Four millennia of equestrian civilization  on display (part 1)

Posted on 13/08/2018 by GB

by Giovanni Battista Tomassini

Many important pieces of the Giannelli Collection of ancient bits are displayed for the first time in the exhibition Il Cavallo: 4.000 anni di storia, open until August 19, 2018, in the Züst Art Gallery near Lugano, Switzerland

In an era that has reduced the art market to a roulette table, which is approached with the same unscrupulous hunger for gains by the wolves of Wall Street, there is something heroic in the patient and fierce research that has allowed Claudio Giannelli to collect, over a few decades, what is probably the most important and complete collection of ancient bits in the world. Because, unlike the billionaires who make their offers in art auctions on the telephone, often without knowing exactly what they are buying, Giannelli has accumulated the finest pieces of this specific sector of the antique trade market by the means of his exceptional expertise, refined through years of study and corroborated by his experience as a rider and as a judge for the International Equestrian Federation.

The splendid exhibitionIl Cavallo: 4.000 anni di storia, is set up in the Pinacoteca Züst, near Lugano (Switzerland) and is curated by Claudio Giannelli himself, together with Alessandra Brambilla. In addition to objects which are rare, interesting and often of dazzling beauty, those who visit this exhibition will surely appreciate the passion and the depth of culture witnessed in the collection. I already had the opportunity to write about the Giannelli Collection, both when the exhibition in Travagliato (BS) was held in 2015, and on the occasion of the publication of the wonderful book Equs Frenatus. However, the new exhibition at Rancate (Mendrisio) gives me the opportunity to talk about some really extraordinary pieces that are displayed there for the first time. The novelties concerned, in particular, the archaeological field, are so significant and numerous to require me to divide this article into two parts.

The first room is dedicated to books and antique prints of equestrian topic,
with an 18th century wooden rocking horse in the center

But before describing the most notable pieces on display, the refined setting of the exhibition, which is on two floors, deserves a mention. The first floor is a sort of introduction, with the first room dedicated to a fascinating kaleidoscope of books and antique prints of equestrian subjects. In the center of the room, there is a splendid wooden rocking horse of the 18th century which reproduces, with incredible minuteness, the animal’s anatomical details and harness. In the showcases, in a scenographic and only apparent disorder, the editions of famous horse riding treatises are displayed, such as, for example, a rare pocket edition (to be taken perhaps in the arena), of Federico Grisone’s Ordini di cavalcare.

Georg Philipp Rugendas (1666 – 1742), Manege
Giannelli Collection

On the walls, there are the splendid plates illustrating famous books: from Pluvinel’s treatise, to that of the Duke of Newcastle, from the prints of Stefano Della Bella and Giovanni Stradano, to the beautiful illustrations dedicated to the art of riding in Diderot and d’Alembert’s Encyclopédie. In particular, there are two magnificent drawings on china by Georg Philipp Rugendas (1666 – 1742) and a beautiful battle scene by Jacques Courtois, known as “le Bourguignon” (“the Burgundian”, in French, 1621 – 1676).

Jacques Courtois, known as “le Bourguignon” (1621 – 1676), Battle
Giannelli Collection

In the adjacent room, a rich collection of paintings of equestrian subjects testifies the evolution of the equine breeds in the period between the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, with the progressive affirmation of the English thoroughbred. Among these pictures, a painting by Claude Vernet (1758 – 1836), a French painter who painted military and genre paintings and was mainly famous for the representation of horses, is especially noteworthy. The painting is characterized by the exceptional vividness of the sketch and by the subtlety with which the opalescence of the mantle of a splendid gray is made.

Claude Vernet (1758 – 1836), Grey horse
Giannelli Collection

The second floor is, instead, entirely dedicated to the collection of ancient bits. The first piece to deserve special attention is a very rare horse necklace, in gold and turquoise, datable between the seventh and fifth centuries BC. These kind of necklaces were part of the precious and elaborate harnesses with which the Scythians, who lived in the Central Asian steppes east of the Black Sea, barded the horses that were then sacrificed on the occasion of the death of high-ranking figures and buried with them in the typical mound tombs (kurgan). Each horse could wear up to four necklaces, which were held in place and supported by a kind of tie rod applied to the mane. The one in the Giannelli Collection is decorated with a series of small human faces, with pieces of turquoise and pendants.

