The actual founder of the Veronese school was Altichiero, born about 1300, and of whom some frescoes are to be seen in the church of St Anastasia, and in that of S. Fermo Maggiore, though on this latter point there is some doubt. Together with Altichiero must be mentioned his friend and contemporary Jacopo d’Avanzo, for they frequently worked together, and their dual work on the same picture is not easy to dissever. It cannot be denied that they were greatly inspired by Giotto but, on the other hand, they were by no means blind followers or even pupils of the Florentine master, for they maintained a character in all ways distinct from him, and portrayed their art in fuller, deeper, richer colouring. They were also superior as draughtsmen, conveying too a greater sense of life and movement in their figures, and presenting all through their work a strong and marked individuality. Both artists can really be studied better at Padua than in their native city where little exists that can give a true idea of their talent. With them may also be mentioned Martini of Verona; who though inferior to Altichiero and d’Avanzo, lived and worked at the same time, and prepared the way for the far greater Vittor Pisano or Pisanello, who was born at S. Vigilio near the Lake of Garda in 1380. The doubt as to who was Pisanello’s master remains unsolved to the present day. Morelli inclines to the opinion that he was a pupil of Altichiero--an opinion not shared by Crowe and Cavalcaselle. He doubtless derived much from a study of Altichiero’s work, and from drawing from the antique; but his own personality is revealed in his paintings, and more still in his medals and in his treatment of portraits where he represented his sitters “en profile,” and obtained a striking and lasting success from this style of portraiture--till then untried and absolutely original. His skill as a medallist caused him to find patrons in almost every court in Italy and to be welcomed at them all in turn. He worked too in conjunction with Gentile da Fabriano in the Ducal Palace at Venice, decorating and restoring that princely building, and imbibing probably much of Gentile’s feeling for finish, colour, and brilliancy. “But it is in Verona,” says Mr Selwyn Brinton,[37] “that the best of his work in fresco remains--damaged, almost ruined, but attesting to his vigorous art, to his wonderful grasp of animal life.” This latter trait is very marked in Pisanello, and shows that his love of animals, his study of them, as well as of nature [Illustration: MADONNA AND CHILD, VITTOR PISANELLO, MUSEO CIVICO] in every possible form, was deep and true. He introduces some phase of animal life into most of his pictures, and in the care and finish bestowed on every bird or beast that he sets before us, we feel we have to do with an artist who loves and understands his subject.