Saint Joseph seeks lodging in Bethlehem

In the foreground, Joseph is depicted talking to an innkeeper, seeking lodging for Mary. The Carpenter’s wife has dismounted from the donkey and stands at the edge of the road. The innkeeper merely points to a stable in the distance. Uncommon are the two-part doors beside which the innkeeper stands.

The lower part was closed to prevent animals from entering the house, while the upper part was opened for ventilation and to allow more light into the room. In the background, a typical Silesian town is visible, with a horizontal pole with a barrel hoop— a brewer’s wheel—placed on one of the houses.

According to legend, the painter Willmann himself was a great lover of Krzeszów beer, often escaping to a nearby inn during his work. After spending the whole night there, he was unable to hold a brush steadily the next day, significantly delaying the painting work at the church. This greatly displeased Abbot Bernard, who decided to curtail the painter’s escapes in the simplest way—by locking him in the church. The disgruntled painter reportedly said, “I will sit in the inn anyway!” and painted himself as the innkeeper, leaving his self-portrait.

Michael Willmann, known as the “Silesian Rembrandt,” created over 50 wall polychromies within three years, adorning the interior of the fraternity church.

The abundance of these depictions in one place makes the Krzeszów church the largest collection of frescoes in Northern Europe, and the seat of the Brotherhood of Saint Joseph is popularly called the “Silesian Sistine Chapel.”