Stanisław Małachowski. Hero. Myth. Symbol

April 26–June 4, 2022

The Senators' Chamber

The exhibition is available as part of The Royal Route

Buy a ticket

Stanisław Małachowski of the Nałęcz coat of arms (b. 24 December 1736 in Końskie, d. 29 December 1809 in Warsaw) was one of the most important and respected politicians in Poland in the second half of the 18^th century. The Count of Końskie and Białaczów, as the new Marshal of the Crown Tribunal, restored its efficiency, thus becoming known as the Polish Aristides. The enactment of the May Constitution, opposition to the Targowica Confederation and the post of President of the Governing Commission of the newly formed Duchy of Warsaw made the Marshal a symbol of the fight for independence. He died in 1809, and the crowning achievement of his merits and a form of tribute from a grateful public was his tombstone monument in the Arch-Cathedral Basilica of St. John the Baptist
in Warsaw.

The exhibition entitled Stanisław Małachowski. Hero. Myth. Symbol, which is a collection of selected works of art depicting the Speaker of the Great Sejm, one of the authors of the Constitution of May 3, brings visitors closer to the reception of ancient motifs in modern Poland and pays tribute to one of the last defenders of independence. The monuments present both the exemplary aesthetic criteria and the heritage of antiquity of the classicist era. The works show, both directly and poetically, a mythologisation of the figure of one of the heroes of the struggle for the sovereignty of the Republic. The interactive set design of the exhibition is an immersion between the work and the visitor - regardless of age or knowledge of art history.