Damen hoch zu Ross

Ladies on horseback. From royal portraits to bourgeois portraits of the aristocracy – equestrian culture in the House of Thurn und Taxis

• Demberger, Alexandra
• Wilhelm Imkamp/Peter Styra (Ed.):
• Thurn und Taxis Studies – New Series, Volume 13
• Verlag Friedrich Pustet, Regensburg 2018
• Length: 458 p., with illustrations

Women are barely present in the traditionally male domain of horsemanship: there is no end of male riders, often together with their proud steeds, in painting and literature. The underlying message of presenting a ruler on horseback has been immediately clear to everyone throughout the ages. But as this volume vividly shows, there have certainly been women who have laid claim to staging themselves in this dramatic way as well. Who were they and what made them so special? The examination of equestrian portraits in the Thurn und Taxis art collection and the extensive stock of equestrian literature in the Thurn und Taxis court library also raises the questions: Which values or ideals did people associate with this noble creature over the centuries? And did the written ideas influence contemporary depiction in paintings?

Alexandra Demberger, Dr. phil., born 1984, studied art history, classical archaeology and pre- and early history. She works at Kunstforum Ostdeutsche Galerie Regensburg.