The Bizarre Painting No One Fully Understands
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 29 ก.ย. 2024
- This piece is called Stańczyk by Jan Matejko. Stańczyk was a 16th century court jester during the Polish Renaissance under the reign of King Sigismund I the Old. This painting is also referred to as Stańczyk during a Ball at the Court of Queen Bona in the Face of the Loss of Smoleńsk. The jester was a very witty and intelligent man known for his satire around politics and matters of the nation. It was in this way that he was able to illuminate the hypocrisies he saw occurring in the court in a way that those in power would actually listen to him. And because he was so insightful, he knew what the loss of Smoleńsk meant for the future of his beloved land.
It’s clear that the artist saw a lot of himself in the jester and it’s understandable why. They were both very patriotic, behind the scenes actors fighting for the soul of their nation. Since neither of them were elite or royalty, they affected change in the best way they knew how. For Stańczyk, it was through riddles and jokes; for Matejko, it was through paint and canvas.
Despite how amazing this piece is, there are some mysterious discrepancies hiding within it. Thank you for watching!
#arthistory #art #classicart #fineart #clown
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Stańczyk was really sassy irl. He once got ridiculed and his clothes torn up by some boys on the street, and when the king saw it, he laughed. Stańczyk replied „Your Majesty, I got stripped of my clothes and you got stripped of Smoleńsk, that’s way worse”
How did his clothes tearing up has anything to go with Smolensk
@@k.999 the city was *torn* away from us
@@k.999 It's in the video.
@@czerwonykwadrat6843 Right I got to know later in the video. Thank you
@@czerwonykwadrat6843 Hold on right there, lad, the city was never Polish, but in the Lithuanian part of the Commonwealth. And Lithuania got it by conquering the Principality of Smolensk, which gained independence from the Kievan Rus'. The language is Russian, the people were never Polish or Lithuanian.
The painting is basically about how Stańczyk is the smartest person in the room but can't do anything for his country because he's just a jester
I think the most heartbreaking thing about this painting is that Stańczyk was a jester, but also a patriot, and was known for his social commentary. He knows EXACTLY what that letter means, he knows EXACTLY what’s going to happen to Poland, but he’s just a clown, he has no power to do anything about the situation, and the people who do have power only worry about frivolous things like their party. It’s…sadly relatable in a modern context, especially when I think of issues like the climate crisis. It’s a timeless truth that people who care have no power, and people with power don’t care.
i agree. this is one of the saddest, and truest, art piece ive ever heard of
what will happen to poland? this painting is about the loss of Smolensk and poland took it from kievan rus
What climate crisis are you referring to? Curious.
@@7spiritualcompass706 the one where the sky is falling
I agree and the stress of trying to entertain the Royal house and remain in favor. Jesters became very close and involved in their lives hating them and loving them on a whim. These personal entertainers were highly intelligent, eclectic and social stars making their lives full of chaos.💕❤️❤️♥️🙏
From Wikipedia:
The best known anecdote about Stańczyk is that of a hunting incident. In 1533 King Sigismund the Old had a huge bear brought for him from Lithuania. The bear was released in the forest of Niepołomice near Kraków so that the king could hunt it. During the hunt, the animal charged at the king, the queen and their courtiers which caused panic and mayhem. Queen Bona fell from her horse which resulted in her miscarriage. Later, the king criticized Stańczyk for having run away instead of attacking the bear. The jester is said to have replied that "it is a greater folly to let out a bear that was already in a cage". This remark is often interpreted as an allusion to the king's policy toward Prussia which was defeated by Poland but not fully incorporated into the Crown.
The same Prussia which eventually partitioned Poland.
Bless you for including Matejko's background. There was another art history video about this artwork in similar style, but it didn't include the most important part which was really saddening me. It's and old patriotic painting of someone longing to live in a free independent country without occupants. A country that was long gone during his time and all thanks to uncaring royalty and nobles. Keeping his background information in the video shows the true meaning behind the artist's work.
his letter is about the Lithuanian uprising… so talk about wanting to live without occupants, bud
Lol I just watches the canvas video I know what you're talking about
This is by FAR my favorite art history channel. Thanks to all the Polish commentators for helping fill in the blanks!
