Galeria autorska Dariusza Wielca

Husaria - the pride of Poland and Lithuania, Belorussia, the Ukraine… the Winged Hussars.
As one good French gentleman and officer Duppont said circa 1733 - reminiscing about winged hussars of some half century earlier when he was an officer in the Polish Crown army: hussars ride the most beautiful horses you can ever see, well built men who wear very adorned cuirass and cover themselves with leopard skins, fine helmet, carry two swords (one underneath left thigh), and a very long lance that is painted and gilded with a pennon 9 feet long of died silk attached to it, with two pistols at the pommel - the most beautiful and fearsome sight indeed.
My friends, Radek Sikora and Bart Siedlar, allowed me some space on this winged hussar page so I could show some of my winged hussar drawings, and share some of my thoughts about their horses, tack, saddles and other parts of their splendid attire.
Well, I cited the statement made by a Frenchman Duppont about winged hussars and their beautiful horses. These horses were not for a carousel show, juego de cañas, or gaudy parade but for war, where actually their stamina, strength, bravery and soundness were essential to the winged hussar’s battlefield performance and ultimate victory or survival.
During the existence of Old Poland (1569-1795) aka Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth there were plenty many horses in these lands that today constitute Poland, Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine, some parts of western Russia, Latvia, and parts of Romania. Poland’s foremost equine historian, Witold Pruski, talked about so called Polish Horse and its developed during the 16th century and final extinguishment during the Napoleonic Wars. Whether this particular horse was one breed or a type still remains an unanswered questions while other European equine historians do talk about their own equine breeds and their development, eg. preeminent Spanish horse historian Juan P. Altamirano writes in his books, articles and on his website that the first modern breed of horses - PRE - la Pura Rasa Española - was begun in Spain, with a royal decree issued by his royal majesty king Felipe II, that led to development of this breed from around late 1570s. http://www.jcaltamirano.com/artespanol.htm
There aren’t that many images of the old Polish Horses that have survived centuries of wars and savage looting and burnings of Old Poland lands. Usually 3 or four are listed - and they are from the 18th century, sadly past the heyday of winged husaria, but still in their glory and beauty. However there are horses ridden by Winged Hussars in the 17th century paintings and drawings, especially in the famous painting by Altamonte that was photographed in Ukraine by Radek and Bart during their trip there last year. But we can talk about this next time.
and please find some of my drawings of winged hussars
You can see some of my newer and older images in progress on my blog http://dariocaballeros.blogspot.com/
All images copyright @ Dariusz T Wielec

Just added a new image - the 17th century Polish stirrups that are currently kept in the Oruzhennaya Palata in Moscow, Russia. There were cast ( out of iron) covered in gold and with the turquois stones to create this unique example of Old Polish (perhaps Polish -Armenian craftsmen from lLvov) Baroque art.