Mazeppadetails

Mazeppa

mastodon

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A naked young man (a piece of black cloth hiding his loins) is tied to the back of a horse which appears to be about to try to roll over onto its back, presumably in an effort to rid itself of its burden. In the background a large black bird, a raven with a pointy beak, is diving and the boy or youth on the horse looks up a it worriedly.

The rope around the man’s right wrist has come undone and is partly laying on the ground.

Mazeppa, the youth on the horse, was a Ukrainian cossack called Ivan Stepanovych Mazepa (1639 – 1709). He was a page in the court of King John Casimir of Poland, sent on an errand, and, after going a bit too far with the wife of a nobleman of the court, was strapped naked to a wild “Tartar” horse that was then made to gallop across the Steppes. He became very badly injured, but went on to become a hetman, or commander, and a leader in Ukraine.

The event inspired a number of artists and writers, including Lord Byron, Victor Hugo and others.

The artist is given as A. Wagner, likely Alexander von Wagner (1838 – 1919).

nudity, men, people, horses, animals, bare feet, torture, punishments

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