HANDBOUND
AT THE
UNIVERSITY OF
TORONTO PRESS
\
THE LIFE AND WORKS
OF
VITTORIO CARPACCIO
ft
THE LIFE AND WORKS OF
VITTORIO CARPACCIO
BY POMPEO MOLMENTI
AND
THE LATE GUSTAV LUDWIG
TRANSLATED BY
ROBERT H. HOBART CUST
AUTHOR OF "GIOVANNI ANTONIO UAZ/.I"
WITH ILLUSTRATIONS
LONDON
JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET, W.
1907
PRINTED BY
HAZELL, WATSON AND VINEY, LD.,
LONDON AND AYLESBURY.
/VP
TO
MY DEAR WIFE
IN MEMORY OF MUCH VALUABLE HELP
GIVEN TOWARDS ITS COMPLETION AND AS AN EARNEST OF
MANY FUTURE HAPPY HOURS IN COLLABORATION
THIS TRANSLATION IS
AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED
" Of all things do go to the little chapel of S. Giorgio di
Schiavoni, where the Carpaccios are. The tiniest church that ever
was, like a very small London drawing-room but with pictures ! ! !
And whenever you see him give him my love, and whenever
you see Bellini give him my adoration, for none is like him ; John,
that is, for his brother I only respect." Extract from a letter
to Lady Lewis. " Memorials of Edward Burne-Jones," vol. ii., pp.
334-5. London: Macmillan, 1904.
TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE
TO present in another language the researches of two such
eminent scholars as the late Herr Gustav Ludwig and
Prof. Pompeo Molmenti is, I am aware, a bold under-
taking, but the friendly sympathy and kindness of the survivor
of these two distinguished writers have greatly encouraged me in
completing my task. It is obvious that a verbal translation
would have been both impossible from a literary point of view
and unfair to the original authors. I believe however that,
while throwing the whole material into an English form, I have
nowhere deviated from the facts or opinions expressed in the
Italian version. It was perhaps for this reason an advantage
that I had myself no deep knowledge either of Carpaccio's life
or of his work, beyond a great admiration for it as seen in Venice.
Consequently, I have been able to sit at the feet of the learned
writers whose work it is my privilege to present here : and I trust
that the result of my attention to their teachings may not be
altogether uninteresting or fruitless to those to whom the original
work is a sealed book. As the authors have occasion to remark,
the revival of interest in this delightful artist is comparatively
recent ; but it has grown, as it deserved to grow, rapidly : so much
so that among the many attractions to Venice Carpaccio's Cycles
Vll
viii TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE
of S. George, S. Jerome, and S. Ursula, now take a very
prominent position.
At the last moment while this work was in the press Prof.
Molmenti forwarded to me information regarding further dis-
coveries at Zara, embodied in an illustrated article by him entitled
" On some Paintings preserved in the City of Zara and attributed
to Carpaccio " (Di Alcuni Quadri custoditi nella Citta di Zara e
attribuiti al Carpaccio], published in the Emporium, vol. xxiii.
No. 136, Aprile, 1906. It was unfortunately impossible to enlarge
the present volume in order to take in this new material, but the
student can refer to it without serious difficulty from the reference
here given.
In conclusion I have to thank for material help in preparing
this work Miss M. Mansfield and Mr. Henry Burton.
R. H. H. C.
FLORENCE,
February, 1907.
CONTENTS
PAGE
PREFACE xix
INTRODUCTION xxvii
CHAPTER I
LAZZARO BASTIANI AND HIS SCHOOL i
CHAPTER II
THE FAMILY, PLACE OF ORIGIN, AND LIFE OF CARPACCIO 16
CHAPTER III
THE TIMES, THE CONTEMPORARIES, THE PROTECTORS, AND THE STUDIES
OF VETTOR CARPACCIO 32
CHAPTER IV
THE HISTORY OF THE SCUOLA DI SANT' ORSOLA 56
CHAPTER V
THE LEGEND OF S. URSULA AND CARPACCIO'S PAINTINGS .... 79
CHAPTER VI
THE SCUOLA DEGLI SCHIAVONI. CARPACCIO'S PICTURES IN THE OLD
SCUOLA ,111
ix b
x CONTENTS
PAGE
CHAPTER VII
CARPACCIO'S PAINTINGS IN THE NEW ORATORY OF THE SCUOLA DEGLI
SCHIAVONI ... . I2O
CHAPTER VIII
THE ALBANIANS, THEIR SCUOLA IN VENICE, AND CARPACCIO'S PAINTINGS . 141
CHAPTER IX
CARPACCIO'S SOURCES OF INSPIRATION AND PREDECESSORS. THE PAINTINGS
OF " THE LIFE OF THE VIRGIN " IN THE SCUOLA DEGLI ALBANESI . 160
CHAPTER X
CARPACCIO'S WORK IN THE SCUOLE DI S. STEFANO AND S. GIOVANNI
EVANGELISTA 178
CHAPTER XI
THE OTHER WORKS OF VITTORE CARPACCIO AND OF HIS SON BENEDETTO 193
APPENDIX TO CHAPTER I
THE BASTIANI FAMILY 225
APPENDIX TO CHAPTER II
THE SCARPAZZA FAMILY OF VENICE 232
INDEX .243
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
PHOTOGRAVURE PLATES
THE PRESENTATION OF THE INFANT CHRIST IN THE TEMPLE, ALTARPIECE PAINTED FOR THE CHURCH OF
S. GIOBBE. Venice Academy .... Frontispiece
FACING PAGE
THE DISMISSAL OF THE AMBASSADORS OF THE KING OF ENGLAND. Venice Academy ..... 88
S. JEROME IN HIS STUDY. S. Giorgio degli Schiavoni 126
THE BIRTH OF THE VIRGIN. Galleria Lochis, Accademia Carrara, Bergamo . 168
S. STEPHEN DISPUTING WITH THE DOCTORS. Brera Gallery, Milan 186
S. GEORGE AND THE DRAGON. S. Giorgio Maggiore, Venice .......... 200
S. VITALIS. S. Vitale, Venice 211
THE BURIAL OF CHRIST. Kaiser Friedrich Museum, Berlin 218
HALF-TONE PLATES
NO.
1. THE ADORATION OF THE MAGI. By VITTORE PISANELLO. In the Royal Museum, Berlin ... 2
2. FRESCO IN THE CHURCH OF S. ANASTASIA AT VERONA. By VITTORE PISANELLO 2
3. THE ADORATION OF THE MAGI. By GENTILE DA FABRIANO. In the Academy, Florence ... 2
4. THE ADORATION OF THE MAGI. By ANTONIO DA MURANO. In the Royal Gallery, Berlin ... 2
5. PIETA. By LAZZARO BASTIANI. In the Church of S. Antonio, Venice 13
6. THE CRUCIFIXION. Fresco (now destroyed) by JACOPO BELLINI. In the Archbishop's Palace, Verona
(From a Print in the Museo Civico, Venice) 2
j. THE MARRIAGE OF THE VIRGIN. School of JACOPO BELLINI 4
8. THE CORONATION OF THE VIRGIN, with S. BENEDICT AND S. URSULA. By LAZZARO BASTIANI. In
the Galleria Lochis, Bergamo 4
9. VIRGIN AND CHILD WITH THE DONOR, S. JOHN THE BAPTIST, etc. By LAZZARO BASTIANI. From the
Church of S. Donato, Murano n
10. VIRGIN AND CHILD. By GENTILE BELLINI. In Mr. Ludwig Mond's Collection, London . . . .11
n. S. SERGIUS. By LAZZARO BASTIANI. Mosaic in S. Mark's, Venice 8
12. S. THECLA. By VINCENZO BASTIANI. Mosaic in S. Mark's, Venice 8
13. From a Woodcut in " THE TRIUMPH OF FORTUNE." By SIGISMONDO FANTI 8
14. A MIRACLE OF THE HOLY CROSS. By LAZZARO BASTIANI. In the Academy, Venice n
15. STA. VENERANDA ENTHRONED AND OTHER SAINTS. By LAZZARO BASTIANI. In the Academy, Vienna 8
16. S. ANTHONY OF PADUA, S. BONAVENTURA, AND S. LEO. By LAZZARO BASTIANI. In the Academy,
Venice 10
17. THE LAST COMMUNION OF S. JEROME. By LAZZARO BASTIANI. In the Imperial Museum, Vienna . . 10
xi
xii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
NQ FACING PAGE
18. THE FUNERAL OF S. JEROME. By LAZZARO BASTIANI. In the Imperial Museum, Vienna 10
19. DRAWING IN THE DRESDEN GALLERY. By LAZZARO BASTIANI 10
20. THE DOGE MOCENIGO KNEELING BEFORE THE VIRGIN. In the National Gallery, London 10
31. PREDELLA IN THE BRERA, MILAN. By LAZZARO BASTIANI 10
22. THE ANNUNCIATION. By LAZZARO BASTIANI. In the Museum at Kloster-Neuburg, Austria ... 12
23. THE ANNUNCIATION. By LAZZARO BASTIANI. In the Museo Civico, Venice 12
24. THE NATIVITY AND FOUR SAINTS. By LAZZARO BASTIANI. In the Academy, Venice .... 12
25. THE ARCHANGEL GABRIEL. By LAZZARO BASTIANI. In the Museo Civico, Padua .... 12
26. THE MADONNA " DAI BEGLI OCCHI." By LAZZARO BASTIANI. In the Ducal Palace, Venice ... 12
27. MADONNA in the Museo Civico, Verona. By LAZZARO BASTIANI 12
28. ADAM AND EVE BESIDE THE TREE OF PARADISE. School of LAZZARO BASTIANI. In the Museo Civico,
Venice r 3
29. KING DAVID AND THE SHULAMITE BESIDE THE TREE OF THE CHURCH. School of LAZZARO BASTIANI. In
the Museo Civico, Venice 13
30. JACOB AND RACHEL AT THE WELL 14
31. JOSEPH MAKING HIMSELF KNOWN TO HIS BRETHREN 14
32. THE FALL OF JERICHO M
33. THE GOLDEN CALF *4
34. THE MEETING OF SOLOMON AND THE QUEEN OF SHEBA 14
35. THE RETURN OF TOBIAS 14
36. THE AFFLICTION OF JOB 14
37. THE GREAT IMAGE AT BABYLON WITH FEET OF CLAY 14
[The above eight by LAZZARO BASTIANI. From the Church of Sant' Alvise, Venice.]
