About the painting - by Daniela Ria:

Basset hound in noblewoman's dress. Basset Hounds are an aristocratic breed of French lineage, a descendant of the St. Hubert's Hound. Friars of St. Hubert's Abbey in medieval France desired a shorter-legged dog, capable of following a scent under brush in thick forests, as hunting was a classic sport of the time. Both Bassets and St. Hubert's Hounds were bred to trail rabbits and hare. The first application of the word "Basset" to a breed of dog can be traced to an illustrated text on hunting written by Fouilloux in 1585.