PISANELLO TO CIMA DA CONEGLIANO 



is strongly in evidence, and we can see that his whole 

 delight has been in the careful delineation of the 

 creatures, which had to be got in anyhow, much to the 

 detriment of the composition. In addition to the future 

 Saint and the mystic stag, there are two other stags, 

 a hare, three kinds of dogs, and a bear. Among the 

 birds are pelicans, herons, swans, geese, a hoopoe, a 

 kingfisher, and two chaffinches. The painting is of the 

 most minute description, almost every hair and feather 

 being rendered in the style of the miniaturist. It 

 breathes a real delight in forest life, and intense sym- 

 pathy with it. 



Vasari mentions his fresco of the Anmmciation in 

 S. Fermo Maggiore, Verona, as containing "many small 

 animals and birds in various parts of the work, all of 

 which are as natural and as animated as it is possible 

 to imagine." ^ Two pigeons with feathered feet and 

 a toy dog with a collar of bells can still be seen. 



Pisanello's paintings alone would give but an im- 

 perfect idea of his "sense of naturalism." It is in his 

 sketches, both for paintings and medals, and in the 

 medals themselves that his genius can best be appre- 

 ciated. Amongst these we find a long-haired goat, a 

 stag, a mule, horses with even the spavins meticulously 

 reproduced, the veltro or boarhound, the greyhound, 



\ Lives, vol. ii. p. loo. 

 67 



