Boleslas le Vaillant avec Sviatopolk devant la Porte dorée de Kiev

When Matejko painted this in 1884 there was no Poland on the map. It had been carved up between Russia, Prussia and Austria for almost a century, and Matejko, working in Krakow under Austrian rule, spent his career painting the nation's past back into view. Here he reaches far back, to 1018, when the Polish ruler Boleslaw the Brave took Kiev and, by legend, struck its Golden Gate with his sword hard enough to notch the blade. That notch gave its name to the Szczerbiec, the 'jagged sword' that later became the coronation sword of Polish kings. Boleslaw sits mounted at the centre in gold, his son-in-law Sviatopolk beside him, the man he had just installed as ruler of Kiev. Matejko crowds the frame with banners and armour, painting every figure as though from a real portrait rather than a costume.