Wernyhora

Jan Alojzy Matejko was a Polish painter known for paintings of notable historical Polish political and military events. Here he paints Wernyhora, a lyrist and Ukrainian bard — according to some a legendary figure, according to others historical — who lived in the second half of the eighteenth century, at the time of the so-called Koliyivshchyna, a violent uprising against Poles, Jews, Roman Catholic and Uniate clergy and nobility in Ukraine. Wernyhora’s predictions were related to the fate of Poland and Ukraine: He predicted the Polish partitions, unsuccessful uprisings for national liberation, and the rebirth of the Polish state with the help of England and Turkey. 

Matejko started working on this image in the mid-1870s, at a time when the relationships between the Ruthenians and Poles in Ukraine became particularly tense due to national and religious conflicts. Wernyhora is shown uttering his prophecy. With the eastern cross on his chest he represents "the former Ukraine of Lachs and Ruthenians, a land of national and social consent." The lyre at his feet is a symbol of a song saving common Ukrainian and Polish heritage. The nobleman sitting at his left is recording the words of the prophecy.