon Zygmunta'' (Sigismund's Bell) (1874), ''Hołd Pruski'' (]) (1882), ''Sobieski pod Wiedniem'' (] at the ]) (1883), ], ''] pod Racławicami'' (] at the ]) (1888), ''Dzieje Cywilizacji w Polsce'' (History of civlization in Poland) (1889) and ''Konstytucja 3 Maja'' (]) (1891). From 1890 to 1892 he also painted all of the ] compiled in his book Portraits of Polish Kings (1890); his dedication to detail is evident in that he attended the opening of ]'s ] in 1887 to make sketches of her skull.


In 1887 Matejko received an honorary doctorate from the ], and recognition from the Austrian Society, ''Litteris et Artibus''.<ref name=psb189/> In 1888 he completed ''The Battle of Racławice'' (''Bitwa pod Racławicami'').<ref name=psb189/> In 1888-1899, to justify his new academic title, he published a group of twelve drawings with accompanying commentary, '' The ]'' (''Dzieje Cywilizacji w Polsce'').<ref name=WM/><ref name=psb189/> Between 1890 and 1892, he published a series of works on paper, portraying all the ] (''Poczet królów i książąt polskich'' - ''The kings and princes of Poland'', including queens), whose popularity turned them into the canon portrayals of their subjects.<ref name=psb189/><ref name="Ciciora-Czwórnóg2005">{{cite book|author=Barbara Ciciora-Czwórnóg|title=Jan Matejko|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jZMmAQAAIAAJ|year=2005|publisher=Bosz|isbn=978-83-89747-16-7|page=14|language=pl}}</ref> 1891 marked his '']'' (''Konstytucja 3 Maja'').<ref name=psb189/> He went on to compose another large scale work, ''The Oaths of Jan Kazimierz'' (''Śluby Jana Kazimierza''), but death intervened.<ref name=psb189/> In 1892, a year before his death, he completed his ''Self-portrait'' (''Autoportret'').<ref name=psb189/>
In addition to historical events Matejko made also several portraits. Among others: ''Żona w sukni ślubmej'' (Wife in the wedding dress) (1879), A. Potocki (1879), S. Tarnowski (1890), Autoportret (1892).


===Portraits and other work===
Altogether Matejko authored 320 ] and several thousands ] and ]. Finally he painted a monumental ] in ] (1889-1891). His most important paintings were hidden during ] (''Bitwa pod Grunwaldem'' was buried in ]). After 1945 majority of his works was found and subject to ]. They are now mainly in ] (Muzeum Narodowe w Warszawie).
]]]
] interior - Matejko's decorative murals and vault]]
In addition to the history paintings Matejko was a prolific portraitist.<ref name=psb189/> His subjects included Jagiellonian University rectors ] and ], and numerous portraits of family and friends, including ''Wife in her wedding dress'' ("Żona w sukni ślubnej") (1865, destroyed by his wife during a quarrel and recreated in 1879) and a self-portrait (1892).<ref name=psb189/> Altogether Matejko authored 320 ] and several thousand drawings and ].<ref>{{cite book |title=Jan Matejko 1838-1893 : Gemälde, Aquarelle, Zeichnungen : Ausstellung|trans-title=Jan Matejko 1838-1893: Paintings, Watercolours, Drawings: An Exhibition |date=1982 |language=de}} Kunsthalle ], 26.3.-25.4.1982, Herzog Anton Ulrich-Museum, ], 16.5.-27.6.1982, Städt. Wessenberg-Gemäldegalerie, ], 11.7.-15.8.1982.</ref> He also designed the monumental ] murals for the ] ] (1889–1891), which in 1978 became a ] alongside the ].<ref name="Serafińska1958">{{cite book|author=Stanisława Serafińska|title=Jan Matejko: wspomnienia rodzinne|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HUhsYBacEW8C|year=1958|publisher=Wydawnictwo Literackie|page=575|language=pl}}</ref><ref name="FYPAC">{{Cite web |author=Griffin, Julia |year=2021 |title=Matejko, Father of 'Young Poland', a talk by Julia Griffin |url=https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/events/matejko-father-of-young-poland-talk-in-polish-10-06-2021 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210507151910/https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/events/matejko-father-of-young-poland-talk-in-polish-10-06-2021 |archive-date=7 May 2021 |access-date=7 May 2021 |publisher=]}}</ref>


===Death===
His works, disseminated in thousands of reproductions, have made him one mof the most famous painters in Poland, and became almost standard illustrations of many key events from the ].
], Kraków<!-- DO NOT LINK, see ] for further guidance -->]]
Matejko suffered from a ], and died in Kraków on 1 November of internal bleeding.<ref name=psb190/> His funeral on 5 November drew large crowds, and his death was newsworthy in at least thirty two European newspapers.<ref name="szypowska428">{{cite book|author=Maria Szypowska|title=Jan Matejko wszystkim znany|year=2016|publisher=Fundacja Artibus-Wurlitzer oraz Wydawn. Domu Słowa Polskiego|isbn=9788377858448|language=pl|page=428}}</ref> He was buried in <!--center of the Alley of the Meritorious at -->Kraków's ].<ref name=psb190>Bochnak (1975), p. 190</ref>


==Significance, style and themes==
==Students==
He is counted among the most significant of ],<ref name="TPaP"/><ref name="MioPa"/> and considered by many as "Poland's greatest history painter"<ref name="Reddaway1971"/> or as "a cult figure for the nation at large... by the time of his death.".<ref name=WM/> ] and his "historical symbolism" style had a profound influence on Matejko. This aimed not so much at an exact representation of past events, but gave the artist freedom to interpret and opened the possibility to blend historical data within a chosen perspective. Matejko's technique in the ] genre has been praised for its "luminosity, detail and imagination".<ref name=WM/><ref name="Ciciora" >{{cite web | url=http://www.zeitenblicke.de/2006/2/Ciciora/dippArticle.pdf | title=Jan Matejko in München | author=Ciciora, Barbara|language = de| publisher = zeitenblicke |year=2006 | access-date=5 March 2016}} (PDF; 261&nbsp;kB)</ref>
His more prominent students included ], ], ], ], ], ].

