Princes Czartoryski Museum

Lonely Planet review

The Princes Czartoryski Museum is one of the richest collections in town, and is itself something of a museum of a museum. Originally established in 1800 in Puławy by Princess Izabela Czartoryska as the first historical museum in Poland, the collection was secretly moved to Paris after the November Insurrection of 1830 (in which the family was implicated) and in the 1870s brought to Kraków.

The collection experienced another 'excursion' during WWII when the Nazis seized it and took it to Germany, and not all the works were recovered. Even so, there's a lot to see, including a fascinating collection of European painting, mainly Italian, Dutch and Flemish. The stars of the show are Leonardo da Vinci's masterpiece, Lady with an Ermine (c 1482), one of only three da Vinci oil paintings extant, and Rembrandt's Landscape with the Good Samaritan, also known as Landscape before a Storm (1638). Other exhibitions include Greek, Roman, Egyptian and Etruscan art and Turkish weapons and artefacts, such as carpets, saddles and a campaign tent, recovered after the 1683 Battle of Vienna.Among the first exhibits to greet visitors are an assemblage of Turkish weaponry, armour, saddles and rugs and a campaign tent recovered after the 1683 Battle of Vienna. Also on display are exquisite pieces of Meissen porcelain and some fine glassware.