bgcolour	#6495ED
name	Jan Matejko
birth name	Jan Mateyko
birth place	Free City of Kraków
death date	November 01, 1893
death place	Kraków, Austria–Hungary
nationality	Polish
field	Painting, drawing
training	School of Fine Arts, Kraków
movement	History painting
works	''Battle of Grunwald''''Stańczyk''''The Prussian Homage''
awards	}}

Jan Matejko () (also known as Jan Mateyko; June 24, 1838 – November 1, 1893) was a Polish painter known for paintings of notable historical Polish political and military events. His most famous works include oil on canvas paintings like ''Battle of Grunwald'', paintings of numerous other battles and court scenes, and a gallery of Polish kings. He is counted among the most famous Polish painters.

Biography

Matejko was born on June 24, 1838 in the Free City of Kraków. His father, Franciszek Ksawery Matejko () (b. 1789 or 13 January 1793, d. 26 October 1860), a Czech from the village of Roudnice, was a graduate of the Hradec Králové school; who later became a tutor and music teacher. He first worked for the Wodzicki family in Kościelniki, Poland, then moved to Kraków, where he married the half-German, half-Polish Joanna Karolina Rossberg. Jan was the ninth child from eleven that his parents had. After the death of his mother in 1846, Jan and his siblings were taken care of by his aunt, Anna Zamojska.

From his earliest days Matejko showed exceptional artistic talent that allowed him to advance from grade to grade, although he had great difficulty with other subjects. He never mastered a foreign language and did not do well even with his native Polish language. As a result, the public appearances he was obliged to make all his life must have been difficult for him.

At a young age he witnessed the Kraków revolution of 1846 and the 1848 siege of Kraków by the Austrians, the two events which ended the existence of the Free City of Kraków. His two older brothers served in them under General Józef Bem, one died and the other was forced into exile.

He attended St. Ann's High School, which he dropped out of in 1851 because of poor results. Despite that and because of his exceptional talent he studied at the School of Fine Arts in Kraków from 1852 to 1858. His teachers included Wojciech Korneli Stattler and Władysław Łuszczkiewicz. During this time, he began exhibiting historical paintings at the Society of Friends of the Fine Arts there (see e.g. Sigismund I Bestowing Nobility on the Professors of the University of Kraków in 1535.). After studying under the historical painter Hermann Anschütz in Munich (1859) and then briefly and less successfully in Vienna, Matejko returned to Kraków. It would be however years before he would gain commercial success; for a time he was the proverbial "starving artist", who celebrated when he sold a canvass (Tsars Szujscy) for five gulden.

During the January Uprising of 1863 in which he did not participate because of poor health, Matejko gave financial support and transported arms to the insurgents' camp in Goszcza). In 1864 he married Teodora Giebultowska, with whom he had four children: Beata, Helena, Tadeusz, and Jerzy. In the same year he became a member of Scientific Society in Kraków. Tadeusz, his first son, was a painter who studied under his father's supervision. Helena, his daughter, also an artist, was a patriot who helped victims in World War I and was awarded the Cross of Independence by president Stanisław Wojciechowski.

At that time Matejko started to gain international recognition; literally a starving artist during his younger days. In 1865 Matejko's painting "Skarga's Sermon" was awarded a gold medal at the yearly Paris salon; soon afterwards Count Maurycy Potocki bought it for 10,000 guldens. In 1868, his painting "Rejtan" was awarded a gold medal at the World Exhibition in Paris. Critics listed Matejko as one of the most important European historical painters. From the Polish perspective, he succeeded in propagating the Polish history, and reminding the world about Poland, which while partitioned and without any independent political representation, still commanded the hearts of many.

Beginning in 1873, he was for many years the principal of the Academy of Fine Arts.

Matejko died in Kraków on November 1, 1893. He was buried in the center of the Alley of the Meritorious at Kraków's Rakowicki Cemetery.

