Worth a look
The Dragon’s Garden. Bronisław Chromy’s works at Wawel (Cracow)
Art and Heritage in Central Europe
Bronisław Chromy’s works are highly universal both in terms of the means of artistic expression he employed and the subjects he explored. The breadth of this outstanding artist’s oeuvre includes numerous monuments, outdoor sculptures, figurines and sacred art works that have earned him a permanent place in the hi story of Polish art and culture. He explored a broad range of topics in his art. Particularly worthy of notice are sculptures inspired by historical, martyrological, cosmological and animalistic themes, many of which can be admired in the Bronisław Chromy Gallery in the Decius Park in Kraków.
However, Bronisław Chromy is best known for his statue of the Wawel Dragon whose farne extends far beyond the borders of Poland. Originally, the statue that was to become Kraków’s most recognizable symbol had been designed as a fountain and was to be located elsewhere. In 1960, Kraków announced three competitions for the design of city fountains, all of which were won by Bronisław Chromy. The fountain with a dragon figure was to be located on the Wolnica Square. When the sculpture had been completed, the artist’s studio was visited by the the n mayor of Kraków Zbigniew Skolicki who thought that it would better serve the purpose if it stood at the foot of the Wawel Hill. He managed to en list the support of the Director of the Wawel Royal Castle, Professor Jerzy Szabłowski, and this is how the Wawel Dragon took its place in front of the Dragon’s Den where it has been breathing fire for fifty years now. The Wolnica Square, on the other hand, was adorned with another of Bronisław Chromy’s works, the Three Musicians fountain, which stands there to this day.
The exhibition of outdoor sculptures in the gardens of the Wawel Royal Castle celebrates the 50th anniversary of the construction of the Wawel Dragon statue. Examples of the artist’s oeuvre are also exhibited in the Bolesław Chromy Gallery in the Decius Park in Kraków.
April 30 – September 30, 2022
Exhibition organizers: Wawel Royal Castle and Bronisław Chromy Foundation
