Capitals, general structure of, i. 105; bells of, i. 107; just
proportions of, i. 114; various families of, i. 13, 65, 324, ii. 129,
iii. 231; are necessary to shafts in good architecture, i. 119;
Byzantine, ii. 131, iii. 231; Lily, of St. Mark's, ii. 137; of
Solomon's temple, ii. 137.
Care, how symbolized, ii. 348. See "Sorrow."
Caryatides, i. 302.
Castles, English, entrances of, i. 177.
Cathedrals, English, effect of, ii. 63.
Ceilings, old Venetian, ii. 280.
Centralization in design, ii. 237.
Chalet of Switzerland, its character, i. 203.
Chamfer defined, i. 263; varieties of, i. 262, 429.
Changefulness, an element of Gothic, ii. 172.
Charity, how symbolized, ii. 327, 339.
Chartreuse, Grande, morbid life in, iii. 190.
Chastity, how symbolized, ii. 328.
Cheerfulness, how symbolized, ii. 326, 348; virtue of, ii. 326.
Cherries, cultivation of, at Venice, ii. 361.
Christianity, how mingled with worldliness, iii. 109; how imperfectly
understood, iii. 168; influence of, in liberating workmen, ii. 159,
i. 243; influence of, on forms, i. 99.
Churches, wooden, of the North, i. 381; considered as ships, ii. 25;
decoration of, how far allowable, ii. 102.
Civilization, progress of, iii. 168; twofold danger of, iii. 169.
Classical literature, its effect on the modern mind, iii. 12.
Climate, its influence on architecture, i. 151, ii. 155, 203.
Color, its importance in early work, ii. 38, 40, 78, 91; its
spirituality, ii. 145, 396; its relation to music, iii. 186;
quartering of, iii. 20; how excusing realization, iii. 186.
Commerce, how regarded by Venetians, i. 6.
Composition, definition of the term, ii. 182.
Constancy, how symbolized, ii. 333.
Construction, architectural, how admirable, i. 36.
Convenience, how consulted by Gothic architecture, ii. 179.
Cornices, general divisions of, i. 63, iii. 248; of walls, i. 60; of
roofs, i. 149; ornamentation of, i. 305; curvatures of, i. 310;
military, i. 160; Greek, i. 157.
Courses in walls, i. 60.
Crockets, their use in ornamentation, i. 346; their abuse at Venice,
iii. 109.
Crosses, Byzantine, ii. 139.
Crusaders, character of the, ii. 263.
Crystals, architectural appliance of, i. 225.
Cupid, representation of, in early and later art, ii. 342.
Curvature, on what its beauty depends, i. 222, iii. 5.
Cusps, definition of, i. 135; groups of, i. 138; relation of, to
vegetation, ii. 219; general treatment of, iii. 255; earliest
occurrence of, ii. 220.
D
Daguerreotype, probable results of, iii. 169.
Darkness, a character of early churches, ii. 18; not an abstract
evil, iii. 220.
Death, fear of, in Renaissance times, iii. 65, 90, 92; how anciently
regarded, iii. 139, 156.
Decoration, true nature of, i. 405; how to judge of, i. 44, 45. See
"Ornament."
Demons, nature of, how illustrated by Milton and Dante, iii. 147.
Dentil, Venetian, defined, i. 273, 275.
Design, definition of the term, ii. 183; its relations to naturalism,
ii. 184.
Despair, how symbolized, ii. 334.
Diaper patterns in brick, i. 296; in color, iii. 21, 22.
Discord, how symbolized, ii. 333.
Discs, decoration by means of, i. 240, 416; ii. 147, 264.
Division of labor, evils of, ii. 165.
Doge of Venice, his power, i. 3, 360.
Dogtooth moulding defined, i. 269.
Dolphins, moral disposition of, i. 230; use of, in symbolic
representation of sea, i. 422, 423.
Domestic architecture, richness of, in middle ages, ii. 99.
Doors, general structure of, i. 174, 176; smallness of in English
cathedrals, i. 176; ancient Venetian, ii. 277, iii. 227.
Doric architecture, i. 157, 301, 307; Christian Doric, i. 308, 315.
Dragon, conquered by St. Donatus, ii. 33; use of, in ornamentation,
ii. 219.
Dreams, how resembled by the highest arts, iii. 153; prophetic, in
relation to the Grotesque, iii. 156.
Dress, its use in ornamentation, i. 212; early Venetian, ii. 383;
dignity of, iii. 191; changes in modern dress, iii. 192.
Duties of buildings, i. 47.
E
Earthquake of 1511, ii. 242.
Eastern races, their power over color, ii. 147.
Eaves, construction of, i. 156.
Ecclesiastical architecture in Venice, i. 20; no architecture
exclusively ecclesiastical, ii. 99.
Edge decoration, i. 268.
Education, University, i. 391; iii. 110; evils of, with respect to
architectural workmen, ii. 107; how to be successfully undertaken,
ii. 165, 214; modern education in general, how mistaken, iii. 110,
234; system of, in Plato, ii. 318; of Persian kings, ii. 318; not to
be mistaken for erudition, iii. 219; ought to be universal, iii. 220.
Egg and arrow mouldings, i. 314.
Egyptian architecture, i. 99, 239; ii. 203.
Elgin marbles, ii. 171.
Encrusted architecture, i. 271, 272; general analysis of, ii. 76.
Energy of Northern Gothic, i. 371; ii. 16, 204.
English (early) capitals, faults of, i. 100, 411; English mind, its
mistaken demands of perfection, ii. 160.
Envy, how set forth, ii. 346.
Evangelists, types of, how explicable, iii. 155.
F
Faërie Queen, Spenser's, value of, theologically, ii. 328.
Faith, influence of on art, ii. 104, 105; Titian's picture of, i. 11;
how symbolized, ii. 337.
Falsehood, how symbolized, ii. 349.
Fatalism, how expressed in Eastern architecture, ii. 205.
Fear, effect of, on human life, iii. 137; on Grotesque art, iii. 142.
Feudalism, healthy effects of, i. 184.
Fig-tree, sculpture of, on Ducal Palace, ii. 307.
Fillet, use of, in ornamentation, i. 267.
Finials, their use in ornamentation, i. 346; a sign of decline in
Venetian architecture, iii. 109.
Finish in workmanship, when to be required, ii. 165; dangers of, iii.
170, ii. 162.
Fir, spruce, influence of, on architecture, i. 152.
Fire, forms of, in ornamentation, i. 228.
Fish, use of, in ornamentation, i. 229.
Flamboyant Gothic, i. 278, ii. 225.
Flattery, common in Renaissance times, iii. 64.
Flowers, representation of, how desirable, i. 340; how represented in
mosaic, iii. 179.
Fluting of columns, a mistake, i. 301.
Foils, definition of, ii. 221.
Foliage, how carved in declining periods, iii. 8, 17. See "Vegetation."
Foliation defined, ii. 219; essential to Gothic architecture, ii. 222.
Folly, how symbolized, ii. 325, 348.
Form of Gothic, defined, ii. 209.
Fortitude, how symbolized, ii. 337.
Fountains, symbolic representations of, i. 427.
French architecture, compared with Italian, ii. 226.
Frivolity, how exhibited in Grotesque art, iii. 143.
Fruit, its use in ornamentation, i. 232.
G
Gable, general structure of, i. 124; essential to Gothic, ii. 210, 217.
Gardens, Italian, iii. 136.
Generalization, abuses of, iii. 176.
Geology of Lombardy, ii. 5.
Glass, its capacities in architecture, i. 409; manufacture of, ii.
166; true principles of working in, ii. 168, 395.
Gluttony, how symbolized, ii. 343.
Goldsmiths' work, a high form of art, ii. 166.
Gondola, management of, ii. 375.
Gothic architecture, analysis of, ii. 151; not derived from vegetable
structure, i. 121; convenience of, ii. 178; divisions of, ii. 215;
surface and linear, ii. 226; Italian and French, ii. 226; flamboyant,
i. 278, ii. 225; perpendicular, i. 192, ii. 223, 227; early English,
i. 109; how to judge of it, ii. 228; how fitted for domestic
purposes, ii. 269, iii. 195; how first corrupted, iii. 3; how to be
at present built, iii. 196; early Venetian, ii. 248; ecclesiastical
Venetian, i. 21; central Venetian, ii. 231; how adorned by color in
Venice, iii. 23.
Government of Venice, i. 2, ii. 366.
Grammar, results of too great study of it, iii. 55, 106.
Greek architecture, general character of, i. 240, ii. 215, iii. 159.
Grief. See "Sorrow."
Griffins, Lombardic, i. 292, 387.
Grotesque, analysis of, iii. 132; in changes of form, i. 317; in
Venetian painting, iii. 162; symbolical, iii. 155; its character in
Renaissance work, iii. 113, 121, 136, 143.
Gutters of roofs, i. 151.
H
Heathenism, typified in ornament, i. 317. See "Paganism."
Heaven and Hell, proofs of their existence in natural phenomena, iii.
138.
History, how to be written and read, iii. 224.
Hobbima, iii. 184.
Honesty, how symbolized, ii. 349.
Hope, how symbolized, ii. 341.
Horseshoe arches, i. 129, ii. 249, 250.
Humanity, spiritual nature of, i. 41; divisions of, with respect to
art, i. 394.
Humility, how symbolized, ii. 339.
I
Idleness, how symbolized, ii. 345.
Idolatry, proper sense of the term, ii. 388; is no encourager of art,
ii. 110. See "Popery."
Imagination, its relation to art, iii. 182.
Imitation of precious stones, &c., how reprehensible, iii. 26, 30.
Imposts, continuous, i. 120.
Infidelity, how symbolized, ii. 335; an element of the Renaissance
spirit, iii. 100.
Injustice, how symbolized, ii. 349.
Inlaid ornamentation, i. 369; perfection of, in early Renaissance,
iii. 26.
Inscriptions at Murano, ii. 47, 54; use of, in early times, ii. 111.
Insects, use of, in ornamentation, i. 230.
Inspiration, how opposed to art, iii. 151, 171.
Instinct, its dignity, iii. 171.
Intellect, how variable in dignity, iii. 173.
Involution, delightfulness of, in ornament, ii. 136.
Iron, its use in architecture, i. 184, 410.
Italians, modern character of, iii. 209.
Italy, how ravaged by recent war, iii. 209.
J
Jambs, Gothic, iii. 137.
Jesting, evils of, iii. 129.
Jesuits, their restricted power in Venice, i. 366.
Jewels, their cutting, a bad employment, ii. 166.
Judgments, instinctive, i. 399.
Job, book of, its purpose, iii. 53.
K
Keystones, how mismanaged in Renaissance work. See Venetian Index,
under head "Libreria."
Knowledge, its evil consequences, iii. 40; how to be received, iii.
50, &c. See "Education."
L
Labor, manual, ornamental value of, i. 407; evils of its division,
ii. 165; is not a degradation, ii. 168.
Labyrinth, in Venetian streets, its clue, ii. 254.
Lagoons, Venetian, nature of, ii. 7, 8.
Landscape, lower schools of, i. 24; Venetian, ii. 149; modern love
of, ii. 175, iii. 123.
Laws of right in architecture, i. 32; laws in general, how
permissibly violated, i. 255, ii. 210; their position with respect to
art, iii. 96; and to religion, iii. 205.
Leaves, use of, in ornamentation, i. 232 (see "Vegetation");
proportion of, ii. 128.
Liberality, how symbolized, ii. 333.
Life in Byzantine architecture, ii. 133.
Lilies, beautiful proportions of, ii. 128; used for parapet
ornaments, ii. 242; lily capitals, ii. 137.
Limitation of ornament, i. 254.
Lines, abstract use of, in ornament, i. 221.
Lintel, its structure, i. 124, 126.
Lion, on piazzetta shafts, iii. 238.
Load, of arches, i. 133.
Logic, a contemptible science, iii. 105.
Lombardic architecture, i. 17.
Lotus leaf, its use in architecture, i. 233.
Love, its power over human life, iii. 137.
Lusts, their power over human nature, how symbolized by Spenser, ii.
328.
