Venice and its Story Part 14

Room XVIII., at the farther end, is the new Bellini room in which are collected the Bellinis formerly hung in XVII. This little treasury includes, 582, a unique example of Jacopo's work, The Virgin and Child.

596, Giovanni's famous Virgin of the Trees, has recently been peeled and some strata of repainting removed; it is dated 1487, but this date has been questioned by Morelli and other critics who believe it to be a maturer work painted about 1504. 610, The Virgin and Child between SS.

George and Paul, is another popular work by the master; both are admirable for warmth of colour, and dignity and beauty of form. 613, The Virgin and Child between SS. Catherine and Mary Magdalen, is one of the most characteristic of Giovanni's productions; less virile perhaps than 610, but rich and warm in colour and gentle in feeling. We now turn to 595, a remarkable series of panels painted for a _ca.s.sone_ or wedding chest; charming allegories on which the painter has lavished all his skill. Their interpretation still awaits an dipus, but the following suggestions by Ruskin will help the visitor: 1, Fort.i.tude quitting the effeminate Bacchus; 2, Domestic Love,--the world in Venus'

hand becoming the colour of heaven; 3, Fortune as Opportunity distinguished from the greater and sacred Fortune appointed by Heaven; 4, Truth; 5, l.u.s.t.[103]

Room XIX. contains a small collection of Muranese and Paduan school paintings, and others of no great importance. We descend to Room XX., originally the guest-chamber of the brotherhood. The carved and gilded ceiling, representing Christ in the act of blessing, and the four Evangelists, each in his study, is one of the most beautiful schemes of decoration in Venice. It was here that t.i.tian, between 1534 and 1538, painted the Presentation, now restored to its original place. The high-priest stands before the temple at the top of a grand staircase to receive the little maid who seems somewhat too conscious of her pretty blue frock. A group of richly attired Venetian ladies and gentlemen look on. At the foot of the stairway sits an old, coa.r.s.e-featured peasant woman with a basket of eggs; the mountains of Cadore are in the background. According to Ruskin, the most stupid and uninteresting work ever painted by the artist. 625, Giov. d'Alemano and Ant. da Murano, Virgin and Child enthroned, and four Latin fathers of the Church, was also executed for the very wall s.p.a.ce it now covers. It is obviously much repainted. On a screen is 245, a portrait of Jacopo Soranzo by t.i.tian. Above, on a swing panel, is 316, St John the Baptist, painted when the master had pa.s.sed his eightieth year.

SECTION V

_The Grand Ca.n.a.l and S. Georgio Maggiore_

Second only in architectural interest to St Mark's and the Ducal Palace are the patrician mansions that line the chief artery of Venice, known to Venetians as the Ca.n.a.lazzo. No more luxurious artistic feast can be enjoyed in Europe than to leisurely examine from a gondola the architectural details of the Grande Rue that so excited the admiration of Philippe de Comines. We begin on the L. side opposite the Piazzetta.

The DOGANA (Custom House) is a late seventeenth-century structure, low in elevation, in order not to obstruct the view of Longhena's SALUTE.

This church stands on the most magnificent site in Venice, and despite the baseness of many of its details is, when regarded in the ma.s.s, an impressive edifice and one of the architectural features of the city.

The n.o.ble flight of steps and the symmetry of the domes are most effective and pleasing. The anniversary of its consecration in 1687 is still a great popular festival, and yearly on November 21st a bridge of boats is thrown across the ca.n.a.l to facilitate the foot traffic. On the further side of the rio della Salute is seen the apse of the fine Gothic abbey church of S. GREGORIO. We may disembark at the square portal, with a relief of St Gregory over the lintel, which opens on the Grand Ca.n.a.l just beyond the rio. It gives access to one of the most picturesque spots in Venice--the fourteenth-century cloister of the monastery. We continue our voyage, and, pa.s.sing the rio S. Gregorio, note the PALAZZO[104] DARIO (fifteenth century), beautifully decorated with discs of porphyry and serpentine in the style of the Lombardi. This fine mansion has altered little since the time of De Comines. The huge ground-floor beyond is the unfinished PAL. VENIER, begun in the eighteenth century. Farther on is the PALAZZO DA MULA, a fine Gothic building of the early fifteenth century, adjacent to which is the PAL.

