This composition is a sketch for a painting completed in 1867. It shows the interior of a Renaissance chamber, where a couple stands embraced: Sigismund Augustus holding Barbara, shown in left profile. The sketch differs from the painting in certain details, including the figures’ costumes and the interior arrangement—featuring a draped curtain on the left and a small framed painting on the right.
Matejko’s work is the artist’s vision of a secret meeting between King Sigismund Augustus and Barbara Radziwiłłówna at the castle in Vilnius. The artist himself and his wife Teodora, née Giebułtowska, probably posed for the painting.
We invite you to explore this object in the digital catalogue of the National Museum in Kraków. Data compiled by: Marzena Maciusik, Barbara Ostafin
