c. 1470-1517 



ANIMAL LIFE IN ITALIAN PAINTING 



In the Meeting of Mmgrave Ludovico of Mantua 

 with his Son Cardinal Francesco Gonzaga, there is a dog 

 close at the heels of the Margrave. No doubt this was 

 a favourite companion. Benvenuto Cellini had such a 

 *' shock dog," or shaggy retriever, given to him by Duke 

 Alessandro, which, besides following the gun, was an 

 excellent house-dog, and defended his shop when broken 

 into by robbers.^ Other dogs are to be seen in the 

 suite of the Margrave. 

 Francesco There are in the National Gallery two paintings by 



^x^^l-i^vi Francesco Mantegna, the son and pupil of Andrea, which 

 may be mentioned here. Religious symbolism is the 

 note of the Christ and the Magdalen. A vine grows 

 luxuriously over the dead tree, signifying perhaps the 

 inevitable permanence of life as shown in the Resurrec- 

 tion. A serpent attacks a nest of eggs, which always 

 have that significance, and there is a curious hive round 

 which bees are swarming. The monks were great bee- 

 keepers, the honey being used instead of sugar and 

 the wax for candles, and they drew many fanciful and 

 useful lessons from them. Peter of Capua calls the risen 

 and ascended Saviour Apis ^therea — the Heavenly 

 Bee. Masolino paints a swarm of bees in San Cle- 

 mente, Rome ; but here they are a necessary part of 

 the story of the infant Ambrose. 



* Memoirs of Benvenuto Cellmi, trans. R oscoe, ch. x. 

 104 



