From 29 September to 11 November 2022, the National Museum in Warsaw is hosting the exhibition “Lukasians. The Great Return”, prepared by the Museum of Polish History. The exhibition is made up of seven panoramic paintings and four extraordinary tapestries. The paintings depict the most important events in Poland’s history, showing its contribution to the development of Western civilisation, including its relations with its neighbours, traditions of tolerance and constitutionalism.
The works of art were returned to the country thanks to the persistent efforts of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage and the personal involvement of Deputy Prime Minister Professor Piotr Gliński.
In 1940, the artworks were not allowed to return to Poland, then occupied by Germany and the Soviet Union. Later, for years the paintings adorned the library of the American Le Moyne College. The complicated legal situation made it difficult for the Polish authorities to negotiate with representatives of the college for the return of these works. A breakthrough was reached in May 2022.
The paintings depict the most glorious moments in the history of Polish statehood: from the meeting of Boleslaus the Brave and Emperor Otto at the tomb of St Adalbert (1000), through the adoption of the Union of Lublin (1569), to the adoption of the Constitution of 3 May (1791). The tapestries, designed by Mieczysław Szymański, celebrate King Jan III Sobieski: his military successes and the power of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth during his reign.
Between 1939 and 1940, these works formed the heart of the Polish pavilion at the World Exhibition in New York. The authors of the paintings were a unique group of painters: the Brotherhood of St. Luke, popularly known as the Lukasians.
“We can observe how Poland was seen in the 1930s and wanted to be shown abroad and how the Second Polish Republic conducted its historical policy. The exhibition at the future premises of the Museum of Polish History will also present a series of paintings titled “The History of Civilisation in Poland” by Jan Matejko. The two series will correspond with each other”, said Robert Kostro, director of the Polish History Museum.
Adrian Andrzejewski