Union of Lublin

The painting depicts the signing of the Union of Lublin in 1569, the agreement that joined the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania into a single commonwealth with a shared parliament and monarch. Matejko completed it in 1869, during a period when he devoted himself to large-scale historical paintings of episodes from Polish national history. The scene gathers many figures of the period, among them King Sigismund II Augustus and Queen Anna Jagiellon, alongside nobles, prelates and officials from both territories, each recognisable through their position and dress. The composition arranges the crowd around the centre of the action, and its treatment of costumes and gestures aims for a sense of solemnity. The work is held by the National Museum in Warsaw and is one of Matejko's best-known historical paintings, widely reproduced as an image of that pact.

Painter

Jan Matejko

Date

1869

Medium

oil paint, canvas

Dimensions

298 × 511 cm

Museum

National Museum in Warsaw, Warsaw

Depicts

Filip Padniewski, Roman Sanguszko, Jakub Uchański, Marcin Zborowski, Anna Jagiellon, Walerian Protasewicz, Michał M. Wiśniowiecki, Albert Frederick of Prussia

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