|
Louis XV was addicted to hunting. He and his courtiers indulged in the sport in the forests of the various estates around Paris that made up the royal domains, the most prominent among them being Versailles, Marly, Choisy, La Muette, Saint-Germain, and Compiègne. Certain rooms of these residences were decorated with painting of animal subjects, hunt scenes, and still-lifes with dead game. The king's hunting retinue, stables, and kennels were an important part of his household. Their staff managed the packs of boisterous, often frenzied dogs that pursued large prey or sniffed out wild birds and other small game. These animals bore such amusing names as Misse, Turlu, Luttine, etc.
In 1725 the king commissioned Oudry to immortalize some of his favourite dogs in a series of paintings meant to serve as overdoor decorations for his apartments in the Château de Compiègne, located north of Paris. The painter was to portray these animals posing sedately, pointing game, or striding across a landscape. By 1732, Oudry had completed his series of eight canine portraits to which Misse and Luttine probably belonged.
|
