Orthodox Art at MNK The Ciołek

The exhibition of Orthodox art presents one of the oldest and most valuable collections of sacred painting from Eastern rites in Central Europe. Its core is works from the region of the south-eastern borders of the First Republic of Poland.

The most valuable part of the collection are icons from the Carpathian region, referred to as Eastern Russian, dated to the 15th and 16th centuries. Their uniqueness is manifested in the visible influence of the Renaissance and Baroque art of Western Europe. The combination of motifs typical of the Orthodox East and the Catholic West intensified especially after the Orthodox Church adopted a union with Rome in Poland in 1596.

Valuable exhibits include icons from the Balkans and present-day Greece, as well as parts of the iconostasis from Lipowiec in the Kyiv region, with a beautifully carved structure. The exhibition of paintings is complemented by liturgical objects.