1 6 love's meinie. 



for imagination in the souls of wise men : so 

 that even the best artists are gradually com- 

 pelled, or beguiled, into compliance with the 

 curiosity of their day ; and Francia, in the city 

 of Bologna, is held to be a " kind of god, more 

 particularly " (again I quote Vasari) " after he 

 had painted a set of caparisons for the Duke 

 of Urbino, on which he depicted a great forest 

 all on fire, and whence there rushes forth an 

 immense number of every kind of animal, with 

 several human figures. This terrific, yet truly 

 beautiful representation, was all the more 

 highly esteemed for the time that had been ex- 

 pended on it in the plumage of the birds, and 

 other minutiae in the delineation of the different 

 animals, and in the diversity of the branches 

 and leaves of the various trees seen therein ; " 

 and thenceforward the catastrophe is direct, to 

 the ornithological museums which Breughel 

 painted for gardens of Eden, and to the still life 

 and dead game of Dutch celebrities. 



15. And yet I am going to invite you to-day 

 to examine, down to almost microscopic detail, 

 the aspect of a small bird, and to invite you to 

 do this, as a most expedient and sure step in 

 your study of the greatest art. 



