A formal transfer of paintings to the representatives of the Polish government. People who have saved the paintings from the Germans. Taking the paintings from under the ground in the stable, where they were hidden during the war. Transporting the paintings on a cart. Conservatory works. Professor Rybnikow.
00:00:01:02 | Title: "MATEJKO’S MASTERPIECES SAVED". |
00:00:06:22 | Prime minister Osóbka-Morawski signs an act saying that the paintings were saved thanks to the courage of a few patriots. |
00:00:14:18 | Osóbka-Morawski in the company of fellow members of the government. |
00:00:21:06 | A representative of the army reads the acts in front of a microphone. |
00:00:29:19 | Men who have hidden Matejko’s canvases. |
00:00:38:18 | Stable. |
00:00:44:07 | A man takes out the straw. |
00:00:56:09 | A group of people look at the paintings. |
00:00:58:09 | The faces of the observers. |
00:01:03:11 | Hoisting out the paintings with the help of pulleys. |
00:01:15:10 | Journalists sitting in front of the stable. |
00:01:19:18 | A cart on which the canvases are being taken. |
00:01:30:10 | Canvases lying on the floor. |
00:01:37:10 | The Prime Minister Osóbka-Morawski and other dignitaries looking at the canvases. |
00:01:44:13 | The conservator kneels by the canvases and cleans them. |
00:01:57:22 | Professor Rybnikow speaks publicly in Russian. |
00:02:28:01 | The audience applauds. |
Giving the paintings "Bitwa pod Grunwaldem" [The Battle of Grunwald] and "Kazania Skargi" [Skarga's Sermon] to representatives of the Polish government. The official signing of the act stating that the paintings have been saved due to the courage of a few patriots, by the prime minister and other members of the government. The names of these citizens cannot yet be revealed because their families are in German concentration camps. They are the ones who risked their lives in order to hide these valuable canvases from the German vandals. In this stable, under the ground, Matejko’s paintings rested, waiting for the new Grunwald. They were taken on an identical cart five years ago from occupied Lublin. In liberated Lublin the restoration of both paintings began. Professor Rybnikow, the invited conservator of the Trietiakowska Gallery in Moscow, ensures that after the restoration the paintings will be reinstated as the historical masterpieces they are.