Liggend paard, ontwerp voor een penning 1755

Edme Bouchardon rendered this design for a medal, “Liggend paard,” in sanguine ink sometime before 1762, now held at the Rijksmuseum. The subdued palette and soft lines invite contemplation of form and essence. Bouchardon employs the circle as more than a boundary; it frames a study in classical restraint. The horse, recumbent yet alert, embodies a tension between repose and readiness, echoing classical ideals of controlled power. The choice of sanguine, a red chalk-like medium, enhances the drawing’s warmth, lending the subject a vitality that contrasts with its stillness. Consider how Bouchardon uses line to define musculature and volume, creating a sense of depth within the flat plane. This melding of form and medium challenges fixed notions of sculpture and drawing. Art, here, becomes an exercise in philosophical inquiry. The work invites us to reconsider art's capacity to embody ideas through its very form.