Horse necklace, in gold and turquoise
Seventh- fifth century BC.
Giannelli Collection

The necklace is decorated with human faces and pendants
Giannelli Collection

Another piece which is truly unique is a frontplate in gilded metal and turquoise, completed by a panache holder (which was placed on the horse’s nape), a bit with cheekpieces separated from the mouthpiece and a series of harness decorations (headstall, reins, breast collar and crupper). This, also, is a Scythian outfit dating back to a period between the seventh and the fifth centuries BC and presumably all the parts come from the same burial site.

Scythian parure composed of a frontplate in gilded metal,
completed by a panache holder, a bit with cheekpieces
and a series of harness decorations
Seventh – Fifth century BC
Giannelli Collection

Detail of the frontplate, composed of sheets of gilded metal,
articulated so as to adapt to the profile of the horse’s forehead.
Note the panache holder (on top), which was placed
on the horse’s nape
Giannelli Collection

It should be noted that the first Scythic bits (of which the exhibition offers a great variety of specimens) had cheekpieces separated from the mouthpiece, to which they were fastened by leather strips which, being perishable, are not preserved. The oldest specimens had bone cheekpieces. Later, the cheekpieces were made of bronze, as were the mouthpieces. They were often decorated with geometric patterns, or with animal figures (protomes).

Scythic bits.The oldest specimens had bone cheekpieces.
Later, the cheekpieces were made of bronze
Seventh century BC
Giannelli Collection

Some of them are real stylization masterpieces, as shown in the cheekpieces of a bronze bit, probably coming from the area of central-Asian steppes, or from ancient Persia, dating back to an era between the 10th and 7th centuries BC. They represent a stylized horse in the position of the so-called “flying gallop”.

Bronze bit dating back to a period between the Tenth
and the Seventh century BC, with cheekpieces representing
a stylized horse in the position of the so-called “flying gallop”
Giannelli Collection

The specimens of bits from Luristan are also extremely fascinating. Without a doubt, Claudio Giannelli owns the richest and most spectacular collection of these bronze bits, produced by a mysterious civilization flourished in a region straddling the area between the current Iraq and the north-western Iran, from1000 to 650 BC. These bits have extraordinarily elaborate cheekpieces. They are true works of art which were exhumed with the dead and, which perhaps, had an unknown ritual meaning. The simplest were decorated with geometric patterns, or with real, or fantastic animals. Particularly suggestive are those depicting the so-called “Lord of the animals” (“Maitre des Animaux”): a human figure, or part human and part animal, depicted while dominating two animals symmetrically arranged on each side of him. Among the many displayed in the exhibition, the two which are perhaps most notable are, first, the one in which a figure, half man and half ibex, holds two panthers.

Bronze bit, decorated with the so-called
“Lord of the Animals”, here represented as a figure,
half man and half ibex, holding two panthers on his sides
Luristan, Tenth – Sixth century BC
Giannelli Collection

And another in which a sort of sphinx, with three female heads, surmounted by showy headpieces, or horns, with large earrings and four legs, looms over two figures, one masculine and the other one feminine. This last one is showing her sex.

Bronze bit with decorated cheekpieces, representing a sort
a sort of three-headed sphinx. Notice the two anthropomorphic
carachters on which the main figure looms
Luristan, Tenth – Sixth century BC
Giannelli Collection

Remaining in the Bronze Age, among the different ancient Greek bits, stands out a particular type of Mycenaean bit, which is among the oldest known bronze bits and it is believed to date back to the 14th century BC.

Mycenaean bronze bit
Fourteenth century BC
Giannelli Collection

An Etruscan bit, of the so-called Villanovan period (from the ninth to the seventh century BC), is really surprising and interesting. It is a jointed snaffle with cheekpieces in the shape of a large horse, adorned on the sides (above, below and in front) by other stylized little horses. The peculiarity of this bit is that it does not have the typical green patina, due to the bronze oxidation. So it shows the color that ancient bits really had at the time in which they were used. They were bright as if they were gilded. This explains why many ancient authors talk of golden bits, but they have never been found by archaeologists. The particular brightness of this unusual specimen is probably due to the abrasion of the sand of a stream on the bottom of which it had remained for millennia.

