Pegasus

Pegasus was sad. Yes, he could fly. But being able to fly doesn’t stop you being lonely. He couldn’t live with his dad because his dad was Poseidon, the Ancient Greek God of the Sea and Pegasus couldn’t breathe underwater. And he couldn’t live with his mum because his mum was Medusa, a winged monster with snakes for hair who could turn people to stone with a single glance…and who in their right mind would want to live with someone like that? But Pegasus had a very good heart. When he saw someone in trouble, he always tried to help. Especially soldiers wounded in battle. And that’s how he came to the attention of Zeus, King of the Gods, King of Heaven and King of Thunder. Zeus brought Pegasus to live with him on Mount Olympus and gave him the job of carrying around his thunderbolts. It was a big responsibility. But Pegasus was dedicated, committed and worked hard. And it was for that loyalty Zeus decided to reward Pegasus by turning him into a constellation. A constellation of planets, stars and galaxies that has been watching over us from the Heavens ever since. And it was perhaps that loyalty that also inspired the choice of Pegasus as the subject of this work of art. The organizers of the annual Chakravarty Cup charity polo match asked a number of artists to design and paint a pattern for these models of a horse. British artist Laura Jeanne painted hers as Pegasus. ‘I wanted to not only depict the mythical creature featuring beautiful swan like wings,’ she said, ‘but also to show the beautiful landscape that I imagined it would fly over.’ Beautiful. Loyal. And not lonely anymore.