A requiescat is a prayer for the dead and comes from the Latin Requiescat in pace (‘R.I.P.’ – May he rest in peace). With Landseer, Rivière was one of the foremost Victorian animal painters, admired for his capacity not only to render the physique of his subjects, but also to invest them with semi-human virtues such as the heroic devotion displayed here. The armour is based on that of the effigy of the Black Prince in Canterbury Cathedral.

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