38. SUBJECT UNKNOWN. By LAZZARO BASTIANI. In the Mielhke Gallery, Vienna 14
39. THE RECEPTION OF THE DUKE OF FERRARA. School of LAZZARO BASTIANI ...... 14
40. THE NATIVITY. School of LAZZARO BASTIANI. In the Royal Museum, Stuttgardt .... 15
41. VIRGIN AND CHILD. By LAZZARO BASTIANI. In the Church of the Redentore, Venice ... 15
42. THE DOGE OF THE NICOLOTTI (Fishermen of S. Nicholas) OFFERING HIS HEART TO VENICE. By
VITRULIO 18
43. PORTRAIT IN THE GIUSTINIANI GALLERY (Zattere, Venice). By VITTORE GRECO 30
44. PORTRAIT OF CARPACCIO. From " LE MERAVIGLIE DELL' ARTE," by CARLO RIDOLFI .... 30
45. THE SCRIBE. In the Picture of " THE DISMISSAL OF THE AMBASSADORS " 36
46. DETAIL OF FIGURES. By CARPACCIO 36
47. TREE-FORMS, by BASTIANI. From the Picture of " THE MADONNA " at Verona 40
48. TREE IN THE PICTURE OF " S. GEORGE AND THE DRAGON." By CARPACCIO. In the " Scuola dei Schiavoni,"
Venice 40
49. TREE IN THE PICTURE OF " THE ARRIVAL AT COLOGNE." By CARPACCIO 40
50. MADONNA AND SAINTS WITH DONOR. By BENEDETTO DIANA. In the Royal Palace, Venice (1486) . . 42
51. CHRIST AND FOUR SAINTS. By JACOPO BELLO. In the Imperial Museum, Vienna 42
52. FIGURE OF A CAVALIER SALUTING. By CARPACCIO. From " THE DEPARTURE OF S. URSULA " (1490) . 45
53. FIGURE OF A TRUMPETER. By CARPACCIO. From " THE ARRIVAL OF S. URSULA AT ROME " . -45
54. PORTRAITS IN " THE PROCESSION IN THE PIAZZA OF S. MARK." By GENTILE BELLINI .... 44
55. PORTRAITS IN " A MIRACLE OF THE HOLY CROSS." By GENTILE BELLINI 44
56. PORTRAITS IN " THE RECEPTION OF THE AMBASSADORS BY THE FATHER OF S. URSULA." By CARPACCIO . 44
57. A COURTIER IN THE " S. URSULA " CYCLE. By CARPACCIO 44
58. PORTRAIT ATTRIBUTED TO CARPACCIO, BUT MORE PROBABLY BY Gio. MANSUETI. In the Accademia Carrara
at Bergamo . . 44
59- RESTORATION OF THE SCUOLA DI SANT' ORSOLA AS IT MUST HAVE BEEN IN 1500 ...... 68
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS xiii
MO. FACING PAGE
60. ARRANGEMENT OF THE PICTURES BY CARPACCIO IN THE SCUOLA DI S. ORSOLA (North Side) ... 68
61. ARRANGEMENT OF THE PICTURES BY CARPACCIO IN THE SCUOLA DI S. ORSOLA (South Side) . .
62. SILVER HEAD OF S. URSULA. In the Cathedral of Fiume
63. MINIATURE FROM " THE MARIEGOLA " OF 1488
64. THE CHURCH OF SAN GIOVANNI E PAOLO, VENICE. Detail from the plan of JACOPO DE BARBARIS .
65. THE SHRINE OF S. URSULA AT BRUGES. By JOHN MEMLING : 82
\. f
66. THE ARRIVAL OF S. URSULA AT COLOGNE. By GURGEN VON SCHEIVEN. In the Church of S. UrsulaJ^^, .
Cologne 81
67. THE ENGLISH AMBASSADORS PRESENTED TO THE FATHER OF S. URSULA. Fresco in the Museo Civico,
Treviso 84
68. THE AMBASSADORS DISMISSED BY THE FATHER OF S. URSULA. Fresco in the Museo Civico, Treviso . 84
69. THE ARRIVAL or THE AMBASSADORS. By CARPACCIO 88
70. PlETRO LOREDAN AND HIS BROTHERS. Detail from " THE ARRIVAL OF THE AMBASSADORS " . . .88
71. PIETRO LOREDAN 88
72. GIORGIO LOREDAN 88
73. KING MAURUS AND HIS COUNSELLORS 88
74. PORTRAIT OF GIOVANNI BELLINI. In the Museum of the Capitol, Rome 88
75. DRAWING FOR THE HEAD OF ONE OF THE COUNSELLORS. British Museum 92
76. THE RETURN OF THE AMBASSADORS 92
77. BRONZE BAS-RELIEF IN THE ARCH^OLOGICAL MUSEUM AT THE DUCAL PALACE, VENICE .... 92
78. THE STEWARD (Lo SCALCO). Detail from " THE ARRIVAL OF THE AMBASSADORS " 92
79. BADGE OF THE COMPANY OF THE CALZA CALLED " DEGLI ORTOLANI " 94
So. DESIGN FOR EMBROIDERY 94
81. THE DEPARTURE OF THE BETROTHED PAIR ............ 96
82. SKETCH BY VITTORE CARPACCIO FOR "THE DEPARTURE OF THE BETROTHED." British Museum . 96
83. NICOLO LOREDAN, SURNAMED TARTAGLIA 96
84. ANTONIO LOREDAN, SON OF NICOLO ............. 96
85. SKETCH BY VITTORE CARPACCIO FOR " THE DEPARTURE OF THE BETROTHED." In the Collection of the
Duke of Devonshire ................ loo
86. A MEDAL STRUCK TO COMMEMORATE THE RESTORATION OF THE CASTEL SANT' ANGELO, ROME . . . 100
87. SKETCH BY VITTORE CARPACCIO FOR " THE DREAM OF S. URSULA." In the Uffizi, Florence . . . 100
88. S. URSULA'S DREAM 102
89. S. URSULA'S ARRIVAL AT ROME 102
90. POPE ALEXANDER VI. (Medal of 1495) 102
91. POPE ALEXANDER VI. Detail by CARPACCIO 102
92. PORTRAIT OF POPE ALEXANDER VI. (BORGIA). Detail from the Fresco in the Vatican. By PINTURICCHIO 102
93. CARDINAL DOMENICO GRIMANI. Detail by CARPACCIO 104
94. CARDINAL DOMENICO GRIMANI. By VITTORE GAMBELLO 104
95. CARDINAL DOMENICO GRIMANI (LATER IN LIFE). By VITTORE GAMBELLO 104
96. THE AMBASSADOR NICOLO MICHIEL 104
97. FRANCESCO ARZENTIN 104
98. THE ARRIVAL AT COLOGNE 106
99. THE MARTYRDOM OF S. URSULA AND HER COMPANIONS 106
100. THE SON OF THE KING OF THE HUNS 108
101. PORTRAIT OF AN UNKNOWN PERSONAGE. VENETIAN SCHOOL. In the Uffizi, Florence .... 108
102. DONNA EUGENIA CAOTORTA (FIRST WIFE OF NICOLO LOREDAN), ANGELO LOREDAN, AND THE BRETHREN
OF SAN GIOVANNI E PAOLO 108
103. ANGELO LOREDAN . , 108
x iv LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
FACING PAGE
104. PORTRAIT OF FRA TEODORO DA URBINO, ONE OF THE BRETHREN OF SAN GIOVANNI E PAOLO, VENICE.
By GIOVANNI BELLINI Io8
105. THE APOTHEOSIS OF S. URSULA "
106. SKETCH BY VITTORE CARP ACCIO. In the Gathorne-Hardy Collection, London no
107. SKETCH BY VITTORE CARPACCIO. In the Gathorne-Hardy Collection, London no
108. CHRISTINA, AGNESINA, AND MADDALENA LOREDAN no
109. PORTRAITS OF THE PROVOSTS OF THE SCHOOL OF S. URSULA no
110. CHAPEL OF THE " SCUOLA DEGLI SCHIAVONI." Built in 1551 114
in. THE HOSPITAL OF SANTA CATERINA. From De Barbaris' Plan 114
112. Two BAS-RELIEFS ON THE FACADE OF THE " SCUOLA DEGLI SCHIAVONI " . . . .114
113. THE CALL OF S. MATTHEW. By VITTORE CARPACCIO 122
114. CHRIST IN THE GARDEN OF GETHSEMANE. By VITTORE CARPACCIO ....... 122
115. CHRIST IN THE GARDEN OF GETHSEMANE. By ERCOLE ROBERTI. In the Dresden Gallery . 123
116. A SLEEPING APOSTLE. Sketch in the Louvre 123
117. THE FUNERAL OF S. JEROME. S. JEROME IN HIS ORATORY. Predella of a Sixteenth-century
Florentine Picture 122
118. S. JEROME AND THE LION. By CARPACCIO 124
119. THE FUNERAL OF S. JEROME. By CARPACCIO 126
120. SKETCH OF HEADS OF MONKS. In the Uffizi, Florence 126
121. MONKS PRAYING. Detail. By CARPACCIO 126
122. SKETCH FOR THE FIGURE OF A MONK. By CARPACCIO. In the Uffizi, Florence ..... 126
123. THE CONCERT. In the Harrach Collection, Vienna 130
124. S. GEORGE AND THE DRAGON 132
125. A GROUP OF SARACENS. Detail from the Picture of " THE TRIUMPH OF S. GEORGE " .... 134
126. THE SITE OF SOLOMON'S TEMPLE, JERUSALEM 134
127. DETAIL FROM A PICTURE OF " THE CRUCIFIXION." By ALVISE DONATO. In the Academy, Venice . . 134
128. THE CHURCH OF THE HOLY SEPULCHRE AT JERUSALEM 134
129. THE TRIUMPH OF S. GEORGE 134
130. SKETCH BY VITTORE CARPACCIO FOR " THE TRIUMPH OF S. GEORGE." In the Uffizi, Florence . . 134
131. KING AIA AND HIS COURT BAPTIZED BY S. GEORGE. By VITTORE CARPACCIO 135
132. S. TRYPHONIUS EXORCISES A DEVIL FROM THE EMPEROR'S DAUGHTER. By VITTORE CARPACCIO. In
the Scuola degli Schiavoni I3 g
133. MIRACLE OF S. TRYPHONIUS. Miniature from a Codex of the Year 1466, " Biblioteca Marciana ". . 140
134. THE OLD CHURCH OF SAN MAURIZIO. From De Barbaris' Plan 144
135. THE CHURCH OF SAN MAURIZIO. REBUILT IN 1590. From a Picture in the Sacristy of the Church . . 144
136. THE CHURCH OF SAN MAURIZIO. REBUILT IN 1806 144
137. THE SCUOLA DEGLI ALBANESI I t 2
138. THE SIEGE OF SCUTARI. BAS-RELIEF ON THE FACADE OF THE " SCUOLA DEGLI ALBANESI "... 152
139. THE BIRTH OF THE VIRGIN, AND THE PRESENTATION !6 4
140. THE ANNUNCIATION. THE VISITATION ^4
141. THE MARRIAGE OF THE VIRGIN z g,
142. THE DEATH OF THE VIRGIN l6 .
143- THE DEATH OF THE VIRGIN. From " IL ROSARIO DELLA GLORIOSA VIRGINE MARIA " (Venice, 1521) . 164
144- THE SUSPICIONS OF S. JOSEPH. BAS-RELIEF ON A COLUMN OF THE CIBORIUM AT S. MARK'S . . 166
145- THE BIRTH OP THE VIRGIN. Fresco by GIOTTO in the Chapel of the Scrovegni, Padua . . . .166
146. THE LIFE OF THE VIRGIN. School of JACOPO BELLINI. Predella of an Altarpiece in the Church
of S. Alessandro, Brescia jgg
147- THE BIRTH OF THE VIRGIN .,..,,..
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS xv
NO. FACING PAGE
148. THE PRESENTATION IN THE TEMPI.*: 167
149. THE MARRIAGE OF THE VIRGIN 167
150. THE BIRTH OF JESUS 167
151. THE CIRCUMCISION 167
152. THE CORONATION OF THE VIRGIN. Scenes from " THE LIVES OF CHRIST AND OF THE VIRGIN." By
ANTONIO VIVARINI. In the Royal Museum, Berlin 167
153-8. THE LIVES OF THE VIRGIN AND OF JESUS. School of JACOPO BELLINI. In the Louvre . . 167
159-64. THE LIVES OF THE VIRGIN AND OF JESUS. School of JACOPO BELLINI. In the Louvre . . 167
165. THE ADORATION OF THE MAGI. By JACOPO BELLINI (?). In the Collection of Mrs. Chapman of New York. 167
166. THE LIFE OF THE VIRGIN. Mosaic in the Cappella del Mascoli in S. Mark's, Venice. By MICHELE
GIAMBONO 168
167. THE LIFE OF THE VIRGIN. Mosaic in the Cappella del Mascoli in S. Mark's, Venice. By MICHELE
GIAMBONO 168
168. " IMPALLUTA " decorated by FRANCESCO XANTO AVELLI OF ROVIGO (1530). Museo Civico, Venice 170
169. INTERIOR OF THE SAME 170
170. FIGURE OF A LADY. By VITTORE or BENEDETTO CARPACCIO. In the Collection of Mr. R. H. Benson,
London ............ 170
171. CLOCK TOWER IN THE PIAZZA DEI SIGNORI, PADUA 171
172. THE PRESENTATION OF THE VIRGIN. In the Brera Gallery, Milan 171
173. STUDY OF FIGURES FOR " THE PRESENTATION." In the Uffizi, Florence 172
174. THE PRESENTATION. By CIMA DA CONEGLIANO. In the Dresden Gallery . . . . . .172
175. THE PRESENTATION. By TITIAN. In the Academy, Venice . . . . . . . . . 174
176. PEN-AND-INK SKETCH, by VITTORE CARPACCIO, for " THE PRESENTATION." Windsor Castle . . 174
177. SKETCH BY VITTORE CARPACCIO FOR "THE PRESENTATION." In the Uffizi, Florence . . . 174
182. THE MARRIAGE OF THE VIRGIN. In the Brera Gallery, Milan 175
178. THE ANNUNCIATION. By VITTORE CARPACCIO. In the Academy, Vienna 175
179. THE VISITATION. By VITTORE CARPACCIO. In the Museo Civico, Venice 176
180. STUDIES FOR FIGURES FOR THE " VISITATION " AND FOR " S. GEORGE BAPTIZING THE GENTILES." In the
Louvre 176
181. STUDIES OF HANDS. By V. CARPACCIO. In the Louvre 176
183. THE DEATH OF THE VIRGIN. By VITTORE CARPACCIO. In the Academy, Vienna .... 176
184. THE DEATH OF THE VIRGIN. By VITTORE CARPACCIO. In the Museo Civico, Ferrara . . . 177
185. BAS-RELIEF ON THE FACADE OF THE SCUOLA DI SANTO STEFANO 178
186. ILLUMINATED PAGE FROM THE " MARIEGOLA " OF SANTO STEFANO 178
187. THE CRUCIFIXION. Ditto. . i7 8
188. THE STONING OF S. STEPHEN. Ditto. In the Royal Gallery, Stuttgart 178
189. THE CONSECRATION OF THE SEVEN DEACONS. In the Royal Museum, Berlin 182
190. S. AUGUSTINE, S. STEPHEN, and S. NICHOLAS OF TOLENTINO. By P. F. BISSOLO. In the Brera,
Milan 184
191. S. STEPHEN PREACHING TO THE PEOPLE. In the Louvre 186
192. S.STEPHEN BEFORE THE JUDGES. Drawing by VITTORE CARPACCIO. In the Uffizi, Florence . . . 186
193. STUDIES OF HEADS. By CARPACCIO. In the British Museum 186
194. THE STONING OF S. STEPHEN l86
195. BAS-RELIEF ON THE FACADE OF THE HOSPITAL OF SAN GIOVANNI EVANGELISTA (1354) . . .189
196. THE OUTER COURTYARD OF THE SCUOLA DI SAN GIOVANNI EVANGELISTA (1481) . . . . . 189
197. A MIRACLE OF THE CROSS. By GENTILE BELLINI. In the Academy, Venice 190
198. SIGN OF THE HOSTELRY OF THE STURGEON 190
199. THE PATRIARCH QUIRINI LIBERATING A DEMONIAC . 190
xvi LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
N0 FACING PAGE
200. SKETCH BY CARPACCIO OF A BOY. Albertina Collection, Vienna 191
201. A CAVALIER OF THE CALZA. By CESARE VECELLI 191
202. SKETCH BY CARPACCIO OF A GONDOLIER. From the Robinson Collection, London .... 191
203. SKETCH BY CARPACCIO OF A CAVALIER OF THE CALZA. Albertina Collection, Vienna .... 191
204. SAMSON AND DALILA. By MICHELE DA VERONA. In the Museo Poldi Pezzoli, Milan . . .193
205. KNEELING FIGURE OF A DONOR. Sketch by CARPACCIO in the Uffizi, probably for the Picture
once belonging to the Church of San Simeone Piccolo 193
206. SKETCH FOR THE LOST PICTURE OF " THE VIRGIN, WITH SS. FAUSTINO AND GIOVITA." By VITTORE
CARPACCIO. (Wrongly attributed to GIAMBELLINO.) In the Print Room, Dresden . . . .196
207. S. PETER MARTYR. Formerly in the Church of Santa Fosca, now in the Strossmeyer Collection,
Zagabria 196
208. S. SEBASTIAN. Ditto 196
209. SKETCH BY CARPACCIO FOR " THE VIRGIN AND FOUR SAINTS." From the His de la Salle Collection
in the Louvre X 97
210. WATER-COLOUR SKETCH BY CARPACCIO FOR THE FIGURE OF S. JEROME. In the Uffizi . . . 197
211. SKETCH BY CARPACCIO OF SAN LORENZO GIUSTINIANI BLESSING GIAN GALEAZZO SFORZA. From
the Duke of Devonshire's Collection at Chatsworth 198
212. STUDY BY CARPACCIO. In the Cabinet of Prints, Munich . 198
213. SKETCH BY CARPACCIO FOR "THE ADORATION OF THE MAGI." In the Uffizi ..... 199
214. SKETCH BY CARPACCIO OF "THE CIRCUMCISION." In the Uffizi ....... 199
215. S. URSULA TAKING FAREWELL OF HER PARENTS. By CARPACCIO. In the Layard Collection, Venice . 200
216. S. CATHERINE AND S. VENERANDA. In the Museo Civico, Verona . 201
217. THE MADONNA. From the Stiidel Institute, Frankfort 201
218. JESUS SHEDDING His BLOOD INTO A CHALICE. By CARPACCIO. In the Imperial Museum, Vienna . 202
219. THE HOLY FAMILY. By CARPACCIO. In the Gallery, Caen 203
220. S. THOMAS AQUINAS, S. MARK AND S. AUGUSTINE. By CARPACCIO. In the Royal Gallery, Stuttgart . 204
221. THE Two COURTEZANS. By CARPACCIO. In the Museo Civico, Venice 210
222. THE MEETING OF SS. JOACHIM AND ANNA 212
223. SKETCH BY CARPACCIO FOR "THE TEN THOUSAND MARTYRS." In the Heseltine Collection. London 212
224. SKETCH BY CARPACCIO OF FIGURES FOR A PICTURE OF " THE CRUCIFIXION." In the Heseltine Collection,
London . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .212
225. THE TEN THOUSAND MARTYRS ON MOUNT ARARAT. By CARPACCIO. In the Academy, Venice . . . 213
226. A PROCESSION OF CROSS-BEARERS. In the Church of Sant' Antonio di Castello. By CARPACCIO.
In the Academy, Venice ............... 213
227. FRAGMENT OF " A CRUCIFIXION." By CARPACCIO. In the Uffizi 214
228. THE LION OF S. MARK 214
229. UNKNOWN SUBJECT. By CARPACCIO. In the Collection of Madame Andrg, Paris .... 214
230. ALTAR-PIECE IN THE CATHEDRAL OF CAPODISTRIA. By CARPACCIO 216
231. ALTAR-PIECE IN THE CHURCH OF SAN FRANCESCO DI PIRANO. By CARPACCIO . . . . . 216
232. ALTAR-PIECE IN THE CHURCH OF POZZALE IN CADORE. By CARPACCIO 218
233. S. PAUL. By CARPACCIO. In the Church of San Domenico, Chioggia 220
234. VIRGIN AND CHILD AND SAINTS. By CARPACCIO. In the Museum, Berlin 221
235. VIRGIN AND CHILD, S. CATHERINE, AND THE MAGDALEN. By GIOVANNI BELLINI. In the Academy,
Venice _ 22I
236. VIRGIN AND CHILD, S. LUCY AND S. GEORGE. By BENEDETTO CARPACCIO. In the Ufficio Saline di Pirano 221
237- VIRGIN AND CHILD AND SAINTS. By BENEDETTO CARPACCIO. In the Gallery, Carlsruhe . . .221
238. VIRGIN AND CHILD. By BENEDETTO CARPACCIO (wrongly attributed to " CATENA "). In the Chapel of
San Giorgio degli Schiavoni, Venice .221
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS xvii
MO. FACING PAGE
239. VIRGIN AND CHILD. By GIOVANNI BELLINI. In the Accaderaia Carrara, Bergamo .... 222
240. SKETCH BY VITTORE CARPACCIO OF A CHILD. In the Heseltine Collection, London .... 222
ILLUSTRATIONS IN THE TEXT
PAGE
FORMS OF TREES. By BASTIANI. In the Picture of " THE ANNUNCIATION " in the M useo Civico at Venice . 14
THE COAT OF ARMS OF THE SCARPAZZA FAMILY ............. 18
RECONSTRUCTION OF THE PLAN OF OLD SCUOLA (1304) DI SANT' ORSOLA 68
PLAN (1750) OF THE SCUOLA AFTER THE RECONSTRUCTION IN 1647 ......... 69
RECONSTRUCTION OF THE EXTERIOR OF THE SCUOLA ............ 71
WALL ON THE SOUTH SIDE (Cornu Epistolte) ............. 73
EMBLEMS OF THE SCUOLE DI S. MARIA DELLA MISERICORDIA AND DI SANT' ORSOLA. On the Case Pollini in the
Ruga Giuffa 78
THE MARTYRDOM OF S. URSULA 80
A GALA STOCKING OF A COMPAGNIA DELLA CALZA ............ 93
GALA SLEEVE OF A COMPAGNIA DELLA CALZA ............. 93
S. CATHERINE OF SIENA IN THE GARDEN ............. 94
THE COAT OF ARMS OF THE COUNTS ORTI OF VERONA ............ 94
THE FRENCH TOWER AT RHODES ............... 95
THE TOWER OF CANDIA 97
THE EMBLEM OF THE COMPAGNIA DELLA CALZA DEI " ZARDINIERI "........ 98
EMBLEM OF THE COMPAGNIA DELLA CALZA " DEI REALI "........... 99
THE COAT OF ARMS OF THE FRESCHI FAMILY ............. 99
THE COAT OF ARMS OF FRANCESCO ARZENTIN, ARCHBISHOP OF CONCORDIA ....... 105
THE COAT OF ARMS OF THE LOREDAN .............. 109
THE COAT OF ARMS OF THE CAOTORTA ............... 109
ESCUTCHEON OF ARMS (UNKNOWN) 123
ANCIENT Music 127-3
THE SO-CALLED TEMPLE OF SOLOMON AT JERUSALEM (REUVICH) 134
THE CHURCH OF THE HOLY SEPULCHRE AT JERUSALEM (REUVICH) 134
THE MOSQUE AT RAMAH (REUVICH). .............. 134
ORIENTAL WOMEN (REUVICH) ................ 135
A SARACEN (REUVICH) '35
ALTARPIECE l6 <>
THE " IMPALLIATA DA PUERPERA." From " L' ARTE DEL VASAIO " OF CIPRIANO PICCOLPASSO .... 170
ESCUTCHEON OF THE TORELLA FAMILY 211
FIVE PATRICIAN COATS OF ARMS 2I 5
PREFACE
I MUST ask the kind indulgence of the reader if I set down
here a few personal recollections, not in a spirit of self-
advertisement, but with the intention of showing how much
of this book is due to myself and how much to my dear friend
and respected collaborator, GUSTAV LUDWIG.
