F. Remington - more cavalry charges

 Salvete Omnes,

April is ending, the Pope had died and was buried past Saturday, and now they are going to elect a new Pope in a conclave of cardinals.

today, starting around 12PM European time there has been blackout in Spain, Portugal, Andorra, and some in the southern France and Italy. We lived through the 2003 August Blackout in NYC, it was not a very traumatic experience as it did not last long (one night, some 26 hours in total) and criminal activity was limited and contained. I hope they restore electricity in Spain etc quickly. 

India and Pakistan are on a verge or a real armed conflict, after a terror attack in the disputed Kashmir (those pesky British politicians who created this witches' cauldron of conflict and mayhem), this could be very serious.

ad rem,
a little more equestrian art by Frederic Remington -  I already posted some great cavalry charges by our American master Frederic Remington - here.

Now, I would like to share the work from Blanton Museum of Art in Texas  painted circa 1906

the Charge

and this famous work

Cavalry Charge on the Southern Plains

.

Washita River battle 

.

Enjoy

Valete

F. Remington - nightly scenes in his paintings

 Salvete Omnes,

Frederic Remington, great American realist painter and illustrator & writer, painted many nightly scenes in hie lifetime.

I would like to share with you some of these nightly and indoor scenes and the ones with dimmed light, where the artists explores possibilities offered by limited palette etc

 

I wonder if he was influenced by the paintings of Jozef Brandt, whose are was imported into the American art market in the late 1800s. Remington himself made trips within continental Europe,

 visiting the Russian Empire in 1891-2 and Germany too. also in French North Africa etc. 

enjoy

Valete

Polish Kingodom of Boleslaw I the Great - 1025-2025

 Salvete Omnes,

glorious anniversary

king Mieszko II

more than a thousand years ago  some of the Polish tribes unified into one state under the their own dynasts from Greater Poland. 

Traditionally and in the Polish Christian lore and historiography duke Mieszko I is considered the first ruler of Polish realm circa 966AD, but naturally this could not be not true, as if duke Mieszko appeared from a thin smoke.
Especially since the Polish archaeologists have been digging into the soils of Greater Poland for more than a century and can reasonably show the sudden development of large strongholds around 920-40s AD within the heartlands of Polish state, i.e., Greater Poland - Wielkopolska, the center of the Polish state for the next centuries to come. It was duke Ziemomysl and his son Mieszko I who unified the tribal territories and make Polish tribes into one realm. Mieszko I chose Roman Catholic Christianity as his state's official religion in 966AD, and wed Czech princes Dobrawa for wife and mother of his children.

a chalice from Gniezno Archdiocese museum

Fast forward to duke Boleslaw I, the son and successor of Mieszko I, who after a long war against the German Empire, which he won in 1018AD.
Duke Boleslaw I was crowned king, according to the primary sources, in 1025AD. There are many ideas why and how this Piast (the name Piast as the name for the Polish dynasty was used by Polish XV century chronicler Jan Dlugosz)  dynast fought and negotiated his way to the crown.
The date of the coronation and the site are unclear - it is thought that the ceremony was performed on Easter or close to it in 1025AD, which was the 18th of April 1025. Some historians theorize that it was April 23, 1025AD.

Emperor Otto III gave this spear to duke Boleslaw I in 1000AD

Curiously the younger son of our first king, Mieszko II, was crowned king of our Polish Kingdom along with his father and lord.

Boleslaw I's coin 992-1000AD

Bolesla I's denarius

This is the greatest anniversary in Polish history - the birth of Polish Kingdom.

here you can download  Mariusz Kozik's' very high resolution of his digital painting

the beauty of  all things is that  my friend Mariusz Kozik created a digital painting, true, an imaginary scene of this coronation - Boleslaw I in the Gniezno cathedral.
(Note that Boleslaw I had this first cathedral  built before 1000AD, and created then and there the sanctuary to the martyred Saint Adalbert. 

Emperor Otto III visited the cathedral and the sanctuary in the year 1000AD. 

Gniezno Door's detail  (1170AD) - Boleslaw I pays for the body of martyred Bishop Adalbertus

Unfortunately in 1038AD Czech duke Bretislav destroyed the city and the cathedral, which was rebuild in a Romanesque style by our king Boleslaw II in 1064AD)

Polish Kingdom during the reign of Boleslaw I and Mieszko II

Maestro Mariusz Kozik made his fine work available for free to any and all - if you are teacher or aficionado of all things medieval you can download and print this digital work for free.

Vivat Polish Kingodm, vivat Polish people around the world - some say circa 65-70 million strong.

this time - the X & XI centuries were the period of the Ottonian Golden age in art

Enjoy

ps

if you understand Polish  then the Yt page of prof. Gosciwit Malinowski is a great place to visit for a great journey into the world of sources and their interpretations  

Saint Goerge patron saint of knights, soldiers and scouts

 Salvete Omnes,

as Spring progresses this Wednesday is the Feast Day of Saint George (in Polish Catholic calendar tomorrow, since today is Saint Wojciech/Adalbertus Day) .

Famous and legendary for his fight with the Dragon, the epitome of Evil and Darkness in the Christian tradition. St. George was the patron saint of the chivalry, soldiers and also the scouting movement (harcerstwo in Polish).

We will commemorate it with two paintings from the Greek Cretan School (under the Venetian rule) from Heraklion, Crete.

One from the XV century - Angelos Akotandos

and the second from the XVI century  Georgios Klontzas.

enjoy

Valete

Easter AD 2025

 Salvete Omnes,

Raphael Santi's Resurrection , currently in Brazil 

it is a beautiful Sunday - Easter Sunday 

happy Easter - wesolego Aleluja, Chrystus zmartwychwstał! Prawdziwie zmartwychwstał  - Χριστὸς ἀνέστη! Ἀληθῶς ἀνέστη! 

..

and a very interesting 1420s (XV century) northern German painting of Crucifixion, unknown master

. we can observe wide (woven?) cinches,  richly decorated bridles and tack,  dyed-leather large pommel and cattle saddles with skirts, rowel spur, long-leg ridding with heavy stirrups, and their riding attire of  the period. The gray stallion has his forelock gathered and tied up (Eastern or steppe fashion).

enjoy

Valete