Groep van zes vechtende paarden 1534

Hans Baldung created this woodcut, ‘Group of Six Fighting Horses’, in Strasbourg, Germany, in 1534. Baldung was a student of Dürer, and this composition, with its dense interweaving of equine bodies, shows the impact of Italian art north of the Alps. Horses, of course, had a crucial social role at this time, but they were especially important as a signifier of status. The work shows us the violence and aggression beneath a veneer of chivalry. I wonder whether the artist intended for the viewer to infer connections between the animals’ social hierarchy and that of his patrons. We see horses that bite, kick, mount, and trample one another without any restraint. It’s fascinating that Baldung created this image during the Reformation, a time of great social upheaval and religious conflict in Europe. The print’s composition invites the viewer to consider the role of the passions and primal instincts in human affairs. As historians, it is our job to research the social and institutional contexts in which art is made so we can better understand its significance.