Some five-and-twenty years since, the school of Modern Venetian
Art, in a burst of renewed vigour, cast off the trammels of worn-out
academic formalism and drew fresh strength from Nature freely
but carefully studied in all her moods. A group of young painters
combined their untiring quest for truth with a passionate devotion
to two craftsmen of the past, Carpaccio and Tiepolo. The tender
light of the dawn of Venetian painting as well as the effulgent
radiance of its decline aroused in them feelings similar in their force
and in their lofty aspiration ; and thus Tiepolo and Carpaccio, both
so great and yet so unlike in their greatness, were linked together
by these young men in a common bond of admiration. Living as I
did in daily intercourse with these my contemporaries, sharing their
enthusiasm and their intellectual conditions, I delivered a lecture
on Carpaccio 1 in 1881, which I followed up four years later with a
book entitled // Carpaccio e il Tiepolo?' The lecture is a mere piece
of academic rhetoric, worthless as criticism ; and little more can be
said for the book, in which artistic enthusiasm hardly compensates
for the absence of new material.
These youthful labours of mine were succeeded in 1893 by
another essay on Carpaccio, written in French, 3 in which I can at
least claim to have contributed some new facts to the story of the
painter's life. Henceforward, shaping a steadier course, I combined
my researches and published the results in a number of periodicals
1 Vittore Carpaccio. A Lecture delivered on August yth, 1881, at the Academy of Fine
Arts in Venice. Bologna : Zanichelli, 1881.
1 Turin : Roux, 1885.
1 Carpaccio, son Temps et son (Euvre. Venise : Ongania, MDCCCXCIII.
XIX
xx PREFACE
and in a paper read before the Venetian Institute of Science, Litera-
ture and Art. 1
My devotion to Carpaccio brought me the noblest of all rewards
the friendship of Gustav Ludwig.
Gustav Ludwig was born at Bad Nauheim in 1852, of a worthy
and prosperous family, which had already obtained distinction in
the person of his uncle, Carl Ludwig the physiologist. Gustav,
after finishing his school days at Darmstadt, followed his father's
example and adopted the medical profession, which he pursued
with honour and success in England as assistant-physician to the
German Hospital in London. During the twenty years that he
resided there he not only attended to his professional duties with
that diligence and earnestness which he threw into all that he
undertook, but he also found time in his few hours of leisure to
devote himself to the study of art, visiting picture-galleries both
public and private, and giving advice and assistance in the founda-
tion of the important Henry Doetsch Collection, which was sold by
auction in London in 1895. In that same year the malady which
henceforward cast a shadow of pain over Ludwig' s entire existence
became manifest, so that to alleviate his sufferings he obeyed his
inclinations in pursuit of art, and left England for a course of
European travel, visiting all the most important museums, and
laying up valuable stores of information, both personal and
documentary.
Attracted principally by the Venetian School of painting, which
he had already learned to admire in the galleries north of the Alps,
he came to Venice with a view to studying it more in detail ; and,
finding that the mild and temperate climate was beneficial to his
health, he established himself there, and, so far as affection can
confer nationality, became a Venetian. His simple habits were
satisfied with a modest room at the Hotel Cappello Nero, near the
Piazza di S. Marco, and there, half-buried among piles of books,
papers and photographs, carried away in spirit to the merry days
of the careless past, he found his happiness.
Tall and dignified in person, showing no outward sign of the
terrible scourge which was slowly eating away his strength, Ludwig
attracted the respect and admiration of all who came in contact
with him ; but he preferred to spend a retired existence, enjoying
the society of a small circle of friends. His real life was lived in
the kingdom of Art, to which he devoted all his powers of intellect
and imagination. His days were passed either in the galleries,
minutely examining pictures, or among the archives at the Frari,
untiring in the search for new documents which might throw
1 L'i Palria del Carpaccio (Atti del R. 1st. Veneto di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti, Serie VII., t. iii.
Venice, 1892).
PREFACE xxi
light upon the lives of painters. In the brief period of respite
granted to him by his infirmities, he travelled about the Venetian
Terraferma, following up clues and investigating the work of those
artists of the golden Renascence who had left their native cities to
offer the fruits of their genius to the Queen of the Lagoons as a
tribute of filial loyalty. Scant and shadowy is our knowledge of
the early Venetian masters and, while the light of their genius
shines clear for all to see in the works which they have left us,
the detailed story of their lives has been made known to us only
by the patient investigation of modern critics, among whom Gustav
Ludwig must always take a prominent place.
The first result of Ludwig's researches was the publication of
documents bearing on the Vivarini and the painters of Murano, and
on the Bastiani family, in which he was assisted by Professor Pietro
Paoletti. 1 His subsequent publications on his own account in the
fahrbuch der Koniglichen Preussischen Knnstsamnihuigen for 1901-4
comprised a series of monographs on Bonifazio Pitati of Verona
and his school (1901-2), the Madonna del Mare (so-called)
of Giambellino in the Uftizi (1902), Antonello da Messina and
the Flemish artists in Venice (1902), the Bergamasque painters
in Venice (1903), Sebastiano Luciani, and finally Titian and his
various versions of 77ie Marriage at Cana of Galilee (1904). To
other periodicals he contributed writings of minor importance all,
however, replete with patient research and constructive criticism,
which served to demolish time-honoured errors and to bring to light
unknown facts ; endowing with renewed life a notable, but less
known aspect of the early artistic life of Venice. And, as though
he were hastening to make the best possible use of his life before
he was overtaken by the early death which he himself foresaw, he
bent with unwearied energy to the study of the lives and works of
the Venetian painters and produced a series of essays dealing with
Venetian houses, their decoration, and the Industrial Arts of the
period. But it was not permitted to him to complete more than
a portion of these curious and valuable sidelights upon the history
of manners, which was published after his untimely death by the
German Kunsthistorisches Institnt established in Florence.
The similarity of our interests and enthusiasms deepened my
friendship with this remarkable man, and in our long hours of
conversation it was always the figure of Carpaccio that presented
itself to our eyes, dimly perceived through the luminous visions of
his painting and the mists of scanty historical knowledge, to which,
however, Ludwig had added fresh material in an article published
in 1897 on tne work of the artist in the Scuola degli Albanesi?
1 Repertorium fur Kunstwissenschaft, Berlin, 1899-1900.
3 Archivio Storico delFArte, Serie II., Anno III., fasc. vi. Rome, 1897.
xx ii PREFACE
Our untrammelled discussions and arguments only served to
strengthen on both sides a friendship averse to mere complimentary
acquiescence ; and soon the idea took root in our minds of joining
forces in the composition of a monograph, as complete as might
be, upon our favourite painter. Of this our joint work there
appeared a first instalment in 1903 in French, which included a
dissertation upon the S. Ursula Cycle of paintings. 1
The success of this publication and the discussion to which it
gave rise encouraged us to prosecute our labour with renewed
vigour, it being our intention that the complete work should appear
in Italian.
The enthusiasm of my poor friend grew ever more intense,
despite the increasing severity of his malady, which had now
become complicated by an affection of the heart. He bore in-
describable pain with the strength of Christian resignation allied
with Stoic self-control. One had but to see how bravely and almost
joyfully he met his fate to be convinced of the height to which
human courage can rise. Yet more than the memory of his master-
mind, the sense of his generosity and modesty, the signal qualities
above all others of this remarkable nature, must always remain
vividly present to those who enjoyed his friendship. Even from
that far region whither, in Dante's words, " none can pass with
the hope of return," there appears to me the lifelike semblance of
the man, who left behind him a remembrance inextinguishable
by time and an example of sterling rectitude indelibly impressed
upon the soul.
He lived simply and without ostentation, pure and true of
heart, self-respecting and unfailing in consideration of others.
Although somewhat inclined to melancholy, he unbent occasionally,
and the shafts of his Attic wit found their mark with unerring
aim. Whilst judicious in counsel and gentle in his judgment of
men and things, he could be stirred to enthusiasm for a noble
cause, to an outburst of indignation at meanness or deceit. Envy
and jealousy he knew not. Ever ready in counsel and assistance
to the student who had recourse to his experience, he always
shunned publicity, caring nothing for that celebrity which endures
but for the brief space of a day. No word of complaint ever passed
his lips, but, dissembling his sufferings, he begged his friends,
when distressed on his account, to take courage. Many a time,
after a night of dreadful agony, hardly mitigated by repeated
injections of morphia, he would tell his early morning visitors that
he felt " pretty well," adding that no one could be so wretched
but that he might be worse, repeating in his heart, perhaps, the
1 Vittore Carpaccio et la Confrtrie de Sainte Ursule a Venise. Florence: Bemporad, 1903.
PREFACE
xxni
words of Holy Writ, "Who fears the frost, upon him shall fall
the snow." l
In the midst of his sufferings he raised his thoughts to images
of beauty, and sought comfort and distraction in the Art he loved
so well. From the bed, whence he was not to rise again, he
discussed artistic problems, in which he always displayed an acute
and profound judgment. I was a frequent visitor to the dark little
room, where, seated at his bedside, our discussions on Carpaccio
made the hours fly in cheerful converse. I used afterwards to
return home and commit to paper all that I could remember of
his valuable remarks. Thus the book upon the great Venetian
painter grew under our hands, and with the guidance of my learned
collaborator and with carefully collected documents, the greater
number of which he had himself accumulated, I had by this time
written the chapters dealing with Lazzaro Bastiani and his school,
the life and work of Vittore Carpaccio up to the Scuola di Sant'
Orsola and the paintings which adorned it.
At this point, when the proofs so far had undergone a pains-
taking revision upon his part, one day alas ! I received at my
country hermitage a telegram from a mutual friend, Giulio Cantala-
messa, which brought me the mournful intelligence that my dear
friend Gustav was dying, and that if I wished to see him once more
I must not delay. Hurrying to Venice I found the sufferer sitting
up in bed, the oppression not allowing him to lie down. To the
varied ailments that for many years had assailed him, acute nephritis
and pulmonary swelling had supervened, ills against which science
was of no avail. For three nights I watched beside his bed in
company with the Archpriest of San Marco, Monsignor Ferdinando
Apollonio, who piously tendered spiritual comfort to the sufferer.
Amid the affliction of his drawn-out agony, whilst I with difficulty
restrained my tears, I heard my poor friend murmur softly many
times one single word " Carpaccio." Was it a brief return of the
soul from its wanderings to things most dear that it would never
see again ? or perhaps the desire to express as if by testament that
he wished me to continue the work already commenced ? I know
not ; but when next day (January i6th, 1905) all sufferings ceased
I thought to render a final tribute of reverence to the friend who
lay lifeless before me in forming the solemn resolution to continue
our joint work alone. It may be that in so doing I presumed too
much upon my own capacity, believing that I could bring so
arduous an undertaking to a close without the safe guidance of
my comrade in study.
Our joint work was interrupted at Chapter VII., which deals
1 "Qui timent pruinam, irruet super eos nix," Job. vi. 16 (Vulgate).
XXIV
PREFACE
with the paintings of Carpaccio in the Scuola degli Schiavoni.
Abundant notes were left me for this series of paintings, whilst
landmarks for the Cycle of the Life of the Virgin in the Scuola
degli Albanesi had been set for me in the Essay previously published
by Ludwig in the ArcJiivio Storico dellArte. On the other hand,
I had collected but few data concerning the paintings for the Scuola
di San Stefano and San Giovanni Evaugelista, and none at all
for the other pictures and drawings by Carpaccio dispersed in many
collections. But the photographs of almost all his drawings and
paintings remained, and these with liberal courtesy were lent me
by the German Institute in Florence, to which Ludwig had devised
them, together with his valuable collection of manuscripts, notes
and catalogues. The support of this worthy institution, and the
encouragement and counsel of Dr. George Gronau, to whom above
all I owe the most lively gratitude, the assistance also of Dr.
Wilhelm Bode and Dr. Gustavo Frizzoni, have enabled me to
bring my task to a conclusion in the volume which now sees the
light, in an edition to which the publisher Signor Carlo Hoepli
has given his best and most careful attention.
I have deemed it my duty to describe in detail how this book
was begun and ended, so that the reader may understand that if
the second part does not appear to him equal to the first the
fault lies not with Gustav Ludwig, but with one who, deprived
of his able co-operator, has endeavoured to finish the work, with
the sole desire of fulfilling the request of his dead friend, and of
rendering a tribute of honour and love to his memory.
POMPEO MOLMENTI.
MONICA DEL GARDA, August 1905.
PUBLISHER'S NOTE. The photographs reproduced in this volume are printed by permission of
the firms of Comm. V. Alinari and Giacomo Brogi of Florence, of Cav. Naya of Venice, of
Filippi (also of Venice), and of Anderson of Rome, to whom I tender my thanks.
U. HOEPLI.
CHRONOLOGICAL LIST
OF THE PRINCIPAL WORKS BY' VITTORE CARPACCIO 1
1. 1472. It is in this year that we find the first allusion to Carpaccio in the Will of Fra
Ilario, who mentions his nephew Vittore. (See Documents, pp. 235 and 239.)
2. (?) Carpaccio's first painting: SS. Catherine and Veneranda. Verona Museum.
3. (?) Madonna and Child with the little S. John. Sta'del Institute, Frankfort.
4. 1490. S. Ursula's Arrival at Cologne for the Second Time. Venice Academy.
5. 1491. The Apotheosis of S. Ursula. Venice Academy.
6 1493. S. Ursula's Martyrdom and Obsequies. Venice Academy.
7. 1494. (?) The Arrival of the Ambassadors at the Palace of S, Ursula's Father. Venice
Academy.
8. ,, (?) Their Departure. Venice Academy.
9. ,, (?) Their Return to the King of England. Venice Academy.
10. I495- Tke Departure of the Betrothed Pair. Venice Academy.
11. The similar subject. Layard Gallery, Venice.
12. ,, S. Ursula! s Dream. Venice Academy.
13. 1496. S. Ursula's Arrival in Rome. Venice Academy.
14. Christ with the Symbols of His Passion. Imperial Gallery, Vienna.
15. j~oo f?H T ^ f afriarf ^ f Grado casts out a Devil. Venice Academy.
1 6. 1502. The Call of S. Mattheiv. S. Giorgio degli Schiavoni. In this same year
Carpaccio painted in the Ducal Palace the pictures destroyed by the
conflagration of 1577.
17. (?) Christ in the Garden. S. Giorgio degli Schiavoni.
1 8. The Death of S. Jerome. Ditto.
19. (?) S. Jerome and the Lion. Ditto.
