Human-Animal Interactions in Western Art

Dear Colleagues,

Animals in Western art have long been primarily viewed by art historians as symbols, accessories, or staffage, but careful study can provide new insights into the history of human–animal interactions. For example, Jerome’s lion often seems to take on the role of a companion animal rather than simply serving as a symbolic attribute. Animals that accompany sitters in portraits provide us with an intimate view into the private lives of their human companions that no other accessory can match. The animals that populate narrative scenes operate in a diverse range of ways to embed additional layers of meaning, and they encourage viewers to look and think more deeply about the works in which they appear.

This Special Issue welcomes papers that examine representations of human–animal interactions in Western art. We are particularly interested in submissions that focus on the meaning of these representations and what they tell us about the cultures that produced them. Contributions that use diverse methodologies to uncover these meanings are welcome, as are interdisciplinary approaches. This Special Issue aims to encourage a new focus on representations of human–animal interactions in Western art.

Prof. Dr. Laura Gelfand
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Arts is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• human–animal interactions
• art history
• animal studies
• Western art