Exercising cart 1900

This is Edward Penfield's illustration titled "Exercising Cart", likely created around 1900, showcasing a horse-drawn cart with a formally dressed man. The horse, a symbol of power and vitality, pulls the cart. Since antiquity, horses have carried a certain cultural weight: think of the steeds of Apollo drawing the sun across the sky. The image of the horse has carried through history, representing virility, strength and nobility. Here, though, this is juxtaposed with the driver's rather mundane activity, suggesting a society coming to terms with its place in the rapidly modernizing world. It's as if a god’s chariot is reduced to a vehicle for daily exercise! This tension is a reflection of the complex emotional landscape of the time, and how these images resurface and evolve, carrying different emotional and cultural resonances.