The Warsaw National Museum contains masterpieces of Polish and international art which can be viewed every day except Monday. Its pride of place goes to the biggest collection in Poland of ancient art: a Greek vase with the image of the poet Saphona, Nubian mural paintings and those from the cathedral in Faras, Sudan.

 

The Gallery of Medieval Art in the Museum is extremely interesting – the wooden sculptures of the Madonna from Wrocław or the St Barbara poloptych are a tour de force of Gothic wood- carving.

The country’s largest collection of painting attracts not only students of the history of art. The paintings of Italian, French, Dutch and German artists from the 14th to the 18th century have been collected here – the works of Botticelli, Tintoretto, Watteau, Cranach, and the pupils of Rembrandt.

 

The museum contains 18th century landscapes of Warsaw by Canaletto, the monumental works of Jan Matejko, the paintings of the Polish ‘Munchenians’(Julian Fałat, Józef Chełmoński), impressionists (Władysław Podkowiński, Leon Wyczółkowski), as well as the symbolists (Józef Mehoffer, Jacek Malczewski) who are among the best known artists. In the Gallery of Polish Art of the 20th Century the works of the Formalists, between-war avant-garde, Kapists and Lvovian surrealists can be viewed.

The Warsaw Museum also has a rich collection of decorative art with embroidered belts worn by noblemen, fragile glasswork from the 18th century glass objects, faience, porcelain, clocks and furniture. Poland’s largest collection of coins is kept in the Numismatic Room – with ancient Greek and Roman coins and a collection of coins from the times of the Piast dynasty.

 

The Xawery Dunikowski Sculpture Museum located in Królikarnia is a branch of the National Museum. It was created from the collection given to the Polish nation by the sculptor Xawery Dunikowski. It contains his sculptures, paintings, drawings and souvenirs.