In the heart of Warsaw stands a modernist museum complex dating from the interwar period. Its extensive collections contain many treasures. One outstanding highlight is the Faras Gallery, a collection of early Christian Nubian art unique in Europe and exceptional worldwide. Its 67 wall paintings from the eighth to fourteenth centuries came from the cathedral of the bishops of Faras, an important city in the medieval kingdom of Nobatia in present-day Sudan.
The museum also presents a broad survey of Polish art. The Gallery of Nineteenth-Century Art and the Gallery of Twentieth- and Twenty-First-Century Art contain masterpieces by leading Polish artists and provide insight into two centuries of artistic development.
A highlight of the nineteenth-century collection is Jan Matejko's monumental canvas The Battle of Grunwald, measuring approximately five by ten metres. Known in German history as the Battle of Tannenberg, the painting presents an intense scene of knights and soldiers engaged in combat.
Prominent figures include the victorious Lithuanian Grand Duke Vytautas and Ulrich von Jungingen, Grand Master of the Teutonic Order, at the moment of his death. For almost 150 years the painting has occupied an important place in Polish historical memory and national identity.
The battle halted the expansion of the Teutonic Order. During the Second World War, the painting was concealed and became one of the artworks most actively sought by the Nazi German occupiers. Today it is regarded as one of the major works of Polish cultural heritage.
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