A Sculptural Portrait of Zbigniew Herbert Donated to the National Library’s Collections
The collections of the National Library have been enriched by a sculptural portrait of Zbigniew Herbert created by the Yagenmeer Sculpture Studio. The head was designed by the husband-and-wife team Aneta and Maciej Jagodziński-Jagenmeer. The clay model, made using traditional workshop techniques, was created in 2024 to mark the centenary of the poet’s birth. A bronze cast was made a year later, with the sculpture mounted on a block of black granite.
The donor and initiator of the sculpture, Maciej Jagodziński-Jagenmeer, wished for it to find its place alongside the Zbigniew Herbert Archive, which has been held at the National Library since 2006. The sculpture will form an important addition to this valuable collection documenting the life and work of the outstanding poet.
The donated work is the first version of Herbert’s portrait. A second version, an artist’s replica on a slightly larger scale, has been placed at the junction of Tujakowskiego and Mickiewicza Streets in Toruń, symbolising the poet’s ties with the city, where he studied law in the years 1947–1951.
Maciej Jagodziński-Jagenmeer is a graduate of the Faculty of Fine Arts at Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń. His particular passion is portrait sculpture, and the motto that guides him is a line from Herbert’s 1995 letter to students of the State Higher School of Theatre: “And for God’s sake, do not be modern. Be reliable.”
The artist places particular emphasis on the craft of sculpture, truth of expression, and capturing the character and psychological traits of the model.
Aneta Jagodzińska-Jagenmeer supports her husband in work on monumental sculpture projects, although she herself specialises in small sculptural forms and medallic art.
Among the several dozen monuments created by the Yagenmeer Sculpture Studio between 1998 and 2025 in various Polish cities, it is worth mentioning the monument to Prime Minister Jan Olszewski standing in front of the Chancellery of the Prime Minister in Warsaw; the monument to Captain Witold Pilecki, unveiled in 2019 in front of the Museum of the Second World War in Gdańsk; the monument at St Wojciech Cemetery in Łódź commemorating Polish children murdered in concentration camps in Łódź; and the bench with a figure of Nicolaus Copernicus in Grudziądz Old Town.
Studio Yagenmeer has also created a series of over a dozen small sculptures placed in squares, plazas and parks across Gniezno. Depicting charming rabbits in various humorous situations and costumes, these urban mascots have become one of the city’s best-known tourist attractions.
Thanks to the donation agreement signed on 18 June 2026, the sculptural portrait of Zbigniew Herbert will decorate the space of the National Library building.