An equestrian monument may signify both a statue of a prominent figure riding a horse and also one of an unaccompanied horse. The latter is more commonly referred to as an equine statue. The word equine originates from the Latin 'equus' which means horse. There exists a multitude of historical, even pre-historical, examples of the horse manifested in art. The artistic culture of Ancient and Classical Greece, the Egyptian, Persian, Assyrian and Chinese cultures are replete with equestrian and equine monuments. Gradually this type of monument began to take the form of a manifestation of power and eventually horse monuments developed into symbols of power, ruling power, and absolute power. In fact, the elimination of equestrian monuments was symptomatic of the radical changes which altered the map of power. Many Roman monuments, for example, were destroyed to create space for a new artistic culture, the Christian one. The legs and arms of the 'Colossus of Barletta' were cast into church bells in 1309. This contrasts with the annihilation of culture during wars which slaughters mercilessly without the aspiration for regeneration, as can be witnessed in the Middle East today. The singular example which withstood the destruction is the monument to Marcus Aurelius which is found in Rome, at the Campidoglio. The reason behind this monument's survival was due to a misattribution which claimed that the monument was dedicated to Emperor Constantine, the Christian Emperor. The French revolution also played a part in the destruction of similar monuments as an attack against the power system. The same happened during the Russian revolution. Donatello shocked the artistic world in the 15th century when he created the equestrian statue of Gattamelata, a work which provoked a new development in equestrian monumental art. Verrocchio produced a masterpiece with the monument to Bartolomeo Colleoni, Giovanni Bologna with the statue to Cosimo de Medici. Another famous example is Leonardo da Vinci's bozzetto for Charles II d'Amboise executed in the 16th century. The more Feudal Empires asserted their absolute power, the larger grew the population of equestrian monuments: Louis XIV had one in the Palace of Versailles and another in 'Place Vendôme' in Paris; King Joseph I of Portugal, Peter the Great of Russia and others. This politics of equestrian monuments as symbols of established power and even of fear continued during the advancing and victory of Capitalism, furthermore proclaimed amidst the development of socialist and communist states. Feudal equestrian monuments were eradicated by the bourgeois movement and replaced by monuments of an analogous nature yet under different names and powers: the United State's monument to George Washington. A more recent example is the statue to Queen Elizabeth in Canada.  There is an enormous equestrian in Mongolia dedicated to Genghis Khan, and an even larger one dedicated to Crazy Horse in the United States (172 metres high). In different historical periods one may see how power appropriates symbols of the past to assert the dominant power of the present. And here the horse plays a determining role in sustaining present power by using forms and narratives from the past. Thus, it was important for the Soviet Union to establish a school of equestrian monuments even when these resurrected personalities from the past. In 1954, Sergei Orlov produced a monument to Prince Yuri Dolgoruky, Nikolay Tomski in 1973 created the monument to Kurtizov, the hero General who led the victory over Napoleon Bonaparte, Zurab Tsereteli in 1990 created the monument of the victory of St. George over the Dragon. An important Soviet work which portrays contemporary symbolism is the monument to Georg Zhukov produced by Vyachiuslav Klikov in 1995. Fascism applied the same tactics, for example with Gori's monument to the 'Genius of Fascism' (1938). The polemical monument to Pizarro in Peru provokes much thought. The destiny of the of the monument to Mussolini on horseback which was presented to the Fascist regime of Somoza in Nicaragua was for it to be altered during the Revolution, leaving only the backside of the horse as a sign of the type of respect the Nicaraguan population held towards the murdering dictator who instigated more than one massacre.There are many more examples throughout history and even in the contemporary period. The horse signifies power. And whoever is riding it is at the helm of power. In fact, whoever rose against power always chose the donkey as an antipode to the idea of the horse. Christ entered 'triumphantly' on a donkey, the flight into Egypt happened on a donkey, Christianity, according to Voltaire, folkloristically penetrated Europe by cause of a donkey.  The donkey is central to the adventures of Don Quixote and Sancho Panza. The Egyptian artistic organisation CARAVAN is working on an interesting project for the Mdina Biennale 2015 which involves a series of polychromatic and multicultural donkey sculptures. This to sustain the Christian-anarchic anti-power idea. The horse is power, and being power it must be represented in a monumental manner, otherwise it would be pointless.Sciortino was correct when in a letter to the Times of London (21 August 1929) he elucidated that equestrian statues are the highest form and expression of monumental art. The Maltese sculptor rightly criticised the proposal for the monument to Lord Haig, and hence instigated an international polemic. According to Sciortino, few are the equestrian monuments which embody artistic value. Amongst them are, claimed the Maltese sculptor, the Colleone in Venice by