Horses of Tragedy (I cavalli della tragedia)

Discussion

FROM THE BARNES FOUNDATION’S CATALOG

Here Italian artist Giorgio de Chirico depicts a group of four larger-than-life horses within an outdoor architectural scene. Two smaller mannequin figures, dressed as a Roman philosopher and a soldier, race across the top of the scene. It's possible that de Chirico tried to evoke the rise of Italian Fascism after World War I as analogous to the apocalypse in the Christian Book of Revelation, which begins with the entry of black, red, white, and ashen horses.

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