Mlecha or Gazella?

In most of the books about the Arabian horse in Poland we find these three images of the foundation mares Gazella, Mlecha and Sahara, which Count Juliusz Dzieduszycki imported from the Orient. The watercolors were created by Juliusz Kossak, a well-known Polish artist with whom Dzieduszycki was friends. The watercolors are dated to 1845, the year in which the mares came to Poland. Kossak was 21 years old at the time and therefore they are a little primitive in style, yet beautiful and with the charm of that time, but they were painted before his Paris studies with the Vernets.
In all older publications, the mare (1) shown above is referred to as “Gazella”, the mare (2) as “Mlecha”. Until Prof. Andrzej Strumiłło, an art expert, found another explanation. He was looking for good reproductions of the watercolors of these three mares as illustrations for a book and was able to find a descendant of Juliusz Kossak in Bialowieca. She was in possession of the original Juliusz Kossak watercolor. Prof. Strumiłło asked for a copy of the picture, but unfortunately what he received was not of sufficient quality. He thanked her and said he would try to use it even though the quality was unfortunately not good enough. The surprise was great when he received the original as a present for Christmas! From then on, the watercolor hung in his living room. But after a few years he found that the work should hang where the generous benefactor would also be honored – in Janow Podlaski.
However, there was a problem with the identification of the mare in this picture, as some sources say it is Mlecha, others say it is Gazella. Prof. Strumiłło showed the watercolor to the experts and organizers of Juliusz Kossak’s pre-war exhibition in Lviv. They came to the conclusion that it was Mlecha. Their expertise can now be found on the back of the original. As you can see, repetition doesn’t always create truth …
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1 – In older publications this mare is called Gazella, Prof. Strumillo found out that it is most probably Mlecha.
2 – This mare is probably the actual Gazella (see description by Mlecha).
3 – This mare is undoubtedly Sahara.