"A mass of overwhelming material in the Battle of Grunwald." In all corners of the picture there is so much interesting, lively, screaming that you simply fatigue with your eyes and head, perceiving the whole mass of this colossal work. There is no empty space: both in the background and in the distance - everywhere new situations, compositions, movements, types, expressions open up. It is striking how the endless picture of the universe is."
I. E. Repin
Art and history. The previous material with the painting "Heroes" by V. M. Vasnetsov interested many visitors to the "Military Review", and a number of them expressed the wish that the topic of weapons research analysis of historical paintings would be continued, and even named specific authors and specific paintings. Gradually, all this will be given and considered, but not immediately: planning is the basis of quality work. And according to the plan, we have one more epic canvas today. The famous "Battle of Grunwald" by Polish artist Jan Matejko. The painting was painted in 1878. Its dimensions are 426 × 987 cm. It is located in the National Museum in Warsaw. During the Second World War, the Nazis made a lot of effort to find it and destroy it. They offered 10 million marks, but no one showed them her whereabouts, and several people lost their lives, but the secret was never revealed. The opinion of our outstanding artist I. E. Repin about this picture is given in the epigraph, it is impossible to dispute it.
But today we are interested in another question. Not the skill of the painter, which is not challenged by anyone, and not the patriotic mood of the canvas - if it weren't for it, 10 million marks would not have been offered for it. And such an important aspect in a certain sense, as the correspondence of the armor and weapons of warriors to the historical era. Or … not important, if the artist sets himself very specific tasks. Or partly he is important to him, and partly not very … That is, we are talking about the goal-setting of the canvas itself and the percentage of epic and historicism.
Note that the Battle of Grunwald is described in most detail in the work of the Polish historian Jan Dlugosz "History of Poland", who, although not a contemporary of it, lived at least in the same century and could use sources from the royal archives, and in addition his father was directly involved in this battle. By the way, it was Dlugosh who, back in 1479, was the first in history to apply the term "yoke" to Tatar rule in Russia. And even in 1448 he described in Latin 56 Prussian banners (banners) captured by the Poles, of which 51 were the trophies of Grunwald, one was captured near Koronovo in the same 1410 and four more in the battle of Dompki in 1431, and the Krakow artist Stanislav Dyurink painted them in color. During Dlugosz's lifetime, these banners were on the Wawel pulpit of the tomb of St. Stanislaus, but later they disappeared. That is, thanks to his efforts, we have not only a description of the battle, but images of the banners of the Teutonic army, which could fly over the field of Grunwald.
So, the canvas is in front of us. Let's begin to examine it from left to right and look very carefully: suddenly we will see something that will allow us to look at this canvas in a completely different way. What do we see on it?
To begin with, let's define that it shows perhaps the most important moment of the battle, namely the assassination of the Master of the Teutonic Order Ulrich von Jungingen. And here we will make the first remark, which applies equally to the entire canvas. All the knights of the foreground fighting on it are shown either without helmets or in helmets without a visor. It is clear that this could not have been by definition, but on the other hand, but how then the artist could depict all recognizable and iconic characters. That is, I could, of course, but … I didn’t do it the way it should.
On the left of the canvas in the upper part of it, we see that the battle for the camp of the order army has already begun, but right in front of us are three impressive figures: a knight on a black horse and in a fluttering blue cloak, turning to the pursuer with a spear at the ready. This knight is Prince Kazimir the Fifth of Szczecin, who fought on the side of the Order. So. He took an oath of allegiance and had to fulfill it. By the way, the second Pomor prince, although he signed an agreement with the crusaders, Boguslav the Eighth Slupsky, did not appear to fight for them. The Polish knight Jakub Skarbka from the Mountain is pursuing the traitor Casimir. Moreover, his squire on foot overtook his master - the rider, and had already managed to grab the enemy horse by the reins. Two details are of particular interest here. For some reason, the bow in the squire's hand is shown with a lowered bowstring, curved in the opposite direction. And here's the question: why won't he pull it on, and if the bowstring has broken, then why won't he throw it and fight with the sword, or what he has in store for this case? Then he would not have to grab onto the reins with his left hand, which is inconvenient in every sense, unless he is left-handed. The second detail is Casimir's helmet. He is without a visor, but is decorated with an impressive "cover" with peacock feathers, which obviously fell off his helmet, although it is not very clearly visible behind the hand with the sword. But you can see the pommel of the sword hilt is drawn very carefully. It is very rare in shape and is somewhat deployed relative to the crosshair. Of course, the masters of painting are allowed a lot, but this is already a matter of technology. He wears plate gloves with fingers, by the way, like many other fighters. And this is not typical for 1410!
