Dura-Europos - Rostovtzeff report of 1931-32 excavations - horses & tack

Salvete Omnes,
the Old Year is almost done - it was not the easiest one for many, for me the biggest loss was the death of my beloved German Shepherd dog Inka.
Anyway, perusing great Archive.org I came across several articles and books on the world library site, including  famous professor M. I. Rostovtzeff Report on 1931-32 excavations at Dura-Europos (captured and destroyed  by the Sassanians in AD 256) site in Syria. - curiously the Yale publication was printed in Praha, Czechoslovakia in 1934.

I would like to remind you that one of the best images, attached above, ancient images of the armoured horseman aka clibanarius/cataphractus comes from Dura-Europos (in graffito form) - you can read about the Parthian and Sassanian armor from Dura-Europos in the article by H. Wójcikowski (University of Rzeszow magazine Anabasis 4/2013 - available via academia) or Patryk Skupniewicz, or recent publication from Siedlce University & Azad Univeristy- on the Persian helmets.

 horse archers hunting graffito from Dura-Europos

Horse graffito from Dura Europos - the entire page from the Report - great horse tack and horse conformation information in there.

also professor Simon T. James article on the siege warfare during the siege of Dura-Europos by the Sassanians ( two vplatforms - academia & archive).
Valete!

ps

I am awaiting a book from D'Amato and Negin team on the Roman Heavy Cavalry, recommended to me by Patryk Skupniewicz. I have seen the plates already, 'published' on Facebook ( nota bene I am somewhat skeptical about the  reconstructions and horses etc), but I am quite curious about the text - I enjoyed their work, separate and joint,  in the past. None of these two authors has some serious knowledge (evident in the images and text made available) about the horses and horse tack, but they are solid on sources and excavated materials - nota bene the plates have some amazing artwork by Negin showing armour, weaponry and Roman emblems etc - now, how they have gone on interpreting them it remains to be seen until I read it.

Powstanie Wielkopolskie 1918-2018 - video - vivat !

Ignacy Paderewski przyjezdza do Poznania

Salvete Omnes,
[in Polish]

Fragment pomnika w Poznaniu

dzisiaj mamy 100 rocznice Powstania Wielkopolskiego, wielkiego zwycieskiego zrywu Wielkopolan (inne wielkie walki powstancze Wielkopolski to 1768-72, 1794, 1806, i  1848).

Powstancza zandarmeria w Krotoszynie

Film dokumentalny na temat powstania

Kurtka i rogatywka, mundur kaprala  1 pulku ulanow wielkopolskich

Galeria na Wiki commons

                                   Vivat! Vivat! Vivat!

Valete!

Young Medici in Polish costume by Justus Sustermans

Salvete Omnes,
and so it was Christmas AD 2018, sadly it is gone ,  now we shall await  the New Year's coming in less than a week time.

Ferdinando de Medici, Konopiste castle

Just I would like to share with you these three paintings by a Flemish painter Justus Sustermans, showing Ferdinando and Leopoldo de Medici  - their father the ruler of Tuscany died in 1621 AD and brave mother became the regent for oldest son, Ferdinando.

Leopoldo with his mother-the regent

Boys are painted in a contemporary Polish costume, circa 1622.
Here you'll find the story behind the costumes in the paintings.
                                                     

Leopoldo alone with a sabre and bulawa-mace

The horse tack is very interesting - it reminds me quite a bit of  the  Stockholm Roll winged hussars horse trappings,  while the saddle has some characteristics of the Polish winged hussar saddles, royal gifts to the Tzar,  the collection of the Imperial Moscow Armory (Oruzhennaya Palata).

de Medici horse trappings and winged hussars' ones

Valete

Horses from Praeneste

Salvete Omnes,
It is Christmas today, and away from eating and merriment I have been perusing the images on the Wiki commons related to the ancient Roman art and horses.
There is a book I have not bought yet - Roman Heavy Cavalry (1): Cataphractarii & Clibanarii 1st Century BC - 5th Century AD" (Elite 225) by Raffaele D'Amato and Andrey Negin.  My friend Patryk Skupniewicz says the book is good, so I will have to add it to my collection. It has some intersting and some very new imags of Roman cavalrymen and their mounts and equipment.
Why I mention this book, well, in other books by D'Amato & Negin  there are many images, often for the first time seen outside the academic works,  of the original Roman artwork, iconography and archaeological findings as well as many reconstructed horsemen and their horse tack.

