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The painting illustrates an anecdote by Plutarch about the Spartan king Lycurgus. Seated in the market place, the king addressed the crowd assembled around him on the importance of a proper upbringing. He called his two dogs to demonstrate his point and placed before them a bowl of food and a live hare. One chased after the hare, but the other stopped to eat from the bowl. Lycurgus then explained to the mystified onlookers: 'These two dogs came from the same litter but they were raised in different ways. One has turned into glutton and the other a spirited hunting dog.' Lycurgus had trained one for the hunt and allowed the other to go its own way. The latter is the animal licking the pot in the foreground, while the hunting dog stands beside Lycurgus and receives an approving pat on the head. The hare it has caught lies on the step at Lycurgus' feet.
At the time, the parable was cited in numerous tracts on education. In Everdingen's painting the scene is crystal clear and every detail is rendered with meticulous precision. And yet there is something unreal about it. It begs comparison with a 'tableau vivant' or a set of wax statues.
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