Requiescat - (The Dog and His Master)

"Requiescat" by Briton Rivière was painted in 1888, is a masterful presentation of noble death and devotion. Requiescat is an extract of the prayer Requiescat in pace or "May he rest in piece." Rivière was one of the foremost Victorian animal painters of his day and was admired for his capacity to render a realistic physique of his subjects while infusing anthropomorphic virtues such as the loyalty portrayed by the hound to his late master. An interesting side note is that Rivière used the armour of the effigy of the Black Prince in the Canterbury Cathedral as a model for the knight lying here.  

A fallen knight's body with the loyal hound dog sitting in vigil.