Stańczyk, the Sad Clown Paradox

The Archaic Allegory Volume III

Greetings and welcome back to The Archaic Allegory. In our previous affair, we traveled back in time, when all was more beautiful and now is more missed & discussed about the different art periods that have moulded, crafted the canvas we call as history. Stained with malign and neatly drawn with beauty & admiration and in the end, sharpened with a few strokes of blood, the history is home to all sorts of madness & beauty.

And today, we will take a trip down a road which exists in this town. A road upon the sidewalks of which, sit those who are eccentric and their creations, though being nefariously beautiful, invoke inside the mind of the admirer, a striking thought.

---

Art forged as madness walks inside the minds & colours run through the skin, the most beautiful & reliable evidence of historic existence we refer to as Paintings.

Through centuries, art has been used as a way to express, whether it be social & political issues, a beautiful afternoon or heartbreak on a full moon. The usage of art, dramatically at times and throughout eras, has been one of the most notable attempts to bring awareness to the events occurring in the world while also depicting the sentiments of the artist.

And as always, art has served beautifully in depicting the predicaments of the years that have already passed us by. Some may say that paintings crafted today which highlight the affairs of yesterday are solely for reminiscent purposes. That is a take I leave upto you, the readers, to discuss and determine.

In this edition, I will take you on a journey of understanding the multiple layers & depth of a painting that caught the glimmering eyes of numerous mortals and was regarded as one of the best creations of its time and of course, the melancholy behind it.

After all, is it even art if it doesn’t contain melancholy?

Today, we are going to take a deep, heart-wrenching look at one of the finest paintings created in the late 18th century by a twenty-four year old Jan Matejko.

Stańczyk during a ball at the court of Queen Bona in the face of the loss of Smolensk.

Stańczyk. A painting which embodied all the words in a dictionary that meant horrifyingly beautiful yet extremely powerful and sorrowful. And dare I say if there are no words that are glorious enough to possess this meaning, I demand for a picture of this painting to be inculcated as a separate page in the dictionary. I firmly believe that even after the addition, the page would fail to describe the indescribable beauty of this painting, for words will never be enough. As would this newsletter.

1. Art Period & Origin

Matejko completed this painting in the 19th century. The painting embodies the most famous, renowned & respected Jester in the polish history, Stańczyk. Stańczyk was a real life court jester who served King Sigismund I The Old, during the era of Renaissance in Poland, in the 16th century.

2. Story of Stańczyk

Stańczyk was born in the 15th century and as an infant, was more than a human wearing skin composed of flesh, blood & bones. There were many jesters but he was the kind you’d write about in newspapers & letters. The theatre filled with silence and the stage would have been filled with jesters, and as soon as on the scene, Stańczyk enters, all silence surrenders and laughs emerge in ecstatic fashion with the often drizzle of deep thought.

According to the legends, Stańczyk was more than an entertainer. He was a sharp and witty man who with the help of his satire, commented on the political disorder of the sovereignty. I wonder how the painter captured the beauty of this entertainer, for it is nearly impossible to put all of Stańczyk’s intellect & satire into any structure.

To give you a glimpse of how sublimely satirical Stańczyk was, here’s a little story -

Once upon a time, in 1533, King Sigismund the Old had a bear brought from him from Lithuania. Now, just how we have seen Kings goof around in cartoons to show off their hunting skills & superiority, King Sigismund had the bear released in the forest of Niepolomice, near Krakow. And just like in cartoons, the animal charged at the king, the queen and the courtiers but this time, there was no protagonist there to slay the animal, rather, there was our beloved Stańczyk, who as the havoc emerged, ran away.

Later, the King criticised Stańczyk for having run away instead of displaying courage and attacking the bear. To which, the wise jester is said to have replied “it is a greater folly to let out a bear that was already in a cage.”

