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VENICE

By
Grant Allen

IN TWO VOLUMES
Vol. II.
ILLUSTRATED

Boston
L. C. Page & Company
Publishers

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Copyright, iqo3
By L. C. Page & Company
(incorporated)

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Fourth Impression, February, rqoy
Fifth Impression, March, iqu

(Colonial JJreas
Electrotypsd and Printed by C. H. SImonds & Co.
Boston, Mass., U.S.A.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE
I. The Academy  n
II. The Halls of Bellini, The Vivarini,
AND CARPACCIO  32
III. The Halls of the Holy Cross and
the Assumption • • • • 57
IV. The Halls of the Various Schools 74
V. The Hall of the Painters of Friuli 88
VI. The Halls of Veronese and Boni-
FAZIO  91
VII. The Doge's Palace: Interior . . 120
VIII. The Doge's Palace (continued) . 139
IX. SS. Giovanni e Paolo . . . 159
X. The Frari  187
XI. San Giorgio degli Schiavoni and
San Zaccaria  208
XII. The Palladian Churches . . . 227

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
VOLUME II.

?AGB
Bellini, Giovanni. — Madonna of the Two
Trees (See page 37) . . . Frontispiece
Murano, Antonio, and Alamanno, Giovanni.
— Coronation of the Virgin ... 18
Murano, Antonio, and Alamanno, Giovanni.
— Our Lady and Child with the Doc
tors of the Church .... 28
Titian. — Old Woman with the Basket of
Eggs (detail of the Presentation in
the Temple)  31
Mantegna. — St. George and the Dragon 34
Cima. — Incredulity of St. Thomas . . 42
Carpaccio. — Departure of the Two Lovers
(detail)  52
Carpaccio. — Glorification of St. Ursula 56
Bellini, Gentile. — Procession of the True
Cross (detail) .... .62
Titian. — Assumption of the Virgin (detail) 66

List of Illustrations PACE
Veronese. — Madonna and Saints . . 68
Bellini, Giovanni. — Madonna and Saints . 70
Basaiti. — Agony in the Garden ... 78
Bissolo. — Madonna and Child ... 82
Marconi, Rocco. — Descent from the Cross 89
Veronese. — Annunciation .... 100
Bonifazio. — Adoration of the Magi (de
tail)  104
Bonifazio. — Lazarus and Dives . . .108
Bordone. — The Doge and the Fisherman 114
Titian. — The Fede  124
Tintoretto. — Marriage of St. Catharine 128
Doge's Palace. — Sala del Senato . .134
Doge's Palace. — View of the Lagoon from
Balcony  141
Veronese. — Venice Enthroned (detail) . 150
Memling. — St. Paul (in the Grimani Bre
viary)  154
Leopardi. — Statue of Bartolommeo Col-
leoni  165
San Giovanni e Paolo. — Portal . . .168
San Giovanni e Paolo. — Monument of
Doge Michele Morosini . . . .171
San Giovanni e Paolo. — Monument of
Doge Andrea Vendramin . .172
San Giovanni e Paolo. — Monument of
Doge Pasquale Malapiero . . .182
Frari. — General View  187
Frari. — Portal  188
Vittoria. — St. Jerome  190

List of Illustrations PAGE
Bellini, Giovanni. — Frari Madonna (Cen
tral Panel  193
Titian. — Madonna of the Pesaro . . 202
Carpaccio. — St. George Conquering the
Dragon  214
Bellini, Giovanni. — Madonna and Child
(detail)  221
San Giorgio Maggiore. -* General View . 228
Bissolo. — Madonna and Child (detail) . 235
Palma Vecchio. — St. Barbara (detail) . 240
Corte del Maltese. — Scala Minella . 245

Venice. * —
CHAPTER I.
THE ACADEMY.
THE great collection of Venetian pictures,
the most important object to be seen in
Venice, after St. Mark's and the Doge's Pal
ace, is housed since the French Revolution in
a building now known as the Accademia delle
Belle Arti. But the edifice itself was erected
in great part far earlier, and for a very dif
ferent purpose; and since some of its noble
halls still retain their old shape and primitive
splendour, while some few of its pictures still
occupy their original places, it may be well to
know beforehand the history of the building.
The Scuola della Carita (Brotherhood of
Charity) was the earliest of the great Venetian

1 2 Venice.
Scuole — not schools, but lay charitable fra
ternities — and the Scuole di San Rocco, di
Sant' Ursula, and di San Giovanni Evange-
lista (the two last to be described later) were
to some extent imitations of it. The Frater
nity was founded in 1260, for the purpose of
ransoming Christian captives among the In
fidels and for other charitable objects. The
larger part of the existing building is late in
date, having been erected by the great Renais
sance architect Palladio in 1552. In 1807,
Napoleon, after his conquest of Italy, turned
the place into an Academy of Art, and brought
here many pictures from suppressed churches,
monasteries, and charitable guilds. The collec
tion has since been increased from various
sources, and the building enlarged by recent
additions. The Academy is the best place in which to
form an idea of the consecutive development
of Venetian art. It contains few but Venetian
pictures; and in the following description, I
lay stress for the most part upon these only, to
the comparative exclusion of alien Italian or
foreign works. It is only necessary to know
beforehand that native painting came later in

The Academy. 13
Venice than elsewhere in Italy, and that for
many ages the Venetians were content with
Byzantine works which they imported from
Constantinople or Mount Athos. When a
native school began to arise, it based itself
curiously upon four distinct sources; part of
its spirit was Byzantine or Byzantinesque;
part Umbrian, of the school of Gentile da Fa-
briano, who painted in the old Doge's Palace;
part Paduan, of the classical and formal school
of Squarcione; and part, very singularly, Ger
man or Rhenish, being derived from one Gio
vanni da Allemagna (or Alamanno, or Vi-
varini, or da Murano), an artist who, whether
Muranese by birth or not, was clearly trained
in the Cologne School, the influence of which
we shall abundantly trace through much subse
quent Venetian painting.
The official numbering of the rooms is
neither chronological nor well adapted for fol
lowing out the history of Venetian art; I
therefore prefer to take the visitor through the
gallery, in the following brief notes, in an order
which seems to me best calculated to give him
a connected idea of the evolution of painting
in Venice. If he will accept my directions, I

14 Venice.
think he will gain a better conception of the
contents of the gallery than he could obtain
by walking straight through the rooms in the
official order.
Do not try to see the whole of the Academy
at once ; come here often, and study slowly. If
your time is limited, confine yourself mainly to
Rooms XX., IL, XV., XVI., and XVII., with
the Paris Bordone of " The Doge and the
Fisherman " in Room X.
The Academy is open on week-days from
nine to three, one franc : on Sundays from ten
to two, free. Take your opera-glass.
The Academy may be reached in three ways :
by gondola ; or by omnibus steamer, which stops
at the door (ten centimes) ; or on foot, thus :
from the southwest corner of the Piazza San
Marco, through the Calle San Moise, past the
appalling and ugly baroque f agade of the church
of San Moise, on the left, overloaded with fly
away ornament (1668), including what are
meant for camels but look like llamas; then,
by the Via 22 Marzo, past the uglier and still
more barbarous facade of S. Maria Zobenigo
(1680); obliquely to the right across the
Campo San Maurizio, and obliquely to the

The Academy. 15
left across the broad Campo S. Stefano ; thence
by the Iron Bridge to the door of the Academy.
The view from the bridge, or still better from
the Campo beyond it, looking back on the
russet houses, the red tower of S. Vitale (S.
Vidal), and the Palazzo Cavalli, recently reno
vated for Baron Franchetti, a Murano glass-
maker, is picturesque and striking.
Before entering the Academy, stand in the
little Campo della Carita, to the left of the main
door, with Minerva on a lion. You have here,
to the left, the secularised church of the Carita
(fourteenth-century Gothic), now sadly ruined
by alterations in its windows, and forming part
of the Academy. In front of you stands the
old gateway of the Scuola della Carita. Notice,
in the centre, the gilt relief of Our Lady of
Charity, attended by angels: the Child holds
out his caressing hand to members of the Fra
ternity below. On the left is St. Leonard bear
ing the fetters which are his symbol as patron
of captives, with two members of the Brother
hood ; on the right, St. Christopher bearing the
infant Christ. These form a charming memo
rial of the original purpose of the building:
dated, 1377.

1 6 Venice.
Pay. Mount the stairs. The first room
which we enter, Room I., the Hall of the An
cient Masters, contains the earliest work of the
Venetian Painters. The splendid apartment
also retains its original decoration as the Hall
of the Scuola. It was adorned with a Renais
sance roof at the expense of a brother named
Cherubino Aliotti; but as the rules of the
Scuola prevented any member from putting his
name on his gifts, he has preserved his memory
allusively in the eight-winged cherubs, which
form a rebus on his name (Cherubino Ali-otti),
in the lozenge-panels of the handsome ceiling.
The pictures in this room, though perhaps
less interesting at first sight to the ordinary
tourist as works of art than the developed
masterpieces of later periods, must be carefully
studied by any one who wishes really to under
stand the development of Venetian painting.
They form the starting-point, and strike the
key-notes; without them, you cannot rightly
comprehend what comes later.
Begin at the further end of the room, to the
right of the door which leads into the next hall.
Number i is a Coronation of the Virgin, by
Jacobello del Fiore, 1433, an altar-piece from

The Academy. 17
the Cathedral of Ceneda. In the centre, our
Lord, enthroned, crowns his mother. On either
side are clouds of cherubs in blue and seraphs
in red; beneath the throne, the four Evangel
ists, in niches, writing their Gospels; below
again, angels (perhaps the Holy Innocents)
with musical instruments. On the left is a
row of prophets, named on scrolls : Jeremiah,
Solomon, David, etc.; behind them, a row of
saints, headed by St. Christopher ; each saint
and prophet attended by an angel. On the
right is a row of patriarchs, headed by Moses ;
behind them, a tier of saints again, with attend
ant angels; to the far left below, virgins.
To the right, the Bishop of Ceneda, a Domini
can, the donor of the picture, a small figure,
kneeling ; behind him the sainted patron of his
diocese; then, St. Dominic, with the lily, as
spiritual father of the donor; St. Thomas
Aquinas, philosopher of the Dominican order,
with church and book; and St. Francis, with
the stigmata. A good picture in the hard, dry,
early decorative manner.
Compare this at once with a somewhat later
version of the same subject (much repainted)
by Antonio Murano and Giovanni Alamanno

1 8 Venice.
(John the German), * number 33, at the cor
responding place to the left of the doorway.
Above, Christ crowns his mother, in the pres
ence of the Father and the Holy Spirit. Be
neath the throne stand the Holy Innocents
(proved as such by analogy) bearing the col
umn at which Christ was scourged and the
instruments of the Passion. Further below,
again, are the four Evangelists with their
symbols, the angel, lion, eagle, and bull; St.
Luke, to the right, holds the miraculous por
trait of the Virgin which he painted, and which
is now in the chapel of Our Lady in St. Mark's.
To the left, behind St. John, come two of the
Fathers of the Church, St. Jerome, with his
church and book, and St. Gregory with the
Papal tiara; to the right, behind St. Luke, we
see St. Ambrose and St. Augustine, the former
holding the bones of St. Protasius and St.
Gervasius, which he discovered by a miracle.
In the background looms a crowd of saints,
conspicuous amongst whom are St. Agatha,
with her breasts in a dish; St. Barbara, with
her tower; St. Mary Magdalen, with the ala
baster box of ointment; and St. Catherine,
with her wheel, all to the left. Many other

MURANO, ANTONIO, AND ALAMANNO, GIOVANNI.
CORONATION OF THE VIRGIN

The Academy. 19
saints can be discriminated by their symbols.
The painting (1440) marks an advance upon
the last example, and shows German influence.
This is a good specimen of the manner of the
Vivarini, the able founders of the School of
Murano; perhaps a copy of one in S. Panta-
leone. Continue down the right wall.
Number 2, by Antonio Veneziano, is a little
altar-piece, with a Madonna, St. John the Bap
tist, and St. Jerome; above, an Annunciation,
in two divisions.
Number 3, by Michele Giambono, who de
signed the mosaics in the Mascoli Chapel at St.
Mark's, about 1440, is an altar-piece for the
Scuola del Cristo at the Giudecca. In the
centre is Christ, as patron of the Scuola; to
the left, St. John the Evangelist; then St.
Benedict in black Benedictine robes, grasping
the book of his rule; to the right, St. Michael
the archangel, holding the scales with which
he weighs souls, and trampling on the dragon ;
and St. Louis of Toulouse; at his feet, the
crown which he renounced for the monastic
profession. Number 4, by Simone da Cusighe, of the

ao Venice.
second half of the fourteenth century, consists
of four little scriptural episodes, the Entomb
ment, the Resurrection, the Ascension, and the
Descent of the Holy Ghost. Notice in the last
the tongues of fire.
Number 5, by Lorenzo Veneziano, 1357, is
composed of fragments of an altar-piece; two
good figures of St. Peter and St. Mark. Ob
serve the conventional types of these two faces.
Number 7 is an example of the early School
of Siena, an altar-piece for the Dominican
Nunnery at Murano, with five Dominican fe
male saints, in Dominican dress, with their
proper symbols and their names inscribed;
beneath them, the visitation by which the
Redeemer revealed himself miraculously to
each. Number 8 is St. Benedict and donors.
Number 9 is an Annunciation by Lorenzo
Veneziano, 1357; the angel, as usual, to the
left, and Our Lady to the right; above, God
the Father sends out the Holy Spirit and the
infant Christ (a rare treatment) ; on the left
are St. Gregory and St. John the Baptist; on
the right St. James the Greater (erroneously
described in the catalogue as San Rocco), with

The Academy. 21
staff and scallop-shells, and St. Stephen, with
the stones of his martyrdom.
* Number 10, a Lorenzo Veneziano, is a
splendid altar-piece for Sant' Antonio di Cas
tello, in several sections; in the centre, an
Annunciation, with tiny donors — compare it
with the preceding; on the left, St. John the
Evangelist, St. Mary Magdalen, St. Dominic
with the lily, and St. Francis with the stig
mata, the latter nearest our Lord, this being the
altar-piece of a Franciscan church ; to the right,
St. Anthony the Hermit, with Tau-shaped
cross on his robe, as patron of the church ; St.
John the Baptist, St. Paul with a sword,
and St. Peter with the keys. Notice the con
ventional types of these faces : each apostle has
his recognised cast of features. The figure of
God the Father, above, sending down the- Holy
Ghost, was inserted much later, and is by Bene
detto Diana. Study this altar-piece closely for
its concentrated symbolism.
The eleventh, by Jacopo Moranzone, is an
altar-piece of the suppressed church of St.
Elena in Isola. In the centre is the Assump
tion of Our Lady, who is being raised in a
mandorla, or almond-shaped glory, by six

n Venice.
angels ; on the left, St. Helena, mother of Con
stantine, and patroness of the church for which
this was painted, holding the True Cross which
she discovered; then St. John the Baptist;
on the right St. Benedict, and St. Elizabeth of
Hungary; the later identification I think
doubtful. Number 13, by Jacobello del Fiore, 1436, is
a Madonna della Misericordia, sheltering vo
taries under her robe, a type which will recur
frequently in Venice; she wears the Child like
a brooch on her bosom. Notice, above, the
little Annunciation in the lozenges. This is
a family picture, the votaries representing two
nuns and their relations. On the left and right
are the two St. Johns, the Baptist and the Evan
gelist. Number 14 is by Maestro Paolo, a Virgin
and Child, with Pieta above; on the panels,
St. James the Greater, with his pilgrim's staff,
and St. Francis with the stigmata.
On the end wall, by the staircase, * number
15, by Jacobello del Fiore, is a large and beau
tiful decorative panel from the Magistrates'
Room in the Doge's Palace (Magistrato del
Proprio). In the centre, Venice (or Justice),

The Academy. 23
with the sword and scales, enthroned between
her lions ; on the left is the Archangel Michael,
with his scales and the dragon; on the right,
the Archangel Gabriel with Annunciation lily;
the Latin inscriptions are interesting. The
appropriateness of the picture to its original
place is obvious.
On the left wall, number 16 is a Catarino; a
very rude Coronation of the Virgin, 1365.
Compare all these Coronations.
Number 18, by Simone da Cusighe, 1393,
is a Madonna della Misericordia, as before,
sheltering under her robe a group of votaries
belonging to a religious order, two of them
habited as penitents. Around are quaintly
naive scenes from the life of St. Bartholomew;
above, he preaches, converts a princess of
Armenia, destroys idols, baptises converts;
below, he is condemned by the king, is
scourged, is flayed and beheaded ; angels over
head bear his soul to heaven.
* Number 19, a Madonna and Child, is by
Niccolo di Maestro Pietro.
Number 20, by Antonio Vivarini, one of the
leaders of the School of Murano, is a beautiful
little decorative figure of St. Lawrence.

24 Venice.
Number 21, by an unknown Venetian of
the fourteeth century, is an altar-piece. In the
centre is the Coronation of the Virgin — com
pare with the previous examples ; on the sides,
naive representations, somewhat Byzantine in
character, of the life of Christ; the Nativity,
in a cave, with the Adoration of the Magi,
ox, ass, camels, etc. ; the Baptism in the Jordan,
with angels holding the Saviour's clothes; the
Last Supper; the Agony in the Garden, with
the Kiss of Judas, and Peter cutting off the
ear of Malchus; the Way to Calvary; the
Crucifixion ; the Resurrection, with Christ and
Magdalen in the garden ; the Ascension, Christ
raised in a mandorla before the Apostles and
Virgin, with angels beneath. All these scenes
are good typical early examples in the treat
ment of their subjects. Note for comparison.
The small series above represents the Descent
of the Holy Ghost, and then the Life of St.
Francis : — he receives Santa Chiara ; he strips
himself of his worldly goods and clothing, to
enter the little oratory at Assisi; he receives
the stigmata from a six-winged red crucified
seraph ; then his death is shown, with his soul
ascending; and finally, his glory in heaven.
These are the conventional St. Francis subjects.

The Academy. 25
Number 23 is by Niccolo Semitecolo, a Coro
nation of the Virgin.
Number 24, by Michele di Matteo Lamber-
tini, is a great altar-piece from the suppressed
church of St. Elena, as before. In the centre,
Our Lady and Child, with angels, are very
charming, showing already an approach to the
peculiar Venetian type of the Madonna. Im
mediately to her left is the patroness St.
Helena, with the True Cross; next to her,
St. Lucy, with her eyes in a dish ; on the right,
St. Mary Magdalen, her vase almost obliter
ated, and St. Catharine with her wheel ; above
are the Crucifixion and the four Evangelists
with their symbols. In the predella, beneath,
is the history of the invention of the True
Cross; St. Helena arrives at Jerusalem; she
inquires as to the True Cross, with a debate of
Jews as to its whereabouts ( ?) ; the invention
of the Cross ; a miracle performed by the True
Cross discriminates it from those of the two
thieves found with it ; Helena adores the Cross,
which puts to flight demons. I do not quite
understand all these subjects.
Number 27 is by Bartolommeo Vivarini,
one of the latest of the Murano School, a Virgin

16 Venice.
and Saints, from the Dominican church of St.
Peter Martyr at Murano. The saints are all
Dominicans in robes of the order; on the left
in the place of honour, is St. Dominic; then,
St. Thomas Aquinas; on the right, St. Peter
Martyr, the patron of the church, with the
knife of his martyrdom in his head, and St.
Vincent Ferrer, bearing his symbol, the handful
of flames.
Number 28, by Andrea da Murano, pupil of
the last, is a ruined altar-piece, a plague-offer
ing (see account of the four great Plague-
Churches) from St. Peter Martyr at Murano.
In the centre are St. Vincent Ferrer, and San
Rocco, the latter bearing his pilgrim's staff,
showing the plague-spot on his leg, and at
tended by his angel; beneath, one of the
donors, kneeling. On the left is the other great
plague-saint, St. Sebastian; on the right, St.
Peter Martyr, patron of the church, with his
knife as before, each of these with a donor.
Above, is the Madonna della Misericordia, with
three Dominican saints, Dominic, Thomas
Aquinas, and Catharine of Siena, and a royal
saint unknown to me ; perhaps St. Sigismund.
Number 29, by Quirizio da Murano, about

The Academy. 27
1450, is a charming little Madonna and Child,
which strikes a key-note for subsequent half-
length Venetian Madonnas. The child is sleep
ing, as often at Venice ; the type of Our Lady
has the true Venetian neck and features. The
arrangement of the curtain and the landscape
background are characteristic.
Number 30, also by Quirizio da1 Murano, is
an Ecce Homo.
Numbers 31 and 32, of the School of the
Vivarini, are two Doctors of the Church, St.
Jerome and St. Augustine. Note their sym
bols. They are of coarse workmanship.
Numbers 34 and 35 are also of the School
of the Vivarini ; subjects, St. James the Greater,
with his pilgrim's staff, and St. Francis with
the cross and stigmata.
This room gives you a good idea of the
general character of Venetian painting before
the rise of the Bellini.
Disregarding the official arrangement of
the rooms, so as to preserve chronological
order, return now to the staircase by which you
entered, and pass into the apartment to the
left of the staircase, on the right, as you now
approach it.

28 Venice.
This is Room XX., or the Hall of the Pres
entation. This fine hall was originally the
Albergo (guest-chamber or public reception-
room) of the Fraternity. It still retains its
magnificent decorations, and the pictures it
contains were originally painted for the very
places they now occupy. The gorgeous carved
and gilded wooden roof represents Christ in
Benediction, surrounded by the four Apostles
with their symbols.
Take a seat near the staircase, and examine,
first, * * number 625, by Antonio Vivarini da
Murano and Giovanni Alamanno, Our Lady
and Child with the Doctors of the Church
(1445). This glorious work is the finest sur
viving specimen of the early Venetian school.
In the centre, on a raised dais, sits Our Lady,
enthroned, with the Child erect on her knees.
The placid though somewhat insipid features
of both show the influence of the Cologne
school, in which it is probable that Giovanni
(the German) received his art-education. The
soft and pensive early-German tinge in Our
Lady's face helped to form the later Venetian
type of Madonna. The closed garden in which
she is seated, as well as its beautiful architec-

MURANO, ANTONIO, AND ALAMANNO, GIOVANNI. — OUR LADY AND CHILD
WITH THE DOCTORS OF THE CHURCH

30 Venice.
forming an apparent continuation of the door
way beneath it. It was long removed from this
spot, and had the two breaks below filled up
with canvas; but it has now, to its great
advantage, been restored by the authorities to
its original position. It treats its subject
somewhat cavalierly, as a mere excuse for vo
luptuous painting, fine colour, and good archi
tectural perspective.
St. Joachim, in a yellow robe, with his back
turned to the spectator, near the centre of the
picture (just behind the little jumping dog)
lays his hand on St. Anne's shoulder. These
are the parents of the little Virgin, and they
have brought her to the Temple to present her
to the Lord. Our Lady herself, contrary to
their expectations, mounts the steps alone, and
fearlessly halts near the middle. At the top,
the High Priest opens his arms to receive her,
attended by other priests. Below, near the foot
of the stairs, spectators, who are mere sumptu
ous portraits of handsome Venetian ladies,
observe her action with praise and admiration.
To the left stand senators and nobles, obviously
portraits, and clearly more interesting to Titian
than the sacred personages.

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TITIAN. — OLD WOMAN WITH THE BASKET OF EGGS
(DETAIL OF THE PRESENTATION IN THE TEMPLE)

The Academy. 31
The background is an excellent landscape in
Titian's own country of Cadore. The " cele
brated " old woman with the basket of eggs
in the centre foreground is undoubtedly sug
gested by a similar figure in a picture by Car
paccio, which we shall see hereafter. This
work is of course much later in date than those
we have hitherto been examining, and I merely
mention it here for local convenience. Its
Renaissance architecture and its free Renais
sance feeling and composition may be instruc
tively contrasted with the fine early decorative
arrangement of 625. I star it rather out of
deference to universal opinion than from any
personal liking for its tawdry sentiment.

CHAPTER II.
THE HALLS OF BELLINI, THE VIVARINI, AND
CARPACCIO.
NOW, ascend the red marble staircase at
the end of the room, and continue a few
steps along the corridor to the first door on
the right, giving access to Room XVII., the
Hall of Giovanni Bellini.
This room contains much of the finest work
of Giovanni Bellini, the first and noblest of the
great Renaissance painters of Venice, as well
as examples of his pupils or school. Bellini
lived from 1427 till 15 16, and was brother-
in-law of Mantegna. His life just covers the
great developing period of the Renaissance,
and his works here deserve the closest attention.
Begin to the right of the door by which you
enter. Number 583, by Giovanni Bellini, is a half-
32

The Hall of Bellini. 33
length Madonna and Child. This picture is
in the earliest manner of the great painter, still
betraying some faint traces of Byzantine influ
ence (especially observable in Our Lady's face,
head-dress, and hands), as well as something
derived from the school of the Vivarini. As
yet, Bellini's art has not succeeded in eman
cipating itself from conventional trammels.
Compare this picture carefully with the great
Madonna by Antonio and Giovanni in the last
room we examined, and with the other Bellini
Madonnas in this Hall.
Beneath it, 616, of the school of Vivarini,
is a Madonna and Child, with landscape back
ground. Beyond the door, to the left, 581, is a ruined
altar-piece by Bartolommeo Vivarini. In the
centre is a very wooden Nativity, with the
usual features, — shed, star, wattled manger,
ox and ass, etc.; in the background an ill-
drawn Annunciation to the Shepherds ; on the
sides, left and right, are Peter and Paul, with
keys and sword; further to the left are St.
John the Baptist, St. Andrew, St. Francis with
the stigmata; further to the right, St. Jerome,
St. Dominic, and probably St. Theodore.

34 Venice.
Number 584, by Bartolommeo Vivarini, is
St. Mary Magdalen with her vase of ointment.
Number 582 is by Jacopo Bellini, father of
Giovanni and Gentile, a half-length Madonna
and Child. Compare this rather wooden speci
men of Jacopo, who was a pupil of the Ura-
brian Gentile da Fabriano, with the more
distinctly Venetian treatment of the same sub
ject we have just seen in 583, noticing how far
Giovanni has been influenced in his concep
tion of Our Lady by the mosaics of St. Mark's.
Number 585, a companion to 584, is a Bar
tolommeo Vivarini, St. Barbara with her tower.
The room to the left, closed, contains some
very ugly rococo furniture.
Beyond the door, no number, is a picture by
* Cosimo Tura of Ferrara, a Madonna and
Child, a characteristic specimen of this harsh
but powerful Ferrarese-Bolognese master.
* * Number 588 is a Mantegna, a St. George
and the Dragon, with one of his characteristic
garlands of fruit and foliage. This may be
reckoned among the gems of the collection.
Examine it closely for its splendid workman
ship and the delicate treatment of its acces
sories. It is so admirably and minutely touched

MANTEGNA. — ST. GEORGE AND THE
DRAGON

The Hall of Bellini. 35
that if you sit opposite it and look at it through
an opera-glass which enlarges considerably, it
gains rather than loses by magnifying. It is
a masterpiece of its master.
Next to this, 590, by Antonello da Messina,
is a Madonna, from an Annunciation.
* Number 586, attributed to Antonello da
Messina, is a portrait of a young man, with
rich brown-tinted complexion. This is more
probably a Flemish work, and may perhaps be
by Memling.
Number 591, by Giovanni Bellini, is a full-
length Madonna, with sleeping Child on her
knees. This should be compared with the
Madonna by his father, 582, and with his own
early work, 583. The graceful drawing of the
Child here marks a great advance in art.
The place of honour in the centre of this wall
is occupied by * 592, by Cima da Conegliano,
Tobias and the Angel. This is an altar-
piece from the suppressed church of the Miseri-
cordia, much injured and restored, but still
very beautiful. Cima was one of the greatest
of Giovanni Bellini's pupils, and this may rank
even now among his noblest works. In the
centre, the Archangel Raphael leads the youth-

%6 Venice.
ful Tobias, who holds in his hand the fish
which was to cure his father's blindness. Both
figures are extremely graceful. To the left is
St. James the Apostle, with his pilgrim's staff ;
to the right, St. Nicholas of Myra, holding the
three golden balls which are his symbol. Ob
serve in this picture how the attendant saints,
who in earlier times stood apart under a sepa
rate canopy of the altar-piece, or, if thrown
into one panel, were treated as single figures
in isolation, now begin to form a concerted
group, though they do not yet take any part
in a combined action, as is the case in the later
treatment known as the Santa Conversazione.
Watch this development hereafter. Here, the
saints, though standing in the same beautiful
landscape background with the central figures,
are still purely abstract personages, assessors,
as it were, of the main scene. The superior
position of the Archangel and Tobias is
quaintly shown by elevating them on a little
mound or hillock. But observe at the same
time how landscape is now beginning to assert
itself. Though damaged, this picture is still
fine. Good colour throughout: excellent
draperies.

