This horizontal composition depicts seven men walking towards the left. They are shown in full figure. Their bodies are nude, slender, and elongated. The group moves through an open space against a mountainous background.

One of the men, located on the far left, is distinctly emphasised. His body faces the viewer, while his head, arms, and torso turn to the left. His head is raised. He covers his face with both hands, pressed together at the fingertips, with the backs of the hands resting against his face. Only the lower part of his nose, his closed lips, and left ear are visible. His hair is long, dark, and slightly wavy, swept upward to the right. The man has a large pair of feathered wings. The right wing hangs downward, its feathers touching the ground and reaching his left foot. Its upper edge extends beyond the left border of the drawing. The left wing is raised upward and directed to the right, reaching beyond the top edge of the drawing. The man is nude, with only a sheer, light fabric tied at the waist. The knot is centred, with two ends of the cloth draping down over his groin. His legs are parted: the right foot steps forward, while the left is drawn back.

The remaining two-thirds of the composition depict six young men walking in a row in dynamic poses.

The first man on the left is slightly bent forward. His long hair flows to the right, and his face, shown in profile, turns to the left. His eyebrows are furrowed, and his eyes wide open. A long floral-patterned cloth flows from his back toward the right. Around his hips he wears a broad, decorated belt from which a sword hangs straight downward. In his right hand he holds a long black spear. With his left arm, he embraces the shoulder of the man beside him. His legs are wide apart: the right one steps forward, and the left is pulled back.

The second man, next to him on the left, wears a helmet shaped like a stylised dragon’s head: its visor forms an open, tooth-filled jaw. His expression is calm. He looks straight ahead, and his mouth is closed. He is being held at the left shoulder by the preceding figure. Around his waist he wears a large belt with an ornate sword. The hilt features a human face with an open mouth and bared teeth. In his right hand he holds a long black spear; his left arm hangs behind him, the palm turned outward. His left leg steps forward; the right is pulled back.

Slightly behind them stands the third man, turned with his left side toward the viewer. His left hand rests on his shoulder, covering his mouth and nose. His long, light hair flows upward and to the right. His eyebrows are furrowed, and his eyes wide open. He holds a black spear in his right hand. A floral-patterned cloth flows from his back toward the right. Around his waist he wears a broad belt with a decorated sword. His right leg steps forward, the left drawn back.

The fourth man stands to the left of the previous figure, facing the viewer in a highly dynamic stance. His torso leans to the left. He wears a helmet adorned with two birds with long necks and open beaks facing each other. His shoulder-length light hair is wavy. His eyes are narrowed and his eyebrows furrowed, gazing downward. His mouth is closed. Both arms are raised to shoulder height, elbows bent. In his right hand he holds a long black spear; his left hand is clenched into a fist. A floral cloth flows from his back toward the right. A thin cloth drapes from his right side, covering his groin as it blows to the right. His legs are wide apart, the right leg angled left, the left angled right.

The fifth man stands behind him, also facing the viewer. His head is tilted to the left, and he has shoulder-length light hair. His eyebrows are furrowed, and his large eyes are directed to the left. His mouth is closed. Both arms are raised to shoulder height. In his right hand he holds a black spear, and in his left, a sword lifted upward. A floral cloth flows from his back to the right. Around his waist he wears a broad belt decorated with lion motifs. A scabbard is attached at the centre. His legs are widely spaced.

The last man stands with his left side toward the viewer, head leaning forward. His hair is short and light, covered by a cloth that falls from the back of the figure in front. His eyebrows are slightly furrowed, and his dark eyes look to the left. His mouth is closed. In his right hand he holds a black spear, in his left a sword. His left leg steps forward, the right drawn back.

The men walk across a field densely covered with white lilies. In the background stretches a mountainous landscape beneath a bright, cloudless sky.

Procession was first shown in 1907 at an exhibition of Jan Rembowski’s work at the Zachęta Gallery in Warsaw. The drawing, one of the artist’s most frequently reproduced works, was designed to be viewed from below as a frieze intended for a public space. The composition draws on classical reliefs and the processions of Malczewski. The winged guide figure may reflect inspiration from Mehoffer. The work is sometimes interpreted as a patriotic allegory, but may equally symbolise a general march toward action, resonant with the activist spirit of the early twentieth century. Rembowski resisted definitive interpretation, emphasising that the meaning of the symbols is largely left to the viewer. Procession develops the idea of striving, previously explored in his sculpture The Vanguard.

Source: Text by Urszula Makowska on Procession
Audiodescription: Emilia Szymańska
Consultation: Adrian Wyka
Expert Content Consultation: Irena Buchenfeld