What if the most human experiences aren’t even portrayed in humans at all? While at the Louvre, I felt a deeper connection to the animal portrayals than most of the human paintings. At first, I did not understand why. I thought that maybe I had been overwhelmed by the sheer amount of human paintings and that the paintings of animals were just a nice change of pace. However, now looking back at the photos I took, I am certain that the animals portrayed evoked more emotion than most of the humans.
Take this painting of King David and Bathsheba. In this Old Testament story, King David lusts after Bathsheba, who is married to a soldier in David’s army. To have Bathsheba for himself, he instructs his commanders to put her husband on the front line of their next battle so that he may die. His plan works and David marries the widowed Bathsheba and has a child with her. In the painting, we can see King David flirting with the nude Bathsheba. Alongside there are two dogs, one large dog beside David, and one small dog beside Bathsheba.
In my opinion, the dogs are symbolic of King David’s emotions and self. The small dog symbolizes David’s lust after Bathsheba. It is unrestrained, running, and showing its teeth. In addition, the fur of the dog is rugged and unkempt. As I mentioned before, David knowingly sends one of his finest soldiers to his death to steal his wife. The small dog symbolizes how David’s lust is unchecked, out of control, and ready to attack.
The large dog symbolizes King David’s good moral self. This is the King David that we are used to reading about in the Old Testament. The dog is leaning down and his overall posture is directed backward. Its ears are pointed back, which is a dog’s natural response to danger. The dog is facing Bathsheba and the little dog, as it feels threatened by the little dog and frightened by Bathsheba. The much calmer, restrained, and manicured dog is scared of the little dog, which represents David’s out-of-control lust. David’s true self knows that this situation is wrong and could lead to something even worse if it is checked. Something worse does come to David as a consequence of his actions. God sees this injustice and decides to punish David by killing his newborn with Bathsheba, taking away all of his wives, and prophesying that David will never find peace from war/battle. The two animals in this painting symbolize the battle between David’s sin and his soul. Without the two dogs, the painting does not foreshadow the tragedy that is to come in the story.
This painting is just one example of how deeper meanings are conveyed through the use of animals. I chose to analyze this painting as it shows both humans and animals side by side. When comapring the two, I believe that the humans depicted show the surface level emotion ongoing in the scene, while the animals are more symbolic of the hidden emotions and tensions.
Revolutionary Cities 