The Hall of Bellini. 37
Number 593, by Alvise Vivarini, is a St.
Clara, or, more probably, a portrait of a nun
in the character of the saint, her patron.
Number 594, by Giovanni Bellini, is a half-
length Madonna and Child, the latter standing,
as often, on a parapet with landscape back
ground. Probably an early work. Compare
this with the other examples.
* * Number 595 consists of five little alle
gories by Giovanni Bellini; probably panels
from a decorative chest. These dainty and
charming cameos should be closely examined
for their exquisite, almost classical painting.
They are masterpieces in little. No satisfactory
explanation of their subjects has yet been of
fered. * * Number 596, another Giovanni Bellini,
is a half-length Madonna and Child, known as
the Madonna of the Two Trees, one of the
most beautiful which he ever painted. Com
pare it with 594 and the other examples. This
may be numbered among the loveliest things
in the collection. The strong columnar neck
and dignified matronly character of Our Lady
in this characteristic Venetian work should be
closely observed, and mentally contrasted with

3 8 Venice.
the girlish ideal Florentine type, as well as
with the intellectual character of the Lombard
Madonnas. The Child in this picture is ex
tremely charming and sweetly infantile.
Number 597, by Cima da Conegliano, is a
Madonna and Child, with characteristic land
scape background of Cima's own country. He
loved scenery, and is one of the founders of
landscape art. Note, as time advances, the freer
and more unconventional attitudes given to
the Child, and the removal of his clothing, seen
in several pictures of the Bellini age in this
gallery. This is, perhaps, a copy.
Number 598 is by Boccaccio Boccaccino, a
Cremona painter (1495 to 15 18). The sub
ject is Jesus among the Doctors; the Christ
with youthful features and wavy hair; the
Doctors evidently intended to represent re
spectively a Pharisee and a Sadducee.
On the end wall, 599 is from the school of
the same; Christ washing Peter's feet, a good
transitional picture.
* Number 600, by Boccaccio Boccaccino, a
Madonna and Saints, is his masterpiece. A
little to the left Our Lady holds the Child on
her lap; further left, St. Catharine, a most

The Hall of Bellini. 39
graceful figure, beautifully robed, holds out
her hand to receive the mystic ring from the
hands of the infant Christ whose bride she is.
On the right is St. Rose, holding the palm of
her martyrdom. These two female figures are
exquisitely and touchingly rendered. To the
extreme right is St. Peter with his keys, and
St. John the Baptist with his cross of reeds.
The background is formed by a charming
mountain landscape, with a lake and city.
Observe in this delicious idyllic work how the
assemblage of saints attendant on the Madonna
has ceased to be symmetrical, and lost all
memory of the early arrangement in rows ; the
figures are here thrown into that sort of con
certed composition which is known as a " Santa
Conversazione." Compare with 592, Cima's
Raphael and Tobias, and earlier examples.
Linger long on this tender picture.
Over the door is 601, by Paolo Zoppo: St.
James, with his staff as pilgrim.
Number 603, by Cima da Conegliano, is a
half-length Madonna and Child, with St. John
and St. Paul ; the latter may always be known
by his bald head, pointed beard, and sword.
Behind the Madonna, a curtain, on either side

40 Venice.
of which peeps out a landscape. This type of
half-length Madonna, with curtain, parapet,
and open background, is highly characteristic
of the Venetian school of the Bellini period.
Our Lady's features are redolent of the Vene
tian ideal : they may be traced afterward in
Titian and his followers. This is an admirable
picture, beautifully rendered.
On the right wall, 605, by Boccaccio Boc
caccino, is a Madonna, between St. Simeon
and St. Jerome. Beneath it is 604, by Cima,
a Deposition from the Cross. The dead Sa
viour is supported by Joseph of Arimathea; on
the other side are Our Lady as the Mater
Dolorosa, and St. John; at the ends, another
Mary and Mary Magdalen.
Numbers 606 and 608 are by Antonio Viva
rini. This is a fine early Annunciation in two
panels, badly repainted. As usual, the angel
is on the left and Our Lady on the right. The
action almost always takes place in a loggia.
Our Lady's face is already characteristically
Venetian. Number 607 is by Alvise Vivarini, the last
of his school, Our Lady enthroned, with Fran
ciscan saints ; altar-piece painted for the Fran-

The Hall of Bellini. 41
ciscan church of San Francesco at Treviso.
In the centre, Our Lady sits enthroned on a
lofty pedestal; her features are somewhat in
sipid. In the foreground stand the four great
Franciscan saints, from left to right, as follows :
St. Louis of Toulouse, St. Anthony of Padua,
St. Francis, St. Bernardino of Siena. The
pinched, ascetic features of the last-named are
characteristic of his conventional type. Behind
these four Franciscans, stand the parents of
Our Lady, St. Joachim, holding the dove of
his offering, and St. Anna. The arches at the
back and the long line of the saints convey
faint reminiscences of the earlier formal ar
rangement in niches. This is considered Al-
vise's masterpiece; it well illustrates the harm
done to such pictures by seeing them in a
gallery, divorced from their primitive ecclesi
astical surroundings, in which they were full
of symbolical meaning. On the whole, the
key-note here is asceticism.
* * Number 610, by Giovanni Bellini, is an
altar-piece, with Our Lady and two saints.
This is one of Bellini's finest pictures; it is a
typical Venetian half-length Madonna, with
curtain and parapet. Our Lady's face may be

42 Venice.
reckoned among the loveliest that Bellini ever
painted ; the Child is charming in his infantine
grace. To the left stands St. Paul with his
sword, its hilt and scabbard exquisitely enam
elled: to the right, St. George, in a splendid
helmet and glancing armour, grasping his
lance or pennant with the red cross. These
two faces are obviously portraits, probably
of the donors, represented under the guise of
their patron saints, for which the features of
St. Paul, a characteristic Venetian senator of
his period, are excellently adapted. St. George
is less happy; he looks more like a staid lawyer
or statesman than the romantic and adven
turous knight of the legend. Admirably
drawn, patiently wrought, gloriously coloured.
* Number 611, by Cima, the Incredulity of
St. Thomas, is an altar-piece painted for the
Scuola of the Masons in Venice, St. Thomas
being the recognised patron of the building
trades. The action takes place in an arcade,
from which is seen a distant view of Cima's
favourite mountains. To the right stands a
sainted episcopal figure, usually explained as
St. Magnus, the holy bishop of Altinum, but
more probably St. Nicholas, the patron saint

CIMA. — INCREDULITY OF ST. THOMAS

The Hall of Bellini. 43
of merchants and the middle classes. (Compare
the figure with the undoubted St. Nicholas
holding the three balls, in the opposite altar-
piece, by the same artist.) Fine bold outlines,
vivid and pure colour, great and grave relig
ious sincerity, characterise the picture. This
is considered to be Cima's masterpiece. A pic
ture by him very like it, but without the St.
Nicholas, is in the National Gallery in London.
Number 612 is a Giovanni Bellini, a Ma-
• donna with the red cherubs, a characteristic
and silvery early specimen. Beneath it is
number 613, another Giovanni Bellini, a half-
length Madonna and saints. To the left is St.
Catharine; to the right, St. Mary Magdalen.
The figures are lighted from below the picture,
being intended for a lofty altar-piece.
Number 614, by Bartolommeo Vivarini, is
a didactic picture for the Magistrato di Catta-
ver. In the centre is Christ enthroned, bearing
a book inscribed with the command to do
justice and judge truly the sons of men; to
the left, St. Augustine ; to the right, St. Fran
cis, probably in compliment to the magistrates
of the moment, whose namesakes these may
most probably have been. In the background

44 Venice.
a Renaissance loggia, with festooned garlands,
and the arms of the two donors. Saints and
escutcheons combined would tell the names
of the benefactors at once to a contemporary
Venetian. Number 615, another Bartolommeo Vivarini,
is an early Madonna and saints, in the old
" tabernacle " altar-piece style, from the sup
pressed church of Sant' Andrea della Certosa,
the Carthusian monastery. In the centre is
a lovely enthroned Madonna with a sleeping
Child — compare with the Cosimo Tura and
the Bellini. To the left, St. Andrew, the
patron of the church, and St. John the Baptist :
to the right, St. Dominic and St. Peter. I
think these figures have been misplaced in re-
framing, and that Peter and Andrew ought to
occupy the next niches to Our Lady. Much
repainted. Now, return to the far end of this room,
and enter the little compartment beyond it,
Room XVIII., Hall of the Vivarini.
Number 617 is by an unknown Paduan,
with characteristic Paduan architectural detail,
showing the classical influence of the school
of Squarcione. In the centre is a full-length

The Hall of Bellini. 45
Madonna, enthroned, with clothed Infant, sur
rounded by little angels singing and playing
musical instruments in the manner common at
Venice and Padua. Note henceforth these
pretty accessories. To the left are St. Law
rence with his gridiron, St. Jerome with his
church and lion; to the right, St. George (?)
or Liberale (?), and St. Stephen with the
stones of his martyrdom. A good, hard,
characteristic Paduan picture.
Numbers 618 and 619 are St. John the Bap
tist and St. Matthew, by Alvise Vivarini.
The end wall is occupied by several frag
ments of altar-pieces (621), with formal fig
ures, of the school of the Vivarini, not very
interesting. The order, from left to right, is :
St. Francis with the stigmata, Our Lady and
Child, St. George (?), St. Jerome with the
church, a Nativity, with the Annunciation to
the shepherds, an unknown bishop — possibly
St. Ambrose — St. John the Baptist, St. Sebas
tian, St. Anthony the Abbot, with his bell and
crutch, St. Lawrence, standing on his gridiron,
and St. Anthony of Padua, in Franciscan robes,
with the lily.
Number 623, by Cima, is St. Christopher

46 Venice.
wading through the river with the infant
Christ. Notice how he staggers beneath the
supernatural weight of the divine burden.
Number 624 is by Alvise Vivarini, a Ma
donna at a prie-dieu ; one panel of an Annun
ciation, the other half of which is missing.
Return through Room XVII., descend the
stairs, cross the corridor, and ascend the steps
of the compartment opposite, Room XVI., the
Hall of St. Ursula.
This room (part of the old church of the
Carita) contains a series of paintings from the
life of St. Ursula, all by Vittore Carpaccio,
probably a pupil of the Bellini, who painted be
tween 1490 and 1522. Carpaccio is the best
representative of the sportive and decorative
character of the Venetian school at the begin
ning of the sixteenth century, and the grace
ful works collected here are his masterpieces.
He is supreme as a story-teller. Before exam
ining these examples of his art in detail, sit
down on one of the little red stools and read
the following short account of their subject :
St. Ursula was a British (or Breton) prin
cess, brought up as a Christian by her pious
parents. She was sought in marriage by a

The Hall of Bellini. 47
pagan prince, Conon, said in the legend to be
the son of a king of England. The English
king, called Agrippinus, sent ambassadors to
Maurus, king of Britain (or Brittany), asking
the hand of his daughter Ursula for his heir.
But Ursula made three conditions: first, that
she should be given as companions ten noble
virgins, and that she herself and each of the
virgins should be accompanied by a thousand
maiden attendants; second, that they should
all together visit the shrines of the saints ; and
third, that the prince Conon and his court
should receive baptism. These conditions were
complied with; the king of England collected
eleven thousand virgins; and Ursula, with
her companions, sailed for Cologne, where she
arrived miraculously without the assistance of
sailors. Here, she had a vision of an angel
bidding her to repair to Rome, the threshold of
the apostles. From Cologne, the pilgrims pro
ceeded up the Rhine by boat, till they arrived
at Basle, where they disembarked and contin
ued their journey on foot over the Alps to
Italy. At length they reached the Tiber, and
approached the walls of Rome. There, the
Pope, St. Cyriacus (or Cyprianus), went forth

48 Venice.
with all his clergy in procession to meet them.
He gave them his blessing; and lest the
maidens should come to harm in so wicked
a city, he had tents pitched for them outside
the walls on the side toward Tivoli. Mean
while, prince Conon had also come on pil
grimage by a different route, and arrived at
Rome on the same day as his betrothed. He
knelt with Ursula at the feet of the Pope, and,
being baptised, received in exchange the name
of Ethereus.
After a certain time spent in Rome, the holy
maidens bethought them to return home again.
Thereupon, Pope Cyriacus decided to accom
pany them, together with his cardinals, arch
bishops, bishops, patriarchs, and many others
of his prelates. They crossed the Alps, em
barked again at Basle, and made their way
northward as far as Cologne. Now it hap
pened that the army of the Huns was at that
time besieging the Roman colony; and the
pagans fell upon the eleven thousand virgins,
with the Pope and their other saintly compan
ions. Prince Ethereus was one of the first to
die ; then Cyriacus, the bishops, and the cardi
nals perished. Last of all, the pagans turned

The Hall of Bellini. 49
upon the virgins, all of whom they slew, save
only St. Ursula. Her they carried before their
king, who, beholding her beauty, would fain
have wedded her. But Ursula sternly refused
the offer of this son of Satan ; whereupon the
king, seizing his bow, transfixed her breast
with three arrows. Hence her symbol in art
is an arrow.
St. Ursula is the patroness of maidens,
and especially of schoolgirls. There existed
at Venice a benevolent institution, under her
patronage, for the support and education of
orphan girls, the Scuola di Sant' Ursula (near
San Giovanni e Paolo). For this Scuola, Car
paccio painted the present series of scenes from
the life of the patron saint, between 1490 and
1495. They are now well reunited in a room
somewhat resembling their original abode.
After seeing them, it is well to visit San Giorgio
degli Schiavoni, where you will find a similar
series, also by Carpaccio, from the lives of St.
George and St. Tryphonius, still arranged in
their first setting. These pictures, with those
at San Rocco, will help you to piece out your
idea of the splendid character of the old
Venetian Scuole or charitable guilds. The

50 Venice.
visitor who has seen Bruges will also compare
them mentally (or still better by means of
photographs) with the Memlings of St. John's
Hospital. This room and the two which follow it have
been built in the upper floor of the suppressed
church of the Carita. The St. Ursula series
begins to the left of the door as you enter;
unfortunately, not all the pictures have been
placed, it seems to me, in their proper
chronological order in the story.
In number 572 the ambassadors of the
pagan English king arrive at the court of the
Christian king Maurus to ask for the hand of
Ursula. To the extreme left is the loggia or
porch of the palace, with gentlemen in waiting ;
below, a senator in a red robe; in the back
ground, a port like that of Venice. In the
central portion of the picture, the chief ambas
sador, kneeling, presents his letter to King
Maurus in council; behind him, the other
ambassadors make their obeisance ; in the back
ground, a galley, and Venetian architecture of
the early Renaissance. To the extreme right
is a subsequent episode : King Maurus conveys
the message to his daughter, who is counting

The Hall of Bellini. 51
on her fingers the three conditions under which
alone she will consent to accept the suit of
Conon. Notice her neat little bed, and the
picture of the Madonna on the wall. This
daintily simple room has one side taken out,
as at a theatre. The duenna below with the
crutch obviously gave the hint for the old
woman with the basket of eggs in Titian's
Presentation in the Temple. Observe the
classical touch in the medallion of a Caesar on
the pillar in front of her.
In number 573, the ambassadors of the
pagan English king leave the court of the
Christian monarch. A preternaturally busy
secretary writes the answer with the conditions
to Conon. Observe the characteristic Vene
tian decorations of coloured marble, the niche
over the door, and the architecture in the back
ground. In number 574, the ambassadors render
their report to the pagan king in his own city,
the architecture of which, though still essen
tially Venetian, is meant to contrast as barbaric
and antiquated with that of the Christian
king's civilised capital. To the extreme right,
King Agrippinus, seated, and looking fiercely

52

Venice.

pagan, receives the ambassadors' report in a
little octagonal summer-house with exquisite
columns of coloured marble. Note the wall
behind, and the gardens. Outside stands a
very Venetian crowd with a balustraded
bridge like those on the Riva. The central
part of the picture is occupied by Prince
Conon and his knightly attendants ; the prince
stands in the exact middle with his hand on
his heart. All the architectural details are
worth close notice.
Number 575 is the Departure of the Two
Lovers. On the left, Conon, with fair hair
and a long red robe, takes leave of his parents;
in the background is the fantastic architec
ture of the pagan city, the turreted portion to
the extreme left being intended to produce a
specially barbaric effect. The hill-town in the
left background resembles the neighbourhoods
of Vicenza and Brescia. To the extreme right,
St. Ursula takes leave of her parents, this
Christian leave-taking being carefully con
trasted with the pagan one of Conon. The
robes of Ursula, her father, and her weeping
mother, are all beautiful. In the background,
the stately Christian city, an ideal early-Renais-

CARPACCIO. — DEPARTURE OF THE TWO LOVERS
(DETAIL)

The Hall of Bellini. 53
sance Venice. A little to the left of this group,
near the flagstaff, is a somewhat later episode :
Conon and his bride, this time somewhat dif
ferently dressed, meet for embarcation. (Per
haps, however, this scene represents Conon
landing in Brittany, and received by Ursula;
while to the right they may both be taking
leave of Maurus.) The shipping, and the
other accessories, such as the pontoon and the
magnificent carpets, deserve close inspection.
Omit for the moment 576 in the centre.
In number * 577, Ursula and Conon arrive
together on the same day at Rome, where they
are met in solemn procession by the Pope,
accompanied by a magnificent retinue of
ecclesiastics. All the robes here are exqui
sitely rendered. In the distance to the left, the
train of eleven thousand virgins winds slowly,
in single file (as in the Memlings at Bruges),
absorbed in meditation, across the Campagna,
with the Alps in the distance. Near them are
eleven standards for the eleven thousand, and
one with a red cross for St. Ursula. Many of
the principal maidens wear coronets. In the
background rises the castle of St. Angelo.
Do not overlook the portable baldacchino and

54

Venice.

all the other ecclesiastical accessories in this
fine and fantastic ceremonial picture.
* * Number 578, which ought to have come
much earlier in the arrangement, at least if the
legend was faithfully followed, is St. Ursula's
Dream, a very lovely picture. The saint lies
peacefully sleeping in a neat little bed under
a simple canopy; to the extreme right, the
angel enters. Every detail here is delicious,
from the flower-pots and flowers in the win
dow, to the clogs which the tidy little saint
has put off by her bedside, and the dainty
crown which she has carefully laid on the par
apet at the foot of the bed. A virgin martyr,
but an ideal housewife.
Number 579 is the arrival of St. Ursula at
Cologne. On the left, the maiden saint is seen
in a portentous galley, very difficult to navi
gate, accompanied by the Pope and all his
ecclesiastics. Behind, in another galley, are
some assorted specimens of the eleven thou
sand. A messenger in a boat seems to inform
the pilgrims (quite needlessly) of the state of
the city. To the right is the besieging army
of the Huns, most of them in frankly anachro
nistic late fifteenth century armour. In the

The Hall of Bellini. 55
background, the King of the Huns, himself,
mounted, directs the siege. Beyond him stretch
the tents of his followers, and then the tur-
reted walls of Cologne, manned by the defend
ers. It must however be admitted that this is
all very make-believe warfare. Nobody seems
to take it seriously.
Number 580 represents the Martyrdom of
St. Ursula and the eleven thousand virgins.
In the centre, the King of the Huns, a most
courtly and knightly gentleman for a pagan
savage, bends his bow and directs an arrow
straight at the heart of the kneeling St. Ursula.
Behind her are Conon (?) and one of the vir
gins. A little in the background, the good
Pope receives an arrow-wound and a sword-
thrust, and his tiara falls from his dying head.
To the extreme left takes place an indiscrim
inate massacre, in which violent action (a weak
point with Carpaccio) is only tolerably repre
sented; one Cardinal in particular, with an
arrow in his face, is frankly comic. The upper
part of the picture is formed by hard trees and
a landscape background. The courtiers of the
King of the Huns are chiefly remarkable for
the barbaric variety and eccentricity of their
weapons, in designing which Carpaccio's fancy

56 Venice.
runs riot. To the extreme right is the Burial
of the Saint, who is borne on a bier by eccle
siastics into a church, attended by sympathisers
who seem to be portraits of Venetian gentle
men. The kneeling figure at the base is doubt
less one of the donors. This is the poorest and
least worthy work of the whole series. Carpac
cio here attempts a task beyond his powers.
Now, return to 576, opposite, which is really
the last of the series. It represents the Glori
fication or Apotheosis- of St. Ursula. In the
centre stands the triumphant saint, elevated on
a clustered column of palm-branches, symboli
cal of martyrdom, and ringed by red cherubs;
behind her is a glory ; around her, a mandorla-
shaped group of little winged angels; above,
the Eternal Father, much foreshortened,
stretches His welcoming arms to receive her
into bliss immortal. Below are the companions
of her martyrdom and her glory, the eleven
thousand virgins, two of them holding banners,
together with the sainted Pope and the eccle
siastics who accompanied him. I fail, unfortu
nately, to discriminate Conon. The three
portrait-like faces on the left I take to be those
of the donors.
You will enter next Room XV.

CARPACCIO.  GLORIFICATION OF ST. URSULA

CHAPTER III.
THE HALLS OF THE HOLY CROSS AND THE
ASSUMPTION.
THE Scuola di San Giovanni Evangelista
at Venice, a local religious guild, a little
behind the Frari, possessed as its chief treasure
a fragment of the True Cross. This most
precious object was carried in procession
through the streets on certain festa days, and
became the centre of an important cult in early
Renaissance Venice. About 1490, the Fra
ternity commissioned Gentile Bellini and his
pupils to execute for their Hall a series of
pictures on canvas, to be hung on the walls
like tapestry. They were to represent the
miracles wrought by this sacred relic, as well
as certain other episodes in its local history.
The conditions under which the pictures were
painted thus explain many peculiarities in
57

5 8 Venice.
their mode of treatment; they were meant to
be seen, as they now are, round the walls of
a room by themselves, and were intended
rather as decorative backgrounds than as pic
tures in the ordinary sense. Formerly, the
various members of the series were distributed
through this gallery in different rooms, sur
rounded by other works with figures of larger
size, which made them look a trifle grotesque
and finnicking. Their wise reunion in this
octagon, the Hall of the Holy Cross, built
specially to accommodate them, with excellent
taste, enables the spectator to judge their origi
nal effect much more truly.
Carefully distinguish Gentile Bellini, the
painter of historical scenes, from his brother
Giovanni, the devotional painter of saints and
Madonnas, whose work we have before ex
amined. Gentile loved such small figures on
rather crowded canvases. He struck the key
note of the Hall; his pupils followed him.
All these pictures should be carefully studied,
because, apart from their intrinsic value as
works of art, and as specimens of the best
Venetian technique before the age of Titian,
they preserve for us so many features of old

The Holy Cross and the Assumption. 59
Venice which have now disappeared, and also
give us such charming glimpses of the domes
tic and public life of the fifteenth century. In
particular, one of them is our best authority
for the appearance of St. Mark's before its
mosaics were altered. They are thus more
than pictures; they are historical documents.
Begin near the far end of the room.
Number 561 is by Lazzaro Sebastiani (or
Bastiani). Filippo Mazeri (or Massari), a
crusader returning from the Holy Land, in
1370, offers to the Scuola di San Giovanni
a relic of the True Cross, which he has brought
home to Venice with him. The scene repre
sents the facade and open door of the old
church of San Giovanni. The cross is pre
sented on the altar. Bastiani conceives and
represents it all in the costume and spirit of
1495 or thereabouts. To the left is the Fra
ternity. In the foreground at either end are
portraits of members.
Number 562, by Giovanni Mansueti, repre
sents the miraculous healing of a blind girl.
The daughter of Niccolo Benvenudo da San
Polo had no pupils to her eyes. She was cured
by the touch of a blessed candle which had

60 Venice.
burned near the Relic. The scene takes place
in the hall of an old Venetian palace : one wall
removed, after the old fashion, as in a theatre.
Note the magnificent ceiling, and the Renais
sance architecture; also, the staircase, canal,
and gondola.
Number 563 is a Gentile Bellini, spoiled by
restoration, representing the cure of Pietro
di Ludovico from a fever. He was a member
of the Fraternity, and was healed, like the
last, by the touch of a candle which had been
in contact with the Relic. The scene is the
chapel of the Fraternity. Pietro kneels at the
altar. In the foreground are brethren in
black and scarlet. Note the splendid archi
tecture and pavement.
Number 564, Mansueti, represents a miracle
of the Relic. One of the Brothers, who dis
believed in such miracles during his life, lies
dead in the church of San Lio (to the right).
The Relic (in the right foreground) is being
carried in procession to his funeral, in 1474.
At the old wooden Ponte di San Lio, it
miraculously refuses to move further, and no
force can compel it. This is an animated pic
ture of Venice at its period. Mansueti him-

The Holy Cross and the Assumption. 61
self stands near the bridge on the left, holding
a paper which bears in Latin his name, and
a profession of faith in the truth of the miracle.
Note the short gondolas; also, the architec
ture of the background, with spectators looking
out of windows.
Number 565, by Benedetto Diana, is entirely
spoiled by bad restoration. Another miracle.
A child which has fallen from a staircase is
healed by the Relic.
Number 566 is a Carpaccio, the cure of a
demoniac. The time is dawn; the houses
above are in light, the water below still dark.
The scene is on the Grand Canal, near the
old wooden Ponte di Rialto. (Note its char
acter.) Above, on the left, the Patriarch of
Grado appears on the balcony of his Palace,
and holds out the Relic, which cures the pos
sessed (in brown). Around gather various
ecclesiastics to aid in the ceremony, with golden
candlesticks. The gondolas below have gaily
painted canopies, and the gondoliers are in
bright costumes; the sumptuary law com
pelling them to be uniformly black was not
yet passed. No steel prows. A vivid picture
of old Venice.

62 Venice.
* * Number 567, by Gentile Bellini, repre
sents the Procession of the True Cross in the
Piazza. While the Relic was being carried in
state by the Fraternity on their festa (St. John
the Evangelist's day), Jacopo de Salis, a mer
chant of Brescia, heard that his son had fallen
and hurt his head. He prayed fervently to
the Relic, and his son was cured. The admira
ble view of the Piazza in 1496, shows, as yet,
left, no clock tower. Examine closely the old
mosaics on the facade of St. Mark's, now in
many cases replaced by modern monstrosi
ties. Their subjects are as at present, but
note how much better these earlier and simpler
works harmonise with the Byzantine charac
ter of the architecture. Study them closely:
observe the Pharos as symbolising Alexandria.
Houses then adjoined the Campanile. Also,
observe the gilt gateway at the corner by the
Doge's Palace. Great movement in the pro
cession, carrying the gilt reliquary. The
brothers wear their white surplices. Study
this picture long and carefully. It is our best
evidence for the state of St. Mark's and the
Piazza at the end of the fifteenth century.
Item, it is a glorious piece of colour.

BELLINI, GENTILE.  PROCESSION OF THE TRUE CROSS (DETAIL)

The Holy Cross and the Assumption. 63
Number 568, by Gentile Bellini, shows a
procession to the church of San Lorenzo on
that saint's festa. In crossing a bridge, the
reliquary fell into the canal. Several persons
tried to rescue it; but only Andrea Vendra-
min, Grand Guardian of the Brotherhood
(afterward Doge), could see it by a miracle.
All round, Bellini has painted the chief per
sonages of his time, kneeling symbolically, as
spectators and approvers of the miracle. In
the right foreground are the donors of the
picture, in the black or scarlet uniform of the
Brotherhood. To the left, a crowd of Vene
tian ladies, headed by Catharine Cornaro,
' Queen of Cyprus, crowned, in dark green. A
fine picture.
Study all these works with care, and, after
seeing them, stroll round one afternoon to the
Scuola itself, in order better to realise their
meaning. By gondola, the Scuola is reached
from the end of the canal which leads to the
Frari; by land, you walk to it best via the
Rialto, Sant' Aponal, San Polo, and the Rio
Terra S. Stin. The building is not in itself
very interesting, but it has a nice bit of four
teenth-century work, and a little piece of Lom-

64 Venice.
bardi portico; and it helps you to restore the
mental picture. It is described on page 206.
In the apse beyond this room (apse of the
old church of the Carita) are three pictures,
also of the school of Gentile Bellini. Two of
them come from the Scuola di San Marco, a
beautiful building near San Giovanni e Paolo,
now the civil hospital. These two are num
bers 569 and 571.
Number 569, by Mansueti, represents St.
Mark healing Anianus, who, being a cobbler,
had hurt himself with an awl. St. Mark hav
ing come to Venice from Alexandria, Venetian
painters generally conceive him as surrounded
by orientals in turbans.
Number 571, also by Mansueti, shows St.
Mark preaching at Alexandria. Observe else
where other pictures from this Scuola, which
we shall visit later.
The third, 570, by Gentile Bellini (tempo
rarily removed to the Hall of the Holy Cross),
comes from the Madonna dell' Orto. It repre
sents San Lorenzo Giustiniani, first Patriarch
of Venice, 145 1.
Till that date, Venice was subject to the
Patriarch of Grado, but had her own suffra-

The Holy Cross and the Assumption. 65
gan Bishop at San Pietro di Castello: see
later. The Patriarchate of Grado and Bishop
ric of Venice were then merged in the Patri
archate of Venice.
The saint is in profile, giving the bene
diction. On either side is a canon; behind,
two angels, holding his crosier and mitre.
Now, return through the first hall you vis
ited, Room I., and enter the apartment at the
far end of it, Room IL, the Hall of the
Assumption. This hall contains what are considered by
the authorities to be the chief masterpieces of
the collection, arranged without reference to
chronological order. It therefore comprises
several works of various ages.
Before entering the room, sit on the last
seat in Room I., facing * * Titian's Assump
tion, No. 40 (within), the effect of which is
better seen from various parts of this room
than from the further hall which actually con
tains it. This great picture is the master
piece of the mighty Venetian artist of the High
Renaissance; it was painted as an altar-piece
for the High Altar of the Franciscan Church
of the Frari, whose official title is " St. Mary

66 Venice.
in Glory" (Santa Maria Gloriosa) ; and
therefore it appropriately represents the As
sumption of the Virgin. The scheme of colour
is so arranged that the spectator's eye is
irresistibly drawn toward the ecstatic figure
of the ascending Madonna in the centre. She
mounts as if of herself, impelled by inner
impulse, but on clouds of glory borne by
childish angels, the light on whose forms is
admirably concentrated. But the spectator sees
chiefly the rapt shape of Our Lady herself and
the brilliant golden haze behind her. She
holds out her arms to the Lord in heaven.
Above, the Almighty Father descends to re
ceive her, floating in a vague halo of luminous
cherubim. The lower and darker portion of
the picture, in relatively earthly gloom, has
the figures of the Apostles, in somewhat theat
rical attitudes of surprise and agitation, look
ing up with awe toward the ascending
Madonna. This lower half is best seen from
much nearer ; indeed, you must view the work
from several positions in order fully to under
stand it. The youthful ' Apostle in red, on
the right, with outstretched hands, is ob
viously a last reminiscence of the figure of St.

TITIAN. — ASSUMPTION OF THE VIRGIN (DETAIL)

The Holy Cross and the Assumption. 67
Thomas receiving the Holy Girdle, with which
visitors to Florence and Prato will be already
familiar. This great picture, usually consid
ered the finest triumph of the collection, marks
the high water-mark in composition and colour
of the Venetian Renaissance. It has suffered
much from over-cleaning and over-painting
by " restorers." Wonderful in science and
technique, it strikes one still as unreal and
exaggerated. Enter the room. Left of the door is num
ber * 36, by Cima, an altar-piece for the
church of this very Scuola, the same whose
upper portion is now occupied by the St.
Ursula series and the Holy Cross pictures. In
the centre sits Our Lady, enthroned, under a
high-arched Renaissance canopy, with a group
of cherubs; at her feet are the graceful little
angels playing musical instruments so fre
quent in Venetian pictures. (Note how, as
time goes on, the angels, once male and adults,
grow gradually more feminine and more in
fantile.) To the left are St. Nicholas, with
his three golden balls, and the two protector
saints of the Venetian territory — St. George,
in armour, and St. Catharine, bearing the

68 Venice.
palm, of her martyrdom. To the right are
St. Anthony the Abbot, the youthful figure of
St. Sebastian, wounded with arrows, and St.
Lucy, bearing the palm of her martyrdom. In
the distance rises one of Cima's favourite
mountain backgrounds. Compare the early
simplicity and grace of this beautiful and deli
cate work with the theatrical arrangement of
number 37.
This is a Paolo Veronese, Madonna and
Saints, an altar-piece for the Franciscan
church of San Giobbe. Here, Our Lady sits
in an affected attitude on an elevated throne,
backed by a gold brocade or mosaic, with the
texture ill represented. By her side is St.
Paul with the sword; beneath are St. Jerome,
in cardinal's dress, and St. Francis with the
stigmata; behind him appears St. Justina of
Padua. The infant St. John the Baptist
stands on a pedestal at Our Lady's feet.
Splendid as a piece of colouring, and considered
one of Paolo's masterpieces, this gorgeous
work is yet a typical example of the later faults
of the Santa Conversazione. The personages
have no rational connection with one another,
and the attempt to combine them into a speak
ing scene results only in strained affectation.

VERONESE.  MADONNA AND SAINTS

The Holy Cross and the Assumption. 69
* * Number 38, by Giovanni Bellini, is per
haps his masterpiece, a magnificent altar-piece
for the plague-church of San Giobbe. (If you
have not yet visited it, refer to the account
under the four great Plague-Churches.) In
the centre sits Our Lady, enthroned, one of the
most beautiful Madonnas ever painted by Bel
lini. Her hand is lifted as if in pity; the
Child in her arms raises its eyes as though
supplicating the Father on behalf of the
plague-stricken. On the steps sit three of
Bellini's sweetest * musical angels in exqui
sitely varied attitudes. The two most promi
nent saints are the two great plague-saints of
the church for which the picture was painted,
both almost nude; to the left, St. Job, with
his hands folded in prayer, and his loins girt
with an exquisitely painted shot silk scarf;
to the right, St. Sebastian, his hands bound
behind his back, and pierced with the arrows
of the pestilence: the painting of the nude
and the anatomy in this figure are admirable
— the left arm stands out boldly from the
canvas. To the extreme left and right are
two Franciscan saints, as becomes the Fran
ciscan church of San Giobbe; on the left, St.

70 Venice.
Francis; on the right, St. Louis of Toulouse
as bishop; behind St. Job is St. John the
Baptist, behind St. Sebastian is a monk, whom
I take (doubtfully) to be St. Thomas Aquinas.
Everything in this beautiful picture should be
noticed, from the exquisite mosaic niche, like
a chapel of St. Mark's, above, to the old-
fashioned musical instruments of the angels
below. Do not neglect the Renaissance decora
tion, and the exquisite brocaded bodice worn
by Our Lady. The feeling of the whole is
tender and pitiful.
Number 39, by Marco Basaiti, the Calling
of the Sons of Zebedee, is a good dry picture,
hardly worthy of a place in this room of
masterpieces. Its chief interest lies in its
rather gloomy landscape.
Number 41, a Tintoretto, the Death of Abel,
is one of its painter's murky masterpieces,
lighted by a lightning flash. This is immensely
admired by those who love Tintoretto. Vigor
ous in action ; sombre in colour.
* Number 42, another Tintoretto, is a Mira
cle of St. Mark, another picture painted for
the Scuola di San Marco, which we shall after
ward visit. A pagan gentleman of Provence

BELLINI, GIOVANNI. — MADONNA AND SAINTS

The Holy Cross and the Assumption. 71
had a Christian slave, who persisted in wor
shipping at the shrine of St. Mark, and was
therefore tortured ..for his faith, and ordered
to be executed. St. Mark in a glory descended
to dispel his persecutors. The centre of the
picture, below, is occupied by the foreshort
ened figure of the tortured slave, unharmed;
around stand pagans (always thought of at
Venice as Turks or Saracens), one of whom
shows the shattered hammer of torture to the
master on an elevated seat to the right. Above
is the boldly foreshortened figure of the de
scending saint, a powerful, muscular frame,
shot out of a cannon as it were, so swift is
its descent. The figures to the left are painted
in strange and tortuous attitudes, simply for
the sake of overcoming difficulties of drawing.
Below, on the left, is probably the donor. This
is a fine piece of rich colour, and a master
piece of technical knowledge, but it betrays
itself too much as an effort after artistic
execution. It is probably the most generally
admired of Tintoretto's paintings. (Other
pictures of this series in the Royal Palace.)
Number 43, again a Tintoretto, represents
Adam and Eve; a fine study of the nude, in

yi Venice.
low tones of colour, scarcely more than chiar
oscuro. * Number 44, by Carpaccio, is a Presenta
tion in the Temple, a beautiful scene, which
shows Carpaccio in a somewhat different char
acter from the designer of the St. Ursulas, as
a painter of set religious pictures. To the left,
Our Lady, accompanied by two attendants,
one of them bearing the doves for the offer
ing, presents the Child to the adoring Simeon,
who bows to the right in an attitude of venera
tion, his robe being sustained by two dignified
attendants. The summit of the picture is
formed by one of the rich mosaic niches so
common at this period, suggested by the side
chapel of St. Mark's. At the foot are three
angels with musical instruments, dainty enough
in their way, though suffering ill by com
parison with the great Bellini, 38, which obvi
ously suggested them. But many good judges,
I see, prefer these to those. The comparison
of these four pictures, 44, 36, 38, 37, is ex
tremely instructive. Do not overlook the
marble decorations of the pedestal. Over the
door, number 45, a Paolo Veronese, a panel
from a ceiling in the Doge's Palace. Venice

The Holy Cross and the Assumption. 73
on her throne; Hercules by her side repre
sents her military strength; Ceres offers her
sheaves of corn, which appropriately typify the
wealth of the mainland. A fine example of
those fantastic chequers of which we shall see
many on the decorated ceilings of the Ducal
Palace.

