The dove was a motif that accompanied Picasso from his childhood: his father, Don José, loved to paint doves. As an adult, Pablo looked back with fondness on his father’s painting of hundreds of pigeons. The painting later ended up in a museum, so we know for certain that his childhood imagination had multiplied the number of doves several times over. However, this does not diminish the impact the painting had on the young Picasso, and he himself often drew and painted doves. What’s more, birds – along with many other animals – were beloved residents of his studios and homes.