Fryderyk Chopin spent the winter of 1838-1839 on Majorca, an island in the Balearic archipelago, with his partner, the French writer George Sand (Amandine Aurore Lucile Dupin) and her two children. And although it turned out to be less romantic and idyllic than promised, the trip became an important episode in Chopin's life.

Context of the trip
The decision to go to Majorca was taken in the early autumn or late summer of 1838. The reason was mainly Chopin's deteriorating health, suffering from tuberculosis, and the need to escape the unfavourable climatic conditions of Paris in connection with the rheumatic problems of Sand's son Maurice. As a liberated and inventive woman, Sand decided to take Frédéric and her children on a journey that would improve their health and provide creative inspiration. Although, as the French writer Astolphe de Custine (1790-1857) noted: "He would never return from there. He didn't dare tell me he was leaving; he only said he needed a mild climate and rest! Rest! - In the company of a vampire!"

Initial expectations were high. Chopin wrote to his friend Julian Fontana with enthusiasm, describing Majorca as a paradise on earth: "Sky like turquoise, sea like azure, mountains like emerald, air like heaven". However, the reality turned out to be far from ideal.

Arrival in Palma and Valldemossa
Chopine and Sand left Paris separately, but met in the south of France, where the poet was to arrive "fresh as a rose and pink as a beetroot, in good health, after four nights heroically spent in a postal carriage", as Sand recorded it. Then, already together, they went to Barcelona, from where, with Sand's children Maurice and Solange and the maid Amélia, they sailed to Majorca on board the steamer 'El Mallorquin'. They arrived on the island on 8 November 1838, provided with letters of recommendation from the Spanish consul.

On arrival, they found that there was no hotel on the island. They initially stayed at the Son Vent estate in Palma de Mallorca, renting two small rooms and unfurnished rooms. After a few days, they managed to move to the Son Ven villa in Establiments. After the first delights of the island, the weather broke and the unheated rooms significantly worsened Chopin's health. It was then that Chopin had his first attack of tuberculosis, as he recalled in one of his letters: "Three doctors from all over the island most famous one sniffed what I was spitting, the second tapped where I was spitting from, the third macerated and listened to how I was spitting. One said that I was dead, the second that I was dying, the third that I was going to die [...] and today, in the grace of Providence, I am the same old". The information about the contagious disease was passed on by doctors to the local authorities, who recommended departure and quarantine.

In December 1838, they found refuge in Valldemossa, a small town in the Serra de Tramuntana mountains, where they stayed in the former Carthusian monastery Real Cartuja de Jesús de Nazaret. As the writer recalled, a miracle happened and fate made it necessary for the Spanish refugee who was hiding there at the time, along with his wife, to leave the island, offering them his 'modest but comfortably furnished cells'. So, in mid-December, on a bright morning, they made their way to Valldemossa and settled into their cell, which - due to the lingering dampness - was not conducive to convalescence. The composer likened the cell in the monastery to a 'high coffin' and the whole place to a desolate, depressing refuge.

His stay in the monastery was intended to create the atmosphere of seclusion and calm that Chopin needed to work on his music. It was in Valldemossa that Chopin composed some of his most famous works, including a cycle of 24 preludes. Despite these achievements, their stay in Majorca was marked by difficulties and disappointments.

Return to France
. 13 February 1839. Chopin and Sand decided to leave Majorca, where they spent a total of 59 days. Chopin's illness did not subside, and in fact worsened. They returned to France via Marseille, where the musician received treatment. In a letter to Charlotte Marliani, Sand wrote: "Another month and we would have died in Spain, both Chopin and I, he from melancholy and disgust, I from anger and indignation".

Although the trip to Majorca was meant to be a therapeutic escape, it ended in disappointment and deterioration of Chopin's health. However, the artistic yield of this sojourn was extraordinary - Majorca will forever remain the place where some of the composer's most beautiful works were born.

Chopin ' s legacy in Mallorca
The most important place associated with Chopin on Majorca is undoubtedly Valldemossa, a picturesque town located in the Serra de Tramuntana mountains, some 20 kilometres north-west of Palma. Today, more than 180 years after this journey, Majorca - and Valldemossa in particular - is a place of pilgrimage for lovers of Chopin's music. The former Carthusian monastery houses a museum dedicated to the composer, where you can see his letters, manuscripts and the piano he worked on during his stay. What's more, in the courtyard of the monastery, a statue of Fryderyk Chopin by Polish sculptor Zofia Wolska was unveiled in 1998. In Palma, meanwhile, there is a contemporary plaque commemorating Chopin's presence.

