The exhibition presents excellent works of the medieval and more modern art from the collections of the National Museum in Krakow, one of the oldest and best sets of old Polish art.
To the most valuable part of the exhibition belong Gothic paintings and sculptures, from the 14th to the early 16th century, among them a fascinating figure called Madonna of Krużlowa (ca 1410), as well as the oldest Polish epitaph commemorating the knight Wierzbięta of Branice. The Visitors can also admire the preserved details of the then largest Polish altar triptychs from the Cracovian churches, dated to the 1460s. One of the Gallery rooms is entirely devoted to the oeuvre of the famous sculptor Veit Stoss and to the works shaped under the influence of his personality. Unique in character are also polychromed wooden ceilings from the non-existent church at Kozy near Bielsko-Biała. The Renaissance is represented both by its northern (Hans Dürer, Albrecht’s brother) and the Italian variety of this style (Giovanni Maria Padovano). The most attractive part of the Baroque art exhibition is the room devoted to the old Polish funeral ceremonies, with coffin portraits as an exceptionally interesting document of the epoch. The exhibition closes with a substantial collection of old portrait paintings.
