ἀνάστασις τοῦ Ἰησοῦ - Happy Easter- Wesolego Alleluja

 Savete Omnes,

Tobias Frendt pinxit

Ἀληθῶς ἀνέστη!, romanized: Khristós anésti! - Alethós anésti! -
Paschal Greeting 

Christus surréxit! - Surréxit vere, allelúja ("Christ is risen!" - "He is risen indeed, Alleluia!")

today is Easter - Happy Easter to all 

lots of hunting spears 

unknown German  master - Resurrection 

.

Cranach the Younger - horse and armor detail 

Wesolego Alleluja - Feliz Pasquas 

Valete

Semana Santa in full swing - with a Crucifixion by Conrad Laib

 Salvete Omnes,

let us pray for peace and end of human suffering around the world as the Easter holiday is upon us.

we, in the Catholic Christianity, are in the Semana Santa - Holy Week/Swiety Tydzien, aleady in the third day of this last day of Lent.
Last year I did a post  about Semena Santa in Spain and Palm-frond like arrangements - you can take a look here.

And  I would like to share this Crucifixion by Conrad Laib (c.1410-1460), active in Salzburg, Holy Germany Empire. 

Apart from the religious subject matter and artistic value, this work contains lots of information about the horses, horse tack and armor and even weapons of the era.

Bridles, spurs, stirrups, bits - a bonanza of material culture .

here clearly a white mule, animal for clergy, with a very sumptuous bridle an saddle  

a do watch again the famous masterpiece - 'The Passion of the Christ' by Mel Gibson (or any other film about the Passion of Christ) 

Valete

De Ruitter school - part II

 Salvete Omnes,

following the first posting of this month, this is my second - de Gheyn's Ruitter school:  the late XVI  century lancers of the Western and Central Europe - 

for your study and enjoyment

Valett

Hans Suess von Kulmbach - armored knights, horses, early hussar and stradiots lancers

 Salvete Omnes,

a little canter to early XVI century Polish ream where Northern Renaissance art life flourished in the old capital, in and around the royal court of Sigimund I Jagiellon. 

Apart from Michal Lancz there was another early painter in Polish Kingdom who also painted early hussars, stradiots and Rac, and knights and saints.

Northern Renaissance painter Hans Suess von Kulmbach was a prolific painter and draughtsman. 

In the old Limbach's church, nowadays a Lutheran Church, there is a surviving altar with his painting showing four military saints in period plate and chain armor-  

During the period of 1509-15 he was active in Krakow (Cracow), but returned to Nuremberg, where he died in 1522AD. He painted figures that resemble Rac or stradiots of the period. 

and the Adoration of Magi, in full glory at the top of this post,  is a mine to be explored

period bridle and curb-bit a a detail of the saddle's pommel

straditot and Rac lancers, ahorse with a curb bit

rowel spurs, langes messer and a stradiot attire

rowel spurs 

There is a painting at the old town of Sandomierz - Diocesan Museum. Probably painted in master Hans Suess' workshop in Krakow. But it closely follows the original master Hans' work.  Again, Rac lancers, stradiots and perhaps even Tatars (in those felt or sheep-skin  conical hats) . My thanks to Radoslaw Sikora for allowing me to use his photo of the said painting.

a sabre 

Polish bridle?  a curb-bit and double reins

lancers, their hussar lances with lively pennons 

more lancers and horsemen, including one Tatar handling the camel, a and 2 Tatars with arrow quiver? 

enjoy

Valete

Jorg Breu the elder - Crucifixion & horsemen

 Salvete Omnes,

 

master of Missal of Jean de Rolin

Good Friday - Crucifixion -
Jorg Breu the elder (1475-1537) pinxit - 

splendid horse armor and lancer-knight armor

an early armored hussar with a Hungarian shield

beautiful horse armor on a gray horse

Valete

Lecture on the armour - dr Toby Capwell

Salvete Omnes,

a nice treat to all armor aficionados and art historian types et al., - dr Toby (Tobias) Capwell is currently delivering a lecture - via The Wallace Collection page on Ytube - on the  armor made by the famous armorer  Konrad Seusenhofer et consortes at Innsbruck. 

Here an earlier video on the Seusenhofer armor samples at the Wallace Collection.
So if you can then join the lecture - :) 

Nota bene Toby Capwell et al.,  An Experimental Investigation of Late Medieval Combat with the Couched Lance via academia.edu .

Valete

Tournament watercolors by annonymous

Salvete Omnes,
for the medieval and early modern manuscripts the French National Library known under its digital name as  Gallica is a fantastic treasure to explore.
This fine status can be exemplified by this collection: dated to 1530AD, collected, during the 1760s,  by the author of Munchausen Tales R.E. Raspe.
 vive la France - one almost wants to shout seeing all this good work the French librarians and French taxes are doing in furtherance of our common European patrimony.

The watercolors pertain or seem to pertain to the activities of dukes of Brunswick within the Holy Roman Empire (already in the throes of the religious and social wars provoked by the raise of protestant heresy or protestant revolution; naturally a view dependent on the position one holds regarding these early modern conflicts in Christian Europe) and show the glory and opulence of the early XVI century Imperial chivalry and knightly martial arts of that epoch.

Note the size of lances - especially the lance points: sharp and tournament -type , lance proportions and potion of lance handle;  and especially the richness of horse caparisons' paintings and adornments (the jingle bells) - imagine the number of painters and other artisans employed for this works.
We cannot say much about the steeds or destriers - they seem muscular and powerful, but for the lower legs they are well covered with trappings. Curb-bits seem the norm, while horses are shod with wide plate shoes.



 
 


Enjoy
Valete!