In painting the Dalmatians were less conspicuous than in architecture, and if we except the tradition that Carpaccio was a native of Cattaro, we know of no great painter of that country. With regard to Ragusa there are a few specimens of native art, but hardly a record of the life of any painter. Appendini (ii. p. 170) does not know of any Ragusan painter earlier than the fifteenth century, but it is probable that some of the pictures in the Dominican monastery, which are of an earlier date, are by a native brush. Professor Gelcich mentions a guild of painters in the sixteenth century with nineteen members, all so poor that they had to be subsidised by the State. But there is one Ragusan artist whose works are preserved, and whose name at least is recorded. This is Niccolò Raguseo, or Nicolaus Ragusinus as he signs himself. Several of his paintings may be seen in the Dominican monastery and in the Chiesa alle Dance. In the latter he is represented by a triptych of very considerable merit, with a predella and a lunette. The middle panel is a group of the Virgin and Child surrounded by cherubs. The Madonna wears a red robe with a cloak of rich cloth-of-gold, on which an elaborate pattern is picked out in dark blue. This design is not adapted to the folds, but drawn as though on a flat surface. The Child is holding some fruit; the cherubs have scarlet wings, and in the background is a gilt nimbus. At the feet of the Virgin kneels the infant St. John, in whose hands is a scroll with the words: __ VOX CLAMANTIS IN DESERTO DIRIGITE VIAM DNI. On the plinth of the throne is another inscription: M. CCCCC.XVII—MENSIS FEBRVARII—— NICOLVAS—RHAGVSINVS—PINGEBAT.