,,venice    ,illustration3        ,by   
permission of the late ,thomas          
,threlfall1 ,esq4    ,,the ,,campanile4 
,,venice      ,,by    ,,beryl ,,de      
,s,,lincourt    ,,and    ,,may ,,sturge 
,,henderson        ,,illustrated ,,by   
,,reginald ,,barratt    ,,of ,,the      
,,royal ,,water-,,color    ,,society    
,illustration        ,,new ,,york       
,,dodd1 ,,mead ,,and ,,company    #aijg 
,copyright1 #aijg1    ,,by ,,dodd1      
,,mead ,,and ,,company      ,published1 
,october1 #aijg          ,,contents     
,page    ,i      ,,introductory         
#a        ,,ii      ,,phantoms ,,of     
,,the ,,lagoons                         
#af        ,,iii      ,,the ,,nuptials  
,,of ,,venice                           
#ed        ,,iv      ,,venice ,,in      
,,festival                              
#gd        ,v      ,a ,,merchant ,,of   
,,venice                                
#ih        ,,vi      ,,venice ,,of      
,,crusade ,,and ,,pilgrimage            
#abd        ,,vii      ,,two ,,venetian 

,,statues                               
#afj        ,,viii      ,,venetian      
,,waterways 7,,part ,i7                 
#ahg        ,,ix      ,,venetian        
,,waterways 7,,part ,,ii7               
#bec        ,x      ,,artists ,,of ,,the
 ,,venetian ,,renaissance               
#bge        ,,xi      ,,the ,,soul      
,,that ,,endures                        
#cag          ,,illustrations           
,the ,campanile                         
,frontispiece                           
,,page      ,view from the ,gallery of  
,san ,marco                             
#g      ,santa ,maria della ,salute     
#bc      ,the ,clock ,tower             
#cg      ,riva ,degli ,schiavoni        
#eg      ,the ,doorway of ,san ,marco   
#ga      ,view from ,c d',oro           
#ha      ,courtyard of the ,palazzo     
,ducale                                 
#ia      ,san ,giorgio                  
#ajg      ,the ,dogana                  
#aai      ,the ,shadow of the ,campanile
                                        

#abg      ,the ,clock ,tower from       
,gallery of ,san ,marco                 
#acg      ,the ,horses of ,san ,marco1  
looking ,south                          
#adg      ,the ,horses of ,san ,marco1  
looking ,north                          
#aee      ,in the ,piazza               
#age      ,view on the ,grand ,canal    
from ,san ,angelo                       
#ahi      ,piazzetta1 ,the ,library     
#aie      ,corner of the ,palazzo ,dario
                                        
#bja      ,a ,venetian ,bridge          
#bai      ,palazzo ,sanudo              
#bca      ,a ,side ,canal               
#bda      ,the ,gondoliers' ,shrine     
#bdg      ,entrance of the ,grand ,canal
                                        
#beg      ,view on the ,grand ,canal    
#bfi      ,palazzo ,rezzonico           
#bha      ,towards the ,rialto ,san     
,angelo                                 
#bia      ,bronze ,well-,head by        
,alberghetti--,the ,courtyard of        
,palazzo ,ducale   #cje      ,evening in

 the ,piazzetta                         
#cac      ,a ,palace ,door              
#cbc      ,zattere                      
#cca          ,,venice          ,chapter
 ,one    ,,introductory      8,venice   
herself is poetry1 and creates a poet   
out of the dullest clay40  ,it was a    
poet who spoke1 and his clay was        
instinct with the breath  of genius4    
,but it is true that ,venice lends wings
 to duller clay2 it  has been her fate  
to make poets of many who were not so   
before--a  responsibility that entails  
loss on her as well as gain4    ,she has
 lived--she has loved and suffered and  
created2 and the echoes  of her creation
 are with us still2 the pulse of the    
life which once  she knew continues to  
throb behind the loud and insistent     
present4 ,the  story of ,venice has been
 often written2 the ,bride of the       
,adriatic1  in her decay as in her      
youthful and her mature beauty1 has been
 the  beloved of many men4 8,wo betide  
the wretch10 cries ,landor through  the 

mouth of ,machiavelli1 8who desecrates  
and humiliates her2 she  may fall1 but  
she shall rise again40 ,venice even then
 had passed her  zenith2 the path she   
had entered1 though blazing with a glory
 which  had not attended on her dawn of 
life1 was yet a path of decline1  the   
resplendent1 dazzling path of the       
setting sun4 ,and now a second          
,attilla1 as ,napoleon vaunted himself1 
has descended upon her4 ,she has  been  
desecrated1 but she has never been      
dethroned4 ,she could not1  if she      
would1 take the ring off her finger4 ,no
 hand of man1 however  potent1 can      
destroy that once consummated union1    
however the stranger  and her traitor   
sons may abase her from within4    ,it  
is to her own domain1 embraced by her   
mutable yet eternally faithful          
ocean-lover1 that we must still go to   
see the relics of her pomp4 ,the  old   
sternness has passed from her face1 that
 compelling sovereignty  which gave her 
rank among the greatest potentates of   

the ,middle ,age2  her features1        
portrayed by these latter days1 are     
mellowed2 a veil of  golden haze softens
 the bold outlines of that imperious    
countenance4  ,we are sometimes tempted 
to forget that the cup held by the      
enchanter1  ,venice1 was filled once    
with no dream-inducing liquor1 but with 
a  strong potion to fire the nerves of  
heroes4 ,viewing ,venice in her  greater
 days1 it is impossible to make that    
separation between the  artist and the  
man of action so deadly to action and to
 art4 ,the  portraits of the ,venetian  
masters1 supreme among the portraits  of
 the world1 could only have been        
produced by men who beyond the  divine  
perception of form and colour were      
endowed with a profound  understanding  
and divination of human character4 ,the 
pictures of  ,gentile ,bellini1 of      
,carpaccio1 of ,mansueti1 are a gallery 
of portraits  of stern1 strong1 capable1
 self-confident men2 and ,giovanni      
,bellini1  who turned from secular      

themes to concentrate his energy on the 
portrayal of the ,madonna and ,child1   
endowed her with a strength and  solemn 
pathos which only ,giotto could rival1  
combined with a luminous  richness of   
colour in which perhaps he has no rival 
at all4    ,no mystics have sprung from 
,venice4 ,her sons have been artists of 
life1 not dreamers1 though the sea1 that
 great weaver of dreams1  has been ever 
around them4 ,or rather it is truer to  
say that the  dreamers of ,venice have  
also been men of action2 strong1 capable
 and  intensely practical4 ,they have   
not turned their back on the practice   
of life2 they have loved it in all its  
forms4 ,even when they speak  through   
the medium of allegory1 of symbols1 the 
art of ,carpaccio and  of ,tintoretto is
 a supreme record of the interests of   
the greatest  ,venetians in the actions 
of everything living in this wonderful  
world1  and in particular--they are not 
ashamed to own it--in their supremely   
wonderful city of ,venice4 ,there are   

dreamers among those crowds of          
,carpaccio1 of ,gentile ,bellini2 but   
their hands can grasp the weapons  and  
the tools of earth2 their heads and     
hearts can wrestle with the  problems   
and passions of earth4 ,compare them    
with the dreamers of  ,perugino's       
school3 you feel at once that a gulf    
lies between them2 the  fabric of their 
dream is of another substance4 ,the     
great ,venetians  are giants2 like the  
sea's1 their embrace is vast and        
powerful1  endowed also with the        
gentleness of strength4 ,the history of 
,venetian  greatness in art1 in         
politics1 in theology1 is the history of
 men who  have accepted life and        
strenuously devoted themselves to       
mastering  its laws4 ,they were not     
iconoclasts1 because they were not      
idolaters3  the faculties of temperance 
and restraint are apparent in their very
  enthusiasms4 ,venice did not fall     
because she loved life too well1 but    
because she had lost the secret of      

living4 ,pride became to her more       
beautiful than truth1 and finally more  
worshipful than beauty4    ,much has1   
with truth1 been said about the         
destruction of ,venice4 ,even  in those 
who have not known her as she was1 who  
in presence of her  wealth remaining are
 unconscious of the greatness of her    
loss1 there  constantly stirs indignant 
sorrow at the childish wantonness of her
  inhabitants1 which loves to destroy   
and asks only a newer and brighter      
plaything4 ,but much persists that is   
indestructible2 and though ,venice  has 
become a spectacle for strangers1 for   
those who are her lovers the  old spirit
 lingers still near the form it once so 
gloriously inhabited1  wakened into     
being1 perchance1 by a motion1 an echo1 
a light upon the  waters1 and once      
wakened never again lost or out of mind4
 ,does not  the silent swiftness of the 
,ten still haunt the sandolo of the     
water  police1 as it steals in the      
darkness with unlighted lamp under the  

shadow of larger craft moored beside the
 fondamenta1 visible only when  it      
crosses the path of a light from house  
or garden8 ,it is in her water  that    
,venice eternally lives2 it is thus that
 we think always of her  image--elusive1
 unfathomable1 though plumbed so often  
by no novice  hand4 ,it is the wonder of
 ,venice within her waters which        
justifies the  renewal of the old       
attempt to reconstruct certain aspects  
of a career  which has been a challenge 
to the world1 a mystery on which it has 
never grown weary of speculating4 ,and  
as the light falling from a new  angle  
on familiar features may reveal some    
grace hidden heretofore  in shadow or   
unobserved1 so1 perchance1 the vision of
 ,venice may be  renewed or kindled     
through the medium of a new personality4
    ,venice is inexhaustible1 and it is 
from her waters that her mine  of wealth
 is drawn4 ,they give her wings2 without
 them she would be  fettered like other 
cities of the land4 ,but ,venice with   

her waters is  never dead4 ,the sun may 
fall with cruel blankness on calle1     
piazza  and fondamenta1 but nothing can 
kill the water2 it is always mobile1    
always alive4 ,imagine the thoroughfare 
of an inland city on such a  day as is  
portrayed in ,manet's ,grand ,canal de  
,venise2 heart and eye  would curse the 
sunshine4 ,but in the luminous truth of 
,manet's picture1  as in ,venice        
herself1 the heat quivers and lives4    
,above ground1 blue  sky beating down on
 blue canal1 on the sleepy midday motion
 of the  gondolas1 on the brilliant blue
 of the striped gondola posts1 which    
appear to stagger into the water2 and   
under the surface1 the secret  of       
,venice1 the region where reflections   
lurk1 where the long wavering  lines are
 carried on in the deep1 cool1 liquid   
life below4 ,when ,venice  is weary1    
what should she do but dive into the    
water as all her  children do8 ,if we   
look down1 when we can look up no       
longer1 still  she is there2 a city more

 shadowy but not less real1 her elements
 all  dissolved that at our pleasure we 
may build them again2        ,and so not
 build at all1      ,and therefore build
 for ever4    ,illustration3 ,,view     
,,from ,,the ,,gallery ,,of ,,san       
,,marco4    ,and if in the middle day we
 realise this priceless dowry of        
,venice1 it  is in the twilight of      
morning or evening that her treasury is 
unlocked  and she invites us to enter4  
,turner's ,approach to ,venice is a     
vision1  a dream1 but not more divinely 
lovely than the reality of ,venice in   
these hours1 even as she appears to     
duller eyes4 ,pass down the ,grand      
,canal in the twilight of an ,august    
evening1 the full moon already high  and
 pouring a lustre from her pale green   
halo on the broad sweeping  path of the 
,canal4 ,the noble curves of the houses 
to west and south  shut out the light2  
day is past1 the reign of night has     
begun4 ,then  cross to the ,zattere3 you
 pass into another day4 ,a full tide    

flows  from east to west1 blue and      
swelling like the sea1 dyed in the west 
a shining orange ,where the ,euganean   
hills rise in clear soft outline        
against the afterglow1 while to the east
 the moon has laid her silver  bridle   
upon the dim waters4 ,cross to the      
,giudecca and pass along the  narrow1   
crowded quay into the old palace1 which 
in that deserted  corner shows one dim  
lamp to the canal4 ,the great hall opens
 at the  further end on a bowery garden 
where a fountain drips in the darkness  
and the cicalas begin their piping4     
,mount the winding stair1 past the      
kitchen and the great key-shaped        
reception room1 and look out over the   
city--across the whole sweep of the     
magnificent ,giudecca ,canal and the    
basin of ,san ,marco4 ,the orange glow  
is fading and the ,euganean hills  are  
dying into the night1 while near at hand
 one great golden star is  setting      
behind the ,church of the ,redentore1   
and the moon shines with  full          

brilliance upon the swaying waters1 upon
 the ,ducal ,palace and the  churches of
 the ,zattere1 with the ,salute as their
 chief4 ,the night of  ,venice has      
begun2 she has put on her jewels and is 
blazing with light4  ,at the back of the
 house1 where the lagoons lie in the    
shimmering  moonlight1 is a silent waste
 of waters under the stars1 broken only 
by the lights of the islands4 ,this also
 is ,venice1 this mystery of  moonlit   
water no less than the radiance of the  
city4 ,and it is possible  to come still
 nearer to the lagoon4 ,passing along a 
dark rio little  changed from the past1 
we may cross a bridge into one of the   
wonderful  gardens for which the        
,giudecca is famous4 ,the families of   
the ,silvi1  ,barbolini and ,istoili1   
banished in the ninth century for       
stirring up  tumult in the ,republic1   
when at last they were recalled by      
intercession  of ,emperor ,ludovico1    
inhabited this island of ,spinalunga or 
,giudecca  and laid out gardens there4  

,this one seems made for the night4 ,the
  moonlight streams through the vine    
pergolas which cross it in every        
direction1 lights the broad leaves of   
the banana tree and the dome  of the    
,salute behind the dark cypress-spire1  
and stars the grass with  shining       
petals4 ,the night is full of the scent 
of haystacks built along  the edge of   
the lagoon1 beside the green terrace    
which runs the length  of the           
water-wall4 ,then1 as darkness deepens1 
we leave to the cicalas  their moonlit  
paradise1 and glide once more into the  
,grand ,canal4 ,it is  at this hour1    
more than at any other1 that1 sweeping  
round the curves  of that marvellous    
waterway1 it possesses us as an idea1 a 
presence  that is not to be put by1 so  
compelling1 so vitally creative1 is its 
beauty4 ,truly ,venice is poetry1 and   
would create a poet out of the  dullest 
clay4    ,every one will remember that a
 few years ago an enterprising man of   
business attempted with sublime         

self-confidence to transfer ,venice to  
,london1 to enclose her within the walls
 of a great exhibition4 ,many  of us    
delighted in the miniature market of    
,rialto1 in gliding through  the narrow 
waterways1 in the cry of the gondoliers1
 and the sound of  violin and song      
across the water4 ,but one gift in the  
portion of ,venice  was forgotten1 a    
gift which she shares indeed with other 
cities1 but  which she alone can put out
 to interest and increase a             
thousandfold4  ,the sky is the roof of  
all the world1 but ,venice alone is     
paved with  sky2 and the streets of     
,venice with no sky above them are like 
the  wings of the butterfly without the 
sun4 ,tintoret and ,turner saw ,venice  
as the offspring of sky and water3 that 
is the spirit in which they  have       
portrayed her2 that is the essence of   
her life4 ,it has penetrated  everything
 she has created of enduring beauty4 ,go
 into ,san ,marco and  look down at what
 your feet are treading4 ,venice1 whose 

streets are  paved with sky1 must in her
 church also have sky beneath her feet4 
,it  is impossible to imagine a more    
wonderful pavement than the undulating  
marbles of ,san ,marco2 its rich and    
varied colours bound together  with the 
rarest inspiration2 orient gems captured
 and imprisoned and  constantly lit with
 new and vivid beauty from the domes    
above4 ,the  floor of ,san ,marco is one
 of the glories of ,venice--of the      
world2 and  it is surely peculiarly     
expressive of the inspiration which     
worked in  ,venice in the days of her   
creative life4 ,san ,marco1 indeed1 in  
its  superb and dazzling harmonies of   
colour1 is almost the only living       
representative of the ,venice of        
pomegranate and gold which created  the 
,c d',oro1 of the ,city of ,carpaccio   
and ,gentile ,bellini1 whose            
cornice-mouldings were interwoven with  
glittering golden thread1  while every  
side canal gave back a glow of colour   
from richly-tinted  walls4 ,the banners 

of the ,lion in the ,piazza no longer   
wave in solemn  splendour of crimson and
 gold above a pavement of pale luminous 
red2 in  their place the tricolour of   
,italy flaunts over colourless          
uniformity4  ,the gold is fading from   
the ,palace of the ,doges1 and only in a
 few rare  nooks1 such as the ,scuola of
 the ,shoemakers in the ,campo ,san     
,tom1  do we find the original colours  
of an old relief linger in delicate     
gradation over window or door4    ,day  
after day some intimate treasure is torn
 from the heart of ,venice4  ,since     
,ruskin wrote1 one leaf after another   
has been cut from the ,missal  which    
8once lay open upon the waves1          
miraculous1 like ,st4 ,cuthbert's  book1
 a golden legend on countless leaves40  
,those leaves are numbered  now4 ,year  
by year some familiar object disappears 
from bridge or  doorway1 to be labelled 
and hoarded in a distant museum among   
aliens  and exiles like itself4 ,and    
here1 in ,venice itself1 a sentiment of 

distress1 the fastidio of the ,italians1
 comes over us as we ponder  upon the   
sculptured relics in the cortile of the 
,museo ,civico4 ,what  meaning have they
 here8 ,it is atmosphere that they      
need--the natural  surroundings that    
would explain and vivify their forms4   
,many also of  the ,venetian churches   
are despoiled1 and their paintings hung 
side  by side with alien subjects in a  
light they were never intended to  bear4
 ,the ,austrian had less power to hurt  
,venice than she herself  possesses4 ,in
 those of her sons who understand her   
malady there flows  an undercurrent of  
deep sadness1 as if day by day they     
watched the  ebbing of a life in which  
all their hope and all their love had   
root4  ,they cannot sever themselves    
from ,venice3 they cannot save her4     
,venice  pretending to share in the     
vulgar life of to-day1 ,venice          
recklessly  discarding one glory after  
another for the poor exchange of coin1  
still  has a power over us not wielded  

by the inland cities of ,italy1 happier 
in the untroubled beauty of their decay4
 ,for1 as you are turning with  sorrow  
from some fresh sign of pitiless        
destruction1 of a sudden she  will flash
 upon you a new facet of her magic      
stone1 will draw you  spell-bound to her
 waters and weave once more that        
diaphanous web of  radiant mystery3     
,za per dirtelo1--o ,catina1      ,la   
campagna me consola2      ,ma ,venezia  
la sola      ,che me possa contentar4   
,each of us1 face to face with ,venice1 
has a new question to ask of her1  and1 
as he alone framed the question1 the    
answer will be given to him  alone4     
,every stone has not yielded up its     
secret3 in some there may  still be a   
mark yet unperceived beneath the dust4  
,here and there in her  manuscript there
 may lurk between the lines a word for  
the skilled or  the fortunate4 ,venice  
is not yet dumb3 every day and every    
night the  sun and moon and star make   
music in her that has not yet been      

heard3  with patience and love we may   
redeem here and there a chord of those  
divine musicians1 or at least a tone    
which shall make her harmony more  full4
        ,o ,venezia benedetta1      ,no 
te vogio pi lassar4          ,chapter   
,two    ,,phantoms ,,of ,,the ,,lagoons 
,we have called them the phantoms of the
 lagoons1 those islands that  lie like  
shadows among the silver waters2 for it 
is in this likeness  that they appear to
 us of the city--strangely mirrored1    
remote1 a group  of clustering spirits1 
whose common halo is the sea4 ,they are 
a choir  of spirits1 yet each has a mute
 music of its own1 and accosting them   
one by one--slowly and in the silence   
entering into their life--we may  come  
to know and love the several members of 
this company of the blest1  till our    
senses grow alive to their harmony as   
they sing together1  sometimes in the   
clear1 cold light of the spreading dawn1
 sometimes in  the evening              
twilight--when peak after peak is lit   

with the flame of  sacrifice and1 in the
 ,titanic memory of the sunset cloud1   
the great  fire lit on earth burns up   
with solemn flames into the sky4    ,all
 the languors1 the fierce passions1 of  
,venice1 her vitality and  her          
mysticism1 are mirrored in the lagoons2 
there is no pulse of  ,venice that does 
not beat in them2 in swift sequence1 as 
in a lighter  element1 they reflect the 
phases of her being4 ,and the islands of
 the  lagoons are1 as it were1 the      
footsteps of young ,venice4 ,as she was 
passing into her kingdom1 she set her   
feet here and there among the  waters1  
and where she trod a life was born4 ,her
 roots are far back in  the past1 far up
 upon the mainland1 where still remain  
some fragments  of the giant growth1    
which1 grafted in the lagoons1 was to   
expand there  into a new fulness of     
beauty and life4 ,it is as if the genius
 that  conceived ,jesolo1 ,torcello1 the
 ,madonna of ,san ,donato1 had undergone
  a sea-change as it moved towards the  

,adriatic1 as if some vision had  passed
 before it and shaken it1 as if the     
immutable had felt the first  touch of  
mutability--had been endowed with a new 
sense born of the  ebb and flow of ocean
 tides4 ,in ,malamocco she stepped too  
near the  sea1 and left behind the      
mystery of a city submerged2 but no one 
can  receive into his mind the peerless 
blue and green of the open water  beyond
 the ,lido1 with the foam upon it1 or   
the sound of its incessant  sweep       
against the shore1 without feeling that 
the spirit that had thus  embraced the  
sea had received a new pulse into her   
being--a nerve of  desire1 of expansion1
 of motion1 which her mountain          
infinitudes had  not inspired4 ,and with
 the new life came new dreams to        
,venice1 dreams  she was not slow to    
realise1 and into them were woven       
materials for  which we should seek in  
vain among the islands1 except in so far
 as  the reflex of her later activities 
fell also upon them4 ,the ,madonna of   

,san ,donato is the goddess of the      
lagoons2 and if there are children of   
,venice who creep also for blessing and 
for protection to the borders of  her   
dusky garment1 they are but few4 ,the   
mystic beauty of that ,madonna  was not 
the beauty that inspired ,venice when   
she built upon the seas4  ,the robe of  
her divinity was more akin to the       
dazzling incomparable  blue of the bay  
that lies within the curve of the       
,schiavoni1 as we  may see it from the  
,palazzo ,ducale on a morning of        
sunshine and east  wind2 that           
indomitable intensity of colour1        
unveiled1 resplendent1  filled to the   
brim with the whole radiance and        
strength and glory of  the day--that is 
the girdle of ,venice1 the cup she drank
 of in her  strength4 ,but it is clear  
that she had bowed to a new dominion3   
with  the ocean she wedded the world4   
,the lagoons are full of mysteries of   
light2 they are a veritable  treasure   
ground of illusion4 ,they are not one   

expanse of water over  which the light  
broods with equable influence2 they form
 a region  of various circles1 as it    
were1 of various degrees of remoteness  
or  tangibility4 ,almost one feels that 
each circle must be inhabited by  a     
spirit appropriate to itself1 and that a
 common language could not  be between  
them1 so sharp are the limits set by the
 play of light4  ,on an early autumn    
morning when the sky is clear and the   
sun streams  full and level upon the    
clear blue expanse that separates       
,venice and  ,mestre1 we seem to have a 
firm foothold on this dancing water4 ,it
 is  a substantial glory2 but as our eye
 flits on from jewel to jewel in  the   
clear blue paving1 a sudden line is     
drawn beyond which it may not  pass4    
,the rich flood of vital colour has its 
bound1 and beyond it  lies a region     
bathed in light so intense that even    
colour is refined  into a mystic        
whiteness--a mirror of crystal1 devoid  
of substance1  infinitely remote2 and   

above it1 suspended in that lucent      
unearthly  atmosphere1 hover the towers 
of ,torcello and ,burano1 like a mirage 
of the desert1 midway between the water 
and the sky4 ,they hang there  in       
completest isolation1 yet with a precise
 definition1 a startling  clearness of  
contour4 ,there is no vestige of other  
buildings or of the  earth on which they
 stand1 only the dome and campanile of  
,murano1 the  leaning spire of ,burano  
and ,mazzorbo's lightning-blasted tower1
 their  reflections distinctly mirrored 
in a luminous medium1 half mist1 half   
water4 ,there is an immense awe in the  
vision of these phantoms1 caught  up    
into a region where the happy radiant   
colour dares not play2 and  yet not     
veiled--clearer in what they choose to  
reveal than the near  city strong and   
splendid in the unreserve of the young  
day1 but so  unearthly1 so magical1 that
 our morning spirits scarcely dare      
accost  them4 ,what boat shall navigate 
that shining nothingness that divides   

them from our brave and brilliant water8
    ,venice1 indeed1 at times falls     
under the phantom spell4 ,in those      
mornings of late autumn when the duel   
between the sun and the scirocco  seems 
as if it could not end till day is done 
and night calls up  her reinforcements  
of mist1 ,venice is herself the ghost1  
her goblet  brimming with a liquor that 
seems the drink of death1 a perilous1   
grey1  steely vapour4 ,one only of her  
islands looms out of the enfolding1     
foggy blanket3 it is ,san ,michele1 the 
island of the dead4 ,on such a  morning 
we may visit this abode of shadows1 not 
at this hour more  strange1 more        
ghostly1 than the city4 ,to-day a veil  
is hung upon the  hard1 bare outline of 
its boundary wall1 which in sunny       
weather is a  glaring eye-sore as you   
travel towards ,murano over the lagoon4 
,here1  in the cloisters where once ,fra
 ,mauro dreamed and studied his famous  
,mappamondo1 there is nothing to terrify
 the spirit on this morning  of the     

mist4 ,the black and tinsel drapings1   
the strange1 unprofitable  records of   
devotion and bereavement1 the panoply of
 death--all these  are veiled1 and only 
the wild grasses glisten with their     
dewdrops on  the graves of the very     
poor1 or autumn leaves and flowers gleam
 from  less humble graves1 while the    
cypresses raise their solemn spires     
into the faintly dawning blue4 ,but the 
cemetery island of ,san ,michele        
together with the islands of the        
,giudecca and ,san ,giorgio ,maggiore1  
of ,san ,pietro di ,castello and ,sant' 
,elena1 with many lesser islands  close 
to ,venice1 have become absorbed for us 
in the life of the city  itself4 ,their 
bells and hers sound together2 we see   
them as one with  her1 and from them    
look out to the wider lagoon1 where the 
remoter  islands1 the true phantoms1    
wander4 ,many of those near to ,venice  
have  had their vicissitudes1 their     
sometime glorious past1 their pomp and  
solemn festival4 ,but1 bit by bit1 it   

has been stolen from them1 and  the     
treasures which once they stored have   
been destroyed or gathered  into the    
city4 ,now they serve only as shelters  
for those whose life  is done--as places
 of repose for the dead or for the sick 
in mind and  body4 ,one only has passed 
from humble service into a fuller and   
happier  present4 ,san ,lazzaro1 once   
the shelter of lepers from the ,east1   
has  become under the ,armenian         
,benedictines a haunt of active1        
cultured  life4 ,it has a living        
industry1 printing the ancient trade of 
,venice1  and is in daily commerce with 
the ,east4    ,illustration3 ,,santa    
,,maria ,,della ,,salute4    ,torcello  
is a citt morta1 but scarcely a cemetery
 or a ruin4 ,relics  of a past older    
than even ,torcello has known are       
gathered into the  humble urn of her    
museum2 beside it stands abandoned1 but 
not in ruins1  the group of the         
cathedral buildings and the vast secular
 campanile2  beyond this there is       

nothing but the soil--the golden gardens
 of vine  and pomegranate1 the fields of
 maize and artichokes between their     
narrow canals4 ,the intervening period  
has entirely vanished2 it is like  a    
dream4 ,the page of populous palatial   
,torcello has been blotted out as  if it
 had had no existence4 ,no vestige      
remains of the churches which in  the   
old maps flourished along the chief     
canal1 of the names which in  the       
documents have no unsubstantial sound4  
,none now can remember the  time when   
the spoiler was busy among the ruined   
palaces2 he too has  passed into the    
shadows1 and the very stones of         
,torcello are scattered  far and wide4  
,there is something mysterious in this  
complete wiping out  of a page of       
history1 so that not time only1 but even
 the mourners of  time have disappeared4
 ,there is something unique in the      
isolation of  the cathedral and the     
campanile1 rising thus out of the far   
past--this  mighty masonry alone among  

the herbs of the field4 ,of her great   
history  ,torcello brings only the first
 page and the last1 the duomo1 the      
peasants' houses and the thatch shelters
 of their boats4 ,wandering  along the  
grassy paths beside the vineyards1 the  
pomegranates1 the  golden thorn bushes  
of ,torcello1 we seem in a sleepy       
pastoral land  where the sun always     
shines4 ,torcello seems ripe1 rich      
ground for a new  life rather than the  
cemetery of an old2 and we may feed the 
fancy as  we will1 for she does not     
refuse her doom2 she has no hard        
contrasts of  the old and new4    ,the  
few natives whom foreign gold supports  
upon this island of malaria1  have their
 chief haunts in the cathedral campo1   
keeping guard over  the treasures of the
 past4 ,for here upon the campo stands  
the urn  where ,torcello keeps the ashes
 of her ancestors--strange relics of old
  ,altinum1 pathetic household gods1    
forks and spoons and safety-pins1  keys 
and necklaces1 lamps and broken plates  

and vases1 chains and  girdles and      
mighty bracelets1 some of delicate and  
some of coarser  make1 with more        
ambitious works of mosaic and relief1   
,greek and ,roman  and ,oriental4 ,there
 is little in all2 yet as we stand here 
in the  museum1 looking out through the 
sunny window on the hazy autumn  gold of
 earth and the shimmering water beyond1 
this little speaks  eloquently to the   
mind4 ,even to ,torcello1 the aged1     
these things are  ancestral2 their life 
was in the old ,altinum when ,torcello  
lay still  undreamed-of in the womb of  
time4 ,climb the campanile1 and you will
  wonder no more at the passing of the  
city at its feet2 it is so mighty1  so  
self-contained and now so voiceless with
 any tongue that earth can  hear and    
understand2 almost it seems as if that  
iron clapper1 lying  mute below the     
bell1 were symbol of ,torcello's        
farewell to the busy  populous world    
that needs the call to prayer4 ,the     
great tower is given  up to mighty      

musings1 and we upon its summit         
speculate no more on the  forgotten     
,middle ,age2 we are content in the     
golden earth beneath our  feet1 in the  
soft dreamy azure of the encircling     
lagoon1 where in the  low tide the deep 
tracks wind and writhe like glistening  
water-snakes1  or lie1 like the faint   
transparent veining of a leaf1 upon that
 smooth  expanse of interchanging marsh 
and water1 the uncertain dominion over  
which ,torcello towers4 ,for the        
campanile1 in its vast simplicity of    
structure1 its loneliness1 its duration1
 is of kin with those great  sentinels  
of the desert in which the ,egyptians   
embodied their giant  dreams of power4  
,it is here that the soul of ,torcello  
still abides1 to  dream out upon the    
mystery of day and night to the         
mountains and the  city and the sea4    
,and even if the sunlight is rich and   
jubilant in the  yellow fields below1   
where the autumn has such fitting       
habitation1 it  spreads upon the waters 

a broad path of silver that gleams      
mysteriously  like moonlight upon the   
distant spaces of the ocean shield1     
waking  points of light out of the      
immense surrounding dimness4 ,and it is 
most  of all in the deep night that the 
gulf of the centuries may be bridged4   
,the monotonous piping of the cicalas   
rises even to this height in  the       
darkness1 but no other sound is heard4  
,it is a strangely moving1  melancholy  
landscape1 half hidden1 half revealed1  
still holding in  its patient1 silent   
heart the tragic sorrows1 the hopes and 
shattered  longings1 the courageous     
struggle of the past ages1 the fierce   
cry of  desolation1 the flames of cities
 doomed to destruction in the darkness  
of night1 and their ruins outspread     
beneath the unsparing sun4 ,it has  lain
 now so long deserted1 a presence from  
which the stream of life has  flowed    
away1 carrying with it all the          
agitations of joy and sorrow1  that     
among the fluctuating marshes the key   

for its deciphering has been  lost4     
,as we have said1 whole pages are torn  
from the history of ,torcello4          
,fragments only remain4 ,but here and   
there is a word or two that may  be     
gathered into a sentence4 ,if we        
approach the island from the east1  by  
the waterway between ,sant' ,erasmo and 
,tre ,porti instead of by the  narrow   
channels of the inner lagoon1 we may    
receive some impression  of the relation
 it once bore to the mainland4 ,we may  
see how ,torcello  stands as the        
entrance of the lagoon north of ,venice1
 the last outpost  of the mainland1 the 
first-fruits of a new career--recognise 
that she  was once through the ,portus  
,torcellus in closest touch with the    
high  seas4 ,in the ninth century it was
 one ,rustico of ,torcello who combined 
with ,buono of ,malamocco to carry the  
bones of ,st4 ,mark from ,alexandria  to
 ,venice4 ,in #abfh ,torcello is        
specially mentioned by da ,canale among 
the 8,contrees1 que armerent lor navie1 

et vindrent a lor signor ,mesire        
,laurens ,teuple 7,lorenzo ,tiepolo7 li 
haut ,dus de ,venise1 et a ,madame la   
,duchoise0 on the occasion of ,tiepolo's
 election4 ,torcello contributed  three 
galleys completely equipped for the     
,genoese war1 and in #adfc sent  one    
hundred crossbowmen in the service of   
the ,republic against ,trieste4    ,what
 is left of this city1 which shared the 
early glory if not the  later pomp of   
,venice8 ,where are her palaces1 her    
gardens1 her bridges1  her waterways8   
,where are her piazzas and calles and   
fondamentas1 her  churches and rich     
convents8 ,we pass their names in the   
old chronicles3  ,piazza del ,duomo1    
,rio ,campo di ,san ,giovanni1          
,fondamenta dei ,borgognoni1  ,calle    
,santa ,margherita1 ,fondamenta ,bobizo1
 ,ponte di ,ch ,delfino1 ,ponte  de     
,pino1 and the rest4 ,many of these were
 of very old foundation3 their  stones  
and traces of their construction have   
been discovered from time  to time under

 the mud of the canals4 ,in the poor    
houses of the peasants  traces still    
remain of original windows1 cornices and
 pillars2 the main  canal is still      
spanned by the beautiful ruined bridge  
of the ,diavolo4  ,but for the rest the 
grass piazza with its little group of   
buildings1  its museum flanked by the   
cathedral1 is the sole echo1 itself no  
more  than an echo of the past4    ,when
 ,altinum and her neighbouring cities   
roused themselves from the  crushing    
desolation of conquest which had driven 
them forth to the  remote borders of the
 mainland1 they began to desire to live 
anew  in the lagoons4 ,there is no      
reason to question ,dandolo's statement 
that ,torcello and the group of         
surrounding islands1 ,burano1 ,mazzorbo1
  ,constanziana1 ,amoriana and ,ammiana1
 were named from the gates of           
,altinum--a pathetic attempt to         
perpetuate the ruined city4 ,nuovo      
,altino  was indeed the name for        
,torcello1 and when the terror of       

invasion had  momentarily passed1 the   
fugitives ventured back to the mainland1
 and  brought down to the soft-soiled   
island the stones of their ancient      
city4 ,torcello was built from the      
stones of ,altinum2 her very stones     
were veterans1 the stamp of old times   
was upon them1 the stamp of  thoughts   
that were often sealed for those men of 
a later day who built  them anew into   
their temples4 ,the steps up to the     
pulpit in the duomo  are perhaps the    
most striking instance of this          
ingrafting of the old  upon the new1 the
 nave earnestness1 perhaps the urgent   
haste and need  of builders who did not 
fear to set an old pagan relief to do   
service  in this temple of their        
,christian ,god4 ,there are various     
theories as  to the meaning of the      
wonderful relief which forms the base of
 the  pulpit stair1 cut like its        
companion slabs to meet the requirements
  of the stair without regard to its    
individual existence4 ,we cannot  help  

pausing before it2 for it is unique     
among the monuments of the  estuary1 so 
unique that it seems incredible it      
should have been the  work of those late
 ,greek artists who executed the        
wonderful beasts  and birds of the      
sanctuary screen4 ,on the right is a    
woman's figure1  of ,egyptian rather    
than ,greek or ,roman mould1 standing   
with averted  face and head resting on  
her arms1 in melancholy thought4 ,beside
 her  a man1 like her resigned and      
meditative in attitude1 but not yet with
  the resignation of despair1 raises his
 left arm as if to ward off a  blow4    
,the blow is dealt left-handed by one   
who in his right hand holds  a pair of  
scales and advances swiftly on winged   
wheels4 ,he1 again1  is met in his      
advance by a fourth figure whom we only 
see in part1  his right side having been
 almost completely cut away4 ,he is     
fronting  us1 however--his feet planted 
firmly on the ground1 his right hand    
folded on his breast1 while with his    

left he grasps the forelock of  the     
impetuous figure of the winged wheels   
and balances4 ,thanks to the  happy     
discovery by ,professor ,cattaneo of    
part of the fragment missing  to the    
design1 we know that a woman's figure   
stood beyond him1 holding  in her left  
hand a palm and in her right a crown    
which she raises to  the stalwart       
conqueror's head4 ,it is a simple but   
daring and most  spirited composition4  
,it seems to belong to a far remoter    
past than  that of the earliest building
 of ,torcello4 ,professor ,cattaneo     
explains  it as an allegory of the      
passage of ,time1 who on his winged     
wheels has  already passed one man by1  
as he stands stroking his beard1 while  
tears and sorrow await him in the form  
of the woman on his right in  mourning  
guise and posture2 the stalwart man on  
the left is he who  faces ,time and     
takes him by the forelock1 and for him  
the crown and  palm of victory are in   
waiting4 ,but ,professor ,cattaneo seems

 to give a  needlessly limited          
significance to the idea of ,time4 ,it  
is to him the  ,time which ,god offers  
to man that he may do what is just and  
combat his  own evil passions2 this     
seems to him to be expressed by the     
scales and  the stick he grasps in his  
hand4 ,perhaps it is enough to think    
merely  of the club as that with which a
 more familiar ,time is wont to deal    
back-handed blows at those who are so   
idle or so sluggish as to let him  pass4
 ,at any rate the men of ,torcello could
 comprehend this language  of the rough 
stone4 ,what matter if the oracles were 
dumb8 ,which of  them had not wept to   
see the face of ,time averted1 which of 
them had  not felt the weight of his    
backward blow8 ,and yet this symbol of  
old  ,time must have been mute to them  
before the great solemn ,madonna in  the
 dusky1 golden circle of the apse2 she  
looks beyond all fortunes  and          
vicissitudes of man4 ,how should they   
dare to pray to her8 ,worship  they may1

 and rise with strength to contend with 
,time and conquer  him1 with a weapon to
 face the mystery of life2 but they meet
 here no  smile of comfort1 no          
companionable grace4 ,to those men who  
dreamed this  figure1 to us who look    
upon her and worship1 the dominion of   
,time is a  forgotten thing2 we ask no  
pity for our human woes2 they have      
passed1  they have crumbled3 she gives  
us a better gift than pity1 insight into
  the hidden things of life and of art2 
she wings with hope1 if with  stern     
hope1 our dream of beauty4 ,the mosaics 
on the west wall of the  cathedral have 
the same stern character1 with less of  
beauty than the  ,madonna of the apse3  
the great angels on either side the     
weird central  ,christ in the upper     
division have a strangely oriental      
effect4 ,they  might be ,indian gods4   
,they hold the ,christian symbols1 but  
with how  abstracted1 how remote a gaze 
they look out from their aureoles6 ,they
  are at one with the noble simplicity  

and strength and greatness of the       
spirit of the building they adorn4      
,somehow they seem to us the oldest     
thing within it2 we begin to be drawn by
 them into mysteries older  than the    
caves of ,greece whence the pillars of  
this duomo came2 we  begin to share     
their watch over a vast desert where all
 the faiths and  imaginings of men may  
move and mingle1 and find a common altar
 under  the dome of the evening sky4    
,greater than ,torcello1 and still      
maintaining1 as near neighbour to       
,venice1 something of its old           
activities1 ,murano lives1 none the     
less1  a phantom life4 ,we would choose1
 as a fitting atmosphere for ,murano1 a 
day of delicate lights and pale1 lucent 
water1 with faint fine tints  within the
 water and the sky3 a day of the falling
 year1 not expectant1  only acceptant1  
pausing in the dim quiet of its decay4  
,even the hot  sunshine1 though it      
irradiates the features of ,murano1     
cannot penetrate  to that spent heart4  

