"Whistlejacket," George Stubbs, 1762.

Why not a portrait of a horse? Whistlejacket (foaled in 1749) was a champion thoroughbred racehorse who belonged first to Sir William Middleton of Northumberland, later sold to the Marquess of Rockingham, at the time a future Prime Minister of England, and who commissioned this painting. Whistlejacket was the most famous racehorse of his era, and is referred to by name in many contemporary writings, including Oliver Goldsmith's play "She Stoops to Conquer."

Stubbs (1724-1806) was an early Romantic-era painter who was most famous for his equestrian paintings, a subgenre of art that was almost solely practiced in Great Britain. Wealthy owners of successful racehorses often wanted portraits of their horses, and Stubbs was the top practitioner. Many of his paintings were normal portraits of a horse posing with a jockey.

This, however, is regarded as Stubb's masterwork. It's a large canvas, with the horse in a dramatic pose, with no background at all (leaving some to believe it unfinished), forming what has been called a "Romantic image of triumph and freedom." There are similar equine paintings done to emphasize the rider, but here we see only the horse itself.

From the National Gallery, London.

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