Pan hetman Stefan Czarniecki - the glorious commander of Old Poland

 Salvete Omnes,

today, but in 1665AD, Stefan Czarniecki Lodzia coat of arms, field hetman of  the Crown Army of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, passed away. He died at Sokolivika, nowadays Lviv oblast in Ukraine, then a village in Red Ruthenia and Lwow Voivodeship, south-central Crown Poland - Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. 

Painted from life portrait of Stefan Czarniecki

XVIII century version - the scene of Czarniecki's passing by Franciszek Szmuglewicz

Born in 1599AD, pan Stefan spent his entire life in the saddle, and later on he was painted on horseback by various artists.
But today we shall commemorate this great warrior and horseman with the paintings showing his last moments with his favorite war steed . his gray mount - as envisioned by Polish early XIX century master January Suchodolski (two versions of the canvass) .

Nota bene Jan Chrysostom Pasek served under Czarniecki during the Deluge and the Polish-Russian war. 

His legacy lives on and even today Polish school children, workers and soldiers when singing the Polish National Anthem, sing about his daring raid on the Als during the Deluge. 

Another Polish painter, Leopold Loeffler, painted  the death bed with a war steed scene -

Also maestro Juliusz Kossak painted this scene, here reproduced in 'Tygodnik Ilustrowany' in 1909.

ps
I like the brushes on another Polish maestro Szymon Kobylinski, and one of these days I shall copy for your viewing pleassure one of his drawings showing Czarniecki and his horse. 

Valete

Czarniecki , Pasek et consortes - crossing the sea to Als

 Salvete Omnes,

a little remembrance of the Deluge and Polish cavalry action - on December 14, 1658 AD Stefan Czarniecki, commander of the Polish Crown army division in Danish Kingdom, ordered his horse banners to cross the open Baltic Sea waters, circa 500 meters wide straits, onto the island of Als, where the Swedish invaders were holed up. The cavalrymen and their horses crossed the straits and having surprised the Swedish enemy with their resolve and bravery and being somewhat immune to the freezing cold, won the day. 

This event was described in some detail by one of the most famous Polish diarists of the XVII century, Jan Ch. Pasek, who was also a pancerny kozak companion serving under Stefan Czarniecki during the Deluge and this Danish  campaign.

The event was so unusual in Polish history, a very land based nation at that time, that when 150 years later Jozef Wybicki wrote Mazurek Dabrowskiego,  current Polish national anthem, he included this feat in the text of the song.
In Polish art history this campaign was popular with the artists, especially during the XIX century  realism period.

[in Polish]

Wydawnictwo InfortEditions wydalo rok temu prace polskiego historyka Wiktora Czermaka na temat wyprawy Czarnieckiego do Danii.

W tej edycji opus Czermaka sa moje dwie ilustracje nawiazujace do opowiesci Jana Chryzostoma Paska o przeprawie na Als.

Valete