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An oil portrait of a French bulldog under an ermine cloak, in a carved gilt frame on an ivory panelled wall, above a console table with roses, candles and books

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Your pet, in 18th Century Royalty.

For three centuries, the world's greatest portraits followed a single formula, created for a king. Your pet is next in line.

A golden retriever sitting on a parquet floor, seen from behind, looking up at its own oil portrait: a framed canvas on a walnut sideboard

Pet portraits that actually look good.

Every marking and whisker, composed like real art.

An Old English sheepdog lying in profile beside its own oil portrait: a canvas in a slim black frame leaning on a wall in the sun

Beautiful and durable by design.

400gsm artist-grade canvas, solid pine frame, printed and framed in the USA.

A ragdoll cat dozing on a red velvet sofa beside its own oil portrait: a canvas in a slim black frame

Preview before you buy.

No paying first and waiting days for a proof.
See it now, then decide.

A black Labrador lying in the open flat carton its framed canvas portrait came in; the portrait leans on the hallway wall

Delivered to your door in 8 days.

Made in 5 days, shipped in 3, ready to hang.

A calico cat asleep on a crimson velvet cushion under its own oil portrait, a framed canvas on the wall

The PetPaintings Promise.

Fading, damage, or defects, covered forever. Lifetime warranty with every purchase.

Examples.

  • Biscuit the golden retriever, painted in the 18th Century Royalty style
  • Mochi the ragdoll, painted in the 18th Century Royalty style
  • Winston the french bulldog, painted in the 18th Century Royalty style

Heritage.

Our 18th Century Royalty style takes its ermine, velvet and warm light from these paintings in museum and royal collections.

  1. A young nobleman in black silk with a large silver star on his cloak, a tan greyhound leaning against his hip

    ca.1633–35

    James Stuart (1612–⁠1655), Duke of Richmond and LennoxAnthony van Dyck

    The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

    Van Dyck paints Charles I's cousin wearing the Garter star, a greyhound at his hip as a sign of loyalty.

  2. Louis XIV standing in a blue mantle sewn with gold fleurs-de-lis and lined with white ermine, under a red curtain

    1701

    Louis XIV (1638–⁠1715), King of FranceHyacinthe Rigaud

    Musée du Louvre, Paris

    Louis XIV wears the ermine-lined coronation mantle; meant for his grandson in Spain, the portrait stayed with the king.

  3. Three white and black hunting dogs pointing at partridges in a landscape, each with its name painted in gold beside it

    c.1702

    Bonne, Nonne and Ponne, Dogs of Louis XIV's PackAlexandre-François Desportes

    Musée du Louvre, on deposit at the Musée de la Chasse et de la Nature, Paris

    Three dogs from Louis XIV's hunting pack, each named in gold letters, painted for the king's own antechamber at Marly.

  4. A white greyhound and a black long-haired dog before a stone column base, their names painted in gold below them

    1729

    Misse and LuttineJean-Baptiste Oudry

    National Gallery of Art, Washington

    Louis XV commissioned this double portrait in 1729; Oudry lettered each dog's name in gold beneath it.

  5. George III standing in a gold suit under a long robe of spotted white ermine, beside a column and a red curtain

    c.1761–62

    George III (1738–⁠1820)Allan Ramsay

    Royal Collection Trust, London

    George III in the gold and ermine he wore at his coronation in 1761; orders for over 150 copies followed.

  6. A seated woman in a flowered silk dress at an embroidery frame, a small black dog standing on a stool with its paws on the frame

    1763–64

    Madame de Pompadour at her Tambour FrameFrançois-Hubert Drouais

    The National Gallery, London

    Madame de Pompadour, mistress of Louis XV, at Versailles; her black spaniel stands on a stool to reach her embroidery frame.

  7. A small fluffy white dog with a pink bow sitting up on its hind legs beside a green kennel, slippers and a ball on the floor

    1768

    Dog of the Havana BreedJean-Jacques Bachelier

    The Bowes Museum, Barnard Castle

    A Havana lap dog begs among scattered slippers, a pink bow in its topknot: the pet as the only sitter.

  8. A cream Pomeranian sitting with her puppy beside her against dark trees and an evening sky

    c.1777

    Pomeranian Bitch and PuppyThomas Gainsborough

    Tate, London

    Believed to be the Pomeranians of Gainsborough's friend, the musician Carl Friedrich Abel; the mother also sleeps in Abel's own portrait.

  9. A curly brown and white spaniel standing in profile on a riverbank under a pink and blue sky

    1778

    Brown and White Norfolk or Water SpanielGeorge Stubbs

    Yale Center for British Art, New Haven

    One working spaniel, in profile and large against the sky: Stubbs gives the dog the whole panel, signed and dated 1778.

  10. A large black and white spitz standing on a hillside, a small brown spaniel jumping up at it

    1791

    Fino and TinyGeorge Stubbs

    Royal Collection Trust, London

    Fino the spitz and Tiny the spaniel, presumably painted for the Prince of Wales, the future George IV.

Biscuit the golden retriever, painted in the 18th Century Royalty style

18th Century Royalty.

In 1701, the court painter Hyacinthe Rigaud unveiled a portrait of Louis XIV that changed how the world pictured power. The Sun King stood draped in velvet and ermine, his crown resting on a cushion beside him, every fold of fabric and glint of gold arranged to say one thing: here is someone extraordinary. The painting was so admired that Louis kept it for himself rather than send it abroad as intended. For the next hundred years, kings and queens from Madrid to St Petersburg asked to be painted the same way.

Every detail carried meaning. Ermine, the white fur flecked with black tails, was reserved by law and custom for royalty and the highest nobility. Gold chains and jeweled pendants marked membership in the most exclusive orders of chivalry. The velvet cushion was where a monarch's crown was laid. These were never decorations; they were a language of distinction, and anyone in the eighteenth century could read it at a glance.

The royal courts also adored their animals. Louis XIV commissioned portraits of his favorite hunting dogs from the painter Alexandre-François Desportes, and his great-grandson Louis XV did the same with Jean-Baptiste Oudry. Frederick the Great of Prussia loved his greyhounds so dearly that he asked to be buried beside them. When Catherine the Great chose an image of herself for posterity, she was painted strolling through her gardens with her greyhound at her feet. In the grandest households of Europe, a beloved animal was considered entirely worthy of the painter's finest work.

Each PetPaintings portrait follows that tradition. We compose your pet in the manner of the eighteenth-century court painters, with warm candlelit tones, deep shadows, and the rich, layered texture of oil on canvas. The ermine, the velvet and the gold are borrowed faithfully from the age of kings. The expression, the personality and the presence belong entirely to your pet.

Upload a photo to see your free preview, and give the most important member of your household the portrait history always meant them to have.

Questions, answered.

Will it look like my pet?

Yes. The painting is made from your photo, so the face, the fur, and the markings are your pet's. You see it before you pay, and you can try another photo or style first.

Can I see the painting before it is printed?

Yes, always. You see it on a wall before you pay a cent. Not right? Try another photo or style, free. We print only the painting you approved.

How long does it take?

The preview takes about 20 seconds. Made in 2 to 5 business days, then 4 to 6 business days to arrive.

What if it arrives damaged?

Report it from your account within 30 days of shipping: open the order and choose Report a problem. We reply within one business day and ask for photos of the print and the box, then reprint it free or refund your original payment method.

Your pet deserves a masterpiece.

18th Century Royalty

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