In circular composition, we behold a miniature world. Three glamorous horseback performers; a clown and his costumed dog at lower left; a crowd of spectators beholding the action: all orbit around a circular red carpet. At right is an ambiguous figure that may be a clown, dwarf, or even the show's impresario. Hondius, like many other modernist painters, was fascinated by circuses for their picturesque qualities, and perhaps more so for the marginal lives gathered under a tent.
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