Works

In 1860 Matejko issued an illustrated album, ''Ubiory w Polsce'' (Clothing in Poland), a project reflecting his intense interest in historical records of all kinds and his desire to promote such interest among the Polish people in an effort to intensify their patriotic feelings. In 1861 he had an exhibition ''Otrucie królowej Bony'' (Poisoning of Queen Bona) in Warsaw's Zachęta. The national defeats forced him to abandon the Christian religious painting which, he believed, was his vocation and to devote himself almost exclusively to historical painting. In fact he created a vision of Polish history from which we can not liberate ourselves despite of perennial criticism of the scientists. Matejko often placed on his paintings people who were not present at this location (f.ex. Hugo Kołłątaj, and General Józef Wodzicki, on ''The Battle of Racławice''). He was not interested in presenting factual events but in representation of a historical-philosophical synthesis. Matejko's work has to be viewed not only in artistic terms, but also in terms of the social function it performed and continues to perform today. He considered history as a function of the present and the future. His paintings are not historical illustrations, rather they are powerful expressions of the artist's psyche and his attitude to the world.

Historical themes

Matejko was focusing on major themes in Polish history and using historical sources to paint events in minute historical detail. He created two groups of historical paintings. The earlier one starting with the painting Stańczyk (1862) was directed against the magnates whose lack of patriotism caused, in his opinion, the fall of Poland. Stanczyk, the court jester to King Sigismund I (1437–1548), to whom Matejko gave his own features. The jester is presented as a symbol of the nation's conscience: he sits glumly in a chair apart from the other figures, alone in seeing that events during the wars against Moscow would ultimately end in tragedy. This group of paintings included among others also ''Kazanie Skargi'' (Sermon of Piotr Skarga) (1864) and Reytan (1866).

The second group, painted after the defeat of January Uprising, is dedicated to famous events in Polish history. Matejko depicted many major events and battles in Polish history. His most famous work is ''Bitwa pod Grunwaldem'' (Battle of Grunwald) (1878) depicting the 1410 Polish and Lithuanian victory over the Teutonic Knights; a painting showing "clearly nationalist endeavour" which garnered it international acclaim as "an unrivaled icon of Polish nationalism". Other paintings in this group include ''Unia Lubelska'' (Union of Lublin) (1869), ''Stefan Batory pod Pskowem'' (Stefan Batory at the siege of Pskov) (1872), ''Kopernik'' (Nicolaus Copernicus), ''Dzwon Zygmunta'' (Sigismund's Bell) (1874), ''Hołd Pruski'' (Prussian Tribute) (1882), ''Sobieski pod Wiedniem'' (Jan III Sobieski at the Battle of Vienna) (1883), Wernyhora, ''Kościuszko pod Racławicami'' (Tadeusz Kościuszko at the battle of Racławice) (1888), ''Dzieje Cywilizacji w Polsce'' (History of civilization in Poland) (1889) and ''Konstytucja 3 Maja'' (Constitution of the 3 May) (1891). From 1890 to 1892 he also painted all of the Polish kings compiled in his book ''Portraits of Polish Kings'' (1890); his dedication to detail is evident in that he attended the opening of Queen Jadwiga's sarcophagus in 1887 to make sketches of her skull.

In addition to historical events Matejko made also several portraits. Among others: ''Żona w sukni ślubnej'' ("Wife in the wedding dress") (1879), A. Potocki (1879), S. Tarnowski (1890), Autoportret (1892). Altogether Matejko authored 320 oil paintings and several thousands drawings and watercolors. Finally he painted a monumental polychrome in St. Mary's Basilica, Kraków (1889–1891). His most important paintings were hidden during World War II (''Bitwa pod Grunwaldem'' was buried in Lublin). After 1945 majority of his works was found and subject to restoration. They are now mainly in Warsaw's National Museum (Muzeum Narodowe w Warszawie). His works, disseminated in thousands of reproductions, have made him one of the most famous painters in Poland, and became almost standard illustrations of many key events in Polish history.

Students

His more prominent students included Maurycy Gottlieb, Jacek Malczewski, Józef Mehoffer, Witold Pruszkowski, Leon Wyczółkowski, Stanisław Wyspiański, Ephriam Moses Lilien, Antoni Piotrowski.

Trivia

His favorite dish was dumpling with plumes.

