The Wellesley Arabian

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Artist: Charles Turner (British, 1774–1857)
Medium: Mezzotint, proof before letters
Size: Plate: 19 1/4 x 22 5/8in. (48.9 x 57.5cm)
Museum: Yale Center for British Art
Rights: CC0 — no rights reserved

Arabian horses, originating in the Middle East, had a tremendous influence on both visual culture and horsebreeding in England. The three stallions brought to England in the eighteenth century-the Darley Arabian (bought in Aleppo in 1704), the Byerly Turk, and the Godolphin Arabian-were the foundation stallions from which are descended all modern thoroughbreds, as well as the racehorses and hunters depicted by Agasse and by George Stubbs (1724-1806), the most famous British painter of horses.

The Wellesley Arabian, judged the last of the imported Arabians to produce good racehorses, was brought to England in 1803 by Henry Wellesley, the youngest brother of the Duke of Wellington. In addition to this depiction of the horse safely arrived in its stable, with its new owner looking on, Agasse made a painting (also in the Center's collections) of the Wellesley Arabian being led across the desert on its journey to England.

Text: Yale Center for British Art.