Gallery of Medieval Art, written by Zofia Herman, Antoni Ziemba, translated by Simon Włoch, graphic design: Mesmer Center, 32 pages, illustrated, Warsaw: The National Museum in Warsaw, 2013, ISBN 978-83-7100-812-2

 

A guide to the Gallery of Medieval Art opened in the Jubilee Year commemorating the 150th Anniversary of the NMW. Most of the presented works date back to the late Middle Ages (14th–16th centuries), stem from northern Europe and represent almost exclusively church items. An important aspect of the exhibition narrative focuses on the subject of regionalism in Medieval art. Instead of the traditional model of “national” schools, which automatically belittled regions lying beyond the main hubs of political power, the main focus has been shifted to trans-“nationality,” trans-statehood, trans-regionalism and multi-regionalism. Thanks to this new approach, we may rediscover the specificity of Silesian art in 15th–16th centuries and the art of the State of the Teutonic Order, Pomerania and Gdańsk in 14th–16th centuries.