_SS. Apostoli-Palazzo Falier--I Gesuiti--I Crociferi--S.
Caterina--S. Maria dell’ Orto--S. Marziale--Palazzo Giovanelli._
(Admission to this last by application to the British Consul,
traghetto S. Felice, Grand Canal.)
From the Ca’ d’Oro Pier on the Grand Canal a narrow calle leads into the
broad Corso Vitt. Emanuele, which we follow to the R. and reach the
church of the SS. Apostoli. Admirers of Tiepolo will find his St Lucy
receiving the Sacrament before her Martyrdom, at the altar of the
Cappella Corner to R. of entrance where are also two family monuments in
the best style of the Lombardi school. A Veronese school painting, the
Fall of Manna, is at the L. of the choir. The remains of Marino Falier’s
house are incorporated in the palazzo over the Ponte SS. Apostoli
opposite the church.
N.E. from the campo stands the church of the Gesuiti, built (1715) on
the site of the ruined church of the Crociferi in the base style of the
age. The interior, lavishly decorated with marble and inlay of _verde
antico_, is incredibly vulgar in taste and contains, first chapel L.,
Titian’s martyrdom of St Lawrence, painted in 1558 when the old painter
was under Michael Angelo’s influence. The work, which was generally
esteemed one of the most rare and remarkable of his creations, is now so
darkened by time as to be barely legible. The church possesses also an
Assumption by Tintoretto.
Nearly opposite the Gesuiti is the oratory of the Crociferi, with Palma
Giovane’s, Doge Cigogna visiting the Oratory, and six other paintings in
the artist’s best style. The room contains also a Flagellation by
Tintoretto and a ceiling painting, the Assumption, by Titian. The large
monastery buildings opposite, still bearing the device of the order
(three crosses), are now a barrack. We retrace our steps across the
campo. About a hundred yards along the fondamenta Zen is the entrance
to the little church of S. Caterina, which contains Veronese’s admirably
preserved Marriage of St Catherine (p. 211). The church has works by
Palma Giovane and the inevitable Tintoretto, but we have eyes alone for
the St Catherine, one of the most satisfying examples of the later
glories of the Venetian school.
In an outlying part of the city to the N.W. is the church of S. Maria
dell’ Orto. Cima’s Baptist with SS. Peter, Mark, Jerome and Paul, in a
marble setting by Leopardi (p. 200) stands over the first altar, R.
aisle. In the third chapel L., is Tintoretto’s Presentation at the
Temple, and in the Cappella Contarini, the same master’s St Agnes. Both
have been freely restored, the former, says Ruskin, “has been so daubed
as to be a ghastly ruin and a disgrace to modern Venice.” We turn to the
choir, R. and L. of which are Tintoretto’s huge canvases, the Last
Judgment, and the Worship of the Golden Calf. These are very highly
appreciated by Ruskin but “demand resolute study if the traveller is to
derive any pleasure from them.” Vasari, who saw them shortly after they
were painted, was impressed by the terrible yet capricious invention
displayed in the Last Judgment, but lamented the lack of care and
diligence which marred what might have been a stupendous creation.
Closely scrutinised, however, both seemed to him painted _da burla_ (in
jest). The first chapel L. of entrance has (R. wall) a Pietà by Lorenzo
Lotto, and over the altar an early Virgin and Child by Giov. Bellini
disastrously repainted. Over the sacristy door is a miracle-working
half-figure of the Virgin and Child (restored), which was discovered in
a garden in 1577 and gave the present name to the church (Our Lady of
the Garden). Verocchio, Leopardi and Tintoretto were buried in the
sacristy, but most of the tombs were defaced or destroyed by the
Austrians when the church was used as a military magazine in 1855.
Making our way southward we reach the church of S. Marziale, which
contains Titian’s Tobias, and Tintoretto’s last work, the Patron Saint
with SS. Peter and Paul. From the Campo S. Marziale we cross the Ponte
Zancani and the Ponte S. Fosca, noting the marble footmarks on the crown
(p. 305), and pass the statue of Paolo Sarpi erected near the spot where
the friar was stabbed. We continue our way by the church, and a short
distance to the L. along the Corso Vitt. Emanuele is the Palazzo
Giovanelli, one of the best examples of a restored patrician mansion of
the period of the Ducal Palace. The interior is sumptuously decorated,
and contains the most precious Giorgione in Venice, the so-called Family
of Giorgione (p. 202), referred to by a late contemporary as “a stormy
landscape with a gipsy and soldier.” Vasari complained that Giorgione’s
subjects were difficult to characterise by a phrase. In the foreground
on the L., with the characteristic Giorgione pose, stands a figure in
the flower of manhood holding a staff. The dress, suggesting both knight
and peasant, seems to typify the defender and sustainer of maternity
symbolised by the young mother sitting, to the R., on a sloping, sunlit
meadow, giving suck to her babe, both modelled with perfect naturalness
and beauty. Through the centre of the picture flows a mountain stream
crossed by a rustic bridge. In the background of the landscape, with its
graceful trees, rises the walled city of Castelfranco, Giorgione’s
birthplace, darkened by storm clouds rent by a flash of lightning. The
sunny foreground and the louring sky seem to tell of the vicissitudes of
human existence. A classic remain with two broken columns adds to the
pathetic beauty of this, one of the earliest paintings in which
landscape is transfused with human emotion and poetic sentiment.
Among other attractions the gallery possesses a portrait by Antonello, a
Santa Conversazione by Paris Bordone, a battle scene by Tintoretto, a
portrait by Titian, and a doubtful Giovanni Bellini, attributed by Mr
Berenson to Catena. In the ballroom are some very fine Venetian
mirrors.
[Illustration: RIO S. CASSIANO.]
[Illustration: PALAZZO GIOVANELLI--GIPSY AND SOLDIER
BY GIORGIONE]