Painted wood frame, plexiglass
50 x 100 in.
56 3/4 x 106 3/4 in. framed
Encadrement bois peint, plexiglass
127 x 254 cm
144 x 271 cm encadré
Dominicanes
“The Hounds of God” depicts the cloister of the Convent of San Marco. Towering over the left side of the frame, lush greenery is mirrored in living water in the image of the Garden of Eden. Two spheres representing Uranus and Neptune allude to two of the four elements, air and water. This edenic vision contrasts with the ruins strewing the cloister, and a peculiar rocking chair makes an appearance, suggesting the act of waiting, a modern avatar for the simple stool on which Mary sits in the San Marco Annunciation. The convent saw the sacred art of Beato Angelico flourish. For a while, it was put under the direction of Savonarola, who forced Florentine painters such as Botticelli to burn paintings which were deemed too profane in the bonfire of the vanities. Dominicanes, a play on words in latin for the hounds of God – the Dominicans were the guardians of orthodoxy, dedicating themselves to barking against heresy and being the shepherd dogs watching over the flock, as depicted at Santa Maria Novella.