Sunday, May 14, 2023

A Dear Visitor by Max Kurzweil

Title: Ein lieber Besuch (A Dear Visitor)
Artist: Max Kurzweil (1867-1916)
Made: 1894

Max Kurzweil's 'A Dear Visitor' was created in 1894 and the original painting is in Österreichische Galerie Belvedere. The original size of the work is 94 x 125 cm and is made of oil on canvas. The Artist, Max Kurzweil (1867 - 1916), was an Austrian painter and printmaker. He moved near Vienna in 1879. The canvas depicts a touching scene of farewell to a mortally wounded officer with his battle horse. The painting is called Ein Lieber Besuch. In different sources, such options are used for its designation: “Faithful Friend”, “Last Visitor” and “Goodbye”. The dying officer is no longer able to get out of bed on his own. A soldier lifts him up so that he can touch his loyal friend and comrade-in-arms one last time. The horse recognized the owner. Despite the unfamiliar and frightening situation came up to him. It seems that he is trying to understand what is happening, why the officer does not come to him anymore, why he is so helpless, and not full of strength and courage, as before? No one holds the horse, but the second soldier standing at the wall controls the situation.


Source :
https://www.canvastar.com/en/max-kurzweil-a-dear-visit
https://sammlung.belvedere.at/objects/1260/ein-lieber-besuch
https://vk.com/wall-2583731_12915?lang=en

Sunday, March 26, 2023

Rifle Drill of Wehrmacht Soldiers


Rifle drill in a German Wehrmacht pioneer replacement battalion. It was a challenge to keep the white drill uniform (Drillichzug) pristine and over time they took on a dingy faint greyish or yellowish tint to signify an old hand, an alten Landser ('old salt'). In 1940 reed green Drillichzugen began to be issued and the old white outfits became even more of a sign of veterans. The drill uniform was devoid of Lametta (tinsel), that is, insignia and adornments. Recruits did a great deal of rifle drill which improved physical fitness, stamina, coordination, and familiarity with the rifle, here Mauser Kar.98b 'carbines' issued to training and other second-line units. Being pioneers, they sometimes conducted such drills with shovels. Their Obergefreiter, wearing Drillichhose, drills them relentlessly, harassing them with Schikanen (nasty tricks). In the background is a Hf.1 light field wagon* with each Pionierezug possessing one for its equipment, which could weigh up to 1,360kg. Most wagons had smaller front wheels, but German military wagons used the same sized large wheels on all axels requiring only one size for replacements.

* Hf. = Heersfahrzeug (Army vehicle).

Source :
"German Pionier 1939-45: Combat Engineer of the Wehrmacht" Gordon L. Rottman & Carlos Chagas

Sunday, March 5, 2023

Trainees, Snow Effect



Title: Trainees, Snow Effect
Artist: Augustin Pierre Bienvenu Chenu (Fleury Chenu)
Date: 1870

Augustin Pierre Bienvenu Chenu (Fleury Chenu) (1833-1875), Trainees, Snow Effect (1870), oil on canvas, 170 × 152.5 cm, Musée d’Orsay, Paris. Fleury Chenu’s father in Briançon, France, was a master tailor working for the French Sixth Regiment at the time. Chenu’s Trainees, Snow Effect from 1870 gives a good idea of the very limited preparation which the French had made as tensions mounted during the previous winter. Although a detailed realist painting, Chenu’s sky is so powerful, and sets the scene for the straggling trainees as they make their way along the icy road.


Source :
https://eclecticlight.co/2018/07/27/the-franco-prussian-war-depicting-defeat/

Monday, September 26, 2022

A Collection of Hussars

ENGLAND


Prince Albert (26 August 1819 - 14 December 1861), husband of Queen Victoria, in the uniform of his own regiment (11th Hussars), which took part in the Charge of the Light Brigade. He was granted the honour of wearing crimson trousers to the 11th Light Dragoons after they escorted him to his marriage with Queen Victoria in 1840.  Crimson was the colour of his personal livery. Prince Albert was also appointed the Colonel of the Regiment, which was re-titled 11th Prince Albert's Own Hussars.

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FRANCE


Portrait of Antoine Charles Louis de Lasalle by Antoine-Jean Gros (1808). Antoine-Charles-Louis, Comte de Lasalle (10 May 1775, Metz – 6 July 1809, Wagram) was a French cavalry general during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, often called "The Hussar General". He first gained fame for his role in the Capitulation of Stettin. Over the course of his short career, he became known as a daring adventurer and was credited with many exploits. Eventually, he fought on every front and was killed at the Battle of Wagram.



