Stephen Báthory at Pskov
Jan Matejko, 1872
Stephen Báthory at Pskov is an 1872 history painting in which Jan Matejko brings together, on a single stage, events that in reality took place at different times and places. It shows envoys of Ivan the Terrible kneeling before the Polish king Stephen Báthory during the closing stage of peace talks that ended the Livonian campaign, with the papal legate, the Jesuit Antonio Possevino, dressed in black among them. The scene is not a faithful record: Matejko wanted to highlight the meaning of the episode beyond its immediate setting, so the negotiations did not happen beneath the walls of Pskov and were not conducted personally by the king. Contemporary diaries and chronicles allow a more detailed reconstruction, and in them Possevino appears as an active and partisan mediator, far from the calm peacemaker the canvas presents. The painting was badly damaged during the Second World War and was restored after it was found in Przesieka, near Jelenia Góra.
- Painter
- Jan Matejko
- Date
- 1872
- Medium
- oil paint, canvas
- Dimensions
- 322 × 512 cm
- Museum
- Royal Castle in Warsaw, Warsaw
- Genre
- history painting
- Depicts
- Janusz Zbaraski, Stephen Báthory, Antonio Possevino
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