Ford Hallam Posted April 4, 2011 Report Posted April 4, 2011 Somehow I thought I added the following bit of art history to the, sadly now locked, thread on the Hisanori tsuba featuring a galloping horse. I was reminded of this story moments ago while browsing one of my Art history books. In 1878, 2 years after the haitori in Japan, a long standing question regarding the locomotion of horses was finally settled by the photographer Eadweard Muybridge. I quote for wiki for ease; "a popularly-debated question of the day: whether all four of a horse's hooves are off the ground at the same time during a gallop. Up until this time, most paintings of galloping horses showed the front legs extended forwards and the rear legs extended backwards." The full entry is here and the famous photographs can be studied too. You will notice that in none of the images does a horse actually adopt the pose as seen on our Hisanori tsuba. These photographs revolutionised how western artists depicted horses almost overnight. One would imagine that as examples of western technological advancement they made their way to Japan also, in artists journals and possibly with visiting artists and instructors. If Meiji period tsuba makers were intent on appealing to western tourists surely they'd have been influenced by these dramatic and revolutionary images.
drbvac Posted April 5, 2011 Report Posted April 5, 2011 Horses only lift all feet off the ground when they "gather" to put them down to push off again or at the last extension before they pull them all in like: When the hooves are all in the air they are usually all together under the body like this: That said depending on the second one is looking or taking the picture - they can be extended like this !!! I guess like everything else it is perspective more than anatomy and if the horse is not galloping but is pacing or trotting then - all bets are off.
Ford Hallam Posted April 5, 2011 Author Report Posted April 5, 2011 The point I was making was that the pose/attitude as depicted on the Hisanori tsuba was not informed by the then newly recognised facts of equine locomotion. It's fairly obvious that the pose we see on the tsuba is not at all true to life and as such would have been recognised as such by any Westerner versed in the arts. The pose owes more to Chinese models than any Western "scientific" observations that were being applied in Western art at the time.
Ford Hallam Posted April 6, 2011 Author Report Posted April 6, 2011 You seem to have fallen out of your saddle, Reinhard :?
reinhard Posted April 6, 2011 Report Posted April 6, 2011 Sic transit gloria NMB. Sorry for a cheap joke. Couldn't resist. reinhard
george trotter Posted April 6, 2011 Report Posted April 6, 2011 (except Reinhard's) I see from these pics that none of the horses shown in full gallop have their heads turned around looking backwards, as is the case with the Hisanori horse. Geo.
DirkO Posted April 6, 2011 Report Posted April 6, 2011 KM A flying horse (Pegasus) doesn't really count in this
george trotter Posted April 6, 2011 Report Posted April 6, 2011 was going to add comment, but naah...can't be bothered....sick of the ant wars really.
kusunokimasahige Posted April 6, 2011 Report Posted April 6, 2011 I know Pegasus dont count.... xD but when some people started posting silly pics i thought... KM
Curgan Posted April 6, 2011 Report Posted April 6, 2011 Isn't Japanese art full of compromises and stylized depictions anyway?
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