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Pets in the Arts and Sciences

Animal Magnetism

Life with Picasso (by Gilot, Françoise)
The Strange Life of Nikola Tesla (by Tesla, Nikola)

People have enjoyed the companionship of animals since ancient times. In the earliest days, humans kept animals strictly for utility. The word “pet” was first used in 1508 to describe an animal kept for pleasure. Linguistics experts believe that it emerged from the word “petty” (small).

As styles of architecture, home furnishings, and fashion ebb and flow, so do the types of pets that people embrace and the breeds they choose.

Today, dogs and cats are the top pet picks in many countries worldwide. Beyond companionship, these cuddly creatures deliver health benefits to their human companions. Cuddling up to these furry friends is shown to decrease blood pressure, diminish feelings of loneliness, and elevate socialization time.

During the Renaissance, symbols were widely used to convey meaning in paintings. Dogs signified loyalty and fidelity, while cats conveyed treachery and trickery. In Venus of Urbino, Titian’s Venus reclines in the lavish surroundings of a Renaissance palace while a sleepy dog rests by her feet.

Dogs often served as studio mates for painters. Pablo Picasso painted many works that featured Lump, a dachshund that belonged to a photojournalist with whom he lived. Picasso’s rendition of Diego Velazquez’s Las Meninas prominently features Lump in the foreground. In The Love Embrace of the Universe, Frida Kahlo appears alongside her favorite furry friend, a hairless Mexican Itzcuintli dog. For more on the life of Frida Kahlo, watch Art History: Mexican Modernism: Frida Kahlo’s Frieda and Diego Rivera.

In 1885, the Saint Bernard was top dog breed in the USA; today the family-friendly Labrador Retriever steals the hearts of Americans. Across the Atlantic, the Kennel Club UK named the Barbet—an ancient French breed known as the French water dog—as the most coveted canine breed of 2018. In Spain, dogs reign as the top pet choice with Yorkshire terriers and German Shepherds as the favorites.

Cats also prominently feature in many paintings. Impressionist painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s Portrait of Mademoiselle Julie Manet shows a girl cradling a content kitty. In Life with Picasso, author Francoise Gilot references a sculpture Picasso created of a pregnant cat.

More unusual pets such as squirrels were once popular in America’s affluent urban homes. Artist John Singleton Copley’s half-brother Henry Pelham sits alongside a small squirrel in A Boy with a Flying Squirrel. The painting is mentioned in The Life and Works of John Singleton Copley.

Engineer and inventor Nikola Tesla was particularly fond of pigeons. While living in a hotel in Manhattan, he befriended a white pigeon. He said, “I loved that pigeon as a man loves a woman, and she loved me. As long as I had her, there was a purpose to my life.” For more oddities on Tesla, read The Strange Life of Nikola Tesla. Pigeons are currently among the most popular pets in the Middle East.

By Regina Molaro