the colonel's splendid dog

https://www.webumenia.sk/dielo/SVK:SNG.O_4859 PD

Whomever Colonel Ladislav Szent Ivanyi was, his dog was not only very fine, but knew how to offer a flower most winsomely.  This oil portrait by an unknown painter, dated 1756, seems to have been painted to commemorate Ivanyi's engagement to Barbara Horvath.  That's me interpreting Google Translate for Latin to English, so beware.  Is the dog offering him a flower in congratulations or to symbolize his felicitous event? Probably both.

cat mini

https://www.webumenia.sk/dielo/SVK:SNG.O_4917 PD

Before photographs were readily available to stuff in wallets and pockets, people often kept beloved faces close through tiny paintings.  Someone in Slovakia around 1800 - 1825 had this particular face immortalized in gouache on cardboard, measuring only 6.8 x 5.6 cm.  Portrait miniatures would be a charming fashion to revive.