Dwórki w strojach z okresu walki Grunwaldzkiej, aranżacja wg. projektu p. Małgosi Stanco McGrath.
 

Kolejne zdjęcie w strojach z epoki Jagiellonów
 

Na zakończenie, po odśpiewaniu Polskiego Hymnu Narodowego było wiele zdjęc uczęstników...

A oto inskrypcja na cokole jedynego w całych Stanach Zjednoczonych pomnika Króla.

 

THE 600 TH ANNIVERSARY OF BATTLE OF GRUNWALD

THE BATTLE OF GRUNWALD WAS FOUGHT ON JULY 15 1410 DURING THE POLISH/LITHUENIAN – TEUTONIC WAR. THE ALLIANCE OF THE KINGDOM OF POLAND AND THE GRAND DUCHY OF LITHUANIA LED RESPECTIVELY BY KING WLADYSLAW JAGIELLO AND GRAND DUKE VYTAUTAS (WITOLD) DECISIVELY DEFEATED THE TEUTONIC KNIGHTS LED BY GRAND MASTER URLICH VON JUNGINGEN. DURING THE BATTLE MOST OF THE PROMINENT TEUTONIC KNIGHTS WERE EITHER KILLED (400) OR TAKEN PRISONER, WHILE ULTIMATELY DEFEATED IN THE FIELD. THE TEUTONIC KNIGHTS WITHSTOOD THE SUBSEQUENT SIEGE OF THEIR FORTRESS IN MARIENBURG (MALBORK). A CASTLE THAT TODAY SERVES AS CLASSIC EXAMPLE OF A MEDIEVAL FORTRESS AND IS THE WORLD’S LARGEST GOTHIC BRICK CASTLE. AT THE PEACE TREATY OF THORN (TORUN) 1411 THEN FOLLOWED, THE TEUTONIC KNIGHTS SUFFERED ONLY MINIMAL TERITORIAL LOSSES. HOWEVER THEIR FORMER POLITICAL POWER HAS NEVER RECOVERED AND THE FINANCIAL BURDEN OF WAR REPARATIONS CAUSED INTERNAL CONFLICTS AND AN ECONOMIC DOWNTURN IN THEIR LANDS. AT THE END THE BATTLE SHIFTED THE BALANCE OF POWER IN THE EASTERN EUROPE AND MARKED THE RISE OF THE POLISH – LITHUANIAN UNION AS THE DOMINANT POLITICAL AND MILITARY FORCE IN THE REGION. THE GRUNWALD BATTLE WAS VERY LIKELY THE LARGEST MILITARY CONFRONTATION IN MEDIEVAL EUROPE, INVOLVING OVER SIXTY THOUSAND WARRIORS AND IS REGARDED AS THE MOST IMPORTANT VICTORY OF POLAND AND LITHUANIA. SINCE, IT HAS BEEN SURROUNDED BY ROMANTIC LEGENDS AND BECAME A SYMBOL OF VICTORY AND THE SOURCE OF THE NATIONAL PRIDE

HISTORY OF THE PAINTING

JAN MATEJKO, THE AUTHOR OF THE PAINTING “THE BATTLE OF GRUNWALD” WAS BORN ON JUNE 24 1838 IN CRACOW. “THE BATTLE OF GRUNWALD” IS AN IMPRESSIVE PAINTING BOTH IN TERMS OF ITS ARTISTIC VALUE AS WELL AS  ITS SIZE 14 X 32.5 (4.26 X 9.89 M). IT HAS BEEN WIDELY SHOWN ACROSS EUROPE AND BROUGHT ITS AUTHOR INTERNATIONAL ACCLAIM  FOR THIS MONUMENTAL WORK. MATEJKO’S COMPOSITION WAS BASED ON MARCIN BIELSKI’S (1495 – 1575) DESCRIPTION OF THE BATTLE DOCUMENTED IN THE “CHRONICLE OF EVERYTHING IN THE WORLD”. HE ALSO RELIED ON JAN DLUGOSZ (1414 – 1480) ACCOUNT OF THE BATTLE IN “ANNALES” AS WELL COLORFUL STUDIES OF THE BATTLEFIELD GARLANDS AND FLAGS USED AT THAT TIME AND RECORDED IN THE “BANDERIA PRUTENORUM” IN 1872. THE OIL SKETCH WAS READY AND IN 1875 MATEJKO BEGIN WORKING ON THE FINAL VERSION OF THE PAINTING. IN THE PROCESS HE PERSONALLY VISITED MARIENBURG AND THE  ACTUAL LOCATION OF THE BATTLE. THE FINAL STAGING OF THE PAINTING TOOK PLACE IN THE CRACOW’S TOWN HALL (THE ONLY VENUE LARGE ENOUGH TO ACCOMMODATE THE PAINTING AND TO PROVIDE THE ARTIST A VISUAL PERSPECTIVE OF THE BATTLE SCENE NECESSARY TO COMBINE ALL ITS INDIVIDUAL AND DETAILED ELEMENTS INTO A SINGLE AND COHERENT WHOLE). AT THE PAINTING CENTER ARE TWO MAJOR FIGURES: ULRICH VON JUNGINGEN (THE TEUTONIC KNIGHTS GRAND MASTER) FIGHTING BACK TWO FOOT SOLDIERS AND VYTAUTAS MAGNUS (THE GRAND DUKE OF LIHUANIA) GALLOPING ON A HORSE. THE GRAND MASTER’S FACE EXPRESSES HOPELESSNESS AND A SENSE OF AN EMINENT DEMISE AWAITING HIM. WHILE THE POSTURE OF THE LITHUANIAN DUKE IS TRIUMPHANT AND RADIANT WITH A ZEAL. BOTH FIGURES AS WELL AS MANY OTHER (ALMOST COUNLESS) DETAILS INCLUDED IN THE PAINING, CONVEY POWERFUL AND SYMBOLIC MESSAGES. FOR GENERATIONS OF VIEWERS TO PONDER AND REFLECT UPON THAT HISTORIC EVENT

 

Polish American Congress NJ Division.