Inspiring

Jan Matejko

Jan Matejko (1838-1893) is one of the greatest Polish painters, the creator of extraordinary historical paintings, full of patriotism and symbolism, which strengthened national awareness and faith in regaining independence among Poles living in the times of partitions.

Matejko mainly painted pictures depicting the most important moments in the history of Poland: victorious battles, powerful kings, great figures taking part in significant events. These are works of impressive sizes with great expressive power, in which, in addition to historical details, there are dozens of symbols of Polishness, so important for the society living in the times of captivity.

It was Jan Matejko who “assigned” faces to many early Polish rulers, creating a series of drawings called “A Set of Portraits of Polish Kings and Princes”. And it is these portraits that can be found on Polish banknotes.

A few interesting facts:

• Jan Matejko was the ninth out of eleven children in the family,
• his father was very reluctant his son’s passion for drawing, so young Jan did not have parental support on his way to his career,
• he had very poor eyesight and painted most often with a magnifying glass,
• he was a philanthropist well known in Krakow, he helped the poor, but also donated funds for nationalist outbursts, such as the January insurgents.

Matejko’s paintings can be seen, among others at the National Museum in Warsaw and Kraków.

Source of images: Public Domain