Luxury, how symbolized, ii. 342; how traceable in ornament, iii. 4;
of Renaissance schools, iii. 61.
M
Madonna, Byzantine representations of, ii. 53.
Magnitude, vulgar admiration of, iii. 64.
Malmsey, use of, in Feast of the Maries, iii. 117.
Marble, its uses, iii. 27.
Maries, Feast of the, iii. 117.
Mariolatry, ancient and modern, ii. 55.
Marriages of Venetians, iii. 116.
Masonry, Mont-Cenisian, i. 132; of walls, i. 61; of arches, i. 133.
Materials, invention of new, how injurious to art, iii. 42.
Misery, how symbolized, ii. 347.
Modesty, how symbolized, ii. 335.
Monotony, its place in art, ii. 176.
Months, personifications of, in ancient art, ii. 272.
Moroseness, its guilt, iii. 130.
Mosaics at Torcello, ii. 18, 19; at St. Mark's, ii. 70, 112; early
character of, ii. 110, iii. 175, 178.
Music, its relation to color, iii. 186.
Mythology of Venetian painters, ii. 150; ancient, how injurious to
the Christian mind, iii. 107.
N
Natural history, how necessary a study, iii. 54.
Naturalism, general analysis of it with respect to art, ii. 181, 190;
its advance in Gothic art, iii. 6; not to be found in the encrusted
style, ii. 89; its presence in the noble Grotesque, iii. 144.
Nature (in the sense of material universe) not improvable by art, i.
350; its relation to architecture, i. 351.
Niches, use of, in Northern Gothic, i. 278; in Venetian, ii. 240; in
French and Veronese, ii. 227.
Norman hatchet-work, i. 297; zigzag, i. 339.
Novelty, its necessity to the human mind, ii. 176.
O
Oak-tree, how represented in symbolical art, iii. 185.
Obedience, how symbolized, ii. 334.
Oligarchical government, its effect on the Venetians, i. 5.
Olive-tree, neglect of, by artists, iii. 175; general expression of,
iii. 176, 177; representations of, in mosaic, iii. 178.
Order, uses and disadvantages of, ii. 172.
Orders, Doric and Corinthian, i. 13; ridiculous divisions of, i. 157,
370; ii. 173, 249; iii. 99.
Ornament, material of, i. 211; the best, expresses man's delight in
God's work, i. 220; not in his own, i. 211; general treatment of, i.
236; is necessarily imperfect, i. 237, 240; divided into servile,
subordinate, and insubordinate, i. 242, ii. 158; distant effect of,
i. 248; arborescent, i. 252; restrained within limits, i. 255; cannot
be overcharged if good, i. 406.
Oxford, system of education at, i. 391.
P
Paganism, revival of its power in modern times, iii. 105, 107, 122.
Painters, their power of perception, iii. 37; influence of society
on, iii. 41; what they should know, iii. 41; what is their business,
iii. 187.
Palace, the Crystal, merits of, i. 409.
Palaces, Byzantine, ii. 118, 391; Gothic, ii. 231.
Papacy. See "Popery."
Parapets, i. 162, ii. 240.
Parthenon, curves of, ii. 127.
Patience, how symbolized, ii. 334.
Pavements, ii. 52.
Peacocks, sculpture of, i. 240.
Pedestals of shafts, i. 82; and see Venetian Index under head
"Giorgio Maggiore."
Perception opposed to knowledge, iii. 37.
Perfection, inordinate desire of, destructive of art, i. 237; ii.
133, 158, 169.
Perpendicular style, i. 190, 253; ii. 223, 227.
Personification, evils of, ii. 322.
Perspective, aerial, ridiculous exaggerations of, iii. 45; ancient
pride in, iii. 57; absence of, in many great works, see in Venetian
Index the notice of Tintoret's picture of the Pool of Bethesda, under
head "Rocco."
Phariseeism and Liberalism, how opposed, iii. 97.
Philology, a base science, iii. 54.
Piazzetta at Venice, plan of, ii. 283; shafts of, ii. 233.
Pictures, judgment of, how formed, ii. 371; neglect of, in Venice,
ii. 372; how far an aid to religion, ii. 104, 110.
Picturesque, definition of term, iii. 134.
Piers, general structure of, i. 71, 98, 118.
Pilgrim's Progress. See "Bunyan."
Pine of Italy, its effect on architecture, i. 152; of Alps, effect in
distance, i. 245. See "Fir."
Pinnacles are of little practical service, i. 170; their effect on
common roofs, i. 347.
Play, its relation to Grotesque art, iii. 126.
Pleasure, its kinds and true uses, iii. 189.
Popery, how degraded in contest with Protestantism, i. 34, iii. 103;
its influence on art, i. 23, 34, 35, 384, 432, ii. 51; typified in
ornament, i. 316; power of Pope in Venice, i. 362; arts used in
support of Popery, ii. 74.
Porches, i. 195.
Portraiture, power of, in Venice, iii. 164.
Posture-making in Renaissance art, iii. 90.
Prayers, ancient and modern, difference between, ii. 315, 390.
Pre-Raphaelitism, iii. 90; present position of, iii. 168, 174, 188.
Pride, how symbolized, ii. 343, iii. 207; of knowledge, iii. 35; of
state, iii. 59; of system, iii. 95.
Priests, restricted power of, in Venice, i. 366.
Proportions, subtlety of, in early work, ii. 38, 121, 127.
Protestantism, its influence on art, i. 23; typified in ornament, i.
316; influence of, on prosperity of nations, i. 368; expenditure in
favor of, i. 434; is incapable of judging of art, ii. 105; how
expressed in art, ii. 205; its errors in opposing Romanism, iii, 102,
103, 104; its shame of religious confession, ii. 278.
Prudence, how symbolized, ii. 340.
Pulpits, proper structure of, ii. 22, 380.
Purism in art, its nature and definition, ii. 189.
Purity, how symbolized, iii. 20.
Q
Quadrupeds, use of in ornamentation, i. 234.
Quantity of ornament, its regulation, i. 23.
R
Rationalism, its influence on art, i. 23.
Realization, how far allowable in noble art, iii. 182, 186.
Recesses, decoration of, i. 278.
Recumbent statues, iii. 72.
Redundance, an element of Gothic, ii. 206.
Religion, its influence on Venetian policy, i. 6; how far aided by
pictorial art, ii. 104, 109; contempt of, in Renaissance times, iii.
122.
Renaissance architecture, nature of, iii. 33; early, iii. 1;
Byzantine, iii. 15; Roman, iii. 32; Grotesque, iii. 112;
inconsistencies of, iii. 42, etc.
Reptiles, how used in ornamentation, i. 230.
Resistance, line of, in arches, i. 126.
Restraint, ornamental, value of, i. 255.
Reverence, how ennobling to humanity, ii. 163.
Rhetoric, a base study, iii. 106.
Rigidity, an element of Gothic, ii. 203.
Rivers, symbolical representation of, i. 419, 420.
Rocks, use of, in ornamentation, i. 224; organization of, i. 246;
curvatures of, i. 58, 224.
Roll-mouldings, decoration of, i. 276.
Romance, modern errors of, ii. 4; how connected with dress, iii. 192.
Romanesque style, i. 15, 19, 145; ii. 215. See "Byzantine," and
"Renaissance."
Romanism. See "Popery."
Roofs, analysis of, i. 46, 148; ii. 212, 216; domed, i. 149; Swiss,
i. 149, 345; steepness of, conducive to Gothic character, i. 151, ii.
209; decoration of, i. 343.
Rustication, is ugly and foolish, i. 65; natural objects of which it
produces a resemblance, i. 296.
S
Salvia, its leaf applied to architecture, i. 287, 306.
Sarcophagi, Renaissance treatment of, iii. 90; ancient, iii. 69, 93.
Satellitic shafts, i. 95.
Satire in Grotesque art, iii. 126, 145.
Savageness, the first element of Gothic, ii. 155; in Grotesque art,
iii. 159.
Science opposed to art, iii. 36.
Sculpture, proper treatment of, i. 216, &c.
Sea, symbolical representations of, i. 352, 421; natural waves of, i.
351.
Sensualism in art, its nature and definition, ii. 189; how redeemed
by color, ii. 145.
Serapeum at Memphis, cusps of, ii. 220.
Sermons, proper manner of regarding them, ii. 22; mode of their
delivery in Scotch church, ii. 381.
Serrar del Consiglio, ii. 291.
Shafts, analysis of, i. 84; vaulting shafts, i. 145; ornamentation
of, i. 300; twisted, by what laws regulated, i. 303; strength of, i.
402; laws by which they are regulated in encrusted style, ii. 82.
Shields, use of, on tombs, ii. 224, iii. 87.
Shipping, use of, in ornamentation, i. 215.
Shops in Venice, ii. 65.
Sight, how opposed to thought, iii. 39.
Simplicity of life in thirteenth century, ii. 263.
Sin, how symbolized in Grotesque art, iii. 141.
Slavery of Greeks and Egyptians, ii. 158; of English workmen, ii.
162, 163.
Society, unhealthy state of, in modern times, ii. 163.
Sorrow, how sinful, ii. 325; how symbolized, ii. 347.
Soul, its development in art, iii. 173, 188; its connection with the
body, i. 41, 395.
Spandrils, structure of, i. 146; decoration of, i. 297.
Spirals, architectural value of, i. 222, ii. 16.
Spurs of bases, i. 79.
Staircases, i. 208; of Gothic palaces, ii. 280.
Stucco, when admissible, iii. 21.
Subordination of ornament, i. 240.
Superimposition of buildings, i. 200; ii. 386.
Surface-Gothic, explanation of term, ii. 225, 227.
Symbolism, i. 417; how opposed to personification, ii. 322.
System, pride of, how hurtful, iii. 95, 99.
T
Temperance, how symbolized, ii. 338; temperance in color and
curvature, iii. 420.
Theology, opposed to religion, iii. 216; of Spencer, iii. 205.
Thirteenth century, its high position with respect to art, ii. 263.
Thought, opposed to sight, iii. 39.
Tombs at Verona, i. 142, 412; at Venice, ii. 69; early Christian,
iii. 67; Gothic, iii. 71; Renaissance treatment of, iii. 84.
Towers, proper character of, i. 204; of St. Mark's, i 207.
Traceries, structure of, i. 184, 185; flamboyant, i. 189; stump, i.
189; English perpendicular, i 190, ii. 222; general character of, ii.
220; strength of, in Venetian Gothic, ii. 234, iii. 253; general
forms of tracery bars, iii. 250.
Treason, how detested by Dante, ii. 327.
Trees, use of, in ornamentation, i. 231.
Trefoil, use of, in ornamentation, ii. 42.
Triangles, used for ornaments at Murano, ii. 43.
Tribune at Torcello, ii. 24.
Triglyphs, ugliness of, i, 43.
Trunkmakers, their share in recovery of Brides of Venice, iii. 117, 118.
Truth, relation of, to religion, in Spenser's "Faërie Queen," iii,
205; typified by stones, iii. 31.
Tympanum, decoration of, i. 299.
U
Unity of Venetian nobility, i. 10.
V
Vain glory, speedy punishment of, iii. 122.
Vanity, how symbolized, ii. 346.
Variety in ornamental design, importance of, ii. 43, 133, 142, 172.
Vegetation, use of, in ornamentation, i. 232; peculiar meaning of, in
Gothic, ii. 199; how connected with cusps, ii. 219.
Veil (wall veil), construction of, i. 58; decoration of, i. 294.
Vine, Lombardic sculpture of, i. 375; at Torcello, ii. 15; use of, in
ornamentation, ii. 141; in symbolism, ii. 143; sculpture of, on Ducal
Palace, ii. 308.
Virtues, how symbolized in sepulchral monuments, iii. 82, 86; systems
of, in Pagan and Christian philosophy, ii. 312; cardinal, ii. 317,
318, 320; of architecture, i. 36, 44.
Voussoirs defined, i. 125; contest between them and architraves, i.
336.
W
Walls, general analysis of their structure, i. 48; bases of, i. 52,
53; cornices of, i. 63; rustication of, i. 61, 338; decoration of, i.
294; courses in, i. 61, 295.
