Artwork Data
Artwork Location
Address
Stadshoudersplantsoen, Den Haag
City district
Scheveningen
GPS data
52.087056131908, 4.2802206849335 View on map
Artwork Description
Text
Adjacent to the Stadhoudersplantsoen is a large building with a remarkable relief of a horse. It immediately catches the eye when you are close to it. On top of the horse, a woman can be seen. She has a torch with grain in one hand and a scythe in the other. Once you know that this relief was made for the new building of the Product Board for Arable Farming, it is not difficult to recognise in this lady the Roman goddess of agriculture and grain. The unusual hat in the background is the headgear of Hermes, the god of trade. The cogwheel at the feet of the horse refers to industry. It looks like a logo from another era. That was not unusual at the time.
The Product Board for Arable Farming was an institution of the national government of and for arable farmers and served everything between the seed sector and the industry processing arable products. This had to be visible in the art applications. Termote was not the only one. Three other artists were invited. They embellished the interior of the new building with their work. When the Product Board was dissolved on 1 January 2015, the office building was converted into flats. However, Ceres on horseback still adorns the façade.
The fact that the horse is so prominently depicted in this scene has everything to do with the relief's maker's predilection for these animals. Horses feature in many of Albert Termot's sculptures. This sculptor, who was originally from Flanders, was not unknown in the art world of The Hague. He taught at the Royal Academy of Art and has created many works of art in the city's public spaces. So also in this relief.