Venice

by Clara Erskine Clement Waters

But at last they hit upon a plan by which they could prove themselves to be the Poli by their peculiar conduct. They invited all their relatives to a magnificent banquet, and when the time arrived,—

"the three came out of their chamber dressed in long robes of crimson satin, according to the fashion of the time, which touched the ground. And when water had been offered for their hands, they placed their guests at table, and then taking off their satin robes put on rich damask of the same color, ordering in the mean while that the first should be divided among the servants. Then after eating something [no doubt, a first course], they rose from table and again changed their dress, putting on crimson velvet, and giving as before the damask robes to the servants; and at the end of the repast they did the same with the velvet, putting on garments of ordinary cloth such as their guests wore. The persons invited were struck dumb with astonishment at these proceedings. And when the servants had left the hall, Messer Marco, the youngest, rising from the table, went into his chamber and brought out the three coarse cloth surcoats in which they had come home. And immediately the three began with sharp knives to cut open the seams and tear off the lining, upon which there poured forth a great quantity of precious stones, rubies, sapphires, carbuncles, diamonds, and emeralds, which had been sewed into each coat with great care, so that nobody could have suspected that anything was there. For on parting with the Great Khan they had changed all the wealth he bestowed upon them into precious stones, knowing certainly that if they had done otherwise they never could by so long and difficult a road have brought their property home in safety. The exhibition of such an extraordinary and infinite treasure of jewels and precious stones, which covered the table, once more filled all present with such astonishment that they were dumb and almost beside themselves with surprise; and they at once recognized these honored and venerated gentlemen of the Ca' Polo, whom at first they had doubted, and received them with the greatest honor and reverence."

The news soon spread all over Venice, and the Poli were besieged with visitors. The eldest, Matteo, was created a magistrate, and Marco was put forward to tell the story of their wanderings in answer to the many questions which were asked of them; and as he constantly told of millions as the revenue of the Great Khan, and of millions on millions as the wealth of Cathay, he came to be called Marco Milione. This sounds like a derisive title, and doubtless was so at first; but it was a most reputable one later, especially after Marco Polo had contributed large sums towards fitting out a fleet to oppose the Genoese, and himself went to the war, the results of which, as concerned him, have already been related. There is a puzzle to me in the foregoing tale: Why did the possession of their treasures prove the three men to be the Poli?

It goes without saying that in historic interest all other Venetian palaces fade away when compared with the Palazzo Ducale, which, as we have seen, played its part in all affairs of importance in Venice, since it was not only the residence of the Doge, but the place in which the councils were held, and all momentous matters of the State decided. It was the scene alike of the gayest festivities and of the most heart-rending tragedies. The splendid ball might be at its merriest in one grand saloon at the moment when the Ten in their Sala were decreeing the death of one of the dancers, and another of their sentences was being executed at the prison near by, where "most nights arrived the prison boat, that boat with many oars, and bore away as to the Lower World."

This palace is to-day a great library and picture-gallery, in which the pictures that reproduce the great events in the history of the Republic are of a value that cannot be over-estimated. The masters here represented by religious and mythological subjects can be studied in other Italian and European galleries; but here, in the very halls where the wars, the embassies, and the pageants of Venice were decreed, they have been pictured upon the walls most fittingly, by the great masters of the flowering period of Venetian Art.

In the Sala della Bussola, where was the inner opening of the Lion's Mouth, into which the cowardly, secret denunciations to the Ten were dropped, are pictures of the "Surrender of Bergamo" and of Brescia to the Venetians. They are the work of Aliense (or Antonio) Vassilacchi, and like other pictures by him, in various portions of the palace, are affected, bizarre, and sometimes extravagant in their characteristics, but most interesting by reason of their subjects.

The Sala delle Quattro Porte is adorned by paintings of the "Capture of Verona," in 1439, by Giovanni Contarini, who may be described in a word as an expert imitator of Titian.

"The Arrival of Henry III. at Venice" is also of interest, although its painter, Andrea Vicentino, is an artist who merits attention and adverse criticism at the same time. This is his masterpiece. The Doge Mocenigo receives the King of France and Poland on a bridge which leads to Palladio's famous Triumphal Arch, erected in honor of this royal visitor. There are many portraits of famous men. Near the king on the right are the Cardinal San Sisto, Paolo Tiepolo, and Jacopo Foscarini, procurators of St. Mark, and other gentlemen, besides the pilot of the royal galley, Antonio Canale, whom the King of France embraced and knighted on this occasion.

"The Reception of the Persian Ambassadors by the Doge" is noteworthy, because it is the work of Carl (or Carletto) Cagliari, the son of Paul Veronese. His father, not wishing the son to be merely his own imitator, had placed him in the studio of Jacopo Bassano; and at one time the young man spent some months on his father's Trevisan estate, sketching from Nature, and introducing animals and shepherds into his landscapes.

He was but sixteen when his father died, and he lived but eight years after, having overworked, and dying from the consequent exhaustion. His pictures display a feeling for the picturesque, and some of his heads are admirable; but the inimitable grace, brilliancy, and gayety of his father are not his, while his composition is much colder.