Graphic art

In a small collection of Polish and western European graphic art from the 15^th to the 20^th c. (c. 1500 items) there are some outstanding suites: views of Wawel, Kraków and other Polish towns, representations of Polish kings and royal family members, and etchings by the well-known Italian copperplate engraver, Giovanni Battista Piranesi. There are also several historic maps.

A VIEW OF KRAKÓW FROM THE NORTH WEST. From the Theatri praecipuarum... published by Georg Braun and Abraham Hoghenberg, Cologne 1618. Watercolour and gouache copperplate engraving. It recreates a panorama of Kraków from the years 1603-1605, together with the adjacent towns (now districts of Kraków): Kazimierz and Kleparz. It is one of the oldest and most complete views of Kraków, and of high artistic value; a valuable source of information for research on development of building in Kraków in the early 17^th c.

A VIEW OF WAWEL CASTLE’S ARCADED COURTYARD. Poland, Kraków, Leon Wyczółkowski (1852-1936), 1916. Watercolour lithograph on paper. One of the artist’s numerous works on this topic. It presents an eastern wing of the arcades, visible from underneath the entrance gate arch.