Water, its use in ornamentation, i. 226; ancient representations of,
i. 417.
Weaving, importance of associations connected with, ii. 136.
Wells, old Venetian, ii. 279.
Windows, general forms of, i. 179; Arabian, i. 180, ii. 135;
square-headed, ii. 211, 269; development of, in Venice, ii. 235;
orders of, in Venice, ii. 248; advisable form of, in modern
buildings, ii. 269.
Winds, how symbolized at Venice, ii. 367.
Wooden architecture, i. 381.
Womanhood, virtues of, as given by Spenser, ii. 326.
Z
Zigzag, Norman, i. 339.
IV.
VENETIAN INDEX.
I have endeavored to make the following index as useful as possible to
the traveller, by indicating only the objects which are really worth his
study. A traveller's interest, stimulated as it is into strange vigor by
the freshness of every impression, and deepened by the sacredness of the
charm of association which long familiarity with any scene too fatally
wears away,[71] is too precious a thing to be heedlessly wasted; and as
it is physically impossible to see and to understand more than a certain
quantity of art in a given time, the attention bestowed on second-rate
works, in such a city as Venice, is not merely lost, but actually
harmful,--deadening the interest and confusing the memory with respect
to those which it is a duty to enjoy, and a disgrace to forget. The
reader need not fear being misled by any omissions; for I have
conscientiously pointed out every characteristic example, even of the
styles which I dislike, and have referred to Lazari in all instances in
which my own information failed: but if he is in any wise willing to
trust me, I should recommend him to devote his principal attention, if
he is fond of paintings, to the works of Tintoret, Paul Veronese, and
John Bellini; not of course neglecting Titian, yet remembering that
Titian can be well and thoroughly studied in almost any great European
gallery, while Tintoret and Bellini can be judged of _only_ in Venice,
and Paul Veronese, though gloriously represented by the two great
pictures in the Louvre, and many others throughout Europe, is yet not to
be fully estimated until he is seen at play among the fantastic chequers
of the Venetian ceilings.
I have supplied somewhat copious notices of the pictures of Tintoret,
because they are much injured, difficult to read, and entirely neglected
by other writers on art. I cannot express the astonishment and
indignation I felt on finding, in Kugler's handbook, a paltry cenacolo,
painted probably in a couple of hours for a couple of zecchins, for the
monks of St. Trovaso, quoted as characteristic of this master; just as
foolish readers quote separate stanzas of Peter Bell or the Idiot Boy,
as characteristic of Wordsworth. Finally, the reader is requested to
observe, that the dates assigned to the various buildings named in the
following index, are almost without exception conjectural; that is to
say, founded exclusively on the internal evidence of which a portion has
been given in the Final Appendix. It is likely, therefore, that here and
there, in particular instances, further inquiry may prove me to have
been deceived; but such occasional errors are not of the smallest
importance with respect to the general conclusions of the preceding
pages, which will be found to rest on too broad a basis to be disturbed.
A
ACCADEMIA DELLE BELLE ARTI. Notice above the door the two bas-reliefs
of St. Leonard and St. Christopher, chiefly remarkable for their rude
cutting at so late a date as 1377; but the niches under which they
stand are unusual in their bent gables, and in little crosses within
circles which fill their cusps. The traveller is generally too much
struck by Titian's great picture of the "Assumption," to be able to
pay proper attention to the other works in this gallery. Let him,
however, ask himself candidly, how much of his admiration is
dependent merely upon the picture being larger than any other in the
room, and having bright masses of red and blue in it: let him be
assured that the picture is in reality not one whit the better for
being either large, or gaudy in color; and he will then be better
disposed to give the pains necessary to discover the merit of the more
profound and solemn works of Bellini and Tintoret. One of the most
wonderful works in the whole gallery is Tintoret's "Death of Abel," on
the left of the "Assumption;" the "Adam and Eve," on the right of it,
is hardly inferior; and both are more characteristic examples of the
master, and in many respects better pictures, than the much vaunted
"Miracle of St. Mark." All the works of Bellini in this room are of
great beauty and interest. In the great room, that which contains
Titian's "Presentation of the Virgin," the traveller should examine
carefully all the pictures by Vittor Carpaccio and Gentile Bellini,
which represent scenes in ancient Venice; they are full of interesting
architecture and costume. Marco Basaiti's "Agony in the Garden" is a
lovely example of the religious school. The Tintorets in this room are
all second rate, but most of the Veronese are good, and the large ones
are magnificent.
ALIGA. See GIORGIO.
ALVISE, CHURCH OF ST. I have never been in this church, but Lazari
dates its interior, with decision, as of the year 1388, and it may be
worth a glance, if the traveller has time.
ANDREA, CHURCH OF ST. Well worth visiting for the sake of the
peculiarly sweet and melancholy effect of its little grass-grown
campo, opening to the lagoon and the Alps. The sculpture over the
door, "St. Peter walking on the Water," is a quaint piece of
Renaissance work. Note the distant rocky landscape, and the oar of the
existing gondola floating by St. Andrew's boat. The church is of the
later Gothic period, much defaced, but still picturesque. The lateral
windows are bluntly trefoiled, and good of their time.
ANGELI, CHURCH DELGLI, at Murano. The sculpture of the "Annunciation"
over the entrance-gate is graceful. In exploring Murano, it is worth
while to row up the great canal thus far for the sake of the opening
to the lagoon.
ANTONINO, CHURCH OF ST. Of no importance.
APOLLINARE, CHURCH OF ST. Of no importance.
APOSTOLI, CHURCH OF THE. The exterior is nothing. There is said to be
a picture by Veronese in the interior, "The Fall of the Manna." I have
not seen it; but, if it be of importance, the traveller should compare
it carefully with Tintoret's, in the Scuola di San Rocco, and San
Giorgio Maggiore.
APOSTOLI, PALACE AT, II. 253, on the Grand Canal, near the Rialto,
opposite the fruit-market. A most important transitional palace. Its
sculpture in the first story is peculiarly rich and curious; I think
Venetian, in imitation of Byzantine. The sea story and first floor are
of the first half of the thirteenth century, the rest modern. Observe
that only one wing of the sea story is left, the other half having
been modernized. The traveller should land to look at the capital
drawn in Plate II. of Vol. III. fig. 7.
ARSENAL. Its gateway is a curiously picturesque example of Renaissance
workmanship, admirably sharp and expressive in its ornamental
sculpture; it is in many parts like some of the best Byzantine work.
The Greek lions in front of it appear to me to deserve more praise
than they have received; though they are awkwardly balanced between
conventional and imitative representation, having neither the severity
proper to the one, nor the veracity necessary for the other.
B
BADOER, PALAZZO, in the Campo San Giovanni in Bragola. A magnificent
example of the fourteenth century Gothic, circa 1310-1320, anterior to
the Ducal Palace, and showing beautiful ranges of the fifth order
window, with fragments of the original balconies, and the usual
lateral window larger than any of the rest. In the centre of its
arcade on the first floor is the inlaid ornament drawn in Plate VIII.
Vol. I. The fresco painting on the walls is of later date; and I
believe the heads which form the finials have been inserted afterwards
also, the original windows having been pure fifth order.
The building is now a ruin, inhabited by the lowest orders; the first
floor, when I was last in Venice, by a laundress.
BAFFO, PALAZZO, in the Campo St. Maurizio. The commonest late
Renaissance. A few olive leaves and vestiges of two figures still
remain upon it, of the frescoes by Paul Veronese, with which it was
once adorned.
BALBI, PALAZZO, in Volta di Canal. Of no importance.
BARBARIGO, PALAZZO, on the Grand Canal, next the Casa Pisani. Late
Renaissance; noticeable only as a house in which some of the best
pictures of Titian were allowed to be ruined by damp, and out of which
they were then sold to the Emperor of Russia.
BARBARO, PALAZZO, on the Grand Canal, next the Palazzo Cavalli. These
two buildings form the principal objects in the foreground of the view
which almost every artist seizes on his first traverse of the Grand
Canal, the Church of the Salute forming a most graceful distance.
Neither is, however, of much value, except in general effect; but the
Barbaro is the best, and the pointed arcade in its side wall, seen
from the narrow canal between it and the Cavalli, is good Gothic, of
the earliest fourteenth century type.
BARNABA, CHURCH OF ST. Of no importance.
BARTOLOMEO, CHURCH OF ST. I did not go to look at the works of
Sebastian del Piombo which it contains, fully crediting M. Lazari's
statement, that they have been "Barbaramente sfigurati da mani
imperite, che pretendevano ristaurarli." Otherwise the church is of no
importance.
BASSO, CHURCH OF ST. Of no importance.
BATTAGIA, PALAZZO, on the Grand Canal. Of no importance.
BECCHERIE. See QUERINI.
BEMBO, PALAZZO, on the Grand Canal, next the Casa Manin. A noble
Gothic pile, circa 1350-1380, which, before it was painted by the
modern Venetians with the two most valuable colors of Tintoret, Bianco
e Nero, by being whitewashed above, and turned into a coal warehouse
below, must have been among the most noble in effect on the whole
Grand Canal. It still forms a beautiful group with the Rialto, some
large shipping being generally anchored at its quay. Its sea story and
entresol are of earlier date, I believe, than the rest; the doors of
the former are Byzantine (see above, Final Appendix, under head
"Jambs"); and above the entresol is a beautiful Byzantine cornice,
built into the wall, and harmonizing well with the Gothic work.
BEMBO, PALAZZO, in the Calle Magno, at the Campo de' due Pozzi, close
to the Arsenal. Noticed by Lazari and Selvatico as having a very
interesting staircase. It is early Gothic, circa 1330, but not a whit
more interesting than many others of similar date and design. See
"Contarini Porta de Ferro," "Morosini," "Sanudo," and "Minelli."
BENEDETTO, CAMPO OF ST. Do not fail to see the superb, though
partially ruinous, Gothic palace fronting this little square. It is
very late Gothic, just passing into Renaissance; unique in Venice, in
masculine character, united with the delicacy of the incipient style.
Observe especially the brackets of the balconies, the flower-work on
the cornices, and the arabesques on the angles of the balconies
themselves.
BENEDETTO, CHURCH OF ST. Of no importance.
BERNARDO, PALAZZO, on the Grand Canal. A very noble pile of early
fifteenth century Gothic, founded on the Ducal Palace. The traceries
in its lateral windows are both rich and unusual.
BERNARDO, PALAZZO, at St. Polo. A glorious palace, on a narrow canal,
in a part of Venice now inhabited by the lower orders only. It is
rather late Central Gothic, circa 1380-1400, but of the finest kind,
and superb in its effect of color when seen from the side. A capital
in the interior court is much praised by Selvatico and Lazari, because
its "foglie d'acanto" (anything by the by, _but_ acanthus), "quasi
agitate de vento si attorcigliano d'intorno alla campana, _concetto
non indegno della bell'epoca greca_!" Does this mean "epoca
Bisantina?" The capital is simply a translation into Gothic sculpture
of the Byzantine ones of St. Mark's and the Fondaco de' Turchi (see
Plate VIII. Vol. I. fig. 14), and is far inferior to either. But,
taken as a whole, I think that, after the Ducal Palace, this is the
noblest in effect of all in Venice.
BRENTA, Banks of the, I. 354. Villas on the, I. 354.
BUSINELLO, CASA, II. 391.
BYZANTINE PALACES generally, II. 118.
C
CAMERLENGHI, PALACE OF THE, beside the Rialto. A graceful work of the
early Renaissance (1525) passing into Roman Renaissance. Its details
are inferior to most of the work of the school. The "Camerlenghi,"
properly "Camerlenghi di Comune," were the three officers or ministers
who had care of the administration of public expenses.
CANCELLARIA, II. 293.
CANCIANO, CHURCH OF ST. Of no importance.
CAPPELLO, PALAZZO, at St. Aponal. Of no interest. Some say that Bianca
Cappello fled from it; but the tradition seems to fluctuate between
the various houses belonging to her family.
CARITÀ, CHURCH OF THE. Once an interesting Gothic church of the
fourteenth century, lately defaced, and applied to some of the usual
important purposes of the modern Italians. The effect of its ancient
façade may partly be guessed at from the pictures of Canaletto, but
only guessed at; Canaletto being less to be trusted for renderings of
details, than the rudest and most ignorant painter of the thirteenth
century.
