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Original fileCalabrian Horse
Paard uit Calabrië Calaber (titel op object) Paardenrassen uit de Koninklijke stallen van Don Juan van Oostenrijk (serietitel) Equile, in quo omnis generis generosissi morum equorum ex varijs orbis, BI-1893-3601-9
after Hendrick Goltzius
About This Work
A muscular, long-maned horse is shown in profile, wearing a bridle with a lead rope draped loosely. The horse has its front left leg raised in an agitated or spirited stance against a low-horizon landscape featuring a distant town and rocky terrain. The composition emphasizes the animal's powerful anatomy and noble posture, characteristic of late 16th-century equine portraiture.
This print belongs to the 'Equile' series, which reflects the Renaissance transition from medieval bestiaries to early modern natural philosophy. It documents the diversity of the natural world through the classification of noble horse breeds, seen as a manifestation of the 'Great Chain of Being' and the prestige of the courtly 'Wunderkammer' or cabinet of curiosities.
Inscriptions(Latin)
CALABER Io: Strada: Invent. Fortis, et armipotens calabris prognatus in oris Est equus, argutumq. cui caput et breuis aluus. Tergaq. obesa: feris voluens sub naribus ignem, Septius et solido tellurem concauat Ungue.
Translation
CALABRIAN Io: Strada: Invent. Strong and mighty in arms, born on Calabrian shores Is the horse, with sharp head and short belly. And obese back: rolling fire beneath its fierce nostrils, It digs up the earth with a solid hoof.