Good comedians are by nature more intelligent persons than most.
Poor Stanczyk, he sounds absolutely Shakespearean.
Many people do not connect the importance of Jesters who probably became today's Comedians. They were often the conscience of general society and were able to get away with saying things that others could be hung for. I'm really enjoying your channel.
Dude was so iconic, he became a meme before he was even painted.
How does this channel not have more views? Amazing engaging analysis!
It looks like Stanczyk here is reflecting upon his reply to the King after the incident with the bear hunting (1533): "It's a greater folly to let out a bear that was already in a cage". That was a hint on losing Prussia or Smolensk.
He looks like he’s thinking “in spite of all my efforts, it was in vain”
Hey @Art Deco, my mom's maiden name is Stanczyk so therefore I am half Stanczyk. The one thing about Polish Heraldry that stands out amongst other European nations is that the Poles only allowed family to share aristocratic crests. Stanczyk was aristocratic, and entitled to a "placement" in que for royalty, i.e. a "pretender". He is listed as under the family crest of the Radzwills; same as the mother of Countess Bathory, whose uncle was Stefan Bathory, King of Poland at one point. Stanczyk was more that a jester, he was an important political advisor to the throne under one of the freest kingdoms to ever exist. Thanks for the video!!
There's a wonderful creator on yt that uses this as a thumbnail for his channel and when I saw the image, I immediately checked your channel out. I have learned much about this painting and artist that I knew nothing about. Thank you.
I saw the TH-cam channel ‘The Canvas’ talk about this paint recently lol glad to hear you say your take!
Your videos truly manage to analyse the story and history of a painting with great editing and humor and in less than 10 minutes, now thats amazing!
This painting for example has become a meme but really anyone knew what was the story behind it nor bothered to learn.
Keep making these videos there are so informative
Enjoy your vids. Always informative and insightful.
Thanks! This is what I love about the internet. An artist unknown to me, a picture I nver saw before, and all of a sudden a gate is opened to a whole new world. My theory about the historical misake: it takes away the protrait from the actual event and makes it an expression of all time when something like that happens. It transcends the actual date and event ad makes it into omething biger than that. Thanks again, this was realy worth watching.
Aren't we all Stańczyks right now?
Yes, and it’s equally painful. We can see where we are headed… but cannot do much about it
Woah. Thank you for making a video for this. I requested this months ago together with Juan Luna's Spolarium.
Imagine this, you’re the only person who sees a problem at work, but you have the least amount of influence out of everyone in the company.
Your voice is so full of grace. Thank you for the breakdown.
I’m so happy to find that you are posting these videos regularly now. They are so entertaining and informative. Thank you!
Wow the YT algorithm for once did a great job by suggesting your channel.. subbed right away.
I love this channel
Stanczyk literally being Jon Stewart breaking down on the Daily Show at so many times.
5:46 you hit that so good I couldn’t stop replaying it 😂😂😂 “why you so obsessed with me” musical 🎵
My guy was 24 when he had this existential crisis imagine
HELP- the singing… why u so obsessed with meEeE i love u art deco 😭
You should next make a video anout Dante and Virgil by William-Adolphe Bouguereau. This painting sure has many details and history behind
the unfortunate thing for the jester is that sometimes he doesn't realize and doubts his own wisdom. He fools himself into thinking he wants what they do, inadvertently becoming their pawn in a perpetrating cycle of passion they can only satisfy their bodies with.
I think he inserted himself as the jester to reflect his own disillusionment that comes with getting and having what you want (the rich people in the background), but not what you need. There is no physical currency that satisfies the soul.
Thanks for an excellent video.😊
I always just thought he hated his job. :-)
Or, maybe, he had just gotten news that his mother had died.
Wait hold on... I just became obsessed with your singing 🎤
People back then didn’t have the internet. Historical facts were often confused (ESPECIALLY when it came to things that had happened hundreds of years ago) when it came to precise dates, and historical scholarship wasn’t what it is now. I think that’s the most obvious possibility. He probably was just operating off of something he’d been told.