BARBARIGO, with its brazen mosaics, now the property of the Venezia-Murano Gla.s.s Co. We pa.s.s on, and next to a garden note the PAL.

MANZONI (1465) by Tullio Lombardi, somewhat later in style than the Pal.

Dario. Pa.s.sing the Accademia and a few houses, we reach the two PALAZZI CONTARINI DEGLI SCRIGNI (Contarini of the Coffers), the first by Scamozzi (1609), the second fifteenth-century Gothic. The Contarini were a wealthy family pre-eminent in the n.o.bility of their ancestry, and owned many palaces in Venice. The last of the race died in 1902 in lodgings. They had given eight Doges and forty-four Procurators to the Republic. Beyond the rio S. Tomaso is the fifteenth-century Gothic PAL.

DURAZZO or dell' Ambasciatore, once the German Emba.s.sy. The two statues on the facade are probably by one of the Lombardi. We pa.s.s two rii and reach the imposing PALAZZO REZZONICO, where Robert Browning died. It was built about 1680 by Longhena; the upper storey is, however, a later addition by Ma.s.sari (1740). We soon come to a magnificent group of three Gothic palaces in the style of the Ducal Palace and attributed to the Buoni. They once belonged to the powerful Giustiniani family, but the last (now the School of Commerce) was bought and enlarged by Francesco Foscari in 1437 and still bears his name. The iron lamp at the corner is modern. Facing us at the farthest corner of the rio Foscari is the PAL.

BALBI by Aless. Vittoria (1582). It is now Guggenheim's shop. We pa.s.s on to the rio S. Toma, at whose farther corner is the PAL. PERSICO (formerly a Giustiniani) in the style of the Lombardi. A few houses beyond is the Gothic PAL. TIEPOLO. Next but one stands the PAL. PISANI, fifteenth-century Gothic. At the farther corner of the rio S. Polo is the PAL. CAPPELLO-LAYARD with a most valuable collection of paintings (admission by personal introduction only). Adjacent is the PAL. GRIMANI of the Lombardi period. Two houses farther on stands the Gothic PAL.

BERNARDO, now belonging to Salviati. On either side of the next traghetto (della Madonetta) are two smaller twelfth-century palazzi, with beautiful Byzantine details, the PAL. DONa and the PAL. SAIBANTE.

Next to a garden is the sixteenth-century Renaissance PAL. PAPADOPOLI (formerly Tiepolo), surmounted by two obelisks. At the farther corner of the rio stands the PAL. BUSINELLI with some interesting Byzantine windows. Next but one is the PAL. MENGALDO, referred to in the "Stones of Venice" as the "terraced house." It has a beautiful Byzantine portal, and arches of the same style are visible in the older part of the building. Just beyond the S. Silvestre Pier is the site of the old palace of the Patriarchs of Grado and Venice. Little of interest meets us until we reach the PONTE DI RIALTO, which replaced a wooden drawbridge similar to that represented in Carpaccio's picture. It was built (1588-92) by Antonio da Ponte from a design by Boldu. Many famous Renaissance architects had at various periods offered designs, among others Michael Angelo, who, when living on the Giudecca, was invited by Doge Gritti to submit a drawing, but this "most rich and rare invention"

met the fate of the rest--it was set aside as too costly. An Annunciation is sculptured on the hither side of the bridge: Gabriel and the Virgin on the spandrils; the dove on the keystone.

By the farther side stands the PAL. DEI CAMERLENGHI (1525-28) by Guglielmo Bergamasco, once adorned with pictures by Bonifazio, for the offices of the three Lords of the Treasury. We pa.s.s the vegetable and fish-markets. Behind the latter, the last house before reaching the Ponte Pescaria was the old PAL. QUERINI, known as the Stallone, with the two large Gothic portals of the old shambles (p. 109). It became the poultry-market after the fall of the Republic. A new fish-market is, however, projected, and the old palace will probably be incorporated in the new building. A few houses farther on is the Gothic PAL. MOROSINI; yet farther the lofty PAL. CORNER DELLA REGINA (now the munic.i.p.al p.a.w.n-office). It was erected in 1724 by Rossi, the architect of S.

