#this one's stańczyk by jan matejko

[roxannepolice]

[fruity-m0nster]

Neil said on a recent panel Astarion is a harlequin so I doodled sth to celebrate that

[drunkenskunk]

Current mood:

[art-that-fucks-you-up-tournament]

SET SEVEN - ROUND TWO - MATCH ONE

"The Meeting On The Turret Stairs" (1864 - Frederic William Burton) / "Stańczyk" (1862 - Jan Matejko)

THE MEETING ON THE TURRET STAIRS: The fact that it's watercolor… Jesus Christ, Dude. Also I am biased because I run a weekly scheduled post for it (Meeting on the Turret Stairs Tuesday) so I would be letting myself down not reblogging it haha (@dorknewton)

STAŃCZYK: this piece pictures a jester contemplating the political disasters befalling the country, presumably as the court is celebrating in the other rooms. it takes place when the polish nobility was essentially selling out the territories to neighbouring regimes, ignorant of the fact they were issuing a permission for colonisation and oppression of their own people. while it’s context is extremely specific, it remains to feel relevant considering the actions of those in power even in the modern society. i think the climate anxiety has a similar vibe; feeling like you’re isolated in your care while the higher ups are celebrating their own greed. (anonymous)

("The Meeting on the Turret Stairs" is a watercolor painting by Frederic William Burton. It measures 95.5 x 60.8 cm (37.6 x 24 in) and is held by the National Gallery of Ireland.

"Stańczyk" or "Stańczyk during a ball at the court of Queen Bona in the face of the loss of Smolensk" is an oil on canvas painting by Jan Matejko. It measures 120 cm × 88 cm (47 in × 35 in) and is held by the Warsaw National Museum.)

[augustsappho]

Stańczyk by Jan Matejko (1862)

Description from Britannica (author: Ann Kay)

Stańczyk, oil painting created in 1862 by Polish artist Jan Matejko. It is one of Matejko’s best known works and is an iconic image in Poland.

Historical painting has always been a vital thread in Polish art, and Matejko chronicled Polish history with a verve and romance that earned him a central place in his homeland’s artistic consciousness. Court jester to several Renaissance-era Polish kings, Stańczyk was said to be a man of extraordinary wisdom. Not afraid to wield his satirical wit to criticize those in power, he came to personify the fight for truth over hypocrisy and even Poland’s struggle for independence.

In this painting, Matejko has turned the jester into a symbol of his nation’s conscience. While a ball at the court of Queen Bona (wife of Sigismund I the Old) is in full swing, Stańczyk sits slumped in depression, having just discovered—presumably indicated by papers on the table—that the Polish city of Smolensk has been lost (1514) during war with Moscow. Seating him apart from the rest of the court emphasizes that only he foresees that the war will be disastrous for Poland.

Matejko’s characteristic theatricality and lighting make the painting appear like a scene from a play. The principal player, in a fanciful costume that highlights his seriousness by its contrast, is placed centrally in a spotlight. In the wings, we glimpse the bit players, while outside a window a comet falls portentously. The face is a self-portrait of Matejko himself, and the artist’s finely detailed style adds to the mood, picking out everything from the plushness of the drapes to the distant sparkle of a chandelier. For centuries Stańczyk featured in the work of an array of Polish artists and writers, but this striking image is the one that has endured.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR -

Ann Kay is a writer and editor with a degree in the history of art and literature at Kent University and a postgraduate qualification in graphic design from London University. She has also studied book design and jewelry-making. Her work appears in Encyclopaedia Britannica as part of a joint publishing agreement with the publisher of 1001 Paintings You Must See Before You Die and 1001 Amazing Places You Must See Before You Die, where the work originally appeared.

