It is not, indeed, quite certain that
this curious work was made during the reign of Henry the Fifth, but
there can be little doubt of its being painted as early as that of his
son."
In the next page we have the following character of an English artist of
about the same period:--
"He was at once architect, sculptor, carpenter, goldsmith, armourer,
jeweller, saddler, tailor, and painter. There is extant, in Dugdale, a
curious example of the character of the times, and a scale by which we
can measure the public admiration of art. It is a contract between the
Earl of Warwick and John Rag, citizen and tailor, London, in which the
latter undertakes to execute the emblazonry of the earl's pageant in his
situation of ambassador to France. In the tailor's bill, gilded griffins
mingle with Virgin Marys; painted streamers for battle or procession,
with the twelve apostles; and 'one coat for his grace's body, lute with
fine gold,' takes precedence of St. George and the Dragon."
We wish some of the criticism in this chapter had been milder, and a few
of the invectives not so highly charged; some of them even out-Herod the
fury of an article on Painting, in a recent number of the _Edinburgh
Review_. But we must pass on to pleasanter matters--as the following
poetical paragraphs:--
"The art of tapestry as well as the art of illuminating books, aided in
diffusing a love of painting over the island.
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