Stańczyk
Jan Matejko, 1862
Stańczyk is an 1862 oil painting by Jan Matejko showing the Polish court jester seated in the foreground, alone in a dim room. Behind him, through an opening, the royal court dances in full swing. That contrast between the brooding figure and the festivity is the heart of the work. Stańczyk does not look like a jester at all: he is grave and downcast, with his sceptre on the floor and a medallion of the Virgin of Częstochowa on his chest. On the table beside him lies a letter bearing the name Smolensk, which signals the city's loss, while the rulers celebrate a victory and seem oblivious to the news. A dwarf with a lute and a comet in the window add to a mood of decline. The title is historically misleading, since Bona Sforza was not yet queen at the time depicted. Matejko returned to Stańczyk in several works, drawn to the historical jester, whose satire carried more weight than mere entertainment. Bought by the National Museum in Warsaw in 1924, it remains one of the most recognisable images in the collection.
- Painter
- Jan Matejko
- Date
- 1862
- Medium
- oil paint, canvas
- Dimensions
- 88 × 120 cm
- Museum
- National Museum in Warsaw, Warsaw
- Genre
- portrait
- Depicts
- Jan Matejko, Stańczyk
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