Animals do not have their portraits painted. This form of art was created by humans to memorialise humans. Portraits were seen and used as important symbols of status from around the 15th century. Within these portraits we may see an arrangement of props. These are often used to create a visual narrative which contextualises the subject, revealing their identity, status, or interests. They are also sometimes used simply to make the painting more visually interesting. These artworks are examples of portraits that use animals as props: background scenery to the foregrounded human subject. Is the animal then equal to an object? Perhaps artists felt animals were incapable of the emotions they hoped to capture on a human face, so they are placed as object, rather than subject. What does this tell you about the value of animals?
Miss Satterlee, Charles Bird King, ca. 1830-1839
From Smithsonian American Art Museum
A domesticated golden pheasant adds colour to Miss Satterlee’s portrait. In what setting would you normally see a pheasant? Did you notice the object concealed in the bottom-right corner? Does this gilded cage literally show us how the bird is trapped? Is the bird only taken out to act as a prop for portrait sittings?
Two Pheasants, ca. 1620
From National Museum of Asian Art
This artwork instead highlights the animal. What is the effect of this? Is it important that they are depicted in a natural setting, rather than a domestic one?
Untitled (Girl with butterfly net), Henry Schile, ca. 1870
From National Museum of American History
Does the butterfly resting on the flower know it is about to be caught? What do you think the girl will do with the butterfly? Is her domesticated dog’s life more valuable than the wild butterfly’s?
Melochlora affinis
From National Museum of Natural History – Entomology Dept.
Do you think it is important to collect and pin butterflies like this? Should animals be viewed as something to collect?
Do you ever think of animals as secondary to ourselves? Are humans the main ‘actors’ on this planet?