I enjoy studying these books for the images and text , and more often than not I find myself looking for the places and objects mentioned in the books, seeking if there are more images an/or texts available on Wiki.
This led me to Palestrina - the ancient Praeneste - where the spectacular monumental temple to Fortuna Primigenia, probably the largest sanctuary in Latium or even the whole Italy.


and some amazing relieves from there, showing horses and horse tack.

 

I put this horse in vertical position, the original is part of the horizontal adornment

 My Good Fortune always be with you all.
valete

Vigiliae Christi Natalis - Vesper Sanctus

Salvete Omnes,

 

Swieta Bozego Narodzenia jutro, a dzisiaj Wigilia - vigiliae Christi Natalis
Wesolych, zdrowych, pogodnych i pelnych humoru Swiat - dla wszystkich!
*

 

*
Merry Christmas to you all, my friends and fellow travellers.
*

 

*
Feliz Navidad para todos ustedes

 

Valete !

 

Polonia Victrix - Katyn Forest Massacre Monument to stay

Victrix

Salvete Omnes,

Victoria

  Polonia Victrix (we, Polish Americans) won the fight against Jersey City mayor and his corporate real estate developers (and some other shadowy figures)
City Council voted unanimously on Thursday - Katyn Forest Massacre Memorial is to stay.

Athena Parthenos

Victoria 

Victrix

Vivat! What a great gift to the Polonia all around the world! In spite of the actions of the current Polish goverment and its envoy in the US the New York City Consul.
Katyn Forest Massacre on Twitter [English]

young horseman and Nike - IV century BC cup

Katyn Forest Massacre Monument of twitter [Polish]
 Polish state radio on the subject  - po polsku.

Valete

o husarii z Wiarusa AD 1936

Salvete Omnes,

[in Polish]
 Wiarus to dzielny, stary a dziarski żołnierz. napisano w Encyklopedii M. Arcta z 1916 roku.
Wiarus to rowniez byl periodyk wydawany w II Rzeczpospolitej, gdzie w 1936 roku wydawca byl Wojskowy Instytut Naukowo-Oswiatowy, pod redakcja kapitana Jerzego Ciepielowskiego a w redakcji sekretarzem znany juz nam Narcyz Witczak-Witaczynski.
Byl to periodyk, dwytygodnik, dla korpusu podoficerow wojska ladowego, marynarki wojennej i Korpusu Ochrony Pogranicza wydawany przez 10 lat do 27 sierpnia 1939 roku.
Wczesniej, do czasu zespolenia sie z innymi periodykami wojskowymi w czasopismo Zolnierz Polski,  byl to tygodnik wydawany przez Ksiegarnie Wojskowa pod redakcja dr Waclawa Tokarza (od 1918 do 1921).
Od czasu do czasu pojawialy sie tam artykuly z historii wojskowosci polskiej , i w numerze 29 (VII rok) z 18 lipca 1936 roku  napisal ktos ( mnie nieznany jest autor) krotki artykul o skrzydlatej husarii I Rzeczpospolitej.
Oto tenze artykul ze strony 697.

nota bene druk wykonala Drukarnia Naukowa z Warszawy, Stare Miasto 11.

Tenze numer rowniez zawiera inne ciekawostki, ale o tym w osobnym wpisie.

Ida Swieta..
dla podroznych i spragnionych odpoczynku a schronienia karczma przydrozna pedzlem  Wladyslawa Karola Szernera,

karczma

Valete  - :)

Sketching husaria

Salvete Omnes,
just doing some digital sketching - I have bought a new computer so now I will have to buy a new tablet, or a pen display, my  tablet needs a replacement for sure

 quick black and white sketch

 

