Kinga, a PhD candidate in the Humanities, at Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Poland, spent October 2025 conducting research for her dissertation on ‘‘The Cracow Painters’ Guild in the first half of the 17th century. Creativity, rivalry and cooperation of craft workshops’.

I would like to begin by thanking the Trustees and everyone who helped me during my visit to London. It was my first time in the United Kingdom.

During my time in London, I spent many hours conducting research in libraries. It was an amazing opportunity to work, primarily at the Warburg Institute, the British Library and the National Art Library. I scanned numerous articles and book excerpts that are not available in Poland. This is incredible material that will allow me to compare the activities of the painters’ guild in Krakow with other corporations in Europe, which is an important part of my doctoral dissertation. Some of the material is also a necessary supplement to the articles I am preparing, which I hope to finish soon. In addition, I had the opportunity to see Giovanni Battista Gisleni’s sketchbook, stored at Sir Joan Soane’s Museum.

The month I spent in London was also an amazing opportunity, as an art historan, to familiarise myself with the collections and works of art stored in various museums. Among others, I visited the V&A, The British Museum, the National Gallery, The Wallace Collection, Tate Britain and Tate Modern, Sir John Soane’s Museum, Tower Hill and Westminster Abbey. I also managed to see Oxford, Hampton Court and travel to Coventry to see the Old and New Cathedrals. This last visit was a dream of mine, and the contrast between the permanent ruin and modern architecture made an incredible impression on me.

As I mentioned, this was my first visit to London and to the United Kingdom in general. The month was also an amazing and unique opportunity to visit all the places I knew from books and films, and above all to understand the city.

Once again, I would like to thank everyone, especially the Trust, for their hospitality and for creating this opportunity to conduct research. I hope that in the future I will have another opportunity to visit London for further research projects.

For more information about the other students in the 2025 cohort please see here.