20. (?) The Holy Family. Caen Public Gallery.
21. 1504. The scenes from the Life of the Virgin for the Scuola degli Albanesi.
22. 1505. (?) 5. Jerome in his Oratory. S. Giorgio degli Schiavoni.
23. (?) .S 1 . George killing the Dragon.
24. ,, (?) A similar subject. S. Giorgio Maggiore.
25. 1506. (?) The Triumph of S. George. S. Giorgio degli Schiavoni.
1 We have here entered those works of which the date is certain or at least according to our arguments
approximated.
xxv d
xxvi CHRONOLOGICAL LIST
26. 1507. Carpaccio employed at the Ducal Palace along with Giovanni Bellini.
27. ,, S. Thomas Aquinas and other Saints. Stuttgart Gallery.
28. 1508. S. George baptizing the Heathen. S. Giorgio degli Schiavoni.
29. The Death of the Virgin. Ferrara Museum.
30. ,, 5. Tryphonius liberates the Emperor's Daughter from a Demon. S. Giorgio degli
Schiavoni.
31. 1510. The San Giobbe Altarpiece. Venice Academy.
32. (?) Tlie Two Courtezans. Museo Civico, Venice.
33. 1511. The Ordination of the Seven Deacons. Berlin Museum.
34. 1514. S. Step/ien's Dispute with the Doctors. Brera Gallery, Milan.
35. The Altarpiece at San Vitale. S. Vitale, Venice.
36. The Altarpiece for Santa Fosca. Two fragments in the Strossmayer Collection
at Zagabria.
37. 1515. The Martyrdom of S. Stephen. Stuttgart Gallery.
38. ,, The Ten Thousand Martyrs. Venice Academy.
39. ,, The Meeting of SS. Joachim and Anna. Venice Academy.
40. ,, (?) A Procession of Cross-bearers. Venice Academy.
41. (?) Fragment of a Crucifixion. Uffizi Gallery, Florence.
42. 1516. The Lion of S. Mark. Ducal Palace, Venice.
43. ,, The Altarpiece in the Cathedral at Capodistria.
44. 1518. The Altarpiece in the Church of San Francesco at Pirano.
45- I 5 I 9- The Painting in the Averoldi Gallery at Brescia. Drawing for this in the
Dresden Gallery.
46. ,, The Altarpiece in the Church at Pozzale in Cadore.
47. ,, (?) The Burial of Christ. Berlin Museum.
48. 1520. The Preaching of S. Stephen. Louvre, Paris.
49- S. Paul. San Domenico, Chioggia.
5- I 5 2 3- Carpaccio executes certain work for the Patriarch of Venice.
INTRODUCTION
THE more ancient mosaics in S. Mark's would suggest to the
observer that no School of Art in Italy is more mystic and
symbolic in its origin than that of Venice. The walls of
the great sanctuary of the Republic are overlaid with gold ; ascetic
saints, austere prophets and emaciated virgins, their gaze lost in
the Infinite, stand forth from an ideal background entirely of gold,
representing the radiance of the Empyrean seen through the rifts of
the blue vault of heaven. The single figures stand alone, seemingly
without relation one to another, in a cold and transcendent aloofness
which would seem to exclude any tenderness of feeling from their
hearts and render them inaccessible to any prayer that could ascend
towards them from this earth.
This mode of pictorial representation, where symbolism is so
closely allied to the artist's vision, seems scarcely to embody the
Art of that hard-working community of active and practical men
who drew their livelihood exclusively from trade and traffic. All,
however, becomes clear if we remember that at the outset of Venetian
life Art was not of indigenous growth, but rather an importation
from Byzantium ; although it was in Venice that the imaginative
features of Byzantine Art, filled with symbolism and wealth of fancy,
attained its greatest brilliance. When in later ages all Italy awoke
to the cult of Classic Antiquity, in Venice also the Art of Painting
forsook the immaterial world of the ideal for regions more akin to
reality. With the revival of the sense of form a host of lovely
figures invaded the churches, bearing with them, potentially at least,
the feelings, joys and sorrows of this present world. The back-
grounds of the paintings no longer represent Infinity but are limited
by the laws of space, and Madonnas of benign and gentle mien
receive the homage of the faithful from niches ornamented with
mosaics, sculpture and oriental lamps. The Madonna is attended
by Saints, still imperfect in form and somewhat awkward in treat-
ment, yet the expression of whose countenances is not devoid of
xxv jii INTRODUCTION
sentiment. Beings transported to heaven by the contemplation of
the Beatific Vision, their faces and attitudes and the gorgeous tints
of their vesture strike, as it were, a chord of harmony attuned to
a solemn hymn of adoration. And this musical harmony, to which
the entire composition owes its unity, is perhaps unconsciously
symbolized by the angel-players on divers instruments on the steps
of the Virgin's throne, who seem to herald the glorious coming of
the New Birth.
Thus we pass from the Infancy of Art to its Adolescence. The
Madonnas begin to move with greater freedom, the kindly life-blood
circulates with greater warmth in the countenances of the Saints,
who step out of their darkened niches to revel in air and light and
to wonder at the sea and the sky. Their gaze of devout adoration
rests upon the Virgin, who presents to them the lovely Child at play
with the little S. John ; they engage in spiritual converse or allow
their benevolent glance to fall upon the worshippers kneeling at
their feet. Moreover these " Sacred Conversations," of an almost
homely intimacy, have for their background buildings and land-
scapes of a characteristic Venetian type.
Pictorial Art, in fact, mirrored the civil and political life of
Venice. The social evolution out of mediaevalism was here com-
pleted more rapidly than elsewhere ; and at the beginning of the
fifteenth century, when the policy of other Italian states was invisibly
leading them into servitude, the civic institutions of Venice were far
in advance of those of the rest of the peninsula. " So great was the
fame that she enjoyed throughout the world," wrote Sanudo later,
" that a desire to see her and learn her methods of government was
universal."
The pursuit of wealth did not lessen the love of these people for
great things, and they understood how to combine knowledge of
the arts with their appreciation of industry and conquest. The
highest form of praise accorded to the Doge on mounting the throne
was that " he had been a great merchant in his youth " (el xe sta
gran merchadante in zoventii}. Yet these merchants would welcome
the learned with every courtesy : the arrivals of Giorgio Trapezunzio
(1459), "a man of mark" (homo preclaro], who presented his Latin
translation of Plato's Laws, 1 and of Cardinal Bessarion, who gave
his library of Greek and Latin books to the Signoria in 1468, are
recorded with joyous satisfaction. Academies were founded for
learned discussion, and positions of honour and emolument were
bestowed upon the painters who depicted in the halls of the Great
Council the glorious victories of the Republic. Greed of gain and
practical considerations failed alike to extinguish the divine spark
1 Malipiero, Annals P. V. (Arch. Stor, R. T. vii. p. 11, 1844).
INTRODUCTION xxix
in these merchant souls or to render less fervid their sense of justice
and honour. Patriotism had become part of their religion ; sacred
legend was interwoven with national history ; and the claims of
daily work were never found at variance with their native instinct
for poetry. Shrewd sense goes hand in hand with profound piety.
The populace, when danger threatens Venice, flies to arms in the
Piazza ; at other times festive throngs gather in solemn procession
and parade the streets, devoutly bearing the relics of their Patron
Saints. Remote alike from sceptical indifference or ascetic fury, the
light-hearted Venetian temperament would rob the very mysteries
of Faith of all their sombre austerity. Here the words of the Monk
of Ferrara would have found no echo ; nor could the Piazza, of
S. Mark ever have witnessed the burning of admirable paintings and
sculptures, manuscripts and works of art to teach the popular mind
contempt of mundane vanities. On the pyre raised by Savonarola
in the Piazza della Signoria were laid goods of great price, works
of the best painters and sculptors, poetry both in Latin and in
the vernacular, figures and toys of ivory and alabaster, "such that
a Venetian merchant," writes Burlamacchi, "offered the Signoria
twenty thousand scndi for them all ; for which he obtained the
reward that his effigy was made life-size and placed on the top of
that pile upon a throne, as being the lord of all these vanities." 1
Intended as a mark of infamy, it was instead a title to fame : Venice
by the mouth of one of her citizens spoke a word of sound sense
against the excesses of fanaticism.
From their conquests abroad the Venetians always took care to
bring back to their native land such works of art, statues, columns
and capitals as they could secure ; and with splendid gifts they
induced Greek masters of mosaic to work in the church of S. Mark,
that sanctuary of the nation where the triumphs of the Republic
found expression in solemn religious ceremonies. Devoid of any
indigenous artistic tradition, Venice absorbed those of East and
West, made them her own, and gave them a national character
which developed with a magnificence unknown elsewhere. Here,
amid the splendours of the sky and the reflections of the waters,
architecture expresses the character of the times better than any
other art. In other lands the pointed style inspires a sense of
solemn severity ; here the architect seems to treat his tools as
playthings, harmonizing with facile elegance both Gothic and
Byzantine characteristics.
From the fourteenth century onwards a new and mysterious
force animates the work of Venetian statuaries who still did
not disdain the humble designation of " stone-cutters " (taiapierci). '
1 Burlamacchi, Vita del Savonarola, p. 113. Lucca, 1764.
xxx INTRODUCTION
Statues of the Madonna, frozen and lifeless no longer, open their
arms with loving gesture, and gently smile as they gather beneath
the ample folds of their mantles the serried rows of bedesmen as
they kneel with folded hands. And upon the facades of the churches,
amid the acanthus-leaved capitals of the columns, there appear
figures of cherubim, saints and warriors carved with the most
delicate mastery of the chisel.
Pictorial Art, on the other hand, advanced much more slowly.
Born to new life in the fourteenth century for the rest of Italy, in
Venice it did not blossom until after another hundred years. Whilst
Giotto at Padua was adorning the Chapel of the Scrovegni with
immortal frescoes the benighted artists of Venice continued to paint
according to immutable Byzantine rule. But even in the lagoons
the influence of the Byzantines was obliged to give way before the
overwhelming force of the new dispensation, directed more by the
authority of the imagination than by that of religion, which spread
rapidly over the whole of Italy, breathing life into everything that
it touched. And as soon as the Republic had reached the height of
its power one of its first cares was to perpetuate in painting its wars,
its conquests, its achievements and its solemn pageants. For this
purpose two celebrated painters, Gentile da Fabriano and Vettor
Pisano of Verona, called " il Pisanello" were summoned to Venice
in 1411 and charged with the decoration of a hall in the Doge's
Palace. Their sojourn in Venice was marked by an advance in Art,
due as much to their example as to their precept ; under their
auspices arose a school of Venetian painting which was to flourish
later in the springtime of the Renaissance with extraordinary
dignity of form and idea. Instead of the stiff Byzantine types we
find life and movement, the spirit of the time and the place, the
representation of the political and military grandeur of Venice.
Artists became, as it were, historians of this crowded life, so that
the chronicle of the most glorious age of the Republic may be said
to be written on the walls of the Doge's Palace with a painter's
brush. Unhappily this first flower of Venetian painting was lost
in the destruction of the Palace by fire in 1577. But records have
preserved for us a vivid description of these works. Gentile da
Fabriano painted Pope Alexander III. exhorting the Doge Ziani to
make war on the Emperor ; Pisanello represented Otto, the son of
Barbarossa, a prisoner of the Venetians, proposing himself as peace-
maker between the Emperor and the Pope ; Alvise Vivarini showed
this same Otto presenting himself before the Emperor his father ;
Giovanni Bellini illustrated the festal reception accorded by the
Doge to the Pope, who rewards him with honours and privileges :
Vettor Carpaccio portrayed Pope Alexander III. celebrating Mass
in S. Mark's. Thus did the painters picture the battles, victories,
INTRODUCTION xxxi
and pageants, the warriors marching in procession beside the civil
magistrates and other dignitaries of the Republic. All the illustrious
personages of the time, together with its entire public life, were in
this way faithfully transmitted to posterity. But among all the
painters of this period none expressed the outward manifestations
of the Venetian spirit with greater clearness and breadth of view
than Vittore Carpaccio.
CHAPTER I
LAZZARO BASTIANI AND HIS SCHOOL
ART-HISTORIANS anxious to elucidate the question of
Carpaccio's apprenticeship suggest alternately the tuition of
Vivarini or of Gentile Bellini. Vasari, labouring under an
obvious misapprehension, had affirmed that Carpaccio was the
teacher of his own two brothers, Lazzaro and Bastian. 1 Historians
easily rectified this confusion of name ; but nearly all agreed in
supposing that the great painter had Lazzaro Bastiani for his piipil.
A closer examination of the value of these asseverations and the
comparison of dates and facts in the light of documents hitherto
unknown lead us to the conclusion that Bastiani was neither the
scholar nor the imitator of Carpaccio but was actually \\\"~> first master.
To remove all credibility from the assertion, repeated and upheld
even by Cavalcaselle, that Bastiani was Carpaccio's pupil it is
sufficient to state that the former was already a painter of repute
before the latter was even born. Nor is this all. Further proof is
supplied by a comparison between certain paintings by Bastiani
with others of Carpaccio, which exhibit so great an analogy of style
that, later on, when the fame of the master was obscured by that of
the pupil, works by the elder were attributed to the younger. This
confusion, which has been cleared up by more careful methods of
observation, naturally leads us to infer that Carpaccio was initiated
into his art by Bastiani. It is therefore necessary, in order to
determine more accurately what paintings should rightly be attributed
to each, and in order to ascertain with greater exactitude the influence
exercised by the elder over the younger painter, that we should
reconstruct the figure of Lazzaro Bastiani, hitherto so imperfectly
known and so inadequately appreciated. The guidance of authentic
records which throw a new light upon this great craftsman's life,
1 " He taught the art to his two brothers, who imitated him fairly well : one was Lazzaro and
the other Sebastiano." Vasari, Le vite dei pill eccellenti pittori, with new Notes and Commentaries
by Gaetano Milanesi, t. iii. Sansoni, 1878.
2 LAZ2ARO BASTIANI AND HIS SCHOOL
while increasing the number of his paintings, place him at the head
of a dynasty of painters and assign to him his rightful position in
the History of Venetian Art.
A cursory glance at Venetian Painting in the fifteenth century at
once brings under our notice three distinct artistic groups. Two of
these, well known already and much studied, are the schools of
Antonio Vivarini at Murano and of Jacopo Bellini. That Vivarini
himself was led towards the New Art through the teaching and
example of Gentile da Fabriano and Pisanello may be clearly dis-
cerned in a work by the Muranese painter in the Gallery at Berlin.
A closer follower of the master from Fabriano was Jacopo
Bellini, who welcomed the renewal of the classical form of conception
which heralds the first approach of the Renaissance ; while Vivarini
was always more or less pervaded by the feeling and methods of the
age that was passing away. He unites indeed the charm of the new
Tuscan style, which he had been able to study at Padua in the light
of Donatello's genius, with the breadth and grandeur of his son-in-
law Mantegna, with whom he lived in close intimacy, alternately his
master and his pupil. The Mantegna influence is seen at work also
in the youthful work of Giovanni Bellini, Jacopo's second son, some
of whose paintings, notably the Pieta in the Brera Gallery, the
Agony in the Garden in the National Gallery in London, and the
Resurrection in the Berlin Museum, might almost pass for works by
Mantegna himself.
But alongside the two schools of Vivarini and Jacopo Bellini,
there grew up a third, consisting for the most part of obscure
painters whose works, hidden in most cases during long years
behind the impenetrable walls of convents, are not even mentioned
in the old Guide-books. Newly discovered documents alone record
the names of several of these humbler craftsmen and help us to
trace the vicissitudes of a certain number of their works, which,
having survived ill-treatment and exposure to the weather, were
finally removed, after the suppression of the convents, to the safe-
keeping of picture galleries, public and private ; chiefly those of the
Vienna Academy and the Museo Civico of Venice. We are thus in
a position properly to appreciate this school, which always preserved
an individuality of its own and is of no slight importance in the
history of Venetian Art. To it belonged such distinguished men
as Lazzaro Bastiani, the great Carpaccio, Benedetto Diana and
Giovanni Mansueti, who on account of certain well-defined character-
istics must be regarded as a quite independent group of artists and
not, as common opinion has hitherto considered them, mere followers
of the Vivarini and the Bellini.
This school then, of which Bastiani is the typical representative,
traces its origin from the old Byzantinesque painters such as
I. ADORATION OF THE MAGI.
By Vittore 1'isancllo. In tlie Koval Museum, Berlin.
