The Rubens House > Collection > Acquisitions > Acquisitions 2010 > Two dogs in a pantry
Two dogs in a pantry
Dogs wreaking havoc in a pantry was a favourite theme of Snijders. He portrayed the animals in the heat of the action: attacking the food with abandon, baring their teeth and growling threateningly at a rival.
This emphasis on drama and movement was something Snijders had learned from Rubens.
The painting originally belonged to the collection of Don Diego Messia, Marquis of Leganés. This Spanish nobleman, who spent a long time at Albert and Isabella’s court in Brussels, was a prominent courtier of Philip IV, king of Spain. In addition to work by Snijders, Leganés owned a number of paintings by Rubens, including The Annunciation in the Rubenshuis. In 1628 Rubens praised the marquis as one of the most distinguished collectors of his day. The inventory number of the Leganés Collection is visible in the lower right-hand corner of the painting.
Frans Snijders (1579-1657)
Two dogs in a pantry
oil on canvas
On long-term loan from the Devaux Collection, Antwerp