Dravend paard 1819 - 1881

Johannes Tavenraat made this pencil drawing of a cantering horse in the Netherlands, sometime in the mid-19th century. Horses have always held a place in the Dutch cultural imagination, a country known for its flat landscape and agricultural economy. The cantering pose of the horse here is interesting, because it was around this time that photography began to influence how artists depicted animals in motion. Before photography, it was common to show horses with all four legs extended. Now, artists could see that horses actually gather their legs beneath them at certain points in their stride. It wasn't long before this new understanding of equine locomotion made its way into popular imagery. To learn more about the cultural history of horses in the Netherlands, you could consult historical societies and agricultural museums. By situating this drawing within its historical context, we can appreciate the ways in which art reflects and shapes our understanding of the world around us.