Table Of Contents

Two very specific images of the horsemen on rearing horses were so popular with the patrons that they became clichés.
The third series of the images is not likely to be a cliché invented by artists, but the subject was appearing naturally in s very similar way throughout millennia, so it is worth tracking its evolution.

Horsemen Receiving Victory Emblems For 2,100 Years

↑ Back To Table Of Contents ↑

Here are several very similar images: a male horseman on a rearing horse is receiving an emblem of victory, often a laurel wreath but sometimes a ribboned necklace, from a winged, almost always female, creature. This very specific iconography was appearing in art objects throughout over 2,100 years in very different cultures: Ancient Greece, Sassanian Persia, Catholic Flandres, Duchy of Savoy, France and Bavaria, Protestant England and Orthodox Russia! Observe that on all modern era portraits the sovereigns are holding a baton, Marie Jeanne Baptiste of Savoy-Nemours, who holds a sword (and the cherub with a laurel wreath seems to have changed his mind and is flying away from her!).

Horsemen With Batons, A Status Symbol Of The 16th-19th Centuries

↑ Back To Table Of Contents ↑

Being portrayed on a rearing horse, preferably dressed à l’antique, wearing a sash and holding a baton, was a status symbol in the 17th-century gentlemen, pretty much as #followme photos for the 21st-century ladies (see below). The trend has appeared in the second half of the 16th century in prints, reached its highest point in the 17th century, then dispersed throughout Europe, descended into trivialization and disappeared by the middle of the 19th century. Unlike the victory symbols cliché, this image was not reserved for the royalty, the aristocracy could use it as well.

French king Louis XIV (1638 – 1715) and two field marshals, John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough (1650-1722, England) and Prince Eugene of Savoy (1663- 1736, the Holy Roman Empire and Austria), deserve a particular mention since they were have been represented on the paintings that combine both clichés.

In addition, Prince Eugene of Savoy feature on a painting with two, maybe even three horsemen on rearing horses with batons.

The image was first used for the antique heroes and rulers, but soon after it was adopted to portray the contemporary patrons.

Horsemen Hunting With Dogs For 2,000 Years

↑ Back To Table Of Contents ↑

Cliché of a hunter on a rearing horse with a hunting dog underneath the horse has equally been popular with many cultures. It might seem like a very obvious iconography – and indeed it is – however it also highlights the cultural continuity, where the form changes, but the subject persevers.

Cliché Created In 2011

↑ Back To Table Of Contents ↑

Clichés are still all around us, even if we don not notice them. If you use Instagram, you might have noticed that there is a large number of quite similar images. These clichés are fashionable “must-haves”. They make an object of envy, and attract likes and followers.

One example is #followmeto: a lady with her back to the viewer leads her cameraman by the hand (cameraman’s hand is visible) to some interesting destination. This trend was created by a Russian couple Murad Osmann @muradosmann and @natalyosmann back in 2011. Murad says he started taking the photos almost by accident after his then-girlfriend Natalia became annoyed of him taking pictures and grabbed his hand and pulled him forward – and he carried on taking pictures.

Many Instagram users have started to follow the trend. It is hard to estimate how many such photos were taken, probably between 100,000 and 1,000,000 on Instagram alone.