Joseph Stevens, The Torment of Tantalus

by Atelier Liesjes

A dog with a white chest and paws and a brown back is sitting on a floor of large, worn stones. He is tethered on the left by a thin chain and holds his head tilted upwards, his eyes fixed on a large piece of red meat lying on a wooden chopping block. A white cloth hangs over the block, falling down in heavy folds. Behind the dog lies a dark barn interior with heavy wooden beams; to the right, light falls in a sharp beam onto a rough, chalk-white wall. The dog is panting slightly, with its tongue between its teeth, and its front paws are braced on the stones. Its ears are laid back slightly and its gaze is fixed unceasingly on the meat. Here, Stevens chose to reflect the myth of Tantalus: the animal is tormented by something it can never reach. The painting is both an animal piece and a genre piece, conveying an almost human expression of longing and resignation. The animal is not a symbol but an individual: the folds of skin, the ears and the tension in the legs are those of a dog that has actually sat there. The tone is warm and dark, with brown, ochre and a cool grey in the stones; the light comes from the right and casts a golden glow along the coat. The finish is delicate and painstaking, with short strokes in the fur and a coarse touch on the stone floor. Joseph Stevens (Brussels 1816 – Brussels 1892) was a Belgian animal painter and the brother of the portrait painter Alfred Stevens. He began his career as a painter of dogs and horses and gained international renown for his dog portraits; his work was praised in Paris and London. His animals possess a certain human quality without ever becoming saccharine. A tranquil, warm painting suited to a classical interior.