A valet taking two horses to bathe, sitting atop one horse in a river, the other beside him to right 1660 - 1664

Stefano della Bella created this print of a valet with two horses sometime in the 17th century. During this time, the relationship between humans and animals, especially horses, was deeply connected to social status and power. Here, we see a valet, likely a servant, tasked with caring for the prized horses. The way he sits atop one horse, leading the other, speaks to the hierarchy of labor and the intimate, yet subservient, role he plays. He is neither master nor animal but occupies an ambiguous position between the two. Della Bella’s delicate lines capture the quiet moment of labor, the mundane realities that underpin aristocratic life. The print invites us to consider the lives of those whose stories often remain untold. It evokes a sense of the everyday, subtly revealing the complex social dynamics at play.