The story explains why the painter chose the unusual theme of a sleeping dog. Ordinarily he delighted in showing the expressiveness of a dog's eye. This being here impossible on account of the model's condition, we have instead a picture which we would not exchange even for Suspense or Dignity and Impudence. If we have here less of those higher qualities which are brought out in the dog's human relationships, we see the better the purely animal side of his nature.
The union of power with repose is a rare combination in art, and one we associate with Greek sculpture. The picture of the Sleeping Bloodhound has what we call plastic qualities. We have a sense of the massive solidity of the dog's body, as if he were modelled in clay. In this respect the picture should be compared with the Newfoundland dog called the Distinguished Member of the Humane Society, and with the lion of the Nelson monument.
The helmet beside the dog is one of those picturesque accessories which Landseer enjoyed putting into his works. Like the gauntlets in the picture of Suspense, it suggests the knightly deeds of chivalry with which the bloodhound seems appropriately associated. The reflection of light from the polished surface of the metal makes an effective touch in the picture.
It is by no accident that the helmet occupies the place it does; it is an essential part of the composition, serving precisely the same purpose which the cavalier's hat does in the picture of the King Charles Spaniels. Both compositions gain by this device the necessary height to balance their horizontal lines.
XII
THE HUNTED STAG
In his study of the deer in the Scottish Highlands, Landseer found almost inexhaustible material for his art. In fact, nothing of interest escaped him in the life of this noble animal. If we could have a complete collection of his pictures on this subject, they would set forth the entire story of the deer. The painter, as we have seen, did his hunting with a sketch-book, and brought home, instead of so many head of game, so many pictures with which to delight future generations. Many of these pictures deal with tragic subjects, as in our illustration of a Hunted Stag borne down a mountain torrent with the hounds upon him. The pathetic side of animal life appealed strongly to Landseer's dramatic imagination. He who could see so readily the comic aspects of a situation was equally quick in his appreciation of suffering.
It has been said by a close observer of animal life that no wild animal dies a natural death.[20] Every creature of the woods lives in the midst of perpetual dangers from some one of which, sooner or later, he comes to a violent or tragic end. The rigor of the elements sometimes overcomes him,—rain or snow, heat or cold, flood or avalanche, the falling tree or the crashing rock. It may be that some other animal which is his natural enemy finally falls upon him and destroys him. The most cruel fate of all is when he falls into the power of the sportsman, matching against the wild creature's instincts his wits, his dogs, and his rifle. In such an unequal contest man seldom fails to win.
[20] Ernest Seton-Thompson in Wild Animals I have known.