I love this format of your videos! They are as entertaining as they are educational. Finally an art history class I enjoy! Thank you! Subscribed!
This kind of artwork is very personal and an artist is able to put his/her face into the images they produce? Bood deications come to mind. Musical artist often put their own addenda to musical pieces written by other composers as a sort of signature, I believe. I enjoyed this insightful video and the compostional and historical analysis. Thanks for posting.
First time I've seen this painting in history book in 6th grade (I was 12) and since than it wakes me very depressed. The one who's supposed to make fool of himself is worried and those who supposed to be worried are making fools of themselves.
I love how this painting was originaly was about situation in Poland but it's alergolical meaning can and is international.
He’s nervous the king heard his jokes before and that he will be fed to the lions.
I love your videos so much!!
Matejko also made "Sobieski at Vienna". The history of painting is also interesting. Austria was saved by a relief force commanded by King of Poland Jan III Sobieski. One century later Austria took part in participation of PL-LT Commonwealth. Matejko painted the image of Sobieski's victory for 200-anniversary of the battle - there was great celebration in Vienna. It was a nasty reminder and remorse for all Austrians. The meaning of the art piece was clear - we saved your state, but what have you done to ours? Later he donated the painting to Pope, and today we can see it in Vatican Museum. For many years, the art description in this museum stated, that in 1884 was presented to Pope by polish gverment, which was not true. If there was polish gverment in the end of XIX century, there will no inspiration to Matejko remorse-art. This description mistake was noticed in 2017 by polish tourists and corrected after that. And I know all of that because I was this polish tourist : P
Maybe the artist just wanted to express, that the separate dates are linked together and that he, therefor, didn't have to paint several ones
It is a jester who is tired of acting like a buffoon because he knows he can be great.
The history of Smolensk is quite complicated, first settled by eastern Slavs, taken over by Varagians, became part of Kievan Russ, spared by Mongols, became the focus of a tussle between the Poles and the Lithuanians etc etc
Wikipedia tells of a 1533 hunting accident involving a bear.
When I grow up I want to be a jester.
its obviously pilav thinking about pvping again even if the game is dead
I believe the letter explains the defection of Yosh and Stan Schmenge from their native Leutonia to pursue their dreams of starting a polka band and a little shop selling Cabbage rolls and Coffee, Mmm, Mmm Good!
He looks like the palace fool taking a break.
*The Joker: origins*
Great video!!
December 3, 1533 Ivan IV (the Terrible) ascended the throne at age 3.
From what i looked up annd found on December 3, 1533 - Vasili lll Ivaanovich, the grand prince of Moscow, passed away. Vasil took advantage of the difficult position of Sigismund of Poland to capture Smoolensk. During the reign of Vasili lll, the gentry"s landownership increased authorities were actively trying to limit immunities & privileges of boyars & nobility!! Other words, Vasili made the nobles walk the line. If they crossed that line, Vasili had em executed. With Vasili"s death, nobles were back to their self centered ways.
Stańczyk looks like my husband .
I adore your channel - thank you for all of your hard work!
Now is it weird that I want your channel and Great Art Explained to get together for coffee sometime?
He’s giving James Franco post-cancellation
Why did this made me think about the war.. Ukraine's leader was a former comedian.. a modern jester?
I like how you speak sofly in your videos as if you're in a museum trying to keep your voice down
From what I know about Jesters is that they were the King's right-hand man. They would insult people on behalf of the King with satire (a jest or now we would say, "I was just joking". Joker) and get away with it under the guise of entertainment/comedy. Many Jesters were used as strong men and even carried out assassinations on behalf of their Lords/bosses. Whether the clown or the jester came first I haven't researched that, but a friend researched clowns. Clowns are not a benevolent entity. They were demonic in nature and dangerous, not something you would have at a children's party. I guess John Wayne Gacy would know that.
Lord Pennington lived in Pennington castle in England. He had a Jester named Skelton. The Lord had his Jester Skelton kill his daughter Hellwise's beau because her beau was a commoner. Skelton cut of the beau's head and placed it outside Hellwise's bedchamber door for her to find. Just joking......?????
