Lublin Union (painting)
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| Lublin Union |
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| Jan Matejko , 1869 |
| Oil on canvas |
| 298 × 512 cm |
| Muzeum Lubelskie w Lublinie , Lublin |
Lublin Union ( Polish Unia lubelska ) is a monumental painting of history painting by Polish painter Jan Matejko from 1869.
The painting is part of Matejko's cycle of pictures from important historical moments in Poland. The picture was painted to commemorate the 300th anniversary of the Polish-Lithuanian Union , which was decided at the Election Sejm in 1569. In 1874 it was decided to buy the Lubliner Union with donations for the building of the Galician Landtag in Lemberg.
The composition focuses on the ceremony of the Union oath in Renaissance interior inside the Lublin Castle . The Union of Lublin is considered to be one of the best works by Jan Matejko, and in recognition of the value of the painting, the painter was awarded the Order of the French Legion of Honor in 1870 . During the Second World War, the picture was looted by the Germans along with two other works in the village of Hain in the Giant Mountains . In memory of these events, the village was called Matejkowice after the war until 1946.
The picture belongs to the National Museum in Warsaw and is in the exhibition of the Muzeum Lubelskie in the Lublin Castle.
Depicted historical persons in the picture
- The central figure with the cross is the Polish King and Lithuanian Grand Duke Sigismund II August .
- To the right of it, the primate of Poland Jakub Uchański is depicted with a white beard and white robe.
- With one hand on the Bible and with the other a sealed scroll with the text of the act of unification, the Krakow castellan Marcin Zborowski kneels . In truth, he had not been alive for four years, but was a strong supporter of a Polish-Lithuanian Union and therefore appears in the painting.
- Standing behind the primate, the Krakow Bishop Filip Padniewski reads the contents of the oath.
- With sword in hand, Mikołaj Radziwiłł , known as the Red, is kneeling as the only Lithuanian senator who did not consent by signing the document. The drawn sword symbolizes a threatening gesture against the king and the Union.
- Likewise, Mikołaj Mielecki kneels in uniform with the hetman's staff in his right hand. In reality, he did not receive the office of hetman of the great crown until 1578.
- To the left of the king in the foreground, the Bishop of Vilnius Walerian Protasewicz rises from his chair. Due to his health and advanced age, he was not present in Lublin. Jan Łaski , who was supporting him, was not in Lublin either, as he died in 1560.
- Stanisław Hozjusz sits in a red cardinal's robe on an armchair on which the voivod Posens Łukasz III Górka , who was not present in Lublin, leans . But Matejko placed him on the painting to the size of the kingdom of Great Poland to symbolize.
- The marshal of the great crown Jan Firlej was portrayed with the marshal's baton .
- At the very top left with a hand raised in an oath is the Prussian Prince Albrecht Friedrich von Hohenzollern .
- On the right side of the picture is the king's sister, Anna Jagiellonka , who was not there in Lublin, but with her appearance in the painting and her crowned head symbolizes the continuity of the dynastic politics of the Jagiellonians . For her image, Matejko is based on the portrait of the queen in coronation regalia, which is kept in the Wawel Cathedral.
- Andrzej Frycz Modrzewski , the author of The Improvement of the Republic, stands on the right, almost at the edge of the picture, dressed in black and with a white beard . Modrzewski includes a peasant in the picture, which is supposed to symbolize the widespread idea of equality of rights for peasants, citizens and nobles.
- The later castellan the Prince of Brazlaw Michał Wiśniowiecki (d. 1616) holds the banner with the Archangel Michael, the coat of arms of the Russians . This symbolizes the soil, which at the time belonged to the crown of Sigmund II August. With the prince, a great time of luck and power began for the Wiśniowiecki line in the east.
- Next to the prince is the voivode Bracławs (1566–1571) and hetman of the Lithuanian fields (1567–1571) Prince Roman Sanguszko . Matejko was referring to the future successes of the Polish army of the Polish-Lithuanian royal republic in the 17th century, which were symbolized by the winged hussars .
Web links
- Ośrodek “Brama Grodzka - Teatr NN” : “Unia lubelska” Jana Matejki (1869)
- Słowo Polskie: Historia pędzlem i piórem malowana. Unia Lubelska (1569 r.)