,the marvellous fascination of its      
,grand ,canal1  with its swift and      
unaccustomed current of blue waters1    
cannot draw us  from the sadness1 or    
disperse the spectral melancholy which  
invades the  spirit and surrounds it as 
an atmosphere4 ,the sun infects the     
dirty  children with a desire to shine1 
and prompts somersaults for a soldino2  
but the weary women1 the old1 crouching 
men1 still creep about the  fondamenta  
impervious to his rays4 ,murano is not  
less disinherited1 not  less phantasmal1
 because the daylight comes to pierce   
the semblance of  her life4 ,it is      
strangely invasive and possessing1 this 
sentiment of a  life outlived1 a body   
whose soul is fled4 ,the long vine      
gardens that  spread to the lagoon1     
dispossessed1 but still apparently doing
 service  and rich in vegetables and    
fruit1 seem as if they would persuade us
  of their reality2 but their walls are 
ruined1 their ways are low and  narrow2 
it was not thus they looked when ,bembo 

and ,navagero paced here  in an earthly 
paradise1 a haunt of nymphs and         
demigods4 ,the living  population of    
,murano seems to have fallen under the  
same spell4 ,if  we bestow on them more 
than a cursory glance as we pass along  
the  fondamenta1 we seem to detect in   
their faces an indescribable sense of   
weariness and sorrow and decay4 ,there  
seem many old among them1 and on  the   
young toil and privation have already   
laid their hand4 ,the strange  habitual 
chant of priest and women and young     
girls1 going up from  tired nerveless   
throats in the twilight of ,san ,pietro 
,martire1 seemed  a symbol of the voice 
of ,murano1 melancholy1 mechanical1 the 
phantom  of a voice--an echo struck with
 the hand or by a breath of wind from  a
 fallen instrument1 an instrument that  
has lost its virtue and its  ring1 an   
instrument unstrung4 ,we have seen      
,murano in festa4 ,she can  pay her     
tribute to free ,italy4 ,ponte ,lungo   
was hung with lamps1 and  the desolate  

campi had their share in the            
illumination4 ,in the very  piazza of   
,san ,donato a hawker was winding       
elastic strings of golden  treacle1     
while women and children in gay dresses 
hurried to and fro4  ,in another square1
 under the clock tower1 a demagogue     
addressed the  crowd excitedly3 there   
was plentiful noise1 plentiful          
determination to  enjoy4 ,the campanile 
looked down and wondered4 ,o ,roma o    
morte4 ,had  it been ,rome then and not 
death8 ,rome and freedom1 freedom to    
destroy  the historic and the old8 ,it  
was a grand triumph1 a triumph justly   
commemorated1 and yet the conquerors    
themselves might grieve over the  ,italy
 of to-day4 ,mazzini1 we know1 struck a 
note of melancholy out of  that proud   
exultation4 ,italy1 if she lives1 lives 
among ruins1 and for  the most part she 
is careless of her decay4               
,illustration3 ,,the ,,clock ,,tower4   
,murano1 like ,torcello1 is bound by one
 glorious link with her ,byzantine      

past1 and this one of the noblest       
monuments1 not of the lagoons only1  but
 of all ,italy2 simple1 stern1 august4  
,san ,donato has not1 indeed1  gone     
unscathed by time1 nor by modernity4    
,the wonders of its pavement  are       
becoming blackened and obscured2 holes  
are being worn in it1  missing cubes    
leave gaps in the design4 ,in winter it 
is constantly  flooded by high tide1 and
 even in other seasons the damp is      
ruining  a pavement which rivals1 if it 
does not surpass1 that of ,san ,marco4  
,it is impossible to describe the beauty
 of the designs1 the exquisite          
harmonics of its precious marbles1      
porphyry and verd-antique1 ,verona1     
serpentine and marmo greco1 with noble  
masses of colour among the  smaller     
fragments1 and a most precious gem of   
chalcedony1 which1 if we  may believe   
the poor old sacristan1 whose complaints
 concerning his  precious floor wake no 
response1 an ,english visitor would have
 wished  to steal4 ,the sacristan can   

show to all who will lament with him the
  ruin wrought by sacrilegious man4 ,but
 no profane hand has dared to  raise    
itself against the ,madonna of the apse4
 ,this ,madonna of ,san  ,donato is even
 grander1 more august1 than that other  
who in ,torcello  conquers ,time1 and   
surely it is not without reason that we 
have called  her the goddess of the     
lagoons4 ,in perfect aloofness and      
secrecy she  stands1 but with luminous  
revelation in her strangely significant 
eyes2  her white hands uplifted1 her    
white face shining out of the darkness1 
the long1 straight folds of her dark    
robe worked with gold1 her feet         
resting1 it seems1 upon a golden fire4  
,the gaze of this marvellous  ,madonna  
seems to comprehend the world4 ,she is a
 sphinx who holds the  key of every     
mystery4 ,in her presence we are        
overcome by the impulse to  kneel and   
worship4 ,she is not1 like many         
,byzantine ,madonnas1 grotesque1        
forbidding in her immensity1 in her     

aloofness2 for even while she  rebukes  
and subdues our littleness of soul1 she 
draws all our senses as  a being of     
absolute1 inexplicable beauty4 ,she     
holds us rapt and will  not let us go4  
,the memory of the ,duomo of ,san       
,donato is concentrated in  the single  
magical figure of her ,madonna1 leaning 
in benediction from  the golden apse4   
,murano is full of corners where ,gothic
 and ,byzantine have combined to        
beautify portico1 pillar and arch4 ,in  
the ,asilo dei ,vecchii are two of  the 
most ancient fireplaces known in        
,venice1 and at ,venice fireplaces  were
 very early in use4 ,one is a deep      
square hollowed in the wall1 and        
furnished with doors that shut upon it  
like a panelling1 while two  little     
windows1 as usual1 open out behind4 ,the
 other projects into the  room1 with    
sloping roof and little seats within on 
either side4 ,murano1  it is well known1
 was the pleasure-ground of the         
,venetians in happier  days2 it was here

 that the men of the ,great ,republic   
had their gardens  elect for solace and 
for beauty4 ,but with the ,republic     
,murano fell2 the  patrimonies of the   
patricians were scattered--gradually    
their palaces  were snatched away1 piece
 by piece1 and fell into irrecoverable  
ruin4  ,one only now retains some image 
of its former splendour1 the famous ,c  
da ,mula1 upon the fine sweep of the    
,grand ,canal4 ,the ,madonna of ,san    
,donato has looked down on the          
spoliation of her temple2 she still     
looks  on its slow decay4 ,she has      
shared the proud sorrows of the         
campanile2  in colloquy through the     
night what may he not have told of the  
passing  of ,murano8 ,they have little1 
these solemn guardians of the past1 in  
common with the exuberant ,renaissance1 
but perhaps a common fate1 the  unifying
 hand of ,time1 may have bound their    
spirits in a confraternity  of grief4   
,the heart of the old campanile would be
 stirred with pity  for the fate of     

those deserted palaces1 the sublime     
,madonna would turn  an eye not of scorn
 but of sorrow on the fading forms of   
those radiant  women1 so splendid on the
 frescoed palace fronts1 so alluring in 
the  smooth mirror of the canal4 ,the   
work of the spoiler1 so far as it was a 
work of violence1 of a human spoiler1 is
 done2 but the slower work of  nature   
still proceeds4    ,long before ,murano 
became a ,venetian pleasure-ground1 she 
had been  famous for her painters1 for  
her ships1 for her furnaces4 ,like      
,torcello1 she sent vessels to the      
triumph of the ,doge ,lorenzo ,tiepolo1 
and she was conspicuous among the       
others1 as da ,canale says3 8,for you   
must know that those of ,murano had on  
their vessels living cocks1 so  that    
they might be known and whence they     
came40 ,molmenti thinks that  ,carpaccio
 himself belonged to a shipbuilding     
family of ,murano1 and  this is the more
 interesting in view of the frequency   
and detail of  shipping operations in   

his pictures4 ,murano was indeed the    
birthplace  of ,venetian art1 and the   
riches of its furnaces glow in the      
garments  of those early painters1      
,vivarini1 ,andrea and ,quirico4 ,from  
the end  of the eleventh century the    
glass works had begun to flourish2 by   
the  thirteenth the industry was        
transferred wholly to ,murano4 ,the     
legend  runs that a certain ,cristoforo 
,briani1 hearing from ,marco ,polo of   
the monopoly of agates1 chalcedony and  
other precious stones on the  coast of  
,guiana1 set about imitating them4 ,with
 ,domenico ,miotto to  help him he      
succeeded1 and the latter carried the   
art to still greater  perfection1 which 
resulted at last in the imitation of the
 pearl4  ,in #aebh ,andrea ,vidoare     
received a special mariegola or charter 
for  the fame of his wonderful pearls1  
polished and variegated by him to  a    
degree unknown before4 ,in the middle of
 the fifteenth century the  first       
crystals came from the furnaces1 and the

 following century was  the golden      
period of the art--a period coinciding  
with the greatest  patrician glory of   
the island4 ,murano still burns with its
 secular  fire1 winning from the old    
world its secrets1 the old1 wise world  
that  worshipped fire1 to fuse them once
 more in its crucible for the wonder  of
 the new2 secrets of crystal1 pearl and 
ruby1 and of the blue of the  deepest   
ocean depths or the impenetrable night  
sky1 imprisoning them  in those         
transparent cenotaphs in forms of       
infinite harmony and grace4  ,and it is 
not only in the revival of ancient      
memories and forgotten  mysteries that  
the furnaces of ,murano play their part2
 they contribute  also to the present   
renewal of ,venice3 for it is here that 
the units of  the mosaicist's art are   
made4 ,in ,murano is laid the           
foundation-stone  of its success--the   
quality of the colour1 the depth and    
richness of  the gold4 ,the period of   
decadence in the ,venetian arts is      

accurately  reflected in its mosaics2   
with the decadence of conception we note
 also  the decadence of colour4 ,those  
hard blatant tones that characterise the
  late mosaics of ,san ,marco are       
records1 too permanent1 alas6 of a time 
when the furnaces had lost their        
cunning1 or rather when the master      
minds were blunted and the secret of the
 ancient colourists allowed to  lie     
unquestioned under the dust of time4    
,there is a humbler department of the   
glass works which we must not pass  by4 
,it lies away from the furnaces devoted 
to rare and subtle texture  and design1 
behind ,san ,pietro ,martire1 among the 
gardens3 a manufactory  of common glass 
for daily use1 tumblers and             
water-bottles and other  humble ware4   
,here there is the swift operation of   
machinery1 at least  among the coarser  
glasses1 and a noise of the very inferno
 with  countless sweating fiends--little
 black-faced grinning boys1 grateful    
for a package full of grapes or juicy   

figs2 there is little mystery  in the   
production of this coarser glass1 or    
rather few of the obvious  accessories  
of mystery1 the delicate slow           
fashioning1 the infusion  of colours4   
,instead1 the constant noise of         
machinery1 deafening and  exhausting in 
its incessant motion1 though even here  
the reign of  machinery is limited3 the 
finer tumblers must go a longer journey 
to be  filed by a slower1 more gradual  
process1 the direct handiwork of man4   
,there is an upper circle to which we   
gladly pass from this inferno1  almost a
 paradise if we contrast it with the    
turmoil and heat below2  to reach it we 
pass by the troughs of grey sand which  
all day men are  trampling with the     
soles of their bare feet1 to mould into 
fit temper  for the furnace4 ,the floor 
of the room above is covered and the    
walls  lined with strange creations of  
cold1 grey earth1 fashioned by hand1    
roll after roll of clay1 ungainly forms 
to be inhabited by fire4 ,this  upper   

attic1 with its company of mute grey    
moulds1 opens out upon the  vineyards of
 ,murano1 with water shimmering through 
the long golden  alleys1 and the city   
visible beyond4 ,the gardens of the     
,palazzo da ,mula  and of ,san ,cipriano
 are beside us4 ,the bustle of the new  
world has  invaded the peaceful         
seclusion of a spot once sacred to the  
student  aristocracy of ,venice4    ,for
 this island1 famed for so glorious an  
industry1 was beloved and  honoured by  
the noblest of ,venetian names1 ,trifone
 ,gabriele and ,pietro  ,bembo and      
,andrea ,navagero4 ,here ,navagero      
founded one of the first  botanic       
gardens of ,europe--8a terrestrial      
paradise1 a place of nymphs  and        
demigods02 here ,gabriele wandered for  
hours under the thick vine  pergola     
walled with jessamine against the sun4  
,and it was not only as  a temporary    
pleasure-ground that they loved ,murano3
 they clung to it  as their             
resting-place in death4 ,bernardo       

,giustiniani desired to be  buried by   
his palace1 at the foot of ,ponte       
,lungo1 and ,andrea ,navagero  in the   
church of ,san ,martino in the same     
quarter where his house was  built4     
,murano was honoured by at least one    
royal guest4 ,it was here  that ,henry  
,,iii of ,france1 on his passage through
 ,venice from ,polonia1  was given his  
first lodging1 and the palace which     
witnessed the first  transports of this 
rapturous monarch1 the palace of        
,bartolomeo ,capello1  still exists1    
close beside the church of ,santa ,maria
 degli ,angeli1 at  the extreme western 
point of the city4 ,it would thus form  
the most  convenient landing-place1     
besides commanding a view of extreme    
beauty2  to the left1 the fine          
torrent-like sweep of the chief canal1  
with the  noble ,c da ,mula a little    
lower on the opposite bank and its      
gardens  immediately over the water2    
,venice filling the horizon clear across
  the lagoon1 where the south curve of  

,murano ends to-day in a meadow  of     
rough grass and fragrant herbs2 to the  
right the ,convent of the  ,angeli1     
leading on the eye across the lagoon to 
the mainland and the  distant mountains 
beyond4 ,traces of fresco remain on the 
outer walls  of the palazzo1 and the    
upper hall still stretches through the  
whole  breadth of the house4 ,it is on  
the balcony of this central hall that   
,henry must have stood when he appeared 
before dinner to gratify the  crowds on 
the fondamenta and in the boats below4  
,the view of ,venice in  the evening    
light is exquisitely lovely1 with the   
lagoon spread like a  mirror to reflect 
the delicate opaline of the sunset sky4 
,in this hall  hung with cloth of gold  
and cremosine1 and perhaps with the     
colours of  ,veronese1 looking over a   
paradise of gardens and water to the    
immortal  city1 ,henry kept his court1  
received the legates from the ,pope and 
said  a thousand graceful things about  
,his ,holiness1 rejoiced the natives by 

his noble bearing1 his perfumed gloves1 
his frank pleasure in their  tribute1   
his decision to go on foot to the       
,angeli to morning ,mass4  ,thus was he 
initiated to the magical city and its   
enchantments by  that wise providence of
 the ,venetians1 who made their islands 
always  stepping-stones1 outer courts of
 the central shrine1 where their        
pilgrim must pause awhile to shake the  
dust of the mainland off his  feet1 that
 the spell might permeate his being and 
fill his senses with  desire4    ,the   
fondamenta below ,henry's palace1       
leading to the church of the  ,angeli1  
is one of the most desolate in ,murano2 
the wide green campo  of the cemetery   
which opens from it is deserted and     
bare1 save for a  few fowls that humbly 
commemorate the proud old shield4 ,the  
dirt of  the children is indescribable1 
as they press close begging a soldino4  
,but their dirt is dearer to them4 ,a   
bargain for a washed face1 even  when   
the reward rings cheerily on the        

pavement1 brings no response but        
laughter and surprise4 ,we are reminded 
by contrast of the tribute of  ,andrea  
,calmo1 a popular poet of the sixteenth 
century3        ,e voio tanto bene a    
quel ,muran1      ,che1 per diroelo     
certo in verit1      ,son in pensier de 
vender le mie intr4      ,e venir la per
 starmene p san4      ,quei horti a     
pieni de herbe uliose      ,e quel canal
 cusi chiaro e pulio      ,con quelle   
belle casi si aierose1      ,con tante  
creature che par riose      ,liogo che  
l'ha stampao ,domenedio4    7,and ,i    
wish so well to that ,murano1 that to   
tell you the sober truth  ,i am thinking
 of selling my takings and coming there 
to live more  healthily4 ,the gardens   
there are so full of olive trees1 and   
the  canal so clear and clean1 the      
houses so beautiful and so airy1 with   
so many fair creatures that it seems a  
place of joy stamped by the  ,lord      
,god47 ,beside the ,c da ,mula1 hidden  
among some outbuildings1 from  which it 

has in the last years been partially    
released1 is one of  ,murano's finest   
treasures1 the convent front of ,san    
,cipriano1 which  in the ninth century1 
when ,malamocco was on the point of     
submersion1  was brought here by order  
of ,ordelafo ,faliero4 ,andrea ,dandolo 
dates  the building from #hha2 it was   
rebuilt in #aaji and restored in #afje1 
and its exquisite faade1 still bearing  
the stamp of several ages1  freed       
somewhat from the earth about its base1 
stands up nobly from the  tangled garden
 around it4 ,the central arch is        
outlined with the finest  ,byzantine    
tracery lined with ,gothic1 surrounded  
once with coloured  marbles of which    
only fragments now remain1 and above    
this is a frieze  of the best ,roman of 
the ,renaissance3 slender columns1 some 
,byzantine1  some ,gothic1 adorn it on  
either side1 and fantastic ,byzantine   
symbols  are sculptured in the stone    
discs that are embedded in the walls    
between the arches of the cloister4 ,a  

campanula on the ruined wall  to the    
left of the arch stands out clear and   
pale against the brick  building behind1
 where once the cloister opened out1 an 
exquisite  harmony of lavender and rose4
 ,fragmentary though it is1 this faade  
of  the famous monastery is one of the  
most precious relics of the islands  of 
the lagoons4    ,there is an island     
where we cannot think of death1 where   
decay dare  not come2 though the water  
plants smell faint upon its shores1 and 
the  cypresses that clothe it rise black
 against the sky4 ,it is the island     
that sheltered one of the most joyful   
spirits that has ever walked the  world1
 the island where the larks once sang in
 such prolonged impulsive  harmony of   
joy that the sound of their singing has 
never passed away2  it may seem to lie  
silent as a veil upon the water1 but the
 tremor  of the sunshine will waken it  
to renewed harmonics of delight--,san   
,francesco del ,deserto4 ,we rejoice to 
think that the ,poverello set  foot in  

the lagoons1 that he left here in the   
lonely waters the  blossom of his love4 
,st4 ,francis of the ,desert can wake no
 thoughts of  melancholy1 and indeed    
this is no deserted place1 nor in the   
morning  of his coming1 after the night 
of storm1 can it have seemed a place  of
 desolation2 for nothing is more        
wonderful1 more prodigally full  of the 
mysterious rapture of life1 than the    
flowing in of day upon  the lagoons     
after the tumult of rain and hurricane4 
,they say that ,st4  ,francis1 coming   
from the ,holy ,land on a ,venetian     
ship1 was driven by  the storm to cast  
anchor near ,torcello2 that as he       
prayed1 the storm  subsided1 and a great
 calm fell on the lagoon4 ,then as the  
,poverello  set foot upon this          
cypress-covered shore1 the sun came     
out--the sun  of the early summer       
dawn--and shone through the dripping    
branches of  the cypresses1 covering    
them with glistening crystals1 and shone
 on  the damp feathered creatures among 

the branches and on the larks among  the
 reedy grass1 and as he shone a choir of
 voices woke in the lonely  island and a
 chorus of welcome burst from ten       
thousand throats4 ,and  the sun shone in
 the heart of ,st4 ,francis also1 and it
 overflowed with  joy2 and ,st4 ,francis
 said to his companion1 8,the little    
birds1 our  brothers1 praise their      
,creator with joy2 and we also as we    
walk in  the midst of them--let us sing 
the praises of ,god40 ,and then as ,st4 
,bonaventura relates the legend1 the    
birds sang so clamorously on the        
branches that ,st4 ,francis had to      
entreat their silence till he had  sung 
the ,lauds2 but we may read another     
story if we will1 and say that  the dewy
 matin song of the birds was not so     
clamorous as to disturb  the quiet      
morning gladness of the ,poverello1 that
 they sang together  in the dawn4 ,san  
,francesco del ,deserto is not an island
 of sorrow4 ,in  the little convent     
inhabited still by a few quiet          

,franciscans1 the  narrow gloomy corner 
is to be seen which they name ,st4      
,francis's bed3  in the convent garden  
there rises a stone memorial round the  
tree that  flowered from the ,saint's   
planted staff4 ,we know these familiar  
symbols  of the ,franciscan convents3   
the brothers cling to them as to some   
fragmentary testament that their eyes   
can read and their hand grasp  when the 
living spirit has fled away2 everywhere 
among the mountain or  the valley       
solitudes where ,st4 ,francis dwelt1 the
 same dark relics of  that luminous     
spirit are to be found1 the story even  
of birds banished  for ever by the      
command of that prince of singers1 as if
 his own voice  chanting eternal        
litanies could be his sole delight4     
,they are strange  stories2 we pass them
 by1 and go out to find the ,poverello  
where the  cones of the cypresses gleam 
silver-grey against the blue4 ,his      
spirit  has taken happy root among the  
waters of the lagoons2 a new joy and    

glory is added to the mountains as they 
rise in the calm dawn1 clear  and       
luminous from the departing rain cloud2 
there is joy and peace in  the raised   
grass walk between the cypress trees2   
the island is indeed  a place of life   
and not of death for those who have felt
 the suffering  and the joy of love1 and
 who worship beauty in their hearts4    
,o ,beata ,solitudo1      ,o ,sola      
,beatitudo4    ,there are still         
solitudes in the desert of the lagoon   
where some of us  have dreamed of       
beginning a new day4 ,in the hour when  
the last gold has  faded from the       
sun-path--when those dancing gems he    
flings to leap and  sport upon the water
 have been slowly gathered in1 when the 
churches  and palaces of the city are   
folded under one soft clinging veil1    
which  softens the outline that it does 
not obscure1 when ,torcello and ,burano 
lean in pallid solitude above the level 
disc of the marsh1 and the ,lido  lies  
like a sea-serpent coiled on itself1 its

 spires reflected in the  motionless    
mirror far south to ,chioggia--they     
steal out1 these island  phantoms1      
faint1 alluring1 upon the still mosaic  
of the lagoon1 like  black pearls in    
that shell-like surface of tenderest    
azure and rose4  ,shall we not dare to  
wander among those lovely paths1 those  
dimly  burning gems8 ,none visits them1 
unless it be the golden stars and the   
dreaming lover of ,endymion3 their roof 
is the broad rainbow spread  above them 
by the setting sun4 ,they seem sometimes
 to welcome a spirit  that should come  
and dwell among them silently2 one that 
should tread  them with loving reverence
 and quiet hope1 seeking to set free the
  fantasies with which earth has stored 
it1 but which no power of earth  may    
help it to disburden4          ,chapter 
,three    ,,the ,,nuptials ,,of ,,venice
      ,until the fall of the ,venetian  
,republic the rite of the ,sporalizio   
del  ,mare1 the wedding of ,venice with 
the sea1 continued to be celebrated     

annually at the feast of the ,ascension4
 ,long after the fruits of the  espousal
 had been gathered1 when its renewal had
 become no more than  a ceremonious     
display1 there stirred a pulse of       
present life in the  embrace2 and in a  
sense1 the significance of the ceremony 
never can be  lost while one stone      
remains upon another in the city of the 
sea4    ,for the earliest celebration of
 the nuptials there was need of no      
golden ,bucintoro1 no feast of red wine 
and chestnuts1 no damask roses  in a    
silver cup1 not so much as a ring to    
seal the bond4 ,for it was no  vaunt of 
sovereignty2 it was a humble oblation1 a
 prayer to the ,creator  that ,his      
creature might be calm and tranquil to  
all who travelled over  it1 an oblation 
to the creature that it might be pleased
 to assist  the gracious and pacific    
work of its ,creator4 ,the regal        
ceremony of  later times was inaugurated
 by the ,doge ,pietro ,orseolo ,,ii who1
 having  largely increased the sea      

dominion of ,venice and made himself    
lord of  the ,adriatic1 welded his      
achievement into the fabric of the state
 by  the ceremony of the espousal4 ,the 
ring was not introduced till the year   
#aagg1 when ,pope ,alexander ,,iii1     
being present at the festival1 bestowed 
it on the ,doge1 as token of the papal  
sanction of the ceremony1 with  the     
words1 8,receive it as pledge of the    
sovereignty that you and your           
successors shall maintain over the sea40
 ,but the true importance of the        
festival1 whether in its primitive form 
or in its later elaboration1 is  the    
development of ,venetian policy which it
 signified--a development  which1 for   
the purposes of this chapter1 will best 
be considered in  relation to events    
separated by nearly two centuries1 but  
united in  their acknowledgment of the  
growing importance of ,venice on the    
waters4  ,the first is ,pietro          
,orseolo's ,dalmatian campaign1 followed
 in #ajja  by the secret visit of the   

,german ,emperor ,otho ,,iii1 and the   
second  the famous concordat of ,pope   
,alexander ,,iii and the ,emperor       
,frederick  ,barbarossa1 concluded under
 the auspices of ,venetian statecraft in
 #aagg4    ,pietro ,orseolo ,,ii appears
 as one of the most potent interpreters 
of the  ,venetian spirit4 ,he combined  
qualities which enabled him to gather   
together the threads which the genius of
 ,venice and the exigencies  of her     
position were weaving1 and to fashion   
from them a substantial  web on which   
her industry might operate4 ,he was a   
soldier1 a great  statesman and a       
patriot4 ,all the subtlety1 all the     
ambition1 all the  dreams of glory with 
which his potent and spacious mind was  
endowed1  were at his country's service1
 and the material in which he had to    
work was plastic to his touch4 ,venice  
lay midway between the kingdoms  of the 
,east and ,west1 and from the earliest  
times this fact had  determined her     
importance3 she might rise to greatness 

or she might  be annihilated2 she could 
not be ignored4 ,the ,venice of ,orseolo
 was  instinct with vitality and teeming
 with energies1 but she was divided     
against herself4 ,the foundations of her
 greatness were already laid1  but her  
general aim and tendency were not       
determined4 ,she was in need  of a      
leader of commanding mind and capacious 
imagination1 who could  envisage her    
future1 and who should possess the power
 of inspiring  others with confidence in
 his dreams4 ,such a man was ,pietro    
,orseolo ,,ii4  ,venice had been        
threatened with destruction by the      
division of the two  interests which1   
interwoven1 were the basis of her power4
 ,before the  final settlement at       
,rialto she had been torn hither and    
thither by  the factions of the ,east   
and ,west1 the party favouring          
,constantinople  and the party favouring
 the ,frankish ,king2 and at any moment 
still the  ,doge's policy might be      
wrecked by the rivalries of the two     

parties1 if  he proved lacking in       
insight or capacity for uniting in his  
service the  interests of both4         
,illustration3 ,,riva ,,degli           
,,schiavoni4    ,for some time ,dalmatia
 had been a thorn in the side of        
,venice1 a  refuge for the disloyal1    
and1 through the agency of the hordes of
  pirates infesting the coast1 a real   
menace to her commerce4 ,venice had     
attempted to purchase immunity from the 
pirates by payment of an annual         
indemnity4 ,orseolo decided at once to  
put an end to this payment1 but  he     
realised that the price of the decision 
was a foothold in ,dalmatia  that would 
need to be obtained by force of arms4   
,for this end it was  necessary to      
secure harmony within the city itself1  
and1 knowing this1  he exercised his    
powers to obtain approval of his        
expedition from  the authorities of     
,east and of ,west1 from the ,emperors  
of ,germany  and ,byzantium4 ,he was    
successful in this1 and circumstances   

combined  further to aid his designs4   
,the ,croatians and ,narentines1 by     
wreaking  on ,northern ,dalmatia their  
anger at the loss of the ,venetian      
indemnity1  had prepared the minds of   
the ,dalmatians to look on the prospect 
of  ,venetian supremacy as one of       
release rather than of subjugation4 ,it 
is said that they even went so far as to
 send a message to ,orseolo  encouraging
 his coming4 ,their province was        
nominally under the ,emperor  of        
,byzantium1 but their overlord had      
decided to look favourably on a  means  
of securing peace and safe passage to   
his province at so small an  expense to 
himself4 ,orseolo set sail on ,ascension
 ,day1 after a service  in the          
,cathedral of ,olivolo 7now ,san ,pietro
 di ,castello71 fortified by  the good  
will of ,east and of ,west1 and the     
united acclamations of all  parties in  
,venice4 ,pride and vigorous hope must  
have swelled the hearts  of these       
warriors4 ,it was summer1 and their     

songs must have travelled  across the   
dazzling blue of the great basin of ,st4
 ,mark1 and echoed  and re-echoed far   
out on the crystal waters of the lagoon4
 ,triumph was  anticipated1 and triumph 
was their portion4 ,orseolo's expedition
 was  little less than a triumphal      
progress2 the coast towns of ,dalmatia  
from  ,zara to ,ragusa rendered him     
their homage4 ,a new and immensely rich 
province was acquired by ,venice1 and   
the title of ,duke of ,dalmatia         
accorded to himself4    ,soon after     
,orseolo's return from this campaign1   
,venice1 unknown to  herself1 was to    
receive the homage of one of the        
emperors she had made  it her business  
to propitiate4 ,there is something that 
stirs the  imagination in this secret   
visit of ,otho ,,iii to the ,doge4      
,according  to the ingenuous account of 
,john the ,deacon1 ,venetian ambassador 
at  the ,emperor's court1 it was merely 
one of those visits of princely         
compliment which the age knew so well   

how to contrive1 and loved  so well to  
recount--a visit in disguise for        
humility or greater  freedom1 like that 
of ,st4 ,louis to ,brother ,giles at    
,perugia1 where  host and guest embrace 
in fellowship too deep for words4 ,the  
,emperor1  ,john the ,deacon tells us1  
was overcome with admiration of         
,orseolo's  achievements in ,dalmatia1  
and filled with longing to see so great 
a  man1 and the chronicler was          
despatched to ,venice to arrange a      
meeting4  ,the ,doge1 while             
acknowledging the compliment of ,otho's 
message1 could  not believe in its      
reality1 and consequently kept his own  
counsel  about it--8tacitus sibi in     
corde servabat40 ,however1 when ,otho on
 his  travels had come down to ,ravenna 
for ,lent1 ,john the ,deacon was again  
despatched1 and this time from ,doge to 
,emperor4    ,it was ultimately arranged
 that after the ,easter celebration     
,otho with  a handful of followers      
should repair1 under pretext of a       

8spring-cure10  to the abbey of ,santa  
,maria in the isle of ,pomposa at the   
mouth of the  ,po4 ,he pretended to be  
taking up his quarters here for several 
days1  but at nightfall he secretly     
embarked in a small boat prepared by    
,john  the ,deacon1 and set sail with   
him and six followers for ,venice4 ,all 
that night and all the following day the
 little boat battled with the  tempest1 
and the storm was still unabated the    
next evening1 when it put  in at the    
island of ,san ,servolo and found itself
 harboured at last in  the waters of    
,st4 ,mark4 ,venice knew nothing of this
 arrival2 her royal  guest had taken her
 unawares1 and her waterways had        
prepared him no  welcome4 ,we may       
picture the anxiety of ,orseolo1 alone  
with the secret  of his expected guest1 
on the island of ,san ,servolo4 ,the    
journey may  well have been perilous for
 so small a boat even within the        
sheltering  wall of the ,lido1 and we   
may imagine his relief when it could at 

last  be descried beating towards the   
island through the tempestuous waters   
of the lagoon4 ,in impenetrable night1  
concealed from one another's eyes  by   
the thick darkness1 ,emperor and ,doge  
embraced4 ,otho was invited to  rest for
 an hour or two at the convent of ,san  
,zaccaria1 but he repaired  before dawn 
to the ,ducal ,palace and the lodging   
made ready for him in  the eastern      
tower4 ,there is a fascination in       
attempting to imagine the  two          
sovereigns moving amid the shadows of   
,venetian night1 in thinking  of the    
,emperor watching from the vantage of   
his tower for daybreak  over the city4  
,there are wonders to be seen from this 
eastern aspect1  but after the          
discomfort of his voyage to ,venice the 
royal captive  may well have felt a     
longing for a sight of the city from    
within4 ,it  is all rather like a       
children's game--,orseolo's feigned     
first meeting  with an embassy from     
,otho1 his inquiry as to the ,emperor's 

health and  whereabouts1 and the public 
dinner with the ambassadors4 ,venice is 
robbed of a pageant1 and one most dear  
to her1 the fting of a royal  guest2 the
 guest is deprived of all festivities   
beyond a christening  of the ,doge's    
daughter2 yet the pleasurable excitement
 of ,john the  chronicler communicates  
itself and disarms our criticism2 and it
 is not  till gifts have been offered   
and refused--8ne quis cupiditatis et non
  ,sancti ,marci tuque dilectionis causa
 me hac venisse asserat0--till  tears   
and kisses have been exchanged1 and the 
,emperor1 this time  preceding his      
companions by a day1 has set sail once  
more for the  island of ,pomposa1 that  
we break from the spell of the          
chronicler and  begin to cavil at the   
strange conditions of the visit4        
,modern historians have laid a probing  
hand on the sentimentality of  ,john the
 ,deacon's tale2 they do not doubt the  
kisses or the tears1 but  the           
unparalleled eccentricity of secrecy    

seems to demand an urgent  motive4 ,why 
this strange coyness of the ,emperor8   
,might he not have  thought more to     
honour ,venice and her ,doge by coming  
with imperial  pomp than by stealing in 
and out of the triumphant city like a   
thief  in the night8 ,and why did the   
persons concerned make public boast  of 
the success of their freak immediately  
after its occurrence8  ,for ,john tells 
us that when three days had passed1 the 
people were  assembled by the ,doge at  
his palace to hear of his achievement1  
8and  praised no less the faith of the  
,emperor than the skill of their        
leader40 ,the probable solution of the  
various enigmas rather rudely  shatters 
the romance4 ,gfrrer lays on ,orseolo   
the responsibility of  the incognito1   
attributing it partly to a memory of the
 fate that  overtook the ,candiani's    
personal relations with an imperial     
house1  partly to his desire to treat   
with the ,emperor unobserved4 ,he       
recalls  point by point the precautions 

taken by ,orseolo to preclude ,otho from
  contact with other ,venetians1 and    
comes to the conclusion that in those   
private interviews in the tower the     
8eternal dreamer0 was feasted  on the   
milk and honey of promises1 food of     
which no third person  could have been  
allowed to partake4 8,what lies10 he    
exclaims1 8were  invented1 what         
assurances vouchsafed of the most       
unbounded devotion  to imperial projects
 in general and the longed-for          
reconstitution of  the ,roman ,empire in
 particular6 ,never was prince so       
shamefully abused  as ,otho ,,iii at    
,venice40 ,it is not necessary to       
abandon our belief in  ,otho's personal 
feelings for the ,doge1 augmented by    
,orseolo's recent  campaign1 to realise 
that there must have been another side  
to the  picture4 ,gulled the royal guest
 in all probability was1 but there  is  
little doubt that he had an axe of his  
own to be ground on this  visit to      
,venice--that the journey had for its   

aim something beyond  his delectation in
 a sight of the ,doge and his obeisance 
to the ,lion4  ,for the furtherance of  
his schemes of empire ,otho needed a    
fleet4 ,he  had1 ,gfrrer tells us1 8an  
admiral already in view for it4 ,nothing
 was  wanted but cables1 anchors1       
equipments2 in short there were not even
  ships1 nor the necessary money1 and   
above all1 there were no sailors4  ,i   
believe that ,otho ,,iii undertook the  
journey to ,venice precisely  to procure
 for himself these necessary trifles4   
,who knows how many  times already he   
had urged the ,doge to hasten his       
sending of the  long-promised fleet2 but
 in place of ships nothing had yet come 
but  letters or embassies carrying      
specious excuses40 ,if the historian's  
motivisation is accurate1 ,otho must    
have found1 like so many after him1     
,venice more capable of exercising      
persuasion than of submitting to it4    
,for our uses1 however1 the original or 
the revised versions of the  tale serve 

the same purpose4 ,as an act of         
spontaneous homage or an act  of        
practical policy1 the visit of ,otho1   
full as it is of speculative            
possibilities1 was an imperial tribute  
to the position ,orseolo had  given to  
,venice1 an imperial recognition of her 
progress towards  supremacy in the      
,adriatic4    ,orseolo's achievement and
 the rite which symbolised it were      
confirmed  two centuries later when1 in 
the spring and summer of #aagg1 ,venice 
was the meeting place of ,pope          
,alexander ,,iii and the ,emperor       
,frederick  ,barbarossa4 ,tradition has 
woven a curious romance round the fact  
of  the ,pope's sojourn in ,venice      
before the coming of the ,emperor4 ,by  
a manipulation of various episodes1 he  
is brought as a fugitive to  creep among
 the tortuous by-ways of the city1      
sleeping on the bare  ground1 and going 
forward as chance might direct till he  
is received  as a chaplain--or1 to      
enhance the thrill of agony1 as a       

scullion--in  the convent of ,santa     
,maria della ,carit1 and after some     
months have  elapsed is brought to the  
notice of the ,doge1 when a             
transformation  scene of the ,cinderella
 type is effected4 ,it is inevitable    
that  melodramatic touches should have  
been added to so important an  episode1 
and the accounts of the manner of       
,alexander's arrival and  his bearing in
 ,venice are many and varied4 ,none the 
less1 it is clear  that splendour and   
not secrecy1 ceremony not intimacy1 are 
the general  colouring of the event4    
,frederick had shown himself disposed to
 make  peace and to accept the mediation
 of ,venice1 and in the early days  of  
the ,pope's visit the ,venetians had    
acted as counsellors1 pending  the      
agreement as to a meeting place4        
,significant terms are used by  the     
chroniclers to account for the ultimate 
choice1 and the note  which they strike 
is repeated again and again in the      
chorus of praise  that throughout the   

centuries was to wait upon ,venice4     
8,pope and  ,emperor sent forth their   
mandates to divers parts of the world1  
that  ,archbishops1 ,bishops1 ,abbots1  
,ecclesiastics and secular ,princes     
should  repair to ,venice2 for ,venice  
is safe for all1 fertile and abounding  
in supplies1 and the people quiet and   
peace-loving40 ,secure among the        
lagoons1 ,venice is aloof from the      
disturbances of the mainland cities1    
and though her inhabitants are proved   
warriors they are peaceable  citizens4  
,many of the glories of ,gentile        
,bellini's ,procession of  the ,cross   
would be present in the procession in   
which the ,doge  and the magnates of    
,venice formally conducted ,alexander   
,,iii to the  city--patriarch1 bishops1 
clergy1 and finally the ,pope himself1  
all in  their festival robes4           
,ecclesiastical and secular princes of  
,germany1  ,france1 ,england1 ,spain1   
,hungary and the whole of ,italy were   
crowding  to ,venice4 ,the occasion gave

 scope for her fascinations1 and they   
were  exerted4 ,no opportunity for      
display was neglected2 ceremony was     
heaped  upon ceremony4    ,for over a   
fortnight ,venice was the centre of     
correspondence daily  renewed between   
,emperor and ,pope1 of embassies        
hastening to and fro1  of endless       
postponements and uncertainties4 ,the   
,pope retires for a  few days to        
,ferrara2 then he is back again to be   
received as before4  ,but ,venice1 the  
indomitable1 is secure of her will1 and 
preparations  for the coming of the     
,emperor are growing apace4 ,in ,july   
the ,doge's  son is despatched to meet  
the royal guest at ,ravenna and conduct 
him  to ,venice by way of ,chioggia4 ,no
 tempests disturbed his arrival4 ,he    
was conducted in triumph up the lagoon  
by the galleys of 8honest men0  and     
,cardinals who had gone forth to        
,chioggia to meet him4 ,slowly the      
islands of the ,lido would unfold       
themselves to his eyes1 ,pellestrina  in

 shining curves1 ,malamocco with its    
long reaches of bare shore  and reeds4  
,the group clustered round ,venice      
itself--,san ,servolo1 ,la  ,grazia1    
,san ,lazzaro1 ,poveglia--would be green
 and smiling then1 living  islands1 not 
desolated as now for the most part by   
magazine or asylum4  ,san ,nicolo del   
,lido welcomed the guest1 and he was    
borne thence on the  ducal boat to the  
city and landed at the ,riva4 ,through  
the acclamations  of an 8unheard-of     
multitude0 his way was made to ,san     
,marco1 where the  ,pope in all his     
robes1 amid a throng of gorgeous        
ecclesiastics and  laymen1 was waiting  
on the threshold4 ,as he passed out of  
the brilliant  and garish day into the  
solemn mosaiced glory of ,san ,marco and
 moved to  the high altar between ,pope 
and ,doge singing a ,te ,deum1 8while   
all gave  thanks to ,god1 rejoicing and 
exulting and weeping10 even an emperor  
and  a ,barbarossa may well have        
surrendered his pride4 ,even we1        

spectators  removed by time1 find       
ourselves exalted on the tide of colour 
and of  sound1 and crying to the        
,venetians1 with the strangers who      
thronged in  their streets1 8,blessed   
are ye1 that so great a peace has been  
able  to be established in the midst of 
you6 ,this shall be a memorial to  your 
name for ever40 ,peace was secured and  
,venice had accomplished  her task4 ,she
 had devoted the subtleties of her      
statecraft to its  performance1 but     
perhaps the splendour of this hour in   
,san ,marco was  her crowning           
achievement4 ,she asked the recognition 
of a ,pope1 and she  brought the        
temporal sovereign to his side in a     
church which is one of  the wonders of  
,christendom4 ,she polished and gilded  
every detail of  her worldly            
magnificence1 and poured it as an       
oblation at the altar4  ,her            
reinforcements to the cause of          
,alexander ,,iii were drawn from far    
back in the ages1 from the inspiration  

of the men who had fashioned her        
temple2 and may there not be some deeper
 signification than merely that  of     
,frederick's stubbornness in the 8,not  
to thee1 but to ,st4 ,peter10           
traditionally attributed to him as he   
prostrated himself at his enemy's  feet8
    ,illustration3 ,,the ,,doorway ,,of 
,,san ,,marco4    ,to ,venice there     
remained1 beside the praise of all      
,christendom1 many  tangible tokens of  
the events of the summer4 ,emperor and  
,pope vied  with each other in evincing 
their gratitude4 ,alexander formally    
sanctioned and confirmed the title of   
,venice as sovereign and queen  of the  
,adriatic1 and bestowed on the ,doge a  
consecrated ring for use  at the        
,nuptials4 ,and henceforth the ceremony 
at ,san ,nicolo del ,lido1  the place of
 arrival and departure for the high seas
 and for ,dalmatia  and the ,east1 was  
increased in magnificence4 ,no trace now
 remains  of the church where the rites 
were performed2 but the grassy squares  

of ,san ,nicolo and the wooded slopes of
 its canal1 looking on one side  to the 
city1 on the other to the sea1 are      
beautiful still4 ,the ocean  calls to   
the lagoon1 and the calm waters of the  
lagoon sway themselves  in answer2      
while1 outside the ,lido1 line beyond   
line of snowy-crested  waves1 ever      
advancing1 bear in to ,venice1 ,bride of
 the ,adriatic1 the  will of the high   
sea4          ,chapter ,four    ,,venice
 ,,in ,,festival      ,the treaty signed
 in #aegc between ,venice and           
,constantinople1 though  it marked no   
real rise in her fortunes1 gave her a   
respite from  the petty and fruitless   
warfare with the ,turk1 in which she had
 so  long been engaged4 ,that conflict  
had drained the resources of the        
,republic without affording compensating
 gains4 ,the loss and horrors of        
,famagosta might seem to have been      
revenged by the battle of ,lepanto1     
where the triumph of ,venice and her    
allies was complete2 but owing  to the  

dilatoriness and inaction of ,don ,john 
of ,austria1 brother of  ,philip of     
,spain1 the opportunity of annihilating 
the ,turkish forces  was allowed to     
escape1 and victory was reduced to      
little more than  the name4 ,so flagrant
 had been the character of ,don ,john's 
disloyalty  that the ,venetians no      
longer could mistake his intentions4    
,spain was  an ally of ,venice2 but     
,tommaso ,morosini was but voicing the  
general  conviction when he exclaimed1  
8,we must face the fact that there will 
be no profitable progress1 seeing that  
the victory already gained by  the      
forces of the ,league against the ,turk 
was great in the number of  ships       
captured1 rare in the number of slaves  
set free1 famous by reason  of the power
 it broke1 formidable for the numbers   
killed by the sword1  glorious for the  
pride it laid low1 terrible in the fame 
acquired  by it4 ,and1 none the less1 no
 single foot of ground was gained4 ,oh1 
incomparable ignominy and shame of the  

allies1 that whatever honour  they      
obtained in consequence of the victory1 
they lost by not following  it up60     
,though nominally in league with her    
against the ,turk1 ,spain1  owing to her
 jealousy of ,venice1 was unwilling that
 the war should be  ended4 ,the ,league 
of ,cambray1 formed in #aejh by the     
,european powers  unfriendly to ,venice1
 should have made it clear to the       
,republic that  she had over-reached her
 own interests by interference in the   
politics  of ,europe4 ,moreover1 a      
severe blow had been dealt to the       
commerce of  ,venice by the discovery of
 the ,cape route to the ,east4 ,yet1    
though her  decline had begun1 she still
 formed a subject for envy1 and there is
  justice in ,morosini's conclusion as  
to the causes of the growing enmity  of 
,spain4 8,ruling10 he says of the       
,spaniards1 8a good part of ,europe1    
having passed into ,africa1 having      
discovered new territory1 dominating    
most of ,italy1 and seeing the          

,republic1 the single part1 the only    
corner of ,italy1 to be free and without
 the least burden of slavery1  they envy
 it1 envying it they hate it1 and hating
 it they lay snares  for it40    ,though
 the terms of the peace with            
,constantinople were humiliating  in the
 extreme 7,venice relinquished the whole
 of ,cyprus1 a fortress  in ,albania1   
and agreed within three years to pay an 
indemnity of one  hundred thousand      
ducats7 it set her hands free for awhile
 and gave  her a breathing space in     
which to return to her pageants4 ,and   
for the  next few years she laid herself
 out more completely than ever before   
to impress the world by her splendour4  
,it is not easy to determine the        
beginnings of decadent luxury in        
,venetian history4 ,venice had always   
been a pleasure-house1 a place of       
entertainment for kings and emperors1  a
 temple of solemn festival4 ,perhaps the
 broad difference between the           
splendours of the early and late        

