Heracles & Hippolyte's belt

 Salvete Omnes,

April 1st or April Fools Day -  what a Spring day to behold .. 

so let me invite you to the ancient Greek mythological  hero's adventure - the lion pelt clad and with armed with a bow and club Heracles, son of Alcmene and god Zeus, sailed on his quest for the belt of Hippolyte, the queen of Amazons. Accordingly the name Amazon was meant to mean ' without a breast, because the right breast was cut off, that it might not hinder the use of  bow' and javelin.

According to Apollodorus, in his 9th labor Heracles was ordered by the 'evil' Eurystheus, king of Tiryns, to fetch him the belt of Hippolyte (belt of Ares), the queen of the Amazon warrior-women from the river Thermodon [in Pontus according to Strabo]. 

Apollodorus stated that 'these warrior-women cultivated male virtues,' while Diodorus Siculus wrote in his Book II that the women of Thermodon river held the 'sovereignty in their hand and performed services of was just as did the men. Of these women one, who possessed the royal authority, was remarkable for the prowess in war and her bodily strength, and gathering together an army of women she drilled it in the use of arms and subdued in was some of the neighbouring peoples[..], and as the tide of her fortune continued favorable, she was so filled with pride that she gave herself the appellation of  Daughter of Ares.' Greek god  Ares had a belt made for the queen, known as the belt of Ares. Their capital was called Themiscyra, in the mouth of Thermodon.

Heracles, according to Apollodorus, came by ship with his companions, and having put into the harbor of Themiscyra was visited by queen Hippolyte wearing the belt. Goddess Hera, always trying to derail Heracles in his efforts, arrived in the likeness of an Amazon warrior and went up and down the horde of Amazons saying the strangers who had arrived were carrying off the queen. So the Amazons in arms charged astride their horses down the harbor. But when Heracles saw them in arms, he suspected treachery, and killing Hippolyte stripped her of her belt. And after fighting the rest[of the Amazon host] he sailed awaya dna touched at Troy.'

Diodorus, Book II, 4-16.,  gives a detailed description of the battle between Heracles and the Amazons. 

enjoy

valete

Edgar Degas - some horse-themed art

 Salvete Omnes,

a short posting - horses of Edgar Degas I corralled for this post - 

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Horses in the Meadow

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there are plenty of article on maestro Degas' equestrian art 

eg - Metropolitan Museum - pastel on wood.

Harvard Museum - at the races.

Visual Arts site analysis - in front of the stand.

also  some sculptures - I may want to ask you whether  this is some great equestrian art? 

a bit of cynicism should be in place here - in the early 1920s Degas' heirs decided to make his sculptures more permanent (as the originals were sculpted form perishable materials), although Degas himself never favored making them so (as they appear but sketches & studies of fleeting mementos of his interests and artistic needs),   and authorized metal casting of his wax, clay and plastiline sculptures. They 'invented' the casting series, and 'limited' the number of castings to 21, while the very first series went to the most prominent collectors.

 I am sure all in the best  interest of humanity and history of art ( and wealthy  collectors). 

Valete

Renoir, de Toulouse-Lautrec & Gaugin etc - horses

 Salvete Omnes,

Alphonse de Toulouse-Lautrec horse carriage

a short entry on this fresh Spring Day - nota bene Happy Nowruz to all.

ad rem,
some of the modern masters of painting who also painted some horse images within their works.

Pierre Auguste Renoir 

a short depiction of this rather splendid realistic artwork from Ronoir

Alphonse de Toulouse-Lautrec 

Gaugin - I used to stare at these two paintings a lot , especially at the Riders on the Beach. 

Camille Pissarro

Pablo Picasso

Boy leading the Horse page on Wikipedia 

Egar Degas, my favorite, will be saved  for another day

and as one of my fellow travelers suggested - Giorgio de Chricio should come too
Valete

Joachim Murat - happy birthday

 Salvete Omnes,

yesterday but in 1767AD France's most dashing cavalry commander Joachim Murat, marshal of France and king of Naples, was born in France to his parents, Pierre and Jeanne nee Loubières. From one dashing raid or charge to another had gone the years of his own Napoleonic epic.
Trying to carve his own realm he had abandoned Napoleon and eventually Joachim Murat was shot by a firing squad in Calabria, Kingdom of Naples, in 1815AD.

I gathered some period and later historic imagery to recall  this dashing and flamboyant horseman's life and deeds. 

Ave, Murat.

battle at Abukir, 1799

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Murat was married to Caroline Bonaparte, also born on March 25,  and they had 4 children, and their family line still lives on in France and the US. His descendants included a horseman and  cavalry general Louis Napoléon Achille Charles Murat (his great-grandson, born to a Mingrelian princess and French father in 1872 and died 1943), who was an officer in the Russian Imperial army and fought against the Germans in World War I and later on the side of the White Russians against the Bolsheviks etc.

Valete