Ruiter die zijn pistool afvuurt c. 1850 - 1867

August Erxleben created this artwork, "Horseman Firing His Pistol," during a time of considerable social upheaval and burgeoning nationalism in Europe. Here, Erxleben positions the viewer in confrontation with the horseman, whose raised pistol creates a sense of impending violence. This tension plays on the anxiety of the emerging middle class in Germany. The horseman becomes an ambivalent symbol, embodying both the romantic allure of heroism and the brutality of unchecked power. This representation also reflects on the prevailing social hierarchies of 19th-century Europe, where military prowess was often intertwined with class privilege and masculine identity. How might we see this figure as emblematic of a society grappling with shifting power dynamics and questions of national identity? In essence, Erxleben's work serves as a potent reminder of the complex relationship between art, power, and the construction of identity in a rapidly changing world.