Jan Matejko House () is a museum dedicated to Polish painter

Jan Matejko Jan Alojzy Matejko (; also known as Jan Mateyko; 24 June 1838 – 1 November 1893) was a Polish painter, a leading 19th-century exponent of history painting, known for depicting nodal events from Polish history. His works include large scale ...

that was established in 1895 and has been a branch of the

National Museum in Cracow National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

since 1904. The building has been listed as a

cultural property Cultural property, also known as cultural patrimony, comprises the physical items that are part of the cultural heritage of a group or society, as opposed to less tangible cultural expressions. They include such items as cultural landscapes, histo ...

under the registration number A-58 in 12.05.1931

History

History of the building

The building on Floriańska 41 was erected back in the 16th century as a one-storey

tenement A tenement is a type of building shared by multiple dwellings, typically with flats or apartments on each floor and with shared entrance stairway access. They are common on the British Isles, particularly in Scotland. In the medieval Old Town, E ...

. In the 18th century, a second storey was added to the tenement, followed by a third storey topped with a

mansard roof A mansard or mansard roof (also called French roof or curb roof) is a multi-sided gambrel-style hip roof characterised by two slopes on each of its sides, with the lower slope at a steeper angle than the upper, and often punctured by dormer wi ...

in the 19th century. In 1752, the tenement was bought by Ignacy and Anna Hendel. In 1794, the property was acquired by Jan Piotr Rosberg and Marianna Rosberg, the parents of Franiszek Ksawery Matejko's wife. After the death of Franciszek Ksawey Matejko in 1860, the tenement was inherited by his children. In 1871, one of Franciszek's sons –

– paid off his siblings and assumed sole ownership over the property. Then, Jan Matejko ordered renovation works that lasted two years and moved in with his family.

History of the museum

On the 8th of November 1893, a day after Matejko's funeral ceremony, Marian Sokołowski penned an article for a Cracovian newspaper ''Czas'' (Time), calling for honouring the deceased painter by establishing a dedicated museum, following the example set up by

Urbino Urbino ( , ; Romagnol: ''Urbìn'') is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Italy, Italian region of Marche, southwest of Pesaro, a World Heritage Site notable for a remarkable historical legacy of independent Renaissance culture, especially und ...

and

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

which had set up museums in historic houses of, respectively,

Raphael Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino (; March 28 or April 6, 1483April 6, 1520), now generally known in English as Raphael ( , ), was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. List of paintings by Raphael, His work is admired for its cl ...

and

Michelangelo Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (6March 147518February 1564), known mononymously as Michelangelo, was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet of the High Renaissance. Born in the Republic of Florence, his work was inspir ...

. In response, Prince

Eustachy Stanisław Sanguszko Prince Eustachy Stanisław Sanguszko (28 August 1842 – 2 April 1903) was a Polish noble (szlachcic) and conservative politician. Eustachy educated in Poland and Paris in 1859–1860. He studied law at the Jagiellonian University from 1862 ...

, President of the Jan Matejko Society, started raising funds to purchase the house from Matejko's relatives and transform it into a public museum. On the 7th of November 1895, the Society succeeded and bought the house together with some of its contents. The museum was opened to the public on the 1st of May 1896, at first offering the visitors to view the living room and the master bedroom. During this time, the museum began efforts to archive literature on Matejko and to document almost all of his artworks in photographs. On the 26th of June 1904, the Jan Matejko Society officially transferred ownership over the museum to the

Kraków City Council The Kraków City Council is the governing body of Kraków. The council has 43 elected members elected every five years in an Local election, election by Voting, city voters through a secret ballot. The election of City Council and the local head ...

, which decided to grant Jan Matejko House under the administration of the National Museum of Cracow. During the

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 ...

, fearing

Nazi plunder Nazi plunder () was organized stealing of art and other items which occurred as a result of the Art theft and looting during World War II, organized looting of European countries during the time of the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany, Germany. Jewi ...

, some of the Matejko works were stashed in secret in the then-closed Jan Matejko House. The museum reopened after a general renovation in 1953. The next major renovation of Jan Matejko House took place in 2009.

References

{{Jan Matejko Museums in Poland Museums devoted to one artist

History

History of the building

History of the museum

See also

References