In fact, dogs, as the most loyal and long-lasting animal partners of human beings, have lived with human beings for more than 30,000 years. They have appeared in works of art for a long time and have continued to this day, but people just don't pay attention to them.
Mr. Zhou, a writer and art critic, is a man of heart. Because he had a dog at home when he was a child and liked dogs, he carefully captured and recorded paintings about dogs during his adult travels around the world and visits museums, and wrote the book "There is a dog in this painting". He selected 200 the world famous paintings from the Louvre, Metropolitan Museum, Forbidden City and other star museums, and reviewed the long and friendly interaction between human beings and dogs from the perspective of art history. There are all kinds of dog images in the painting, which reveal many mysteries of dogs and human beings and arouse our endless emotions, memories and imagination.
Next, let's follow the marks in these famous paintings and cross history to understand the strange art history of Wang Xingren in the past 8000 years and the emotional history of human beings and dogs.
First, the origin of dogs: from wolves to dogs
Dogs, also known as domestic dogs, have a closer and longer relationship with human beings than all domestic animals such as horses, pigs and cats. As early as the ancients lived by gathering fruits and hunting animals, dogs migrated around with their ancestors and grew and multiplied with human beings. Now there are more than 400 kinds of domestic dogs in the world, with the number reaching 900 million.
Scientists have found that all dogs have the same ancestor as Eurasian gray wolves. Archaeologists excavated dog bones from ancient human life sites, and molecular biologists studied the genetic evidence of these bones and modern domestic dogs, inferring that people in southern East Asia first domesticated the local Eurasian gray wolf as a domestic dog about 33,000 years ago.
After domestication, they became good hunting assistants for human beings, not only helping people to exterminate Eurasian gray wolves, but also hunting various wolves such as gray wolves and red wolves everywhere. /kloc-In the first half of the 7th century, the famous French hunting painter Alexander Fran? ois d 'Urberst described this scene in "Hunting Wolves": a group of hounds besieged a dying wolf, and the picture was vivid and powerful, which perfectly reproduced a period of history after the Eurasian gray wolf was domesticated. This oil painting on canvas was created at 1725 and is currently kept in Rennes Art Museum, France. D 'Urberst was the most popular painter of that era, and King Louis XIV of France entrusted him to create a series of large-scale hunting paintings.
But this is not the first time for dogs to enter the art field. In 20 17, German archaeologists discovered rock paintings of hounds dating back about 8,000 years in the desert of northwest Saudi Arabia. It depicts a scene in which a hound with pointed ears, a short nose and a tail rolled up by a leather rope confronts antelopes, goats, deer and lions. Pictures of dogs more than 7,000 years ago were also found in pottery fragments unearthed in Iran.
Since then, the image of the dog has officially entered the history of human art. Artisans and artists from all over the world, from practical items to decorative patterns, to various sculptures, murals, ink paintings, oil paintings, cartoons and film works, have accompanied human beings and spent happy or sad scenes with people in their lives for a long time.
Second, from being used by others to being accompanied by others.
At first, human beings paid most attention to the practical functions of dogs, such as hunting, nursing and grazing. Modern humans have developed more working uses of dogs, such as war dogs, police dogs used to track criminals and fight drugs, rescue dogs involved in rescue work in emergencies, and guide dogs to help the blind live. In entertainment, dogs can also participate in circus, dog fighting and other programs.
European aristocrats in the Middle Ages and Renaissance often hunted in wild forests, which was not only a kind of entertainment, but also a ritual act to show courage and strength to other aristocrats and people. This can be seen in the oil painting Hunting in the Woods by the painter Paul Uccello in the middle and late15th century. Other works with similar themes include canvas oil paintings "Hunting Quails" and "Tying Dogs" created by Spanish painter Goya in 1775, which were the favorite themes of nobles at that time.
In the cold Arctic, cattle, horses and other animals can't survive. People use dogs to pull sledges to transport people and goods. Archaeologists found the remains of a dog that pulled a sled 9,000 years ago on the Russian Siberian island of Chokhov.
In fact, since the dog entered the works of art, it has been inextricably linked with human beings. Almost at the same time as the rock paintings in Saudi Arabia appeared, the owner and his two dogs slept in the grave where Siberian dogs were buried together. Next to the dog, there are collars and spoons, which express the love of the owner 8000 years ago.
If the value of dogs used to be mainly practical, and the image expression and movements of dogs on the screen were relatively simple, then dogs have become "symbols of loyalty, purity and loyalty" since the15th century tapestry "Girls and Unicorns". Since then, dogs have often appeared in paintings of marriage and love ceremony scenes.
In the19th century, the upper-middle class in the west living in cities and towns generally kept pet dogs and regarded them as family members. So far, dogs have gained an important position in human families. The popular portraits of children and dogs, women and dogs at that time are the most powerful proof.
Human feelings for dogs have changed public opinion and law. 1824, the world's first animal cruelty prevention association appeared in Britain. From the queen to the ordinary people, animal rights need to be safeguarded. 18345, Britain has the world's first law to protect animals. Since then, other European and American countries have passed similar laws, and humans have begun to protect their dogs like family members.
Thirdly, the culture and emotion represented by dogs in the history of human development.
In human nomadic civilization and farming civilization, the cultural implication of dogs is very different. In farming society, dogs are often associated with negative moral images, and there are many such idioms among the people: cruel and heartless, putting on airs, being friends with friends, jumping off a wall, etc., all of which show bad qualities such as disloyalty and treachery. In contrast, dogs have a higher status in nomadic culture. In the myths of the Middle East, Persia, India, Northern Europe and other places, dogs are gods and monsters guarding the gates of hell.
The revolutionary transformation of ancient dog culture and modern dog culture took place in17-19th century. The rise of the middle class in European cities has stimulated the development of pet dog breeding, and keeping dogs has become a mainstream social culture. 1859, the world's first dog was exhibited in Newcastle, and the first big dog club appeared in 1873. 19 At the end of the 20th century, raising dogs became a big industry, and cultural products about dogs became popular. Books, magazines, newspapers, knowledge and stories make the image of dogs more positive, friendly, loyal and friendly.
Subsequently, in the works of art, the dog's emotional expression to human beings is more colorful, delicate and vivid, and goodwill, expectation, desire, joy, sadness and even jealousy can be reflected in the dog's posture and eyes. 186 1 In the watercolor painting Jealous Jesse by London female painter Emily Hunt and her brother william holman hunt, "Jesse" lies quietly on the grass with a peacock feather under his chin, and his eyes are full of jealousy, which reminds people of many emotions and stories outside the picture.
Nowadays, with the development of modern science and technology and the change of human lifestyle, the "practical function" of dogs in people's lives is weakening, but the interaction with human feelings is getting closer and closer, bringing endless comfort and joy to people. At present, there are more than 200 million pet dogs in the world, about 30 million families in China have dogs, and dog-related industries are spread all over the world. Images and stories related to dogs have penetrated into various literary works, and the emotional interaction between people and dogs has become more profound and frequent.
This book, from the birth to the growth of dogs, from hunting to companionship, makes us realize that the relationship between people and dogs is also an indispensable part of the evolution of human civilization. These great artistic paintings not only witnessed the lost history, but also let us trace the role of human beings in the development of civilization and inspire us to better understand our feelings through our feelings with dogs. We should learn how to live in harmony with our animal partners and ourselves in the future, and how to live a life with quality and temperature.
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