History of the portraits of the Galician Sejm Marshalls in the collection of the National Museum in Cracow

The Galician Sejm was the supreme local government assembly for Galicia during its autonomy. The Galician Sejm was based in Lviv where, in between 1878 and 1881, its representative premises were built. Following the example of other supreme institutions of the times, Department of Sejm, the administrative and executive arm of the Galician Sejm, commissioned portraits of Marshalls from the most prominent Polish artists: Rodakowski, Matejko, Siemiradzki, and Pochwalski. All Marshalls were depinted apart from the last two, Adam Gołuchowski and Stanisław Niezabitowski, whose portraits were not commissioned in time. The portraits represented not only a collection of fine pieces of art but also a historical testimony of Galicia and its achievements. At times the portaits were a source of admiration and, at others, of waspish remarks. Unfortunately, they shared the fate of heroic Lviv during the First World War and the Polish-Soviet War. With the aim to save the collection, Marshall Niezabitowski sent the portraits to the National Museum in Cracow in 1916. After signing the Peace Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, the paintings were returned to Lviv, where the war against Bolsheviks was still raging. The Parliament building was seized and the paintings were damaged. At the end of 1918, the collection was sent to the National Museum in Cracow for the second time. At first, they were considered a deposit but later on they became the property of the Museum. For more than 80 years the collection has been the glory of The Gallery of 19th-century Polish Art at Sukiennice.

Przekład: Kinga Kuchta

The Galician Sejm was the supreme local government assembly for Galicia during its autonomy. The Galician Sejm was based in Lviv where, in between 1878 and 1881, its representative premises were built. Following the example of other supreme institutions of the times, Department of Sejm, the administrative and executive arm of the Galician Sejm, commissioned portraits of Marshalls from the most prominent Polish artists: Rodakowski, Matejko, Siemiradzki, and Pochwalski. All Marshalls were depinted apart from the last two, Adam Gołuchowski and Stanisław Niezabitowski, whose portraits were not commissioned in time. The portraits represented not only a collection of fine pieces of art but also a historical testimony of Galicia and its achievements. At times the portaits were a source of admiration and, at others, of waspish remarks. Unfortunately, they shared the fate of heroic Lviv during the First World War and the Polish-Soviet War. With the aim to save the collection, Marshall Niezabitowski sent the portraits to the National Museum in Cracow in 1916. After signing the Peace Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, the paintings were returned to Lviv, where the war against Bolsheviks was still raging. The Parliament building was seized and the paintings were damaged. At the end of 1918, the collection was sent to the National Museum in Cracow for the second time. At first, they were considered a deposit but later on they became the property of the Museum. For more than 80 years the collection has been the glory of The Gallery of 19th-century Polish Art at Sukiennice.

Przekład: Kinga Kuchta