baroque dogs

 

       

     To be completely honest, I've never been an "art person". I can definitely appreciate the aesthetic value of art but I've never been able to understand the field of art history, or how someone can get so much out of art. That's part of the reason I took this class, and I feel like the two readings this week were especially eye-opening to me. While both articles analyze dogs in specific paintings, they each demonstrate a different type of analysis. 

    Langedijk's article about the dogs of the 17th century Medici court centers on the history of these dogs. How they were bred, who they belonged to, what kind of status symbol they were, where they came from, down to the names of owners and dates of travel. There is a lot of very grounded, literal interpretation and research tied to these portrayals of dogs. I had never thought about art history in this way. Not as just a way to see the traditions, values, or mentalities of the time, but as a way to research the story of the particular subject or the structure of society.  At first glance, these are just paintings of dogs, but through them we can learn about the life of a Dutch noble and his travels. The use of a variety of paintings to find evidence is fascinating, like the paintings of basket making being compared with the baskets in Douai's work to determine the dogs aren't of Dutch origin. I love the way these paintings were used to discover a more "concrete" history. 

    On the other hand, Sutton's article on dogs in Rembrandt's works focuses more on the ideological or symbolic meanings of dogs in art. It discusses the ways that dogs are used to give meaning to artworks. This can be from making a scene seem more mundane, like in The Visitation, to giving a model for or foil to human behavior, to showing high status, like in Rembrandt's self-portrait with a poodle (a dog for fancy people). This side of art history is what I struggle with a bit more, but I loved being able to see a painting, and then hear differing perspectives on the role that elements (like dogs) play in the painting. While I can't come up with that analysis myself, I found it easier and easier to understand why the author and those she quoted came to such conclusions. I found the use of dogs in Rembrandt's biblical works especially interesting. I feel like dogs are often completely excluded from most religious works, but Rembrandt brings them into Biblical images and makes them more approachable.