To such one may however reply that if such nonconformity is in
just proportion in all its parts it is quite in harmony and is very
natural; and that much praise is due to the painter who painted a thing
which was never seen and is so impossible, with such wit and judgment that
it seems to be alive and possible, so that men wish that such things did
exist in the world, and say that they could pluck feathers from those
wings and that it is moving hands and eyes. And so one who paints (as a
book said) a hare which, in order to be distinguished from the dog
following it, required a label indicating it, such a person, painting a
thing so little deceitful, may be said to paint a great falsehood, more
difficult to find amongst the perfect works of nature than a beautiful
woman with the tail of a fish and wings."

They agreed with what I said, even Joao Capata himself, who was not well
instructed in the beauties of painting. And Master Michael, seeing that
his conversation was not badly employed on us, said:

"Now what a high thing is decorum in painting! and how little the painters
who are no painters try to observe it! and what attention the great man
pays to this!"

"And are there painters who are not painters?" asked Joao Capata."

"In many places," answered the painter, "but as the majority of people are
without sense and always love that which they ought to abhor, and blame
that which deserves most praise, it is not very surprising that they are
so constantly mistaken about painting, an art worthy only of great
understandings, because without any discretion or reason, and without
making any difference, they call a painter both the person who has nothing
more than the oils and brushes of painting and the illustrious painter who
is not born in the course of many years (which I consider to be a very
great thing); and as there are some who are called painters and are not
painters, so there is also painting which is not painting, for they did
it. And what is marvellous is that a bad painter neither can nor knows how
to imagine, nor does he even desire to do good painting, his work mostly
differs but little from his imagination, which is generally somewhat
worse; for if he knew how to imagine well or in a masterly manner in his
fantasy, he could not have a hand so corrupt as not to show some part or
indication of his good will. But no one has ever known how to aspire well
in this science, except the mind which understands wh