Valete

new Radek Sikora book on husaria

Salvete Omnes,
 [Polish]
dzisiaj druh moj imc pan Radoslaw Sikora oglosil na swej stronie fejsbukowej, ze w styczniu 2019 wydawnictwo Znak wyda jego najnowsza ksiazke poswiecona skrzydlatej husarii.
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Ksiazka, oprocz ogromnie ciekawego i zaiste wyjatkowego tekstu opartego na zrodlach z epoki i badaniach naukowych autora,  jest bardzo, ale to bardzo bogato ilustrowana - min mamy ilustracje z epoki, rysunki wspolczesne, oraz przede wszystkim zdjecia, doskonale zdjecia autorstwa Marka Kalisinskiego i Radoslawa Szleszynskiego, pokazujace  rekonstruktorow husarii jak i historyczne przedmioty.
                                                *
Ksiazka bedzie zawierac 5 moim ilustracji, w tym byc moze pierwsza taka grafike-rekonstrukcje husarskiego pocztu z poczatku XVIIw, czyli towarzysza husarskiego, 2 pocztowych, czeladz, wierzchowce bojowe, luzaki/konie powodne, konie czeladne i pociagowe, pojazdy i wozy, woly oraz namioty.
                                               *
 Wybuchowa ilustracja na okladce jest pedzla Mariusza Kozika, dobrze znanego ze swoich prac dla gier Total War.  Mam obiekcje co do wyboru tematu na okladke - glownie dlatego, ze widzimy towarzysza husarskiego jako nieledwie rajtara z szabla (choc faktycznie husarze rajarami bywali), a przeciez wyobraznie nasza poruszaja i wrogow serca strachem karmili  skrzydlaci husarze ze swoimi dlugimi kopiami na wspanialych rumakach.

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Byc moze te nowa praca mosci Radka, bazujaca na badaniach autora wykonanych do pracy doktorskiej jak i na badaniach ciagle prowadzonych od czasu uzyskania doktoratu do dzisiaj zostanie ktoregos dnia przetlumaczona na jezyk angielski i inne jezyki.
                                                * **

[English]
today my friend Radek (Radoslaw) Sikora, Ph.D.,  announced on his Facebook page that next January 2019 his Polish publisher,  Znak, will release his new book on the winged hussars.

The book, apart from its very interesting, rich and exceptional text entirely based in primary sources and research, is profusely illustrated with period images, drawings, photos of winged husaria reenactors and historical objects related to husaria  - thses are  fine photos by Marek Kalisinski and Radek Szleszynski.
There will be 5 drawings of mine in this book, including perhaps the first ever reconstruction showing the entire winged hussar retinue from the early XVII century:   mounted winged hussar comrade, his two retainers also mounted, multiple servants both mounted and riding carts and wagons, war steeds, spare horses and draft horses,  wagons, carts, oxen and tents.

The explosive cover was done by Mariusz Kozik, well known by his Total War games artwork. My objection to this cover is that we see our winged hussar as a cuirassier with a sword (and in fact they did fight as cuirassiers at times) and not a heavy lancer with his long painted kopia (lance) who put fear in the hearts of our foes and today lance-armed winged hussar dominates our imagination.

Perhaps this new book, based in the doctoral and post-doctoral research done by the author, might get translated into English and other languages one day.

detail from my preliminary sketch

Valete

December sketeches etc

Salvete Omnes,
 a quick photo of a ball pen & Antique White acrylic paint drawing done in the spirit of the Old Poland horse and tack (the wire retained for the purposes of seeing the size of the artwork - 9X12 wired sketchbook)

 

and a beautiful Renaissance Polish eagle from the late XVI century book (the end of chapter illumination)

crica AD 1576

Valete..

December sketches

Salvete Omnes,
some sketches, perhaps it will be mostly sketches this month -  Christmas and holiday season coming fast this month of December 2018.
so here are some ballpen digitally-manipulated sketched of horses of Old Poland

 

 

 

I may, time permitting, add some daily sketches

Valete!
ps
Novelist Helena Schrader wrote this very interesting article about Spartan sexuality before the Persian Wars. - I enjoyed and perhaps could suggest it as a must read  if you are into the ancient history, especially the ancient Greek state. 

Somosierra AD 1808-2018

Salvete Omnes,
battle of Somosierra Pass 1808 - 2018 - 210th anniversary this day

Wojciech Kossak - from his unfinished panorama

Suchodolski painting - detail with a glinka bailogrzywy   charger

Suchodolski - fallen horses - detail

Horace Vernet pinxit - detail

...my friend Krzys Komaniecki has been working on a new comics book retelling the story of the battle and famous charge - he has painted already 10 plates, out of 45-60 pages that the finished hand-painted comics will consist of.
Fingers crossed  - :) 
Valete!

