Venice

by Clara Erskine Clement Waters

Here too is the splendid statue of Verrochio's, of which Ruskin says, "I do not believe that there is a more glorious work of sculpture existing in the world than the equestrian statue of Bartolommeo Colleoni,"—which to me seems rather extreme praise.

The church, best known as San Zanipolo, is in the cheerful Italian Gothic, and with its broad arches and white windows does not at all suggest its grand sepulchral character. But it is crowded with monuments and tombs. Here many Doges were laid in state, and here their funeral services were held. While living they also came here on the 7th of October, in all their bravery and dignity, to celebrate the anniversary of the victory over the Turks in the Dardanelles. But now, these pageants being over, it is essentially a great tomb; and taken together with Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari, we have the double Mausoleum of Venice.

San Zanipolo was founded because of a dream which the Doge Giacomo Tiepolo dreamed in 1226. Were dreams of more consequence in those days, or are we less attentive to them? The Doge saw in his sleep the little chapel of the Dominicans surrounded with the most lovely red roses, so fragrant that all the air was sweet with their perfume; and in the midst of the roses white doves with gold crosses on their heads were flying all about. Then angels descended, bearing smoking golden censers, and they passed through the chapel, and out among the flowers, and the incense was like clouds, and a voice said, "This is the place I have chosen for my preachers."

Instantly the Doge awoke and went to the Senate to tell his dream; and at once a large plot of ground was added to the domain of the Dominicans, and after eight years the foundation of the church was laid under the supervision of the Doge and the Senators.

The two great pictures of this church—the "Death of Saint Peter Martyr" by Titian, and a beautiful work by Giovanni Bellini—were burned, and the remaining paintings are scarcely as interesting as are the monuments, some of which are very curious, and many of which perpetuate the names and deeds of the greatest men of the Republic. The most absurd, perhaps, is the monument to the two Doges Valier, and to the Dogaressa, the wife of the younger. The effect of the enormous curtain, perhaps seventy feet high, with ropes, fringes, and tassels galore, and sustained by cherubs, thus making a background for the effigies of the three figures, is something indescribable. Victory, Fame, the Virtues, Genii, a lion, and a dragon have all been made to contribute to the glory of this family; and the inscription tells us that this ugly Dogaressa, with her jewels, laces, furs, ruffs, and embroidery, was "Distinguished by Roman virtue, Venetian piety, and the Ducal Crown." One wonders what she could have asked for in her prayers. Having all this, what could be added unto her? Would beauty have been worth while?

The two Bellini and Palma Giovane are entombed at San Zanipolo, while the tombs of Titian and Canova are at the Frari, all of them being in most masterful company; but in the last-named church there exists a beautiful Madonna and Saints by Giovanni Bellini, and the splendid altarpiece by Titian called "La Pala dei Pesari." It is a Madonna with Saints and some of the Pesari family. It is the finest ex-voto picture in the world. It was ordered in 1519, and Titian was paid ninety-six ducats for it.

We have barely mentioned Tintoretto, his "Paradiso" and his "Miracle of Saint Mark." He is to many the most unusual man among the Venetian painters of his time, and to others an artist who was not surpassed. He seized and still holds his own domain in the Church of Santa Maria dell' Orto and the Scuola di San Rocco. "Boiling with thoughts," having means to live without earning, he but desired space and opportunity to paint; and these he secured when he offered to work without price for the fathers of the Orto.

The two enormous pictures of the "Last Judgment" and "The Israelites worshipping the Golden Calf" still remain to prove that he was no vain boaster when he proposed to satisfy himself and win a glorious fame; and these two great pictures finished, he proceeded, so to speak, to decorate the whole church.

It was not alone in the palaces and churches of Venice that the artists found opportunities for the indulgence of their imagination in depicting historical and ideal religious subjects. The Scuole, of which there were five, were associations of private individuals for benevolent purposes. They are remarkable monuments to the people, not to the government, and are all the more interesting because in this regard they are unique. They were largely endowed; and their edifices, built by voluntary gifts, are among the chief ornaments of Mediæval Venice. Among their objects were the provision of occupation for boys, and the gift of dowries to maidens, fifteen hundred of these being annually married by the aid of these confraternities.

Perhaps the Scuola di San Marco on the Campo of the same name, was as remarkable as any one of these institutions. For this brotherhood Tintoretto painted the "Miracle of Saint Mark," now in the Academy. No words can describe this picture, of which Taine says: "No painting, in my judgment, surpasses or perhaps equals his Saint Mark in the Academy; at all events, no painting has made an equal impression on my mind." And Blanc says: "Tintoretto has here employed all his knowledge, all his love. It is the work of a colorist, who could be made to pale by no other, even in Venice.... By this resplendent painting Tintoretto attained to the highest rank, and he could no longer be ignored in the decoration of the Ducal Palace."