Horses in Ballet Shoes

Frans van der Steen after Nicolaas van Hoy, Courtyard of the Hofburg in Vienna during the equestrian ballet La Contesa dellʼaria e dellʼacqua performed on the occasion of the marriage of Emperor Leopold I to Margaret Teresa of Spain in 1667.

In Europe in the 17th century you could hear the rattle of weapons and the clanging of horseshoes of horses belonging to two monarchs. Not only did Luis XIV and Leopold I clash in the mud of battlefields, they also competed in the sand of arenas and on theatre stages. In the name of the state and the sovereigns propaganda, renowned composers wrote festive arias, architects created spectacular scenes, singers sang, horses and dancers danced, and artists documented.