,renaissance is that one achieved that  
perfection of taste which robes luxury  
in apparent simplicity1 while  the other
 was more obvious and expansive--the    
difference between the  ,madonnas of    
,bellini and of ,titian1 between the    
interiors of ,carpaccio  and ,paul      
,veronese4 ,there is a real and         
discernible difference in  aspect       
between ,venice of the fifteenth and    
,venice of the sixteenth  century1 but  
it is not the difference between        
asceticism and luxury4  ,venice was     
never ascetic1 no prophet ever drew her 
citizens round a  sacrificial bonfire on
 the ,piazza4 ,on the other hand it is  
said that  a ,venetian merchant was     
burnt in effigy on ,savonarola's pile   
because  he had attempted to purchase   
some of the doomed ,florentine          
treasures4  ,in the course of the       
fifteenth century isolated voices were  
indeed  raised in protest against the   
luxury of ,venice1 and the authorities  
themselves1 as the ,state coffers grew  

empty1 tried by oratorical appeal  and  
detailed legislation to curb the        
extravagance of private citizens4  ,but 
their protests were1 in the main1 quite 
ineffectual4 ,venice could  not resist  
the influences that wove for her each   
day a magical dress2  she could not     
refuse the treasures of the ,east3 it   
was her function to  be beautiful1 to   
accept and love every wonder1 to turn   
her face against  nothing that could    
glorify4 ,she had always appeared as a  
miracle to  men1 she had always lavished
 her treasures on her guests2 the vital 
difference between the period of her    
decline and that of her greatness  lies 
in the gradual relaxation of the ties   
binding her to the sources  of her      
wealth4 ,with the ebbing of her trade   
her citizens begin to  barter their     
landed estates and their treasures4     
,morosini's acute and  interesting      
prophecy as to the private banks into   
which ,venetian money  began to be      
diverted provides us with a background  

to some of the  almost fabulous         
expenditure of the ,cinquecento--8,the  
banker10 he says1  8with a chance of    
obliging many friends in their need1 and
 acquiring  others by such a service1   
and with power to do so without spending
  money1 simply by making a brief entry1
 is easily persuaded to satisfy  many4  
,when the opportunity arises of buying  
some valuable piece of  furniture or    
decoration1 clothes1 jewels and similar 
things of great  price1 he is easily    
persuaded to please himself1 simply     
ordering a line  or two to be written in
 his books--reassuring1 or rather1      
deceiving  himself with the thought that
 one year being passed in this way1 he  
can  carry time forward1 and pass many  
years in the same manner1 scheming  that
 such an affair or such an investment as
 he has in hand1 when it  has come to   
perfection1 ought to prove most useful1 
and that through  its means he may be   
able to remedy other disorders2 which   
hope proving  fallacious shows with how 

little security walks one who places his
  thoughts and hopes in the uncertain   
and inconstant issues of events40       
,the fabric of sixteenth-century ,venice
 was too largely founded on the         
8uncertain and inconstant issues of     
events10 but none the less it was  as   
radiant a fabric as any that man has yet
 fashioned4 ,something  at least of its 
nature may be learned from the details  
of the  entertainment of ,henry ,,iii in
 ,venice1 and his lodging and reception 
in the then fashionable suburb of       
,murano4 ,henry came to ,venice in  the 
early summer of #aegd1 on his way from  
,poland to take possession  of the      
throne of ,france vacated by the death  
of his brother ,charles  ,,ix4 ,he came 
at a moment when ,venice was rich in    
artists to do him  honour--,tintoretto1 
,paolo ,veronese1 ,palladio and ,claudio
 ,merulo3 he was  crowned with the      
laurels of war2 while the ,republic was 
able to clothe  herself in the glory of 
,lepanto and the respite of her newly   

concluded  peace with the ,turk and1    
superficially at least1 appeared        
peculiarly  fitted to welcome him4 ,the 
young ,king was gracious1 and greedy to 
drink  his fill of life1 and ,venice was
 unique in her celebration4 ,the visit  
was one of the most spontaneous1 the    
most joyful to host and guest1 of  any  
that are recorded in her annals4 ,all   
the territory of ,venice was  prepared  
to honour him1 and his journey was a    
triumphal progress4 ,there  is something
 joyous still about the little inland   
cities of his route1  echoes of festival
 still linger in their streets1 romance 
still dwells  in their hearts4 ,at      
,treviso1 where the young ,king was     
welcomed with  peculiar pomp1 the ,lion 
of ,st4 ,mark1 portrayed by three       
successive  ages1 rules still1 his      
majesty sustained by the sturdiness of  
life that  moves in the city4 ,the      
winding cobbled streets are full of     
bustle and  interchange1 the arcades are
 full of people1 vital and busily       

employed4  ,treviso is not a museum4    
,its ancient palace of the ,cavallieri  
is still  in use1 though its loggia with
 traces of rich fresco is filled with   
lumber4 ,but we are not critical of     
small details at ,treviso2 we thank  it 
for its winding streets and for its     
leaping azure river2 we thank  it for   
its countless ancient roofs and painted 
rafters2 for its houses  high and low1  
harmonious though endless in variation1 
for the remnants  of fresco1 shadows no 
doubt of what once they were1 but       
companionable  shadows--horses with     
still distinguishable motions1 graceful 
maidens  both of land and sea4 ,these   
glories are fading but they have        
substance  still1 and on a day of       
mid-autumn we are well able to imagine a
 kingly  procession on the road from    
,treviso to ,mestre4 ,it seems a        
pageant1  a progress of pomp and colour1
 as we pass between the vineyards and   
maize fields and the great gardens and  
pastures of the villas1 down  the avenue

 of plane trees set like gold banners on
 silvery flagstaffs  with carpets of    
fallen leaves at their feet4 ,behind    
them are ranked  dark cypresses1 pale   
groups of willow1 or companies of       
poplar4 ,and  these are often garlanded 
to their very summits by crimson        
creepers1  and interspersed with        
statues1 not perhaps great in           
workmanship1 but  tempered and          
harmonised into beauty by the seasons4  
,here and there is  a lawn flanked by   
dark shrubbery1 or a terrace ablaze with
 dahlias and  salvia4 ,and1 among them1 
,baron ,franchetti of the ,c d',oro has 
a home  even more worthy of the golden  
title than is his palace on the shores  
of the ,grand ,canal--a place where the 
sun reveals miraculous hangings  in the 
shrubberies1 sumptuously furnished with 
scarlet and crimson and  gold4          
,illustration3 ,,view ,,from ,c         
,d',,oro4    ,some such festival of     
colour1 in banners and trappings1 would 
be  ,henry's preparation for the pageant

 of the lagoons4 ,for he was met at     
,marghera1 half way between ,mestre and 
,venice1 by a troop of senators  and    
noblemen and ambassadors1 and escorted  
to the palace of ,bartolomeo  ,capello  
at ,murano4 ,of the young ,king's       
lodging at ,murano we have spoken       
elsewhere--of the hall hung with gold   
brocade1 with golden baldaquin1  green  
velvet and silk1 its entrance guarded by
 sixty halberdiers armed  for the       
occasion with gilt spears borrowed from 
the chambers of the  ,council of ,ten4  
,forty noble youths1 in glorious attire1
 had been told  off to wait on the      
,king4 ,but1 8although a most sumptuous 
supper was  prepared1 none the less ,his
 ,majesty1 when the senators were gone1 
showed himself a short while at the     
windows dressed in cloth of gold  and   
silk2 after which he went to supper1 and
 the princes arrived1 so  that it was   
most glorious with abundant supply of   
exquisite viands  and most delicate     
foods40 ,the hearts of the ,venetians   

were won by the  ,king's beauty and     
youth1 by his delicate person and grave 
aspect1 by  his majestic bearing and his
 eagerness to please and be pleased4 ,he
 was  in mourning for his brother1 but  
his mourning did not shadow ,venice by  
its gloom4 8,his ,majesty appeared in   
public dressed all in purple 7which  is 
his mourning7 with a ,flemish cloak1 a  
cap on his head in the ,italian  mode1  
with long veil and mantle reaching to   
his feet1 slashed jerkin1  stockings and
 leather collar1 and a large shirt-frill
 most becomingly  worn1 with perfumed   
gloves in his hand1 and wearing on his  
feet shoes  with heels  la mode         
franaise40    ,it would be tedious to   
relate the details of the splendid      
entertainments that each day were       
provided for his delectation2 of        
salutes that made the earth and water   
tremble1 of fireworks glowing  all night
 beneath the windows of the ,c ,foscari1
 of the blaze of light  from the candles
 set in every window and cornice and    

angle of the  buildings along the ,grand
 ,canal1 of the gilded lilies and       
pyramids and  wheels reflected in the   
water1 8so that the canal seemed like   
another  starry sky40 ,it was a         
veritable gala for ,henry2 he paid a    
private  visit to the ,doge to the great
 satisfaction of that prince and his    
senate1 he went about incognito in a    
gondola alone with the ,duke of         
,ferrara1 8so that when they thought he 
was in his room1 he was in some  other  
part of the city1 returning home at an  
exceedingly late hour  accompanied by   
many torches1 and immensely enjoying the
 liberty of this  town2 and on account  
of his charm and courtesy1 the whole    
place gave  vent to the lasting joy and 
satisfaction it felt in continually     
seeing  him40 ,he spent three hours in  
the ,arsenal1 engrossed in viewing the  
vast preparation for war and the spoils 
won from the ,turk 8in the sea  battle  
on the day of the great victory02 and   
then in the chamber of the  ,council of 

,ten1 within the ,arsenal1 he was       
provided with a ,sugar ,feast1  with    
sugar dishes1 knives and forks1 so      
admirably counterfeit that ,his         
,majesty only realised their nature when
 his sugar napkin crumbled and  a piece 
of it fell to the ground4 ,is there not 
something contributive  to our picture  
of ,venice the entertainer1 in this     
feast of sugar given  by the terrible   
,council of ,ten within the walls of the
 ,arsenal itself8  ,there is naturally  
much vague repetition in the chronicles 
of the time1  but here and there are    
vital touches which bring the young     
,king to life  before our eyes4 ,at the 
banquet given in his honour in the ,sala
 del  ,gran ,consiglio1 having eaten    
sufficiently himself1 he brought the    
meal  to an end before half of the      
courses had appeared1 by adroitly       
causing  the ,dukes of ,savoy and       
,ferrara to rise in their places at his 
side1 and  calling for water for his    
hands during the disturbance caused by  

the  lords and ambassadors as they      
followed the example of the dukes4 ,he  
told ,giovanni ,michele that of all the 
entertainments he had witnessed  in     
,venice none had pleased him more than  
the 8,guerra dei ,ponti10 and  that if  
he had known of it earlier he would have
 prayed to have had  the spectacle      
repeated several times1 for he 8could   
have asked nothing  better than this40  
,the ,guerra dei ,ponti were wrestling  
matches that  took place on certain     
bridges over the canals1 and pages of   
description  might not have told us as  
much of the nature of the man who lived 
behind the scented gloves and purple    
mantle1 as this single expression  of   
preference4    ,two episodes in the     
visit of ,henry that seem worthy of     
fuller record  stand out from the rest3 
his reception at the ,lido and the ,ball
 in  the ,ducal ,palace2 and they       
represent the achievements in his honour
  of two departments of ,venetian       
activity1 the ,city ,guilds and the     

,court4 ,while he was still in his      
lodging at ,murano barges of immense    
splendour1 vying with each other in     
symbolism and ingenuity of design1  and 
each representing one of the trades of  
,venice1 had arrived to  accompany him  
to the ,lido4 ,if we imagine the ,lord  
,mayor's ,procession1  with splendour a 
thousandfold enhanced and with drapery  
and design of  artistic excellence1     
removed from the streets to the         
glittering surface  of the lagoon1 we   
may have some idea of the spectacle4    
,among the most  splendid of the barges 
was that of the ,druggists1 with an     
ensign of the  ,saviour riding on the   
world4 8,the outer coverings themselves 
were of  cloth of gold1 and below them  
and below the oars were painted         
canvases4  ,the poop was hung within    
with most beautiful carpets1 and on the 
four  sides four pyramids were erected  
of sky blue with fireworks inside  them1
 at the feet of which were four stucco  
figures representing four  nymphs1 and  

there were set two arquebuses and a     
musket and two flags  white and red and 
a flag of battle4 ,and on the outside   
were divers  sorts of arms1 spears and  
shields and six arquebuses4 ,on the prow
 was  a pyramid with fireworks1 on the  
top of which was an angel--for this  and
 the ,golden ,head were the badges of   
the two honoured druggists who  had     
decked the said vessel--and in the midst
 of it was a design of a  pelican with a
 motto round it in letters of gold1     
,respice ,domino1  representing the     
pelican as wounding its breast to draw  
blood from it  to nourish its offspring1
 just as they1 the druggists1 faithful  
and  devoted to their prince and master1
 gave and offered to him1 not only      
their faculties but their blood itself1 
which is their own life in his  service2
 and at the foot of the pyramid was a   
little boy beating a  drum40 ,the       
,looking-,glass ,makers also had        
prepared a magnificent barge  glittering
 with symbols of their profession4 ,but 

perhaps the device of  the              
,glass-,workers of ,murano out-rivalled 
all others in ingenuity and  pomp4 8,on 
two great barges1 chained together and  
covered with painted  canvases1 they had
 erected a furnace in the form of a     
sea-monster2  and following the train of
 vessels1 flames were seen issuing from 
its  mouths1 and1 the masters having    
given their consent1 the ,glass-,workers
  made most beautiful vases of crystal1 
which were cause of great  pleasure to  
the ,king40    ,the ,convent of ,sant'  
,elena was the vantage point chosen for 
looking on  ,venice1 and at the moment  
the army of barges and brigantines      
reached  it1 they spread out in front of
 ,his ,majesty1 and a salute broke from 
them all2 8to which the galleys in the  
train of the ,king replied  in such     
ordered unity that ,his ,majesty rose to
 his feet with great  curiosity to see  
them1 praising exceedingly so wonderful 
a sight1  admiring to his right the fair
 and famous city marvellously built upon

  the salt waters1 and on the left a    
forest of so many ships and vessels     
with so great noise of artillery and    
arquebuses1 and of trumpets and  drums1 
that he remained astounded2 while he    
openly showed himself not  less merry   
than content1 seeing so rare a thing as 
was never before  seen of him40 ,henry's
 arrival at the ,lido is portrayed in   
the ,sala  delle ,quattro ,porte in the 
,ducal ,palace4 ,he is seen advancing   
with  sprightly step1 between two       
dignitaries of the ,church1 up a        
temporary  wooden bridge towards the    
,triumphal ,arch and ,temple of         
,palladio4 ,this  arch was decorated    
with paintings by ,paolo and            
,tintoretto1 and in  connexion with it  
,ridolfi tells a delightful story of the
 painting of  ,henry's portrait4        
8,tintoretto10 says ,ridolfi1 8was      
longing to paint the  ,king's portrait1 
and in consequence begged ,paolo to     
finish the arch by  himself2 and1 taking
 off his toga1 ,tintoretto dressed      

himself as one  of the ,doge's          
equerries1 and took his place among them
 in the ,bucintoro  as it moved to meet 
the ,king1 thus furtively procuring a   
chalk sketch  of the proposed portrait1 
which he was afterwards to enlarge to   
life  size2 and having made friends with
 ,m4 ,bellagarda1 the ,king's treasurer1
  he was introduced with much           
difficulty1 owing to the frequent visits
  of the ,doge1 into the royal          
apartments to retouch the portrait from 
life4 ,now whilst he stood painting1 and
 the ,king with great courtesy          
admiring1 there entered presumptuously  
into the apartments at smith of  the    
,arsenal1 presenting an ill-done        
portrait by himself1 and saying  that1  
while ,his ,majesty was dining in the   
,arsenal1 he had done the  likeness of  
him4 ,his presumption was humbled by a  
courtier who snatched  it from his hand1
 and ripping it up with his dagger threw
 it into the  neighbouring ,grand       
,canal3 which incident1 on account of   

the whispering  it produced1 made it    
difficult for the painter to carry out  
his  intention4 ,tintoretto had also    
observed on that occasion that from time
  to time certain persons were          
introduced to the ,king1 whom he touched
  lightly on the shoulder with his      
rapier1 adding other ceremonies4 ,and   
pretending not to understand the        
meaning1 he asked it of ,bellagarda1    
who said that they were created knights 
by ,his ,majesty1 and that he1          
,tintoretto1 might prepare himself to   
receive that degree2 for he had         
discussed the matter with the ,king1 to 
whom ,tintoretto's conditions  were     
known and who had shown himself         
disposed1 in attestation of his  powers1
 to create him also a knight2 but our   
painter1 not being willing  to subject  
himself to any title1 modestly rejected 
the offer40 ,when the  portrait was     
finished and presented to the ,king1 it 
was acclaimed by  him as a marvellous   
likeness1 and we may safely conclude    

from this that  it was fair to look on4 
,the ,king presented it to the ,doge4   
,perhaps the  picture from the first had
 been intended as a present for         
,mocenigo1 and  this was the explanation
 of the secrecy observed in regard to   
it4    ,illustration3 ,,courtyard ,,of  
,,palazzo ,,ducale4    ,the climax of   
entertainment was reached in the festa  
at the ,ducal  ,palace on the second    
,sunday after ,henry's arrival 7his     
visit lasted  ten days74 ,the glories of
 ,venice were gathered in that          
marvellous hall  still hung with the    
paintings of ,carpaccio and ,gentile    
,bellini1 and  the exquisite ,paradise  
of ,guariento2 for it was yet a year    
previous to  the great fire which was to
 give scope to the contemporary giants4 
,the  later victories of ,venice were as
 yet unchronicled except in the hearts  
of living men4 ,there was no thought of 
sumptuary laws on this day at  least of 
the great festival4 ,ladies were there  
clothed all in ormesine1  adorned with  

jewels and pearls of great size1 not    
only in strings on  their necks1 but    
covering their head-dresses and the     
cloaks on their  shoulders4 8,and in    
their whiteness1 their beauty and       
magnificence1  they formed a choir not  
so much of nymphs as of very goddesses4 
,they  were set one behind the other in 
fair order upon carpeted benches        
stretching round the whole hall1 leaving
 an ample space in the centre1  at the  
head of which was set a royal seat with 
a covering of gold and  entirely covered
 with a baldaquin from top to bottom1   
and round it  yellow and blue satin40   
,all the splendours of ,venetian and    
,oriental  cloths were lavished on the  
,hall of the ,great ,council and the    
,sala del  ,scrutinio adjoining4 ,the   
,king as usual entered whole-heartedly  
into the  festivity4 ,his seat was      
raised that he might look over the      
company1  8but he chose nevertheless to 
go round and salute all the ladies with 
much grace and courtesy1 raising his cap

 as he went along40 ,after a  time      
musical instruments were heard1 the     
ladies were carried off by the          
gentlemen1 and forming into line they   
began to dance a slow measure1  passing 
before the ,king and bowing as they     
passed4 8,and he stood the  whole while 
cap in hand40 ,the ,french courtiers    
were permitted by their  master to lay  
aside their mourning for the time1 and  
they danced with  great merriment1 vying
 with the most famous dancers of        
,venice4 ,but the  great feature of the 
evening was the tragedy by ,cornelio    
,frangipani--a  mythological masque in  
honour of the most ,christian ,king and 
of ,venice  herself--with ,proteus1     
,iris1 ,mars1 ,amazons1 ,pallas and     
,mercury as  protagonists4 ,to the first
 printed edition of his masque          
,frangipani  prefixed an apology for his
 title of tragedy1 with the usual appeal
 to  classic precedent4 8,this tragedy  
of mine10 he says1 8was recited in  such
 a way as most nearly to approach to the

 form of the ancients2 all  the players 
sang in sweetest harmony1 now           
accompanied1 now alone2 and  finally the
 chorus of ,mercury was composed of     
players who had so many  various        
instruments as were never heard before4 
,the trumpets introduced  the gods on to
 the appointed scene with the machinery 
of tragedy1 but  this could not be used 
to effect on account of the great       
concourse of  people2 and the ancients  
could not have been initiated into the  
musical  compositions in which ,claudio 
,merulo had reached a height certainly  
never attained by the ancients40 ,the   
masque is in reality a mere masque  of  
occasion1 comparable to countless       
,english productions in the             
,elizabethan age1 though lacking in the 
lyrical grace they generally  possess4  
,henry is addressed as the slayer of    
monsters1 the harbinger of  peace1 the  
herald of the age of gold--             
,pregamo questo domator de' mostri      
,ch'eterno al mondo viva1      ,perch in

 pregiata oliva      ,ha da cangiar d'  
alloro      ,e apportar l' antica et    
del' oro4    ,the masque is without     
literary merit1 but we need not regard  
it in  the cold light of an after day1  
caged and with clipped wings4 ,to that  
glorious assembly1 illumined by the     
great deeds fresh in men's minds  and   
the presence of a royal hero1           
,frangipani's words may well have been  
kindled into flame4 ,for if time and    
place were ever in conspiracy to  wing  
pedestrian thoughts and words1 it must  
have been at this fting of  the most    
,christian ,king of ,france in the ,city
 of the ,sea4    ,pens were busy in     
,venice during the days of ,henry's     
stay4 ,unsalaried  artists1 independent 
of everything except a means of         
livelihood1  exacted toll from the royal
 guest4 ,from the #af1jjj scudi of      
largess  distributed by the ,king1      
payments are enumerated 8to writers and 
poets  who presented to ,his ,majesty   
,latin works and poems made in praise of

  his greatness and splendour40 ,gifts1 
as well as compliments were  exchanged  
on all hands4 ,the ,duke of ,savoy      
presented the ,doge's wife  with a      
girdle studded with thirty gold rosettes
 each containing four  pearls and a     
precious jewel in the centre1 worth     
#a1hjj scudi4 ,and  ,henry's final token
 of gratitude to his entertainers was to
 send after  the ,doge1 who had         
accompanied him to ,fusina1 a           
magnificent diamond  ring1 begging that 
,mocenigo should wear it continually in 
token of  their love4 ,most of these    
offerings and acknowledgments1 without  
doubt1  would be merely ceremonial4 ,yet
 the young ,king's delight in his visit 
had been genuine1 and his frank         
enjoyment of all ,venice offered had won
  him her sympathy and even her         
affection4 ,memories of the freedom of  
his stay went with him to the routine of
 his kingship1 and he looked  backwards 
with delight to her winged pleasures4   
,she had spread gifts  out before him1  

as she does before all1 but in his own  
hands he had  carried the key of her    
inmost treasures2 for his spirit was    
joyful and  joy is the key to the       
unlocking of her heart4                 
,chapter ,five    ,a ,,merchant ,,of    
,,venice      8,siamo noi calcolatori0  
was the confession of a modern          
,venetian1 quoted  lately as expressive 
of the spirit that governs ,venice      
to-day and has  lain at the root of her 
policy in the past4 ,the confession is  
striking2  for most men1 however        
calculating in practice1 acknowledge an 
ideal  of spontaneous generosity which  
causes them to shun the admission of    
self-interested motives4 ,the charge1 if
 charge it can be termed1 is an  old    
one4 ,again and again it has been       
brought against ,venice by those  to    
whom her greatness has been a           
stumbling-block--8sono calcolatori40    
,but perhaps if the indictment be       
rightly understood it will be found  to 
need1 not so much a denial as an        

extension1 a fuller statement of        
meaning4 ,and this ,professor ,molmenti 
has supplied in his ,venice in the      
,middle ,ages4#a 8,the ,venetians10 he  
says1 in commenting on the support  they
 lent to the ,crusades1 8never forgot   
their commercial and political          
interests in their zeal for the faith2  
they intended to secure for  themselves 
a market in every corner of the globe4  
,but their so-called  egoism displayed  
itself in a profound attachment to their
 country and  their race2 and these     
greedy hucksters1 these selfish         
adventurers1 as  they are sometimes     
unjustly called1 had at bottom a genuine
 belief  in objects high and serious2   
the merchant not seldom became a hero4  
,these lords of the sea knew how to wed 
the passion of ,christianity to         
commercial enterprise1 and welded the   
aspirations of the faith with the       
interests of their country1 proving by  
their action not only how vain  and     
sterile is an idealism which consumes   

itself in morbid dreams1 but  also that 
the mere production of riches will lead 
to ruin unless it be  tempered1         
legalised1 almost1 we would say1        
sanctified1 by the serene  and          
lifegiving breath of the ideal40 ,but   
because she was supremely  successful in
 her undertakings1 ,venice won for      
herself much perplexed  and hostile     
comment from those who were jealous of a
 mastery sustained  with such apparently
 effortless self-possession--of an      
organisation so  complete1 so silent1 so
 pervasive4 ,she has been accused of    
perfidy1 of  cruelty1 in short1 of      
shameless egoism4 ,a nation1 a state1 is
 pledged  to the preservation of its    
identity1 its conceptions must be       
bounded  and constantly measured by the 
power of other states4 ,the neighbours  
of  ,venice in the days of her glory    
were selfish and calculating also2 her  
prominence was due not so much to       
special weapons as to her skill in      
wielding weapons everywhere in use4     

#a ,translated by ,mr4 ,horatio ,browne4
    ,and what can we say of the ends to 
which she directed her success1 the     
scope of her arts1 the nature of her    
pleasures8 ,it must be admitted by  all 
that the soul of ,venice was capacious1 
unique in its harmony of  imagination   
and political acumen2 unique in its     
power of commanding  and retaining      
respect4 ,a great soul was in the men of
 ,venice2 it was  present in all their  
activities1 in their commerce as in     
their art4  ,the two were most          
intimately allied4 ,again and again the 
chroniclers  of ,venice crown their     
catalogue of her glories with the       
reminder that  their foundation is in   
commerce1 that the ,venetians are a     
nation of  shopkeepers1 and 8you have   
only come to such estate by reason of   
the  trade done by your shipping in     
various parts of the world40 ,even in   
the fifteenth century it was deemed     
complimentary to say to a newly  elected
 ,doge1 8,you have been a great trader  

in your young days40 ,the  greatness of 
,venice was coincident with the         
greatness of her trade4  ,she was lit1  
it is true1 with the ancient stars of   
her splendour after  the mortal blow had
 been struck at her commerce by the     
discovery of  the ,cape route to the    
,east1 but the old unity of her strength
 had been  lost--the firm foundations of
 the days when the nobles of ,venice had
  been the directors of her enterprise4 
,and at the end of the fifteenth        
century they no longer sat1 in their    
togas1 behind the counters in  ,rialto1 
or made the basements of their houses   
into stores4 ,they had  ceased to       
apprentice their sons to the merchants  
on the sea-going  galleys4 ,they still  
acted as commanders of the ships in     
times of war1  but in intervals of peace
 the gulf between noble and merchant was
  constantly being enlarged4 ,the       
commercial traveller was no longer      
considered one of the most distinguished
 of citizens4 ,the corner stone  had    

been taken from the building of ,rialto2
 it had begun to crumble to  the        
dissolution lamented by ,grevembroch in 
his strange book on ,venetian  costumes4
 ,in the great days of ,venice her      
commerce was great1 and she  knew how to
 robe it in glory1 how to attract to it 
the noblest1 and not  the meanest1 of   
her sons4 ,her shops were the objects of
 her proudest  solicitude1 and the      
well-being of her merchants the first of
 her cares4  ,the hostels provided for  
foreign traders ranked with the most    
sumptuous  of her palaces1 and the rules
 framed for their guidance were amongst 
the most liberal in her legislature4    
,the calculations of ,venice1 growing   
with her growth1 impressed on her       
national consciousness the importance of
 her position midway between  the ,east 
and the ,west--her geographical         
qualification for becoming the  mart of 
the world4 ,with steady and concentrated
 purpose she devoted her  energy to     
opening up fresh channels of            

communication4 ,sometimes by the        
marriage of a son or daughter of the    
,doge with the heir of a kingdom or  a  
prince of ,constantinople1 sometimes by 
the subjugation of a common  foe1       
,venice wove new threads of intercourse 
with the ,east4 ,she always  took       
payment for benefits she conferred in   
wider trading advantages4  ,her merchant
 vessels were not private adventures1   
they represented  state enterprise and  
were under the control of the central   
government1  travelling with the fleet  
and capable of reinforcing it at need4  
,seven  merchant convoys left ,venice   
annually for ,roumania1 ,azof1          
,trebizond1  ,cyprus1 ,armenia1 ,france1
 ,england1 ,flanders1 ,spain1 ,portugal 
and ,egypt4  ,by means of these vessels 
the glories of the ,orient found their  
way to  the lands of the ,west2 ,venice 
was mistress of the treasures of        
,arabia1  and became their dispenser to 
,europe4 ,and she was not merely a mart1
  a counter of interchange2 she tested  

the goods at their source2 she  was not 
at the mercy of valuers1 her citizen    
travellers came into  touch with the    
goods on the soil that produced them4   
,the ,east1 to  which the art of ,venice
 owes much of its material--its gold1   
its gems1  its colours--was not an      
unfathomed mine but1 in a certain sense1
 a  pleasure-ground for her citizens2   
they passed to and fro familiarly1      
guests of its greatest potentates4 ,they
 stood face to face with ,cublay  ,kaan1
 the monarch of mystery4    ,the        
journeys of the famous ,poli are among  
the most thrilling and  significant     
records of ,venetian history4 ,through  
them we are able to  realise something  
of the ,republic's debt to the lands of 
the ,east--a  debt not to be summed up  
in enumeration of embroidery and jewels 
and  perfumes and secrets of colour4 ,in
 part at least it consisted of  legends 
and traditions that filtered into       
,venice through the hearing  and speech 
of her travellers--age-old lessons in   

wisdom1 which must  have invested some  
of the common things of ,venetian life  
with new  meaning and done something to 
break down the barriers which ignorance 
erects between man and man1 knowledge   
and knowledge4 ,in the beautiful        
,persian rendering of the story of ,the 
,three ,magi1 as told by ,marco  ,polo1 
she came into touch with comparative    
theology1 the familiar  ,christian tale 
drawn from an earlier source4 ,marco    
,polo tells how  he first found at ,sara
 the beautiful tombs of ,jaspar1        
,melchior and  ,balthasar1 with their   
bodies completely preserved2 how the    
people of  that place knew nothing of   
their history save that they were the   
bodies  of kings2 but three days'       
journey onward he had come to the city  
of  the fire-worshippers and been       
informed of the three who had set out   
to worship a newly born ,prophet1       
carrying with them gifts to test  the   
extent of his powers--gold for the      
earthly ,king1 myrrh for the  physician1

 incense for the ,god4 8,and when they  
were come there where  the ,child was   
born1 the youngest of these three ,kings
 went all alone  to see the ,child1 and 
there he found that it was like himself1
 for  it seemed of his age and form4    
,then he went out much marvelling1 and  
after him went in the second of the     
,kings1 who was near in age to the      
first1 and the ,child seemed to him1 as 
to the first1 of his own form  and age1 
and he also went out much perplexed4    
,then went in the third1  who was of    
great age1 and it happened to him as to 
the other two1 and  he also went out    
very pensive4 ,and when all the ,kings  
were together1  they told one another   
what they had seen2 and they marvelled  
much and  said they would go in all     
three together4 ,then they went together
 into  the ,child's presence1 and they  
found ,him of the likeness and age that 
,he really was1 for ,he was only three  
days old4 ,then they adored ,him  and   
offered ,him their gold and incense and 

myrrh4 ,the ,child took all  their      
offerings and gave them a closed box1   
and then the three ,kings  departed and 
returned to their country40 ,marco ,polo
 goes on to relate  how the ,kings1     
finding the box heavy to bear1 sat down 
by a well to  open it1 and1 when they   
had opened it1 they found only stones   
inside4  ,these1 in their               
disappointment1 they threw into the well
 and lo6 from  the stones fire ascended 
which they gathered up and took home    
with  them to worship4 ,with it they    
burned all their sacrifices1 renewing it
  from one altar to another4 ,other     
tales he told them from the wisdom of   
the ,east--of the idealist who found no 
joy in earthly existence1 and  the      
chagrin of his father the ,king1 who    
surrounded him with luxury and  with    
beautiful maidens1 but could not        
persuade him4 ,one day he rode  out on  
his horse and saw a dead man by the way4
 ,and he was filled with  horror at a   
sight which he had never seen before1   

and he asked those  who were with him   
the meaning of the sight1 and they told 
him it was a  dead man4 8,what10 said   
the son of a ,king1 8then do all men    
die80 ,yes1  truly1 they say4 ,then the 
youth asked no more1 but rode on in     
front  in deep thought4 ,and after he   
had ridden some way he met a very old   
man who could not walk1 and who had no  
teeth1 for he had lost them all  by     
reason of his great age4 ,and when the  
,king's son saw the old man he  asked   
what he was and why he could not walk1  
and his companions told  him that he    
could not walk from age1 and that from  
age he had lost his  teeth4 ,and when   
the ,king's son understood about the    
dead man and the  old man1 he returned  
to his palace1 and said to himself that 
he would  live no longer in so evil a   
world1 but that he would go 8in search  
of  ,him who never dies1 of ,him who    
made him4 ,and so he departed from his  
father and from the palace1 and went to 
the mountains1 that are very  high and  

impassable1 and there he lived all his  
life1 most purely and  chastely1 and    
made great abstinence1 for certainly if 
he had been a  ,christian1 he would be a
 great saint with our ,lord ,jesus      
,christ40 ,did  he find his answer in   
the mountains8 ,perhaps in some dawn or 
sunset he  learned of the nature of     
8,him who made him1 of ,him who never   
dies02  perhaps among the wild creatures
 he learned before he was old to sing   
the lauds of our sister ,death4 ,but    
,polo's comment on the story is         
interesting1 for the ,venetians would   
have little natural sympathy  with its  
hero4 ,they would prefer ,carpaccio's   
fairy prince who forsook  his kingdom to
 follow ,ursula and her virgins4 ,the   
tale of one who dared  not look on life 
in company with his kind1 would strike a
 chill across  the full-blooded natures 
of ,venice1 so eager to grasp at all    
that  ministered to enjoyment and       
vitality4    ,illustration3 ,,san       
,,giorgio4    ,but ,marco's pack held   

stories of a more tangible kind--tales  
of the  ,palace of ,cublay ,kaan1 with  
its hall that held six thousand men1 the
  inside walls covered with gold and    
silver and pictures of great beasts1    
and the outside rainbow-coloured1       
shining like crystal in the sun1 and  a 
landmark far and wide4 ,and within the  
circuit of the palace walls  was a green
 pleasure mound covered with trees from 
all parts and with  a green palace on   
its summit4 8,and ,i tell you that the  
mound and the  trees and the palace are 
so fair to see that all who see them    
have joy  and gladness1 and therefore   
has the great ,sire had them made1 to   
have  that beautiful view and to receive
 from it joy and solace40 ,he tells of  
the wonderful ,zecca where coins of the 
,great ,kaan are stamped--not made  of  
metal1 but of black paper--which may be 
refused nowhere throughout  the ,kaan's 
dominions on pain of death4 ,all who are
 possessed of gold  and treasure are    
obliged to bring goods several times in 

the year1 and  receive coins of bark in 
exchange2 and therefore1 ,marco         
explains1 8is  ,cublay richer than all  
else in the world40 ,he describes the   
posting  system1 the rich palaces built 
for the housing of messengers1 the trees
  planted along the merchant routes to  
act as signposts on the road2  8for10 he
 says1 8you will find these trees along 
the desert way1 and  they are a great   
comfort to merchant and messenger40     
,visitors to the  chapel of ,san        
,giorgio dei ,schiavoni will recall the 
use that ,carpaccio  has made of these  
palm-tree signposts in the ,death of    
,st4 ,jerome and  the ,victory of ,st4  
,george4 ,marco tells of magnificent    
feasts made by  the ,great ,kaan on his 
birthday and on ,new ,year's ,day4 ,he  
delights in  stories of the chase within
 the domain of ,cublay's palace of      
,chandu  7perhaps the ,xanadu of        
,coleridge7 the walls of which enclosed 
a  sixteen-mile circuit1 with fountains 
and rivers and lawns and beasts  of     

every kind4 ,he describes in detail1 as 
of special interest to his  hearers1 the
 size and construction of the rods of   
which the ,palace of  ,canes was built  
and the two hundred silken cords with   
which it was  secured during the summer 
months of its existence4 ,he speaks of  
the  8weather magic0 by which rain and  
fog are warded off from this palace2    
and of the ,great ,kaan's fancy that the
 blood of a royal line should  not be   
spilt upon the ground to be seen of sun 
and air1 and of his  consequent device  
for the murder of his uncle ,nayan1 whom
 he tossed to  death in a carpet4       
,baudas 7,baghdad71 he says1 is the     
chief city of the  ,saracens4 ,a great  
river flows through it to the ,indian   
,ocean1 which  may be reached in        
eighteen days4 ,the city is full of     
merchants and of  traffic2 it produces  
nasich and nac and cramoisy1 and gold   
and  silver brocades richly embroidered 
with design of birds and of beasts2  and
 the woods of ,bastra1 between ,baudas  

and the sea1 produce the finest  dates  
in the world4 ,he recounts the taking of
 this ,baudas in the year  #abee by     
,ala1 the ,great ,kaan's brother1 who1  
when he had taken it1  discovered       
therein a tower belonging to the ,caliph
 full of gold and  silver and other     
treasure1 so that there never was so    
much seen at  one time in one place4    
,when ,ala beheld the great heap of     
treasure1  he was amazed and sent for   
the ,caliph into his presence and asked 
him  why he had amassed so great a      
treasure and what he had intended to do 
with it4 8,did you not know that ,i was 
your enemy and coming to lay you        
waste80 he demanded4 8,why1 therefore1  
did you not take your treasure  and give
 it to knights and soldiers to defend   
you and your city80 ,the  caliph replied
 nothing1 for he did not know what to   
answer4 ,so ,ala  continued1 8,caliph1  
,i see you love your treasure so much1  
,i will give  you this treasure of yours
 to eat40 ,so he had the ,caliph shut up

 in the  tower and commanded that       
nothing should be given him to eat or   
drink1  saying1 8,caliph1 eat now as    
much treasure as you will1 for you shall
  never eat or drink anything else40    
,and he left the ,caliph in the tower1  
where1 at the end of four days1 he died4
 ,marco must have opened up to  his     
listeners in ,venice horizons of lands  
almost comparable in extent  to the     
sea-spaces familiar to their thoughts   
from infancy4 ,he spoke of  deserts of  
many days' journey1 of the port of      
,hormos at the edge of  one of the most 
beautiful of the plains--a city whence  
precious stones  and spices and cloths  
of silver and gold brought by the       
merchants from  ,india were shipped to  
all parts of the world4    ,but the     
,poli brought more tangible trophies    
than the most  circumstantial of tales  
in their pack4 ,foolish artists might   
have held  themselves rich with these1  
but the honour of their family would    
demand  better credentials before       

welcoming fantastically arrayed         
strangers  into its bosom4 ,the         
courtyard of the house behind the       
,malibran1 at  which on their return    
from their travels they demanded        
admission1  is known still as the ,corte
 del ,milione1 and its walls are still  
enriched with ,byzantine cornice and    
moulding1 and with sculptured  beasts as
 strange as any to be met with in       
,cublay's preserves4 ,the  three        
travellers had the appearance of        
,tartars1 and from long disuse of  their
 language they spoke in broken ,italian4
 ,tradition tells of the way  in which  
they heaped exploit upon exploit in the 
attempt to convince  their incredulous  
relatives of their identity2 and at     
last1 according  to ,ramusio1 they      
invited a number of their relations to a
 superb  banquet1 at which they         
themselves appeared in long robes of    
crimson  satin4 ,when the guests were   
set down1 these robes were torn into    
strips  and distributed amongst the     

servants4 ,through various metamorphoses
 of  damask and velvet they came at last
 to the common dresses in which they    
had arrived4 ,and when the tables were  
moved and the servants had gone1        
,marco1 as being the youngest1 began to 
rip up the seams and welts of  these    
costumes and take out from them handfuls
 of rubies and sapphires1  carbuncles1  
diamonds and emeralds4 ,there was no    
longer any doubt or  delay2 the shaggy  
tartar beards had lost all their        
terrors4 ,these men1  who had suddenly  
displayed 8infinite riches in a little  
room10 must  undoubtedly be what they   
claimed to be2 happy the family to which
 the  magicians belonged2 the ,doge's   
,palace need not be afraid to welcome   
them2 they must be set high in the      
,state4    ,yet the accumulation of     
treasure was by no means the most       
noteworthy  act of their drama4 ,the    
,poli had been more than mere traders2  
from the  first they had been           
diplomatists of a high order4 ,their    

career seems  to give us the key to some
 of the wonderful faces that appear in  
the  crowds pictured by ,venetian       
painters1 especially those of           
,carpaccio4  ,they are the faces of men 
who have met the crisis of life         
unalarmed1  by virtue of a combination  
of daring and wisdom which is no common 
possession4 ,they are not cold2 if they 
are severe they are full of             
feeling--sensitive to the pathos and    
humour as well as the sternness  of     
reality4 ,the ,poli had been obliged to 
furnish themselves with  patience in    
lands where the transit of a plain is   
measured in weeks2  three years'        
residence in a city of ,persia is       
mentioned as a matter  of detail4 ,we   
are not told the reason of delay1 only  
that they could  not go before or       
behind4 ,they had travelled in the true 
spirit of  adventure4 ,on that first    
journey1 when ,marco was not of the     
company1  the ,great ,kaan's messengers1
 who came to request an interview for   

their master1 who had never set eyes on 
a ,latin1 had found the two  brothers   
open-minded and trustful4 ,they had     
acquitted themselves  well in ,cublay's 
presence1 answering all his questions   
wisely and in  order4 ,he had inquired  
as to the manners and customs of        
,europe1 and  particularly as to        
,western methods of government and the  
,christian  ,church and its ,head4 ,he  
had been 8glad beyond measure0 at what  
he had  heard of the deeds of the       
,latins1 and decided to send a request  
to the  ,christian ,apostle for one     
hundred men learned in the ,christian   
law and  the ,seven ,arts and capable of
 teaching his people that their         
household  gods were works of the devil 
and why the faith of the ,west was      
better  than theirs4 ,the thought of the
 lamp burning before the sepulchre of   
,god in ,jerusalem had stirred his      
imagination1 and he craved some of its  
oil for the light of his temple1 or1    
maybe1 his pleasure dome4 ,so the  two  

,venetians had set out for ,europe on   
his strange embassy4 ,they were         
provided with a golden tablet on which  
the ,kaan had inscribed orders  for the 
supplying of their needs1 food1 horses1 
escorts in all the  countries through   
which they should pass4 ,at the end of  
three years1  after long delays on      
account of the snows1 they arrived at   
the port  of ,layas in ,armenia1 and    
from ,layas they had come to ,acre in   
,april of  the year #abfi4 ,at ,acre    
they had found that ,pope ,clement ,,iv 
was dead1  and no new election had as   
yet been made4 ,venetian history teems  
with  dramatic situations1 but it would 
be difficult to find any stranger  than 
that in which the ,polo brothers now    
found themselves placed4  ,merchants of 
,venice1 they came as ambassadors from  
the ,lord of ,all  the ,tartars to      
demand missionaries from the ,father of 
,christendom1  who was not able to      
supply them because he was not in       
existence4 ,in  their dilemma at ,acre  

they consulted ,theobald of ,piacenza1  
,legate  of ,egypt1 who advised them to 
await the new ,pope's election and      
meanwhile to return to their homes4 ,his
 advice was accepted1 and the  two      
brothers made their way onwards to      
,venice1 where one of them1  ,nicolas1  
discovered his son1 young ,marco1 a lad 
of fifteen years old4  ,they remained in
 ,venice for two years1 but when1 at the
 end of that  time1 no ,pope had yet    
been elected1 the brothers felt their   
return to  the ,kaan could be deferred  
no longer4 ,there is something touching 
in  their fidelity to the pledge they   
had given and the constancy of their    
merchant faith4 ,they prepared to set   
out again4 ,this time little ,marco     
went with them on an absence that lasted
 for seventeen years1 and was  to gather
 a greater treasure for the world than  
any diamonds and rubies  and velvets to 
be prodigally scattered on the floor of 
the ,corte del  ,milione4 ,at ,acre they
 obtained ,theobald's permission to     

fetch some  of the holy oil desired by  
the ,kaan from ,jerusalem4 ,the journey 
to  ,jerusalem performed1 they returned 
once more to ,acre1 and finally set     
forth on their return journey to the    
,kaan with a letter from ,theobald      
testifying that they had done all in    
their power1 8but since there was  no   
,apostle1 they could not carry the      
embassy40 ,but when they had gone  as   
far on their journey as ,layas1 they    
were followed by letters from           
,theobald1 who was now ,pope ,gregory of
 ,piacenza1 begging their return4  ,they
 complied with great joy and set sail   
for ,acre in a galley provided  for     
their use by the ,king of ,armenia4     
,this was the hour of their  triumph1   
for they were received by the ,pope with
 great honour1 given  costly presents   
for the ,kaan1 and provided with two    
friars of very  great learning4 ,the    
names of these two are possibly better  
withheld1  for they were more learned   
than courageous4 ,when they had come as 

far  on their journey as ,layas1 their  
incipient fears of the land of the      
,tartars were wrought to a pitch by the 
sight of the ,saracen ,army which  was  
being brought against ,armenia by the   
,sultan of ,babylon1 and they  insisted 
on handing their credentials over to the
 ,poli and returning  at once to ,italy4
 ,and the brothers were forced to go on 
their way  with worse than no preachers 
of their faith1 with tidings of their   
defection4    ,for three and a half     
years they journeyed on1 detained often 
by floods  and bad weather4 ,the news of
 their coming travelled before them to  
the  ,kaan1 and he sent his servants    
forty days' journey to meet them4 ,the  
,kaan received them with joy1 was       
graciously pleased with the letters  and
 credentials sent by the ,pope1 and     
accepted young ,marco as his  liegeman  
and responsible messenger4 ,marco sped  
well in learning the  language1 customs 
and writing of the ,tartars1 but it is  
clear he must  have acquired other than 

scholastic accomplishments4 ,he was     
endowed  with tact and power of         
observation1 and returned from his first
 embassy  full of news of the men and   
customs he had encountered2 8for he had 
seen on several occasions that when the 
messengers the ,great ,kaan had  sent   
into various parts of the world returned
 and told him the results  of the       
embassy on which they had gone1 and     
could tell him no other  news of the    
countries where they had been1 the ,kaan
 said they were  ignorant fools40 ,for  
seventeen years young ,messer ,marco was
 employed in  continual coming and      
going4 ,he was learned in many strange  
and hidden  things1 and was placed in   
honour high above the barons--the       
darling of  ,cublay's heart4 ,again and 
again the three ,venetians asked for    
leave of  absence to visit their        
country1 but so great was the love      
,cublay  bore to them that he could not 
bear to be parted from them2 until at   
last an embassy arrived from ,argon1    

