n inventory of the precious stones, ornaments, fruits and flowers, and
other detached items in the great "Demidoff Altar-Piece" in the National
Gallery would fill several pages. Of the eight examples in this gallery
the earliest is probably the _Dead Christ_, presumably painted in 1472.
The Demidoff altar-piece is dated 1476. The _Annunciation_ (No. 739),
which may be considered his masterpiece, was ten years later. In 1490
Crivelli was knighted by Prince Ferdinand of Capua, and from that date
onward he was careful to add to his signature the title _Miles_--as
appears in our _Madonna and Child Enthroned_, with SS. Jerome and
Sebastian--called the Madonna della Rondine:----

CAROLUS CRIVELLUS VENETUS MILES PINXIT. This was painted for the Odoni
Chapel in S. Francesco at Matelica, the coat of arms of the family being
painted on the step.

Our _Annunciation_ was executed for the convent of the Santissima
Annunziata at Ascoli, and is dated 1486. Three coats of arms on the
front of the step at the bottom of the picture are those of the Bishop
of Ascoli, Pope Innocent VII., the reigning Pontiff, and the City of
Ascoli. Between these are the words _Libertas Ecclesiastica_, in
allusion to the charter of self-government given in 1482 by the Pope to
the citizens of Ascoli. The patron saint of the city, S. Emidius, is
represented as a youth kneeling beside the Archangel, holding in his
hands a model of it. The Virgin is seen through the open door of a
house, and in an open loggia above are peacocks and other birds. Amid
all the rich detail, the significance of the group of figures at the top
of a flight of steps must not be missed, amongst which a child and a
poet are the only two who are represented as noticing the mystic event.

Another painter of the earlier half of the fourteenth century may be
mentioned here, though as he was more famous as a medallist his
influence on the main course of painting is not observable. VITTORE
PISANO, called PISANELLO, was born in Verona before 1400, and died in
1455. Of the few pictures attributed to him we are fortunate in having
two such beautiful examples as the _SS. Anthony and George_ and _The
Vision of S. Eustace_ in the National Gallery. Both exhibit his two most
noticeable characteristics, namely, the minute care and exquisite
feeling that made him the most famous of medallists, and his wonderful
drawing of animals. The latter, it is worth remarking, was attributed by
a former owner to