Bronze Galloping Horse Treading on a Flying Swallow

Galloping Horse Treading on a Flying Swallow, also called A Horse Surpassing over the Dragon-Swallow, or Bronze Galloping Horse, is a bronze artwork of the Eastern Han Dynasty. This horse statue, a representative of late bronze artworks, was unearthed in the Leitai Tomb of the Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220) in Gansu Province in the west of China. With a height of 34.5 centimeters and a length of 45 centimeters, the horse is raising its head, neighing and galloping forward with one hoof treading on a flying swallow, symbolizing that its speed can surpass that of the swallow. That the static sculpture is full of dynamic power reflects the excellent expression force of bronze artwork of the Eastern Han Dynasty and the positioning of its four legs strictly conforms to that of a living horse with the barycenter on a little swallow manifest the high level of design and craftsmanship.

The Bronze Galloping Horse is the apotheosis of aesthetics of ancient China. It incarnates the rich imagination and exquisite craftsmanship of ancient sculptors and is the representative work of the time-honored cultural tradition and the oriental aesthetic art. It is now preserved in the Gansu Provincial Museum.