The Bishop Erazm Ciolek Palace

Photo: Virgine with Child from Krużlowa, ca. 1420, Erazm Ciolek Palace

The Bishop Erazm Ciołek Palace, a new branch of the National Museum in Krakow, belongs to the most outstanding old residences of the Cracovian Chapter. It was raised through the effort of Bishop of Płock Erazm Ciołek (ca 1474-1522), a Cracovian canon, secretary to King Alexander the Jagiellon, a skilful diplomat, patron of artists, and bibliophile. His Cracovian residence, erected between 1503 and 1505, belongs to the earliest Renaissance buildings in Poland, with still visible elements of the traditional Late Gothic architecture. The Palace was extended several times by Bishop Ciołek’s successors: in the years 1522-1535 by Bishop Piotr Tomicki and at the close of the 16th century by Cardinal Jerzy Radziwiłł. After the destructions suffered during the Swedish Deluge and the Northern War the Palace was thoroughly renovated in the 1st half of the 18th century. Throughout the course of the 19th and 20th century the building was used by various state agencies, which led to its transformation and degradation. In the year 1996 it was handed over to the National Museum in Cracow. In the period 1999-2006 global conservation works funded by the Citizens’ Committee for the Renovation of Cracow’s Historic Monuments restored the original splendour to the Palace.
The programme of conservation works was elaborated by an outstanding expert on Polish Renaissance architecture,
Andrzej Fischinger. Waldemar Niewalda carried out architectural examination, while Jerzy Lasoń prepared the design.

The Erazm Ciolek Palace houses two complementary collections that jointly create an image of old Polish art in the time of the Polish-Lithuanian Republic (“The Commonwealth of Two Nations”).
A panoramic overview of Polish art, beginning in the Erazm Ciołek Palace, finds its continuation in two other Galleries of the National Museum in Cracow, situated in the Cloth Hall (Sukiennice, end of the 18th and the 19th century) and in the Main Building (the 20th and 21st centuries).

ART OF OLD POLAND (12th – 18th CENTURY)

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.

Concept of the exhibition: Barbara Szyper, Franciszek Stolot, Tomasz Zaucha
Exhibition design: Małgorzata and Maciej Radnicki, Piotr Turkiewicz

ORTHODOX ART OF THE OLD POLISH-LITHUANIAN REPUBLIC

The exhibition features a hitherto little known group of icons, one of the oldest and most precious collections of Orthodox painting in Central Europe. It contains mainly the works coming from the south-eastern borderlands of the old “Rzeczpospolita”. The core of the collection constitute priceless 15th and 16th century Carpathian icons, sometimes referred to as Western Ruthenian. On display are also icons from the modern times (the 17th and 18th centuries), with a discernible influence of the Renaissance and Baroque patterns borrowed from West-European art (intensified especially after the Orthodox Church in Poland accepted the union with Rome in 1596). The exhibition includes also icons of Balkan origin and artworks from the territory of the present-day Greece; some of them come even from the holy mountain Athos. An interesting exhibit is a part of the iconostasis from Lipovec in the Kiev district. Its beautifully carved structure, complemented with numerous examples of Orthodox sculpture, imparts an air of a genuine Orthodox church interior to the Gallery rooms. The objects connected with the Eastern liturgy complete the exhibition.

Concept of the exhibition: Bronisława Guminska
Exhibition design: Bronisława Guminska, Ewa Morzyniec, Marek Mroz


INFORMATION FOR THE VISITORS

Adress: Kanonicza 17 Street, 31-002 Krakow, tel. 012 429 15 58
opened: Tue-Sun 10.00 AM - 18.00 PM
closed: 22-24.04.2008, 1.11, 11.11, 24,25.12, 31.12, 01.01

The historic building of the Palace has been adapted for the needs of the disabled Visitors.
The Museum offers a rich educational programme for children and teenagers. It serves also as a venue for concerts and lectures. During the Museum’s opening hours we invite the Visitors to take their rest in the beautiful courtyard of the Palace (admission free). The backyard houses a lapidary (stone collection), accessible on request.

Entrance ticket to the Orthodox Art of the Old Polish Republic Gallery:
Normal: 12 PLN
Discount: 6 PLN
Family (max 5 people, 2 adults and 3 children): 24 PLN
Normal group ( minimum 15 people): 10 PLN
Discount group (minimum 15 people): 5 PLN

Entrance ticket to the Art of Old Poland (13th to 18 th Century) Gallery:
Normal: 12 PLN
Discount: 6 PLN
Family (max 5 people, 2 adults and 3 children): 24 PLN
Normal group ( minimum 15 people): 10 PLN
Discount group (minimum 15 people): 5 PLN

Combined entrance ticket to both Galleries of the Bishop Erazm Ciołek Palace,
valid 14 days:
Normal: 20 PLN
Discount: 10 PLN
Family (max 5 people, 2 adults and 3 children): 40 PLN
Normal group ( minimum 15 people): 16 PLN
Discount group (minimum 15 people): 8 PLN

The Bishop Erazm Ciołek Palace is situated within the zone of limited traffic. The nearest car parks: Powisle Street and Straszewskiego Street; the nearest tram stops: św. Gertrudy Street (“Wawel”) and Franciszkańska Street (“Plac Wszystkich Swietych”).