Madonna under the Fir Tree
Sep 22 - Mar 31 2021
Pl. Powstańców Warszawy 5
Commissioned for the cathedral in Wrocław in the 16th century, the painting was on display for over 400 years as the pride and glory of the cathedral, which is located there. At the end of the 19th century the picture, as the most valuable work of art in Silesia, was stored in the cathedral treasure vault.
Towards the end of the Second World War, Pastor Siegfried Zimmer arranged for a copy to be made, so that he could take the original back to Germany. In the 1960s, the copy (at that time still treated as the original) was about to undergo restoration, when a painting expert identified that the artwork was, in fact, a fraud! Meanwhile, the original had since been gifted to the Swiss Church and, many decades later in 2012, it was finally returned to Wrocław and it's usual residence is the Archdiocese Museum. However, during the building's current renovations, this masterpiece is on loan to the National Museum in Wrocław, where it can be admired!