So, to relieve the boredom one long autumn night, I searched the official website and found that the animal with the most appearances was the horse, depicted in 1,182 pictures. One of the features of the collection in its early years was that there were many portraits of members of the royal family, nobles, and dignitaries, and they liked to present a dignified figure by appearing on horseback. Now, as for the dog versus cat question, there are 931 works in which dogs appear, and 78 paintings in which cats show themselves, meaning an overwhelming win for dog people? Still, isn’t it surprising that more than 10% of all the paintings owned by the museum depict dogs?
And if there is a masterpiece in which a dog is depicted, it would probably be the Prado’s crown jewel, Velázquez's "Las Meninas" (“The Ladies-in-waiting”), also known as "The Family of Philip IV". This work, which hangs in a prime location in the main hall of the Prado Museum, is one of the oldest artworks, which have not left the museum* in more than 200 years since its opening in 1819.
* Except that during the Spanish Civil War of 1936 to 1939 it was evacuated for some time to Valencia, Barcelona, and then Switzerland to avoid the fires of war. It returned to Madrid in September 1939, when the ravages of war had abated.
Picture 1
It seems that His Majesty Philip IV had Velázquez, the chief painter of the royal court, paint this work so that he could hang it in his office and always be with his family, even in the middle of his official duties. I can understand his beloved daughters, ladies-in-waiting, chamberlains, and so on, but he also thought of his pet dog as family, and the name he was given was Salomón. By the way, the breed of this pooch is “Mastín Español” in Spanish, or Spanish Mastiff in English. In Japan, the Tosa breed is called the Japanese Mastiff.
Picture 1 is "Las Meninas," a work featuring Philip IV’s family members gathered together.
Picture 2
Photo 1
While exploring the relationship between cats and dogs, I also found a figure that seems to be an ancestor of Dekopin (Decoy), Shohei Otani’s pet dog, who has been in the news lately. In picture 2, "Otter Harassed by Dogs," they are Kooikerhondje Spaniels leading the pack toward the otter. True to form, because they are at work, they have a stern look on their face. The English name is Dutch Decoy Spaniel, so I think Mr. Otani named his dog Decopin after “decoy.” The painter is Pieter Boel, a 17th-century painter from Antwerp. From the 16th to 17th centuries, this breed played a vital role in hunting in Flanders, which included the present-day Netherlands, especially in duck hunting, and the breed was given the name "decoy " because it lured ducks out by lifting its bushy tail up high. Photo 1 shows a decoy carved out of wood.
Picture 3
Next is cats, and as with dogs, cats appear in picture 3, Velázquez's masterpiece, "The Fable of Arachne - The Spinners". This painting is divided into two scenes, one in the foreground and one in the background. The foreground scene shows women in motion spinning yarn inside a tapestry workshop making wall hangings and carpets. And then there is a back room where a finished work is displayed. That depicts the myth of a woman named Arachne, who was too proud of her weaving skills, incurred the wrath of the goddess Athena and was turned into a spider, making thread and weaving for the rest of her life. In this painting, a cat appears in the foreground, on the floor, and some are of the keen opinion that a black cat-like shadow can be seen on the lap of the woman spinning the spinning wheel, but I wonder if it would be possible for a cat to sit still in front of a rapidly moving spinning wheel.
In "Las Meninas" there is a dog loyal to his master, and in "The Fable of Arachne - The Spinners" there is a carefree cat living life at its own pace. So, it looks as though even in 17th-century Spain, the most common pets were dogs and cats.
Picture 4
Bonus: Picture 4 is a cat at the Prado Museum I particularly like, "Cabeza de gato durmiendo” (“Head of sleeping Cat").