He succeeded in propagating Polish history, and fostering the memory of an erstwhile historic state lost to the world, while his country remained carved up between three European powers which afforded its Polish natives no prospect of political ].<ref name="TPaP"/> His works, disseminated through thousands of reproductions, have become standard illustrations of the many key events in ].<ref name="TPaP"/><ref name="MioPa"/> His 1860 illustrated album, ''Ubiory w Polsce'' (Costume in Poland), is seen as a valuable historical reference.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.muzeum.krakow.pl/Wystawa.1106.0.html?&cHash=1c6a6d9bec42ba80c47995258e045fb5&tx_ttnews%5BbackPid%5D=1105&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=5274 |title=WYSTAWA: Wielka rekwizytornia artysty. Stroje i kostiumy z kolekcji Jana Matejki |trans-title=EXHIBITION: Great artistic repository. Clothing and costumes in the collection of Jan Matejko. |publisher=Muzeum Narodowe w Krakowie |year=2012 |access-date=15 March 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140309041508/http://www.muzeum.krakow.pl/Wystawa.1106.0.html?&cHash=1c6a6d9bec42ba80c47995258e045fb5&tx_ttnews%5BbackPid%5D=1105&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=5274 |archive-date= 9 March 2014 }}</ref>

===Criticism and controversy===
Critics of his work have pointed to his use of traditional, outdated or bombastic painting style, discrediting him for "antiquarian realism" and "theatrical effects".<ref name="Lerski1996">{{cite book|author=Jerzy Jan Lerski|title=Historical Dictionary of Poland, 966-1945|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QTUTqE2difgC&pg=PA343|year=1996|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|isbn=978-0-313-26007-0|page=343}}</ref> At exhibitions abroad, the nuanced historical context of his works was often lost on foreign audiences.<ref name=psb185/><ref name=WM/> Occasionally his paintings would cause controversy. For example, ''Rejtan'' offended a number of prominent members of the ], who saw the painting as an indictment of their entire social class.<ref name=psb187/><ref name=WM/> His paintings were subject to censorship in the ]. ] planned to destroy both ''The Battle of Grunwald'' and ''The Prussian Homage'', which the authorities saw as an offence against the German view of history. They formed part of the very many Polish paintings and art which the Germans planned to destroy in their ], but the ] successfully hid both.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Batorska|first=Danuta|title=The Political Censorship of Jan Matejko|journal=Art Journal|year=1992|volume=51|issue=1|pages=57–63|doi=10.2307/777255|jstor=777255}}</ref>

==Awards==
* ], 1870 for his '']'' 1869
* Médaille d'or at the ] in 1867 for ''] ''
* Kunst-medaille 1873, Vienna
* Membre de l'] (1873)
* Médaille d'honneur at the ]
* Commander's Cross of the ]<ref>Ciciora-Czwórnóg, Barbara. ''Jan Matejko''. p. 56.</ref>
* Commander's Cross of the ]
* Commander's Cross with Star of the ]<ref>Krzysztofowicz-Kozakowska, Stefania.''Malarstwo polskie w zbiorach za granicą''. publisher, Kluszczyński. 2001, p. 12.</ref>
* Gold Medal of the ]
* Papal Gold Medal of ]
* Medal "Pro litteris et artibus", Vienna
* Odznaka Honorowa za Dzieła Sztuki i Umiejętności, Poland (1887)<ref>{{Cite journal|title = Telegramy biura koresp. |url = https://jbc.bj.uj.edu.pl/publication/623315 | journal = Czas |volume = 190 |page = 3 |date = 21 August 1887}}</ref>
* ] of the cities of ], ], ], ], ] and ]
* ] of the ] (1887)<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.uj.edu.pl/uniwersytet/nagrody-i-wyroznienia/doktorzy-hc |title=Doktorzy honoris causa |website=] |language=pl}}</ref>
* Member of the ] (1874), of the ] (1874), of the Accademia Raffaello, ] (1878) and of the Wiener Kunstlergenossenschaft (1888).<ref>{{Cite journal |title = Kronika |url = http://anno.onb.ac.at/cgi-content/anno?aid=klw&datum=18881202&seite=4 |journal = Kurjer Lwowski |volume = 335 |page = 4 |date = 2 December 1888}}</ref>

==Legacy==
]
Matejko's aim was to focus on major themes in Polish history using historical sources to paint events in minute historical detail.<ref name="Chilvers2004">{{cite book|author=Ian Chilvers|title=The Oxford Dictionary of Art|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WYaRX58a0_IC&pg=PA452|date=10 June 2004|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-860476-1|page=452}}</ref> His earliest paintings are purely historical depictions without didactic content.<ref name=psb186/> The later works, starting with '']'' (1862), are intended to inspire the viewer with a patriotic message.<ref name=psb186/><ref name="Norman1977">{{cite book|author=Geraldine Norman|title=Nineteenth-century Painters and Painting: A Dictionary|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=G_AIX2wVuj0C&pg=PA181|date=1 January 1977|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-03328-3|page=181}}</ref> ''Stańczyk'' focuses on the court jester, portrayed as a symbol of his country's conscience, sitting in a chair, against the background of a party - a lonely figure reflecting on war, ignored by the joyful crowd.<ref name=WM>Wanda Małaszewska. "Matejko, Jan." Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 28 May 2014, http://www.oxfordartonline.com/subscriber/article/grove/art/T055919</ref>

His paintings are on display in numerous Polish museums, including: the ], ], ] and ].<ref name=psb190/> The National Museum, Kraków has a building entirely dedicated to Matejko - ''The Jan Matejko House'' (''Dom Jana Matejki''), occupying his former studio and family home in Floriańska Street and opened in 1898.<ref name=psb190/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.muzeum.krakow.pl/O-oddziale.67.0.html |title=O oddziale |publisher=Muzeum.krakow.pl |access-date=29 May 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140524004222/http://www.muzeum.krakow.pl/O-oddziale.67.0.html |archive-date=24 May 2014 }}</ref> Another museum dedicated to Matejko, is the '']'' (Dworek Jana Matejki w Krzesławicach), in the village of ], where Matejko had bought a small estate in 1865.<ref name=psb188/><ref name=psb191>Bochnak (1975), p. 191</ref>

