Abstract
This chapter explores the life and work of the Polish historical painter, Jan Matejko, as a reflection of wider developments in the role history played in forming national identity in nineteenth-century Poland. With his painting of the Sermon of Piotr Skarga (1864), Stańczyk during a ball at the court of Queen Bona in the face of the loss of Smoleńsk (1862), Rejtan – The Fall of Poland (1866), and Battle of Grunwald (1878), Matejko articulated key historical narratives for the Polish people in contemplating their identity in relation to the crises of three consecutive partitions by Russia, Prussia, and Austria at the end of the eighteenth century. Matejko was a national painter who provided spiritual and moral leadership. His personal interpretations of the past were linked to a patriotic mission that was crucial in establishing a public discourse that restored to the Polish people a spirit of hope and national pride.
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