Na czym stoi Adam Mickiewicz na Rynku Głównym w Krakowie. Listy Tadeusza Stryjeńskiego do Władysława Ekielskiego
What Adam Mickiewicz is standing on when he’s standing on the Main Square in Kraków. Letters from Tadeusz Stryjeński to Władysław Ekielski

Summary/Abstract: The letters from Tadeusz Stryjeński to Władysław Ekielski referring to the construction of the Adam Mickiewicz Monument in Kraków are a great opportunity to revisit the history behind this undertaking itself as well as recall the circumstances of bringing this sculpture into the Polish public space. The letters themselves constitute an interesting documentation of the involvement of the two distinguished fin de siècle architects from Kraków in the realization of the patriotically-inspired building of the monument of the author of the national epic poem Pan Tadeusz. The history behind the projectis also full of truly comic moments. The letters reveal the character of Stryjeński’s and Ekielski’s cooperation in the enterprise of building the monument of the great romantic poet, namely the relationship between the “technical consultant” of the Monument Building Committee and the licenced architect chosen as a personal aide by the author of the sculpture, the sculptor, Teodor Rygier. The correspondence also brings to light the previously unknown fact that in designing the pedestal and the whole architecture of the Mickiewicz Monument, its creators were inspired – due to the lack of domestic models – by the Viennese monument of the Empress Maria Theresa, the co-authorof the first partition of Poland. The same Maria Theresa, whose bust was a part of the rejected design by Jan Matejko (it was to symbolise the hypocrisy of the occupant). The article includes the mentioned letters by Stryjeński to Ekielski, as transcribed from the manuscripts, edited and commented by the author.

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