Q: One often sees commemorative statues of soldiers mounted on horses with their forelegs in various positions. Is there any significance to the difference?
Similar sculptures have survived in small scale: The Wax Horse and Rider (c.1506–08) is a fragmentary model for an equestrian statue of Charles d'Amboise. The Rearing Horse and Mounted Warrior in bronze was also attributed to Leonardo.
Myth: The way a soldier’s horse is portrayed in an equestrian statue indicates how the soldier died. This myth, perpetuated by many a tourist guide the world over, simply isn’t true. (Not unlike how tourist guides around the equator will often tell you that what hemisphere you’re in effects the way the water swirls down the toilet or drain.
A significant number of horse statues in Washington, D.C. and in London, England, do not follow these alleged protocols regarding leg location on a horse statue. The U.S. and the U.K. are the two countries in which the contentions about horse leg statue positions are most prevalent.
It is a common misconception that the position of the horse's legs in a military hero's statue signifies how the rider died; i.e.
In statues, does the number of feet the horse has off the ground indicate the fate of the rider? October 6, 1989 Dear Cecil: … Advertise on the Straight Dope!
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