Tag Archives: Horatio Greenough

If you are a greyhound lover, then a trip to Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts is a worthy visit.  There are a number of pieces in the museum depicting greyhounds.  Here are just a few examples.

Sculptor Horatio Greenough (1805–1852) rendered his dog Arno in marble.  Arno was named for the river that runs through Florence, Italy (Greenough trained in Italy).

In the Folk Art Gallery, you will find a carousel figure in the shape of a greyhound.  This figure was carved between 1905 and 1910 by Charles Looff.   He only made about 12 greyhound figures for carousels and all were said to be modeled after his family’s greyhound.

When acquired by the Museum, the greyhound was painted dark brown and covered with a thick layer of varnish. A painstaking process of conservation removed about fourteen layers of paint (carousel figures were exposed to the weather and thus repainted frequently), revealing the original polychrome painted surface and other details.

And this English Regency bed features greyhounds inspired by medieval tomb sculptures, but anyone who knows greyhounds know that they love to sleep – so very appropriate to have them as embellishments on a human bed.

Kathleen Crisley, specialist in dog massage, rehabilitation and nutrition/food therapy, Canine Catering Ltd, Christchurch, New Zealand