composition; supporters of Matejko's previous works were much more guarded in their praise of this painting. Matejko's technique in this painting was subtly but noticeably different compared to his other paintings; authors Wrede et al. attribute this to Matejko's exploration of new techniques, but note that contemporary critiques saw this departure from his old style as the weakening form of the dying master, and did not applaud the changes. They also note that Matejko usually dedicated two years to paintings of that size; this one was completed in less than a year, during a period in which Matejko was working on other projects and suffering from stress and depression. Matejko himself was not fond of the 18th century and the Polish Enlightenment, remarking that he "would rather prefer to paint any other century". He felt compelled, however, by the anniversary of the Constitution to create an artwork commemorating the event, which he recognized as historically significant. Matejko commonly identified the characters in his paintings with a written legend, but he did not create one for the Constitution. Consequently, some characters in the painting have not been identified. A partial legend was written by Matejko's secretary, Marian Gorzkowski, and even though it provides a list of 39 characters, Wrede et al. write that his "chaotic description" is not very helpful. Modern analysis has been done by Polish historians Jarosław Krawczyk and Emanuel M. Rostworowski. Content The painting, set in the late afternoon of 3 May 1791, shows the procession of deputies from the Royal Castle (background), where the Constitution has just been adopted by the Great Sejm, to St. John's Collegiate Church (left, now an archcathedral), where a Te Deum will be sung. The procession moves down St. John's Street (ulica Świętojańska), surrounded by enthusiastic Warsaw residents and visitors. The deputies are protected by soldiers. While the procession was an actual historic event, Matejko took many artistic liberties, such as including persons who were not in fact present or had died earlier. He did so because he intended the painting to be a synthesis of the final years of the Commonwealth. He also felt that there was no real historic moment or location that fully captured the spirit of the Constitution, and so he, the artist, needed to create such a moment. Center The painting is centered on the Sejm marshal Stanisław Małachowski (1), who is wearing a white, French-inspired costume.