Reception of the Jews, from the series “History of Civilization in Poland”

Matejko's panel on the Reception of the Jews depicts the 1264 Statute of Kalisz issued by Boleslaw the Pious, which granted Jews in Poland extensive legal protections — one of the most significant medieval Jewish charters in Europe and the foundation of Poland's centuries-long role as a major center of Jewish life. By including this event in his civilization series, Matejko highlighted tolerance and legal protection as part of Poland's historical identity. He asserted that Jewish and Polish civilizations had been intertwined for six centuries and that this relationship was a source of national pride.

The encounter between Polish nobility and Jewish community leaders is organized with careful attention to the ritual formality of document-granting. The palette reflects the solemn dignity of the occasion: rich but restrained, the figures of both groups given equal compositional weight and finish.