Andrzej Pitynski - cavalier of the Order of the White Eagle

Salvete omnes,
Today is yet another celebration of Polonia Restiuta- celebration of 1918 rebirth of Poland  -  vivat Respublica Poloniae.
I believe that  one of the most important architects of this rebirth was Wincenty Witos (my grandpa was named after this peasant leader) - a giant of the Polish pre-1939 politics and one of the most famous and important Polish peasants ever. With the leaders like Ignacy Paderewski, Jozef Pilsudski, Jozef Haller, Roman Dmowski, Wincenty Witos, Ignacy Daszynski, Wojciech Korfanty, Jozef Rymer et al and hundreds of thousands or rather millions of Polish women and men they made this possible.
But it was a Polish peasant-farmer who made up the army and won the Independence in those great years of 1918-20.

 ... many winters ago I flew over the Atlantic and discovered to my utter amazement that I had next to me one of the most extraordinary artists and Polish-American patriots - pan Andrzej Pityński.
So I spent some 7 hours listening to a lecture on art, sculpting, history, politics of art making and selling, and horses and horseback riding.
Thus far it was for me the most memorable flight I have had over the Atlantic.

 For me his most important work in the US and perhaps in the world is this monument in Jersey City - Katyn Forest Massacre

While living in NYC I saw pan Andrzej a few times at various Polonia functions, called and talked to him on the phone but we had never met for a little chat  in person again.
Today, on November 11, Polish Republic recognized pan Andrzej Pitynski merits, importance and achievements   and this this morning in Warsaw the President of Respublica Poloniae pan Andrzej Duda awarded pan Pitynski the Order of the White Eagle.
Congrats, panie Andrzeju!
 Few works by pan Pitynski:

Partisans - I myself saw them in the summer of 2005 before the were moved from Boston Commons

a little article about the new permanent place for the Partisans

Polish war of Independence - 1918-20 celebrated in this monument to the general Jozef Haller's Blue Army in Warsaw - which is really the monument to the Polish-Americans sacrifice in the cause of Poland's independence 

Too bad nobody commissioned pan Pitynski to create a monument to the Polish winged hussars - he loves and understands and knows the subject.
Another Katyn Massacre monument - in Baltimore

Pan Andrzej is the author of the Monument to the Book - in Lesko, unveiled in 2008.  A photo with some text here [in Polish] .
And countless other monuments and sculptures, in stone  and metals, and also he is a noted sculptor of medals and other forms of sculptural expression.
                                                          ***

all the best wishes to my fellow Poles from all over the world (we are some 70 million strong and counting) on our Independence Day. Also hail to our brothers and sisters from Belorus...
Some of Polish more famous military songs - the first one was sung during the Battle of Grunwald, 1410
Bogurodzica -
Duma Czlowieka Rycerskiego
 Idzie Żołnierz
 Pieśń konfederatów
Mazurek Dabrowskiego
Warszawianka
 Bywaj Dziewczę Zdrowe
W Krwawym Polu
Jeszcze Jeden Mazur Dzisiaj
Hej Strzelcy Wraz
Marsz Zuawow
 Przybyli ułani pod okienko
My, Pierwsza Brygada
O moj rozmarynie - my favorite
Hej Hej Ulani, malowane dzieci
Wojenko Wojenko
 Rozszumialy sie wierzby placzace
Ta szara piechota, Maszeruja strzelcy, maszeruja
Rozkwitaja paki bialych roz
Serce w plecaku 
Hej Chlopcy, bagnet na bron
Dziś do ciebie przyjść nie mogę
Czerwone Maki na Monte Cassino - unusual performance by Alexandrov Choir - Pacem Aeternam to all you soldiers-artists

Marsz, Marsz Polonia - wiki

Lwow/Lviv - monument to the American pilots of Pulaski Squadron who died for Polish independence, part of the Defenders of Lwow Monument within the Lyczakowski Cemetery

                                                         *
... do not forget - today is also the Veterans Day in the USA - hail to all veterans
ps
 there is a book on Andrzej Pitynski's art - from Bosz -  Andrzej Pityński. Rzeźba (introduction by  Ireny Grzesiuk-Olszewskiej & Andrzeja K. Olszewskiego)

Stanislaw Tarnowski, Leliwa coat of arms, from Chroberz

Salvet omnes,
today the small village of Chroberz, Little Poland, is rather unknown and beyond the beaten path of the tourist traveler but  long time ago it was a lively place,  full of splendor and wealth, for it was  the residence of  Stanislaw Tarnowski  one of the clan 'members of the Tarnowski family, Leliwa Coat of arms.
The old glory of this place is reflected in the local church, founded by pan  Stanislaw Tarnowski who  was eventually buried there in AD 1568.

