The Hungarian gazehound (magyar agár) is one of the 9 Hungarian dog breeds and has been proven to have been present in the Carpathian Basin since the time of King Stephen I. Hunting with agárs was a favourite pastime of Matthias Corvinus, and it became popular again in the 18th and 19th centuries, only to be replaced by gazehound (agár) races. But one thing has not changed about the breed. Sleek, elegantly built and extremely fast agárs (hence the nickname “speedy royalty””) have always been the dogs of the wealthy. The good-natured, friendly Hungarian gazehound is easy to keep in an apartment – as you can see in Munkácsy’s painting, they were indeed kept indoors. However, it was precisely because of their privileged position that they became pariahs after World War II, which almost led to the extinction of the breed. Gazehound breeding started again in 1963, following a film about the life of Matthias Corvinus, and fortunately has duly continued ever since. (Mihály Munkácsy: Agár)