Study of a White Horse against a Red Background, before 1893
Oil on canvas
Dimensions without frame119,7 × 112 cm
Status
on display, room 010.2 About the workThe Düsseldorf Art Academy professor and director Peter Johann Theodor Janssen made this study for a large-format painting of the Battle of Worringen, which was fought in 1288. A Düsseldorf citizen commissioned it in 1889, shortly after the anniversary of the battle. The horse dominates half of the composition – as if it were the actual main figure – and reinforces its message: the fighters are presented as strong and defiant. The large format of this study also shows how important the horse was to Janssen. The model was a Dutch packhorse, which were common along the Rhine at that time.
AccessionCollection of the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf
Provenance[...]; seit 1932 Dauerleihgabe der Kunstakademie Düsseldorf
Inventory numberM 2067