Eastern Wei - caparisoned horses

 Salvete Omnes,

a little visit to early 'Medieval' China - Eastern Wei Empire (AD 534-550) and their warriors and horses.

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Eastern Wei, albeit short lived, gave us the peculiar sculptures  of fabulously caparisoned and harnessed horses , that where continued during the unifying Sui Dynasty period of the Chinese history, but the Eastern Wei gave way to Northern Qi imperial dynasty (ended in AD 589 by the Sui Empire). 

A Christie's' gallery - larger and full image here. 

A caparisoned horse with a very clearly sculpted saddle and stirrups -

-from this gallery.

Bonhams auction hourse - a Horse Gallery 

In these sculpted horses we can see many elements of the steppe horse harness elements that will endure for more than a thousand years until the modern age.

Eastern Wei Stele of 90 Secular Members, 543 AD

a mare with a foal

harnessed horses and carriages

a fine steed in a flying gallop

some personages 

warriors

camel - instrumental in the trade between the Central Asia, Northern Dynasties empires and eastern steppes and Korea.

oxen - 

enjoy

ps 

I will do a post on the Northern Wei and Northern Qi - I hope

Valete

Stefano Della Bella, Disegni e pensieri originali (schizzi a penna) - horses and horsemen

 Salvete Omnes,

second post from the sketchbook by Old Master Stefano Della Bella. 
this series contains sketches showing more Western European riders and horses 

.. a pen & ink drawing from a different collection

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Enjoy - 

ps for some more Old Polish costume by maestro Stefano - this time a nobleman with a special hat adornment popular in Old Poland through out the period. 
Nota bene Old Polish hunting books from the XVI-XVIII centuries advised the noble hunters to hunt for male herons to collect these special crest, tufted feathers.

Polish nobleman - fur hat with aigrette - egret crest feathers

Valete

Stefano Della Bella, Disegni e pensieri originali (schizzi a penna) - Polish horse & horsemen

Salvete Omnes,

a quick but full of wonderful sketches in pen and ink by an Italian maestro of the XVII century.

Polish costume - zupan, delia and kolpak

 Stefano Della Bella, Disegni e pensieri originali (schizzi a penna) from Florence, available on Archive .  Sketches were drawn  in Rome during the 1630s, and can be associated with the so called Ossolinski entry into Rome. 

I corralled for you the Polish horse and horsemen, ad a few Ottoman & Safavid Persian portraits drawn by maestro Stefano:

  

outfitted horse with a jarczak saddle and splendid bridle 

tying of the sash, Polish style, also shaved head with a hair lock, sabretache 

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enjoy 

Valete

Adoration of Magi - Gerard & Domenico

 Salvete Omnes,

today is the Feast of Epiphany - and I would like to share the following particular details from some XV century Old Masters' paintings showing the Holy Family and the Adoration of Magi.

 

 Northern Renaissance painter Gerard David - Adoration from MET

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another Adoration of Magi by Gerard David - from Munich Altepinakotek 

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another Adoration of Magi by David, from Brussels.

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and from the south of the XV century Europe -  Italian Old Master Domenico Ghirlandaio 
Uffizi Gallery

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Cappella Tornabuoni - 

saddle pommel and its adornments 

Adoration of Magi from Museo degli Innocenti , Florence

. Cappella Sassetti , Florence

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Happy Epiphany

Valete