Jan Fijt, Two Greyhounds

by Atelier Liesjes

Two greyhounds are lying stretched out asleep at the foot of an enormous tree trunk. The dog on the left has a brindled, grey-brown coat with a white chest and paws; his head rests on the ground, his long legs folded up, and around his neck is a leather lead attached by a ring to a chain, which curves towards the other dog. The second dog is almost entirely white, with grey patches and a reddish-brown patch on its head; it lies curled up, its nose between its paws, one ear over its eye. Behind them, against the dark trunk, stands a long stick leaning upwards at an angle, from which hang a dead bird and a hare with a bleeding flank. The ground is moss-green and brown, strewn with small stones. The painting offers a moment of respite within the hunting tradition: no violence, no movement, just two exhausted animals sleeping in the shade. Fijt painted the fur with fine, patient brushstrokes, in white, grey and reddish-brown, and rendered the tree trunk in an almost abstract darkness: a broad, vertical mass with deep grooves. The light is soft and indirect, coming from the left, and the colours are limited to ivory white, umber, moss green and the occasional touch of rust-brown. This lends the scene an intimate and almost endearing quality, despite the hunting spoils faintly visible in the background. Jan Fijt (Antwerp 1611 – 1661) was a pupil of Frans Snyders and one of the most sought-after animal and hunting painters of his time. He became a master of the Antwerp Guild of Saint Luke in 1630, travelled to Italy and subsequently returned to work in Antwerp, where he mainly painted dogs, birds and game. His work is represented in the Royal Museum of Fine Arts, Antwerp, and in many European museums. These sleeping hounds are an intimate, warm piece suitable for a classic interior.