SIR EDWIN LANDSEER, R.A. 59 



in full armour, but bareheaded, lies with his head 

 pillowed upon the body of his grey horse. 



The Earl of Tankerville, one of his most 

 intimate friends, writes* of Landseer's mode of 

 painting : 



It was most interesting to watch his unerring hand and 

 eye guiding the brush with faultless precision, from the 

 broadest to the minutest touches ; for though dashed in with 

 marvellous rapidity they were never retouched. I frequently 

 had opportunities afterwards of watching his endless resources 

 in painting. In subsequent years we always took our autumn 

 tour in the Highlands together, and the many charms of our 

 life at Ardverikie, on Loch Laggan, made it one of our most 

 favourite resorts. It was here that I enjoyed perhaps the 

 greatest treat of all in seeing his masterly mode of handling 

 his great paintings, and watching the beginning of those 

 inimitable frescoes with which he decorated the walls of the 

 lodge in black and red chalk. The dash and decision with 

 which his touches were put in was really astonishing ; they 

 seemed quite at haphazard, but it was the faultless hand of 

 the master. Those frescoes were merely intended to cover 

 the naked plaster walls, but they became the still greater 

 originals of some of his most famous pictures. Two of those 

 lately sold, viz., " The Stag at Bay," and " None but the 

 Brave deserve the Fair," have fetched fabulous prices. 



Landseer would test his work by asking the opinion of 

 the uninitiated. He would ask a servant as to the likeness 

 of a portrait of his master in preference to the wife or sister. 

 As he was sketching in the fresco of " The Stag at Bay," I 

 was watching him : he first sketched in with a few strokes 

 the head and antlers, and turning to me said, " Ossulston, 

 what is this stag doing ? " " Why standing at bay, of 

 course." " That will do." So he went on. 



Reminiscences of Life in the Highlands. 



