Czartoryski Museum

The Czartoryski Museum is located on Piarska Street in the building of the arsenal and three neighboring burgher houses. It founded in 1801 by Isabella Czartoryska and then located in the family estate of Czartoryski in Puławy. The museum moved to Krakow only in 1878.

The most valuable exhibits of the museum – the paintings “Lady with an Ermine” by Leonardo da Vinci, “Landscape with a Good Samaritan” by Rembrandt van Rijn, as well as “Portrait of a Young Man”. By Raphael, bought by the son of the founder of the museum Adam Jerzy Czartoryski during his trip to Italy.

The Czartoryski Museum is a major art museum within the Kraków National Museum. The museum established in 1796 by Princess Isabella Czartoryska, whose heirs have so far taken part in the preservation and expansion of the collection. The collection originally housed in the Czartoryski Palace in Puławy, today it is located in the historic building of the Kraków Arsenal.

Now in the halls of the museum you can see art objects of different countries and eras, archaeological finds, Etruscan and Greek vases, Egyptian antiquities, medieval weapons and armor, etc. The museum is famous for its picturesque collection, the most famous exhibits of which are the canvases “Lady with an Ermine” by Leonardo da Vinci and “Landscape with a Merciful Samaritan” by Rembrandt. Many masterpieces owned by the museum lost during the Second World War, in particular, “Portrait of a Young Man” by Raphael.

The museum has a library of more than 70,000 ancient manuscripts, books and maps.