Muzikanten met een draailier en een trommel laten honden dansen voor publiek, op de achtergrond een dromedaris met een aap op de rug 1794 - 1862

Pierre Jean Baptiste Leroy created this etching, depicting musicians with a hurdy-gurdy and drum making dogs dance for an audience, with a dromedary and monkey in the background. The dancing dogs draw our attention—a motif echoing back to ancient rituals where animals were often seen as mediators between the human and spirit worlds. The image of the dancing dogs can be seen as a symbol of cultural exchange and exoticism, evoking an almost dreamlike state. Think of the ancient mystery cults, where dance was a sacred act, a means to ecstatic communion. There's a tension here, between the forced performance of the dogs and the implied spontaneity of dance. The dogs mirror humankind in posture and dress, inviting deeper reflection on our relationship with the natural world, a theme that resurfaces through the Renaissance, evolving into complex allegories of morality and societal order. The artist evokes a powerful, subconscious resonance.