A DISTINGUISHED MEMBER OF THE HUMANE SOCIETY
In his walks about the city and in
the country Landseer’s eye was always quick
to catch sight of a fine animal of any kind. To
his remarkable habits of observation is due the perfect
fidelity to nature which we find in all his work.
One day, in a street in London, he met a Newfoundland
dog carrying a basket of flowers. He was struck
at once with the singular beauty of the dog’s
color. Newfoundland dogs of various colors were
at that time common about London, red, brown, bronze,
black, and black and white. Landseer had already
painted a black and white one in the picture of The
Twa Dogs, which we have examined.
Here, however, was a dog of a beautiful
snowy white with a head quite black save the muzzle.
The painter was not long in making his acquaintance,
and learned that he was called Paul Pry. Permission
being obtained to make the dog’s portrait, our
beautiful picture was the result. It is probably
this picture which gave rise to the later custom of
calling the white Newfoundland dog the Landseer Newfoundland,
to distinguish it from the black.
The Newfoundland dog is a general
favorite for his many good qualities. He is very
sagacious and faithful, and unites great strength
with equal gentleness. He is at once an excellent
watchdog and a companionable member of the household.
Children are often intrusted to his care: he
makes a delightful playmate, submitting good-naturedly
to all a child’s caprices and apparently
enjoying the sport. At the same time he keeps
a watchful eye against any danger to his charge, and
no suspicious character is allowed to molest.
It is possible to train such dogs
to all sorts of useful service. In their native
country of Newfoundland they do the work of horses,
and harnessed to carts or sledges draw heavy loads.
They learn to fetch and carry baskets, bundles, and
letters, and are quick, reliable messengers.
Perhaps their most striking peculiarity
is their fondness for the water; they take to it as
naturally as if it were their proper element.
They are not only strong swimmers, but also remarkable
divers, sometimes keeping their heads under the surface
for a considerable time. Nature seems specially
to have fitted them for the rescue of the drowning,
and in this humane calling they have made a noble
record.
Innumerable stories are told of people,
accidentally falling from boats, bridges, or piers,
who have been brought safely to land by these dog
heroes. The dog seizes the person by some part
of the clothing, or perhaps by a limb, and with the
weight dragging at his mouth, makes his way to the
shore. He seems to take great pains to hold the
burden as gently as possible, keeping the head above
water with great sagacity. Some one has told
of seeing a dog rescue a drowning canary, holding
it so lightly in his mouth that it was quite uninjured.
It is in his capacity as a life saver
that the Newfoundland dog of our picture is represented,
called by the pleasant jest of the painter, A Distinguished
Member of the Humane Society. Surely no member
of the honorable body could be more efficient than
he in that good cause. He lies at the end of
a stone jetty, his fore paws hanging over its edge
a little above water level. Nothing can be seen
behind him but the gray sky, with sea gulls flying
across: against this background the massive head
stands out grandly. He seems to look far out to
sea, as if following the course of a distant vessel.
A gentle lifting of the ears shows how alert is his
attention; he is constantly on duty, ready to spring
into the water in an instant.
His attitude shows his great size
to full advantage, the splendid breadth
of his breast and the solidity of his flank. The
open mouth reveals the powerful jaw. A sense
of his strength is deeply impressed upon us.
The pose suggests that of a couching lion, and has
the same adaptability to sculpture, as we may see
by comparing it with the bronze lion of the Nelson
monument.
As the dog lies in the full sunlight,
the picture is an interesting study in the gradations
of light and shadow, or of what in technical phrase
is called chiaroscuro. A critic calls our
attention to “the painting of the hide, here
rigid and there soft, here shining with reflected
light, there like down; the masses of the hair, as
the dog’s habitual motions caused them to grow;
the foreshortening of his paws as they hang over the
edge of the quarry."
Other Newfoundland dogs are known
to fame through epitaphs written in their honor by
distinguished men, such as Lord Byron, Lord Grenville,
and the Earl of Eldon. Never has dog had a nobler
monument than this Distinguished Member of the Humane
Society, whose portrait ranks among Landseer’s
best works.
The owner of the dog, Mr. Newman Smith,
became likewise the owner of the picture, and by him
it was bequeathed to the English National Gallery,
where it now hangs.