[polish-art-tournament]

round 3, poll 2

Stańczyk:

painted in 1862

i generally dislike matejko but stańczyk is so iconic that i've grown to like it

long story short Stańczyk was a court jester for the last kings of the Jagiellonian dynasty in Poland in 16th century. he was also politically savvy and known for his accurate satirical comments on the country's past and present political situation.

in the painting he has just read the letter announcing some significant war losses (the fall of Smolensk); he is somber, but in the background, behind the curtain, the royals having fun at a ball and remain ignorant of the news

it's one of Matejko's early paintings; he was just 24 when he finished it

it's also an autoportrait since Matejko gave Stańczyk his own face

Żydówka z pomarańczami:

painted in 1881

looted during ww2 and recovered after almost 80 years!

portraits of elder people are always so good

there is something very pleasing about the blue-orange colour combination

instead of a live model Gierymski probably used this photo as a reference - the woman really is recognizable!

see more of their works! Matejko, Gierymski

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Jan Matejko  :: “Stańczyk” :: 1862

* * *

“All through my life I've had this strange unaccountable feeling that something was going on in the world, something big, even sinister, and no one would tell me what it was." "No," said the old man, "that's just perfectly normal paranoia. Everyone in the Universe has that.” ― Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

[countingclowns4fun]

Just some clowns that I drew. The first one is inspired by Stańczyk by Jan Matejko the other just poofed into existence, I don't even know if his face is a face or a mask...

[turbotasthick]

Have you ever seen the Stańczyk by Jan Matejko? Could you maybe take this request of drawing one of the tsams characters referencing the painting? Or say what character you think matches most with the painting if you don't want to!

THATS SO FUNNY HOW YOU SAY THAT BRO CAUSE IM IN THE MIDDLE OF WORKING- i have a bLOODMOON WIP REFRENCING THAT VERY PAINTING heres a wip as a cute, girly and demure treat i dont know when the FUCK ill ever finish it tho i have so many wips to do 💀

Its in its earlier stages but still 🙄

[the-goya-jerker]

Stańczyk by Jan Matejko?

I've spent the last few days trying to get into this one.

By all means I should have some feelings about it, I want to be able to present to you all a lovely review about it. There's deep, rich colors. The figures in the background are melty and merry compared to Stanczyk, who is in sharp clarity and dreary.

There's a hopelessness to this painting that is deep and evocative, I'm sure, for others.

But, no matter how much I try it's just not my vibe. And believe me, I've tried. I've spent hours staring, I've almost meditatively contemplated it as I've paced my backyard. (Which, I must say, it's lovely here this time of year, the creeping charlie in my lawn looks absolutely lovely).

Still though, this painting eludes me. I have nothing against it, it just evokes very few emotions for me.

Sadly, it's a 0/10 for me, one without malice or contempt.

[happyemoqueer]

Here's a poll for you about polish paintings

Which one of these paintings do you recognize the most?

1. Rejtan by Jan Matejko

2. Stańczyk by Jan Matejko

3. Bitwa pod Grunwaldem by Jan Matejko

4. Pełzająca Śmierć by Zdzisław Beksiński

[seaquestions]

a miserable fool!

[ID: a reference sheet for an original character, kaśka. she is a skinny anthro hare with light brown fur and orange eyes, wearing jester/bard attire. in the centre are two mirrored drawings of her standing with an arm out to the side, one with her clothes and one without. additional drawings to the side: a closeup of her face and a doodle of her sitting on a chair like in the painting stańczyk by jan matejko. End ID]

[redhatmeg]

I wonder how many Westerners who use the “pondering jester” image as their avatar picture - you know, this one: 

...know that it’s a painting of Stańczyk by Jan Matejko... and that Stańczyk has major significance in Polish history and literature.

[vertigoblockbuster]

Archetype: The Fool

Jan Matejko's ‘Stańczyk,' 1862. Stańczyk, depicted here tucked away from a lively royal ball and slumped solemnly in a chair, was the official court jester of Poland during the height of the country's power. While those in the background celebrate a recent victory, Stańczyk has just learned that the Polish city Smolensk was lost to Moscow. It looks as though he has come across some papers discarded by an official, which lie on the table next to Stańczyk's chair. There is a sharp contrast of the lonely jester against the roaring party in the background. It seems that Matejko was suggesting that Stańczyk, who was said to be a brilliant mind, was the only one who could foresee the devastation the war would bring to Poland.

The Fool in the Tarot

The Fool card from the Rider-Waite Smith tarot deck. Artwork by Pamela Colman Smith.

The word "fool" comes from the Latin "follis," referring to bellows or a windbag.

I don't think this is too much of a reach.

The Fool is widely considered to be the most powerful card in the tarot. If you notice the numerical value at the top center of the card, The Fool is assigned number zero. Associated with void space, The Fool is pure, raw potential. He has the ability to transform into absolutely anything - all he has to do is decide where to invest his energy and focus.