Villanovan bit, which has exceptionally preserved
the original bronze’s shine
Ninth – Seventh century BC
Giannelli Collection

to be continued ->

Equus frenatus. The book about the Giannelli Collection of ancient bits

Posted on 01/11/2015 by GB

Guilded bronze bit
France – Restoration (1814-1830)
Picture © Michele Ostini

by Giovanni Battista Tomassini

Sumptuous. With a very accurate editorial format and beautiful images, which perfectly render the value of the portrayed pieces. But, at the same time, it is also a work with a significant scientific content. Equus frenatus, the book that finally shows the Giannelli Collection, is not only a beautiful package, designed to show off what is certainly one of the most important private collections of ancient bits in the world, but it is also a unique research tool for anyone interested in the history of equestrian culture. In fact, the essays in the book not only describe the most valuable pieces of the collection, but they also present the state of the art knowledge about the evolution and use of the bit through the centuries.

I have already told you, in a previous post to this blog, of the splendor of the Giannelli Collection of ancient bits on the occasion of the beautiful exhibition that was held last summer in Travagliato (you can read the article by clicking on this link: The Giannelli Collection of ancient bits on display in Travagliato). It is an exceptional collection, gathered over decades of research. It ranges from the first bone cheek pieces from Central Asia, dating back to the second millennium BC, progressing up to refined chiseled bits of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The collection has accumulated more than 500 pieces, most of them very valuable.

Book cover

In the introductory essay, Claudio Giannelli presents all of his expertise on this complex subject. He summarizes, in an extremely clear and accurate way, four millennia of the history of bits, following the chronological development and contextualizing the different types of bits of each period and to the civilization from where they came. The result is a charming and very interesting overview. Giannelli’s historical documentation also underlines, that the parable began with the first bronze snaffles, used two thousand years before Christ by the nomadic peoples of Central Asia, moving on to the artistic bits from Luristan, to those from ancient Greece and the Roman period, and on to the very severe medieval and Renaissance bits, ending with the return, at the beginning of the twentieth century, to the simpler mouthpieces, advocated by Federico Caprilli and by his “natural system of horsemanship.” “Therefore, – Giannelli writes – we notice a return to basics with an increasing use of the normal articulated snaffle, certainly the lighter mouthpiece and the most respectful of the horse’s delicate mouth, provided that it is always combined with patience, progressive work and, above all, love for the horse” (p. 40).

The most special areas of the Gianelli Collection are two. First and foremost, the magnificent bits from Luristan, true masterpieces in bronze, made with the technique of lost wax casting, by a civilization that flourished between the second and first millennia BC in the southwestern region of what is currently Iran. The Giannelli Collection is probably the largest and most important collection of these very special artifacts in the world. Equally unique is the collection of Villanovan and Etruscan bits. Even in pre-Roman Italy (IX-VIII century BC.), the practice of burying the dead with grave goods, that frequently included horse bits, was widespread. The bits were mostly snaffles, with cheek pieces representing stylized horses, that today look curiously modern. These two areas of the collection are described in the essays by Manuel Castelluccia, archaeologist specialist of the Ancient Near East, Caucasus and Iran, and by Chiara Martinozzi, archaeologist, specialist of the Etruscan civilization. Both provide a rich historical and cultural framework in which they place the production of these bits and the description of their various types.

Luristan bit with zoomorphic shanks Luristan - around I millennium BC Picture © Michele Ostini

Luristan bit with zoomorphic shanks
Luristan – around first millennium BC
Picture © Michele Ostini

The most compelling feature of the book is that the bits are not just shown and described, but they are always placed in the historical and cultural context in which they were used. So the chapter about ancient Greek bits, written by the same Giannelli, is preceded by an interesting historical overview of Greek cavalry by Giuseppe Cascarino, who is also the author of the chapter about Roman cavalry. It was exactly with the advent of Roman civilization that bronze bits were replaced by those made of iron. The use of this more perishable material makes the findings of this age particularly rare. The Giannelli Collection has several of them in excellent condition. In the Roman era, the bits began to change. The first bits with long shanks appeared. These bits had a complicated and (at least in my opinion) still obscure functioning principle. The headstalls were complemented by the so-called psalion, a sort of metal halter that prevented the animal from escaping the action of the bit by opening his mouth. The Giannelli Collection includes also some rare specimens of the so-called “hipposandals,” which were also in use at that time. These were a type of metal horse boots that were secured to the hooves of the horse with leather straps,

With regard to the study of the evolution of bits, the Middle Ages are definitely a difficult period. The artifacts from this period are few, as are the written sources, while the iconographic sources are difficult to interpret. The philologist and historian, Patrizia Arquint, describes this period with his usual accuracy and clarity, offering a survey in which, despite the caution due to the relative scarcity of data, the historical outline is complemented by the technical description.

