the hurdy-gurdy man's dog

thanks wikimedia commons. public domain.

Those guarded, often sad-eyed dogs you see with street musicians are nothing new.  Here's one from the mid-1600's as portrayed by Georges de La Tour (French; 1593-1652).  This fellow is a detail from "Ghironda Player with Dog."  (A ghironda is a sort of hurdy-gurdy.)  In the original painting, you'll see there are a couple of food-like items on the ground next to the dog, a piece of fruit and perhaps a piece of bread; certainly nothing he'd like to eat, but based on the ragged state of his master's cloak, he may have to settle.  De La Tour painted a number of hurdy-gurdy men among his other works, and is distinguished by his strong use of light versus shadow.  If you thought that looked a lot like Caravaggio's work, you're right - he was likely taught by Dutch followers of Caravaggio's work.  Powerful, isn't it?