Vienna Schllichtada

Szlichtada (German: Schlittade) is a snow game that used to be held from the 16th to the mid-19th century. Szlichtady were organised in the courtyards of palaces and castles, in palace parks and town squares. They consisted of a fast ride on a specified track of at least several one-man and one-horse sleighs, one with the other. In a small, impressively decorated sleigh there was a lady sitting, and behind her, on the back of a small coachman seat, a young man who, embracing her with his arms, drove the sleigh – it was his dexterity that determined the success of such a daring ride. He was assisted in driving by henchmen with whips running in front of the horses. Sleighs were decorated with figural and ornamental sculpture, gilding and polychrome in scenes ranging from mythological to landscape themes. The horse with ostrich feathers on its head and in a colourful, rich cap, decorated with embroidery and appliqués looked equally impressive. It is such a szlichtada – taking place on a large town square (or wide street) with six sleighs – that is depicted on the painting of an unknown artist purchased in the 1970s for the collection of the Castle Museum in Łańcut. It is one of the few historical paintings preserved in European collections which depicts, or even documents, a szlichtada. Aldona Cholewianka-Kruszyńska