The Horse Fair by Rosa Bonheur

"The Horse Fair," painted between 1852 and 1855, is a masterpiece by realism that captures a vibrant scene of a horse market in Paris. The painting stands out for its meticulous attention to detail and its ability to convey the dynamism and energy of the figures in motion.

We have incorporated a fragment of an 1857 map of Paris, on which we have highlighted, with a green halo, the buildings that can still be visited today. The first green marker, located on the left side of the map, corresponds to the police station erected specifically to oversee the fair: it was not merely another administrative building, but a key element within the event’s system of control and surveillance.

The next green marker, to the right, identifies the Chapelle Saint-Louis de la Salpêtrière, whose dome can be discerned in the background of Rosa’s painting. This church was constructed expressly to provide spiritual assistance to the women confined within the hospital and prison complex of the Pitié-Salpêtrière, an institution devoted to the detention of women deemed ill, marginal, or outright undesirable by the social order of the time. Today, the complex remains largely underused, after having been the site of one of the most brutal episodes of the Revolution: the massacres of 2 to 6 September 1792, during which the sans-culottes coldly murdered nearly all of the inmates. Jean-Paul Marat, by then fully transformed into a professional agitator, plastered Paris with incendiary proclamations that propelled the city toward a point of no return.

At the center of the map, outlined in red, we have marked the precise location of the horse fair (in French, Marché aux chevaux) of the French capital during those years. The open space that once housed the market is today an ordinary Parisian neighborhood, domesticated and absorbed by the modern city, yet it still preserves with striking fidelity the original urban perimeter that once defined it.

Rosa Bonheur, a prominent figure in the realist movement, devoted much of her life to studying and depicting animals with unparalleled precision. Realism, which focuses on the faithful representation of everyday life and nature, is evident in this work through the anatomical accuracy and liveliness of the figures.

The work of this woman not only reflects her technical mastery, but also her deep love for animals. This marvelous canvas and masterpiece by Rosa Bonheur has been acclaimed for its ability to capture the essence and spirit of horses, making evident her connection with the natural environment.