Lilla Weneda Monument
Kraków Artists: Writers and Poets
A monument in the north-western part of the Planty, in the Garden by Florianka, near the mouths of św. Marka and Łobzowska streets, made to a design by Alfred Daun. It was funded in 1884 by Henryk Jordan on the 35th anniversary of the death of Juliusz Słowacki, and the unveiling took place on 13 July of that year. It shows the heroine of Słowacki's tragedy "Lilla Weneda" playing the harp, which she holds in her raised hands. The original sculpture of Pińczów stone deteriorated quickly, so in December 1897 it was replaced by a bronze cast, also funded by Jordan. The monument was regarded as commemorating Słowacki himself.
History
The monument shows Lilla Weneda, the title heroine of a tragedy by Juliusz Słowacki. The poet wrote it in 1839, it was published in Paris a year later, and it was first staged in 1863 in Lviv. Lilla is the daughter of the king of the Veneti, a gentle, peace-loving harpist who tries in vain to save her family from the destruction of her people. In the play the harp symbolises poetry. Słowacki himself, born in 1809 in Krzemieniec, is regarded, alongside Mickiewicz and Krasiński, as one of Poland's national bards. He made his debut in 1830, during the November Uprising he worked in the Diplomatic Office of Prince Adam Jerzy Czartoryski, and from 1836 he travelled through Greece, Egypt, Palestine and Syria. He then settled in Paris, where he died in 1849.
In 1884, on the 35th anniversary of the poet's death, Henryk Jordan funded a monument to his heroine designed by Alfred Daun. It was unveiled on 13 July in Planty Park, in the Florianka Garden, near the ends of Świętego Marka and Łobzowska Streets. The original sculpture, made of Pińczów stone and known from photographs by Ignacy Krieger, showed Lilla seated, but the weather quickly wore the stone away. In December 1897 it was replaced by a bronze cast, also paid for by Jordan. The standing figure raises a harp above her head in a sweeping gesture, and she is entwined by the serpents that threaten her father. During conservation work in 2017 the monument was cleaned and protected against water, a section of a serpent was recreated and the brass wires that form the harp strings were repaired. The sculpture was regarded as a work commemorating Słowacki himself.
Did you know?
Słowacki's remains were brought back to Poland only in 1927. In the courtyard at Wawel, Józef Piłsudski ordered the coffin to be carried to the royal crypt "because he was the equal of kings", and the poet was laid to rest in the cathedral next to Adam Mickiewicz.