,king of ,levant1 asking for a new  wife
 of the lineage of his dead wife        
,bolgana1 and the ,kaan is persuaded  by
 ,argon's messengers to allow ,marco and
 his two uncles to depart with  them in 
charge of the lady4 ,they set out by    
sea1 and after some twenty  months'     
sailing and many disasters arrived at   
their destination4 ,king  ,argon was    
dead1 and the lady ,cocachin was        
bestowed on his son4 ,of the  six       
hundred followers who had set out with  
them on their journey only  eighteen had
 survived it4 ,their mission            
accomplished1 the ,poli made  their way 
to ,trebizond1 from ,trebizond to       
,constantinople and from                
,constantinople to ,venice4 ,this was in
 the year #abie4    ,illustration3 ,,the
 ,,dogana4    ,and how would ,venice1   
the place of his birth1 reveal herself  
to ,marco1  now he had seen so many     
wonders and glories in distant lands8   
,we may  imagine the sun to have been   
setting as the travellers turned into   

the  ,lido port1 dropping a globe of    
molten fire vast and mysterious through 
the haze1 while the last dim rays       
gleamed golden on the windows of the    
,riva degli ,schiavoni4 ,venice lay     
among her waters1 blue and glittering1  
interspersed with jewelled marsh4 ,the  
last gulls of those that so  gallantly  
had dipped and sailed all day upon the  
water were flying  home1 their breasts  
and wings radiant in the level sunlight 
round the  home-coming ship4 ,many      
citizens of ,venice must have been at   
the ,lido  port1 thronging to meet the  
merchant vessels1 to greet their friends
  or to have news of them from others4  
,but none came to meet these three      
travellers2 alone they embarked in a    
gondola bearing their cargo  with them4 
,venice had clothed herself in all her  
beauty to give them  welcome4 ,which of 
,cublay's glories could rival this      
splendour of the  lagoon with its       
countless treasures of light8 ,the marsh
 lay in unequal  patches1 each outlined 

with a luminous silver rim--a magic     
carpet of  dusky olive1 threaded with   
strands of radiant azure and sprinkled  
with  ruby and amethyst4 ,as their      
gondola moved slowly down towards the   
city1  the boats of the night fishers   
passed with the silence of shadows      
between them and the glow4 ,and when    
here and there a fisher alighted on  the
 marsh or moved across it like a spirit 
stepping on the waters1 he  must have   
seemed to ,marco the very memory and    
renewal of those strange  ,eastern      
stories of which his mind was full4 ,so1
 under the mystic glow  of the desert1  
he had seen figures of the caravan rise 
and move against  the tinted haze of the
 oasis4 ,onwards glided the boat towards
 the  ,basin of ,san ,marco--westward   
the luminous wonder of lagoon and marsh1
  and a cold1 clear intensity of        
stirring water to the east4 ,and as they
  drew nearer and ever nearer1 our      
travellers' hearts beat high with the   
wonders of the city of their birth4 ,the

 stars were piercing the night  sky in  
countless numbers3 the yellow lights of 
the city quivered along  the ,riva3 the 
masts of the fishing-fleet swung clear  
against the pale  western glow in the   
waterway of the ,giudecca3 the flowing  
tide wound  silver coils about the black
 shadows of their hulls4 ,past the      
,dogana1  keystone of ,venice to the    
,eastern traveller1 their little boat   
moved  down the quiet waters of the     
,grand ,canal1 deep into the heart of   
that  great shadowy city1 apparent      
,queen over all the glories of the      
,cities  of the ,east4          ,chapter
 ,six    ,,venice ,,of ,,crusade ,,and  
,,pilgrimage      ,the story of ,venice 
and the ,crusades forms one of the most 
interesting  pages of her history in    
relation to the ,east4 ,the gradual     
awakening of  her consciousness to the  
fact that the pilgrimages to the ,holy  
,land  might be of close significance to
 herself culminates in her attitude     
towards the great ,fourth ,crusade at   

the opening of the thirteenth  century4 
,the ,crusades were1 in fact1 a         
commercial speculation for  ,venice1 but
 a speculation into which she infused   
all the vitality and  fulness of her    
nature4 ,and she became1 not merely a   
place of passage  for the ,east1 but a  
superb depository of relics to detain   
pilgrims  on their outward way2 a hostel
 so royally fitted with food for their  
senses1 their religious cravings and    
their mystic imaginings1 that one  and  
another may well have been beguiled into
 delaying their departure  for more     
strenuous sanctities4 ,the narratives of
 the pilgrims1  with their enthusiasms1 
their details of relics1 their records  
of  ,venetian ceremonies1 religious1    
commercial or domestic1 coloured by     
their quaintly intimate personal        
impressions1 form one of the most       
picturesque pages of ,venetian          
chronicle4    ,pietro ,casola1 a        
,milanese pilgrim of the late fifteenth 
century1 gives  us a picture of a city  

that is sumptuous and rich in all its   
dealings1  yet pervaded by a harmony and
 decorum that has stamped itself on the 
face of each individual citizen4 ,we    
feel that ,pietro ,casola has really    
had a vision of the meaning of ,venice1 
when1 among the inventory of  wonders of
 the ,mass for the pilgrims on ,corpus  
,christi day1 of the  velvets1 crimson  
and damask and scarlet1 the cloth of    
gold and togas  sweeping the ground1    
each finer than the last1 he pauses to  
add1 8,there  was great silence1 greater
 than is ever observed at such          
festivals1  even in the gathering of so 
many ,venetian gentlemen1 so that you   
could  hear everything4 ,and it seemed  
to me that everything was ruled by one  
alone1 who was obeyed by each man       
without resistance4 ,and at this ,i     
wondered greatly1 for never had ,i seen 
so great obedience at such  spectacles40
 ,in the record of this arresting       
impression1 more even than  in the      
description of many coloured drapery and

 white cloths spread  on the piazza1 of 
the groves of oak-trees bordering the   
route of the  procession and the candles
 lit among them1 we seem to see before  
us  the rhythmic solemnity of that      
unique ,procession on the ,piazza of    
,gentile ,bellini4 ,we need only        
,casola's other observant               
characterisation  of the ,venetian      
gentleman to complete the picture4 8,i  
have considered10  he says1 8the quality
 of these ,venetian gentlemen1 who for  
the most  part are fair men and tall1   
astute and most subtle in their         
dealings2  and you must needs1 if you   
would treat with them1 keep your eyes   
and  ears open4 ,they are proud2 ,i     
think it is on account of their great   
rule4 ,and when a son is born to a      
,venetian1 they say among themselves1   
#8,a ,signor is born into the world4'   
,in their way of living at home  they   
are sparing and very modest2 outside    
they are very liberal4 ,the  city of    
,venice retains its old manner of dress1

 and they never change  it2 that is to  
say1 they wear a long garment of        
whatever colour they  choose4 ,no one   
ever goes out by day without his toga1  
and for the most  part a black one1 and 
they have carried this custom to such a 
point  that all nations of the world who
 are lodging here in ,venice1 from  the 
greatest to the least1 observe this     
style1 beginning from the  gentlemen to 
the mariners and galleymen2 a dress     
certainly full of  confidence and       
gravity4 ,they look like doctors of law1
 and if any were  to appear outside his 
house without his toga he would be      
thought a  fool40 ,without doors the    
women also belonged to this sober       
company1  or at least the marriageable  
maidens and those who were no longer of 
the number of the 8belle giovani02 so   
sombrely were they covered when  outside
 their houses1 and especially in church1
 that ,casola says he at  first mistook 
them all for widows1 or nuns of the     
,benedictine ,order4  ,but for the      

8belle giovani0 it is another matter2   
they give relief to  the week-day       
sobriety of these ,venetians1 so        
decorous and black when  off duty1      
though revelling in such richness of    
velvet and brocade when  the trumpet of 
a public function stirs their blood4    
,illustration3 ,,the ,,shadow ,,of ,,the
 ,,campanile4    ,we are indebted to    
,casola for a picture of a ,venetian    
domestic festival  at the birth of a    
child to the ,delfini family4 ,he       
realised fully that  he was admitted1   
together with the orator of the ,king of
 ,france1 in  order that he might act as
 reporter of ,venetian magnificence4 ,it
 was  in a room 8whose chimney-piece was
 all of ,carrara marble shining as      
gold1 so subtly worked with figures and 
leaves1 that ,praxiteles and  ,pheidias 
could not have exceeded it4 ,the ceiling
 of the room was so  finely decorated   
with gold and ultramarine1 and the walls
 so richly  worked1 that ,i cannot make 
report of it4 ,one desk alone was valued

  at five hundred ducats1 and the       
fixtures of the room were in the        
,venetian style1 such beautiful and     
natural figures1 so much gold           
everywhere1 that ,i know not if in the  
time of ,solomon1 who was ,king of  the 
,jews1 when silver was reputed more vile
 than carrion1 there was  such abundance
 as was here seen4 ,of the ornaments of 
the bed and of the  lady 444 ,i have    
thought best rather to keep silence than
 to speak for  fear ,i should not be    
believed4 ,another thing ,i will speak  
the truth  about1 and perhaps ,i shall  
not be believed--a matter in which the  
ducal  orator would not let me lie4     
,there were in the said room twenty-five
  ,venetian damsels1 each one fairer    
than the last1 who were come to  visit  
the lady who had borne a child4 ,their  
dress was most discreet1  as ,i said    
above1 alla veneziana3 they showed no   
more than four to  six finger breadths  
of bare neck below their shoulders back 
and front4  ,these damsels had so many  

jewels on their heads and round their   
necks  and on their hands--namely1 gold1
 precious stones and pearls--that it    
was the opinion of those who were there 
that they were worth a hundred  thousand
 ducats4 ,their faces were superbly     
painted1 and so also the  rest of them  
that was bare40 ,the account of this    
sumptuous interior is  peculiarly       
valuable when we realise the date to    
which it belongs1 the  period of the    
first greatness of ,venetian ,art1 a    
period which has been  sometimes        
regarded as one of almost nave          
simplicity4 ,casola1 with his  customary
 exactitude1 dwells on the frugality of 
,venetian gentlemen in  the matter of   
food--a frugality that caused the guest 
to reflect that  the ,venetians cared   
more to feed the eye than the palate4   
,it was not  yet the period of the      
sumptuous living deplored by ,calmo only
 half a  century later4    ,casola was a
 more secularly minded pilgrim than the 
priest of ,florence1  ,ser ,michele1 who

 paid five visits to the bones of the   
,holy ,innocents at  ,murano1 and only  
at the fifth visit was counted worthy1  
as he humbly  deemed1 to see the relics3
 ,providence1 in the form of the        
sacristan1  having till then failed him4
 ,the more festive ,casola--who paid    
repeated visits to ,rialto1 8which      
seemed to be the source of all the      
gardens in the world10 who spent one day
 in vain attempts to count the          
multitudinous boats in and about the    
city1 and who was so frivolous1  for all
 his long white beard1 as to buy a false
 front on the piazza--in  the midst of  
his expatiations on the ,venetian       
maidens1 pulls himself  suddenly        
together with a sense of incongruity    
between his diversions  and his goal1   
and shakes himself free from the        
allurements of ,venice1  crying3 8,but  
,i am a priest1 in the way of the       
saints2 ,i did not try  to look into    
their lives any further4 ,to me it      
seemed better1 as ,i  have said above1  

to go in search of the churches and     
monasteries and  to see the relics of   
which there are so many4 ,and this      
seemed to me a  good work for a pilgrim 
who was awaiting the departure of the   
vessel  to go to the ,holy ,sepulchre1  
bringing the time to an end as well as  
he  could40 ,in the ,accademia at       
,venice there is a curious little       
painting1  attributed to ,carpaccio1 of 
the assembly of the martyrs of ,mount   
,ararat in the ,church of ,sant'        
,antonio di ,castello1 which stood once 
on  the site of the ,public ,gardens4   
,it was a familiar sight for ,venice1   
the dedication of pilgrims that is      
represented here2 and there is a        
strange pathos in the slim1 small       
figures as they move in two lines       
half-wavering up the aisle1 each wearing
 a crown of thorns1 perhaps  in prophecy
 of coming martyrdom4 ,they are not     
marching confidently to  victory like an
 army2 their crosses are held at all    
angles1 forming  errant patterns among  

themselves4 ,some are girt for their    
journey  in short vestments under their 
long robes4 ,it is curiously unlike a   
procession native to the city2 there is 
a dreamlike1 mystic quality  about it   
and a lack of body in its motion which  
is enhanced1 perhaps1  by the extreme   
detail with which the interior of the   
church is  transcribed--the models of   
vessels in the rafters2 the votive limbs
  and bones hung on the wooden screen1  
offerings of the diseased cured  by     
miracle1 as they may be seen in ,san    
,giovanni e ,paolo to-day2 the  coiled  
rope of the lamp-pulley2 the board with 
a church notice printed  on it2 and     
everywhere1 winding in and out of the   
picture1 seen through  the portal of    
entrance1 disappearing behind the       
sanctuary screen1 the  interminable     
procession of the ten thousand little   
pilgrims4    ,in #aaih the lords of     
,france flocked with enthusiasm to a    
crusade  preached by ,foulques de       
,nuilly under the authority of ,innocent

 ,,iii4  ,after much discussion of      
practical ways and means1 with which    
they  were less amply provided than with
 spiritual enthusiasm1 they made  choice
 of six ambassadors who should procure  
the necessities of the  enterprise1     
,jofroi de ,villeharduin1 ,mareschal of 
,champagne1 ,miles li  ,brabant1 ,cons  
de ,bethune1 ,alars ,magnarians1 ,jean  
de ,friaise1 and  ,gautiers de          
,gaudonville4 ,venice was decided on by 
them as the ,state  most likely to      
provide what they stood in need         
of--ships for the  journey--and they    
departed to sound the mind of the       
,republic1 arriving  in the first week  
of ,lent in the year #abja4 ,venice1 in 
the person of  the ,doge1 ,henry        
,dandolo1 opened the negotiations2 the  
messengers were  made to feel it was no 
light thing they asked4 ,they were      
received and  lodged with highest       
honour1 but they were made to wait for a
 ,council  to assemble1 which should    
consider the matter of their request4   

,after  some days they were admitted to 
the ,ducal ,palace to deliver their     
message2 and its purport was this3      
8,sir1 we are come to you from the  high
 barons of ,france who have taken the   
sign of the ,cross to avenge  the shame 
of ,jesus ,christ1 and to conquer       
,jerusalem if ,god will grant  it them2 
and because they know that no people    
have such power as you  and your people1
 they pray you for ,god's sake to have  
pity on the land  over seas and the     
avenging of the shame of ,jesus ,christ1
 so that they  may have ships and the   
other things necessary40 ,the spiritual 
and  sentimental appeal is left         
unanswered by the ,doge4 ,he asks       
simply1 8,in  what way80 8,in all ways10
 say the messengers1 8that you recommend
 or  advise1 which they would be able to
 fulfil40 ,again the ,doge expresses    
wonder at the magnitude of what they    
ask1 bidding them not marvel  if another
 eight days' waiting is required of them
 before the final  answer can be given4 

,at the date fixed by the ,doge they    
returned to the  ,palace4 ,villeharduin 
excuses himself from telling all the    
words that  were said and unsaid1 but   
the gist of the ,doge's offer was this1 
that  it depended on the consent of the 
,great ,council and the rest of the     
,republic4 ,venice should provide       
vessels of transport for four thousand  
five hundred horses and squires and     
twenty thousand foot soldiers1 and      
viands to last the whole company nine   
months4 ,the agreement was to  hold good
 for a year from the time of starting1  
and the sum total of  the provision was 
to be eighty-five thousand marks4 ,but  
,venice would  go further1 for the love 
of ,god1 and launch fifty galleys at her
 own  expense on condition of receiving 
the half of all the conquests that  were
 made by land and sea4 ,nothing remained
 but to win the consent of  the ,great  
,council and ask a formal ratification  
from the people4 ,full  ten thousand    
persons assemble in 8the chapel of ,san 

,marco1 the fairest  that ever was10 and
 the ,doge recommends them to hear the  
,mass1 and to  pray ,god's counsel      
concerning the request of the envoys4   
,it will be  seen that all is           
practically accomplished before the     
question is put  to the people or ,god's
 grace asked on the undertaking1 but no 
item of  the formality is omitted4 ,the 
envoys are sent for by the ,doge that   
they  may themselves repeat their       
request humbly before the people1 and   
they  came into the church 8much stared 
at by the crowd who had never seen      
them40 ,again the appeal is made1       
,jofroi de ,villeharduin taking up the  
word by the agreement and desire of the 
other envoys4 ,we can picture  the      
strange thrill that ran through the     
great multitude as that single  voice   
broke the silence of ,st4 ,mark's with  
its burden of passionate  tribute to the
 greatness of ,venice3 8#8,therefore    
have they chosen you  because they know 
that no people accustomed to going on   

the seas have  such power as you and    
your people2 and they commanded us to   
throw  ourselves at your feet and not to
 rise until you had consented to have   
pity on the ,holy ,land beyond the      
seas4' ,now the six messengers knelt1   
weeping bitterly1 and the ,doge and all 
the others cried out with one  voice and
 raised their hands on high and said1   
#8,we grant it1 we grant  it4' ,and the 
noise and tumult and lament of it were  
so great that never  had any man known a
 greater40 ,then the ,doge himself      
mounted the lectern  and put before the 
people the meaning of the alliance that 
had been  sought with them in preference
 to all other peoples by 8the best men  
of  the world40 8,i cannot tell you10   
says ,villeharduin1 8all the good and   
fair words that the ,doge spoke4 ,at    
last the matter was ended1 and the      
following day the charters were drawn up
 and made and sealed40    ,illustration3
 ,,the ,,clock ,,tower ,,from ,,gallery 
,,of ,,san ,,marco4    ,the time of     

gathering for the pilgrims was fixed for
 the following  year #abjb1 at the feast
 of ,st4 ,john1 and amid many tears of  
piety and  devotion the ,doge and       
deputies swore to abide by their        
charters1 and  the envoys of both       
parties set out for ,rome to receive the
 confirmation  of their covenant from   
,innocent ,,iii4 ,but the drama which   
had begun  amid such moving             
demonstrations of good will and         
,christian sentiment  necessarily had   
its dilemmas and its complications4 ,it 
was essential  to the fulfilling of the 
pact that all the crusaders should      
assemble  at ,venice to pay their toll1 
and embark on the ships2 otherwise the  
crusaders could not hope to provide the 
money due to the ,venetians4  ,the      
,republic1 for its part1 had amply      
fulfilled its compact4 ,all who  arrived
 were received with joy and lodged most 
honourably at ,san ,nicolo  del ,lido4  
,the chronicle can find no parallel for 
the richness of the  provision made for 

the would-be crusaders4 ,but there were1
 alas1 three  times as many vessels as  
there were men and horses to fill       
them4--8,ha6  it was a great shame10    
bursts out ,villeharduin1 8that the rest
 who  went to the other ports did not   
come here40 ,the dilemma was a serious  
one4 ,even of those who were there1 some
 declared themselves unable to  pay     
their passage1 and the money could in no
 way be made up4 ,some were  for        
sacrificing their whole estate that the 
,venetians should not lose  by the      
defection of the others1 but the counsel
 found small support  among those who   
now wished to be rid of their bargain4  
,but the small  party who felt          
themselves1 in a sense1 the conscience  
of the ,crusade  carried the day4       
8,rather will we give all we possess and
 go poor among  the host1 than that it  
should disperse and come to naught2 for 
,god  will render it to us at ,his good 
pleasure40 ,so the ,counts of ,flanders1
  ,loys1 ,hues de ,st4 ,pol and their   

party began to collect together all     
their goods and all they could borrow4  
8,then you might have seen a  vast      
quantity of gold and silver borne to the
 palace of the ,doge to  make payment4  
,and when they had paid1 there still was
 lacking from  the covenant thirty-four 
thousand marks of silver4 ,and those who
 had  kept back what they possessed and 
would give nothing were very glad at    
this1 for by this means they thought the
 expedition would have failed4  ,but    
,god who counsels the disconsolate would
 not so suffer it40 ,the  ,doge put     
before his people that not only would   
their just claim remain  unsatisfied    
though they should exact from the       
crusaders the utmost  they could        
collect1 but they would bring discredit 
on themselves by  acting as strict      
justice would permit4 ,he suggested the 
combining of  two advantages1 a material
 and moral4 ,let them1 he suggests1     
demand the  reconquest of ,zara as      
substitute for the debt1 that they may  

not only  have the fame of possessing   
the city but the praise of generosity4  
,and ,dandolo1 the old wise doughty     
,doge1 has yet another suggestion  to   
propose4 ,there was a great festival one
 ,sunday in ,san ,marco1 and  the       
citizens and barons and pilgrims were   
assembled before ,high ,mass  began4    
,then amid the silent expectation of the
 great gathering the  ,doge mounted the 
lectern and made the famous offer of his
 own person  as leader of the host4     
8#8,i am an old man1' he said1 #8and    
feeble1 and  should be feeling need of  
repose1 for ,i am infirm in body4 ,but  
,i see  there is none who could so well 
rule and lead you as ,i who am your     
lord4 ,if you will consent that ,i take 
the sign of the ,cross to preserve  and 
guide you1 and that my son remain in my 
stead and keep the city1  ,i would      
gladly go to live and die with you and  
with the pilgrims4'  ,and when they     
heard1 they cried all with one voice3   
#8,we pray you for  ,god's sake to grant

 us this1 and to do so and to come with 
us4' ,and the  people of the city and   
the pilgrims1 felt deep compassion at   
this1 and  they wept many tears1        
thinking how that valiant man had so    
much need  to stay behind1 for he was an
 old man1 and though his eyes were still
  fair to look on he could not see with 
them on account of a wound which  he had
 received in his head4 ,nevertheless he 
had a great heart4 ,ha6 how  little they
 resembled him who had gone to other    
ports to avoid danger6  ,so he came from
 the pulpit and went to the altar and   
knelt down1  weeping bitterly1 and they 
sewed the cross for him on a great      
cotton  cap because he desired that the 
people might see it4 ,and the ,venetians
  began to take the cross in great      
numbers1 and many on that very day1  and
 still the number of crusaders was few  
enough40 ,it was no wonder  that the    
pilgrims had great joy in the crusaders 
for the good will and  valour they felt 
to be in them4 ,whatever aim may        

previously have been  uppermost as an   
incentive to enthusiasm and             
self-oblation1 there was no  doubt that 
,venice now was giving of her best4     
,this retiring of the old  ,doge from   
his ducal throne to embark on a more    
arduous leadership is  one of the most  
moving episodes in the annals ,san      
,marco4    ,but at this moment an event 
occurred that changed1 or rather        
diverted  into a new channel the current
 of the ,crusade1 providing in fact1  as
 our chronicler ,villeharduin remarks1  
the true occasion of his  book4 ,into   
the midst of the pilgrims assembled at  
,verona on their  way to ,venice there  
came ,alexius1 son of ,isaac the deposed
 ,emperor  of ,constantinople1 in quest 
of help against his usurping uncle4     
,what  more opportune than the          
neighbouring host of 8the most valiant  
men  on earth0 for aiding in the        
recovery of his lost kingdom and the    
reinstatement of his tortured father4   
,to the crusaders1 and especially  we   

may believe1 to the ,venetians1 this new
 motive did not come amiss4  ,it is     
startlingly like life1 this ,fourth     
,crusade1 with its original  aim thus   
gradually becoming but a secondary      
purpose in a far more  complicated      
scheme1 a middle distance in an         
increasingly extended  horizon4 ,the    
relief of the ,holy ,sepulchre1 the     
avenging of the shame of  ,christ1      
assume in fact a rather shadowy outline 
in a prospect dominated  by ,zara and   
,constantinople4    ,the departure from 
,venice did not mark the term of the    
obstructions  to which the ,crusade was 
fated4 ,the disgraceful contest between 
the  ,french and the ,venetians within  
the streets of ,zara1 the defection of  
a number of the pilgrims1 the death of  
others at the hands of the wild  inland 
inhabitants of ,dalmatia--all these     
causes reduced the already  meagre      
company before it had well started on   
its way4 ,the ,pope was  placed in the  
dilemma of strongly disapproving the    

secular turn given  to the ,crusade1    
while realising that the ,venetian fleet
 was the only  means for accomplishing  
his ends in ,palestine4 ,his solution   
was to  absolve the barons for the siege
 of ,zara1 permitting them still to use 
the fleet--though the devil's           
instrument--while ,venice1 the provider1
  remained under interdict4 ,we here    
come into contact with an element  of   
singular interest in the relations of   
,venice and the ,east--her  attitude    
towards the ,papacy4 ,the independence  
of ,san ,marco was one of  the essential
 articles of the ,venetian creed4 ,in   
spiritual matters  none could more      
devoutly bow to the ,apostle of         
,christendom2 but the  spiritual        
supremacy was an inland sea to ,venice3 
it must be stable1  fixed1 defined2 it  
must not flow with a tide upon the      
temporal shores  where her heart and    
treasure lay4 ,the authority of ,san    
,marco was a  political principle4 ,all 
state ceremonies were bound up with ,san

 ,marco2  the ,ducal ,palace itself was 
subsidiary to the ,palace of ,st4 ,mark4
 ,how  should a ,state that had         
sheltered1 traditionally at least1 a    
,pope  8stando occulto propter timorem0 
that had acted as mediator between      
,pope and ,emperor and seen the         
,emperor's head bowed to the ground on  
the  pavement of ,san ,marco--how should
 such a ,state be subordinate to any    
rule but its own complete               
self-consciousness8 ,venice always      
followed  the eminently practical rule  
of allowing much freedom in             
non-essentials  in order to preserve    
more closely her control over the really
 material  issues4 ,the attitude always 
maintained by her with regard to the    
,inquisition is so closely parallel to  
her relations with the ,east and  the   
pagans of the ,east1 constantly         
deprecated by the ,pope1 that we may    
fitly quote here ,paolo ,sarpi's        
admirable reply to the papal protests   
against conferring the doctorate in     

,padua on ,protestants2 the principle   
is the same1 though limited in that     
instance to a particular and  seemingly 
divergent issue4 8,if anyone openly     
declared his intention  of conferring   
the doctorate on heretics1 or admitted  
anyone to it who  openly and with       
scandal professed himself to be such1 it
 might be said  that he had failed to   
persecute heresy2 but1 it being the     
opinion of  the most ,serene ,republic  
that heretics and those who are known   
for  such should not be admitted to the 
doctorate1 and it being our duty  to    
consider ,catholic anyone who does not  
profess the contrary1 no  smallest      
scandal can accrue to the religion even 
though it should  chance that one not   
known for such were to receive the      
doctorate4 ,the  doctorate in philosophy
 and medicine is a testimonial that the 
scholar  is a good philosopher and      
physician and that he may be admitted to
 the  practise of that art1 and to say  
that a heretic is a good doctor does    

not prejudice the ,catholic faith2      
certainly it would prejudice it if      
anyone were to say that such a man was a
 good theologian40 ,this was the        
position of ,venice with regard to her  
pagan allies1 the meaning of her        
superbly fitted lodges for ,turk1       
infidel and heretic4 ,the ,saracen1 the 
,turk and the ,infidel might not be a   
good theologian1 but he was a good      
trader1 a channel for the glories with  
which ,venice loved to clothe  and crown
 herself4 ,he was a part of her life    
more essentially and more  irrevocably  
than the prelates of holy ,church2 his  
ban would have been  more terrible to   
,venice than papal thunders4 ,it was not
 primarily as  hot sons of the ,church1 
consumed with fire for the shame of the 
,holy  ,sepulchre that the ,venetians   
with such generous provision prepared   
their ships for the ,crusade3 it was as 
men of business with no small  strain of
 fire in their blood and a high sense of
 the glorious worth  and destiny of     

their city4    ,illustration3 ,,the     
,,horses ,,of ,,san ,,marco1 ,,looking  
,,south4    ,there were moments of      
inspiration for the ,crusaders amid all 
their  toils and internal strife1 and   
not least was the first view of         
,constantinople which had been for so   
long the emporium of ,venice4 ,the      
fleet had harboured at the abbey of ,st4
 ,etienne1 three miles from             
,constantinople1 and ,villeharduin      
describes the wonder and enthusiasm  of 
those who saw then for the first time   
the marvellous city 8that  was sovereign
 over all others10 with its rich towers 
and palaces and  churches and high      
encircling walls4 8,and you must know   
there was no  heart there so daring but 
trembled40 ,we are reminded of this     
picture  of ,constantinople when we     
stand face to face with ,carpaccio's    
city in  the ,combat of ,st4 ,george4   
,it so successfully combines solidity   
and  strength with the airy joy of      
watch-towers and towers of pleasure1    

that  at first we have only the         
impression of fantastic play of         
architecture2  but by degrees we come to
 feel the seacoast country of           
,carpaccio1 that  at first seemed so    
wild and unmanned1 to be in fact        
bristling with  defence and preparation4
 ,it is immensely strong in             
fortifications1 no  dream or fairy      
citadel4 ,it is begirt with towers and  
walls along the  water2 strongholds lurk
 among the loftiest crags2 towers of    
defence and  battlements peer over the  
steep hillside2 and1 if we look closer1 
we  see the towers are thronged with    
men4 ,we remember ,villeharduin's note1 
8,there were so many men on the walls   
and on the towers that it seemed  as if 
they were made of nothing but people40  
,it is a sumptuous city1  too1 that we  
see in glimpses through the gateway1 the
 city of a great  oriental potentate4   
,we cannot follow ,villeharduin through 
the vicissitudes of the siege  and      
counter-siege4 ,he himself confesses in 

the relation of one point  alone that   
sixty books would not be able to recount
 all the words  that were spoken1 and   
the counsels that were given and taken4 
,in the  simple1 terse and trenchant    
style that ,frenchmen1 and especially   
the  ,frenchmen of the old chronicles1  
know how to wield so perfectly1 he      
tells us of the ,doge's wise counsel    
that the city should be approached  by  
way of the surrounding islands whence   
they might gather stores2 of  the lords'
 neglect of this counsel1 8just as if no
 one of them had  ever heard of it02 of 
their investment of the palace of       
,alexius in  the place named            
,chalcedony1 that was 8furnished with   
all the delights  of the human body that
 could be imagined befitting the        
dwelling of a  prince02 of the capture  
of the city and the ravishing of its    
treasures  that were so great 8that no  
man could come to an end of counting the
  silver and the gold and plate and     
precious stones and samite and silken   

cloth and dresses vaire and grey1 and   
ermines and all precious  things that   
were ever found on earth4 ,and ,jofroi  
de ,villeharduin1 the  ,marshall of     
,champagne1 will bear good witness that 
to his knowledge  since the centuries   
began there was never so great gain in a
 single  city40 ,the division of the    
booty necessarily occasioned            
heart-burning  and revealed certain     
vices of 8covetoise0 undreamed before4  
,and as time  went on and still the     
passage to ,palestine was delayed the   
sanctuaries  of the ,greek ,church were 
treated with barbarous irreverence and  
despoiled of their treasure and sacred  
vessels4 ,then with the retaking  of    
,constantinople from ,marzuflo there    
followed a time of abandonment  of men  
and leaders to their fiercest passions  
and the almost total  destruction of the
 city4 ,here again ,venice stepped in1  
as the merchant  had stepped in to      
rescue treasure from the pile of        
,savonarola1 to  enrich herself from the

 ruins of ,constantinople4    ,the      
taking of ,constantinople opened another
 door into the ,eastern  garden from    
which ,venice had already begun to      
gather so rich an  harvest4 ,picture the
 freights that ,venetian vessels were   
bearing home  in these years of crusade 
and conquest1 to be gathered finally    
into  the garner of ,st4 ,mark's6 ,it is
 strangely thrilling to imagine the     
first welcome of the four bronze horses1
 travel-dimmed no doubt1 who  only found
 their way to their present station on  
the forefront of ,st4  ,mark's after    
standing many times in peril of being   
melted down in the  ,arsenal where they 
first were stored4 ,but at last1 says   
,sansovino1  their beauty was recognised
 and they were placed on the church4 ,it
  is only by degrees that we come to    
accost and know the exiles one by  one4 
,the more outstanding spoils1 the ,pala 
d',oro1 the great pillars  of ,acri1 the
 bronze doors1 the horses1 the four     
embracing kings1  these are among the   

first letters of ,st4 ,mark's oriental  
alphabet2 but  there are many lesser    
exiles which have found a shelter in the
 port of  ,venice1 which as we wander   
among the glorious precincts of ,san    
,marco  impress themselves upon us one  
by one2 such is the grave-browed1 noble 
head of porphyry that keeps solitary    
watch towards the waters from  the south
 corner of the outer gallery of ,san    
,marco1 as if it had been  set down a   
moment by its sculptor and forgotten on 
the white1 marble  balustrade4 ,the     
whole being of ,san ,marco is bound up  
with the ,east1  and it is another token
 of the magic of ,venice that she has   
been able  to embrace and furnish with a
 life-giving soil those plants that had 
been ruthlessly uprooted and had made so
 long and perilous a journey4  ,the     
official records1 that tell of the      
arrival from one expedition and  another
 of ,eastern vestures for the clothing  
of ,san ,marco1 are not mere            
inventories to us who have walked upon  

the variegated pavement between  the    
solemn pillars and seen the sunlight    
illumine one by one the  marbles of the 
walls1 with their imbedded sculpture and
 mosaic1 or gild  the depths of the     
storied cupolas and the luxuriant       
harmonies of colour  and design on the  
recesses of the windows4 ,they are      
significant1 these  records1 like the   
entry in a parish register of the birth 
of some one  whom we love2 for the      
church of ,san ,marco1 though in fact a 
museum of  many treasures1 is not a     
museum of foreign treasures4 ,her spoils
 are  not hung up in her as aliens like 
the spoils that conquerors bore to      
ancient temples2 they found her a       
foster-mother of their own blood and    
kin4 ,she herself is sprung from a plant
 whose first flowering was not  among   
the floating marshes of the lagoon4     
,illustration3        ,by permission of 
the ,hon4 ,john ,collier4    ,,the      
,,horses ,,of ,,san ,,marco1 ,,looking  
,,north4    ,turn1 on a sunny day1 from 

the ,molo towards ,san ,marco1 passing  
below  the portico of the ,ducal ,palace
 adjoining the ,piazzetta4 ,framed by   
the  pointed arch at the end is a       
portion of the wall which once formed   
the west tower of the ,ducal ,palace4   
,this delicate harmony of coloured      
marbles and sculptured stone seems a    
rare and beautiful creation1 not  of    
stone but of something more plastic1    
more mobile1 so responsive is  it to the
 light1 so luminous1 so full of feeling4
 ,as we draw nearer and  it becomes more
 clearly defined1 we see great slabs of 
marble sawn and  spread open like the   
pages of a book1 corresponding in       
pattern as the  veining of a leaf4 ,they
 are linked by marble rope-work1 and    
between  them are inserted smaller slabs
 of delicately sculptured stone and a   
wonderful coil of mosaic4 ,it is a      
veritable patchwork wall1 but no  less  
beautiful in its effect of harmony than 
in its details--the four  porphyry      
figures of embracing kings its          

corner-stone4 ,this wall is  truly a key
 to the fabric of the church itself2 it 
is like a window  into ,st4 ,mark's1    
that treasury of ,eastern spoil2 the    
,east is in every  vein1 in every       
heart-beat of it4 ,the spoil of the     
temples of ancient  gods furnished forth
 the ,church of ,san ,marco as it       
furnished the saint  himself4 ,in this  
one angle we have cipollino and         
porphyry1 serpentine  and verd-antico1  
marmo greco and eastern mosaic1 pillars 
of granite  profound and glittering1    
breccia africana and paonazetto4 ,the   
weight  of centuries is upon it all2    
ages of lives have gone to its making1  
and it came to ,venice only when        
generations had passed over its head4   
,for the human race it has never been   
but old2 the mind loses itself in       
speculation on that stupendous past that
 lies between us and the time  when     
stone was not4 ,and yet how strangely   
through that long1 enchanted  silence1  
when the centuries were endowing it with

 an immensity of  strength and hardness 
and endurance for which we have no word 
of  parallel but in its own nature1 it  
has kept the similitude and mobility  of
 life1 at once withholding and revealing
 the riches of its beauty4  ,how can we 
wonder that da ,contarini1 the strange  
and learned dreamer  of the             
,cinquecento1 burst out into a rapture  
of mystic joy in the  presence of ,san  
,marco1 8that golden church1 built by   
the eternal gods1  of our protector1    
,messer ,san ,marco08 ,he celebrates the
 pinnacles and  shining columns1 the    
throng of glittering figures that burn  
like golden  spirits in the sunlight1   
the sculptured marbles polished with    
soft  ,ethiopian sand4 8,it might be    
said that it has been gathered together 
from all parts of the world40 ,he then  
proceeds to seek among the  marbles of  
,san ,marco those mysterious            
correspondences which the wonder  of men
 has always felt to exist between human 
nature and the nature of  the stone2 he 

loses himself in contemplation of one   
after another of  the precious marbles  
that in wide surface or minute mosaic   
form the  priceless garment of ,st4     
,mark's temple3 diaspro1 which must be  
seen in  broad extent to realise its    
strange radiance1 like flocks of        
cloudlets  fleeting before the wind in  
the full illumination of the setting    
sun1  dazzling our eyes with light2 or  
that other adamantine marble of         
,africa1 the breccia adriana di ,tegoli1
 a harmony of greens before which       
serpentine and verd-antico must bow2 or 
the most precious porpora of  deep and  
glowing red2 or that queen of all the   
stones1 imperial in its  beauty1 a      
magnetic stone indeed1 drawing the      
spirit into its luminous  depths1       
weaving round it an enchanted web of    
secrecy1 of divine  inter-relations1    
till the human soul seems to commune    
with the very  soul of colour--diaspro  
sanguinoso4 ,what would not ,sir ,thomas
 ,browne  have read in those eloquent   

and secret pages where wave follows wave
 of  colour1 deep ocean green1 pure     
carmine1 translucent amethyst4 ,diaspro 
sanguinoso6 in the setting of a ring1 in
 the mosaic of a pavement1 it  is seen a
 dense green stone spotted with         
crimson--bloodstone4 ,it is  as if you  
saw the human eye in one of those weird1
 symbolic paintings  of old time1       
isolated in its socket without the      
illumination of the  human countenance  
about it4 ,this sanguinary jasper is too
 subtle1 too  delicate1 too mystical to 
belong to that titanic family of the    
stones  of ,africa4 ,the dreaming soil  
of ,egypt might have given it birth2 it 
might own kinship with the myth of      
,aurora's kiss2 but to us it seems      
fraught with the magic of a more distant
 ,east4    ,there have been many        
vindicators of the freedom of ,venice2  
many  assertors that1 though in         
appearance subject some time to         
,byzantium1  she has always been        
politically independent4 ,to us it seems

 a matter  of lesser moment2 but        
whether1 in fact or in form1 ,venice    
were or  were not ever politically      
dependent on ,byzantium1 the fact of her
  artistic dependence is one which she  
cannot deny without perjuring  herself  
before a thousand witnesses4 ,document  
after document more  durable than       
parchment--though many have already     
perished and many  perish daily--attests
 the debt of ,venice to the ,east4 ,till
 she perish  altogether at the hands of 
a relentless1 unregarding tyrant--a     
bastard  child of ,time misnamed        
,progress--she must continue to bear    
witness to  her debt4 ,so long as she   
breathes1 each breath confesses it and  
the  ,east will lay her tribute on the  
tomb of ,venice dead--lamenting as for  
one of her own children4                
,chapter ,seven    ,,two ,,venetian     
,,statues      ,in two of the public    
squares of ,venice the statues1 in      
bronze1 of two  of her heroes are set   
up1 the one of a man of war1 the other  

of a  comedian3 in the ,campo di ,,ss4  
,giovanni e ,paolo the statue of        
,bartolomeo  ,colleoni1 in the ,campo di
 ,san ,bartolomeo that of ,carlo        
,goldoni4 ,the  first is a warrior on   
horseback in full armour1 uplifted high 
above  the square1 disdaining the       
companionship of the puny mortals who   
saunter without a purpose to and fro    
under his feet4 ,horse and rider  stand 
self-sufficient and alone2 one spirit   
breathes in both3 in the  contour of the
 stern face of the warrior1 with its    
massive chin and  proudly disdainful    
lip1 in his throat with the muscles     
standing out  like ropes upon it1 and in
 the sweep of his capacious brow1 under 
which  the keenly penetrating eyes hold 
their object in a grip of iron2 and1    
for the horse1 in every line of his     
superbly curving neck1 in the acute     
serenity of his down-looking eye1 and in
 each curling lock of his mane  that    
seem as if moved together by one        
controlling impulse4 ,how clear  the    

outline of his skull1 everywhere visible
 beneath its fine covering  of flesh and
 muscle6 and his body1 like the body of 
his master1 how  perfectly responsive an
 instrument it is6 ,there is nothing    
here of  that wild disorder of the beast
 untamed1 which is mistaken sometimes   
for strength4 ,the hand of ,colleoni is 
light upon the bridle1 the horse        
glories in a subjection that is itself a
 triumph3 he and his master are  one4   
,do but compare this for a moment with  
the prodigious mass1 the  plunging man  
and beast1 that overlook the ,riva degli
 ,schiavoni--,victor  ,emanuel on       
horseback4 ,it is not altogether an     
arbitrary contrast2 the  two great      
monuments seem to represent ,venice     
before the fall and ,venice  after4     
,what unity of purpose1 what hope of    
conquest is there in those  monstrous   
figures on the ,riva8 ,beneath this     
redundancy of flesh and  armour how     
shall they prevail against the world8   
,they are not only  different in degree1

 they are of a different species from   
,verocchio's  horse and rider4 ,the     
spirit of the first ,renaissance is in  
every line  of his great statue--its    
strength1 agility and decorative skill4 
,how  studied is the symmetry1 the      
static perfection of the whole6 how     
strongly and yet how delicately he      
emphasises the rectangular framework  of
 the design6 ,the rod of ,colleoni1 the 
trappings of his horse1 the  tail and   
legs and body-line--each is made        
contributive1 while the  backward poise 
of the rider balances the forward motion
 of the horse1  and all is thus drawn   
into the scheme4 ,it is all willed1 but 
with that  spontaneity of will which men
 call inspiration4    ,this statue1     
which so marvellously sums up in        
sculpture the central aim  of ,venice as
 a state in the fifteenth century1      
offers an instructive  contrast to that 
in the ,campo di ,san ,bartolomeo1 where
 the comedian  ,goldoni1 though raised  
above the level of the square1 still    

seems a  companionable part of the life 
that passes around him1 moving in its   
midst as he moved amid the life of the  
eighteenth century in ,venice1          
meditating upon it1 observing1 loving   
it1 faithfully and fearlessly  recording
 it4 ,marked by a realistic fidelity and
 insight worthy of a  greater age1 ,dal 
,zotto's statue of ,goldoni is in its   
own way itself a  masterpiece and one of
 the noblest works of modern art in     
,venice1 full  of sympathy and          
understanding and admirable in          
execution4 ,the sculptor  might seem to 
have lived as an intimate with ,goldoni1
 and the realism  of his treatment suits
 the subject singularly well4 ,the      
comedian is not  aloft upon a pedestal1 
remote from men1 in glorious aloofness2 
he is  raised but slightly above our    
heads1 not much observed of the crowd1  
but observing all4 ,briskly he steps    
along1 in buckled shoes1 frilled  shirt 
and neckerchief1 his coat flying open1  
and a book or manuscript  bulging from  

the pocket of it1 his waistcoat slackly 
buttoned1 his  cocked hat tipped        
jauntily upon his forehead over his     
powdered periwig4  ,as he goes he       
crushes his gloves with one hand at his 
back and with the  other marks progress 
with his cane4 ,it is a strong1 taut    
little figure1  tending to roundness1   
with a world of suggestiveness in every 
motion1  an admirable mingling of       
thought and humour in the face that     
laughs  down on this strange1 grotesque1
 conventional1 lovable ,venice4 ,what  a
 strange contrast is this1 of the       
slippered sage of the eighteenth        
century1 who houses the swallows in the 
loose folds of his slouch hat1  and the 
armed hero of the fifteenth1 whose every
 muscle is alert1  responsive to the    
stern controlling will6 ,goldoni is a   
sage upon a  different platform1        
meditating upon a different world4 ,his 
,venice is  the ,venice of ,longhi2 she 
has become pedestrian2 she has become a 
theme for comedy4 ,comedy might have    

found plentiful food1 no doubt1  in the 
,venice that employed ,colleoni1 the    
,venice of the first great  painters4   
,there is a fund of humour and          
whimsicality in the strangely           
fascinating faces of ,carpaccio's       
citizens4 ,yet try to picture them held 
up to ridicule by one of themselves upon
 the stage1 and the imagination  faints2
 the thing is inconceivable4 ,in        
,goldoni's age the interest of  life was
 shifted to another field1 and he stands
 as the central figure1  the leader in a
 new campaign1 representative not of its
 vices or its  vanities or its follies1 
but of the solid virtues of which these 
are  the shady side4 ,he is one of those
 happy spirits which the reactionary    
age of small things produced1 not only  
in ,italy but everywhere in  the        
eighteenth century2 a spirit of clear1  
calm insight and capable  judgment1     
neither enamoured of the life of his    
small circle nor  embittered against it1
 content to live in the midst of it in  

serenity  and truth4    ,goldoni1       
,colleoni1 each is representative of a  
period in the history  of the ,republic1
 periods widely separated in temper and 
in time1 and  yet related intimately2 so
 intimately indeed that the period of   
which  ,goldoni is the master-spirit is 
actually foreshadowed in the very       
presence of the superb warrior of the   
other public square4 ,to study the      
process of the growth and the decadence 
of the ,republic is to find that  there 
is no convenient preconceived theory    
with which it will fit in2  it rebels   
against such manipulation1 as everything
 individual rebels  against the         
ready-made4 ,we need rather to look upon
 ,venice as upon a  plant that springs  
and comes to its perfection and fades   
slowly away1  changing and developing in
 indefinable gradations1 showing at     
every  stage some surprising revival    
from the past1 some strange anticipation
  of the future4 ,in the fifteenth      
century itself1 while the earliest      

artists were at work for ,venice at     
,murano1 and ,carpaccio was as yet      
unborn1 ,venice already bore about with 
her the seeds of her decay4  ,in fact1  
the growth of her art coincides with the
 slow relaxation of  her hold upon the  
bulwarks of her policy both at home and 
abroad4  ,the election of ,foscari as   
,doge in #adbc marks a moment of change 
in  ,venetian life and government1      
indicated by the substitution of the    
title ,signoria for that of ,commune    
,venetiarum1 and by the abolition of    
the arengo--yet ,carpaccio has still his
 grave citizens to portray1  and ,ursula
 sleeping the sleep of infancy4 ,among  
the exhortations which  tradition has   
handed down to us as addressed from time
 to time to the  ,venetians by ,doge or 
by ambassador is that supposed to have  
been spoken  on his death-bed by        
,foscari's precursor1 the ,doge ,tommaso
 ,mocenigo4 ,it  might have been spoken 
for our instruction1 instead of as a    
reminder  to his own subjects of what   

they knew so well1 so vivid an          
impression  is to be derived from it of 
the inner life of ,venice during the    
first  thirty years of the fifteenth    
century4 ,whether legendary or not1     
these  exhortations have something      
significant and individual about them   
which really illuminates2 it is as if a 
light were suddenly flashed  into a vast
 room1 pressing our vision upon one     
point1 providing a  nucleus of knowledge
 about which scattered ideas and        
impressions may  group themselves       
intelligibly4 ,whatever they are1 they  
are not the  fabrication of a later time
 which has lost understanding of the    
spirit  that animated the past4 ,if the 
portrait they give is imaginary1 they   
have seized upon the salient features   
and endowed them with a vitality  which 
the photograph1 however literal1 too    
often lacks4 ,mocenigo's  farewell      
address is an impressive portico opening
 upon a new period  in the career of    
,venice1 a strange trumpet-note of ill  

omen on the  threshold of her greatest  
glory4 ,behold1 he says1 the fulness of 
the  life you have achieved1 of the     
riches you have stored2 turn now and    
preserve it2 there is peril in the path 
beyond2 there is twilight and  decay and
 death4 ,your eyes1 full of the light1  
have no knowledge of the  shadow2 but   
mine1 dim now with age1 have known it1  
and its grip is  upon my limbs4 ,venice 
heard but might not heed his warnings4  
,the sun  himself must rise and fulfil  
his day and set4 ,decay is in each      
breath  that the plant draws in2 it     
cannot crystallise the moment2          
inexorably  it is drawn onwards to      
maturity and death4 ,it was inevitable  
for ,venice  that as her strength       
increased her responsibilities should   
increase  with it2 perforce she must    
turn her face to land as well as sea4   
,she  could not remain alone1 intent    
only on nourishing and developing her   
individual life4 ,in proportion to her  
greatness she must attract others  to   

her1 and the circle of her influence    
must widen till it passed  beyond her   
own control4 ,the dying words of        
,mocenigo came too late4  ,a temporary  
delay there might have been2 there was  
no turning back4  ,venice had been drawn
 already into the vortex of ,european   
mainland  politics1 and she could not   
stand aside4 ,in our own colonial policy
 we  are continually confronted with the
 problem of aggression and defence4  ,in
 reality there is no boundary between   
the two1 or the boundary1 if  it exists1
 is so fine that the events of a moment 
may obliterate it4  ,st4 ,theodore      
carries his shield in his right hand and
 his spear in the  left2 and an old     
chronicler of ,venetian glory interprets
 the action as  symbolising the         
predominance of defence in his warrior's
 ideal4 ,doge  ,tommaso ,mocenigo would 
have approved the interpretation4 ,but  
spear and  shield cannot exchange their 
functions4 ,until the spear is laid     
aside1  it will insist on leading2 and  