Gallery of works

oil on canvas120 × 88 cm ''Kazanie Skargi'' ''Polonia - Rok 1863''(''Zakuwana Polska'') ''Rejtan (painting) ''Unia lubelska (painting) ''Stefan Batory pod Pskowem'' ''Astronom Kopernik, czyli rozmowa z Bogiem'' ''Zawieszenie dzwonu Zygmunta'' ''Śmierć króla Przemysła II'' ''Bitwa pod Grunwaldem (painting) ''Hołd pruski (painting) ''Jan III Sobieski pod Wiedniem'' ''Wernyhora (painting) ''Założenie Akademii Lubrańskiego w Poznaniu'' ''Bitwa pod Racławicami (painting) ''Zaprowadzenie chrześcijaństwa'' ''Konstytucja 3 maja (painting) ''Union of Lublin (painting)

#	Title	Year	Technique and size	Location	Illustration
1.	Stańczyk (painting)>Stańczyk'' (''Stańczyk w czasie balu na dworze królowej Bony gdy wieść przychodzi o utracie Smoleńska'')	1862	|	National Museum, Warsaw
2.	|	1864	oil on canvas224 × 397 cm	Royal Castle, Warsaw
3.	|	1864?1879	oil on canvas156 × 232 cm	Czartoryski Museum>Czartoryski Museum, Kraków
4.	Rejtan – Upadek Polski'' ||	1866	oil on canvas282 × 487 cm	Royal Castle, Warsaw
5.	Unia Lubelska'' ||	1869	oil on canvas298 cm × 512 cm	Lublin Museum
6.	|	1872	oil on canvas322 × 545 cm	Royal Castle, Warsaw
7.	|	1873	oil on canvas225 × 315 cm	Collegium Novum Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego
8.	|	1874	oil on wood94 × 189 cm	National Museum, Warsaw
9.	|	1875		Modern Gallery in Zagreb
10.	Bitwa pod Grunwaldem'' ||	1878	oil on canvas426 × 987 cm	National Museum, Warsaw
11.	Hołd pruski'' ||	1880-82	oil on canvas388 × 875 cm	National Museum, Kraków
12.	|	1883		Vatican Museums
13.	Wernyhora'' ||	1883-84	oil on canvas290 × 204 cm	National Museum, Kraków
14.	|	1886		National Museum, Poznań
15.	Bitwa pod Racławicami'' ||	1888	oil on canvas450 × 890 cm	National Museum, Kraków
16.	cycle ''Dzieje cywilizacji w Polsce''
17.	|	1889	oil on wood79 × 120 cm	National Museum, Warsaw
18.	Konstytucja 3 Maja 1791 r.'' ||	1891	oil on canvas247 cm × 446 cm	Royal Castle, Warsaw
19.	Union of Lublin'' ||	1892	oil on wood42 cm × 63 cm	Jan Matejko House in Kraków

See also

Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków

Culture of Kraków

References

Further reading

JSTOR

External links

Jan Matejko 1838-1893

Jan Matejko 1838-1893

"CLOTHING AND COSTUMES..." From the Collection of Jan Matejko

"THE GREAT ILLUSTRATOR - THE WOODCUTS OF JAN MATEJKO"

JAN MATEJKO'S HOUSE

"ARTISTS FROM THE SCHOOL OF JAN MATEJKO"

A gallery of paintings with links to biography (289 words) and bibliographical pages (12 books).

www.Jan-Matejko.org Jan Matejko Virtual Gallery - 64 images by the artist.

A gallery of paintings by Matejko.

Wawel gallery

Jan Matejko's artwork at malarze.com

Matejko's ''Gallery of Polish Kings''

Gallery at Omikron

Category:1838 births Category:1893 deaths Category:People from Kraków Category:Burials at Rakowicki Cemetery Category:Légion d'honneur recipients Category:Matejko family Category:Military art Category:Polish painters Category:Jan Matejko Academy of Fine Arts alumni Category:Alumni of Jagiellonian University Category:Polish people of Czech descent

an:Jan Matejko be:Ян Матэйка be-x-old:Ян Матэйка bg:Ян Матейко cs:Jan Matejko da:Jan Matejko de:Jan Matejko et:Jan Matejko el:Γιαν Ματέικο es:Jan Matejko eo:Jan Matejko fr:Jan Matejko is:Jan Matejko it:Jan Matejko he:יאן מטייקו la:Ioannes Matejko lv:Jans Matejko lt:Jan Matejko hu:Jan Matejko nl:Jan Matejko ja:ヤン・マテイコ no:Jan Matejko pl:Jan Matejko pt:Jan Matejko ro:Jan Matejko ru:Матейко, Ян sk:Jan Matejko sr:Јан Матејко sv:Jan Matejko uk:Ян Матейко zh:扬·马特伊科

:''For ships named after this king, see MS Batory or the later TSS Stefan Batory.''

