Szczepanski Square
The rectangular Szczepański Square is dominated by the stinking parking lot, disfiguring the space surrounded mostly by Art Nouveau buildings. Already the first, even a cursory glance allows you to register the oblong Palace of Arts with 1901 r., the seat of the Society of Friends of Fine Arts. It was designed by Franciszek Mączyński in a style somewhat reminiscent of a classical temple, the author of the bas-relief frieze is Jacek Malczewski. In the niche on the side of the square there is a bust of Jan Matejko – the work of Antoni Madeyski, and from the side of Planty there is a bust of Stanisław Wyspiański made by Anna Renyochowa. Following the cloudy gaze of the monumental Matejko, a modest one can be seen above the roofs of parking cars, though an important Szołayski tenement house (nr 9), in which the National Museum gathered Polish guild art from the 15th-18th centuries. Unfortunately, due to renovation, visiting the tenement house is impossible. The collections of the gallery were temporarily transferred to Wawel.
A beautiful collection of sculptures and paintings from Lesser Poland has been gathered here. The most valuable treasure is the 15th-century sculpture of the Madonna of Krużlowa, with a convex forehead and a smooth face. The collection also included other valuable exhibits: a life-size figure of Christ on a donkey from the 15th century. (very rare theme), large, interesting polyptych of St.. Jan Almużnik, the Patriarch of Alexandria, realistic crucifixion of Veit Stoss and St.. Hieronymus Hans Dürer. It is worth seeing the collection of coffin portraits from the 17th century, XVIII i XIX w. and a wooden pedestal for a griffin-shaped coffin.
