Although Wawel Royal Castle has been closed to visitors since 20 March, the latest exhibition “All the King’s Arrases. Returns 2021-1961–1921” is available online. Better still, the virtual tour is free!
“The castle is and will remain accessible to visitors. We have been guided by this principle from the very start, and we continue presenting our royal treasures online. Join us for the exhibition All the King’s Arrases shown in several castle chambers. The virtual tour brings visitors over Wawel’s threshold and right up to the display cases. It is a truly special event – a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to get so close to the exhibits. We are presenting our entire collection and we hope that you’ll come to see the treasure trove of King Sigismund August in the flesh once we are open again,” says Prof. Andrzej Betlej, Director of Wawel Royal Castle.
The collection of arrases was made between 1550 and 1560 at workshops in Brussels, the global centre of Renaissance-era tapestry-making. The fabrics are woven from wool and silk and interwoven with silver and gold thread. The collection of around 160 masterpieces was commissioned by King Sigismund August, the last monarch of the Jagiellonian dynasty, to decorate Wawel Royal Castle. It is the largest collection of its type commissioned by a single patron.
Chambers on the first and second floors of the castle present 137 tapestries – the entire remaining collection, including damaged items and fragments. There are 19 monumental arrases with Biblical themes (assembled around the themes “Lives of Adam and Eve”, “Life of Noah” and “The Tower of Babel”), as well as depictions of landscapes and animals, coats of arms, chair coverings and door and window frames.