Eustacchio, on the site of a palace occupied by the Queen of Cyprus. The huge a.s.sertive PAL. PESARO by Longhena, 1679, now comes into view. It is highly praised by Fergusson.

[Ill.u.s.tration: GRAND Ca.n.a.l--PALAZZI REZZONICO AND FOSCARI.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: GRAND Ca.n.a.l, WITH THE RIVA DEL CARBON AND RIALTO BRIDGE]

[Ill.u.s.tration: CA' D'ORO]

The church of S. EUSTACCHIO (S. Stae), 1709, with its _baroque_ facade will be easily recognised. The bust of the ill-fated Ant. Foscarini will be found in the third chapel L. of entrance, the higher of the two busts to the R. of the chapel. (The church is rarely open and will be more conveniently visited in connection with S. M., Mater Domini, whose sacristan has the key.) At the farther corner of the campo is the PAL.

PRIULI, with an early transitional Gothic arcade. At the near corner of the rio Tron is the PAL. TRON, sixteenth-century Renaissance; at the farther corner, the PAL. BATTAGGIA by Longhena. The building adjacent is one of the old granaries of the Republic, with the outline of the Lion of St Mark still visible on the facade. Interest ends at the restored FONDACO DE' TURCHI (Mart of the Turks) (p. 302).

We cross to the church of S. MARCUOLA (SS. Ermagora and Fortunato), which contains a doubtful t.i.tian (the infant Christ on a pedestal between SS. Catherine and Andrew), thought, however, by Morelli to be a genuine youthful work of the master. Some distance farther on is the PAL. VENDRAMIN by Pietro Lombardi (1481), one of the finest palaces on the ca.n.a.l. The garden wing is by Scamozzi. Next but one is the PAL.

ERIZZO, fifteenth-century Gothic. We pa.s.s on to the CA' D'ORO, the most exquisite little mansion in Venice. It was built (1424-30) for the Contarini, and being richly gilded, was known as the Ca' d'Oro (the Golden House). The derivation from a supposed Doro family is untenable.

The contracts with the Buoni and many another famous _taj.a.piera_ (stone-cutter), and a contract with Mastro Zuan di Franza, Pintor, for the gilding and the painting of the facade with vermilion and ultramarine still exist. The building was profaned by some ill-designed structural alterations and the beautiful wellhead, by Bart. Buono, was sold to a dealer, when the fabric fell into the hands of the ballet-dancer, Taglioni, in 1847. Recently Baron Franchetti has restored it to somewhat of its original form, and the well-head has been recovered.[105] Beyond the Ca' d'Oro Pier is the earlier and simpler Gothic PAL. SAGREDO, now the Rava College. The small PAL. FOSCARI beyond the Campo S. Sofia has interesting Gothic details. The larger, PAL.

MICHIELI DELLE COLONNE, was rebuilt in the seventeenth century. Pa.s.sing the rio SS. Apostoli we reach the interesting CA' DA MOSTO, twelfth-century Byzantine, but hinting at the coming Gothic. An inscription tells that here was born Alvise da Ca' Mosto, discoverer of the Cape Verde Islands. Set back in a small court (Corte Remera) is a thirteenth-century house with an external stairway and a fine Byzantine portal. It shows admirably the pointed arch a.s.serting itself in a Byzantine building. Hard by the Rialto bridge is the Fondaco dei Tedeschi (Mart of the Germans), designed in 1505 by Girolamo Tedesco and completed by Scarpagnino. It is now the Central Post Office. The solitary figure that remains of Giorgione's frescoes will be seen high up between two of the top-floor windows. The sculptures on this side the Rialto bridge represent SS. Theodore and Mark.