CARMINI, CHURCH OF THE. A most interesting church of late thirteenth
century work, but much altered and defaced. Its nave, in which the
early shafts and capitals of the pure truncate form are unaltered, is
very fine in effect; its lateral porch is quaint and beautiful,
decorated with Byzantine circular sculptures (of which the central one
is given in Vol. II. Plate XI. fig. 5), and supported on two shafts
whose capitals are the most archaic examples of the pure Rose form
that I know in Venice.
There is a glorious Tintoret over the first altar on the right in
entering; the "Circumcision of Christ." I do not know an aged head
either more beautiful or more picturesque than that of the high
priest. The cloister is full of notable tombs, nearly all dated; one,
of the fifteenth century, to the left on entering, is interesting from
the color still left on the leaves and flowers of its sculptured
roses.
CASSANO, CHURCH OF ST. This church must on no account be missed, as it
contains three Tintorets, of which one, the "Crucifixion," is among
the finest in Europe. There is nothing worth notice in the building
itself, except the jamb of an ancient door (left in the Renaissance
buildings, facing the canal), which has been given among the examples
of Byzantine jambs; and the traveller may, therefore, devote his
entire attention to the three pictures in the chancel.
1. _The Crucifixion._ (On the left of the high altar.) It is
refreshing to find a picture taken care of, and in a bright though not
a good light, so that such parts of it as are seen at all are seen
well. It is also in a better state than most pictures in galleries,
and most remarkable for its new and strange treatment of the subject.
It seems to have been painted more for the artist's own delight, than
with any labored attempt at composition; the horizon is so low that
the spectator must fancy himself lying at full length on the grass, or
rather among the brambles and luxuriant weeds, of which the foreground
is entirely composed. Among these, the seamless robe of Christ has
fallen at the foot of the cross; the rambling briars and wild grasses
thrown here and there over its folds of rich, but pale, crimson.
Behind them, and seen through them, the heads of a troop of Roman
soldiers are raised against the sky; and, above them, their spears and
halberds form a thin forest against the horizontal clouds. The three
crosses are put on the extreme right of the picture, and its centre is
occupied by the executioners, one of whom, standing on a ladder,
receives from the other at once the sponge and the tablet with the
letters INRI. The Madonna and St. John are on the extreme left,
superbly painted, like all the rest, but quite subordinate. In fact,
the whole mind of the painter seems to have been set upon making the
principals accessary, and the accessaries principal. We look first at
the grass, and then at the scarlet robe; and then at the clump of
distant spears, and then at the sky, and last of all at the cross. As
a piece of color, the picture is notable for its extreme modesty.
There is not a single very full or bright tint in any part, and yet
the color is delighted in throughout; not the slightest touch of it
but is delicious. It is worth notice also, and especially, because
this picture being in a fresh state we are sure of one fact, that,
like nearly all other great colorists, Tintoret was afraid of light
greens in his vegetation. He often uses dark blue greens in his
shadowed trees, but here where the grass is in full light, it is all
painted with various hues of sober brown, more especially where it
crosses the crimson robe. The handling of the whole is in his noblest
manner; and I consider the picture generally quite beyond all price.
It was cleaned, I believe, some years ago, but not injured, or at
least as little injured as it is possible for a picture to be which
has undergone any cleaning process whatsoever.
2. _The Resurrection._ (Over the high altar.) The lower part of this
picture is entirely concealed by a miniature temple, about five feet
high, on the top of the altar; certainly an insult little expected by
Tintoret, as, by getting on steps, and looking over the said temple,
one may see that the lower figures of the picture are the most
labored. It is strange that the painter never seemed able to conceive
this subject with any power, and in the present work he is
marvellously hampered by various types and conventionalities. It is
not a painting of the Resurrection, but of Roman Catholic saints,
_thinking_ about the Resurrection. On one side of the tomb is a bishop
in full robes, on the other a female saint, I know not who; beneath
it, an angel playing on an organ, and a cherub blowing it; and other
cherubs flying about the sky, with flowers; the whole conception being
a mass of Renaissance absurdities. It is, moreover, heavily painted,
over-done, and over-finished; and the forms of the cherubs utterly
heavy and vulgar. I cannot help fancying the picture has been restored
in some way or another, but there is still great power in parts of it.
If it be a really untouched Tintoret, it is a highly curious example
of failure from over-labor on a subject into which his mind was not
thrown: the color is hot and harsh, and felt to be so more painfully,
from its opposition to the grand coolness and chastity of the
"Crucifixion." The face of the angel playing the organ is highly
elaborated; so, also, the flying cherubs.
3. _The Descent into Hades._ (On the right-hand side of the high
altar.) Much injured and little to be regretted. I never was more
puzzled by any picture, the painting being throughout careless, and in
some places utterly bad, and yet not like modern work; the principal
figure, however, of Eve, has either been redone, or is scholar's work
altogether, as, I suspect, most of the rest of the picture. It looks
as if Tintoret had sketched it when he was ill, left it to a bad
scholar to work on with, and then finished it in a hurry; but he has
assuredly had something to do with it; it is not likely that anybody
else would have refused all aid from the usual spectral company with
which common painters fill the scene. Bronzino, for instance, covers
his canvas with every form of monster that his sluggish imagination
could coin. Tintoret admits only a somewhat haggard Adam, a graceful
Eve, two or three Venetians in court dress, seen amongst the smoke,
and a Satan represented as a handsome youth, recognizable only by the
claws on his feet. The picture is dark and spoiled, but I am pretty
sure there are no demons or spectres in it. This is quite in
accordance with the master's caprice, but it considerably diminishes
the interest of a work in other ways unsatisfactory. There may once
have been something impressive in the shooting in of the rays at the
top of the cavern, as well as in the strange grass that grows in the
bottom, whose infernal character is indicated by its all being knotted
together; but so little of these parts can be seen, that it is not
worth spending time on a work certainly unworthy of the master, and in
great part probably never seen by him.
CATTARINA, CHURCH OF ST., said to contain a _chef-d'oeuvre_ of Paul
Veronese, the "Marriage of St. Catherine." I have not seen it.
CAVALLI, PALAZZO, opposite the Academy of Arts. An imposing pile, on
the Grand Canal, of Renaissance Gothic, but of little merit in the
details; and the effect of its traceries has been of late destroyed by
the fittings of modern external blinds. Its balconies are good, of the
later Gothic type. See "BARBARO."
CAVALLI, PALAZZO, next the Casa Grimani (or Post-Office), but on the
other side of the narrow canal. Good Gothic, founded on the Ducal
Palace, circa 1380. The capitals of the first story are remarkably
rich in the deep fillets at the necks. The crests, heads of
sea-horses, inserted between the windows, appear to be later, but are
very fine of their kind.
CICOGNA, PALAZZO, at San Sebastiano, II. 265.
CLEMENTE, CHURCH OF ST. On an island to the south of Venice, from
which the view of the city is peculiarly beautiful. See "SCALZI."
CONTARINI PORTA DI FERRO, PALAZZO, near the Church of St. John and
Paul, so called from the beautiful ironwork on a door, which was some
time ago taken down by the proprietor and sold. Mr. Rawdon Brown
rescued some of the ornaments from the hands of the blacksmith, who
had bought them for old iron. The head of the door is a very
interesting stone arch of the early thirteenth century, already drawn
in my folio work. In the interior court is a beautiful remnant of
staircase, with a piece of balcony at the top, circa 1350, and one of
the most richly and carefully wrought in Venice. The palace, judging
by these remnants (all that are now left of it, except a single
traceried window of the same date at the turn of the stair), must once
have been among the most magnificent in Venice.
CONTARINI (DELLE FIGURE), PALAZZO, on the Grand Canal, III. 17.
CONTARINI DAI SCRIGNI, PALAZZO, on the Grand Canal. A Gothic building,
founded on the Ducal Palace. Two Renaissance statues in niches at the
sides give it its name.
CONTARINI FASAN, PALAZZO, on the Grand Canal, II. 244. The richest
work of the fifteenth century domestic Gothic in Venice, but notable
more for richness than excellence of design. In one respect, however,
it deserves to be regarded with attention, as showing how much beauty
and dignity may be bestowed on a very small and unimportant
dwelling-house by Gothic sculpture. Foolish criticisms upon it have
appeared in English accounts of foreign buildings, objecting to it on
the ground of its being "ill-proportioned;" the simple fact being,
that there was no room in this part of the canal for a wider house,
and that its builder made its rooms as comfortable as he could, and
its windows and balconies of a convenient size for those who were to
see through them, and stand on them, and left the "proportions"
outside to take care of themselves; which, indeed, they have very
sufficiently done; for though the house thus honestly confesses its
diminutiveness, it is nevertheless one of the principal ornaments of
the very noblest reach of the Grand Canal, and would be nearly as
great a loss, if it were destroyed, as the Church of La Salute itself.
CONTARINI, PALAZZO, at St. Luca. Of no importance.
CORNER DELLA CA' GRANDE, PALAZZO, on the Grand Canal. One of the worst
and coldest buildings of the central Renaissance, It is on a grand
scale, and is a conspicuous object, rising over the roofs of the
neighboring houses in the various aspects of the entrance of the Grand
Canal, and in the general view of Venice from San Clemente.
CORNER DELLA REGINA, PALAZZO. A late Renaissance building of no merit
or interest.
CORNER MOCENIGO, PALAZZO, at St. Polo. Of no interest.
CORNER SPINELLI, PALAZZO, on the Grand Canal. A graceful and
interesting example of the early Renaissance, remarkable for its
pretty circular balconies.
CORNER, RACCOLTA. I must refer the reader to M. Lazari's Guide for an
account of this collection, which, however, ought only to be visited
if the traveller is not pressed for time.
D
DANDOLO, PALAZZO, on the Grand Canal. Between the Casa Loredan and
Casa Bembo is a range of modern buildings, some of which occupy, I
believe, the site of the palace once inhabited by the Doge Henry
Dandolo. Fragments of early architecture of the Byzantine school may
still be traced in many places among their foundations, and two doors
in the foundation of the Casa Bembo itself belong to the same group.
There is only one existing palace, however, of any value, on this
spot, a very small but rich Gothic one of about 1300, with two groups
of fourth order windows in its second and third stories, and some
Byzantine circular mouldings built into it above. This is still
reported to have belonged to the family of Dandolo, and ought to be
carefully preserved, as it is one of the most interesting and ancient
Gothic palaces which yet remain.
DANIELI, ALBERGO. See Nani.
DA PONTE, PALAZZO. Of no interest.
DARIO, PALAZZO, I. 370; III. 211.
DOGANA DI MARE, at the separation of the Grand Canal from the Giudecca.
A barbarous building of the time of the Grotesque Renaissance (1676),
rendered interesting only by its position. The statue of Fortune,
forming the weathercock, standing on the world, is alike
characteristic of the conceits of the time, and of the hopes and
principles of the last days of Venice.
DONATO, CHURCH OF ST., at Murano, II. 31.
DONA', PALAZZO, on the Grand Canal. I believe the palace described under
this name as of the twelfth century, by M. Lazari, is that which I
have called the Braided House, II. 132, 392.
D'ORO CASA. A noble pile of very quaint Gothic, once superb in general
effect, but now destroyed by restorations. I saw the beautiful slabs
of red marble, which formed the bases of its balconies, and were
carved into noble spiral mouldings of strange sections, half a foot
deep, dashed to pieces when I was last in Venice; its glorious
interior staircase, by far the most interesting Gothic monument of the
kind in Venice, had been carried away, piece by piece, and sold for
waste marble, two years before. Of what remains, the most beautiful
portions are, or were, when I last saw them, the capitals of the
windows in the upper story, most glorious sculpture of the fourteenth
century. The fantastic window traceries are, I think, later; but the
rest of the architecture of this palace is anomalous, and I cannot
venture to give any decided opinion respecting it. Parts of its
mouldings are quite Byzantine in character, but look somewhat like
imitations.