===As teacher and influencer===
Over 80 painters were Matejko's students, many influenced during his tenure as director of the ''Kraków School of Fine Arts'', and are called members of the "Matejko School".<ref>{{cite book|isbn= 978-83874-5563-7|date= 2004|language=pl|publisher= Muzeum Śląskie|place=Katowice|author= Jarmuł, Katarzyna|editor= Nagengast, Weronika|title=Artyści ze Szkoły Jana Matejki}}</ref><ref name=WM/><ref name=cultureplart>{{cite web|url=https://culture.pl/en/place/jan-matejko-academy-of-fine-arts |title="Artists from the School of Jan Matejko" &#124; Event |publisher=Culture.pl |access-date=29 May 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140529052601/http://culture.pl/en/event/artists-from-the-school-of-jan-matejko |archive-date=29 May 2014 }}</ref> Some went on to become members of the brief flowering of the ] (''Młoda Polska'') movement, which encompassed literature, music, theatre as well as visual arts and was dissipated by ]. Matejko has been dubbed "Father of Young Poland".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/events/matejko-father-of-young-poland-talk-in-polish-10-06-2021|author=Griffin, Julia|publisher=]|title=Matejko, Father of 'Young Poland'|year=2021|access-date=7 May 2021|archive-date=7 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210507151910/https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/events/matejko-father-of-young-poland-talk-in-polish-10-06-2021|url-status=dead}}</ref> Prominent among his students were:

*]<ref name=cultureplart/>
*]<ref name="Abramson2004">{{cite book|author=Glenda Abramson|title=Encyclopedia of Modern Jewish Culture|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=L_FhfTvzjygC&pg=PA523|date=1 March 2004|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-134-42865-6|page=523}}</ref>
* ]<ref name=cultureplart/>
* ], Matejko's daughter
* ]<ref name=cultureplart/>
* ]
* ]<ref name=cultureplart/>
* ]<ref name=cultureplart/>
* ]<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.thefirstnews.com/article/considered-polands-greatest-panorama-painter-jan-styka-died-95-years-ago-today-12315 |title=Considered Poland's greatest panorama painter, Jan Styka died 95 years ago today |access-date=29 April 2020}}</ref>
* ]
* ], Matejko's son-in-law
* ]<ref name=cultureplart/>
* ]<ref name=cultureplart/>

<gallery align="center">
File:Treny normal.jpg|] over his dead daughter's body, 1862
File:Samuel Zborowski śmierć.jpg|] on his way to his execution
File:Wladyslaw I Lokietek (76841156) (cropped).jpg|] from the Gallery of Polish Monarchs
File:Konstytucja 3 Maja Sejm Czteroletni Komisja edukacyjna Rozbior.jpg|''The ]. Four-Year Sejm. Educational Commission Partition. A.D. 1795'' ]
File:Nikolaus Kopernikus 2.jpg|'']'', 1873. In the background: ]
File:Jan Matejko, ritratto di donna.jpg|Pen and ink drawing possibly of ], 1861
File:Jan Matejko - Ociemniały Wit Stwosz z wnuczką.jpg|'']'' (1865), ]
</gallery>

==Selected work==
The following is a selected list of Matejko's works, in chronological order.

{| border="0" style="margin:auto; border:1px solid #999; background:#fff;"
|- style="text-align:center; background:#ccc;"
|'''#'''
|'''Title'''
|'''Year'''
|'''Technique and size'''
|'''Location'''
|'''Illustration'''
|- style="background:#efefef;"
<!--Paintings mentioned in body not yet in gallery: https://commons.wikimedia.org/File:Profesorowie_UJ.jpg 1858 https://commons.wikimedia.org/File:Killing_of_Wapowski_during_the_coronation_of_Henry_of_Valois.PNG 181 https://commons.wikimedia.org/File:Treny_normal.jpg 1862-->
| 1. || ''Carowie Szujscy przed Zygmuntem III'' (''The ] Princes before King Sigismund III'')|| 1853 || oil on canvas<br />75.5&nbsp;cm × 109&nbsp;cm || ] ||]
|-
| 2. || '']''
| 1862 || oil on canvas<br />120 × 88&nbsp;cm || ] || ]
|- style="background:#efefef;"
| 3. || '']'' (''Skarga's Sermon'')|| 1864 || oil on canvas<br />224 × 397&nbsp;cm || ] ||]
|-
| 4. || '']'' || 1866 || oil on canvas<br />282 × 487&nbsp;cm || Royal Castle, Warsaw ||]
|- style="background:#efefef;"
| 5. || '']'' (''Alchemist Sendivogius'') || 1867 || oil on canvas<br />73 × 130&nbsp;cm || Museum of Arts in Łódź ||]
|-
| 6. || '']'' (''Union of Lublin'')|| 1869 || oil on canvas<br />298&nbsp;cm × 512&nbsp;cm || ] ||]
|- style="background:#efefef;"
| 7. || ''Stefan Batory pod Pskowem'' ('']'') || 1872 || oil on canvas<br />322 × 545&nbsp;cm || Royal Castle, Warsaw ||]
|-
| 8. || '']'' (''Astronomer Copernicus, or Conversations with God'') || 1873 || oil on canvas<br />225 × 315&nbsp;cm || ] ||]
|- style="background:#efefef;"
| 9. || '']'' (''The Hanging of the Sigismund bell'') || 1874 || oil on wood<br />94 × 189&nbsp;cm || National Museum, Warsaw ||]
|-
| 10. || ''Śmierć króla Przemysła II'' (''Death of King Przemysł II'')|| 1875 || || ] ||]
|- style="background:#efefef;"
| 11. || '']'' (''Battle of Grunwald'')|| 1878 || oil on canvas<br />426 × 987&nbsp;cm || National Museum, Warsaw ||]
|-
| 12. || '']'' (''Polonia - year 1863'')|| 1879 || oil on canvas<br />156 × 232&nbsp;cm || ] ||]
|- style="background:#efefef;"
| 13. || '']'' (''The Prussian Homage'')|| 1880-82 || oil on canvas<br />388 × 875&nbsp;cm || ] ||]
|-
| 14. || ''Jan III Sobieski pod Wiedniem'' (''John III Sobieski at Vienna'')|| 1883 || ||]||]
|- style="background:#efefef;"
| 15. || ''Wernyhora'' || 1883-84 || oil on canvas<br />290 × 204&nbsp;cm || ] ||]
|-
| 16. || ''Założenie Akademii Lubrańskiego w Poznaniu'' (''Founding of the Lubrański Academy in Poznań'') || 1886 || || ] ||]
|- style="background:#efefef;"
| 17. || ''Dziewica Orleańska'' (''Maid of Orléans'')|| 1886 || oil on canvas<br/> 484 x 973&nbsp;cm|| ] ||]
|-
| 18. || ''Bitwa pod Racławicami'' (''Battle of Racławice'')|| 1888 || oil on canvas<br />450 × 890&nbsp;cm || ] ||]
|- style="background:#efefef;"
| 19. || cycle '']'' (''History of civilisation in Poland'')|| 1888-1889
|-
| 20. ||'']'' (''Baptism of Lithuania'')|| 1888 || oil on canvas<br />60 × 115.5&nbsp;cm || National Museum, Warsaw ||]
|- style="background:#efefef;"
| 21. || '']'' (''Introduction of Christianity '')|| 1889 || oil on wood<br />79 × 120&nbsp;cm || National Museum, Warsaw ||]
|-
| 22. || cycle ''Poczet królów i książąt polskich'' (''Fellowship of the kings and princes of Poland'') || 1890-1892 || || ||
|- style="background:#efefef;"
| 23. || '']'' (''Constitution of 3 May 1791'')|| 1891 || oil on canvas<br />247&nbsp;cm × 446&nbsp;cm || Royal Castle, Warsaw ||]
|-
| 24. || ''Carowie Szujscy przed Zygmuntem III'' (''The ] Princes before King Sigismund III'')|| 1892 || oil on wood<br />42&nbsp;cm × 63&nbsp;cm || Jan Matejko House in Kraków ||]
|- style="background:#efefef;"
| 25. || ''Self-portrait'' (''Autoportret'') || 1892 || oil on canvas<br />160&nbsp;cm × 110&nbsp;cm || National Museum, Warsaw ||]
|-
| 26. || ''Śluby Jana Kazimierza'' (''Oath of Jan Kazimierz'') || 1893 || oil on wood<br />315&nbsp;cm × 500&nbsp;cm || ] ||]
|- style="background:#efefef;"
|27.||''Wyjście żaków z Krakowa w roku 1549 (])''||1892||oil||]||]
|}


