_S. Salvatore--Corte del Milione--S. Giovanni Grisostomo_
[Illustration: S. FOSCA AND PALAZZO GIOVANNELLI.]
We take our way along the Merceria, past the church of S. Zulian, until
we come in sight of the tall apse of S. Salvatore. We enter from the
Merceria by the door of the L. aisle. S. Salvatore is one of the most
important examples of ecclesiastical Renaissance architecture in Venice.
Spavento, four of the Lombardi, Sansovino, Scamozzi and Longhena all
contributed at various periods to the building and decoration, not to
speak of more modern restorers. Here in the R. transept is the massive
memorial to unhappy Queen Catherine Cornaro by Bernardini Contino. A
finer specimen of monumental art is Sansovino’s tomb of Doge Franc.
Venier (1556), beyond the second altar in the R. aisle. The figures of
Faith and Charity, the former said to have been almost wholly carved by
the master in his eightieth year, are among the greatest achievements of
later Renaissance sculpture. Over the third altar is Titian’s
Annunciation and at the high altar his Transfiguration, both painted
when he was approaching ninety years of age; the latter, however, by
some critics is depreciated to a school painting. In the chapel L. of
choir is a most interesting, Christ at Emmaus, generally attributed to
Giovanni Bellini, but by Crowe and Cavalcaselle confidently assigned to
Carpaccio. Another critic (Molmenti) is convinced it is by no other hand
than that of Benedetto Diana.
Leaving by the front entrance we find ourselves on the Campo S.
Salvatore, where in olden times stood a water trough, and a fig tree to
which horses were tied, after the law of 1287 forbade equestrian traffic
along the Merceria. We turn R. by the new Merceria due Aprile, pass the
Goldoni statue, and cross the Ponte dell’ Olio to the church of S.
Giovanni Grisostomo. Before we enter, a slight deviation by the calle
Ufficio della Seta and the calle del Teatro (over a fruiterer’s shop
will be seen the inscription: PROVISORES SIRICI, p. 117) will bring us
on the R. to the entrance to the Corte Milione. On the N. side of this
court stood the house of the Polo family which Marco, then a lad of
seventeen, left in 1271, with his uncles Nicolo and Maffeo, for the
East. A quarter of a century later three travel-stained wanderers,
dressed in coarse garb of Tartar cut and speaking broken Venetian with a
Tartar accent, were at first refused admission by their kinsmen. The
three, to warm the affection of their relatives, invited them to a
sumptuous banquet, and when all were seated entered arrayed in flowing
crimson robes of satin. Having washed their hands, they retired and
returned clothed in crimson damask, and ordered the first dresses to be
cut up and distributed among the servants. After a few dishes a similar
change was made into crimson velvet and similarly disposed of. Again
they changed into dresses of ordinary fashion. When the nine suits had
been divided among the servants, Marco rose, went to his chamber, and
appeared with the old Tartar coats, and ripping them open with a knife,
showered on the table before his amazed guests a glittering and
inestimable treasure of jewels and precious stones. The thirteenth
century arched doorway and various fragments of sculptured stonework
imbedded in the walls of the neighbouring houses almost certainly formed
part of the original Polo mansion (p. 99).
[Illustration: WELL-HEAD: CAMPO S. GIOVANNI GRISOSTOMO.]
[Illustration: THE RIALTO BRIDGE]
We return to the church of S. Giov. Grisostomo by Tullio or Moro
Lombardo. The finely proportioned interior holds one of the most
precious of Venetian paintings--the altar-piece by Giov. Bellini,
over the first chapel to the R., SS. Jerome, Christopher, and Augustine,
dated 1513. It is the last of his signed works, and was painted three
years before his death. At the high altar is Sebastiano del Piombo’s
sensuous painting of the patron saint, with the Baptist, SS. Augustine,
Liberale, Catherine of Alexandria, Agnes, and the Magdalen. Over the
second altar, L., is a fine relief by Tullio Lombardo. We note the fine
Renaissance well-head in the Campo, and retrace our steps to the foot of
the Rialto bridge and the pier on the Rio del Carbon.