It should be noted that there is no official hierarchy to the tarot. There is no formally established ranking system and no card is more powerful or important than another. The idea that the fool card wields a high ground over the others is born out of, at the end of the day, personal opinion. It just so happens to be an opinion that many people in the tarot community share.

The 78 cards in a traditional tarot deck can be divided into two broad categories: the minor arcana and the major arcana. While the minor arcana cards describe day-to-day aspects of life, the majors describe the "big" moments - when we are learning life lessons, embodying a particular archetype of our psyche more than others, perhaps at a meaningful crux, crossroads, or zenith where we have to make pivotal choices that force us to reflect on our own character and values.

The fool is the very beginning of the major arcana cards. The 22 cards comprising the majors can be thought of as describing the "hero's journey," where we start from the nothingness of the fool - directionless, innocent, and totally open to new experiences - and end at the enlightenment of the world - connection, harmony, fulfillment, and total presence. The Fool is a newborn baby. He has no jaded preconceptions about the world, no expectations for the returns on his investments, and the rosiest glasses money can buy.

If you look at the final card of the majors, The World, you will find a clear connection to The Fool card in the circular wreath encompassing the central figure. The woman - naked, exposed, and vulnerable yet totally relaxed, hovers suspended in the sky. The wreath surrounding her can be thought of as a portal which brings us from the total completion represented by this card back to the very beginning, square zero, void space, the blank canvas that is The Fool. The prominent "0" or zero shape in the world card could be thought of as a womb that the fool, being the newborn baby that he is, is born out of.

The World card from the Rider-Waite Smith tarot deck. Artwork by Pamela Colman Smith.

Notes on some of the symbolism in the Rider-Waite Smith Fool card.

Association with Uranus

In the tarot, some cards are ruled by planets and others are ruled by zodiac signs. Aquarius is traditionally ruled by Saturn while it's modern ruler is Uranus (Uranus was discovered well after Saturn was.) The tarot card associated with Aquarius is The Star, but the card associated with Uranus is The Fool.

Astrologically, Uranus represents chaos, sudden change or upheaval, radical ideas and revolution. Associated with our inner need for freedom, Uranus observes where we as individuals and as large groups stagnate. He comes along and knocks down our house(s) of cards and we are left with the task of rebuilding, ie updating our personal and societal ideologies. Uranus demands that we stretch our minds, expand our consciousness. His methods are shocking but ultimately lead us to deeper understanding of ourselves and greater independence.

Uranus's link to fixed air sign Aquarius implies an androgynous energy about this planet. Uranus's foremost concern is with exploring new and out-of-the-box ideas. All this heady energy results in a mercurial, gender-less presentation.

Both the fool and Uranus achieve the extraordinary by being willing to tread where no one else dares to tip-toe. The fool strides towards the cliff and we as spectators look at him with mouths agape. Uranus dismantles entire political regimes and we study these historical periods with awe and fascination. The fool and Uranus are not what I would describe as fearless necessarily. Uranus and the fool both possess powerfully airy, mental, cerebral attitudes. They are so caught up in their ideas about what could be that they don't even consider the risks they could face on their off-beaten paths. There is a radical acceptance here: What used to work no longer works. This is my brand new idea that I think will make things better in the long run. I know you think I'm nuts, but in ten years time you'll be wondering why you weren't on board from the ground floor.

The Divine Child

Duccio di Buoninsgna's ‘Madonna and Child’, 1290-1300.

The divine child is an immature king. He possesses limitless potential and has virtually no ability to do anything with it. In terms of the human psyche, this represents our own unrealized potential - our dreams and fantasies for what our lives could look like, what we think we can do, what we want to do but haven't yet.

Somebody embodying the king archetype has a strong handle on their own executive functioning. They control how they use their time, focus, and energy. Kings have developed the self-knowledge to make goals for themselves that align with their personal values and take consistent strides towards achieving them. Equally as important, they have learned to use self-discipline to delay instant gratification. They are confident in their abilities to create and overcome.

The divine child is like if the king was diffused into a cloud. The king's essence and power is still there, but his ability to make things happen in the physical world is completely lost. The divine child buzzes with primal life force and this is all that he is. Everything, because he contains all possibilities, and nothing, because he does not (cannot) make any of them manifest into reality.