At that time, plate mittens without fingers were in use, and gloves "with fingers" appeared only in the 16th century, when men at arms needed to shoot pistols. By the way, there is a cannonball under the hooves of Casimir's horse. That is, the artist took into account such a "trifle" as the use of artillery at the beginning of the battle. Success to the knights, however, her firing did not bring any! There is also a third detail - this is the shield of the Polish knight Jakub. It is round with four embossings. Typical Indian-Iranian dhal. The Turks also had similar shields, but … much later! He should be given a knightly tarch or pavese …
By the way, the result of this battle was that Casimir, like the Prince of Olesnitsky, Konrad Bely, who supported the Order, was captured. And what do you think happened next? They were chained, pulled up on the first bitch that came across? No! King Vladislav invited them to a feast on the occasion of the victory. “The king showed a more affectionate attitude than was consistent with their position as prisoners. They were easily released, although their villainous deed would have demanded a worthy retribution,”wrote Jan Dlugosh on this occasion.
Further, we see a bearded old man, somewhere who has lost his horse, who looks with horror at how his master is being killed. This is Elbing's commander Werner Tettingen, about whom we know that he shamed the master before the fight, seeing the latter's indecision that, they say, you need to behave like a man and not like a woman. But he himself, however, did not behave as he advised others: he fled from the battlefield, and fled all the way to Elbing. But he did not stay there either, but decided to take refuge in the impregnable Marienburg. True, the question arises, where did he take the horse, if in the hottest place of the battle, and even among the riders, he rushed on foot, and even with his head uncovered ?!
To the right of this bearded old man, we see Master Ulrich von Jungingen. The horse under it is so small that you cannot immediately see it, although the master's horse could certainly have the tallest and strongest. He is attacked by two foot soldiers: one half-naked, but for some reason in a lion's skin, prepares to strike him with a spear, and a man who looks like an executioner in his headdress, with an ax in his hand. Taking a closer look, we will see that this Litvin's spear (and Dlugosh writes that it was Litvin who killed the master, with a spear in the side) is not simple, but the famous “Spear of Destiny”, which is kept today in the Vienna Castle of Hovburg. It is very strange and incomprehensible how such a weapon could fall into the hands of a commoner, whoever he was. Here there is a solid symbolism, they say, Providence itself was against the crusaders.
By the way, the Lithuanian Tatars are of the opinion that the Grand Master was killed in single combat with Khan Jalal-ed-din, the commander of the Tatar detachment. A number of European historians believe that he was killed by a certain Bagardzin, however, he was also a Tatar. He was wounded in the forehead (that is, he lost his helmet!) And in the nipple, which means that his armor was pierced through. About what happened next, Dlugosh reports that the body of the deceased master, by order of Jagiello, was placed on a cart covered with purple cloth, and then sent to the crusader fortress of Marienburg.
In the center, we see a scene of the struggle for the banner, that is, the Order's banner, and the Small Banner (judging by the book of the same Dlugosh), because the Big One had three braids at the base of the cross. And then the very Grand Duke of Lithuania Vitovt, who was also called Vitold, Vytautas and even Alexander. He received this Christian name at his baptism, and under it he was known in the Catholic West.
For some reason, Vitovt is depicted on some nondescript, tiny horse, without an armor and without a helmet, but with an unfastened chainmail mask and legs "chained" in metal, covered with scaly "armor". The prince wears a clearly visible red yopul (a kind of doublet popular in Poland at the beginning of the 15th century) and with a princely velvet miter on his head, crowned with a cross on top. Obviously, this is not a suit for combat, and the shield in the left hand is completely out of the realm of fantasy. Dlugosz wrote that he “rode, riding around both the Polish and Lithuanian troops” … and more: “Throughout the battle, the prince acted among the Polish troops and wedges, sending new and fresh warriors instead of tired and exhausted soldiers and carefully following the successes both sides”. That is, there was a prince here and there, and he managed everything, and visited everywhere. Even so, but all the same, the horse would have cost him for all these "trips" to draw a little more …
Interesting "pictures" can be seen behind the prince's back. This is an archer shooting an arrow somewhere in the sky, as if there are no enemies nearby, and a spear with a trident tournament tip, clearly visible next to the sword that he holds in his hand. Didn't the artist know what it was? And no one was around to point it out to him? Amazing, just amazing!
