ANIMAL LIFE IN ITALIAN 

 PAINTING 



CHAPTER I 



SOME INFLUENCES IN THE DIRECTION OF 

 ANIMAL PAINTING 



In considering how far animals were petted and 

 observed by the painters of the Italian Renaissance 

 it is the pictures themselves which will chiefly concern 

 us. But it will also be necessary to quote from such 

 contemporary writings as bear upon the inquiry. Parti- 

 cularly and constantly the memories of the opinionated 

 and inaccurate but quite indispensable Giorgio Vasari 

 must be drawn upon. " Vasari is an ass," said Ruskin, 

 " with good things in his panniers " ; and when the 

 painters come to be considered in detail, full weight 

 will have to be given to what he records. 



Undoubtedly he does show, in certain cases, a con- 

 tempt for naturalist studies, but it is not safe to assume 

 without further investigation that this contempt is an 

 expression of the mind of the Renaissance. It seems 

 more reasonable to take the fact of his having so often 



A 



