Instrument for painting, consisting of a tuft of animal hair secured together at the end of a small stick in various forms: flat, cat's tongue, round. Cennino Cennini (end of the 14th century) distinguishes between softer paint-brushes (those made of miniver or squirrel fur) and coarser paint-brushes (hog's bristle), describing meticulously the construction and conservation techniques and specifying their use in relation to their strength. Giovan Battista Armenini (1587) documents that in the succeeding centuries, the painter no longer has to make their own brushes: "As is known, brushes are of two types, miniver for oil and a secco and hog's bristle for fresco. But few craftsmen make miniver brushes because they are sold in little shops everywhere, and among the best are those from Vinegia." Filippo Baldinucci (1681) then documents how the material used is quite varied: "one makes sorts of little brushes by tying together animal hair: the large brushes, the most vigorous with hog's hair; the smaller brushes with the fur of miniver, or polecat, and with the fur of other animals such as badger, dog, and goat according to the utilization."