This section brings together Polish paintings and sculptures from the 12th to the 18th century. The most valuable part of the collection consists of items from the 14th, 15th and early 16th centuries, which have been collected by the Museum since its earliest years. These are examples of sacred art originating from church and monastery interiors, predominantly from the Lesser Poland region. They allow us to trace all the stylistic phases in the art of southern Poland, beginning with a small group of 14th-century sculptures heralding the flourishing of the ‘beautiful style’ in the first third of the 15th century (Madonna and Child from Krużlowa, c. 1410), through the art of Kraków in the second half of the 15th century (the Dominican polyptych, c. 1460, and the Augustinian polyptych, c. 1468), which exemplifies late-Gothic realism, and culminating in the works of Veit Stoss (Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane, c. 1485). A significant part of the collection consists of late Gothic works dating from the late 15th and the first third of the 16th century. A unique item in Polish museum collections is a set of polychrome ceiling panels from the Church of Sts Simon and Jude in Kozy near Bielsko-Biała, dating from the early 16th century.
Alongside the collection of Gothic art, the Department also houses a valuable collection of modern art, comprising late Renaissance and Baroque paintings and sculptures created in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries. Most of these works were created in Kraków and other centres of Lesser Poland. An important element of this part of the collection is a group of old Polish portraits, the so-called Sarmatian portraits, among which the coffin portraits stand out. The finest works from the collection are on display in the permanent exhibition Art of Old Poland. 12th–18th century, which is located in the Palace of Bishop MNK Ciołek. A sub-section of the collection consists of original stone works and plaster casts of architectural sculpture, mostly from the Kraków area, forming the study collection Kraków at Your Fingertips. It is accessible to all visitors in the historic cellars of Bishop Erazm MNK Ciołek’s Palace. The Department’s other exhibits are made available for research purposes.
Head: Dr Tomasz Zaucha tzaucha@mnk.pl
The Collection of Orthodox Church Art at the National Museum in Kraków comprises sacred works associated with the Eastern Church from the Middle Ages to the present day. These have been collected since the Museum’s inception, with the most valuable pieces having been acquired by the end of the 19th century. Among the oldest artefacts in the collection are small devotional objects associated with the Kievan Rus’ period, namely crosses and plaques intended to be worn on the chest, known as enkolpions, cast in bronze between the 11th and 13th centuries.
The core of the collection consists of icons from the south-eastern lands of the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, inhabited mainly by the Ruthenian population. The oldest of these date from the 15th–16th centuries and represent the highest standard of painting of that time, belonging to the post-Byzantine art movement. Icons of the Virgin Hodegetria in various depictions, Mandylion icons—that is, images of Christ ‘not made by human hands’—icons of the Last Judgement, Christ Pantocrator, and St Nicholas and St Paraskevi with scenes from their lives and miracles are among the most representative examples of icon painting of that time. The post-Byzantine art movement also includes so-called Italo-Greek icons, originating from southern Europe; the true gem of the collection, however, is a recently acquired 14th-century Greek icon, painted in the Palaiologos style.
A separate group is formed by Russian works created in the modern era and bearing the mark of the intense influence of Western art, particularly through graphic templates. In addition to icons, these include fragments of iconostases: royal doors, deacon’s doors, columns and icon covers.
A separate category comprises contemporary works from the 19th–20th centuries, generally mass-produced, the majority of which are Russian icons acquired mainly after the Second World War. Among these, Hutsul and Old Believer metal castings stand out, as well as liturgical vessels and textiles, processional, altar and hand-held crosses used for blessings.
Among the more interesting items are the Old Believer’s Life of Basil the New and a Byzantine weight (7th–8th centuries), the most modest and at the same time the oldest object in the collection.
A selection of the most impressive works can be viewed in the permanent exhibition at Bishop Erazm MNK Ciołek’s Palace, arranged in chronological order in the “Orthodox Church Art of the Old Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth” Gallery.
Curator of the collection: Dr Mirosław Piotr Kruk, Professor at the University of Gdańsk mkruk@mnk.pl
