SIR EDWIN LANDSEER, R.A. 5I 



Essex," and " Heads of a pointer bitch and puppy, 

 the property of W. H. Simpson, Esq., of Beleigh 

 Grange, Essex": and in 1817 the "Portrait of 

 Brutus," a rough-haired white bull terrier belong- 

 ing to the same gentleman. 



The first of these three works was described in 

 the catalogue as the " Portrait of a Mute" and the 

 critic of the Sporting Magazine remarks that he 

 sought out the work so entitled with great curiosity 

 to see how the artist had conveyed the idea of 

 inability to speak ! He found the picture of a mule 

 " neatly drawn, well foreshortened and staring us 

 in the face." No reference is made to the youth 

 of the painter of the work ; indeed the absence of 

 remark in contemporary literature invites the sup- 

 position that until Edwin Landseer reached the age 

 of twenty-two or twenty-three the singularly early 

 development of his genius remained unrealised save 

 by his own friends and in artistic circles. 



It was impossible that artists could long continue 

 unenlightened concerning Edwin Landseer's gifts. 

 In 1 8 13, when eleven years of age, he won the 

 Silver Palette of the Society of Arts with drawings 

 of animals ; and in 18 14, 1815 and 18 16 he took the 

 I sis medals given by the same body. In 18 16 he 

 became a student at the Royal Academy Schools : 

 C. R. Leslie describes him at this time as " a 

 curly-headed youngster dividing his time between 



