A Farmer Feeding his Pony in Geneva (recto); Seated Friar (verso) c. 1840

Edwin Landseer made this pen, ink, and watercolor drawing, A Farmer Feeding his Pony in Geneva, sometime in the 19th century. Landseer was an animalier, an artist who specialized in animals. His paintings were very popular in Britain, and were reproduced widely for middle-class audiences. Here he depicts a farmer feeding his pony in Geneva. The image creates meaning through a set of visual codes, cultural references and historical associations. The scene is a rural idyll, and the relationship between the man and the animal is one of mutual trust and affection. The artwork evokes a particular idea of the relationship between humans and animals, and perhaps even a comment on the social structures of the time. Landseer was extremely popular during his lifetime, and his work can be understood in the context of Victorian culture and its values. Further research into Victorian attitudes to animals might shed more light on the artist’s work. The meaning of art is always contingent on its social and institutional context.