Monday, January 27, 2014

The Arnolfinis love to hike

Painted in 1434 in Bruges, Belgium, "The Arnolfini Couple" is one of the most popular paintings at London's National Gallery. If you listen to the BBC, you may have heard that Dachshund Daddy recently discovered this previously unknown version of "The Arnolfini Couple", which features my great-great-...-grandfather Zibibbo next to his fur-brother Baruffo.

Baruffo was a fluffy Brussels Griffon. According to the Daily Mail, Brussels Griffons are the descendants of a long line of Flanders Terriers bred to hunt rats.

My doggy family records confirm that Dachshund Zibibbo lived with Baruffo and the Arnolfinis in Lucca, Italy in the 1420s. Later, in the 1430s, they traveled to Bruges, Belgium, where Jan Van Eyck created their iconic portrait(s).

On their way from Italy to Belgium, the Arnolfinis and their doggies came through Switzerland and took a day off to hike to the top of Monte Lema, where the following photo was taken with Dachshund Zibibbo's digital camera.

Jean-Baptiste Lamarck would have posited that I owe my mouse-hunting skills to the training that Dachshund Zibibbo received from Baruffo the Brussels Griffon. Unfortunately, as my godson Bouncing Bertie would confirm, Mendel has already shown that acquired traits cannot be inherited. Too bad.

Before I fur-get... you can find the Arnolfinis, Baruffo, and Dachshund Zibibbo in Tootsie's Shoppe as part of my wotten waven "Dachshunds in Art" collection.


  1. Oh Tootsie, a lesson in fine art is just what I needed on a Monday morning! I especially like the Swiss Hike; lovely scenery with two gorgeous doggies.
    *Cairn cuddles*

  2. BOL.....You are descended from greatness.

  3. Good heavens. That woman had stamina, hiking the Alps as pregnant as she was. Your ancestors were either amazing or insane!

  4. Wow Tootsie, what a fascinating post. Who knew you had such distinguished ancestry.
    Toodle pip!
    PS But perhaps Tootsie you are not aware that the fast developing science of epigenetics has muddied that waters a bit on the whole heritability of acquired traits thing...

  5. Haha! That's so awesome! You're hilarious.

  6. Oh my gosh- how do you know all this stuff?

  7. Christa taking dictation from BrunoJanuary 28, 2014 at 5:30 AM

    Tootsie, you are a wealth of knowledge... as well as wit. Thanks for the art history lessons! Wags from wintry Chicago.

  8. Thank you so much for the history lesson! I have seen that a picture of that painting, but never knew it's name...and all the other facts.

  9. What an impressive heritage! :)

    I hope you're having a fun day,

    Your pal Snoopy :)


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