==See also== ==See also==
* ]
* ] (famous paintings of his)
* ]
* '']'' (1860 illustrated album by Matejko)

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=nb}}


==References== ==References==
{{reflist|30em|refs=
*{{Polish|Jan Matejko|20 November 2006}}
* based on ] (GFDL assumed). Last accessed on 20 November 2006.
*. Last accessed on 20 November 2006.
*. Last accessed on 20 November 2006.


<ref name="Helena z Matejków Unierzyska">{{cite web|author=AB |url=http://wiadomosci.gazeta.pl/kraj/1,34309,1193740.html |title=Helena z Matejków Unierzyska |publisher=Miasta.gazeta.pl |date=5 December 2002 |access-date=19 September 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120910193714/http://wiadomosci.gazeta.pl/kraj/1%2C34309%2C1193740.html |archive-date=10 September 2012 }}</ref>
==External links==
{{Commons|Jan Matejko}}
===About===
*
*
*
*
*
*


<ref name="MioPa">{{cite web |url=http://info-poland.buffalo.edu/classroom/Szyszko.html#Matejko |title=History's Impact on Polish Art |publisher=Info-poland.buffalo.edu |access-date=12 September 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110926222914/http://info-poland.buffalo.edu/classroom/Szyszko.html#Matejko |archive-date=26 September 2011 }}</ref>
===Galleries===
*
*
*
*
*
*


<ref name="TPaP">{{cite web |url=http://info-poland.buffalo.edu/classroom/JM/JM.html |title=Jan Matejko: The Painter and Patriot Fostering Polish Nationalism |publisher=Info-poland.buffalo.edu |access-date=12 September 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070526035724/http://info-poland.buffalo.edu/classroom/JM/JM.html |archive-date=26 May 2007 }}</ref>
==Further reading==

*Danuta Batorska, ''The Political Censorship of Jan Matejko'', ], Vol. 51, No. 1, Uneasy Pieces (Spring, 1992), pp. 57-63,
}}

==Bibliography==
* {{cite encyclopedia|author1=]|author2=]|title=Jan Matejko |encyclopedia=] |volume=XX|year=1975|language=pl}}
* {{cite journal|first=Danuta|last=Batorska|title=The Political Censorship of Jan Matejko|journal=]|volume=51|issue=1|publisher=Uneasy Pieces|date=Spring 1992|pages=57–63|doi=10.2307/777255|jstor=777255}}

==External links==
{{Commons}}
* {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210414192018/https://chambroch.com/artist/jan-matejko |date=14 April 2021 }} chambroch.com
*
* , wawel.net
* , malarze.com
* , culture.pl
* {{in lang|pl}}
*
* {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201230062613/http://www.jan-matejko.org/ |date=30 December 2020 }} A website dedicated to Matejko


] {{Jan Matejko}}
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Latest revision as of 03:33, 8 January 2025

Polish painter (1838–1893) "Matejko" redirects here. For other people people with the surname, see Matejko (surname).

Jan Matejko
Matejko, before 1883
BornJan Alojzy Matejko
24 June 1838
Free City of Kraków
Died1 November 1893(1893-11-01) (aged 55)
Kraków, Grand Duchy of Kraków, Austria-Hungary
Resting placeRakowicki Cemetery, Kraków, Poland
NationalityPolish
Other namesJan Mateyko
Education
Known forPainting, drawing, teaching
Notable work
MovementHistory painting, academic art
SpouseTeodora Giebułtowska
Awards

Jan Alojzy Matejko (Polish pronunciation: [ˈjan aˈlɔjzɨ maˈtɛjkɔ] ; also known as Jan Mateyko; 24 June 1838 – 1 November 1893) was a Polish painter, a leading 19th-century exponent of history painting, known for depicting nodal events from Polish history. His works include large scale oil paintings such as Stańczyk (1862), Rejtan (1866), Union of Lublin (1869), Astronomer Copernicus, or Conversations with God (1873), or Battle of Grunwald (1878). He was the author of numerous portraits, a gallery of Polish monarchs in book form, and murals in St. Mary's Basilica, Kraków. He is considered by many as the most celebrated Polish painter, and sometimes as the "national painter" of Poland.

Matejko spent most of his life in Kraków. He enrolled at the Kraków Academy of Fine Arts at age fourteen, where he studied under notable artists such as Wojciech Korneli Stattler and Władysław Łuszczkiewicz and completed his first major historical painting in 1853. His early exposure to revolutions in Kraków and the military service of his brothers influenced his artistic themes. After studying art in Munich and Vienna, he returned to Kraków and set up a studio. He gradually gained recognition, selling key paintings that settled his debts and created some of his most famous works, including Stańczyk and Skarga's Sermon. Matejko's art played a key role in promoting Polish history and national identity at a time when Poland was partitioned and lacked political autonomy.

