"a small white spanish dog"

public domain courtesy of the livrustkammaren (royal armoury museum, stockholm).
object record here
Years and old lacquer will make any fur look more yellowed than white, and that's most likely what has happened to this oil portrait, which dates from the 1600s. The "Spanish" part comes from the paper label pasted onto the lower left, which reads in translation: "No 22. // An Oil Painting Table // A Small White // Spanish Dog".  No one seems to know why he should be Spanish, as he certainly looks like a poodle (a breed originating in Germany).

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