Peasants and a White Horse

In the last light of the evening sun, a group of rustic figures gathers in the countryside. Echoing the undulating shape of the horizon behind, a ram, a horse and a mule alternate with animated human figures to create a frieze-like horizontal line in the foreground. Each animal is imbued with character, the central horse grinning as if listening in to the conversation between the figures on the right. Painted with fluid and expressive brushstrokes, the white horse takes centre stage.

Dutch artist Karel Dujardin (1626-78), forged a career producing paintings of everyday life, often featuring animals tended by peasants depicted while travelling or resting. The white horse is a recurring motif in Dujardin’s later work. Symbolic of hope, courage and power, it may also have a religious connotation. In the Christian tradition, white horses are associated with Christ’s second coming, and as the leading horse of the apocalypse, where the white steed represents victory and conquest. Dujardin, a Catholic, may have woven this symbolism into his animal paintings, where the white horse is a central character amongst the flock.