Jan Mostaert's horses p.II

 Salvete Omnes,

Equestrian details from this portrait

in 2020   I posted some equestrian related works by master Jan Monstaer - here the link to my full posting.

detail from this painting - generalized view of a palfrey or riding horse harness 

.

variety of early XVI century harness 

the whole wing of the Triptych 

..

in this portrait late Medieval equitation on display 

this painting  unfortunately I have no larger resolution in color  - as the harness details are splendid 

But I found B& W photo at the National Museum in Warsaw - 

splendid mule harness

bridle arrangement

enjoy

Valete

Saint Hubertus polyptych - Maurice Denis

 Salvete Omnes,

Again, happy Saint Hubertus Feast day - Darz Bor to all hunters as the  old Polish hunters' saying. And today one more painting on the St. Hubertus theme.

A polyptych by Maurice Denis - The Legend of Saint Hubertus (1895-97). Monsieur Denis, an ardent Christian and humanist, who was at the time a member of Les Nabis group,  was an accomplished master of fine arts through and through, painter of frescoes drawing on the European painting traditions.  This painting it is said to celebrate the family and faith.

Nota bene  this work is simply beautiful beyond words...l

Valete

Saint Hubertus - Breughel the Elder from El Prado

 Salvete Omnes,

the time of All Saints Day, Dzien Zaduszny and Dziady has closed and today there is a feast of Saint Hubertus

from Muse Del Prado in Madrid, Spain, comes this painting by Jan Breughel the Elder - The Vision of Saint Hubertus. We have a study hunting horse outfitted in full XVII century horse tack - large saddle, long-shanked curb-bit with sumptuous headstall, gild stirrups and double cinch on the saddle, 

Saint Hubertus has a pack of hunting dogs, from bloodhounds to sighthounds... and a hunting horn at his belt - article about the hunting horn music. 

Note that this canvass was painted by two artists, Jan Breughel the Elder and  Peter Paul Rubens who painted the figure of the saint in this painting. Below a horse painted by  Jan Breughel the Elder from another painting of this master :

Valete 

Happy Epiphany Feast Day

Salvete Omnes,
yet another Three Kings Day, AD 2010 - :)

I wish you  happy 'Trzech Kroli' aka 'Los Reyes Magos' or Feast of Epiphany holiday.

And taking this opportunity to  share with you  some paintings and details showing horses and horse tack.
First, you can take a look  at the Adoration painting  cerated by one of the late Northern Renaissance master painters  Jan Mostaert, from Haarlem in then Hapsburg Netherlands.
This Adoration was painted between 1520 and 1525 AD.



in this lady's portrait maestro Jan also painted a horse and Saint Hubertus' conversion


 While this painting contains no horse nor horse-subjects it is a spectacular one, -  but then de gustibus and coloribus non disputandum est - said ancient Romans..
                                                       ***
...and a German woodcut from 1503AD by the maestro Albrecht Durer himself



Valete

Saint Hubertus Feast Day

Salvate Omnes,
past three days Poles around the world celebrated  All Saints Day, Dzien Zaduszny and those following the Slavic pagan beliefs  Dziady feast.
Staying quite a bit within the religion-influenced traditions of Central Europe today we have the Saint Hubertus Feast Day -


 
 so there is opportunity to share some historic images showing the patron saint of hunters ( there are two - Saint Eustace is the other patron saint of hunters ) and riders, and in Poland also foresters.

 
 
 

In Europe there used to be celebrations of the feast day by doing large mounted drag hunt and rides across the countryside and estates eg:


In Polish equestrian and hunting tradition there used to be a large gathering of hunters for a special hunt, prior to the actual hunt there was  specially celebrated main eucharistic liturgical service  or mass; nowadays the riding clubs celebrate the feast day  with with a 'fox hunt' horse game - gonitwa/bieg swietego Huberta aka Hubertus - where a group of riders chase after a 'fox' or a rider who has a fox's tail loosely attached/affixed to the left shoulder or upper arm. The capture of the fox tail ends the chase. And the winner of the chase will become the 'fox' the following year. afterwards the participants and their pedestrian friends and families will often celebrated by eating a bigos or hunter's stew and toasting with some stronger drink one another. These horse chases were popular with the Polish cavalry regiments and their  officers prior to the World War II - eg photos of Narcyz Witczak-Witaczynski

 
While on this day the Polish hunters (grouped exclusively within the hunting or game clubs) gather in their club game areas for a special group hunt, often started with a mass by a small chapel or , and they end the day with a celebratory dinner of bigos  from one or many large kettles heated over the bonfires. Drinking a certain quantity of nalewka and other drinks like zubrowka has also been a tradition
 
 
 
 

Nota bene  Kazimierz III the Great,  our Polish king of the Piast dynasty, got injured and died due to injuries sustained during his stag  hunting accident near Przedborz castle (now non-existent) on the Pilica River
 

In the city of  Rzeszow there is a chapel dedicated to Saint Hubertus, founded by one of the Lubomirskis in the XVIII century; the veneration of this saint came about perhaps as the result of the Saxon kings' influence on the Polish culture and customs.
Below Jerzy Kossak's painting showing Saint Hubertus and the

Valete
ps
nota bene
Darz Bor - or 'may the forest give you plenty, may the forest grant you its  gifts'-  to all hunters this hunting season... and best of luck to the game animals running away from the hunters.