FRESCO IN THE CHURCH OF S. ANASTASIA AT VERONA.
By Vittore Pisanello.
ADORATION OF THE MAC.I.
Bv Gentile da Fabriano. In the Aradcinv. Flmvmv.
i&
1 -I
Si^^ :
ADORATIOM OF THE MAGI.
Bv Antonio da Murano. In the Royal Gallery at Berlin.
" -V" r / V*
S 4: / M
y.7 ^/
6 THE CRUCIFIXION. Fresco (now destroyed) by Jacopo Bellini in the Archbishop's Palace, Verona.
From a print in the Museo Civico, Venice.
JACOPO BELLINI 3
Jacobello del Fiore and Michele Giambono ; but not without
experiencing the influence of Jacopo Bellini in its spirit and in its
form ; an influence so powerful that this New Art cannot be properly
studied without reference to his teaching.
Comparatively few works by Jacopo Bellini are preserved to this
day. Two Madonnas with the signature of their author are, one
in the Galleria Tadini at Lovere, the other in the Venice Academy. 1
Another Madonna with a kneeling donor (perhaps Lionello d'Este
or Sigismondo Malatesta) is in the Louvre. 2 And three more
Madonnas, one recently acquired by the Uffizi Gallery, another in
the Galleria Lochis at Bergamo, and a third in the Cagnola collection
at Milan, 3 are known to us. Besides these works a life-size Crucifix
in tempera, signed Opus Jacobi Bellini, is the property of the
Museum at Verona. There is also in the church of SS. Gervasio e
Protasio (San Trovaso] in Venice a panel of San Crisogono, which
passes for the work of Giambono, but which may with good reason
be attributed to Jacopo Bellini. Of the Crucifixion in the Archbishop's
Palace at Verona, now destroyed, we can judge only by an engraving,
which suffices, even without the additional charm of colour, to show
us the noble breadth of treatment of the composition and the
wonderful beauty of some of the figures, which already foreshadow
Giorgione. The work of the master in the Scuola di S. Marco at
Venice, where he had painted (1455) an Istoria de Jerusalem con
Christ o e i ladroni? was destroyed by fire.
Other paintings executed by Jacopo Bellini in the Scuola di
S. Giovanni Evangelista are thus described by Ridolfi :
By his hand were to be seen at the Confraternity of S. Giovanni Evangelista the
figure of the Saviour and two angels compassionately supporting Him ; and in the first
Hall, in a series of smaller pictures, he distributed the Acts of Christ and of the Virgin,
which, having been devoured by time, were restored by other artists with various alterations
as we now see them. We shall describe them as they were described to us by old
painters who remembered them :
In the first picture he painted the Infant Mary being washed by the mid wives, S. Anne
in bed, and S. Joachim writing. The background was a room of noble proportions.
In the next the Child Mary was on her way to the Temple, where she dwelt for
many years, occupying herself in the holy duty of weaving the sacred vestments, adorning
them with embroidery and jewels, and in other pious exercises.
In the third she was to be seen, attended by a number of maidens, betrothed to
Joseph by the High Priest. There were also youths with rods in their hands beside
S. Joseph. The ingenious craftsman had then represented her receiving the message of
the Angel Gabriel, whilst above are a vast crowd of exulting angels. Next follows the
visit of Mary to her relative Elizabeth, who receives her with demonstrations of welcome.
Then under the humble shed she adores her new-born Infant, and beams of glory
surround a celestial choir, who bear a scroll upon which is written Gloria m Excels
1 The Madonna at Lovere came from the Venetian Convent of the Nuns of Corpus Domini ;
that in the Academy from the Convent of the Nuns of S. Maria degli Angeli at Murano.
2 C. Ricci, Jacopo Bellini (Emporium, Nov. and Dec., Bergamo, 1903).
3 The Madonna by Jacopo Bellini now in the Cagnola collection in Milan formerly belonged
to Dr. J. P. Richter. ' .
4 Molmenti, I pittori Bellini (in Studi e Ricerche di Storia e d" Arte, p. 127. Turin, 1892).
4 LAZZARO BASTIANI AND HIS SCHOOL
Deo, the tenor of their heavenly anthem. On one side stands S. Joseph, and the two
gentle beasts warm with their breath their new-born Lord.
In the next painting Jacopo showed the Virgin, in accordance with the Law,
presenting her Infant to the High Priest Simeon, and offering by the hand of a little
maiden two white doves Then in fear of Herod, mounted on a humble ass, she flies
into Egypt, her innocent Babe wrapped in her mantle. The aged Joseph carries their
wretched chattels on a frail cart and a number of angels attend them on the journey. _
Mary and Joseph having reached Egypt, the painter depicted the latter exercising
his trade of a carpenter with Jesus to hand him his tools, and the former gracefully
sitting at her needlework. Many angels in glory cheer the blessed couple with their
hymns. Herod being dead, the Holy Pair return to Judea, leading by the hand their
Divine Son, who gazes at them with radiant and joyful countenance. Angels again
guide the ass, laden with their humble effects.
Then in another painting the Saviour was seen interpreting the Scriptures, amid
the disputing doctors. The Virgin and Joseph, drying their tears, rejoice at having
" found Him again.
Jacopo continued the series by depicting other Sorrows of Mary. Christ, compelled
to suffer death for the Redemption of the Human Race, bends before His Mother to
receive her blessing. In those two sad countenances the painter endeavoured to express
maternal and filial devotion.
Next he painted John bearing to the Virgin the sad news that her Son has been
taken in the Garden and carried before the Judgment Hall of Annas and Caiaphas.
Upon which she fell fainting into the arms of her sisters.
In the following picture he painted the Saviour led to Mount Calvary, the heavy
Cross on His shoulders, His footsteps hastened by the blows and buffetings of the
executioners, whilst the pious Marys follow behind. Then He was seen on the Cross,
at the point of death recommending His Mother to the care of His beloved John. An
executioner prepared the sponge ; others cast lots for His clothes, while still others
stood and mocked.
To complete these scenes the Redeemer was shown after His triumphant Resur-
rection from the tomb, appearing to His Mother holding the glorious banner of the
Holy Patriarchs. And last of all Jacopo portrayed the selfsame Queen of Heaven
after her long life's pilgrimage carried to be crowned with a diadem by the Eternal
Father and Son. 1
It is believed that these paintings in the Scuola di S. Giovanni
Evangelista did not all perish ; and the artist Natale Schiavoni of
Chioggia claimed to possess eight of the series, of which two, the
Adoration of the Magi and the Marriage of the Virgin, were not
long since sold in America. The others were scattered. The
pictures formerly in the possession of Schiavoni are so injured by
restoration that no definite judgment can be given upon them. The
dignity of the composition, however, which recalls the influence of
Giotto and the classic composure of certain figures may well support
the attribution of these works to Jacopo Bellini.
The genius of Bellini is better displayed in two books preserved,
one in the British Museum and the other in the Louvre, which
contain admirable drawings of every conceivable subject : scenes
from the Gospels and the Legends of the Saints, together with
studies from the nude, examples of perspective with elaborate
architectural details, studies of animals, etc.
1 Ridolfi, Le meraviglie dell' arte, ovvero le vite degli illustri pittori Veneti e dello Stato, vol. i.,
PP- 7! 7'. 72- Padua, MDCCCXXXV.
THE CORONATION OF THE VIRGIN, WITH S. BENEDICT AND S. URSULA.
By Lazzaro Bastiani. In the I.ochis (.allery, Bergamo.
THE BASTIANI FAMILY 5
It is easy to imagine the admiration with which all the artists of
that period must have been inspired by the masterpieces of Jacopo's
brush, whom they all took for their guidance and example, not
excepting Lazzaro Bastiani and the school which he represents.
But we seek in vain for the direct influence of the Paduan School
upon Bastiani, who, according to Cavalcaselle, learnt his art in
Padua from Mantegna, imitating his defects rather than his good
qualities, and who, after the departure of that master to Mantua,
returned to Venice, where adjusting his methods to those of the school
of Vivarini, he worked in company with Carpaccio and Mansueti.
Cavalcaselle further discerns in the youthful Bastiani the teaching
and inspiration of Mantegna, 1 especially in the Pie fa in the church
of S. Antonino in Venice. But that painting certainly does not fall
within Bastiani's youthful period, and if there is in it any Paduan
inspiration it reached the painter through Jacopo Bellini. It will
suffice to compare Bastiani's picture with two drawings for the same
subject by Jacopo which are to be found in the book preserved in
the Louvre.
From all that appears in his work and can be ascertained from
documents Bastiani must in his early years have remained in Venice,
where he collected around him a numerous following of painters
bound to him by ties of relationship or of training.
Older than Lazzaro was his brother, Marco, a coltrer or cortiner
i.e., a painter of quilts, altar-f rentals, standards, banners (pennelli},
curtains and hangings for domestic and other purposes. Concerning
this Marco, mentioned for the first time in 1435 as the son of one
Giacomo living at San Lio, documents furnish us with curious
particulars. 2 In his Will he commends to the care of his four sons
a female Tartar slave, called Marta. One of these sons was
Simone, who carried on his father's business and is alluded to from
1457 to 1475. He lived in the parish of S. Silvestro, the quarter
1 Prof. Laudedeo Testi wrote a learned criticism (Arch. Stor. Ital., Disp. i., 1904) upon the
instalment of the book on Carpaccio referred to in our Preface (p. xiv, note) and published in
French under the title : " Vittore Carpaccio et la Confrerie de S. Ursule" (Florence, Bemporad,
1903). Prof. Testi affirms that Bastiani was in his young days exaggeratedly Squartionesque.
We are curious to know in which of his paintings there appeared this exaggerated Squarcionesque
mannerism. A propos of Prof. Testi, we take this occasion to thank him for his courteous
pronouncement on our essay, which, according to him, surpasses any other monograph published
in recent times on the great artists of our country. In truth, this too nattering criticism follows
strangely upon the vigorous onslaught which he makes on each of our opinions and conclusions.
Every one must judge as he thinks best, but Prof. Testi, in spite of his learning, appears to
be not too familiar with the Venetian data and falls therefore into many errors in matters
of fact. Some of these can easily be rectified by any one who knows the Art-History of Venice.
But there are others which appear to us more serious and which it is our duty to correct in
the course of this work; for no other reason than that certain misrepresentations should not
acquire the appearance of truth from the authority of a critic of such eminence.
8 In the Appendix to this chapter we have arranged in numerical order all the documents
dealing with the Bastiani family. The reader can easily verify our history step by step by
reference to these documents.
6 LAZZARO BASTIANI AND HIS SCHOOL
especially inhabited by the coltreri, cortineri and others employed
in this special branch of the painter's art.
The name of Alvise, another son of Marco, of whom there are
records from 1457 to 1512, is found in documents in company with
that of the wood-carver Leonardo Scalamanzo, one of the artizans
of the choir of San Stefano. And since Alvise dwelt in the Piazza
S. Marco, where were situated the workshops of the painters of
wooden chests and " arks," as also from his relations with the
carver Scalamanzo, we may argue that he too was in fact a painter
of cassoni.
Of the third son, Cristoforo, likewise a painter, we know no more
than that he was buried in the vault which his father Marco had
caused to be constructed for himself and his family in the cemetery
of the Scuola di Sant' Orsola. 1
We have more information concerning the fourth son of Marco,
Polo by name, who took Holy Orders and from 1454 to 1480
served in the churches of the SS. Apostoli and S. Giuliano. The
documents inform us that Polo, " a lewd man and of evil dis-
position " (homo leziero et de mala sorte et volonta), did not always
perform his religious duties in a Christian and pious manner, as
appears from the following anecdote.
In 1478 Venice was ravaged by a frightful pestilence, and many
of the devout flocked to the church of S. Giuliano, where was
preserved the body of S. Rocco. The brethren of the Scuola di
S. Rocco implored aid from the sainted protector of the plague-
stricken as they hurried along the streets scourging their naked
backs and chanting hymns and litanies. A great multitude of these
penitents, assembled at the church of S. Giuliano before the altar of
S. Rocco, oblivious of the plague and of their prayers, came to blows
and used their scourges no longer for penance, but for assault. The
priest, Polo Bastiani, being present at the riot, attempted to quell
it with arguments too forcible for a priest, and rushing forward
" he unsheathed a sword before the altar and struck several blows
at those whom he met, and even at Alvixe Bastiani, his own
brother. . . . And so by somebody's order one of the penitents,
called Alvise the barber, a ringleader in the quarrel, bared a sword
and struck about him in company with the said priest Polo
Bastian."
In the Will of Marco Bastiani, besides his four sons and his
Tartar slave, he alludes to his brother Lazzaro, whose name occurs
for the first time as witness to a Will of April 5th, 1449. It is
written thus : T. Lazarus pictor eondam Sebastiani de confinio
Santi Leonis testis. At that time then, Lazzaro lived at San Lio
1 Curti Rocco, Iscriz. sepolcrali venete (Bib. Marc. Lat. Cl. xiv., Cod. xxvi.-xxvii.). In the
Cemetery of Sant' Orsola " Sepultum . . . Marci Bastiani quondam Jacobi et suorum heredum."
LAZZARO BASTIANI 7
(Leone) with his brother Marco ; but later on, up to the time of his
death, he dwelt in a house over against the principal door of the
church of San Raffaele Arcangelo on the opposite side of the Canal.
In 1460 we find Lazzaro employed on an altar-piece commissioned
by the Procurators of St. Mark for the church of S. Samuele. Ten
years later the brethren of the Scuola di S. Marco gave him an
order for a picture representing the history of David (istoria di
Davide), and promised him the same amount as was paid to Jacopo
Bellini, who with his two sons, Gentile and Giovanni, had worked
for the same Guild. From this it appears that Lazzaro must have
enjoyed a considerable reputation if the famous Confraternity of
S. Marco appraised him as the equal in the matter of remuneration
of Jacopo Bellini, the most eminent painter of his time.
About 1470 we find Bastiani entered among the brethren of
S. Girolamo, and for that Scuola he painted on two panels some
scenes from the life of their Patron Saint. In 1473 one Antonio
Corradi of Pera (Constantinople) wrote to his brother-in-law to order
from Lazzaro Bastiani a panel representing " the figure of our Lord
Jesus Christ, but if the painter be dead, Master Zuan Bellini must
make it " (la figura di mess. Gesu Christ o, ma se il pit tore
fosse gia morto debbe farla ser Zuan Belling. This picture was
finished in 1474 by Bastiani, who for a long time yet was to continue
his life of active work. He is recorded once more in 1494 in the
records of the Scuola di S. Marco ; and in 1498 he was called in to
arbitrate in a dispute between two sculptors. The same year also
finds him a witness to the Will of a certain Angelo Ravagnani.
It is our belief that at this stage in his career Lazzaro was called
to the execution of a very important work. It being proposed in
1499 to decorate the half-dome of the Cathedral of Ferrara with
paintings to imitate mosaic (musaicum fictitium] there were sum-
moned thither a painter called Bonfadino and a certain maestro
Lazzaro. The duty of appraising their work was laid upon Andrea
Mantegna.
Many reasons induce us to believe that this Lazzaro was our
Bastiani, who was a worker in mosaics as well as a painter. He
had already completed the beautiful " mosaic " in S. Marco repre-
senting S. Sergius, and thus was better able than any other to paint
such imitations. We cannot agree in any way with the opinion that
recognizes in the maestro Lazzaro of the Ferrarese documents
Lazzaro Grimaldi of Reggio, the author of a very inferior painting
which from the Rossi Gallery in Venice passed not long since into
the Kaufmann Collection in Berlin. 1
Cittadella, 2 on the other hand, speaks of Lazzaro as a most
1 A. Venturi, Archivio Storico dell' Arte, 1888, p. 89.
2 See Doc. e III. rig. la si. artistica di Ferrara, quoted in the Appendix to this chapter.
8 LAZZARO BASTIANI AND HIS SCHOOL
excellent painter and believes, in fact, that he is represented among
the most famous painters, ancient and modern, in a curious book
by a Ferrarese writer, Sigismondo Fanti. This work, consisting
of woodcuts only without letterpress, bears the title : Triompho di
Fortuna (Impressa in la inclita Citta di Venezia per Agostino da
Portese MDXXl^I.}. Set round the Wheels of Fortune and the
several Virtues are the figures of heroes, philosophers, learned men,
astrologers and artists, both of antiquity and of modern times. In
the various plates the classic names of Parrhasius and Apelles
are linked with the illustrious ones of the Renaissance Raphael,
Francia, Mantegna, Dosso Dossi, etc. In Plate XXV. beside the
Wheel of Fortitude we see the figure of a certain " Lazaro pictor."
