The composition is symmetrical and hierarchical. The most important axis is defined by the central figure of Polonia, situated in the central vertical strip. Polonia is depicted as a young woman with a monumental, classically simplified silhouette. Her head and torso occupy the central part of the composition. In her hands she holds a sword and a sheaf of grain. The sword alludes to the defence of independence, whilst the sheaf of grain symbolises labour, fertility and the economic foundation of the state. The figure is surrounded by an elaborate arrangement of coloured fields featuring landscape, architectural and symbolic motifs.

In the upper part, above Polonia, is an image of Our Lady of Ostra Brama set within a medallion. On either side of the central figure are vertical bands featuring the coats of arms of towns and regions, as well as figural panels. The side panels depict scenes of labour: agriculture, industry, crafts, construction and other areas of social activity. The figures are small, simplified and integrated into the arrangement of the decorative panels.

The lower part of the composition has a more historical and military character. In the centre is the White Eagle, crowned and depicted in full face with outstretched wings. On either side are military and collective scenes, likely alluding to the struggles for independence and the defence of the state. The lower band also features abstract, decorative colour arrangements, resembling ornamentation, ribbons or stylised architectural forms. The colour scheme is intense and high-contrast. Blues, greens, reds, yellows and whites predominate. The lead divisions create a strong, graphic structure.

The stained-glass window is an allegory of Poland’s rebirth after 1918. Its iconographic programme combines three spheres: political, socio-economic, and religious-commemorative. The central figure of Polonia symbolises the state regained after the period of partition, active, capable of defence and labour. This is not a Polonia suffering or mourning defeat, but a victorious, frontal and monumental Polonia.

The sword and the sheaf of wheat are key attributes. The former signifies a readiness to defend, whilst the latter refers to the fertility of the land, agricultural labour and self-sufficiency. This pairing encapsulates the ideology of the Second Polish Republic as a young but proactive state: one that defends itself and works.

Coats of arms and the names of towns and regions form a symbolic map of the state. The stained-glass window does not depict Poland as a single landscape, but as a whole composed of regions, towns, traditions and functions. Of particular significance is the presence of Vilnius and Lviv, which is meaningful in the context of interwar political geography and the collective memory of the Second Polish Republic.

The Virgin of Ostra Brama in the upper section introduces a sacred and borderland dimension. This does not alter the secular nature of the work as a whole, but anchors its ideological programme in religious and national symbolism.

The stained-glass window is one of the most striking examples of Polish Art Deco. Its formal language is based on geometrisation, a synthesis of form, a clear programme and intense colours.

Colour serves both a symbolic and a structural function. Blues and greens create space; reds and yellows emphasise energy, labour and historical drama; whilst white frames the most significant symbols: the figure of Polonia, the White Eagle and Our Lady of Ostra Brama. Black lead lines reinforce the graphic nature of the composition, which is close to Jurgielewicz’s experience of artistic printmaking.

The connection with the Żeleński family’s craft is significant. Jurgielewicz’s design is flat and graphic in nature, but its effect depends on the quality of the glass, the transparency of the colours, the precision of the cutting and the painting technique. The stained-glass window thus combines a modernist design with a high standard of Kraków’s artistic craftsmanship.

The stained-glass window was created for the Polish Pavilion at the World’s Fair in New York in 1939. The Pavilion was intended to present the Second Polish Republic as a modern state, historically rooted and culturally mature. ‘Symbol of Reborn Poland’ occupied a central place in the Hall of Honour, within the section of the exhibition devoted to Poland’s past and future.

Its fate was sealed by the outbreak of the Second World War. After the exhibition ended, the stained-glass window could not be returned to Poland. It was put up for auction in New York, but was not sold, and subsequently found its way to the Polish Museum of America in Chicago. There it was reassembled and became one of the institution’s main visual symbols.

Mieczysław Jurgielewicz was an artist working in the fields of printmaking, painting and stained-glass design. He studied in Vilnius and Warsaw, amongst other places, and was associated with the Warsaw printmaking circle and the ‘Ryt’ Association of Printmakers. His penchant for stylisation, flatness and the decorative composition of the image is clearly evident in the Chicago stained-glass window.