At the same time, Matejko's painting style has been criticised as old-fashioned and overly theatrical, labeled as "antiquarian realism". His works often lost their nuanced historical significance when displayed abroad due to the audience's unfamiliarity with Polish history. Matejko's support for the Polish cause was not just through his art; he also contributed financially and materially to the January Uprising of 1863. Later, he became director of the art academy in Kraków, which was eventually renamed the Jan Matejko Academy of Fine Arts. A number of his students became prominent artists in their own right, including Maurycy Gottlieb, Jacek Malczewski, Józef Mehoffer and Stanisław Wyspiański. He received several honors during his lifetime, including the French Légion d'honneur. Matejko was among the notable people to receive an unsolicited letter from the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, as the latter tipped, in January 1889, into his psychotic breakdown while in Turin.

Biography

Youth

Matejko was born on 24 June 1838, in the Free City of Kraków. His father, Franciszek Ksawery Matejko (Czech: František Xaver Matějka) (born 1789 or 13 January 1793, died 26 October 1860), a Czech from the village of Roudnice, was a graduate of the Hradec Králové school who later became a tutor and music teacher. He first worked for the Wodzicki family in Kościelniki, Poland, then moved to Kraków, where he married the half-German, half-Polish Joanna Karolina Rossberg (Rozberg). Jan was the ninth of eleven children. His mother died when he was very young and his older brother, Franciszek had a hand in the manner of his upbringing. He grew up in a kamienica building on Floriańska Street. After the death of his mother in 1845, Jan and his siblings were cared for by his maternal aunt, Anna Zamojska.

Portrait of Matejko's father, Franciszek, and three of his children, 1853, National Museum, Wrocław
Matejko's family home at 41, Floriańska Street

At a young age he witnessed the Kraków revolution of 1846 and the 1848 siege of Kraków by the Austrians, two events which put an end to the Free City of Kraków. Two of his older brothers served in both armed conflicts, under General Józef Bem. One of them, Edmund, fell in battle and the other was forced into exile. Matejko attended St. Anne's High School, but he dropped out in 1851 because of poor grades. Matejko showed an early artistic talent, but had great difficulty with other academic subjects. He never fully mastered a foreign language. Despite that, and because of his exceptional skill, at the age of fourteen he entered the School of Fine Arts in Kraków, where he was a contemporary of Artur Grottger from 1852 to 1858. His teachers included Wojciech Korneli Stattler and Władysław Łuszczkiewicz. He opted for historical painting as his specialism, and finished his first major work, The Shuyski Tsars before Zygmunt III (Carowie Szujscy przed Zygmuntem III), in 1853 (he would return to this theme a year before his death, in 1892. During this time, he began exhibiting historical paintings at the Kraków Society of Friends of Fine Arts from 1855. His graduation project in 1858 was Sigismund I the Old ennobles professors of the Jagiellonian University (Zygmunt I nadaje szlachectwo profesorom Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego) and proved to be seminal.

After graduation in 1859, Matejko received a scholarship to study with Hermann Anschütz at the Academy of Fine Arts, Munich. The following year he received a further scholarship to study at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna, but after only a few days and a major quarrel with Christian Ruben, Matejko returned to Kraków. He set up a studio at his family home in Floriańska Street. It took years before he met with commercial success. He struggled as the proverbial "starving artist", who finally celebrated when he managed to sell the Shuyski Tsars... canvas for five florins.

In 1860, against a background of cultural erosion in partitioned Poland Matejko published an illustrated album, Clothing in Poland (Ubiory w Polsce), a project reflecting his intense interest in the historical record of his nation and his desire to promote it among Polish people and incidentally stir their patriotism. His financial situation improved when he sold two paintings, The assassination of Wapowski during the coronation of Henri de Valois (Zabicie Wapowskiego w czasie koronacji Henryka Walezego, 1861) and Jan Kochanowski over the body of his daughter Urszulka (Jan Kochanowski nad zwłokami Urszulki, 1862), which settled his debts. 1862 saw the completion of his Stańczyk, initially received without much acclaim, but in due course becoming one of Matejko's best known works. It marks a manifest departure in Matejko's art, from mere illustrator of history to commentator upon its moral content.

Jan Matejko, Stańczyk, 1862, National Museum in Warsaw
Portrait of the artist's four children from 1879, Lviv National Art Gallery

During the January Uprising of 1863, in which he did not directly take part on account of his poor health, Matejko supported it financially, donating most of his savings to the cause, and personally transporting arms to an insurgents' camp. Subsequently, his Skarga's Sermon (Kazanie Skargi), May 1864, was exhibited in the gallery of the Kraków Society of Friends of Fine Arts, which gained him much publicity. On 5 November that same year, he was elected member of the Kraków Scientific Society (Towarzystwo Naukowe Krakowskie) in recognition for his contributions to depicting great national historical themes. On 21 November he married Teodora Giebułtowska, with whom he went on to have five children: Beata, Helena, Tadeusz, Jerzy and Regina. His daughter, Helena, also an artist, later helped World War I victims and was awarded the Cross of Independence by President Stanisław Wojciechowski.

Rise to fame

The Kraków Academy of Fine Arts was named in honour of Matejko in 1979, where he served as president for many years
Jan Matejko's atelier

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After 1865 Matejko's international recognition grew. His Skarga's Sermon was awarded a gold medal at the 1865 Paris Salon, prompting Count Maurycy Potocki [pl] to buy it for 10,000 florins. In 1867, his painting Rejtan was awarded a gold medal at the World Exhibition in Paris and was acquired by Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria for 50,000 franks. His next major painting was the Union of Lublin (Unia Lubelska), created during 1867–1869. Acclaimed in Paris, it won Matejko the Cross of the Légion d'honneur. and was purchased by the Sejm of Galicia. It was followed by Stefan Batory at Pskov (Stefan Batory pod Pskowem), finished in 1871. In 1872, he visited Istanbul and upon his return to Kraków finished The Astronomer Copernicus, or Conversations with God (Astronom Kopernik, czyli rozmowa z Bogiem), which was acquired by the Jagiellonian University. From the 1870s onwards he was aided by a secretary, Marian Gorzkowski, who became his personal assistant, his closest friend, a model for a number of his paintings, and the author of a memoir about Matejko.

In 1872, during an exhibition in Prague he was offered the directorship of the Prague Academy of Fine Arts, quickly followed by a similar offer from the Kraków School of Fine Arts. He accepted the Kraków position, and was for many years its principal (rector). In 1874, he finished Zawieszenie dzwonu Zygmunta (The Hanging of the Sigismund bell). In 1878, he produced another masterpiece, The Battle of Grunwald. That year he received an "honorary grand gold" medal in Paris, while Kraków city council presented him with a ceremonial scepter, as a symbol of his "royal status in fine art". In 1879 came his Rok 1863 - Polonia (The Year 1863 - Polonia), his depiction of the January Uprising. Begun in 1864 as the Uprising was waning, he abandoned the canvas for a number of years, perhaps due to the loss of several close friends and family members in the conflict. It languished unfinished until prince Władysław Czartoryski became interested in acquiring it. To this day it is considered unfinished.