On the right, behind Prince Alexander, another curious character is depicted: the Cracow cornet Marcin from Wrocimowice, a knight of the Semi-goose coat of arms. In one hand he squeezes the shaft of the waving royal banner, and in the other he has a horn. Apparently, he is preparing to trumpet victory. Even so, but the helmet on his head … not 1410 at all. Such helmets appeared in the Polish cavalry only in the 16th century, and their "wings" themselves were not decorated with any additional feathers. Even to the right, we see two anachronisms at once: the tournament helmet "toad's head", which also appeared a little later, and, again, the Turkish "turban helmet" of the 16th century. Apparently, the artist did not care what the warriors depicted by him were wearing on their heads. There is also another archer, shooting arrows into the wind, but we are interested in a warrior (again without a helmet) in a scaly shell and with a horn in a belt, which cuts with a sword a knight in a green jupon and with an orange cape on his head.
This "carapace" is the legendary Jan ižka, who participated in this battle as a mercenary and lost one eye in it. And he cuts with a sword Heinrich von Schwelborn, the commander of Tucholsky. Moreover, someone sneaks up behind him to stab Zhizhka in the back with a dagger, but apparently he did not hit, he struck, but the armor held out. In the lower right corner of the picture, the Tatar threw a lasso around the neck of the Brandenburg commander Marquard von Salzbach and pulls it off the horse beating on the ground. His fate was sad, although he himself was to blame for it. The fact is that during the meeting of Prince Alexander with the Master of the Order in Kovno, he and another knight, according to Dlugosh, insulted the honor of his mother (oh, as we all know well, don't we ?!) and thus caused his fair anger …
Upon learning of their captivity, he immediately ordered to cut off their heads. Jagiello managed to dissuade his cousin from such an unchivalrous act, but Marquard, finding himself in the face of the prince, inflicted a new insult on him. Well, it is clear that Alexander's patience was exhausted by this and both knights immediately lost their heads!
A little higher, again, a knight without a helmet with a spear at the ready and in a purple cloak rushes … it is not clear where and it is not clear at whom, but the most important thing is that this is none other than the famous Polish knight Zavisha Cherny from Gabrovo, the coat of arms of Sulim. It is known that they called him that because he always dressed in black. Why, then, does he need a purple cloak? And in addition, he has a tournament, not a battle spear. By the way, we see another spear with a blunt tip against the background of the banner of the city of Braunsberg, depicted in the far right corner. Also impressive is the berdysh, with holes along the butt, obviously belonging to one of the city Russian archers or watchmen of the 17th century. Rings were inserted into them, and they thundered with them at night, bypassing the dark streets on guard. But why is “it” here?
In the background, in the same upper right corner, we can see King Vladislav, who did not participate in the battle, unlike his cousin Alexander. Which, however, is understandable - just his bodyguards did not let the king fight, because at that time … he did not yet have an heir.
Taking a closer look, just between the figure of Zawisha and the king, you can see something quite strange - winged Polish hussars with "wings" behind their backs, a "thing" in 1410, well, absolutely impossible. By the way, under the banner of Brownsberg we see a knight in a helmet with peacock feathers (an obvious tribute to Henryk Sienkiewicz's novel "The Crusaders") of the type of bourguignot, again from a completely different era. Moreover, this is not just a bourguignot, but a bourguignot "from Savoy" with a characteristic visor, decorated in the form of a grotesque human face.
And, of course, the epic character of the picture is added by the figure of the kneeling St. Stanislaus, one of the heavenly patrons of Poland, praying for the victory of Polish arms. For some reason, fragments of a knight's spear, broken by a blow, fly up to the sky, as if it were impossible to do without this detail.
As a result, we can say that this painting by Jan Matejko is undoubtedly a masterpiece and was painted with great skill, and it legally gained international fame as a vivid example of romantic nationalism. But still, there is too much epic in it, but there is almost no historicity at all. However, the master, apparently, when he wrote it, did not set such a task for himself.
