I had the opportunity to see the beautiful exhibit - Art in Poland in 1999 at the Walters Art Gallery in Baltimore, Maryland. This book is the catalogue for that exhibit. The following museums were also participants: The Art Institute of Chicago, Huntsville Museum of Art, The San Diego Museum of Art and The Philbrook Museum of Art. It was the first time that this massive work of art had ever been seen outside of Poland.

LAND OF THE WINGED HORSEMEN: ART IN POLAND, 1572-1704 is a splendid pictorial of over 150 magnificent works of art from the Baroque era when Poland ranked as the second largest country in Europe. Poland's location is at the heart of Europe and for that reason its position is at the crossroads of Eastern and Western Europe. That melting pot of nations and cultures is reflected in this outstanding collection.

This book highlights paintings of the monarchy; icons, religious depictions and an historic and magnificent painting entitled The Battle of Vienna. Also shown are rich tapestries, exotic rugs, glassware, porcelains, military regalia, weaponry, liturgical objects and the crown of King Augustus III.

The Winged Horsemen was the name given to the Polish hussars. They carried a very long lance, wore traditional metal plate armor and usually had some type of animal skin draped across the shoulder. What gave them such a distinctive look were the wings that were mounted to the back of their saddles. In 1683 the King of Poland, Jan III Sobieski led an army of combined Polish and German Imperial soldiers to fend off an attack of 100,000 Turks who had laid siege to Vienna. The Polish Winged Horsemen led the assault and smashed through the Turkish defenses. The Turks fled in panic and Vienna was saved. A Turkish tent from that siege and armor from a Winged Horsemen are both pictured.

The beautiful photographs in this book are accompanied by well-explained descriptions of the various works of art.

This is a positively wonderful book!! It was done from the museum exhibit from earlier in 1999 and 2000. It has the most wonderful close up pictures of the tent,the spoons, the saddle, the lances and I believe it also has the history of the different items also, so you can learn how important the certain items are to Poles. Before this exhibit, I had wondered where the "Silver Spoon" phrase came from. This exhibit answered this question, as does this book!! Wonderful book, and Enjoy!!!