Czartoryski Museum

Czartoryski Museum in Krakow

The Lady with an Ermine , Leonardo da Vinci, around 1483–1490

The Czartoryski Museum in Krakow was founded in 1796 by Princess Izabella Czartoryska and is the oldest museum in Poland. It is a branch of the Kraków National Museum . The museum was originally located in Puławy , the residence of the Czartoryski princes , and was created as a treasury for royal jewels as well as war and crown trophies, but also as a collection of works of art, such as paintings, arts and crafts, and memorabilia of famous people. Militaria, regalia and documents were housed in the so-called sibyl temple and the paintings, handicrafts and rarities found their place in the Gothic House.

history

Princess Izabella Czartoryska b. Countess Flemming

After the November Uprising was put down in 1830, the collections threatened with confiscation were taken to Paris and housed in the Hôtel Lambert, which was acquired in 1842 . In 1876 Prince Władysław Czartoryski (1828–1892) brought the collection to Kraków. The Kraków municipality donated the building of the former city arsenal to the collection and the owners bought three houses and part of the former Piarist monastery in the neighborhood. As a result of the renovation, which was carried out according to the project of the French architect Gabriel Ouradou, the Czartoryski Palace (corner of ul. Św. Jana and Pijarska) was connected to the so-called Little Monastery by a connecting passage based on the model of the Venice Bridge of Sighs the building of the arsenal (ul. Pijarska 8) adjoins it. Above the entrance there is an inscription, moved here from Puławy, which represents the motto of the collection: “ The past of the future ”. In 1897, Prince Adam Ludwik Czartoryski founded a majorate from his estates in Sieniawa , whose assets ensured the existence of the museum and the library. The collections, which comprise the museum and library, remained the property of the Czartoryski family until 1945. Since 1950, they have been administered by the National Museum in Krakow - as one of its departments. In 1960, at the end of the National Museum in Cracow, the construction of the new headquarters of the Czartoryski Library was completed.

Sibyl's Temple in the Puławy Castle Park

The Gothic House in Puławy

The Czartoryski Foundation in the National Museum in Krakow was established in 1991 on the initiative of Adam Karol Czartoryski , the heir of the art collection as well as of the archives and library holdings, some of which were in Paris, but most of which were returned to the family from the museum holdings in Krakow after 1990. Its aim is to continue the previous activity: "In accordance with the honorable Puławer slogan, it should keep the past in memory, serve the current needs of society and lead into the future". The new foundation has taken over the management of the collections, which continue to be financed by the state. The collection was managed by the National Museum in Krakow. The foundation is located in the museum building. Together with the collection of the Czartoryski Foundation, the Czartoryski Museum also preserves and presents objects belonging to the National Museum, including works of Western European painting and monuments of ancient art. On December 29, 2016, the Polish state acquired the Czartoryski art collection from the Czartoryski Foundation. In addition to works of fine art, the collection also includes 86,000 museum objects and 250,000 books and manuscripts.

There are four permanent galleries in the museum:

Gallery of Western European Painting
Memorabilia of Polish history from the 14th to 18th centuries and European handicrafts
The weapons museum and souvenirs from Puławy
Ancient Art Gallery

Outside the permanent museum seat, as a depository in the royal castle on the Wawel , exceptionally valuable objects from the crown treasure, the royal tombs and the chapter treasure are exhibited, which were personally acquired for the Puławy collections by Princess Izabella and Tadeusz Czacki. These include the battle clubs of the royal guard, the coronation shoes of King Sigismund II. August (1529), a crusader sword (before 1410) and a saber blade that King Stefan Batory used by Pope Gregory XIII. had received.