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Secondary sourcePaintingbefore 1899

Tadeusz Kościuszko during the Battle of Racławice

Juliusz Kossak · before 1899

A painting by Juliusz Kossak showing Kościuszko leading troops at the Battle of Racławice in 1794. It shows the general as a heroic leader in the fight.

Shows Kościuszko leading troops at Racławice, a battle from his 1794 uprising, so it belongs in his archive as a later image of him.

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Painting of a mounted officer in a tan coat with pink lapels and a green-plumed hat, holding a curved sabre on a bay horse, with infantry and cavalry figures behind him in a battle scene under a blue sky.
Juliusz Kossak, Tadeusz Kościuszko during the Battle of Racławice, before 1899.

About this source

What it is

This is a painting by Juliusz Kossak, dated before 1899. It shows Tadeusz Kościuszko on horseback during the Battle of Racławice, which took place in 1794. The image shows a mounted officer in a tan coat with pink lapels and a green-plumed hat, holding a curved sabre on a bay horse, with infantry and cavalry behind him under a blue sky.

Why it matters

The Battle of Racławice was an early victory in Kościuszko's uprising against Russian forces in Poland. Kossak painted the scene long after the event, so the picture shows how later Poles chose to remember Kościuszko as a national hero. It tells us as much about the painter's time as about the battle itself.

Look closer

  • What does the painter choose to show about Kościuszko's appearance and position, and why might that matter?
  • Who is shown behind him, and what does their place in the scene suggest about the uprising?
  • What does the painting leave out, such as the cost of the fighting or the views of the other side?

This painting is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Tadeusz Kościuszko on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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