ANIMAL LIFE IN ITALIAN PAINTING 



this side of his art. The mule on which Benjamin rides 

 with the bags of corn may be noticed. 



A large collection of birds and beasts is painted in 

 the Moses striking the Rock (Venice, Palazzo Giovanelli).^ 

 Bronzino Bronzino (Angelo di Cosimo) in the Veiius and 



i5o2(?)-i572 Cupid i^Xox^no.^, Uffizi) paints two amorous doves. In 

 the same gallery is a portrait of Garzia de Medici, the 

 murdered son of Cosimo I., as a child. He grasps a 

 goldfinch in his right hand. It is curious that this 

 motive, usually confined to the Infant Saviour, should be 

 used for Cosimo's mischievous-looking boy. But the 

 goldfinch is especially mentioned as a common pet by 

 Sacchetti. 



A finely painted snake twined round the neck of 

 Cleopatra (Rome, Borghese Gallery) is striking at her 

 breast. Here, as in the same subject by Piero di 

 Cosimo, it seems to be one of the harmless snakes, 

 which was no doubt more convenient to study in motion 

 than the venomous adder. 



1 This painting was formerly attributed to Diirer. I have not been 

 able to examine it, but Morelli says that it contains lynx, cats, deer, parrots, 

 goats, oxen, martens, and asses {Italian Painters^ vol. i. p. io8). There is 

 a poor reproduction in the Milan edition (ed. Frizzoni) of 1897. 



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