the timeless patience of dogs

thanks wikiart.org.  PD

Any guesses on when this portrait was painted?  The answer surprised me.  Because of its immediacy and the presence and insight given to this stalwartly waiting friend, I thought perhaps the American 1930's.  Wrong: this undated "Study of a Dog" is by French Academic painter Jean-Leon Gerome (1824-1904), who must have wanted a break from harems and deserts.  This makes me think about how the drive for modernism in art must have had some link to a drive for greater intimacy in subjects; but then, I liked the golden serenity of the image for a Monday.