Verrocchio, another by Donatello, referring to the Gattemelata in Padua, and, in times more recent to Sciortino, the monument to Amadeo of Savoy in Turin, the work by Calandra. Sciortino continued to write that even sculptural giants such as Rodin fled from this problem. The problem of having a horse as an art subject is likewise evident in the works of painting masters such as Velazquez, Goya, Tintoretto, Veronese and others. Today one may see those of Picasso, Muybridge and Kandinsky. It would be relevant to remember and note the works of Rubens, Gericault, Degas, El Greco and Marc. Sciortino wrote further points on the equestrian statue. Artists who are able to create good work must not only be monumental artists. They must also be architects. A work of art cannot be successful if the artist is not a specialist in the monumental craft and simultaneously lack a solid architectural basis. Such an inadequate combination would result in disharmony between the pedestal and the statue itself, and even between the whole monument and the space within which it would be installed. A monument cannot be placed in any random location. Artists who are both monumentalists and architects are a rare breed, especially today. Besides this, the equestrian artist must have a profound knowledge on horse anatomy, in all its forms, its development and movement, in all its actions. They must also possess knowledge on how antique/classical masters succeeded in creating diverse expressions of this noble animal. This cannot be achieved in a few weeks or months. In one way or another, the faults/stains will surface/become visible.Based on such preparation, intelligent artists would be conscious of their responsibility to produce an equestrian statue according to the exigencies of this subject matter. Therefore, what is the reason for the production of monuments like these? They must also be aware of the scientific measures demanded by an equestrian monument which would be positioned at a certain vertical distance from the spectator. And at the same time, independently of this distance, each sculpted impression must be visible. All these problems must be dealt with by the artist. However, regardless of this, the artist must be able to create the element which crowns all artistic value, the element which in my opinion is of the utmost importance: the monument must represent the modern artistic spirit, the spirit which corresponds to the spirit of that particular period within the development of man, the zeitgeist. Within this debate and in a highly intelligent manner, Sciortino further dares to define the Modern. To him this means that the artist is obliged to create an original monumental work specific to the 20th century, yet one that must last for eternity. The works and bozzetti of Sciortino exemplify this. 'Speed', 'Anita Garibaldi', 'Simon Bolivar' all show his phenomenal mastery of Sciortino when the artist attempts to define his century through the form of the horse and its equestrian role. It would be good for us to maybe pause for a minute and to reflect in silence.

The brave choice made by Austin Camilleri places him within a vicious arena composed by artistic sculptural giants. His choice has rendered it inevitable for his work to be confronted dialectically by similar art historical examples of previous centuries and within our time. One of the essential differences which separates this contemporary modern era from others is the fact that today (a point which I have made many a time) the artist need not possess any ability nor craft: the idea is sufficient, the material work is the task of others. Something which was considered anathema a hundred years ago has today become prestigious: known today as the art of non-making. The horse was produced in China, and I do not think it was simply a question of casting as the monument is evidently not a work rendered within the European tradition. If I am incorrect, I must apologise. However, in contemporary art this process of working is the norm. Many are the artists who commission (sub-contract) the craft work from technical masters and experts of a particular craft. This was made clear in the recent Hayward Gallery exhibition 'The Body'. In other words, from this angle, the Horse is a contemporary work which is reflecting what Sciortino labels as the spirit of the period.I hope that this article could open up a small window for discussion. Now we arrive at the issue of the legs, or the lack thereof:The rampant corruption which surrounds us, the total collapse of human values, the annulment of ethical and social traditions, the emptiness of alternatives, the quotidian anarchy of crass indifference, frequent killing, decapitations, genocides, deaths in the Mediterranean, civil wars and atrocious interventions happening a few kilometres away from our shores, annihilation of races, political hypocrisy, dirt and rubbish around Malta, Valletta and other towns and villages have become dumping grounds, oil, cars, roofs with chickens and pigeons constantly soiling everywhere, deathly poverty appearing daily, collapse in education, lack of knowledge of languages, broken English senseless Maltese, roundabouts replete with mediocre works, hunters firing at everything that flies, criminals constantly out the open due to 'human rights', bureaucracy which was even able to drive Dante mad when he visited Hell, people who save birds from dying being arrested, cars driving the wrong way, truck exhaust, lousy buildings...And thus the public demands a horse with four legs?
Giuseppe Schembri Bonaci
Article edited and translated by Nikki Petroni