The monastery houses a museum, in fact two Chopin museums. One of them (occupying cell numbers 2 and 3) houses a wonderful collection of Chopin memorabilia. Its creation is due to Bartomeu Ferrà and his wife Anne-Marie Boutroux. It was they who, in 1916, purchased the cell, now marked No. 2, in which Chopin and Sand were supposed to have lived - a fact, however, that was called into question and contributed to the establishment of a second museum in cell No. 4. The collection is not only a trace of the artist couple's stay on the island, but above all the result of some 30 years of expansion. The collection includes, among other things, musical autographs, personal effects such as a comb, waistcoat, chest of drawers, a casket given by the composer to Geogre Sandlist, a lock of hair, and 159 editions of Chopin's works, as well as Chopin portraits, which are listed in Ewa Sławińska-Dahlig's article, based on an inventory compiled by Bożena Schmid-Adamczyk in the early 1970s. (it includes a total of 434 objects directly related to the Polish composer).

Chopin portraits in the Valldemossa Museum

Prepared after Bożena Schmid-Adamczyk

Louis Gallait, 'Portrait of Frédéric Chopin'
. Date: 1843
Technique: oil on canvas
Dimensions: 48.5 x 35.5 cm
Signature: "Louis Gallait 1843"
Provenance: Gand Bishop Collection
History: auctioned twice in 2019 and 2024.

Portrait of Frédéric Chopin
Date: late 19th century
Technique: gouache on ivory
Dimensions: 6.5 x 5 cm
Signature: 'Böhringer'
Collection: private
History: sold at auction in 2019.

Luigi Calamatta, 'Portrait of Frédéric Chopin'
Date: circa 1840
Technique: pencil drawing
Dimensions: 29.2 cm × 28.4 cm
Inventory number: I/12

Albert Colfs, 'Portrait of Frédéric Chopin'
Date: 1961
Technique: crayon, pastels
Size: 24 cm × 18.3 cm (in passe-partout)
Signature: A. Colfs d'après A. Graefle
History: on the back of the frame a dedication to Anne-Marie Boutroux de Ferrà, inventory number I/24.

Teofil Kwiatkowski, 'Portrait of Frédéric Chopin'
Date: 1849
Technique: pen, sepia, ink, pencil
Dimensions: 27.8 cm × 22 cm
Signature: annotated 1851 and dedicated "à Madame Dulong"
Inventory number: I/4

Teofil Kwiatkowski, 'Chopin on his deathbed'
Date: 1849
Technique: pencil
Dimensions: 11.1 cm × 15 cm (drawing alone), 27.8 cm × 32.3 cm (passe-partout)
Signature: 'Chopin on his deathbed / for Chopin's friend Mr Pleyel'
Inventory number: I/10

Jean-Joseph-Bonaventure Laurens, 'Chopin playing the piano'
Date: no date
Technique: pencil
Dimensions: 8.8 cm × 7.3 cm (sketch alone), 11.5 cm × 18.1 cm (whole)
Inventory number: I/8
Description: copy of a drawing by January Suchodolski, circa 1844, a card from the artist's album.

Ary Scheffer [?], 'Portrait of Frédéric Chopin'
Date: ca. 1847
Technique: oil on canvas
Dimensions: 70.3 cm × 54.2 cm
Inventory number: I/9

Pierre Roche Vigneron, 'Portrait of Frédéric Chopin'
Date: 1833
Technique: lithograph
Dimensions: 19 cm × 26 cm
Inventory number: Im/84
Description: lithograph from the "Album des pianistes" published by M. Schlesinger, made in the atelier of Gottfried Engelmann.

Unknown painter, 'Portrait of Frédéric Chopin'
Date: 1840s
Technique: oil on canvas
Dimensions: 48.5 cm × 37.8 cm
Inventory number: I/13
Author unknown

Difficulties with the piano and subsequent controversy
One of the major logistical problems during Chopin's stay in Majorca was the lack of a suitable piano. To this end, Chopin purchased a new instrument from the Pleyel company, which was manufactured in September 1938 and was due to be delivered to Majorca as early as October. However, delivery was significantly delayed, and later the instrument was stuck at customs, its importation involving lengthy negotiations and high customs duties, amounting to around 400 francs (with the instrument costing 1200 francs). As Sand wrote in a letter dated 14 December, "He misses his piano very much. Today we finally received news of it. It has set off from Marseilles and we will receive it, perhaps in a fortnight' time." It arrived in Marseille on 20 December, but the duty was to be as much as 600 francs (while the price of the instrument was 1200 francs). It was eventually reduced to 300 francs and the instrument arrived at the monastery in the first week of January.

