Remastered Art Stanczyk by Jan Alojzy Matejko 20240307

by Jan Alojzy Matejko

Title

Remastered Art Stanczyk by Jan Alojzy Matejko 20240307

Artist

Jan Alojzy Matejko

Medium

Painting - Remastered Art

Description

Remastered Art Stanczyk by Jan Alojzy Matejko 20240307

Stańczyk (Full title: Stańczyk during a ball at the court of Queen Bona in the face of the loss of Smolensk, Polish: Stańczyk w czasie balu na dworze królowej Bony wobec straconego Smoleńska) is a painting by Jan Matejko finished in 1862. This painting was acquired by the Warsaw National Museum in 1924. During World War II it was looted by the Nazis, but later seized by the Soviet Union and returned to Poland around 1956.

Stańczyk, the male figure depicted in the painting, was the court jester when Poland was at the height of its political, economic and cultural power during the era of the Renaissance in Poland, during the reign of King Sigismund I the Old (reigned 1506–1548). He was a popular figure; besides his fame as a jester he has been described as an eloquent, witty, and intelligent man, using satire to comment on the nation's past, present, and future. Unlike jesters of other European courts, Stańczyk has always been considered as much more than a mere entertainer. Stańczyk's fame and legend were strong in his own time and enjoyed a resurgence in the 19th century, and he remains well known to this day.

The primary composition of the painting is in the contrast between the solemn jester (Stańczyk) – the focus of the painting – and the lively ball going on in the background. Stańczyk is shown sitting alone in a dark room, while a ball, hosted by the royal family, is in full swing in the neighbouring hall. His appearance is unlike that one would expect in a jester – gloomy, deep in thought. His seriousness is reinforced by his accessories: his marotte lies discarded on the floor, whereas a holy medallion of the Black Madonna of Częstochowa can be seen on his torso. The wrinkled carpet at Stańczyk's feet could have been formed by his collapsing heavily into the chair upon reading the letter, or through a nervous shifting of the feet thereafter. On the table lies a letter likely announcing that the Grand Duchy of Lithuania has lost Smolensk (now in Russia) to the Grand Duchy of Moscow, causing Stańczyk's sorrow and reflection on his fatherland's fate. The letter seems to have been discarded by some official, and only the jester realizes its significance – while the rulers are partying, celebrating the recent victory at the Battle of Orsha, disregarding the bad news about Smolensk. The letter bears the year 1533 (A.d. MDXXXIII) and the name "Samogitia", a province of the Commonwealth. The note is incongruent with the actual date of the fall of Smolensk in 1514, and is a matter of ongoing debate, though an outright mistake by the meticulous Matejko, known for use of symbolism and iconography, is unlikely. Another symbol, a lute, symbol of glory, is being carried by a court dwarf, stereotyped as a person of low stature and morale in Matejko's time; this suggests a decline of the Jagiellonian dynasty's fortunes. The window is thrown – or was blown – open, ruffling the tablecloth and alluding to an upset of the present order. Through the open window, the darkened profile of Wawel Cathedral in Krakow is visible – the site of the coronation of Polish kings. Next to it, a comet is seen – a portent of ill-fortune. The imagery of downfall is completed with the inclusion of the three stars of Orion's Belt seen above and to the left of the cathedral spire. In Greek mythology, Orion was a powerful hunter blinded by ego and his own greatness, but was ultimately brought down by the pinprick of a scorpion's sting.

-wikipedia

Jan Alojzy Matejko (24 June 1838 – 1 November 1893) was a Polish painter, a leading 19th-century exponent of history painting, known for depicting nodal events from Polish history. His works include large scale oil paintings such as Rejtan (1866), the Union of Lublin (1869), the Astronomer Copernicus, or Conversations with God (1873),[or the Battle of Grunwald (1878). He was the author of numerous portraits, a gallery of Polish monarchs in book form, and murals in St. Mary's Basilica, Kraków. He is considered by many as the most celebrated Polish painter, and sometimes as the "national painter" of Poland. Matejko was among the notable people to receive an unsolicited letter from the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, as the latter tipped, in January 1889, into his psychotic breakdown while in Turin. -wikipedia

Remastered Art and Photography are professionally restored and enhanced public domain art and photography to bring out the brilliance of the original art the way they were intended on the first day they were presented to the public. This type of art and photography would look terrific on a large canvas or framed print, and a print on any other media would look just as stunning!

www.wingsdomain.com

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March 7th, 2024

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