.

It was about this time, too, that he painted an old white horse in the
stable of another wealthy man. After the picture was finished and
ready to deliver, it suddenly disappeared. A diligent search was made
for it, but it was not found until twenty-four years afterwards. A
servant had stolen it and hidden it in a hayloft. He had been afraid
to sell it or even to keep it in his home, for no one would have
failed to recognize the great artist's work.

For many years Landseer lived and painted in his father's house in a
poor little room without even a carpet. The only furniture, we are
told, were three cheap chairs and an easel. Later he had a fine studio
not far from Regent's Park. Here was a small house with a garden and a
barn. The barn was made over into a studio. Here so many people
brought their pets for him to paint that he had to keep a list, and
each was obliged to wait his turn. But Sir Edwin was not a very good
business man, so he left all his affairs to his father, who sold his
pictures for him and kept his accounts.

Landseer made a special study of lions, too. A lion died at the park
menagerie and he dissected its body and studied and drew every part.
He painted many pictures of lions. He also modeled the great lions at
the base of the Nelson Monument in Trafalgar Square, London.

Although Landseer painted so many wild animals, birds, and hunting
scenes, he did not care to shoot animals. His weapons were his pencil
and sketch book. Sometimes he hired guides to take him into the
wildest parts of the country in search of game. But he quite disgusted
the guides when, a great deer bounding toward him, he would merely
make a sketch of it in his book.

Many of Landseer's paintings are of scenes in Scotland, as is this
one, "Highland Shepherd's Chief Mourner." When Sir Edwin Landseer went
to visit Scotland one of his fellow travelers was Sir Walter Scott,
the great novelist. The two became close friends. Sir Walter Scott
tells us: "Landseer's dogs were the most magnificent things I ever
saw, leaping and bounding and grinning all over the canvas." Landseer
painted Sir Walter Scott's dog "Maida Vale" many times, and he named
his studio for the dog.

At twenty-four Landseer became an associate of the Royal Academy,
which was an unusual honor for so young a man.

In 1850 the honor of knighthood was conferred upon him.

This story is told of him at a social gathering in the home of a
well-known leader of soc