There are numerous anecdotes associated with this painting. Matejko used his family for models, and likely the painting contains nearly all the members of his family. The painting was well received by contemporaries, and Stanisław Tarnowski published an extensive and positive review in 1875 in "Przegląd Polski". The work was displayed in Paris in 1875, and probably contributed to Matejko's recognition by the Académie française; three years later it was displayed there again, during the Exposition Universelle (1878), and (together with two other paintings – the "Unia lubelska (Union of Lublin)" and "Wacław Wilczek") yielded him an honorary golden medal.