[Ill.u.s.tration: PALAZZO VENDRAMIN]

Beyond the bridge the PAL. MANIN by Sansovino, now Banca d' Italia, was the dwelling-place of the last of the Doges. The PAL. BEMBO at the farther corner of the rio is early fifteenth-century Gothic. A small palace farther on, the ground floor of which is used as a cafe, is usually pointed out as the house of Doge Enrico Dandolo. The present Gothic building, however, with its cusped arches is obviously two centuries later in style, though the Byzantine medallions incorporated in the facade may have belonged to the original structure. A Latin inscription on the adjacent house prays the wayfarer to bestow a thought on the great Doge Dandolo, and another inscription in the Pal. Fa.r.s.etti (see below) states that that palace was built for Enrico Dandolo (_volle eretto Enrico Dandolo_) in 1203. All that may be said with certainty is that somewhere on the Riva del Carbon stood the Ca' Dandolo. A few houses farther on is the PAL. LOREDAN with its deep stilted arches, esteemed by Ruskin the most beautiful palace on the Grand Ca.n.a.l. It is twelfth-century Byzantine, restored once in Gothic, again in Renaissance times. It bears on the facade the scutcheon of Peter Lusignan, King of Cyprus, who lodged there in 1363-66. The next edifice is the PAL. Fa.r.s.eTTI, in the same style but simpler. It has a fine staircase with carvings by Canova.

[Ill.u.s.tration: TRAGHETTO AND CAMPO S. SAMUELE]

These two buildings are used as the Munic.i.p.al Offices. At the near corner of the rio S. Luca is Sanmichele's stately Renaissance PAL.

GRIMANI, rescued by the Austrian Government from the house-breaker's hands, and used as the Post Office. It is now the Court of Appeal.

Ruskin considered this to be the princ.i.p.al type at Venice and the best in Europe of the central style of the Renaissance schools. We may disembark and ascend the n.o.ble staircase (the Renaissance masters excelled in the construction of stairways) to the s.p.a.cious landing and halls on the first floor. At the farther corner of the rio is the PAL.

CAVALLINI, so named from the horses' heads on the scutcheons. We pa.s.s on to the PAL. CORNER SPINELLI at the farther corner of the rio dell'Albero, another of the works of the Lombardi. Beyond the traghetto S. Angelo we reach the three PALAZZI MOCENIGO, sixteenth-century architecture. The ducal cap and s.h.i.+eld still figure on the posts, for the Mocenighi gave seven Doges to the Republic. Byron lodged in the middle of the three palaces. Another famous heretic, Giordano Bruno, that Ishmaelite of philosophy, was run to earth by the Inquisition in the farther one and taken to Rome to perish at the stake in 1600.[106]

The early Renaissance palazzo farther on with s.h.i.+elds and torches carved on the facade was another of the CONTARINI mansions subsequently inhabited by the Countess Guiccioli. We pa.s.s two small Gothic palaces and the wide PAL. MORO-LIN, sixteenth-century, by Seb. Mazzoni, a Florentine painter and architect, and reach round the bend the PAL.

