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The Constitution of 3 May 1791 [a] (Polish: Konstytucja 3 Maja 1791 roku) is an 1891 Romantic oil painting on canvas by the Polish artist Jan Matejko.It is a large piece, and one of Matejko's best known.
Matejko was born on 24 June 1838, in the Free City of Kraków. [2] His father, Franciszek Ksawery Matejko (Czech: František Xaver Matějka) (born 1789 or 13 January 1793, died 26 October 1860), a Czech from the village of Roudnice, was a graduate of the Hradec Králové school who later became a tutor and music teacher. [2]
16th-century Polish soldiers, depicted by Jan Matejko. After the Second Peace of Thorn (1466), the Teutonic Order was under Polish suzerainty.In the late 1490s, the Order developed the idea of electing only an Imperial Prince as future Grand Master, who as subject to the Emperor could resist having to pay homage to Kings of Poland.
On the canvas, Matejko depicted Kleparski Square, filled with crowds of people.In the background, the buildings of Krakow, flooded with the light of the rising sun, are shown: on the right, the Barbican, St. Florian's Gate and in the distance, the towers of St. Mary's Church, on the left, behind the gate there is the silhouette of the university collegiate church of St. Florian.
The Constitution of 3 May 1791 reflected Enlightenment influences, including Rousseau's concept of the social contract and Montesquieu's advocacy of a balance of powers among three branches of government—legislative, executive, and judicial—and of a bicameral legislature.
The interpretation of the painting was greatly influenced by Marian Gorzkowski's feuilleton Hints to Jan Matejko's latest painting "Kościuszko at Racławice", finished in April 1888. [2] [3] Tadeusz Kościuszko is dressed in a fashionable uniform tailcoat, identical to that in Michał Stachowicz's painting Kościuszko's Oath on the Main Square.
Introduction of Christianity to Poland, A.D. 966, the first painting in the series. History of Civilization in Poland (Polish: Dzieje Cywilizacji w Polsce) is a cycle of twelve oil sketches on canvas and wood, created by the Polish nominal painter Jan Matejko in 1889 with accompanying commentaries.
The most powerful magnates were known as "little kings" due to the extent of their power and independence. Their influence diminished with the Third Partition of Poland (1795), which ended the Commonwealth's independent existence, and came to an end with the Second World War and the communist-ruled People's Republic of Poland.