“Prometopidion”: frontplate with “psalion”
Bronze – Roman era
Picture © Michele Ostini

The Renaissance is, in contrast, the era in which more importance is given to the bit and the “art of bridling”, i.e. the art of choosing the most suitable mouthpiece for each horse was considered a key to showing the competence of the true rider. This is clearly testified by the equestrian treatises that began to be published since the mid-sixteenth century. Most of these works include a series of drawings of bridles, whose bewildering variety was designed precisely to suit the different types of horse, under the illusion of correcting any possible defect with the use of specific instruments. In fact, given the severity of their action, it is probable that those bits produced quite the opposite effect. Nevertheless, from the manufacturing point of view, they are real works of art.

Wrought iron Renaissance bit , pierced and engraved
Germany – Seventeenth century

The flourishing of the new literary genre of the equestrian treatise is evoked in an essay by Mario Gennero, curiously focused on Claudio Corte’s Il cavallerizzo (The Horseman), which is one of the most interesting books about horsemanship of the sixteenth century, but is also one of the works which devotes less space to the art of bridling, while other authors of the time write at length about this subject. It is certain that the technical capacity of the Renaissance “bit makers” was amazing. By virtue of the strong progress of iron metallurgy, the craftsmen of the time, as Alessandro Cesati wrote in his essay, were able to make, with simple tools, such as files, hand drills and chisels, “artifacts that looks like small iron sculptures: art objects which sometimes are so refined that they make one almost completely forget their original function” (p. 188).

One of the most incredible pieces of the Giannelli Collection: Wrought iron Renaissance bit , pierced and engraved. There are only two other known similar specimens.
Sixteenth century
Picture © Michele Ostini

The final essay by Pierre Desclos has the merit of describing the complexity of the Renaissance bridles from the technical point of view and of explaining the progressive simplification of the bits during the following three centuries. Particularly interesting is the section devoted to the three main parts of the bit (the mouthpiece, the shanks and the curb chain) and to the complex technical terminology used in the treatises of the period, to which is also devoted a very useful glossary.

Finally, it should be pointed out that this work was made possible by the decisive contribution of the Fondazione Iniziative Zooprofilattiche e Zootecniche (Zooprophylactic and Zootechnical Initiatives Foundation) of Brescia, which has been funding scientific, experimental and cultural activities related to veterinary and biomedical sciences for sixty years. Since 1979, the Foundation has also been active in the field of scientific publishing. This book is number 100 of its series of monographs and it is a worthy climax of the Foundation’s meritorious commitment in the promotion of culture and scientific research.

Villanovan bronze bit
Ninth – Eight centuries BC

To buy the book

Unfortunately the book, which is available only in the Italian edition, is not distributed through normal commercial channels.

Anyone interested in buying it, can request it by sending an email to this address: c.giannelli@alwicom.net.

The Giannelli Collection of ancient bits on display in Travagliato

Posted on 29/05/2015 by GB

The suggestive setting of the exhibition “Cavallo: storia, arte e artigianato”,
on display in Travagliato (Italy) until June 29
Foto © Gaetano Cucinotta

by Giovanni Battista Tomassini

Hidden treasures are still discovered, even today. For those who love the history of horsemanship, to visit the exhibition of the Giannelli collection in Travagliato, Italy, is like entering into Ali Baba’s cave! I confess I was really surprised at what I found there. I did not expect such a rich exposition and such an impressive setting in a small provincial town. But I was wrong. For the quality and completeness of the collection presented, the exhibition on display in Travagliato (not far from a Milan) until June 29, entitled Cavallo: storia, arte e artigianato (Horse: history, art and craft), could be held in great museums all over the world because it presents pieces that not even the British Museum, the Louvre, or the Metropolitan possess. I swear I’m not exaggerating.

