Battle of Grunwald - Jan Matejko
Archival giclée
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Description
A monumental historical painting by Jan Matejko depicting the 1410 Battle of Grunwald with intense detail and dramatic composition.
Jan Matejko completed this monumental oil painting in 1878. It depicts the 1410 Battle of Grunwald, a conflict between the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania against the Teutonic Order. The composition is dense, capturing the chaotic energy of medieval combat through a complex arrangement of figures, horses, and weaponry. Matejko focuses on the psychological intensity of the participants. In the centre, the Grand Duke of Lithuania, Vytautas, is shown in a red tunic, his arms raised in command. To the left, the Polish King Władysław II Jagiełło is depicted, though he was not physically present in the thick of the fighting during the actual historical event. Matejko prioritises narrative drama over strict chronological accuracy, using the canvas to construct a national mythos. The painting is noted for its technical precision in rendering armour, textiles, and facial expressions. The palette is dominated by earthy tones, punctuated by the crimson of the banners and the metallic sheen of steel. The sky is turbulent, adding to the sense of urgency and conflict. The work is currently housed in the National Museum in Warsaw. It remains a primary example of 19th-century European historical painting, where artists sought to define national identity through the depiction of past military triumphs. The sheer scale of the original work allows for an immense level of detail, from the individual expressions of the soldiers to the heraldic symbols displayed on the shields and flags. This print captures the dynamic movement and the dense, layered structure of the original composition, offering a view into the artist's meticulous approach to historical reconstruction.
Return policy
Because every print is made to order, we don't offer change-of-mind returns, refunds or exchanges. If your order arrives faulty, damaged or incorrect, we'll replace it free of charge — just contact us within 48 hours of delivery. EU customers have a 14-day cooling-off right. See our refunds page for full details.
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We ship worldwide, printing at the production hub nearest to your delivery address. Delivery times and costs vary by destination — you'll see the options available to you at checkout.
Manufacturing
Each print is produced to order using 12-colour giclée printing on FSC-certified archival paper. Designed in Britain and printed at your nearest production hub to reduce waste and speed up delivery.
Battle of Grunwald - Jan Matejko
Our Features
Designed for Lasting Impact
Specific Features
Every Solis piece is made to order with archival, gallery-quality materials built to last.
- Museum-grade giclée printing for rich, fade-resistant colour
- Archival matte fine-art paper, FSC-certified
- Choose poster, framed print, canvas or framed canvas
- Frames in black, natural wood, dark wood or white
- Framed prints arrive ready to hang
Care & Cleaning
To keep your artwork looking its best:
- Dust gently with a soft, dry cloth
- Avoid prolonged direct sunlight
- Never use liquid cleaners on the print or canvas surface
- Keep in a dry, room-temperature space
- Handle prints with clean, dry hands
Materials & Sizing
Museum-grade giclée on FSC-certified archival matte paper, with framed and canvas options.
- Paper sizes: A4, A3, A2, A1, A0 and B2 (50×70 cm)
- Canvas: XS (20×30 cm) to Large (60×90 cm)
- Frames: black, natural wood, dark wood or white
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Artist Biography
Jan Matejko
Matejko was born in Krakow in 1838 to a Czech father and a half-German, half-Polish mother. Despite being only one-quarter Polish by blood, his household was fiercely patriotic: Polish books, portraits of Polish heroes, and a brother who followed General Jozef Bem into the Hungarian Revolution of 1848 (and died in battle). He enrolled at the Krakow Academy of Fine Arts at fourteen, studying under Wojciech Stattler. He never mastered a foreign language and struggled even with Polish, which made the public appearances demanded of him throughout his career an ordeal.
His ambition was to paint Polish history on a monumental scale. Stanczyk (1862) showed the royal jester alone with the news of a military defeat, a painting that reads as an editorial cartoon stretched to the size of a wall. Battle of Grunwald (1878) and Rejtan (1866) followed, each canvas an argument about national identity dressed as historical spectacle. Wilhelm von Kaulbach's method of "historical symbolism", which prioritised interpretation over documentary accuracy, shaped Matejko's approach. His brother Franciszek, a historian at the Jagiellonian Library, fed him archival detail.
As director of the Krakow School of Fine Arts, he trained over eighty students. Maurycy Gottlieb, Jacek Malczewski, Jozef Mehoffer and Stanislaw Wyspianski all passed through his studio; several became leading figures in the Young Poland movement, earning Matejko the title "Father of Young Poland". In 1887 he attended the opening of Queen Jadwiga's sarcophagus to sketch her skull for a portrait. He died in 1893, aged fifty-five.
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