Two masterpieces have been enriched the collection of the Wawel Royal Castle – Pieter II Brueghel’s ” The Inn at Saint Michael” and “Still Life” by Willem Claesz Heda. The works were purchased thanks to a special subsidy from the Prime Minister and the Minister of Culture and National Heritage.

During the presentation of new acquisitions, the Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Culture and National Heritage, Prof. Piotr Gliński emphasized that this is a unique achievement and one of the largest purchases of artworks in Poland. “It required hard work, commitment, knowledge, for which I thank all those who contributed to bringing a Brueghel back in Krakow. Before the war, a painting “Fighting Carnival with Lent” by the same author, Pieter Brueghel the Younger, was presented in the National Museum in Krakow. Unfortunately, like many other works of art, it was lost in the turmoil of war. Most likely, it was simply stolen, but we acquired another Brueghel for Krakow, symbolically”, said Piotr Gliński.

The minister added that also other valuable works will enrich the collections of Polish museums. He recalled the purchase of 14 prints by Marc Chagall for the National Museum in Warsaw and a collection of ancient sculptures for the National Museum in Krakow.

Pieter II Brueghel became famous as a copyist and imitator of the compositions of the even more famous father Pieter I Brueghel. But “The Inn at Saint Michael’s”, although in the Brueghel the Older’s style, is his original work, not referring to any of his father’s known works.

Willem Claesz Heda specialized in painting the so-called breakfasts (ontbijtjes), also known as monochrome banketjes. The still life in gray-green tones presents a composition of expensive, shiny silver and glass vessels. The painting has not been published so far – so it is an important discovery on the world art market.

Arkadiusz Słomczyński