The Legend of Piast from the 9th Century

With Piast, the legendary forefather of the Polish kings, the foundation of the so-called Piast dynasty was moved back around a hundred years before the mention of the first real Polish monarch, Mieszko, whose reign began around the year 963. At the same time, the legend expresses the virtues that the Poles expect of their king: they should be in close touch with the people, pious and wise. As the legend goes, Piast is said to have taken in two strangers who had been turned away by the king. It happens that the two strangers were angels who prophesied a great future for Piast. In the end Piast - or in other versions his son - was raised to the throne and ruled wisely and justly.

The construction of a founding father going back to times of old and reigning in touch with the people can be found with almost identical make-up in the legendary Bohemian royal couple Premysl and Libuse. And the virtues that qualify Piast for his office were also ascribed to other monarchs. A special proximity to God was attributed to such rulers as the Habsburg count and emperor Rudolf, the Swedish king Gustavus Adolphus and the Frankish king Clovis. Famous for being close to the people were the Hungarian Mátyás Hunyadi, the German emperor Charles IV and the »empress« Maria Theresa.

Moving the foundation of the dynasty back to the time of around 860 accommodated the needs of 19th century Poland. It allowed the Poles to celebrate the thousandth jubilee at a time when the Polish state did not exist and national pride could be nourished by the memory of the glorious past.

The works of art that depict Piast usually show his encounter with the strangers, whom he invites in with a hospitable gesture. Witold Pruszkowski’s painting illustrates the coronation of Piast by the angels, a symbol of his divine mandate to rule, while the people acclaim the new monarch.

War and Faith

The Battle of Grunwald (Tannenberg) in the Year 1410

The interconnection between conflicts of belief and those of power politics can be seen in the example of the confrontation between Poland and the Order of the Teutonic Knights. In the 13th century, the militant order, which was originally founded to convert the heathen and protect the crusaders, began to penetrate into the area of the lower Vistula River. Their alleged objective was to missionise the heathen Prussian tribes, but in reality they were hoping to develop new settlement areas for the rapidly growing population of the German Empire. The conflict with Poland began when the powerful order procured Eastern Pomerania and Gdansk and thus obstructed access to the Baltic Sea. It culminated in the battle of 15th June 1410 when the army of the order was annihilated by a combined Polish-Lithuanian army at Grunwald (Tannenberg). Even though Poland did not gain any territories through the battle, the victory nonetheless destroyed the power of the Teutonic Knights and allowed Poland's influence in the Baltic area to increase continually from this time on.

Since the 15th century the Battle of Grunwald (Tannenberg) was shrouded in legend and inflamed feelings in Poland especially after the divisions of the kingdom at the end of the 18th century. Hence, it took on particular importance in the Polish nationalist thinking of the 19th century and served the memory and self-awareness of Polish eminence and independence. Moreover, the brilliant victory was suited to bolster Polish self-consciousness in the face of Prussian supremacy. For Prussia, which was responsible for the division of Poland, was equated with the Teutonic Order.

So it was no coincidence that Jan Matejko painted his picture of the Battle of Grunwald (Tannenberg) shortly after the abortive Polish insurrection and the renewed growth of Prussian power resulting from the founding of the German Empire in 1871. The painting was enthusiastically celebrated and frequently reproduced in Poland.

The Relief of Vienna, 1683

There are few events whose memory has remained so alive in future generations as the siege of Vienna by the Turkish army under the command of the grand vizier Kara Mustafa and the relief of the imperial city in September 1683. Ever since, the glorious victory over the Ottoman Empire has been appreciated throughout Europe. In the 19th century it was only in Austria and Poland that the breaking of the siege by the combined forces of the emperor, the imperial provinces and Poland became an integral part of their national self-awareness.

For Poland it meant the victory over Islam, but above all it was the defence of the Christian West by the Polish king John III Sobieski that inflamed Polish patriotism. Jan Matejko created a monumental painting of the triumph on the occasion of the 200th anniversary of the event in 1683.

For Austria, on the other hand, the glorious repulsion of the Turkish siege of 1683 marked the beginning of the »Heroic Age« and Austria's rise to the status of a great power. This self-identity came to life in the art of the 19th century. Carl von Blaas' depiction of the Viennese commander Rüdiger Graf Starhemberg, who defiantly and determinedly fought on to victory despite his wounds, is seen in the context of the painting of the weapons museum in the Vienna Arsenal, the present museum of military history, the decoration of which was carried out in order to underpin the myth of the Habsburgs through its great military events. In his painting of the Turkish storming of the so-called Löwel Bastion, Leander Russ recalls one of those dramatic moments when it took the greatest efforts and most bitter fighting for the defenders to drive back the enemy.

Freedom

The Polish Constitution of 1791

The Kosciuszko Insurrection of 1794

The constitution of 3rd May 1791 was one of the pillars of Polish national awareness and pride in the 19th century. It was not only the very first written constitution of Europe, but above all it symbolised the urge for freedom and independence in a country that had been shattered and carved up by the Eastern Powers at the end of the 18th century. After the First Partition of Poland in 1772 the May constitution gave rise to the hope that it could stabilise the disrupted domestic affairs of the kingdom not least of all against the superior power of Austria, Prussia and Russia. The painter Jean Pierre Norblin de la Gourdaine takes up these ideas in his widely distributed print, whereby he models it closely on illustrations of the Parisian »Tennis Court Oath«, thus linking the subject to the French Revolution. The oil painting by Kazimierz Wojniakowski closely follows Norblin's print.

The intervention of the Czar destroyed the Polish hopes and resulted in the abolition of the constitution and the Second Partition of Poland of 1793. In the following year an insurrection led by General Tadeusz Kosciuszko broke out, but was put down after initial victories, resulting in the Third Partition (1795). This meant the end of the sovereign Polish nation. One of the best remembered incidents that occurred during the insurrection was when an army of peasants armed with flails joined in the Battle of Raclawice. Jan Matjeko portrays the battle in his monumental painting, which itself is venerated as a national monument.

It was above all in the veneration and glorification of Tadeusz Kosciuszko, who became a hero for the entire nation, that national aspirations to a sovereign, independent Poland were kept alive and revived again and again. This is evidenced in the huge production of souvenirs and memorabilia, which is typical of the more private and personal forms of expression of Polish national sentiment in the 19th century.