CHAPTER VII 



VENICE— PISANELLO TO CIMA DA CONEGLIANO 



The art of Venice owed its character to many contri- 

 buting influences, and yet the island city set her mark 

 strongly upon all these as they came into her service. 

 Florence and Padua were drawn upon, yet it is neither 

 the eager mental and spiritual inquiry of the one nor 

 the preoccupation with classic forms of the other which 

 we remember when we think of the decoration of her 

 palaces and churches. A settled, unanxious, and satis- 

 fying life led to a reasonable, clear-eyed, and not very 

 emotional attitude towards the whole of experience, 

 including religion, the historical fabric of which took 

 its place alongside the daily life of the merchant, the 

 sailor, or the magistrate. All that interested them in 

 nature is frankly brought in, and is not felt to be out of 

 place even in portraying circumstances the most sacred. 



Pisanelio, j^ Vittore Pisano, or Pisanello, we recognise one of 



1399-1452 



the great animal painters of all time. The National 



Gallery is fortunate in having the best example of his 



rare art, the Vision of St. Eustace. Here the naturalist 



66 