I like this channel!
LET'S LOOK AT VON PILATES: UNDER THE ARENA.
besides, all these background theories, artistically this painting is sort of Rembrandt's way of painting ( my opinion) , way more better than those huge paintings he did. I hope this is understandable.
The class clown at home:
well and the queen sure needed a better painter!
"arbitrary date like 1788" Australians: 👁 👄 👁
He is sick of his job, sick of it!!!
are there any book recommendations for this kind of deep dive into art backstories?
He looks fed up with being the clown... There is more to him that this... Or so he believes, but really? There isn't...
The jester
Imagine this jester taking you into a ball pit,then changing the balls to meat yes meat,while on dmt the jester did that to me,i got the message, stop eating meat,
my first reaction was: hey this is the "i'm boo boo the fool meme"
Ok. So I'm polish and I did the magnificent research of reading polish Wikipedia. There are two anegdotes in our chronicles under year 1533 about Stańczyk. Both are very "jester-like", but in both Stańczyk is reminding the king that he lost Smoleńsk. One of them is more specyfic - not only he lost Smoleńsk 20 years earlier, but also after huge victory battle he didn't take it back.
So basically this painting is merging the fact of loosing Smoleńsk with anegdotes which are telling that 20 years later Stańczyk still remember about this and didn' loose any chance to remind this fact to the king.
EDIT: I put here original polish text, but I didn't need to - another good soul in other comment translated the whole thing. Check carboard2night comment.
This makes a lot of sense!
Excellent research . Thank you because I was going to try to figure it out and because I have no polish roots, I therefore have no real insight of the dates.
Excellent, thank you!
Nice. Great research. I thought it may had something to do with Poland’s politics (apparently the Polish king at the time was born 1533)
Call me stupid, but were you to ask me about this painting, I would have told you that Stańczyk lived during the partitions of Poland, not early XVI century. Maybe it's because Matejko's art is so strongly connected with the time in polish history you mentioned. But well, I actually learned something about polish culture thanks to your video (and I am from Poland).
Now to the question you asked about the date - I didn't do much research, just googled it in polish, but there was an information that 1533 was the year polish truce with Russia ended and the next year a war started that didn't go very well for Poland. My interpretation of this would be, that Matejko purposefully made the point in time unclear to show that this picture is not just about one specific event, but a series of those, which later in a way repeated and resulted in Poland being partitioned. For me, knowing polish history and the general style of Matejko's paintings, I get a strong feeling of "we never learn from history and while nobody was giving a shit Russia came and destroyed us". It's like Stańczyk is trapped in time, observing the polish history through centuries and being depressed because there's nothing he can do about it. That's why he has Matejko's face. He's not just a historical character, he is a personification of the grief over the loss of Poland that connects both men.
My polish teacher in school would be so proud of me for this interpretation 😂
Wow, that was an excellent interpretation! Thank you 👏
Wow!
Wow! Beautiful interpretation
I'm not your teacher and I'm proud of you. Great comment. 👏
One thing more, though. In English language the word "polish" means among others "nail polish" - what you are looking for is "Polish", the adjective. You don't need to believe me, feel free to check in any dictionary.
@@Cat-tastrophee polish teacher 🤨
This year, Poland was getting ready for war. The letter in the painting is from Samogitia. It was there that the Lithuanian nobility rebelled, which did not want to submit to hetman Radziwiłł. The Moscow War lasted from 1534 to 1537 and was ineffective. Poland did not regain Smolensk.
The picture shows the reasons for the loss of Smolensk - no action on the part of the king, whose chaotic and erroneous decisions delayed the commencement of hostilities (a carefree ball in the background of the painting) and the unsuccessful mobilization of a popular uprising, which was caused by the conflicted and reluctant to war nobility.
Probably the best answer and way too far down here.
This makes a ton more sense than the theory in the above comments above. This should be a higher rated comment!
Thank you.
69 likes. Nobody change that.