Portrait of Joachim Murat in Hussar uniform by François Gérard (1801). Joachim Murat (25 March 1767 – 13 October 1815) was a French military commander and statesman who served during the French Revolutionary Wars and Napoleonic Wars. Under the French Empire he received the military titles of Marshal of the Empire and Admiral of France; he was also the 1st Prince Murat, Grand Duke of Berg from 1806 to 1808 and King of Naples as Joachim-Napoleon (Italian: Gioacchino Napoleone) from 1808 to 1815. He was the brother-in-law of Napoleon Bonaparte.

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PRUSSIA


Generalfeldmarschall Hans-Joachim von Zieten, sometimes spelled Johann Joachim von Ziethen, (14 May 1699 – 26 January 1786), also known as Zieten aus dem Busch, was a cavalry general in the Prussian Army. He served in four wars and was instrumental in several victories during the reign of Frederick the Great, most particularly at Hohenfriedberg and Torgau. He is also well known for a raid into the Habsburg territories during the Second Silesian War, known as Zieten's Ride. After engaging in a reputed 74 duels, and fighting in four wars, he died in his bed at the age of 86.

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RUSSIA


Portrait of Yevgraf Davydov (1775 – 20 December 1823) by Orest Kiprensky. He was a Sergeant major of the Life Guards Cavalry Regiment (1791), cornet of the Life Guards Hussar Regiment (1799), colonel (1807). Fought in the Napoleonic Wars at the Battle of Austerlitz (1805) and the Battle of Ostrovnoye near Vitebsk (1812). Lost his left leg and right arm beneath the elbow at the Battle of Leipzig (August 1813), awarded the Order of St George (3rd class), the Order of Leopold of Austria, the Order of the Red Eagle of Prussia (2nd class) and promoted to the rank of major-general.


Source :
https://www.andreas-thies.de/auktionen.html
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?search=hussar&title=Special:MediaSearch&go=Go&type=image

Sunday, September 11, 2022

Paintings by Augusto Ferrer-Dalmau


La marcha a Tenochtitlán / The March to Tenochtitlán (2015)


La conquista del Colorado / The conquest of the Colorado (2016)


El milagro de Empel / The Miracle of Empel (2015)



Cavalleria Valona, Guerra dels Trenta Anys / Walloon Cavalry, Thirty Years' War (2012)



La batalla de Rocroi / The Battle of Rocroi (2011)



El último de Gibraltar / The Last of Gibraltar (2011)


Por España y por el rey, Gálvez en America / For Spain and for the King, Galvez in America (2016)


La Marcha de Galvez / The Galvez March (2017)


Regimiento Real de Minadores-Zapadores abandonando Alcalá de Henares el 24 de mayo de 1808 / Royal Regiment of Miners-Sappers leaving Alcalá de Henares on May 24, 1808 (2011)



Agustina de Aragón / Agustina of Aragon (2012)



General Jackson (2011)


La Expedición de Mannerheim / The Mannerheim Expedition (2018)


Càrrega del riu Igan pel Regiment Alcàntara / Charge of the Igan River by the Alcantara Regiment (2013)



Division Azul / The Blue Division



La Patrulla / Patrol (2013)


Alepo, La ayuda ha llegado / Aleppo, help has arrived (2019)

Source :
https://augustoferrerdalmau.com/content/7-ferrerdalmau
https://ca.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augusto_Ferrer-Dalmau
http://www.closecombatseries.net/CCS/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=11991
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augusto_Ferrer-Dalmau
https://fundacionferrerdalmau.es/
https://laststandonzombieisland.com/2015/10/25/combat-gallery-sunday-the-martial-art-of-augusto-ferrer-dalmau/

Friday, April 16, 2021

French Hussar and Peasant Girl


Title: French Hussar and Peasant Girl, 1810s
Artist: Nils Wadensten
Date: unknown

Nils Wadensten: "I've been wanting to practice some 2D painting for a while, here's the first of what I hope will be a number of historically themed pieces. Inspired by 19th century artists and my contemporary hero of historical military painting, Spanish master Augusto Ferrer-Dalmau. The rider is a Napoleonic French Hussar of the 11th regiment."

