The canvas was purchased from a private owner by public subscription in Poland and hangs in the aula (Great Hall) of the Collegium Novum of the university.

He used research materials available in the Jagiellonian University, and made several preparatory pencil drawings and two oil sketches, prior to executing the painting.

[2] In the event the organizers of Copernicus' quadricentennial anniversary in Kraków were indifferent to Matejko's endeavours, and did not plan to exhibit his painting during the official festivities.

[3][4] The painting depicts the exalted cleric and scientist Nicolaus Copernicus - he was a canon of Frombork Cathedral - kneeling as he observes the heavens during the transition from night to dawn.

By his side is his own heliocentric model drawn on a large flat board, based on an actual illustration from his De revolutionibus.

There is also the symmetrical focal point with atmospheric perspective around the subject, a radial balance of light arranged around a central element, and dramatic contrasts with dark colours on the periphery.

Whereas Matejko shows Copernicus on top of a tower, in reality his small observatory was probably at ground level, possibly in the garden of his house.