DUCAL PALACE, I. 29; history of, II. 282, etc.; III. 199; plan and
section of, II. 282, 283; description of, II. 304, etc.; series of its
capitals, II. 332, etc.; spandrils of, I. 299, 415; shafts of, I. 413;
traceries of, derived from those of the Frari, II. 234; angles of, II.
239; main balcony of, II. 245; base of, III. 212; Rio Façade of, III.
25; paintings in, II. 372. The multitude of works by various masters,
which cover the walls of this palace is so great, that the traveller
is in general merely wearied and confused by them. He had better
refuse all attention except to the following works:
1. _Paradise_, by Tintoret; at the extremity of the Great Council
chamber. I found it impossible to count the number of figures in this
picture, of which the grouping is so intricate, that at the upper part
it is not easy to distinguish one figure from another; but I counted
150 important figures in one half of it alone; so that, as there are
nearly as many in subordinate position, the total number cannot be
under 500. I believe this is, on the whole, Tintoret's
_chef-d'oeuvre_; though it is so vast that no one takes the trouble
to read it, and therefore less wonderful pictures are preferred to it.
I have not myself been able to study except a few fragments of it, all
executed in his finest manner; but it may assist a hurried observer to
point out to him that the whole composition is divided into concentric
zones, represented one above another like the stories of a cupola,
round the figures of Christ and the Madonna, at the central and
highest point: both these figures are exceedingly dignified and
beautiful. Between each zone or belt of the nearer figures, the white
distances of heaven are seen filled with floating spirits. The picture
is, on the whole, wonderfully preserved, and the most precious thing
that Venice possesses. She will not possess it long; for the Venetian
academicians, finding it exceedingly unlike their own works, declare
it to want harmony, and are going to retouch it to their own ideas of
perfection.
2. _Siege of Zara_; the first picture on the right on entering the
Sala del Scrutinio. It is a mere battle piece, in which the figures,
like the arrows, are put in by the score. There are high merits in the
thing, and so much invention that it is possible Tintoret may have
made the sketch for it; but, if executed by him at all, he has done it
merely in the temper in which a sign-painter meets the wishes of an
ambitious landlord. He seems to have been ordered to represent all the
events of the battle at once; and to have felt that, provided he gave
men, arrows, and ships enough, his employers would be perfectly
satisfied. The picture is a vast one, some thirty feet by fifteen.
Various other pictures will be pointed out by the custode, in these
two rooms, as worthy of attention, but they are only historically, not
artistically, interesting. The works of Paul Veronese on the ceiling
have been repainted; and the rest of the pictures on the walls are by
second-rate men. The traveller must, once for all, be warned against
mistaking the works of Domenico Robusti (Domenico Tintoretto), a very
miserable painter, for those of his illustrious father, Jacopo.
3. _The Doge Grimani kneeling before Faith_, by Titian; in the Sala
delle quattro Porte. To be observed with care, as one of the most
striking examples of Titian's want of feeling and coarseness of
conception. (See above, Vol. I. p. 12.) As a work of mere art, it is,
however, of great value. The traveller who has been accustomed to
deride Turner's indistinctness of touch, ought to examine carefully
the mode of painting the Venice in the distance at the bottom of this
picture.
4. _Frescoes on the Roof of the Sala delle quattro Porte_, by
Tintoret. Once magnificent beyond description, now mere wrecks (the
plaster crumbling away in large flakes), but yet deserving of the most
earnest study.
5. _Christ taken down from the Cross_, by Tintoret; at the upper end
of the Sala dei Pregadi. One of the most interesting mythic pictures
of Venice, two doges being represented beside the body of Christ, and
a most noble painting; executed, however, for distant effect, and seen
best from the end of the room.
6. _Venice, Queen of the Sea_, by Tintoret. Central compartment of the
ceiling, in the Sala dei Pregadi. Notable for the sweep of its vast
green surges, and for the daring character of its entire conception,
though it is wild and careless, and in many respects unworthy of the
master. Note the way in which he has used the fantastic forms of the
sea weeds, with respect to what was above stated (III. 158), as to his
love of the grotesque.
7. _The Doge Loredano in Prayer to the Virgin_, by Tintoret; in the
same room. Sickly and pale in color, yet a grand work; to be studied,
however, more for the sake of seeing what a great man does "to order,"
when he is wearied of what is required from him, than for its own
merit.
8. _St. George and the Princess._ There are, besides the "Paradise,"
only six pictures in the Ducal Palace, as far as I know, which
Tintoret painted carefully, and those are all exceedingly fine: the
most finished of these are in the Anti-Collegio; but those that are
most majestic and characteristic of the master are two oblong ones,
made to fill the panels of the walls in the Anti-Chiesetta; these two,
each, I suppose, about eight feet by six, are in his most quiet and
noble manner. There is excessively little color in them, their
prevalent tone being a greyish brown opposed with grey, black, and a
very warm russet. They are thinly painted, perfect in tone, and quite
untouched. The first of them is "St. George and the Dragon," the
subject being treated in a new and curious way. The principal figure
is the princess, who sits astride on the dragon's neck, holding him by
a bridle of silken riband; St. George stands above and behind her,
holding his hands over her head as if to bless her, or to keep the
dragon quiet by heavenly power; and a monk stands by on the right,
looking gravely on. There is no expression or life in the dragon,
though the white flashes in its eye are very ghastly: but the whole
thing is entirely typical; and the princess is not so much represented
riding on the dragon, as supposed to be placed by St. George in an
attitude of perfect victory over her chief enemy. She has a full rich
dress of dull red, but her figure is somewhat ungraceful. St. George
is in grey armor and grey drapery, and has a beautiful face; his
figure entirely dark against the distant sky. There is a study for
this picture in the Manfrini Palace.
9. _St. Andrew and St. Jerome._ This, the companion picture, has even
less color than its opposite. It is nearly all brown and grey; the
fig-leaves and olive-leaves brown, the faces brown, the dresses brown,
and St. Andrew holding a great brown cross. There is nothing that can
be called color, except the grey of the sky, which approaches in some
places a little to blue, and a single piece of dirty brick-red in St.
Jerome's dress; and yet Tintoret's greatness hardly ever shows more
than in the management of such sober tints. I would rather have these
two small brown pictures, and two others in the Academy perfectly
brown also in their general tone--the "Cain and Abel" and the "Adam
and Eve,"--than all the other small pictures in Venice put together,
which he painted in bright colors, for altar pieces; but I never saw
two pictures which so nearly approached grisailles as these, and yet
were delicious pieces of color. I do not know if I am right in calling
one of the saints St. Andrew. He stands holding a great upright wooden
cross against the sky. St. Jerome reclines at his feet, against a
rock, over which some glorious fig leaves and olive branches are
shooting; every line of them studied with the most exquisite care, and
yet cast with perfect freedom.
10. _Bacchus and Ariadne._ The most beautiful of the four careful
pictures by Tintoret, which occupy the angles of the Anti-Collegio.
Once one of the noblest pictures in the world, but now miserably
faded, the sun being allowed to fall on it all day long. The design of
the forms of the leafage round the head of the Bacchus, and the
floating grace of the female figure above, will, however, always give
interest to this picture, unless it be repainted.
The other three Tintorets in this room are careful and fine, but far
inferior to the "Bacchus;" and the "Vulcan and the Cyclops" is a
singularly meagre and vulgar study of common models.
11. _Europa_, by Paul Veronese: in the same room. One of the very few
pictures which both possess and deserve a high reputation.
12. _Venice enthroned_, by Paul Veronese; on the roof of the same
room. One of the grandest pieces of frank color in the Ducal Palace.
13. _Venice, and the Doge Sebastian Venier_; at the upper end of the
Sala del Collegio. An unrivalled Paul Veronese, far finer even than
the "Europa."
14. _Marriage of St. Catherine_, by Tintoret; in the same room. An
inferior picture, but the figure of St. Catherine is quite exquisite.
Note how her veil falls over her form, showing the sky through it, as
an alpine cascade falls over a marble rock.
There are three other Tintorets on the walls of this room, but all
inferior, though full of power. Note especially the painting of the
lion's wings, and of the colored carpet, in the one nearest the
throne, the Doge Alvise Mocenigo adoring the Redeemer.
The roof is entirely by Paul Veronese, and the traveller who really
loves painting, ought to get leave to come to this room whenever he
chooses; and should pass the sunny summer mornings there again and
again, wandering now and then into the Anti-Collegio and Sala dei
Pregadi, and coming back to rest under the wings of the couched lion
at the feet of the "Mocenigo." He will no otherwise enter so deeply
into the heart of Venice.
E
EMO, PALAZZO, on the Grand Canal. Of no interest.
ERIZZO, PALAZZO, near the Arsenal, II. 262.
ERIZZO, PALAZZO, on the Grand Canal, nearly opposite the Fondaco
de'Turchi. A Gothic palace, with a single range of windows founded on
the Ducal traceries, and bold capitals. It has been above referred to
in the notice of tracery bars.
EUFEMIA, CHURCH OF ST. A small and defaced, but very curious, early
Gothic church on the Giudecca. Not worth visiting, unless the
traveller is seriously interested in architecture.
EUROPA, ALBERGO, ALL'. Once a Giustiniani Palace. Good Gothic, circa
1400, but much altered.
EVANGELISTI, CASA DEGLI, II. 265.
[Illustration: Plate XII.
CAPITALS OF FONDACO DE' TURCHI.]
F
FACANON, PALAZZO (ALLA FAVA). A fair example of the fifteenth century
Gothic, founded on Ducal Palace.
FALIER, PALAZZO, at the Apostoli. Above, II. 253.
FANTINO, CHURCH OF ST. Said to contain a John Bellini, otherwise of no
importance.
FARSETTI, PALAZZO, on the Grand Canal, II. 124, 393.
FAVA, CHURCH OF ST. Of no importance.
FELICE, CHURCH OF ST. Said to contain a Tintoret, which, if untouched,
I should conjecture, from Lazari's statement of its subject, St.
Demetrius armed, with one of the Ghisi family in prayer, must be very
fine. Otherwise the church is of no importance.
FERRO, PALAZZO, on the Grand Canal. Fifteenth century Gothic, very
hard and bad.
FLANGINI, PALAZZO, on the Grand Canal. Of no importance.
FONDACO DE' TURCHI, I. 328; II. 120, 121, 236. The opposite plate,
representing three of its capitals, has been several times referred
to.
FONDACO DE' TEDESCHI. A huge and ugly building near the Rialto,
rendered, however, peculiarly interesting by remnants of the frescoes
by Giorgione with which it was once covered. See Vol. II. 80, and III.
23.
FORMOSA, CHURCH OF SANTA MARIA, III. 113, 122,
FOSCA, CHURCH OF ST. Notable for its exceedingly picturesque
campanile, of late Gothic, but uninjured by restorations, and
peculiarly Venetian in being crowned by the cupola instead of the
pyramid, which would have been employed at the same period in any
other Italian city.
FOSCARI, PALAZZO, on the Grand Canal. The noblest example in Venice of
the fifteenth century Gothic, founded on the Ducal Palace, but lately
restored and spoiled, all but the stone-work of the main windows. The
restoration was necessary, however: for, when I was in Venice in 1845,
this palace was a foul ruin; its great hall a mass of mud, used as a
back receptacle of a stone-mason's yard; and its rooms whitewashed,
and scribbled over with indecent caricatures. It has since been
partially strengthened and put in order; but as the Venetian
municipality have now given it to the Austrians to be used as
barracks, it will probably soon be reduced to its former condition.
The lower palaces at the side of this building are said by some to
have belonged to the younger Foscari. See "GIUSTINIANI."
FRANCESCO DELLA VIGNA, CHURCH OF ST. Base Renaissance, but must be
visited in order to see the John Bellini in the Cappella Santa. The
late sculpture, in the Cappella Giustiniani, appears from Lazari's
statement to be deserving of careful study. This church is said also
to contain two pictures by Paul Veronese.
