Kraków's oldest museum and maybe its most underrated. This magnificent and historic exhibition inside the Cloth Hall covers Polish art from in and around the 19th century, and its major trends of portraiture and epic historical painting. Comprising just four rooms, the museum is refreshingly small, giving proper attention to each piece, some of which are enormous and all of which are gorgeously framed. Almost everything by Jan Matejko here is rightly considered a national treasure, and the collection also includes works by Jacek Malczewski, Józef Chełmoński and Stanisław Witkiewicz, as well as Władysław Podkowiński's famous 'Frenzy of Exultations' from 1894. Like a small slice of the Louvre in Kraków, but without the crowds, one of the perks of a visit is access to the magnificent balcony overlooking the market square. For the best visiting experience, we recommend the audioguide (7/5zł, available in English, Polish, German, Russian, French), which provides valuable context and information about the most important works in the collection.
Average visiting time: 40mins.
Comments
Scotia
Krakow
The art collection in the Sukiennice Gallery is breathtaking!
Eglė
wow! that should be incredible to see! cant wait!
Larry Jones
An impressive collection of absolutely enormous canvases in exquisite gold frames. The historical paintings by Matejko and Malczewski will blow you away. You can feel the pride that Poland has in these works and the Cloth Hall is a suitable place to display them, the only drawback being the lighting. Unfortunately the galleries are very narrow and you have to stand far away from the giant canvases in order to not have a glare over part of them. This means you're practically standing in front of the painting on the other side of the gallery that others are trying to look at. Unlike many European art museums this one is small and easily digestible in one hour and despite the bad lighting I highly recommend it.