Table of the January insurgents

After the January Uprising about 20 thousand Poles were deported deep into Russia. For taking part in the fighting or for helping the insurgents, they paid a high price - confiscation of property, separation from their families and their beloved homeland, which was still in captivity.

In exile, Poles formed small communities, which helped them to survive and cultivate the memory of their homeland and their loved ones, who remained destitute. Sometimes whole families went to Siberia. Wives voluntarily went with their sentenced husbands. They worked hard, suffered from the cold, poverty, longing and often the lack of news from their families. The memorabilia they left behind are of great documentary and historical value. They include letters, memoirs, photographs, poems, diaries and small handicrafts.

Among the mementoes of the January Uprising, the tableau is distinguished both by its format and the complexity of its form. It mostly consists of photographs, which were sometimes the only trace of a person. Some hoped that if they were not allowed to return to Poland, at least their photograph would return. The photographs were meant to protect people from being completely forgotten. Perhaps it was with this intention that the commemorative tableau was created, which, apart from the images of several men, contains personal items such as a comb, a barrel, a ring, and a medallion with the Holy Family.

A cross, symbolising the plight of the insurgents, is in the centre of the composition. The black cross is an element of patriotic jewellery popular during the period of national mourning after the fall of the January Uprising.