A Boy with a Dog
attributed to Spanish School
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
1630 - 1669
Materials
Oil on canvas
Measurements
1537 x 914 mm (60 ½ x 36 in)
Place of origin
Spain
Order this imageCollection
Ickworth, Suffolk
NT 851702
Caption
This picture is thought to have been acquired with the Velázquez (which it is has always balanced at Ickworth) by the 1st Marquess during his Grand Tour of 1817-21. The boy is shown holding a bunch of roses, and the dog’s red rope lead. The dog appears to be of poorer quality than the boy, which suggests that it may be a later addition, but this is not borne out in X-rays. It seems possible that it was painted by another hand. The old attribution to Ceresa was put forward by Sir Anthony Blunt, but the sharp lighting and harsh contrasts of the painting surely (and its provenance) point to Spain rather than Italy.
Summary
Oil painting on canvas, A Boy with a Dog, attributed to Spanish School, mid-17th century. A full-length portrait of a young boy, turned slightly to the left, gazing at the spectator, standing in an interior before a richly embroidered black and gold curtain with a hanging tassel. He is holding a large dog (a Munsterlander) by a slender scarlet lead which he holds in his right hand. In his left hand he holds a red rose. He wears a black coat with scarlet and gold lining, black breeches and bows at the knees and shoes. He wears a string of coral beads around his neck and has shoulder-length brown hair.
Provenance
Recorded in the list of circa 1837 by Frederick William Hervey, 1st Marquess of Bristol (1769-1859) of pictures and rooms in which they were hung: “The Library. / The Companion Picture [to ICK.P.84] with the hand of the youth on the head of a large Dog - a highly finished Picture by [left blank]”; on the death of the 4th Marquess (1863-1951), valued for probate; accepted by HM Treasury in lieu of tax and transferred to the National Trust in 1956.
Credit line
Ickworth, The Bristol Collection (acquired through the National Land Fund and transferred to The National Trust in 1956)
Makers and roles
attributed to Spanish School, artist previously catalogued as attributed to Carlo Ceresa (San Giovanni Bianco 1609 - Bergamo c.1670) , artist