Rijdende artillerie in draf 1857 - 1916

Willem Constantijn Staring rendered this pen drawing of horse-drawn artillery with a sharp eye for detail. The horses, yoked together, stride forward, pulling the weight of what we can only assume is a cannon. Consider the horse, a symbol of power and virility since antiquity. We see it in Roman equestrian statues and Renaissance battle scenes, but its role shifts here. These are not war horses in glorious combat, but beasts of burden, performing a mechanical task. This transition reminds us of the ancient Greek centaurs, half-man, half-horse, symbolizing the struggle between intellect and instinct. Staring's drawing captures a moment in the evolution of warfare, where the animal’s primal force is harnessed by human technology. The collective memory of the horse, as a symbol, carries with it the weight of human ambition, a powerful force that echoes through time, forever linked to our subconscious desires for domination.