Antique & Vintage Postcards

Seven vignettes capture the legendary white Lipizzaner stallions of Vienna's Spanish Riding School in full imperial splendor — riders in scarlet tailcoats and bicorne hats coax their mounts through the courbette, levade, and passage inside the baroque Winter Riding Hall, its chandeliers glittering overhead. Founded in 1572 under Habsburg patronage, the Spanische Reitschule is the oldest classical riding institution still practicing the haute école in its original 18th-century hall within the Hofburg Palace; these chromolithographic vignettes, printed by PAG Wien, evoke the same pageantry that enchanted Empress Maria Theresa. The close-up portrait of a Lipizzaner's bridled head at center commands attention, while a lower-left panel shows a trainer working a horse on the long rein — a rare glimpse of the patient ground-work behind the show. Unused, the card retains vivid color throughout with only minor edge toning.