CHAPTER IV.
THE HALLS OF THE VARIOUS SCHOOLS. '
PASS up the steps into Room III., the Hall
of the various Italian Schools.
The pictures in this room are not exclu
sively Venetian, and have as a rule little bear
ing on Venetian art; I will therefore pass
most of them over rapidly.
To the left of entrance door, number 48
is by Gentile da Fabriano, an Umbrian master
who was called to Venice to assist in the
decoration of the old Doge's Palace, before
the great fire, and who left a permanent im
press upon the art of the city. The Vivarini
derived their style in part from him. This
is a Madonna and Child; not a good specimen
of its artist's work.
Number 51, of the school of Squarcione of
Padua, is a Crucifixion, with Our Lady and
74

The Halls of the Various Schools. 75
St. John. A good specimen of the formal,
classical Paduan spirit, of which Mantegna
and (to a much less degree) Giovanni Bellini
were outcomes. Note in this picture especially
the germs of Mantegna. Its painter was one
Bernardo Parentino.
Number 49 is a little round Madonna, with
the infant St. John the Baptist of Florence, of
the school of Filippino Lippi.
Cross the room; view from the window of
the old Court of the Carita.
Number 53, by Marco Zoppo, is the Tri
umphal Arch of Doge Nicolo Tron; Renais
sance design. Amorini above support the
arms of the family; below, those of the three
chamberlains. This is from the Doge's
Palace. Number 54, by St. Caterina Vigri of Bo
logna, a sainted Dominican nun, is a Glory of
St. Ursula, who holds her standard and the
palm of her martyrdom, and is being crowned
by two angels; on either side two of her
virgins; at her feet a Dominican nun kneel
ing; either the donor or, perhaps, the artist.
Compare with Carpaccio.
Number 55, by an unknown Florentine, is

76 Venice.
a Madonna and Child, on a Florentine Renais
sance throne, which may be instructively com
pared with those of the Venetians. On the
left is St. Lucy with her lamp; on the right,
St. Peter Martyr, with the hatchet of his
martyrdom; above, angels. Useful for com
parison of the Florentine and Venetian types.
Number 56, by Garofalo, represents Our
Lady in clouds, with four saints : John the Bap
tist, Augustine, Peter, Paul; landscape back-
ground. Characteristically Ferrarese work.
Number 57, by Bernardino da Siena, is a
Madonna, with Peter and Paul.
On the opposite side is nothing worth
notice, except a contorted, base-naturalistic
Flaying of St. Bartholomew, by Spagnoletto.
One of the worst outcomes of so-called natu
ralism. The apartment beyond this (Room IV.,
Hall of the Drawings) contains a magnifi
cent collection of sketches, including several
by Leonardo da Vinci, and the misnamed
" Sketch-Book of Raphael," with drawings
by Pinturicchio and other masters of the
Umbrian school, to describe which lies beyond
the province of this guide.

The Halls of the Various Schools. 77
Continuing along the main line of rooms,
we reach next, Room V., the Hall of the
Scholars of the Bellini.
This room contains admirable works of the
Early High Renaissance, all by scholars of
Bellini or their contemporaries. They should
be closely studied as giving an admirable idea
of Venetian painting at the beginning of the
sixteenth century, just before and during the
prime of Titian. Right of the door as you
enter :
* Number 108, by Marco Basaiti, is a
youthful dead Christ, attended by angels; a
rare treatment of this subject.
To the left of the door is number 71, by
Donato Veneziano, a Pieta; the dead Christ
supported by St. John and Our Lady.
Number 68, by Marco Basaiti, is two
panels from an altar-piece; St. James with
his staff, and St. Anthony Abbot with his
Tau-shaped cross and bell.
* Number 69, also by Marco Basaiti, is the
Agony in the Garden; his finest work, and a
very noble and touching picture, painted as
an altar-piece for the plague-church of San
Giobbe. The picture divides itself into two

78 Venice.
portions; the more distant represents the Sa
viour, praying in His agony on the mountain ;
the angel with the cup is flying toward him.
Below the rock on which he kneels are three
sleeping Apostles, as is usual in pictures of
this subject; the background is formed by a
rather lurid and appropriate dawn. This
mystic portion of the picture is seen through
the arch of a portico, from which hangs a
lamp; the foreground contains the attendant
saints, as spectators of the mystery, — an in
cipient attempt to render the curious old
arrangement, by which later persons inter
fered with the scene, a little, less obtrusively
anachronistic. To the left are the two Fran
ciscan saints so frequent at San Giobbe, St.
Francis and St. Louis of Toulouse; to the
right are St. Dominic and St. Mark. A
pathetic picture, full of fine devotional feeling.
Number 101, by Marco Bello, is chiefly
remarkable as being one of the earliest pic
tures at Venice, in which the little Florentine
St. John is introduced with Our Lady and the
Child. The fashion started in Florence, where
it had a meaning, — St. John the Baptist being
the patron saint of the city, — and afterward

BASAITI.  AGONY IN THE GARDEN

The Halls of the Various Schools. 79
spread elsewhere, where it had none, because
it allowed the extension of a certain domestic
interest always dear to the greater public.
Number 107, by Marco Basaiti, represents
St. Jerome in the Desert, as a Penitent, — as
usual holding the stone with which he ham
mers his breast. The two great St. Jerome
subjects are this and St. Jerome in his study
as translator of the Vulgate.
Number 70, by Andrea Previtali, is a Ma
donna and Child, with St. John the Baptist
and St. Catharine, the latter holding a frag
ment of the wheel of her martyrdom, which
was broken by angels. Note that now the
arrangement of the attendant saints has be
come quite unconventional. Through the
window is a sub-Alpine landscape.
On the left wall are numbers j~2 and 73,
by Catena, two Fathers of the Church, Au
gustine and Jerome.
The next has no number, but is by Basaiti,
and shows St. George slaying the Dragon;
close by, the Princess fleeing. The white
charger is emblematic of purity; still a little
stiff in his joints.
I pass over two or three good typical Vene-

80 Venice.
tian Madonnas, one by Mansueti, with the
donor. Number 76 is by Marco Marziale, a curi
ous, hard, dry painter, who studied in the
school of Bellini, but afterward underwent
the influence of Diirer, and oddly combines
German with Venetian characteristics. The
subject is the Supper at Emmaus. The pil
grim to the right, and the host holding the hat
behind him, are extremely German in type,
and recall Lucas Cranach. But the German
tone is ill assimilated. This is an excellent
specimen of its odd artist's peculiar tempera
ment. Number 78 is by Bartolomeo Montagna.
(Do not confuse him with Mantegna, a very
different person. Montagna was a Vicenza
painter, influenced by the Bellini, but with
marked original characteristics — bold, brown,
muscular. This is a good specimen of his
style, though more pathetic than his wont.)
This is a very typical and terrible plague-
picture, from the plague-church of San Rocco
at Vicenza. In the centre stands the wounded
Christ, displaying almost painfully the marks
of his crucifixion; to the left is St. Sebastian,

The Halls of the Various Schools. 81
shot through with the arrows of the plague; to
the right is St. Rocco, with one leg bared to
show his plague-spot. This is perhaps the most
obvious pestilence-picture to be found in
Venice; the air of poignant suffering, com
bined with patience and adoration, on the faces
of the saints, strikes the key-note. The nude
is well painted in warm flesh tones.
* Number 79, by Bissolo, is the Confession
of St. Catharine of Siena. The holy nun kneels
meekly, in her Dominican robes, before the
feet of the Saviour, who places on her head
the crown of thorns, while he shows her at the
same time the heavenly crown which he holds
in reserve for her in the glorious future. Be
hind stands St. Peter with his keys, close to
whom kneels a female saint (I think, St.
Catharine of Alexandria, but perhaps the
Magdalen). To the right stand St. An
drew (?) and St. Paul; to the left, the angel
Raphael, with the child Tobias, carrying the
fish. As this last figure often indicates a
votive offering for blindness (see the Book
of Tobit), it is probable that this deeply relig
ious picture, with its representation of patient
suffering, was the gift of a blind woman donor,

82 Venice.
doubtless a Dominican nun. It comes from the
Dominican Church of St. Peter Martyr at
Murano. Number 94, by Bissolo, is a half-length Ma
donna and Child, with four saints. Observe
Our Lady's face, as characteristic of the later
Venetian type. The figure of St. Job, to the
right, shows it to be a plague-picture; the
other saints from left to right are: St. John
the Baptist, St. Rose, and St. James the
Greater. The picture has been over-restored.
Number 93, by Bissolo, is a Presentation in
the Temple; a good picture, suggested by a
Bellini now in England. Our Lady offers the
Child to the aged Simeon, behind whom stands
Joseph; to the left are St. Anthony of Padua
and a female saint (possibly St. Justina), of
fering the doves of the sacrifice; below kneels
the donor.
Number 80, by Montagna, is a picture of
Our Lady and Child, enthroned on a Paduan
throne, with characteristic classical reliefs ; St.
Sebastian, to the left, with his suffering face,
shows it to be a plague-picture; to the right,
the common desert-saint, St. Jerome. This
votive offering comes from the plague-church
of San Rocco at Vicenza.

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The Halls of the Various Schools. 83
Number 81, by Andrea Busati, is a magis
tracy picture from the Doge's Palace. St.
Mark, as patron of Venice, sits enthroned be
tween St. Andrew and St. Francis (or Bernar
dino ?) probably the name-saints of the magis
trates of the moment. It was usual for officers
of the Republic thus to mark the period of
their tenure of office by presenting their por
traits, or some symbolical work of art, to their
official residence.
Number 82, by Benedetto Diana, is a fine
altar-piece from St. Luke's at Padua; Our
Lady enthroned, with St. Jerome ; the painter's
personal patron, St. Benedict (I somewhat
doubt this identification) ; St. Justina, the
patron saint of Padua, with the sword of her
martyrdom ; and St. Mary Magdalen, with the
vase of ointment. Observe the fantastic dec
orations and head-dresses; we are getting
beyond the purity of the early period. The
colour is crude in parts : the tone is affected.
Number 83, again by Benedetto Diana, is
a half-length Madonna, between St. Jerome
and St. Francis; a magistracy picture.
Number 84, also by Benedetto Diana, is a
good Madonna, between St. John the Baptist

84 Venice.
and St. Jerome. Compare this mentally with
the Bellinis and note the differences.
Number 86 is attributed to Benedetto Diana,
a Madonna enthroned; the face unusually
aged; with the Infant Christ and St. John
the Baptist; below stand St. Louis of Tou
louse and St. Anna, mother of the Virgin. A
somewhat mannered picture.
On the end wall, 89, by Carpaccio, repre
sents the Martyrdom of the Ten Thousand
Christians on Mount Ararat. This confused
and mannered picture, painted twenty years
later than the St. Ursula series, suffices to show
that the Renaissance had done no good to Car-
paccio's art ; he has learned now how to draw
better, but he has lost all his early naivete and
originality. The work was ordered by the
Prior of the Monastery of Sant' Antonio di
Castello, the monks of which had imprudently
admitted a plague-stricken priest: the Prior
vowed this picture to the ten thousand martyrs
if his brethren escaped contagion.
Number 95 is attributed to Titian, and said
to be his earliest work, the Visitation of Mary
to Elizabeth; behind stand their respective
husbands, Joseph and Zacharias.

The Halls of the Various Schools. 85
Number 90, by Carpaccio, represents the
Meeting of Joachim and Anna at the Golden
Gate, before the birth of the Virgin. At the
sides are two royal saints, Louis IX. of France,
and St. Ursula with her banner and the palm
of her martyrdom. Some writers call the last
St. Elizabeth of Hungary, but Elizabeth was
not a martyr.
Number 91, by Carpaccio, is a ceremonial
picture, from the church of St. Antonio di
Castello, representing the old interior of the
church, with a procession of pilgrims.
Number 97, by Mansueti, is a Franciscan
plague-picture, from the church of St. Francis
at Treviso. In the centre, is St. Sebastian,
bound to a column, and pierced with the arrows
of the pestilence; to the extreme left, San
Liberale, patron saint of the town and district
of Treviso, in a magnificent mantle, bearing
his banner; to the extreme right, San Rocco,
with his pilgrim's staff and bundle, raising his
robe to show his plague-spot; a little behind,
St. Gregory and St. Francis. This is a good
painting, and a very characteristic local plague-
picture, full of meaning. The heads have fine
individuality.

86 Venice.
Number 98, by Donato Veneziano, is a
Crucifixion, with very touching figures of Our
Lady and St. John. St. Mary Magdalen em
braces the foot of the cross. At the ends are
two Franciscan saints, St. Francis and St.
Bernardino of Siena. This is from the old
Franciscan church of San Niccolo dei Frari.
Number 100, by Lazzaro Sebastiani, is a
Nativity, with shed, manger, ox, and ass;
St. Eustace, St. James, St. Augustine (or
Nicholas?), and an Evangelist (Mark?).
Number 103 represents Peter and Paul,
Jerome and Ambrose, by Carlo Crivelli, whose
dry, ornate Paduan manner is better studied
in London or Milan.
Number 104, by Lazzaro Sebastiani, is a
very enigmatical Franciscan picture, represent
ing St. Francis (or Anthony of Padua) seated
. in a tree : beneath, St. Bonaventura and an
other. I do not understand it.
Number 105, by Carlo Crivelli, consists of
four panels of a plague-picture: San Rocco
showing his plague-spot, St. Sebastian, St.
Emidius, patron of Ascoli (where Crivelli
lived), and San Bernardino.
I pass by in this room several other pic-

The Halls of the Various Schools. 87
tures of great merit. To the right enter Room
VI., the Hall of Callot. This contains land
scapes, etc., mainly Dutch, and requiring no
explanation.

CHAPTER V.
THE HALL OF THE PAINTERS OF FRIULI.
FRIULI is a poor mountain district north
of Venice; it produced a group of
peculiar followers of Bellini, noticeable for
their dry, formal drawing. I will pass rapidly
through these pictures, not many of which are
of the first order.
Number 159, by Martino da Udine, is a
half-length Madonna and Child, with saints
and donors (Jerome, Daniel, Catherine, and
Anthony the Abbot).
Number 160, by Girolamo da Santa Croce,
is St. Mark with Gospel and lion.
Number 164, by Marcello Fogolino, is a
Madonna and Child, with Franciscan saints;
from left to right, Bonaventura, Clara, Francis,
Anthony of Padua, Bernardino, Louis of Tou
louse. 88

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MARCONI, ROCCO. — DESCENT FROM THE CROSS

The Hall of the Painters of Friuli. 89
* Number 166, by Rocco Marconi, far the
finest of the Friulans, is a Descent from
the Cross, his masterpiece. The Magdalen to
the right is very beautiful; the St. John is,
contrary to usage, represented as old; in the
background, a Dominican woman saint (others
say, St Monica) and St. Benedict, or perhaps
St. Dominic. (I think the former, as it comes
from a Servite church.) This is a touching
work. It has a landscape background and
great breadth, and exquisite clear colour. On
either side of it are good Virtues by Girolamo
da Udine.
Number 147 is a plague-picture, with the
now familiar figures of San Rocco and St.
Sebastian. Numbers 148 and 150 form a divided An
nunciation. Number 149 is the Risen Christ, by Fran
cesco da Santa Croce.
Number 151, by Martino da Udine, is an
Annunciation, showing the later mode of en
visaging this conventional subject; the angel's
floating draperies are intended to indicate that
he has travelled through space.
I do not dwell upon the many other good

90 Venice.
examples of the somewhat dry Friulan manner
in this room, not because they are not worthy
of patient study, but because most of them are
now sufficiently explained to the reader by
their labels, with the aid of the hints already
supplied him.
Room VIII., the Hall of the Flemings, con
tains several excellent Flemish pictures, worthy
of study in themselves, but which I pass by
as not specially connected with Venice. Some
of them are lovely.

CHAPTER VI.
THE HALLS OF VERONESE AND BONIFAZIO.
RETURN to Room V., and mount the
steps to Room IX., the Hall of Paolo
Veronese. This room contains several later works of
the Venetian High Renaissance, mostly large
and gorgeous canvases, which reflect the mag
nificence of sixteenth-century Venice. They
take the public fancy, but are deficient in the
higher artistic qualities of an earlier period,
though usually showing consummate technique
and splendid colour.
The end wall to the right is entirely occupied
by the great *Paolo Veronese of the Supper
at the House of Simon the Pharisee: one of
the most popular pictures in the collection. The
scene is laid in a vast High-Renaissance Vene
tian loggia of three arches; the background
91

92 Venice.
represents a glorious imaginary Palladian
Venice. The sense of space is boundless. The
Christ in the centre, however, is (very char
acteristically) less conspicuous than the group
of lordly guests and more especially the figure
of the gallant nobleman, in rich green robes,
in the left foreground, giving orders to the
attendants. The general tone is merely sump
tuous. Many of the domestic and almost gro
tesque episodes among the accessories brought
down upon the painter the strictures of the
Inquisition: he painted out some; others still
remain. This is entirely a regal and ceremo
nial, not in any sense a sacred, picture; it was
painted for the Refectory of the Dominican
monastery of San Giovanni e Paolo, which
oddly accepted it as a religious work. The sub
ject is one of those which, like the Last Sup
per and the Marriage at Cana in Galilee, were
usually selected as appropriate for the decora
tion of refectories. Glowing colour; superb
architecture; faultless perspective; dashing life
— and no soul in it.
On the wall to the left, number 207, is a
Paolo Veronese, Our Lady of the Rosary.
This is a Dominican picture from the Domin-

The Halls of Veronese and Bonifazio. 93
ican church of St. Peter Martyr at Murano.
St. Dominic was the introducer of the Rosary ;
he is therefore represented, attended with
angels, distributing roses to the faithful, who
are typified, on the right, by a kneeling Doge
in his robe of state, accompanied by senators,
chamberlains, and the ladies of his family; and,
on the left foreground, by a kneeling Pope,
with his triple tiara, an Emperor, and another
group of ladies. This is a fine ceremonial pic
ture of its sort, spoilt by restoration.
Near by, skied, are four pictures by Paolo
Veronese from the legend of St. Christina.
Take them in the following order: in 205,
having broken her father's idols of gold and
silver, to give them to the poor, she is carried
out into the lake of Bolsena by his orders to
be drowned; in 206, having escaped this fate,
she is imprisoned, and visited in prison by an
angel; in 208, she refuses to worship the
statue of Apollo; in 209, she is scourged by
two executioners at a column. But to Paolo
the legend is simply an excuse for painting a
handsome woman in various telling attitudes.
Strange to say, a church accepted them as
sacred pictures.

94 Venice.
Number 212, by Paolo Veronese, represents
the Battle of Lepanto (1571)- Below is the
naval battle itself, a confused melee: above,
in clouds, suppliant Venice kneels before Our
Lady, imploring her aid to secure the victory;
St. Mark, attended by his lion, introduces her
and aids her suit; to the left are St. Peter the
Apostle and St. Peter Martyr. This curious
allegorical picture, so redolent of its age, comes
from the church of St. Peter Martyr at
Murano. * Number 210, above, is a Tintoretto, skied;
the Madonna and the Camerlenghi. Here we
have a characteristic Venetian mode of painting
portraits. To the left sits Our Lady with the
Child, surrounded by three Venetian patrons,
St. Mark, St. Theodore, and St. Sebastian.
In front of her, in attitudes of adoration, bow
or stand the three Chamberlains or Treasurers
of the Republic; behind them again are their
servants, carrying bags of treasure. It was
usual for officials of the Republic to have their
portraits thus painted in the act of worshipping
Our Lady or St. Mark, or some other religious
personage. Note how this practice grows out
of the earlier little figures of the kneeling

The Halls of Veronese and Bonifazio. 95
donor. But now the portrait is the real sub
ject of the picture, and the Madonna has sunk
into a mere excuse for painting it. Nominally,
this work is an Adoration of the Magi ; earthly
rulers often had themselves painted in this
scene, as symbolising the subjection of kings
to Christ : here, the pretence is very thin, and
money-bags, emblems of the treasury, replace
the golden cups for gold, myrrh, and frankin
cense, which are usual in more ancient treat
ments. * Number 213, by Tintoretto, is a Cruci
fixion ; a noble picture, in which, however, all
the saintly forms have assumed the voluptuous
type of the later Venetian women. It was
painted for the Confraternity of the Rosary at
the Dominican church of San Giovanni e
Paolo. Sombre sympathetic background.
Number 214, by Moro, is a curious picture,
only noteworthy for its quaint identification
of St. Mark with Venice. The Evangelist pre
sides at the naval conscription; view of the
Riva dei Schiavoni.
Number 217 is a Tintoretto, the Descent
from the Cross, with Our Lady fainting.
Number 219 is another Tintoretto, the As-

96 Venice.
sumption of Our Lady, noticeable for its lumi
nous atmosphere, and for the apparent light
ness with which the Madonna is springing
upward. At the base, the Apostles surround
the empty sarcophagus. Compare with the
great Titian.
Number 221, again a Tintoretto, is an altar-
piece of the church of St. Cosmo and Damian
on the Giudecca. At the foot kneel the holy
Doctors themselves, in their red robes, with
their boxes of ointment and surgical instru
ments. In clouds above sits Our Lady of the
Immaculate Conception, clad with the sun, and
planting her feet upon the crescent, with a
singular background of the Plains of Heaven.
To the left stands St. Cecilia ; to the right St.
Theodore, and a saint with a child (I think
Anthony of Padua). Above on the right is
a flying angel. This is an example of the last
stage in the theatrical grouping of what was
once Our Lady with attendant saints in sep
arate niches.
Number 225, a Tintoretto, contains por
traits of three Venetian treasurers, with their
secretaries, represented as adoring St. Justina
of Padua. Here we see another good example

The Halls of Veronese and Bonifazio. 97
of the way in which portraits finally got the
better of the central sacred subject. In former
times the donor asked for a St. Justina, with
himself in the corner; now he expects a por
trait of himself, with St. Justina in the corner.
The figure of St. Justina is very fine. These
three Treasurers (1580) are Marco Giustinian,
Alvise Soranzo, and Alvise Badoer; the name
of the first probably suggested the particular
saint to be used as a figurehead. The work
was painted for the Palace of the Camerlenghi,
near the Rialto.
The end wall of exit is occupied by several
admirable * portraits, chiefly by Tintoretto, of
Venetian nobles of the late Renaissance.
Number 229, by Bassano, is a portrait of
Doge Antonio Memmo, in his cap and robe
of office, a keen eager man of business. The
picture is light, clear, and effective. Beneath
it is 230, by Tintoretto, a portrait of Marco
Grimani, Procurator of St. Mark (1570), a
fine, thoughtful, vigorous head, vigorously
painted. Rugged and able. It is attributed
by some to Palma the younger.
Number 233 is also by Tintoretto, a por
trait of Doge Alvise Mocenigo (1570), with

98 Venice.
his cap of office. It was painted for the
Procuratie. Number 234, another Tintoretto, is a por
trait of Andrea Capello, Procurator of St.
Mark; a shrewd face; from the Procuratie.
Above these is, 232, a Tintoretto, the Woman
taken in Adultery; chiefly remarkable for a
fine voluptuous Venetian female figure.
* Number 237, by Tintoretto, is a splendid
portrait of Battista Morosini.
* Number 245 is a Titian ; a glorious por
trait of Jacopo Soranzo. Documentary evi
dence ascribes it to Tintoretto. Among so
many undoubted Tintorettos, from which this
portrait greatly differs, it is difficult to admit
the ascription.
Number 243, by Tintoretto, is a very strik
ing picture of four unknown senators, adoring
the Madonna and Child, from the Magistrate
del Sale.
Number 241, a Tintoretto, is another splen
did portrait.
The ensemble of portraits on this end wall,
above and below, gives a magnificent impres
sion of the vigorous and virile Venetian aris
tocracy of this great period. I do not dwell

The Halls of Veronese and Bonifazio. 99
upon each picture individually, because they
are rather subjects for personal inspection and
admiration than for that sort of explanation
which it is the business of this guide to afford ;
but all of them deserve attentive study.
The right wall has works of Carletto Caliari,
son and pupil of Paolo Veronese, and other
artists of the same school, more or less incipi-
ently decadent.
Number 248, by Carletto Caliari, repre
sents the Way to Calvary; a ladylike St.
Veronica presents her handkerchief to the
fallen Christ. A feeble echo.
* Number 252, by Bassano (Leandro),
shows the Resurrection of Lazarus; a good
picture in its way, but the buxom Mary Mag
dalen in the foreground looks much more
decidedly like a sinner than a penitent; she is
simply a careless voluptuous Venetian woman.
Nevertheless, in technique this is perhaps its
master's best work.
Number 255 is by Paolo Veronese, a Cruci
fixion; very unpleasing. The main subject,
so tremendous in import, is relegated to a small
portion of the picture on the extreme left, and
that in the background ; even of this, the most

i oo Venice.
conspicuous figures are those of the too earthly
Magdalen at the foot of the Cross, and the
good centurion, St. Longinus, represented in
the very act of conversion. The rest of this
big and unconsciously irreverent canvas is
mainly occupied by Roman soldiers and a dis
tant view of a fanciful Jerusalem. The sub
ject is obviously one for which Veronese was
peculiarly unfitted by temperament and train
ing. Yet a church hung it as an altar-piece.
* Number 260, by Paolo Veronese, repre
sents the Annunciation; a work which it is
most instructive to compare with earlier Vene
tian and Florentine examples. All the old
formal elements of the scene are here retained ;
the angel Gabriel still holds a lily, and is still
(as always) to the left of the picture; Our
Lady still kneels at a prie-dieu to the right;
a loggia, now grown with Renaissance expan-
siveness into vastly greater proportions, sepa
rates them as it ought to do ; in the background
is the usual " enclosed garden," though its
architecture has become more stately and
Palladian. In spite of these formal reminis
cences, however, of the ancient treatment, the
whole spirit of the scene is utterly changed.

VERONESE. — ANNUNCIATION

The Halls of Veronese and Bonifazio. 101
The flying angel enters with gracefully ar
ranged draperies, intended to be indicative of
rapid descent through the air: his face and
figure have the ample voluptuousness of all
later Venetian painting. Our Lady's counte
nance is still sweet, if insipid, and recalls some
what of Titian, and even (in cast of features)
of Bellini; but she is merely a dignified, aris
tocratic, well-fed, unthinking Venetian lady.
This is an excellent work of its kind, but cer
tainly not a sacred picture. Architecture ad
mirable; colour fine; drawing vigorous. It
comes from the Scuola of the Merchants.
Number 264, also by Paolo Veronese, is a
Coronation of the Virgin by the first and
second Persons of the Trinity, in a vast
assemblage of miscellaneous saints, many of
whom can be more or less recognised by their
symbols, including the four Doctors of the
Church, and the chief apostles and martyrs.
The reason for depicting this immense assem
blage is that the picture was painted for the
suppressed church of All Saints (Ogni Santi);
it is an excellent work in its way, but again
proves Veronese's total unfitness for sacred
subjects, especially in the person of the blue-

102 Venice.
robed Madonna, who is simply a handsome and
frivolous young Dogaressa. The saints below
are painted for their full fleshly faces, their
rotund anatomy, and their splendid draperies,
not in order to excite devotional feeling. A
fine specimen of Veronese's colouring. East-
lake well compares it to the transformation
scene of a pantomime.
Number 265 is an Assumption, by Veronese.
Here, once more, the formal elements of the
Apostles looking into the empty sarcophagus
are retained, but their attitudes are varied
with studied care. This is again a fine piece
of colour.
On all the walls of this room are many other
pictures, deserving, after their kind, of serious
study. The next apartment, Room X., is the Hall
of Bonifazio.
This room is filled with the masterpieces of
the latest age of art in Venice before the deca
dence. It contains an immense number of
works of great artistic value, now — and justly
— less admired than of old, to relatively few
of which, however, I can call attention, and
that more from the point of view of explana-

The Halls of Veronese and Bonifazio. 103
tion than of criticism. Do not think you must
pass by pictures simply because I have not
noticed them.
Modern research has decided that there were
three painters of the name of Bonifazio, all
related, whose works have only of late been
critically distinguished. I mark them by the
figures, I., II. , III. But great uncertainty sur
rounds their productions, and no two critics
agree which painted which among them.
On the end wall, left of the door as you enter,
is 269, by Bonifazio II. (others say, III.), a
beautiful Sacra Conversazione. In the centre
are Our Lady and the Child, with the little
St. John the Baptist, now a common element
in such pictures (borrowed from Florence).
On the left are St. Joseph and St. Jerome ; on
the right, two women saints (Mary Magdalen
and Catharine ? — the first seems to hold a box
of ointment, the second a book, which may
indicate the learned princess who was patron
ess of learning). Fine rich colour.
Above this is 274, a good Ecce Homo, by
Palma the younger. Still higher is 317, by
Rocco Marconi, Christ enthroned between St.
Peter and St. John the Baptist.

104 Venice.
* Number 270, Tintoretto, is a Madonna
della Misericordia, interesting as showing the
way in which this early and difficult subject is
accommodated to the ideas of more modern
art. The red and blue of Our Lady's robes
are very characteristic of Tintoretto's colour
ing. The votaries evidently belong to some
religious confraternity.
Number 272, by Torbido, is a fine portrait of
an old woman, probably intended as a Sybil.
Number 275, a copy after Bonifazio IL, is
another Sacra Conversazione, closely resem
bling the first, and showing the almost mechani
cal ease and grace of composition which this
class of subject had now attained. On the left
are St. James and St. Jerome; on the right,
St. Catharine with her wheel ; observe in both
the landscape background.
On the left wall, 278, by Bonifazio II. (more
probably I.), represents Christ and the Woman
taken in Adultery ; a splendid specimen of this
artist. * Number 281, by Bonifazio II. (according
to others I.), is an Adoration of the Magi;
an excellent picture and splendid piece of
colour; interesting also as showing the later

BONIFAZIO. — ADORATION OF THE MAGI (DETAIL)

The Halls of Veronese and Bonifazio. 105
treatment of these old conventional subjects.
The scene is the usual ruined temple; in the
background, the shed and stable; over Our
Lady's head, the star; the eldest king kneels,
as always; the second king presents his gift,
which the Child accepts. These two are evi
dently portraits of the noble donors ; their robes
are gorgeous. To the extreme right stands St.
Joseph, a fine figure. In the second arch is
the third or young king, represented as a Moor
(which is the rule in North Italian, German,
and Flemish pictures). A page kneels beside
him and hands him his gift. (The three kings
represent not only the three ages, but also
Europe, Asia, and Africa, the two former more
or less Christianised, the last still mainly
Mahommedan or heathen, which accounts for
the Moorish king being always represented as
just entering, and being separated here from
the rest of the picture.) The peeping figure
behind him is characteristic of late Venetian
art. This is a work of great dignity and pure
for its period. But compare it with the mosaic
of the same subject in the Baptistery at St.
Mark's !
Number 284 is by Bonifazio I. (Morelli says

106 Venice.
II. — critics are much divided on all these
attributions). This is Christ enthroned, a
magistracy picture, one of several in this room,
from the office of the Entrate (Customs). On
the extreme right is St. Mark with his lion,
representing Venice; on the extreme left, St.
Justina with her unicorn (symbol of chastity),
representing Padua. Below the Christ are
three kneeling saints, probably (almost cer
tainly) the name-saints of the magistrates,
whose coats of arms are painted beside them.
To the left is St. Louis of Toulouse, with the
crown he rejected standing close by, and King
David ( ?) or Sigismund ( ?) ; to the right
St. Dominic in Dominican robes, with the lily.
Christ holds an open book, with an inscription
enjoining on the magistrates to act with jus
tice. This a very characteristic magistracy
picture. Skied above these three last, and along the
whole wall, are several admirable figures of
saints, in pairs and threes, which consideration
of space compels me to omit, and the grouping
of which will now be tolerably comprehensible
to the reader. The names on the frames must
suffice at this stage of your knowledge. They

The Halls of Veronese and Bonifazio. 107
are all magistracy pictures, and they usually
bear the coats of arms of the donors, which,
with the saints, give their Christian names and
surnames. Many of them are very fine pieces
of colour, and all are good solid workmanlike
paintings. Especially good is 277, St. Mat
thew and St. Oswald — an English saint, rare
in Italy.
Number 287, by Bonifazio II. , is an Adora
tion of the Magi; another tolerable work,
which may be compared with the previous one.
Note the cavalcade of the Magi to the right,
as well as the arms of the donors. The evolu
tion of the later Madonna and Child from the
earlier type is an interesting subject of study.
Compare this backward with the Titians,
Cimas, Bellinis, Vivarinis.
* Number 291 is by Bonifazio I., his master-*
piece, and one of the finest pictures in this
room. The subject is Lazarus and Dives; in
reality a genre picture of a splendid lordly
entertainment. Dives bears some resemblance
to Henry VIII. of England, who is said to be
represented in his person. He sits at table,
richly clad, between two courtesans, handsome
and regally-robed Venetian ladies. The one

108 Venice.
to the right listens to music, in a pensive atti
tude somewhat suggestive of regret for lost
days of innocence. The musicians and the
page who holds the book of music deserve close
attention. To the extreme right Lazarus begs,
and dogs lick his sores ; but his introduction is
just a bit of make-believe, to justify the central
motive of the picture. Art was long before it
could get over the superstition that every work
must at least pretend to a sacred subject. Note
the large architecture and the expansive sense
of space in this and other late Venetian pic
tures. Also, the domestic episodes in the
background. The lordly style of art in the
Venice of the sixteenth century, proper to a
great commercial city, may be very well com
pared with the similar development of Flemish
art in Rubens and his contemporaries, when
Antwerp had taken the place of Venice. But
this glowing work is also remarkable for its
rare and high poetical imagination.
Number 295, by Bonifazio I., represents the
Judgment of Solomon: an excellent (magis
tracy) picture, which needs little comment. It
enjoins Justice.
In the corner are several excellent portraits.

