requested and obtained permission to coin a medal or the value or a quarter or a ducat, equal to about four shillings or one dollar, and to call it ‘a Duck,’ ‘Osella,’ whereby it was signified that it took the place of the traditional bird. He engraved upon his medal figures of Peace and Justice, with the motto ‘Justitia et Pax osculatae sunt,’ ‘Justice and Peace have kissed one another,’ in recollection of the sentence he had undergone nineteen years previously as Admiral of the fleet defeated at Parenzo. In 1575 the Doge Luigi Mocenigo engraved upon his Osella the following inscription referring to the victory of Lepanto: ‘Magnae navalis victoriae Dei gratia contra Turcos’; the reverse bears the arms of the Mocenigo family, a rose with five petals. Later, in 1632, the Doge Francesco Erizzo was the first to replace his own effigy kneeling before Saint Mark by a lion. In 1688 Francesco Morosini coined an Osella bearing on the obverse a sword, with the motto ‘Non abstinet ictu,’ and on the reverse a hand bearing weapons, with the motto ‘Quem non exercuit arcus.’ In 1684 Marcantonio Giustiniani issued an Osella showing a winged lion rampant, bearing in the one paw a single palm, and in the other a bunch of palms, with the motto ‘Et solus et simul,’ meaning that Venice would be victorious either alone or joined with allies.
The successor of Antonio Grimani, Andrea Gritti, chose for his Osella to have himself represented as kneeling
Andrea Gritti, praying, Tintoretto; Sala del Collegio.
before Saint Mark; the reverse bore his name with the date.
But fresh trouble now arose. It came to pass that some nobles sold their medals or used them for money, and disputes even took place as to the true value of the ducal present. The Council of Ten was obliged to examine seriously into the affair. As it appeared certain that it would be impossible to avoid the use of medals as money, it was decided to replace them definitely by a coin having regular currency.
MOUTH OF THE GRAND CANAL
II
GLEANINGS FROM VENETIAN CRIMINAL HISTORY
The records of the different tribunals of Venice are a mine of interesting information, and it is to be wondered that no student has devoted a separate volume to the subject. I shall only attempt to offer the reader a few gleanings which have come under my hand, and which may help to give an impression of the later days of the Republic.
There were two distinct classes of criminals in Venice, as elsewhere—namely, professional criminals, who helped each other and often escaped justice; and, on the other hand, those who committed isolated crimes under the influence of strong passions, and who generally expiated their misdeeds in prison or on the scaffold.