Standing on Dogs: Renaissance Knights in Armor vs. Small Dogs, #1

JF Ptak Science Books    Post 403

Pictured here is Jean de Liekerke & Wife ("Jean de Liekerke et de sa Femme"), the largest element of a "dalle tumulaire", or decorated burial slab, for the couple's tomb, found in Brugge's oldest church, the Cathedrale de St. Sauveur (built 12th-15th centuries).  It is a glorious chromolithograph, printed ca. 1858 or so, and is extremely detailed and complex.  I cannot unearth who the couple was, their names appearing three times in the image's margins, twice spelled differently and partially abbreviated ("jeha de Likerke").  Most of the print's elements, as well as its subject, are not known to me, sorry to say:  I just stopped by to point out my completely not-understood vision of the noble Sir Jean/Jehan pictured standing on top of a greyhound.  The dog wears a large collar and also, perhaps, pants of some sort made of maille.  Generally the appearance of the dog in paintings from this era of the low renaissance signify fidelity; again, with most of the elements of this image, I do not know what the significance is of the heavily armored man standing on this small dog. 

Comments

[Jeff]

She looks unhappy. He looks worried. Many explanations come to mind ...

[jasper]

The Greyhound, in heraldry, is used to signify a number of positive personal attributes including such things as loyalty and courage.

The dog is also used to denote nobility. The 'de' in the surname is indicative of such a status.

[Jeff]

Also, the man might be struggling against a taller, domineering wife. It looks as if she might be wearing Army boots. Wearing the armor could be like Bush wearing the flight suit. I know it's a stylized image, not a domestic one, but still, it's hard not to read something into this one.

[John F. Ptak]

Jeff: she *does* look worried, and if you look at the print very closely you can see that her eyes are indeed open, and looking down to the side. I'm a little annoyed with myself for publishing this without a real commentary; I just gave up too quickly.
Jasper: THANKS! I knew that the dog had a positive attribute, but I've just never noticed someone actually standing on a dog--plenty of folks standing on open books, weapons, flowers and so on; dragons of course; but not a dog. And a little one at that.

[Jeff]

At first, I took it that she was unhappy and he was worried, as might happen if he were unfaithful and she were mad. However, Jasper's insight that the greyhound could mean loyalty might hint that it is the other way around. Either way, he's still too short and she wears Army boots.

[John F. Ptak]

True all the way around, Jeff. The first thing that Patti said when she looked at the print was that the guy was standing on the dog because he was short. And the woman, you're right, was probably wearing those giant Brooklyn Bridge lifty shoes that the non-royal classes were forbidden to wear. I think that they were either put to death, or maybe they could wear them if they were prostitutes? Memory failing...

[John F. Ptak]

True all the way around, Jeff. The first thing that Patti said when she looked at the print was that the guy was standing on the dog because he was short. And the woman, you're right, was probably wearing those giant Brooklyn Bridge lifty shoes that the non-royal classes were forbidden to wear. I think that they were either put to death, or maybe they could wear them if they were prostitutes? Memory failing...

[John F. Ptak]

True all the way around, Jeff. The first thing that Patti said when she looked at the print was that the guy was standing on the dog because he was short. And the woman, you're right, was probably wearing those giant Brooklyn Bridge lifty shoes that the non-royal classes were forbidden to wear. I think that they were either put to death, or maybe they could wear them if they were prostitutes? Memory failing...