Anna Jagiellon. All the Faces of the Queen

From 23 October Wawel Royal Castle will show Anna Jagiellon through her own decisions, letters and foundations, not only as the daughter, sister and wife of kings. Six rooms on the first floor will bring together every known historical portrait of her. The ticket costs 5 PLN, or nothing extra if you hold the “Castle First Floor” ticket.

Wawel Royal Castle on the exhibition (our translation; the castle publishes no English text):

For centuries she was spoken of as the daughter of Sigismund the Old, the sister of Sigismund Augustus and the wife of Stephen Báthory. But who was Anna herself?

She had to fight for her place, even though those who reached for the Polish throne needed her lineage. This autumn at Wawel we will look at her own story: the decisions she made, the relationships she built and the works she left behind.

What to expect

The exhibition will fill six rooms on the castle’s first floor, in the west wing according to a list published by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage. According to a PAP news agency report in January on the castle’s plans, it is the largest of the four temporary shows then planned for 2026. The curatorial team is Marta Golik-Gryglas, Dariusz Nowacki, Magdalena Ozga, Dr Magdalena Piwocka and Dr Joanna Winiewicz-Wolska. The castle has not yet given the number of objects.

The exhibition follows her life in order: from childhood at Wawel, through the interregnum after her brother’s death and her marriage to Báthory, to her campaign to put her nephew on the throne. Among other things, the castle’s page announces:

• Miniatures from the workshop of Lucas Cranach the Younger - portraits of Sigismund the Old’s family, in which the three youngest princesses can be told apart only by medallions bearing their initials.
• Letters between Anna and Stephen Báthory - correspondence from which the castle draws a picture of a marriage built on cooperation rather than coldness.
• A jewel with Báthory’s profile - a keepsake of her husband, recovered from the queen’s grave.
• Gifts to the Sigismund Chapel - goldsmiths’ work and textiles she donated.
• Portraits of the queen - every known historical likeness, including those linked to Marcin Kober. Some will be shown after conservation under a programme launched by the Museum of King Jan III’s Palace at Wilanów.

The ministry list, which grants legal protection to loans from abroad, shows where the most valuable pieces come from. The Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna is lending Stephen Báthory’s half-armour and portraits of Báthory, Sigismund III Vasa and Ernest of Habsburg. Dresden lends two jewels with a figure of St George, London the case of Queen Bona’s clock from 1525, and Wolfenbüttel the printed “Statuta y przywileie koronne” of 1570. Portraits of Anna and Sigismund Augustus from around 1600 come from Dessau-Wörlitz.

Separately, a single painting by Ewa Juszkiewicz will hang in the castle’s chambers; the castle calls it an artistic intervention accompanying the exhibition. It does not say in which room.

Context

Anna Jagiellon (1523-1596) was born in Krakow, the daughter of Sigismund the Old and Bona Sforza. After her brother Sigismund Augustus died without an heir and Henry of Valois fled, the nobility proclaimed her king of Poland on 15 December 1575. The condition was marriage to Stephen Báthory: the coronation and the wedding took place at Wawel on the same day, 1 May 1576.

After Báthory’s death she backed her nephew Sigismund III Vasa, son of her sister Catherine, in the election of 1587. She died in Warsaw in 1596 and lies in the Sigismund Chapel, whose dome still carries the gilded covering she paid for. The year 2026 marks the 450th anniversary of her coronation and the 430th of her death.

Marcin Kober, Báthory’s court painter, portrayed her in coronation robes and in widow’s dress, among other likenesses. Ewa Juszkiewicz, born in Gdańsk in 1984, paints versions of old portraits of women in which the face is replaced by folds of fabric, flowers or shells. The exhibition’s title speaks of faces; the painter is known for covering them.

