Jan Matejko Academy of Fine Arts in Cracow is the oldest artistic university in Poland. It was founded in 1818 and existed at the start as School of Drawing and Painting within the Department of Literature of Jagiellonian University (founded in 1364). Jan Matejko Academy of Fine Arts in Cracow is the oldest artistic university in Poland. It was founded in 1818 and existed at the start as School of Drawing and Painting within the Department of Literature of Jagiellonian University (founded in 1364). After it became an independent unit in 1873 it assumed the name School of Fine Arts and its director at that time was a distinguished Polish historical painter, Jan Matejko (1838-1893), the present patron of the Academy.