Czartoryski Museum in Krakow: Lady with an Ermine

The Czartoryski Museum holds the only work by Leonardo da Vinci in a Polish collection: Lady with an Ermine. It hangs in a palace on Pijarska Street, next to St. Florian's Gate, as part of a collection that the National Museum in Krakow describes as the most valuable and best known in the country. Tickets are sold for a set day and time, so a little planning pays off.

What is the Czartoryski Museum?

The Princes Czartoryski Museum is a branch of the National Museum in Krakow. The complex has three buildings: the Czartoryski Palace, the building known as the Klasztorek, and the old city Arsenal. Together they show art, national memorabilia and artefacts from antiquity to the 19th century. The star is Lady with an Ermine, painted around 1490. It is one of only a dozen or so surviving portraits by Leonardo.

History of the Czartoryski Museum collection

The collection was founded by Princess Izabela Czartoryska. The story of the collection begins in 1801 in Puławy, where she opened it to the public in two pavilions: the Temple of the Sibyl and the Gothic House, completed in 1809. Her son Adam Jerzy bought the Leonardo in Italy around 1800 and gave it to his mother's museum. After the November Uprising failed in 1831, the collection was at risk of confiscation and was evacuated to Paris.

In 1874 the city of Krakow handed the family the old Arsenal, the Klasztorek and the palace on Pijarska Street, and in 1876 the collection arrived at the site it still occupies, next to St. Florian's Gate and the old city walls. During the Second World War the collection was seized by the Germans, and Raphael's Portrait of a Young Man was lost and has never been recovered. In December 2016 the Polish state bought the collection together with the palace and passed it to the National Museum in Krakow. The palace reopened at the end of 2019 after a full restoration.

What to see in the Czartoryski Museum

• Lady with an Ermine: second floor of the palace, room 7. The sitter is Cecilia Gallerani, a lady at the court of Ludovico Sforza, Duke of Milan. Leonardo painted her in three-quarter view rather than in profile, as was then the custom.
• Rembrandt's Landscape with the Good Samaritan: one of the few oil landscapes by Rembrandt to survive, on the same floor as the Leonardo.
• The palace rooms: Polish and European art, Czartoryski family memorabilia and records of Polish history from the Jagiellonian era onwards. The Polish Room shows objects first displayed in the Temple of the Sibyl in Puławy.
• The Klasztorek: part of Izabela Czartoryska's collection, including mementoes of Chopin, Shakespeare and Voltaire, shown in original 19th-century display cases.
• The Arsenal: the Gallery of Ancient Art, with an Egyptian mummy in its cartonnage case, gold earrings from the 4th century BC and Roman sculpture. It has its own address, Pijarska 8, and your museum ticket covers it.

Czartoryski Museum tickets and opening hours

The museum is open Tuesday to Sunday from 10:00 to 18:00 and closed on Mondays. Last entry is one hour before closing. A standard ticket costs 65 PLN, a reduced ticket 50 PLN and a family ticket 130 PLN; school pupils and students up to the age of 26 pay 1 PLN, and children up to the age of 7 enter free. An audio guide costs 15 PLN. Tickets are sold for a specific day and time, online and at the ticket desk, and the museum asks you to arrive about 15 minutes early.

Tuesday is the free day for the permanent exhibitions. You still need a free timed ticket; numbers are limited, and the tickets are issued only at the museum ticket desk on the day of your visit. In 2026 the museum is closed on 1 November and on 24 and 25 December. The cloakroom is free and compulsory for coats, backpacks and large bags, and it does not take suitcases. All floors are accessible by lift. Details checked in October 2026; see the National Museum in Krakow website for current times.

How to get to the Czartoryski Museum

The entrance is at ul. Pijarska 15. From the Main Market Square it is about six minutes on foot, and St. Florian's Gate is one minute away. The nearest tram and bus stops are Stary Kleparz and Teatr Słowackiego. Our electric cart tour of the Old Town is an easy way to see the rest of the district before or after your time slot.

Tips for visiting the Czartoryski Museum

Buy your ticket online in advance. If the online slots are sold out, try the ticket desk: the museum holds an extra allocation of tickets there. Go straight to the second floor for the Leonardo while you are fresh, then work your way back through the palace. Allow two to three hours for all three buildings, and keep your ticket, because it is also valid for a single visit to other branches of the National Museum in Krakow for three months. To plan the rest of your stay, see our three-day plan for the Old Town, Wawel and Kazimierz.

Frequently asked questions

Where is Lady with an Ermine in Krakow?

In the Czartoryski Museum at ul. Pijarska 15, on the second floor of the palace, in room 7. The museum is a branch of the National Museum in Krakow.

Do I need to book tickets for the Czartoryski Museum?

Individual visitors do not have to book, but tickets are sold for a set day and time, so buying online in advance is the safe choice. An extra allocation of tickets is held at the ticket desk.

How much does the Czartoryski Museum cost?

A standard ticket is 65 PLN, a reduced ticket 50 PLN and a family ticket 130 PLN. Pupils and students up to 26 pay 1 PLN and children up to the age of 7 are free (prices checked in October 2026).

Is the Czartoryski Museum free on Tuesdays?

Yes, the permanent exhibitions are free on Tuesdays. You need a free timed ticket, which you can collect only at the museum ticket desk on the day, and the number is limited.

How long does a visit take?

The museum suggests two to three hours for the whole complex, because the exhibition is spread over three buildings.

Photo: Zygmunt Put, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.