_The Riva degli Schiavoni--S. Maria della Pietà--Petrarch’s
House--S. Giovanni in Bragora--S. Martino--The Arsenal--The Public
Gardens--S. Pietro in Castello_
Turning S. from the Piazza we pass the Libreria Vecchia, designed by
Sansovino to contain the books left to the Republic by Petrarch and
Cardinal Bessarione and reach the two columns of grim memories, where
Browning delighted to
“observe
The swallows soaring their eternal curve
’Twixt Theodore and Mark.”
[Illustration: VENICE FROM THE PUBLIC GARDENS]
[Illustration]
To the W., on the site of the present royal gardens, stood the old
granaries of the Republic. We turn E., cross the Ponte della Paglia
(straw) where the barges laden with straw used to unload, and reach the
_Riva degli Schiavoni_, in olden times the most bustling quarter of
Venice. Here lived the Schiavoni (Dalmatian sailors), who manned the
galleons and argosies of the Republic. Here was the starting-point for
the galleys bound for the Holy Land. On the site of the present prison,
John the Englishman, in the fourteenth century, kept “The Dragon,” a
hostelry, with stables, much patronised by English pilgrims, for horses
were then almost as common in Venice as in other mediæval towns. Several
of the Doges had the finest stables in Italy, and horses and mules were
largely used by the Venetians. There was no wide Riva[110] in those
days, only a narrow fondamenta beyond the Molo, which was then a
projecting quay, the chief landing-stage of Venice. The Riva is the
favourite promenade of the Venetian _popolani_, and affords an
ever-changing scene of local colour for the stranger. We cross two
bridges to S. Maria della Pietà, which contains a masterpiece (Christ in
the House of the Pharisee) by Moretto, the Brescian painter (1498-1560),
in the upper choir at the S. end. Just over the next bridge (del
Sepolcro, so called because the pilgrims to and from the Holy Sepulchre
at Jerusalem lodged near), is the site of the house given by the
Republic to Petrarch. Here he lived with his married daughter,
entertained Boccaccio, and had a disputation with a notorious atheist of
Venice, whom he failed to convert, and ejected from the house.
We turn N., beyond the house, by the calle del Dose, and reach the
church of S. Giovanni in Bragora (the marshes). Here we shall find one
of the finest Cimas in Venice (The Baptism of Christ), unhappily
difficult to see as a whole, owing to its position behind the high
altar. It was painted in 1491. On a pillar, R. of the choir, is another
work by the same master--SS. Helena and Constantine; on a pillar to the
L. is Alvise Vivarini’s Resurrection, painted in 1498. The Virgin and
Child in the second chapel R. of the entrance is generally given to
Alvise, though by some critics attributed to Giov. Bellini. On the L.
wall is a Virgin and Child with the Baptist and St Andrew by Bartolomeo
Vivarini, painted in the same year. Beneath are three predelle by Cima,
with scenes from the Invention of the Cross. The church contains also a
doubtful Bissolo between the first and second chapels in the R. nave,
and a Last Supper by Paris Bordone, utterly disfigured by restoration,
in the L. nave.
On leaving, we turn again E. to the church of S. Martino, with a Bocca
del Leone (p. 248) in the façade. Just beyond the church we sight the
main portal of the great arsenal, once fortified with twelve
watch-towers and walls two miles in extent, paced night and day by
sentinels. The portal is flanked by the four Greek lions in marble
brought from the Porta Leoni at Athens by Francesco Morosini, and
surmounted by the Lion of St Mark and a statue of St Giustina by
Campagna, to commemorate the victory of Lepanto. The museum contains on
the first floor, among other objects of interest, models of Venetian
ships and galleys of all kinds, a small carved panel from an old
Bucintoro, and a fragment of a mast, all that remains of the last
Bucintoro which Goethe saw and described as not over-loaded with
decoration, since it was all decoration. A model of this gorgeous vessel
may be seen in the room. On the second floor is a collection of weapons
and spoils of war. The simple, noble statue of Vittor Pisani faces us as
we ascend the staircase. A striking contrast is afforded by Canova’s
sentimental monument to Angelo Emo. In the room are preserved the armour
of Doge Seb. Ziani, with closed visor and bearing a crest on the
cuirass, and of Seb. Venier, with open visor, and crest on cuirass; of
Henry IV. of France, and of the condottiero Gattamelata. We cross the
iron bridge to the L. of the portal of the arsenal, and return to the
Riva. We may now proceed past the church of S. Biagio to the Public
Gardens.