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In
medieval times the horse played an essential role in the daily life of both
rich and poor and horse art of this period
reflected these essential roles of the horse.
In 5th century B.C., in the West Rome had fallen, and Islam expanded in the
7th century. The 8th century saw the
empire of Charlemagne, uniting the Christians of Western Europe ruling
Byzantium, and what is now modern Turkey and Greece, with in roads into
Sicily and southern Italy.
The triumph of Christianity after the fall of Rome and the chaos that
followed, gave rise to the ideal of a horseman who combined the tasks of
being a soldier with piety, gallantry and courtesy. A code of chivalry
evolved and horse
art of the times often portrayed the heavy horses in ornate coverings as
were riders, from knights in armour to lords and ladies with decorate
mantles and other clothing. Christendom was firmly embedded in Western
Europe as a social structure of hierarchy and presented a period of
stability which saw the growth of learning and the arts of architecture and
sculpture, all with religious themes. |
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Horse Art Areas and Times:
Art Bio of Sculptor Patricia Crane
Four Decades of Horse Art by Patricia Crane
Horse Art History Main Page
Horse Art in Ancient Civilizations
Early Oriental Horse Art
Renaissance Horse Art
Horse Art and the Baroque Age
Horse Art Eighteenth Century
Horse Art Nineteenth Century
Illustrations of Medieval Horse Art:
St Martin and the Beggar - Simone Martini
St George and the Dragon - Lucas Cranach the Elder
Saint Eustace - Antonio Pisanello
Guido Riccio da Fogliano fresco ( 1328)
Jousting - Master of the Hoursebook (1475-90)
Duke of Anjou, from Livre des tournois
Palazzo Medici-Riccardi: Journey of the Magi - Benozzo Gozzoli |
With religion playing the utmost role, horses were not a main theme of the
arts, yet they did appear in such now famous painting as St Martin and the
Beggar, St George and the Dragon and The Conversion of St Paul. All in all
however, the appearance of the horse in religious art was restricted through
the 17th century.
In the second half of the 15th century, at the time of the Reformation,
engravings and woodcuts became a popular form of art and the horse was often
included in the scenes of fantasy or contemporary life. Many woodcuts and
engraved prints commemorated equestrian feats of the ruling classes, with
both horses and riders well decked out in finery.
Jousting was an aristocratic pastime, plus there were many professional
performers.
Durrer, Hans Burgkkmair and Lucas Cranach , among others, created art works
of extremely ornate processional and jousting scenes.
In Medieval times, the romantic concept was depicted with heavy cavalry,
until 1415 when the heavy French cavalry was struck down by the arrows of
the English long-bowmen on the field of Agincourt. The heavy horse was used
less and less in war and was eventually replaced by the light horse and
mobile Hussars. Truly, cavalry was transformed by Frederick the Great and
his cavalry general and in the1700's the Earl of Pembroke promoted great
change in England. the battle charge occurred with dash and speed, a
technique for which the fox hunters of the country had a special aptitude!
While Protestant Europe saw the increase of the light horse cavalry, the
French maintained their liking for manege as a more disciplined and
aristocratic form of horsemanship. England's Duke of Wellington stated the
French horse were more manageable, but there was no gainsaying the
effectiveness of a headlong charge by light cavalry.
It was most likely the earlier expansion of Islam and then the Crusades that
brought the West into contact with Arab, Barb and Andalusian horses. The
Gonzaga family of Mantua bred horses of oriental as well as domestic
bloodlines and the School of Giulio Romano in the Plazzo del Te depict the
quality of these horses.
A theme often represented in the horse art of Medieval times was that of
death , time and the Devil, and in these art works the horse was included,
often portrayed as scrawny or emaciated. Other art works show the horse,
farmers
and ploughing the fields, a fact of life that barely changed until the
invention of the tractor in the 20th century.
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