1880-1882 were taken up with another large work, The Prussian Tribute (Hołd Pruski) which Matejko gifted to "the Polish nation". It earned him the honorary citizenship of Kraków. One of the city's squares was renamed Matejko Square. In 1883 he finished Jan Sobieski at Vienna (Jan Sobieski pod Wiedniem) which came to be presented to Pope Leo XIII as a "gift of the Polish nation". Being a member of the delegation delivering the canvas to Rome, Matejko was awarded the Knight Commander with Star of the Order of Pius IX. The painting is on permanent exhibition in the Sobieski Room at the Vatican Museums. Around that time he also became vocal on a number of political issues, publishing letters on topics such as Polish-Russian relations. He was also very engaged in efforts to protect and reconstruct historical monuments in Kraków. In 1886, he finished a painting relating to French rather than Polish history, The Virgin of Orléans, a portrayal of Joan of Arc.

In 1887 Matejko received an honorary doctorate from the Jagiellonian University, and recognition from the Austrian Society, Litteris et Artibus. In 1888 he completed The Battle of Racławice (Bitwa pod Racławicami). In 1888-1899, to justify his new academic title, he published a group of twelve drawings with accompanying commentary, The History of civilisation in Poland (Dzieje Cywilizacji w Polsce). Between 1890 and 1892, he published a series of works on paper, portraying all the monarchs of Poland (Poczet królów i książąt polskich - The kings and princes of Poland, including queens), whose popularity turned them into the canon portrayals of their subjects. 1891 marked his Constitution of the 3 May (Konstytucja 3 Maja). He went on to compose another large scale work, The Oaths of Jan Kazimierz (Śluby Jana Kazimierza), but death intervened. In 1892, a year before his death, he completed his Self-portrait (Autoportret).

Portraits and other work

Matejko Self-portrait, 1892, National Museum in Warsaw
St. Mary's Basilica, Kraków interior - Matejko's decorative murals and vault

In addition to the history paintings Matejko was a prolific portraitist. His subjects included Jagiellonian University rectors Józef Szujski and Stanisław Tarnowski, and numerous portraits of family and friends, including Wife in her wedding dress ("Żona w sukni ślubnej") (1865, destroyed by his wife during a quarrel and recreated in 1879) and a self-portrait (1892). Altogether Matejko authored 320 oil paintings and several thousand drawings and watercolours. He also designed the monumental polychrome murals for the Brick Gothic St. Mary's Basilica, Kraków (1889–1891), which in 1978 became a UNESCO World Heritage Site alongside the Historic Centre of Kraków.

Death

Matejko's tomb, Rakowicki Cemetery, Kraków

Matejko suffered from a peptic ulcer, and died in Kraków on 1 November of internal bleeding. His funeral on 5 November drew large crowds, and his death was newsworthy in at least thirty two European newspapers. He was buried in Kraków's Rakowicki Cemetery.

Significance, style and themes

He is counted among the most significant of Polish painters, and considered by many as "Poland's greatest history painter" or as "a cult figure for the nation at large... by the time of his death.". Wilhelm von Kaulbach and his "historical symbolism" style had a profound influence on Matejko. This aimed not so much at an exact representation of past events, but gave the artist freedom to interpret and opened the possibility to blend historical data within a chosen perspective. Matejko's technique in the Neoclassical genre has been praised for its "luminosity, detail and imagination".

He succeeded in propagating Polish history, and fostering the memory of an erstwhile historic state lost to the world, while his country remained carved up between three European powers which afforded its Polish natives no prospect of political self-determination. His works, disseminated through thousands of reproductions, have become standard illustrations of the many key events in Polish history. His 1860 illustrated album, Ubiory w Polsce (Costume in Poland), is seen as a valuable historical reference.

Criticism and controversy

Critics of his work have pointed to his use of traditional, outdated or bombastic painting style, discrediting him for "antiquarian realism" and "theatrical effects". At exhibitions abroad, the nuanced historical context of his works was often lost on foreign audiences. Occasionally his paintings would cause controversy. For example, Rejtan offended a number of prominent members of the Polish nobility, who saw the painting as an indictment of their entire social class. His paintings were subject to censorship in the Russian Empire. Nazi Germany planned to destroy both The Battle of Grunwald and The Prussian Homage, which the authorities saw as an offence against the German view of history. They formed part of the very many Polish paintings and art which the Germans planned to destroy in their war on Polish culture, but the Polish resistance successfully hid both.

Awards

Legacy

Jan Matejko's manor house in Krzesławice, now a museum

Matejko's aim was to focus on major themes in Polish history using historical sources to paint events in minute historical detail. His earliest paintings are purely historical depictions without didactic content. The later works, starting with Stańczyk (1862), are intended to inspire the viewer with a patriotic message. Stańczyk focuses on the court jester, portrayed as a symbol of his country's conscience, sitting in a chair, against the background of a party - a lonely figure reflecting on war, ignored by the joyful crowd.

His paintings are on display in numerous Polish museums, including: the National Museum in Warsaw, National Museum in Kraków, National Museum in Poznań and National Museum in Wrocław. The National Museum, Kraków has a building entirely dedicated to Matejko - The Jan Matejko House (Dom Jana Matejki), occupying his former studio and family home in Floriańska Street and opened in 1898. Another museum dedicated to Matejko, is the Jan Matejko Manor House (Dworek Jana Matejki w Krzesławicach), in the village of Krzesławice, where Matejko had bought a small estate in 1865.

As teacher and influencer

Over 80 painters were Matejko's students, many influenced during his tenure as director of the Kraków School of Fine Arts, and are called members of the "Matejko School". Some went on to become members of the brief flowering of the Young Poland (Młoda Polska) movement, which encompassed literature, music, theatre as well as visual arts and was dissipated by World War I. Matejko has been dubbed "Father of Young Poland". Prominent among his students were:

Selected work

The following is a selected list of Matejko's works, in chronological order.

