The Dog by Tamsin Pickeral6/9/2023 ![]() ![]() Rock paintings found in the Tassili Mountains of southern Algeria and dating back possibly as far as 6,000 BC depict dogs hunting alongside men, presumably a pursuit that would not have been shared unless both parties involved were in agreement. ![]() Surely this must be due at least in part to the special bond that exists between man and dog, a bond celebrated in art almost since our ancestors first learnt how to represent their daily lives. ![]() ![]() Of course the whole concept of applying human traits to animals is inherently absurd but, as Tamsin Pickeral observes in her entertaining and gorgeously illustrated volume, dogs have been anthropomorphised to a greater extent than any other beast for several millennia. It is hard to imagine a domestic animal less deserving than the average dog of being decried as cynical were the same attribute applied to cats, for example, nobody would be surprised, but the notion of a scornful or sceptical canine is inconceivable. STRANGE AS it may seem, the term “cynic” derives from the Greek word kunikos meaning “dog-like”. VISUAL ARTS: The Dog: 5000 Years of the Dog in ArtBy Tamsin Pickeral Merrell, 287pp. ![]()
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