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W hat are the characteristics of a horse? Strength, dynamism and speed certainly, beauty and elegance too. An animal symbolic of adventure and freedom, of open fields and joyous escape. Yet more than that; the horse inspires affection beyond its utility. Its ubiquity in art since time immemorial testifies to its positive aura and image. The horse is the most frequently painted animal in the Lascaux Cave paintings of 15,000-17,000 BCE. In Chinese culture, where the horse is the seventh of 12 animals in the Chinese zodiac, the characteristics of people born in this year include loyalty, vitality, charm and sociability.
These qualities of the horse make it highly prized and valued, thus with its sophistication and dignity, the horse, lavishly caparisoned or otherwise, has never been far from court circles. In China's Tang dynasty (618-907), the horse, inseparable from the Tang empire’s military strength and political ambition, was a much loved subject for painting and sculpture, representing the cosmopolitanism, power and elite taste of Tang China.
In Five Drunken Princes Returning on Horseback, a rare surviving work by Yuan dynasty master painter Ren Renfa (1255 – 1328), Li Longji – who would later ascend the throne as the longest-reigning Xuanzong emperor of the Tang dynasty – and his four brothers are depicted returning after a celebratory night out. The eyes of the horses portray a lively involvement with the raucous scene, as they take the princes home safely after a night of excess. The fine horses of varying colours form an orderly cavalcade which contrasts with the joyous disarray of their riders. This tender partnership portrays a man on the cusp of power, enjoying a night out with his siblings before his responsibilities consume all his time.
Above all, the horse radiated power. When rulers and elites were depicted with horses, the animal functioned as an extension of authority, embodying strength brought under disciplined control. Just as effective governance required order, training, and moral command, the well-bred and well-managed horse symbolised the ruler’s ability to bring stability and prosperity to his people.
Horses remained a celebrated subject throughout centuries of Chinese art, particularly within the imperial court, where they served as a measure of both technical skill and artistic imagination. Among the most renowned examples is Italian Jesuit painter Giuseppe Castiglione’s (Lang Shining) One Hundred Horses, created in 1728 for the Yongzheng Emperor. Spanning more than seven metres in length, this silk and ink painting exemplifies the monumental scale and refined technique achieved by Qing court artists. The composition presents horses in a variety of poses – some resting peacefully along the riverbank, others galloping with dynamic energy. Castiglione situates the horizon at two-thirds of the painting’s height, generating a sense of depth and spatial fullness. Although the work was completed during Yongzheng’s reign, he never saw it; it was his successor, the Qianlong Emperor, who proclaimed it a masterpiece in 1735.
In Western painting, equestrian portraits of monarchs and military leaders have long been employed as powerful expressions of authority. The elevated vantage point of depicting the ruler on horseback allows the composition to position the viewer below, creating a sense of awe and subordination. Examples of this visual strategy is seen in Antony van Dyck’s 17th century equestrian portraits of Charles I of England, and François Girardon’s 18th century bronze statue of Louis XIV of France in the Place Vendôme in Paris.
The analogy works in reverse too; a horse can be difficult to manage, and a ruler may be unceremoniously thrown off if he or she isn’t careful. Paolo Trubetzkoy’s sculpture of Tsar Alexander III, unveiled in 1909, showed a corpulent Tsar aboard a stubborn horse digging its heels in. It was interpreted by some as a harbinger of the revolution which was to arrive eight years later.
It would be remiss to mention power, without also acknowledging the horse’s role in warfare. In fact, throughout most of history, the horse has been central to the waging of war in civilisations across the world. When Napoleon launched his ill-fated invasion of Russia in 1812, he did so in a style and speed not unlike Julius Caesar’s first invasion of Britain in 55 BCE, involving commanders on horses, horses pulling wagons, and cavalry units. Leading from the front, a commander on a spirited stallion was the indispensable symbol of an army. Richard III, losing his horse in the Battle of Bosworth Field (1485), utters the line “A horse, a horse! My kingdom for a horse!” in Shakespeare’s eponymous play. The audience would understand that a king without a horse is so bereft, that any thoughts of a kingdom are rendered impossible.
Horses were not reserved solely for kings or military leaders, however. Among the upper classes —and later the aspiring middle classes — the horse became symbolic of social status, implying ownership of land, access to servants, and privilege of leisurely sporting pursuits such as hunting or racing. Artists such as the French painter Jean-Baptiste Oudry (1686-1755) or English painter Henry Thomas Alken (1785-1851) frequently explored this nexus of horses, nobility and leisure.
Such is the innate charisma of the horse, however, that it soon found itself taking centre stage in the artistic canon. George Stubbs (1724-1806), one of the most celebrated European equine artists, often painted horses alone, unsaddled, glorious, vital and powerful. His Whistlejacket (c. 1762) — depicting the Marquess of Rockingham’s racehorse in almost life-size — hangs in London’s National Gallery, its plain background allowing the horse all the limelight.
Whistlejacket finds resonant echoes in Chinese ink paintings, where the horse is celebrated for its innate life force, potence and essence. Through the brush of Xu Beihong, the horse becomes a subject defined above all by its spirit, an embodiment of vitality whose animated presence closely aligns with the auspicious qualities associated with its zodiac year. Rendered in ink on paper, the horse is a feature of the natural world, its arched spine gently reminiscent of a mountain range, conveying a dynamic monumentality rooted in the classical tradition of shan shui painting.
Other Chinese artists have likewise depicted the horse in natural settings, evoking a sense of adventure and unbounded freedom. Such images may lead us to imagine a simpler, pre-industrial utopia, where harmony with nature hold sway and the exhilaration of movement reign supreme. Building on this tradition, Chinese-French artist Sanyu (1895-1966) captured the form and spirit of the horse with his unique blend of Chinese ink tradition and Western modernism. His portrayals employ fluid lines and simplified shapes, emphasising the animals’ vitality and grace, rather than literal detail.
Modern and contemporary artists have an enormous archive of equine art history to mine. The results are a happy union of the societal and historic symbolism of the horse with the artistic opportunities presented by the beauty of its form. The horse thereby became a leitmotif for landmark 20th century artists, from the vivid, spontaneous strokes of Indian master M.F. Hussain to the surrealist cubism of Wilfredo Lam and the bold ceramics of Pablo Picasso.
For some, the horse became the emblem and calling card of their artistic endeavours. German artist Franz Marc (1880-1916) painted his iconic Blue Horse I (1911) so that the curving azure of the horse’s back echoes the swooping hills which surround it, an artistic symbiosis where landscape teeters on the cusp of abstraction. Franz Marc was a key proponent of Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue Rider) movement, itself named after an equine painting by Wassily Kandinsky (1866-1944).
As we enter the Year of the Horse, humanity stands on the precipice of new inventions which will radically transform our lives, and the skills we require to forge a path within it. The horse has faced challenges no less seismic. In an increasingly urbanised and industrialised world, the thrill of speed may be sought in a car as much as on four legs, and its once vital services in agriculture and warfare are increasingly mechanised. Yet, perhaps unsurprisingly, the horse’s legacy lives on, and its charisma flourishes undimmed. Take the automotive industry for example, we still talk of the horsepower of an engine, and desirable classics like the Ford Mustang, and high thrill, high speed car makers Ferrari and Porsche reverently place horses at the centre of their logos.
In the world around us, as on the canvas, the horse’s unfettered power and strength shines through, eternally, unstoppably redolent of companionship, empathy, adventure and power.
