The horse

Anònim. Catalunya. Taller de la Seu d'Urgell del 1200 - Frontal d'altar de Mosoll - Primer terç del segle XIII
 

The horse

 

The horse

The ancient religions considered it a sacred animal and associated it with the darkness and the underground world, from which it emerged galloping.   It is a child of the night and of mystery, and carrier of life and death.  On the one hand it was an animal considered pure and impure, funerary and linked to death; on the other hand, it augured happiness and could emerge from the darkness and fly up to the sky as a winged horse.  The horse travelled between heaven and earth and situated itself between death and resurrection.  It was also clairvoyant: it knew things from the other world, could see what man couldn't see, guiding him at night and warning him of obstacles.   
It was presented as an animal of gods, the hero, the knight, with whom you joined to fight against the dragon.  In the clash between good and evil, the horse is positively valued compared with the beast that should be killed.  As an animal, we can see it in the in the altar frontal of Gia, mounted by Saint Martin, or in the profane scenes as in the capital where it is mounted by a bearded king and his wife.
But the most characteristic representation is in the Epiphany.  Saint Matthew explains the journey of the three Magic Kings, on horseback, who went to worship Jesus.  In the altar frontal of Mosoll, they appear in profile, almost the same but of different colours: one is black, the other is white with round spots, and the third is again black.