It’s hard to believe that the dog pictured above is a pug. But he is. The oil painting, which hangs in the Tate, is titled “The Painter and His Pug” by William Hogarth, a British 18th century artist. Hogarth was a lover of the pug breed and owned three in his lifetime: Pugg, Trump, and Crab. The one pictured in the 1745 painting is Trump. Hogarth believed his own features resembled a pug’s and included the dog in his painting to represent the feisty, pugnacious side of his personality.
So much for today’s art lesson. I found the painting remarkable because it shows how much the breed has changed over the centuries. Trump has a much longer snout and legs than a modern pug and no where near its wrinkles. And since Trump was posed sitting who knows if his tail curled or not.
That’s fascinating. I wonder when the change occurred. I’ve always pictured Lady Bertram’s pug, which would have been about fifty years later, as looking more like Pablo than like Hogarth’s dog.
I think Hogarth is right….he does look like a pug. Who names a pug “Pugg”?