UMBRIA 



and goldfinches, now rather indistinct, flutter about the 

 thistles, their natural food. The neighbourhood of the 

 ass and the goldfinch in this picture reminds us of 

 Pliny's tribute to the bonhomie of this pretty bird. The 

 acanthis, he tells us, has no grudge against any living 

 creature, with one exception, the donkey which eats up 

 the thistles from whose seeds he expected to get a 

 meal. 



Bonfigli, in an Adoration of the Magi (Perugia, Bonfigii, 

 Pinacoteca Vannucci), has painted the ox and the ass, ^' ^4^^^49o 

 and the horses and hunting dogs in the train of the 

 Magi. The heads and necks of two gaunt camels rise 

 like ichthyosauri above the crowd. 



Pietro Vannucci, called II Perugino, in another Perugino, 

 version of the Tobias story (National Gallery), has a ^ ~^^^ 

 very literal fish, greatly commended by Ruskin.^ 



In his Adoration, dated 1504 (Citta della Pieve), in 

 addition to the well-painted ox and ass there is a white 

 dog, sheep and goats, and two camels. A small hawk, 

 perhaps a merlin, which was used for the smaller birds, 

 is on the wrist of one of the attendants of the Magi. 



In the foreground of Bernardino di Betto's Return Pinturicchio, 

 of Ulysses to Penelope (National Gallery) is a rather ^454-i5i3 

 stuffed-looking cat. It is playing with a ball of wool 

 which Penelope's handmaiden has been winding, and 



* Arrows of the C/iace, vol. i. p. 177. 

 61 



