Hambletonian, Rubbing Down

Stubbs's Hambletonian, Rubbing Down from around 1800 is one of his last great paintings—a monumental portrait of the celebrated racehorse after his grueling victory in a match race against Diamond over the Beacon Course at Newmarket in 1799. The commission came from Hambletonian's owner, Sir Henry Vane-Tempest, and the work combined Stubbs's lifelong mastery of equine portraiture with the documentary record of one of the most famous races of the era. The horse's condition after the race—exhausted, flanks heaving, being sponged down by attendants—gave Stubbs an opportunity for the kind of truth in observation that distinguished his best work, showing the cost of extreme athletic performance in the animal's actual physical state rather than an idealized pre-race portrait. The work is generally considered among the finest racehorse portraits in the history of British art.

The exhausted horse is rendered with extraordinary sensitivity to its physical state—the heaving flanks, the sweat-darkened coat, the overall impression of magnificent effort. Stubbs's late technique maintains the precision of his earlier work while adding emotional depth.