,venice had not laid aside the spear1   
she  had furnished herself anew4    8,in
 my time10 says ,mocenigo1 after a      
pathetic preliminary avowal of  his     
obligations to ,venice and of the humble
 efforts he had made to  discharge them1
 8in my time1 our loan has been reduced 
by four millions  of ducats1 but six    
millions still are lacking for the debt 
incurred in  the war with ,padua1       
,vicenza1 ,verona4444 ,this city of ours
 sends out at  present ten million      
ducats every year for its trade in      
different parts  of the world1 with     
ships and galleys and the necessary     
appointments to  the value of not less  
than two million ducats4 ,in this city  
are three  thousand vessels of from one 
to two hundred anforas burden1 carrying 
sixteen thousand mariners3 there are    
three hundred vessels which  alone carry
 eight thousand mariners more4 ,every   
year sail forty-five  galleys1 counting 
small and great craft1 and these take   
eleven thousand  mariners1 three        

thousand captains and three thousand    
calkers4 ,there  are three thousand     
weavers of silk garments and sixteen    
thousand of  fustian4444 ,there are one 
thousand gentlemen with incomes ranging 
from  seven hundred to four thousand    
ducats4 ,if you go on in this way1 you  
will increase from good to better1 you  
will be lords of riches and of          
,christendom4 ,but beware1 as of fire1  
of taking what belongs to others  and   
making unjust war1 for these are errors 
that ,god cannot tolerate  in princes4  
,it is known to all that the war with   
the ,turk has made you  brave and       
valorous by sea1 444 and in these years 
you have so acted  that the world has   
judged you the leaders of ,christendom4 
,you have  many men experienced in      
embassies and government1 men who are   
perfect  orators4 ,you have many doctors
 in diverse sciences1 lawyers above all1
  and for this reason many foreigners   
come to you for judgement in their      
differences and abide by your decisions4

 ,take heed1 therefore1 how you  govern 
such a state as this1 and be careful to 
give it your counsel  and your warning1 
lest ever by negligence it suffer loss  
of power4 ,and  it behoves you earnestly
 to advise whoever succeeds me in this  
place1  because through him the         
,republic may receive much good and much
 harm4  ,many of you incline to ,messer 
,marino ,caravello2 he is a worthy man  
and  for his worthy qualities deserves  
that rank4 ,messer ,francesco ,bembo  is
 an honest man1 and so is ,messer       
,giacomo ,trevisan4 ,messer ,antonio    
,contarini1 ,messer ,faustin ,michiel1  
,messer ,alban ,badoer1 all these  are  
wise and merit it4 ,many incline to     
,messer ,francesco ,foscari1 not        
knowing that he is an ambitious man and 
a liar1 without a basis to his  actions4
 ,his intellect is flighty2 he embraces 
much and holds little4  ,if he is ,doge1
 you will always be at war4 ,the        
possessor of ten thousand  ducats will  
be master but of one4 ,you will spend   

gold and silver4 ,you  will be robbed of
 your reputation and your honour4 ,you  
will be vassals  of infantry and        
captains and men-at-arms4 ,i could not  
restrain myself  from giving you my     
opinion4 ,god help you to choose the    
best1 and rule  and keep you in peace40 
,mocenigo's warning was disregarded4    
,but although ,foscari was made ,doge1  
,venice did not rush into war4 ,in spite
 of repeated efforts on the part  of the
 ,florentines to secure an alliance1 the
 traditions of the old  peace policy    
were tenaciously adhered to during the  
first years of the  new reign4 ,it was  
the temptation to secure ,carmagnola as 
leader of  her forces which finally     
overcame her scruples4 ,foscari's       
discourse  on this occasion1 as reported
 by ,romanin1 is a curiously specious   
mingling of philanthropy and            
self-interest4 ,reading between the     
lines1  we understand from it something 
of ,mocenigo's fears at the prospect  of
 his election4 ,the passion of empire is

 in his heart4 ,venice1 whom  eulogists 
loved to represent as the bulwark of    
,europe against the  infidel1 is now to 
be the champion of down-trodden         
,florence4 ,it is the  sword of justice 
that she is to wield4 ,we are reminded  
of ,veronese's  allegory--,venice seated
 upon the world1 robed in ermine and    
scarlet1  her silver and her gold about 
her1 her breast clasped with a jewelled 
buckler1 round her neck the rich pearls 
of her own island fabric1 on  her head  
the royal crown4 ,her face is in the    
shadow of her gilded  throne and of the 
folds of the stiff rose satin curtain1  
as she looks  out over the world1 over  
the universe1 from her lofty seat on the
 dark  azure globe4 ,the lion1 the sword
 and the olive branch are at her feet4  
,what is she dreaming of1 this ,venice  
of the soft1 round1 shadowed face8  ,is 
it of peace1 or of new empire8 ,is it to
 the olive bough or to the  sword of    
justice that she inclines8 ,in a        
neighbouring fresco1 ,neptune1  brooding

 in profound abstraction beside his     
trident1 deputes to the  lion his watch2
 but ,mars of the mainland is alert1 on 
foot1 and his  charger's head from above
 him breathes fire upon his brow4       
8,you will be the vassals of captains   
and men-at-arms40 ,there was a note  of 
prophecy in ,mocenigo's closing words1  
and it is indeed a question1  in face of
 ,verocchio's superb warrior--who was   
the prince and who  the vassal1 who the 
servant and who the master4 ,colleoni's 
triumph  at his grand reception in      
,venice can scarcely have been the      
triumph  of a mere man-at-arms4         
,studying the magnificent reserve of    
strength  in his grandly moulded face   
and neck1 we feel ,venice must rather   
have acknowledged that an ,emperor had  
descended in her midst4 ,little  wonder 
that such a man dared ask a place on the
 ,piazza of ,st4 ,mark  itself6 ,the    
period of his command embraced some of  
the most brilliant  successes of the    
,venetian arms on land4 ,difficulties   

and perils that  seemed insurmountable  
were yet surmounted by a mind possessed 
of  supreme qualities of judgment1      
daring and nobility4 ,singularly akin1  
indeed1 to ,venice herself was this man 
who had a key to the minds of  his      
antagonists1 who read their secrets and 
forestalled their actions3  it is not   
strange that he was dear to her4 ,though
 a professional  soldier and no         
,venetian born1 he could act as a worthy
 representative  of ,venice1 and there  
might seem small fear of ruin for a     
,republic that  could so choose her     
servants4 ,but ,colleoni had fought     
against the ,lion  and set his foot upon
 its neck1 and the ,lion had been       
constrained to  turn and ask his service
 of him1 the highest tribute it could   
offer1  the completest confession of its
 defeat4 ,and ,colleoni could respect   
and be faithful to such a paymaster3 for
 twenty years he led the  ,republic on  
land1 and was never called to render an 
account before her  judgment-seat4      

,magnanimously at his death he absolves 
her of all her  debts to him1 makes her 
two grand donations1 then1 by his own   
wish1  towers over ,venice1 a paid      
alien1 her virtual master1 yet such a   
master  as she was proud to serve4 ,we  
wonder if this thought came ever to the 
mind of ,verocchio1 the ,florentine1 as 
he moulded the great figure of  the     
hero3 did the imagination please him of 
,venice the vassal1 ,venice  subjected  
beneath the horse and his rider8        
,there was a fte given in honour of     
,colleoni at ,venice in #adee1 on  the  
occasion of the bestowing on him the    
staff of supreme command4  ,to ,spino1  
,colleoni's enthusiastic biographer and 
fellow citizen1 the  episode was        
portentous1 as to one unfamiliar with   
,venetian traditions  in this respect4  
,it had1 indeed1 a significance he did  
not dream of2  it was the reception not 
of a victorious fleet1 not of an        
admiring  monarch or fugitive pope1 but 
of an army of mercenaries and their     

leader4 ,spino tells how ,colleoni was  
accompanied by an escort of the  chief  
citizens of ,bergamo1 ,brescia and other
 cities of the kingdom that  had been   
committed to his charge2 how barges over
 a thousand were sent  from ,venice to  
fetch him and his party from ,marghera2 
how the ,venetians  came out in flocks  
to meet him in gondolas and sandolos to 
the sound  of trumpets and other        
instruments of music1 preceded by three 
ships  called bucintori1 8of marvellous 
workmanship and grandeur10 in which     
were the ,doge and ,signoria1 the senate
 and other magistrates2 and  how        
ambassadors of kings and princes and    
subject states came to do  homage to the
 new ,serenissimo ,pasqual ,malipiero4  
,he tells1 as all the  chroniclers of   
festivals at ,venice tell1 of the       
throngs1 not only on  windows and upon  
the fondamentas1 but upon the house     
roofs along the  ,grand ,canal2 of      
,colleoni's reception at ,san ,marco and
 the display of  the sacred treasures at

 the high altar2 and how1 as he knelt   
before  the ,doge1 the staff of his     
office was bestowed upon him with these 
words1 8,by the authority and decree of 
the most excellent city of  ,venice1 of 
us the ,doge and of the ,senate1 ruler  
and captain-general of  all our men and 
arms on land shalt thou be4 ,take from  
our hands this  military staff1 with    
good presage and fortune1 as emblem of  
thy power1  to maintain and defend the  
majesty1 the faith and the judgments of 
this ,state with dignity and with       
decorum by thy care and charge40 ,for   
ten days the festivals continued with   
jousts and tournaments and feats  of    
arms4 ,but all was not fting and        
merriment4 ,colleoni held grave         
discourses also with the ,padri1 and    
8their spirits were confirmed by  him10 
says ,spino1 8in safety and great       
confidence40    ,illustration3 ,,in     
,,the ,,piazza4    ,the ,venice who     
could thus do honour to ,colleoni her   
general was a  superb ,venice1 superb as

 ,colleoni himself who in his castle of 
,malpaga  received not only embassies   
from kings but kings themselves2 who1 at
  the visit of ,cristierino1 ,king of   
,dacia1 came out to meet him 8on  a     
great courser1 caparisoned and equipped 
for war1 and he1 all but  his head1     
imperially clad in complete armour1     
attended only by two  standard-bearers  
carrying his helm and lance1 while a    
little further  behind followed his     
whole company of six hundred horse in   
battle array1  with his condottieri and 
his squadrons1 all gloriously and most  
nobly  armed and mounted1 with flags    
flying and the sound of trumpets02 who1 
besides making rich provision for all   
his children1 built churches1  endowed  
monasteries and left to the ,venetians1 
after cancelling all  their debts to    
him1 one hundred thousand ducats of     
gold4 ,the ,venice  that employed       
,colleoni was superb--we have a record  
of her living  features in ,gentile     
,bellini's marvellous presentment of the

 procession  in ,st4 ,mark's square--the
 brain as flexible1 the jaws as rigid as
  those of the mighty warrior ,verocchio
 conceived4 ,yet ,spino's comment  on   
the last tribute paid by the ,venetians 
to their general gives us               
pause--8confessing to have lost the     
defender of their liberty40 ,it was  a  
confession which could still clothe     
itself triumphantly in the great  bronze
 statue1 but there is an omen in the    
words4 ,in this confession of  #adif is 
foreshadowed the fall of #agif4    ,much
 has been written of the social life of 
this ,venice of the ,fall2  there are   
countless sources for its history in the
 letters1 diaries  and memoirs of its   
citizens and of its visitors1 reputable 
and  disreputable2 richest sources of   
all1 there are the pictures of ,longhi1 
the comedies of ,goldoni4 ,but of the   
,venice that lay behind this small      
round of conventions and refinements1   
laxity and tyranny1 perhaps  less has   
been said4 ,of many avenues by which it 

might be approached  we shall choose    
one1 and since the praise of ,colleoni  
has drawn our  attention to the         
foundations of ,venetian power on land1 
nothing will  better serve our purpose  
than the foundation of her power by sea1
 that  ,arsenal which ,sansovino        
described as 8the basis and groundwork  
of the  greatness of this ,republic1 as 
well as the honour of all ,italy40 ,the 
,arsenal was1 next to ,san ,marco1      
perhaps the sanctuary of ,venetian      
faith4 ,it was far more than a mere     
manufactory of arms and battleships4    
,in the celebration of the ,sensa its   
workmen held the post of honour1  the   
rowing of the ,bucintoro4 ,its officers 
were among the most reputed  in the     
,state4 ,the ,council of ,ten had a room
 within its precincts4 ,it  was entered 
by a superb triumphal arch1 a sight     
which none who visited  ,venice must    
miss4 ,the condition of the ,arsenal may
 well be taken as an  index to the      
condition of ,venice herself4    ,we may

 set side by side two pictures of the   
,arsenal1 one drawn from  a curious     
little work of early seventeenth        
century1 a time at which1  though       
,venice was moving down the path of her 
decay1 the glorious  traditions of the  
past still found renewal in her present 
life1 and the  ,venetian fleet was still
 a triumphant symbol of ,venetian       
greatness2 the  other from the reports  
of her officials in the last years      
before her  death4 ,luca ,assarino was  
one of many guests who had to say to    
,venice1  or to the ,doge her           
representative1 8,my intellect staggers 
under the  weight of a memory laden with
 surpassing favours4 ,you received me   
into  your house1 did me honour1        
assisted me1 protected me4 ,you clothed 
yourself in my desires1 and promoted    
them on every occasion2 and this  not   
only without having had of me any cause 
to honour me so highly1  but even       
without having ever seen me40 ,he feels 
he cannot better  discharge the burden  

of his gratitude than by shaping some of
 the  emotions inspired in him by his   
visit to the ,arsenal4 ,there is a touch
  of sympathy and sometimes even a touch
 of truth and insight under the         
extravagantly symbolic garb of his      
appreciation4 8,admiring first of all   
an immense number of porticoes1 where as
 in vast maternal wombs ,i saw  in      
embryo the galleys whose bodies were    
being framed1 ,i realised that  ,i was  
in the country of vessels1 the          
fatherland of galleons1 and that  those 
masses were so formidable as to show    
themselves warriors even in  their      
birth1 fortifying themselves with       
countless nails and arming thus  their  
very vitals with iron4 ,i considered    
them as wandering islands1  which1      
united1 compose the continent of        
,venetian glory1 the mainland  of the   
rule of ,christendom4 ,i admired with   
joy the height of their  masts and the  
size of their sailyards1 and ,i called  
them forests under  whose shade the     

,empire of the sea reposed and the hopes
 of the ,catholic  religion were        
fortified4 ,and who1 ,i said to myself1 
can deny that this  ,republic has       
subjugated the element of water1 when   
none of her citizens  can walk abroad1  
but that the water1 as if vanquished1   
kisses his feet  at every step80 ,like  
all recorders of the glories of ,venice1
 he is  struck dumb at certain points by
 fear of the charge of fabling1 but1    
collecting himself1 he proceeds to speak
 of the trophies and relics1  the rows  
of cuirasses1 helmets and swords that   
remained as 8iron  memorials to arm the 
years against oblivion of ,venetian     
greatness4 ,what  revolutions of the    
world1 what accidents1 what mutations of
 state1 what  lakes of tears and blood  
did not the dim lightnings of those     
fierce  habiliments present to the eye  
of the observer8444 ,i saw the remains  
of  the ,venetian fleet1 vessels1 that1 
as old men1 weighted no less with  years
 than glory1 reposed under the          

magnificence of the arches which  might 
well be called triumphal arches4 ,i saw 
part of those galleons to  which        
,christianity confesses the debt of her 
preservation4444 ,and last1  ,i saw     
below the water so great a quantity of  
the planks from which  vessels          
afterwards are made1 that one might     
truly call it a treasury  hidden in the 
entrails of a lake4 ,i perceived that   
these1 as novices  in swimming1 remained
 first a century below the surface1 to  
float  after for an eternity of         
centuries2 and ,i remarked that they    
began  by acquiring citizenship in that 
lake1 to end by showing themselves      
patricians throughout the seas1 and that
 there was good reason they  should     
plant their roots well under water1 for 
they were the trees  on which the       
liberty of ,venice was to flower40 ,in  
his peroration the  eulogist strikes a  
deeper note4 8,may it please ,almighty  
,god to preserve  you to a longest      
eternity2 and as of old the nations     

surrounding you  had so high an opinion 
of your integrity and justice that they 
came to  you for judgment of their      
weightiest and most important cases1 so 
may  heaven grant that the whole of     
,christendom may resort always to your  
threshold to learn the laws of good     
government40    ,we think sadly of his  
prayer among the records of abuse and   
corruption  in the ,arsenal of two      
centuries later2 the ,venetian lawyers  
were still  renowned among the lawyers  
of the world1 but the ,state was no     
longer  capable of teaching the laws of 
good government to ,christendom4 ,the   
theatre1 the coffee-house1 the ridotto1 
the gay villeggiatura were  now the main
 channels of her activity2 the tide of  
life had flowed  back from the ,arsenal 
and left it a sluggish marsh4 ,in the   
arts of  shipbuilding no advance had    
been made1 and the cause lay chiefly in 
an extraordinary slackness of discipline
 by which workmen were first  allowed to
 serve in alternation and in the end    

were asked for only  one day's service  
in the month4 ,many youths who had not  
even seen the  ,arsenal were in receipt 
of a stipend as apprentices1 in virtue  
of  hereditary right4 ,martinelli tells 
of porters1 valets1 novices and even  of
 a pantaloon in a troop of comic actors 
who were thus pleasantly  provided for4 
,there was a scarcity of tools1 and even
 the men in daily  attendance at the    
,arsenal spent their time in idle       
lounging and often  in still more       
mischievous occupations for lack of     
anything better to  do2 disobedience and
 disloyalty were rife4 ,the ,arsenal was
 used by many  as a place of winter     
resort1 as workhouses by the tramps of  
to-day1  and the wood stored for        
shipbuilding was consumed in fires for  
warming  these unbidden guests1 or made 
up into articles of furniture for sale  
in the open market4 ,the report of the  
,inquisitors of the ,arsenal1  dated    
,march #a1 #ahgd1 which ,martinelli     
quotes1 is indeed a terrible            

confession3 8,one sad experience clearly
 shows that the smallest  concession 444
 becomes rapidly transformed into       
unbridled licence4  ,not to mention the 
immense piles of shavings1 from sixty to
 seventy  thousand vast bundles of wood 
disappear annually4 ,the wastage of so  
great a mass of wood1 more than the     
equivalent of the complete outfit  of   
ten or twelve entire ships of the line1 
is not to be accounted for  under       
legitimate refuse of normal work1 but   
points plainly to the  voluntary        
destruction of undamaged and precious   
material40 ,it is  scarcely surprising  
that with so little care for the        
preservation of  discipline in the      
,arsenal and for the efficiency of its  
workmen ,venice  fell behind4 ,the      
,arsenal had indeed become1 as          
,martinelli says1 8a  monument of the   
generous conceptions of the past--a     
monument1 like the  church and campanile
 of ,san ,marco1 beautiful1 admirable1  
glorious1 but  as completely incapable  

as they of offering any service to the  
,state40  ,similar abuses existed also  
in the manning of the ships4 ,the       
officers  were for the most part idle   
and incompetent1 and the despatches of  
the  ,provveditori are a tissue of      
lamentable statements as to the         
depression  of that which had been1 and 
while ,venice was to retain her         
supremacy1  must ever be1 the mainstay  
of her power4 ,there is desertion among 
the  crews and operatives2 the outfit   
provided for them is unsuitable and     
inadequate4 ,nicol ,erizzo1 ,provveditor
 ,extraordinary to the ,islands of  the 
,levant1 concludes a despatch1 dated    
,october #cj1 #agfd1 as follows3  8,thus
 it comes about that your ,excellencies 
have no efficient and  capable officers 
of marine1 and if an occasion were ever 
to arise  when it were necessary to send
 them to some distant part1 let me not  
be deemed presumptuous if ,i venture    
frankly to assure you that they  would  
be in great straits4 ,i had a proof of  

the truth of this when ,i  launched the 
galley recently built2 for the officers 
themselves begged  me to put a ship's   
captain on board1 since at a little     
distance from  land they did not trust  
themselves1 nor did they blush to       
confess it in  making this request40    
,it was ten years earlier1 in #agdd1    
that the ,ridotto1 or great public      
gaming-house1 was closed in ,venice by  
order of the ,great ,council1 and  the  
,venetians1 their chief occupation gone1
 were reduced to melancholy             
peregrination of the ,piazza4 8,they    
have all become hypochondriacs10  writes
 ,madame ,sara ,gondar4 8,the ,jews are 
as yellow as melons2 the  mask-sellers  
are dying of starvation2 and wrinkles   
are growing on the  hands of many a poor
 old nobleman who has been in the habit 
of dealing  cards ten hours a day4 ,vice
 is absolutely necessary to the activity
 of  a state40 ,this then is the ,venice
 against which ,goldoni stands out2  and
 after all1 the essential difference    

between the world reflected  in his     
comedies and that world of ,gentile     
,bellini and ,carpaccio1  which was     
,colleoni's world1 is a difference of   
horizon4 ,there is an  epic grandeur    
about ,carpaccio's world3 heroes stride 
across it1 with  lesser men and lesser  
interests in their train4 ,the small    
affairs of  life are not neglected4     
,there is the ,company of the ,stocking1
 who  discuss their peculiar device and 
the articles of their order with the    
grave elaboration of ,state councillors4
 ,venice was always interested  in      
matters of detail4 ,but in ,colleoni's  
day the same seriousness of  purpose was
 available when larger issues were      
discerned3 in ,goldoni's  the power to  
discern larger issues has disappeared4  
,the ,venetians1  lords once of the sea1
 can still take interest in their       
stockings1  but they can take interest  
in nothing else4 ,the ,lilliputians are 
in possession4 ,goldoni does not quarrel
 with his age for not being  monumental1

 and we shall do well to follow his     
example and make our  peace with it4 ,he
 looks upon the clubs of freemasons1 the
 pedantic  literary reformers1 the false
 romanticists1 the bourgeois tyrants and
  masquerading ladies1 with a serene and
 indulgent smile4 ,in his famous        
literary dispute with ,gozzi he         
maintains before his fiery opponent the 
calm and level countenance of truth4    
,the battles rage around him1 but  he   
stands firm and unassailable1 as        
,colleoni himself may once have  stood  
in the midst of battles how different1  
waged in how different a  world6        
,chapter ,eight    ,,venetian           
,,waterways    7,,part ,i7      ,in     
,venice it is difficult to make choice  
of one route rather than  another1 when 
the means of transit is indeed an end in
 itself1 and  in some degree the same   
delight awaits us on every way we       
choose4 ,we  may pass hours on the      
,grand ,canal merely combining enjoyment
 of its  changefulness with a welcome   

monotony of rest2 every moment the water
  is expressive1 every moment it lives  
under some new impulse and reveals      
itself afresh4 ,carpaccio's picture1    
,the ,miracle of the ,holy ,cross1 is  a
 marvellous rendering of the life of the
 ,grand ,canal2 we are reminded  of it  
again and again as we turn into the     
noble sweep of the waters at  the angle 
of the ,c ,foscari4 ,the spirit and     
motion of ,venice seem to be            
concentrated in the picture--the dark   
water alive with many gondolas1  the    
fascination of the rhythmic movements of
 the rowers1 at rest or  sharply turning
 or slowly propelling4 ,it has caught   
and embodied the  genius of the         
canal--that ceaseless change and        
variation of angle  which keeps it      
springing and full of life2 that flowing
 spirit which  unifies the palaces and  
waters of ,venice in a conspiracy of    
beauty4  ,our gondola in some mysterious
 way enrols us in this conspiracy2      
through its motion we consent to the    

spirit of the place4 ,we are not        
onlookers merely2 the gondola pulses    
with the life of ,venice2 it is an      
instrument of her being4 ,we feel as we 
move along that we are needed  in the   
spectacle of ,venice1 that we have a    
share in the equilibrium  which is of   
the essence of her power4 ,there is no  
means of city transit  that we can      
imagine to rival the gondola in its     
freedom from noise  and jostling1 in its
 realisation of comfort4 ,but there are 
other  reasons why it must remain the   
essential means of passage in ,venice4  
,from the gondola alone can we hope to  
realise how the city stands  amid its   
waters1 how living the relation between 
land and water is4  ,these are not      
canals in the common sense of the word2 
they are living  streams flowing among  
islands1 each of which is individual1   
irregular1  unique4 ,venice is not a    
tract of land cut into sections1 large  
or  small1 by water1 as is an inland    
city by its streets4 ,a most vigilant   

watch was kept over the building of the 
houses that they should not  transgress 
the law of the waters nor interfere with
 the relation of  their currents to the 
islands4 ,and this vigilance1 perhaps1  
combined  with the desire of each owner 
of land to make use of it to the last   
fragment1 is responsible for the        
irregularities and varieties of angle   
which make the houses of ,venice more   
individual than those of any other      
city4 ,usually a wall when it has once  
displayed to us its surface has         
finished its confidences2 it has no     
reserves1 no allurements2 it is  rigid  
and uncompromising4 ,but one that breaks
 from the level1 inclining  its proud   
profile in response to the tide of the  
waterway below it1  is a wall of far    
greater and more individual resources4  
,it is only  by gondola that we can     
appreciate this strong element of       
personality  in the houses1 and only by 
journeying in a gondola that we can     
learn  to appreciate the individuality  

of the different quarters of ,venice4   
,it is not merely that one is peopled by
 the rich1 another by the  poor2 that   
one region abounds in ancient palaces1  
another in modern  buildings2 nor that  
peculiar treasures of art are associated
 with  each4 ,their characters are      
divergent4 ,from the canals we realise  
that  ,venice is built upon separate    
islands and we see their diversity4 ,the
  parochial divisions of the sestieri do
 not exactly follow the shape of  the   
islands1 but roughly speaking we shall  
find the waterways in the  district     
covered by each sestiere distinctive in 
character4 ,castello  and ,cannaregio1  
,san ,polo and ,dorsoduro1 each has its 
own recognisable  method of curve1 broad
 or narrow1 wayward or orderly4         
,illustration3 ,,view ,,on ,,grand      
,,canal ,,from ,,san ,,angelo4    ,the  
last joy of one who has lived long in   
,venice1 as well as the  first of the   
new-comer1 will be a gondola journey4   
,it is impossible  to exhaust the       

certain beauties of even a side canal1  
not to speak  of its casual surprises4  
,if we are in haste and time is         
precious1 we  do better to make our way 
over bridge and calle with what         
dexterity  and speed we can2 for it is  
an insult to ask haste of the gondola4  
,yet1 if we accept in the right spirit  
the extraordinary delays and  dilemmas  
of traffic--immense1 interminable barges
 suddenly blocking  the entire canal1 or
 a flock of gondolas and sandolos in    
seemingly  inextricable confusion--we   
shall always have our reward2 not only  
the  pleasure of watching the riddle of 
passage solve itself1 thanks to  the    
seeming elasticity of the rio1 but a    
glint of sun-jewels on a new  angle of  
the waters1 some richness of ornament on
 house or bridge1 some  relic of ancient
 ,venice1 some name of calle or rio will
 break upon  us with a fresh revelation4
 ,we cannot come to the end of ,venice2 
she  is inexhaustible3 stealing about   
among the sudden shadows and broken     

lights of her waterways1 sweeping in    
full1 swift tide round unexpected       
corners and under diminished bridges1   
some new idea breaks upon us  unawares  
with irresistible persuasion4 ,we cannot
 define its meaning2  we cannot say why 
details in ,venice have so great a      
significance4 ,a  window opened suddenly
 in one of the palaces at night--why    
does it  seem so portentous8 ,it is     
another of the manifold gifts of the    
waters  to ,venice1 this gift of        
distinction4 ,venice is not like other  
cities  in which a thousand acts pass   
unnoted4 ,she has the distinction of a  
unique individual whose smallest action 
is fraught with a strange  immaterial   
fragrance that is unmistakably its own4 
,we cannot analyse  the fragrance2 we   
only recognise that it is a spiritual   
gift2 it  emanates only from subtle and 
penetrating natures2 it is the aroma of 
life itself4 ,to it we owe the strange  
excitement that invades us in  ,venetian
 waters1 and makes a gondola tour far   

more than a novel mode of  traversing a 
city4 ,as we watch the citizens of      
,venice from the water1  see them       
crossing a bridge1 pausing to lean over1
 or carried in the  stream of           
passengers1 they too seem endowed with a
 singular vitality2  their passing and  
their standing still appear alike       
purposeful and  portentous4 ,what       
history might not be written by         
questioning the  windows that look out  
on the side canals1 or the tides that   
have ebbed  and flowed in their         
channels8 ,it would be a work of many   
volumes2 for  the private records of    
,venice are not lacking in fulness4 ,the
 ,piazza  of ,bellini's ,procession of  
the ,cross represents one side of       
,venetian  life1 its solemnity1 its     
assurance1 its pomp and colour2 but the 
narrow  waters know another side1 the   
domestic festivities1 the courtings1    
weddings and banquetings1 and private   
hates4 ,for she was strong in  deeds of 
darkness as in deeds of light1 and      

echoes of them still wash  against the  
basements of her houses4 ,water is a    
safer confidant of  blood than earth1   
and the waters of ,venice have received 
their full  share of such confidences4  
,ebbing tides washed out to sea the     
stains  of violence and flowed in to    
pave the city anew1 yet the atmosphere  
of  the dark waterways is more enduring 
than material stains1 and there is  no  
dark deed of ancient ,venice to which   
they may not still supply a  realistic  
setting4    ,illustration3 ,,the        
,,library1 ,,piazzetta4    ,the         
gondolier's stock of knowledge will     
carry us but a small way on the  lesser 
rios4 ,his catalogue is ready for the   
,grand ,canal2 he can carry  the reader 
to the obvious points of interest the   
guide-book enumerates1  but his         
information does not usually comprise   
even the most beautiful  of the palaces 
of the side canals1 and on the more     
familiar routes  there is much to       
discover for oneself4 ,moreover there   

are aspects of  a gondola tour which the
 guide-book cannot include1 but which   
are none  the less important for those  
who really wish to know the physiognomy 
of  ,venice4 ,and one is the time of day
 at which it is to be taken4 ,venice  is
 the city of light--more luminous than  
any other city2 and if it is  true that 
new light or shadow everywhere alters   
the aspect of familiar  objects1 it is  
infinitely truer in ,venice where each  
moment witnesses  the birth of some new 
and wonderful offspring of the light4   
,if one1  who has known the statue of   
,colleoni against the intense blue of   
the  midday sky1 comes on him suddenly  
when the ,campo is in shadow and the    
,scuola di ,san ,marco alone still      
receives the light upon the rare marble 
of its upper faade1 he will find that1  
as the definition of the stern  features
 is lost1 a note of tenderness steals   
into the proud assertion  of the face4  
,it seems a fresh revelation of         
character1 this change  wrought by a new

 light in the known and familiar1 and it
 is one of the  peculiar creative gifts 
of ,venice4    ,in considering some of  
the most noteworthy subjects in the city
 as  she now is1 we may imagine a       
gondola tour on a day of the high tides 
in ,december1 when the water washes in  
long smooth waves almost up to  the feet
 of the ,lion and ,st4 ,theodore1 and   
gives to the ,molo the  exhilarating    
effect of a sea-shore4 ,the spring tide 
spurts and bubbles  through the gratings
 in the ,piazza and ,piazzetta1 to unite
 in a lake  which covers the whole      
pavement till it deepens in the atrium  
of ,san  ,marco and the heavy outer     
doors are closed4 ,as the waters rise1  
the  dominion of light is extended2 the 
chequered marbles of the ,ducal  ,palace
 take on a new brilliance1 and the agate
 eyes of the ,lion glow  and sparkle as 
he looks across the sun-paths to the    
sea4 ,we will  imagine ourselves        
embarking at the ,piazzetta and turning 
into ,venice  from the ,basin of ,san   

,marco1 under the ,ponte della ,paglia  
and the  ,bridge of ,sighs4 ,the        
entrance into the ,rio del ,palazzo is  
flanked on  one side by what was        
formerly the eastern tower of the ,ducal
 ,palace4  ,relics of a ,byzantine      
frieze are all that now remain of it2   
the rest  is lost in the grand eastern  
wall of the palace--a superb monument   
of the first ,renaissance4 ,this wall   
would provide material for many  hours  
of study in the rich variety of its     
sculptures4 ,not a capital or  column is
 left unadorned1 and each is            
particularised with an apparently       
inexhaustible variety of design4 ,the   
two massive1 projecting balconies  of   
the ,anti ,sala dei ,pregadi1           
overhanging the rio1 which presented to 
the sculptor some at least of the       
problems of ceiling decoration1 are     
richly carved beneath with deep circular
 roses4 ,the remotest corners  are      
worked with the same conscientious      
detail as the more conspicuous1  and    

each with a view to its position above  
the rio4 ,as our eyes grow  accustomed  
to the comparative darkness of the      
canal1 we see that lions  look down on  
us from the arches of the topmost       
windows1 and that some  of the upper    
columns are surrounded by a band of     
sculpture similar to  that on the       
pillars of the faade of the ,scuola di  
,san ,rocco4 ,amid  the wealth of       
sculptured stone there is an impressive 
severity in the  discs of porphyry set  
at intervals along the wall2 but perhaps
 its  greatest beauty is the ducal      
shield bearing the ,barbarigo arms4     
,this  shield1 placed over a low        
water-door1 is upheld by two winged     
pages  with lighted torches in their    
hands1 who are themselves like songs of 
light in their graceful and spirited    
beauty4 ,massiveness and grace are      
magnificently combined in this east wall
 of the ,ducal ,palace2 it is at  once  
solemn and brilliant2 and as we look    
back to its angle with the  ,riva1 the  

rose and snowy marbles gleam as if they 
were transparent4    ,a little further  
and the waters have us in their power4  
,the ,ponte  di ,canonica denies us     
passage2 the tide is too high for us to 
pass  beneath it1 and we are forced to  
return to the ,riva degli ,schiavoni4   
,but before we turn we may see one of   
the most beautiful of ,renaissance      
palaces rising in clear whiteness       
against the blue of the sky4 ,the       
,greek marble of its surface is inlaid  
with circles of serpentine and          
porphyry2 on either side of the central 
building two scrolls1 inlaid  with palm 
leaves1 bear the words1 ,honor et gloria
 ,deo solo1 and  higher in the wall are 
marble slabs most delicately designed   
with  animals1 birds and foliage4 ,a    
mitre1 crown1 and crosier1 and various  
other articles of head-dress are        
represented in the stone1 but the       
,capello family had many branches in    
,venice1 and of the owners of this      
particular palace even ,tassini has no  

record4 ,the most beautiful of its      
features is set high up1 almost too high
 to be comfortably seen from  the       
water--two young companion figures of   
the first ,renaissance1 full  of grace  
and imagination and strength1 each with 
spear1 and scales1 and  casque          
surmounted by three heads4 ,these twin  
warrior angels look out  with serene    
strength into the day2 they are lightly 
armed1 but poised  and ready for battle4
 ,the duplication of their winged       
figures1 and the  height at which they  
are placed1 makes us think of them      
primarily as  decorative sculptures2    
they cannot possess the intimate charm  
of the  young warrior of the ,palazzo   
,civran1 but they endow the harmonious  
marbles of this palace front with a     
distinction and character which  give it
 rank among the first houses of the     
greatest period in ,venice4  ,after the 
rains1 these precious marbles shine with
 a peculiar lustre1  and the ,palazzo   
,capello as it appears to-day is worthy 

of comparison  with the ,palazzo ,dario1
 which glows with serpentine and        
porphyry beside  the ,grand ,canal1     
fresh and fine and delicate as on the   
day of its  completion4                 
,illustration3 ,,corner ,,of ,,the      
,,palazzo ,,dario4    ,as the water is  
still rising and the ,ponte di ,canonica
 will not allow  room to pass1 we must  
move along the shining waters of ,san   
,marco till  we find a more hospitable  
waterway4 ,with difficulty we get under 
the  ,ponte del ,sepolcro and thence    
down the ,rio della ,piet in which1  at 
the distance of a few strokes1 we may   
land if we will at a low  sotto-portico 
leading to ,san ,giovanni in ,bragora1  
where ,cima's noble  picture1 ,the      
,baptism of ,christ1 is imprisoned      
behind a stifling  modern altar which   
makes it impossible to study the        
composition as a  whole4 ,a little      
farther1 passing a fine ogival palace on
 our right1  we halt before a plastered 
barocco house with remnants of          

,byzantine  window-posts on an upper    
story4 ,but our chief interest lies this
 time  in the basement1 in a low1 narrow
 arch1 the crowns of whose pillars1     
richly worked in marmo greco with       
griffins and lions1 are1 even in  time  
of normal tides1 little above the level 
of the water1 though  probably the arch 
once rested on pillars not less than ten
 feet high4  ,this buried arch is       
eloquent of the rising of the waters on 
,venice4  ,it arrests us by the beauty  
of its workmanship2 but it is one of    
many  that we must pass on each canal1  
though not all have placidly accepted   
submergence2 many have kept above the   
water by accepting the addition  of a   
capital or crown4 ,elsewhere there are  
notable examples of this  patchwork of  
which ,venice never is ashamed and which
 has produced  much in her of the       
greatest interest4 ,in the ,salizzada di
 ,san ,lio1 in  the sestiere of ,san    
,giustina1 is a pillar1 supporting one  
side of a  sotto-portico1 in which a    

whole page of ,venetian history is      
comprised4  ,looking into it1 we see    
that it is composed of two distinct     
portions1  that it has in fact two      
capitals--a capital of the early        
,renaissance  superimposed on a         
,byzantine column which retains its own4
 ,they stand  happily united1 these     
children of two ages1 but we naturally  
ask  ourselves the reason of their      
juncture1 and the answer is that the    
,byzantine pillar was once sufficient to
 itself2 it had no need of a  crown to  
complete its dignity or service4 ,no    
weight of years has shrunk  it to these 
dwarfed proportions4 ,it is the rising  
of earth from below1  not pressure from 
above1 which has reduced it4 ,the soil  
of ,venice has  been raised1 inch by    
inch and foot by foot1 in defence       
against her  submergence4 ,many         
basements have become uninhabitable1 and
 ,galliccioli  records that in the      
church of ,,ss4 ,vito e ,modesta an     
ancient pavement  was discovered eight  

feet below the existing one1 while in   
,,ss4 ,simone  e ,giuda three levels    
were found one above another4 ,in ,san  
,marco a  confessional similar to that  
still at ,torcello1 after having been   
lost  sight of for several centuries1   
was found three feet below the soil and 
one and a half feet below the ordinary  
level of the water4 ,our pillar1        
therefore1 which at one time planted its
 foot firmly on the ground1 has  been   
gradually buried alive1 and to preserve 
the serviceableness1 as  well as the    
dignity of the portico--in fact1 to     
secure its existence  as a sotto-portico
 at all--a new head had to be added to  
the ,byzantine  pillar to supply the    
theft at its foot4 ,the incident is rich
 in  suggestion of the achievement of   
the ,venetian builders1 of the delicate 
counterpoise and equilibrium1 the       
ceaseless give-and-take required in     
this city of the sea4 ,venice was       
crowned queen1 but her dominion could   
only be maintained by understanding and 

reverence of the element she  ruled4 ,to
 be glorious she had to be most humble2 
for the element she  constrained is one 
no human power can subdue2 it would kiss
 her feet1  it would endow her with     
glory1 but it would not surrender its   
life4  ,a thousand times more glorious  
should be her dominion1 but a thousand  
times more subtle must be her insight   
and her sway4 ,her finger must  be ever 
on the pulse of this living force1 she  
must hold the key of  its temperament in
 her hand1 she must know when to submit4
 ,the wedding  of ,venice and the sea   
was not the submersion of one           
personality in  another1 it was a union 
involving infinite tact1 infinite       
insight and  acceptance4    ,we move    
forward again under the ,ponte di ,sant'
 ,antonin beside the  ,fondamenta dei   
,furlani or ,friulani1 to the little    
building at its  further end1 a sombre  
little building with heavily barred     
windows1  but with a sculptured faade4  
,its outer door is never more than half 

open2 it appears to admit visitors      
reluctantly1 and1 however bright  the   
sunshine in the world outside1 our first
 impression of ,san ,giorgio  dei       
,schiavoni is always gloomy4 ,only for  
two short hours1 from ten  to twelve in 
the morning1 the chapel is open--short1 
because the  sacristan keeps jealous    
watch upon the clock and1 as if it were 
with  the booming of the great gun from 
the royal palace that his true day      
began1 hurries to close the remaining   
wing of the outer door1 and  bar the    
chapel into solitude and darkness4      
,carpaccio's pictures were  painted for 
the light4 ,their original home was not 
the ,schiavoni  chapel1 but the ,school 
which1 till #adea1 the ,confraternity of
 ,st4  ,george and ,st4 ,triphonius     
owned in the convent of ,san ,catterina 
in the  northern extremity of ,venice   
near the ,fondamenta ,nuova4 ,the chapel
 of  the ,schiavoni needs more daylight1
 and even such as is obtainable is  not 
freely enough admitted2 but ,carpaccio  

is a magician whose spell  can release  
us from all consciousness of discomfort4
 ,the chapel is  an intimate revelation 
of one of the most fascinating          
characters  in ,venetian history4 ,it is
 the completest record of ,carpaccio    
that  exists1 the series of paintings in
 which his imagination has the  fullest 
range4 ,it is not as a portrait painter 
of ,venice and the  ,venetians that     
,carpaccio is here employed1 his scope  
is wider and the  whole spirit of his   
treatment is different4 ,the ,st4       
,ursula series  is not lacking in subtle
 personal touches2 but it is not        
intimate in  the same degree as the ,st4
 ,george1 and it does not touch the     
level  of personal intensity of the ,st4
 ,jerome4 ,there are psychological      
touches in this chapel of the ,schiavoni
 which it would be hard to rival  in    
modern art2 we are companioned here by  
one of the most humorous1  tender1      
profound and understanding of natures1  
one who reflects upon  life in the      

spirit of joy and whose painful         
experiences never prevailed  against his
 assurance of beauty4 ,as is always the 
case with ,carpaccio1  each picture1    
though one of a series1 is complete in  
itself4 ,except  with ,st4 ,jerome1 the 
painter shows even a certain            
carelessness of the  preservation of    
identity in his hero3 ,st4 ,george      
becomes steadily  younger from the time 
of his combat with the dragon1 till1 in 
the third  of the series1 a mere boy is 
represented as presiding at the baptism 
of  the king and princess4 ,the figure  
of ,st4 ,george in the fight with the   
dragon is magnificent4 ,no comparisons  
are necessary to convince us of  its    
greatness of conception2 but if we      
consider for a moment ,basaiti's        
treatment of this subject1 we shall     
understand better the material of  which
 ,carpaccio is made4 ,basaiti's ,st4    
,george is a sentimentalist even  in    
this moment of stress2 his sword-thrust 
and the spirit expressed in  his face   

are disconnected4 ,with ,carpaccio the  
source of ,st4 ,george's  action is his 
will4 ,the spirit of the sword-thrust is
 revealed in the  thrilling purpose of  
his armoured limbs1 which no metal can  
obscure4 ,he  is not thinking of graces1
 but the purpose with which he is       
instinct  creates its own harmony2 he is
 one who must prevail4 ,when the stress 
of the action is past1 his face hardly  
seems striking1 but here it is  so      
pierced with light1 as it gleams in     
paleness against the aureole  of hair1  
that it has become a living flame4      
,rarely has such glory of  purpose and  
burning intensity of will been conveyed 
in a human face  upon canvas4 ,and all  
the details of this picture are invested
 with  an accordant beauty4 ,even the   
grotesque fancy that seems to riot in   
the horrors of material death has had to
 give way before it4 ,the face  of the  
maiden1 who lies1 half-eaten1 close to  
the dragon's feet1 is  as exquisite in  
her death-sleep as that of ,st4 ,ursula 

in her royal  chamber2 and the mutilated
 youth under the body of the horse is   
not  less lovely4 ,the horse's face is  
wonderful2 his large eyes drink in the  
purpose of his master2 his tongue lolls2
 his mane streams wildly as he  rushes  
against the wind4 ,like ,colleoni's     
horse he triumphs under his  rider1 not 
so much ridden as a sharer in his       
progress2 but he1 like  his master1     
moves in another and more romantic world
 than ,colleoni4  ,never was horse more 
gloriously or more worthily caparisoned2
 his  trappings are of scarlet1 stamped 
with classic heads and chased with      
bronze2 his bridle of the richest gilded
 leather set with gems4 ,and the  dragon
 too is beautiful4 ,if we compare this  
trampling1 vivid creature  of the       
luminous eyes with the crawling worm    
against which ,st4 ,george  raises his  
sword in the succeeding picture1 we     
shall feel something of  the meaning of 
the breath of life4 ,the very colour of 
his skin seems  to have flowed through  

him with his blood2 he is abjectly grey 
when  dragged on to the ,piazza4 ,this  
transformation of the dragon is a great 
feat1 the greater when we remember that 
even when he first appears1 the  virtue 
is beginning to go out of him1 his claws
 are already beating  the air with      
growing impotence4 ,this first picture  
of the ,st4 ,george  series is the most 
complete lyric of ,carpaccio's that we  
possess2 it  is an episode of high      
romance1 and its landscape is conceived 
in the  spirit of romantic fantasy4 ,we 
have noted elsewhere the treatment  of  
the buildings1 the way the city1 which  
at first sight seems of a  dreamlike    
quality1 like the port whence ,st4      
,ursula's prince sets out1  defines     
itself gradually as a solid1 fortified  
citadel1 half hidden  behind oriental   
watch-towers4 ,but we have still to note
 the inspiration  with which ,carpaccio 
has unified these defences with the     
grand sweep  of the coast-line4 ,the    
huge cliffs which enclose the bay on the

 left1  stretching out to the yellow    
light1 are worthy to rank with those in 
,turner's ,ulysses and ,polyphemus4 ,the
 landscape to the right of the  bay is  
freer and more fanciful4 ,a cupolaed    
duomo crowns the cliff  behind the      
princess4 ,men and horses move on the   
huge projecting rock1  joined to the    
main cliff only by a natural arch and by
 a high-swung  delicate bridge4 ,the    
houses among the trees and the horsemen 
moving  over the dizzy bridge enhance   
the romantic strangeness of effect4 ,the
  framing by this rugged arch of a      
full-rigged vessel upon the open sea  is
 one of ,carpaccio's happiest fancies4  
,the devastated shore1 the  sea flowing 
into the city1 the yellow of the sky    
above the horizon  passing into a       
troubled paleness of cloud-flecked blue1
 the wind-driven  vessel on the high    
sea1 the suggestion of vast ocean       
spaces--all these  combine in the       
imaginative grandeur of effect4 ,the    
second picture of  the series1 ,st4     