name	Stephen Báthory
signature	Autograph-StefanBatory.svg
succession	King of Poland
predecessor	Ann the Jagiellonian
successor	Sigismund III Vasa
birth date	September 27, 1533
birth place	Szilágysomlyó, Transylvania (modern Şimleu Silvaniei, Romania)
death date	December 12, 1586
death place	Hrodna, Grand Duchy of Lithuania (now in Belarus)
place of burial	Wawel Cathedral, Saint Mary's Crypt (buried May 1588)
reign	May 1, 1576 - December 12, 1586
coronation	December 14, 1575May 1, 1576
cor-type	ElectionCoronation
house	Báthory
father	Stephen Báthory of Somlyo
mother	Catherine Telegdi
spouse	Ann the Jagiellonian }}

Stephen Báthory (, , , , ) (27 September 1533 – 12 December 1586) was a Hungarian noble Prince of Transylvania (1571–1586), then King of Poland (1576–1586) and Grand Duke of Lithuania (1576–1586). He was a member of the Somlyó branch of the noble Hungarian Báthory family. Many historians consider him to be one of the greatest of the elected Kings of Poland.

Biography

Stephen Báthory was born in Szilágysomlyó (Şimleu Silvaniei) as the son of Stephen Báthory (d. 1534). His father was a partisan of John Zapolya, who claimed the crown of Hungary in opposition to the Habsburg claimant Ferdinand I, and had been appointed Voivode of Transylvania.

Stephen Báthory became known as a skillful diplomat. His advocacy for the rights of Zapolya's son John Sigismund incurred the animosity of the Emperor Maximilian II, who kept him in prison for two years.

The Habsburgs and Zápolya courts finally reached an agreement in 1570 and John Sigismund contented himself with Transylvania. After his death in 1571, the Transylvanian estates elected Stephen Báthory Voivod of Transylvania — against the provisions of the late Prince, who had appointed Gáspár Bekes his successor. Supported by the Habsburgs, Bekesy insisted on his claims but in a civil war Báthory ultimately drove his rival out of the country.

Election to the throne of Poland

In 1572, the throne of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, at the time the largest and one of the most populous states in Europe, was vacated when King Sigismund II of Poland died without heirs. In April 1573, his sister Ann the Jagiellonian, the sole heir to the crown, convinced the Sejm to elect the French prince Henry of Valois as ruler. A marriage with Henry was to further legitimize Henry's rule but less than a year after his coronation, Henry fled Poland to succeed his brother as King of France.

On December 12, 1575, after an interregnum of roughly one and a half years, the Sejm, persuaded by the Papal nuncio, elected the Emperor Maximilian as the new monarch. However, after three days the nobility threatened the senate with civil war and demanded a ''Piast king'', a Polish King. After a heated discussion, it was decided that Ann should be elected King of Poland and marry Stephen Báthory. Representatives of Lithuania left the Sejm and did not participate in this election. Among the strongest supporters of his candidacy were the Protestants and Socinians, who feared a Habsburg ruler could introduce Counter-Reformation in Poland, whereas Stephen's Transylvania was known for freedom of religion.

On December 13, 1575 Ann the Jagiellonian was elected in Warsaw King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania and on May 1, 1576 Stephen married Anna and was crowned King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania.

This coronation almost made the Union of Lublin obsolete, as the representatives of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania who were not present at this election seriously considered electing Emperor Maximilian. After some negotiations and assurance of Lithuania's full federal rights within the Commonwealth, Stephen Báthory was recognized as Grand Duke of Lithuania, Duke of Ruthenia and Samogitia. As a token of his recognition he established Alma Academia et Universitas Vilnensis Societatis Iesu.

Establishing power

Stephen Báthory's position was at first extremely difficult. The country was badly damaged by the troubles of the interregnum. Emperor Maximilian, insisting on his earlier election, fostered internal opposition and in league with Tsardom of Russia prepared to enforce his claim by military action. However, Maximilian's sudden death completely reversed the situation.

All armed opposition collapsed when the prolonged Siege of Danzig (1577) by Batory's forces was lifted as an agreement was reached. The Hanseatic League city, bolstered by its immense wealth, fortifications, and the secret support of Denmark and Emperor Maximilian, had supported the latter's election and decided not to recognize Stephen. After a siege of six months, the Danzig army of 5,000 mercenaries was utterly defeated in a field battle on December 16, 1577. However, since Stephen's armies were unable to take the city by force, a compromise was reached: Stephen Báthory confirmed the city's special status and her Danzig law privileges granted by earlier Polish kings. The city recognised him as ruler of Poland and paid the enormous sum of 200,000 guldens in gold as payoff ("apology"). Danzig later remained loyal to the Kingdom during wars with Sweden and Tsardom of Russia, providing help when requested.