BONIFAZIO. — LAZARUS AND DIVES

The Halls of Veronese and Bonifazio. 109
On the end wall is 302, by Palma Vecchio,
representing St. Peter enthroned, with other
saints. On the right are Paul, Justina of
Padua, Augustine or, more probably, St.
Tiziano of Oderzo, whence the picture comes ;
on the left, St. John the Baptist, Mark, and
perhaps Catharine; in the absence of definite
symbols these later saints are often difficult to
determine. Spoilt by repainting.
Beyond it are several excellent pictures.
After the apse is 308, by Bonifazio IL, an
Adoration of the Magi ; Our Lady sits between
St. Mark and a sainted bishop, whose fleurs-de-
lys show him to be almost certainly St. Louis
of Toulouse. Doubtless the donor was named
Alvise. Number 310 is a Palma Vecchio, Christ and
the daughter of the Canaanitish Woman. The
personages have ample figures, and serene
faces; possibly portraits. Above it is 309, by
Bonifazio I., Christ and St. Philip; "Philip,
he that hath seen me," etc. A fine picture,
very modern in conception.
Number 315 is another Palma Vecchio, an
Assumption. It is worthy of notice in this
picture that the Glory surrounding Our Lady

no Venice.
still retains some faint memory of the old form
of the mandorla. It is not a first-rate specimen
of its artist; probably an early work. It was
an altar-piece of the suppressed church of Santa
Maria Maggiore.
Number 318 is a St. Mark by Bonifazio I.
* Number 400, by Titian (his last work), is
a Deposition from the Cross; Our Lady sus
tains the dead Christ; Joseph of Arimathea
stands on the right ; Mary Magdalen, with pot
of ointment, on the left. A noble and pathetic
picture, which calls, however, for appreciation,
not explanation. Titian painted it in his ninety-
ninth year, but died before it was finished;
Palma the younger finished it. It has been
much injured by repainting. There is more
real feeling in it than Titian often shows.
Number 314, also by Titian, is a St. John
the Baptist, unworthy of the painter.
Number 319, by Bonifazio I., is a Massacre
of the Innocents ; a good picture of this odious
subject; but the voluptuous figures and ex
pressionless faces of the women wholly detract
from the feeble attempt at pathos. A heartless
work. Bonifazio thinks most of his choice of
models and of his mode of posing them, very

The Halls of Veronese and Bonifazio. in
little of the horror and terror of the moment.
Fine colour wasted.
* * Number 320, by Paris Bordone, repre
sents the Doge and the Fisherman ; by far the
most magnificent work of this painter. Before
examining it, sit down and read the follow
ing account of its legendary subject:
On February twenty-fifth, 1394 (others say,
z345)> owing to the wickedness of a school
master who committed suicide after selling
himself to the devil, Venice was visited by a
memorable tempest. While it raged, an aged
fisherman made fast his boat to the Molo near
St. Mark's.
As he lay there, a grave old man came out
of the church, accosted him, and offered him
a large sum to be ferried over to San Giorgio
Maggiore. The fisherman, after hesitating,
on account of the high waves, accepted, and
rowed him across. There, the stranger went
in, and fetched out a young man of knightly
aspect, who joined them; the two then asked
to be carried across to San Niccolo di Lido,
outside, near the mouth of the harbour. After
protest, the fisherman yielded, and rowed them
with difficulty. At San Niccolo, both strangers

112 Venice.
landed, and returned with a third person, a
venerable old man ; whereupon they demanded
to be rowed between the forts which protected
the harbour mouth into the open sea. When
they reached the Adriatic, the fisherman beheld
a boat manned by devils, which was coming
with all speed to destroy Venice. The three
strangers made the sign of the cross; where
upon, the devils disappeared, and the storm
ceased. At that, they rowed back, each to the place
where he had embarked; and the grave old
man, who landed last at San Marco, being
asked for the promised reward, made answer
that he was the blessed Evangelist St. Mark,
patron of Venice, and that the Doge himself
would recompense the boatman. The other
two passengers, he said, were the holy martyr
St. George and the blessed bishop St. Nicholas
(in order to understand the story it is neces
sary to remember that the bodies or relics of
all three of these saints were preserved at
Venice, in these three churches). The fisher
man demurred, and pressed for payment ; but
St. Mark, taking his ring from his finger,
handed it to the man, bidding him show the

The Halls of Veronese and Bonifazio. 1 13
Doge that, and ask for the promised money.
The fisherman took it, and presented himself
before the Doge next morning with the ring.
The Procurators of St. Mark, looking for the
ring, which was kept locked up in the sanctuary,
found it missing, though the triple lock had
not been tampered with. Thereupon they
knew that this was a great miracle. The fisher
man received a pension for life, and a Mass
was solemnly said in St. Mark's in gratitude
for the averted danger.
Now, turn to the picture. Bordone envisages
the scene as a great Venetian state ceremonial.
To the" right the majestic Doge sits enthroned,
in his cap and robe of office, under a noble
(imaginary) loggia, amid magnificent Renais
sance architecture. On high seats by his side,
and with splendid carpets spread beneath their
feet, we see ranged the dignified senators,
splendid portraits of stately Venetian aristo
crats, in gorgeous robes gloriously painted.
The fisherman, escorted by a chamberlain,
mounts the steps in his simple garments, with
his limbs bare, and humbly presents to the
Most Serene Prince the ring which is to prove
the truth of his story. At the foot of the steps

114 Venice.
bows a second chamberlain. Behind stand a
group of Venetian gentlemen. In the fore
ground, the fisherman's boy, a graceful and
beautiful figure, lounges carelessly on the steps
near his father's gondola. The background
consists of magnificent ideal architecture, sug
gested by that of Sansovino's Libreria Vecchia.
Every detail of this luminous and gracious
work, the finest ceremonial picture ever painted,
should be closely observed and noted; it has
poetry and romance as well as dignity and
splendour. The decorative detail of the marble
and tiles, and of the recesses behind the Doge's
chair, is alone worth much study. The man
agement of light and shade, by which the
Doge's figure stands out so conspicuously
against a dark ground, is very masterly. This
fine work, representing so great and so late
a miracle of St. Mark, was painted as one of
the decorations for the Scuola di San Marco,
which we shall visit later. So, you will
remember, were Tintoretto's St. Mark rescuing
a tortured slave, and several others in this col
lection. Piece together your knowledge.
After this feast of glory, it is a sad falling
off to look at 322, Paradise, by the same

BORDONE. — THE DOGE AND THE FISHERMAN

The Halls of Veronese and Bonifazio. 115
painter, — a picture in type like one we have
seen before, representing, at the top, the Coro
nation of the Virgin, and below, a confused
assemblage of all the saints, many of them rec
ognisable by their symbols. It was painted, as
is usual with this class of subject, for a church
of Ogni Santi (at Treviso). An unpleasant,
turbid, crude-toned picture.
Number 321, by Pordenone, is a Madonna
della Misericordia, with little angels supporting
her mantle, which falls over two beatified Car
melite Fathers and a group of Votaries of the
Society of Carmel (the Ottobon family, donors
of the picture) . This is a somewhat unsuccess
ful and artificial attempt to adapt the old idea
of Our Lady sheltering devotees under her
cloak, to the conceptions of art in the great
period. * Number 316, by Pordenone, is his master
piece, the altar-piece of San Lorenzo Giustin-
iani. In the centre the sainted bishop, first
Patriarch of Venice (see 570 in Room XV.),
stands under a characteristic Venetian chapel,
like those of St. Mark's, attended by two
acolytes in blue caps like his own. His features
are finely ascetic — they suggest Cardinal Man-

1 1 6 Venice.
ning's. In the foreground are Franciscan
saints: St. Francis, kneeling; St. Louis of
Toulouse, erect, in bishop's robes and mitre,
surmounted by a Franciscan cowl (so that there
may be no mistake about him) ; and the
familiar earnest saintly face of St. Bernardino
of Siena. To the right, a huge St. John the
Baptist, with his symbol, the Lamb of God,
occupies a little too much of the picture. His
anatomy is good, but he is positively gigantic.
Such disproportion is frequent with Pordenone.
This excellent if somewhat frigid work was
an altar-piece on the altar of the saint in the
Franciscan church of the Madonna dell' Orto.
It is an admirable picture of its kind, aiming
hard at an arrangement of the saints in natural
attitudes. San Lorenzo's face is admirably
reproduced from earlier portraits. If once the
names and grouping of the characters are
thoroughly understood, I do not think this fine
composition is open to the criticisms often
brought against it by those who misconceive
its meaning.
Number 328 is by Savoldo, a Brescian artist,
whose works often strangely suggest quite
modern painting. The two great Anchorites of

The Halls of Veronese and Bonifazio. 117
the Theban desert, St. Anthony the Abbot and
St. Paul the Hermit.
The end wall has two good single saints,
by Moretto, 331 and 332, * Peter and John
the Baptist ; and a Rocco Marconi, 334, Christ
and the Woman taken in Adultery ; works re
quiring little comment.
The Long Corridor beyond this, known as
the Loggia Palladiano, because occupying part
of Palladio's building, contains chiefly modern
works, or those of the seventeenth and eigh
teenth centuries, to which, unless your time is
unlimited, you need not devote much attention.
Among them are several good Dutch land
scapes and poultry-pieces, by Hondekoeter, Fyt,
and others, excellent in their way, but out of
tone with Venice, and needing no comment.
The rooms to the right of this corridor have
works by the Bassani and their successors,
most of which are also of relatively little impor
tance, though they afford materials for gauging
the slow declipe of Venetian art. They may
likewise be left to the reader's own con
sideration. The corridor beyond, Branch I., contains a
single once- famous picture, 516, — a huge

1 1 8 Venice.
murky canvas, long attributed to Giorgione, —
it may once have been his in outline, — and
still of much-debated authorship. It is at
present officially set down to Palma Vecchio, to
whom Vasari attributed it; but has been so
much restored and muddled about by patchers
that it is now of no artistic value. It repre
sents the Storm at Sea already referred to in
connection with Paris Bordone's magnificent
picture of the Doge and the Fisherman. Some
authorities even attribute it to Bordone.
The shipload of devils are on their way to
overwhelm Venice, some of them being de
tached in small boats, or riding very dubious
and grotesque sea-monsters. To the right, a
little in the background, ill-descried, and with
out their proper prominence in the composition,
are the fisherman and his boatload of Venetian
patrons — St. Mark, St. George, and St.
Nicholas. The saints are peculiarly unimpres
sive. Though this picture now possesses very
little interest as a work of art, and can never
have been first-rate, it deserves to be looked at
for its connection with the famous and glorious
Bordone, to which it was a pendent. It comes,
like that great work, from the Scuola di San
Marco.

The Halls of Veronese and Bonifazio. 119
The corridor beyond this again, Branch II.,
contains unimportant canvases of the Deca
dence, when the mannerism of later Venetian
art had wholly destroyed its beauty and spon
taneity. The windows here afford a good
view of the Inner Court of the Carita, and, to
the left, of Palladio's New Building.
Return often to the Academy, and remem
ber always that many admirable pictures are
omitted here for want of space. Those who de
sire more information about all these works can
use Karl Karoly's excellent " Guide to The
Pictures of Venice," which gives a bewildering
variety of discordant opinions about each work
from all the recognised critical authorities.

CHAPTER VII.
THE DOGE'S PALACE: INTERIOR.
IN 14 1 9, Gentile da Fabriano and Vittore
Pisano, two of the greatest artists of their
age, were invited to Venice by the signory in
order to decorate the interior of the Doge's
Palace, at an age when native artistic talent
was still deficient in the lagoons. They must
no doubt have produced some of their finest
works in this building. At the close of the fif
teenth century, again, when the great native
school of the Bellini had developed its peculiar
local excellences, the chief painters of that
golden age were further commissioned to adorn
with paintings the new portions of the Palace,
recently completed. We cannot doubt that
many of the noblest creations of Giovanni and
Gentile Bellini, Cima, Catena, Bissolo, and
their contemporaries were painted for this pur-

The Doge's Palace : Interior. 121
pose; while some of Titian's most splendid
works also decorated the walls of the state
apartments. Unfortunately, however, almost
all these once famous masterpieces perished in
the terrible fire of 1574, while the later fire of
1577 destroyed the remainder. We are thus
left, both here and elsewhere, with mere scat
tered fragments of the artistic works produced
by the finest age of Venetian painting.
After the great fires, however, the halls were
restored with fitting magnificence, and deco
rated anew with a series of sumptuous paint
ings, mainly by Tintoretto, Paolo Veronese,
and Palma the younger, who are here seen to
the best advantage. These works are too nu
merous (and often too similar) for description
in full, while many of them, being classical in
subject or presenting slight variants on now
familiar themes, require comparatively little
explanation. Hand-catalogues are also sup
plied by the authorities in all the rooms, and
by their aid the visitor can identify for himself
the various subjects. I therefore limit myself
for the most part in this book to describing the
following three sets of compositions : ( 1 ) the
great masterpieces; (2) the pictures specially

122 Venice.
requiring explanation; and (3) those which
call for brief notes on peculiar variants of the
customary themes.
Many of the pictures, however, which I do
not notice are thoroughly deserving of atten
tive study by those whose time suffices for the
purpose. Remember that the pictures in the Doge's
Palace thus represent only the last great age
of Venetian painting.
The Palace is open daily from nine to three ;
admission, one franc, twenty centimes, per
person. It is also open free on Sundays and
public holidays, from ten to two; but as the
order in which the rooms must be visited is
then altered, and no hand-catalogues are sup
plied, I do not advise you to see it on a free
day. Pay like a man, and see the pictures
properly in the right succession.
The entrance is at the top of the Scala dei
Giganti ; tickets are taken in the loggia on the
first floor. Thence you mount the steps, and
pass above the principal floor to the highest
story, which, owing to the peculiar construction
of the lower ranges, contains most of the chief
reception-rooms of the Palace. The lower

The Doge's Palace: Interior. 123
floors are mainly occupied by the loggie; no
doubt the jealous Venetian oligarchy purposely
raised itself to this safe height above popular
spying. We can ascend on week-days by the
Scala d'Oro, or Golden Stairs, so called from
its gilt and painted ceiling; erected by San-
sovino, 1556. Up this staircase, in the days of
the Republic, only those nobles whose names
were written in the Libro d'Oro were permitted
to pass.
At the top of the steps we enter first a little
anteroom known as the Atrio Quadrato,
which is practically the main vestibule of the
Palace. Its walls are hung with good por
traits of senators, by Tintoretto. The ceiling,
also by Tintoretto, represents Doge Lorenzo
Priuli receiving the sword of office from the
hands of Justice. Above, in clouds, St. Mark
is enthroned as representative of Venice; be
low, in presence of the personified, crowned,
and seated Venezia, Justice, holding her bal
ance, presents the sword to the aged Doge, who
wears his richly jewelled robe and cap of office.
A door to the left admits to the Sala delle
Quattro Porte, so called from its four entrances.
This was the hall through which ambassadors

124 Venice.
to the Republic were conducted to the waiting-
room. On the entrance wall, in the centre, is
a famous picture by Titian, known as the
* Fede ; all these pictures, however, though
commonly called by such sacred names, are
best treated as portraits of Doges, represented
in the act of adoring some saint or Madonna.
The Doge in this instance is Antonio Grimani
(1521-23); he kneels, in armour, covered by
a rich robe, on a footstool. He has removed
his cap of office, but retains the ugly white
linen skull-cap beneath it. A page by his side
holds the jewelled ducal crown. , To the right
are halberdiers in attendance, beside a rich red
curtain. The figure before which Grimani kneels
is not a saint, but a personification of Faith,
holding the cross and cup, and surrounded by
a luminous glory of cherubs. Faith is very
theatrical, almost vulgar ; she foreshadows the
rococo. To the left, St. Mark with his lion
represents Venice ; the town itself, as it existed
in Grimani's time, is seen in the background.
This is the whole of Titian's picture, painted
for another apartment; having been removed
later to this room, and to a wall too large for
it, the additional figures at either end were

w
aw
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(-1

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I—,HH

The Doge's Palace: Interior. 125
added by his nephew, Marco Vecelli. The
whole work is a fine, brilliantly coloured, vigor
ous, unpoetic picture.
To the right of the door is Doge Marino
Grimani kneeling before the Virgin and Child ;
by Giovanni Contarini, a pupil of Titian's. St.
Mark directs the Doge's gaze to Our Lady and
the Child; on the right is St. Sebastian; in
the centre background, Grimani's personal
patron, Santa Marina.
The corresponding picture to the left repre
sents the re-conquest of Verona by Venice from
the Duke of Milan, in 1439, also by Contarini;
a feeble picture.
The wall opposite this is covered by three
canvases of less artistic interest, representing
Venice as the host and arbiter of foreign na
tions. On the left, the Ambassadors of Nurem
berg accept the arbitration of the Doge and
senate on their law of apprenticeship. This
picture is by Gabriele Caliari.
In the centre picture, by Andrea Vicentino,
Henry III. of France is hospitably received in
state at Venice; the picture shows the tri
umphal arch erected for the occasion.
In the right-hand picture, by Carletto Caliari,

126 Venice.
the Persian ambassadors bring presents of
rich oriental fabrics from the Shah to Doge
Marino Grimani, in 1603.
The ceiling is painted by Tintoretto, but has
been ruined by re-painting. Its central panel
represents Jupiter bestowing on Venice the
sovereignty of the sea; in the background a
riotous chorus of gods. Note the appearance
here of pagan mythology.
The door opposite to that by which you
entered leads to the Antecollegio, with a florid
late Renaissance mantelpiece. Here ambassa
dors sat to await their audience. This room
is chiefly decorated with mythological pictures,
representing the wealth, power, and arts of
later Venice.
To the left of the door by which you enter
is a Tintoretto, * Mercury with the Graces, —
the commerce and civilisation of Venice ; noble
specimens of nude figures, admirably rendered.
Opposite this is a * * Bacchus and Ariadne,
also by Tintoretto. Ariadne, deserted in Naxos
by Theseus, is discovered by Bacchus, wreathed
in vine leaves.; Venus crowns her with the
stars of her constellation. This is a beautiful
picture, with exquisitely blended colours, full
of poetry, of fancy, and of fleet movement.

The Doge's Palace : Interior. 127
Beyond the door is a picture of * Minerva
repelling Mars, by Tintoretto — wise counsel
saves Venice from war; to the left, Peace
brings plenty to Venice.
On the wall opposite the windows is a Paolo
Veronese, * Europa carried off by Jupiter, in
the guise of a bull ; one of Paolo's most fa
mous and beautiful pictures, yet with germs
of decadence.
The dark canvas beside this last represents
Jacob's return from Laban, by Leandro Bas
sano. These two pictures were not painted for
the places they occupy : intrusive works.
Between this and the door of entrance, the
Forge of Vulcan, by Tintoretto, representing
the handicrafts of Venice : murky and gloomy.
The next door leads to the Sala del Collegio.
This was the hall in which ambassadors were
received by the Doge, sitting on a throne of
state on the dais at its further end : beside
him sat the signory.
Over the door of entrance is a Tintoretto,
* portrait of Doge Andrea Gritti. To the left
stands the Doge, in his cap and robe of office,
admirably painted. At his feet, angels typify
peace and plenty. St. Mark, holding his Gos-

128 Venice.
pel, directs the Doge's look toward the Virgin.
On a high throne to the right sits Our Lady
with the Child, a graceful and gracious figure.
Around her spreads a luminous halo of
cherubs, still slightly mandorla-shaped. On
the right are Franciscan saints, representative
of the order which Gritti specially affected, St.
Bernardino of Siena, with his glowing I. H. S.,
and St. Louis of Toulouse. The centre of the
picture is occupied by a youthful martyr, prob
ably St. Marina, bearing a palm, and present
ing one of the Doge's children to Our Lady.
(Padua was taken on St. Marina's Day.)
Over the door to the left of this is a Tin
toretto, commonly though absurdly known as
the " Marriage of St Catharine " ; * portrait
of Doge Francesco Donato, who is presented
by St. Mark, bearing his Gospel. Behind him
are angels, or rather virtues, Prudence and
Temperance, bearing plenty to Venice. Below,
the Doge's personal patron, St. Francis. The
left of the picture is occupied by Our Lady and
the Child, the latter in the act of placing a
ring on the finger of * St. Catharine of Alex
andria, crowned and holding her wheel. The
Doge thus shows his devotion to Our Lady and

TINTORETTO. —MARRIAGE OF ST. CATHARINE

The Doge's Palace: Interior. 129
to the patron saint of the Venetian territory.
Background of the lagoon.
The centre of the wall is occupied by an
other Tintoretto, Doge Niccolo da Ponte
kneeling before Our Lady. The Doge is
introduced, as usual, by his official patron, St.
Mark. Beside him stands Niccolo's personal
patron, Saint Nicholas, over whose head angels
hold the bishop's mitre. The Most Serene
Prince is engaged in adoring a heavenly group
composed of * Our Lady and the Child, — one
of Tintoretto's most charming Madonnas, —
St. Anthony with his crutch and bell, and St.
Joseph. In the background is Venice. All
these pictures are very characteristic portraits
of Doges with the special objects of their adora
tion. We have now travelled a far cry indeed
from the primitive little figure of the kneeling
donor, so common in early Venetian altar-
pieces. The rest of this wall is filled by a Tintoretto :
portrait of Doge Alvise Mocenigo adoring the
Saviour, who appears in clouds of luminous
glory to the left of the picture; beneath him,
an angel. St. Mark introduces the kneeling
Doge. The right-hand side of the picture is

130 Venice.
occupied by two brothers of the Doge, in
prayer, with their patrons, St. Nicholas and
St. Andrew. Behind them are St. John the
Baptist and St. Louis of Toulouse, Doge Al-
vise's personal patron, with a long perspective
of the Libreria Vecchia and the Campanile.
Over the throne, which occupies the centre
of the dais, is a picture by Paolo Veronese,
a * portrait of Doge Sebastiano Venier, ren
dering thanks to the Saviour for the victory
of Lepanto, in which he took part. The Doge
is introduced by St. Mark and (I think) St.
Justina of Padua, on whose day the battle was
fought. Behind him, another saint, perhaps
St. Catharine, holds his ducal crown; pages
support his robe and helmet. To the left kneels
Faith, with the symbolical cup. Beyond her,
we catch a glimpse of the battle of Lepanto,
which is here votively commemorated. Behind
the Doge stands the heroic Agostino Barbarigo,
the real conqueror, — killed in the battle, —
holding the consecrated banner of St. George.
In clouds, we see the Saviour, bearing the
crystal globe, giving his benediction, and visi
bly ordering the affairs of the universe. The
figures in painted niches at the sides are the

The Doge's Palace : Interior. 131
Doge's two patrons, St. Justina, the patroness
of his lucky day, and St. Sebastian, his name-
saint. The rich ceiling is entirely painted by Paolo
Veronese. In its centre oval is Faith; over
the dais, * Venice enthroned on a globe, at
tended by Peace and Justice.
There is a Renaissance mantelpiece; and
near the throne, Venetian tapestries of the
amours of Jupiter, early sixteenth century.
The door here gives access to the Sala del
Senato, still fitted up with the Doge's throne,
stalls for the Procurators, and the seat of the
Senators. Its decorations, less rich, are mainly
by Palma the younger.
On the end wall, opposite the throne, are
* portraits of Doges Lorenzo and Girolamo
Priuli, brothers who successively held the duke
dom, by Palma the younger. To the right
kneels Girolamo, attended by his namesake St.
Jerome, with his lion and his translation of
the Vulgate. To the left is Lorenzo, with his
namesake St. Lawrence. (The tomb of these
two Doges, similarly attended by their two
patrons, covers a wall in San Salvatore, and
may be profitably visited in connection with

132 Venice.
this picture.) Above, in clouds, is a feeble
figure of Christ, attended by St. Mark and the
Blessed Virgin. This is a good Palma, but
far inferior to the Tintorettos and Veroneses.
On the window wall is a picture by Titian's
nephew, Marco Vecelli, representing San Lo
renzo Giustiniani elected as first patriarch of
Venice in 1451.
On the wall opposite this, to the left, is a
portrait by Tintoretto, of Doge Pietro Loredan.
To the left is his patron, St. Peter, with the
keys; to the right St. Louis of Toulouse.
Above, to the left, Our Lady, in clouds, as the
Madonna of the Immaculate Conception, sur
rounded with stars, and without the Infant;
this new form of Virgin was then the most
popular embodiment of the Madonna; to the
right, St. Mark with his lion. The background
shows St. Mark's, the Campanile, the Clock
Tower, etc.
Over the door is a picture by Palma the
younger, symbolical of the resistance to the
League of Cambrai, formed by the European
powers to crush Venice. In the centre, Doge
Leonardo Loredan is crowned by angels. To
the left, Venice, with the lion of St. Mark

The Doge's Palace: Interior. 133
and the sword of Justice, is eagerly attacking
Europe on a bull. Europe bears a shield blaz
oned with the various arms of the allied states.
To the left, allegorical figures bring corn and
plenty to Venice ; the length of her purse makes
her capable of withstanding united Europe.
To the right of this is a portrait of Doge
Pasquale Cicogna, by Palma the younger. The
Doge kneels before the risen Saviour, to whom
he is introduced by St. Mark, though, oddly
enough, he is looking away toward the alle
gorical figure representing, I believe, Crete,
and holding a labyrinth as symbol. (Cicogna
had been governor of the island.) To the
right is Faith; to the left, Peace and Justice,
embracing, with the olive branches and scales.
Very emblematic.
The last picture on this wall is a portrait
of Doge Francesco Venier, by Palma the
younger. It shows the last stage in the de-
Christianisation of these Doges' portraits.
Note that the Doge stands no longer before
Our Lady or a saint, but before enthroned
Venice, to whom he presents the various cities
of which he has been governor, typified by
beautiful female attendants. Above, on the

134 Venice.
right, are St. Mark, and the Doge's personal
patron, St. Francis.
Over the throne are * portraits of two
Doges, by Tintoretto. To the left kneels Doge
Marc' Antonio Trevisano, accompanied by his
patron, St. Anthony the Abbot, with his crutch
and bell. Close by, to the left, is the wounded
St. Sebastian, a precaution against plague. To
the right kneels Doge Pietro Lando, accom
panied by St. Mark and by his own patron,
St. Peter Martyr, near whom stands his spirit
ual father, St. Dominic, with the lily. The
central or spiritual portion of the picture is
occupied by a fine Pieta, the dead Christ sup
ported by angels; the St. Mark and St. John
to the left appear to be writing their Gospel
accounts of the Crucifixion.
Of the numerous pictures in the magnificent
painted ceiling, the most important is the cen
tral panel, by Tintoretto, representing Venice
enthroned among the gods as Queen of the Sea,
with Tritons and Nereids rising from below
and bearing their gifts from the ocean. Careful
examination of this fine and sweeping, but con
fused work will bring out many hidden alle
gorical meanings.

** $

DOGE'S PALACE  SALA DEL SENATO

The Doge's Palace: Interior. 135
The door to the right of the throne gives
access to the Antichiesetta, or Vestibule of
the Doge's Private Oratory. Of the pictures
which this small apartment contains, only two
or three need here be noticed. Opposite the
door by which you enter is a * Tintoretto, the
Princess and the Dragon. This is clearly an
allegorical work, the meaning of which I have
never succeeded in satisfactorily deciphering.
St. George, in armour, has dismounted from
his horse; the Princess is bestriding the con
quered beast ; to the right is a handsome young
bishop, whom I take for St. Louis of Toulouse.
The picture must cover some political fact, like
that which represents the League of Cambrai ;
but I must leave the solution of this difficult
problem to the ingenuity of my readers. Oppo
site, over the door by which you entered, are
two memorial magisterial saints, St. Jerome
and St. Andrew, by Tintoretto.
Most of the other pictures in this room are
paintings by Rizzi, designs for the mosaic
which now adorns the fagade of St. Mark's.
You will recognise their subjects.
We enter next the Chiesetta, or Private
Oratory of the Doges, where mass was said
daily by the ducal chaplain.

136 Venice.
The altar-piece is formed by a sculptured
Madonna and Child, by Sansovino, in a Renais
sance niche, over which are placed the arms of
Doge Pasquale Cicogna, a crane (the meaning
of his name in Italian), with the ducal cap
above it. Of the pictures which it contains
I will only notice four early Madonnas, more
or less of the school of Bellini, none of them
of high merit ; and, on the left wall, near the
altar, a Pieta, by Paris Bordone, chiefly notice
able for the unconventional and unsymmetrical
arrangement of the mourning angels. Near
this is a harsh early-Renaissance Netherlandish
picture (by Mostaert ?) of Christ bound to
the column.
Return now through the Sala del Senato
and the Sala delle Quattro Porte, and enter,
through a little anteroom, the Sala del Consi-
glio dei Dieci. The Council of Ten, the Vene
tian " Star Chamber," sat in this apartment.
It was armed with summary administrative-
judicial powers. The pictures in this fine hall
are for the most part late in date and inferior
in merit. They represent episodes more or
less real in the past history of Venice, supposed
to reflect special glory upon the Republic.

The Doge's Palace : Interior. 137
On the wall of entrance is a picture by
Leandro and Francesco Bassano, a huge and
somewhat confused canvas representing Pope
Alexander III. coming forth to meet Doge
Sebastiano Ziani on his return from his victory
over Frederic Barbarossa, in the war which
Venice undertook against the Emperor in de
fence of the fugitive Pope. The Doge in
armour, enveloped in an ample robe of state,
stands near the centre of the picture, his mantle
and cap borne by pages. The proscribed Pope,
under a portable canopy, welcomes his cham
pion, surrounded by cardinals, bishops, and
other ecclesiastics. The Bassani, like other
Venetians of their age, envisage the scene as
though it took place with the arms and costume
of their own period.
Opposite this is a picture by Marco Vecelli,
Titian's nephew, representing the Peace of Bo
logna, between Pope Clement VII. and the
Emperor Charles V., in 1529. This is a self-
explanatory picture, of a fine ceremonial char
acter, with excellent portraits, and a stately,
somewhat formal, arrangement of the compo
nent personages.
The end wall is occupied by a dark and con-

138 Venice.
fused Adoration of the Magi, by Aliense, a
feeble follower of Tintoretto, who has sedu
lously acquired the master's faults without his
conspicuous merits.
The ceiling is by Veronese and his followers,
typical of the glory of Venice. The best com
partment is the one just above the Pope and
Emperor's head ; it represents wealth showered
down into the lap of Venice. The figure of an
old man with his hand on his chin (in the com
partment by the corner between the Magi and
Pope Alexander III.) is by Veronese.
The next room is the Sala della Bussola,
with uninteresting pictures, chiefly of military
operations — taking of Brescia, Bergamo, etc.,
confused and unsatisfactory. The Doge oppo
site the windows is Leonardo Donato, by
Marco Vecelli.