,george's ,return1 is very different in 
atmosphere4  ,it is filled with         
sunlight1 the trampling of victory and  
the sound of  music4 ,its keynote is    
victorious joy and pomp of festival1    
sounded  in the spacious sunniness of   
the ,piazza and the horizon of slope and
  mountains beyond2 sustained in the    
buildings that surround the square  and 
the airy pinnacles and balconies crowded
 with onlookers1 and in  the flags that 
fly round the octagonal building winging
 it with air4  ,the radiant flowered    
brocades compete with the trappings of  
the horses  to perfect the scene2 and   
through it1 and round it1 sounds the    
music  of drum and trumpet from the     
turbaned band which forms a background  
to the royal party1 drawing them1 as it 
were1 into the sweep of the  central    
square where ,st4 ,george officiates4   
,all moves to the measure  of glad yet  
solemn music2 here is no lightning      
stroke1 no sudden  motion2 the muscles  
of action are relaxed1 in slow measure  

the horses  paw the ground4 ,the third  
picture1 ,the ,baptism of ,king and     
,princess1  is still pervaded with      
music4 ,the musicians lead in the scene2
 the  three foreground trumpeters1      
conspicuous on the carpeted dais1 seem  
to be trumpeting for their lives4 ,the  
golden1 cavernous trumpet-mouth         
pointing directly at us has a strangely 
inspiring effect1 seeming to  invade us 
with sound breaking on the heavy roll of
 the meditative  drummer4 ,the music    
connects itself with the background and 
helps to  widen the horizon4 ,there is  
not one of these pictures which is not  
enlarged by the suggestion1 at least1 of
 some wide background of  nature4       
,sometimes1 as in these jubilant scenes1
 it enhances and extends  the gladness  
of the festival1 sometimes it wings our 
spirits amid  conditions that burden and
 confine4 ,in the first of the ,st4     
,jerome  series1 for instance1 where the
 lion arrives1 the first point that     
strikes us is the obvious humour of the 

scene1 the effect of the entry  of this 
gentlest and most companionable of      
beasts on the ,brethren  of the         
cloister4 ,they do not wait to determine
 its intentions3 it  is a lion4 ,it is  
wounded and asking sympathy1 but the    
,brothers have  attention for nothing   
but their fears4 ,but below the humour  
there is  tragedy4 ,it is not the       
quaintness of the lion1 or the          
scattering monks1  or the beasts on the 
grassy square1 or all the varied        
monotony of that  beautiful frescoed    
cloister1 that claim our attention as   
the heart of  the picture4 ,it is the   
bent and aged figure of ,st4 ,jerome4   
,his features  are the same as in the   
study scene1 but his mature youth has   
given  place to snowy age4 ,and another 
change has come over his face2 the      
radiance of the study scene is replaced 
by bewildered sorrow slightly  touched  
with contempt4 ,a loneliness is now in  
his face4 ,in his study  he was at peace
 communing with other minds or with the 

mind of ,god4  ,but here with the monks 
he is bewildered--bewildered and        
oppressed4  ,we seem to see him ageing  
as he eyes his foolish companions4 ,is  
this1  he seems to question1 the fruit  
of his long sojourn8 ,he has asked the  
sympathy of the ,brothers1 and they are 
beside themselves with fear4  ,there is 
deep pathos in this aged figure making  
his appeal in vain1 and  if the cloister
 filled the horizon1 the effect on our  
spirits would  be stifling4 ,but there  
is a great sky overhead1 there is an    
orange  tree1 8that busy plant10 there  
is a winding way amidst the vista of    
palm trees and blue hills1 there is the 
great desert whence the lion  has come4 
,the ,death of ,st4 ,jerome affords a   
still more impressive  example of this  
kind of relief4 ,here we are not walled 
in1 the desert  is around us2 we see it 
through the gateway by the well and     
through  the porticoes of the buildings1
 and above it in purple outline rise    
the snow-capped mountains4 ,and this    

wide horizon is peculiarly welcome  as  
an escape from the confinement of spirit
 expressed in the funeral  procession4  
,the gladness of the open country1 the  
hills and mountains1  the palm-tree     
signposts along the desert way1 are a   
relief to the  lion's agony4 ,for the   
lion is the keynote of the picture1     
though it  is struck so quietly that at 
first we may even be unconscious of its 
sounding4 ,in the foreground on a narrow
 strip of pavement lies the  body of    
,st4 ,jerome4 ,his head rests upon a    
stone and his long beard  lies straight 
and smooth upon his breast4 ,it is quite
 lifeless1 this  body1 but the kneeling 
,brothers think their master is before  
them4  ,there are wonderful character   
studies among these ,brothers1 sensual  
and  simple and devout4 ,those          
,carpaccio has chosen to read the       
,office for  the ,dead are the most     
lifeless4 ,the skull on the blasted tree
 trunk1  which his love of the grotesque
 has inserted in the angle of the wall1 

seems a fit symbol of the sovereignty   
they acknowledge4 ,but we have  already 
noted the existence of another actor in 
the scene4 ,in front  of a little group 
of buildings under a broad rustic       
portico lies the  lion1 not inert like  
his master or like the monks who perform
 the rites  of the dead1 not now a      
suppliant1 deprecating lion4 ,his paw   
tears the  ground1 his head is raised2  
he roars in the agony of his            
bereavement4  ,he is no longer feared1  
it seems2 custom has staled the terrors 
of him4  ,to the ,brothers he is merely 
another animal of the menagerie1 one of 
the last whims of ,brother ,jerome4 ,yet
 he understands that his master is  not 
here in this square of the convent4 ,he 
has long been content2 but  now the     
desert calls to him and he answers with 
the voice of the desert  that he had    
unlearned for a while4 ,we have         
mentioned only a few of the  series of  
paintings in this wonderful chapel1 and 
even of them the  greater part has been 

left unsaid4 ,each picture requires the 
whole of  the two hours1 the ,scuola    
allows1 for study of them all2 but1 in  
coming  to them from time to time for a 
few moments only1 we may constantly     
discover some new token of their        
artist's insight and understanding1     
some richness of composition1 some      
delicacy of colour1 some intimate       
detail of workmanship which makes us    
feel ,carpaccio's presence4 ,the        
beauties of ,st4 ,jerome's study are    
almost inexhaustible2 the details of    
this exquisite room will reveal to us   
much of ,carpaccio and of ,venice4      
,nothing is in it by chance or because  
space has to be filled4 ,the gold  and  
rose of the apse1 the marble of its     
pillars1 the painted ceiling  and richly
 bound manuscripts1 the delicate        
bronzes1 the colouring of  the walls1   
the tiny white dog 7forerunner of the   
lion71 the crosier and  crimson cushion1
 all are expressive4 ,and there is one  
touch--for which  we give thanks to the 

artist--unobtrusive but surely          
significant2 the  candles on either wall
 are held in the bronze fore-paws of a  
lion4 ,this  ,chapel of the ,schiavoni  
has not gone unscathed2 during a fire   
that two  years ago destroyed a         
warehouse on the opposite bank of the   
canal1 the  water from the engines      
poured through the roof of the chapel1  
injuring  the pictures on the wall      
nearest the rio--the ,combat of ,st4    
,george  and his ,return with the       
,dragon4    ,leaving the sestiere of    
,santa ,giustina1 with its relics of    
ancient  ,venice and its famous ,palace 
of the ,contarini1 on our right1 and    
also  on our right1 the ,church of ,san 
,francesco della ,vigna1 where in the   
darkness of the ,giustiniani ,chapel are
 preserved some of the most  beautiful  
sculptures of the ,lombardi1 we turn    
sharply to the left into  the ,rio del  
,pestrin1 and again to the left into the
 ,rio ,san ,lorenzo4  ,this ,rio ,san   
,lorenzo is the scene of one of ,gentile

 ,bellini's most  famous pictures4 ,we  
are parallel here with the ,rio di      
,sant' ,antonin1 by  which we came from 
the basin of ,st4 ,mark4 ,the miracle   
represented by  ,bellini as taking place
 here is one of those connected with a  
fragment  of the true ,cross belonging  
to the ,school of ,san ,giovanni        
,evangelista4  ,some of the finest      
artistic power of ,venice was lavished  
in honouring  the virtues of this relic1
 and we owe to it inestimably precious  
records of the city in the days of her  
splendour4 ,we understand  in watching  
,bellini's procession something of the  
nature of those  ever-recurring         
ceremonies which made ,casola feel that 
the ,venetians  must needs be specially 
beloved of ,god4 ,the three-arched      
bridge of ,san  ,lorenzo1 which is the  
structural centre of the composition1 is
 thronged  with a white-robed           
confraternity bearing splendid candles  
which glint  among the trees that are   
tied upon the bridge1 and that we see   

receding  into the campo of the church  
which is hidden from us4 ,in the centre 
of the bridge is fixed the banner of the
 ,confraternity1 waving in the  wind4   
,the throng upon the bridge is by no    
means idle2 there is the  effect of that
 incessant movement of which one is     
conscious in the  densest crowd1 and    
those at its edge are eagerly watching  
the doings  in the water4 ,it is indeed 
the water that excites our chief        
interest2  ,bellini has contrived to    
perpetuate numberless familiar graces   
and  dignities in the rowers whom we see
 framed by the central arch of  the     
bridge1 or holding up their boats       
alongside of it4 ,but it is the  novel  
element of the swimmers in the canal    
which gives the picture a  unique place 
in our regard4 ,in the space of water   
between the bridge  and the temporary   
platform in the immediate foreground1   
where kneels  a monumental little       
company of ,venetian                    
gentlemen--tradition says the  family of

 the ,bellini--is an aquatic display of 
the most delicate  order4 ,four of the  
,brothers swim in the clear green water1
 upheld by  their flowing robes like a  
water-lily by its leaves1 and one1 the  
,grand ,guardian--as he treads water    
with admirable equilibrium and an  easy 
grace that is beyond all praise--holds  
up on high the precious  ,cross4 ,no    
words can describe the delight that     
these swimmers afford  us4 ,their whole 
heart is in the quest2 two of them1 an  
old man and a  young1 who have been     
pursuing the elusive trophy in vain1    
have seen  the discovery and slackened  
their strokes2 but one1 who has         
evidently  just dived off the           
fondamenta1 is striking boldly out and  
trying with  down-turned face to        
penetrate the depths of the green water4
 ,the negro1  stripped1 and ready for a 
plunge1 who stands quaking on the lowest
  step of a wooden landing-stage        
opposite1 affords a delightful foil to  
the ,brothers who swim with such        

careless proficiency despite their      
encumbering robes4 ,if he would but look
 up1 he would see that his  courage need
 not be put to the test--that the lost  
treasure is already  sailing            
triumphantly ashore4    ,illustration3  
,a ,,venetian ,,bridge4    ,to identify 
the exact scene of the picture1 we shall
 do well to  pass into the ,rio ,san    
,lorenzo from the ,rio del ,pestrin and 
take up  our stand a little beyond the  
,ponte ,san ,lorenzo at about the point 
of ,bellini's wooden bridge4 ,looking   
back we have now in front of  us the    
present ,ponte ,san ,lorenzo in place of
 ,bellini's beautiful  three-arched     
bridge1 spanning the canal between the  
long fondamenta  on our left1 and the   
campo and ,church of ,san ,lorenzo1     
which are  still--as in the             
picture--wedged between the buildings on
 our right4  ,the minute private        
fondamenta also1 where in the picture   
kneel two of  the foremost of the       
procession1 is still in existence4 ,on  

our left is  the fondamenta in front of 
,bellini's beautiful frescoed house1 and
  beyond it several houses of irregular 
heights1 as in the picture1  while the  
horizon on this side is still filled by 
the main features  of ,bellini's        
background--another ,palazzo ,capello   
bounded on three  sides by water1 the   
,rio ,pestrin1 the ,rio ,san ,lorenzo1  
and the ,rio  ,san ,giovanni ,laterano4 
,the palace retains some of its         
grandeur2 it  is easily recognisable by 
its shape1 though to-day it is one      
storey  higher4 ,the ,capello arms are  
still to be seen on it1 but it has been 
robbed of most of its glories of marble 
and colour4 ,there is a certain         
melancholy as well as a fascination in  
attempting to reconstruct the  scene of 
the picture4 ,in the ,gallery1 when we  
are face to face with the  frescoed     
houses that we may only see             
foreshortened1 we long to join the      
spectators across the rio and complete  
those tantalising fragments of  centaurs

 and figures on horseback that combine  
with more conventional  ornaments to    
decorate the palace on the fondamenta4  
,but now we are face  to face with      
reality1 the frescoes are no more4 ,with
 the exception of  the ,palazzo ,capello
 it is only the shape and relative      
position of the  houses that assures to 
us their identity4    ,in ,bellini's    
time this corner by ,san ,lorenzo was   
splendid indeed4 ,the  ,capello family1 
which1 according to the chroniclers1 was
 numbered  among the patricians in      
#abig1 played a prominent part in all   
,venetian  activities1 but chiefly in   
war4 ,it is a member of this            
family--,vittore  ,capello1             
generalissimo of ,venice in the ,turkish
 campaign of #adfb  and #adfe1 who is   
represented as kneeling before ,sant'   
,elena in  the beautiful relief above   
the faade of ,sant' ,aponal4 ,another   
,capello--,vincenzo--in the succeeding  
century filled five times the  office of
 ,admiral1 and in #aeda erected the     

faade of ,santa ,maria  ,formosa4       
,notoriety of a different kind was      
brought to the family by  ,bianca1 who  
married for love and freedom1 and was   
cheated of both1 but  who died ,grand   
,duchess of ,tuscany4 ,this palace of   
the ,capello family  at ,san ,giovanni  
,laterano was worthy of their fame4 ,the
 superb side  wall that faces us in     
,bellini's picture is like a tapestry in
 diamonds  of dusky crimson and gold4   
,it is bordered by a design of gold     
below  the bands of colour1 which are   
most effectively placed immediately     
under the projecting roof4 ,a beautiful 
design in red and green1 like  rich     
embroidery1 forms a kind of flag1       
enclosing the ,capello symbols  on a    
shield painted in different shades of   
blue4 ,everything that  conventional    
ornament could do to beautify the house 
has been done4  ,ornamental borders and 
squares are set among the bricks1 and   
the smooth  marble facings of the ogival
 windows are inlaid with coloured discs 

and  knobs4 ,the lower square house at  
the end of the fondamenta1 divided  from
 the ,capello palace by the rio1 has the
 same beauties of ornamental  band and  
stripes of alternating colours beneath  
the roof4 ,the single  window in the    
wall that faces us is magnificent1      
grated and enclosed  by gilt rope-work2 
the capitals of its pillars and its     
ogival arch are  richly gilded1 and in  
the surface of the stone above are set  
discs of  porphyry with centre and rim  
of gold4 ,over the massive wooden       
entrance  door is a painted frieze of   
green leaves1 and discs with ,byzantine 
birds are inserted in the wall above4 ,a
 grand surface of wall is still  left   
for the fresco painter1 and ,tintoretto 
was yet to come4 ,perhaps  the most     
notable feature in this lower house is  
the carving of its  chimneys2 each has  
an individual form4 ,the fondamenta in  
the picture is  thronged with citizens1 
and the conspicuous row of stalwart     
ladies1 who  kneel on its extreme edge  

above the water1 tradition calls        
,catterina  ,cornaro and her train4     
,certainly this representation of the   
,queen of  ,cyprus and her train is     
different from that which ,bembo has    
given us in  his delightful letters to  
,lucrezia ,borgia from ,asolo4          
,catherine1 it is  true1 was no longer a
 girl when she went to her captivity at 
,asolo2 but  there is a lightness and   
freedom in ,bembo's picture of the party
 who  told tales of love and philosophy 
and idled among the gardens1 which      
leaves us unprepared for the solidity   
and uncomeliness of this uniform  row of
 figures4 ,we know little of this ,queen
 of ,cyprus1 but we expect  more grace  
of her than is possible to these        
matrons4 ,they have studied  so little  
how to please in the wearing of their   
sumptuous robes1 that  despite their    
jewels they produce an effect of almost 
conventual  dulness4 ,it is difficult to
 imagine anything more magnificent than 
the dresses of these ladies2 they are   

literally covered with jewels4          
,excessively virtuous they may be1 but  
they are also excessively lavish2  they 
might well give ground for the          
legislation as to women's dress  quoted 
by ,sanudo2 but they have not taught    
their jewels to shine4 ,the  matron who 
heads the row is robed in dark velvet3  
her sleeves and  the front of her bodice
 are of gold1 slashed with white and    
trimmed  with pearls4 ,an edging of     
solid gold1 studded with jewels1 passes 
from her shoulders to her waist2 rich   
lace completes the decoration  of her   
bodice4 ,strings of pearls cross on her 
breast1 and a thickly  turned gold cord 
is round her neck and hangs in front4   
,she wears a  gold coronet set with     
gems1 and beneath it a broad ornamental 
band4 ,a  transparent veil falls down   
her back1 and is draped about her       
forehead  and neck1 covering her long   
ear-rings4 ,a jewelled cross hangs on   
her  breast1 and a chain round her      
waist4 ,rings are the only possible     

splendour she and her ladies are        
without4 ,the ,venetian ladies and      
gentlemen standing behind this ,queen of
 ,cyprus and her train are  hardly less 
sumptuous than they1 but their robes are
 less rigid and  uniform1 and very much 
more gracefully worn4 ,the men are      
dressed in a  splendour of brocade and  
cloth of gold that gives out a rich and 
sober  glow4    ,we may well feel the   
inadequacy of words as ,we attempt to   
revive this  wonderful painting4        
,bellini faithfully recorded ,venice1   
but we cannot  so faithfully record     
,bellini4 ,we can only hope to call     
attention to the  detail of what is     
undoubtedly one of the most valuable    
portraits of the  ,venice of the first  
,renaissance by one of the greatest of  
her citizens4  ,when we have paused long
 enough on the site of the picture and  
go down  the ,rio ,san ,giovanni        
,laterano1 immediately in front of the  
,capello  ,palace1 the high water again 
denies us passage2 but it gives more    

than  it withholds in compelling us to  
return to our former junction with  the 
,rio ,pestrin and to pass out among the 
coal barges making the wider  circuit of
 the lagoon4 ,it is a wonderful moment  
when we come suddenly  from the narrow  
water into the wide expanse of the      
lagoon2 and on this  ,december morning a
 marvellous vision awaits us4 ,the long 
brown line of  ,sant' ,erasmo lies like 
a dark cloud on the water2 ,burano1 ,san
 ,francesco  and ,torcello are isolated 
in a strange translucency of mist2      
whilst  from the low tones of the water 
one red sail rises like a column of     
flame4 ,above ,murano the smoke coils   
languidly2 the cypresses over  the      
cemetery wall stand out in startling    
blackness4 ,a flock of gulls            
incessantly flickers and glitters on the
 surface of lucent aquamarine  that     
stretches away to the shore where the   
mountains lie like purple  shadows      
crowned with a radiancy of snow4 ,the   
sunlight of the lagoon  in this wintry  

clearness seems other than that which   
falls on the  waterways of the city2    
this outer robe of ,venice to-day is of 
so  immaterial a texture that we feel   
the material city slipping from our     
grasp4 ,we turn back into it1 but by a  
way that can feed the visionary  sense1 
by the ,rio dei ,mendicanti4 ,it might  
seem1 indeed1 that all  vision would die
 in the dreary1 plastered uniformity of 
the building  that stretches along the  
fondamenta on our left4 ,this building  
was  formerly the ,scuola di ,san       
,marco2 but the superb faade erected by 
the  ,confraternity on the ,campo di    
,,ss4 ,giovanni e ,paolo has little in  
common  with these white-washed walls   
and dreary sunless corridors4 ,for this 
most famous ,school is now the ,hospital
 of the ,mendicanti1 and it is as  a    
visitor to the wards that we are        
admitted4 ,yet amidst these chill       
cloisters and corridors is kept one of  
the most luminous and visionary         
treasures of ,venice--,tintoretto's     

,procession of ,st4 ,ursula and ,the    
,virgins4 ,it is the more precious as   
being1 with ,bacchus and ,ariadne  and  
,the ,paradise1 almost the only work of 
,tintoretto that we can  make sure of   
fully seeing4 ,there is abundant light  
in the cold1 grey  church to illumine a 
picture which is in itself a song of    
light in the  daybreak4    ,this stream 
of wonderful maidens moves all to one   
rhythm1 winding with  sweeping trains   
down out of the misty dawn to end and   
centre in the  glorious figure of ,st4  
,ursula waiting the bishop's            
consecration of her  mission4 ,she is so
 entrancingly radiant that the young    
cross-bearing  bishop who stands beside 
her seems1 as he gazes1 to be illumined 
by  her fire and joy4 ,the ships in     
which the company is to embark lie like 
phantoms on the misty sea-line1 and the 
long lights of dawn are above  the      
water--pale rose and gold and           
purple--while the curtain of night  is  
slowly withdrawn1 leaving spaces of     

darker blue and glowing cloud4  ,the    
early morning mists still hang about the
 shadowy hulks of the huge  vessels and 
the figures near the shore1 making as it
 were two spheres  of action4 ,the      
grassy slope down which the travellers  
come1 seems in  its undulations to yield
 itself to their motion1 to reflect and 
echo  it1 and is luminous as all the    
figures are4 ,the faint rainbow raiments
  of those distant companies that sweep 
forward nearer to the shore are  like   
wings lit from the dawn and half-folded1
 while the foremost ranks  of the       
procession are in the full golden light 
of day4 ,note with what  daring         
,tintoretto has placed the strong       
rose-robed angel with the palms  of     
martyrdom across the picture directly   
overhead4 ,her figure cuts  across the  
phantom ships2 one arm hides part of the
 procession2 yet far  from obscuring or 
diverting from the central theme1 she   
leads the eye  more directly to ,st4    
,ursula4 ,there are no spectators of    

this morning  procession1 unless it be  
the marvellous group on the left4 ,the  
central  figure is that of a woman1     
meditative1 gathered into herself2 she  
scarcely seems to belong to the         
procession2 she is dreaming apart with  
downbent face1 and is very close in     
feeling to ,carpaccio's sleeping  ,st4  
,ursula4 ,beside her is a radiant youth1
 his face one of ,giorgione's  faces1 in
 a helm shaped like a shell and set with
 pearls4 ,there are  many types of      
,venetian ladies in the procession1 such
 as were idealised  by one and another  
of the painters2 all are here1 in       
marvellous  richness of raiment and     
jewelled headgear4 ,we do not question  
whether  they are fitly robed for a     
great journey2 we only share in their   
joy4  ,the wine of dawn seems to have   
entered into them1 and to sing in  every
 motion1 every colour of the superb     
lyric--the intoxication of  embarking on
 a mystic voyage in the pale radiance of
 dawn4    ,we pass out again through the

 long corridors under the great         
sculptured  portal4 ,on our left is the 
church of ,,ss4 ,giovanni e ,paolo1 a   
storehouse  of ,renaissance art1 and    
before us the friend of whom we never   
grow  weary--,colleoni astride of his   
war-horse in the centre of the square4  
,this paid servant1 this adopted son of 
,venice1 is not on the ,piazza  where it
 was his wish to be2 but he stands even 
more fitly here upon  this small campo  
beside the canal4 ,anywhere he would be 
monarch2 but  we are admitted here into 
his private presence-chamber1 while the 
great stirring ,piazza would seem but   
the crowded outer court4 ,if1  before   
leaving the campo1 we make a short      
journey on foot along the  ,salizzada   
which passes on the south of ,,ss4      
,giovanni e ,paolo1 we may  find a      
treasure buried in dirt and neglect4    
,none would guess its  presence2 but    
those who care for unfrequented paths   
may venture under  the unattractive     
sotto-portico which leads to the outer  

staircase of  a once beautiful          
,renaissance palace4 ,it is given over  
to the poor1  but a sculptured doorway  
still surmounts the stair2 its chief    
beauty  however is a series of          
delicately sculptured arches in the     
brickwork  below1 and a fine well-head  
half imprisoned by the chimney of a     
neighbouring bakery4 ,the wall of the   
bakery is so near the staircase  of the 
palace that we can get no complete      
conception of the arches1  and the dirt 
and ill odours of this neglected corner 
are likely to  daunt all but the most   
enthusiastic seekers after treasure4    
,yet  these fragments1 in elegance and  
beauty of design1 may rank with the     
worthiest remains of the ,venetian      
,renaissance4    ,illustration3         
,,palazzo ,,sanudo4    ,returning to    
,colleoni's square1 we again embark and 
continue our way  down the ,rio dei     
,mendicanti1 past courtyards flooded by 
still rising  water1 and turn soon to   
the right1 into the ,rio ,santa         

,marina--a  picturesque canal1 ever     
varying in width and angle4 ,at the     
corner  of the ,palazzo ,pisano we are  
confronted again by the problem of the  
high water4 ,if we would include in our 
tour the ,palazzo ,sanudo1  with its    
riches of many ages1 ,byzantine1 early  
,gothic and ,ogival1  its two           
courtyards1 its beautiful garden on the 
fondamenta and its  dolphin-shaped      
knocker1 we must turn to the right along
 the ,rio delle  ,erbe4 ,but it is      
useless to hope that this morning any   
gondola will  be able to pass under its 
low bridges1 and in consequence we must 
continue our way to the church of the   
,miracoli1 by skirting the other  side  
of the lozenge-shaped island on which it
 stands4 ,we soon turn at  right angles 
into the ,rio dei ,miracoli1 and in a   
few moments we see  the sun shining on  
the cupola of the church1 gilding the   
marbles of  the circular east tower and 
lighting the traceries of serpentine and
  porphyry and cipollino on the west    

front4 ,it is a joyous and radiant      
aspect1 this of the ,miracoli1 with its 
broad spaces of ,greek marbles  and its 
bands of ,verona1 its plaques of        
verd-antique and porphyry1 its          
sculptured angels and grave apostles4   
,it stands in quiet beauty on the  brink
 of the canal4 ,from its little campo   
opens the beautiful inner  courtyard of 
the ,sanudo ,palace1 while on another   
side it is bordered  by the spacious and
 noble ,corte delle ,muneghe1 formerly  
known as the  ,corte ,c ,amadi1 from the
 family whose arms are still to be seen 
on the  brickwork4 ,close to the well in
 this court stood originally the image  
of the ,madonna1 thanks to whose        
miracles we now possess this most       
beautiful church built in her honour4   
,the chronicles relate that a  certain  
,francesco ,amadi1 an inhabitant of     
,santa ,marina1 had piously set  up an  
image of the ,virgin close by his house4
 ,the fame of this image  as a worker of
 wonders grew so great that it was      

transferred by ,angelo  ,amadi1 in      
#adhj1 to the ,corte di ,c ,amadi1 and  
set up there for popular  veneration4   
,in his ,venetian ,annals for #adhj1    
,malipiero thus briefly  relates the    
occurrence3 8,this year began the cult  
of the ,madonna of  ,miracles which was 
at the door of ,corte ,nuova1 opposite  
the door of  the ,amai in the narrow    
calle1 and because of the crowd of      
people it  became necessary to move the 
image1 and carry it to the courtyard of 
,c ,amai1 and immense offerings have    
been made of wax1 statues1 money  and   
silver1 insomuch that it has reached    
four hundred ducats in one  month4 ,and 
in process of time it amounted to three 
thousand ducats of  alms1 and with them 
we bought ,corte ,nova from the houses  
of the ,bembo1  ,querini and ,baroci1   
and there was built a most beautiful    
temple and  convent1 into which we put  
the nuns of ,santa ,chiara of ,murano40 
,the  foundation-stone was laid on      
,february #be1 #adha1 when the image was

  moved with great pomp from the court  
to the little wooden shelter on  the    
site chosen for the church4 ,an         
interesting account of the move  is     
contained in the ,memorie of ,angelo    
,amadi4 ,it affords a vivid  verbal     
picture of religious festivals in       
,venice at the time they were  finding  
their most splendid expression on       
canvas4 8,on the day of the             
twenty-fifth of ,february10 begins      
,amadi1 8in the name of ,messer ,jesus  
,christ and of the glorious ,virgin     
,mary1 we removed the image from our    
house to transfer it to the hut or house
 of wood where the chapel or  church is 
to be made2 at which removal were       
present all the ,schools  or            
,fraternities1 the ,battudi1 that is1   
the ,school of ,madonna ,santa  ,maria  
della ,misericordia1 to which ,i belong1
 and the ,school of the  ,carit1 and of 
,san ,marco1 and that lately founded of 
,san ,rocco1 whose  brothers go about in
 sackcloth1 beating themselves          

continually with  scourges and iron     
chains40 ,all the ,procurators of ,san  
,marco1 he says1  were present1 with    
countless cavaliers and doctors and a   
great part of  the ,signoria1 the       
,patriarch in his pontificals1 and a    
host of vicars  and canons and other    
clerics1 all richly and splendidly      
clothed4 ,the  ,amadi insisted on       
themselves carrying the portable stand  
that had been  made for the image1      
covered with cloth of gold1 cremosine   
and cloth  of silver1 and adorned with  
silver candelabra and oriental censers4 
8,nor would we allow any other to carry 
it1 that we might demonstrate  publicly 
that it belonged to us and had been made
 by our ancestor40  ,four citizens      
accompanied the image-bearers1 carrying 
poles on which  to support the stage as 
it mounted bridges or stopped in the    
streets4  ,it was followed by the       
dignitaries already enumerated and      
almost the  whole ,venetian populace4   
,the procession left the house of the   

,amadi  to the sound of trumpet and     
pipe2 it made a circuit of the bridges1 
streets and squares of the city as far  
as ,santa ,maria ,formosa1 halting  in  
the parish church of the ,amadi for many
 lauds to be sung4 8,and  along all the 
calli and in the squares of the churches
 all the people  kneeling on the ground 
prayed devoutly with tears and hands    
joined  on their breasts1 calling aloud 
and raising a great outcry40 ,in this   
manner the procession returned to the   
shelter1 and the foundation-stone  was  
laid by the ,patriarch amid the chanting
 of lauds4 ,after a final  ,te ,deum the
 image was left to the devotions of the 
people who1 till  night fell1 continued 
to pour out their offerings for the     
building4  ,there is something stirring 
in this ceremony with its popular outcry
  and petitions for mercy4 ,it reminds  
us of that strong element of piety      
which in ,venice went side by side with 
its strong commercial instincts4    ,the
 church of the ,miracoli seems to belong

 peculiarly to ,venice in the  light of 
these stories of its birth4 ,it is      
itself one of the miracles1  this little
 ,roman temple2 with its                
quadrangular-domed choir1 raised  high  
above the nave1 its marble ambones1 its 
dark painted roof1 and  walls lined with
 marbles1 it impresses us with a sense  
of sublimity4  ,all here is perfectly   
proportioned and decorated with simple  
and  absolute fitness4 ,it is impossible
 to mount the flight of marble  steps   
leading from nave to choir1 past the    
wonderful little figures  of ,st4 ,clare
 and ,st4 ,francis with his profound    
contemplative smile1  past the          
,annunciation ,angel and the ,virgin    
draped like a ,roman matron1  into the  
choir where the great cross of porphyry 
and serpentine hangs  in the apse1      
without feeling that we are mounting to 
sacrifice in a  temple full of the      
,deity4 ,but what part has that         
marvellous little  company of sea youths
 and maidens in the tale of the         

,passion8 ,they are  the offspring of   
some delicate fantasy careless of all   
save itself1  yet they seem to need no  
other passport than beauty to their     
place in  the temple4 ,work of the same 
imaginative quality is to be seen on a  
pillar in the nave3 not here a dream of 
mermaids with delicate breasts  and arms
 and glittering tails1 but a purely     
naturalistic subject4  ,the artist has  
conspired with the stone to sing his    
delight in the  life of the fields1 and 
he has achieved his purpose so that the 
very  spirit of the wild creatures lives
 again4 ,a lizard with smooth scales    
and lithe1 restless tail1 ears of corn1 
a serpent holding a bird by  its look as
 it rears itself for a spring1 birds    
fighting and birds  preening their      
breasts1--all these delicate beings1    
that move amid a  design of admirable   
grace1 are a field pilgrim's scrip laid 
open for  all who will read4 ,these old 
artists were not afraid4 ,to them all   
things of nature appeared symbols worthy

 to lay on the altar4 ,and it is        
because of this permeating imaginative  
vision that the ,church of the          
,miracoli is one of the jewels of       
,venice1 instinct with life1 from the   
grave mystery of its marble-lined walls1
 slab alternating with slab1  ,carrara  
cream and white1 paonazetto1 marmo      
greco1 marbles of ,verona red  and      
almond1 to lizard and serpent1 siren and
 infant1 from the dusky  gold and colour
 of the ceiling to the eloquent figures 
that stand in  constant ministration on 
the ambones4    ,santa ,maria dei       
,miracoli might well mark the limit of  
our tour2 but  if we go a short distance
 further into the ,rio ,san ,canciano we
 shall  come on three examples of the   
earlier domestic architecture of        
,venice1  which we shall do well not to 
miss4 ,the first is a house by the      
,ponte  ,widmann1 dating from the ninth 
century4 ,it is exceedingly picturesque1
  with its long1 low portico1 and a     
profusion of ,byzantine ornaments of    

most varied device on the walls--weird  
lions and birds and oriental  beasts4   
,the capitals of the window columns also
 are ,byzantine1 though  the balconies  
are ,renaissance4 ,we can also          
distinguish1 though it is  immured1 the 
ancient solario1 or sun-terrace1 which1 
in this house of  old ,venice1 was      
evidently of considerable beauty and    
extent4 ,passing  under another bridge  
after the ,ponte ,widmann1 we come to   
the ,ponte  ,pasqualigo1 and landing at 
the calle on the left1 we have on the   
right  of us1 only a few steps down1 one
 of the oldest houses in ,venice4 ,so   
well cared for is it by its present     
owners that we seem not to be  examining
 a relic1 but to move in a living page  
of the past4 ,on the  morning we saw it1
 the sun was streaming into the court   
and falling  on the ,signora1 who1 in   
scarlet shawl1 and with a brilliant     
kerchief  round her head1 was dozing in 
the sun4 ,she rose and gave us a cordial
  welcome1 and we climbed the outer     

stair1 under an immense projecting      
roof1 into the garden hanging above the 
court1 full of sunshine and  flowers2   
higher still1 on the altana1 was a      
bright line of clothing  hung out to    
dry4 ,the structure of the ancient roof 
overhanging  the stair is very          
remarkable1 with its secondary beams    
that jut  horizontally under a long     
cross-beam running the whole length of  
the  gallery4 ,the rooms1 which open out
 of one another from the terrace1 are   
rich also in beams1 though now for the  
most part covered with a foolish        
uniformity of ceiling4 ,the floor of the
 reception room is1 as usual1  paved    
with small variegated stones1 but it is 
remarkable for occasional  little       
islands of mosaic1 one of which1 a tiny 
square of deep blue  and gold set       
diamond-wise1 is a veritable gem of     
colour4 ,worthy to rank  with this      
hospitable1 ample house of ancient      
,venice1 is a courtyard  opening on the 
water1 into which we pass immediately   

from the ,ponte  ,pasqualigo4 ,the      
wooden barbicans of the projecting roof 
adjoining the  portico rest on pillars  
of fine earliest ,gothic1 grave and     
strong and  simple in their build4 ,the 
sense that they are individuals bearing 
the burden of the beams is increased by 
the fact that it is not  geometrically  
adjusted to their shoulders4 ,it rests  
there because they  are willing2 there  
is an understanding1 a combinazione     
between beam  and pillar1 but the two   
were not mechanically made to fit4      
,illustration3 ,a ,,side ,,canal4       
,returning to the ,rio dei ,miracoli we 
leave the church on our left1 and       
crossing the ,rio ,santa ,marina and the
 ,rio ,san ,giovanni ,grisostomo1  we   
pass directly into the ,rio del ,teatro1
 leaving the water-entrance  to         
,marco-,polo's palace on our right4     
,this corner is one of the most         
beautiful in the canals of ,venice4 ,it 
is rich in palaces and fragments  of    
ancient ornament1 and full of strange   

interplay of lights from the  many      
tortuous ways that converge here4 ,there
 is a constant fascination  in the broad
 sweep of water at the crossways1 in the
 problems of  traffic1 in the warning   
cries that herald boat or barge passing 
under the many bridges4 ,there is       
perhaps no spot in ,venice so full of   
ancient mystery1 of the gloom1 the      
light1 the sound and stillness of  her  
waterways4 ,a little further on we pass 
into the ,rio della ,fava1  full also of
 delightful and unexpected corners2 and 
looking back  from the ,ponte di ,san'  
,antonio we see the site of ,mansueti's 
picture  commemorating another miracle  
of the ,holy ,cross2 or rather we see   
one  corner of the picture2 for         
,mansueti has cut away the whole length 
of  a calle and all the houses between  
this bridge of ,san' ,antonio and  the  
,campo di ,san ,lio1 so that in his     
painting1 for obvious artistic  reasons1
 the waters of the canal flow directly  
in front of the campo1  which he has    

narrowed to little more than a          
fondamenta4 ,in a sketch  for this      
picture now in the ,uffizi at ,florence1
 ,mansueti has more  faithfully         
transcribed the actual surroundings of  
the ,campo di ,san  ,lio4 ,his picture  
illustrates a miracle of the ,cross that
 would seem to  offer small scope for   
artistic treatment4 ,a member of the    
,confraternity  of ,san ,giovanni       
,evangelista1 on being invited by       
another ,brother to  attend the ,cross  
in procession1 impiously replied1 8,i   
will neither  accompany it1 nor do ,i   
care whether it accompanies me40 ,within
 a short  while1 continues ,flamino     
,corner1 the perverse man died and the  
,school  assembled for his burial2 but  
when the procession reached the ,ponte  
di ,san ,lio1 the parish of the dead    
man1 the ,holy ,cross became so heavy   
that no force could avail to move it4   
,while all stood appalled and  dismayed 
by such an occurrence1 the friend of the
 dead man recalled the  impious words he

 had spoken1 and made known the reason  
of the refusal  of the ,cross4 ,it was  
removed from the procession1 and1 the   
chronicler  informs us1 withheld        
henceforth from any but public          
solemnities4 ,in  ,mansueti's           
composition a number of ,brothers are   
gathered on the bridge  attempting to   
drag the ,cross1 and the clergy of ,san 
,lio and a group  of citizens are       
waiting on the campo to receive it4     
,there is much  quaintness in the       
rendering of this rather humorous       
incident1 and  the picture is full of   
rich and homely detail1 in the houses   
and in  the doings of their inhabitants1
 the chase of a cat1 the hanging of  a  
clothes line1 the stacking of the pliant
 rods on which the clothes  are hung4   
,the windows1 with closed or open       
gratings1 are thronged  with onlookers1 
chiefly splendid ladies4 ,in ,bellini1  
the windows are  unpeopled1 but here    
there is scarcely one uncarpeted1 and   
without  its contingent of festive heads

 and shoulders2 whilst in one of the    
windows1 in the house we can still      
identify1 a fascinating infant  prances 
against the grating and pokes a fist    
through the bars4 ,the  bridge in the   
picture is obviously too low for any    
gondola to pass  under it2 it is merely 
a temporary private way thrown across   
the rio1  which it is easy to believe   
that ,mansueti has substituted in order 
that we may see above it the procession 
winding out of the ,rio del  ,piombo4   
,as we look back from the ,ponte ,san'  
,antonio we may get1 in  spite of       
,mansueti's changes1 a distinct         
impression of his scene2 the  sun1      
shining through the small circular      
ogival window in the house  that still  
bounds our horizon1 lights up a gay     
interior of green walls  draped in      
crimson and gold with singular richness 
of effect4    ,illustration3 ,,the      
,,gondoliers' ,,shrine4    ,the name of 
the ,rio della ,fava1 the ,canal of the 
,bean1 boasts a  traditional derivation 

that throws a curious light on ,venetian
 pieties4  ,it appears that in #adhj1   
the same year in which was initiated the
 cult  of the ,madonna dei ,miracoli at 
the ,c ,amadi1 another wonder-working   
image1 under the patronage of the same  
family1 was thought worthy  of a chapel 
in ,san ,lio4 ,this chapel was named    
,santa ,maria della  ,consolazione1 or  
della ,fava1 from its proximity to the  
,ponte della  ,fava4 8,the              
ecclesiastical writers10 says ,tassini1 
8recount that the  bridge was so named  
because a man living by it1 who had     
hidden some  contraband salt under some 
sacks of beans1 a vegetable he dealt    
in1 when warned that the police were    
approaching threw himself at  the feet  
of the said miraculous image for succour
 and obtained this  favour--that the    
,justices1 despite their search1 found  
nothing in the  house but simple beans40
 ,this nave faith in the willingness of 
the  ,madonna to meet all contingencies 
survives among the humbler citizens  of 

