Muzeum Narodowa w Wrocławiu- More fun than the Louvre? Also, Panorama Racławice.

I am not really a museum person, I think. I feel like I should be, so I walk around museums trying to feel mature, and grave and arty. Even though I don't have a drive, exactly, to attend museums on my wanderings, I do feel a certain level of interest, if only through obligation, to see what is on offer.
Of course, at the Louvre, there is the exceptionally small Mona Lisa that you must elbow your way up to through a sea of humanity also experiencing the same inclination. At the Rijks Museum, the Nachtwacht is a must, and I have enjoyed both those experiences, to some degree. A Vermeer, a Rembrandt, a Van Gogh. All lovely, and they seem important. So, while in Wrocław I found myself of an afternoon making my way to the National Museum of Wrocław.

It was after managing to purchase a ticket, in Polish, at the Panorama Racławice and seeing the wonderous exhibit there. The Panorama is a giant painting, in the round. It wraps around the walls of a circular building designed to showcase the painting. The painting was created in the 1890's to commemorate a victory in battle of the Polish insurrectionist army and peasants who routed the Russian troops at Racłowice, near Kraków, in 1794. It didn't end well, in that the Russians eventually squashed the Poles, and Poland didn't exist as a nation again until after WWI. But, the Polish were still proud of the victory on that day.
The huge painting was on display in Wrocław until 1944 when it was getting damaged by bombing. So, it went into protective custody until the end of WWII, when it was shipped back to Wrocław. The art is not "fine art", so I suppose the Nazis weren't tempted to obtain the painting. Still, after my short and unsatisfying explanation of Project Riese in the last blog, I would've thought the Nazis would claim it, just because it was a giant painting. In any case, when it was sent back to Wrocław, the Soviets were in possession of Poland, and did not care for a painting that depicted a Russian defeat. So, the painting stayed rolled up until 1985 when it was displayed again!

This round structure was built specifically for the painting in the 1960's, but was left unused and empty until 1985.

The set up is pretty cool, the idea is you feel like you are standing on a hill, observing the battle happening in front of you, and it did, indeed come to life for me.

So, there is real sand and scrubby bushes, and abandoned armament surrounding the area you stand on, and this real stuff blends into the painting.
I managed to find a docent and plead for a headset "Po angielsku" In English, so I really did get what was being said.

After my time observing the great battle of Racławice, I turned in the direction of the Muzeum Narodowa. I walked through a park, nearly empty, but was drawn to this dark and dramatic monument in the center.

 I know I am ignorant of many of the atrocities suffered in the last century at the hands of the megalomaniacs filled with power and hate, but there are just so many.
This monument was erected to remember the spring of 1940.
While the bees started their duties and the grasses turned green, Stalin ordered 22,000 Polish Army officers, policemen and other prisoners of war held at three of the detention camps to be shot in the back of the head.
It is a good reason to know your history. How could this happen? How could any of it happen? Well, be vigilant for hatred, and megalomaniacs obsessed with power and themselves. History repeats. Will it do so while we watch? There are places all over the world, even today, where crazy, murderous power mongers murder without restriction.

After a skin-crawling, bilious reflection on the dregs of humanity, I squared my shoulders and turned to face the beautiful day before me in a nation reborn, with an eye on the past.

I redirected towards the beautiful, stately building covered in green. Entering into the cool lobby, I found the ticket office and asked for " Jeden bilet," one ticket, and was asked a question, that in the words I understood " Bilet Racławice?" So, I said "Tak", and showed him my ticket purchased at the panorama. It turned out that gave me admission to the museum as well!
So, I walked up the staircase to have the atrium open in front of me.

Lovely. When I got to the next landing, arrows directed me down the corridor to early Polish art. This was many rooms of mostly sacred art and statues, many it seems, from the churches of Wrocław itself. I don't know when or why the art was taken from the churches, nor how it came to be back in Wrocław, but it was largely grave, dark and somber.
Except this piece. I liked this because it was full of color! Well, except for the curious black-clad people at the bottom, who also seemed to be featured in many

other works with less color. The ghostly people whose mouths are covered were also in a lot of paintings. Fashion? Plague-cover? Bad breath fixers? Don't know.

After this long tour of dark paintings, I entered a section of the museum that I truly enjoyed. If all museums were this cool, I'd really feel driven to see them.

First off was this excellent item I'd only seen before in Scooby Doo cartoons in the early 1970's.

 No Kidding. The eyes are cut out and follow you!

Now, the museum had two things of particular note. #1- the corridors to the art were blocked by big, old, heavy doors that were closed, unmarked, and you had to be truly determined to get in or out. #2- there was a silent docent in every room I entered. A LOT of people, watching. But in the hallway where this painting was displayed, a docent noticed my great interest.  He came over, smiling and put his hand below the painting and moved a lever the made the eyes move back and forth. Awesomely creepy!

And, a cheeky if morbid sense of humor in the Polish art displays continued.

Like this doll.

Beautifully hand made and displayed in her very own casket. Comes with a puce silk gown, a death-bouquet to clutch and a blood-less porcelain face. Casket features claw feet and it's very own crucified Jesus.
It makes me wonder why American Girl Dolls hasn't cashed in on this craze.

I also was impressed by this little set of child's armor. For the young master headed into battle. The shelf on the top has an adult arm armor, and the one below this little covering for a child's chest, with a jaunty peplum. In addition, a 5" dagger for jabbing at folks.

But, perhaps, my favorite piece in the whole place was a enormous battle scene. It is painted on wood planks, pieced together. It is one of the only paintings I can recall seeing that features knights in battle. The amazing-ness of the painting, for me, was that all the knights are in black. Both sides. Black armor. Some have red sashes on the waist. How is that enough identification when your peering through a armor slit with sweaty eyeballs?
Wait, that's not the amazing part.  What was so cool was that no one had a face. No one, except for the horses. The entire tale of the battle is being told in the faces of the great steeds. 

 Look at this black horse.  He seems a little disappointed in the knight on the flaxen-maned horse opposing him. His eyes seem to be saying "Really ? You didn't see this coming?" And the riderless palomino horse behind them is evidently done with the dashing about and taking a breather. Humans can be senseless and exhausting.  The whole huge painting is thus. Wonderful!


Now, to be fair, there was plenty of fine art at the museum. This boy making shade was most excellent. And, I liked those sections well enough.

But, for me, the real treasures of the Muzeum Narodowa w Wrocławiu were the little bits of surprise and black humor. I can imagine I missed a whole lot of cheeky bits. It is worth another trip.