I kept my Chamber for some Days, till I was recovered of my Fall, and then took a Tour about the several Parts of the City, sometimes in the Gondola, and at other times on Foot. The former Method of Travelling, tho’ very pleasant, is apt to frighten such as are not us’d to it, who often think themselves in danger of drowning, especially at the Turnings out of one Street into another; for then one would think the Boat was ready to be swallow’d up in the Canal; which indeed might very well be the Case with Boatmen of less Understanding than the Gondoliers of Venice; but these are so dexterous that one never hears of any Misfortune.
The first Thing I went to see was the famous Church dedicated to St. Mark, the Protector of the Republic. The Front is adorn’d with Five Portico’s, of which the middle one is bigger and more spacious than the others. On the Top of it there are Four Horses of Brass, said to have formerly belong’d to a Chariot of the Sun, that serv’d for an Ornament to the Triumphal Arch which the Senate of Rome caus’d to be erected
for the Emperor Nero, after the Victory he gain’d over the Parthians. The Emperor Constantine caus’d them to be remov’d afterwards to Constantinople, but the Venetians brought them back again, after they had made themselves Masters of that City. Besides these Four Horses, the Front of the Church is adorn’d with other Statues. The Roof consists of several Domes, over which there are very fine Crosses. The Inside of the Church is truly magnificent: The Walls are lin’d throughout with Marble; the Pavement is also of Marble of perfect Mosaic Workmanship; and the Roof is lin’d in the same manner.
From thence I went to the Palace of the Doge, the Architecture of which I took to be very irregular. The Hall where the Nobles meet, is a prodigious large Room: The Doge’s Throne, which is plac’d at one End of it, is higher than the rest by some Steps: There the Nobles sit upon Benches fronting the Throne, which form Eleven Rows, or Walks, wide enough for a Person to pass easily between them: The Throne and the Seats of the Nobles are very plain: The Beauty of this Room consists intirely in Pictures that are worth seeing: There is one that represents the Taking of Constantinople by the Venetians; and on the other Side is the History of Pope Alexander III. and of the Emperor Frederic Barbarossa, with the Pictures of the several Doges.
There is a large Square call’d The Broglio, before the Doge’s Palace, where the Nobles commonly take the Air; and tho’ there be no Covering to it, nor any Verdure, yet ’tis very pleasant because of the Neighbourhood of the Sea, the Prospect of which is boundless and most
delightful. The Resort of Ships, Galleys, and Gondolas, continually coming in and out here, affords another Scene, which is the more amusing because of its Variety. Besides this, one has the Pleasure too of discovering several little Islands that are said to be inhabited by none but Fryars, who have magnificent Churches and Convents there. At that End of this Square, next to the great Canal, there are Two fine Pillars of Marble; on one of which are the Arms of the Republic, viz. a Winged Lyon; and on the second is the Statue of St. Theodore, the ancient Patron of the Republic.
I had not the Honour of seeing the Doge, and therefore shall say nothing of him, only that he seems to me but an imaginary Prince, and in Effect no more than the First Slave of the Republic. All the Lustre he has, is to be at the Head of the Senate and the Nobles in all the Assemblies and Ceremonies; for the rest, his Credit, if he may be said to have any, is extremely bounded. The Ceremony in which he appears with all his Splendor, is that which is perform’d every Year at Venice, upon Ascention-Day: Then the Doge, at the Head of the Senate and all the Nobility, goes on board a stately Vessel call’d the Bucentaure; and when he is advanc’d a little way into the Gulph, he throws a Gold Ring into the Sea, and says, We marry thee, O Sea, in Token of that True and Perpetual Dominion which the Republic has over Thee. And indeed, the Venetians look upon the Adriatic Sea as their peculiar Property.
The Venetian Nobles are as scrupulous in Matters of State, as the modern Romans are in those of Ceremony; insomuch that they break off all Correspondence with any Man that keeps Company
with an Ambassador; of which I myself had Experience. As I had known M. de Q—— at the King of England’s Court at Hanover, and M. G—— at the Court of Vienna, I thought that when I saw them return’d to Venice, I could not do better than to pay them a Visit, in order to be introduc’d into good Families. I went to them accordingly, and was receiv’d with all possible Civility by those Gentlemen, who next Day return’d my Visit, when I observ’d in the Course of the Conversation, which was not very long, that Notice had been taken of my being so often at the House of the Imperial Ambassador; and I, for my own Part, gave them to understand, that I was not dispos’d to make a Sacrifice of the Ambassador’s Family in Compliment to them. The Person who then resided there with that Character was the Count de Colloredo, at whose House there was an Assembly every Night of all the Foreigners of most Distinction at Venice. He had with him the Countess of Colloredo, whom, no doubt, you have seen at the House of her Brother M. de Blaspiel, when she was the Widow of the Count de Collonitz. The Ambassador and his Lady were perfectly complaisant to all Persons that came to their House, and there was every Day very good Company. I made an Aquaintance there with the Marchioness de R——, Daughter of the celebrated Madame de M——. This Lady had left the Court of France and her Family, and, after having travell’d thro’ several Countries, came and settled at Venice. I confess I was heartily concern’d to see a Lady, who must have been very amiable in her Time, reduc’d, by a natural Uneasiness of her Temper, which perhaps too was Hereditary, to lead so strolling a Life.