CHAPTER VIII.
THE DOGE'S PALACE (CONTINUED).
THE little room to the right of this last
picture is the Stanza dei Tre Capi del
Consiglio. These were the inner circles of the
Ten, a cabinet within a cabinet. To the left
of the entrance door is a portrait by Catena
of Doge Leonardo Loredan adoring Our Lady ;
a picture of the earlier type, where the Doge's
portrait is still duly subordinate to the sacred
subject; he is introduced to Our Lady by St.
Mark, who is balanced by St. John the Bap
tist; a good picture in a hard, dry, early
manner. Next to it is a picture by Bonifazio, St.
Christopher bearing the infant Christ, between
St. John the Baptist and St. John the Evan
gelist. This is a magistracy picture, bearing
the arms of the three donors, whose surnames
139

140 Venice.
are thus indicated, while their Christian names
are allusively given by their patrons.
On the left wall is a picture by Giovanni
Bellini, a Pieta, the dead Christ, supported by
the Mater Dolorosa and St. John. This is a
singular work, very close to Mantegna's real
istic manner. On the sides are the patron
saints of the donors.
On the right wall is a Tintoretto, portraits
of three senators, whom an angel calls upon
to regard the mystery of the Resurrection.
The work is a typical example of these curious
portrait-pieces with a heavenly or spiritual por
tion: a sharp line divides the quite earthly
kneeling senators — probably the three whose
council-room this was — from the ideal fig
ures of the risen Christ and the angels. The
sleeping Roman soldiers beneath are in a mid
dle style between the earthly and the heavenly.
The central panel of the ceiling is by Vero
nese; it represents the Virtues driving away
the Vices.
Return to the hall last visited (della Bus-
sola), and descend the staircase known as the
Scala dei Censori, to the principal floor of the
Palace.

A Am mk

i

DOGE'S PALACE. — VIEW OF THE LAGOON FROM BALCONY

The Doge's Palace. 141
The vast room to the left at the bottom of
this staircase is the Sala del Maggior Con-
siglio, which forms the greater part of the
south front of the Palace. This immense
chamber was built for the Council of Nobles,
the most popular and sovereign assembly in
the closely oligarchal Venetian constitution,
for whose sake mainly the existing building
was erected. Every adult man whose name
was inscribed in the Libro d'Oro belonged to it
by right of birth.
Before you begin the examination of the
pictures in detail, look well first at the great
hall itself, with its palatial decorations. Also,
go out on to the south balcony, which you
have already seen from the outside, both in
order to orient yourself, and for the sake of
the beautiful * view over the lagoon and the
island of San Giorgio, as well as the Giudecca,
the Salute, and the tapering point by the
Dogana. This balcony likewise affords the best
front view of the lion of St. Mark on the
granite column, with his fore paws placed on
the open Gospel : well seen with an opera-glass.
Examine here also the detail of the window
and its decorations.

142 Venice.
Re-enter the hall. The whole of the end
wall above the Doge's throne is entirely occu
pied by Tintoretto's gigantic painting of
* * Paradise, proudly pointed to by the guides
as " the largest oil-painting in the world." It
is a huge, black, gloomy, and confused picture,
sadly lacking focal concentration, but con
taining a vast number of admirable single
figures, and full in parts of great and vigorous
drawing. A colossal but uncurbed imagination
here runs riot. I will only attempt to give a
very general conception of the immense design.
It is based upon the old conventional type of
Paradise, but utterly altered in treatment in
accordance with Tintoretto's own revolutionary
conceptions. The centre of the upper portion
of the picture is occupied by the usual figures
of Christ and Our Lady, with exquisitely
tender faces, seen against a luminous back
ground of glory : beneath their feet is a cloud-
borne floor of cherubs. To the left soars the
flying figure of the archangel Gabriel, with the
Annunciation lily, close to Our Lady. To the
right, the archangel Michael holds the scales
in which he weighs souls, close to the Saviour,
who is thus shown to be sitting in His charac-

The Doge's Palace. 143
ter of Judge. These positions are of course
traditional; you may remember them in the
Campo Santo at Pisa. In the centre below,
just under the floor of cherubs, looms the third
archangel, Raphael, almost nude, and with
feminine features and figure, occupying the
same place as he always does in all pictures of
the Last Judgment, from Orcagna downward.
To the left and right of Raphael, but sup
ported on another floor of angels, — each floor
standing for a separate angelic grade, — are
seated the Four Evangelists; to the left, St.
Mark with his lion, and St. Luke with his bull ;
to the right, St. Matthew with his angel, and
St. John with his eagle : these four have very
luminous halos, and each holds the book of
his Gospel. The left side of the picture is
mainly occupied by a confused tumult of pa
triarchs, prophets, and Old Testament saints,
conspicuous among whom are Moses with his
horns of light, and David with his harp; near
them, Noah and Solomon. On the right side
are gathered most of the greater saints of
Christendom, many of whom you may gradu
ally make out (with an opera-glass) by means
of their symbols. Among the most notable are

144 Venice.
the Four Doctors of the Church, discriminated
by their larger and brighter halos. The re
mainder of this saintly and angelic throng I
must leave to the reader's personal intelligence
with the following hints. The heavenly hier
archy is represented in the picture by concentric
semicircles of seraphs, cherubs, thrones, domi
nations, virtues, and powers. To the far left
below, are virgins, including monks : to the far
right below, martyrs. The fair-haired figure
at the very base, in the centre, just over the
Doge's throne, is said to represent the Angel
of Venice, rising from the waves, and implor
ing the assistance of heaven for the Republic.
You must look long and carefully at this won
derful picture, from many points of view, if
you wish to read its full meaning. Ruskin has
overpraised it. It can only be fully compre
hended by minute comparison with earlier
Paradises elsewhere. Photographs assist.
The other walls of this room are occupied,
above, by mediocre portraits of all the Doges,
in many cases either imaginary or modernised
from early representations ; and, below, by two
series of pseudo-historical works, representing
somewhat imaginary episodes in the history of

The Doge's Palace. 145
Venice, from the point of view in which the
later Venetians desired to see them. These
works are artistically of inferior merit, and
I will merely give in brief the names of their
subjects :
The wall to the right contains the story of
the war undertaken by Venice against Frederic
Barbarossa, in defence of Pope Alexander III.
The first, beginning just to the right of the
Paradise, is a picture of the school of Paolo
Veronese. The Doge Ziani receives the fugi
tive Pope Alexander III. at the convent of La
Carita. The second is also of the school of Paolo
Veronese; Venice and the Pope send ambas
sadors to Frederic Barbarossa : the ambassa
dors are seen departing from Parma on their
way to the Emperor's court at Pavia.
Above a window is the third, by Leandro
Bassano. The Pope gives the Doge a con
secrated candle.
The fourth is by Tintoretto, and represents
the ambassadors before Barbarossa, who re
fuses to acknowledge Alexander III. as Pope.
The fifth is by Francesco Bassano. The
Pope presents the Doge with a consecrated

146 Venice.
sword. The chief interest of this crowded pic
ture lies in the fact that it well and accurately
depicts the Venice of Bassano's own time,
with groups of ladies in the loggia of the
Doge's Palace; it is thus useful as an histori
cal document, not for the age it pretends to
represent, but for the age in which it was
painted. This is more or less true of all the
other pictures in the series.
Above a window is the sixth picture, by
Fiammingo. The Doge sets out for war, with
the Pope's blessing.
The seventh is by Tintoretto the younger,
a very minor painter : do not confuse him
with his father. It represents the Battle of
Salvore, in which the Venetians, after a fierce
struggle, conquered the Imperialists, and took
prisoner the Emperor's son Otho. As a
matter of fact, this famous battle is imaginary.
— one of the pious patriotic frauds of later
Venetian historians.
Over a door is the eighth painting, by Andrea
Vicentino. The Doge brings back to the Pope
the conquered Otho.
The ninth is by Palma the younger. The
Pope sends Otho to his father, to induce him

The Doge;s Palace. 147
to recognise Alexander's claim to the Pa
pacy. The tenth is by Zucchero. The Emperor
Frederic Barbarossa kneels in submission be
fore the Pope. The episode is said to have
taken place in the atrium of St. Mark's — a
legendary tale made much of in later Venetian
history. Venice as a Republic was always op
posed to the Imperial claims, and this half
apocryphal story of Barbarossa's humiliation is
a picturesque embodiment of the Guelf theory
of Italian freedom against the autocratic pre
tensions of the Franconian Emperors. (The
adherents of the Pope were called Guelfs ; the
adherents of the Emperor, Ghibellines.)
Over a door is the eleventh picture, by Gam-
berato. The Doge escorts the Pope and the
Emperor to Ancona, on their way to Rome.
On the end wall is the twelfth, by Giulio dal
Moro. The Pope presents consecrated banners
to the Doge in the church of St. John Lateran
at Rome.
Though these works are of relatively little
interest from an artistic point of view, they
deserve notice as an embodiment of the same
type of popular ideas of past events as those

148 Venice.
represented in English history by the story of
Alfred burning the cakes or of Canute and his
courtiers. More still : they influenced and col
oured thought in later Venice.
The series on the left wall represents, in the
same manner, the popular Venetian story of
the part borne by Doge Enrico Dandolo in the
great or fourth Crusade, and in the conquest
of Constantinople.
Begin once more near Tintoretto's Paradise :
The first picture is by Giovanni Le Clerc.
Doge Enrico Dandolo, enthroned in St. Mark's,
concludes an alliance with the Crusaders in
1 20 1. The Republic was the only power which
could furnish the necessary ships for trans
porting so large a body of men by sea. It
was thus this Crusade which above all else es
tablished the supremacy of Venice in the East.
The second is by Andrea Vicentino. The
French and Venetian Crusaders, by a mean
bargain, besiege Zara, on the Dalmatian coast,
on their way to the east.
The third is by Tintoretto the younger ; sub
ject, the surrender of Zara.
The fourth is by Andrea Vicentino. Alexis,
son of the dethroned Greek Emperor Isaac,

The Doge's Palace. 149
asks the aid of Venice for his father, thus
affording an excuse for the coming conquest
of Constantinople by the Franks and Venetians.
The fifth is by Palma the younger. The
Franks and Venetians conquer Constantinople,
1203. This is the first conquest, when Isaac
was restored to the throne, on condition of
paying a heavy subsidy, and conforming to
the Catholic Church. Isaac did not fulfil these
onerous conditions, so as shown in the sixth
picture, by Tintoretto the younger, the Franks
and Venetians reconquer Constantinople, 1204.
It was on this occasion that the Doge sent to
Venice the Bronze Horses, the relics of St.
James and St. George, the head of St. John
the Baptist, and the body of St. Lucy. Bodies
of saints were the chief articles of import
during the early middle ages.
The seventh is by Andrea Vicentino. The
Crusaders, in St. Sophia, elect Baldwin of
Flanders as Emperor of the East.
On the end wall is the eighth, by Aliense.
Doge Enrico Dandolo crowns Baldwin as
Emperor. Between the windows is a picture by Paolo
Veronese representing one of the other heroic

ISO

Venice.

exploits of Venice in the War of Chioggia, in
which she overcame the Genoese, and made
herself finally mistress of the Mediterranean.
Its subject is the return of Doge Andrea Con
tarini after his victory at Chioggia in 1379.
The ceiling of this hall contains several
works worthy of notice, out of which I select
for notice only the three largest :
The oval nearest the Paradise is by Paolo
Veronese ; it represents * Venice enthroned as
Queen of the Sea, amid fancied architecture of
a decadent style, with ugly and useless twisted
columns; the loggia contains several good
portraits of voluptuous women.
The * central square is by Tintoretto, and
is another of the later type of pictures in which
the Doge is represented as doing homage, not
to a divine or sainted personage, but to an alle
gorical and secular personification. In this
case it is Doge Niccolo da Ponte, who offers
the homage of the nobles and the subject cities
to an embodied Venice. The background con
sists of a view of St. Mark's. Below are
grouped the various arts, handicrafts, and com
mercial avocations of the town and territory.
The oval furthest from the Paradise is by

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VERONESE. — VENICE ENTHRONED (DETAIL)

The Doge's Palace. 151
Palma the younger: it represents, again,
Venice enthroned and crowned by Victory.
A door near the last picture leads to the Sala
dello Scrutinio, where the votes were counted
for the election of the Doge. A window to
the right in the anteroom here affords a good
outlook over the Renaissance portion of the
building. The Sala dello Scrutinio itself is another
handsome hall, with a fine ceiling, and from its
windows impressive views are obtained, es
pecially from the one on the left with the
balcony, which affords an excellent survey of
the Piazza and Piazzetta, — in particular of
the facade of Sansovino's Library and of the
very quaint and ornate chimney on the top of
the Zecca. This is also one of the best points
of view for the lion of St. Mark and for St.
Theodore on his crocodile. The richness in
colour of the south front of St. Mark's comes
out well in the sunlight from this standpoint.
Re-enter the hall. The entrance wall is
entirely occupied by Palma Giovane's Last
Judgment, a work in which Palma unequally
endeavours to imitate Tintoretto's Paradise;
to the left are the elect, to the right the damned.

152 Venice.
The other walls are occupied by late his
torical or pseudo-historical pictures, again rep
resenting episodes in the history of Venice
reflecting credit on the Republic. They begin
at the far side of this room, the end wall of
which is wholly occupied by the triumphal arch
and monument of Francesco Morosini, who re
conquered the Morea from the Turks in 1690;
it was erected in his honour during his lifetime
by the senate, as the inscription on the ugly
half-length bronze figure below testifies. Hence
his title of Peloponnesiacus. Of the pictures
which the monument contains, all by Lazzarini,
the only one worthy of notice is that on the
left below, which represents the Doge in his
ducal costume and armour, holding a marshal's
baton, and presenting to Venice the reconquered
Christian Morea, whose chains he is striking
off; they lie at her feet, together with the
Turkish turban and the map of the Morea
which symbolise his conquest; Venice herself
is somewhat uncomfortably enthroned on St.
Mark's lion. This is a fair example of the
overwrought later allegorical treatment of
similar subjects.
The pictures on the wall on the Piazzetta
side are as follows:

The Doge's Palace. 153
In the first, Pepin, king of the Franks, lays
siege to the town of Rivo Alto in 809, by
Vicentino. In the second, Pepin, and therefore the
Frankish empire, is driven away from Venice,
also by Vicentino.
In the third, Domenico Michiel defeats the
Caliph of Egypt in a naval engagement at
Jaffa, in 1123, by Peranda.
In the fourth, Domenico Michiel takes Tyre
in 1 125. This is the victory of which the col
umns in the Piazzetta are trophies. I need
hardly add that in all these cases the later
Venetians figure their ancestors with their own
costumes and their own weapons of warfare.
The fifth shows the victory of the Venetians
over King Roger of Sicily in 1148, by Marco
Vecelli. The series continues just opposite:
The seventh represents the capture of Zara
from the Hungarians in 1346, by Tintoretto.
The eighth portrays the victory of Lepanto
in 1 571, by Vicentino.
The ninth shows the battle against the Turks
in the Dardanelles in 1656, by Pietro Liberi.
The compartments of the ceiling contain

1 54 Venice.
similar pictures of real or supposed glories of
Venice, but of little interest.
Return through the Sala del Maggior Con-
siglio to the portal by which you first entered
that large hall: a door on the right gives
access to the Library, a magnificent collection
of books and manuscripts, the description of
which, however, lies outside the province of
this guide. One of its chief treasures is the
famous Grimani Breviary, with exquisite il
luminations of Gerard David, Horenbout, and
other Flemish masters of the late fifteenth cen
tury, which is exhibited on Wednesdays only,
in an inadequate and unsatisfactory manner.
Students of art may obtain special leave to
consult it.
The door to the left leads into the Archaeo
logical Museum, which contains several second-
class works of classic art, and a few master
pieces. '
Room I., the Corridor, contains figures of
deities, marked on the pedestals, and few of
them of any exceptional interest; a colossal
Minerva, a Bacchus, a Faun and Fauness, a
bust of Juno, etc.
Room IL, the State Dressing-room of the

MEMLING. — ST. PAUL (IN THE GRIMANI BREVIARY)

The Doge's Palace. 155
Doge, has a very charming early-Renaissance
chimneypiece by Pietro Lombardo. Over the
door of entry is a graceful relief of Doge
Leonardo Loredan adoring the Madonna and
Child, accompanied by St. Mark, St. Nicholas,
and another doubtful saint. Over the opposite
door is a pretty coloured group of a Madonna
with angels. Round the walls are three suc
cessive paintings of the Lion of St. Mark, by
Jacopo del Fiore, 1415, Donato Veneziano,
1459, and Carpaccio, 15 16. The * coffered
ceiling of this beautiful little room is deserving
of notice.
Room III. (dello Scudo) contains ancient
maps, the earliest of which is that by Fra
Mauro (1457), in a round frame, near the
centre of the room; it has the south at the
top of the map, instead of at the bottom as
usual; interesting and curious. From the left
window of this room you get an excellent view
of the domes of St. Mark's, and the connecting
portion between the church and palace. No
where else can you so well observe the oriental
shape of the minor cupolas surmounting the
domes. Continue along the same line as before into

156 Venice.
Room IV., the Hall of the Busts. This has
an over-decorated Renaissance mantelpiece, and
a fine ceiling. It contains numerous busts of
the imperial Roman period, all named, and
some of them excellent, mainly the gifts of
Cardinal Grimani. On the wall of entrance,
high up, is a good Antinous ; among the other
busts, notice Septimius Severus, Faustina,
Lucius Verus, two stages of Marcus Aurelius,
Vitellius with his coarse bull-neck and vulgar
sordid features, the solid common sense of
Vespasian, and the capable figure of Trajan.
Chronologically, the series begins at the far
end. Room V. of the Bronzes, with a fine ceiling
and a good early-Renaissance mantelpiece,
topped by ugly later figures, contains a few
antique bronzes; round the walls are Greek
pottery and other works of minor interest.
Room VI. has nothing of note but an Adora
tion of the Magi, by Bonifazio.
The long room beyond this gives access, on
the right, to a staircase with a fresco of St.
Christopher, by Titian (ill preserved), the
interest of which is mainly historical.
The Room of Bronzes, beyond, contains

The Doge's Palace. 157
several admirable works of the Renaissance.
To the left of the door are three busts by
Aspetti, named. On a fine bronze candelabrum
is the Doge's cap of Doge Paolo Venier. In a
case by the wall are exquisite medals by Pisa-
nello and others; above, fine bas-reliefs in
bronze, by Riccio, with the history of the
Emperor Constantine, — his Vision of the
Cross, his victory over Maxentius, the dis
covery of the True Cross by Helena, and the
Miracle of the True Cross, the genuineness of
which is proved by its cure of a sick man. In
the centre, between these, is a Florentine As
sumption of the Virgin. In the middle of
the room are bronzes and medals. On the
right wall, are beautiful bronze doors for a
tabernacle, containing a relic, with a Pieta and
Deposition, by Riccio. A tomb in imitation
of the antique, by Tullio Lombardo, is a fine
reproduction of the Roman spirit. There is
a charming relief of St. Martin dividing his
cloak with the beggar, by Riccio. In the cases
are coins and medals of Venice. Many of
the other works in this room deserve close
attention, but cannot here be adequately de
scribed. This is a collection for the leisured.

158 Venice.
The room of the lesser Antiques contains
minor works of antique sculpture: a Venus
of the same type as the Capitoline at Rome;
Ganymede carried away by the eagle ; Leda and
the Swan; an Apollo Citharsedus, and other
figures. By the far wall stand three of the
most important antique works in this collec
tion, — three * fallen and dying Gauls, of the
school of Pergamum, reduced copies or origi
nals of sculptures belonging to the same series
as the famous so-called Dying Gladiator of
the Capitol at Rome. These are very char
acteristic specimens of the local Pergamene
school, which represented the combat of the
Greeks with the invading Gauls.
The room of the larger antiques contains
other antique figures, among the most interest
ing of which is a somewhat inferior archaic
Diana, resembling the one at Naples, but not
of equal merit. This figure belongs to the
stage when Greek sculpture was just emanci
pating itself from its earliest stiffness.
Your tickets also entitle you to visit the dun
geons. I am not aware of any sufficient reason
why you should desire to avail yourself of this
permission.

CHAPTER IX.
SS. GIOVANNI E PAOLO.
IN almost every great Italian town, there
exist to this day two immense churches,
usually dating back to the thirteenth century,
and belonging respectively to the Dominicans
and the Franciscans, the popular preaching
orders of the middle ages. At Florence, these
two churches are Santa Maria Novella and
Santa Croce ; at Venice, they are SS. Giovanni
e Paolo, and the Frari.
The rise of the Friars marks the beginning
of the great religious revival in mediaeval
Europe, which dates from the first quarter of
the thirteenth century. Filled with a fierce
evangelising zeal, the followers of Dominic and
Francis spread themselves everywhere, but
especially in the crowded towns, where, like the
early Wesleyans or the Salvation Army, they
'59

160 Venice.
strove to address in particular the poorest and
most outcast classes. Vowed to poverty them
selves, they alleviated the poverty and suffer
ings of their downtrodden neighbours. As they
preached above all to the many, they needed
large churches, the services in which were at
first enthusiastically attended. But in commer
cial Venice the world soon conquered. Both
their great cathedral-like buildings became be
fore long the favourite resting-places of the
rich and mighty; and the Friars' shrines are
now visited by tourists chiefly for the sake of
the sumptuous tombs of Doges and Senators
which they contain, or else for the lordly altar-
pieces presented, half in devotion, half in self-
glorification, by wealthy and noble families.
Both orders had other and more strictly mis
sionary churches in Venice, of which we have
already seen one, the Franciscan San Giobbe;
the remainder may be visited, if time permits,
at later stages of your exploration.
During St. Dominic's own lifetime, the
Dominican Order which he founded sent out
missionaries to all parts of Europe. Already
in 1234 the Brothers possessed an oratory in
Venice on the very site now occupied by their

SS. Giovanni e Paolo. 161
lordly church; but it was small and unobtru
sive. In that year, however, Doge Giacomo
Tiepolo, a friend of the order, dreamed that
he saw this little preaching-hall of the Domin
icans with the ground all round it — now
occupied by ' the church — covered with a
celestial growth of roses, while white doves
with golden crosses on their heads flitted
among them. (Remember this dream; it will
help to explain a tomb at the door of the
church.) Angels then descended from heaven
with censers, and a voice from above exclaimed :
" This is the place that I have chosen for my
Preachers." (The official Dominican title is
"Order of Preachers.") The Doge told his
dream to the Senate, who decided that forty
paces of ground should be given to enlarge the
oratory; and the Doge himself later increased
the gift, on which account he is regarded as
the pious founder.
The church was begun in 1234, but not
entirely finished and consecrated till 1430. It
thus exemplifies several successive stages in
the evolution of Venetian Gothic. It is dedi
cated to Saints John and Paul, not the apostles,
but the obscure Roman brothers, Christian

1 62 Venice.
soldiers said to have been martyred under
Julian the Apostate. (See Mrs. Jameson.)
The original Dominicans in Venice were emi
grants from the monastery of St. John and
St. Paul at Rome, and they carried their local
patrons with them. The true title of the church
is thus Santi Giovanni e Paolo ; but the Vene
tians have a curious habit of rolling their saints
into one, and generally speak of it as San
Zanipolo. The dead bodies of the Doges lay in state
in this church; and most of them, after the
date of its erection, were buried here. There
was no more room by that time in St. Mark's
for them.
Bear in mind also that this is a Dominican
church, and expect to find Dominican saints
and symbols.
Above all, San Giovanni e Paolo is the
church which most commemorates the heroic
resistance of Venice to the Unspeakable Turk.
Most of the great Christian commanders who
checked the disastrous progress of the Infidel
in the Levant are buried here; and the later
Doges came yearly on the seventh of October
to a solemn thanksgiving service for the great

SS. Giovanni e Paolo. 163
victory in the Dardanelles which saved Europe.
It is likewise the chief church of the powerful
Mocenigo, Morosini, Venier, and Vendramin
families. San Giovanni e Paolo may be approached
either by gondola, or (better) on foot from the
Piazza. If the latter, pass under the gilded
Clock Tower and along the Merceria as far
as the church of San Giuliano. Turn here to
the right. Embedded in the wall of the house
on your left just before you reach the church
is a small and good fifteenth-century relief of
St. George and the Dragon, highly, perhaps too
highly, praised by Mr. Ruskin. Continue on
to the back of the church, and proceed by the
straight narrow street (Calle di Guerra) as
far as the white church of Santa Maria For
mosa. There, turn to the left, and cross the
pretty little Campo obliquely into the Calle
Lunga. Do not take the last turn to the left
before you reach the first bridge, which the
map will show you to be the shortest way to
San Giovanni; it is narrow and malodorous.
Instead of that, continue along the Calle Lunga
until you reach the first canal (Rio di San
Severo), which follow, and cross two bridges

1 64 Venice.
in a straight line, until you come out at the
atrocious baroque facade of the Ospedaletto :
" diseased figures and swollen fruit," Ruskin
well calls its decorations. Here, the vast and
lofty brick apse of San Giovanni e Paolo looms
up picturesquely on the left before you. This
is the most imposing portion of the exterior
of the building, striking in virtue of its immense
height and the absence of buttresses; and
though recently restored, it is still very beau
tiful. Go round to the back and look at it;
the light brick material enables Venetian
churches to raise these lofty unbuttressed apses,
difficult to attain in solid stone. Then continue
to the left into the open Campo di San Gio
vanni e Paolo, which contains the magnificent
* * equestrian statue of Bartolommeo Colleoni,
and also the fine early Renaissance facade of
the Scuola di San Marco. As I know I cannot
induce you to enter the church till you have
examined these, I may as well give way, seat
you quietly on the steps of the bridge, and
say here what there is to say about them.
Bartolommeo Colleoni was a famous con-
dottiere, or soldier of fortune, in the service
of Venice. On his death, in 1475, ne left the

LEOPARDI. — STATUE OF BARTOLOMMEO COLLEONI

SS. Giovanni e Paolo. 165
whole of his immense fortune to the Republic,
on condition that his statue should be erected
in the Piazza San Marco, like Gattamelata's
before the Santo at Padua. This being con
trary to law, the senate trickily evaded the
condition by erecting it in the Campo of the
Scuola di San Marco. The statue was first
designed by Andrea Verrocchio, the Florentine
painter and sculptor, and master of Leonardo
da Vinci. Andrea died before it was com
pleted, after having once broken the model in
a quarrel with the signory, and the task of
finishing the work was given to the Venetian
artist, Alessandro Leopardi, modeller of the
fine bronze flagstaffs on the Piazza, to whom
the statue as it stands is mainly due. It was he
also who designed the beautiful slender pedes
tal. With the possible exception of Donatello's
Gattamelata, in front of the Santo at Padua,
this is doubtless the noblest equestrian statue
in the world. Its effect is positively increased
by the slimness and evident inadequacy of the
graceful pedestal, which makes the rider look
as though he were about to walk his horse
unconsciously over a yawning precipice. The
face and figure form a perfect embodiment of

1 66 Venice.
the ideal of an Italian soldier of fortune —
erect, stern-featured, able, remorseless, with
deep-set eyes, and haughty expression. Ex
amine it on all sides. The rich detail lavished
on the accessories heightens the effect of the
stern simplicity shown in the horse and rider.
There is no posturing.
A little to the east of the statue is a fine well
head, with amorini, of Renaissance workman
ship. Now, sit down again near the bridge over
the canal, and look up at the facade of the
Scuola di San Marco, erected in 1485 by
Martino Lombardo, and forming an admirable
specimen of the peculiar Venetian style of
early Renaissance architecture introduced by
the Lombardi. It should be compared with
the extremely similar front of San Zaccaria, in
order to form a general idea of their principles
of decoration. The facade is richly coated with
coloured marble, and its sculptured subjects
are those suited to its original object, that of
the charitable Fraternity of St. Mark. It is
now used as a public hospital (Ospedale
Civile). Topping the main lunette is a figure of the

SS. Giovanni e Paolo. 167
patron, St. Mark, with statues on either side,
representing our now familiar friends, the
Theological and Cardinal Virtues. Beneath
stands the lion of St. Mark, with the Venetian
motto. Over the main portal is Charity carry
ing a child; in the lunette of the portal, St.
Mark • enthroned, surrounded by the brethren
of the Fraternity. On either side of the portal
are lions in feigned perspective. On the ground
floor to the right are perspective reliefs of
the miracles of the patron saint, in picture-like
loggias; on the left he cures the cobbler
Anianus; on the right he baptises at Alexan
dria; in both cases, as usual, the pagans are
figured as Mahommedan orientals.
The fine early-Renaissance decorative work,
which strikes the key-note of the Lombardi
treatment, should be carefully examined
throughout, both with the naked eye and with
an opera-glass.
This was one of the greatest among the
Venetian Scuole; from it came several fine
works at the Academy, relating to St. Mark
— the glorious Paris Bordone of the Doge and
the Fisherman, the Tintoretto of St. Mark and
the Tortured Slave, as well as the Mansuetis

1 68 Venice.
in the apse of the suppressed church, and
several other pictures duly noted in their own
places. These once made it a treasure-house of
art, like San Rocco.
I do not advise a visit to the interior; but
you may stand on the bridge, decorated with
ugly grotesque heads of the worst period, in
order to get a view of the side fagade toward
the canal.
You may now proceed to the examination
of San Giovanni e Paolo itself, with which
of course the Scuola has nothing more than
a topographical connection.
The west front, unfinished, in brick, is heavy
and featureless, but has a fine late portal,
Gothic in form though Renaissance in treat
ment. Left of the door stands the sarcophagus
of the founder, Doge Giacomo Tiepolo, and
his brother, Doge Lorenzo Tiepolo, bearing a
curious long Latin verse inscription, and a
shorter one below, which states that " the Lord
Giacomo died in 125 1; the Lord Lorenzo in
1275." At the sides are angels swinging
censers; above, between two ducal caps or
berrettos, are doves crowned with crosses, both
these as in the Doge's dream. Right of the

SAN GIOVANNI E PAOLO. — PORTAL

SS. Giovanni e Paolo. 169
door is the Angel of the Annunciation, good
semi-classical work of the seventh century ; the
Madonna corresponding to it is now missing.
Further right is Daniel in the lions' den, of
the eighth century, treated still in the simple
old Roman fashion. Beneath are the plain
sarcophagi of early Doges; note the archaic
simplicity of these for comparison with the
ornate fiddle-faddle tombs of their successors
in the interior.
The architecture of the south side, which is
best viewed from below the step of the Campo,
is vast and imposing, with its lofty dome,
chapels, and transepts, but has little beauty.
Those, however, who approach by water should
walk along it and through the narrow street
at the end, in order to view the splendid apse
already noticed. The other side of the church
is built in to the now secularised monastic
buildings. Several early sarcophagi and frag
ments of sculpture worth inspection are em
bedded in the wall of the south side also.
The interior is unimpressively striking by
its colossal size, and the vastness of its parts,
but has been much disfigured by rococo addi
tions. The lofty nave and aisles, however, are

170 Venice.
effective by virtue of their dignity and height,
though they lack the crowded perspective of
numerous rows of columns. The general plan
is simple : a nave ; single aisles, with large
chapels built out on the south side; short
transepts; an apse; and two Apsidal Chapels
on each side of it.
I advise the visitor to walk straight up the
church at first, and at once enter the apse,
which is both the earliest and most important
part of the building, and also contains the best
tombs. You will see them thus before you are
tired. Give the sacristan half a franc and
dismiss him, or he will bother you with
" information." The High Altar is an ugly rococo erection of
1 6 19, with Our Lady, angels, and saints, only
interesting because the extreme figures to left
and right below, in Roman military costume,
represent the two sainted martyrs John and
Paul (see Introduction) to whom the church
is dedicated. These are the only figures of
the nominal patrons which I have been able
to discover in the building. The Dominicans
do not seem to have thought much of them.
By the wall on the right, first tomb, is the

SAN GIOVANNI E PAOLO. — MONUMENT OF DOGE
MICHELE MOROSINI

SS. Giovanni e Paolo. 171
fine florid Gothic * * monument of Doge
Michele Morosini (d. 1382), the most ornate of
all the monuments in the pointed style, and one
which well marks the increasing sumptuous-
ness of Venetian life, especially when compared
with that of Doge Giacomo Tiepolo outside
the church and Doge Marco Corner opposite.
Below, the Doge himself lies dead, with his
head on a pillow, his serene, resolute, Dante
like features exquisitely sculptured. The
seven pedestals below once supported the Seven
Virtues — their earliest appearance on a true
Venetian tomb. At the side are angels. Be
hind is a charming * mosaic with the Cruci
fixion, St. John, and Our Lady as usual; the
Archangel Michael (the Doge's personal
patron saint) and the Virgin recommend the
kneeling figure of the prince, in ducal cap
and robe, to the mercy of the crucified Saviour :
on the extreme right, St. John the Baptist
similarly recommends the kneeling Dogaressa.
Above is a relief of Christ, and on the finial at
the apex, the Doge's patron saint, St. Michael,
once more, with the conquered dragon. At
the sides are niched statues of saints, sur
mounted by an Annunciation. Study the

