Dutch Old Master pet portraits

Painted as Amsterdam would have painted them

One window, one shaft of light, and a face rising out of the dark. The Golden Age painters kept their dogs close. So should you.

Commission in this style See the style

Dutch Old Master pet portraits: example portrait — Framed in black, white or oak.

The look

No costume, no props, no fuss. Your sitter rests on a dark oak table draped in umber cloth, lit from a single high window while the room falls away into shadow. It is the quietest of our oils and, many would say, the most serious.

Why it flatters every coat

Chiaroscuro is generous. Dark coats gain a sheen, pale coats glow, and the grey of an older muzzle reads as distinction rather than age. Dapples, brindles and tabby stripes are kept exactly where they are.

Where it hangs best

A study, a dining room, the wall beside a reading chair. Choose the oak frame for warmth or black for a gallery feel, and give it a lamp in the evening.

The sitters who suit it

Thoughtful dogs, watchful cats, the elder statesman of the household. Dachshunds and hounds, with their long faces and soft ears, look as though they were born for it.

Framed in black, white or oak.

Approved by you

You approve every portrait before it's made. Two revisions, should they be needed.

Every marking

Spots, stripes, masks, odd eyes, extra toes. Their face, not a face.

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Framed to give

Archival prints, real frames and a linen box. Ready to hang, or to hand over.

It moves

A code on the frame back opens a moving portrait and a private page.

Enquiries

Questions

Is the Dutch Old Master style dressed up?

No. Unlike our Renaissance and Regency portraits, the Dutch style shows your pet as themselves, in natural pose, in that famous light.

Does it work for cats?

Beautifully. Black and tabby cats in particular take the light like polished wood.

Which size do you recommend?

The framed 16×20 at $129 suits the depth of the shadows; the 24×36 gallery canvas at $249 makes it the centrepiece of a room.