By Theresa Rézeau 

In 1820, a seventeen -year-old Edwin Landseer painted two enormous dogs standing over the body of a man.

The traveller lies almost buried in snow. His head has fallen backwards, his body apparently without strength. One dog paws urgently at the snow covering him while looking towards the distance. The other bends close to his hand. Far behind them, figures approach through the Alpine landscape.

Everything about the dogs suggests physical power. Their heads are enormous. Their bodies dominate the vulnerable human figure beneath them. Yet there is no ambiguity about what Landseer wants us to feel.

Relief. The dogs have come to save him.

The full essay continues in the Membership Archive, where Landseer’s rescuing mastiffs become a reflection on power, perception and the human responsibility to recognise risk before it becomes tragedy.