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Racławice Panorama / Janina Kowalska / Agencja Gazeta
Racławice Panorama
A unique work by Lviv's painter Jan Styka and a battle master Wojciech Kossak of dimensions 15m tall and 114 m long, it is one of very few original examples of 19th mass culture, the first one and the only one remaining in Poland. The huge painting was painted in just 9 months between August 1893 and May 1894. The artists were in a real hurry as they were preparing it for National Common Fair in Lviv which was to take place in 1894. It was first shown on 5 June 1894 in Lviv's Stryjski Park in a special rotunda. Besides Styka and Kossak, there were some other people involved in the artistic creation: Ludwik Boller, Tadeusz Popiel, Zygmunt Rozwadowski, Teodor Axentowicz, Włodzimierz Tetmajer, Wincenty Wodzinowski and Michał Sozański. They created a remarkable and unique piece of art which was to commemorate the 100th Anniversary of Kościuszko Insurection and the victory of Racławice that took place on 4 April 1794, fought by Tadeusz Kościuszko and his insurgents against the Russian army under General Tormasov's command. The huge painting seems really evocative. Various artistic skills were used to create the appropriate perspective as well as different technical ideas such as illumination, artificial ground, winding and an obscure entrance. All of it makes a viewer feel as if he were in a different reality. Just like books by Henryk Sienkiewcz, so was Racławice Panorama to raise spirits of the nation in chains. It indeed became extremely popular from the very beginning and turned into one of the main attractions of Lviv. It was transported to Wroclaw in 1946 along with the part of Ossolineum Collection. It took four decades to restore and re-exhibit the Panorama. It was re-opened for visitors in 1985, being a branch of National Museum of Wroclaw. It still attracts numerous tourists. The brand-new attraction is an illusion show every 30 minutes.