passes under their
names, to say nothing of that which has perished; but our surprise and
curiosity diminish when we come to inquire systematically into the
methods of that host of copyists which, even before the masters' death,
had begun to ply its lucrative trade.

We must bear in mind that every great man was surrounded by busy and
attentive satellites, helping him to finish and, indeed, often painting
a large part of important commissions, witnesses of the high prices
received, and alive to all the gossip as to the relative popularity of
the painters and the requests and orders which reached them from all
quarters. The painters' own sons were in many instances those who first
traded upon their fathers' fame. From Ridolfi, Zanetti, or Boschini we
learn of the many paintings executed by Carlotto Caliari and the vast
numbers painted by Domenico Robusti in the style of their respective
fathers. Domenico seems to have particularly affected the subject of
"St. George and the Dragon," and the picture at Dresden, which passes
under Tintoretto's name, is perhaps by his hand. Of Bassano's four sons,
Francesco "imitated his father perfectly," conserving his warmth of
tint, his relief and breadth. Zanetti enumerates a surprising number of
Francesco's works, seven of them being painted for the Ducal Palace.
Leandro followed more particularly his father's first manner, was a good
portrait-painter, and possessed lightness and fancy. Girolamo copied and
recopied the old Bassano till he even deceived connoisseurs, "how much
more," says Zanetti, writing in 1771, "those of the present day, who
behold them harmonised and accredited by time." No school in Venice was
so beloved, or lent itself so well to the efforts of the imitators, as
that of Paolo Veronese. Even at an early date it was impossible not to
confound the master with the disciples; the weaker of the originals were
held to be of imitators, the best imitations were assigned to the master
himself. "Oh how easy it is," exclaims Zanetti again, "to make mistakes
about Veronese's pictures, but I can point out sundry infallible
characteristics to those who wish for light upon this doubtful path; the
fineness and lightness of the brushwork, the sublime intelligence and
grace, shown particularly in the form of the heads, which is never found
in any of his imitators."

Few Venetians, however, followed the style of only one man; the output
was probably determined and varied by the de