Lucjan Rydel in Bronowice, a village near Kraków. The wedding party was the inspiration for his widely acclaimed play Wesele (The Wedding). It is a deeply critical yet sarcastic exposé of Polish society of the 19th century. "Wesele" transformed Wyspianski from a moderately successful visual and verbal artist associated with the Young Poland movement into a national dramatist-visionary whose significance in Poland is comparable to Yeats's in Ireland, O'Neill's in America, or Maeterlinck's in Belgium." The drama made references to the contemporary situation in Poland and depicted a powerless society. Although censorship barred the sale of copies of Wesele (The Wedding), the play was staged in the theatre. After the success of Wesele (The Wedding) four new plays based on Polish history were published: Wyzwolenie (Liberation), Achilles, Bolesław Śmiały (Boleslaus The Bold) and Legenda II (Legend 2). The following years were devoted to publishing of Skałka and Powrót Odysa (Return of Odysseus); meanwhile Wyspiański translated Corneillea's Cyd (Le Cid) and Voltaire's Zaïre. In 1906 Wyspiański became a professor at the Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków. He was also a member of the city council. In his last years, Wyspianski's health deteriorated. As a result, he underwent medical treatments in Rymanów and Bad Hall and then settled in his small cottage in the village of Węgrzce. He died of syphilis, which was incurable at the time. His funeral took place in Kraków and became a national day of mourning. Wyspiański was buried in the Crypt of the Distinguished in the Skałka Church. Creative output Wyspiański's artistic output is very eclectic. Among dramas and poetry, there are views of Cracow (drawings, sketch-books, oil-paintings, pastel drawings), portraits and self-portraits, designs of stained glass windows and paintings, illustrations, graphic art, and designs for furniture and interiors, and development of Wawel. Drawings, such as his 1890 self-portrait, and drafts from his journeys across Europe and Poland, are among Wyspiański's better-known works. He later created a herbarium by drawing plants. However, he most frequently used soft pastel techniques; his first pastel drawings were produced between 1890 and 1894. They mainly present the artist's family, friends and other artists. Wyspiański eagerly drew his children in everyday situations such as sleeping or feeding, including Helenka (1900), pastel drawing, owned by the National Museum in Kraków; Śpiący Staś (Sleeping Staś) (1902), pastel drawing, Silesian Museum in Katowice; Śpiący Mietek (Sleeping Mietek) (1904), pastel drawing, Museum of Art in