Study of a Spaniel’s Head

Surely one of the most stunning drawings of a dog in the history of art, this study of a spaniel’s head captures an array of charming details: the animal’s long, hanging ears covered in curly fur, its faithful eyes gazing upwards, and, speckled around the muzzle, its white and black fur. Although the animal’s likeness was evidently drawn from nature with tremendous, loving attention to detail, we should hesitate from assuming the work was intended as a portrait. Rather, Agostino Carracci used the spaniel as a model for a study, with a view to creating as true-to-life a representation of a dog as possible for eventual inclusion within a painting.