FRARI, CHURCH OF THE. Founded in 1250, and continued at various
subsequent periods. The apse and adjoining chapels are the earliest
portions, and their traceries have been above noticed (II. 234) as the
origin of those of the Ducal Palace. The best view of the apse, which
is a very noble example of Italian Gothic, is from the door of the
Scuola di San Rocco. The doors of the church are all later than any
other portion of it, very elaborate Renaissance Gothic. The interior
is good Gothic, but not interesting, except in its monuments. Of
these, the following are noticed in the text of this volume:
That of Duccio degli Alberti, at pages 74, 80; of the unknown Knight,
opposite that of Duccio, III. 74; of Francesco Foscari, III. 84; of
Giovanni Pesaro, 91; of Jacopo Pesaro, 92.
Besides these tombs, the traveller ought to notice carefully that of
Pietro Bernardo, a first-rate example of Renaissance work; nothing can
be more detestable or mindless in general design, or more beautiful in
execution. Examine especially the griffins, fixed in admiration of
bouquets, at the bottom. The fruit and flowers which arrest the
attention of the griffins may well arrest the traveller's also;
nothing can be finer of their kind. The tomb of Canova, _by_ Canova,
cannot be missed; consummate in science, intolerable in affectation,
ridiculous in conception, null and void to the uttermost in invention
and feeling. The equestrian statue of Paolo Savelli is spirited; the
monument of the Beato Pacifico, a curious example of Renaissance
Gothic with wild crockets (all in terra cotta). There are several good
Vivarini's in the church, but its chief pictorial treasure is the John
Bellini in the sacristy, the most finished and delicate example of the
master in Venice.
G
GEREMIA, CHURCH OF ST. Of no importance.
GESUATI, CHURCH OF THE. Of no importance.
GIACOMO DE LORIO, CHURCH OF ST., a most interesting church, of the early
thirteenth century, but grievously restored. Its capitals have been
already noticed as characteristic of the earliest Gothic; and it is
said to contain four works of Paul Veronese, but I have not examined
them. The pulpit is admired by the Italians, but is utterly worthless.
The verdantique pillar, in the south transept, is a very noble example
of the "Jewel Shaft." See the note at p. 83, Vol. II.
GIACOMO DI RIALTO, CHURCH OF ST. A picturesque little church, on the
Piazza di Rialto. It has been grievously restored, but the pillars and
capitals of its nave are certainly of the eleventh century; those of
its portico are of good central Gothic; and it will surely not be left
unvisited, on this ground, if on no other, that it stands on the site,
and still retains the name, of the first church ever built on that
Rialto which formed the nucleus of future Venice, and became
afterwards the mart of her merchants.
GIOBBE, CHURCH OF ST., near the Cana Reggio. Its principal entrance is
a very fine example of early Renaissance sculpture. Note in it,
especially, its beautiful use of the flower of the convolvulus. There
are said to be still more beautiful examples of the same period, in
the interior. The cloister, though much defaced, is of the Gothic
period, and worth a glance.
GIORGIO DE' GRECI, CHURCH OF ST. The Greek Church. It contains no
valuable objects of art, but its service is worth attending by those
who have never seen the Greek ritual.
GIORGIO DE' SCHIAVONI, CHURCH OF ST. Said to contain a very precious
series of paintings by Victor Carpaccio. Otherwise of no interest.
GIORGIO IN ALIGA (St. George in the seaweed), Church of St. Unimportant
in itself, but the most beautiful view of Venice at sunset is from a
point at about two thirds of the distance from the city to the island.
GIORGIO MAGGIORE, CHURCH OF ST. A building which owes its interesting
effect chiefly to its isolated position, being seen over a great space
of lagoon. The traveller should especially notice in its façade the
manner in which the central Renaissance architects (of whose style
this church is a renowned example) endeavored to fit the laws they had
established to the requirements of their age. Churches were required
with aisles and clerestories, that is to say, with a high central nave
and lower wings; and the question was, how to face this form with
pillars of one proportion. The noble Romanesque architects built story
above story, as at Pisa and Lucca; but the base Palladian architects
dared not do this. They must needs retain some image of the Greek
temple; but the Greek temple was all of one height, a low gable roof
being borne on ranges of equal pillars. So the Palladian builders
raised first a Greek temple with pilasters for shafts; and, _through
the middle of its roof, or horizontal beam_, that is to say, of the
cornice which externally represented this beam, they lifted another
temple on pedestals, adding these barbarous appendages to the shafts,
which otherwise would not have been high enough; fragments of the
divided cornice or tie-beam being left between the shafts, and the
great door of the church thrust in between the pedestals. It is
impossible to conceive a design more gross, more barbarous, more
childish in conception, more servile in plagiarism, more insipid in
result, more contemptible under every point of rational regard.
Observe, also, that when Palladio had got his pediment at the top of
the church, he did not know what to do with it; he had no idea of
decorating it except by a round hole in the middle. (The traveller
should compare, both in construction and decoration, the Church of the
Redentore with this of San Giorgio.) Now, a dark penetration is often
a most precious assistance to a building dependent upon color for its
effect; for a cavity is the only means in the architect's power of
obtaining certain and vigorous shadow; and for this purpose, a
circular penetration, surrounded by a deep russet marble moulding, is
beautifully used in the centre of the white field on the side of the
portico of St. Mark's. But Palladio had given up color, and pierced
his pediment with a circular cavity, merely because he had not wit
enough to fill it with sculpture. The interior of the church is like a
large assembly room, and would have been undeserving of a moment's
attention, but that it contains some most precious pictures, namely:
1. _Gathering the Manna._ (On the left hand of the high altar.) One of
Tintoret's most remarkable landscapes. A brook flowing through a
mountainous country, studded with thickets and palm trees; the
congregation have been long in the Wilderness, and are employed in
various manufactures much more than in gathering the manna. One group
is forging, another grinding manna in a mill, another making shoes,
one woman making a piece of dress, some washing; the main purpose of
Tintoret being evidently to indicate the _continuity_ of the supply of
heavenly food. Another painter would have made the congregation
hurrying to gather it, and wondering at it; Tintoret at once makes us
remember that they have been fed with it "by the space of forty
years." It is a large picture, full of interest and power, but
scattered in effect, and not striking except from its elaborate
landscape.
2. _The Last Supper._ (Opposite the former.) These two pictures have
been painted for their places, the subjects being illustrative of the
sacrifice of the mass. This latter is remarkable for its entire
homeliness in the general treatment of the subject; the entertainment
being represented like any large supper in a second-rate Italian inn,
the figures being all comparatively uninteresting; but we are reminded
that the subject is a sacred one, not only by the strong light shining
from the head of Christ, but because the smoke of the lamp which hangs
over the table turns, as it rises, into a multitude of angels, all
painted in grey, the color of the smoke; and so writhed and twisted
together that the eye hardly at first distinguishes them from the
vapor out of which they are formed, ghosts of countenances and filmy
wings filling up the intervals between the completed heads. The idea
is highly characteristic of the master. The picture has been
grievously injured, but still shows miracles of skill in the
expression of candle-light mixed with twilight; variously reflected
rays, and half tones of the dimly lighted chamber, mingled with the
beams of the lantern and those from the head of Christ, flashing along
the metal and glass upon the table, and under it along the floor, and
dying away into the recesses of the room.
3. _Martyrdom of various Saints._ (Altar piece of the third altar in
the South aisle.) A moderately sized picture, and now a very
disagreeable one, owing to the violent red into which the color that
formed the glory of the angel at the top is changed. It has been
hastily painted, and only shows the artist's power in the energy of
the figure of an executioner drawing a bow, and in the magnificent
ease with which the other figures are thrown together in all manner of
wild groups and defiances of probability. Stones and arrows are flying
about in the air at random.
4. _Coronation of the Virgin._ (Fourth altar in the same aisle.)
Painted more for the sake of the portraits at the bottom, than of the
Virgin at the top. A good picture, but somewhat tame for Tintoret, and
much injured. The principal figure, in black, is still, however, very
fine.
5. _Resurrection of Christ._ (At the end of the north aisle, in the
chapel beside the choir.) Another picture painted chiefly for the sake
of the included portraits, and remarkably cold in general conception;
its color has, however, been gay and delicate, lilac, yellow, and blue
being largely used in it. The flag which our Saviour bears in his
hand, has been once as bright as the sail of a Venetian fishing-boat,
but the colors are now all chilled, and the picture is rather crude
than brilliant; a mere wreck of what it was, and all covered with
droppings of wax at the bottom.
6. _Martyrdom of St. Stephen._ (Altar piece in the north transept.)
The Saint is in a rich prelate's dress, looking as if he had just been
saying mass, kneeling in the foreground, and perfectly serene. The
stones are flying about him like hail, and the ground is covered with
them as thickly as if it were a river bed. But in the midst of them,
at the saint's right hand, there is a book lying, crushed but open,
two or three stones which have torn one of its leaves lying upon it.
The freedom and ease with which the leaf is crumpled is just as
characteristic of the master as any of the grander features; no one
but Tintoret could have so crushed a leaf; but the idea is still more
characteristic of him, for the book is evidently meant for the Mosaic
History which Stephen had just been expounding, and its being crushed
by the stones shows how the blind rage of the Jews was violating their
own law in the murder of Stephen. In the upper part of the picture are
three figures,--Christ, the Father, and St. Michael. Christ of course
at the right hand of the Father, as Stephen saw him standing; but
there is little dignity in this part of the conception. In the middle
of the picture, which is also the middle distance, are three or four
men throwing stones, with Tintoret's usual vigor of gesture, and
behind them an immense and confused crowd; so that, at first, we
wonder where St. Paul is; but presently we observe that, in the front
of this crowd, and _almost exactly in the centre of the picture_,
there is a figure seated on the ground, very noble and quiet, and with
some loose garments thrown across its knees. It is dressed in vigorous
black and red. The figure of the Father in the sky above is dressed in
black and red also, and these two figures are the centres of color to
the whole design. It is almost impossible to praise too highly the
refinement of conception which withdrew the unconverted St. Paul into
the distance, so as entirely to separate him from the immediate
interest of the scene, and yet marked the dignity to which he was
afterward to be raised, by investing him with the colors which
occurred nowhere else in the picture except in the dress which veils
the form of the Godhead. It is also to be noted as an interesting
example of the value which the painter put upon color only; another
composer would have thought it necessary to exalt the future apostle
by some peculiar dignity of action or expression. The posture of the
figure is indeed grand, but inconspicuous; Tintoret does not depend
upon it, and thinks that the figure is quite ennobled enough by being
made a key-note of color.
It is also worth observing how boldly imaginative is the treatment
which covers the ground with piles of stones, and yet leaves the
martyr apparently unwounded. Another painter would have covered him
with blood, and elaborated the expression of pain upon his
countenance. Tintoret leaves us under no doubt as to what manner of
death he is dying; he makes the air hurtle with the stones, but he
does not choose to make his picture disgusting, or even painful. The
face of the martyr is serene, and exulting; and we leave the picture,
remembering only how "he fell asleep."
GIOVANELLI, PALAZZO, at the Ponte di Noale. A fine example of
fifteenth century Gothic, founded on the Ducal Palace.