172 Venice.
whole as a characteristic specimen of the ornate
late-Gothic tombs, which strike the key-note
for later monuments.
To the left of this, the late-Renaissance tomb
of Doge Leonardo Loredan, who died in 1521 ;
but this monument was not erected by his
family till 1572. The statue of the Doge is
by Campagna; the allegorical figures are un
interesting. By the left wall, near the altar, is the * tomb
of Doge Andrea Vendramin (d. 1478), by
Alessandro Leopardi. This is a beautiful and
costly piece of early-Renaissance architecture,
with exquisite and delicately chiselled sculpture.
In the centre lies the Doge, recumbent on a
couch supported by eagles ; the face, however,
has only one side sculptured, that turned
toward the spectator. Behind are three figures
of pages or attendants ; beneath, in niches, the
Virtues, dressed now like heathen goddesses,
and hardly distinguishable from one another.
Right and left are two youthful military fig
ures, splendid soulless specimens of Renaissance
workmanship. Are they St. George and St.
Theodore — or only pages ? I think, the latter.
Above them, an Annunciation, in two com-

SAN GIOVANNI E PAOLO. — MONUMENT OF DOGE
ANDREA VENDRAMIN

SS. Giovanni e Paolo. 173
partments. In the lunette under the arch
between these, St. Mark recommends the kneel
ing Doge to Our Lady. The outermost figures
of St. Catharine and the Magdalen, below, do
not belong to the original composition — they
are later and inferior works, substituted for an
Adam and Eve of great beauty, by Tullio Lom
bardo, which were removed as unsuitable for
a church; they are now in the Palazzo Ven-
dramin-Calergi. All the details of this beauti
ful tomb, somewhat unjustly depreciated by.
Ruskin, should be carefully examined. It
shows still better the increase of the pomp of
state in the Republic. Note especially the pre
dominance of symbols marking a sense of the
naval supremacy of Venice.
Left of this is the pure Gothic tomb of
Doge Marco Corner (d. 1368), with two
angels, Madonna and Child, and two saints,
Mark and Peter, under beautiful Gothic niches,
probably by the Massegne. The connecting
portion between these saints and the recumbent
figure has probably been destroyed. The severe
simplicity of this earlier work contrasts with
the florid character of Morosini's tomb, oppo
site, and still more with that of Andrea Ven-

1 74 Venice.
dramin. The growing boastfulness of the
Renaissance can well be traced in this church
and its monuments.
Now, return to the main portal, and examine
first the right or south aisle.
Right of the door, on the end wall, is the
immense tomb of Doge Pietro Mocenigo, by
Pietro Lombardo and his sons, Tullio and
Antonio. This is another specimen of the
sumptuous and costly Renaissance monuments,
exquisite in decoration and splendid in finish,
but wholly lacking in spiritual feeling. Three
figures of captives, representing, I think, the
three ages of man, support the sarcophagus of
the Doge, which bears an inscription in Latin,
" From the spoils of the enemy." Note in this
and later tombs the increasing desire to veil
the nature and shape of the sarcophagus by
decorative adjuncts. Above stands Pietro him
self, with two pages; by the side are armed
allegorical figures; and over the top is the
Doge's patron St. Peter. The relief beneath,
which is almost the only piece of Christian sym
bolism on the monument, represents the Resur
rection; it is counteracted below by Hercules
with the lion, and the Hydra. You will see

SS. Giovanni e Paolo. 175
in many of these later tombs how the recum
bent figure of the deceased has risen from the
sarcophagus, and now stands erect above it.
On the south wall, right aisle, is a relief of
Christ enthroned, between two flying angels,
forming the tomb of Doge Ranieri Zen (d.
1268). Above it, a fine Renaissance sar
cophagus, of the school of Leopardi, highly
decorated, marks the tomb of Admiral Giro
lamo Canal (d. 1535).
The first altar has an altar-piece by Bissolo,
Our Lady enthroned, with Franciscan saints,
Francis and Bernardino; at the sides are the
four Fathers of the Church, Jerome, Augustine,
Gregory, Ambrose; behind, St. John the Bap
tist and St. Peter. This is an intrusive Fran
ciscan work in this Dominican church : a
modern institution; it replaces a Bellini burnt
in 1867; see later.
The next large monument, over the Con
fessional, is the tomb of Marc' Antonio Bra-
gadino, the heroic defender of Famagosta, in
Cyprus, against the Turks (d. 1596). Un
interesting in itself, this big and ugly work
commemorates a singular act of treachery;
Bragadino, who had surrendered on terms,

176 Venice.
was tortured and flayed alive by the Unspeak
able, as the picture above shows.
The second altar, that of St. Vincent, has
a much-debated altar-piece, variously attrib
uted to Carpaccio, Alvise Vivarini, and others :
it seems to me to be by different hands. Below
is St. Vincent, the patron; on the left, St.
Christopher wading with the infant Christ, and
on the right, St. Sebastian: above, a Pieta;
at its sides, an Annunciation in two sections.
Beyond it is the tomb of the Procurator
Alvise Michiel (1589).
Pass the gaudy and over-decorated chapel
beyond this, and stand for a moment opposite
the truly appalling monument of Doge Ber-
tuccio Valier, his son Silvestro, and his son's
wife Elizabetta Quirini (1708). This is the
largest tomb in the church, and a unique
monument of atrocious taste. A huge dingy-
yellow curtain is sustained by cupid-like angels,
the lineal descendants of the beautiful and
simple Pisan angels who draw the curtains on
the tomb of Doge Andrea Dandolo in the
Baptistery of San Marco. Note hereafter the
gradual evolution of these angels: many
examples in Venice will help you. The theat-

SS. Giovanni e Paolo. 177
rical figures of the two Doges, and of the
vulgar, ugly, and over-dressed old Dogaressa,
in eighteenth century costume, are as bad as
art can make them. The accessories match in
tastelessness the central subject. Flounces and
furbelows; virtues, victories, genii, and lions.
All bombast and rhodomontade.
Beyond these opens the chapel of St. Domi
nic, founder of the order, enriched with six
dull reliefs in bronze by Mazza (1670), telling
in theatrical style the usual episodes from the
life of St. Dominic.
The right transept has a fine sixteenth-
century stained-glass window, with St. George,
St. Theodore, and other military and Francis
can saints, after a design by the Vivarini.
On the right wall of the transept, under
glass, is a * noble figure of St. Augustine, by
Bartolommeo Vivarini, one of the best works
of the master. Beyond it, perhaps by Cima,
is a Coronation of the Virgin, in an assemblage
of saints and angels. Above this is the gilt
equestrian monument of Niccolo Orsini, gen
eral of the Republic in the war against the
League of Cambrai (d. 1509), obviously sug
gested by the Colleoni outside the church.

178 Venice.
On the end wall of the transept, first altar,
is the * Glory of St. Antonius, of Florence, by
Lorenzo Lotto; one of the painter's finest
works, but unfortunately darkened, and ill seen
in its present position. Angels whisper inspira
tion to the enthroned saint; beneath him, the
priests, his deputies, receive petitions and dis
tribute alms to the poor, assembled at the base
of the work. Fine silvery colour.
The door of exit under the window is formed
by the tomb of General Dionigi Naldo (d.
1510). The altar to the left of the door has an
altar-piece by Rocco Marconi, Christ with St.
Peter and St. Andrew. There is a replica of
this work in the Academy, where it can be
seen to greater advantage.
The first choir chapel, the Chapel of the
Crucifix, contains a fine recumbent Gothic
tomb of Paolo Loredan (1365). This is a
knightly image of a sort more common in the
north than in Italy ; on the simple sarcophagus,
his name-saint, St. Paul, and two angels.
The second chapel is of St. Mary Magdalen.
On the altar is a late-Renaissance statue of
the Magdalen, only recognised as such by her

SS. Giovanni e Paolo. 179
pot of ointment; otherwise, a mere volup
tuous Venetian courtesan: the framework is
better. On the left wall is the monument of
Marco Giustiniani, ambassador of the Republic
to the Scaligers (d. 1347), a plain sarcophagus,
with a Madonna and Child, and an Annun
ciation, supported by poor grotesque heads.
Bear in mind the relative dates of these sar
cophagi, and their gradual enrichment, as well
as the evolution of accessories.
Beyond the apse: the first chapel, of the
Trinity, has by the left wall a monument of
Andrea Morosini ( 1347) ; again a sarcophagus
with Madonna and Annunciation.
In the second chapel, by the right wall, is
the knightly tomb of Giacopo Cavalli in full
armour, face hardly seen through helmet,
with dog and lion pillow. He was general of
Venetian troops in the war against Genoa,
known as the war of Chioggia (d. 1394) . The
work is said in an inscription in Venetian dia
lect to be by Paolo di Jacobello, one of the
Massegne; it has the symbols of the evan
gelists and two saints (the two Jameses ?),
with brackets which once supported Faith,
Hope, Charity. This is a noble tomb, still

1 80 Venice.
retaining much of its fine colour. By the left
wall is the monument of Doge Giovanni Dolfin
(1361). It has no inscription, but is known
by the arms, three dolphins. This is a fine
sculptured sarcophagus ; in the centre is Christ,
with angels opening curtains (note these), and
diminutive figures of the Doge and Dogaressa ;
at the ends are saints (?), male and female,
perhaps patrons of the Doge and Dogaressa;
in the panels, on the left is the Arrival and
Adoration of the Magi; on the right, Death
of the Virgin, all of which are worthy of close
attention. In the left transept, at the end wall, near
this chapel, is the tomb of Vittore Cappello,
General of the Venetian army against the
Turks, whom St. Helena, the discoverer of
the True Cross, entrusts with a marshal's
baton to defend the church against the infidel
(1480). The door in this transept gives access to
the Chapel of the Rosary (closed) ; the sacris
tan will try to make you enter it — resist him
and he will flee from you. This was once the
richly adorned chapel of the great Dominican
cult — the Rosary. It now contains nothing

SS. Giovanni e Paolo. 1 8 1
but the charred and blackened remains of some
very base bas-reliefs of the rococo period, much
admired for their intricate and useless carving.
The chapel was accidentally burned down on
August 1 6th, 1867; unfortunately, it con
tained at the moment two of the finest pictures
in the church, a Madonna by Bellini, and
Titian's famous Death of St. Peter Martyr,
which had been placed in it temporarily.
Over the door which leads to this Chapel
is the tomb of Doge Antonio Venier, 1400,
with numerous figures of saints, in beautiful
niches, in the style of the Massegne. Left of
the door is the tomb of the same Doge's wife
Agnese, and of their daughter Orsola (1411) ;
a fine piece of architectural work with an An
nunciation, and a relief of Our Lady and Child
between St. Paul and St. John the Evangelist.
By the left wall of the transept is the poor
tomb of Ljeonardo Prato, knight of Rhodes,
with an equestrian figure ( 1 5 1 1 ) . Equestrian
figures are common here, all suggested by the
inimitable Colleoni : feeble imitations.
The left aisle has in its first bay nothing of
interest. Beyond the first door is the brown
stone tomb of Doge Pasquale Malapiero, of fine

1 82 Venice.
Florentine earlier-Renaissance workmanship.
The Doge lies on a sarcophagus supported by
griffons, under curtains ridiculously suggestive
of a shower-bath; there are no angels; above
are a Pieta and figures of Virtues.
Next to it is the tomb of Giovanni Battista
Bonzio, a senator (d. 1508), in the usual Re
naissance style, with a figure of the deceased,
and the now inevitable Virtues. Beneath this
tomb is an arcade, with statues of two great
Dominican saints, St. Thomas Aquinas and St.
Peter Martyr. The arcade contains in the arch
to the right the beautiful tomb of Doge Michele
Steno (1413), placed low enough to admit of
examination. This is only a portion of the
original work, transferred here from' the demol
ished church of the Servites. The pleasing
Latin inscription is worth reading. The arch
to the left has the Renaissance tomb of Alvise
Trevisan, 1528, an only son whom his mourn
ing parents have thus commemorated.
The next monument is the gilt equestrian
statue of Pompeo Giustiniani, 1616. Beneath
it is the unobtrusive tombstone, containing the
epitaph alone, of Doge Giovanni Dandolo
(1289). Then comes the admirable transi-

SAN GIOVANNI E PAOLO.  MONUMENT OF DOGE
PASQUALE MALAPIERO

SS Giovanni e Paolo. 183
tional monument of Doge Tomaso Mocenigo
(1423), under a Gothic tabernacle, with the
usual recumbent effigy (fine) of the Doge lying
dead on a sarcophagus, containing Virtues in
Renaissance niches, together with two armed
figures of mock-antique type at the angles.
Here angels withdraw the curtains, the evolu
tion of these angels from the Pisan original,
and their final disappearance (as in the Valier
atrocity) being well studied in this church and
at the Frari; above are saints in niches. Ob
serve the intermixture of Gothic and classical
forms and mouldings in the tomb before which
you are now standing; it is by the Florentine
sculptors Piero di Niccolo and Giovanni di
Martino, who were among the first introducers
of Renaissance art in Venice.
To the right of the next altar is the monu
ment of Doge Niccolo Marcello, 1474, by Ales
sandro Leopardi, brought here from the de
molished Servite church of Santa Marina. This
is another good specimen of the early-Renais
sance tomb, with four figures of Virtues in the
niches, and a relief of the kneeling Doge before
Our Lady in the lunette, accompanied by pa
tron saints of Venice. The altar close to this

1 84 Venice.
has an early copy of Titian's Death of St. Peter
Martyr, by Cigoli, presented by King Victor
Emmanuel in place of the original, destroyed
in the fire. St. Peter Martyr was of course
one of the chief lights of the Dominican order.1
To the left of the altar, a boastful and ugly
gilt equestrian statue forms the monument of
Orazio Baglioni (1617), represented as riding
over fallen enemies. The modern marble tomb,
left of this statue, tasteless enough in itself,
commemorates the two brothers Bandiera,
Italian patriots done to death by Austria in
1844 through the cruel connivance of the Eng
lish government with foreign despotism. Over
the next altar is a statue of St. Jerome, by
Alessandro Vittoria.
The end wall of the nave is occupied, in its
first arch, by the tomb of Doge Giovanni
Mocenigo (1485), a work of Tullio and
Antonio Lombardo. This is a characteristic
middle-Renaissance monument, showing pro
gressive deterioration in taste, though still
splendid in workmanship and pure in deco
ration: it is of a type with which the reader
will now be familiar, having on a sarcophagus
the recumbent figure of the Doge, who is pre-

SS. Giovanni e Paolo. 185
sented, in the lunette, to the Madonna and Child
by his patron saints ; at the sides are Virtues,
personally indistinguishable, and at the base,
two reliefs of the Baptism of Christ and of
St. Mark baptising at Alexandria, this last in
compliment to St. John the Baptist, the Doge's
patron. Observe in the former how the three
angels on the bank, once adult in form, have
now shrunk into meaningless little children.
The entire space between this Mocenigo
tomb" and the far finer opposite one of Doge
Pietro Mocenigo is occupied by a third colossal
work, dedicated to the same family and rep
resenting the tombs of Doge Luigi Mocenigo
(1576), and his Dogaressa, as well as that of
Doge Giovanni Bembo, with their recumbent
figures and statues of Christ, etc. The reliefs
represent their tenure of office (the Doge at
prayer, the Doge sitting in council). The
whole expanse of this great west wall is thus
given over entirely to the glorification of the
powerful and wealthy Mocenigo family.
For convenience of identification on a first
visit, I have treated all the tombs in this church
in local order only, but the visitor who has
time for careful study will find it useful to

1 86 Venice.
compare them in their chronological sequence,
and thus to gain a just idea of the rise, devel
opment, culmination, decline, and final degrada
tion of the sculptor's art in Venice. Fine criti
cisms of the most important tombs, and a
good sketch of their development, are given
by Ruskin.
The great Dominican monastery behind the
church is now secularised.

FRARI. — GENERAL VIEW

CHAPTER X.

THE FRARI.

THE Franciscans or Frati Minori di San
Francesco were settled at Venice as early
as 1227. In 1250, having by that time begged
sufficient funds, they began the erection of
their great church, adjoining their friary. It
was completed about 1338, by Fra Pacifico,
and dedicated to Our Lady, under the title of
Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari. A few Doges
are buried here ; but the monuments are chiefly
those of great Venetians, military, naval, or
administrative, and of painters or sculptors.
Families were then divided into friends of the
Franciscans and of the Dominicans. Bear in
mind that this is a Franciscan church, and
expect to find Franciscan saints and symbols.
Do not visit the Frari with this book till
after you have seen San Zanipolo (Giovanni e
Paolo). 187

1 88 Venice.
The Frari can be approached either by gon
dola direct, or by the steamboat to San Toma
station, as before (see under San Rocco).
Externally, the church, though vast, is not
very interesting.
The west front has a fine Italian Gothic door
way, surmounted by figures of the risen Christ,
with the Madonna and Child, and the founder
of the order, St Francis. The south facade
is chiefly interesting as affording a view of
the lofty campanile, erected in 1361 by Jacopo
delle Massegne. High up on its west side are
figures of Our Lady with the Child, and St.
Francis receiving the stigmata from a six-
winged crucified seraph. Beyond the cam
panile, again, we come to a fine doorway of a
special Venetian type, the finial ending in a
figure with an open book, characteristically
Venetian; below is a charming relief of Our
Lady enthroned with the Child, between two
adoring angels, of the school of the Massegne
(about 1400). Over the other door, to the
right of this, is a figure of St. Francis.
Walk round further into the little Campo
in front of the Scuola di San Rocco, in order
to observe the lofty unbuttressed apse, which,

FRARI. — PORTAL

The Frari. 189
as is often the case in Venetian churches, is
architecturally the most interesting portion of
the building. It is probable that the traceries
in these windows suggested those of the Doge's
Palace. This apse and the chapels adjacent
should be examined externally from several
points of view.
Enter by the door in the south aisle.
The interior resembles in its largeness of
parts and in general plan that of San Giovanni
e Paolo; it has a nave, simple aisles, an apse,
and six Apsidal Chapels in line with the apse
(four at San Zanipolo). Its thief peculiarity,
however, is that the choir is placed west of
the transepts, as in Westminster Abbey and in
some other northern churches.
Begin your examination of the interior in
the right or north aisle.
The first altar is in the rococo style.
Near the first pillar, on a Holy Water Basin,
is a statue of Chastity bearing a lamb, by
Campagna (1593).
Beyond this is a modern monument to
Titian, erected by Ferdinand I. (1838-52),
with the muses of Sculpture, Architecture,
Painting, and Wood-carving. Titian himself

190 Venice.
is seated in the centre ; behind him, relief rep
resenting his famous picture of the Assumption,
formerly the High Altar-piece of this Francis
can church.
At the second altar, by Salviati, is a Presen
tation of the infant Virgin in the Temple.
Beyond it is the rococo monument of Almerico
D'Este, general of the Republic, with his
statue (1660).
At the third altar is a statue of St. Jerome
with his lion, by Alessandro Vittoria, said
to be a likeness of Titian in his ninety-eighth
year, and famous for its anatomical correctness.
Behind it is the Glory of St. Francis.
Mount the steps by the choir. Pass three
or four unimportant sixteenth and seven
teenth century monuments, and enter the right
transept. By the right wall of the transept is the
early Renaissance monument of Jacopo Mar
cello (1484), by the Lombardi. The sarcoph
agus is borne by three crouching figures of
captives: above it is the statue of Marcello
himself, erect, not recumbent; on either side,
military pages. This is a fine early example
of the non-recumbent, figure. In other places,

VITTORIA. — ST. JEROME

The Frari. 191
intermediate forms occur where the figure
slowly raises itself on one elbow.
Beyond it is an * altar-piece in three sections,
by Bartolommeo Vivarini; in the centre, Our
Lady and Child; on the left, St. Andrew and
St. Nicholas of Myra, with the three balls ; on
the right, St. Paul and St. Peter; above, a
Pieta, with gilt wooden adoring angels.
At the end wall, near the door of the
Sacristy, is the ornate terra-cotta florid-Gothic
monument of the " Beato " Pacifico, a Fran
ciscan brother, and the architect under whom
this church was completed, erected a century
after his death by his family. This is a fine
specimen of Florentine terra-cotta, its over-
elaborate Gothic almost merging into Renais
sance, with " wild crockets." In the lunette is
the Baptism of Christ ; on a sarcophagus, be
neath it, Faith, Hope, and Charity, in niches,
with the Resurrection, and Christ in Hades;
on the finial, Our Lady and the Child ; at the
sides, above, a painted Annunciation. This
curious and interesting transitional work de
serves careful examination.
Over the door of the Sacristy, monument
of Admiral Benedetto Pesaro, 1503, by Lorenzo

192 Venice.
Bregno and Antonio Minello : the Pesari were
the chief patrons of this Franciscan church.
The portal itself is formed by the monument,
which bears ships and other emblems of
Pesaro's victories ; in the centre, the Admiral's
statue; above it, in the pediment, Our Lady
and the Child; on the left, Neptune (?), and
on the right, Mars (by Baccio da Montelupo)
— heathen deities admitted into a Christian
church. To the left of this is the spirited wooden
equestrian statue of a Roman prince, Paolo
Savello, with stolid bourgeois features; on
the sarcophagus, Our Lady and the Child, and
the usual Annunciation. In this case and others
like it the recumbent figure has not only risen
from the lid of the tomb, but has actually
mounted on horseback.
Enter the Sacristy, which is closed; the
Sacristan expects a small fee.
Opposite the door is a large marble reli
quary, with reliefs of the Passion, of the
seventeenth century ; good and relatively unaf
fected works of their bad period. In the
centre, behind a curtain is a beautiful * Renais
sance ciborium, with charming decorative

BELLINI, GIOVANNI. — FRARI MADONNA (CENTRAL
PANEL)

The Frari. 193
work; relief of a Pieta, and figures of St.
John the Baptist and St. Francis.
The * * altar-piece at the end of this Sacristy
consists of an exquisite work in three panels,
by Giovanni Bellini, painted in 1488. This
picture (usually known as " the Frari Ma
donna") is perhaps the loveliest of Bellini's
Madonnas. The picture is enclosed in its
charming original frame, the decorative work
of which is continued in the painted niche of
the central panel. Our Lady sits enthroned,
with a delicately soft and tender expression, in
a small chapel, like one of those in St. Mark's,
with a gold mosaic cupola. The Child on her
knees stands erect and naked. At the foot are
two charming little angels, playing musical
instruments, their attitudes more fanciful and
their clothing scantier than in earlier examples
of Bellini's art. These angels are probably his
most popular single figures. The whole is a
sweetly mystical and celestial presentment of
the Mother of God. The four stately saints
on the side-panels are noble figures, but diffi
cult to discriminate in the absence of symbols :
I take them (very doubtfully) to be, on the
left, St. Nicholas and St. Peter, on the right,

1 94 Venice.
St. Paul and St. Benedict; but I am open to
correction. The entire work is very rich and
mellow in colour: gravely beautiful, and
saintly in feeling.
Re-enter the main church, and proceed to
examine the Apsidal Chapels.
The first chapel, of St. Francis, has an ugly
modern altar-piece of St. Francis receiving the
stigmata, which I notice here only for its
importance as regards the Franciscan order;
all the symbolism of the chapel is obviously
Franciscan. In the second chapel, on the right wall, is
the monument of Duccio degli Alberti, ambas
sador of Florence in Venice (d. 1336). This
is the earliest tomb in Venice on which the
Virtues appear (Justice and Temperance at the
sides), but it is of Florentine workmanship;
otherwise it resembles the ordinary early-
Gothic tombs in having the recumbent figure
of the deceased on a sarcophagus, and a canopy
above it. Study it as marking an epoch in
the evolution of Venetian sculpture. Many
later tombs are copied from it. On the left
wall, fourteenth-century tomb, usually called
"the Monument of the Unknown Knight;"

The Frari. 195
it has no inscription, but presents the well-
sculptured figure of a knight in hauberk and
helmet, lying dead on his sarcophagus, with
a dog (his crest) at his feet. Above him is
a figure of St. Joseph bearing the infant Christ,
toward whom the face of the figure turns.
These two admirable early tombs should be
carefully compared, both for architecture and
symbolism, and contrasted with the bombastic
tone of later monuments.
The third chapel has nothing of importance.
The apse, the internal architecture of which
is rather interesting than beautiful, had for
merly for its High Altar-piece Titian's Assump
tion of the Madonna, as is appropriate in a
church dedicated to St. Mary in Glory. This
famous picture, toward which the whole build
ing once converged, is now in the Academy,
and its place has been taken by an altar-piece
of the same subject by Salviati, brought from
the demolished church of the Servites.
By the right wall of the apse is the late-
Gothic, almost Renaissance, tomb of Doge
Francesco Foscari (d. 1457), by Antonio
Rizzo. This is a striking example of the way
in which the late Gothic monuments approached

1 96 Venice.
the Renaissance ideals. It also shows the in
creased size and costliness of the later tombs.
The centre of the design is occupied by the
sarcophagus, supported by base trefoiled
arches : on it lies the dead Doge, with solid
practical unimaginative features. At his head
and feet stand the four Cardinal Virtues, life-
size, and becoming of immensely increased
importance in the composition. The curtains
above (like those of a bed) are drawn, no
longer by angels, but by two pages in armour,
introduced merely to show a knowledge of
classical costume and of anatomy. On the
sarcophagus itself are Faith, Hope, and
Charity, retaining little, if anything, of Gothic
feeling. Above the curtains is a figure of
Christ blessing, in a mandorla; at the sides,
a somewhat affected Annunciation; the ram
pant foliage of the pediment is very unpleasing.
Altogether this tomb exhibits the last stage
of decadent Gothic — " the refuse of one style
encumbering the embryo of another."
The left wall is occupied by the immense
early-Renaissance tomb of Doge Nicolo Tron
(d- H73). also by Rizzo. The difference
between this and the one opposite, which can

The Frari. 197
so readily be compared with it, marks the
change which was fast coming over Venetian
art. As far as purity of design goes, Rizzo's
Renaissance manner is at any rate better than
his decadent Gothic. This monument is also
noticeable as being one of the first which has
the figure of its occupant repeated, — once
dead, on the sarcophagus, and once, below, as
an erect living statue. I will not enumerate
all the separate figures of armed pages display
ing shields, the Temporal and Theological
Virtues, and the host of other conventional
sculptor's properties with which we are now
familiar. They are hardly worth individual
description. The upper portion of the tomb
consists of a figure of the risen Christ, in the
lunette, with an Annunciation, now conceived
in true Renaissance spirit, at the sides; it has
a statue of God the Father as a finial. It is
sumptuous, well-worked, empty, unimpressive.
The Doge himself is as dull as he is ugly: a
cunning business man, with no spark of
nobility. The first apsidal chapel beyond the apse
has a fine early sarcophagus, with the Ma
donna and Child, and an Annunciation. The

198 Venice.
altar-piece, by Pordenone, represents Our
Lady with the Child, and assorted Franciscan
saints, St. Francis, St. Anthony of Padua, St.
Louis of Toulouse, and others.
The second apsidal chapel has a gilt wooden
Renaissance altar-piece by Dentone, with a
wooden figure of St. John the Baptist as a
penitent in the desert, by Donatello. The other
figures are St. Jerome, St. Genevieve, an An
nunciation, and a Resurrection. In the altar
beneath repose the remains of St. Theodore,
the original patron of the Republic, removed
here from the Scuola di San Teodoro, near the
church of San Salvatore; nobody now seems
to take much notice of him. On the left wall
of this chapel is the Renaissance monument of
Melchior Trevisan, general of the Republic
(1500), the sarcophagus (now reduced to an
uninteresting relic) forming a mere base for
the statue of the general, and flanked by his
pages as supporters. This is the last stage
reached by the simple sarcophagus tomb.
The third apsidal chapel is that of the Milan
ese, belonging to the merchants of Milan estab
lished in Venice. It is naturally dedicated to
the great patron saint of Milan, St. Ambrose,

The Frari. 199
and has a fine altar-piece by Alvise Vivarini
and Basaiti, representing St. Ambrose en
throned in the centre, attended by other saints.
Nearest to the Milanese Father are the military
patron saints of hospitable Venice, St. George
and St. Theodore. On the right are the other
Doctors of the Church usually associated with
Ambrose — St. Gregory, St. Augustine, and
St. Jerome. On the left are an assorted group
of miscellaneous saints, Sebastian, John the
Baptist, and others. At the foot of the throne
sit the usual musical angels. In the painted
loft above is a curious Coronation of the Virgin,
evidently by another hand. This very allusive
altar-piece thus combines devotion to St.
Ambrose, as patron saint of Milan and as
Doctor of the Church, with polite recognition
of Venetian hospitality, and the usual Adriatic
desire to propitiate a powerful and useful
plague-saint. The left transept has a delicate small
Gothic doorway, to the right of the ugly
Renaissance one. On its right wall is an
* altar-piece in three sections, by Bartolommeo
Vivarini, still filling its original Gothic taber
nacle framework, — the last worthy of inspec-

200 Venice.
tion. It has in its central panel, St. Mark
enthroned, as patron of Venice, with musical
angels at his feet. To the left are St. John
the Baptist, and St. Jerome holding the church
of which he was the luminary ; to the right, St.
Paul and St. Nicholas (St. Ambrose and St.
Peter ?).
Before passing down the left aisle, cast a
glance at the carved wooden stalls in the choir,
which were the seats of the Franciscan breth
ren in this monastery.
In the left aisle is a graceful small doorway,
with Our Lady and kneeling brethren.
The rood-screen, which shuts off the choir
from the nave, is late work, unimpressive, and
has the usual Crucifix, with Our Lady, St.
John, the four Evangelists, and the prophets.
Opposite this screen, in the left aisle, is
the large Chapel of the Baptistery; it con
tains the Font, crowned by the usual figure of
St. John the Baptist (by Sansovino). Over
this font is a handsome monument, in the style
of the Massegne, with five figures of saints,
whom I cannot satisfactorily identify.
The altar-piece is also a work in sculpture
by the Massegne: below (later work), in the

The Frari. 201
centre, St. Peter enthroned; at the sides (I
think), St. Jerome, St. John the Baptist, St.
Andrew, and St. Francis or St. Anthony of
Padua; above, Our Lady and the Child, with
four great female saints, St. Lucy with the
lamp, St. Catharine with the wheel, St. Mary
Magdalen with the pot of ointment, and St.
Claire with the cross. The identifications are
doubtful. The rest of this aisle is chiefly given up to
the great family of the Pesari, who were the
chief patrons of the Franciscans in Venice.
Just beyond the door of the Baptistery, with
its handsome arch, is the late Renaissance tomb
of Bishop Jacopo Pesaro (d. 1547). This
shows fine workmanship, and little feeling.
The Bishop lies semi-erect on his sarcophagus,
one of those transitional instances where the
recumbent figure seems to be trying to raise
itself. The bier is adorned with plaques of
coloured marble and supported by two chil
dren with their feet on skulls. The canopy
is characteristic of later-Renaissance feeling.
Good, but unpleasing.
The altar beyond this has for its altar-piece
Titian's famous * * Madonna of the Pesaro

202 Venice.
family. This singular picture, one of the
most celebrated of its author's works, was
painted for the same Bishop, Jacopo Pesaro,
whose tomb we have just examined beside it.
A word of explanation is necessary here. In
1 501, Jacopo Pesaro, who was bishop of
Paphos in Cyprus, then still a Venetian posses
sion, was appointed by Pope Alexander VI.
(Borgia) to the command of the Papal fleet
in the new crusade at that time being under
taken against the Turks by Rome, Venice, and
Hungary. For this occasion, Titian painted
for the militant prelate a very beautiful pic
ture, now at Antwerp, in which Pope Alex
ander VI. introduces to St. Peter the new
Admiral of the Holy See. On the bishop's
successful return from his naval expedition,
he commissioned Titian to paint this second
altar-piece as a thanksgiving for his victory.
The scene is a lofty portico in a soaring church
of then unexampled size, like St. Peter's at
Rome. Our Lady sits enthroned with the
Child near some colossal columns. Just below
her sits St. Peter, reading, at whose feet are
the keys; he is disturbed from his book and
looks away toward the surrounding figures,

TITIAN. — MADONNA OF THE PESARO

The Frari. 203
as though the Holy See were diverted for
the moment from its spiritual task to undertake
a necessary military adventure. He gazes
down benignantly, as does also Our Lady,
upon the kneeling figure of the donor, Bishop
Jacopo Pesaro himself, on the left, an admirable
portrait. Behind the bishop, St. George, repre
senting the military power of Venice, and
extending his arm toward the kneeling donor,
holds aloft the banner of the Holy See, bearing
the arms of the Borgias, surmounted by the
Papal crown, and crowned above with the
laurel-leaves of victory. Behind him, again,
bows a captive Turk, a trophy of the fighting
ecclesiastic's campaign against the Infidel. The
right-hand side of the picture is occupied by
the figures of St. Francis and St. Anthony of
Padua, who represent this Franciscan church
of the Frari. Beside them kneels Benedetto
Pesaro, the head of the house of Pesaro, — his
tomb is in the right transept, — with other
members of his family, most of them in the
crimson robes of Venetian senators (Knights
of St. Mark). The Franciscan saints seem to
commend them to Our Lady. Angels, dwin
dling, after the wont of the time, into babes,

204 Venice.
fill the upper portion of the picture. The alle
gorical meaning of this famous and beautiful
work deserves a little study. It well exhibits
the increasing importance of the portraits of
the donor and his relations, who now quite
throw into the shade Our Lady and the saints.
A fine piece of composition, departing boldly
from the old conventional symmetry : gorgeous
colouring : admirable light and shade.
Beyond the Titian, and over the small door
of the south aisle, stands the gigantic, vulgar,
and ugly monument of Doge Giovanni Pesaro
(d. 1659), by Longhena and another. This
is the worst Baroque work in this church, al
most equalling in pretentious vulgarity the
tomb of the Valiers in San Zanipolo. The
boastful character of the monument is shown,
not only in its vast size, but in its theatrically
gesticulating Virtues, its flyaway Faith, Hope,
and Charity, its oddly startled figure of the
Doge, jumping forward under the canopy of
his own sarcophagus, which is supported by
very fearsome nondescript animals, and, above
all, in the four figures of captive negroes (black
marble faces with white eyes) which sustain
the whole. The skeletons below are in the

The Frari. 205
vilest taste of their period. The bombastic
Latin inscriptions, exactly paralleling the style
of the tomb, state that the Doge " lived 70
years," " unlived " (not died) " in the year
1659," and " lived again in this monument in
the year 1669." A monstrous and hideous
nightmare. Beyond this is the frigidly " correct "
modern tomb of the sculptor Canova (d. 1822),
with finely sculptured but unimpressive figures
from his own design for the tomb of Titian.
Its chilly classicalism, its emptiness of feeling,
and its blank white spaces produce a cold
effect that is eminently unpleasing.
Over the Holy Water Vessel, beyond, statue
in bronze of the great local Franciscan lumi
nary, St. Anthony of Padua, by Balthazar
Stella. By the end wall, near the door, is the Renais
sance tomb of Pietro Bernardo, d. 1538, by
Alessandro Leopardi, a piece of very fine
and delicate workmanship, wasted upon an
exceedingly ugly and meaningless design.
Much of the minor decoration is, however,
most beautiful and graceful; it deserves to
be examined rather in detail than as a whole.

