WHITE IS SACRED IN MANY CULTURES AND HEROES ARE OFTEN ASSOCIATED WITH WHITE HORSES
Mohammed Ascends to Heaven, Turkish, toward 1540 / zoom
The Apocalypse: "Behold a white horse: And he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: And he went forth conquering"
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Detail of illuminated manuscript, Poitiers, 12th century, British Library |
Washington Crosses the Delaware by Emanuel Leutze, 1851 / zoom
Reproduction in American classrooms
They signify chivalry and courage:
Fifteenth-century miniature / zoom
Joan of Arc before Orleans
Saint George and the Dragon by Johann Kônig, announcement at Zurich auction, 2024
For other paintings on that theme, please click.
Their majesty links them to kings:
- In Europe
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Russian chronicle / Internet, no further information |
The headdress identifies the tsar.
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The Procession of the Youngest King by Benozzo Fozzoli, toward 1460 / zoom |
Florentine symbol of royal beauty
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Internet / photographer not named |
At Saint James of Compostela, a Spanish king fights the Moors (16th century).
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| Movie for Arte, the Franco-German cultural television station, by Historia magazine |
The Empress Maria-Thérèse of Austria assumes the crown of Hungary (in 1741). In France, eight white horses pull the coaches of members of the royal family, six those of their cousins.
- In France
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| Internet, no photographer named |
Window of the cathedral of Laon, 13th century
Henri IV at the Battle of Arques, attributed to Jacob Bunel, early 17th century / zoom
Henri IV fighting
Louis XIV Receives the Keys to Strasbourg on October 23 1681 by Constantyn Francken, toward 1700 / zoom
Louis XIV prepares an entry.
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| Henri III leaves Paris after the Day of Barricades, "History of City Hall" by Jules Beaujoint,1883 (in French) |
Henri III flees rebels who have taken over Paris.
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| Maurice Leloir in Richelieu by Théodore Cahu, 1901, a history of France for children |
Richelieu and Louis XIII after they crush the Protestants
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The leader of the Descente from la Courtille, 1842 |
Marginals adopt the same symbolism.
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Already shown (usually scroll down)
A crusading king arriving in Constantinople painted in the mid-15th century, as well as Charles VII entering Rouen in 1449, François I's royal entry of 1540, a king presiding over an execution in a manuscript of the end of the 15th century and in an altarpiece of 1611, Rubens on Marie de Médicis, 1624, Louis XIV at the Crossing of the Rhine, n.d. but after 1672, and Louis XIV's royal entry in an illustration of 1931.
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The hero's horse is white even in defeat, so long as the public backs his cause:
- The chief of the Gauls submits to Caesar with dignity, in a schoolbook for French children after defeat by Prussia:
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| Vercingétorix Throws his Arms at the Feet of Caesar by Paul Royer, 1899 : zoom |
- But if defeat is only a personal incident, such as Henri II being mortally wounded in a tournament, his horse is brown and his adversary's white:
Sixteenth-century ceramic, Blois château museum / Carolyn Ristau
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Modern leaders choose white horses...
Street-fair painting
Chadaev, hero of the Soviet civil war
Robert Gueï, President of the Ivory Coast (2000-2002). Opponents kill the horse, thinking that Gueï draws supernatural power from it.
The Horse, a Political Animal ("Le cheval, animal politique") by Jean-Louis Gouraud, ed. Fabre, 2009 |
Nicolas Sarkozy, President of France, 2011-17
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The tie with royalty is ingrained in our imaginations:
The 19th-century artist takes the tradition of the white horse for granted, though Spanish queens rode mules because they were not supposed to fight.
The prince in Disney's Sleeping Beauty, 1959
Ad facing the Louvre, 2022
End of this section.
III.3.
Have the kings become subversive?
* * *
These pages have shown
the importance of the royal imprint.
Why is so little said about it?
These pages have shown
the importance of the royal imprint.
Why is so little said about it?
III.3.
Have the kings become subversive?
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