As the Title implies, this book covers portraits rather than photographs, but in may respects, it captures far more information than that which a photo would reveal. The detailed text accompanying each plate, comprehensively details the animal, it's individual background, and a wealth of information about the artist and why the animal was portrayed in this way.

As a farmer of rare farm animals, and a collector of books on such, I found this to be both a valuable and informative history on a wide range of farm animals, and also a magnificent collection of drawings, etchings, paintings and sketches.

The text explains why the animals were depicted as they were by the early artists, and details how to interpret them so that the most useful information about the subjects can be revealed.

I initially bought this book with the intention of cutting out the prints etc to frame , but immediately found the quality to be such as to warrant a permanent place on my bookshelves. After 30 years of farming, this book taught me so much.

I recommend this book to those interested in Art history, in the history of Farm animals, to farm animals breeders and fanciers, and to anyone who wants a better knowledge of the origins of our modern farm animals.