The cat scene had been botched. The same happened with that of the running hound, also called game hound, perhaps by the same artist. These hounds are all of a small build, with long, short or rough coats. Fébus calls them spaniels and doesn´t greatly appreciate them either. These hounds, perhaps for show, always run in front and are apt to hunt quail, partridge and duck on foot. The Count claims that they are from Spain and that ´their nature is determined by their bad origin´. One could deduce that this bad origin refers to his opinion of his wife´s family, particularly to Charles the Bad, King of Navarre; although being of French origin, even royal, he had made his fortune on the other side of the Pyrenees. These dogs are quarrelsome and noisy; they bark a lot and are undisciplined, doing everything to stand out. That is to say, they possess every fault, only being good for falconry. Even so, Fébus did own some of these disobedient game hounds, since he still used them to hunt goshawk, falcons or sparrow hawks. This is what is conveyed in the joyous scene of them meeting on the field, even if it is clumsily achieved.
Yves Christe,
Université de Genève
The cat scene had been botched. The same happened with that of the running hound, also called game hound, perhaps by the same artist. These hounds are all of a small build, with long, short or rough coats. Fébus calls them spaniels and doesn´t greatly appreciate them either. These hounds, perhaps for show, always run in front and are apt to hunt quail, partridge and duck on foot. The Count claims that they are from Spain and that ´their nature is determined by their bad origin´. One could deduce that this bad origin refers to his opinion of his wife´s family, particularly to Charles the Bad, King of Navarre; although being of French origin, even royal, he had made his fortune on the other side of the Pyrenees. These dogs are quarrelsome and noisy; they bark a lot and are undisciplined, doing everything to stand out. That is to say, they possess every fault, only being good for falconry. Even so, Fébus did own some of these disobedient game hounds, since he still used them to hunt goshawk, falcons or sparrow hawks. This is what is conveyed in the joyous scene of them meeting on the field, even if it is clumsily achieved.
Yves Christe,
Université de Genève