The exhibition shows one of the largest private collection of ancient bits in the world Foto © Gaetano Cucinotta

I have been studying the history of the equestrian culture for many years and I have often dedicated my research to the different types of bits in use during various periods. On this same blog, I began publishing a series of articles dedicated to this topic: Bronze Age bits; The Corinthian bit; Bitless equitation in ancient times; The bit that tamed the flying horse: Pegasus and Bellerophon. However, I had to stop because it was nearly impossible to find images and reliable information about the bits used during the Roman and medieval periods. The few scientific articles and books on this subject and the catalogs of the largest museums in the world, offered me little material to work with. So you can easily imagine my surprise when I discovered in Travagliato, hundreds of Mesopotamian, ancient Greek, Roman, Lombard and medieval findings, displayed side by side with the gigantic Renaissance and Baroque bits, along with some elegant nineteenth century specimens.

Claudio Giannelli - Foto © Gaetano Cucinotta

But it is best now to proceed with some order in this article. First of all, you will probably want to know where this amazing collection comes from. Claudio Giannelli put it together through decades of passionate research. He is a truly unique personality, combining an extraordinary intellectual refinement with a politeness and class that seems to be from another time. The son of a cavalry officer, Giannelli grew up among horses and began riding at a very young age, taking good results in three day eventing and dressage. He graduated and practiced for several years as a notary. At some point, however, he decided to turn his passion for beauty and old things into a profession, becoming an important antiquarian. Meanwhile, he moved to Switzerland, where he still lives, and continued to ride, becoming also a three day eventing and dressage judge. His collection was born by accident. In the fifties, while browsing through the stalls of the flea market of Portaportese in Rome, he found an old bit, buried among various odds and ends. Gianelli, who at the time already knew the famous illustrations of Grisone and Fiaschi’s treatises, realized immediately that it was an antique piece, probably from the Renaissance. After the usual grueling negotiations, he bought it, managing to get it for a good price. The rest of the collection came together through his love for horses and history, his unique culture and his expertise as an antiquarian. Within a few years, he was found in the most important auction houses around Europe, bidding for the finest ancient bits available on the market to the curators of museums like the Louvre, or the British, and to a very restricted elite of collectors from all around the world.

Some very well preserved Ancient Greek bronze bits and muzzles are on display Foto © Gaetano Cucinotta

The exhibition begins with some very ancient artifacts. Some cheekpieces made of bone from Central Asia, dating back to the second millennium before Christ, are on display in the first case. It then goes to the Mesopotamian civilization, and then to ancient Greece. In addition to some very well preserved bronze bits, there are some very interesting psalion on display. These were a sort of metallic noseband that restricted the opening of the mouth of the horse. There are also some perfectly preserved bronze muzzles. A beautiful shaffron (horse’s head defense) made of bronze, with its psalion, stands between the other findings. We then move to the Etruscan civilization, with several specimens belonging to the so-called Villanovan period [see the article on Bronze Age bits], characterized by beautiful zoomorphic cheekpieces. But the main attraction, with regard to the Bronze Age is the incredible collection of Luristan bits, dating from between 1100 and 700 BC. They belong to a mysterious civilization, which flourished between the second and first millennium BC, in a region of southwestern Iran. The remains were found mainly within the tombs, where they were placed under the head of the buried body. They are made of bronze and they consist of a cannon of a single piece, straight or slightly curved, with, at each end a cheek piece, the form of a winged animal. These figures of animals had a large hole in the body through which passed the end of the mouthpiece, and two loops to tie the bridle and the reins. Those which are displayed in Travagliato are absolutely extraordinary. They also include a rare jointed snaffle, with cheekpieces decorated with anthropomorphic figures. This is the piece chosen for the exhibition poster. Neither the catalog of the British Museum, nor the Metropolitan, which also have important collections of these findings, can boast examples of this quality and condition.

