47 6 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



Reference has already been made to the early age at which artists 

 have seriously taken up art as the work of their life. In many cases 

 this date alone sufficiently attests the presence of childish gifts. Two 

 great Italian painters, Perugino and Tiziano, are said to have studied 

 painting at nine. Correggio is known to have begun his studies before 

 thirteen. Van Dyck Avas taken in hand by his father at eleven. Ru- 

 bens, to the distress of his mother, who was ambitious for what she 

 deemed a higher career for her son, was sent to learn painting at 

 thirteen. 



Following the same method as that pursued in the case of musicians, 

 we may now seek to give numerical precision to our investigation. I 

 have taken fifty-eight artists, consisting of painters, sculptors, and archi- 

 tects, of whose early years I have been able to obtain any information. 

 Of these I find that forty-two, that is to say, about three out of every 

 four, are credited with having shown a decided skill before the age of 

 fifteen. Or, if we take the age of twenty as our limit, Ave have forty- 

 seven, or about four out of five, instances of precocity. To this it 

 must be added that in eight cases, not included here, we are told that 

 the artist showed talent, or attained distinction, early in life. And we 

 may perhaps safely include one half of these under the head of mani- 

 festations of talent before twenty. By so doing we should raise our 

 proportion to |-J-, or about eight out of nine. 



With respect to the date of the first completed Avork, I haA^e been 

 able to collect a fair number of facts. Thus, out of forty-two cases 

 inspected, nine produced work before fifteen, sixteen between fifteen 

 and twenty, fifteen between twenty and twenty-five, one between 

 twenty-five and thirty, and one after thirty. 



If now we inquire into the age at which real distinction was at- 

 tained, and the first fruits of a permanent reputation reaped, Ave find, 

 in general, that this date accords with the very early indication of taste 

 and skill. In the case of more recent artists, we haA*e, among the data 

 which point to early eminence, the winning of academical prizes, and 

 admissions to the walls of exhibitions. Instances of early prize-winners 

 are Thorwaldsen, Ingres, and Wilkie. Reference has already been 

 made to the early age at which Ary Scheffer, Morland, Turner, and 

 Landseer, succeeded in getting their works exhibited. 



In many instances we know that the artist made his mark in youth 3 

 or very early manhood. Mantegna painted pictures of exceptional ex- 

 cellence at seventeen. Fra Angelico was a skilled artist at twenty. 

 Another early Italian artist, Orcagna, had fully established his reputa- 

 tion about the age of twenty-two. Ghiberti attained notoriety by his 

 successful design for the bronze doors about twenty-one or twenty- 

 two. Coming to later workers, we find it recorded that Leonardo 

 painted finished pictures at twenty. Michael Angelo produced great 

 works by nineteen. Raphael painted fine pictures at twenty-one. 

 Titian became a distinguished painter at about twenty. Correggio 