,venice to-day4 ,a proof is provided by 
the personal experience of  a friend who
 had bespoken overnight a gondola for   
the station in the  dark early hours of 
the next morning4 ,the gondolier duly   
arrived and  set out with his fare from 
,san ,marco4 ,but they had gone no      
further than  the church of the ,salute 
when his lamp gave out and he halted and
 asked  leave to replenish it4 ,no place
 for procuring oil was apparent1 but the
  gondolier knew one4 ,he went to the   
shrine of the ,madonna and addressed    
the figure thus1 8,blessed ,madonna1    
thou thinkest harm of no man and  thou  
wouldst not that harm should come to    
any4 ,i turn to thee for help  in my    
need4 ,the police are not like thee4    
,they will have no pity in  their fine  
if they see me at the station with my   
lamp unlit4 ,i beg thy  lamp for this   
little while40 ,and1 as there was-no    
sign of refusal1 the  ,madonna's lamp   
was taken to the station and returned on
 the homeward  journey4    ,continuing  

our way down the ,rio della ,fava we    
pass almost immediately1  on the left1  
the ,palazzo ,gussoni1 a palace the     
great beauty of which  cannot be        
overlooked4 ,it is a building of the    
first ,renaissance  combining extreme   
richness of detail with simplicity of   
general effect4  ,the basement is       
beautifully and variously sculptured and
 surmounted  by a band of ,verona       
marble2 above it rises a design of      
leaves and  ears of corn growing and    
spreading like a plant1 and full of     
graceful  and delicate fancy4 ,the      
unique feature of the palace is the     
richly  sculptured stone barbacan that  
supports the projecting portion of the  
upper storey overhanging the ,calle     
della ,fava4 ,there is in ,venice an    
abundance of fine wooden barbacans1 but 
this is the only example we  remember of
 the sumptuous casing in stone4    ,a   
little further and we pass below a      
palace of the ,transition1 from  whose  
graceful balcony keep watch a row of    

sculptured lions in  half-relief4 ,as we
 come into the ,rio della ,guerra1 the  
midday light  plays reflectively on the 
water1 striking out of it a thousand    
fitful  diamonds1 and the now ebbing    
tide washes with a soft caressing sound 
against the houses4 ,at the juncture of 
the ,rio della ,guerra with the  ,rio   
del ,palazzo is the ,casa dell' ,angelo 
so named from the beautiful  sculptured 
angel on the wall that faces us4 ,it    
stands erect1 with  wings spread1       
holding in the left hand a globe signed 
with the ,cross1  which it seems in the 
act of blessing4 ,the lower part of its 
body is  covered with two shields       
bearing1 according to ,tassini1 the arms
 of the  ,narni family4 ,it is sheltered
 by a pent-roof1 supported on graceful  
pillars1 most delicately and nobly      
worked4 ,in the lunette above the       
angel1 in the immediate shadow of the   
roof1 is discernible a painting  of the 
,madonna and ,child between two kneeling
 angels1 which still  retain traces of  

soft and beautiful colouring4 ,but the  
most precious  possessions of this      
palace front are the remnants of fresco 
under  the broad projecting roof at the 
further end of the building4 ,the       
beautiful figure of a woman1 with head  
resting on her hand and braided  golden 
hair1 is still intact4 ,there is another
 fine figure between the  windows1 and  
there are many fading fragments in the  
plaster below4  ,tradition unanimously  
attributes these frescoes to            
,tintoretto1 and it  is difficult to    
believe that the lovely woman could have
 come from any  other hand4    ,the     
,ponte ,canonica1 which adjoins our     
first ,capello ,palace1 now allows  us  
an easy passage1 and we can take our way
 on the ebbing tide down  the ,rio del  
,palazzo4 ,below the sombre weight of   
the ,bridge of ,sighs1  between the     
palace and the prison1 we pass again    
into the aureole of  ,venice4 ,within   
the brilliant bay formed by the ,riva   
degli ,schiavoni the  gulls are making  

festa1 and away towards the city they   
whirl and drift  like shining snowflakes
 in the radiance of the ,grand ,canal4  
,as we pass  the ,piazzetta to land at  
the ,molo1 the golden sword of ,justice 
gleams  superbly luminous in the blue   
above ,san ,marco4 ,venice has put on   
her  glory4          ,chapter ,nine     
,,venetian ,,waterways    7,,part ,,ii7 
,the centre of our second tour is an    
ancient and comparatively  unfrequented 
region in the north of ,venice--that    
part of ,cannaregio  over which watches 
the ,campanile of the ,madonna dell'    
,orto1 with its  crowning image of snowy
 stone and four solemn apostles looking 
out  over city and lagoon4 ,the         
beautiful figure of the ,madonna1 round 
whose  feet1 between the tiles of her   
ruddy cupola1 spring little plants  the 
birds have sown1 rises day after day    
triumphant out of the duel  between sun 
and mist1 a pledge of the victory of    
light2 and through all  vicissitudes of 
weather she is seen1 sometimes in       

dazzling outline upon  the deep blue1 or
 against a canopy of grey1 sometimes    
herself tempered  to shadowy greyness by
 the brilliance of the cumuli that      
out-rival even  her snowy purity4    ,we
 will enter from the ,grand ,canal by   
the ,rio ,san ,marcuola1 nearly         
opposite the ,correr ,museum1 and pass  
below the ,ponte dell' ,anconetta  on   
the ,strada ,nuova1 or more properly the
 ,corso ,vittorio ,emanuele1  which in  
its broad and ungracious uniformity is  
one of the most  forbidding streets in  
,venice4 ,it seems at first to have no  
reserves  into which by a little tact or
 sympathy we may ingratiate ourselves2  
yet many activities generally to be     
encountered in other raiment  and under 
other auspices1 lurk behind its mask4   
,on this very ,rio  ,san ,marcuola is a 
workshop where antiquities are          
fabricated for the  show-rooms of the   
,grand ,canal4 ,we see them here in     
their early stages1  a rude stone       
well-head awaiting an ancient sculpture1

 a ,renaissance  chimney-piece1 a       
,byzantine lion in ,verona marble2 and  
the forger is no  villain but an honest1
 genial workman skilled to do better1   
but content  to supply what he is asked 
for4 ,a little beyond the bridge we come
  on one of the oldest squeri or        
boat-building yards of ,venice4 ,black  
sprites of boys pass to and fro1        
plunging their torches into cauldrons   
of burning pitch1 to draw them in the   
wake of flaming branches along  the     
upturned sides of the gondolas2 and men1
 with something of the fire  and of the 
blackness in their eyes and faces1 swink
 like the skilled  demons in ,spenser's 
cave of ,mammon4 ,it is outside1 on the 
squero1  that this coarser work with    
pitch and cauldron goes on2 in the inner
  workshop are the frames of gondolas in
 making1 exquisite skeletons with       
subtle apportioning of oak1 elm1 nut and
 larch1 and long unbroken sides  of     
beech4 ,opposite the squero1 on our     
right1 is the ugly new brick wall  of   

,paolo ,sarpi's convent4 ,above it may  
be seen a weed-grown fragment of  the   
ancient building with its relief above  
the door4 ,boni has suggested  that a   
more appropriate memorial to ,sarpi's   
memory than the erection  of a bronze   
statue might have been the preservation 
or renewal in its  original beauty of   
the old convent with which he was so    
closely and  intimately connected4      
,illustration3 ,,entrance ,,of ,,grand  
,,canal4    ,we strike almost           
immediately into the ,rio della         
,misericordia1 and as  we look down the 
long vista to right and left of us1     
under the low  bridges1 we begin to     
realise the peculiar character of this  
district4  ,it is entirely different    
from that of our first tour2 long       
parallel  canals run from east to west1 
cutting the land into narrow strips and 
giving the strips a curious effect of   
isolation4 ,these canals are  bounded on
 the west by the lagoon1 and the effect 
of sunset light  flooding the long      

waterways is strikingly beautiful4 ,if  
we were to  follow the ,rio della       
,misericordia to the left1 we should    
come to the  curious wedge-shaped island
 of the ,ghetto ,nuovo and the tall     
deserted  houses of the ,ghetto         
,vecchio4 ,but we will tend only        
slightly to the  left1 and passing under
 a low bridge continue our former course
 into  the ,rio della ,sensa4 ,this name
 has in it echoes of historic festivals2
  it originated in the fact that the    
stalls for the great ,ascension  fte on 
the ,piazza were stored in the          
warehouses that stood on its  banks4 ,as
 late as the last celebration of this   
famous offshoot of the  ,sposalizio     
festival1 in the year #aggf1 fifty-seven
 thousand ducats were  spent on erecting
 the enclosure in which the stalls were 
set up4 ,the  ,rio della ,sensa has many
 links with the past4 ,above a door in a
 humble  wall on the fondamenta hangs a 
shield on which is sculptured an arm    
cased in steel4 ,this shield belonged to

 the ,brazzo 7,braccio7 family1  of     
,tuscan origin1 who had settled in      
,venice and acquired much land in  this 
district4 ,the name is worthy of        
preservation2 for one at least  of the  
family has left an enduring mark in the 
annals of the city4  8,in #adcg10 we    
read in ,tassini's ,curiosit ,veneziane1
 8a ,geoffrey da  ,brazzo1 with some    
companions1 founded1 in the ,campo di   
,,ss4 ,giovanni e  ,paolo1 the ,scuola  
di ,san ,marco of which he was the      
,grand ,guardian40  ,within the unpaved 
court the house of the worthy ,geoffrey 
is still  standing1 and it preserves its
 early ,gothic and ,byzantine features  
but little obscured by later additions4 
,it is not altogether gloomy  though    
evidently inhabited by very poor people2
 little gardens still  blossom from the 
leads and window boxes1 and tables and  
chairs are set  out under the vine in   
the yard below4 ,in the seventeenth     
century the  family became extinct1 its 
history being closed by a rather sordid 

domestic tragedy2 and it is pleasanter  
to revert to the earlier days  of this  
simple1 dignified citizen's dwelling    
when ,geoffrey and his  associates      
discussed in it the hopes and fears of  
their ,school4 ,another  page of        
,venetian history lies open for us at   
the ,campo dei ,mori further  along the 
same rio to the right4 ,our attention is
 attracted at once  by a curious figure 
in oriental turban1 with a pack upon its
 head1  at the corner of the square     
which strikes the fondamenta4 ,two more 
figures in the same style of dress are  
stationed at other corners of  the      
square4 ,the crowd of urchins who throng
 round us the instant we  alight will   
tell us that these are ,sior ,rioba and 
his brothers4 ,the  key to these figures
 is to be found in a palace1 the inner  
court of  which opens on our right hand 
as we turn inwards from the canal4 ,it  
belonged to three ,greek brothers1 by   
name ,rioba1 ,sandi and ,afani1 of  the 
family ,mastelli1 who leaving the ,morea

 in the twelfth century1 on  account of 
disturbances there1 came with great     
wealth to ,venice and  built themselves 
this house by the campo which has       
preserved their  origin in its name4    
,this family also has a noble record in 
,venetian  annals4 ,it took part in the 
,crusade of #abjb1 and received         
citizenship  for its reward4 ,later it  
rested from its labours and set up a    
spice  shop in ,cannaregio at the sign  
of the ,camel4 ,from these avocations   
it passed to a more reposeful existence 
on the banks of the ,brenta1  and1 like 
the da ,brazzo family1 it became extinct
 in the seventeenth  century4 ,the      
courtyard of the palace1 known now as   
the ,palazzo ,camello1  possesses many  
fascinating reminders of its past1      
though some of its  old beauties have   
been taken from it even in recent years4
 ,the open  arches of the sotto-portico 
have been filled in1 and a corkscrew    
stair  is now only recognisable by the  
pillars we see immured in a circular    

tower4 ,the pillars that once supported 
the arches of the entrance  portico1 now
 half buried in the ground from the     
constant raising of  its level1 are fine
 and uncommon examples of the transition
 from  ,gothic to ,renaissance4 ,above  
the portico are two striking projections
  of carved stone1 once serving perhaps 
to support a lantern or coat  of arms1  
and in the angle of this wall and the   
main building are the  relics of a      
,gothic pedestal on which1 without      
doubt1 some image has  stood4 ,the      
low-beamed court to the water is still  
intact with its  finely-carved          
architraves and early ,gothic pillars2  
but beyond the  point of its present    
habitation it has been allowed to fall  
into decay  from the invading damp4 ,if 
we venture along this outer court to the
  water's edge1 we shall find ourselves 
in the ,rio della ,madonna dell'  ,orto 
almost opposite the campo and church4   
,by the help of a barge  which we may   
reasonably hope to find moored alongside

 the water-door  of the court1 we       
obtained a view of the most             
characteristic aspect of  the ,palazzo  
,camello4 ,the passer-by on the         
fondamenta cannot fail to  be impressed 
by its beautiful decorative balcony and 
windows and the  ,byzantine frieze in a 
lower storey1 but above all by a camel  
and driver  sculptured in admirable     
relief on the wall4    ,returning to the
 ,campo dei ,mori1 we make our way again
 to the  ,fondamenta della              
,misericordia1 where we disembarked4    
,almost immediately  on our left1       
backing the ,palazzo ,camello1 and      
perhaps originally  forming a part of   
it1 is the house of ,tintoretto4 ,it is 
still unspoiled  of its ancient         
decorations of small sculptured figures 
and formal  designs2 and1 above all1 it 
is interesting architecturally for its  
elaborate carved wooden cornice on the  
two upper storeys to which  time has    
given the appearance of stone4 ,howells1
 in his description of  ,tintoretto's   

house1 conveys an impression of sordid  
desolation in the  building and its     
inmates4 ,it may lately have fallen on  
better days2 for  there is now nothing  
forbidding about it1 and indeed it is a 
welcome  refuge from the swarms of dirty
 and discordant children whom the       
presence of a stranger on this campo    
seems to have a peculiar power of       
attracting4 ,its upper windows look out 
across the rio on a garden with  a      
majestic cypress tree1 and down the long
 canal to the wide waters of  the       
lagoon4 ,and some of the inmates of the 
house still have a share  in the        
ancient1 though humbler1 arts of        
,venice4 ,there are beadmakers  working1
 as usual in almost total darkness1 in  
an airless room in  the basement4 ,after
 we have seen these rows of patient1    
crouching  workers1 bending hour after  
hour over their gas jets1 the beads of  
the lamp-lit ,merceria will call up     
irresistibly the low benches1 the       
glittering wires1 the glazed and        

darkened windows4 ,for there seems a    
strange irony in the birth of these     
shining toys out of the gloom4 ,many    
unacknowledged artists have worked upon 
these beads2 much1 no doubt1 of  their  
workmanship is mechanical2 but if we    
look into them we shall find  many      
little originalities in the gradation of
 line and colour1 many  touches of taste
 and feeling in their graceful and      
various designs4 ,the  house is much as 
it might have been in ,tintoretto's day1
 but the walls  seem empty and          
unresponsive and to have less part in   
him than those  palace fronts in which  
some faded fresco bears witness to the  
magic of  his hand4 ,but there is a     
building near by that may rightly be    
called  the house of ,tintoretto1 where 
we may more faithfully commune with his 
mind--the ,church of the ,madonna dell' 
,orto1 in which1 ,ridolfi tells us1     
,tintoretto worked for his keep alone   
8because his fertile brain was          
constantly boiling with new thoughts10  

and thereby roused the wrath  of his    
fellow artists4 ,it was here that       
,meissonier1 coming in his old  age to  
,venice1 set himself down at the feet of
 the master and copied  ,tintoretto's   
,last ,judgment in the choir4 ,but it is
 not primarily for  the artist's great  
works in the choir that we return again 
and again  to the ,madonna dell' ,orto4 
,it is for a painting no less the work  
of a  giant1 but of a giant gifted with 
tenderness equal to his strength4  ,the 
,presentation of the ,virgin has been   
moved from its original  place on the   
organ to a side chapel in which both    
light and space are  inadequate1 so     
that1 coming on it first out of the     
daylight1 we receive  only a vague      
impression of its greatness4 ,it is only
 gradually that  it breaks on us in its 
combination of vigorous motion and life 
with  sublime repose1 and that we come  
to distinguish the elements that make   
up its power and to appreciate the      
singleness and intensity of vision      

which1 amid all its wealth of resource1 
never wavers in loyalty to the  central 
idea4 ,in ,titian's ,presentation1 the  
mountain background1 the  crowd of      
,venetian citizens1 the old egg woman1  
the ,virgin1 the ,high  ,priest1 appear 
as separate interests2 in ,tintoretto's 
,presentation  all the elements are     
unified2 there is but one moment1 one   
point1 to  which everything tends4 ,the 
lovely women in the foreground1 the     
mighty  figures reclining on the stair1 
the mysterious trio behind in the       
shadow of the balustrade1 all subserve  
the quiet1 yet passionate drama  enacted
 above in the meeting of the ,high      
,priest and ,virgin4 ,at last1 as  at   
first1 these two figures fill our mind2 
their mutual contemplation  is          
compelling4 ,the ,virgin is set against 
the sky1 near the top of  the stair she 
is ascending with blithe and childlike  
confidence1 her  right hand over her    
heart4 ,she has no eyes except for the  
,high ,priest4  ,she moves up to him    

without hesitation or drawing back4 ,and
 he is  bent on her entirely4 ,from the 
height of his great stature1 with the   
supreme majesty of his office about him1
 the ,high ,priest1 between his         
robe-bearers1 extends his hands above   
the ascending childish figure--a  world 
of thought1 of awe1 of worship1 in that 
mysterious and lofty  benediction4      
,we will go back again along the ,rio   
della ,sensa to the point where  we     
entered it1 turning now to the right    
under the ,ponte ,rosso into  the ,rio  
dei ,trasti which soon ,widens into a   
broad way of unbridged  water leading   
out to the lagoon and dividing the      
island of the ,madonna  dell' ,orto from
 that of ,sant' ,alvise4 ,the rio into  
which we have  now come is the third    
long parallel waterway we have struck in
 our  journey through this district4 ,it
 stretches on either side of us1        
spanned by wooden bridges1 between the  
west lagoon and the ,sacca della        
,misericordia4 ,we will follow it for a 

short distance to the left to  the      
little campo of ,sant' ,alvise from     
which it takes its name4 ,here1  in the 
church hangs that series of strange     
little canvases that ,ruskin  did not   
hesitate to attribute to ,carpaccio4    
,they are hung on a wall  near the      
entrance door without order or          
precaution1 signed in great  sprawling  
childish characters ,vetor ,carpacio4   
,perhaps our pleasure at  penetrating   
the by-ways of the city to this remote  
little island makes  us at first        
uncritically appreciative of the quaint 
square canvases4  ,ruskin thought them  
the works of ,carpaccio at eight or nine
 years  of age1 but he was confessedly  
writing from memory1 and face to face   
with the reality might have reconsidered
 his verdict4 ,the paintings  seem too  
sophisticated for a young ,carpaccio1   
too feeble for an older  one4 ,the      
architectural details belong in many    
respects to a period  of the            
,renaissance later than that which      

,carpaccio knew1 and though1  behind    
their technical incompetence and absurd 
anachronisms1 we seem  to catch glimpses
 of the masterful imaginativeness of    
,carpaccio1 we  shall probably feel     
,molmenti's verdict against their       
authenticity to  be more substantial    
than ,ruskin's reminiscence which was   
framed in the  enthusiasm of his        
discovery of one of the greatest of     
,venetian artists4  ,one of the         
paintings1 ,the ,meeting of ,solomon and
 the ,queen of ,sheba1  has an interest 
apart from its quaint fancy4 ,we may    
conjecture that  the artist was drawing 
on a memory of some work from the east2 
for the  wooden bridge and the figures  
wavering at each end of it1 the winding 
river1 the little round ,renaissance    
building to symbolise ,jerusalem1  and1 
above all1 the swans in the stream      
below1 and the tall blue peaks  in the  
background1 remind us of nothing so much
 as the willow pattern  plate familiar  
to our childhood4 ,we will leave on one 

side the scenes  from ,christ's ,passion
 by ,tiepolo1 which by some incongruous 
chance  also are preserved in this      
humble aisleless church1 merely         
remarking  that it is necessary to      
arrive here early2 for the sacristan1   
whose  duties extend to both the        
churches on the two neighbouring        
islands1  hurries off at half-past nine 
for the office at the ,madonna dell'    
,orto1  and ,sant' ,alvise is shut4     
,we will return along the rio1 past the 
,madonna dell' ,orto and the  ,palazzo  
,camello to the ,sacca della            
,misericordia4 ,we shall have occasion  
elsewhere to speak at length of this    
unfrequented square of water4 ,it  looks
 out to ,murano and the mountains1 and  
is bounded on the south  and west by the
 ,abazia della ,misericordia and the    
garden of the ,casa  degli ,spiriti4    
,the ,abazia della ,misericordia is one 
of the most  beautiful ruins in all     
,venice4 ,it has its roots far back in  
the past2  for the abbey church was     

built in #ici and handed over to hermits
 and1  later1 to ,augustinian ,brothers1
 who added to it a convent4 ,a school   
was erected beside the church in #acjh1 
and this was later enlarged  and        
extended by a hospital and chapel4 ,in  
the sixteenth century the  old hospice  
was given over to the silk-weavers1 and 
another1 more  spacious and magnificent1
 was substituted4 ,on the ,fondamenta   
dell'  ,abazia1 close beside the ,scuola
 di ,santa ,maria della ,misericordia1  
is a wonderful relief1 over the entrance
 to the hospice for poorer  members of  
the confraternity1 bearing the date     
#aeje4 ,it represents the  ,virgin with 
robes outspread to enclose and shelter a
 little company  of hooded ,brothers who
 kneel around her2 the relief is        
beautiful in  workmanship1 and there are
 traces of lovely colour in the folds of
 the  ,virgin's garments4 ,an exquisite 
square campanile rises in the part of   
the abbey buildings that is still       
inhabited by ,franciscan ,brothers1  but

 the northern front which overlooks the 
,sacca is a long1 roofless1             
two-storeyed wall of brick with closed  
shutters--the faade of a  weed-grown    
ruin4 ,this isolated northern wall is   
exquisite in colouring3  its pink       
plaster has been partly worn away to the
 red bricks1 partly  tempered to soft   
coral where it still lies on the hoary  
stone4 ,sparse  weeds cover the top1    
outlined against the sky1 and plants    
which no hand  of man has sown spring   
from the crevices in the brick4 ,in the 
early  morning the ,abazia is in shade1 
and its image in the smooth1 shining    
water is gifted with a new beauty and   
strength4 ,looking back upon the  east  
wall1 part of which is in ruins1 we see 
the broad ,rio di ,noale  branching in  
two smaller channels right and left of  
the garden wall of  the police station4 
,this wall has a central window looking 
out to  the lagoon1 and often towards   
evening two figures may be seen through 
it1 framed against the green and taking 

their pleasure in the garden as  in some
 old picture4    ,illustration3 ,,view  
,,on ,,grand ,,canal4    ,the ,sacca    
della ,misericordia has a majestic      
corner-stone in the ,casa  degli        
,spiriti1 the long garden of which is   
joined to the island of  the ,abazia by 
the ,ponte della ,sacca1 a beautiful    
bridge of pale rose  stone bound and    
lined with white marble4 ,to those who  
live overlooking  the ,sacca1 the ,house
 of the ,spirits becomes an inseparable 
part of  the landscape of the lagoon4   
,modern incredulity has preferred to    
talk  of smugglers instead of spirits1  
or to find in the weird echoes which    
inhabit the ,sacca and the neighbouring 
waterways an explanation of  its name4  
,others maintain that it owes it to the 
companies of wit  and intellect that    
gathered there in the days of ,titian   
and ,aretino2  no proofs1 however1 have 
been offered in support of this alluring
  suggestion4 ,but if modernity has     
driven out the spirits1 the house       

itself has become a ghost4 ,in the midst
 of the thunderstorms which from  time  
to time break over the lagoon the ,casa 
degli ,spiriti stands out  a ghostly    
landmark1 framed suddenly by a sickle of
 gold or flashing  silver1 or           
illuminated by a level flood of purple1 
a place of revel  for the spirits of the
 storm4 ,in the calm moonlight it       
appears more  pallid than the moon      
herself2 in the black starless night    
still the  huge corner-stone looms out  
on the edge of the lagoon4 ,and there is
 no  watch-tower to equal the ,casa     
degli ,spiriti for the spectacle of dawn
  upon the mountains4 ,those who wake   
within ,venice under a glimmering  grey 
sky1 with rifts of remote1 transparent  
blue1 hear talk of coming  rain4 ,but   
the ,house of ,spirits which kept watch 
all night upon the  north lagoon1 has   
had its day already in one short hour of
 dawn4 ,it  has seen the ,alps rise blue
 and clear behind the low green line of 
the  mainland2 it has seen the ruby fire

 drawn from them by the dawn2 it has    
seen the crystal path of the lagoon fade
 to the dove's neck with its  waves of  
peacock green2 it has seen the          
fishing-boats come pressing  with their 
many-coloured sails against the sunrise1
 each1 as it turned  before the wind1   
sealed with a golden blessing from the  
god of day4    ,but the ,house of the   
,spirits which dominates these1 the     
immaterial  glories of the lagoon1 rules
 over a domain of vivid colour and      
activity4 ,for from the early hours of  
the morning there is continual  traffic 
down the ,sacca of fruit barges bound   
for ,rialto from ,sant'  ,erasmo1 the   
garden of ,venice1 and of milk barges   
from the mainland4 ,it  is not always an
 easy life1 that of the feeders of the  
city--in which1  as ,sansovino says1    
nothing grows1 but everything is found4 
,there are  many days when cold and rain
 and adverse winds mean real suffering  
to  the sellers of fruit and milk4      
,again and again one is reminded of ,t4 

,e4  ,brown's wonderful description of  
the fishing-boat1 with its dirt1 its    
noise1 its foul-mouthed crew transformed
 beneath 8the broad benediction  of the 
west0 as one sees a milk barge toiling  
up the channel against  wind and tide1  
with its crowd of men and women4 ,the   
men begin to hoist  the sail with loud  
excited cries2 the women crouch low for 
shelter1  smoking or munching their     
crusts4 ,they seem lumpish leaden       
combatants  in the lists against the    
elements1 with small hope of conquest4  
,then1  suddenly1 as it rounds the      
corner of the ,casa degli ,spiriti1 the 
ponderous boat with its dejected crew   
spreads its sails like a bird1 a  thing 
of swift delight lifted into the strong 
hand of the wind4    ,if we halt but for
 an hour in the shadow of the ,abazia1  
we may have a  glimpse of many aspects  
of the city's floating life2 joy and    
mourning  follow in unplanned           
succession1 strong passion and the      
merchandise of  every day jostle each   

other4 ,now there passes down the ,sacca
 a gondola  bearing a coffin to ,san    
,michele1 now a slow-creeping barge     
under a  mountain of planks1 now a      
little company of lowing calves who can 
have but one destination in this city   
without pasture1 now a barge of         
necklaces from ,murano that lie coiled  
together like shining fish of  many     
colours4    ,there is a moment of late  
,august when all seasons seem to meet   
and  lavish their brightest colours on  
,rialto1 and on the many fruit-stalls   
of ,venice and on the barges that creep 
leisurely up and down the  canals4 ,if  
we turn again to the heart of the city  
in the wake of one of  those fruit      
barges1 we may imagine ourselves sharing
 in ancient pomps  and festivals4 ,for  
their tapestry is gorgeous2 pyramids of 
peaches  bound about with green leaves1 
of tomatoes and brilliant pepper pods1  
huge watermelons cut open to show the   
crisp1 rosy pulp2 piles of figs1  brown 
and green2 pears1 apples1 grapes2 and   

choicest of all1 the  delicious red     
fragola or strawberry-grape4 ,all these 
and many more  make up the brilliant    
burden of the barges from ,sant'        
,erasmo4 ,we may  follow them as they   
wind through the lesser waterways1 now  
in sun1 now  in shadow1 till the pageant
 is welcomed in the full flowing day of 
the  ,grand ,canal and the barges empty 
themselves at ,rialto4          ,chapter
 ,ten    ,,artists ,,of ,,the ,,venetian
 ,,renaissance      ,it can be no matter
 for wonder that colour was the elected 
medium of  expression for ,venice3      
endowed1 by reason of her water1 with a 
twofold  gift of light1 she was also    
perhaps more splendid than any other    
city  in the details of her daily life4 
,colour was its substance4 ,everything  
was pictorial and rich and festive4     
,even on a dark day the rooms of the    
,accademia seem full of sunshine from   
the treasure they hold of ancient       
,venice4 ,if ,bellini's ,procession of  
the ,cross on the ,piazza of ,san       

,marco were missing from its place1 we  
should feel that a light had  been put  
out4 ,the ,venetians had always been    
decorators4 ,the pictures  of the first 
masters--,vivarini1 d',alemagna1        
,jacobello del ,fiore and  many         
others--seem literally spun out of the  
furnaces of ,murano4 ,they  are no      
primitives in their mastery of colour4  
,consider for a moment  the ,madonna and
 ,saints of ,vivarini and d',alemagna in
 the ,sala della  ,presentazione4 ,the  
natural life of the fields has been made
 to serve  a design of amazing richness4
 ,the ,virgin's golden throne is carved 
,with acorns and roses1 and luxuriant   
oak foliage forms its decorative        
fringe2 the fruits of the garden in     
which she sits are lavished round  her2 
the grass is gemmed with countless tiny 
flowers1 trefoil and  strawberry1       
milkwort and potentilla1 and the infant 
,christ has burst  open a golden        
pomegranate1 displaying its burden of   
rich crimson  seeds4 ,there is scarcely 

a harmony of colour unattempted1        
scarcely a  jewel unset1 from the       
rainbow of the angels' wings1 and the   
rim of  fluctuating colours on the      
,virgin's green robe folded back over   
peacock  blue1 to the mosaics in the    
burning gold of the angels' haloes1 in  
the  ,virgin's crown1 and in the mitres 
of the ,fathers4 ,there too is the  very
 vermilion of ,veronese1 that wonderful 
salvia scarlet to which the  ,feast in  
,levi's ,house owes so much of its      
decorative significance4  ,we shall be  
better equipped for understanding the   
early colour-masters  if we realise that
 their dowry came to them not only from 
the lagoon4  ,the marvellous rainbow of 
,venice the 8,ambiguous ,one0 was not   
their only  light nor the deep azure and
 emerald and gold1 which she hung about 
her1 the only jewels they knew4 ,the    
garment of ,venetian art is inwoven     
with threads of mountain glory1 of rich 
harvests of grape and golden  grain3 we 
must go up into the mainland of ,venice 

to understand the art  of the first     
masters no less than that of ,giorgione1
 ,titian1 ,tintoretto  and ,veronese1   
whose conceptions were penetrated with  
the very sunshine  of earth1 a          
warmer-bodied1 fuller sunshine than     
,venice of the waters  could know1 full 
of secret throbbings of the hidden      
springing life for  light and ripening4 
,autumn is the loom on which was woven  
the robe  of ,venetian art1 autumn with 
its indomitable splendours of gold and  
silver1 green and cremoisin and the     
supreme scarlet of the salvia4  ,these  
colours are steeped in an impermeable   
dye3 they seem saturated  with the      
light1 burning out the more gloriously1 
the more intensely1 as  their allotted  
span grows less4 ,the passion of the    
spring is of another  kind2 it needs the
 present magic of the sun to draw out   
its exquisite1  incipient radiance2 it  
cannot lavish glory except when his     
countenance  is bent upon it4 ,but in   
the radiance of autumn foliage there is 

a  daring that darkness is impotent to  
quell3 it is like a shout of  triumph in
 the face of death1 a procession of all 
the glory of earth  into the kingdom of 
the dead1 not reluctant1 not made       
fearful by the  rumours that have       
floated to it in the grey-mantled dawn1 
in the fierce  trumpeting of rain and   
wind2 boldly1 gloriously it marches1    
scattering  joyfully the gems it cannot 
hold1 that nothing shall be saved4 ,we  
sing  no dirge1 but a triumph song1 as  
the golden trophies fall--a gold more   
refulgent than ,bellini's faade of ,san 
,marco1 though this was gold of  the    
purest even ,venice1 the golden city1   
could win from her furnaces4  ,we may   
still see these mainland autumns where  
the colour-masters  gathered their      
treasures2 on the borders of the        
mountains we may sit  in such a garden  
of the ,madonna as ,vivarini and his    
fellows record4 ,in  the late autumn the
 sun is slow to win his way2 but when he
 comes there  is no splendour to rival  

the fire of the salvia-beds1 round cups 
of  concentrated light springing up into
 spires and tongues of flame among  the 
arrow-shaped green leaves4 ,no words can
 describe the brilliance of  this       
leaping flame1 devouring the sunshine   
like fuel1 and scattering it  abroad in 
myriad gems of penetrating brightness4  
,in the long luminous  grass of the lawn
 will be scattered here and there a     
rose-bush of the  ,madonna's crimson1   
and tall gold-edged lilies may be seen  
through the  close-hung flaps of the    
medusa leaves4 ,this splendid tapestry  
is spread  upon a poplar background of  
flickering gold and green1 the steadier 
gold of low mulberries1 and grey-bodied 
autumn apple-trees on which the  leaves 
glow blood-red1 while behind all rise   
the grassy slopes of the  mountain      
outposts crossed by the shadow of some  
jutting rock4    ,often among the       
humbler ,venetian painters1 less versed 
in the deeper  significance of human    
life and religious symbol1 we find a    

singular  mastery of perspective and    
many signs of familiarity with the      
interplay  of light and shade among the 
mountains4 ,we are reminded again and   
again  of their apprenticeship to nature
 as we see one of the countless ruined  
towers on the outposts of the ,alps     
rising against the golden sunset  light 
within its threadbare rampart of dusky  
branches4 ,the face of  the mountains   
was a vital and intimate fact to them1  
not an accepted  piety4 ,we are1 for    
instance1 often tempted to consider the 
persons of  ,cima's sacred themes less  
as the essential interest than as a     
finely  designed harmony of colour in   
the foreground of a landscape4 ,in his  
native city of ,conegliano he stored his
 mind with mountain wonders1  and in his
 wide and delicate horizons there are   
many touches inspired  by a living      
memory of the scene4 ,we have known the 
joy of that limpid  atmosphere after    
days of mist and rain1 those floating   
sunlit clouds  upon the transparent     

blue1 that jewel-like gleam of a deep   
pool1  the delicacy of autumn trees     
passing into gold1 the foretaste of an  
untrodden stronghold in the winding     
paths that lose themselves and  come    
again to view as they coil up the       
castled heights4 ,the landscape  is     
conventionalised of course1 but its     
spirit is there--its rare  shades of    
colour1 its marvellous varieties of     
depth2 and ever behind1  there is the   
vision of the mountains cutting into the
 sky in a sharp1  clear1 azure coldness1
 or with a luminous haze round their    
base in  the mellowness of an autumn    
day4 ,as backgrounds we see them only1  
for  ,venice had other needs than of    
mountains2 but many of these painters   
knew them as near realities2 they had   
stept home in the glory of  an autumn   
sunset amid the revel of the vintage1   
their whole being  intoxicated with the 
wine and the splendour of life2 they had
 drunk  that fresh-trodden1 unfermented 
juice1 the vino mosto1 sufficient to    

stir those whose senses are alert and in
 whom the passion of the world  runs    
high4 ,it needed indeed a ,titian to    
transform the vintage of ,cadore  into  
the bacchic rout of his ,ariadne1 but it
 is there1 in the wooded  mountain      
slopes1 in the pageantry of evening1    
when the fancy soars to  ,ariadne's     
crown faintly dawning in the warm blue1 
and sweeps round some  mist-clad inland 
lake to float among the turreted        
heights4    ,illustration3 ,,palazzo    
,,rezzonico4    ,or if we take our stand
 on the keep of the ruined ,roman       
citadel  of ,asolo1 when the evening    
light streaming down into the shadowy   
undulations of the valley1 which tosses 
in ceaseless waves round the  mountain's
 base1 illuminates a land of rich and   
golden peace1 we feel  again the        
painters of ,venice at our side2 the    
vague1 rich spirit of  the winding      
valleys1 allied with the solemn grandeur
 of the mountains1  above whose dark    
barrier we have glimpses of remote and  

shining peaks1  the tiny citadels half  
gathered into the folding mist1 the     
alternate  radiance and keen obscurity  
of the lower peaks now visited and now  
forsaken by the inconstant sunset light1
 the sudden illumination  of a solitary 
peasant or a single tree in sharp relief
 against the  twilight--all these have  
passed into the canvas of ,giorgione3 in
 him1  above all1 we seem to drink that 
wondrous potion compact of evening      
vapour and golden light which the sunset
 pours into the dim goblet  of the      
mountain valleys4 ,and we may record    
here1 how1 in the last  period of the   
,venetian ,renaissance1 the great       
decorator ,veronese  found a field of   
activity under the shadow of ,asolo4    
,when ,marcantonio  ,barbaro1           
,procurator of ,san ,marco1 and his     
brother the ,patriarch of  ,aquileja1   
bade ,palladio build their villa at the 
little village of  ,maser1 they called  
on their friend ,paolo to decorate it   
within4 ,and  this perfect villa is one 

of the happiest monuments to the two    
artists2  the excellent skill of both is
 brought into congenial play1 and to the
  courtly old patrician ,barbaro we owe 
a debt which perhaps we partly  cancel  
in the coin of our pleasure4 ,the simple
 yet sumptuous villa lies  so           
dexterously disposed below its cypress  
hill1 that it seems almost  to consist  
of the loggia alone as we climb up the  
garden slope from  the road1 through the
 judicious mingling of smooth lawn and  
scythe-cut  grass full of scabious and  
delicate ,alpine flowers4 ,delicious    
scents  float down from the late roses  
along the terrace and the brilliant     
flower-beds in the grass2 the medusa    
tree stands luminous against the        
evergreen shrubs and cypress1 and       
against the yellow wall a huge cactus   
raises its mysterious purple            
sword-blade4 ,the villa is spacious and 
full of air and light2 the suite of     
rooms above the loggia1 containing  the 
great part of ,paolo's work1 open one   

out of the other1 and each has  a glass 
door that leads directly to the lawn and
 grotto in the cleft  of the hill       
behind1 while the central hall lies open
 on each side to  wide stretches of     
mountain country4 ,there were no stern  
censors here to  ask ,paolo if his      
homely details were quite in keeping    
with the gravity  of his theme2 the     
artist was working for a friend in a    
house that was  full of light and       
sunshine and the clear mountain air1 and
 he has put  his soul with most lucid   
fantasy into the allegories of autumn   
and  springtime1 of ,cybele and ,juno1  
,vulcan and ,apollo1 of dogs and boys   
and girls at play among the mimic       
balconies1 of sprays of fig and vine    
leaf2 into the figures of               
,michelangelesque strength reclining    
above the  doors1 and the tiny          
processions of men and beasts in        
chiaroscuro on  the friezes2 into the   
clear1 radiant faces of women and sinewy
 forms  of men2 the eloquent dogs and   

lions2 and not least into the lithe and 
gallant figure of himself1 advancing    
from the mimic door at one end of  the  
long vista to meet the lady who trips   
out from the opposite end1  l'amica     
dell' artista--or1 as the guide-book    
discreetly says--his  wife4 ,the        
portrait of himself is done with much   
imagination and even  pathos4 ,he was a 
dreamer1 too1 this ,veronese4 ,these    
figures of the  painter and his dog give
 us pause2 they make us feel that he    
would  have been good to walk the       
mountains with2 that if he could step   
out  now from the room where he keeps   
continual watch1 on to the exquisite    
grass plot1 with its happy tuft of white
 anemone and pale ,michaelmas  daisy1 we
 might win from him some mountain       
confidence which he has not  entrusted  
to canvas or fresco4 ,it is a pleasure  
to picture ,veronese at  his work upon  
,marcantonio's villa4 ,every midday he  
must have had good  progress to show2   
for these blithe works that have kept   

their colour so  fresh and strong are   
executed with a few brave master        
strokes3 they  are no less potent in    
their swift presentment than in their   
conception4  ,we can see him dismounting
 from his scaffold at the summons of    
,barbaro1  returned from his morning    
round among his stables or his orchards2
 we  can see him still keen and stirred 
by the creative impulse1 full of  that  
excited pleasure which accompanies      
expression1 standing a little  aside    
while ,barbaro bears his admiration to  
and fro--now confessing  that time and  
office have rusted his mythology and    
asking the meaning  of some emblem2 now 
on the lookout for a freak of his       
friend1 some  beast or bird put in      
perhaps to give him joy2 now in raptures
 over the  old shoes and broom1 which he
 swears he has just thrashed the maid   
for  leaving on the cornice1 while      
,paolo stands by brimming with mirth at 
the deception2 now called upon to guess 
the significance of the fair  lady      

bridled by her lord1 which the          
guide-book ungallantly interprets  as   
the victory of virtue over vice1 but    
which to ,marcantonio no doubt  seemed  
capable of less abstract explanation4   
,with all their nobility  of design and 
execution1 there is something about     
these frescoes so  intimate and         
sympathetic as to impart to us the      
actual joy and health  of spirit which  
conceived them4 ,given the skill and the
 robust and  prodigal genius of         
,veronese1 how should they not be joyous
 in these  halls full of light and air  
and sunshine1 the song of birds and of  
trickling water1 the sounds of meadow   
and mountain4 ,we may take leave  of the
 mountains in the midst of one of those 
brave companies which  must often have  
gathered in this earthly ,paradise of   
,marcantonio  ,barbaro round the long   
table spread in the loggia--such a      
loggia as  ,paolo himself so often      
painted--looking out1 through the arches
 to the  vista of creepered wall and    

over the green meadows studded with     
golden  fruit-trees1 to the undulating  
country and tracts of woodland1 now     
bathed in liquid sunshine1 now gathered 
into a soft-enfolding haze--a  wide     
ocean from which the campaniles rise    
like masts of ships1 and over  which the
 distant villas are scattered like      
shining fishing-boats4    8,these       
workmen10 says d',annunzio of the       
,venetian artists of the  ,renaissance1 
8create in a medium that is itself a    
joyous mystery--in  colour1 the ornament
 of the world1 in colour1 which seems to
 be the  striving of the spirit to      
become light4 ,and the entirely new1    
musical  understanding they have of     
colour acts in such a way that their    
creation transcends the narrow limits of
 the symbols it represents  and assumes 
the lofty1 revealing faculty of an      
infinite harmony40  ,colour--which seems
 to be the striving of the spirit to    
become light4  ,these words recur to us 
again and again face to face with the   

,venetian  masters4 ,by the primitives  
the colours are laid on as accessory to 
the scene1 as it were fine enamel2 in   
the ,renaissance painters1 they  are not
 only woven into the fabric of the      
picture1 it grows and moves  through    
them4 ,we may choose1 in illustration1  
,giovanni ,bellini's  small picture of  
the ,madonna with ,st4 ,catherine and   
the ,magdalen  in the ,accademia1       
because1 though it is in one sense less 
completely  representative of the       
distinguishing features of the ,venetian
 school  than1 for instance1 his        
masterpiece of the ,frari1 it realises  
perhaps  more fully than any that 8new  
and musical understanding of colour0    
which was the peculiar gift of the      
,venetians4 ,it is literally informed   
with radiance2 flesh itself has become  
spirit1 no longer a covering1  but an   
atmosphere--a directly perfect          
expression4 ,there is no denial  or     
emaciation of the flesh2 the forms are  
strong1 the habitations of a  potent    

earth-spirit4 ,the faces are pondering1 
penetrating1 profound1  and withal      
extremely individual2 they might seem   
impassive1 were it  not that every      
feature is kindled by the pervading     
colour till we seem  to feel it as a    
sensuous presence4 ,it is a quality of  
colour that so  subtly determines the   
poise of their hands1 that makes their  
touch so  sensitively penetrating that  
feeling seems to flow from it without   
pressure4 ,the solemn harmony of red and
 green and blue1 and of the  diffused   
radiance of the flesh tints1 is not only
 lit from without by  the sunlight1 it  
seems literally to burn from within1    
depth behind  depth1 with light4    ,the
 peculiarly luminous treatment of the   
flesh perfected by ,bellini in  repose1 
it remained for ,tintoretto to realise  
in motion2 this we may  venture to      
illustrate from a work too immense for  
our discussion in any  but a limited    
aspect--his last great work1 ,the       
,paradise1 in the ,ducal  ,palace4 ,the 

quality we are seeking in it becomes the
 more remarkable on  account of its loss
 of superficial colour1 so that at first
 it seems  cold and faded as if a mist  
had fallen upon it2 then1 very slowly1  
like day breaking out of the veil1      
colour reveals itself as a fresh        
property in the forms4 ,we cannot       
penetrate the depth of it2 rank behind  
rank the luminous faces define          
themselves like mysterious shapes of    
the atmosphere1 some mere ghosts in the 
depths which daylight cannot  pierce1   
some radiant already with the light2 and
 across and through  them all1 through  
the flame-winged throng of ,cherubim1   
piercing all  companies and ranks of    
being to the extremes of the vast       
canvas1 shoot  the rays from the central
 source of light in the seat of ,christ4
 ,it is  a symphony of colour become    
almost vocal2 we perceive it not only   
with  the eye but in all our senses1    
this music of the spheres which one man 
has dared to gather into a single       

canvas4 ,who but ,tintoretto could have 
dreamed of achieving this perspective   
built solely of human forms and  faces8 
,into all the mysteries of life--those  
echoes of experience which  we touch but
 faintly1 those substances with which we
 feel inexplicable                      
correspondencies--into these ,tintoretto
 has looked3 the rays from  behind the  
,son of ,god have poured into the heart 
of the universe1  and from it has grown 
his ,paradise4 ,joy is the heart of this
 great  symphony2 it works upon us      
rather as a creative force than as a    
thing  created1 sounding continually    
some new note or rarer harmony of       
colour4  ,at times it overpowers us1 and
 then amid the maze of divine musicians 
and ,cherubim and ,seraphim and ,thrones
 and ,principalities and ,powers1  some 
single harmonious human form1 strong in 
beauty1 with wings of  light1 some      
tender1 lovely face of youth or woman1  
the solemn gesture  of saint or bishop1 
the rainbow of an angel's wing1 gives   

our intellect  a resting-place4 ,for it 
is not through obscuring of outlines    
that this  wonder of music in colour is 
accomplished2 the human form1 on which  
all  the notes are played1 is become    
indeed a perfect instrument1 but not  by
 forfeiting its material strength or    
substance2 the structure is  massive1   
solid--if to our notion of solidity we  
may unite the gift of  perfect ease     
within an element whose progress only is
 by flight1 where  each moment is poised
 but slightly in its passage to the     
next1 where  there is no time because no
 stable unit to serve as pedestal for   
time4  ,in this great picture1 that     
faculty of the ,venetian painters which 
we  are now illustrating1 found perhaps 
its completest realisation--the  power  
of winging flesh with colour so that it 
is endowed with the very  properties of 
atmosphere4    ,illustration3 ,by       
permission of ,arnold ,mitchell1 ,esq4  
,,towards ,,the ,,rialto1 ,,san         
,,angelo4    ,this luminous quality of  

the ,venetian painters is realised by   
them  in many more general ways than in 
the treatment of the human form4  ,we   
may consider it in ,carpaccio in        
relation to the significance of         
landscape in his compositions4 ,it is   
his power of treating a scene           
atmospherically that supplies one chief 
charm of his work4 ,it is  never on a   
day of splendour that either he or      
,gentile ,bellini depicts  ,venice2 but 
constantly on a cold1 colourless day of 
late autumn the  waters of ,carpaccio   
seem to live again for us as we have    
seen them  through the perspective of   
his arches or in the background of a    
city  picture4 ,we may see the ,grand   
,canal wind into the dark city under    
the pale familiar gold of his ,rialto   
sunset1 and scattered sails on  the     
cold1 clear lagoon in weird contrast of 
orange with the steely  waters or with  
the pale rose or white of buildings4    
,there is a peculiar  fascination in    
this clear neutrality of light in sky   

and water and  buildings2 it is no less 
a property of ,venice than her more     
refulgent  harmonies4 ,whatever hour of 
day it comes1 it has the strange        
revelation  of the dawn about it1 a     
curious remoteness in which the works of
 men  arrest attention as if fraught    
with a new purport4 ,the emotional      
significance of landscape was understood
 by ,carpaccio in a wonderful  degree4  
,how much depends1 for instance1 in the 
scene where ,ursula's  father dismisses 
the ,english ambassadors1 on the vista  
of canal across  which lights fall from 
dividing waterways6 ,it is the narrowest
 strip2  but the sunlight on the houses1
 the exquisite arch of pale blue sky    
fading into white above the distant     
buildings1 give a new value to the      
interior2 the outside world1 on which   
the sun is shining1 seems to  look into 
the room with the streaming light4 ,a   
still more beautiful  illustration of   
,carpaccio's understanding of light is  
to be found in  the room where ,st4     

