The Battle of Raclawice

General Kosciusko in the white coat

Panorama painting was a popular form of entertainment in the late nineteenth century and usually depicted a crucial battle during various stages. The canvases were enormous and were designed to be toured and exhibited in round tents. Due to their sheer size and hard working life, few panorama paintings have survived and this one illustrating the Battle of Raclawice during the Kosciuszko Uprising is the only one in Poland. Panorama painting was also considered too mass market to be taken seriously as 'art' and no  took much effort to preserve them.

Painted in 1894 and measuring 15 metres by 114 metres the painting commemorates the Battle of Raclawice in 1794 when a combination of Polish troops and armed peasants under the leadership of Tadeusz Kosciusko defeated a superior force of Russian troops. Of course Poland lost the war, but this battle always remained as a symbol of Poland's fight for independence. Even now viewing the painting is a reverential experience and one is expected to behaviour with respect as you would in a church.

Originally located in Lvov, the painting was moved to Wroclaw in 1945 but not surprisingly given the subject, during the Soviet occupation of Poland, the painting was 'undergoing 'restoration' and finally publicly displayed after 1985.


It is curious that Australia's highest mountain should be named after someone who had no connection whatsoever with that country. Apparently it was given that name as it bore some resemblance to the Kosciuszko Mound in Krakow. Of course the Australian's didn't get the spelling right and this was only corrected in 1997