I’m Lithuanian and F yeah we rebelled
A comet in the sky was often regarded as a threatening omen - well, back in the old days. Interestingly, Halley's Comet makes its cyclical appearance every 75-76 years. Using 75.5 as the interval, going back 5 cycles from 1910 (the year Mark Twain died and when it definitely appeared) you get the year 1533, which is on the document on the table. So maybe the artist was drawing a parallel with cataclysms and the fall of Smolensk - in which case the specific year would be less significant than the association of heavenly portents of change. Or ... I could be a complete ignoramus. But I really appreciated the lesson - thank you!
"The economy, fools!"
Interesting! That seems almost too perfect to be a coincidence.
@@papagaiofilmes6642 if only we had comet sense...
I don't buy it. It probably refers to the beginning of the reign of Ivan the Terrible or another historical event.
Imagine making a heartfelt painting about the most devastating news of your time, and for it to be used as a reaction meme centuries later. Lol
And imagine that reaction meme to be your 28x great grandfather LOL
Honestly it's prob nice in a way. Your work is still around, tho sadly still relevant. But it is appreciated, and I mean it's a kind of immortality, for the emotions depicted in one's work to be so poignant and accurate they become a meme.
I'm so happy to have found this youtube channel! It's an absolute gem, the deep dive into certain art pieces is just fascinating and thought provoking. Thanks for making such great videos!
Agree 100%. I've been looking for books with this same content and there are so few that actually explain the context and meaning deeply, and this is a whole youtube channel😀
Totally agree!!! These are so great!
I found it when subs where under 100k
I am so happy
Agreed!
I'm sorry but I've listened for a good bit and thought this was really a joke....like a meme or something. A more professional non social media like version of this very painting can be found at The Canvas channel. I have no affiliation but after watching I think you'll understand why I thought this was for humor rather than a real interpretation. I mean no offense (impossible of course)
I also thought that Stańczyk's disheartened pose was also due to the fact that jesters were sometimes sought out to announce particularly devastating news to rulers and elites because of their ability to make a joke of it or lighten up the delivery. For example, one of Henry VIII's jesters was the one who told him that his fifth wife, Catherine Howard, was cheating on him. Here, Stańczyk is that crestfallen because he's unsure of how to make light of the loss of Smolensk.
I don't know, just a theory that came to me. I absolutely love your videos - as a history and art fan, they're always so entertaining and interesting to watch! :D
An alternative interpretation might be that this is Stańczyk right after delivering the bad news, slumped in the chair knowing that losing an important city to russia wasn't urgent enough for the nobility to stop partying and get their stuff together. It's an interpretation i like because it just ads this crushing hopelessness to the image, which i find fitting with the historical context of both Stańczyk and Matejko.
"The country is falling/has fallen apart and you can't do anything about it" kind of vibe.
@@nicktallfox5266 And that interpretation seem to be more in line with what happened in PLC in times after that. King power erode and nobility was tightly keeping to their privileges, making reform and stability very hard. Serval (elected by nobility btw) kings care more about art and parties than trying to put nobility in line. Then come Russian en masse bribery of the most important nobles.
Poor Catherine didn’t do anything. She may have been raped before she was married but that’s not her fault
I think you have got it! That's exactly what's happening. The jester had the distinguished role of main critic to the ruler - and was indemnified in this pursuit. Stanczyk looks like a man who realizes that he, the clown, knows and cares more about the the fate of his people than the ruler. Satire outrun by reality!
He was probably bummed out because he had to come up with new material
To answer your question about date 1533, from polish wiki article about this painting: "The title refers to one of the well-known anecdotes about Stańczyk, in which he accurately reminded King Sigismund the Old of allowing the loss of Smolensk , an important fortress in the east of the Polish-Lithuanian state [15] . This anecdote was written down in 1533 by the historian Marcin Bielski in the Polish Chronicle (Book V)" the anecdote is basically that king received a bear in a chest, the bear was released, everyone ran away, the queen Bona was so terrified she miscarried, but king just laughed at the whole ordeal and mocked Stanczyk for running "like jester" and Stanczyk supposedly said "the one that releases bear is a jester, not the ones who runs from it!". The bear is a well known symbol of Russia.
