Portrait of a dalmatian in a courtyard

This dignified portrait of a dalmatian exemplifies Michele Pace di Campidoglio's celebrated work in the genre of canine portraiture. The seventeenth century Roman-born artist, also known for his still lifes, worked for several prominent families, including the Rospigliosi and Pamphilj. Pace is best known for the series of dog portraits commissioned by Cardinal Flavio Chigi (1631-1693). In 1665, he executed four portraits greyhounds set against views of the Chigi estate, painted for the sala dei cani at the Palazzo Chigi, Ariccia. The Cardinal’s accounts from 1665 and 1666 further record payments made to Pace for at least 12 canvases—each depicting two greyhounds—intended for his villa Versaglia in Formello. Another portrait of a hound, bearing the Cardinal’s coat of arms on its collar, was recently sold at Christie’s, London, 1 July 2025, lot 22. Painted in the same tradition as the Chigi dog portraits, this canvas depicts a dalmatian standing in a courtyard, with an indistinct landscape beyond.

Pets, especially dogs, appear in portraiture as early as the fifteenth century, but stand-alone canine portraits did not become popular until the late-sixteenth or early-seventeenth century, emerging as status symbols for the nobility. Pace must have known Guercino's The Aldrovandi Dog (Norton Simon Museum, Pasadena, inv. no. F.1984.2.P), dated circa 1625, which similarly depicts a dog in profile, set against an expansive landscape with the Palazzo Aldrovandi.