One of the joys of having a dog is the sense of history it brings with it and therefore a marvellous and enriching link with one's ancestors: not just our nineteenth century ancestors (Jane Carlyle, Elizabeth Barrett Browning) but our fifteenth and sixteenth century forebears. This week on the Post: Gilbert's medieval ancestors. As we ward off the freezing cold with a rug and a dog on our lap, we imagine the woman above doing the same. Portrait of a Lady with a Little Dog by Bartolomeo Passarotti (1529-92) was painted in the late 1560s and is in the Galleria dei dipinti antichi della Fondazione e della Cassa di Risparmio di Cesena.