Marino Marini
Grande Cavallo
Marino Marini (Italian, 1901-1980) was one of Italy’s most prominent post-war expressionist sculptors. As few others he explored Europe’s early art history and was particularly interested in Etruscan art, originating in the area of Tuscany where Marini was born. Marini considered Etruscan art as the origin, or the “core” as called it, and took it upon himself to nourish and regenerate this artistic heritage. Marini’s series of equestrian statues may be regarded as tragic symbols of bygone times, when the human being enjoyed a closer relationship with nature and the horse was man’s servant and ally. The sculptures may also be seen as a development of the tradition of equestrian statues which have decorated European streets and squares since the Renaissance. Marini received the impulse for his first equestrian sculptures on a train journey in the 1940s, when, through the window, he observed a horse rearing up in desperate anguish. Marini developed the theme during several decades. Originally depicting an organic unity between horse and rider, the sculptures eventually displayed a widening separation between animal and human being.