Boy with a Black Spaniel
A curly-haired boy holds a black spaniel and looks straight out: an oval portrait by Drouais, known for his portraits of children at the French court. Full commentary ↓
Couldn't load the puzzle image.
Turn on piece outlines to see piece positions on this picture too
Drag the pieces into place · When zoomed in, drag an empty spot to move around
You can also play with a keyboard — Tab to the board, thenSpace pick a piece, Arrow keys move it (with Shift for small steps),Esc deselect, R rotate a piece (Shift+R the other way)
Boy with a Black Spaniel is an oil painting by François Hubert Drouais (ca. 1767) in the collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art. It measures 64.5 × 53.3 cm.
In the pictureA boy with silvery curls that look powdered, a lace collar and a light brown coat holds a black spaniel in the crook of one arm. The dog bares its teeth slightly, and the boy, holding something in his other hand, looks directly at the viewer. The oval format and dark background make the figures stand out.
BackgroundFrançois Hubert Drouais was the most popular portrait painter at the French court in the later eighteenth century, known especially for portraits of children of noble families. Painting children not as miniature adults but as children, together with dogs or toys, was new for the time. Who this boy was has not been firmly established.
Puzzle tipAs puzzles go, this picture is fairly friendly. Gather pieces around bright, distinct areas such as the face, the lace collar and the dog's eyes, and join the apricot-colored areas of the coat following the direction of the folds in the sleeve. For the dark background, start with the curved pieces that meet the oval border, and fewer pieces will be left over.
- Artist
- French, Paris 1727–1775 Paris
- Classification
- Paintings
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- 64.5 x 53.3 cm
- Credit line
- The Jules Bache Collection, 1949
Source: The Metropolitan Museum of Art ↗
In these collections: Animals in Masterpieces
Stories about this work
- The One Time Detaille and Drouais Painted Against Type
A single horseman painted without a battle by the military painter Detaille, and the only boy painted by Drouais, a portraitist of women. A look at one work each from outside their signature images.
- A 4-Week Plan for Masterpiece Puzzles at Home with Kids over Winter Break
A 4-week plan for doing masterpiece puzzles 15–30 minutes a day over winter break, changing themes each week: winter paintings, Christmas, animals, and Korean paintings for Seollal. With age-appropriate piece counts and questions to talk about.
- Why Dogs and Horses Turn Up So Often in Old Master Paintings
Animals in old paintings were both decoration and symbol: the dog for loyalty, the horse for status and authority, the bird for freedom and the soul. Small supporting players you find while doing the puzzle.
