Okay, this little fella is seriously cute! (And I’m not talking about the big black bull in the painting above, but the small white ball of fur in the bottom center — see him?) It’s hard to believe he’s more than 200 years old, or at least his picture is. Yes, dogs have been man’s best friend for a long time, and this particular picture that has been capturing the heart of modern internet users of late goes to prove that our love of dogs (and all things furry and adorable for that matter) truly transcend time. Just look at the little guy’s fluffy white coat and innocent puppy eyes. No wonder the image has been making net users go all gooey!
The picture of the little canine in question actually appears on one of two Japanese-style folding screens (byobu) that make up a pair. The screens are the work of Japanese artist Rosetsu Nagasawa who lived from 1754 to 1799 during the Edo period. Titled “Hakuzou Kokugyu-zu Byoubu” (Folding Screen with Image of White Elephant and Black Bull), the screens are believed to have been completed in the latter half of the 1790’s, and each screen is 155.3cm (5ft 1in) x 359.0cm (11ft 9in) in size. Interestingly, both screens each contain contrasting images of a very large animal together with a smaller animal, as well as a black animal with a white one.
As you can see in the pictures below, the image of the white dog that’s melting our hearts appears alongside the picture of a very large black bull. See how tiny the dog is in comparison to the bull, but still devastatingly cute, cocking his head to the side with his tongue sticking out a little. You can almost see and hear the dog moving and making adorable puppy noises.
▼Some close-up views of the 200 year-old image of cuteness
▼A look at the entire screen
▼The other screen in the pair, depicting a white elephant and black birds
Here’s what some Japanese internet viewers smitten with the picture are saying about the “little white dog on the 200 year-old screen”.
“This picture is absolutely enchanting (huge moe factor here)!”
“This is too cute!”
“The dog’s expression is priceless!”
“So endearing!”
“So cute, it makes you want to ask if it was really drawn 200 year ago.”
“Love the position of the dog’s legs.”
“You can almost imagine the dog saying something to you.”
“So, so, cute! The dog looks white and fluffy like a Samoyed.”
Life-size replicas of the screens are currently on display as part of a special exhibit featuring artwork of the Edo period from the world-famous Price Collection. The exhibit, which is now being held in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, will move in mid-May to Iwate Prefecture and then to Fukushima Prefecture in late July, all areas greatly affected by the devastating East Japan Earthquake in 2011, and it’s nice to hear that all profits from the exhibit will go towards earthquake recovery efforts.
Well, we think it’s amazing that such a sweet looking picture of a dog was painted more than 200 years ago and still continues to captivate us today. We guess people don’t change that much over the generations after all, at least when it comes to what we consider cute and precious!
Original Article by: Megumi Sawai
Source and photo: Jakuchu’s Here! Special Exhibit site (Japanese)
And if you want to see a few more of Nagasawa’s works, you may find the Kiritz Japan site interesting. Below is another one of Nagasawa’s paintings (also on a folding screen) from the site which again shows he was a master at portraying lovable little canines.
[ Read in Japanese ]
