Staand ingespannen paard, naar links 1815

Jean Bernard made this drawing of a standing harnessed horse facing left with pen in gray ink, sometime before 1833. This simple sketch allows us to consider the changing relationships between humans and animals in the 18th and 19th centuries. The image captures a moment of stillness, but implies the potential for movement and labor. We can imagine the horse as a critical component in the infrastructure of the Netherlands. The economic structures of the time relied heavily on animal power for agriculture, transportation, and industry. What do the horse's physical form and harnessing tell us about its social role? To understand this drawing better, we might consult agricultural records, transportation studies, and social histories of the period. These resources help us to interpret its meaning as something contingent on its particular social and institutional context.