GRa.s.sI (1785), by Ma.s.sari. At the farther corner of the Campo S. Samuele is the PAL. MALIPIERO, seventeenth-century. At the near corner of the next rio is the CA' DEL DUCA (di Milano), begun for Francesco Sforza when he was the Venetian Captain-General. The construction was vetoed by the Signory at a point easily discernible, when Sforza began to play Carmagnola's game and was outlawed. The late Gothic PAL. CAVALLI beyond the iron bridge has been wholly restored by Baron Franchetti. At the farther corner of the rio dell' Orso is the fourteenth-century Gothic PAL. BARBARO debased by additions. Beyond the traghetto S. Stefano and a garden is the PAL. CORNER DELLA CA' GRANDE now the Prefecture, a stately Renaissance edifice by Sansovino (1532). Past the traghetto S. M. del Giglio are three palaces all more or less restored which form the Grand Hotel. The first, PAL. GRITTI, is fourteenth-century Gothic; the second, PAL. FINI, is by Tremignano (1688); the third, PAL. FERRO, fifteenth-century Gothic. The small PAL. CONTARINI-FASAN is the so-called Desdemona House. The balcony with its rich tracery is unique in Venice. Some distance farther on is the PAL. TIEPOLO, now the Hotel Britannia. The Hotel d' Italia is a new building. The fifteenth-century PAL. GIUSTINIANI is now the Hotel de l' Europe. The next house but one is the old RIDOTTO, the famous a.s.sembly Rooms and Gambling Saloon of the later Republic, in its day the Monte Carlo of Europe. It is still used for _bals-masques_ at Carnival time. We pa.s.s the gardens of the Royal Palace; the Zecca (mint), and the S. end of the Libreria Vecchia, both by Sansovino, and reach the Piazzetta, whence we started. Fortunate are they who have the opportunity of seeing the Grand Ca.n.a.l at the time of a royal visit, or other great occasion when steamer traffic being stopped, the waters regain the placidity we see in old engravings, and the lines of palaces hung with tapestry are mirrored in the sea. The grand _bissone_ (festal gondolas) are brought forth, decked with brilliant colours, some of them manned by a score of gondoliers in gorgeous old Venetian costume, and we then catch a glimpse of what Venice was in her splendour.

The traveller will probably choose an afternoon for his survey of the Grand Ca.n.a.l, and no better rounding-off of the day may be imagined than to ferry across from the Molo to the island of S. Giorgio Maggiore, the ancient Isle of the Cypresses, and, after visiting the church, to ascend the campanile and enjoy the beautiful view from the summit. Northwards is the line of the mainland, fringed with trees and dotted with villages; in the foreground the broad curve of the city of a hundred isles; around, as the eye sweeps the horizon, are the lagoons, studded with islands and marked by the bold strokes of the lidi; farther to the S. is the open Adriatic. As the sun sinks to its setting the vast expanse will glow in a symphony of ravis.h.i.+ng colour.

Palladio's beautiful and impressive interior (p. 194) has been little disturbed. Among other works of pictorial interest are two Tintorettos in the choir (R., the Last Supper; L., the Fall of Manna), and five other paintings by the same master, all described at length by Ruskin in the Venetian Index. Noteworthy are the beautiful choir stalls by Albert of Brussels, some of the finest examples of Flemish wood-carving in Italy. Longhena's modern monument and the old Latin epitaph to puissant Doge Dom. Michieli will be found in a pa.s.sage behind the choir to the R.

In the Sala del Conclave, where the Sacred College met in 1800 and elected Pius VII., is a fine Carpaccio, St George and the Dragon, with a predella, four episodes in the life of the saint. The campanile is a late erection (1774) on the model of the old tower of St Mark. The campanile collapsed in February 1773, doing much damage to the conventual buildings and killing one of the monks. All that remains of the rich and vast Benedictine monastery, one of the four most opulent in Italy, is now a barrack, and of the 150 brothers it once housed, some half-dozen are permitted to linger amid the secularised surroundings and tend the sanctuary.

SECTION VI

_S. Zulian--S. Maria Formosa--S. Zanipolo_ (_SS. Giovanni e Paolo_)--_The Colleoni Statue--The Scuola di S. Marco--S. Maria dei Miracoli_

Fresh from memories evoked by the mansions of the ruling families of the Republic, we may now fitly turn to the more important of the two great churches of the Friars which together form the Walhalla of Venice. We enter the Merceria from the Piazza, noting the site of the Casa del Morter (p. 109). A few hundred yards down the busy street the ramo S.

Zulian on the right leads to the church of that name, which contains two unimportant Veroneses, an interesting Boccaccino, Virgin and Child, SS.

Peter, Michael, and the two Johns, first altar left of entrance, and one of Campagna's best works, a group in high relief of the dying Christ, to the left of the altar.

