k three quaint lions do
duty as feet. These lions occur again beneath the frame of the picture,
and may be connected with a former possessor of the manuscript. The
pedestal of the desk is a twisted column, which, like the base, and indeed
the whole structure, looks as though it were made of brass.

[Illustration: Fig. 152. S. Augustine at his desk.

From a painting by Fra Filippo Lippi at Florence.]

[Illustration: Fig. 153. S. Jerome reading.

From an oil painting by Catena, in the National Gallery, London.]

[Illustration: Fig. 154. A writer at work.

From a French translation of Valerius Maximus, written and illuminated in
Flanders in 1479, for King Edward IV.]

I now pass to a totally different way of fitting up a study, which seems
to have been common in Italy, to judge by the number of paintings in which
it occurs. It consists of a massive desk of wood, one part of which is set
at right angles to the other, and is connected in various ways with
shelves, drawers, pigeon-holes, and other contrivances for holding books
and papers. In the example I here figure (fig. 152), from a painting by
Fra Filippo Lippi (1412-1469) representing S. Augustine's vision of the
Trinity, there are two small recesses above the desk on the saint's right,
both containing books, and behind the shorter portion of the desk, three
shelves also with books on them. Attached to the end of the desk is a
small tray, probably to contain pens.

A similar desk occurs in the beautiful picture by Catena in the National
Gallery[542], representing S. Jerome reading, of which I give a
reproduction on a reduced scale (fig. 153). This picture also contains an
excellent example of a cupboard in the thickness of the wall, a
contrivance for taking care of books as common in the Middle Ages as it
had been in Roman times[543].

Cupboards in the thickness of the wall are also to be seen in the
frontispiece (fig. 154) to a copy of a French translation of Valerius
Maximus[544], written in Flanders in 1479 for King Edward IV. The
writer--probably intended for the author or the translator of the book--is
seated at a desk, consisting of a plank set at an angle and capable of
being turned aside by means of a central bracket, like that used by the
Carmelite (fig. 136). Observe the two weights hanging over the edge of the
desk and the ends of the two horns, intended to hold ink, projecting
through it. The window, as in the picture representing the author of the