Friday, March 13, 2009



Hello again,
it has been a while since my last post.








While I was reading this entry Wojna litewsko -rosyjska_1558-1570  on wikipedia I found this image above -   two Polish riders with the standard:  White Eagle in the red field. Most likely this is an ensign and his companion and they are part of  some cavalry, perhaps Royal Cavalry Banner,  in their parade clothing, with some very ornate horse tack - red and blue dyed leather .
  They both carry Hungarian style sabres as this nomadic and Central Asian weapon became the weapon of choice for the Polish, Ruthenian and Lithuania nobility and military.
  One can note the multicoloured clothing, the 'red' rider has most likely a ''żupan,'' with a blue collar put down, in the fashion of the second half of XVI century. Also note the spur on the standard bearer's boot.
  Similar fashion and horse tack appear in the German woodcuts of the second half of the 16th century when Polish riders are depicted.
  On the right my own old ink drawing of a winged  hussar officer that is based on the German 1570s woodcut by a very prolific artist based in Nuremberg, Jost Amman.

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