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The Iconography and Photography Collection preserves, studies, and makes available for research Polish as well as foreign objects associated with culture, science, and history and spanning the times of the ancient civilisations through to the present. Of the almost 160,000 individual items, most are on paper, including drawings, engravings, photographs, printed materials, and manuscripts. Other works have come down to us on metal (daguerreotypes, ferrotypes), on glass (negatives, autochromes), on parchment (documents), and even on silk (prints marking special occasions). Apart from the priceless originals, there are also reproductions of artworks which have since been forgotten, lost, or destroyed as well as documentation of historical architecture from what were once the eastern regions of the Polish state. The oldest item in the collection is a psalter with musical annotations from the 13th century, and the most recent works include artistic photographs from 2003.
Yet the largest bodies of works in the Iconography and Photography Collection were executed in the 19th century and in the first half of the 20th century. Here, the Museum owes a debt of gratitude to the collectors who generously bequeathed their holdings, most notable among whom were Cyprian Lachnicki (1824–1906), Leopold Méyet (1850–1912), Seweryn Smolikowski (1850–1920), Dominik Witke-Jeżewski (1862–1944), Juliusz Kłos (1881–1933), Jerzy Hoppen (1891–1969), and Tomasz Chełmiński and, recently, Barbara Kosidowska and Jadwiga Lipowska-Prażuch.
The Iconography and Photography Collection is divided into three specialised sections: Photography, Iconography, and Manuscripts.
The collections are available for viewing by prior appointment.
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