Mazeppa 1867

Willem Steelink created this print called 'Mazeppa'. Steelink depicts a scene from Lord Byron's narrative poem, Mazeppa. The image shows the wild horse carrying the naked Mazeppa across the Ukrainian Steppe, a punishment inflicted by a Polish nobleman after discovering Mazeppa's affair with his wife. Romanticism, flourishing in the 19th century, often idealized the natural world as a realm of sublime power, contrasting it with the perceived constraints of civilization. This image is no exception, as it reflects the Romantic interest in the power of nature and the individual's struggle against overwhelming forces. To fully understand this image, we can explore the historical reception of Byron's poem and consider the political context of 19th-century Europe, including its fascination with Eastern Europe. Art history is a discipline that treasures archival research as a way to explore the meaning of artworks as contingent on social and institutional contexts.