# Title Year Technique and size Location Illustration
1. Carowie Szujscy przed Zygmuntem III (The Shuysky Princes before King Sigismund III) 1853 oil on canvas
75.5 cm × 109 cm		 National Museum in Wrocław
2. Stańczyk 1862 oil on canvas
120 × 88 cm		 National Museum, Warsaw
3. Kazanie Skargi (Skarga's Sermon) 1864 oil on canvas
224 × 397 cm		 Royal Castle, Warsaw
4. Rejtan 1866 oil on canvas
282 × 487 cm		 Royal Castle, Warsaw
5. Alchemik Sędziwój (Alchemist Sendivogius) 1867 oil on canvas
73 × 130 cm		 Museum of Arts in Łódź
6. Unia Lubelska (Union of Lublin) 1869 oil on canvas
298 cm × 512 cm		 Lublin Museum
7. Stefan Batory pod Pskowem (Stephen Báthory at Pskov) 1872 oil on canvas
322 × 545 cm		 Royal Castle, Warsaw
8. Astronom Kopernik, czyli rozmowa z Bogiem (Astronomer Copernicus, or Conversations with God) 1873 oil on canvas
225 × 315 cm		 Collegium Novum
9. Zawieszenie dzwonu Zygmunta (The Hanging of the Sigismund bell) 1874 oil on wood
94 × 189 cm		 National Museum, Warsaw
10. Śmierć króla Przemysła II (Death of King Przemysł II) 1875 Modern Gallery in Zagreb
11. Bitwa pod Grunwaldem (Battle of Grunwald) 1878 oil on canvas
426 × 987 cm		 National Museum, Warsaw
12. Polonia - Rok 1863 (Polonia - year 1863) 1879 oil on canvas
156 × 232 cm		 Czartoryski Museum, Kraków
13. Hołd pruski (The Prussian Homage) 1880-82 oil on canvas
388 × 875 cm		 National Museum, Kraków
14. Jan III Sobieski pod Wiedniem (John III Sobieski at Vienna) 1883 Vatican Museums
15. Wernyhora 1883-84 oil on canvas
290 × 204 cm		 National Museum, Kraków
16. Założenie Akademii Lubrańskiego w Poznaniu (Founding of the Lubrański Academy in Poznań) 1886 National Museum, Poznań
17. Dziewica Orleańska (Maid of Orléans) 1886 oil on canvas
484 x 973 cm		 National Museum, Poznań
18. Bitwa pod Racławicami (Battle of Racławice) 1888 oil on canvas
450 × 890 cm		 National Museum, Kraków
19. cycle Dzieje cywilizacji w Polsce (History of civilisation in Poland) 1888-1889
20. Chrzest Litwy (Baptism of Lithuania) 1888 oil on canvas
60 × 115.5 cm		 National Museum, Warsaw
21. Zaprowadzenie chrześcijaństwa (Introduction of Christianity ) 1889 oil on wood
79 × 120 cm		 National Museum, Warsaw
22. cycle Poczet królów i książąt polskich (Fellowship of the kings and princes of Poland) 1890-1892
23. Konstytucja 3 Maja 1791 r. (Constitution of 3 May 1791) 1891 oil on canvas
247 cm × 446 cm		 Royal Castle, Warsaw
24. Carowie Szujscy przed Zygmuntem III (The Shuysky Princes before King Sigismund III) 1892 oil on wood
42 cm × 63 cm		 Jan Matejko House in Kraków
25. Self-portrait (Autoportret) 1892 oil on canvas
160 cm × 110 cm		 National Museum, Warsaw
26. Śluby Jana Kazimierza (Oath of Jan Kazimierz) 1893 oil on wood
315 cm × 500 cm		 National Museum, Wrocław
27. Wyjście żaków z Krakowa w roku 1549 (Students leaving Krakow in 1549) 1892 oil National Museum in Kraków

See also

Notes

  1. While the date of 24 June is most commonly given, some recent biographers of Matejko note that there are reliable documents for two other dates: 28 and 30 July.