It is clear that a painter of the name of Lazzaro must have then
enjoyed great renown at Ferrara if Fanti had no hesitation in
honouring him in the same rank as the most famous craftsmen.
May he not have been the same " Laszaro pictor" who was sum-
moned to adorn the Ferrarese Cathedral ? And it does not seem
too rash to identify him with Lazzaro Bastiani, since the mediocre
Lazzaro Grimaldi of Reggio was certainly not worthy of so
important a commission ; and still less of the honour done him
by Sigismondi Fanti. Nor at this period do we find any other
painters of celebrity bearing the name of Lazzaro.
In the sixteenth century traces of Bastiani continue to be found
in Venetian Archives and his signature recurs frequently between
1500 and 1502.
In 1508 his name is linked with that of Vettor Carpaccio in an
arbitration of great importance. Lazzaro and Vittore were summoned
to appraise the paintings by Giorgione on the facade of the Fondaco
dei Tedeschi. Here Bastiani is mentioned first as being the elder
and the order of the names cannot be alphabetical because Scarpazza
is followed by Vettor de Mathio. Later still, assisted by another
of his pupils, Benedetto Diana, a good painter of his school,
Bastiani painted the standards in the Piazza di S. Marco.
That Bastiani was held in high repute in his own day admits
of no doubt, since he also secured the honour, coveted by the most
famous artists, of a summons to the Doge's Palace to paint several
portraits ; where Gentile Bellini himself, after his return from
Constantinople, only received a commission for one that of the
Doge Marco Barbarigo. 1 In fact, Francesco Sansovino in his
Venetia (ed. 1581, c. 124 t.) writes, "... The hall of the Council
(Collegia) of the Twenty-five with divers portraits of former Doges,
one braccio and a half in height, in their ancient costume, painted
by Lazzaro Bastiani." And Ridolfi (Meraviglie, i. 67) says : " In the
1 Lorenzi : Monumenti per servire alia storia del Palazzo Ducale. Doc. 216.
SCA
ii S. SKRCIIL'S.
By Lazzaro Bastiaui. Mosaic in St. Mark's, Venice.
S. TIIKI.A. By Viiicen/o Bastiani.
Mosaic in St. Mark's. Venice.
13 From a Woodcut in " The Triumph of Fortune "
By Sigismondo Fanti.
STA VENEKANDA ENTHRONED, AND OTHER SAINTS.
'By Lazzaro Bastiani. In the Academy, Vienna.
THE SONS OF LAZZARO BASTIANI 9
Hall of the Twenty Savii, situated between those of the Council
and of the Scrutiny, he (Bastiani) painted many portraits of Doges,
which were burnt." x
In conclusion, we find the record of Bastiani's death in the
following entry from the registers of the Scuola di S. Marco :
" 1512. Ser Lazaro Bastian pentor a San Rafael morl."
His death must have occurred after March yth, 1512, since on
that day Lazzaro was party to a contract.
Lazzaro had a son, Vincenzo by name, who might easily be
confused with another Vincenzo Bastiani, the author of several
mosaics in S. Marco. But this painter Vincenzo lost his life on
March i8th, 1512, by falling from a scaffolding whilst working in
the Basilica on a mosaic of Sta. Thecla, and there is no connection
between him and the other Vincenzo Bastiani, the son of Lazzaro,
whose autograph signature we find in 1513.
Another son of Lazzaro, named Sebastiano, took Holy Orders,
and served his ministry in the church of S. Raffaele, situated
opposite his father's house. More peaceable than his cousin Polo,
who wore a sword under his cassock, Sebastiano combined his
ecclesiastical duties with a humbler form of decorative art, deriving
some modest profit therefrom by painting for religious festivals
figures of angels and other decorations (angeli ed altri ornamenti).
Brother to the priest Sebastiano was Jacopo, employed in the
humble office of carrying around the ballot-boxes in the Hall of the
Great Council : and we believe we may safely recognize as a son of
our Lazzaro that Zuan de Lazzaro depentor, whose name we find
in a document along with those of two persons already known
to us, the " cortineri Marco e Simone Bastiani" without doubt his
colleagues and relatives.
Thus around a brilliant artist like Lazzaro Bastiani there grew
up a family of obscure painters, engaged in forms of Art which
can hardly be distinguished from Art-Industry. The influence of
Lazzaro bore better fruit with some of his pupils.
If Lazzaro Bastiani, as has been seen, signed himself pictor
from 1449, it is certain that at that date he must have reached
manhood. We therefore cannot be very far wrong in placing his
birth somewhere about the year 1425 ; and, since the artist's highest
qualities are revealed in the signed but undated picture of Santa
Veneranda, executed for the church of Corpus Domini in Venice
and subsequently removed to the Academy in Vienna, we must
1 The Documents refute Prof. Testi, who writes : " Bastiani does not seem, even in his own
time, to have been considered a painter of ability. He secured, in fact, none of those splendid
commissions which bear witness to the great masters of the period."
2
io LAZZARO BASTIANI AND HIS SCHOOL
believe that this master-work was completed when the painter was
in the prime of life i.e., between 1450 and 1470.
Upon a massive throne surrounded by Saints sits the stately
figure of Sta. Veneranda, crowned, holding in one hand an open
book and the palm of martyrdom, and in the other a small cross.
The rich but heavy architecture of the background, in which may
still be observed traces of mediaevalism, already displays the first
signs of the Renaissance in the decoration of the columns and
arches. A curious detail may also be noticed : on the first step of
the throne, cleverly foreshortened, as if it were a naive votive
offering, lies the painter's mahl-stick. The austerity of the types,
the correctness and the sobriety of the drawing, and the simple and
natural folds of the drapery far surpass the rather feeble and timid
colouring.
To the flower of the painter's manhood, that is to say about
1470, must likewise belong the signed painting of S. Anthony of
Padua sitting preaching amid the branches of a walnut tree, at the
foot of which are two holy Franciscans, Cardinal Bonaventura and
Brother Leo, the faithful companion of S. Francis. This painting
was set up over the high altar of the Scuola di Sant' Antonio ai
Frari and adorned later by Pordenone with five Franciscan Saints
painted on the antependiuni. When in 1666 the altar was
remodelled in the corrupt taste of the period Bastiani's painting
was removed into the Scuola di S. Antonio and Pordenone's
frontal was hung high up on a wall of the church of the Frari where
it remained unnoticed until recently, when it was placed in a less
unworthy position in the same church.
To the decade between 1470 and 1480 may be ascribed the
paintings of the Scuola di S. Girolamo : the Last Communion and
the Obsequies of the Saint. About the year 1470 Lazzaro was, as we
have said, enrolled a member of that Confraternity and must at
once have begun the two pictures, one of which, The Obsequies,
was subsequently repeated on a predella now preserved in the Brera
Gallery. A drawing for the head of the Oriental personage, who
stands conversing with two monks under the portico of the church
wherein S. Girolamo is receiving the Communion, is in the Print
Room at the Dresden Gallery.
The same decade, that is about the year 1480, must have seen
the completion of the painting sold by the family of Mocenigo di
Sant' Eustachio to the National Gallery in Lond'on, where it still
passes wrongly under the name of Carpaccio, although the forged
signature written in one corner, Victor Carpatio, has been removed.
It represents The Doge Giovanni Mocenigo on his knees before the
Virgin in the presence of SS. John the Baptist and Christopher.
This work must have been a votive painting for the cessation of the
iC S. ANTHONY OF PADUA, S. BONAVENTURA, AND S. LUKE.
Bv Lazzaro Bastiani. In the Academy, Venice.
Tin-: LAST I'OMMI-XION : S. IKUOMI:.
By I.az/um Bastiaiii. In tlie Imperial .Museum. Vienna.
THE FUNKRAL OF S. JEROME.
By Lazzaro Bas;iani. In the Imperial Museum, Vieana.
T 9 DRAWING IN THE MUSEVM, DRESDEN.
By Lazzaro Bastiani.
PREDELLA is THE BKKKA, MILAN.
By I.azzaro Bastiani.
YIKI.IN AMI CHILD. WITH Tin-: PONOU, S. Jonx THM BATTIST, ETC.
By I.azznro Bastiani. I-'mni the Church of S. Donato, Murnnu.
10 VIRGIN AND CHILD.
By Gentile Bellini. In Mr. Luchvig Mond's Collection, London.
PAINTINGS BY LAZZARO BASTIANI 11
plague which ravaged Venice in the years 1478-79. Upon a sort
of classical altar rising in the centre of the composition the following
distich is inscribed :
URBEM. REM. VE
NETAM. SERVA
VENETUMQ.
SENATUM
ET MIHI SI ME
REOR VIRGO
SUPERNA AVE.
Carpaccio was at that time very young ; and therefore it seems
most unlikely that the Head of the State should entrust him with
a work of such importance. That the painting is not by Carpaccio
is admitted by many ; but they are not at all agreed as regards
its right attribution. Among others, an American authoress, who
writes under the name of Mary Logan, believes that it recalls the
hand of Gentile Bellini ; but a consideration of that painting by
Gentile which she finds so similar to this supposed work of
Carpaccio should suffice to refute her contention. If, on the other
hand, we compare the London picture with two paintings by
Bastiani, in the Cathedral of San Donate at Murano and in the
Galleria Lochis at Bergamo, we find in all three the same throne,
and observe in the figures special points of resemblance, such as
the shape of the hands with their coarse and bony joints. If, in
addition, we note that in all these three paintings the Virgin is clad
in a robe of brocade, according to Bastiani's usual custom, and that
the landscape at the back with the pool of water and the hill crowned
with poplars is especially characteristic of him, we can no longer
hesitate in ascribing the London picture also to this painter.
The first picture by Bastiani that bears upon it a written date
is that in the Duomo at Murano (1485), which represents The Canon
Giovanni dagli Angeli kneeling before the Virgin's throne.
The picture in the Galleria Lochis at Bergamo bears the date
1490; and the great painting for the Assembly Hall (called della
Santa Croce) in the Scuola di S. Giovanni Evangelista was
probably finished between 1486 and 1500 that is to say when
Gentile Bellini was .at work in the same place.
To follow in their order the pictures to which no definite^date is
attached it will be necessary to carefully observe the master's style.
Thus it will be easy to discern how in his latest works Bastiani
adopted a scale of proportion which differs from that of the paintings
of his prime and drew his heads small and feeble with excessively
elongated bodies. The proportion of the heads in relation to the
bodies is in the painter's early years as one to eight, and in his
later days as one to eleven. This defect is compensated by a merit
12 LAZZARO BASTIANI AND HIS SCHOOL
which the painter developes step by step as he advances in life.
Indeed Bastiani, most diligent in the study of perspective, substitutes
in later life a noble mastery of that science for the somewhat crude
attempts of his youth. If in the Anminciation of the Museo Civico
at Venice he shows a timid naivetd in the shallow distance and in
the over-extended lines, all converging rapidly towards a vanish-
ing point, another Annunciation in the Gallery at Klosterneuberg
reveals an art of perspective perfect in line and foreshortening.
The Annunciation is a subject often treated by Bastiani. He
painted one on the doors of the organ at S. Michele in Padua, of
which unluckily only the Angel Gabriel remains ; with a landscape
background enlivened, as was the artist's custom, by a pool of
water and a pair of bystanders conversing. Cavalcaselle restored
also to Bastiani another painting, which must have formed the inner
side of these same doors and which represents the Archangel
Michael. It bears the forged signature of Jacopo Nerito, a pupil
of Gentile da Fabriano.
Another pair of organ-doors by Bastiani, upon which he painted
an Annunciation and which probably came from the church of
Sant' Elena in Isola, are in the store-room of the Venice Academy.
They have some designs in charcoal on the back, most likely also
by the master's hand.
Finally a small Annunciation on panel beautiful in colour was
sold in England by Signor Ongania, the Venice bookseller.
Bastiani also painted several presentments of the Madonna,
among which must be cited the Virgin with the Beautiful Eyes
(Vergine dai begli occhi), which hung in the office of the Directors
of the Revenue (delle Entrate) and in the eighteenth century was
attributed to Bellini. Edwards, however, in his private notes 1 up
to so early as 1807, writes that many doubted the painting being
by Bellini, attributing it rather to the Vivarini. But the character-
istic background with the oddly-shaped palm-trees, the Child almost
identical in type with the children of the picture at Murano, the
forbidding and severe expression of the Virgin and the stiff and
bony finger-joints remove all doubt but that the work must be
Bastiani's. Another of his Madonnas, to be found in the Museum
at Verona, was repeated by him on a panel now in the Venice
Museum, where there is also another painting representing -SS. Cosmo,
Damian and other Saints which seems to us to be by Bastiani.
Of his school, moreover, is a Madonna in the same Museum
with the forged signature of Cima di Conegliano. Mrs. Logan
further professes to have seen at Bari a painting by Bastiani,
concerning which, however, we have no information.
Bastiani also executed two inferior pictures, one for the church
1 " Arch, di Stato. Direzione generate del Demanio ; Ufificio Economato," Buste Edwards,
Till: As NTNH I A LION.
By I.azzaro Bastiaui. In thr Musro Civiro, \'ciiici'
THE NATIVITY AND FOUR SAINTS.
By Lazzaro Bastiani. In the Academy, Venice.
25 THE ARCHANGEL GABRIEL.
By Lazzaro Bastiani. In the Museo Civico, Padua.
26
THE MADONNA " DAI BEGU OCCHI."
By Lazzaro Bastiani. In the Ducal Palace, Venice.
MADONNA IN THE MUSEO Civico, VEROXA.
By Lazzaro Bastiani.
PlETA.
By Lazzaro Bastiani. In the Church of S. Antonino, Venice.
28 ADAM AND EVE BESIDE THE TREE OF PARADISE.
School of Lazzaro Bastiani. In the Museo Civico, Venice.
29 KING DAVID AND THE SHULAMITE BESIDE THE TREE
OF THE CHURCH. School of Lazzaro Bastiani.
In the Museo Civico, Venice.
PAINTINGS BY LAZZARO BASTIANI 13
of the Madonna del Torresino at Cittadella, and the other for the
church of Sant' Antonino in Venice, which both portrayed the
same subject, the Pieta. This last, which Cavalcaselle holds to be
a work of the artist's early youth under the influence of Mantegna,
ought really, from the rotundity of the folds and a certain softness
of colouring, to be assigned to Lazzaro's second period ; and the same
argument applies to the Nativity with Four Saints, 1 now in the
Academy, especially if we observe the proportions of the figures,
over-long in comparison with the heads.
If not to Bastiani, at any rate to his school, so it seems to us,
must belong the eight little pictures in the Venetian church of
Sant' Alvise, which were considered by some as modern counterfeits,
and by other authoritative critics, such as Ruskin, as boyish works
of Carpaccic^s ; and some of which even bear his forged signature. 2
We believe that these eight little paintings at one time adorned the
parapet of the organ in the church of S. Maria delle Vergini, along
with two larger pictures now in the Museo Civico at Venice ; one
of which represents Adam and Eve beside the Tree of Paradise,
and the other the Tree of the Church, beneath which stand David
and the Shulamite.
These two pinewood panels are bordered by a narrow framework,
not detached but carved in the panels themselves, making each one
piece with its frame, whence it may be argued that they were used
as the doors of an organ. Documents in the Archives prove that
these two panels came from the Venetian Convent of Santa Maria
della Vergini.
Now Cicogna in his Iscrizioni Veneziane informs us that these
eight small pictures in the church of S. Alvise also came from the
same Convent delle l^ergini. They also are painted on pinewood
panels bevelled all round, obviously in order to be inserted in the
rabbet of a frame or cornice, which united them together to form
the parapet of an organ-loft. In fact, organs with doors and
parapets (floggi) painted with sacred events were frequently found
in old Venetian churches. Uniting the eight small paintings at
S. Alvise, and arranging them in what must have been their original
order, four on one side and four on the other, we find a sort of
symbolical parallel in the sacred subjects represented :
1. a. Jacob and Rachel at the Well. I. b. The Meeting of Solomon and the
Queen of Sheba at the River.
2. a. The Recognition of Joseph by his 2. b. The Return of the young Tobias.
Brethren.
3. a. The Golden Calf. 3- b. Job's Poverty.
