EXHIBITION “ASTRONOMER COPERNICUS, OR CONVERSATIONS WITH GOD”

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From 12 November 2023 in the Burghers’ Hall of the Toruń City Hall, the painting ASTRONOMER COPERNICUS, OR CONVERSATIONS WITH GOD by Jan Matejko was displayed. Thanks to Marek Żydowicz, director and initiator of the EnergaCAMERIMAGE Festival, the masterpiece by the most outstanding representative of historicism in Polish painting was exhibited in Toruń for nearly two weeks. This was a unique event and a one-of-a-kind chance to view the painting, which has its unquestionable place in Polish history.

Matejko’s impressive work of art could be seen on a daily basis in Cracow, in the building of the Collegium Novum, which it very seldom leaves. Over the past 70 years, apart from the Małopolska capital, the painting has only been presented at the National Gallery in London and the Royal Castle in Warsaw. From 12 until 24 November 2023 visitors were able to see the masterpiece on display at the District Museum in Toruń. The event was accompanied the EnergaCAMERIMAGE Festival. For the duration of the festival, i.e. until November 18, the entrance to the exhibition was available free of charge.

The painting depicting Nicolaus Copernicus surrounded by astronomical instruments and gazing up into the sky with inspiration, was created in 1873 to mark the 400th anniversary of the birth of the great astronomer and Toruń’s most famous resident. The display of the work, however, was not included in the official programme of the anniversary celebrations that were then held in Cracow. Matejko then decided to show ASTRONOMER COPERNICUS... by himself, in the Cracow city council hall and then outside Galicia in Warsaw and Vienna. The painting raised tremendous excitement and interest, and it was very soon purchased with public contributions and handed over to the Jagiellonian University, which owns it to this day. ASTRONOMER COPERNICUS, OR CONVERSATIONS WITH GOD is undoubtedly the most famous painting of the eminent Toruń resident, which has been shaping our perception of Copernicus for 150 years. In his work, Matejko relied on the surviving images of Copernicus, while looking for a model to match them. The choice fell on the artist’s friend Henryk Levittoux, a physician and art lover. The nineteen-year-old nephew of the artist’s wife, Antoni Serafiński, also posed for the painting.

The Toruń exhibition was enriched with sketches by Jan Matejko that are part of the character study of Nicolaus Copernicus, as well as a unique, very amusing cartoon in which Matejko himself showed the conditions under which the painting was created. The Burghers’ Hall also featured a large-format screen with a NASA film showing the Sun - the focal point of Nicolaus Copernicus’ theory.

The exhibition was curated by Marek Żydowicz, and coordinated by Agnieszka Swoińska, Prewysz-Kwinto and Dominika Krawańska. The exhibition was created thanks to the support of the staff of the District Museum in Toruń. The exhibition was organized by the Tumult Foundation. The main partner of the event was the Local Government of the Kujawsko-Pomorskie Region. The partners were the District Museum in Toruń, Jagiellonian University in Cracow and the National Museum in Cracow. The Festival was subsidized by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage and the City of Toruń.

The organizers would like to thank the Director of the District Museum in Toruń Mrs Aleksandra Mierzejewska, Professor Krzysztof Stopka – Director of the Jagiellonian University Museum, Professor Andrzej Szczerski – Director of the National Museum in Cracow, as well as the Mayor of the City of Toruń Mr Michał Zaleski and the Marshal of the Kujawsko-Pomorskie Region Mr Piotr Całbecki for all their help and support.