The Donkey as Artistic Muse

Think of the donkey as some second-rate four-legger relegated to the margins of history? On the contrary, not only has the beast long served as an indispensable pack animal and companion, it’s also been a global muse of artists for millennia. Here are some of our favorite ass-tistic renderings across space and time, courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

[mf_h4 align=”left” transform=”uppercase”]New Inventions of Modern Times [Nova Reperta], The Invention of the Olive Oil Press, Jan Collaert I, Netherlands, ca. 1600, Engraving.[/mf_h4]

[mf_h5 align=”left” transform=”uppercase”]The Fable of the Miller, His Son, and the Donkey, Elihu Vedder, American, ca. 1867”“68, Oil on Canvas.[/mf_h5]

[mf_h5 align=”left” transform=”uppercase”]Tomb Chapel of Raemkai: East Wall, Egypt, ca. 2446”“2389 BC, Limestone and Paint.[/mf_h5]

[mf_h5 align=”left” transform=”uppercase”]Model of Two Donkeys with Drivers, Egypt, ca. 2030”“1850 BC, Wood and Paint.[/mf_h5]

[mf_h5 align=”left” transform=”uppercase”]The Good Samaritan Putting the Traveller on His Donkey, from The Parable of the Good Samaritan, Heinrich Aldergrever, Germany, after 1554, Engraving.[/mf_h5]

[mf_h5 align=”left” transform=”uppercase”]Terracotta Amphora (jar), Attributed to the Orvieto Painter, Greece, ca. 540 BC, Terracotta.[/mf_h5]

[mf_h5 align=”left” transform=”uppercase”]Peasant on a Donkey, Giovanni Battista (“Titta”) Lusieri, Italy, 1755”“1821, Watercolor over Graphite.[/mf_h5]

[mf_h5 align=”left” transform=”uppercase”]Star-Shaped Tile, Iran, 13th”“14th century, Stonepaste.[/mf_h5]

[mf_h5 align=”left” transform=”uppercase”]Donkey, Jacopo Bassano (Jacopo da Ponte), Italy, 1649, Etching.[/mf_h5]

[mf_h5 align=”left” transform=”uppercase”]Palmesel, Germany, 15th century, Limewood with Paint.[/mf_h5]

[mf_h5 align=”left” transform=”uppercase”]The Spy Zambur Brings Mahiya to the City of Tawariq, Folio from a Hamzanama (Book of Hamza), Mah Muhammad, India, ca. 1570, Ink, Opaque Watercolor, and Gold on Cloth.[/mf_h5]