PITTORE DEL XVII-XVIII SECOLO

Portrait of two dogs Oil on canvas, 36X53.5 cm This peculiar genre of portraiture was inaugurated during the 16th century with Jacopo Bassano, who in 1548 painted two bloodhounds (Paris, Louvre Museum). Another famous image is that of the dog Roldano being brushed by a page by Aurelio Lomi around 1600, an animal held in the highest esteem because it was given to Giovanni Andrea I Doria by King Philip II, as a sign of gratitude for his loyalty to the Spanish crown. But it was during the Baroque age that many artists devoted themselves to canine portraits, such as the paintings of Guercino, Michelangelo Pace and Benedetto Fioravanti. Returning to the canvas in question, it dates back to the 17th and 18th centuries and the dogs depicted are interestingly similar to the one held in the lap of Maria Magdalena of Austria, Grand Duchess of Tuscany, painted by Giusto Sustermans around 1621 (Cani in posa, p. 188, no. 43). 43) It is in fact a spaniel, a hunting and companion dog highly appreciated at the Medici court. Reference bibliography: F. Petrucci, Cani in posa dall'antichità ad oggi, exhibition catalogue, Milan 2018, ad vocem