Book excerpt: George Stubbs was one of the most original artists Britain ever produced. His extraordinary dedication to accuracy impelled him to spend 18 solitary months dissecting and drawing horses to make his landmark study, The Anatomy of the Horse. His portraits of people and animals combine an unflinchingly accurate gaze with profound psychological truth, yet he also created some of the most lyrical paintings of the age. Ozias Humphry, a colleague of Stubbs, recorded his many conversations with the painter, and the resulting manuscript became the basis for this present book.