A new exhibition at the Art Institute of Chicago chronicles something unexpected and sentimental: the relationship between artists and animals. Ranging from Caravaggio to Pablo Picasso and Pierre Bonnard, the exhibition traces the roles pets have played in the progression of Western art.

Held in the Ryerson and Burnham Libraries, The Beauty and the Beast features books from the Museum’s collection that explore animals’ presence from ancient and mystical eras into 20th Century art. The theme may be a little quirky, but it is far from flimsy. For some artists, like Benvenuto Cellini, pets were weightily symbolic and for others, like Frida Kahlo, they were tender accomplices.

Picasso’s drawings and paintings of dogs are as comical as they are iconic. And the dogs in Bonnard’s work provide subtle social commentary. The Beauty and the Beast opens on January 7, 2009.