National Museum in Kraków

(Muzeum Narodowe), one of the largest art museums in the Polish People’s Republic. It was founded in 1879, and its main building was constructed between 1936 and 1950.

The museum has a collection of Polish fine and applied art from the 14th to the 20th century; collections of Far Eastern and European paintings, graphic art, and decorative applied art; and a numismatics collection. Since 1951 the museum has published the collections Rozprawy i Sparwozdania Museum Narodowego w Krakowie. One of its branches is the Czartoryski Museum, founded during the second half of the 18th century and containing European and Oriental fine and applied art works from the 13th to the 18th century, including Leonardo da Vinci’s The Lady With an Ermine. Another branch is the museum-house of J. Matejko, founded in 1894.