The Stubborn Stallion
by Paul Wheeler
From the Film Maker...
The painting depicts a battle fought between the Florentines and the Siennese in 1432, but the rendering of the action depicts no blood or mud or any other of the gruesome sights expected in a medieval battlefield. Instead, all the knights are depicted in brand new shining suits of armour topped off with their crests, something which knights would not have worn in a real fight, but only in tournaments. Therefore the painting is an idealised battle scene produced to romanticise the idea of knights as paragons of courage and daring.
Each knight has his own individual look which was what first drew me to the painting. It was impossible for me to depict all the knights in the time that I had, and getting a story which needs only a few characters in the middle of a battle is hard! Therefore I've told the story of the captain who couldn't get his horse to charge. The horse is very obstinate and the knight tries several strategies to make him move.
Paul Wheeler
|