By the farther side stands the Pal. dei Camerlenghi (1525-28) by Guglielmo Bergamasco, once adorned with pictures by Bonifazio, for the offices of the three Lords of the Treasury. We pass the vegetable and fish-markets. Behind the latter, the last house before reaching the Ponte Pescaria was the old Pal. Querini, known as the Stallone, with the two large Gothic portals of the old shambles (p. [109]). It became the poultry-market after the fall of the Republic. A new fish-market is, however, projected, and the old palace will probably be incorporated in the new building. A few houses farther on is the Gothic Pal. Morosini; yet farther the lofty Pal. Corner della Regina (now the municipal pawn-office). It was erected in 1724 by Rossi, the architect of S. Eustacchio, on the site of a palace occupied by the Queen of Cyprus. The huge assertive Pal. Pesaro by Longhena, 1679, now comes into view. It is highly praised by Fergusson.
The church of S. Eustacchio (S. Stae), 1709, with its baroque façade will be easily recognised. The bust of the ill-fated Ant. Foscarini will be found in the third chapel L. of entrance, the higher of the two busts to the R. of the chapel. (The church is rarely open and will be more conveniently visited in connection with S. M., Mater Domini, whose sacristan has the key.) At the farther corner of the campo is the Pal. Priuli, with an early transitional Gothic arcade. At the near corner of the rio Tron is the Pal. Tron, sixteenth-century Renaissance; at the farther corner, the Pal. Battaggia by Longhena. The building adjacent is one of the old granaries of the Republic, with the outline of the Lion of St Mark still visible on the façade. Interest ends at the restored Fondaco de’ Turchi (Mart of the Turks) (p. [302]).
We cross to the church of S. Marcuola (SS. Ermagora and Fortunato), which contains a doubtful Titian (the infant Christ on a pedestal between SS. Catherine and Andrew), thought, however, by Morelli to be a genuine youthful work of the master. Some distance farther on is the Pal. Vendramin by Pietro Lombardi (1481), one of the finest palaces on the canal. The garden wing is by Scamozzi. Next but one is the Pal. Erizzo, fifteenth-century Gothic. We pass on to the Ca’ d’Oro, the most exquisite little mansion in Venice. It was built (1424-30) for the Contarini, and being richly gilded, was known as the Ca’ d’Oro (the Golden House). The derivation from a supposed Doro family is untenable. The contracts with the Buoni and many another famous tajapiera (stone-cutter), and a contract with Mastro Zuan di Franza, Pintor, for the gilding and the painting of the façade with vermilion and ultramarine still exist. The building was profaned by some ill-designed structural alterations and the beautiful wellhead, by Bart. Buono, was sold to a dealer, when the fabric fell into the hands of the ballet-dancer, Taglioni, in 1847. Recently Baron Franchetti has restored it to somewhat of its original form, and the well-head has been recovered.[105] Beyond the Ca’ d’Oro Pier is the earlier and simpler Gothic Pal. Sagredo, now the Ravà College. The small Pal. Foscari beyond the Campo S. Sofia has interesting Gothic details. The larger, Pal. Michieli delle Colonne, was rebuilt in the seventeenth century. Passing the rio SS. Apostoli we reach the interesting Ca’ da Mosto, twelfth-century Byzantine, but hinting at the coming Gothic. An inscription tells that here was born Alvise da Ca’ Mosto, discoverer of the Cape Verde Islands. Set back in a small court (Corte Remera) is a thirteenth-century house with an external stairway and a fine Byzantine portal. It shows admirably the pointed arch asserting itself in a Byzantine building. Hard by the Rialto bridge is the Fondaco dei Tedeschi (Mart of the Germans), designed in 1505 by Girolamo Tedesco and completed by Scarpagnino. It is now the Central Post Office. The solitary figure that remains of Giorgione’s frescoes will be seen high up between two of the top-floor windows. The sculptures on this side the Rialto bridge represent SS. Theodore and Mark.
Beyond the bridge the Pal. Manin by Sansovino, now Banca d’ Italia, was the dwelling-place of the last of the Doges. The Pal. Bembo at the farther corner of the rio is early fifteenth-century Gothic. A small palace farther on, the ground floor of which is used as a café, is usually pointed out as the house of Doge Enrico Dandolo. The present Gothic building, however, with its cusped arches is obviously two centuries later in style, though the Byzantine medallions incorporated in the façade may have belonged to the original structure. A Latin inscription on the adjacent house prays the wayfarer to bestow a thought on the great Doge Dandolo, and another inscription in the Pal. Farsetti (see below) states that that palace was built for Enrico Dandolo (volle eretto Enrico Dandolo) in 1203. All that may be said with certainty is that somewhere on the Riva del Carbon stood the Ca’ Dandolo. A few houses farther on is the Pal. Loredan with its deep stilted arches, esteemed by Ruskin the most beautiful palace on the Grand Canal. It is twelfth-century Byzantine, restored once in Gothic, again in Renaissance times. It bears on the façade the scutcheon of Peter Lusignan, King of Cyprus, who lodged there in 1363-66. The next edifice is the Pal. Farsetti, in the same style but simpler. It has a fine staircase with carvings by Canova.