Conformation and the Parade Ring · The Conformation
'Memnon, 1825'
John Frederick Herring Sr., oil on canvas, 1825 · oil on canvas
What it is
Herring gives Memnon the three-quarter turn and the cool, close-clipped coat of his classic year.
Why it matters
Herring built his career on exactly this formula — the winning horse, alone, asking nothing of the viewer but attention — and owners kept commissioning it, decade after decade.
What to notice
The eye is painted wide and calm — Herring's horses rarely look tired, whatever the record says they'd just run.
Stillness is also a kind of speed, remembered.
Provenance
- Maker
- John Frederick Herring Sr., oil on canvas, 1825
- Era
- The Georgian Turf (1750–1837)
- Chapter
- The Yard Wakes
- Medium
- oil on canvas
- Made
- 1825
- Horse
- Memnon
- Source
- Private collection
Print master
The largest formats are printed from a master enlarged 3× from the surviving 1972×1444 scan by AI enhancement (Claid smart-enhance), prepared for the considered detail of a print viewed at distance. The source record above is unchanged — the enhancement serves the wall, not the archive.
Rights: CLEAR. Public domain — U.S. 95-year rule (published 1930 or earlier). Gated by the work’s own year of publication. Cleared by registry on 2026-07-20.
Format
The full-resolution, color-managed file — restored honestly, yours to print and keep.
Sized to protect print quality — this scan supports sizes up to 24x36" cleanly.
Size
$29.00
More from the Stable Wall
Elsewhere in the family
- The Links — the other morning religion.
- Painted Lineage — the bloodline, beside the family line.
- Painted Earth — home ground as a period map.