At the permanent exhibition of the National Museum in Krakow in the Arsenal, you can see 1000 objects from the Middle East, Egypt, Greece and Italy. The oldest ones come from the 3rd millennium BCE, and the youngest from the 7th century CE.
The aim of the permanent exhibition of ancient art from the collections of the National Museum in Krakow, located on the 1st floor in the Arsenal of the Princes Czartoryski Museum, is to show a full picture of the art of ancient cultures. The core of the exhibition is a collection acquired by Prince Władysław Czartoryski in the second half of the 19th century. It is essentially supplemented by a set of objects from the National Museum in Krakow and from the collections of the Potocki Family from Krzeszowice, which includes mainly Roman sculptures and bas-reliefs.
„The visiting route makes it possible to get acquainted with the individual sets of artefacts in an arrangement that recreates a tour around the Mediterranean: from Egypt to Italy, Greece, Asia Minor, to Egypt from Roman times. The individual showcases contain objects from all areas of ancient craftsmanship: architectural, decorative stone sculpture, portrait sculpture, funeral sculpture, wood sculpture, cast and forged items made of bronze, silver, gold, wood painting, clay, braid, faience and glass products. These are objects of everyday use, cult and decorative items, as well as sepulchral elements" (Dorota Gorzelany-Nowak, exhibition curator).
