A priceless painting by Matejko showing Poland’s historic victory at Grunwald is falling apart and needs urgent conservation work.

The Battle of Grunwald by Jan Matejko, one of the finest examples of Polish art, will not be displayed at the Wawel Castle in Krakow to mark the 600 anniversary of the medieval battle this year.

The historical oil on canvas, painted in 1878, requires urgent conservation work. The edges and corners of the painting are ragged, the canvas is falling apart and in some places is very dirty.

Art conservator at the Warsaw National Museum Dorota Ignatowicz-Woźniakowska says that restoring the painting to its original state will cost about one million zloty (250,000 euro).

The painting depicts the Battle of Grunwald, one of the most important battles in Medieval Europe, in which the Knights of the Teutonic Order were defeated by forces of the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania on 15 July 1410.

In July, the canvas - 17 feet wide and 10 feet high - was to be displayed at the Wawel Castle in the historical city of Krakow to mark the 600 anniversary of the Battle of Grunwald. However, because of its poor state, the painting will stay in Warsaw. It will not be exhibited in Berlin in 2011, either, as planned unless the preservation work will have finished by then. (mg)