German shepherd Renaissance portrait: the history behind the style

Part 1

What a German shepherd Renaissance portrait actually shows

No real Renaissance painter ever sat down with a German shepherd, because the breed did not exist yet. People enjoy the mashup because it lets your dog star in a grand historical scene without pretending the scene is real. German shepherds are known for intelligence and fast responsiveness.

Part 2

When the German shepherd breed really began

The German shepherd breed began in 1899, when Max von Stephanitz bought a dog named Hektor Linksrhein at a German dog show and renamed him Horand von Grafrath. Horand received the first registration number for the breed, and within a month von Stephanitz and a friend founded the world's first German shepherd club. Von Stephanitz combined dogs from two regions of Germany, Thuringia and Wurttemberg, to find a middle ground between their traits. Horand's descendants spread so widely that his bloodline runs through nearly every German shepherd alive today.

Part 3

Which dogs actually appear in Renaissance portraits

Jan van Eyck painted a small, carefully detailed dog in the Arnolfini Portrait, dated 1434. The National Gallery describes this dog as a precisely defined pet that may symbolize the fidelity of the couple, and other analysis of the painting calls it a rare breed of its day. Dogs also appear in religious and mythological scenes: Pisanello surrounded the huntsman Saint Eustace with dogs around 1438 to 1442, and Titian showed the goddess Diana setting her dogs on a hunter in The Death of Actaeon, painted around 1559 to 1575. Across these works, dogs reappear as a kind of visual shorthand, whether as a loyal companion at a sitter's feet or as a hunting animal beside a mythological figure. Scholars have read extra meaning into the little dog in the Arnolfini Portrait, including fidelity, with some noting its direct gaze toward the viewer. Technical study of the painting found no underdrawing for the dog, showing van Eyck added it after planning the rest of the room. Van Eyck himself was known for dense symbolism in his work, and the dog takes its place alongside other details like a single lit candle and a convex mirror that together build a scene about marriage and fidelity.

Part 4

How artists and illustrators recreate this look today

• A ruff collar styled after Renaissance dress.
• A velvet-look robe or cloak draped over the shoulders.
• A gilded frame around the finished image.
• Soft, warm lighting similar to the glow van Eyck built up through layers of oil paint.

Part 5

The appeal of placing a modern dog in a historical scene

Part of the appeal is simply seeing your dog somewhere unexpected, dressed in a style that belongs to a different century. The National Gallery notes that dogs appear in a number of its paintings, sometimes as pets in a domestic setting. The result says more about the style you enjoy than about any real moment in history. Dogs appear across paintings in the National Gallery's collection, from a pet in a domestic scene to dogs accompanying mythological figures. Choosing a historical style for your own dog continues that long habit of letting a dog share the frame. You might enjoy the contrast between an old, formal style and a dog who is anything but formal in daily life.