National Museum in Warsaw

The Gallery of Mediaeval Art

The Gallery of Mediaeval Art embraces monuments of the Gothic period originating in Poland's all historic districts. Most of the exhibits come from the 15th century.

The display, arranged in seven rooms, opens with paintings and sculptures of primarili Pomeranian origin. Especially noteworthy is the polyptych The Dormition and Coronation of the Virgin Mary from the castle chapel in Grudziadz (c. 1390), an excellent work in international style created under the influence of the then very progressive Czech painting. Later Pomeranian art was influenced to a large degree by the output of Netherlandish masters, which is best evidenced by the Jerusalem Triptych (c. 1490) from Our Lady's Church in Gdansk.

Tubedzin Pieta, c. 1450

Two farther rooms are devoted to Silesian art of the second half of the 14th and the early 14th c. Besides monumental cult images, like the Lubiaz Pietà (c. 1370) and the Wroclaw polyptych St. Barbara (1477), on display here are paintings which served as objects of private devotion (a small travel altar from the Ursuline church and the Visage of Christ from c. 1400). The crucifix from Corpus Christi Church in Wroclaw and the Lubiaz Pietà, both tragic in expression, were created under the influence of the theology of mediaeval mystics to encourage believers to participate in the martyrdom of Christ. The appeal of the sculpture Madonna the Fair of Wroclaw (1410) depends on its idealized beauty, identified with the Virgin Mary 's spiritual virtues.

The style, referred to as fine, was an influence on the sculpture and painting in other regions of Poland, as exemplified by the sculptures of Madonna the Fair of Kazimierz and Pietà from the region of Kujawy, and the outstanding painting Pietà of Tubadzin (1450), all on display in the fifth room.

St Luke Painting the Virgin Mary, c 1510

On display in the sixth room is late 15th-century Silesian art. The Annunciation (c. 1480 ) from St. Elizabeth 's church in Wroclaw still has qualities of the fine style despite the sharp folds of the robes, characteristic of the closing stage of the Gothis. On the other hand, the maker of the altar St.Luke Painting the Virgin Mary (c. 1510) represent a new, realistic trend in Silesian art. The altar of Holy Virgins of Nysa is also his work.

On display in the seventh room are monuments of the early 16th c., in which an influence of Renaissance art is visible. Here mention is due to the works of the maker of the Assumption triptych of Warta (1520) and a fully Renaissance triptych entitled The Legend of St. Stanislaus (1515), made in a Cracow workshop.

(Wl.L)

(ground floor)

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