Design for the Headdress of a Horse Crowned by a Small Dragon 1620 - 1700

This is Baccio del Bianco's "Design for the Headdress of a Horse Crowned by a Small Dragon", made with pen and gray ink wash on paper. Bianco was working in Florence in the 17th century at a time when the Medici family were throwing lavish festivals to assert their power. This drawing gives us an insight into the spectacle of courtly life. The elaborate headdress, adorned with a miniature dragon, speaks to the period’s love of allegory and symbolic display. Consider the horse itself – a symbol of nobility and strength. Here, it is literally crowned, elevated to an almost mythical status. Yet, it's also an animal, subjected to human design and control. The drawing is not just a design, it's a cultural artifact, reflecting the intersection of power, art, and identity in the Baroque court. It encapsulates the tension between freedom and control, nature and artifice, that defined the era.