Two Horses in a Landscape

Hans Memling (in circa 1490)

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eszter karsay asked

Why a monkey? What does it symbolize?
Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen answered

Dear Eszter, Together with its pendant in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (depicting a woman in love) this panel is thought to be an allegory - a symbolic depiction - of love. Although the meaning of the horses and monkey can not be established with absolute certainty, it could very well be that the white horse with the monkey - monkeys being a symbol of evil or impudence - stands for the less reliable male lover, while the other horse - which looks up to the woman on the pendant painting - stands for the loyal lover. All the best, Daphne
Cleo Koerner asked

This diptych shows an allegory of love. Is it erotic or not? What aspects of love does Hans Memling explore?
Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen answered

Hi Cleo,
The interpretations of this painting differ. The woman on the other half of this diptych is wearing a veil and holding a carnation. At the time these objects symbolized an engagment. Of the two horses depicted on the panel in Rotterdam the white one is mounted by a monkey. This might refer to the bad and the foul. The brown horse however, is looking loyally at the woman on the other panel. Therefore, possibly the white horse is symbolizing the bad, indifferent lover, whereas the brown horse is symbolizing the good, faithful lover.
Kind regards,
Jephta

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This painting with a monkey seated astride a white horse has a rather mysterious subject. What we do know is that it is one half of a diptych. The other panel, in the Metropolitan Museum in New York, depicts a similar brick archway, beneath which a young woman is seen holding a flower, the symbol of true love. The panel in Rotterdam might therefore symbolise man’s conflicting relationship to love: the faithfulness of the horse and the lechery of the monkey.

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Specifications

Title	Two Horses in a Landscape
Material and technique	Oil on panel
Object type	Painting > Painting > Two-dimensional object > Art object
Location	This object is in storage

Dimensions	Width 16 cm Height 43 cm
Artists	Painter: Hans Memling
Accession number	2470 (OK)
Credits	Acquired with the collection of D.G. Van Beuningen, 1958
Department	Old Masters
Acquisition date	1958
Creation date	in circa 1490
Collector	Collector / D.G. van Beuningen
Internal exhibitions	Van Eyck tot Bruegel (1994) BABEL - Oude meesters terug uit Japan / Old Masters Back from Japan (2018)
External exhibitions	Nederlandsche Kunst van de XVde en XVIde eeuw (1945) Collection of Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen – Bruegel’s ‘The Tower of Babel’ and Great 16th Century Masters (2017)
Material	Oil > Paint > Artist's material > Material > Material and technique Panel > Worked wood > Wood > Vegetable material > Organic material > Material > Material and technique
Object	Painting > Painting > Two-dimensional object > Art object
Geographical origin	Germany > Western Europe > Europe
Geographical origin	Southern Netherlands > The Netherlands > Western Europe > Europe

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All about the artist

Hans Memling

Seligenstadt circa 1435 - Brugge 1494

Hams Memling was most probably a pupil of Rogier van der Weyden. He spent the greater part of his life in Bruges. Since he was, in 1465, one of the greatest tax...

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