Anecdotes of PAINTING, &c. 



CHAP. IV. 



Painters in the Reign of Henry VII L 



1509. 



TH E accefTion of this fumptuous prince 

 brought along with it the eftablifh- 

 ment of the arts. He was opulent, grand 

 and liberal — how many invitations to ar- 

 tifts ! A man of taile encourages abilities ; 

 a man of expence, any performers ; but 

 when a king is magnificent, whether he has 

 tafle or not, the influence is fo extenflve, 

 and the example fo catching, that even me- 

 rit has a chance of getting bread. Though 

 Henry had no genius to ftrike out the im- 

 provements of latter ages, he had parts 

 enough to chufe the bed of what the then 

 world exhibited to his option. He was 

 galant as far as the rufticity of his country 

 and the boifterous indelicacy of his own 

 complexion would admit. His tournaments 

 contracted, in imitation of the French, a 



kind 



