ANIMAL LIFE IN ITALIAN. PAINTING 



The head of the one in his left hand is better painted 

 than that of the other. The dark spaniel with white 

 paws, barking at the little satyr, has a homely and 

 modern look. No doubt it was somebody's pet, and 

 had to have a place found for it. The picture was 

 painted for Duke Alfonso I. of Ferrara, so this little dog 

 may well have been a favourite of the Ducal Court. 



Alfonso evidently appreciated Titian's painting of 

 animals. We find him writing to his agent in Venice, 

 Jacopo Tebaldi, to order from Titian a faithful life-size 

 portrait of an " animal called a gazelle," which was in the 

 possession of Giovanni Cornaro. Unfortunately when 

 the painter arrived the gazelle was dead and buried, or 

 rather thrown into the canal. But Cornaro had a pic- 

 ture by Giovanni Bellini in which a gazelle appeared, 

 and with the help of this Titian was able to satisfy the 

 Duke's wishes.^ 



In the Louvre is the Madonna of the Rabbit, about 

 the ears of which it is impossible to feel quite happy. 

 Rabbits also play about in the landscape of Sacred and 

 Profane Love (Rome, Borghese), and in a picture at 

 Bridgewater House. A sympathetic lizard watches 

 St. Jei'oine at his self-discipline before the crucifix 

 (Milan, Brera), but a lion with a very human pointed 

 nose sleeps quietly, head on paw. 



^ See Dr, Georg Gronau, Titian, 1904, p. 50. 

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