From the Campo della Guerra at the back of the church we proceed E., cross the Ponte della Guerra, and continue along the calle until we reach, L., the Salizzada S. Lio. The second calle, to the R., along the salizzada is the picturesque Calle del Paradiso, which leads to the Ponte Paradiso. As we near the bridge we note a beautiful Gothic gable bearing the arms of the Foscari and the Mocenighi, and a fine fourteenth-century relief of the Virgin and Child and a donor. We cross the modern bridge which has replaced the fine old Ponte Paradiso, turn R., over the Ponte dei Preti, and emerge on the s.p.a.cious Campo. S. Maria Formosa is one of the earliest of Venetian churches (p. 23) but entirely restored after the earthquake of 1689. Palma Vecchio's grandiose St Barbara, for which his daughter Violante is said to have stood as model, stands over the first altar on the R. It is one of the most insistent of Venetian paintings. The composition is in six compartments. R. and L.

are SS. Anthony and Sebastian; above is the Virgin of Mercy between the Baptist and St Dominic. The church has also an early work by Bart.

Vivarini, a Pieta by Palma Giovane, and a Last Supper by Ba.s.sano.

We traverse the campo in a N.E. direction to the calle Lunga, which we follow to the end. Here we turn L. along the Fondamenta Tetta, cross the bridge and enter the calle of the same name which leads to the Ponte and Calle Ospedaletto; the end of the calle debouches on the Salizzada SS.

Giovanni e Paolo. We turn L., noting to the R. the towering brick apse of the huge church of the Preaching Friars, due to the piety of Doge Giacomo Tiepolo (p. 78). The monastery was begun in 1236, the church twelve years later. The conventual buildings (now part of the civic hospital) were finished in 1293, and the church was not ready for consecration until 1430, when it was dedicated to the martyred Roman soldiers SS. John and Paul, and became popularly known as S. Zanipolo.

To the L. before we enter are the tombs of Doge Giacomo Tiepolo (1249)[107] and Doge Lorenzo Tiepolo his brother (1275).

The interior is imposing by reason of its vast size and simple plan; though the dome, the Renaissance monuments and rococo details disturb the symmetry. The Mendicant Orders possessing the right to bury the dead within the precincts of their buildings were able to grant permission to wealthy and influential families, their supporters, to erect family chapels and sepulchral monuments in their churches. In this Dominican temple lie buried in monumental pomp Doges and statesmen, great captains and admirals, side by side with famous painters; for the two Bellini and Palma Giovane rest here. The traveller who remembers his Ruskin will doubtless turn first to the two monuments typical of n.o.ble and debased sculpture which are contrasted with such vehement rhetoric in the opening chapter of the "Stones of Venice." He will find the "faithful tender portrait" of Doge Tomaso Mocenigo (1423) in the L. aisle beyond the second altar, rec.u.mbent on a beautiful transitional tomb wrought by two Florentine sculptors, Piero di Nicolo and Giov. di Martino. It is the last of the Gothic tombs in Venice and marks the advancing Renaissance. In the choir, L. of the high altar, is the monument, "perfect in workmans.h.i.+p but devoid of thought," of Doge Andrea Vendramin (1478), executed by Aless. Leopardi and one of the Lombardi. To this "culminating point of the Renaissance," Ruskin attained "by the ministry of such ancient ladders as he found in the sacristan's keeping," and discerned that the figure of the old Doge had but one hand, and that the "wretched effigy was a mere block on the inner side, ... the artist staying his hand as he reached the bend of the grey forehead." The sculptor of "this lying monument to a dishonoured Doge," adds the pa.s.sionate critic, "was banished from Venice for forgery in 1478." The tomb is, however, a fine example of early Renaissance work, in Burckhardt's opinion "the most beautiful of all the tombs of the Doges."

Two inferior figures of St Catherine and the Virgin at the base are not by Leopardi; they were subst.i.tuted for the admirable statues of Adam and Eve by Leopardi's colleague, which were transferred to the Pal.

