In 1924 in Paris, Chirico painted a series of horses like the ones picture here, with barely-defined features and impossibly voluminous manes and tails.In the foreground, two horses stand on a beach; in the background, temple ruins crown a reddish cliff. The animals look very human, perhaps because of their shortened muzzles and intelligible expressions. The white looks masculine, while the bay seems more feminine. As the white paws the sand, his face is pensive; the bay stands still, and even her face looks content.
Chirico executed another series of horses in the 1960’s, and repeated this subject in Divine Horses of Achilles. Divine Horses more clearly anchors the subject against the background, and depicts the bay nuzzling the white gently. Their anatomy is more equine although they retain their human expressions. They seem older; the sky, darker. Now, she seeks reassurance, and he staidly gives it. It is interesting to note that two world wars, a depression, and a host of social changes occurred between the two versions.
