The Third Duke of Dorset's Hunter with a Groom and a Dog

George Stubbs's portrait of The Third Duke of Dorset's Hunter with a Groom and a Dog, painted in 1768, exemplifies the sporting picture tradition that Stubbs elevated to the level of high art. Stubbs, who had published his groundbreaking Anatomy of the Horse in 1766, brought an unprecedented scientific understanding of equine form to his paintings. His commissions from the aristocracy to paint their prized horses resulted in some of the finest animal paintings in Western art.

Stubbs's oil-on-canvas technique renders the horse's anatomy with the scientific precision derived from his dissection studies. The composition places the animal in profile against a landscape background, with the groom and dog providing scale, while the precise rendering of musculature, coat texture, and proportions demonstrates his unrivaled understanding of equine form.