If some imitator of Sanudo could have kept the annals of these four hundred years in this house, their interest and variety would have been fascinating. Palma Giovane painted a frieze there, representing the Triumph of Cæsar; and the furnishing and pictures have been very attractive, perhaps all the more so for the reason that there have usually been some paintings and artistic objects for sale.
The Palazzi Farsetti and Loredan, separated by the Traghetto di San Luca, are very interesting. The Loredan dates from the twelfth century, while the Farsetti is in the Byzantine-Lombard style of that period, its front having been made from the pillars and columns of an older edifice. These palaces are now used for municipal offices. In the Farsetti, Canova first studied his art, and on the staircase are some of his earlier works.
The Palazzo Loredan is one of the few really old edifices in the Byzantine-Gothic style. It is this architecture that gives the unusual, fairy-like, and mysterious impressions which all artists get from Venetian exteriors; and the central arcade of the Loredan is a precious example of it. Ruskin says: "Though not conspicuous, and often passed with neglect, it will be felt at last, by all who examine it carefully, to be the most beautiful palace in the whole extent of the Grand Canal." The arms of Peter V. Lusignan are above the entrance and windows. This king of Cyprus lived here early in the fourteenth century as the guest of Federigo Corner Piscopia; and here Elena Cornaro Piscopia was born.
If one really lives in Venice, and has leisure to seek for them, there are enchanting bits of architecture, sculpture, and painting which are quite unknown to the usual tourist. In Palazzo Contarini and Palazzo Bembo alla Celestia there are admirable staircases in the courtyards, and other details from the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. In Palazzo Sina (formerly Grassi), a modern edifice, there is a noble staircase, its walls being decorated with a representation of the Carnival of 1745. The portraits of the family are looking over the balustrades.
Behind the Church of San Gian Crisostomo, in the Corte del Millone, is the remnant of the Palazzo del Poli, the house in which Marco Polo first saw the light, in 1259, and where he died in 1323. It dates from the twelfth century, and in the little that remains of it one sees enough to admire to make it a matter of regret that so much is lost.
The little Marco was but a year old when his father, Niccolo, and his uncle Matteo started on their first great journey, which extended to the city of the powerful Kublai Khan. They returned, having seen many marvellous things, and again left Venice to repeat their travels, taking Marco with them when he was fifteen years old. All knowledge of them was lost for many years. The Casa Poli was filled with kinsmen who knew little of those who had gone away more than twenty years before, when suddenly, one evening in 1295, three strange figures appeared at the gate.
Dario Palace, on the Grand Canal.
They were in Tartar garb, their hair and beards were long, and their skins dark from exposure, while their curious speech was most un-Venetian. We are told that the doorway through which we pass to-day in the Corte della Sabbionera, with its Byzantine arch, and the cross above it, is the very same at which the travellers knocked. At first they were not believed to be the Poli; and a great excitement was aroused, not only in Palazzo Poli, but through all the neighboring quarter as well, and it seemed for a while very doubtful if they could ever come to their own again.