CARRACCI, MATEJKO, MALCZEWSKI AND... REMBRANDT'S TECHNIQUE - IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF GREAT ART UPON THE RIVER SAN

"Jan, when I will go with my father to the spa in Italy, I will buy some pieces of paintings by Carracci and his disciples". - This is how Waleria Tarnowska, who paints on parchment, might have addressed her husband Jan Feliks Tarnowski

The Tarnowski couple shared a passion for both art and science, but also travels, the main purpose of which was also to purchase works of art by European painting masters. Thanks to their passion and numerous trips to Italy or Germany, we can still admire many paintings from the Dzikowska Collection at the castle in Tarnobrzeg.

So let's go inside and feel like we are in the old Netherlands and Baroque Italy!

Walking through the former residence of the counts of Tarnowski of the Leliwa coat of arms, we can admire the works of Italian painters of the Baroque era, including the Carracci brothers. We have a great opportunity to get a closer look at how much inspiration Annibale Carracci drew from the masters of the Italian Renaissance. It was him, according to Bernini, another of the Baroque masters, who possessed the graceful line of Raphael and the thorough anatomy of Michelangelo. These are not the only Italian paintings in the Tarnobrzeg museum.

Alfons Karpiński's Painting Gallery, photo: J.Kawa

We are also delighted by the works by: Francesco Albani, Salvatore Rosa, Gregorio Fidanza. Surprisingly, however, these are not the most valuable works of European painting that can be discovered in Tarnobrzeg! The most valuable include the works by Dutch masters. We admire such a characteristic chiaroscuro drama seen in the portrait of a young man from the workshop of Rembrandt van Rijn.

We also admire another portrait, this time from the workshop of Anthony van Dyck - a portrait of Marie Villiers. Among other paintings, we can find similar artistry evident in the works of Thomas van Wijck and Gotfried Schalcken.

Magnificent Polish art

The castle of the Lubomirski family in Stalowa Wola

Let’s move only 30 km away from Tarnobrzeg to another seat of a well-known magnate family, the neoclassical castle of the Lubomirski family, which now houses the Regional Museum in Stalowa Wola. Here, too, we are amazed by the chateau's greenery. The museum is surrounded by a stylish garden with 18th-century chestnut, nut and rose trees, and their fragrance is indescribable and lingers in the memory. In the Stalowa Wola museum, at least once a year, we can admire the works of artists of such class as Boznańska, Malczewski and Kossak, and nearby in the Gallery of Painting of Alfons Karpinski we are captivated by the works of this painter, a student of, e.g. Leon Wyczółkowski. We admire e.g. the genre scene in the spirit of Young Poland in the painting „Na odpuście” ["At The Indulgence"]. We learn that the gallery is home to the "Karpinski" School of Painting and Drawing, which teaches visual arts in a comprehensive and professional way. Furthermore, the gallery also offers a rich program of cultural events - exhibitions, workshops, classes, concerts, films.

Our next must-see point in Stalowa Wola will undoubtedly be the parish church of Our Lady of the Scapular in Rozwadów, with the only comprehensive design of paintings and stained glass windows in Poland by Prof. Adam Stalony-Dobrzański.... 

Collection in the Tarnowski Museum in Tarnobrzeg, photo: J.Kawa

Practical information:

Museum - Tarnowski Castle in Tarnobrzeg

1. Sandomierska 27

39-400 Tarnobrzeg

tel. 15 823 79 99

fax 15 823 79 99 ext. 26

email: mhmt@onet.pl

Museum in Tarnobrzeg

Regional Museum in Stalowa Wola

1. Sandomierska 1

37-450 Stalowa Wola

tel. +48 15 844 85 56

email: muzeum@muzeum.stalowawola.pl

Muzeum w Stalowej Woli