Bronisław Pięcik (Polish pronunciation:[brɔˈɲiswafˈpjɛɲt͜ɕik]; 1936[1] – March 25, 2010) was a Polish precision mechanic[2] who was renowned for the elaborate medium and large-sized Nativity scenes called Kraków szopka that he built. Pięcik first took part in the Kraków Nativity Scene Contest in 1962.[3] By the time of his death in 2010, he had competed a total of 41 times in the contests,[1] placing first 22 times in multiple categories.
While Pięcik mainly built the Kraków szopka himself, he also worked on some of them with his wife Maria and his granddaughter Roksana Rutkowska.[3] Each szopka would generally take him upwards of a thousand hours to build, while some took even more than that. For example, his szopka entry for 2004 took him more than 1,000 hours to build.[4] He constructed his szopka according to the characteristics of the genre, which meant that they only contained historical, architectural elements found in Kraków as the backdrop.[2] He was particularly fond of using buildings found along the Royal Route in Kraków in his szopka,[2] which he knew like the back of his hand.[3] In 2003, Pięcik and his granddaughter Roksana Rutkowska took 1st place in the middle-sized division with their 172 cm tall szopka that reproduced in minute detail the Veit Stoss altarpiece from St. Mary's Basilica in Kraków.[3]
More than a dozen of his nativity scenes are housed in the szopka collection of the Historical Museum of Kraków. Many others are in private collections. His prize-winning szopka from 2004 was sold to a collector in Denmark.[4] While working in Kuwait, Pięcik built a Kraków szopka that is housed at a cathedral in Baghdad, Iraq.[2][5]
Archival material from the Department of Folklore and Tradition at the Historical Museum of Kraków.
Kwiecińska, Magdalena; Niechaj, Małgorzata (2012). Portrety twórców szopek krakowskich (in Polish). Kraków: Muzeum Historyczne Miasta Krakowa. ISBN978-83-7577-172-5.
^Satała, Marian; Sakowski, K. (December 6, 2009). "Konkurs Szopek Krakowskich rozstrzygnięty" [Kraków Nativity Scene Competition over]. Nasze Miasto (in Polish). Retrieved December 27, 2019. Pierwszą nagrodę wśród budowniczych szopek średnich zdobył Bronisław Pięcik
^Janusz, Tadeusz A. (1999). "57. Konkurs Szopek Krakowskich: Szopki jak kościół Mariacki" [57th Kraków Nativity Scene Competition: Szopka like St. Mary's Basilica, Kraków The most beautiful [Kraków] szopka]. Niedziela Ogólnopolska (in Polish). Retrieved December 27, 2019.
^"Najpiękniejsze szopki" [The most beautiful [Kraków] szopka]. Nasze Miasto (in Polish). December 8, 2000. Retrieved December 27, 2019. Grupa szopek dużych: 1. miejsce Bronisław Pięcik
^"Najpiękniejsza szopka krakowska" [The most beautiful Kraków szopka]. Nasze Miasto (in Polish). December 5, 2005. Retrieved December 27, 2019. Bronisław Pięcik zdobył główną nagrodę w 63. konkursie na najpiękniejszą szopkę krakowską w kategorii szopek dużych.
