Design for the polychrome of Saint Mary’s Church in Kraków

With a sense of mission - appealing to social consciousness, drawing on academicism, Jan Matejko became a history painter. Painting was his vocation and a way to shape national awareness.

Matejko's father believed that his son should become a priest, but his vocation was painting, which his mother encouraged him to pursue. His eldest brother was a historian and worked at the Jagiellonian Library. In 1865, Matejko was a member of the municipal conservation commission.

In 1873, he became director of the School of Fine Arts. His pupils included Stanisław Wyspiański, Józef Mehoffer and Jacek Malczewski, and it was they who transferred the drawings from Matejko's cartoons onto the walls and reconstructed the polychromes.

During the great restoration of St. Mary's Church in Kraków in 1887-1891, architectural works were supervised by Tadeusz Stryjeński, and the interiors were decorated by, among others: J. Matejko, Z. Langman, S. Wyspiański, J. Mehoffer, T. Dmochowski, among others, worked on the interior design.

In the 1880s Matejko's interest in religious motifs in painting intensified. While connected with St. Mary's Church, he took part in works on the painting decoration of the interior. He was the originator of the whole polychrome, which he worked on for two years. The decoration consists of the motif of angels with prayer invocations and plant ornaments and arabesques. He created one of the greatest works of Polish monumental painting. It was an innovative solution, as non-archaic frescos were used in the historic church.

Klara Sadkowska