4. a. The Fall of Jericho. 4- b. The Image with the Feet of Clay.
1 The Nativity was in the church of Sant' Elena at Isola.
2 These eight small pictures were, from what Cicogna tells us (Iscrizioni, v. 624), acquired
in 1842 by the Abate Fr. Driuzzo and placed in the church of Sant' Alvise.
i 4 LAZZARO BASTIANI AND HIS SCHOOL
The style, the execution, and the drawing of these eight pictures
reveal the hand of the same master who executed the two doors
above described ; so that the natural hypothesis arises that the ten
paintings, all executed on the same species of wooden panel, must
have together formed the decoration of the organ in the church of
Sta. Maria delle Vergini at Castello.
Mrs. Mary Logan, on the other hand, discovers in the eight small
works at S. Alvise characteristic signs of the baroque period, and
believes that they were probably executed by some nun, so inex-
perienced in the methods of painting as to remind the American
lady of the Art of the Mexican Aztecs. For
us they are precious documents in the history
of Venetian costume in the fifteenth century.
In their backgrounds the architecture bears
the stamp of the early Renaissance and the
landscape, painted with Bastiani's character-
istic simplicity, is enlivened by pools of
water and dotted here and there with small
trees of a long oval shape, not unlike chil-
dren's toys, intended to
represent the poplars in
the Venetian country-
side. To the poplars are
added also some palms,
represented like paint-
brushes, in the form
peculiar to Bastiani,
whose mannerism is re-
vealed alike in the com-
position and the group-
ing of the figures. The
disproportionate figures,
and still more the childish drawing of the animals, do not allow
us to attribute these paintings to the master himself, although
certainly to some pupil of his school. These works are more
closely connected with the Industrial Arts and were due most
probably to the brush of one of the many Venetian artists, who
were employed on the decoration of chests, standards, panels,
shields, etc. It is not necessary to suppose, as Ruskin did, that
these paintings are by Carpaccio when a boy : they are probably
by one of Bastiani's own nephews, Simone, Alvise or Cristoforo
all painters, but painters who contented themselves with remaining
upon the slopes of the lofty mountain of Art.
From the studio of Bastiani came also, in our opinion, the
painting attributed to Carpaccio : The Duke of Ferrara welcomed on
FORMS OF TREES BY BASTIANI IN THE PICTURE OF THE
" ANNUNCIATION " IN THE MUSEO Civico AT VENICE.
3O JACOB AND RACHEL AT THE WELL.
31 JOSEPH MAKING HIMSELF KNOWN TO HIS BRETHREN.
THE FALL OF JERICHO.
By Lazzaro Bastiani.
33 THE GOLDEN CALF.
From the Church of Sant' Alvise.
34 THE MEETING OF SOLOMON AND THE OTEKN OK SHI:I:A.
35
Tin: KI:TURX OF TOUIAS.
36 THE AFFLICTION OF JOB.
Gv Lazzaro Bastiani. From the Church of Sant' Alvise.
37 THE GREAT IMAGE AT BABYLON WITH FEET
OF CLAY.
SUBJECT UNKNO\VN.
By Lazzaro Bastiani. In the Mielhke Gallerv, Vienna.
39
THE RECEPTION OF THE DUKE OF FERRARA.
School of Lazzaro Bastiani.
w
H 'I
LAZZARO BASTIANI'S SCHOOL 15
the Piazzetta by the Doge Agostino Barbarigo in I488. 1 Painted
with a brush less timid than that of Lazzaro, with drapery less
rigid, and with more vivacity of colouring, it does not seem over-
hazardous to suggest that the young Carpaccio might have worked
upon this painting, since he would have begun already in his
master's studio to display his remarkable talent.
To Lazzaro himself, however, appears to belong another picture,
also assigned to Carpaccio. The scene is laid in the open country,
outside a walled city or fortress. Some young nobles, surrounded
by their companions, are examining a horse which is held by grooms
and squires. They would seem to be discussing the sale of the
animal ; though perhaps, indeed, the picture recalls some historic
incident unknown to us, which may be surmised from the figure of
the squire holding a cross in his hand at the head of the charger,
neighing with open mouth and dilated nostrils. The painting is in
the Mithke Gallery in Vienna and is also a very important document
for the costume of the period.
Thus, from the humble workshop of Bastiani issued the pre-
cursory signs of that Art which was to be brought to its highest
pitch by Carpaccio. In the painting which shows the Duke of
Ferrara with the Doge Barbarigo there is already the intention
of representing magnificent festivities amid the splendid monuments
of Venice ; in the painting of the young nobleman with the horse,
which is perhaps in order of date the earliest composition of this
kind in the Venetian School, the artist has portrayed a scene of
domestic manners with the vividness of a novelist. If in these early
essays the technique is not perfect, they are imbued nevertheless
with that poetry intimate to Venetian life that foreshadows the
approach of Vittore Carpaccio.
Scattered throughout divers collections, under the general
designation of " unknown Venetian School," many paintings are
to be found in which we can recognize the influence of Lazzaro
and which we would desire to assign to his school as, for instance,
a Nativity in the Royal Gallery at Stuttgart.
1 This picture has been recently presented to the Museo Civico in Venice by Prince Johann
von Lichtenstein.
CHAPTER II
THE FAMILY, PLACE OF ORIGIN, AND LIFE OF
CARPACCIO
CARPACCIO'S pictures, so faithful a mirror of Venetian life
in the fifteenth century, make us naturally curious to know
something more of the personality of this delightful artist ;
but his image, after the passage of so long a time, has not come
down to us with sufficient clearness to allow of our discovering
all the intimate ties that unite the man to the artist. We must
therefore content ourselves with giving to the reader those scraps
of information which, during many years of assiduous research, we
have been able to trace regarding his family and private life.
Vasari, speaking of the many Venetian and Lombard painters, 1
places Vittore Scarpaccia first of all ; and he was always considered
as a Venetian until the nineteenth century, when Canon Stancovich
of Capodistria, out of devotion to his native place, put forward and
maintained with considerable heat the hypothesis that Carpaccio
was a native of Istria. 2 And until recently, when new documents
removed the error, we too were glad to restore this Italian celebrity
to a noble, brave and unhappy country that is and wishes to be
Italian. But historical fact admits of no sentimental compromise,
and more diligent investigations and maturer study have shown
that Vettor Carpaccio was born in Venice of a family originally of
Mazzorbo, an island in the diocese of Torcello.
Carlo Ridolfi had already stated that Carpaccio came of a
Venetian family ennobled by long citizenship ; 3 and Anton Maria
Zanetti speaks of the ancient citizen family of Scarpazza extinct in
i76o. 4 Luigi Lanzi, whom modern research proves more than ever
to have been an historian and critic of singular accuracy, warmly
1 Vasari, Op. fit., p. 627.
2 Stancovich, Can. Pietro, Biografia degli uomini distinti del? Istria, 2nd ed. Capodistria,
1878. The first edition of this work was published in 1829.
3 Ridolfi, Le meraviglie delf arte, cif., p. 61.
4 Zanetti, Delia pittura Veneziana, i. i. Venezia : Tosi, 1777.
16
ORIGIN OF THE CARPACCIO FAMILY 17
denies that Vittore and his son Benedetto were born at Capodistria,
and affirms that the family of Scarpazza were undoubtedly Venetian,
perhaps deriving their origin from Murano. 1 The first to discover
their true extraction was Giovanni Maria Sasso, who ascertained
that in the fourteenth century the Scarpazza were notable persons
in the diocese of Torcello : one being a canon of the Cathedral
and others judges. 2
In fact, there exist abundant documents from the thirteenth to
the seventeenth centuries to prove that this family was of ancient
Venetian origin.
From the intricate network of families and names it was not
easy to trace the line from which the painter himself descended. It
was therefore imperative to exhume every possible document dealing
with the Scarpazza, or as they were subsequently called the Carpaccio,
family ; and the search resulted in the discovery that the principal
branch lived in the diocese of Torcello upon the now comparatively
deserted island of Mazzorbo, which in the fourteenth century was a
flourishing and populous community.
As early as December 2nd, 1284 we find that a certain Bartolomeo
Scarpazzo of Mazzorbo and a certain Marino di Prison, wardens of
the church of San Piero at Mazzorbo, promised to pay to Rovino,
a stonecutter, eleven lire di piccoli for stones and columns bought
for that church. 3
The Carpaccio family owned a ship-yard, and their name recurs
on nearly every page of the Acts of the Podesta of Torcello. They
were wealthy folk, allied to a bishop, and they occupied the highest
offices in the district.
But neither from this, nor from another branch of the Carpaccio
family settled at Chioggia, does our Vittore descend ; and to re-
construct his genealogical tree, we must first become acquainted
with those collateral branches that in the fourteenth century had
already migrated from Mazzorbo to Venice.
In 1360 a certain Lodovico Scarpazza has commercial relations
with the island of Majorca. Of him we know neither the de-
scendants nor the collaterals ; but sjjice it was customary for the
members of the same family to exercise the same trade, it is not
improbable that Lodovico belonged to the stock of one Martino
Scarpazza, who in 1356 was engaged in business with certain
Genoese. Six years later the same Genoese merchants have dealings
with one Marinus Scarpazza, who must be the above-mentioned
Martino, changed by an easy mistake in transcription to Marino.
He lived in the parish of S. Toma, where in 1371 dwelt also one
1 Lanzi, Storia pitt. delf Italia, vol. x., p. 45. Venezia : Milesi, 1 838
a Moschini, Guida per f Isola di Murano, p. 20. Venezia, 1808.
8 Arch, di State, Atti del Podesta di Torcello, B. 2. R. i.
i8 THE FAMILY
Marco, a painter (Marcus Scarpazio, pictorS. Thomae a ca Faledro}?
of whom we have no further knowledge. From the Will, undated
but probably executed in 1414, of Cristina, wife of Marino, we gather
that of the marriage there were two daughters, Cattaruzza and
Franceschina, and that Cristina went to live near Santa Maria
Formosa. Here at a later period other Scarpazza of wealthy
substance had their dwelling, and they charged their family name
with a coat of arms, which may be seen cut upon a tomb, erected
in the seventeenth century in SS. Giovanni e Paolo by a certain
Giovanni Antonio Carpaccio. 2 It is to this family that Ridolfi
probably alludes when he asserts that
the painter'^vvas descended from ancestors
ennobled by long citizenship.
But we have failed to connect this
branch with that of the quarter of S.
Raffaele where we find established in 1363
one Raffaele, 3 who had a son Benvenuto
r>. o .M and a grandson Raffaele, mentioned in 1435
HIC IACENT OSSA tf id. ANTONY j n ^g Capitular of the Urns (delle Brocche)
of the Mint as Master-refiners ,(a/inaton}.
avis FIERI CVRAVIT From Raffaele the elder descended a numer-
ANNO DOMINI MDcxviin ous progeny, whence a collateral branch
living near S. Gervasio e Protasio (San
Trovaso) was detached, since in a document Franciscus films
quondam Ser Bartolomeo Scarpazo of S. Gervasio speaks of Ser
Giovanni Scarpazo of S. Raffaele as his paterno that is, the
brother of his father. From Francesco descends Maffeo Scarpazo
varoter (a furrier), already dead in 1473 leaving a son Giovanni
whose issue we are unable to follow.
United in name and blood to this branch was the principal one
from which descends our painter. This family of Carpaccio also
had during the fourteenth century their dwelling in S. Raffaele,
where they exercised their calling of fishermen and possessed a
ship-yard like their ancestors of Mazzorbo. It is worth noting that
S. Raffaele is the quarter adjoining S. Niccold, the farthest point
of Venice towards the mainland, and that S. Niccold was also the
home of the ancestors of the Bellini. These two wards formed
1 Cecchetti, Saggio di cognomi ed auf. di artisti in Venezia. Arch. Veneto, t. xxxiii. p. 412.
' Cicogna in his Inscrizioni inedite delta Chiesa di S. Giovanni e Paolo (Museo Civico.
MSS. Cicogna, 502), N 625 (p. 39), transcribes also the following epitaph, which still exists in
the Church of SS. Giovanni e Paolo :
JOANNI ANTONIO SCARPATIO MORUM PROBITATE AC PIETATIS
OPERIBUS CLARO CONIUGI AMANTISS. CATHERINA ARMELINA ET SIBI
EX FILIIS POSUIT MONUMENTUM HOC.
OBIIT VI KAL. NOVEM. MDCXVIII.
3 We also refer the reader to the hitherto unpublished documents relating to the Scarpaza
family, printed in the Appendix to this Chapter.
42 THE DOGE OF THE XICOLOTTI (FISHERMEN OF ST. NICHOLAS) OFFERING ins HEART TO VENICE.
By Vitrulio.
THE SCARPAZI OF SAN RAFFAELE 19
the headquarters of the popular faction known as the Nicolotti,
the violent adversaries of the inhabitants of the opposite part of
the town who went by the name of Castellani. The Nicolotti
were mariners, descended from that strong and ancient stock of
Adriatic fishermen who were the sinews of the Venetian power at
its vigorous outset ; and it is noteworthy that from this lusty race
of sailors who, alike in body and in spirit laid the foundation of
the civil fame of Venice, came also those men who were the first
to confer upon their country the glory of the Arts.
Of these seafaring Carpaccio the earliest record goes back to
1348, in which year one Pietro Scarpazza lived in the parish
of S. Felice. But in 1362 we find Pietro already settled near
S. Raffaele and making a trust-deed (cart a sicnritatis) by which
he secures the dowry of his wife Zanetta, daughter of Vettore di
Lazzaro. Zanetta died and Pietro contracted a second marriage
with a certain Beruzza, by whom he became the father of Antonio
or Antolino, still a minor in 1372. Antonio who made his Will
in 1397, alluding therein to his mother Beruzza, married a certain
Maria who in a deed expressing her last wishes dated 1430
mentions a son of hers named Vittore, whom we for greater
clearness will style Vittore I. Another Will of Maria's dated 1440
informs us that in that year her husband Antonio was already dead
and that her son Vittore I. was married to a certain Lucia. In
1450 this Vittore had already passed away, leaving a daughter and
six sons, all expressly named in three Wills of Lucia his widow.
The daughter, married to Andrea Rayneri of Brescia, was
called Antonia. Her brothers were Pietro, Sante, Marino, Marco,
Antonio and Giovanni (Zuane]. The two last became monks :
Zuane assumed the name of Ilario, whilst Antonio, who took the
habit late in life, when a widower with an only daughter Maria,
was called Fra Luca. Among all these six brothers we are
principally concerned with the issue of the eldest, called after his
paternal grandfather Pietro, and whom we shall style Pietro II.
He cut himself off and lived at a distance from the family of
fishermen of S. Raffaele, so that in one of the Wills of his mother
Lucia he is rebuked for his cruelty (crndelta). We have been able
to find two different signatures, one in 1454 and the other in 1457,
of this Pietro II., who in 1486 lived, or had a shop, in one of the
houses of the Procurators of S. Marco, to pay the rent for which
he used to send his son, called Vittore like his grandfather,
whom we shall indicate as Vittore II. After this date the name
of Pietro disappears from the Account-Book of the Procurators.
It is therefore probable that he had removed to another residence
or was no longer living.
A Will dated 1472 of Zuane Carpaccio, called in religion Frate
20 THE FAMILY
Ilario, furnishes some details with regard to his many brothers,
and especially concerning his brother Pietro II., who followed the
trade of a skinner (peliparius). It also gives us the earliest
information that we possess about Vittore II. He is named as one
of the heirs of his uncle, the monk, and must therefore have been
more than fifteen years old, since no one was permitted by law to
enter into an inheritance before that age. It is therefore reasonable
to place his birth between the years 1455 and 1456.
The Will of Frate Ilario states, moreover, that another of his
brothers, Sante, had three sons, the first of whom likewise bore
his grandfather's name ; him we will call Vittore III. The second
son, Alvise, was a fisherman ; and the third, Gasparo, who was
employed at the Mint, died in gaol after pleading guilty to having
" treacherously and fraudulently stolen gold " (aurttm dolose et
fraudolenter}. Some writers believe that Vittore III., Sante's
eldest son, was the great painter ; whilst we on the other hand
would rather recognise him as the son of Pietro the skinner. It
is true that to establish his identity we can only proceed by a
method of elimination, since the autograph dated 1523, the only
existing signature of the artist apart from his painting, does not
bear the name of his father:
Jo veor Carpazio pictor fui testimonjo pregado et zurado.
