1. The Lascaux cave paintings.
The paintings are found on the walls of caves in France. They are estimated to be 17,000 years old. The paintings depicted horses, as well as now-extinct deer that were many times larger than modern deer. The horses are usually depicted as peacefully coexisting with other animals.
2. The Bayeux Tapestry
A 70 metre long length of cloth with embroidered artwork, this medieval artefact depicts horses amidst battle. The tapestry is over 900 hundred years old and tells the story of the fight for England.
There are a total of 190 horses in the tapestry, all hand-embroidered.
3. The Uffington White Horse.
This enormous artwork was made in prehistoric times, using a very unique technique. The artists cut into the surface of a hill and filled the trenches with white chalk, creating an enormous depiction of a horse.
The figure is approximately 2,000 years old. Strangely, it is very difficult to see the artwork from any position other than the sky.
4. The Standard of Ur.
Made of mosaics inlaid into wooden panels, this incredible artwork was found in a royal tomb, beside a man that had been sacrificed for the king.
The mosaics are made of shells and stone and depict horse-drawn chariots in a scene of war. Other sides of the wooden box show scenes of peace. This artwork is believed to be 3,600 years old.
5. Horses of Saint Mark.
1,700 years old, these incredibly well detailed horse sculptures are made of copper. They were stolen by Napoleon, but eventually returned to Italy.
Although only the horses remain, they would have originally been pulling a chariot.
6. Leonardo’s Horses.
Leonardo Da Vinci was commissioned to create the largest horse statue ever created. Unfortunately, the sculpture was never complete and even his clay tests were destroyed.
Illustrations and studies that Da Vinci did for the for the project have survived, however, and show a characteristically detailed understanding of a horse’s anatomy.
The horse was later built to show what Da Vinci had intended and had not been able to complete.
7. The horses of Achilles.
Anthony Van Dyck was an artist in the 1500’s often asked to paint portraits or royalty on their horses. He also painted horse-only images that were often darker and more emotionally challenging.
In this painting, he is depicted the immortal horses of the Achilles, from Greek mythology.
8. A lion attacking a horse.
George Stubbs is perhaps the artist most associated with horses. His famous depiction of a horse being bitten by a lion is particularly harrowing.
Stubbs painted the exact same arrangement multiple times, with minor changes to the surroundings, and returned to the theme 17 times in total.
9. Guernica.
Created by Pablo Picasso in response to Germany bombing the Spanish village Guernica, the painting is the size of an entire wall. In the centre of the violence and chaos is a dying horse.
10. The Horse in Motion.
Less likely to be considered an artpiece, this collection of images was derived from photos taken by 12 cameras in quick succession of a trotting horse.
The images were made to better understand the horse’s movement while trotting.
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