Vendramin. To the L. of the choir is the early Gothic tomb of Doge Marco Corner (1368), a beautiful and simple monument, probably by the Ma.s.segne. Opposite is the "richest monument of the Gothic period in Venice," the tomb of Michele Morosini (1382). The strongly marked features of the dead Doge, "resolute, thoughtful, serene and full of beauty" are wrought in masterly style. These are the tombs referred to by Ruskin: the former as n.o.ble Gothic; the latter is furnis.h.i.+ng the exactly intermediate condition in style between the pure Gothic and its final renaissance corruption. L. of this is the monument to Doge Leonardo Loredan (1521) with allegorical figures, late Renaissance, executed in 1572. The statue of the Doge is an early work by Campagna.

Beyond the sacristy door is the fine Renaissance monument of Doge Pasquale Malipiero (1462) by a Florentine of the fifteenth century. In the arcade under the next monument (in the N. aisle) is the rec.u.mbent figure of Doge Michel Steno (pp. 124, 139) (1414). The inscription tells that he was a lover of righteousness, peace and plenty. At the end of the aisle against the entrance wall is the monument of Doge Giovanni Mocenigo (1485), a typical and early Renaissance work by Tullio and Ant.

Lombardo. Over the main portal are the huge monuments of Doge Alvise Mocenigo (1577), his wife Loredana Marcella, and Doge Giovanni Bembo (1618). Against the entrance wall south aisle is another imposing monument by the Lombardi to Doge Pietro Mocenigo (1476). The growing pride of dominion is clearly seen in these sumptuous mausoleums.

Pietro's tomb wrought from the spoils of his enemies, as the inscription tells, is adorned with two reliefs boasting of his exploits in war. "The Vendramin Statue," says Ruskin, "is the last which shows the rec.u.mbent figure laid in death. A few years later the idea became disagreeable to polite minds, the figures raised themselves on their elbows and began to look about them.[108] ...But the statue soon rose up and presented itself as an actor on the stage in the front of his tomb, surrounded by every circ.u.mstance of pomp and symbol of adulation that flattery could suggest or insolence claim." The development of the sepulchral monument from the simple sarcophagus of the early Doges, as in the Tiepolo tombs on the west front to its culmination in the fourteenth and fifteenth century monuments; its subsequent decline and then its utter degradation in the eighteenth century Bertucci mausoleum, may be traced in this church. In the S. aisle a stone with reliefs of Christ between two angels recalls the memory of Doge Renier Zen (1268).

Between the first and second altars is the monument to Marc' Antonio Brigadin, hero of the defence of Famagosta. Beyond the side chapel is the colossal monument, 60 feet in length, of Bertuccio (1658) and Silvestre Valier (1700), and the latter's wife Elisabetta, executed by Baratta and other followers of Bernini. This elaborate specimen of rococo art is denounced by Ruskin as exhibiting every condition of false taste and feeble conception.

Among the paintings we note the St Augustine by Bart. Vivarini, one of the master's greatest works; an altar-piece, The Apotheosis of S.

Antonino of Florence, by Lotto; one of Rocco Marconi's best works, Christ with SS. Andrew and Peter; Alvise Vivarini's Christ bearing the Cross, highly praised by Mr Berenson; and Bissolo's Madonna and saints.

The famous monument of Colleoni, in the Campo outside the Church is the finest equestrian statue in Europe. The great stalwart condottiero in full armour sits erect in his saddle, indomitable will and forceful capacity marked in every line of his stern, clean-cut features. The "_vista superba_, the deep-set eyes, piercing and terrible," are rendered with supreme art. The statue was designed by Da Vinci's master Verrocchio, a Florentine sculptor, who, however, died of a cold caught at the casting, and Aless. Leopardi was charged by the Republic to complete the work. The conception and the modelling of horse and rider are due to the Florentine sculptor; the finis.h.i.+ng of it and the design and execution of the pedestal to the Venetian. Colleoni left his fortune to the Republic on condition that his statue should be placed in St Mark's Square. This the laws forbade, but there being a _scuola_ of St Mark with a s.p.a.cious campo before it the Senate decided to erect the statue there and accept the inheritance.

[Ill.u.s.tration: STATUE OF BARTOLOMEO COLLEONI]