The EUROPEUM – European Culture Centre is a division of the Kraków National Museum housing a permanent exhibition of

European art The art of Europe, also known as Western art, encompasses the history of visual art in Europe. European prehistoric art started as mobile Upper Paleolithic rock and cave painting and petroglyph art and was characteristic of the period betw ...

. Placed on two floors in a restored 17th century

granary A granary, also known as a grain house and historically as a granarium in Latin, is a post-harvest storage building primarily for grains or seeds. Granaries are typically built above the ground to prevent spoilage and protect the stored grains o ...

, the museum was opened to the public on 13 September 2013.

Building and establishment

The museum's building, an old granary from the 17th century, is located in Kraków's Old Town (''Stare Miasto'') in proximity to a Capuchin monastery. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

it became property of the National Museum and in 1969 held a furniture storehouse. The establishment of the EUROPEUM here was part of a plan to revitalize the area around Sikorski Square and is in line with the National Museum's policy of decentralizing exhibition spaces which it had followed since its establishment in 1879. Originally planned as a museum of contemporary art, its final purpose is the result of a lack of exhibition space in the renovated museum of the Princes Czartoryski Foundation in Pijarska street. From 2008 to 2013 the building underwent substantial renovation and reconstruction works including conservation and insulation of the facades and foundations, replacement of floors and the roof and new electrical, heating water and waste water systems. The premises were cleared of barracks, new pavements were laid and a

lapidarium A lapidarium is a place where stone (Latin: ) monuments and fragments of archaeological interest are exhibited. They can include stone epigraphy, epigraphs; statues; architectural elements such as columns, cornices, and acroterions; bas relief ...

of several hundred architectural fragments from old buildings in Kraków was created behind the museum. Total costs for the restoration works amounted to 9 million PLN of which 4.7 million came from the National Fund for the Restoration of Historic Buildings and Monuments in Krakow.

Collection

The museum houses more than 100 paintings and sculptures from 7 centuries of history of European art collected since the foundation of the National Museum in 1879 and received mostly through gifts. After WW II, the museum acquired a number of outstanding European artworks such as "Crucifixion" (c. 1340–1350) by

Paolo Veneziano Paolo Veneziano, also Veneziano Paolo or Paolo da Venezia (active by 1333, died after 1358) was a 14th-century painter from Venice, the "founder of the Venetian school (art), Venetian School" of painting, probably active between about 1321 and 13 ...

, '' Adoration of the Child'' (c. 1508) by

Lorenzo Lotto Lorenzo Lotto (c. 1480 – 1556/57) was an Italian Renaissance painter, draughtsman, and illustrator, traditionally placed in the Venetian school, though much of his career was spent in other north Italian cities. He painted mainly altarpie ...

, "The Sermon of St. John the Baptist" (c. ) by

Pieter Brueghel the Younger Pieter Brueghel (also Bruegel or Breughel) the Younger ( , ; ; between 23 May and 10 October 1564 – between March and May 1638) was a Flemish painting, Flemish painter known for numerous copies after his father Pieter Bruegel the Elder's ...

, a French 14th-century sculpture "Madonna with the Child" and "The Bishop's Bust" (c. 1500) from the Netherlands. This European Art collection of the National Museum was displayed at the

Czartoryski Museum The Princes Czartoryski Museum ( ) – often abbreviated to Czartoryski Museum – is a historic museum in Kraków, Poland, and one of the country's oldest museums. The initial collection was formed in 1796 in Puławy by Princess Izabela Czartor ...

until its restoration in 2010. Its administering body of the Princes Czartoryski Foundation decided that after reopening only the Czartoryski collection was to be on display in its museum forcing the management of the National Museum to find a new place for the European Art collection which was to be the EUROPEUM. Other notable artworks include Catalan medieval Madonnas,

Luca Giordano Luca Giordano (18 October 1634 – 3 January 1705) was an Italian late-Baroque painter and printmaker in etching. Fluent and decorative, he worked successfully in Naples, Rome, Florence, and Venice, before spending a decade in Spain. Early l ...

's "Flight into Egypt", "Man of Sorrows" by

Jan Gossaert Jan Gossaert ( – 1 October 1532) was a French-speaking painter from the Low Countries also known as Jan Mabuse (the name he adopted from his birthplace, Maubeuge) or Jennyn van Hennegouwe ( Hainaut), as he called himself when he matriculated ...

, "Portrait of a Boy with a Bow and a Dog" by

Nicolaes Maes Nicolaes Maes (January 1634December 1693 (buried 24 December 1693)) was a Dutch Republic, Dutch painter known for his Genre painting, genre scenes, Portrait painting, portraits, religious compositions and the occasional still life. A pupil of Re ...

, "Portrait of Antonio Canova" by Antonio d'Este,

François-Xavier Fabre François-Xavier Fabre (; 1 April 1766 – 16 March 1837) was a French painter of historical subjects. Born in Montpellier, Fabre was a pupil of Jacques-Louis David, and made his name by winning the in 1787. During the French Revolution, F ...

’s "Portrait of Michał Bogoria Skotnicki" or

Bertel Thorvaldsen Albert Bertel Thorvaldsen (; sometimes given as Thorwaldsen; 19 November 1770 – 24 March 1844) was a Danes, Danish-Icelanders, Icelandic Sculpture, sculptor and medallist, medalist of international fame, who spent most of his life (1797–183 ...

Building and establishment

Collection

Selected objects

See also

References

External links