Jan Matejko facts for kids

Jan Matejko
Jan Matejko
	Jan Matejko, Self-portrait, 1892
Born	June 24, 1838; Free City of Kraków
Died	November 1, 1893 (aged 55); Kraków, Austria–Hungary
Nationality	Polish
Field	Painting, drawing
Training	School of Fine Arts, Kraków
Movement	History painting
Works	Battle of Grunwald; Stańczyk; The Prussian Homage

Jan Alojzy Matejko also known as Jan Mateyko (June 24, 1838 – November 1, 1893) was a Polish painter known for paintings of notable historical Polish political and military events. His works include large oil on canvas paintings like Rejtan (1866), Union of Lublin (1869) or Battle of Grunwald (1878), numerous portraits, a gallery of Polish kings, and murals in St. Mary's Basilica, Kraków. He is referred to as the most famous Polish painter or even the "national painter" of Poland.

Biography

Jan Matejko's Monument in Cracow

Jan Matejko was born in Kraków (Cracow). on 24 June 1838. His father was Czech musician František Xaver Matějka (in Poland Franciszek Ksawery Matejko), a music teacher. His mother was Joanna Karolina Rossberg, who was half-German. He was never good at school, however, he showed great artistic talent.

Matejko spent most of his life in Kraków. His teachers at the Kraków Academy of Fine Arts included Wojciech Korneli Stattler and Władysław Łuszczkiewicz. Later, he became a director at this institution, which eventually was renamed the Jan Matejko Academy of Fine Arts. A number of his students became famous painters themselves.

Matejko died on 1 November 1893 in Kraków. He is buried at Rakowicki Cemetery in Kraków.

Matejko is famous for his historical paintings. He painted portraits, too, especially those of his children. He also published a book named Portraits of Polish Kings (1890). Most of these portraits are imaginary, meaning he painted kings and princes who lived many centuries before, and that there are no earlier pictures of them.

Images for kids

Portrait of Matejko's father, Franciszek, and three of his children, 1853
Portrait of the artist's four children, 1879
Jan Matejko, photograph from before 1883
Carowie Szujscy, Jan Matejko 18th century painting
Stańczyk, Jan Matejko (1838-1893)
Skarga's Sermon
Rejtan - The Fall of Poland
Alchemist Sendivogius
The Union of Lublin
Stephen Báthory at Pskov
Astronomer Copernicus, conversation with God
The Battle of Grunwald
Polonia 1863
The Prussian Homage
King John III Sobieski sending Message of Victory to the Pope, after the Battle of Vienna
Wernyhora
Founding of the Lubrański Academy in Poznań
The Maid of Orléans
Battle of Raclawice
Baptism of Lithuania
Christianization of Poland A.D. 966
Adoption of the Polish Constitution of May 3, 1791
Russian Tsar Vasili IV Shuyski compelled to knee before Polish King Sigismund III
Oath of king Jan Kazimierz of Poland, taken in 1655, during The Deluge
Kraków Academy of Fine Arts named after Matejko in 1979, where he served as president of many years