Prepared in cooperation with the Dresden State Art Collections (Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden) and the National Museum in Warsaw, the exhibition is an extraordinary opportunity to see, in the historic interiors of the Cracow castle, almost all memorabilia preserved from the coronations of August II the Strong (1697) and August III and his wife Maria Josepha (1734) – the last two such ceremonies that took place at Wawel. It is also a story about the Polish coronation ceremonial, which crystallised in the late Middle Ages. Both rulers of the Wettin dynasty tried to respect the age-old ritual, but allowed for certain exceptions resulting, on the one hand, from the political context of the time, and, on the other hand, from their desire to emphasise certain propaganda content. The collected works allows visitors to familiarise themselves with the unique Baroque spectacle that took place over several days both on Wawel and in the streets of the city. It was created by the individual stages of the coronation from the moment of the election of the new king, through the ceremonial entry into Cracow, the funeral of the predecessor, the pilgrimage to Skałka, the actual ceremony of consecration in the Cracow cathedral, the subsequent banquet in the castle, to finally the tribute from the residents of Cracow.

The exhibition is available from 21 September, 2024 to 9 February, 2025.

More information: https://wawel.krakow.pl/en/exhibition-temporary/long-live-the-king