Obverse of the shield of the Virtuti Militari Cross from the bars of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Warsaw.

designed by Henryk Grunwald, cast by Lopienski Brothers, 1946
bronze, sheet metal mounted to plywood, diameter 30 cm; very good condition

The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Warsaw, made according to the design of Prof. Stanislaw Ostrowski, was unveiled on 2.11.1925. In the original version of the monument, the grilles filling the openings of the arcades on the side of the Saxon Garden had the following motifs: an eagle in the finial of the central grille, and the Cross of Virtuti Militari and the Cross of Valor on the side grilles. Destroyed in 1944, the monument was rebuilt and unveiled in 1946, at which time the bars were replaced with new ones, made according to Henryk Grunwald's design. The highest military decorations were placed on them: Virtuti Militari Cross, Grunwald Cross and Cross of Valor. During the first restoration of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in 1964, the emblems from the grille were removed and replaced with new ones, with the Virtuti Militari Cross omitting the year of its establishment - 1792, while the Cross of Valor was mistakenly dated 1918 instead of 1920.