Jan MATEJKO (1838–1893), The Kitchen at Wiśnicki Castle, 1876

Woodcut, paper, 14 x 1 9 cm (inside the mat)
signed on the block, lower left, with the linked monogram “JM” and by the woodcutter, lower left, “Kluczewski.”

The drawings on the woodcut blocks were personally executed by Jan Matejko and engraved by the most outstanding woodcutters of that period.The prints are from the *Album of Jan Matejko*, published in 1876 by Samuel Lewental, who writes the following in his afterword: “The album includes the master’s finest works, created in recent years; with the exception of the reproductions of *Rejtan*, *Ivan the Terrible*, and *The Prophecy of Lirnik*, faithfully reproduced by Messrs. [Julian] Maszyński and [Stanisław] Witkiewicz, based on photographs taken of the originals; all other works were drawn by Matejko himself on wood.” The creation of each of these woodcuts—such as *Stefan Batory*, The Sejm in Lublin, and so on, took six months to complete, not counting the time spent drawing them on wood.”