On the 3rd of May each year the Poles celebrate the anniversary of the passing of their 1791 constitution, the first such document of its kind in Europe and only the second in the world. 

An enthusiastic crowd thronged Świętojańska Street in Warsaw’s Old Town that day. A whole cross-section of Polish society was present – aristocrats, clergymen, burghers, as well as peasants and members of the Jewish minority. Among them also were numerous historical figures – with King Stanisław August Poniatowski at the forefront. However, despite donning the distinctive coronation robe on his shoulders, the monarch seemed to fade into the background of those gathered at the foot of St. John’s Archcathedral. The Marshal of the Sejm, Stanisław Małachowski, cut a more prominent figure, as he was carried on the shoulders of two deputies. In his right hand the Speaker held up high a paper document. A discerning eye would have spotted the words printed on the title page: “Constitution of 3 May, 1791”.

A century later Jan Matejko recreated this momentous event. The eminent painter had no doubt that he was commemorating one of the most important moments in the long history of Poland. This is obvious to us Poles today, when on every 3^rd of May we celebrate the anniversary of our adoption of this Constitution – the first in Europe and only the second in the world.