The incredible collection of bronze bits from Luristan, dating between 1100 and 700 BC. View museums in the world can boast specimens of this quality Foto © Gaetano Cucinotta

The incredible collection of bronze bits from Luristan, dating between 1100 and 700 BC.
Few museums in the world can boast specimens of this quality
Foto © Gaetano Cucinotta

Also, the many Roman and medieval bits are very interesting. In front of their display case the heart of the scholar makes a jump. With the transition from bronze to iron, which is much more perishable, the findings from this era are, in fact, far more rare. Even in the books of the specialists, there are very few images to be consulted and they are almost always the same. The Giannelli collection shows snaffles similar to the current ones and the ancestors of modern curb bits. In fact, in Roman time, we start to find bits with long shanks, but still without a curb chain. The same specialists of this matter continue to argue about their exact principle of operation. They generally have a very rough and brutal look. The mouthpieces are often bristling with spikes and it is quite horrible to think of them in the mouth of a poor animal.

There are also many, very rare, bits of Roman and Medieval times Foto © Gaetano Cucinotta

Even the Renaissance bits look very severe. You can find in Travagliato exactly the same types of bits that are obsessively represented in the illustrations of the equestrian treatises of the sixteenth century. It is difficult for us to figure out that their incredible variety was conceived to fit the mouthpiece to the anatomical peculiarities of the mouth of each animal! Beyond this, however, you can not help but admire their extraordinary craftsmanship. Many of them are true masterpieces of metalwork and are all the more remarkable when you consider the simple technical means used by the craftsmen who made them.

Renaissance bits look very severe, but they are also real masterpieces of metal work and they are exactly the same represented in the equestrian treatises of the sixteenth century
Foto © Gaetano Cucinotta

With the passing of the centuries, we note the progressive reduction of the length of the shanks. which decreases the lever action on the jaw of the horse, and the constant simplification of the mouthpieces. The progress of the training techniques demonstrated not only that strong bits were unnecessary, but that they were counterproductive. Despite being used by expert hands, it is easy to imagine that they exasperated the animals, subjecting them to unnecessary coercion. If, however, in the eighteenth century, the mouthpieces were gradually simplified and reduced in size, at the same time their workmanship became even more precious, in some cases like that of real jewels. The collection is completed, also, by some oriental bits: Chinese, Tibetan, Japanese and by a remarkable collection of wooden stirrups by the Mapuche Indians of Chile.

In the eighteenth century the bits get smaller, but at the same time, they become real jewels. Like these French bit and stirrups
Foto © Gaetano Cucinotta

This brief synthesis certainly cannot really express the beauty and the importance of the pieces that are on display, whose history and meaning are explained in a series of panels which make the course of the exhibition understandable also to non-experts. And the setting is enriched by several paintings of equestrian topics of major authors of the eighteenth and nineteenth century and many by original engravings, such as those from the books by Jan Van der Straet, Antoine de Pluvinel, the Duke of Newcastle, or from the beautiful plates about horseback riding from d’Alembert and Diderot’s Enciclopédie.

The setting is further enriched by pictures and engravings of equestrian subject,
from the sixteenth to the nineteenth century
Foto © Gaetano Cucinotta

The exhibition of the Giannelli Collection, in Travagliato, offers an extraordinary journey through the history of thousands of years of coexistence between man and horse. A past that is too often idealized, or criticized, without an exact knowledge of the techniques and methods that were actually used in other eras. Instead, an extraordinary exhibition like this puts us in front of the concrete objects, stimulates our curiosity and denies stereotypes and legends. Studying the history of the relationship between man and horse does not mean to put a nonexistent golden age of horseback riding on a pedestal, but rather to illuminate an important chapter of our civilization. And it is useful for today’s riders to understand the roots of their passion and to learn from the mistakes and the wisdom of those who, over the millennia, have preceded them in the worship of these wonderful animals that are the horses.

The exhibition, in the former Sant’Agnese Church, in Piazza della Libertà, in Travagliato (BS), has been extended until the end of July

Open: Saturday and Sunday, 10-12. a. m. / 3-6 p.m.;
weekdays on request by calling +39 030 6864960.
Monday closed.

For information:
call +39 030 6864960;
email: segreteria@aziendaserviziterritoriali.com.

Claudio Giannelli is working on a book about his collection, which will be published next Autumn. We will keep you posted as soon as it will be published.

You can see other beautiful pictures of the exhibition, by Gaetano Cucinotta, visiting his website, by following this link: www.gaetanocucinotta.com