Tickets and time

5 PLN regular, 3 PLN reduced, at the ticket offices or online at bilety.wawel.krakow.pl. Alongside “Lares and Penates”, that is the cheapest paid ticket on the castle’s price list. It is free with the “Castle First Floor” ticket (57/43 PLN), which also covers the private royal apartments, the porcelain cabinet and Wawel Recovered. The exhibition page does not mention the “Castle” ticket for both floors (95/71 PLN), so ask about it at the ticket office.

Open Tuesday to Sunday, 9:00-17:00 (9 AM-5 PM), last entry 30 minutes before closing. Closed on 1 and 11 November, 24-26 and 31 December. It is closed on Mondays, so the castle’s free Monday passes do not cover it.

November works differently. Under the “Free November” scheme, Tuesday to Sunday, you enter on a free pass for the castle’s second floor that also covers this exhibition; last entry 16:00. Passes are issued at the ticket offices on the day of the visit (8:45-16:00) and released online one week ahead; one person can collect them for at most five people. Details are on the castle’s What to see page (in Polish).

A note on the opening date: the castle’s press release and the page of the accompanying conference give 22 October, while the exhibition page and the autumn programme overview give 23 October. Plan your visit from 23 October.

Allow 45-60 minutes for the six rooms. The exhibition suits anyone interested in women in power, the Jagiellon dynasty and early portraiture, and, with the workshop on 15 November, families with children too. If you have one hour at Wawel and it is your first visit, choose the royal chambers instead. The castle has published no English page for the exhibition and does not say whether the labels will be bilingual.

Events

• 27-29 Oct 2026 - national academic conference “Anny Jagiellonki. Relacje kobiet i władzy” (The Anna Jagiellons: Women and Power). Sessions on 27 October in the Audience Hall (Sala Poselska) on the castle’s second floor, on 28 October in the Exhibition and Conference Centre and the Sigmund Hall (Sala Sigmunda) in building no. 5, on 29 October in the Sigmund Hall. Held in Polish, no conference fee; the page does not say whether listeners other than speakers are admitted - programme (in Polish).
• 28 Oct 2026, 16:30-18:00 - as part of the conference, the debate “Syndrom Anny Jagiellonki. Czy kobiety w kulturze wciąż muszą czekać w kolejce do tronu?” (The Anna Jagiellon Syndrome: do women in culture still have to queue for the throne?), Sigmund Hall in building no. 5, chaired by Jacek Stawiski, editor-in-chief of the weekly Tygodnik Powszechny - programme .
• 15 Nov 2026, 11:00-13:00 - family workshop “Czy kobieta mogła zostać królem?” (Could a woman become king?) in the Nasz Wawel Rodzinny series: a visit to the exhibition, then oak-gall ink and some calligraphy. 60 PLN per participant, accompanying adult free; meeting point by the model of Wawel outside the Reservations Office building - tickets (in Polish).

What the press says

PAP, reprinted by dzieje.pl (1 Jan 2026): presenting the castle’s plans for 2026, its director Prof. Andrzej Betlej described the exhibition as a sequel to “Obraz Złotego Wieku” (The Image of the Golden Age) of 2023 - link (Polish-language source). He says: “This is a strictly Wawel exhibition, tied to this place, tied to one of the most important figures in the politics, but also the culture, of the late 16th century” (our translation).

No reviews were found before the opening (as of 13 October 2026).

See also

• Lares and Penates. On Building a Sense of Security in Architecture - the other current temporary exhibition at Wawel, until 6 January, for the same 5 PLN or included in the “Castle First Floor” ticket. You can see both in one visit.
• Warrior Women: Japanese Herstories - at the Manggha Museum until 11 November. Stories of women who led and fought, told through Japanese woodblock prints.
• Precious, Most Precious. Works from the Princes Czartoryski Library - at the Princes Czartoryski Museum, only until 25 October, so it overlaps with the Anna exhibition for its first three days. Manuscripts and printed books, among them 16th-century Polish first editions from Anna’s lifetime and books with royal provenance.

Tickets, opening hours, and current details are on the Wawel Royal Castle website .

Museum profile: Wawel Royal Castle .