Van Dyck

photo: archive

Among the most notable stallions of early Spanish Arabian breeding, was the grey stallion Van Dyck, foaled in 1898 at the Bia?ocerkiew Stud in Poland. Bred by the noble Branicki family, he was originally spelled Van Dyck, although various documents and sources have recorded him as Wan Dick, Van-Dick, and Wan-Dyck. His importance lies not only in his own type and influence but in the crucial role he played as a foundation sire for the Yeguada Militar, Spain’s state-controlled breeding program for Arabian horses.
Van Dyck was by Vasco de Gama, a stallion by Woltyzer out of Comtesse Julie by Inkas. His dam Hela was by Hamdani out of Szansa. This heritage tied him to some of the strongest Polish desert-rooted sire lines of the late 19th century, particularly through Wernet, an early desert import to General Naruszkin, Russia and later acquired by the Branicki family.
Among Van Dyck’s most notable offspring was the grey stallion Egipto, foaled in 1919, who became the sire of the mare Menfis. Imported to the United States in 1934 by James E. Draper, Menfis became a foundation mare whose lineage, though numerically limited, remains alive today. Van Dyck's influence also persists through the line of Ilustre (via El Tabal and Congo), whose dam Divina was a direct daughter of Van Dyck. However, despite these branches, Van Dyck’s direct sire line is now nearly extinct, preserved only in fragments within historical pedigrees.