Snow and horses Berezina AD 1812

detail

Salvete Omnes,
my heart is black with sadness today, my beloved German shepherd Inka Negra was euthanized today.
She will sleep forever in the oak forest. C'est la vie.
                                            ***
End of November brings another anniversary in Polish , French, Russian and German military history.

Falat's landscape

On 26th of November  the remains of the Napoleonic Grande Armee (Great or Grand Army), that had entered Russian Empire in the summer 1812, fought their last large ( the entire fight lasted from 26 to 29th of November ) battle of this terribly mismanaged and badly executed campaign.
Encircled by three Russian armies, pursued relentlessly by Russians and inclement weather, starving and frostbitten, with military horses reduced to skeletal steeds collapsing at any given moment and using peasant koniks - now consisting in large part of Polish soldiers, and then the German, Croat, Dutch and French soldiers, plus vast number of camp followers and stragglers - so this struggling army came to the old Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth Berezyna (Berezina) River crossings on the way to Wilno (Vilnius, Lithuania), had to built bridges, fight their enemies in snow, ice, forests and freezing waters, and just to keep on walking towards Duchy of Warsaw and Empire.
For the Napoleon it was do or die type of an engagement, the emperor being effectively encircled with his fighting-men spread out on the right and left banks and twice the number of civilians and stragglers on the left bank.   For a moment if all came to halt around  the fords on the Berezyna (Berezina) River between Studzianka(Studienka) and Borysow (Borisov), present day Belarus. Actual battle was very bloody and very costly in terms of losses in men, families and materiel, but  soldiers' valiant sacrifice did win Napoleon another chance to fight on in the spring 1813 etc, thus the French Empire was saved and survived the Russia 1812 debacle to fight on until Waterloo stopped all.
On November 29, 1812 Grand Army survivors started marching towards Wilno, but less than 10,000 of them capable to bear arms and fight (and they did fight smaller battles and skirmishes). Several days after Berezyna Napoleon left his army and went straight to Paris, to organize new armies to fight in the Germanies the following spring.
Military details of this battle will become subject of many posts in the future (so  many surviving diaries and memoirs provide so much interesting equestrian information that it would be shameful not to bring them back).

Falat's work

But today I want to post something about the painting, not jsut any painting abut a huge panorama work planned and executed by two Polish masters of brush and paint : Wojciech Kossak and Julian Fałat, with help from several Polish artists - Michał Wywiórski, Antoni Piotrkowski, Kazimierz Pułaski (cousin of Kossak), et Jan Stanisławski.

Falat's winter scene

So these two great brushmasters set on to paint  the grand last act of the Napoleonic retreat from Moscow AD 1812, the battle of Berezina River.
In November 1894 Falat proposed to undertake this project, to be painted in Berlin, where he was residing. The financial backers of this project were Roman Potocki, Antoni Wodzicki and Stanislaw  Homolacs.
Kossak was to paint the figures and Falat the nature(being the foremost painter of landscape, especially the snowed scenery etc, but he painted one bridge with figures too, as seen above). Kossak went to the site in Russian Empire and studied the uniforms and armaments.

The work started on December 1, 1894 and in April 1896 the finished Berezina panorama went on display in Berlin. In September 1898 it went to be displayed in Warsaw, in April 1900 went to Kiev, and in June 1901 to Moscow. After that show it was kept at Kossak's home at Krakow, The panoramic painting was 15 meters high and 120  meters long and without a proper gallery to display it (unlike Raclawice Panorama),  it having been rolled and slowly decaying at Kossak's atelier it was destined to survive in its entirety for long. Addtionally there was the conflict between the two leading painters, and so this great work of art was completely cut into multiple panels and then these smaller paintings were sold off to interested buyers. It had begun already in 1907 when Kossak started to cut it into smaller parts, selling those pieces he painted himself.
There are but photos of some of the larger scenes surviving

Valete!

best books on this engagement
in Polish:
Marian Kukiel, Wojna 1812 Roku, vol. II.
Robert Bielecki, Berezyna 1812.
English:
Alexander Mikaberidze, Battle of the Berezina.