206 Venice.
Mr. Ruskin seems to me unjust in his denun
ciation of this and of many other fine early-
Renaissance monuments.
The vast Franciscan monastery at the back
of the church has been seized by Government
and converted into the Public Archives.
From the little Campo in front of the church,
you may cross the bridge and turn to the left.
Cross another bridge, and keep along the street
a little to the right; cross the Campo S. Stin,
obliquely to the left, when one turn to the
left and one to the right will bring you into
the little Campiello di San Giovanni. Here
you find the portico and remains of the once
splendid Scuola di San Giovanni Evangelista,
where was preserved the famous relic of the
Holy Cross, and whence were brought the
Gentile Bellinis now in the octagonal room at
the Academy. A post in front, dated 1554,
has brethren of the Fraternity worshipping the
Holy Cross, with the eagle, the symbol of the
Evangelist; on the sides are other symbols.
The gateway is in the style of the Lombardi;
it is surmounted by the Holy Cross, with ador
ing angels; in the lunette, the eagle of the
Evangelist. The door and windows have fine

The Frari. 207
Renaissance decoration. The courtyard has
late-Gothic windows with florid finials. The
rest of its architecture is early Renaissance.
Over the main door is a figure of St. John;
under a lunette to the left the Evangelist receiv
ing the members of the Fraternity, with Our
Lady and the Child above. This gate, portico,
and court are a picturesque relic of what was
once a very stately Guildhall. The interior
only deserves a brief visit for the sake of its
still handsome rooms, of its empty church, and
of the pictures which once adorned it, now
in the Academy.

CHAPTER XI.
SAN GIORGIO DEGLI SCHIAVONI AND SAN
ZACCARIA.
THE objects already enumerated in this
volume compose, it seems to me, the
group of sights best worth seeing at Venice.
But in saying this I do not wish to be dog
matic; I merely desire to advise the reader to
the best of my ability. Tastes differ; I can
only recommend first what my own taste judges
to be most important. There are, however, an
immense number of other churches and collec
tions of very high interest, which thoroughly
deserve a visit from those who have already
been able to give adequate consideration to St.
Mark's, the Doge's Palace, the Academy, and
the other greater buildings or museums of the
city. Many of them contain individual pictures
or pieces of sculpture which in themselves may
208

San Giorgio degli Schiavoni. 209
fairly claim to rank among the most beautiful
works of art in Venice.
It must always be a question for the indi
vidual tourist to decide, indeed, whether it is
worth his while to take a long journey by
gondola or on foot into some distant quarter
of the town in order to see some particular
Giovanni Bellini or some stray Tintoretto, to
which Ruskin has called attention by exagger
ated praise, at a time when he has not yet been
able to look at half the equally fine Bellinis
in the Academy, or half the perhaps still finer
Tintorettos in the Doge's Palace. On the
other hand, certain students may desire to hunt
up every specimen of some one master who
specially appeals to them.
My own strong advice to the average cul
tivated visitor who can only spend a month
or six weeks in Venice is this — see thoroughly
first the buildings or objects thus far enu
merated, and then (but only then) take your
choice among the following minor sights,
which I mention in what seems to me, roughly
speaking, the order of their relative value and
instructiveness. By this I do not necessarily
mean their importance as individual artistic

210 Venice.
masterpieces. It may easily happen that some
remote church may contain a single fine Car
paccio or Veronese, while the churches to
which I first call attention here possess no soli
tary work of equal importance. But, then,
you will have neglected many Carpaccios and
Veroneses quite as good in the great buildings ;
and it is often better worth while to look at
some group of individually second-rate objects
that throw light collectively on the history of
art, than to run after every famous picture or
statue. It is a fatal mistake, indeed, to suppose that
what one should see above everything is the
mighty masterpieces; as a rule, masterpieces
are merely works of a particular age and school
which rise more or less distinctly above its
general level ; it is only by understanding first
that general level that they can be rightly appre
ciated, and allowed to fall into their proper
place in the entire aesthetic movement of their
century. I therefore give first some account
of those buildings of the second rank which
I think most useful in filling in your concep
tion of Venice as a whole, and proceed after
ward to mention a few of the scattered master-

San Giorgio degli Schiavoni. 211
pieces which those whose time permits it may
look up for themselves in the remoter parts of
the city.
The Dalmatians and Illyrians were amongst
the earliest subjects of the Venetian Republic;
the trade with the opposite coast was always
considerable, much of Venice being built of
Istrian stone and Dalmatian timber. Indeed,
the chief quay itself derived from the name of
this Slavonic people the title, which it still
bears, of Riva degli Schiavoni. In 1452, the
Council of Ten permitted certain leading Dal
matian merchants settled at Venice to establish
a lay brotherhood, called, after the two great
patron saints of Dalmatia, the Fraternity of
St. George and St. Tryphonius. It was founded
for the relief of old and poor Dalmatians,
especially sailors, for the burial of the dead,
and for the education of the needy children of
their race; and these objects are still its care
at the present day, for it continues to exist in
modern Venice. The Brotherhood built itself
a little oratory or chapel near the Priory of
St. John of Jerusalem, on the Rio della Pieta;
and at the close of the fifteenth century the
members rebuilt this hall in the present form,

212 Venice.
the work being completed, and the marble
facade finished, in the year 1501. During the
next ten years, Carpaccio was employed to
decorate its walls with a series of paintings,
illustrating the lives of the two patron saints,
George and Tryphonius, and also that of St.
Jerome, the translator of the Scriptures from
Hebrew and Greek into Latin in the version
known as the Vulgate, who, though* not a
patron of the Guild, was a Dalmatian, and
therefore a countryman of its members. This
chapel or meeting-hall of the Brotherhood is
commonly known as San Giorgio degli Schia
voni, and is best reached by gondola. If on
foot, go toward San Zaccaria; then San
Giorgio dei Greci and Sant' Antonino; whence
a Fondamenta leads direct to the door. It
should be visited for the sake of these exquisite
works of Carpaccio's, which are both beautiful
in themselves, and also show one a series like
the St. Ursulas of the Academy, still existing
in the very building and in the very framework
for which they were originally intended.
The simple middle-Renaissance facade, by
Sansovino, dates from 1551, but has embedded
in its front a quaint late fifteenth or early six-

San Giorgio degli Schiavoni. 213
teenth century relief of St. George, mounted,
piercing the dragon's head. The dragon has
one paw on the bust of a previous victim.
Behind is a charming figure of the little
Princess, fleeing; in the background, the towers
and ramparts of a mediaeval city. Above this,
St. John the Baptist presents the donor to Our
Lady and the Child; as he lays his hand on
the votary's head, the latter's name was proba
bly Giambattista. To the right, St. Catharine
of Alexandria, crowned, with her wheel and
her palm of martyrdom; probably patroness
of the donor's wife.
The interior consists of a pretty little pan
elled oratory, with good wooden roof. Above
the panels are the famous * paintings by Car
paccio, which have made it a shrine for many
worshippers not Slavs.
Begin on the left wall. The first picture
represents St. George conquering the Dragon.
The youthful saint, with fair hair flying in the
wind, and in admirably painted armour, sits
on a brown horse of somewhat clumsy build,
as was usual with mediaeval horses. He tilts
with his lance at the dragon, a very terrible
and typical monster. The ground hard by is

214 Venice.
covered with the bleached bones of previous
victims. To the right, the little princess,
crowned and in a red robe, stands with clasped
hands, confident of her champion's speedy
victory. In the background, a seascape with
ships, strongly recalling the story of Perseus
and Andromeda, from which this is an obvious
derivative. To the left is architecture, intended,
after Carpaccio's wont, to represent the rude
ness of a pagan city.
In the second picture * * St. George leads
the conquered and crestfallen dragon — a
passing tame beast indeed — into the pagan
city. The centre is occupied by the saint and
his bridled victim. To the left are charming
figures of the pagan or Saracen king, on a
white charger, and the princess, also mounted,
beside him. Behind these, to the left, are
oriental figures, probably derived from studies
made by Gentile Bellini at Constantinople, all
excellently drawn and coloured. The back
ground is formed by the buildings of the city,
crowded with spectators. On the right are
more orientals, representing, I think, a second
scene, where the king and princess have dis
mounted from their chargers (notice the exact

CARPACCIO. — ST. GEORGE CONQUERING THE DRAGON

San Giorgio degli Schiavoni. 215
similarity of the trappings on the two riderless
horses to those in the other portion of the
picture). Within, the saint is probably prepar
ing his new and sudden converts for baptism.
The small panel beyond these, with the risen
Christ and an adoring donor, is not by Car
paccio, and is unimportant.
On the altar-wall is * the baptism of the
king and princess. The saint stands on the
steps of the palace, pouring water over the bare
head of the converted king. Behind him, a
delicious attendant bears a lovely vase with
water for the ceremony. Beyond the king,
the princess, with her long golden hair, kneels
to await the Sacrament: her tiring-woman is
Moorish, and wears a pretty oriental shawl.
The king's turban is tidily laid on the steps.
To the left, in order to show that this is a great
state ceremony, musicians blow trumpets and
bang drums, while Saracens in turbans look on
at the triumph of the new religion. Dignified
courtiers kneel beside them. All the acces
sories, such as the parrot, the dog, the archi
tecture, etc., deserve close observation. Note
how the careful saint withdraws his rich red
robe to save it from wetting; he is still in

2 1 6 Venice.
armour beneath it, because that is part of his
symbolical character. Do not pass too quickly
over these lovely and pregnant pictures.
The altar-piece is a pretty, but insipid, Ma
donna and Child, by Vincenzo Catena, sub
stituted for one by Carpaccio.
Beyond the altar, on the end wall, is a single
scene from the life of St. Tryphonius, the
other patron saint of this fraternity. It repre
sents the one great episode in his legend : St.
Tryphonius, as a child, subdues a basilisk,
which had ravaged Albania. The child's head
and figure are pretty and schoolboyish ; the
basilisk is not well imagined. To the right sits
the Governor, with features like those of Louis
XI. and Henry VII. of England, surrounded
by courtiers. The rest of the canvas is taken
up by wondering spectators, and Carpaccio's
usual architecture. Note the beautiful rugs
through the windows, and observe that the
miracle is treated again as a state ceremony.
On the right wall are two pictures uncon
nected in subject with the series. The first,
the Agony in the Garden, — by Carpaccio, but
ruined, — has the three sleeping saints in the
usual attitudes, and above, the praying Saviour.

San Giorgio degli Schiavoni. 217
The subject of the * second picture is much
debated ; Ruskin describes it as the Calling of
Matthew ; others regard it as Christ invited to
the house of the Pharisee. I am myself in
clined to consider it as the Rich Young Man
to whom Christ gives the command, " Sell all
that thou hast and follow me." The Saviour,
surrounded by the apostles, grasps the hand
of a bearded man in a crimson cap and exquisite
brocaded robe, who stands at the door of a
counting-house. This is a fine picture, but
one which requires little description.
The other three panels represent the history
of St. Jerome, a compatriot of the members
of the fraternity, and translator of the Bible
into Latin. In spite of the critics, I cannot
bring myself to believe that the first two can
vases of this series are by Carpaccio; both in
treatment and in technique they seem to me
wholly alien to his manner.
In the first picture St. Jerome introduces his
tame, obedient, and smiling lion to the monks
of his monastery. The saint himself is bland
and persuasive; the monks, unused to such
monsters, fly in terror; their running, though
full of movement, is awkwardly represented.

2 1 8 Venice.
The background rather suggests the neigh
bourhood of Florence than Venetian archi
tecture. The second picture represents the Burial of
St. Jerome. The wasted body of the aged
ascetic is laid on a terrace in the foreground;
he died at Bethlehem., and an attempt is given
to impress this fact by the introduction of
palm-trees and of a strange animal tied to the
one in the middle distance. A priest reads
the burial service; the monks, in blue and
white robes, kneel around him.
The third picture, clearly by Carpaccio him
self, represents * the Saint in his study trans
lating the Scriptures. It should have occupied
the previous panel. The contention of Mr.
Ruskin and his collaborator that this picture
represents St. Jerome in heaven seems to me
quite untenable; the subject is one commonly
represented, and the treatment here contains
many elements wholly inconsistent with this
strange hypothesis. The saint is seated to the
right, in a charming study, with his authorities
open on the table and on the ground around
him : he is pausing for the exact Latin equiva
lent to some difficult Hebrew phrase. A

San Giorgio degli Schiavoni. 219
mathematical instrument on the right proves
his deep astronomical learning. The centre
background is occupied by a dainty little niche,
with a figure of the risen Christ, bearing the
Resurrection banner. On the table is placed
St. Jerome's abbot's mitre, and close by stands
his crozier. To the left of this, a door gives
a glimpse into a second charming chamber.
To the extreme left, we see delicious furniture
— a charming chair, a reading desk, and rolls
of manuscripts laid on a shelf, above which
is a bass sconce, and below, a shelf containing
antique bric-a-brac, very inappropriate in
heaven, but showing that Carpaccio envisaged
the saint as a learned ecclesiastic with the tastes
of a cardinal of his own period. The antique
curios include a bronze horse, a little bronze
statuette, and three or four small black-and-
yellow Greek vases, of the type erroneously
called Etruscan, and found in tombs of the
early Etruscan period. All the furniture of
this delightful chamber may be closely noted;
its ceiling somewhat resembles that of this very
oratory. The church of San Zaccaria well deserves
a visit. It is reached from the Piazza by going

220 Venice.
as straight as you can go past the Patriarchal
Palace, and over two bridges, till you reach
a doorway with an inscription " Campo San
Zaccaria." In the tympanum of this doorway
is a fine relief, in the style of the Massegne,
representing on the finial, St. Zacharias (?)
blessing; beneath, Our Lady and the Child,
St. John the Baptist, son of St. Zacharias, and
St. Mark the Evangelist. This was the ancient
gate of a large and important Benedictine nun
nery, to which the church belonged. The nun
nery was established here from a very early
date, and daughters of the noblest Venetian
houses were enrolled among its numbers as
abbesses and sisters. They had the privilege
of presenting the Doge with his ducal cap;
almost all the Doges from 837 to 11 72 were
buried in their church.
The existing building was mainly erected by
Martino Lombardo in 1457, but contains frag
ments of older work. Its facade is a good
specimen of early-Renaissance architecture,
which should be compared with the closely
similar example in the Scuola di San Marco.
Notice the circular form given to the false
gable, and to the blind portion or screen which

BELLINI, GIOVANNI. — MADONNA AND CHILD (DETAIL)

San Giorgio degli Schiavoni. 221
joins nave and aisles. Over the entrance, out
side, is a statue of the patron saint, St. Zacha
rias (the priest, and father of St. John the
Baptist), by Alessandro Vittoria. The cam
panile is Romanesque, thirteenth century.
Enter the church. It has a striking interior.
Over the holy water vessel to the right of the
entrance is a statuette of St. John the Baptist,
by Alessandro Vittoria.
The nave and aisles contain a large number
of tolerable pictures, which space will not per
mit me to notice in full. The second altar in
the left aisle has a magnificent * * altar-piece
by Giovanni Bellini in his later period ( 1 505 ) ,
representing Our Lady and the Child, en
throned under a niche of a sort with which we
are now familiar. To the right stands St.
Lucy, with long fair hair, holding a lamp and
the palm of her martyrdom — a lovely figure
in Bellini's most charming later manner. Be
yond her is St. Jerome, as the father of the
monastic life, reading in the Vulgate — a fine,
virile, aged form, in a splendid red robe. To
the left are St. Catharine of Alexandria and
St. Peter. As this is a nuns' church, promi
nence is rightly given to the graceful and tender

222 Venice.
female saints. This picture shows Bellini in
a transitional stage to the later Renaissance
manner; it is, as Vasari justly called it, a
modern picture.
The altar just opposite this, in the right
aisle, has a gilt sarcophagus, interesting as con
taining the body of the patron, St. Zacharias,
father of St. John the Baptist, as its inscription
relates. You will never thoroughly understand
early churches unless you note the importance
of such relics.
The door on the right beyond this gives
access to the Nuns' Choir • separated here, as
often elsewhere, from the main building, so
that the nuns might sing unseen, as they still
do at Santa Trinita dei Monti at Rome. It is
fitted up with good inlaid choir-stalls for the
nuns, dating from 1460. On the right wall
in this choir is a Madonna, usually attributed
to Palma Vecchio, but perhaps by Lorenzo
Lotto; it represents Our Lady and the Child
enthroned, with a musical angel; on the left
are St. Bernard, St. Gregory the Pope, and St.
Paul; on the right are St. Elizabeth of Hun
gary, holding her crown, as typical of those
in high position who renounce the world for

San Giorgio degli Schiavoni. 223
the monastic profession; and, near her, St.
Benedict, as founder of the order ; the young
saint behind I cannot identify. Is he St.
Tarasius ?
Over the door is a tolerable and locally
appropriate Tintoretto of the Birth of St. John
the Baptist, with St. Zacharias and St. Eliza
beth ; this is a good piece of light and colour.
The pictures to the right and left are by
Leandro Bassano, the Funeral of the Virgin
and the Assumption of the Virgin. I do not
think they were painted for their present situ
ation. The altar-piece is a touching Mater
Dolorosa, attributed to Titian, a replica of
the one painted for the Emperor Charles V.
The nave and aisle belong to the Renais
sance building; the apse is a relic of the older
Gothic church, quaintly preserved amid the
newer architecture.
The door in the ambulatory behind the choir
— locked, but opened by the Sacristan for a
few sous — gives access to the * Cappella di
San Tarasio, a saint whose body is preserved
here. It is a good little Gothic building, with
a fine vaulted apse, and it contains three * mag
nificent early altar-pieces, in their original gilt

224 Venice.
tabernacle frames, very florid Gothic, of 1444,
due to the munificence of noble and wealthy
ladies, whose names they bear and who were
the inmates of this convent.
The * ancona, or tabernacle, which occupies
the place of a High Altar, stands over the
sarcophagus containing the body of St. Tara-
sius. It was the gift of Helena Foscari, and
was intended to contain a relic of the Holy
Cross. The old florid frame is intact, with its
numerous figures of saints, of whom the one
to the left above, nearest to Our Lady, is the
patron St. Zacharias, — compare with the much
later wooden figure on the bracket close by;
the one to the right below, crowned and hold
ing the True Cross, is the Empress Helena,
at once the discoverer of the relic and the name-
saint of the donor ; the other figures are mainly
virgin martyrs, Agnes, Catharine, etc., as is
usual in nunneries. The pictures were orig
inally by Giovanni (da Allemagna) and An
tonio Vivarini. St. Mark in the left corner,
and St. Blaise on the right, are still theirs;
the Madonna and the two other figures, St.
Martin and St. Elizabeth, wife of St. Zacha
rias, have been so repainted as to be practically

San Giorgio degli Schiavoni. 225
modern. The older figures show the Cologne
influence. The * altar-piece on the right stands over
the sarcophagus containing the remains of
Saints Nereus and Achilleus and St. Pancras.
It is the gift of Agnesina Giustiniani, as its
inscription, dated 1443, narrates. Its wood
work represents, below, a Pieta to contain a
relic; above, the fainting figure of Our Lady;
higher still, the Resurrection. The paintings
are again by Giovanni da Murano (da Alle-
magna) and Antonio Vivarini; though much
repainted, they still show the influence of the
Cologne school. To the left are St. Gregory
the Pope and another saint (I think, St. Pan
cras) ; to the right St. Nereus and St. Achil
leus, whose bodies rest below in the sarcoph
agus. The * * altar-piece on the left is the gift of
Margherita Donato, and is signed by Giovanni
and Antonio da Murano (Vivarini). It rep
resents, above, St. Margaret, the namesake of
the donor, and another female saint whom I
fail to recognise; below, in the centre, St. Sa-
bina, whose body lies in the sarcophagus be
neath, as the inscription testifies, with a face

226 Venice.
extremely recalling the school of Cologne; on
the left is St. Jerome, with the church, book,
and lion; on the right St. Icerius, with the
instrument of his martyrdom. The garden at
the back of these three last figures is full of
the spirit of the Cologne school. The ancient
part of all three altar-pieces ought to be care
fully studied by anyone who wishes to under
stand the half-German origin of Venetian
painting. All the saints in this chapel are not oriental,
as elsewhere at Venice, but Roman from the
Ccelian hill — a noteworthy peculiarity.
Walk around the ambulatory. Near the end
is the tomb of Alessandro Vittoria, with a bust
of himself, by himself.
The adjacent nunnery is now used as bar
racks.

CHAPTEiR XII.
THE PALLADIAN CHURCHES..
ANDREA PALLADIO, of Vicenza (1518-
1580), was the last of the great Renais
sance architects of Venice. His palaces are
chiefly seen in his native town; his churches
in Venice. He aimed at classical simplicity,
and attained a chilly, cheerless formality. He
was practically the father of the seventeenth
and eighteenth centuries and of the " classical "
mania. Pall-Mall derives from him. His
churches here may be well compared and con
trasted with the earlier and more decorative
buildings of the Lombardi, of which we have
seen fine examples at the Scuola di San Marco
and San Zaccaria. They have a certain spa
cious stateliness of their own, though they
foreshadow the decadence. The worst fault
of Palladio's churches lies in the fact that
227

228 Venice.
he tried to apply the forms of the Greek or
Roman temple — which was a single simple
flat-roofed building, all of one height, — to
the traditional requirements of the Christian
church, which is a complex building with high
nave and lower aisles, usually intercepted by
transepts. The endeavour to reconcile these
conflicting types strikes the key-note of Pal
ladio's church architecture.
On an island at the eastern extremity of
Venice a Benedictine monastery in honour of
St. George the Martyr existed from a very
early period. In mo, Doge Ordelafo Falier
brought to it the body of St. Stephen the Proto-
martyr (but he has other bodies elsewhere) ;
on which account subsequent Doges paid a
yearly visit here on St. Stephen's day. The
great church of this monastery was demolished
in the sixteenth century, in order that Palladio
might rebuild it (1560) in its existing form.
The vast monastic buildings around, though
still inhabited in part by a few Benedictine
monks, are mostly given over to artillery bar
racks and other Government offices. The
whole island was originally covered by these
monastic buildings, the greatest in Venice.

SAN GIORGIO MAGGIORE. — GENERAL VIEW

The Palladian Churches. 229
San Giorgio is best visited by gondola,
though a steamer starts from the Riva every
hour. The exterior has a marble-coated fagade
(Scamozzi, 1575), which well shows the at
tempt to combine nave and aisle with the
classical form, the problem being here solved
by means of a sort of double pediment harshly
interrupted. The chief figures on the facade
are appropriately those of St. George on the
right, and St. Stephen on the left.
The interior is cold, bare, and repellently
classical. It has, however, at least the merit
of purity, being all in one style, as Palladio
left it, unencumbered by later rococo additions.
Over the door is a feeble portrait of the
exiled Pope Pius VII., who was elected in this
church by a conclave of fugitive cardinals in
1800, during the troubles which followed the
French Revolution.
Begin in the right aisle. At the first altar
is a Nativity, by J. Bassano. At the second
altar, is a wooden Crucifix, by Michelozzo.
The third altar, of St. Cosmo and Damian, has
the Martyrdom of the saints, by Tintoretto.
Most of the Tintorettos in this church are in-

230 Venice.
ferior works: this curious and confused com
position, a hasty painting, seems to combine
the various elements of their long torture in
one scene, together, perhaps, with the martyr
dom of St. Sebastian.
In the right transept, at the Altar of St.
Benedict, is a Tintoretto, the Coronation of the
Virgin, in the presence of St. Benedict in his
black robes, to the left with the book of his
rule and his Abbot's crozier. The picture also
shows a Benedictine martyr, wounded in the
head, and bearing the palm of his martyrdom,
whom I do not identify; Pope Gregory the
Great, with the dove whispering at his ear;
and a Benedictine bishop; below are a group
of Benedictine fathers, donors of the picture.
At the altar beyond the transept, the picture
is a Madonna and Child, with St. Scholastica,
a Benedictine nun, and adoring donors, by
Rizzi; a feeble picture.
In the Presbytery is the High Altar, with
the figure of the Eternal Father (by Cam-
pagna) wearing a triangular halo, for the
Blessed Trinity, and supported on a globe by
the symbolic Evangelists. On the right wall
is the * Last Supper, by Tintoretto, one of his

The Palladian Churches. 231
gloomiest pictures, chiefly relieved by the fine
luminous head of the Saviour, and by the
group of angels in weird celestial light grouped
around the cresset ; the domestic details to the
right, with the fine effect of light on the face
of the realistic serving-woman, are characteris
tic of Tintoretto's manner. On the left wall
is the * Gathering of the Manna (also by
Tintoretto), always held to be typical of the
Last Supper and of the Sacrifice of the Mass ;
this is a fine piece of spacious and airy land
scape, with very varied groups in Tintoretto's
naturalistic manner.
The monks' choir, behind the High Altar,
has carved wooden seats, with an entire series
of the usual scenes from the life of St- Bene
dict, by a fine wood-carver of the Flemish
Renaissance school (1598) — note the dol
phins, typical of the naval position of Venice;
also, the Twelve Apostles, bearing each the
instrument of his martyrdom.
In the chapel beside the left transept is the
Resurrection, by Tintoretto, with the family
of Doge Vincenzo Morosini as spectators of
the mystery. Black and gold colouring. Above
the door to the left is the Doge's monument.

232 Venice.
In the left transept is the altar of St.
Stephen, who is here, of course, a leading
saint; the altar-piece, by Tintoretto, repre
sents his martyrdom, noticeable for the fine
luminosity of the dying saint's head and face.
Below are his remains, in a sarcophagus.
In the left aisle, at the first altar, of the
name-saint, St. George, is a bad altar-piece of
his victory over the dragon. At the second
altar is a colossal rococo statue of Our Lady
and the Child, and flyaway angels, by Cam-
pagna. The third altar, of St. Lucy, has an
altar-piece, by Leandro Bassano, of the saint
dragged to martyrdom by ropes and bullocks,
which are miraculously unable to move her;
the painter, in order to mark his sense of the
marvel, has employed a team of half-a-dozen
at least for the purpose — a weak expedient.
At the end of the aisle is the monument of
Doge Marcantonio Memmo.
The campanile should be ascended for the
sake of its beautiful * view over the lagoons
and islands, perhaps the best to be obtained in
Venice. It is easy mounting, up an inclined
plane; quite clean. One sees well from this
point the position of the Lido and of the lagoon,

The Palladian Churches. 233
while the various mud-banks, channels, and
islets are spread out like a map before you. It
also affords a good bird's-eye view of the
courtyard of the ancient monastery.
The great Paolo Veronese of the Marriage
at Cana, now in the Louvre, came from the
Refectory of this wealthy monastery.
In 1576, Venice was visited by a severe
epidemic of plague, which carried off fifty
thousand persons in the city and lagoons. As
a votive offering for preservation from this
calamity the Republic determined to erect a
church to the Redeemer. The edifice was built
in 1577 by Palladio. It may be conveniently
combined in one excursion with San Giorgio
Maggiore. On the way to it, as you skirt the
quay of the Giudecca, you pass the front of
the secularised church and convent of the
Zitelle. The Redentore is a Franciscan church.
The facade illustrates, still more strikingly
than San Giorgio, the futile attempt to combine
classical architecture with Christian necessities.
Both churches, however, it must be admitted,
form fine simple objects in distant views.
The interior is even chillier and balder than

234 Venice.
San Giorgio, with ugly loopholes to admit the
light. It contains but few objects of interest
in its cold blank desert of eighteenth-century
whitewash. In the right aisle, at the first altar, is a poor
Nativity, by Francesco Bassano. At the third
altar, is Christ bound to the column, by Tin
toretto. The High Altar, under the dome, has good
late marble reliefs — in front, the Way to
Calvary; at the back, the Descent from the
Cross, by Mazza da Bologna; the figures of
the two mien prising open the sarcophagus in
the last are characteristic of the late desire to
show power of representing violent movement.
On the Altar itself is a Crucifixion, with St.
Mark and St. Francis, patrons of the city and
the order, by Campagna.
In the Sacristy, behind the High Altar, are
three beautiful * Madonnas, of the school of
Bellini, the particular attribution of which has
been much debated. The loveliest and earliest
is enclosed behind shutters, in an early frame;
it represents * * Our Lady, in red, with the
sleeping Child on a pillow upon her knees,
attended by two exquisite little musical angels.

BISSOLO  MADONNA AND CHILD (DETAIL)

The Palladian Churches. 235
On the parapet are the symbolical fruits so
often represented in this subject; above the
green curtain appears the red-beaked goldfinch
connected by a well-known legend with the
Crucifixion. This lovely work is now generally
assigned to Alvise Vivarini.
The * second picture is later in date, and
is now usually attributed to Bissolo ; it has Our
Lady and the Child, between St. Mark and St.
Francis, representing the city and order.
The * third, also a very beautiful picture, has
Our Lady and the Child between the youthful
St. John and St. Catharine. It is doubtfully
assigned to Pasqualino.
These three exquisite pictures form the real
• reason for a visit to this otherwise bare and
uninteresting church.
The altars in the left aisle have only one
picture of any interest, a weak Ascension, by
Tintoretto, on the altar next the door.
The picturesque canals of the Giudecca, at
the rear, are worth exploring in a gondola.
They are crowded with fishing-craft and live-
fish baskets. It may be worth while to add
in passing that the word Giudecca has nothing
to do with Jews, and that the Ghetto was

236 Venice.
never situated here — in spite of the inveterate
error of English tourists. The island was and
is the fishing suburb of Venice.
A visit may be made on some spare after
noon to San Pietro di Castello (formerly
St. Sergius and St. Bacchus), the original
cathedral of Venice. Ecclesiastically the town
depended from the beginning upon the Patri
archate of Grado, representative of the old
Patriarchate of Aquileia, but this church was
the cathedral of the local Bishop of Castello,
first instituted in 109 1. In 145 1 the seat of the
Patriarchate was removed from Grado to this
place. San Pietro, which stands on a separate
island, may be reached on foot by going along
the Riva and then following the broad, dry
canal which runs northward past the Public
Gardens; the last bridge on the left leads
you down a narrow dirty street till you can
see the campanile and church before you. The
approach by land is so squalid, however, that
I recommend you to go rather in a gondola.
The campo in front of the church is spacious
and imposing. The campanile, a handsome
building of 1474, unlike almost all others in
Venice, is coated with white marble from top

The Palladian Churches. 237
to bottom, and, in its long straight lines and
fine proportions, is extremely stately. It re
tains the general tone of the Romanesque
campanili. The facade of the church presents a good
average specimen of a Palladian design, 1596.
The large building to the right of the church,
now a barrack, is the ancient patriarchal
palace. The interior of the old cathedral con
tains little of interest except a handsome mar
ble patriarchal chair, said to have been brought
from Antioch. It is covered with ancient
Arabic inscriptions from the Koran, in the old
Cufic character. The third altar has a tolerable
altar-piece by Marco Basaiti, representing the
patron, St. Peter, enthroned. Under the High
Altar lies the body of San Lorenzo Giustiniani,
the first Patriarch of Venice. Behind it, in
a niche, is a contemporary statue of the saint,
from which the features in later pictures appear
to have been taken.
This out-of-the-way church thus deserves a
visit on account of its connection with the
episcopate and patriarchate of Venice, the seat
of which was only removed to St. Mark's in
1807, by Eugene Beauharnais, when Viceroy
of Italy.