GIOVANNI E PAOLO, CHURCH OF ST.[72] Foundation of, III. 69. An
impressive church, though none of its Gothic is comparable with that
of the North, or with that of Verona. The Western door is interesting
as one of the last conditions of Gothic design passing into
Renaissance, very rich and beautiful of its kind, especially the
wreath of fruit and flowers which forms its principal molding. The
statue of Bartolomeo Colleone, in the little square beside the church,
is certainly one of the noblest works in Italy. I have never seen
anything approaching it in animation, in vigor of portraiture, or
nobleness of line. The reader will need Lazari's Guide in making the
circuit of the church, which is full of interesting monuments: but I
wish especially to direct his attention to two pictures, besides the
celebrated Peter Martyr: namely,
1. _The Crucifixion_, by Tintoret; on the wall of the left-hand aisle,
just before turning into the transept. A picture fifteen feet long by
eleven or twelve high. I do not believe that either the "Miracle of
St. Mark," or the great "Crucifixion" in the Scuola di San Rocco, cost
Tintoret more pains than this comparatively small work, which is now
utterly neglected, covered with filth and cobwebs, and fearfully
injured. As a piece of color, and light and shade, it is altogether
marvellous. Of all the fifty figures which the picture contains, there
is not one which in any way injures or contends with another; nay,
there is not a single fold of garment or touch of the pencil which
could be spared; every virtue of Tintoret, as a painter, is there in
its highest degree,--color at once the most intense and the most
delicate, the utmost decision in the arrangement of masses of light,
and yet half tones and modulations of endless variety; and all
executed with a magnificence of handling which no words are energetic
enough to describe. I have hardly ever seen a picture in which there
was so much decision, and so little impetuosity, and in which so
little was conceded to haste, to accident, or to weakness. It is too
infinite a work to be describable; but among its minor passages of
extreme beauty, should especially be noticed the manner in which the
accumulated forms of the human body, which fill the picture from end
to end, are prevented from being felt heavy, by the grace and
elasticity of two or three sprays of leafage which spring from a
broken root in the foreground, and rise conspicuous in shadow against
an interstice filled by the pale blue, grey, and golden light in which
the distant crowd is invested, the office of this foliage being, in an
artistical point of view, correspondent to that of the trees set by
the sculptors of the Ducal Palace on its angles. But they have a far
more important meaning in the picture than any artistical one. If the
spectator will look carefully at the root which I have called broken,
he will find that in reality, it is not broken, but cut; the other
branches of the young tree having _lately been cut away_. When we
remember that one of the principal incidents in great San Rocco
Crucifixion is the ass feeding on withered palm leaves, we shall be at
no loss to understand the great painter's purpose in lifting the
branch of this mutilated olive against the dim light of the distant
sky; while, close beside it, St. Joseph of Arimathea drags along the
dust a white garment--observe, the principal light of the
picture,--stained with the blood of that King before whom, five days
before, his crucifiers had strewn their own garments in the way.
2. _Our Lady with the Camerlenghi._ (In the centre chapel of the three
on the right of the choir.) A remarkable instance of the theoretical
manner of representing Scriptural facts, which, at this time, as noted
in the second chapter of this volume, was undermining the belief of
the facts themselves. Three Venetian chamberlains desired to have
their portraits painted, and at the same time to express their
devotion to the Madonna; to that end they are painted kneeling before
her, and in order to account for their all three being together, and
to give a thread or clue to the story of the picture, they are
represented as the Three Magi; but lest the spectator should think it
strange that the Magi should be in the dress of Venetian chamberlains,
the scene is marked as a mere ideality, by surrounding the person of
the Virgin with saints who lived five hundred years after her. She has
for attendants St. Theodore, St. Sebastian, and St. Carlo (query St.
Joseph). One hardly knows whether most to regret the spirit which was
losing sight of the verities of religious history in imaginative
abstractions, or to praise the modesty and piety which desired rather
to be represented as kneeling before the Virgin than in the discharge
or among the insignia of important offices of state.
As an "Adoration of the Magi," the picture is, of course, sufficiently
absurd: the St. Sebastian leans back in the corner to be out of the
way; the three Magi kneel, without the slightest appearance of
emotion, to a Madonna seated in a Venetian loggia of the fifteenth
century, and three Venetian servants behind bear their offerings in a
very homely sack, tied up at the mouth. As a piece of portraiture and
artistical composition, the work is altogether perfect, perhaps the
best piece of Tintoret's portrait-painting in existence. It is very
carefully and steadily wrought, and arranged with consummate skill on
a difficult plan. The canvas is a long oblong, I think about eighteen
or twenty feet long, by about seven high; one might almost fancy the
painter had been puzzled to bring the piece into use, the figures
being all thrown into positions which a little diminish their height.
The nearest chamberlain is kneeling, the two behind him bowing
themselves slightly, the attendants behind bowing lower, the Madonna
sitting, the St. Theodore sitting still lower on the steps at her
feet, and the St. Sebastian leaning back, so that all the lines of the
picture incline more or less from right to left as they ascend. This
slope, which gives unity to the detached groups, is carefully
exhibited by what a mathematician would call coordinates,--the upright
pillars of the loggia and the horizontal clouds of the beautiful sky.
The color is very quiet, but rich and deep, the local tones being
brought out with intense force, and the cast shadows subdued, the
manner being much more that of Titian than of Tintoret. The sky
appears full of light, though it is as dark as the flesh of the faces;
and the forms of its floating clouds, as well as of the hills over
which they rise, are drawn with a deep remembrance of reality. There
are hundreds of pictures of Tintoret's more amazing than this, but I
hardly know one that I more love.
The reader ought especially to study the sculpture round the altar of
the Capella del Rosario, as an example of the abuse of the sculptor's
art; every accessory being labored out with as much ingenuity and
intense effort to turn sculpture into painting, the grass, trees, and
landscape being as far realized as possible, and in alto-relievo.
These bas-reliefs are by various artists, and therefore exhibit the
folly of the age, not the error of an individual.
The following alphabetical list of the tombs in this church which are
alluded to as described in the text, with references to the pages
where they are mentioned, will save some trouble:
Cavalli, Jacopo, III. 82. | Mocenigo, Pietro, III. 89.
Cornaro, Marco, III. 11. | Mocenigo, Tomaso, I. 8, 26, III. 84.
Dolfin, Giovanni, III. 78. | Morosini, Michele, III. 80.
Giustiniani, Marco, I. 315. | Steno, Michele, III. 83.
Mocenigo, Giovanni, III. 89. | Vendramin, Andrea, I. 27, III. 88.
GIOVANNI GRISOSTOMO, CHURCH OF ST. One of the most important in
Venice. It is early Renaissance, containing some good sculpture, but
chiefly notable as containing a noble Sebastian del Piombo, and a John
Bellini, which a few years hence, unless it be "restored," will be
esteemed one of the most precious pictures in Italy, and among the
most perfect in the world. John Bellini is the only artist who appears
to me to have united, in equal and magnificent measures, justness of
drawing, nobleness of coloring, and perfect manliness of treatment,
with the purest religious feeling. He did, as far as it is possible to
do it, instinctively and unaffectedly, what the Caracci only pretended
to do. Titian colors better, but has not his piety. Leonardo draws
better, but has not his color. Angelico is more heavenly, but has not
his manliness, far less his powers of art.
GIOVANNI ELEMOSINARIO, CHURCH OF ST. Said to contain a Titian and a
Bonifazio. Of no other interest.
GIOVANNI IN BRAGOLA, CHURCH OF ST. A Gothic church of the fourteenth
century, small, but interesting, and said to contain some precious
works by Cima da Conegliano, and one by John Bellini.
GIOVANNI NOVO, CHURCH OF ST. Of no importance.
GIOVANNI, S., SCUOLA DI. A fine example of the Byzantine Renaissance,
mixed with remnants of good late Gothic. The little exterior cortile
is sweet in feeling, and Lazari praises highly the work of the
interior staircase.
GIUDECCA. The crescent-shaped island (or series of islands), which
forms the most northern extremity of the city of Venice, though
separated by a broad channel from the main city. Commonly said to
derive its name from the number of Jews who lived upon it; but Lazari
derives it from the word "Judicato," in Venetian dialect "Zudegà," it
having been in old time "adjudged" as a kind of prison territory to
the more dangerous and turbulent citizens. It is now inhabited only by
the poor, and covered by desolate groups of miserable dwellings,
divided by stagnant canals.
Its two principal churches, the Redentore and St. Eufemia, are named
in their alphabetical order.
GIULIANO, CHURCH OF ST. Of no importance.
GIUSEPPE DI CASTELLO, CHURCH OF ST. Said to contain a Paul Veronese:
otherwise of no importance.
GIUSTINA, CHURCH OF ST. Of no importance.
GIUSTINIANI PALAZZO, on the Grand Canal, now Albergo all' Europa. Good
late fourteenth century Gothic, but much altered.
GIUSTINIANI, PALAZZO, next the Casa Foscari, on the Grand Canal.
Lazari, I know not on what authority, says that this palace was built
by the Giustiniani family before 1428. It is one of those founded
directly on the Ducal Palace, together with the Casa Foscari at its
side: and there could have been no doubt of their date on this ground;
but it would be interesting, after what we have seen of the progress
of the Ducal Palace, to ascertain the exact year of the erection of
any of these imitations.
This palace contains some unusually rich detached windows, full of
tracery, of which the profiles are given in the Appendix, under the
title of the Palace of the Younger Foscari, it being popularly
reported to have belonged to the son of the Doge.
GIUSTINIAN LOLIN, PALAZZO, on the Grand Canal. Of no importance.
GRASSI PALAZZO, on the Grand Canal, now Albergo all' Imperator d'
Austria. Of no importance.
GREGORIO, CHURCH OF ST., on the Grand Canal. An important church of
the fourteenth century, now desecrated, but still interesting. Its
apse is on the little canal crossing from the Grand Canal to the
Giudecca, beside the Church of the Salute, and is very characteristic
of the rude ecclesiastical Gothic contemporary with the Ducal Palace.
The entrance to its cloisters, from the Grand Canal, is somewhat
later; a noble square door, with two windows on each side of it, the
grandest examples in Venice of the late window of the fourth order.
The cloister, to which this door gives entrance, is exactly
contemporary with the finest work of the Ducal Palace, circa 1350. It
is the loveliest cortile I know in Venice; its capitals consummate in
design and execution; and the low wall on which they stand showing
remnants of sculpture unique, as far as I know, in such application.
GRIMANI, PALAZZO, on the Grand Canal, III. 32.
There are several other palaces in Venice belonging to this family,
but none of any architectural interest.
J
JESUITI, CHURCH OF THE. The basest Renaissance; but worth a visit in
order to examine the imitations of curtains in white marble inlaid
with green.
It contains a Tintoret, "The Assumption," which I have not examined;
and a Titian, "The Martyrdom of St. Lawrence," originally, it seems to
me, of little value, and now, having been restored, of none.
L
LABIA PALAZZO, on the Canna Reggio. Of no importance.
LAZZARO DE' MENDICANTI, CHURCH OF ST. Of no importance.
LIBRERIA VECCHIA. A graceful building of the central Renaissance,
designed by Sansovino, 1536, and much admired by all architects of the
school. It was continued by Scamozzi, down the whole side of St.
Mark's Place, adding another story above it, which modern critics
blame as destroying the "eurithmia;" never considering that had the
two low stories of the Library been continued along the entire length
of the Piazza, they would have looked so low that the entire dignity
of the square would have been lost. As it is, the Library is left in
its originally good proportions, and the larger mass of the Procuratie
Nuove forms a more majestic, though less graceful, side for the great
square.
But the real faults of the building are not in its number of stories,
but in the design of the parts. It is one of the grossest examples of
the base Renaissance habit of turning _keystones_ into _brackets_,
throwing them out in bold projection (not less than a foot and a half)
beyond the mouldings of the arch; a practice utterly barbarous,
inasmuch as it evidently tends to dislocate the entire arch, if any
real weight were laid on the extremity of the keystone; and it is also
a very characteristic example of the vulgar and painful mode of
filling spandrils by naked figures in alto-relievo, leaning against
the arch on each side, and appearing as if they were continually in
danger of slipping off. Many of these figures have, however, some
merit in themselves; and the whole building is graceful and effective
of its kind. The continuation of the Procuratie Nuove, at the western
extremity of St. Mark's Place (together with various apartments in the
great line of the Procuratie Nuove) forms the "Royal Palace," the
residence of the Emperor when at Venice. This building is entirely
modern, built in 1810, in imitation of the Procuratie Nuove, and on
the site of Sansovino's Church of San Geminiano.
In this range of buildings, including the Royal Palace, the Procuratie
Nuove, the old Library, and the "Zecca" which is connected with them
(the latter being an ugly building of very modern date, not worth
notice architecturally), there are many most valuable pictures, among
which I would especially direct attention, first to those in the
Zecca, namely, a beautiful and strange Madonna, by Benedetto Diana;
two noble Bonifazios; and two groups, by Tintoret, of the Provveditori
della Zecca, by no means to be missed, whatever may be sacrificed to
see them, on account of the quietness and veracity of their unaffected
portraiture, and the absolute freedom from all vanity either in the
painter or in his subjects.
Next, in the "Antisala" of the old Library, observe the "Sapienza" of
Titian, in the centre of the ceiling; a most interesting work in the
light brilliancy of its color, and the resemblance to Paul Veronese.
