open today: 9am-4pm
open today : 9am-4pm
location
SALTWORKS CASTLE
DATE
30 October 2024 - 2 February 2025
Can coats of arms be compared to modern logos? They served as means of identifying individuals, secular institutions, and ecclesiastical organizations. Sometimes, they even formed a cohesive ideological program. Coats of arms were placed on various objects—from royal fabrics and gilded salt cellars to reliquary crosses and coffin portraits. Originally, they functioned as battlefield markers.
The exhibition showcases over 100 exceptional objects from 15 secular and ecclesiastical institutions. Among the most valuable items are:
The exhibition features a rarely displayed painting by Jan Matejko, depicting the seal of the Faculty of Philosophy of the Jagiellonian University with the image of Saint Barbara. This work is part of the polychrome project for the interior of St. Mary’s Basilica.
The objects come from institutions such as the National Museum in Warsaw, Wawel Royal Castle, the National Museum in Krakow, the Jagiellonian University Museum Collegium Maius, and the Wieliczka Salt Mine Museum.
The exhibition is held in the former apartments of high-ranking officials of the salt enterprise. These rooms feature extraordinary polychromes dating from the 16th to 19th centuries, including fragments of coats of arms, such as the Commonwealth's coat of arms from the reign of the Vasa dynasty. This year marks the first time these spaces have been opened to the public.
Curator of the exhibition: Mateusz Gil
Exhibition design: Marek Suchowiak
Ministry of Culture and National Heritage
Organizer: Wieliczka Saltworks Museum in Wieliczka
Co-organizer: Wieliczka Salt Mine
- A 16th-century tapestry of King Sigismund Augustus,
- One of the most beautiful Polish documents—a nobility charter granted by King Sigismund III Vasa, featuring portraits of Polish kings,
- The famous Horn of the Wieliczka Miners' Brotherhood from 1534,
- A gilded Gothic monstrance from 1490,
- The epitaph of Wrocław physician Sebald Huber from 1504,
- A gold-thread-embroidered crosier, a unique piece on a global scale due to its craftsmanship.
- A significant part of the collection includes militaria, such as an 18th-century banner of a Crown infantry unit. This banner was used during the Polish-Russian War in defense of the Constitution of May 3, and likely also during the November Uprising.
The exhibition features a rarely displayed painting by Jan Matejko, depicting the seal of the Faculty of Philosophy of the Jagiellonian University with the image of Saint Barbara. This work is part of the polychrome project for the interior of St. Mary’s Basilica.
The objects come from institutions such as the National Museum in Warsaw, Wawel Royal Castle, the National Museum in Krakow, the Jagiellonian University Museum Collegium Maius, and the Wieliczka Salt Mine Museum.
The exhibition is held in the former apartments of high-ranking officials of the salt enterprise. These rooms feature extraordinary polychromes dating from the 16th to 19th centuries, including fragments of coats of arms, such as the Commonwealth's coat of arms from the reign of the Vasa dynasty. This year marks the first time these spaces have been opened to the public.
Curator of the exhibition: Mateusz Gil
Exhibition design: Marek Suchowiak
Ministry of Culture and National Heritage
Organizer: Wieliczka Saltworks Museum in Wieliczka
Co-organizer: Wieliczka Salt Mine