In the end, the instrument probably did not reach Chopin until 21 December or early January (various versions are given), when Chopin was already working intensively on a local, less perfect piano.

Already in the twentieth century, however, ambiguity arose as to which of the cells was actually occupied by the pair, and which of the instruments there was to be played by Chopin. This became the subject of subsequent years of controversy and even court battles.

The first attempt was made to settle this in 1935, when a special government commission was set up, which determined that the most likely cell (the majority of its members were in favour of this version) was cell number 3. It turned out, however, that it was not entirely clear which room was so designated. The problem is that the first cell, which was occupied by the abbot, has no number. Thus, according to one version, the present cell number 2 was originally cell number 1, cell number 3 (which also belongs to the museum) was cell number 2, and cell number 4 - which has a different owner - was cell number 3 (and it would have been in this cell that Chopin would have lived). The second version, on the other hand, assumes that the renumbering never took place.

The problem is that there are two pianos in the monastery - in the cell currently numbered 2 and in cell number 4, which have different owners. Controversy therefore surrounds which one Chopin actually stayed in and on which instrument he composed his preludes. In cell number 4 there is an instrument made by Camille Pleyel. And this is where the first doubts arise - admittedly, it is marked with the firm's badge with the notation " Médailles d'Or / 1827&1834 / Pianos [...] Pleyel & Comp. du Roi / Paris and the number 6668, which is consistent with the number of the instrument used by the composer, but according to Jean Jude, if the instrument itself is authentic - it is possible that the veneer has been altered, which is made of stained mahogany and not plain mahogany as indicated in the company's register - it cannot be ruled out that this was for fear of tuberculosis germs. Basically, however, there is no doubt that this is the instrument Chopin commissioned and for which he had to wait a long time. The question arises, however, as to whether - in view of its such late delivery - it was really the instrument on which most of the compositions were written. Complicating the matter is the fact that the second piano (the one in the present cell number 2) is, according to the owners, the one on which Chopin played during his first period of residence. Research into its authenticity has shown that its construction does not allow it to be dated before the mid-19th century. This was confirmed by a court ruling in 2011, according to which the piano in the museum (and therefore cell number 2) is not the instrument on which Chopin played. It was placed there only in 1931. According to Zbigniew Skowron's findings - we have some information about the fate of that first, rented, piano. It remained on the island, of course, and there - in a cell in the monastery - the pianist Wanda Landowska came across it in 1912 and, after some time, managed to purchase the instrument. She presented it in 1937 at an exhibition at the Polish Library in Paris. However, its later fate is unknown - it was probably destroyed during the Second World War. The authenticity of this instrument is also based solely on oral transmission.

Chopin's Preludes - a musical trace of Majorca
. One of the most important artistic fruits of Chopin's stay on Majorca is a cycle of preludes, many of which were composed in Valldemossa - including: Polonaise in C minor (Op. 40.2), Majorcan Ballade (Ballade in F major, Op. 38) and Military Polonaise (Op. 40.1). These works, full of melancholy and deep emotion, convey the atmosphere of loneliness, isolation and suffering experienced by Chopin during the difficult winter on the island. The most famous of the cycle, the Rain Prelude (D flat major), is often associated with the sound of rain falling on the roof of a monastery, which is said to have inspired the composer.

Chopin's works from this period reflect his inner struggles, and Majorca itself - both in the form of its landscape and climatic conditions - became a source of inspiration for the composer, despite its many adversities.

A tribute to a musical genius - the monument to Frederic Chopin in Valldemossa
The idea to create a monument to Chopin in Valldemossa came about as a result of the growing interest in the figure of the composer and his association with Majorca. In 1998, to commemorate the composer, a monument to Frederic Chopin, designed by Polish sculptor Zofia Wolska, was unveiled in Valldemossa in the courtyard of the former Carthusian monastery. The monument, made of bronze, is located in the courtyard of the former monastery. It is a bust of Fryderyk Chopin placed on a stone plinth. The plaque on the monument bears a bilingual inscription in Polish: "Fryderyk Chopin Polish composer Here he stayed in 1838-1839 Sculpture made by Zofia Wolska Gift of Poland 1998" and in Spanish "Fryderyk Chopin Compositor Polaco Vivió en esta isla 1838-1839 Escultura realizada por Zofia Wolska Donación de Polonia 1998".

