Hunting Dog with Dead Hare (1857) is a French oil on canvas painting by Gustave Courbet in Ornans. This painting brings up the social role of animal cruelty in society. There are different types of animal cruelty and they cannot act for themselves. Animals are being neglected, starved and beaten by uncaring owners. This painting portrays the dogs as the humans inflicting physical pain/death upon an animal. Humans share the world with animals yet many people do not see the big role they play in society. Hunting Dog with Dead Hare demonstrates how heartless society can be when is not one of their own and also if it does not benefit them. The painting establishes this through its composition, color, mood and several symbolic delineations that exposes unworthiness, dishonor and demotion.
The image indicates that the dogs attacked the hare. The dogs stare at each other in the state of probably being out of breath. The painting looks realistic because of the way the hare is laying helpless. The dogs are portraying humans as being savages and uncaring. Meaning the dog showing cruelty towards the hare as humans do towards other animals. The dogs do not look restless; however, the brown spotted dog is showing signs of starvation or may be malnourished. The stance of both dogs delivers movement to the painting. Courbet shows this by showing the prints of the ribs with lines on the coat of the dog. The dark woods emphasize the illusion of space. This is shown by the way in which the tree's are positioned and the leaves are all put together not showing a peak of the sky. The daunting environment characterize.
Courbet also reveals a mood symbolizing it by the use of dark colors for the background, which in this painting is depressing. The position in which the hare is can be somewhat disturbing but it imitates the mood by its death. He uses lighter shades on the animal to make them the main focus. A contrast of two different colors to make the dogs the center of attention although they were not placed in the middle, it's what the viewer first notices.
