Great idea for a thread Steph. The pictures are very interesting...just to think that people way back then were enjoying dogs similar to what we have today and that our dogs came from those dogs so long ago. Some are very old breeds, such as the Chihuahua. And of course, like most, they've gone through changes to one degree or another. Here are some of my current breed, the
Chihuahua.
Alessandro Botticelli (Italian, 1444-1510)
Scenes from the Life of Moses
(c. 1481-1482)
Sistine Chapel, Rome, Italy
Vittore Carpaccio (Italian 1472-1526)
Two Women/ "Two Courtesans" (1510)
Oil on wood
Museo Civico Correr, Venice
A Venetian painter, his life is poorly documented, and it is not known with whom he trained, but it is generally agreed that the chief influence on his work was Gentile Bellini. After two major commissions, Carpaccio's career declined, his work seeming old-fashioned, and he remained virtually forgotten until Ruskin revived his reputation in the 19th century. He is now rated as second only to Giovanni Bellini as the outstanding Venetian painter of his generation.
Western Mexico, Colima State,
200 B.C.-A.D. 300
Colima Dog Effigy -
Ceramic with red slip paint
North Carolina Museum of Art
The animal most frequently depicted in Colima art is the hairless dog, today known as the Chihuahua. In addition to raising dogs as a food source, many peoples of highland Mexico believed that a dog accompanied a person's soul on the journey into the underworld. Discovery of these dog images in tombs suggests they were intended as companions for the deceased.
Pietro Longhi (Italian, 1702 - 1785)
The Concert (1741)
Oil on canvas
Gallerie dell'Accademia, Venice