Evariste Vital Luminais - Horses
Evariste Vital Luminais (1822-1896), French
Horses, undated
OIL ON CANVAS, 21 ½ x 18 inches
Gift of Mrs. Theodora Willard Best
History and national identity were closely entwined in nineteenth-century art. The French painter Evariste Vital Luminais made a career of painting imagined scenes of the ancient Gaul and Breton peoples, forebears of the modern French, In this composition, the horseman's rough tunic, helmet, and long hair identify him as an historic figure, one of the intrepid warriors whose lineage the French claimed. The dynamic diagonals of Luminais' scene are typical of his work and impart a sense of energy and vitality to his depiction of a wild horse being tamed.