The most elegant room in the apartment was the corner living room, which now houses the Ritters’ Biedermeier-style seating set. Also owned by the family in this room were curtain rods, a piano, and 2 standing angel sculptures, personally placed there by Maria Ritter. Paintings, also by the artist, hang on the walls, including her self-portrait and paintings of family members. Also noteworthy in the living room is the 18th-century Kolbuszów writing desk, a high quality piece of furniture with inlays and a hinged top concealing small stepped drawers pulled out by a concealed locking mechanism. The next room is the so-called white lounge, formerly used as a dining room, guest room, and Maria Ritter’s bedroom. It is dominated by classicist furniture from the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries. The Ritter family owned the paraffin lamp hanging from the ceiling, which was converted into an electric lamp around 1911, as well as the painting ‘Lucrezia with Tarquinius’, located between the windows, which has always hung in this room. Prominent among the canvases adorning the walls of the lounge is ‘The Construction of the Tower of Babel’, probably dating from the 17th century. The painting (to the right of the door leading to the bedroom) is associated with the German-Dutch artistic circle. The final room in the exhibition is the bedroom, decorated with Louis Philippe-style furniture belonging to Maria Ritter’s grandparents. The room looks very much like the one from the period when Felix and Józefa Ritter lived here. Their portraits were made based on the photographs standing on the bedside table. To the right of the entrance, a toilette corner has been arranged, covered by an Art Nouveau painted screen, behind which a marble washbasin with porcelain and faience dishes for the daily ablutions has been set up. An interesting feature of this room is the low table standing nearby – it once belonged to Jacek Malczewski.
Burgher Interiors, Maria Ritter Museum
Beacon