References

  1. Maria Szypowska (2016). Jan Matejko wszystkim znany (in Polish). Fundacja Artibus-Wurlitzer oraz Wydawn. Domu Słowa Polskiego. pp. 7–8. ISBN 9788377858448.
  2. ^ "Jan Matejko: The Painter and Patriot Fostering Polish Nationalism". Info-poland.buffalo.edu. Archived from the original on 26 May 2007. Retrieved 12 September 2011.
  3. ^ "History's Impact on Polish Art". Info-poland.buffalo.edu. Archived from the original on 26 September 2011. Retrieved 12 September 2011.
  4. "Conversations with God: Jan Matejko's Copernicus, Exhibition, 21 May-22 August 2021". National Gallery London. 2021.
  5. ^ William Fiddian Reddaway (1971). The Cambridge History of Poland. CUP Archive. p. 547. GGKEY:2G7C1LPZ3RN.
  6. Matejko Adressat des Briefes Den erlauchten Polen vom 4. Januar 1889 (in German)
  7. Nietzsches Briefe, Ausgewählte Korrespondenz, Wahnzettel 1889
  8. ^ Maria Szypowska (2016). Jan Matejko wszystkim znany (in Polish). Fundacja Artibus-Wurlitzer oraz Wydawn. Domu Słowa Polskiego. p. 12. ISBN 9788377858448.
  9. Maria Szypowska (2016). Jan Matejko wszystkim znany (in Polish). Fundacja Artibus-Wurlitzer oraz Wydawn. Domu Słowa Polskiego. p. 11. ISBN 9788377858448.
  10. Maria Szypowska (2016). Jan Matejko wszystkim znany (in Polish). Fundacja Artibus-Wurlitzer oraz Wydawn. Domu Słowa Polskiego. pp. 18, 22–23. ISBN 9788377858448.
  11. Maria Szypowska (2016). Jan Matejko wszystkim znany (in Polish). Fundacja Artibus-Wurlitzer oraz Wydawn. Domu Słowa Polskiego. p. 18. ISBN 9788377858448.
  12. ^ Maria Szypowska (2016). Jan Matejko wszystkim znany (in Polish). Fundacja Artibus-Wurlitzer oraz Wydawn. Domu Słowa Polskiego. p. 25. ISBN 9788377858448.
  13. Jan Matejko; Jerzy Malinowski; Krystyna Sroczyńska; Jurij Birjułow (1993). Matejko: Album (in Polish). Arkady. ISBN 9788321336527. Matejko malował nadto dwukrotnie sceny hołdu carów Szujskich przed Zygmuntem III w 1853 i 1892 roku."
  14. ^ Bochnak (1975), p. 185
  15. ^ Maria Szypowska (2016). Jan Matejko wszystkim znany (in Polish). Fundacja Artibus-Wurlitzer oraz Wydawn. Domu Słowa Polskiego. p. 39. ISBN 9788377858448.
  16. ^ Bochnak (1975), p. 186
  17. Maria Szypowska (2016). Jan Matejko wszystkim znany (in Polish). Fundacja Artibus-Wurlitzer oraz Wydawn. Domu Słowa Polskiego. p. 78. ISBN 9788377858448.
  18. Maria Szypowska (2016). Jan Matejko wszystkim znany (in Polish). Fundacja Artibus-Wurlitzer oraz Wydawn. Domu Słowa Polskiego. p. 85. ISBN 9788377858448.
  19. Henryk Marek Słoczyński (2000). Matejko (in Polish). Wydawn. Dolnośląskie. p. 81. ISBN 978-83-7023-820-9.
  20. AB (5 December 2002). "Helena z Matejków Unierzyska". Miasta.gazeta.pl. Archived from the original on 10 September 2012. Retrieved 19 September 2009.
  21. Projekt. Prasa-Książka-Ruch. 1992. p. cxliii.
  22. Jan Matejko (1993). Matejko: obrazy olejne : katalog. Arkady. p. 1963. ISBN 978-83-213-3652-7.
  23. ^ Bochnak (1975), p. 187
  24. ^ Bochnak (1975), p. 188
  25. Stanisław Wyspiański; Maria Rydlowa (1994). Listy Stanisława Wyspiańskiego do Józefa Mehoffera, Henryka Opieńskiego i Tadeusza Stryjeńskiego (in Polish). Wydawnictwo Literackie. p. 75. ISBN 978-83-08-02562-8.
  26. ^ Wanda Małaszewska. "Matejko, Jan." Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 28 May 2014, http://www.oxfordartonline.com/subscriber/article/grove/art/T055919
  27. Stowarzyszenie Historyków Sztuki (1979). Sztuka XIX wieku w Polsce (in Polish). Państwowe Wydawn. Naukowe. pp. 31–32. ISBN 9788301010485.
  28. Mieczysław Treter (1939). Matejko: osobowosc artysty, tworczosc, forma i styl (in Polish). Książnica-Atlas. p. 611.
  29. ^ Bochnak (1975), p. 189
  30. "The Immaculate Conception and Sobieski Rooms". vaticanstate.va. Archived from the original on 7 June 2019. Retrieved 2 April 2018.
  31. ^ Bochnak (1975), p. 190
  32. Roxana Radvan; John F. Asmus; Marta Castillejo; Paraskevi Pouli; Austin Nevin (1 December 2010). Lasers in the Conservation of Artworks VIII. CRC Press. p. 173. ISBN 978-0-415-58073-1.
  33. Barbara Ciciora-Czwórnóg (2005). Jan Matejko (in Polish). Bosz. p. 14. ISBN 978-83-89747-16-7.
  34. Jan Matejko 1838-1893 : Gemälde, Aquarelle, Zeichnungen : Ausstellung [Jan Matejko 1838-1893: Paintings, Watercolours, Drawings: An Exhibition] (in German). 1982. Kunsthalle Nürnberg, 26.3.-25.4.1982, Herzog Anton Ulrich-Museum, Braunschweig, 16.5.-27.6.1982, Städt. Wessenberg-Gemäldegalerie, Konstanz, 11.7.-15.8.1982.
  35. Stanisława Serafińska (1958). Jan Matejko: wspomnienia rodzinne (in Polish). Wydawnictwo Literackie. p. 575.
  36. Griffin, Julia (2021). "Matejko, Father of 'Young Poland', a talk by Julia Griffin". National Gallery London. Archived from the original on 7 May 2021. Retrieved 7 May 2021.
  37. Maria Szypowska (2016). Jan Matejko wszystkim znany (in Polish). Fundacja Artibus-Wurlitzer oraz Wydawn. Domu Słowa Polskiego. p. 428. ISBN 9788377858448.
  38. Ciciora, Barbara (2006). "Jan Matejko in München" (PDF) (in German). zeitenblicke. Retrieved 5 March 2016. (PDF; 261 kB)
  39. "WYSTAWA: Wielka rekwizytornia artysty. Stroje i kostiumy z kolekcji Jana Matejki" [EXHIBITION: Great artistic repository. Clothing and costumes in the collection of Jan Matejko.]. Muzeum Narodowe w Krakowie. 2012. Archived from the original on 9 March 2014. Retrieved 15 March 2014.
  40. Jerzy Jan Lerski (1996). Historical Dictionary of Poland, 966-1945. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 343. ISBN 978-0-313-26007-0.
  41. Batorska, Danuta (1992). "The Political Censorship of Jan Matejko". Art Journal. 51 (1): 57–63. doi:10.2307/777255. JSTOR 777255.
  42. Ciciora-Czwórnóg, Barbara. Jan Matejko. p. 56.
  43. Krzysztofowicz-Kozakowska, Stefania.Malarstwo polskie w zbiorach za granicą. publisher, Kluszczyński. 2001, p. 12.
  44. "Telegramy biura koresp". Czas. 190: 3. 21 August 1887.
  45. "Doktorzy honoris causa". Jagiellonian University (in Polish).
  46. "Kronika". Kurjer Lwowski. 335: 4. 2 December 1888.
  47. Ian Chilvers (10 June 2004). The Oxford Dictionary of Art. Oxford University Press. p. 452. ISBN 978-0-19-860476-1.
  48. Geraldine Norman (1 January 1977). Nineteenth-century Painters and Painting: A Dictionary. University of California Press. p. 181. ISBN 978-0-520-03328-3.
  49. "O oddziale". Muzeum.krakow.pl. Archived from the original on 24 May 2014. Retrieved 29 May 2014.
  50. Bochnak (1975), p. 191
  51. Jarmuł, Katarzyna (2004). Nagengast, Weronika (ed.). Artyści ze Szkoły Jana Matejki (in Polish). Katowice: Muzeum Śląskie. ISBN 978-83874-5563-7.
  52. ^ ""Artists from the School of Jan Matejko" | Event". Culture.pl. Archived from the original on 29 May 2014. Retrieved 29 May 2014.
  53. Griffin, Julia (2021). "Matejko, Father of 'Young Poland'". National Gallery London. Archived from the original on 7 May 2021. Retrieved 7 May 2021.
  54. Glenda Abramson (1 March 2004). Encyclopedia of Modern Jewish Culture. Routledge. p. 523. ISBN 978-1-134-42865-6.
  55. "Considered Poland's greatest panorama painter, Jan Styka died 95 years ago today". Retrieved 29 April 2020.

Bibliography

External links

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