,ursula lies asleep4 ,it seems1 in fact1
 scarcely an  indoor room2 through its  
open doors and windows it is in close   
touch  with the air and sky2 and the    
effect of contact with wind and sky is  
heightened by the real plumage of the   
angel's grey wings1 while the           
back-sweep of his robe suggests a sudden
 alighting after flight with  the       
current of air still about him4 ,we know
 of no picture to surpass  this of      
,carpaccio in conveying the atmosphere  
of a room into which the  first light is
 breaking--the exhilaration of an       
illumined wall1 the  waking of colour on
 window-ledge1 chair and bedcover1 the  
blending of  luminous and shadowy4 ,it  
is the light of the first dawn1 the     
infancy  of day1 with a suggestion of   
unillumined sky1 just creeping out of   
shadow in the expanse of open1          
untrellised window behind the plants1  a
 soft1 wonderful stealing green1 that   
has not yet come into its  kingdom4     
,even buildings are made by ,carpaccio  

to serve an atmospheric  effect4 ,we    
might illustrate from almost every      
picture in ,san ,giorgio  degli         
,schiavoni1 but confining ourselves to  
the ,st4 ,ursula series1 we  shall find 
a notable illustration in the buildings 
seen through the  water-gate in the     
,return of the ,embassy1 and in the     
great ,renaissance  loggia which fills  
so conspicuous a place in the           
foreground1 and to  which airiness and  
light have been imparted by its great   
arches1 by  the water washing round its 
base1 and by the spring of the bridge   
that  connects it with the campo where  
the ,king sits under his canopy4 ,most  
striking of all1 perhaps1 is the subtle 
architectural treatment by  which1 in   
the great threefold scene of the        
,prince's departure1 his  meeting with  
,ursula and their blessing by the ,king1
 ,carpaccio has  bestowed an atmosphere 
of remoteness1 almost of fairy          
strangeness on  the ,english harbour    
with its castles and walls and motley   

buildings  soaring far up the rocky     
hillside into the sky1 an atmosphere    
entirely  distinct from the upper-world 
light and joyousness of the contrasting 
court of ,ursula's father4    ,there is 
an element of his native landscape that 
,carpaccio incorporated  with singular  
felicity1 and which is peculiarly       
prominent in his  pictures--namely the  
shipping of ,venice4 ,in the great      
trilogy of the  ,prince's departure the 
vessels are a masterpiece3 there is     
nothing to  surpass them in this kind4  
,carpaccio seems to have realised to the
  full their varied elements of beauty3 
their static properties1 their  weight  
and substance and the symmetry of their 
frame1 combined with  all the radiant   
light and spring of swelling sail and   
rigging and flag  and countless         
trappings3 all that goes to make a      
sailing ship a thing  of music4 ,and it 
is not only vessels rigged and ready to 
float in  triumph on the high seas that 
,carpaccio depicts3 there is a vessel   

also  in squero1 with all the song gone 
from it1 one might think1 lying         
uneasily on its side with its huge mast 
aslant across the harbour  tower4 ,it is
 noteworthy that all the vessels of the 
,english ,king  seem in course of       
repair2 there is something in their     
semi-skeleton  condition which          
singularly reinforces the dream effect  
that we have  noticed in this portion of
 the picture1 and the triumphant vessel 
that  would seem to belong to the gay   
town on our right is united in feeling  
to the shadow city on the left by the   
exceeding mystery and beauty  of its    
reflection4 ,this picture supplies us   
with another instance of  the way in    
which ,venice operated as an inspiration
 in the work of  ,carpaccio1 even when  
he was not directly portraying the city 
itself4  ,the beautiful effect of a     
drawbridge over a great water1 such as  
he  knew familiarly in ,venice1 had     
impressed itself on his mind3 adapting  
it to the requirements of his scene1 he 

reproduces the bridge of ,rialto  in the
 city of the ,english ,king1 not        
forgetting the significance of  a       
crowning figure in white at the apex of 
the arch4 ,we cannot indeed  afford to  
miss a detail in ,carpaccio3 there is   
never any crowding nor  taking refuge in
 vagueness4 ,the varieties of shipping1 
the flags hung  from the windows1 the   
most distant figures1 are all treated   
with the  same clearness and precision3 
to each its value is assigned4 ,this    
fulness of meaning is one of the sources
 of his fascination for us3  the fact   
that he has done a little thing means   
sometimes more to us1 if  we can come at
 the prompting purpose1 than a pageant  
of main figures4  ,it is like the       
side-flash of light which a seemingly   
irrelevant act  casts sometimes on a    
personality4    ,the fidelity of        
,bellini and ,carpaccio to the facts of 
,venice fills  us continually with fresh
 wonder3 it is not the fidelity of      
copyists  standing outside the scene    

they paint2 their very heart is in its  
stones4 ,as we watch ,gentile's gorgeous
 procession sweep like a stream  from   
the gate of the ,ducal ,palace round the
 border of the ,piazza1  with the sound 
of trumpets1 the rustle and swing of    
noble garments  and the gleam of        
banners1 we feel that the painter had   
heard and  felt the triumph of the      
music1 so marvellously has he conveyed  
its  influence in these moving figures2 
we too hear the jubilation of it  as the
 long tubes pass out and in4 ,with the  
pictures of ,carpaccio and  ,gentile    
,bellini before us we may do more than  
conjecture what manner  of men they were
 who filled the foreground of           
contemporary ,venice4  ,we have not     
masses or dispositions of colour merely3
 we seem to move  through a crowd of    
living beings or a gallery of portraits4
 ,no one  could paint loungers as       
,carpaccio paints them2 there is no     
monotony  in their inaction2 the faces  
are as various as the men--wonderful    

faces1 some coarse1 some refined1 but   
almost all with that indefinable        
quality of pathos in their strength     
which is one of the essentials  of      
beauty4 ,there are perhaps comparatively
 few among them that would  satisfy a   
conventional canon of beauty3 their     
fascination lies in the  rich           
combination of whimsical humour and     
strength1 melancholy and wit2  so       
eloquent are they1 so quick with        
intelligence that we are little         
disposed to question their material     
perfection or imperfection4 ,these      
citizens of ,gentile ,bellini1 ,mansueti
 and above all ,carpaccio--since in  him
 are realised a far greater variety of  
types--impress us profoundly  as men of 
calm and steady purpose1 who have lived1
 felt and prevailed4  ,they are men of  
action1 yet they are dreamers4 ,and this
 was not from  incapacity in ,carpaccio 
to express vivid motions in feature or  
form4  ,when he is more freely          
composing1 as in the ,death of ,st4     

,ursula1 it  would be hard to rival the 
brilliance and vivacity with which he   
has  treated the turmoil of the         
one-sided fray4 ,but these              
citizens--whether  of ,venice or of     
,ursula's court is immaterial--seem to  
be governed by  some internal harmony2  
there is a rhythm in their motions and  
in their  standing still1 which reflects
 the spirit of their time4 ,we have only
  to compare them with the characters in
 ,longhi's eighteenth-century  interiors
 to understand that a great change has  
taken place4 ,imagine  ,carpaccio and   
,bellini set to paint as primary        
interests the choosing of  a dress1 the 
stopping of a tooth1 the guessing of a  
riddle1 a dancing  lesson1 a toilette4  
,these things were part of life1 and    
superbly they  would have done it2 they 
painted lesser acts than these in the   
corner  of their pictures1 for every    
detail of the city life so jealously    
guarded by its rulers was precious to   
them4 ,but the difference lies in  the  

centre of interest4 ,in the eighteenth  
century1 the detail1 the side  light1   
the accessory of life has swelled into  
the principal subject1  and the faces of
 the actors are vacant as never in      
,carpaccio4 ,it is not  so much that    
they are less beautiful1 that they are  
often witless2 but  they are lacking in 
purpose1 in subordination to a common   
control4 ,the  pulse of a great civic   
life no longer beats in them4    ,we    
have considered hitherto the manner in  
which ,venice used her elected  medium  
of expression1 how her painters had     
understood and interpreted  the life of 
the city4 ,we will turn now to ask what 
attitude towards the  facts of life is  
reflected in their canvases4 ,and here  
we will attempt  again to illustrate1 by
 certain examples1 what aspects of life 
found  most ready acceptance by the     
,venetian artists of the ,renaissance4  
,we  may venture to seek an illustration
 of two of its broader aspects--one     
foreign1 the other native to the mind of

 ,venice as reflected in her  life and  
in her art--in two sculptured figures by
 ,antonio ,rizzo in the  courtyard of   
the ,ducal ,palace4 ,these two figures1 
of ,adam and ,mars1  are most original  
in conception4 ,adam holds the apple in 
his hand2 it  seems that he has just    
partaken of it and that1 partaking1 he  
has been  initiated into a new vision4  
,his beautiful clear-cut face is        
upturned2  his lips are open2 his hand  
seems to hold in the tumult of his      
heart4  ,there is as yet no shame1 no   
contrition1 no sense of sin in ,adam's  
look1 nor in his attitude1 but the      
immense wonder of a new experience  with
 its yet undetermined import2 and       
through the ecstasy of his  vision there
 breaks that strange pain of the mortal 
man whose body can  scarcely support its
 spiritual burden4 ,it seems almost as  
if ,adam were  receiving now that vision
 of the ages at whose threshold he      
stood2 he  has opened a door which can  
never again be shut2 he has let in a    

flood  which is beyond his control1 and 
he is rapt in the contemplation4 ,the   
other figure who fills with ,adam a     
niche in the ,arco ,foscari is ,mars1   
the god of war4 ,his body is grandly    
moulded1 stalwart and disciplined  and  
ready for action2 but there are no      
tempests in his look2 there  is no      
herculean development of muscle nor     
trampling vehemence as in  the fresco of
 ,veronese4 ,rizzo's war-god is young1  
full of grace and  beauty1 with the     
dream also of a poet on his sensuous    
lips4 ,he is  majestic2 his face is     
grave and thoughtful1 with a strange    
sadness in  its vigilant wisdom4 ,he and
 ,adam seem to strike together the      
accord of  the ,renaissance1 the union  
of a great expectancy1 an uncomprehended
  newness1 with controlled and ordered  
purpose and the conviction of  conquest4
 ,it is the latter aspect which seems to
 find reflection in the  mind of ,venice
 not the mystic promise1 the troubled   
vision1 which the  ,renaissance held for

 some of those on whom its influence    
fell4 ,in the  ,venetians of the first  
,renaissance there is always the note of
 calm and  assured knowledge2 we may    
find it again and again in their        
artistic  annals4 ,in the ,casa         
,civran--the so-called ,casa dell'      
,otello beside the  ,campo dei          
,carmini--we again recognise ,rizzo's   
hand in one of the most  lovely and     
characteristic figures of the first     
,renaissance1 which has  fortunately    
survived the various restorations and   
spoliations of the  house and stands    
still intact in its lonely niche on the 
plastered  wall4 ,it is impossible to   
convey in words the vivacity1 the       
nobility  and grace of this young       
warrior3 the proud and magnificent      
control  governing each motion of his   
spirited form1 the rhythm in response   
to which each member of him moves1 so   
that the effect on us is indeed  that of
 a song1 a victorious1 joyful melody4   
,again and again we may  meet them1     

,mars and his young disciple1 and others
 of their kin1 in  ,carpaccio's crowds4 
,the young ,civran warrior might have   
stept on to his  niche from the ,death  
of ,st4 ,ursula2 moreover1 the life that
 thrills  in him is felt not in single  
figures only1 but in the entire         
conception  of series after series of   
,carpaccio1 in ,bellini's ,procession of
 the  ,cross1 in ,tintoretto's ,st4     
,ursula and the ,virgins in the ,church 
of  the ,mendicanti4    ,it was thus the
 ,venetians confronted life4 ,in        
portrait1 allegory  or story1 realised  
in varying degrees of navety1 splendour 
and  refinement1 with more or less      
penetration and psychological insight1  
we  find the same balance and control--a
 unique harmony of strength1 grace  and 
serenity4 ,and if we turn to the        
religious art of ,venice we shall be    
struck by a lack of anything like mystic
 rapture or absorption in the           
sufferings of ,christ4 ,we have but two 
examples in ,venice of ,bellini's       

portrayal of the facts of ,christ's     
mature life1 but he has treated the     
theme of the ,madonna and ,child with a 
unique profundity4 ,the mystery of  life
 seems to be shadowed in the face of his
 ,madonnas2 his saints and  apostles1 so
 striking in their individuality1 so    
virile in their piety1  have a          
significance beyond their perfect act of
 worship4 ,no ,venetian  religious      
painter before ,tintoretto equalled     
,bellini in solemnity and  depth of     
conception2 but in all we find the same 
pervading calm1 the  same absence of    
tumult or the disturbing element of pain
 or agony4  ,we will choose an example  
from ,basaiti--the most perfect1        
perhaps1  of all his works--in          
illustration of what seems to us a      
prevailing  characteristic of the       
,venetian mind both for strength and    
weakness--his  ,gesu morto con due      
,angeli4 ,it is striking in its         
originality of  conception and full of  
noble and tender sentiment4 ,there are  

no weeping  women1 no agonised apostles 
round the body of ,jesus2 only the very 
young keep watch beside him1 two winged 
infants1 at his head and at  his feet4  
,they have found him here1 this young   
dead god1 laid out as  if asleep upon   
the flat stone by the rock--no blasted  
rock1 its crags  are covered with living
 shrubs and plants4 ,and he is in the   
light3  there is no ghostly pallor in   
his face upturned to the sky1 upon his  
long1 dark hair2 so beautiful a brow1   
such tender cheeks1 so strong  and brave
 a neck they have never seen4 ,and he is
 so still1 he lies  without fear1 not   
heeding them4 ,they must not wake him   
from his sleep4  ,the infant at his     
head1 whose exquisitely moulded face is 
full of  that strangely pathetic1       
antique wisdom of the very young1       
half-elfish1  half-infantile1 feels the 
burden of his sagacity upon him4 ,why   
had  that brow a crown of thorns instead
 of flowers about it8 ,this youth  to   
whom they will now bear company had not 

chosen well his pillow or  his          
crown--though he is so beautiful he was 
not wise enough to know  that thorns are
 not for those who would be at rest4 ,in
 the picture the  wise infant has taken 
off the prickly crown that it may not   
pierce and  rend the dream that holds   
the sleeper there so long2 he is full of
 the  knowledge of his triumph1         
half-fearful lest it should not be      
complete4  ,the crown of thorns hangs on
 his own left arm1 which he raises half 
in  warning1 half in wonder1 feeling as 
his elbow bends the thorns upwards  on  
his arm from what pain he has saved that
 beautiful but foolish  youth4 ,and with
 his right hand he fondles the hair of  
,jesus1 drawing  it a little back from  
his forehead to be sure that in his     
stealthy  theft he has not left some    
scratch1 some mark of pain4 ,but there  
are  no traces of the crown in any sign 
of pain1 only a faint1 faint band       
beneath the hair he has drawn back--a   
shadow1 as it were1 of ,christ's        

regality4 ,he saved others1 ,himself ,he
 cannot save4 ,now with this  little    
,saviour1 this guardian of his pillow1  
he can at last sleep  in peace4 ,the    
infant at the feet is more babylike1    
less wise1 more  gleefully wondering4   
,he has found no thorns on that         
beautiful1 still  body1 but he has found
 another wonder at the feet4 ,the toes  
of one he  holds in his tiny hand1      
stroking it in his delight3 he has      
found1 it  seems1 a little hole upon the
 instep bone that the feet of humans are
  not wont to wear1 and he points in    
musing1 half-delighted wonder to the    
other foot1 where he spies the same     
strange mark4 ,it is a game to this     
curly headed cherub4 ,he has not yet    
dreamed of contact with something       
beyond the reach of his baby wisdom4    
,there is not yet in his chubby  face   
that look which has stolen into the face
 of his brother and which  now seems to 
put a world between them1 a look that   
amid all its elfish  aloofness is akin  

to the solicitude of human love4 ,what  
dream was this  of ,basaiti--the figure 
of this young ,god of ,light--perfect in
 form1  luminous and strong1 unspoiled  
and untroubled in his sleep of death8   
,his eyes if they were open would be    
fountains fed from the beauty of  the   
world1 but he has borne no burden of    
humanity4 ,there is power to  suffer in 
that strong and beautiful young face1   
but it is not the power  of the ,man of 
,sorrows4 ,this is not ,jesus who       
agonised in the garden1  or who wrote   
upon the ground2 it is not the man from 
whom ,pilate  turned away his face4     
,illustration3 ,,bronze ,,well-,,head   
,,by ,,alberghetti1 ,,courtyard ,,of    
,,palazzo  ,,ducale4    ,there is one   
only--the last and greatest of the      
,venetians of the  ,renaissance--who    
could sound all notes of tragedy and    
pathos as well as  notes of joy4        
,tintoretto1 the supreme ,venetian1 the 
greatest exponent  of the essential     
spirit of ,venice1 is the son of a wider

 kingdom  than hers and of a greater age
 than the ,renaissance4 ,unsurpassed as 
designer and colourist1 he is endowed   
throughout with the peculiar  gifts of  
,venice2 but during those years of      
passionate study1 in which  he was      
winning here and there the secrets of   
his art1 hungry for  knowledge1 careless
 of gain1 and bargaining only for       
material in which  to realise his       
conceptions--during those years in which
 he lived alone  in continual meditation
 on some fresh labour1 he was probing   
the deep  and passionate things of      
humanity as no ,venetian artist had ever
 probed  them before4 ,the streets and  
churches of the city seem to echo still 
to  the steps of this genius at once so 
robust1 so tender1 so profound and  so  
joyous4 ,ridolfi laments the lavishness 
of his production1 arguing  that        
restraint of his overflowing fantasy    
would have strengthened his             
conceptions4 ,but ,tintoretto had to    
work in his own way2 the instinct  that 

flowered in the ,scuola di ,san ,rocco1 
the ,bacchus and ,ariadne  and the      
,paradiso1 might be trusted to choose   
the manner of its  relaxation as well as
 of its labour4 ,no painter1 perhaps1   
has so  wonderfully combined the        
dramatist and lyrist2 for ,tintoretto   
with all  his vast imaginative strength 
had power also over the tenderest       
springs  of melody4 ,there is hardly a  
picture of his in which some exquisite  
face of youth or woman will not strike a
 note of tenderness1 and we  need only  
call to mind the ,visitation in the     
,scuola di ,san ,rocco1  to know what   
,tintoretto's tenderness could be4 ,he  
had that power1 the  gift only of the   
greatest1 so intensely to imagine his   
central theme  that the most perfectly  
executed and conspicuous detail does not
 divert  us into lesser issues4 ,it is  
exactly here that his distinguishing    
greatness reveals itself ,he is         
completely sincere4 ,his vision is too  
comprehensive to overlook what really   

filled the foreground2 his skill  of    
hand too great to allow its inclusion to
 be other than an element in  the       
realisation of his central theme2 his   
concentration too intense to  make him  
fear lest an accessory should become a  
primary interest4 ,we  may pause for a  
moment in consideration of his greatest 
tragic triumph1  the ,crucifixion1 in   
the ,scuola di ,san ,rocco4 ,the theme  
is immense1  and1 like the ,death of    
,abel1 it is treated in a great         
elemental  spirit4 ,amid all the throes 
of nature and the sufferings of the ,son
 of  ,man1 the world goes on its way4   
,the ghostly figure of the ,arab on his 
camel1 and the caravan winding down from
 the city to depart into the  desert1   
the two splendid knights who gaze       
without pity or understanding  on this  
spectacle of the death of slaves1 the   
man who leans from his  donkey behind   
the ,cross of ,christ1 all are as       
prominent to their little  circle as    
they would be in life2 and they have    

just that prominence for  us--the       
immediate participators in the          
tragedy--that they would have  in life4 
,as always in ,tintoretto1 the horizon  
is vast4 ,wide ranges of  blue1         
undulating country extend to the        
mountains1 above which breaks  his      
peculiar1 tender1 yellow light of dawn2 
he has made them recede  into unimagined
 distance by setting across the         
mountains and the light  the raised arm 
of a mounted figure4 ,there is a great  
calm in this  horizon1 while in the     
middle distance above the ,arab the wind
 has set  the leaves quivering on a tree
 whose thin and twisted branches sway   
wildly against the blackness of the     
storm4 ,the most impressive light  for  
this picture is obtained when the       
setting sun illuminates the  marvellous 
group of mourners at the foot of the    
,cross1 so that they  stand out in      
startling brightness against the        
heightened depths of  the vast          
background1 while ,christ hangs above   

them dark within the  darkness4         
,illustration3 ,,evening ,,in ,,the     
,,piazzetta4    ,the ,scuola di ,san    
,rocco is the supreme monument to       
,tintoretto's poetic1  as to his plastic
 genius4 ,if we are justified in feeling
 that his  understanding of the life of 
,christ may be a true touchstone of a   
man's philosophy1 it will become a      
matter of first interest to us to  know 
how so profound a thinker as ,tintoretto
 approached the subject4  ,there is no  
lack here indeed of tragic depth4 ,the  
,temptation of  ,christ is sufficient   
alone to vindicate ,tintoretto as gifted
 with  understanding above his fellows4 
,another might have compassed the       
tumultuous1 beautiful earth-spirit1 with
 muscular1 proud1 uplifted  arms1 and   
face burning with desire2 but who else  
could have added that  touch of         
impotence to his restless1 aspiring     
gesture1 or have dreamed  the tenderness
 in the lovely1 sorrowful face of       
,christ that looks  down on this radiant

 creature of desire1 entirely without   
judgment or  stern denial1 but as if too
 remote from the appeal to make reply8  
,the  exceeding pathos of this picture  
would have been missed if ,lucifer1  the
 brightest of the spirits that fell1    
were a whit less radiant2  if ,christ's 
face had one shade less of compassion in
 its wondering  aloofness4 ,and for our 
last example we may choose a picture in 
which  the strength of ,tintoretto is   
realised in quietness so complete  that 
a hush seems to lie about it4 ,no       
painting of his is greater in           
conception than that of ,christ before  
,pilate4 ,the moment he has  chosen is  
that in which ,pilate performs his vain 
ablution before the  multitude who      
lightly accept the guilt he attempts to 
transfer1 in  the awful cry1 8,his blood
 be on us and on our children40         
,tintoretto  has set ,pilate's face in  
shadow3 a single ray falls across the   
pillar  behind his head4 ,he looks away 
from ,christ but not towards the crowd3 

he has spoken3 he would fain make an end
 of this drama4 ,it is the  fine1       
thoughtful1 astute face of a ,venetian  
councillor that ,tintoretto  has        
depicted4 ,christ stands before him in  
the full light--removed  only by a      
single step--a motionless white figure  
above the restless  crowd1 complete in  
control1 gathered into himself and      
folded in a  great silence and calm2 yet
 not now more alone than when the crowds
  cried after him day and night for a   
sign4 ,his head is bowed upon his       
breast3 his closely folded robe follows 
the slight curve of his body3  his bound
 hands lie nerveless in their cords3 yet
 beside the strength  of this bound     
prisoner the animation of the foreground
 figure who  grips the cord is impotence
 indeed4 ,most wonderful of all perhaps 
is  the contrast of a busy scribe at his
 table below the judgment-seat1  pausing
 with suspended pen for the words that  
shall convict1 with  the majestic1      
motionless figure of ,christ4 ,we seem  

to hear the words  proceeding from those
 closed lips3 he would utter them so1   
not moving4  ,it is less the originality
 of this picture that impresses us than 
its profound directness and truth1      
comparable only to the story it         
illustrates4 ,in understanding none has 
surpassed the conception of  that       
single1 solitary figure1 face to face   
with the vast fabric of  the            
judgment-hall1 weighted with its burden 
of custom and tradition2  none has more 
profoundly imagined the tragic triumph  
in that entire  loneliness of the great 
and good before the tribunal of man4    
,chapter ,eleven    ,,the ,,soul ,,that 
,,endures      ,on an evening of late   
,september ,venice revealed herself to  
one of  her lovers amidst a spectacle   
beyond any range of dreams4 ,evening    
was closing in upon the city with cloud 
and breeze4 ,in the church of  ,san     
,giorgio ,maggiore the ,tintorettos     
gleamed dimly from the walls2  daylight 
was gone4 ,but in the tower high        

overhead1 clear of the shadows  of      
confining buildings1 the day had still a
 course to run4 ,the tide  was low1 and 
land and water stretched out in         
interchanging coils of  olive and azure 
beneath a purple storm-cloud1 whilst    
ever against the  bar of the ,lido      
rolled the sea1 dyed with that celestial
 blue that  sometimes steals from the   
,adriatic into the basin of ,san ,marco 
to  prostrate itself at the conquering  
,lion's feet4 ,and there lay ,venice1   
her form outlined against a flood of    
pearl1 the water bending in a  tender1  
luminous bow behind her towers4 ,far    
away1 across the mysterious  expanse of 
low lagoon1 ,torcello and ,burano       
gleamed out in startling  pallor against
 the storm1 amid a wild confusion of    
dark earth and  glittering water4 ,the  
,northern ,alps were hidden in darkness 
at the  horizon1 but westward across the
 mainland the clear1 sharp peaks of  the
 ,euganean hills rose up behind the     
city's pearly halo1 behind the  deep    

blue of the surging lowlands1 in almost 
unearthly outline against  the sunset   
sky4 ,in front of them a livid fire     
rolled sullenly along  the valley1      
sending up purple smoke into the cloud4 
,the storm genie1  summoned by nether   
powers1 was descending to his fearful   
tryst behind  the ,euganeans1 but1 as he
 sank1 he bent his face upon the pale   
form  of ,venice1 his enchantress1 and  
the fire of his wonder and of his       
adoration kindled in all her slumbering 
limbs a glow of responsive  life4 ,a    
flood of crimson suffused the pallor of 
her pearly diadem1 and  her maidens1    
sleeping grey among the waters round    
her1 unfolded rosy  petals upon the     
surface of the lagoon4    ,it is this   
power of living communion with the daily
 pageant in which  sun and moon are doge
 and emperor1 and the stars and the     
clouds their  retinue--this it is which1
 finding expression once at ,venice in a
  temporal glory that has passed away1  
is the abiding assurance of her         

immortality4 ,this is the spirit which1 
if once it helped to make her  great1   
still makes her great to-day1 the spirit
 that endures4 ,for  ,venice is not a   
dead body3 she is a living soul4        
,overflowing all  moulds in which we may
 think to contain her1 she reveals      
herself  continually in new mystery1 new
 wonder4 ,we spoke of ,venice as being  
paved with sky1 and every day there is  
cast upon her pavement a  fresh         
revelation of changefulness and beauty4 
,a thousand forms and  patterns move in 
procession over the water1 passing each 
instant  into something 8rich and       
strange10 a fleeting succession of      
aerial  designs drawn with tremulous    
pencil in colours which never lived  on 
the palette of a mortal artist4 ,there  
is a body of truth at the  root of the  
old fancy which gifted water-maidens    
with subtler1 more  perilously powerful 
allurements than their sisters of the   
land4 ,their  element is mutability1 but
 they are not soulless1 as men have     

said3 it  is only that their soul is as 
the soul of water--luminous1 flowing1   
mutable1 reflective1 musical1 profound3 
for1 though they are mutable1  they are 
not shallow2 it is a part of their being
 that they should  be susceptible of    
change4 ,they cannot tire their victims1
 they whose  beauty is continually      
renewed2 and yet it may be that men do  
well to  fear them1 for they have secret
 communings with things men do not dream
  of4 ,venice has held men1 she holds   
them still1 with the fascination  of a  
water spirit2 they yield to her1 they   
grasp her1 but she is  still before     
them1 never mastered1 never fully known4
 ,let those for  whom conquest is the   
ideal in love beware of ,venice the     
incomparable1  the uncompassable3 they  
who would win her must have power to    
worship  what they cannot comprehend1   
they must desire to leave her spirit    
free4 ,then she will unfold her heart to
 them1 she will give herself  in a      
moment when the pursuit is still4 ,and  

to those who can receive  the gift1 she 
will give herself again and yet again2  
only they must  come freshly expectant  
of each fresh revelation1 not clinging  
to past  impressions1 not claiming a    
memory to be revived4 ,for each renewal 
is  a transformation1 and we must bring 
new senses to receive it1 senses  alive 
and fresh as earth each morning to the  
touch of the old sun ever  new4         
,venice1 when she was most glorious1 did
 but catch and imprison in her  stones  
those matchless harmonies of fleeting   
colour which the sun still  lavishes    
upon her waters4 ,and there is a season 
of the year which1  with sun and mist   
co-operating1 hangs once again her pale 
walls with  their ancient splendour1 and
 plays a noble part in the revival of   
the past4 ,with the first days of autumn
 the scirocco begins to wind  about the 
heart of her plants and creepers1 and to
 steal into their  veins4 ,swiftly they 
yield to the intoxication4 ,under the   
folds of the  grey mist-mantle1 they    

drink draught after draught of her brave
 wine4  ,but another touch is needed to 
draw out the virtues of that liquor3    
after ,circe1 ,apollo4 ,he bends his    
look upon them1 and they yield  their   
stores1 decking once more the walls of  
,venice with frescoes of  scarlet1 green
 and gold1 paving once more her         
waterways with their  old-accustomed    
pomp4 ,in the ,sacca della ,misericordia
 this natural  fresco has a peculiarly  
beautiful effect2 for upon the spaces of
 water  between the rafts that float    
there1 the rich creepers1 interwoven    
among  the trees of the garden of the   
,spiriti1 fling an enchanted carpet  of 
chequered crimson and green upon a pale 
rose ground1 covering  the whole        
expanse1 save for one space whereon is  
set the pale blue  watermark of the sky4
 ,one may make rare studies here of the 
carpets  and bright mats that are to be 
seen hung out in the pictures of the    
old ,venetian masters4 ,they did not    
copy from the ,east alone1 or rather    

they copied from a greater ,east1 whose 
treasures travel through a  rarer       
element than water day after day to the 
shores of the western  world4 ,the      
complete stillness of the pools in the  
,sacca1 undisturbed  by any passing     
steamboat1 and even unruffled by the    
motion of a  gondola1 through the       
protection of the intervening rafts1    
gives the  rich pattern a durability    
unattainable in the waters of the       
canals4  ,there is only1 as it were1 a  
faint breathing of the surface1 enough  
to  give perpetual interchange and      
commerce among the bold brush-strokes   
of colour--incessant1 subtle weaving of 
new harmonies upon the  ground-bass--the
 shadows deepening or relaxing1 when    
sometimes an  insect dips or a fish     
rises and starts a fairy circle at a    
touch that  spreads among the colours   
until its delicate life is lost4        
,illustration3 ,a ,,palace ,,door4      
,and if at times we may thus see the    
past in the present1 at other  times we 

may dream the present back into the     
past4 ,night1 the worker  of so many    
miracles1 holds a key with which we may 
unlock in ,venice  the secret of bygone 
times4 ,there are hours on the lagoons  
when even  in daylight the forgotten    
ages live again and we may keep company 
with whom we will1 but in the heart of  
the city it is by night that  we may lay
 hand on the pulse of her ancient life1 
and feel it warm  to our touch1 beating 
slow but constant behind the commotion1 
often  the desecration1 of later times4 
,the flow of the ,grand ,canal is less  
troubled than by day3 it has intervals  
of peace in which it may sink  into the 
broad1 dark calm of ,carpaccio's waters4
 ,palace after palace1  in fearless and 
unstudied alternations of ,byzantine1   
,gothic1 ,ogival1  ,renaissance1        
,barocco1 tower above us1 their pillars 
and balconies  gleaming in faint light  
of moon or lamp3 we seem almost to trace
 upon  their surface the forms of men   
and beasts1 and to clothe them once more

  in the gold and colour which ,venice  
learned of her lagoons4 ,by day we      
feast upon the tints still left to fall 
upon the waters1 we praise  the aged    
snow of crumbling stone or the shades of
 twisted columns1  or the rich profusion
 of the pale ,c d',oro4 ,but what do we 
know of  ,venice when she shone upon the
 waters in true regality1 a monument of 
all the glory that the heart or eye of  
man could conceive8 ,no one has  left us
 any detailed record of the frescoed    
faades of the ,venetian  palaces1       
whether on the ,grand ,canal or in the  
remoter waterways2  only here and there 
we catch a glimpse of them on the       
canvases of  contemporary painters4 ,it 
is provokingly general among the        
travellers  or native-lovers of ,venice1
 who set themselves to praise her in    
words1  to find that they have chosen a 
medium incapable of achieving what  it  
was asked to do1 and to throw down their
 weapon in the moment of  trial1 struck 
dumb by the immense wonder of their     

theme4 ,they cease  from their task     
before1 it seems to us1 they have well  
begun it1 always  anticipating the      
stinging tongue of the dragon1          
,incredulity4 ,we could  well forgive   
them their inadequacy1 so frankly       
recognised1 had they  but attempted a   
mere catalogue of some of the frescoes  
on the walls4  ,now1 it is at night     
alone that we can repeople them2 that1  
as we pass  along1 we can look up and   
read into the shadowy spaces those      
brilliant  chronicles of beauty1 power  
and pride4 ,it is1 indeed1 a heavy fate 
that  awaits in ,venice the artist who  
must work in words2 colour and music    
can draw nearer1 can almost attain to   
the reality itself2 and yet by  words   
also there is something to be conveyed  
of her enduring beauty4  ,the fact which
 words can compass may be so told that  
there is born  from it a sentiment of   
that rich atmosphere which is beyond the
 reach  of words2 they may remind or may
 awaken wonder1 itself a new sense  with

 which to apprehend4 ,even words may    
tell of the water snake of  green and   
gold that writhes and gleams hour after 
hour in the faintly  stirred depths of  
the canal1 a creature that in the world 
above is a  dull grey upright pole2 or  
of golden treasures1 once the refuse of 
the  calli1 transformed to splendour as 
they float out over the lagoon2 or  of  
the sudden lapping of the water under   
the wind down the north lagoon  at      
midnight1 that breaks the smooth image  
of the moon into a thousand  ripples and
 passes in a wave that makes the dim    
lamps tremble into the  narrow waterways
 of the city4    ,but it is not only the
 waterways of ,venice that at night are 
eloquent  of the past1 that seem to take
 once more their ancient shape and      
venture near for colloquy3 the streets  
and squares and churches are  full of   
spirits1 not unkindly1 not afraid1 less 
silent and secretive  than in the busy  
day1 when they are lonely among a people
 careless of  them1 with other thoughts1

 other needs and other destinies4 ,many 
a  porch or gable or wide-projecting    
roof1 or sculpture of fantastic beast   
or nave saint or kneeling angel1 seems  
to step out and call upon us in  the    
night1 catching in us perhaps as we pass
 by some touch of sympathy  with the    
enduring soul of the past4 ,one must be 
late indeed in ,venice  to secure       
untroubled peace4 ,ever and again1 even 
after midnight1 the  silence of the     
great white campos is broken by a group 
scattered here  and there before the    
door of a caf2 voices in eager talk will
 echo  under a low portico1 a sleepy    
child will clatter by in wooden pattens4
  ,but in the low-beamed1 dimly lighted 
courts1 or on the dark steps at  the    
water-side1 under some deserted         
sotto-portico1 the sounds of the        
present strike across us like distant   
voices in a dream4 ,the one night  that 
lies over all the ages draws our spirit 
into harmony with these  stones and     
lapping waters1 that have stood through 

change and stress of  time1 that have   
outlived solemnity and joyous festival  
and have passed  from gentle usage and  
glorious vesture into the custody of the
 poorest1  into neglect and decay4 ,what
 talk have not these courtyards         
overheard1  what rich vesture has not   
swept through them1 what noble thoughts 
and  high hopes have not confided in    
their silence8 ,and on the dirty steps  
where the children sit and play and     
throw their refuse into the water1  what
 carpets have not been spread1 what     
proud feet have not pressed to  pass    
into the gondola and join the triumphant
 processional of ,venice in  her prime8 
,but what of ancient ,venice8 ,we       
sometimes despair of re-creating her4   
,we ponder on ,rialto1 we watch her     
lights from the lagoons1 we go in  and  
out among her calli1 peering into door  
and courtyard1 climbing an  outer stair1
 penetrating the recesses of            
sotto-portico or cellar2 and  many      
records we find of the life which once  

she lived1 but all belong  to the       
,venice of that second age1 when she was
 already an established  city4 ,we      
cannot depopulate her and see again that
 company of islands  gathered together  
in the lagoon1 of various shapes and    
sizes1 some  covered with wood and      
undergrowth1 others rising with bare    
backs from  the water1 with large and   
lonely outposts lying at greater        
distance  here and there4 ,yet now and  
again come days when the spirit even of 
this remoter period returns to its      
well-nigh forgotten grave1 the days     
when ,venice lies under the rule of the 
rain-clouds4 ,the inner waterways  of   
the city lie dead like opaque marble    
under the dancing drops2 but  down the  
ways that lead from the lagoons the wind
 pours strong and  restless from the    
sea1 beating the water against the walls
 and into  the damp vaults1 a challenge 
from the sea to the city1 from the sea  
unbridled and insurgent--yet not        
insurgent1 for it has never submitted   

to her sway4 ,within ,venice1 along the 
slippery streets1 there is gloom  and   
desolation2 the sun is the only visitor 
to whom her heart stands  ever open2 she
 would shut her gates if she could to   
these wild beings  of cloud and wind1   
these houseless1 grey pilgrims that1 at 
no bidding  of hers1 come and claim     
lodging with her as they take their     
nomad way4  ,i know not what of the old1
 wild fisher heart comes to visit       
,venice in  these days2 phantoms of old 
time are borne in on the gusty winds    
from  the sea and the lagoon1 and the   
commanding voice of the sea wind they   
must have known so well seems to clothe 
them with substantial life4  ,into the  
mist vanishes the frescoed ,venice of   
high pomp and festival1  the ,venice of 
regal ,bucintoro and banqueting of      
kings1 of brilliant  policy and stem    
civic control4 ,a still deeper oblivion 
receives the  ,venice of small joys and 
small sorrows1 of ,longhi and ,goldoni2 
and the  excitement of the formless past

 creeps into us1 when yet the future was
  to make--the hard life of the first   
dwellers upon the islands1 acute  and   
mobile in their hourly traffic with wind
 and sea4    ,illustration3 ,,zattere4  
,there is a corner of ,venice little    
known to the stranger1 or even  to      
,venetians themselves1 except as a      
passage to the cemetery of ,san         
,michele1 but not less loved on that    
account by those who are happy  enough  
to have their lot cast there4 ,the      
breezes blow with a freshness  that is  
rare in the more confined spaces of the 
city or on the ,grand  ,canal2 the tide 
sets into the ,sacca della ,misericordia
 full and fresh  from the northern      
lagoon1 still beating with the pulse of 
the open sea4  ,this favoured1 this     
unique corner of ,venice is a large     
square basin of  water1 open on one side
 to the lagoon4 ,venice1 at one time1   
could boast  of many such1 but one by   
one they have been filled in with earth1
 and  in the sixteenth century1 when the

 neighbouring ,fondamente ,nuove were   
built1 the ,sacca della ,misericordia   
itself narrowly escaped inclusion  in   
the paved parade that was to unite the  
whole of ,north ,venice from  ,santa    
,giustina to ,sant' ,alvise4 ,the fiat  
had gone forth1 but happily it  remains 
as yet unfulfilled1 and the ,sacca is   
still a harbour for the  zattere1 the   
timber rafts that are brought down from 
the mountains1  and set here to season  
awhile1 in sight of their old home1 till
 at  last they are borne away to do     
service in the works of man4 ,a tiny hut
  of planks without a door is set up    
here and there upon the rafts1 and  a   
couple of dogs are continually upon the 
prowl4 ,something in this  woodyard1 the
 building of the rafts1 the lapping of  
the inflowing  tide against them1 its   
waves twisted in some angle into a      
petulant  restlessness1 seems to carry  
us back to the primeval days before the 
historic settlement of the fugitives    
from the great mainland cities1  back to

 the manners of the humble fishermen who
 lived a hard and frugal  life among the
 low islands of the ,adriatic1 in       
constant commerce with  their patron the
 sea1 in constant vigilance against his 
aggression4    ,the night-lapping of the
 waves against the ,sacca della         
,misericordia  calls to mind the two    
toiling fishermen of ,theocritus1 whose 
life must  have been strangely like that
 of the first dwellers on the ,rivo     
,alto4  ,let us quote from ,mr4 ,andrew 
,lang's translation4 8,two fishers on a 
time together lay and slept3 they had   
strown the dry sea-moss for a  bed in   
their wattled cabin1 and there they lay 
against the leafy wall4  ,beside them   
were strewn the instruments of their    
toilsome hands1 the  fishing-creels1 the
 rods of reed1 the hooks1 the sails     
bedraggled with  sea-spoil1 the lines1  
the weels1 the lobster-pots woven of    
rushes1 the  seines1 two oars and an old
 coble upon props4 ,beneath their heads 
was  a scanty matting1 their clothes1   

their sailor's caps4 ,here was all      
their toil1 here all their wealth4 ,the 
threshold had never a door1 nor  a      
watch-dog3 all things1 all to them      
seemed superfluity1 for ,poverty  was   
their sentinel4 ,they had no neighbour  
by them1 but ever against  their narrow 
cabin gently floated up the sea40 ,this 
is a page for the  history of ,venice in
 her infancy1 or rather for the history 
of that  earlier time when ,venice was  
as yet unborn4 ,out among the islands   
of the lagoon1 which on a calm1 vague   
day of summer seem to hover  in the     
atmosphere upon a silver haze1 among    
those luminous paths of  chrysophrase   
and porphyry1 mother-of-pearl and opal1 
we shall still  find some footsteps of  
these first ,venetians unerased by tract
 of time4    ,perhaps it is at ,sant'   
,erasmo that the print is clearest2     
there are few  materials that we cannot 
find here for reconstruction of the     
primeval  settlement4 ,there are the    
rush-roofed shelters of the boats and   

the  rude landing-stages2 there are the 
low1 white capane roofed with  thatch or
 tiles1 the long1 narrow1 stagnant      
waterways1 the high1 grassy  levels     
bordering the water2 there are fields of
 reeds1 and thickets or  fringes of     
rustling poplars2 there are valli where 
the fish stir and  leap and gleam       
continuously1 breaking the smooth water 
into a thousand  ripples2 there is the  
broad1 central waterway1 and countless  
lesser  channels and pools among the    
reeds1 where one may see a boat slowly  
winding1 guided perhaps by children1    
their little figures standing  out      
against the desolate landscape1 the     
silence broken by no voice  but theirs4 
,thus must ,venice have been in her     
infancy4 ,and if from  among these      
lonely waterways and grassy flats of    
,sant' ,erasmo we look  forward into the
 future1 we can anticipate the gradual  
evolution of a  city such as ,venice was
 afterwards to be4 ,the building of the 
first  mud-huts2 the driving of the     

first close-set clumps of piles to      
support  more solid structures2 the     
filling of marsh-pools and strengthening
 of  foundations2 the light wooden      
bridges thrust across the water1 as one 
may see them on the ,lido to-day2 the   
transition from houses of wood  to      
houses of brick and stone1 from thatch  
to tiles2 the building of  churches on  
the higher ground1 each with its plot of
 grass about it2  the paving of the most
 frequented ways1 the construction of   
wells and  chimneys1 of paved campo and 
fondamenta2 till we reach at last the   
city  of palaces1 of temples and of     
towers1 the city of sumptuous and varied
  colour1 the ,venezia nobilissima of   
,carpaccio and ,gentile ,bellini4       
,transcriber's ,notes      ,punctuation1
 hyphenation1 and spelling were made    
consistent when a  predominant          
preference was found in the original    
book2 otherwise they  were not changed4 
,simple typographical errors were       
corrected2 unbalanced quotation  marks  

were remedied when the change was       
obvious1 and otherwise left  unbalanced4
    ,illustrations in this e,book have  
been positioned between paragraphs  and 
outside quotations4 ,in versions of this
 e,book that support  hyperlinks1 the   
page references in the ,list of         
,illustrations lead to  the             
corresponding illustrations4