Paprocki wrote in his Polish Nobility Coat of Arms  circa 1586

According to pan Paprocki's armorial, grandfather of our Chroberz Stanislaw was also named Stanislaw and he had been the fifth son of Jan, voivode of Cracow (however, a family tree where you can see that his grandfather was named Jan and modern genealogists agree with grandpa being Jan rahter than Stanislaw).
Following our pan Paporcki we read that his grandfather Jan, also a voivode of Cracow, and grandmother, Katarzyna de domo Ligęza, had one of their sons named Spytek, who was a voivode of Sieradz, Crown podskarbi (treasurer),  and a known warrior, Spytek had with his wife Barbara, de domo Szydlowiecka,  had two sons*: Wojciech and our Stanislaw.
Young Stanislaw went on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, also visited Italy and the Holy Roman empire  Europe.
Pan Stanislaw was a voivode of Sandomierz and Crown podskarbi (treasurer) and one of the most important movers and shakers in the late Jagiellonian Poland.
He took as his wife Barbara, de domo Drzewicka, who bore him the following children:

 Stanisław Tarnowski (born circa 1541- 1618) — Castellan of Sandomierz and Radom, miecznik koronny (Crown sword-bearer).

Barbara — wife of Stanisława z Podhajec Wolskiego, Castellan of Sandomierz,

Katarzyna — wife of Florian  Noskowskiego, Starost of Ciechanow,

Krystyna — wife of Stanisław Lipnicki, stolnik  of Sandomierz,

Anna — wife of Mikołaj  Herburt, Castellan of Przemyśl,

Beata Elżbieta — wife of Baltazar Lutomirski, Starost of Lezajsk  

Elżbieta (Zofia) — wife of Piotr Pieniążek of Krużlowa

His widow had master Jan Michałowicz z Urzędowa built a beautiful Renaissance tomb effigy for her late husband in AD 1569.
                                                          ***
The tomb sculptured figures placed within it designed grandeur, apart from their prima facie spiritual and religious significance -  Christ rising to Heaven, and apparent artistic value - Renaissance art, contain some of the interesting military imagery of the period, concerning the equipment of a wealthy warrior-nobleman and statesman.

the entire tomb of Stanislaw Tarnowski

field armor & a schishage helmet

another helmet, a pistol in a holster, & gloves, top part of the kopia (lance) with a pennon

 Lances, warhammers, & shield with Leliwa coat of arms

pan Stanislaw in his eternal repose, wearing a full armor of the period

a war saddle with crouper and breatplate

kettledrums

enjoy
*according to Paporcki

Horses, chariots, gods and riders in the Ancient Greek kylix

Kairete
(sing. Kaire  - Χαῖρε),
εὔχομαι σε ὑγιαίνειν - :)
today a little jump into the ancient world of Hellene art - 
Kylixes or drinking cups, to be used for mixed wine drinking during the symposium, of the ancient Hellenes  are some of the most exquisite works of art. Some of the contain horse and riders, and I decided to 'corral' some in today's post. 

schooling young riders

Godess Athena in the sculptors' workshop

a little bit of the Illiad, if you have not read it do so pronto  - Trojan young warrior Troilus

and additionally my most favorite ancient Greek (and Scythian ancestor according to Herodotus) hero - lionskin-clad Heracles the archer

ἔρρωσο (Erroso)

ps
Greek phrases from this page - the Classical World

-----
all images but for one are from Wiki Commons - kylix page 

Dziady yet again - gothic story from Paprocki

Salvete omnes,
Dziady or Slavic Halloween feast [and All Saints Day too]  has passed already.
But in this gloomy November weather gothic stories may be more appropriate then other times...
So from time to time I read this very special Polish armorial harkening back from our own Polish  Golden (XVI) century, namely Bartosz Paprocki's Herby Rycerstwa Polskiego.(Wiki) . It is a lovely book and quite fine example of heraldic literature, not to mention a very interesting study of the Polish XVI century prose, grammar and orthography. 

