ANCIENT REPRESENTATIONS OF GALLOP 6i 



"cabri allongd"), in which, whilst the front legs are off the 

 ground, and all four legs are stretched nearly as much as 

 in the flying gallop, there is this essential difference, viz. 

 that the hoofs of the hind legs are firmly planted on the 

 ground (see PL II, fig. 7). This pose is seen in a picture 

 by the same artist (Stubbs) of two years' earlier date than 

 that in which he introduced "the flying gallop." The 

 "stretched-leg prance" is found in Egyptian works (PI. II, 

 fig. 8) of S 80 B.C., and is a favourite pose to indicate the 

 gallop, in ancient Assyrian as well as mediaeval art, for 

 instance, in the Bayeux tapestry (PI. VI, fig. 6). We find, 

 further, (2) that the second pose made use of for this 

 purpose is the " flexed-leg prance," in which all the four 

 legs are flexed, so that the hind legs rest on the ground 

 beneath the horse's body, whilst the fore-legs " paw " the 

 air. This is seen both in Egyptian, Greek, and Renaissance 

 art (Leonardo, Raphael, and Velasquez). It is by no 

 means so graceful or true to Nature as the next pose, but 

 gives an impression of greater energy and rapidity. The 

 third pose regresents a kind of " prancing," and is seen on 

 the frieze of the Parthenon (PI. Ill, fig. 4), and in many 

 subsequent Greek, Roman, and other works copied from, 

 or inspired by, this Greek original. One only of the hind 

 legs is on the ground, and the animal's body is thrown up 

 as though its advance were checked by the rein. It is 

 called "the canter" by M. Reinach, but that term can 

 only be applied to it when the axis of the body is hori- 

 zontal and parallel to the surface of the ground. 



The reader will perhaps now suppose that we must 

 attribute the " flying gallop " to the original, if inaccurate, 

 genius of an eighteenth century English horse-painter, 

 That, however, is not the case. M. Reinach has shown 

 that it has a much more extraordinary history. It is 

 neither more nor less than the fact that in the pre-Homeric 

 art of Greece — that which is called " Mycenaean " (of which 