3. Review & Breakdown

In the painting, Stańczyk can be seen sitting or should I say, drowning in the chair, out of complete pain & grief. The painting is created using dark colours & a horrifying combination of red & black to give a feeling of helplessness & hopelessness. Stańczyk, a jester whose job is to make others laugh is seen sitting sad, in a lousy posture and alone as all enjoy the party taking place behind him.

Stańczyk has turned his back on the party which indicates that he is displeased by the actions of the monarchy. He is incredibly saddened by the carelessness displayed by the sovereignty as one of the most important cities of their empire ( Smolensk ) is invaded & captured by the Russians, which brings us to our next observation.

The discarded letter kept on the table contains the year 1533 ( A.d. MDXXXIII ) written on it in distorted handwriting which indicates the invasion of Russians into Smolensk. Smolensk served as a critical trade hub for the Grand Duchy of Lithuania which was also the court Stańczyk served in. This part of the painting indicates only a pain Stańczyk understands. He feels terrible pain and even more is he saddened looking at how the empire has disregarded the news about Smolensk.

Note — The year 1533 printed on the letter and the downfall of Smolensk that happened in 1514 is not in sync. A debate for the history.

Stańczyk’s lute can be seen carried away by a midget. The lute, a symbol of glory and prosperity can be seen in the hands of someone who belongs to the lower social class of the society, which indicates how far the empire has fallen and how the empire engages in wrongdoings without any regrets.

Through the open window can be seen the Wawel Cathedral where the kings were coronated. And close to it, a comet which can be interpreted as a sign of misfortune. and lastly yet the most saddening -

Stańczyk’s marotte can be seen lying on the ground which, according to me is by far the most saddening sight as the jester does not feel like making others laugh anymore, for he is sad, for he is displeased.

The painting of Stańczyk is also popularly referred to as the Sad Clown Paradox which in brief, is a psychological analysis of comedians, clowns, or actors who makes other laugh, yet they can’t make themselves laugh. A series of psychological experiments conducted on actors, especially comedians showed that they often use comedy as a coping mechanism to hide their trauma.

I wonder how many times we try to make those around us happy, even as though our life drowns day by day, in melancholy. I wonder if all we all suffer from the Sad Clown Paradox.

4. Conclusion

This creation by Matejko’s hands by many is believed to be one of the most melancholic yet powerful creations ever, for it vehemently signifies so many things which, mind you, are most difficult to fit in one frame. Matejko was one of the artists in history, whose mind I believe was made with cosmic materials & gilded silk. The depth in his works, the meaning behind them and above all, his otherworldly ability to depict the upheavals of monarchy AND showcase the sentiments of a character with such subtlety & smoothness truly teleported him into another dimension of excellence.

Stańczyk has been mentioned by numerous poets in their works, most popular of them all are two short poems written by Jan Kochanowski where Jan referred to Stańczyk in diminutives, gęś (goose) and Stanisław respectively.

The sheer excellence of Stańczyk became the talk of every town in the 16th century and later, reclaimed its position at the tongue of many people in the 19th century as the pupils of people witnessed the tragic sorcery, performed by Matejko.

---

And that gets us to the conclusion of this week's discussion of an expression of a profound sentiment and yet, a deeply heartbreaking one - The Archaic Allegory.

As part of our effort to make this newsletter more engaging for readers, we as always intend to ask you a question -

This week’s question is: Do you consider death an inevitable punishment that all life will fall prey to, a goodbye you do not wish to bid, or do you see death as a way of liberation from all the discomfort living has caused you, a way out from all this suffering? And why?

The best answer will be featured in next week’s newsletter.

As we promised, we have chosen to maintain a source document that has all of the links to all of the resources and books that we use to offer you The Archaic Allegory. The source document will be updated with each delivery of the newsletter, and you may use the links given to learn more about what interests you.

Click here for the document: THE ARCHAIC ALLEGORY - SOURCE DOCUMENT

Thank you and a very warm goodbye. Until next time, this is The Archaic Allegory signing off.