{"id":33556,"date":"2026-05-07T08:14:42","date_gmt":"2026-05-07T08:14:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.mnk.pl\/nowy-nabytek-w-kolekcji-mnk-bok-stall-z-kosciola-sw-krzyza-w-krakowie-autorstwa-stanislawa-wyspianskiego\/"},"modified":"2026-05-19T05:52:18","modified_gmt":"2026-05-19T05:52:18","slug":"a-new-addition-to-the-mnk-collection-side-stall-from-the-church-of-the-holy-cross-in-krakow-by-stanislaw-wyspianski","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.mnk.pl\/en\/a-new-addition-to-the-mnk-collection-side-stall-from-the-church-of-the-holy-cross-in-krakow-by-stanislaw-wyspianski\/","title":{"rendered":"A new addition to the MNK collection: \u2018Side Stall from the Church of the Holy Cross in Krak\u00f3w\u2019 by Stanis\u0142aw Wyspia\u0144ski"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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A unique drawing by Stanis\u0142aw Wyspia\u0144ski, entitled \u2018Side view of the stalls in the Church of the Holy Cross in Krak\u00f3w\u2019, has been added to the collections of the National Museum in Krak\u00f3w. It was created during the restoration of the Gothic interiors of the Church of the Holy Cross in Krak\u00f3w, for which Wyspia\u0144ski made tracings of the interiors, creating a record of the restored polychromy of the church.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen the restoration of the Church of the Holy Cross began, intended to be on a very large scale, it was not yet possible to know what lay hidden within the interior, which appeared dilapidated and tattered with grime. Paintings, wooden altars and stalls were hidden beneath thick layers of dust; the interior was gloomy, menacing, wild, full of cobwebs, black and dark\u201d \u2013 wrote Wyspia\u0144ski in an article published in the Krak\u00f3w-based \u201c\u017bycie\u201d on 6 November 1897, devoted to the Church of the Holy Cross in Krak\u00f3w.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1896, this Gothic church underwent a thorough restoration under the supervision of architects Tadeusz Stryje\u0144ski and \u2013 in the initial phase \u2013 Zygmunt Hendel, with funds for the project provided by the Krak\u00f3w City Savings Bank. In August of that year, Stryje\u0144ski and Hendel proposed to Wyspia\u0144ski that he prepare a design for the painted decoration of the church\u2019s chancel and nave, so the artist set about making tracings of the church\u2019s interior. Meanwhile, traces of earlier paintings were discovered inside the church right at the start of the restoration work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wyspia\u0144ski\u2019s role was therefore not so much that of a creator as that of a documenter of the polychrome decoration being uncovered in sections. The drawing of the side section of the shoulder backs of the stalls in the nave of the Church of the Holy Cross dates from precisely this period. It was published as an illustration for texts by MNK Wyspia\u0144ski, which appeared successively in the Krak\u00f3w press of the time in the pages of *\u017bycie* (1897) and the *Krak\u00f3w Yearbook* (1898).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Detailed description of the acquired item: Stanis\u0142aw Wyspia\u0144ski \u201cSide view of the stalls from the Church of the Holy Cross in Krak\u00f3w\u201d, 1896;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

drawing, pencil, paper; dimensions 72 x 24 cm, signed lower right in pencil within the composition: \u201cSW\u201d; below, in pencil: \u201cSide view of the stalls in the Church of the Holy Cross in Krak\u00f3w (1896, drawing by MNK Wyspia\u0144ski)\u201d.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Co-funded by the Minister of Culture and National Heritage.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Targeted grant from the funds of the Minister of Culture and National Heritage.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Project: Purchase of a drawing by MNK Wyspia\u0144ski, \u201cSide view of the stalls in the Church of the Holy Cross in Krak\u00f3w\u201d.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Value of funding for the task: PLN 70,000; total value of the task: PLN 71,400.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The funding agreement was signed in October 2024.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n