The first animal painters in England were willing to win money, if not fame, by taking the portraits of favourite race-horses and prize oxen for the country squires, who loved to decorate their walls with pictures of their ancestors, and their studs. The first to make a name in this branch of art was JOHN WOOTTON, a pupil of John Wyck. He became famous in the sporting circles of Newmarket for his likenesses of race-horses, and received large sums for pictures of dogs and horses. Later, he attempted landscapes, chiefly hunting scenes. His works are in country mansions, especially at Blenheim, Longleat, and Dytchley. Wootton died in 1765. JAMES SEYMOUR (1702--1752) was famous also as a painter of race-horses and hunting-pieces; he is best known by the engravings after his works. GEORGE STUBBS (1724--1806) was the son of a Liverpool surgeon, from whom he probably inherited his love for anatomy. He worked at painting and conducted anatomic studies with equal zeal throughout his life, and is said to have carried, on one occasion, a dead horse on his back to his dissecting-room. This story is more than doubtful, though Stubbs was a man of great physical strength. He was the first to give the poetry of life and motion to pictures of animals, and to go beyond the mere portrait of a Newmarket favourite or an over-fed ox. The Royal Academy elected him an Associate in 1780, but as he declined to present one of his works, he was never made a full member. Among his works are a _Lion killing a Horse_, a _Tiger lying in his Den_, a noble life-size portrait of the famous racing-horse _Whistle-jacket_, which is at Wentworth Woodhouse, and _The Fall of Phaeton_. The last picture he repeated four times. He published _The Anatomy of the Horse_, with etchings from his own dissections. SAWREY GILPIN (1733--1807) attained considerable success as an animal painter. He was born at Carlisle, and was sent to London as a clerk. Like many others he preferred the studio to the office, and having obtained the favour of the Duke of Cumberland at Newmarket, Gilpin was provided with a set of rooms, and soon became known as a painter of horses. In 1770 he exhibited at Spring Gardens _Darius obtaining the Persian Empire by the Neighing of his Horse_, and next year _Gulliver taking Leave of the Houyhnhnms_. Gilpin was elected a R.A. in 1797. [Illustration: THE WATERING PLACE. _By_ MORLAND.]