Caligula and His Horse
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Caligula and His Horse ∞
Caligula and His Horse
24 x 20 inches, oval
Acrylic and mixed media on canvas
This painting reimagines one of the most infamous anecdotes from ancient Roman history—the emperor Caligula’s appointment of his horse, Incitatus, to the Roman Senate. While many historians interpret the act as either satire or evidence of Caligula’s mental instability, the artist engages this myth with layered symbolic force.
Set in a chamber of skeletal senators and hooded priests, the scene is presided over by an immense iris embedded in the marble floor, suggesting the presence of omniscient judgment or a metaphysical observer beyond time. The central figures—Caligula in red and Incitatus draped in ceremonial vestments—anchor the moment of elevation, transforming the absurd into the sacred.
The painting operates on multiple levels: historical parody, esoteric allegory, and metaphysical rupture. The Trickster archetype is invoked not only through the emperor’s gesture but through the composition itself, which frames power as both hollow and transcendent. The senators— depicted as lifeless, obedient, and robed—become symbols of dead systems applauding their own mockery.