Then, in the great hall of the old Library, examine the two large
Tintorets, "St. Mark saving a Saracen from Drowning," and the
"Stealing of his Body from Constantinople," both rude, but great (note
in the latter the dashing of the rain on the pavement, and running of
the water about the feet of the figures): then in the narrow spaces
between the windows, there are some magnificent single figures by
Tintoret, among the finest things of the kind in Italy, or in Europe.
Finally, in the gallery of pictures in the Palazzo Reale, among other
good works of various kinds, are two of the most interesting
Bonifazios in Venice, the "Children of Israel in their journeyings,"
in one of which, if I recollect right, the quails are coming in flight
across a sunset sky, forming one of the earliest instances I know of a
thoroughly natural and Turneresque effect being felt and rendered by
the old masters. The picture struck me chiefly from this circumstance;
but, the note-book in which I had described it and its companion
having been lost on my way home, I cannot now give a more special
account of them, except that they are long, full of crowded figures,
and peculiarly light in color and handling as compared with
Bonifazio's work in general.
LIO, CHURCH OF ST. Of no importance, but said to contain a spoiled
Titian.
LIO, SALIZZADA DI ST., windows in, II. 252, 257.
LOREDAN, PALAZZO, on the Grand Canal, near the Rialto, II. 123, 393.
Another palace of this name, on the Campo St. Stefano, is of no
importance.
LORENZO, CHURCH OF ST. Of no importance.
LUCA, CHURCH OF ST. Its campanile is of very interesting and quaint
early Gothic, and it is said to contain a Paul Veronese, "St Luke and
the Virgin." In the little Campiello St. Luca, close by, is a very
precious Gothic door, rich in brickwork, of the thirteenth century;
and in the foundations of the houses on the same side of the square,
but at the other end of it, are traceable some shafts and arches
closely resembling the work of the Cathedral of Murano, and evidently
having once belonged to some most interesting building.
LUCIA, CHURCH OF ST. Of no importance.
M
MADDALENA, CHURCH OF STA. MARIA. Of no importance.
MALIPIERO, PALAZZO, on the Campo St. M. Formosa, facing the canal at its
extremity. A very beautiful example of the Byzantine Renaissance. Note
the management of color in its inlaid balconies.
MANFRINI, PALAZZO. The architecture is of no interest; and as it is in
contemplation to allow the collection of pictures to be sold, I shall
take no note of them. But even if they should remain, there are few of
the churches in Venice where the traveller had not better spend his
time than in this gallery; as, with the exception of Titian's
"Entombment," one or two Giorgiones, and the little John Bellini (St.
Jerome), the pictures are all of a kind which may be seen elsewhere.
MANGILI VALMARANA, PALAZZO, on the Grand Canal. Of no importance.
MANIN, PALAZZO, on the Grand Canal. Of no importance.
MANZONI, PALAZZO, on the Grand Canal, near the Church of the Carità. A
perfect and very rich example of Byzantine Renaissance: its warm
yellow marbles are magnificent.
MARCILIAN, CHURCH OF ST. Said to contain a Titian, "Tobit and the
Angel:" otherwise of no importance.
MARIA, CHURCHES OF STA. See FORMOSA, MATER DOMINI, MIRACOLI, ORTO,
SALUTE, and ZOBENIGO.
MARCO, SCUOLA DI SAN, III. 16.
MARK, CHURCH OF ST., history of, II. 57; approach to, II. 71; general
teaching of, II. 112, 116; measures of façade of, II. 126; balustrades
of, II. 244, 247; cornices of, I. 311; horseshoe arches of, II. 249;
entrances of, II. 271, III. 245; shafts of, II. 384; base in
baptistery of, I. 290; mosaics in atrium of, II. 112; mosaics in
cupola of, II. 114, III. 192; lily capitals of, II. 137; Plates
illustrative of (Vol. II.), VI. VII. figs. 9, 10, 11, VIII. figs. 8,
9, 12, 13, 15, IX. XI. fig. 1, and Plate III. Vol. III.
MARK, SQUARE OF ST. (Piazza di San Marco), anciently a garden, II. 58;
general effect of, II. 66, 116; plan of, II. 282.
MARTINO, CHURCH OF ST. Of no importance.
MATER DOMINI, CHURCH OF ST. MARIA. It contains two important pictures:
one over the second altar on the right, "St. Christina," by Vincenzo
Catena, a very lovely example of the Venetian religious school; and,
over the north transept door, the "Finding of the Cross," by Tintoret,
a carefully painted and attractive picture, but by no means a good
specimen of the master, as far as regards power of conception. He does
not seem to have entered into his subject. There is no wonder, no
rapture, no entire devotion in any of the figures. They are only
interested and pleased in a mild way; and the kneeling woman who hands
the nails to a man stooping forward to receive them on the right hand,
does so with the air of a person saying, "You had better take care of
them; they may be wanted another time." This general coldness in
expression is much increased by the presence of several figures on the
right and left, introduced for the sake of portraiture merely; and
the reality, as well as the feeling, of the scene is destroyed by our
seeing one of the youngest and weakest of the women with a huge cross
lying across her knees, the whole weight of it resting upon her. As
might have been expected, where the conception is so languid, the
execution is little delighted in; it is throughout steady and
powerful, but in no place affectionate, and in no place impetuous. If
Tintoret had always painted in this way, he would have sunk into a
mere mechanist. It is, however, a genuine and tolerably well preserved
specimen, and its female figures are exceedingly graceful; that of St.
Helena very queenly, though by no means agreeable in feature. Among
the male portraits on the left there is one different from the usual
types which occur either in Venetian paintings or Venetian populace;
it is carefully painted, and more like a Scotch Presbyterian minister,
than a Greek. The background is chiefly composed of architecture,
white, remarkably uninteresting in color, and still more so in form.
This is to be noticed as one of the unfortunate results of the
Renaissance teaching at this period. Had Tintoret backed his Empress
Helena with Byzantine architecture, the picture might have been one of
the most gorgeous he ever painted.
MATER DOMINI, CAMPO DI STA. MARIA, II. 261. A most interesting little
piazza, surrounded by early Gothic houses, once of singular beauty;
the arcade at its extremity, of fourth order windows, drawn in my
folio work, is one of the earliest and loveliest of its kind in
Venice; and in the houses at the side is a group of second order
windows with their intermediate crosses, all complete, and well worth
careful examination.
MICHELE IN ISOLA, CHURCH OF ST. On the island between Venice and
Murano. The little Cappella Emiliana at the side of it has been much
admired, but it would be difficult to find a building more feelingless
or ridiculous. It is more like a German summer-house, or angle turret,
than a chapel, and may be briefly described as a bee-hive set on a low
hexagonal tower, with dashes of stone-work about its windows like the
flourishes of an idle penman.
The cloister of this church is pretty; and the attached cemetery is
worth entering, for the sake of feeling the strangeness of the quiet
sleeping ground in the midst of the sea.
MICHIEL DALLE COLONNE, PALAZZO. Of no importance.
MINELLI, PALAZZO. In the Corte del Maltese, at St. Paternian. It has a
spiral external staircase, very picturesque, but of the fifteenth
century and without merit.
MIRACOLI, CHURCH OF STA. MARIA DEI. The most interesting and finished
example in Venice of the Byzantine Renaissance, and one of the most
important in Italy of the cinque-cento style. All its sculptures
should be examined with great care, as the best possible examples of a
bad style. Observe, for instance, that in spite of the beautiful work
on the square pillars which support the gallery at the west end, they
have no more architectural effect than two wooden posts. The same kind
of failure in boldness of purpose exists throughout; and the building
is, in fact, rather a small museum of unmeaning, though refined
sculpture, than a piece of architecture.
Its grotesques are admirable examples of the base Raphaelesque design
examined above, III. 136. Note especially the children's heads tied up
by the hair, in the lateral sculptures at the top of the altar steps.
A rude workman, who could hardly have carved the head at all, might
have allowed this or any other mode of expressing discontent with his
own doings; but the man who could carve a child's head so perfectly
must have been wanting in all human feeling, to cut it off, and tie it
by the hair to a vine leaf. Observe, in the Ducal Palace, though far
ruder in skill, the heads always _emerge_ from the leaves, they are
never _tied_ to them.
MISERICORDIA, CHURCH OF. The church itself is nothing, and contains
nothing worth the traveller's time; but the Albergo de' Confratelli
della Misericordia at its side is a very interesting and beautiful
relic of the Gothic Renaissance. Lazari says, "del secolo xiv.;" but I
believe it to be later. Its traceries are very curious and rich, and
the sculpture of its capitals very fine for the late time. Close to
it, on the right-hand side of the canal which is crossed by the wooden
bridge, is one of the richest Gothic doors in Venice, remarkable for
the appearance of antiquity in the general design and stiffness of its
figures, though it bears its date 1505. Its extravagant crockets are
almost the only features which, but for this written date, would at
first have confessed its lateness; but, on examination, the figures
will be found as bad and spiritless as they are apparently archaic,
and completely exhibiting the Renaissance palsy of imagination.
The general effect is, however, excellent, the whole arrangement
having been borrowed from earlier work.
The action of the statue of the Madonna, who extends her robe to
shelter a group of diminutive figures, representative of the Society
for whose house the sculpture was executed, may be also seen in most
of the later Venetian figures of the Virgin which occupy similar
situations. The image of Christ is placed in a medallion on her
breast, thus fully, though conventionally, expressing the idea of
self-support which is so often partially indicated by the great
religious painters in their representations of the infant Jesus.
MOISÈ, CHURCH OF ST., III. 124. Notable as one of the basest examples
of the basest school of the Renaissance. It contains one important
picture, namely "Christ washing the Disciples' Feet," by Tintoret; on
the left side of the chapel, north of the choir. This picture has been
originally dark, is now much faded--in parts, I believe, altogether
destroyed--and is hung in the worst light of a chapel, where, on a
sunny day at noon, one could not easily read without a candle. I
cannot, therefore, give much information respecting it; but it is
certainly one of the least successful of the painter's works, and both
careless and unsatisfactory in its composition as well as its color.
One circumstance is noticeable, as in a considerable degree detracting
from the interest of most of Tintoret's representations of our Saviour
with his disciples. He never loses sight of the fact that all were
poor, and the latter ignorant; and while he never paints a senator, or
a saint once thoroughly canonized, except as a gentleman, he is very
careful to paint the Apostles, in their living intercourse with the
Saviour, in such a manner that the spectator may see in an instant, as
the Pharisee did of old, that they were unlearned and ignorant men;
and, whenever we find them in a room, it is always such a one as would
be inhabited by the lower classes. There seems some violation of this
practice in the dais, or flight of steps, at the top of which the
Saviour is placed in the present picture; but we are quickly reminded
that the guests' chamber or upper room ready prepared was not likely
to have been in a palace, by the humble furniture upon the floor,
consisting of a tub with a copper saucepan in it, a coffee-pot, and a
pair of bellows, curiously associated with a symbolic cup with a
wafer, which, however, is in an injured part of the canvas, and may
have been added by the priests. I am totally unable to state what the
background of the picture is or has been; and the only point farther
to be noted about it is the solemnity, which, in spite of the familiar
and homely circumstances above noticed, the painter has given to the
scene, by placing the Saviour, in the act of washing the feet of
Peter, at the top of a circle of steps, on which the other Apostles
kneel in adoration and astonishment.
MORO, PALAZZO. See OTHELLO.
MOROSINI, PALAZZO, near the Ponte dell' Ospedaletto, at San Giovannie
Paolo. Outside it is not interesting, though the gateway shows remains
of brickwork of the thirteenth century. Its interior court is
singularly beautiful; the staircase of early fourteenth century Gothic
has originally been superb, and the window in the angle above is the
most perfect that I know in Venice of the kind; the lightly sculptured
coronet is exquisitely introduced at the top of its spiral shaft.
This palace still belongs to the Morosini family, to whose present
representative, the Count Carlo Morosini, the reader is indebted for
the note on the character of his ancestors, above, III. 213.
MOROSINI, PALAZZO, at St. Stefano. Of no importance.