- #36
fuzzyfelt
Gold Member
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Art said:Gokul - Re horses - I was told it was only legend with the possible exception of Gettysburg by a curator whilst in a museum in Washington.
The problem with many statues of Napoleon and the legend is that they do depict him on a horse with both forelegs raised whereas he did not die in battle.
Based on the link Evo supplied it seems only 1/3 of sculptors know of this code
I don’t know about American military statue rules, but I have heard something along the lines that the tradition of representing riders upon horses performing the pesade or levade( I think the levade actually originated later again) began with Velazquez, and that this position with a rider was a newly attained feat, and very difficult for both horse and rider to accomplish.
‘In this court, dedicated to preserving reputation at all costs, with its coffers and its gene pool disastrously reduced, artifice and sleight-of-hand were essential. Once there, the radical youth could not carry on painting like Caravaggio, he gives his master's what they want; we see the great Olivares in gleaming black armour, easily staying in the saddle as his horse performs a levade, a move which requires the peak of equestrian ability, and also conveying the message that this man, not the king is the architect of Spain's military prowess.
This is a pose he also uses, with some irony, for the King's heir, Infante Baltasar Carlos, all part of a highly ambitious programme of political propaganda.’
After that, because it showed greatness, many people wanted themselves represented in similar fashion, and from this I’d guess that how they died wasn’t a consideration in this context.