In her sculpture, Wolska focused on the emotional aspect of the composer's life and work, avoiding a classical, pathetic form. The bust exudes calm and thoughtfulness. Chopin's face is portrayed in a realistic manner Although it is made of a hard, raw material such as bronze, it exudes a subtlety and serenity that reflects Chopin's introspective nature. The closed eyes of the figure seem to suggest that the artist is not looking at the outside world, but is delving into his interior, the creative space where his musical visions are born. The delicate features of Chopin's face, with its slightly bowed forehead and closed eyelids, express not only deep reflection but also a certain nostalgia - the same nostalgia we hear in his nocturnes or preludes. His slender figure, captured in this sculpture, is also a reminder of the fragility of the composer's life, as he struggled with illness from a young age, which affected his work. It seems that through this sculpture, Wolska was trying to capture this fragility, while also showing the unyielding strength of the artist's spirit.

The outline of his long, flowing hair gently encircles his face, giving the composition a delicate yet powerful expression. The simple yet evocative form of the sculpture emphasises the inner emotionality and sensitivity of the composer, who poured these qualities into his musical works. The entire work is situated on an austere, interlocking stone plinth, which adds to the austerity of the whole, contrasting with the gentle expression of the artist's face.

In creating this bust, Zofia Wolska paid homage to this composer's complex emotionality by introducing a tranquillity to her work that seems to be a metaphor for the silence before creating music, that brief moment when the artist immerses himself in himself before the light of creativity explodes outwards.

There is also an inscription on the monument, also has a plaque cast in bronze, commemorating the ceremonial unveiling of the sculpture of Fryderyk Chopin on 21 September 1998, by the wife of the President of Poland, Jolanta Kwasniewska, and the Queen of Spain, Sophie. At the time, the mayor of Valldemossa was Joan Muntaner Marroig.

In Spanish: "ESCULTURA INAUGURADA EL 21 DE SEPTIEMBRE DE 1998 POR LA ESPOSA DEL PRESIDENTE DE POLONIA DOÑA JOLANTA KWAŚNIEWSKA Y POR S.M. LA REINA DOÑA SOFIA SIENDO ALCALDE DE VALLDEMOSSA DON JOAN MUNTANER MARROIG."

In Polish: "SCULPTURE UNVEILED ON 21 SEPTEMBER 1998. BY THE WIFE OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF POLAND JOLANTA KWAŚNIEWSKA AND J.K.M. QUEEN ZOFIA WHEN THE MAYOR OF VALLDEMOSSA WAS JOAN MUNTANER MARROIG"

The sculpture is part of the artist's Chopin series (at Okęcie Airport in Warsaw, in front of the main entrance of the Stadtmuzeum in Dusseldorf or in front of the manor house in Żelazowa Wola).

International Chopin concerts in Valldemossa
. The Valldemossa monastery is also the venue for the International Chopin Concerts, the oldest Chopin festival, which has been held since 1930 (with a break from 1936 to 1965) and attracts both eminent pianists and music lovers from all over the world. Organised during the summer months, these concerts are not only a tribute to Chopin's music, but also a unique opportunity to hear his works in the place where they were composed.

The tradition of organising Chopin concerts on Mallorca is more than 80 years old. Mainly preludes and other works composed by Chopin are performed at them, and the atmosphere of the concerts is enhanced by the historical surroundings of the monastery and its beautiful garden.

Culture and tourism - Chopin in Mallorca today
Thanks to the presence of Chopin and his association with Majorca, the island has become an important place on the map of European musical heritage. Valldemossa attracts not only music lovers, but also tourists interested in history and culture. Walking through the narrow streets of the town, you can almost feel the atmosphere of those days when Chopin and Sand sought respite and inspiration here.

In addition to the monastery, tourists can visit the numerous cafes, restaurants and souvenir shops that allude to Valldemossa's connection with Chopin. You may also come across local cultural initiatives that promote the composer's life and work, as well as Mallorca as a place of creative inspiration.

Sand and 'Winter on Mallorca '
The stay in Majorca resulted not only in Chopin's music, but also in George Sand's literature. Upon her return to France, the writer published her book Winter on Mallorca, published in 1842, which became her subjective account of her stay on the island. In the book, Sand describes not only the natural beauty but also the difficulties they encountered during their stay, including the rainy weather, the coldness of the monastery and the local inhabitants' dislike of Chopin, who suffered from tuberculosis.

Sand's book, although full of criticism of Mallorca and its inhabitants, is a valuable historical document, allowing a better understanding of the context of the time. "Winter in Mallorca" is still read and analysed, both by literary enthusiasts and those who want to know the history of Chopin and Sand's relationship. In turn, her novel 'Spiridion' was written during her stay in Mallorca.