Source :
https://nilsw.artstation.com/projects/GXy8xV

Saturday, April 10, 2021

British Generals during Napoleonic Wars

 
Lieutenant-General Sir Thomas Picton GCB (24 August 1758 – 18 June 1815) was a Welsh officer of the British Army who fought in the Napoleonic Wars. According to the historian Alessandro Barbero, Picton was "respected for his courage and feared for his irascible temperament". The Duke of Wellington called him "a rough foul-mouthed devil as ever lived", but found him capable. Picton came to public attention initially for his alleged cruelty during his governorship (1797–1803) of Trinidad, as a result of which he was put on trial in England for approving the illegal torture of a 14-year-old girl, Luisa Calderón. Though initially convicted, Picton later had the conviction overturned arguing that Trinidad was subject to Spanish law, which permitted the use of torture. Controversy over the torture and Picton's role in the colonial slave trade continued. In 2020, Cardiff council voted to remove Picton's statue in the "Heroes of Wales" gallery in Cardiff City Hall. He is chiefly remembered for his exploits under Wellington in the Iberian Peninsular War of 1807–1814, during which he fought in many engagements, displaying great bravery and persistence. He was killed in 1815 fighting at the Battle of Waterloo, during a crucial bayonet charge in which his division stopped d'Erlon's corps' attack against the allied centre left. He was the most senior officer to die at Waterloo. He was a sitting Member of Parliament at the time of his death. Above: Portrait of Thomas Picton by Thomas Lawrence.

Source :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Picton

Tuesday, January 29, 2019

Private Afghan Army 1980


Title: Private Afghan Army (Afghanistan l980)
Artist: Chris McNab
Date: 2002

As this soldier demonstrates, the troops of the Afghan Army were ill equipped to fight the highly motivated Mujahedeen guerrillas during the Soviet Union's 10-year occupation of Afghanistan. The standard grey-drab combat uniform and soft-peaked cap provided scant protection from the severe Afghan weather, and gave a poor appearance on the parade ground (it doubled as parade kit). The webbing is of local manufacture from cheap leather, and the civilian belt has an inadvisably shiny gold buckle which could be an aiming point for a sniper. The rifle is the venerable Mosin-Nagant 7.62mm (0.3in) M1944 carbine, a weapon with origins back to 1888 and, by 1980, hopelessly outdated against the AK series rifles. Canvas gaiters, worn to protect against mud and water intrusion, feature mud-reinforced black leather sections. Afghan soldiers were inconsistently equipped throughout the conflict.


Source :
Book "20th Century Military Uniforms" by Chris McNab

Private Abyssinian Patriot Army (Ethiopia 1941)


Title: Private Abyssinian Patriot Army (Ethiopia 1941)
Artist: Chris McNab
Date: 2002

Abyssinia fell under italian control in 1935 after an invasion from the Italian territories of Somaliland and Eritrea. With the onset of World War II, the Italians thus used Abyssinia as a jumping-off point for their East African campaigns into the Sudan and Kenya, However, resistance from Abyssinian patriots and an effective British campaign in the region returned Abyssinia to its own control in May 1941. The soldier pictured here is one of the Abyssinian resistance fighters who fought alongside the Allies. There was no uniform as such, the patriots usually utilizing whatever items of European clothing were available. This soldier has a khaki tunic and pantaloons, probably of pre-war italian or German origin, worn with canvas leggings, but no boots. The riffe is the German 7.62aum (0.3in) 98K, and a péstol hangs from his leather belt.


Source :
Book "20th Century Military Uniforms" by Chris McNab

Thursday, April 5, 2018

Major-General Sir William Howe


Title: William Howe, 5th Viscount Howe
Artist: Richard Purcell aka Charles Corbutt (ca 1736-ca 1766)
Date: November 1777

Major-General Sir William Howe, 5th Viscount Howe (1729–1814), is depicted in this color mezzotint painting by Richard Purcell, published in 1777. Before returning to North America in March 1775, Howe had seen long service. After fighting in Europe during the Seven Years’ War, Howe played a key role in the capture of Quebec in 1759 and the subsequent campaign against the French. After criticizing Lieutenant-General Thomas Gage over tactics at Bunker Hill in June 1775, Howe was eventually given overall command that September. Under Howe’s leadership the British landed on Staten Island in July 1776 and during the fall of 1776 outmaneuvered General George Washington at Long Island and New York, forcing the Americans to retreat in disorder across New Jersey. During the Fall campaign Howe clashed with both Major-General Charles Cornwallis and Major-General Henry Clinton over strategy. Washington’s victory at Trenton revived American spirits and during 1777 Howe endeavored to regain the initiative by capturing the American capital at Philadelphia. Although this was successful, Howe’s failure to coordinate his movements with Major General John Burgoyne’s invasion from Canada resulted in Burgoyne’s surrender.


Source :
Book "Continental versus Redcoat: American Revolutionary War" by David Bonk
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:WilliamHowe1777ColorMezzotint.jpeg