material: oil on sheet metal
dimensions: 42,5 x 34 cm
description: A coffin with the body of Tadeusz Kościuszko, who died in Solothurn in Switzerland on October 5, 1817, was moved to Krakow in April 1818 and temporarily displayed in Saint Florian’s church. The funeral ceremony took place in the Wawel cathedral on June 23, 1818. The picture shows the catafalque and the funeral decorations prepared for the exequies held in the central nave of the church, in front of the shrine of Saint Stanisław. The catafalque was built on the platform of several steps and decorated with allegorical paintings with scenes from the life of the Commander done by Michał Stachowicz, sculptures of eagles and columns made of rifles and scythes, topped with panoplies. The tomb is surrounded by fasces symbolizing the republican ideas of the leader of the uprising of 1794 as well as candles and oil lamps placed on the stairs and cornices. Based on the accounts of the participants in Kościuszko’s funeral it can be said that the artist accurately rendered the appearance of the catafalque and castrum doloris – essential elements of the magnificent funeral ceremony (pompa funebris). Wacława Milewska
exposition: The Gallery of 19th Century Polish Art in Sukiennice,
The Cloth Hall, 1, Main Market Square
key: Romanticism. Towards national art >>>
dimensions: 42,5 x 34 cm
description: A coffin with the body of Tadeusz Kościuszko, who died in Solothurn in Switzerland on October 5, 1817, was moved to Krakow in April 1818 and temporarily displayed in Saint Florian’s church. The funeral ceremony took place in the Wawel cathedral on June 23, 1818. The picture shows the catafalque and the funeral decorations prepared for the exequies held in the central nave of the church, in front of the shrine of Saint Stanisław. The catafalque was built on the platform of several steps and decorated with allegorical paintings with scenes from the life of the Commander done by Michał Stachowicz, sculptures of eagles and columns made of rifles and scythes, topped with panoplies. The tomb is surrounded by fasces symbolizing the republican ideas of the leader of the uprising of 1794 as well as candles and oil lamps placed on the stairs and cornices. Based on the accounts of the participants in Kościuszko’s funeral it can be said that the artist accurately rendered the appearance of the catafalque and castrum doloris – essential elements of the magnificent funeral ceremony (pompa funebris). Wacława Milewska
exposition: The Gallery of 19th Century Polish Art in Sukiennice,
The Cloth Hall, 1, Main Market Square
key: Romanticism. Towards national art >>>