ight not be disturbed until it
should be completed. One day, his friend Donatello met him, and asked
him, "What kind of work is this of thine, that thou art shutting up so
closely?" Paolo replied, "Thou shalt see it some day; let that suffice
thee." Donatello would not press him, thinking that when the time came,
he should, as usual, behold a miracle of art. It happened one morning,
as he was in the Mercato Vecchio, buying fruit, he saw Paolo uncovering
his picture, and saluting him courteously, the latter anxiously demanded
what he thought of his work. Donatello having examined the painting very
closely, turned to the painter with a disappointed look, and said, "Why,
Paolo, thou art uncovering thy picture at the very moment when thou
shouldst be shutting it up from the sight of all!" These words so
grievously afflicted the painter, who at once perceived that he would be
more likely to incur derision from his boasted master-piece, than the
honor he had hoped for, that he hastened home and shut himself up,
devoting himself to the study of perspective, which, says Vasari, kept
him in poverty and depression till the day of his death. If this story
be true, Uccello must have painted the picture referred to in his old
age.

THE ITALIAN SCHOOLS OF PAINTING.

The fame and success of Cimabue and Giotto, brought forth painters in
abundance, and created schools all over Italy. The church increasing in
power and riches, called on the arts of painting and sculpture, to add
to the beauty and magnificence of her sanctuaries; riches and honors
were showered on men whose genius added a new ray of grace to the
Madonna, or conferred a diviner air on St. Peter or St. Paul; and as
much of the wealth of Christendom found its way to Rome, the successors
of the apostles were enabled to distribute their patronage over all the
schools of Italy. Lanzi reckons fourteen schools of painting in Italy,
each of which is distinguished by some peculiar characteristics, as
follows: 1, the Florentine school; 2, the Sienese school; 3, the Roman
school; 4, the Neapolitan school; 5, the Venetian school; 6, the Mantuan
school; 7, the Modenese school; 8, the school of Parma; 9, the school of
Cremona; 10, the school of Milan; 11, the school of Bologna; 12, the
school of Ferrara; 13, the school of Genoa; 14, the school of Piedmont.
Of these, the Florentine, the Roman, and the Bolognese are celebrated
for their epic grandeur of composition; that of Siena for i