Conformation and the Parade Ring · The Conformation
'St Patrick'
John Frederick Herring Sr., oil on canvas, 1820 · oil on canvas
What it is
St Patrick stands in three-quarter profile against a plain ground, an early commission for a painter not yet thirty.
Why it matters
This is Herring before the formula hardened into habit — the anatomy is already exact, the confidence of the later stud portraits still a few years off.
What to notice
the slight stiffness through the hind leg, the one place the young painter hadn't yet loosened his hand.
A whole career's grammar, learned on one horse.
Provenance
- Maker
- John Frederick Herring Sr., oil on canvas, 1820
- Era
- The Georgian Turf (1750–1837)
- Chapter
- The Yard Wakes
- Medium
- oil on canvas
- Made
- 1820
- Horse
- St Patrick
- Source
- Private collection
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's resolution doesn't clear our floor for a physical print, so this piece is offered as a digital download only.
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.