Symbolism
Animal Symbolism in Art: Hidden Meanings
Why is there a little dog at the couple’s feet, an owl in the shadows, a lamb in the foreground? In older painting, almost every animal carries a meaning. This gallery zooms into the symbolic creatures of the collection. Click any detail to meet the animal and the work it lives in.
24 details · cropped from original museum images
What these details mean
What the most common animals signal in Western art:
- Dog
- Loyalty and fidelity — which is why one so often sits at the feet of married couples.
- Owl
- Wisdom, but also night, death, and folly depending on the context.
- Lion
- Courage, strength, and resurrection; an attribute of St. Mark and St. Jerome.
- Peacock
- Immortality and the all-seeing Church.
- Serpent
- Temptation, sin, and the Fall of Man.
- Lamb
- Christ, the "Lamb of God"; innocence and sacrifice.
- Dove
- The Holy Spirit, peace, and the soul.
white hunting dog (setter)
Thomas Doughty · Landscape with Dog
Art Institute of Chicago
central peacock
Melchior d' Hondecoeter · Peacocks
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
waterfowl looking up
Attributed to Zhu Da 朱耷 (Chinese, 1626-c.1705) · Lotus and Waterfowl
Art Institute of Chicago
Dove of the Holy Spirit
French; Picardy · Panels from the High Altar of the Charterhouse of Saint-Honoré, Thuison-les-Abbeville: Pentecost
Art Institute of Chicago
Lion attacking the horse
Eugène Delacroix (French, 1798–1863) · Arab Horseman Attacked by a Lion
Art Institute of Chicago
white hunting dog guarding game
Jean-Baptiste Oudry · Dog Guarding Dead Game
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
roaring lion
Eugène Delacroix (French, 1798–1863) · Lion Hunt
Art Institute of Chicago
left hunting dog (white and brown)
Gustave Courbet · Hunting Dogs with Dead Hare
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Dove of the Holy Spirit
Workshop of Bernard van Orley (Netherlandish, 1490–1542) · Pentecost
Art Institute of Chicago
Lioness head and forelimbs
Pierre Andrieu (French, 1821-1892) · Wounded Lioness
Art Institute of Chicago
snake (transformation of Zeus)
After Polidoro Caldara, called Polidoro da Caravaggio · Birth of Alexander
Art Institute of Chicago
small dog on lap
Eugène Carrière (French, 1849–1906) · Portrait of a Lady with a Dog
Art Institute of Chicago
The Holy Spirit as a Dove
Annibale Carracci · The Coronation of the Virgin
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Lamb of God
Diego Velázquez (Spanish, 1599–1660) · Saint John the Baptist in the Wilderness
Art Institute of Chicago
Snake head with bared fangs
School of Andrea Mantegna · Faun Attacking a Snake
Art Institute of Chicago
Small dog being held
Giacomo Ceruti · A Woman with a Dog
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Dove of the Holy Spirit
Alessandro Vittoria (Italian, 1525–1608) · The Annunciation
Art Institute of Chicago
Lamb of God (Agnus Dei)
French; Picardy · Panels from the High Altar of the Charterhouse of Saint-Honoré, Thuison-les-Abbeville: Saint John the Baptist
Art Institute of Chicago
The Dove of the Holy Spirit
Philippe de Champaigne · The Annunciation
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Dove of the Holy Spirit
Agnolo Gaddi · The Trinity
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Large dog leaning against her
Anders Zorn · Mrs. Walter Rathbone Bacon (Virginia Purdy Barker, 1862–1919)
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
white dog
Anders Zorn · Sappo
Art Institute of Chicago
Lion wearing a helmet facing right
Honoré Daumier · The European state of affairs, from 'News of the day,' published in Le Charivari, August 18, 1868
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
dog on the lap
Adriaen Brouwer · A Peasant Woman Picking Fleas off a Dog
The Metropolitan Museum of Art