Michał Bałucki Monument
Kraków Artists: Writers and Poets
A bust of the playwright Michał Bałucki in a Planty garden behind the Juliusz Słowacki Theatre and the Church of the Holy Cross. The initiator was the Kraków Artistic and Literary Circle, and the spot behind the theatre was designated in 1910 by the Planty Commission. The unveiling took place in 1911, on the 10th anniversary of the writer's death; the bust was made by Tadeusz Błotnicki and the base by Piotr Cekiera. Bałucki (1837-1901), born in Kraków, was the author of almost a hundred works: comedies, farces, novels, short stories and poems.
History
Michał Bałucki was born on 29 September 1837 in Kraków into a middle-class family: his father was a tailor and his mother ran a café. He went to St Anne's grammar school, studied at the Jagiellonian University, and between 1857 and 1864 attended gatherings of artists in the sculpture studio of Parys Filippi. He wrote poems, novels, short stories, newspaper columns for the daily "Kraj" and, above all, comedies. Polowanie na męża, Radcy pana radcy and Grube ryby are still popular today. Most of his plays are comedies bordering on farce, written in the spirit of Fredro, and they are usually set among the moderately well-off middle class. In Typy i obrazki krakowskie he portrayed craftsmen, maids and market stallholders with warmth and humour. The author of almost a hundred works died in Kraków on 17 October 1901 and was buried in Rakowicki Cemetery.
The idea of commemorating the writer appeared soon after his tragic death, and the monument was initiated by Kraków's Artistic and Literary Circle. The bust was meant to stand in front of the Słowacki Theatre, but the city's conservative circles objected. In 1910 the Planty Commission chose a spot behind the theatre, next to the Church of the Holy Cross. The unveiling in 1911, on the tenth anniversary of Bałucki's death, was attended by the writer's family, the chairman of the building committee August Sokołowski, and the city's mayor Juliusz Leo. The bust was made by Tadeusz Błotnicki and the base by Piotr Cekiera. Both the location and the appearance of the monument were controversial at first. In 2017, when a leaning tree began to rest against the bust, the monument was moved about a metre away.
Did you know?
While the monument was being moved and conserved in 2017, a bullet mark was discovered in its structure, which had dented the metal sheet around the writer's chest. The shot was most likely fired shortly after 1945. Once the metal had been cleaned and protected, the conservators decided to keep the mark.