Jan Polack

January Polack (* between 1435-1450 probably in Krakow, † 1519 in Munich, also Pollack, Pöllack, Polegkh, Polak, Johannes Polonus ) was a late Gothic painter.

Because of his surname is believed that he came from Poland; is indisputable that he has worked there. After wandering through Franconia worked and he lived in Munich since the mid- 1470s. In 1480 he opened his own workshop in Munich. From 1482 he is registered in the tax register in Munich, where he worked as one of the most important painters of the Munich late Gothic period. At times he was on the board of the painters' guild.

Polack's works were influenced by Michael Wohlgemuth, Veit Stoss and Hans Pleydenwurff.

He created altars, paintings and frescoes. The only secured surviving work is the Weihenstephaner high altar, whose panels are scattered on the Diocesan Museum in Freising, the Alte Pinakothek in Munich and the Germanic National Museum in Nuremberg. Other of documented works have been lost.