Drie paardenhoofden en een geitenkop 1820 - 1833

This drawing of three horse heads and a goat’s head was rendered by Roelof van der Meulen in the early 19th century. The horse, throughout history, has stood as a potent symbol—a bearer of war, a symbol of status, and a representation of untamed power. Consider the Parthenon frieze; horses pull chariots, emblems of Athenian might. Here, the horse's head, though detached, retains its symbolic weight, stripped of context yet laden with ancestral memory. The goat, too, bears its own history, linked to Pan and Dionysus, embodying primal instinct and fertility. The goat’s head, with its bristling beard and wild horns, is emblematic of the untamed and irrational aspects of human nature. Observe how these animal heads, isolated on the page, evoke a primeval resonance. They trigger a dialogue between the conscious and the subconscious. The disembodied heads take on a life of their own, echoing through time. Each symbol resurfaces, ever transformed, bearing witness to our enduring fascination with the animalistic and the divine.