This victory gave Stephen a chance to devote himself to strengthening royal authority, in which he was supported by his chancellor Jan Zamoyski, who was just as skilled a politician. The two managed to win over several factions of the Lithuanian and Polish nobility, mostly by means of better taxation of crown lands and royal property leased to the nobility. Stephen completely reorganized the Polish Army. Among his genuine inventions was the ''piechota wybraniecka'' semi-professional infantry formation, composed of peasants trained in both infantry warfare and engineering. Stephen also reorganised the judiciary by formation of legal tribunals. He also founded the Academy of Vilna, the third university in the Commonwealth and a predecessor of the modern Vilnius University. Stephen also ordered the execution of Samuel Zborowski, whose death sentence for treason and murder had been pending for roughly a decade.

In external relations, Stephen sought peace through strong alliances. Though Stephen remained distrustful of the Habsburgs, he entered into a defensive alliance with Maximilian's successor, Rudolf II, fostered by the papal nuncio. The difficulties with the Ottoman Empire were temporarily adjusted by a truce signed on November 5, 1577. The Sejm gathered in Warsaw was persuaded to grant Stephen subsidies for the inevitable war against Muscovy. Two campaigns in which Báthory, although hampered by the Sejm, were successful. Báthory's diplomatic skills in the meantime ensured that there was no conflict with the Ottomans, nor with the emperor.

Stephen, together with his chancellor Zamoyski, led the army of the Commonwealth in a decisive campaign during the Livonian War (which involved the Tsardom of Russia, Sweden, the Kingdom of Livonia, Denmark-Norway and the Tsardom of Russia and formed part of the Muscovite wars between Poland-Lithuania and Muscovy). Ivan the Terrible had invaded Livonia and took Dorpat, Duchy of Courland, which a few years earlier had become a vassal of the Commonwealth. The Commonwealth army routed the Russian force at Velikiye Luki. In 1581 Stephen penetrated into Russia and, on August 22, laid siege to the city of Pskov, whose vast size and imposing fortifications filled the little Commonwealth army with dismay. But Báthory, despite the objections of some of his officers, and critique from the papal nuncio Possevino, send by the curia to mediate between the Muscovites and the Commonwealth, decided to keep up the siege. Finally, on the December 13, 1581, Ivan the Terrible, alarmed for the safety of the third city in his empire, concluded the Peace of Jam Zapolski (January 15, 1582), thereby ceding Polatsk and the Duchy of Livonia back to the Commonwealth, where Báthory revoked the noble privileges granted in the Treaty of Vilnius (1561) and initiated counter-reformation.

With the eastern borders secure, Stephen planned a Christian alliance with Tsardom of Russia against the Ottoman Empire. However, Russia's lapse into the Time of Troubles left him without a Russian partner, while the proposal of a personal union with Muscovy was rendered moot by his own sudden death, on December 12, 1586 in Old Hrodna Castle. (His autopsy there was the first to take place in Eastern Europe; Báthory was originally interred also in Hrodna.)

His death was followed by an interregnum of one year. The Emperor's brother Archduke Maximilian, was elected King but was contested by the Swedish Sigismund III Vasa, who defeated Maximilian at the Byczyna and succeeded as ruler of the Commonwealth. According to contemporary panegyrics Stephen Báthory's deeds surpassed previous monarchs and can be compared only to Vytautas.

Ancestry

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Gallery

Image:Skargi3.jpg|Grand Courtyard of Vilnius University (established by the king in 1579).

Notes

See also

List of Polish monarchs

History of Poland (1569-1795)

Transylvania

Vilnius University

Nyirbator

References

External links

Stephen Báthory's ''szkofia'' in the National Museum in Kraków .

Category:Roman Catholic monarchs Category:Báthory family Category:Polish monarchs Category:Grand Dukes of Lithuania Category:Rulers of Transylvania Category:Hungarian Roman Catholics Category:Polish Roman Catholics Category:Jure uxoris kings Category:1533 births Category:1586 deaths Category:People from Şimleu Silvaniei Category:Hungarian nobility Category:16th-century Hungarian people Category:Polish people of the Polish–Russian War (1577–1582) Category:Burials at Archcathedral Basilica of Sts. Stanisław and Vaclav, Kraków

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