Inside, among so many stories and tales pan Paprocki tells us readers,  there is a story most appropriate for the 'dziady' feast, I think.

The story perhaps took place sometime during the  Crown of the Kingdom of Poland wars with the Turks and Tatars (1485-1503) when three Jagiellon kings (Kazimierz IV, Jan Olbracht and Aleksander) carried expansion policies into  Moldavia and southern Pontic Steppes colliding with the Ottoman Turkey, Crimean Khanate and Duchy  of  Muscovy plans and policies.
So perhaps we have here the events circa May 1498- November 1498, during the several deadly incursions, deep into Polish state, carried by the Ottoman Turks and their Tatar and Circassian and Turkmen vassals (nota bene perhaps some of the Turkmen horses were captured and added their blood to the Polish horse bloodlines).
These incursions were very large and inflicted huge material loses on the kingdom, while the invaders, going after slaves and plunder, murdered children and elderly indiscriminately, took many thousands of young women and young men (perhaps up to 30-40 thousands or more)  of southern Polish Crown lands into captivity (jasyr - yasyr) to be sold down south in Crimean slaving markets and Constantinople imperial slave markets (slave trade was run exclusively by the Ottoman Jewish slave traders -  Andrzej Dziubiński, Na szlakach Orientu. Handel między Polską a Imperium Osmańskim w XVI-XVIII wieku. Wrocław 1998. s. 210 ) more in these article a & b .

We are given but a glimpse into some unknown battle, very fragmentary one, and it is difficult to decipher what exact battle our illustrious author wrote about.

Syrokomla coat of arms

Paprocki wrote [and I translated):
Żołędziowie[1] [from] near Halicz in Red Ruthenia, were excellent men and of a house(family) well-multiplied; when the Turks were near Lwów (Lviv), [then] their ancestor (unnamed Żołądź),  having  learned that they had killed his brother, rapidly rode into the pagans' [lines], crossed arms with one of them, bravely unhorsing him with his lance, [and then] attacked another [Turk] with his sword, but suddenly a second Turk rode up to him from the rear and when Żołędź was raising his sword to strike the former, the latter ardently attacked him from behind and with his sabre decapitated him*. [ Thus decapitated Żołądź] rode without his head for about a half of furlong and [during this last ride] he three times waved his sword and finally fell off [his] horse.
The third brother, who was in the third polk[2] once given notice about his brother's death, having had with himself Zawisza of Sas clan  and they were a hundred horse[3] strong in this poczet (unit)[4], assaulted those Turks who had penetrated into the Christians'[lines], defeated them completely and [subsequently] adding more troops to his poczet he harassed  the Turks so since that time they [Turks] had not ridden with the Tatars into Poland anymore.

In Polish (original and the XIX century edition):

Sas I coat of arms

And so we have a headless horseman waving his sword fighting the 'infidel' (or a pagan) of pan Paprocki's times.

enjoy
*alternatively  : [and then] attacked another [Turk] with his sword, but suddenly this Turk rode up from behind(turned his horse so he placed himself behind the attacking Pole) and attacked [Żołądź] from the rear and when Żołędź was raising his sword to [strike], this Turk ardently assaulted him and with a saber he cut [decapitating Żołądź]. (but I prefer the first version)
[1] Syrokomla coat of arms
[2]  Old Polish military organizational unit
[3] third polk
[4] poczet - here a military unit, perhaps company?
ps'
 thanks to dr Sikora for his help in reading the Old Polish.

Equestrian armour - Erik XIV of Sweden

Salve,
a quick post about one of the most beautiful armours ever made during the XVI century - the suit of armor for the rider and horse created  for the mad king of Sweden Erik XIV ( held presently at the Dresden Rustkammer, Saxony - Germany; nota bene I visited it first time when a kid).
This Labors of Heracles-themed suit of armor was made by armorer and goldsmith from Antwerp Eliseus Libaerts (fantastic shield attributed to this master craftsman, also a book in German - I have not seen it yet ) for the king  between 1560-65,  and he also made this suit of armor kept in Sweden. I have this book Arms and armor annual, which is a collection of articles written by researchers in history of arms and armor, and on page 104-113, French Royal Armour as Reflected in the Designs of Etienne Delaune,  author Bruno Thomas wrote about French artist Etienne Delaune, whose designs our master Eliseus copied and/or used extensively to create his Heracles-themed suits.

more fine images on this Wiki Commons page
enjoy