Verschrikt paard 1829

This is Carl Fredrik Kiörböe’s lithograph of a startled horse, its head turned back, mouth open in an expression of alarm. The horse, a symbol of vitality, energy, and unbridled passion, here is caught in a moment of primal fear. The motif of the frightened horse appears throughout art history; in ancient Greek sculptures depicting the Trojan War, the horse is a symbol of chaos, of impending doom, and of nature's untamable force. Consider how this echoes in Géricault’s *The Raft of the Medusa*, where the rearing horse mirrors the desperate struggle for survival. This fear—this ‘Schreckbild’—is a powerful archetype, tapping into our collective memory. It is the same fear we see in Edvard Munch’s *The Scream*, the same psychological distress painted onto the canvas, resonating with viewers on a subconscious level. The frightened horse is not just an animal in distress; it embodies the universal human experience of fear, a sentiment that transcends time, continuously resurfacing in art, evolving, yet forever rooted in our shared emotional landscape.