Due to the style , motiv and time of creation we attribute this first quality dog portrait to famous Austrian genre, historical, animal and landscape painter Johann Matthias RANFTL ( Vienna 1804-1854 Vienna), in his time called "Dog Raffael".  Johann Matthias Ranftl was born 1804 in Vienna. He studied starting from 1817 at the Viennese academy of Fine Arts by Joh.Baptist Lampi , Anton Petter and Johann Peter Krafft. 1826/27 followed his first large journey to Moscow and St. Petersburg. From the imperial court he kept the order for a row of portraits and to Alexander Puschkins " Eugen Onegin" developed six illustrations. In Ranftls early work dominate history pictures and portraits , while he turned in later years to more genre painting. Scenes from the everyday life , often with a socialcritical undertone, offered to him plentifully pictorial material . Persons in all age groups encourage the image space, supplemental by or other domestic animal. Here above all the representation of a dog could not be missing in the late work. This preference brought him the surname " Dog Raffael" . A London journey in the year 1836, with which Ranftl was allowed to accompany prince Paul Esterhazy, released the argument with the English animal painting. 1848 became Ranftl tidy member of the Viennese academy. For the revolution satire " The republic of the Thiere" by Eduard von Bauernfeld he created some illustrations. The occupation with printing graphics brought the artist to experimenting. Thus it invented the Ranftl procedure designated after him - a galvanographical technology. The artist died 1854 in Vienna.

Inscription:  unsigned

Technique: oil on canvas . Original period gold-plated frame

Measurements: unframed diameter 8 2/3" (22 cm), framed w 18 1/5" x h 18 1/5" (46 x 46 cm)

Condition: in very good condition.