Royal Pet Portraits: Putting Your Dog in a Palace

The royal pet portrait has been around for centuries, long before anyone put a dog in a crown on the internet. Kings and queens had their dogs painted beside them; some dogs had portraits of their own. Today the idea is back, usually as a costume: a velvet cape, a ruff, a crown, added to a photo of your dog. There is another way to do it, and it is the one L’Atelier takes.

Where the royal pet portrait came from

At the French court, dogs had painters of their own. Louis XIV had his favorite hunting dogs painted by François Desportes, each one named, with the same care as any courtier. The portrait said something about the household, and the dog was part of it.

Costume portraits versus a dog in a real room

Many royal pet portraits sold online today dress the dog: a uniform, a gown, a crown on a plain dark background. They are fun, and they suit some dogs and some rooms. But they turn your dog into a character.

The other approach keeps your dog exactly as they are, collar and all, and changes the room instead. That is the idea behind La Cour, the L’Atelier house of grand rooms: your dog in the best seat of a gallery, at the top of a staircase, at a tea table, without a single costume.

The La Cour scenes

• La Galerie: a dog in a chair in a gilded gallery under chandeliers.
• L’Escalier d’Honneur: a dog at the top of a grand white marble staircase with a red carpet.
• Les Jardins: a dog in a blue velvet chair on the gravel in front of a palace garden.
• L’Heure du Thé: a dog seated at a tea table in a Paris salon with a tower of macarons.
• Les Bains: a dog on an ottoman in a marble bathroom with a clawfoot tub.
• Le Petit Déjeuner: a dog stretched across a hotel bed with breakfast on a silver tray.
• La Colonnade: a dog in a rose marble colonnade with a garden avenue behind.

Choosing a scene for your dog’s size

A grand room flatters every dog, but the seat matters. Small dogs look right on a chair, an ottoman or a tea table, where they sit at eye level with the room. Large dogs suit the staircase, the gravel of a garden front or a long bed, where they have space to stretch. Panoramic scenes like La Colonnade and Les Jardins give the room room to breathe, and hang best above a sofa or a sideboard.

How it works

You choose the scene and send at least 2 photos of your dog. We place your dog into the room and send you a proof within 24 to 48 hours, and you can ask for as many changes as you like. The canvas is printed in the USA, framed or frameless, and ships free to the contiguous US.

If the room you have in mind is not in the collection, Le Sur-Mesure builds it around your dog. Or see every royal pet portrait in La Cour.