Poodles in Art
Symbolic & Satirical Poodles
Left: The Marriage Feast At Cana
(Hieronymus Bosch,ca. 1475). This is one of the earliest known of Bosch's works. Best known for his complex, bizarre imagery, Bosch deliberately placed this small Poodle at the lower left front of the work, opposite an uncut Spaniel. What was he trying to say? We can only guess.
Right: The Bone of Contention, detail from The Blue Cloak (Netherlandish Proverbs) (Pieter Bruegle, 1559) This particular proverb shows two dogs and one bone. One, a large, coat-cut Poodle, seems to be getting the better of the pale hound. Bruegel included scores of proverbs in this painting, some of which still defy elucidation. Is the fact that the Poodle seems to be winning a comment on 16th C Dutch society?
Left: The Bum Shop (Detail)
(Thomas Rowlandson, 1785)
The fashion of wearing false rumps appeared in the last quarter of the 18th C. Here we see a shop full of ladies looking to enhance their figures. In the front is a prominent little Poodle, standing on hind legs to watch the women. Note the cropped ears. Is the Poodle there to suggest that fashion has been imposed on dogs, or is he laughing at us?