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Notes

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Although the dog is waiting patiently for the return of his master, the certificate on the wall tells us that Sapper Alexander Murray, like so many who fought in the trenches during the First World War ‘passed out of the sight of men by the path of duty and self-sacrifice, giving up their own lives that others might live in freedom’. Whilst the little dog acts as a vehicle for arousing sympathy, it can also be seen in its traditional role in Western art as an emblem of fidelity. The Victorian love of animals promoted their use in paintings both to convey and prompt human emotions; Edwin Landseer was especially accomplished in this type of work, under the patronage of Queen Victoria. Robert Morley’s painting is a particularly late example of the genre.