Den gamle pudel 1845

This small, anonymous print presents a young girl and an old poodle in a rural landscape. The simplicity of the scene belies the complex social context of its creation. Consider the rise of sentimentalism in the 19th century, which idealized childhood and celebrated the bond between humans and animals. Images like these catered to a growing middle class eager to display its refined sensibilities. Notice how the girl is positioned in the lower right, making us read the scene from right to left. The cultural values of the time were largely conservative, and so the artist may be commenting on, or at least participating in the artistic conventions of the time. What we see here is a social commentary on the domestic sphere, with childhood innocence and the loyalty of animals. To fully understand this print, one would need to delve into the popular imagery of the period. Catalogues and books of the time often reveal how artists both reflected and shaped contemporary attitudes. The meaning of this artwork is not fixed, but rather changes in relation to its social and institutional context.