Czartoryski Museum (Lady with an Ermine)

The Czartoryski Museum at ul. Pijarska 15, a few minutes' walk north of Krakow's Main Market Square, is a branch of the National Museum in Krakow in Lesser Poland. It occupies a group of restored historic buildings near the Florian Gate and shows the collection assembled by the Czartoryski princely family, one of the most important aristocratic art collections in Poland. The star exhibit is Leonardo da Vinci's Lady with an Ermine, painted around 1490 and displayed on the second floor in Gallery 7, usually with its own dimly lit space and queues forming nearby. Also on view is Rembrandt's Landscape with the Good Samaritan, along with other European paintings, decorative arts, armour, antiquities and items connected with Polish history. The galleries are laid out over several floors, and the new exhibition design leads visitors through a route that combines paintings with applied arts. A full visit takes about one and a half to two hours; visitors who go only for the Leonardo can see it in thirty minutes. The museum is open Tuesday to Sunday from 10:00 to 18:00, with last entry at 17:00, and closed on Mondays. Adult tickets cost about 65 PLN and reduced tickets about 50 PLN. Free admission is offered on Tuesdays with a timed ticket collected at the box office on the day, and these places run out early. Weekday mornings are the best time to avoid crowds, and weekends and school holidays are busiest. Visitors who find the galleries crowded often go straight to Gallery 7 first and tour the rest afterwards. Ticket booking online in advance can save time at the desk. The museum is close to the Barbican and St. Florian's Gate, so it combines well with a walk along the Planty park.