Carnival Horse

Carnival or Shrovetide is a festive season that occurs at the close of the Christian pre - Lenten period.

Its origins go back in time to the ancient Greek and Roman festivals of Kronia and Saturnalia celebrating the mythical “Golden Age” when Kronos or Saturn ruled the world. 

From a historical and religious point of view, the Carnival represented a period of symbolic renewal.

Once the festive period was over, the established order re-emerged new or renewed and guaranteed for a cycle, valid until the beginning of the following Carnival.

Thus the Carnival gave people the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties – in this sense it denotes the Resilience of humanity.

From the mid-15th century until 1882, spring carnival in Rome closed with a horse race.

 Here is a depiction of the race by Theodore Géricault, in whose mind the horse was a metaphor for unfettered emotion and power.