The Mother of God

The painting illustrates a scene shortly before the Polish hussars were led into battle by the Grand Marshal of Lithuania, Jan Karol Chodkiewicz. The title is a reference to the ancient Polish psalm. Brandt painted a fragment of the battle as if capturing a moment of action, which to a modern viewer may seem like a film frame. The figures of horses are depicted very precisely and are skilfully differentiated, whereas far less attention was given to portraying the people. Observers are left to guess why the soldiers in the painting are so similar to each other…