Spring has come - J. Chelmonski

 Salvete Omnes,

War in Ukraine must stop - 

and so our northern Hemisphere has entered the season of la Primavera aka Spring (Wiosna in Polish). But Spring can be also cold, and some late snow storms could make sleigh ride possible or desirable, especially during the two or three previous centuries (the so called cold period started at the beginning of the XVII century and stayed on until recently, where some warming can be seen - but in the XV-XVI centuries there was much warmer in the Polish Kingdom lands)

let us take a look at some canvasses by of of the greatest Polish painters of the Partitions period - Jozef Chelmonski ( Józef Chełmoński 1849-1914AD) .

Valete

Apocalypse 7

 Salvete Omnes,

War in Ukraine continues - many media outlets bring news of potential ceasefire talks between the Russian invaders-  Putin government and  Ukrainian defenders - Zelensky government et al.
We all hope and pray for the peace sooner than later, while the number of refugees - women and children from Ukraine - is currently close to 3 million people. Human catastrophe in making.

***

another  Four Horsemen of Apocalypse image - deeply religious painter Victor Vasnetstov who many works  have been painted for the St Volodymyr's Cathedral, Kiev, the besieged capital of Ukraine.

..

Valete

Apocalypse 6

 Salvete Omnes,

war in Ukraine (Wojna na Ukrainie) continues - peace must prevail!

***

Apocalypse of the Chateau d'Angers - commissioned by Duke de Anjou circa 1375AD this monumental tapestry - originally 140 meters long and 850 square meters of total surface - is housed in the castle of Angers.  

_
three out of Four Horsemen survived - 

1st

3rd

4th

and horsemen of the fire-breathing horses

..

Valete

Apocalypse 5

 Salvete Omnes,

war in Ukraine must end - peace is so dear!!

more of the XV century Apocalypse images: 

this time:
De Vier Reiter - Cologne Bible circa 1479AD

and Apocalipsis in dietsche- circa 1400AD from Gallica - BN de France

our present day would require one more Horseman - the Disinformation Horseman, perhaps I will draw one this weekend... Medieval style?

Valete

Bairactar or Bairaktar

 Salvete omnes,

peace in Ukraine must prevail! 

long time ago there was a famous Arabian horse sire - stallion Bairaktar written also as Bairactar.
Supposedly his name Bairaktar was a Turkish word for standard bearer. Born in the desert (Syrian?) circa 1813, he was imported to Europe after the Napoleonic Wars and would become one of the most influential sires in the history of the American and European Arabian horse breeding history.

And there was a German king, Wilhelm I of Wurttemberg, who bought this stallion in 1817, rode him  and also had him used as a sire for this studs , including Weil, where our Bairaktar died in 1838 or 39AD. 

Nota bene, supposedly the oldest existing German stud is the Marbach Stud, near Gomadingen, in Baden-Wurttemberg, established more than 540 years ago by  Eberhard I of Wurttemberg as a private stud, elevated during the reign of Christoph of Wurttember to the official state stud.   
Below two monuments to Wilhelm I of Wurttemberg and of Bairaktar.

His skeleton still exists today. 

Incidentally, there is military aerial vehicle (UCAV) alias combat drone produced by the Turkish military, and this unmanned aerial vehicle is called Bayraktar. 

Valete

Apocalypse 4

 Salvete Omnes,

war in Ukraine continues 

Four Horsemen again - from 1420AD manuscript - Wellcome Apocalypsis (Apocalypse)

and according to Hurriyet here will be truce negotiations between Russian minister Lavrov and Ukrainian minister Kuleba in Antalya, Turkey on March 10th. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu will be presiding, God willing they will get the war in Ukraine stopped

Valete

Apocalypse 3

 Salvete Omnes,

war in Ukraine continues  

Two Apocalypse-related  XIX century works of art from then partitioned Poland (between Prussia, Austria-Hungarian Empire and Russian Empire)
Ignacy Gierdziejewski - Polish painter active in the mid XIX century (died 1860)- his 1855 painting held at the National Museum in Warsaw, Poland. (Academia article about the painters and artists in XIX century Warsaw)

 

 Peace in Ukraine 

Valete

Apocalypse 2 - Durer

 Salvete Omnes,

so war, conquest, famine and death ride on in so many parts of the globe - foremost in Mexico, Ukraine, African and Asian continent

and now let us look at Durer's Four Horsemen - 

big, fat articles on Wikipedia

so just images - 

Peace must prevail in Ukraine

Salvete

Apocalypse 1

 Salvete Omnes,

we had pandemic*, now we have conquest* war* and death*,  and who knows what else our lords have for us up the sleeve - so let's look at some Apocalypse imagery - the Four Horsemen of Apocalypse.

Four Horsemen

Conquest on a White Horse -1st Horseman

War on a Red/Roan Horse -2nd Horseman

Famine on Black Horse -3r Horseman

Death on a Pale Horse - 4th Horseman

Apocalypse, Thuringia ca. 1350-1370 AD,  BL, Add 15243, fol. 12r

That German Apocalypse is a bit different - second linked description from British Library talks about it.
Peace in Ukraine!

Valete

Smolensk 1634 and March 1...

 Salvete Omnes,

 

in Poland the Day of the Damned Soldiers is celebrated on March 1. After 1944 - the beginning of the occupation of Poland by the USSR, and patriotic Polish fighters fought the Soviet Union and their servile Polish security forces.
Gloria Victis.

 

And going back to 1634AD, our king, Wladyslaw IV, vanquished completely Russian Muscovite armies at Smolensk.

War in Ukraine, the Russian invasion of that poor country, is becoming more and more like a typical XXI century war (like Iraq 2002-16, Afghanistan, Israel over the Palestine, Syria, Libya, Yemen, Kurdistan etc)- atrocities, powerful technologically driven weapons,  misinformation and propaganda, but also a fog of war.

This map - so  it is an attempt, by the Finnish military researchers, to observe incomplete and delayed developments on this war of aggression and imperial ambitions. 

 

 Ukraine needs some Polish winged hussars but

our Western leadership (POTUS will deliver SOTU today) is 'sin cojones'...
My friend Paul Zambrzycki( and owner of Persjarnia company ) with sponsorship from  OLD Poland Bakery from NYC and with help  from friends from Krakow's Kur Fraternity  went across the Polish-Ukrainian border into Ukraine with a food-truck full of food and hot coffee and tea. The lines of Ukrainian refugees - women and children in cars, trucks, buses and vans - are long, last night they were about 50km long going to each of the border crossings  (Medyka and Hrebenne are two largest border crossing between the two countries).

So let us pray for peace in Ukraine and pray for the Ukrainian peoples...

Valete