Copy of Charles Jervas's portrait of Jonathan Swift via LIFE
Jonathan Swift died 265 years ago today. His advice to dog painters is as incisive as ever.
"Advice to a Dog Painter"
Happiest of the spaniel race,
Painter, with thy colors grace,
Draw his forehead large and high,
Draw his blue and humid eye;
Draw his neck, so smooth and round,
Little neck with ribands bound;
And the musely swelling breast
Where the Loves and Graces rest;
And the spreading, even back,
Soft, and sleek, and glossy black;
And the tail that gently twines,
Like the tendrils of the vines;
And the silky twisted hair,
Shadowing thick the velvet ear;
Velvet ears which, hanging low,
O'er the veiny temples flow.
— Jonathan Swift (1665 – 1745), poem included in The Dog's Book of Verse
Via The Pet Museum.