Portrait of a Greyhound with Pup

Although Pace del Campidoglio is mainly known as a painter of still-life, he also painted for his patron, Cardinal Flavio Chigi (1641-1693), numerous paintings of greyhounds for his residences in and around Rome. The present picture, depicting a greyhound with pup peering at him timidly out of its niche-like space in the lower right corner, belongs to this group of paintings. The brown greyhound is depicted before a twilit landscape. The artist seems to have specialised in these open-air animal portraits, a concept that also holds true for his still-lifes.