"It's a done thing that we take part in an annual competition organised by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage. we can use the money to extend our collections," says Piotr Oszczanowski, Head of the National Museum in Wroclaw.
31 new exhibits have been added to the early glassware collection this year. "The artefacts come from Lower Silesia's two largest luxury glassware production sites: Józefina Glass Works in Szklarska Poręba and Fritz Heckert's Glass Works in Piechowice, says Museum Custodian Elżbieta Gajewska-Prorok. "These extremely precious decorative and functional works were designed by a number of eminent artists, including Friedrich Albert Cremer, Oskar Jummel and Professor Max Rade," she adds.
The glassware comes from the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, and it represents the most popular historical styles of its time: Neo-Renaissance, Neo-Mannerism and Neo-Baroque. Some vessels are inspired by antiquity, but there are also exhibits typical of Art Nouveau and Modernism. The visitors can admire beautiful cups and chalices with floral decorations and olive green glassware typical of Old German style. The collection also holds exhibits inspired by glassware from the town of Jodhpur, India, as well as Ancient Greek and Chinese ceramics. "New Purchases 2016" is on display from 15 September to 9 October.
New angle on Silesian sculpture
The Romanesque remains of the former Benedectine Abbey in Ołbin, Henry IV Probus's sarcophagus, Henry II the Pious's tombstone and a restored Madonna that once decorated the Saint Mary Magdalene's facade are now on display in a completely new setting provided by the National Museum in Wroclaw. Formerly exhibited on the ground floor, the mediaeval sculptures have been transferred to a newly arranged space on the first floor. The dark colours of the room are complemented with suitable lighting to bring out the mediaeval master works. Multimedia booths provide additional and detailed information on the sculptures. The lapidarium holds beautiful mediaeval stained glass from the Museum collection.
"The booths are here to provide the historical context of the works. Some of them featured at the town houses' façades and church interiors in Wroclaw," says Piotr Oszczanowski.
The exhibition also showcases the sculptures representing female figures, including the Blue Virgin, which once ornamented the house on the corner of ul Nowy Targ and former ul Szeroka, the Golden Virgin from the house in ul Kurzy Targ and Szewska, the figures of Saint Barbara and Saint Elizabeth, and last but not least, Jacob Beinhart's Virgin, which recovered its head that was lost after World War II. Silesian Stone Sculpture in the 12th–16th Centuries is a permanent exhibition.
