Credit: Blue Cross Goodbye Old Man. This poignant painting by Matania shows a soldier taking sorrowful and reluctant leave of his fatally wounded horse while his comrade urges him to leave. The painting is a stark illustration of the deep bond between the soldiers and their animals, a bond still celebrated by the Blue Cross today. Reproductions of the painting were sold between 1914 and 1918 to raise money for the Blue Cross fund and the original still hangs in the charity’s animal hospital …