238 Venice.
The Museo Civico Correr, housed in the
Fondaco dei Turchi, I do not advise you to
visit unless your time is very ample. The
collection is not unlike those of the Musee de
Cluny or the Bargello at Florence, but on a
very poor scale; and much of it is uninterest
ing. In the court are some good specimens of
Venetian well-heads, together with a colossal
antique statue of M. Agrippa, the son-in-law
of Augustus, said to have been brought here
from the Pantheon at Rome, which Agrippa
founded. The most famous object in the
interior is a Carpaccio excessively praised by
Ruskin — " the best picture in the world." It
seems to me a feeble work, representing two
Venetian courtesans on the roof of their house,
surrounded by their pets. There are also a
good Transfiguration by Mantegna; a dry
Pieta by Cosimo Tura; and another by Gio
vanni Bellini. But none of these works is suf
ficiently important to take you out of your way
unless your time is very free. You will find
other far more notable works in the minor
churches. Foremost among these (in illustrative
value) I would place San Francesco della

The Palladian Churches. 239
Vigna, a large rambling church in the north
eastern quarter, hard of access, and best ap
proached by gondola direct. It is Franciscan,
of course, and is said to occupy the precise
spot where St. Mark landed on his way from
Aquileia, and had his famous dream that his
body should finally rest in these islands. Its
great gem to my mind is its lovely * * Madonna
by Fra Antonio da Negroponte, a little-known
Paduan artist, about 1450 — perhaps the most
strangely neglected among the wonderful pic
tures of Venice. In calm dignity and graceful
charm of colour this glorious Madonna has few
equals; yet nobody visits it. It stands on the
right wall of the right transept. The left
transept gives access to the Cappella Santa,
whose altar-piece is a * Madonna with Saints
Sebastian, Jerome, John the Baptist, and
Francis, by Giovanni Bellini, much retouched;
this is a good work, but not to be named in the
same day with the delicious Negroponte. I
may add that Francis, Jerome, and John the
Baptist are important saints in this church;
Franciscan doges and persons named Francesco
are much commemorated in it. The Cappella
Giustiniani, left of the choir, has a good sculp-

240 Venice.
tured altar-piece by the Lombardi, with St.
Jerome and other appropriate saints, and scenes
in relief from the life of St. Jerome, compre
hensible after you have seen San Giorgio degli
Schiavoni. The second altar in the left aisle
is a plague altar, with statues by Vittoria of
St. Roch, St. Sebastian, and St. Anthony
Abbot. Altogether, for those who have time
to examine it, this is one of the most inter
esting minor churches in Venice. With the
hints here given, you will understand most
of it.
Several other churches are mainly famous
for a single picture.
Santa Maria Formosa, a very old founda
tion, but with a building of little interest, is
visited chiefly for one superb Palma Vecchio,
doubtless the finest thing its master ever
painted — a * * Santa Barbara erect between
four other saints. Owing to her legendary
connection with towers, St. Barbara became
the patroness of artillery and fortification ; and
this altar (the first on the right) was that of
the guild of Bombardieri, who thus commem
orated their chosen lady. The cannon at St.
Barbara's feet bear out the allusion. She is

PALMA VECCHIO.  ST. BARBARA (DETAIL)

The Palladian Churches. 241
represented as a singularly queenly and beau
tiful woman, with a noble carriage of the head
and throat; crowned as princess with a most
military crown, and holding in her hand the
palm of her martyrdom. Her robe is glorious.
Nothing more stately or majestic ever pro
ceeded out of the later school of Venice. The
other saints are, on the right, St. Anthony and
St. Dominic; on the left, St. Sebastian and
St. John the Baptist. In the lunette is a Pieta.
The church has many other interesting pictures.
Near the Rialto Bridge stands the church
of San Giovanni Crisostomo. You may look
in as you pass some day to see the finest
Giovanni Bellini hitherto unmentioned. It
occupies the first altar on the right, and repre
sents * St. Jerome reading, flanked by St.
Christopher, left, and St. Augustine, right.
This is Bellini's last work, dated 15 13, in his
eighty-seventh year, — but it is still firm and
vigorous. Almost equally fine is an excep
tionally noble * Sebastiano del Piombo, rep
resenting the patron of the church, St. John
Chrysostom, and therefore occupying the
place of honour on the High Altar. The great
Greek Father — a good instance of the survival

242 Venice.
of Byzantine hagiology in Venice — is seated
in an open portico, reading and transcribing.
Close by, his patron, St. John the Baptist, gazes
at him with fatherly affection. Behind stand
St. Augustine and San Liberale. On the left
are three beautiful female saints — Catharine,
with her wheel, Lucy, with her lamp, and Mary
Magdalen, with her pot of ointment, as if
entering suddenly. This is a fine example of
the later informal arrangement of the Santa
Conversazione, and it is also a good specimen
of Sebastiano del Piombo's early Giorgion-
esque manner, before he came under the influ
ence of Michael Angelo. It is thoroughly
Venetian in type, and its drawing and colouring
recall Giorgione. The luxurious women saints
are specially characteristic of Sebastiano, and
are obviously laying themselves out, not to be
saintly, but to be attractive and charming. The
chapel to the left of the choir has yet another
St. John Chrysostom (perhaps by Mansueti),
accompanied by St. Onofrio, St. Andrew, and
St. Agatha.
Just over the water, beyond the Rialto
Bridge, is the church of St. John the Alms-
giver, San Giovanni Elemosinario — an Alex-

The Palladian Churches. 243
andrian saint, who was adopted by Venice in
the days of her close intercourse with Egyptian
Christendom. Its High Altar has a famous
picture by Titian, representing the patron, San
Giovanni, Patriarch of Alexandria, distributing
alms, which a beggar is receiving. It is a
fine piece of colouring, with Titian's charac
teristic mannerism of attitude. The chapel
to the right of the High Altar has also a good
Pordenone, a plague-picture, St. Roch as chief
plague-patron, between St. Sebastian and St.
Catharine of Alexandria.
The church of the Pieta on the Riva degli
Schiavoni is chiefly visited for its very fine
Moretto, behind the High Altar, * Christ in
the House of Simon the Pharisee. This noble
and graceful picture shows us Moretto as the
originator of that palatial, lordly, splendid,
non-religious mode of treating these festal sub
jects, which was afterward carried to so un
pleasant an extreme by Paolo Veronese. Like
most of its class it was originally the decora
tion of a refectory — that of the convent of
San Fermo at Mqnselice.
San Vitale, near the iron bridge which leads
to the Academy, has, in the choir behind the

244 Venice.
High Altar, a famous Carpaccio, representing
the patron, San Vitale, the martyr of Ravenna,
on horseback. Close by is his wife, Valeria,
with St. John the Baptist, St. James, and St.
George. Separated from these saints by a high
screen are San Vitale's two sons, St. Gervasius
and St. Protasius, attended by St. Peter and St.
Andrew. Above, in clouds, the Madonna in
glory gazes down upon the martyr.
The church of San Simeone Grande, not
far from the railway station, is mainly notice
able for a very noble * * tomb of the namesake
prophet, whose remains rest within it. The
effigy of the saint, by one Marco the Roman
(i3i7),isa splendid work of Gothic sculpture.
It should be compared with that of St. Isidore
in St. Mark's, and that of Doge Andrea
Dandolo. I do not recommend a visit to the remote
church of the Madonna dell' Orto, except for
those who are specially attracted by Tintoretto.
These will probably take Ruskin for their guide.
The church contains * * three of the finest
Tintorettos in Venice, and is further inter
esting as being the great painter's own parish
church — his house standing almost opposite.

CORTE DEL MALTESE. — SCALA MINELLA

The Palladian Churches. 245
But those who are not special Tintoretto wor
shippers will find equally good examples of the
master elsewhere ; and the Madonna dell' Orto
is remote and difficult of access. It has also
a very fine Cima, — an altar-piece of his own
patron, St. John the Baptist, on a pedestal
between Saints Paul and Jerome, and Saints
Peter and Mark. Likewise, an admirable
Palma Vecchio of St. Stephen with a little
court of attendant saints.
I do not wish it to be thought that even
this final list by any means exhausts the objects
of interest at Venice — nay, even the objects
of high aesthetic value. Other works of the
first importance meet one at every turn. Such
are the four splendid * * Greek lions at the
gate of the Arsenal, Titian's Annunciation in
the church of San Salvatore, the famous land
scape by Giorgione in the Palazzo Giovanelli
(admission by private introduction only), the
Martyrdom of St. Lawrence, by Titian, in
the church of the Gesuiti, Cima's beautiful Bap
tism of Christ in San Giovanni in Bragora,
and the charming Renaissance spiral staircase
known as the Scala Minella in the Corte del
Maltese. But Venice is of course inexhaustible,

246 Venice.
and my object in this work is not so much to
mention all its artistic treasures as to put the
tourist on the right road for appreciating those
most salient features which his time permits
him to see. Any indefatigable traveller who
finds he can adequately examine all that is
recommended in this book, and yet has leisure
for more extended researches, may turn with
advantage to Karl Karoly's excellent little work
on " The Paintings of Venice," where most
of the principal objects unconsidered here meet
with due notice.
One last word as to excursions. Of these,
by far the most important is that to Torcello.
Steamers go frequently (see the handbills of
the moment) ; but as a rule they spend a whole
hour uselessly at Burano, an uninteresting
place, with the object of inducing visitors to
inspect a lace-factory, and buy lace. Those
who prefer early art had better instantly en
gage one of the rough little gondolas which
clamour for hire at the landing-place of Burano,
the moment the steamer arrives, and get them
selves ferried across without delay to Torcello.
They will thus secure a double advantage ; not
only will they have a longer time to examine

The Palladian Churches. 247
the very interesting Cathedral of Torcello, but
they will also see it before the main crowd of
tourists arrives — a matter of great moment, as
the key-note of Torcello is its strange and weird
desolation. Next to Torcello in importance comes Mu
rano, the architecture of whose Cathedral
should be compared with that of Torcello. A
delightful excursion is that to Padua by the
steamer to Fusina, and thence by steam tram
way, returning by rail. The picturesque trip
to Chioggia is chiefly interesting for the
glimpse which it gives one of the lagoons and
their shipping.
Yet when all is said and done, — St. Mark's,
the Doge's Palace, the Academy, the Grand
Canal, are the first and last word of the visitor
to Venice.

THE END.

INDEX.

Accademia delle Belle Arti;
see Belle Arti, Accademia
delle.
Alamanno ; see Allemagna.
Aliense, Adoration of the
Magi, 138; Baldwin
Crowned Emperor, 149.
Aliotti, Cherubino, 16.
Allemagna, Giovanni da, 13,
225; Coronation of the Vir
gin, 17-19; Our Lady and
Child, with the Doctors, 28-
29.
Angelo, Michael, 242.
Aspetti, Busts by, 157.
Basaiti, Marco, Calling of
the Sons of Zebedee, 70;
Dead Christ, 77; altar-
piece (panels) 77 ; Agony
in the Garden, 77-78; St.
Jerome in the Desert, 79;
St. George and the Dragon,
79; altar-piece, 199; St.
Peter, 237.
Bassano, Francesco, Pope
Alexander III. and Doge
Sebastiano Ziani, 137, 146-
147 ; Nativity, 234.

Bassano, J., Nativity, 229.
Bassano, Leandro, Doge An
tonio Memmo, 97 ; Resur
rection of Lazarus, 99;
Jacob's Return from Laban,
127; Pope Alexander III.
and Doge Sebastiano Ziani,
x37> J45 ! Funeral of the
Virgin, 223 ; Assumption of
the Virgin, 223; St. Lucy,
232.
Bastiani, Lazzaro; see Sebas
tiani.
Belle Arti, Accademia delle.
History of the building, n-
12.
Works of Art, 1 3-1 19.
Hall of Bonifazio, 102-117.
Hall of Callot, 87.
Hall of Giovanni Bellini,
32"44-
Hall of Paolo Veronese,
91-102.
Hall of St. Ursula, 46-56.
Hall of the Ancient Mas
ters, 16-27.
Hall of the Assumption,
65-73-
Hall of the Drawings, 76.

249

250

Index.

Hall of the Flemings, 90.
Hall of the Holy Cross,
58-64.
Hall of the Italian Schools,
74-76.
Hall of the Painters of
Friuli, 88-90.
Hall of the Presentation,
28-31.
Hall of the Scholars of the
Bellini, 77-86.
Hall of the Vivarini, 44-46.
Long Corridor (Loggia Pal-
ladiaho), 117.
Bellini, Gentile, 34, 57, 58, 64,
67, 120, 206, 214; Holy
Cross Miracle,' 60 ; Proces
sions of the Cross, 62, 63;
San Lorenzo Giustiniani,
64-65.
Bellini, Giovanni, 32, 34, 58,
75, 80, 82, 120, 175, 181,
209; Madonna and Child,
32-33. 35. 37 ~38> 221-222;
Allegories, 37 ; Madonna of
the Two Trees, 37-38 ; Our
Lady and Two Saints, 41-
42 ; Madonna with the Red
Cherubs, 43 ; Madonna and
Saints, 43, 239 ; Madonna
Enthroned, 69-70, 72; Pieta,
140, 238 ; altar-piece (Frari
Madonna) 193-194; St.
Jerome Reading, 241.
Bellini, Jacopo, Madonna and
Child, 34, 35.
Bello, Marco, Madonna, 78-
79-
Bissolo, 120, Confession of St.
Catharine of Siena, 81-82;
Madonna and Child, 82,
234-235 ; Presentation in

the Temple, 82 ; Madonna
Enthroned, 175.
Boccaccino, Boccaccio, Jesus
among the Doctors, 38 ; Ma
donna and Saints, 38-39, 40.
Bonifazio (I. II. III.), Sacra
Conversazione, 103, 104;
Christ and the Adulteress,
104 ; Adoration of the
Magi, 104-105, 107, 109,
156 ; Christ Enthroned,
106-107 ; Lazarus and
Dives, 107-108 ; Judgment
of Solomon, 108 ; Christ
and St. Philip, 109; St.
Mark, 1 10 ; Massacre of the
Innocents, iio-in ; St.
Christopher and Infant
Christ, 139-140.
Bordone, Paris, The Doge
and the Fisherman, 14, m-
114, 118, 167; Paradise,
114-115; Pieta, 136.
Bregno, Lorenzo, 192.
Burano, 246.
Busati, Andrea, Magistracy
picture, 83.
Caliari, Carletto, Way to Cal
vary, 99; Persian Ambas
sadors, 125-126.
Caliari, Gabriele, ambassadors
of Nuremberg, 125.
Camerlenghi, Palace of the, 97.
Campagna, 172, 189, 230, 232,
234-
Canova, 205.
Carita, Campo della, 1 5.
Carita, Church of the, 15, 46,
50, 64, 67.
Carita, Scuola della, 11-12,
15, 16,67.

Index.

251

Carpaccio, Vittore, 176, 210,
212, 238; Life of St. Ur
sula, 46-56, 67, 75, 84, 212;
Lives of St. George and St.
Tryphonius, 49; Cure of a
Demoniac, 61 ; Presentation
in the Temple, 72 ; Martyt-
dom of Christians, 84;
Meeting of Joachim and
Anna, 85 ; Ceremonial Pic
ture, 85 ; Lion of St. Mark,
155; St. George series, 212-
216; Scene from Life of
St. Tryphonius, 216; Agony
in the Garden, 216 ; Calling
of Matthew, 217 ; History
of St. Jerome, 217-219;
San Vitale, 244.
Catarino, Coronation of the
Virgin, 23.
Catena, Vincenzo, 120; Fath
ers of the Church, 79 ; Doge
Leonardo Loredan, 139;
Madonna and Child,
216.
Chioggia, 247.
Cigoli, 184.
Cima da Conegliano, 120;
Tobias and the Angel, 35-
36, 39; Madonna and
Child, 38, 39-40; Deposi
tion, 40 ; Incredulity of St.
Thomas, 42-43; St. Chris
topher, 45-46 ; Madonna
Enthroned, 67-68, 72 ; Cor
onation of the Virgin,
177 ; St. John the Baptist,
245 ; Baptism of Christ,
245-g
Colleoni, Bartolommeo,
equestrian statue of, 164-
166.

Contarini, Giovanni, Doge
Marino Grimani, 125; Re-
conquest of Verona, 125.
Corte del Maltese, 245.
Cranach, Lucas, 80.
Cristo, Scuola del, 19.
Crivelli, Carlo, Saints, 86;
Plague picture (panels), 86.
Cusighe, Simone da, 19-20 ;
Madonna della Misericordia,
23-
David, Gerard, 1 54.
Dentone, Altar-piece, 198.
Diana, Benedetto, Holy Cross
Miracle, 61 ; altar-piece, 83 ;
Madonna, 83, 83-84, 84.
Doge's Palace, 11, 22-23, 7Z_
73. 75. 83> 120-158.
Antecollegio, 126-127.
Antichiesetta, 135. '
Archaeological Museum,
154-158.
Atrio Quadrato, 123.
Chiesetta, 135-136.
Library, 154.
Sala del Collegio, 127-131.
Sala del Consiglio dei Dieci,
136-138.
Sala del Maggior Consiglio,
141-151, 154.
Sala del Senato, 131-134,
136.
Sala della Bussola, 138,
140.
Sala delle Quattro Porte,
123-126, 136.
Sala dello Scrutinio, 151—
154-
Scala d'Oro, 123.
Scala dei Censori, 140.
Scala dei Giganti, 122.

252

Index.

Stanza dei Tre Capi del
Consiglio, 139-140.
Donatello, St. John the Bap
tist, 198.
Ducal Palace; see Doge's
Palace.
Dttrer, 80.
Fabriano, Gentile da, 34;
paintings in old Doge's Pal
ace, 13, 74, 120; Madonna
and Child, 74.
Fiammingo, Doge Ziani
blessed by Pope, 146.
Fiore, Jacobello del, Corona
tion of the Virgin, 16-17 !
Madonna della Misericor
dia, 22 ; panel from Doge's
Palace, 22-23.
Fiore, Jacopo del, Lion of St.
Mark, 155.
Fogolino, Marcello, Madonna
and Child, 88.
Franchetti, Baron, 15.
Frari, The, 57, 63, 65, 159,
187-207 ; history of, 187-
207 ; exterior of, 188-189 ;
interior of, 189-206.
Friuli, 88.
Fusina, 247.
Fyt, 117.
Gamberato, departure of Pope
and Emperor, 147.
Garofalo, Our Lady in Clouds,
76.
Gesuiti, Church of the, 245.
Giambono, Michele, mosaics
in St. Mark's, 19; altar-
piece, 19.
Giorgione, 242 ; Storm at Sea,
1 1 7-1 18; Landscape, 245.

Giovanelli, Palazzo, 245.
Grimani Breviary, 154.
Hondekoeter, 117.
Horenbout, 154.
Jacobello, Paolo di, 179.
Lambertini, Michele di Mat-
teo, altar-piece, 25.
Lazzarini, pictures on Moro-
sini Monument, 152.
Le Clerc, Giovanni, Doge
Dandolo forms alliance
with crusaders, 148.
Leopardi, Alessandro, 165,
172, 183, 205-206.
Liberi, Pietro, Battle with the
Turks, 153.
Lippi, Filippino, School of,
Madonna, 75.
Lombardo, Antonio, 174, 184,
190.
Lombardo, Martino, 166, 220.
Lombardo, Pietro, 174; chim
ney-piece by, 155.
Lombardo, Tullio, 157, 173,
174, 184, 190.
Longhena, 204.
Lotto, Lorenzo, Glory of St.
Antonius, 178; Madonna,
222-223.
Madonna dell' Orto, 64, 116,
244-245.
Mansueti, Giovanni, Holy
Cross Miracles, 59-60, 60 ;
St. Mark Healing Anianus,
64, 167 ; St. Mark Preach
ing, 64, 167 ; Madonna, 80:
Plague Picture, 85; St
John Chrysostom, 242.

Index.

^53

Mantegna, 32, 75, 80; St.
George and the Dragon,
34-35 ; Transfigura tion,
238.
Marco the Roman, San Vitale,
244.
Marconi, Rocco, Descent from
the Cross, 89; Christ En
throned, 103 ; Christ and
the Adulteress, 117 ; Christ
with St. Peter and St.
Andrew, 178.
Martino, Giovanni di, 183.
Marziale, Marco, Supper at
Emmaus, 80.
Masons, Scuola of the, altar-
piece from, 42-43.
Massegne, Jacopo delle, 188.
Mauro, Fra, map by, 1 55.
Mazza (da Bologna), bronze
reliefs, 177 ; marble reliefs,
234-
Memling, 50, 53 ; portrait (?),
35-
Merchants, Scuola of the,
IOO^IOI.
Messina, Antonello da, Ma
donna, 35; portrait (?), 35.
Michelozzo, crucifix, 229.
Minello, Antonio, 192.
Misericordia, Church of the,
altar-piece from, 35-36.
Montagna, Bartolomeo,
Plague Picture, 80-81, Ma
donna and Child, 82.
Montelupo, Baccio da, 192.
Moranzone, Jacopo, altar-
piece, 21-22.
Moretto, St. Peter, 117; St.
John the Baptist, 117;
Christ at the House of
Simon, 243.

Moro, Giulio da, 95; Pope
Alexander III. and Doge
Ziani, 147.
Mostaert, 136.
Murano, 247.
Murano, da ; see Allemagna.
Murano, Andrea da, altar-
piece, 26.
Murano, Antonio ; see Viva
rini, Antonio.
Murano, Quirizio da, Ma
donna and Child, 26-27 ;
Ecce Homo, 27.
Museo Civico Correr, 238.
Negroponte, Fra Antonio da,
Madonna, 239.
Niccol6, Piero di, 183.
Ogni Santi, Church of, 101,
115.
Orcagno, 143.
Padua, 247.
Palladio, Andrea, 12, 227-228,
233. 237.
Palma Vecchio, St. Peter, 109 ;
Christ and the daughter of
the Canaanitish Woman,
109 ; Assumption, 109-1 10 ;
Storm at Sea, 117-118;
Madonna, 222-223 ; St. Bar
bara, 240-241 ; St. Stephen,
245-
Palma (younger), 120 j Ecce
Homo, 103 ; Doges Lo
renzo and Girolamo Priuli,
131-132; symbolical pic
tures, 132-133; Doge
Pasquale Cicogna, 133;
Doge Francesco Venier,
133-134; Pope sends back

254

Index.

Otho, 146-147 ; Conquest
of Constantinople, 149;
Venice Enthroned, 150
151; Last Judgment
151.
Paolo, Maestro, Virgin and
Child, with Pieta, 22.
Parentino, Bernardo, Cruci
fixion, 74-75.
Pasqualino, Madonna and
Child, 234-235.
Perandra, Naval Engagement
at Jaffa, 153.
Piazza San Marco ; see San
Marco, Piazza.
Pieta, Church of the, 243.
Pietro, Niccolo di Maestro,
Madonna and Child, 23.
Pinturicchio, drawings, 76.
Piombo, Sebastiano del, St.
John Chrysostom, 241-242.
Pisanello ; see Pisano.
Pisano, Vittore, paintings in
old Doge's Palace, 120;
medals by, 157.
Pordenone, Madonna della
Misericordia, 115; altar-
piece, 1 1 5-1 16, 197-198; St.
Roch, 213.
Previtali, Andrea, Madonna
and Child, 79.
Redentore, The, 233-235.
Riccio, bas-reliefs by, 157.
Riva degli Schiavoni, 211.
Rizzi, 135 ; Madonna and
Child, 230.
Rizzo, Antonio, 195-197.
Salviati, Presentation of the
Virgin, 190 ; Assumption,
195.

San Francesco at Treviso,
altar-piece from, 40-41.
San Francesco della Vigna,
238-240.
San Giobbe, 160 ; altar-pieces
from, 68, 69, 77-78.
San Giorgio degli Schiavoni,
49, 212-219, 240.
San Giorgio Maggiore, 228-
233-
San Giovanni Crisostomo,
241-242.
San Giovanni e Paolo, 49, 64,
92, 95. 159-186, 189, 204;
history of, 159-163; ex
terior of, 168-169; interior
of, 169-186.
San Giovanni Elemosinario,
242-243.
San Giovanni Evangelista,
Scuola di, 12, 57-64, 206-
207.
San Giovanni, in Bragora, 245.
San Giuliano, 163.
San Marco, Piazza, 14.
San Marco, Scuola di, 64, 70,
114, 118, 164-168, 220, 227.
San Moise, Church of, facade
of, 14.
San Niccolo dei Frari, 86.
San Fantaleone, 19.
San Pietro di Castello, 65,
236-237.
San Polo, 63.
San Rocco, at Vicenza, 80, 82.
San Rocco, Scuola di, 12, 49,
168, 188.
San Salvatore, 198, 245.
San Simeone Grande, 244.
San Stefano, Campo, 15.
San Teodoro, Scuola di, 198.
San Vitale, 15, 243-244.

Index.

^55

San Zaccaria, 166, 212, 219-
226, 227.
San Zanipolo ; see San Gio
vanni e Paolo.
Sansovino, 212-213; erected
Golden Stairs, 123; Ma
donna and Child, 136; St.
John the Baptist, 200.
Sant' Andrea della Certosa,
altar-piece for, 44.
Sant' Antonio di Castello, 84,
85; altar-piece from, 21.
Sant' Aponal, 63.
Sant' Ursula, Scuola di, 12,
49.
Santa Croce, Francesco da,
Risen Christ, 89.
Santa Croce, Girolamo da,
St. Mark, 88.
Santa Maria Formosa, 163,
240-241.
Santa Maria Gloriosa ; see
Frari, The.
Santa Maria Maggiore, no.
Santa Maria Zobenigo, facade
of, 14.
St. Cosmo and Damian,
Church of, 96.
St. Elena in Isola, altar-pieces
from, 21-22, 25.
St. Francis, Church of, at
Treviso, 85.
St. Luke's at Padua, altar-
piece from, 83.
St. Mark's, 11, 19, 34,59, 105.
St. Peter Martyr at Murano,
26, 82, 93, 94.
St. Sergius and St. Bacchus,
Church of; see San Pietro
di Castello.
St. Ursula, Life of, 47-49.
Savoldo, Two Saints, 116-117.

Scala Minella, 245.
Scamozzi, 229.
Sebastiani, Lazzaro, Holy
Cross, 59; Nativity, 86;
Franciscan picture, 86.
Semitecolo, Niccolo, Corona
tion, 25.
Siena, Bernardino da, Ma
donna, 76.
"Sketch-Book of Raphael,"
76.
Spagnoletto, Flaying of St.
Bartholomew, 76.
Squarcione of Padua, 13;
Crucifixion, 74-75.
Stella, Balthazar, St. Anthony
of Padua, 205.
Tintoretto, 1 20, 209, 244-245 ;
Death of Abel, 70 ; Miracle
of St. Mark, 70-71, 114,
167; Adam and Eve, 71-
72 ; Madonna and the
Camerlenghi, 94-95 ; Cruci
fixion, 95 ; Descent from
the Cross, 95 ; Assumption
of our Lady, 95-96 ; Ma
donna and Saints, 96 ;
portraits, 96-98, 123; As
sumption, 102 ; Madonna
della Misericordia, 104;
Venice receiving sovereignty
of the sea, 126; Mercury
with the Graces, 126; Bac
chus and Ariadne, 126;
Minerva repelling Mars,
127 ; Forge of Vulcan, 127 ;
Doge Andrea Gritti, 127-
1 28 ; Marriage of St. Cath
arine, 128-129; Doge Nic-
col6 da Ponte, 129, 150;
Doge Alvise Mocenigo,

256

Index.

129-130; Doge Pietro Lo
redan, 132 ; Doges Marc'
Antonio Trevisano and
Pietro Lando, 134; Venice
Enthroned, 134; Princess
and Dragon, 135 ; St.
Jerome and St. Andrew,
135; Three Senators, 140;
Paradise, 142-144,148, 150,
151 ; Ambassadors before
Barbarossa, 145 ; Capture
of Zara, 1 53 ; Birth of St.
John the Baptist, 223 ;
Martyrdom of the Saints,
229-230 ; Coronation o f
the Virgin, 230; Last Sup
per, 230-231 ; Gathering of
the Manna, 231 ; Resurrec
tion, 231 ; Martyrdom of St.
Stephen, 232 ; Christ bound
to the column, 234 ; Ascen
sion, 235.
Tintoretto (younger), Battle
of Salvore, 146 ; Surren
der of Zara, 148 ; Recon-
quest of Constantinople,
149.
Titian, 58, 77, 120, 125, 137,
181, 184, 189-190, 205;
Presentation in the Temple,
29-31. 51 ! Assumption, 65-
67, 96, 190, 195; Visitation
of Mary to Elizabeth, 84
Jacopo Soranzo, 98; Depo
sition from the Cross," 1 10
St. John the Baptist, no
Fede, The, 124-125; St
Christopher, 1 56 ; Madonna
of the Pesaro family, 201-
204 ; Mater Dolorosa, 223 ;
St. John of Alexandria,
243; Annunciation, 245.

Martyrdom of St. Law
rence, 245.
Torbido, Old Woman (Sybil ?),
104.
Torcello, 246-247.
Tura, Cosimo, Madonna and
Child, 34, 44; Pieta, 238.
Udine, Martino da, Madonna
and Child, 88 ; Virtues, 89 ;
Annunciation, 89.
Vecelli, Marco, 125; San
Lorenzo Giustiniani, 132 ;
Peace of Bologna, 137;
Doge Leonardo Donato,
138; Venetian victory
over Roger of Sicily, 1 53.
Vendramin-Calergi, Palazzo,
173-
Venetian School of Art, its
sources, 13.
Veneziano, Antonio, altar-
piece, 19.
Veneziano, Donato, Pieta, 77 ;
Crucifixion, 86; Lion of St.
Mark, 155.
Veneziano, Lorenzo, altar-
piece, 20-21 ; Annunciation,
20-21.
Veronese, Paolo, 99, 120, 145,
210, 243; Madonna and
Saints, 68, 72 ; Venice on
her Throne, 72-73; Supper
at the house of Simon, 91-
92; Our Lady of the
Rosary, 92-93 ; Legend of
St. Christina, 93 ; Battle
of Lepanto, 94 ; Crucifixion,
99-100 ; Annunciation, 100-
101 ; Coronation of the Vir
gin, 101-102 ; Europa and

Ind

ex.

257

the Bull, 127; Doge Se
bastiano Venier, 130-131 ;
Faith, 131 ; Venice En
throned, 131, 150; Glory of
Venice, 138 ; Virtues driv
ing away the Vices, 140 ;
Return of Doge Andrea
Contarini, 149, 150; Mar
riage at Cana, 233.
Verrocchio, Andrea, 165.
Vicentino, Andrea, Venice
receiving Henry III., 125;
Doge returning with con
quered Otho, 1 46 ; Siege of
Zara, 148; Alexis asking
aid from Venice, 148-149;
Baldwin elected Emperor,
149 ; Pepin besieging Rivo
Alto, 1 53 ; Pepin driven
away from Venice, 1 53 ;
Victory of Lepanto, 153.
Vigri, St. Caterina, of Bo
logna, Glory of St. Ursula,
75-
Vinci, Leonardo da, 165;
Sketches, 76.
Vittoria, Alessandro, 184 ; St.
Jerome, 190 ; St. Zacharias,
221; St. John the Baptist,
221 ; bust of himself, 226.

Vivarini ; see Allemagna.
Vivarini, Alvise, 1 76 ; St.
Clara, 37 ; Our Lady En
throned, 40-41 ; St. John
the Baptist, 45 ; St. Mat-
t h e w, 45 ; Annunciation,
46; altar-piece, 199; Ma
donna and Child, 234-235.
Vivarini, Antonio (da Mu
rano), 225; Coronation of
the Virgin, 17-19; St.
Lawrence, 23; Our Lady
and Child with the Doc
tors, 28-29 ! Annunciation,
40.
Vivarini, Bartolommeo, Vir
gin and Saints, 25-26, 44 ;
altar-pieces, 33, 191, 199-
200 ; St. Mary Magdalen,
34 ; St. Barbara, 34 ; pic
ture for the Magistrato di
Cattaver, 43-44; St. Au
gustine, 177.
Z o p p o, Marco, triumphal
arch of Doge Nicolo Tron,
75-
Zoppo, Paolo, St. James, 39.
Zucchero, Submission of Bar
barossa, 147.

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