[title not known] 

Editor: This quick sketch by John Flaxman, from the Tate Collections, features figures on horseback in graphite. It feels like a study for a larger composition, but what strikes you most about it? Curator: It's interesting to consider Flaxman's neoclassical style in the context of the era's power dynamics. What narrative might these figures embody? Are they symbols of colonial power or perhaps of resistance? Editor: I hadn't thought about it that way, I was just seeing classical heroes. But what does it mean to depict these figures on horseback, given the history of equestrian statues and their association with power? Curator: Exactly. Flaxman was working in a period where such imagery was loaded. By evoking these tropes, is he reinforcing or challenging them? And how does his identity as a British artist factor into this? Editor: That gives me a lot to think about; it’s more than just an innocent sketch. Curator: Precisely. Art always exists within a complex web of social and political meanings.