The divine child has the potential to manifest into a shadowy version of himself if the circumstances are right. Have you ever heard the term man-child? This is what happens when the divine child grows up with inappropriate amounts of affirmation/encouragement. Suddenly the saintly baby Jesus-type figure becomes a highchair tyrant. Frustrated over the lack of control he feels in his own life, the divine child resorts to tantrums to bend his surroundings to his will. It's not that he doesn't want to put in the work to create the life that he wants, it's that he is frozen developmentally. He's... a baby. When left unchecked, the child's feelings and displays of entitlement continue into adulthood, where he develops into what many would consider a full-blown narcissist.

The most important overlapping character trait between the divine child and the fool is their pure-heartedness. The archetypal fool is adjacent to the trickster. What sets the fool apart from his more deceitful counterpart is that while the fool and the trickster both behave foolishly, the trickster does so to manipulate others into falling into his traps. The trickster knows that people let their guards down when they think someone is stupid, and he uses this to his advantage. He tricks people purely for his own pleasure and enjoyment, unlike the archetypal clown, who creates comic relief for the enjoyment of others. The clown is more self-aware than the fool. He understands how his bumbling is perceived by others and experiences embarrassment.

The fool is different. The fool acts foolishly because that's just who he is. He isn't putting on an act to make people laugh or to get something he wants. He does not use manipulation or trickery in his dealings with others because he wouldn't know how even if he wanted to - which he wouldn't. While he is often the butt of the joke, the fool has a lightness and innocence to him that makes him continue believing the best in people and the world at large. He dances through life - ignorant, and enviably blissful because of it.

[pmamtraveller]

STAŃCZYK (1862) by JAN MATEJKO

In the painting, STAŃCZYK is portrayed as seeing the loss of SMOLENSK as the start of a series of catastrophes that would affect POLAND for decades to come

SMOLENSK Fort was one of the most important fortress of the empire, and the fall of the fort was seen as a sign of tragedy to come. At the ball, the people are portrayed as representing the POLISH nobility who sold themselves to foreign powers, which led to the decline of the nation.

One of the most common interpretations of the painting is that it symbolizes the "SAD CLOWN PARADOX." STAŃCZYK may appear to be a humorous and amusing character, but in reality, he is in a state of deep sorrow and contemplation.

On the other hand, the letter on the table dates back to 1533, which is believed to be the year that IVAN THE TERRIBLE assumed the title of GRAND DUKE of MOSCOW. This adds to the theme of foreign interference in POLISH matters.

STAŃCZYK and MATEJKO had a strong bond, probably because they both shared the same sense of patriotism and saw themselves as actors behind the scenes fighting for the heart and soul of their country. Neither of them belonged to the elite or the nobility, and both wanted to make a difference in the world in the best way possible.

In MATEJKO’S painting, the hope is also represented by a pendant containing the BLACK MADONNA, a symbol of the POLISH CHRISTIAN FAITH. However, it is not clear what the comet that is visible outside the window means. MATEJKO was known for using astronomy symbolically in his paintings, so the comet may represent a bad omen or a sign of impending doom.

[polish-art-tournament]

round 2, poll 2

Czarne jagnię:

painted in 1905

who doesn't wanna hug a black lamb. sweet baby. stupid idioms

this is just so tender

winter air cold and damp.... baby sheep warm and cuddly....

like Axentowicz from the previous poll Sichulski also often portrayed the Hutsuls in his paintings; this painting is counted among them

Stańczyk:

painted in 1862

i generally dislike matejko but stańczyk is so iconic that i've grown to like it

long story short Stańczyk was a court jester for the last kings of the Jagiellonian dynasty in Poland in 16th century. he was also politically savvy and known for his accurate satirical comments on the country's past and present political situation.

in the painting he has just read the letter announcing some significant war losses (the fall of Smolensk); he is somber, but in the background, behind the curtain, the royals having fun at a ball and remain ignorant of the news

it's one of Matejko's early paintings; he was just 24 when he finished it

it's also an autoportrait since Matejko gave Stańczyk his own face

also sort of prophetic since it was painted just a year before the Januray Uprising haha

check out more of their works! Sichulski, Matejko