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Tadeusz Kościuszko Monument

The Tadeusz Kościuszko Monument is an equestrian bronze sculpture in Kraków, placed on Wawel in 1921. It portrays Tadeusz Kościuszko seated on horseback, wearing a sukmanа and holding a rogatywka aloft. The monument was a joint work by Leonard Marconi and Antoni Popiel; the original design was prepared by Marconi, and the full-size model was completed after his death. Funded by public donations, it was later destroyed by the Germans in 1940. After the war, it was reconstructed from documentation and a small model and reassembled in 1960. A plaque on the bastion records its return as a gift from the people of Dresden to Kraków.

Tadeusz Kościuszko Monument, a dark equestrian statue of a man in a long coat with one arm raised, against a bright overcast sky.
The Tadeusz Kościuszko Monument stands on a brick base with decorative railing, set against a red brick building in Krakow.
© · CC BY-SA 2.0
Tadeusz Kościuszko Monument beside a brick building with a green-domed tower at Wawel Castle.
The Tadeusz Kościuszko Monument stands near a brick building and green-domed tower at Wawel Castle.
September 2016 © · CC BY-SA 4.0
Tadeusz Kościuszko Monument, a dark equestrian statue beside a brick tower with a green spire at Wawel Castle.
The Tadeusz Kościuszko Monument stands near a tall brick tower within the Wawel Castle complex.
August 2010 © · CC BY-SA 3.0
Tadeusz Kościuszko Monument seen through a dark window grate, showing a bronze equestrian statue on a pedestal.
The Tadeusz Kościuszko Monument viewed from above through a window grate.
September 2012 © · CC BY-SA 4.0
Tadeusz Kościuszko Monument seen as a dark silhouette atop a brick bastion above a colorful crowd and protest banners.
The Tadeusz Kościuszko Monument rises in silhouette above a brick bastion during a crowd protest.
May 2018 © · CC BY-SA 4.0

Identification

TitleTadeusz Kościuszko Monument
Typeequestrian monument
Formequestrian statue
SubjectTadeusz Kościuszko
Original titlePomnik Tadeusza Kościuszki

Historical context

Historical contextKościuszko initiated the 1794 insurrection in Kraków's Main Square; after his Battle of Racławice and the third partition of Poland, Kraków became part of Austrian Galicia for over a century.

Creator

ArtistsLeonard Marconi and Antoni Popiel
Additional contributorGiovanni Giovanetti
Leonard Marconi noteWarsaw-born professor of Lviv University

Discovery and provenance

Cast byWładysław Dedrzeński i Spółka of Podgórze; after the foundry was destroyed by flooding, founders from the Czech firm Serpeck were brought to Kraków to finish the casting
Permission statusThe Austrian administration of Galicia did not grant permission for the intended installation
Initial intended locationMain Market Square in Kraków, at the spot where Kościuszko took the oath in 1794, from the side of Szewska Street
Initiativeinitiated by the Tadeusz Kościuszko Society, under the leadership of Jan Skirliński
Cast date1900, though another source gives 1903
Natural-size modelprepared by Antoni Popiel with Giovanni Giovanetti after Marconi's death in 1899
Project scale1/4-size model designed by Leonard Marconi
Fundingfinanced by public contributions and by the Tadeusz Kościuszko Society
Early storagefirst kept in a warehouse in Podgórze, then for several years in the courtyard of a fire brigade building on Westerplatte Street

Location and ownership

Installed locationBastion of Władysław IV on Wawel Hill in Kraków, near the western entrance to Wawel Castle and next to St. Leonard's Crypt at the Wawel Cathedral
Installation date20 December 1921

Physical characteristics

Depicted clothingsukmana and a rogatywka hat held in a raised hand
Materialbronze
Material of figurebronze
Material of pedestalbronze
Depicted figureTadeusz Kościuszko seated on a horse

Iconography and meaning

Depicted ashero of the Polish and American wars of national independence

History and restoration

Reconstruction patronagereconstructed by the German side and returned as a gift from the residents of Dresden to Kraków
Replica in DetroitA copy was made in 1978 and gifted to the Polish diaspora in Detroit, Michigan, in celebration of the United States Bicentennial
Commemorative plaqueA plaque on the brick wall of the bastion records the return; its text reads: 'Tadeusz Kościuszko Monument, destroyed by the Hitlerites in 1940 and restored by the public of Dresden in 1960'
Post-destruction remainsplaced in the Barbican, then at the Academy of Mining scrap yard
Reassembled1960
Reconstruction placeLauchhammer near Dresden, at the Lauchhammer metallurgical works
Reconstruction basisrebuilt after the war based on documentation and a small model designed by Rudolf Löhner
Destructiondestroyed by the Germans on 17 February 1940 during World War II

Significance

SignificanceOne of the best-known bronze monuments in Poland

Other

Relationship to originalThe modern monument is a replica of the lost original