a) Artillery on Mission (recto); b) Artillery on Mission (verso) (Artiglieria da campagna) 1888 - 1903

Giovanni Fattori etched "Artillery on Mission" to capture a scene dominated by a horse-drawn artillery, a symbol deeply rooted in the theater of war. The horse, an ancient symbol of power and virility, here bears the burden of conflict, its steady gait a grim march towards an uncertain future. Consider how the motif of the horse in motion appears across epochs, from the proud steeds of classical statuary to the tormented animals in battle scenes of the Renaissance. This image stirs ancestral memories, a primal understanding of the horse's role in humanity's long, often violent, journey. The obscured faces of the soldiers add to the work’s psychological depth. They become anonymous figures, each representing the collective experience of war, a faceless mass driven by forces beyond their control. This timeless tableau invites us to contemplate the cyclical nature of conflict, and our place in its unending recurrence.