Nicolaus Copernicus is a widely known figure. For centuries, his life has been and still is the subject of interest to historians, astronomers and people simply trying to explore his genius. Research and investigations into the life and activities of Copernicus have always intensified during the celebration of the round anniversaries of his birth. At that time, many publications and items commemorating the astronomer were created.

Frombork is the place where Nicolaus Copernicus spent 30 years of his life. The buildings where he lived and worked have been preserved here - the cathedral, the chapter house, the tower which he purchased as an apartment. No movable items belonging to him have survived. The exhibition "Nicolaus Copernicus - life and work" presents the astronomer against the background of the era, through publications, maps, coins and other objects that were created and used at that time. And also through his images and depictions of scenes from his life, which were created to commemorate the great scientist.

The exhibition leads the visitor from the stereotype of Nicolaus Copernicus gazing at the sky from his tower, through various types of his activities, to the image of a man who devoted every free moment to astronomy and, thanks to this passion, went down in history as the creator of the heliocentric theory.

The exhibition opens with a gallery of portraits of Nicolaus Copernicus. We present here copies of the oldest and most famous painted portraits of the scientist and original graphic images from the collections of our museum. Next to them are sculptural representations of the scientist.

From the hall of images we go to the exhibition which chronologically leads us through the life and activities of Nicolaus Copernicus. We start with his youth - the years of learning and traveling that, after leaving Toruń, Nicolaus Copernicus spent in Krakow and Italy. After obtaining a doctorate in canon law and the right to practice medicine, he came to Warmia to initially stay at the court of Bishop Łukasz Watzenrode in Lidzbark Warmiński.

We present Warmia, which from 1466 belonged to Royal Prussia. On the map of Warmia we mark the main places where M. Copernicus stayed: Lidzbark Warmiński - at the court of Bishop Łukasz, Olsztyn - administrator of the chapter's estates, Frombork - place of work and observation.
We describe the Warmian cathedral chapter and the public activity of Nicolaus Copernicus as a canon under the rule of bishops: Łukasz Watzenrode, Fabian Luzjański, Jan Dantyszek, Maurycy Ferber. The most famous function performed by the scientist in the chapter is the office of estate administrator and the associated stay at the castle in Olsztyn.

The exhibition takes visitors through various aspects of the scientist's activity. We present Nicolaus Copernicus as a cartographer, doctor, economist and astronomer.
He collaborated with Bernard Wapowksi, the father of Polish cartography, in developing the map of the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. He treated bishops and canons, but he was also a plague doctor when in 1519 an epidemic threatened northern Warmia - the area of ​​Braniewo and Frombork. As an economist, he formulated a law repeated independently in the mid-16th century by the English economist Thomas Gresham - stating that inferior money (from poor metal) drives better money out of circulation, which became the basis for society's approach to economic crises from the point of view of the rules of monetary transactions.

Nicolaus Copernicus practiced astronomy out of passion. The exhibition presents reconstructions of the instruments he used, placed on a staged "pavimentum" (observation terrace), a facsimile of the manuscript of "De revolutionibus" and an edition of the work. The heliocentric theory formulated by Copernicus initiated changes in the perception of the structure of the universe. No scientist could be indifferent to it. At the exhibition, we present portraits of scientists who contributed to the creation of the modern image of the world: Tycho Brahe, John Kepler, Galileo Galilei, Isaac Newton.

The exhibition shows the figure of Nicolaus Copernicus, who lived in a specific reality. Scientific research was part of his life filled with everyday duties, but it was they that earned him a special place among scientists and the memory of posterity.

Curator of the exhibition: Małgorzata Czupajło
Technical implementation of the exhibition:  Andrzej Długołęcki, Dariusz Grzesiak, Paweł Chorostian
Translation of the exhibition into English: Małgorzata Fowler