material: oil on canvas
dimensions: 164 × 308 cm
description: Hipolit Lipiński, whose work is very much influenced by the paintings created by Jan Matejko, usually chose to paint the everyday life of Krakow. One of the pieces that fit within this theme is Konik Zwierzyniecki (The Zwierzyniec Horse). This extensive composition depicts the parade of Lajkonik, which is also held today eight days after Corpus Christi. The parade starts at the courtyard of the Norbertine Convent in the Zwierzyniec District, and heads towards Krakow’s Market Square. The colourful procession is led by a “Tartar”, with a wooden figure of a horse - Lajkonik - carried around his hips. Legend has it that this traditional folk ceremony commemorates the defence of Krakow in 1287 by Vistula rafters against a Tartar assault. They protected their city beating a throng of riders from the Asian steppes with their oars, when they fell asleep on the bank of the Vistula River. In Lipiński’s works, one can notice a nostalgic representation of Polish customs without any attempts at presenting a wider ideological programme in a national or social sense.
exposition: The Gallery of 19th Century Polish Art in Sukiennice,
The Cloth Hall, 1, Main Market Square
key: Around the academy >>>
dimensions: 164 × 308 cm
description: Hipolit Lipiński, whose work is very much influenced by the paintings created by Jan Matejko, usually chose to paint the everyday life of Krakow. One of the pieces that fit within this theme is Konik Zwierzyniecki (The Zwierzyniec Horse). This extensive composition depicts the parade of Lajkonik, which is also held today eight days after Corpus Christi. The parade starts at the courtyard of the Norbertine Convent in the Zwierzyniec District, and heads towards Krakow’s Market Square. The colourful procession is led by a “Tartar”, with a wooden figure of a horse - Lajkonik - carried around his hips. Legend has it that this traditional folk ceremony commemorates the defence of Krakow in 1287 by Vistula rafters against a Tartar assault. They protected their city beating a throng of riders from the Asian steppes with their oars, when they fell asleep on the bank of the Vistula River. In Lipiński’s works, one can notice a nostalgic representation of Polish customs without any attempts at presenting a wider ideological programme in a national or social sense.
exposition: The Gallery of 19th Century Polish Art in Sukiennice,
The Cloth Hall, 1, Main Market Square
key: Around the academy >>>