There are very few animals that have been represented in art through history as consistently as horses have. Their enduring and long relationship with humans is clear to see when you look at art throughout history, from the cave paintings from early humans to modern art like these bronze horse sculptures https://www.gillparker.com/bronze-horse-sculptures-limited-edition-to-buy/ that are popular today.
Horses have not only been a great help to humans throughout history, but are also admired for their beauty, making them excellent subjects that appeal to artists. They can also be used in art to represent things like strength and high status.
At the Pech Merle cave in the south of France, the oldest known cave paintings known to exist include paintings of horses daubed onto the walls. These paintings are believed to date back around 25,000 years and there are also mammoths and human handprints on the cave walls.
These paintings are a fascinating insight into the life of early humans and show clearly how important horses were even thousands of years ago.
Over in Ancient China there is also evidence of horses playing an important role in culture and art. The Terracotta Army are famous ancient sculptures that date back to the 3rd Century BC and alongside the thousands of warriors you can also see the life-sized terracotta horses and the chariots represented in the sculpture too. This shows the part that horses played in ancient China.
Ancient Rome was also a civilisation that valued the role of horses and represented this a lot in art. They were often used to represent power and military might – Marcus Aurelius of Rome is famously represented in bronze on horseback to celebrate his military campaigns.
With his hand raised as if he is making an address to his followers whilst sitting on his horse shows him as the ultimate powerful military leader.
Fast Forward to the 19th Century and the role of the horse in art had evolved again. The horse was no longer simply used as a symbol of power to the humans around them but as subjects in their own right and there are many paintings featuring rural life and showing horses working in the fields or running through the countryside.
A popular painting from this period is Rosa Bonheurs painting the Horse Fair – this large painting was started in 1852 and was first exhibited in 1953. It shows the Percheron horses at a Paris horse market, giving a beautiful insight into the lifestyle at the time, making the horses the central subject of the painting.