Released (uwolnił, wypuścił). Realised to "zdał sobie sprawę" albo "zrealizował".
Smolensk was founded back in kievan rus period, so it wasnt always polish
ran away instead of runned away ;)
Also thank you for the fact
i think you mean released instead of realised?
Yeah, sorry, wrote it in a hurry so my grammar was a bit... not good x) I'm not Polish, btw
Wow that was a lot more heartbreaking than I was expecting it to be.
"They liberated their own city from our occupation" - what a tragedy.
@@Conserpov Huh? Who liberated their own city? Russians? That's not how history works. Fascinating to see someone actually thinking this way, though.
@@weareallbornmad410
How does history work then?
There is no dispute about Smolensk being a Russian city and its people considering this a liberation.
What you are doing is bringing your own political bias into history.
Your analyses are perfection. I use them to get inspo for my D&D campaigns. Thank you ma'am
This channel is a treasure. It’s translating classic and modern art in layman’s terms, while also giving insight into the minds of some of the world’s most famous artists. Would love to see/hear your take on Goya’s Black Paintings. Or Guernica by Picasso. I don’t care if everyone else has talked about them, it would be fun to hear YOU talk about them and dive into the historical/political contexts
This painting hurts. I am not Polish myself, I am Ukrainian and I feel this painting differently. The loss and frustration of this man in the painting is not in a date. Tragedies happen and shatter your world, they shock you like nothing else have ever did. And when you try to recall events or just pull yourself together it all blurs. Faces, days, events, places... they get glued together like torn crumpled pieces of paper. All messed up and hardly holding, but you cannot tell the difference anymore.
Stay strong, friend!
@@uzytkownik15 thank you ❤️ turns out we have so many friends around the world. People I've never met make it a bit easier
When we win, we will make this world a better place hopefully 🙏
I'm not really sure what to say, but I'm sending you hugs from Poland
@@meridaskywalker7816 hugs received 🤗
No wonder. Though Ukraine was back then just a borederland with mix of ethnicities (Polish, Russian, Ruthenian and Balkan outlavs, Jews) some Cossacks the ones that were heroes who did all in their might to stop Jews from robbing that land and closing Orthodox Christian churches suffered greatly the fall of Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth as they were forced to relocate from land they already had sprouted their roots. Some rebeled against tsar for stealing land. Ukrainians were always very attached to land they were living in. There are some who haven't moved out even from area that has been said to contain contamination from Czarnobyl explosion. They are called "samosioły".
What a great description of the painting ! As a Pole I want to add that in Poland we all see our history through Matejko's eyes, for instance the images of our first rulers invented by the painter are now on our banknotes. And Matejko left a huge heritage in his beloved Kraków - did you know that he designed the columns and decorations of Sukiennice (Cloth hall on the Market square) ? He, a son of a Czech father and mother from a Protestant, German minority became a huge patriot of a country that didn't even exist at that time but which had a great history - and a great future !
Small correction: His mother was of both german and polish descent. She wasn't fully German
The big red elephant in the room has completely been missed here. A jester's role is that of a wise fool. Employed by royalty to keep themselves entertained; little do the royal spectators realize that the jester whom they view as a fool is really a wise sage. They look down on him, not realizing that he is laughing back at them. His witty remarks are sage, and the wisdom he imparts flies over their heads.
In this case, the jester seems beyond frustrated because he cannot get anyone to recognize the dire circumstances headed their way. They are too caught up in their hedonistic pursuits. Matejko put himself in that position because he relates to the jester. His painting consists of a warning about troubles close on the horizon, while the affluent are literally "left in the dark." The artist sees himself as equivalent to the court jester. As a jester, he is looking back at these people with scorn and ridiculing them. The jester ordinarily laughs openly towards such decadent people, allowing them to think that the joke is on him. But the jester has reached a low point and he can no longer entertain their ignorance.
Matejko is completely sympathetic to the jester. The artist sees outlook and predicament of the jester as one and the same with himself. His painting mocks the affluent and they remain completely ignorant of the fact. He feels the despair and isolation of the jester.
