ANIMAL LIFE IN ITALIAN PAINTING 



for them in painting, I had a general recollection which 

 would not quite square with the statement that they 

 were rarely petted and therefore rarely observed in the 

 Renaissance. 



To test this recollection I began to make a detailed 

 examination of the Italian pictures in the National 

 Gallery, a work which, extended to other galleries as 

 opportunity allowed, has afforded me many interesting 

 hours from time to time since. As a result my first 

 impressions were more than confirmed. 



My present aim, however, is a more modest one 

 than to controvert the statement of Mr. Berenson, to 

 whose discernment and wide knowledge all students of 

 Italian painting to-day owe so much, and to whom my 

 own indebtedness is abundantly evidenced throughout 

 these pages. It is rather to utilise his hint in such 

 a way as to help the general reader to a better appre- 

 ciation of a side of the painter's thought and work 

 which is often passed over, but from which a good 

 deal may be learnt. 



These notes are not intended for the specialist, either 

 in art or zoology ; their aim is to stimulate inquiry 

 rather than to add to the knowledge of a necessarily 

 small expert class. They have been put together in the 

 hope that they may be useful to lovers of nature in 

 opening an avenue to the painter's mind, as well as to 



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