Matejko the jester is the most important character in the painting. His bright red clothing couldn't make that any more clear.
exactly my friend.. the unfortunate thing for the jester is that sometimes he doesn't realize and doubts his own wisdom. He fools himself into thinking he wants what they do, inadvertently becoming their pawn in a game they can never satisfy themselves with.
It’s amazing how much a talented artist is able to say with a pose, an expression, a detail. You’ve shown me a lot more thought goes into these famous paintings then I ever realized!
Maybe the inconsistencies were meant to show how events that were once so impactful and heartbreaking to everyday people become forgotten, misrepresented or inaccurately depicted by later generations.
As the Grandson of a Polish woman I found this interesting, particularly the comments on it. I've never really thought of looking into Polish history, except the time my Grandmother lived through because that feels personal, might start looking into things more now.
Ok, so the date on the letter: in 1514 Polish-Lithuanian Comonwealth (I'll just say Poland after this for brevity) had stronger army and better political alliances than Russia, but the king hessitated for almost 20 years to retaliate and claim Smolensk back. In that time Polish position weakened and by the time they demanded return of Smolensk and then declared war when refused, it didn't go well for Poland. Many historians see that as the start of gradual decline of political power and internal cohesion that eventually led to the Particions.
The way it was taught to me in school, this painting is part of the semi-dedactic works "for bolstering spirits" after the failure of the November uprising in 1830-31 and the subsequent fragmentation and infighting among the imigrants. Artists used Polish history as a subversive way to provide role models and give warnings about past mistakes so we can avoid repeating them. So the meaning of Stańczyk, as it was taught to me, was to unify and do something "now" because waiting will do no good. Considering the failure of the January uprising (which happened about 30years later) and its conseqences, he was probably right.
You don’t just explain paintings, you allow us into the canvas where we can feel the texture of the past beneath our fingers. Awesome work!
Stańczyk wasn't just witty, he was also a thoroughly educated man of the renaissance - often knowing about the world and politics more than King.
I have watched every single one of your "explained paintings." What caught my attention was your style, what kept my attention is what I've learned. I never paid attention to this type of Art, now I'm in love. Thank you, thank you, for doing this work.
your videos are so interesting and have really rekindled my love for art. keep up the great work!
I started watching every painting interpretation on this channel like 2 weeks ago. And now i got polish art episode. FeelsGoodMan.
I think there were a lot of things going on in that time period, the 1500s, in Poland. These must have reflected the artist's own experience as he lived through a similar period.
Apart from all the other stuff like invasions and battles that happened in the 1500s, there was a lot of outside 'influence'. Polish politics were impacted, perhaps not always for the better as a consequence of more 'gentle' outside pressure, as well as more overt actions
The treaty of perpetual peace with the Turkish ottoman empire was signed in 1533 and that treaty influenced Poland's political landscape.
So, at every level Poland, whether violently or otherwise, was being coerced, battered, pushed around, squeezed and that's been the case for Poland, for a long time.
Living in England, a country that was last successfully invaded and conquered almost a 1000 years ago, it's difficult to comprehend that constant infringement upon your national identity and sovereignty.
Well I don't agree. In 19th century Poland was under occupation. 1500's was the golden century of Poland.
Economy was booming and Poland was very influential.
Matejko rather points out that the problems that led to downfall of Poland began in the period of glory and power.
Elites were full of vanity. They allowed Moscow to rise in power. Poland was mostly inactive in Muscovite-Lithuanian wars.
Is this a right assesment? Well, to a certain degree. Poland peaked in it's power a few decades later but seeds of future decline were already there.
Treaty of 1533 was a good thing for Poland because wars with Ottomans were unnessecary loss of resources.
Love itttttttt Stańczyk
The thing is that Matejko is known for making 'mistakes' in his historical paintings. Painting people who couldn't had partaken in perticular events bc they were for example long dead, events taking place in wrong locations or even completely mixing two separate situations into one. It all is (mostly) intentional and all those creative liberties were taken to get specific point across or just nicer composition. If i'm not mistaken on wikipedia there are whole sections of historical inaccuracies in Matejko painting.
great analysis