In not one single document is Vittore III. described as a
painter, and he had only two sons, Sante and Marco.
Now we know on the other hand of two other Carpaccio, who
signed themselves, one in the year 1526 as Pietro Carpaccio
pit tor ael quondam Vet tore, and another in 1530 as Benedetto
Carpaccio di Messer Vettor. These could not have been the sons
of Vittore III. because, as we have observed, he had but two, Sante
and Marco. We therefore believe ourselves justified in affirming
that Vittore II. was the great painter and the father of Pietro
and Benedetto, who were also painters. This conjecture is also
strengthened by the names, which, as may be seen from the Genea-
logical Tree, alternate regularly from grandfather to grandson
down to Vittore II. And that this Vittore II. can be no other
than the painter, the son of Pietro II. the skinner, is likewise
proved by the fact that in the records both of Mazzorbo and of
Venice we meet with no other Vittore, son of a Pietro.
1 In Venetian documents besides fu and quondam the term fo is also used to indicate a
deceased father, and fo (Italian fu) was never used to signify figlio, fiol, fio, as Prof. Laudodeo
Testi believes in his article already referred to,
THE CAPODISTRIA TRADITION 21
That Vittore Carpaccio was born in Venice of a Venetian family
seems therefore abundantly evident from what we have set forth,
at all events until documents are discovered in other Archives
showing stronger proof of the origin and genealogy of the painter.
But not a single trustworthy document has ever been produced
by Canon Stancovich, nor by any of those able writers, Tedeschi, De
Francheschi, De Castro, Luciani, etc., in support of the suggestion
that the artist was born at Capodistria. 1
To those who would raise objection to this theory on the ground
that Vittore himself and his son Benedetto subscribe themselves
as Venetians (Veneti) on their paintings, including even those in
Capodistria, the answer has been given that they could style
themselves Venetian because they belonged to a people and a
country subject to the dominion of the Republic, or because they
belonged to the Venetian School of Painting, or because they had
been brought up in Venice. But these arguments have none of
the force of proof, any more than to hold that the Istrian origin
of our painter can be proved by the fact that for a long series of
generations the first-born son of the Carpaccio family bore the name
of Vittore out of devotion to the Saint of that name who from
very early times enjoyed a special veneration in Capodistria.
That a family of Carpaccio did exist in Istria in the sixteenth
century and became extinct in the nineteenth no one has ever
denied ; but Canon Stancovich, without taking the trouble to
ascertain when and how this family became established in that
country, published a genealogical tree extracted from the Cathedral
Archives of Capodistria, and extending over three successive
generations, commencing with Vittore the father and Benedetto
the son without, however, pointing out the native country or year
of birth of these craftsmen.
Some more recent Istrian writers, supporting the opinion of
Canon Stancovich, affirm that Vittore's son, Benedetto Carpaccio
(several pictures by whom are still to be found in Istria), was living
at Capodistria in 1545, as may be gathered from a notarial act
with the following heading :
" Instrumentum quietationis scriptum per me Pomponium ducaynum Not" 1 , sub Anno
Domini millesimo quingentesimo quadrigesimo quinto indictione tertia die vero
vigesimo octavo mensis octobris actum Justinopoli in domo habitationis infrascripti
D. vicedomini praesentibus m ro . Tonello de Gallo cum m ro . Benedicto Scar-
paccio coram sp. d. Joane de Vida hon. vicedomino comunis Justinopolis." 2
But a proof that Benedetto was living at Capodistria in 1545
1 Abate Cadorin also, in his notes on a document published by Michelangelo Gualandi
(Memorie di S.A., Serie III., p. 92), says that the birth of Carpaccio in Istria is proved by Canon
Stancovich but that the place and time are unknown.
1 Pagine Istriane, Anno i. N. 5, Capodistria. Luglio, 1903.
22 PLACE OF ORIGIN
is no evidence that Vettor Carpaccio, who was probably born in
1455, first saw the light there.
It is indeed true that the inhabitants of Capodistria point out
as the painter's dwelling an old two-storeyed house in the Largo
di Porta S. Martino where tradition has it that Carpaccio was born.
Popular tradition, which inspires the soul of the poet, does not
generally enjoy the authority of history ; but in this case it is
confirmed by documentary evidence, since from the Register of
Assessments in the Communal Archives of Capodistria we learn
that as early as 1500 (net 1500) there stood in the Largo di Porta
S. Martino a house occupied by the Scarpazza family, and that the
same family at an earlier period possessed in the neighbourhood
of the city a small agricultural property (podere) in a locality called
S. Vittore. 1 The date 1500, thus vaguely stated, leaves us in some
doubt whether it refers to the one year or to the whole sixteenth
century. Now we do not deny we even affirm that in the
fifteenth century a painter named Scarpazza, Benedetto in fact, had
taken up his abode in Capodistria and eventually became the
founder of a family whose representatives were living in the last
century ; but we do not believe that either Vittore or Benedetto
was born there. This could not be considered as proved, even if
the assertion were true (and we cannot accept it in the absence
of any documentary confirmation) that a family of Scarpazza was
established in Istria in the first half of the fourteenth century. 2
If Istria can produce no document concerning Vettor Carpaccio
it may in compensation boast the possession of certain works
authenticated by his signature and date.
The picture preserved in the Cathedral of Capodistria is signed
Vittore Carpathius Venettis pinxit anno MDXl^I, and we are
asked to believe that in this year 1516 Vettore returning to his
native Istria lived there until his death and completed several
1 The Pagine Istriane (Anno i, N. 9 to Nov. and Dec. 1903) quote, without any detailed
identification, The Books of ' the New Assessment in the Communal Archives at Capodistria. (Libri
del novo estimo nelf Archivio comunale di Capodistria^)
3 An anonymous writer over the initials U. B., in the Pagine Istriane of Nov. Dec. 1903,
already referred to, contributes a biographical romance, entitled, The House of the Painter ;
Studies on the Life of the Painter Carpaccio (La Casa del PittoreStudi sulla vita del Pittore
Carpaccio). This nameless authority writes as follows : " To all appearance (Da quanta appare)
the head of this Capodistrian family of Carpaccio must have come at the beginning of the
fourteenth century to this city in the Venetian littoral in the capacity of a carpenter." But history
is not made by such vague suggestions but by precise affirmations supported by proofs and we
demand documentary evidence of the year in which this founder of the family came to Capodistria.
He is said moreover to have come as a " carpenter." Now we ourselves were the first to publish
unknown documents from the Archivio di Stato in Venice with the object of showing that the
ancestors of Carpaccio practised the calling of " carpenters " not, however, in Capodistria, but
in Mazzorbo. The anonymous writer, though unable to quote documents, obtains at any rate
profit without acknowledgment from printed books, whence he draws the information which he
submits to his own ends. The romance becomes downright fantastic when he describes the life
of the painter. " From this family," continues the author, "was born in 1450 Vittore Scarpazza
(Scarpaccia Carpatio) who, sent at an early age to Venice, entered the studio of the painter
PAINTINGS BY CARPACCIO IN ISTRIA 23
paintings. 1 These pictures, it has been said, could not have been
executed elsewhere on account of the difficulties then attending the
transport of such large canvases, and likewise because the back-
grounds of these paintings reproduce local scenery with such fidelity
as would have been impossible except by a close observation of the
original. 2
It is easy to object that the painter could have sent his pictures
from Venice to Istria by one of the numerous vessels that carried
on such frequent commercial communication between the two shores
of the Adriatic. As a matter of fact, in 1518 when the artist is
supposed to have been in Istria, he painted for the church of Pozzale
in Cadore a panel in five divisions, which would have had to be
conveyed somehow into the midst of the Cadorine Alps by a much
more difficult land-and-sea journey than that from Venice to Istria.
And to Chioggia he would also have had to send from Istria another
altar-piece, representing vS. Paul, painted in 1520. Transport could
not have been difficult when in those days or even earlier we
find Venetian pictures conveyed to far distant places : as, for
example, the works of Bartolommeo Vivarini into Apulia and of
Alvise Vivarini into Umbria. Lattanzio da Rimini during his
residence in Venice painted various pictures for Piazza Brembana
in the Bergamasque ; and Cima da Conegliano executed a large
altarpiece for the church of Sant' Anna at Capodistria, although
we have no record that he ever left the Lagoons for the opposite
shore of the Adriatic.
Nor has the observation that the paintings now to be seen in
Lazzaro Bastiani, where he remained until about the end of 1475, ' n which year leaving the
workshop of that artist he entered that of Bellini (?) and collaborated with him until 1485 (?)."
The date, then, of the birth of Carpaccio for which we have with the utmost patience sought in
vain is discovered by our anonymous friend. The painter, he says, was born in 1450. But no
one knows whence he has obtained this most precious piece of information and we anxiously
await an indication of its origin. Another valuable scrap offered to us by this Anonimo is the
statement that Carpaccio, sent to Venice at an early age, entered the studio of Lazzaro Bastiani,
where he remained until about the year 1475. To the curiosity of the historian in our case is
added the pleasure of the critic, since it was ourselves who first put forward the hypothesis that
Carpaccio had learned the secrets of his Art from Lazzaro Bastiani. Up till that time it had
always been believed that Bastiani was Carpaccio's pupil.
1 According to the before-mentioned anonymous authority of the Paging Istriane the last
two works completed by Carpaccio in Venice are The Meeting of Joachim and Anna and The
10,000 Martyrs Crucified on Mt. Ararat, and their date is 1515. " In the year immediately
following 1516 " continues the imperturbable biographer, " we find our painter at Capodistria
painting the picture which is still to be seen in the presbytery of the Cathedral of that city. This
hypothesis of ours " (thus continues our unknown, who here at least abandons affirmations and
enters the less dangerous region of hypothesis) " finds confirmation in the fact that among the
works executed by Vittore Carpaccio after 1515, the pictures extant in Capodistria, authenticated
by his signature and date, show in their backgrounds local landscapes, reproduced with a singular
fidelity that could not possibly have been inserted except by close study on the spot." And he
adds that " the pictures executed by Vittore Carpaccio after the year 1515, commencing with the
altar-piece existing in the Cathedral at Capodistria down to that which adorns the church of
S. Giorgio at Portole, should be reckoned as his last works ; which it is impossible to deny were
painted by our artist in the city of Capodistria itself."
8 Pagine Istriane, loc. cit, p. 205.
24 PLACE OF ORIGIN
Istria show an accurate study of local scenery any greater force,
since at that time sketches of towns and landscapes circulated just
as photographs do nowadays ; and Carpaccio frequently painted
with exact detail views in the East without ever having been there.
In a word, it cannot be admitted that Carpaccio in 1520 painted
in Istria for the church of S. Giorgio in the village of Portole
the picture of the Trinity, nor that he spent the last years of his
life in that country, when documents which cannot be gainsaid
prove that he was in Venice after 1520. Here in 1523 a certain
lady Marieta (uxor Dominici de Confinio Sancti Mauritii) made
her Will and appointed as executor thereof ser Victorem Scarpasium
pictorem. 1 The testatrix could, indeed, have named an absent
person as her executor, but it is in that same year 1523 that was
executed in Venice the only existing autograph of the painter which
we have reproduced above.
As we do not know the precise date of Carpaccio's birth so also
is that of his death unknown to us ; but in 1526 the painter Pietro
Carpaccio styles himself son of " quondam VettoreT We have a
deed of 1527 dated at Venice and executed by his widow Laura
(relicta dal pittor JSettore), an instrument that alludes to an earlier
one of 1525, which, however, does not prove that Laura was already
a widow in that year. Hence we can conclude that the painter
was certainly dead in 1526. That he had closed his eyes for ever
between the dates of these deeds of 1525 and 1526 at Capodistria
far from his lifelong companion, who had stayed on in Venice,
can by no manner of means be credited.
Concerning Benedetto, Vettore's son, we also have documents
which prove his presence in Venice long before the above-quoted
Capodistrian documents of 1545. In two Wills, one of the i8th
and the other of the 23rd of September 1530, declaring the last
wishes of Maria filia quondam domini Francisci de cha Massario
abitatrix in contracta Sancta Marina, Benedetto signs himself
thus:
Io Benedetto Carpaco fo de Messer Vetor testimonio pregado e zurado.
It is true, of course, that the connection of the Carpaccio family
with Istria dates back many years prior to 1545, as may be learnt
at Capodistria from certain pictures signed by Vettore. But these
paintings do not reveal the force or the delicacy of the great
painter's touch, and it is probable that he, having designed the
composition, sketched it out and even having put his name to
the work, afterwards left the completion of the undertaking, under
1 It is unnecessary to repeat that the reader will find the proof of every statement and
every date in the documents published in the Appendix.
BENEDETTO CARPACCIO 25
his own guidance, to his son Benedetto. 1 Although inferior to
the artist's best works the paintings at Pirano and Capodistria are
yet of such merit that they could not have failed to arouse the
admiration of the Istrians, who acquired them from the Venetian
workshop of the celebrated craftsman.
His father's great reputation and his own undoubted gifts
enabled Benedetto to spread his work abroad in Istria. Indeed,
the first landmark in Benedetto Carpaccio's artistic life (1537)
appears on a painting representing the Coronation of the Virgin
preserved in the Town Hall of Capodistria.
In what year Benedetto Carpaccio removed from Venice to
Capodistria we are unable to determine, nor does any document
refute the conjecture that he was there in 1537 when he completed
the Coronation of the Virgin. It is certain that in 1533 he was
still in Venice. We have seen that in 1523 Maria dei Canali
appointed the painter Vettor Carpaccio as executor to her Will.
Now we know that in 1526 Vettor Carpaccio was dead and on
July 8th 1533 we find that Benedetto Carpaccio had for some
time past been replacing his father as executor to this Will of
the said Donna Maria dei Canali. By another Will, executed in
Venice in 1542, Benedetto is appointed testamentary commissary
for his cousin Caterina, " daughter of the late Messer Antonio de
Martini and wife of Messer Antonio Sonica, notary to the Office
of the Syndics, dwelling in Venice in the district of San Felice "
(" fia del quondam niesser Antonio di Martini et consorte di mes.
Antonio Sonica, nodaro all nfficio de signori Syndici habitante qul
a Venetia in contra de San Felise "). It is true that this document
does not prove the presence of Benedetto in Venice, since, even if
he had been far away from the Lagoons, he could still equally
well have been nominated as commissary and testamentary executor
for his cousin Caterina.
The only document which has come down to us to authenticate
the residence of Benedetto in Istria is that of 1545 ; although it is
quite certain that the painter founded a family from whom are
descended those Istrian Scarpazi who became extinct in the last
century at the death of Antonio Carpaccio, a man of letters, which
occurred in Trieste in January 1817.
Concerning Pietro, Vettor Carpaccio's other son, we have also
been able to trace some information hitherto unknown. Pietro
who bore the name of his grandfather was probably the elder son.
In the records of the Podesta of Murano for the month of February
1513 (M.V.) we find four times over reference to Ser Petro Scarpaza
pictore as party in a lawsuit contro Ser Nicolao a Sole.
1 Such is the opinion of Gustavo Frizzoni in his article Un' escurzione art. a Capodistria,
published in the periodical Arte e Storia (Florence, 22 Luglio, 1883).
2 6 LIFE OF CARPACCIO
We find a second notice of Pietro Carpaccio at Udine, after
his father Vettore's death. In the records of the notary Matteo
Clapiceo it is recorded that on June 26th, 1526:
" Master Pietro Scarpaza, son of the late Master Vittore,
painter, of Venice, takes into his employment Gio. Maria, son of
the late Master Bartolomeo of Brescia, aged 14, on an agreement
that he will serve him faithfully for four years in return for board
and clothes." (// maestro Pietro Scarpaza q.m. Vittore, pittore
Veneto, prende al suo sermzio Gio. Maria q.m. Bortolotnio di
Brescia di 14 anni a patto che lo serva fedelmente per anni 4,
dandogli il vitto e vestito^
If Benedetto, assisted and favoured by his father's fame, found
glad welcome in I stria, Pietro had an equally cordial reception
in Friuli, where doubtless the name of Vettore yet commanded
applause, since in 1496 he had executed for the church of S. Pietro
Martire at Udine the painting, now in the Imperial Museum at
Vienna, representing Christ with the instruments of His Passion
pouring His Life's Blood into a chalice.
Having dwelt at great length, and perhaps not without profit,
on the birthplace and family of Vittore Carpaccio, we will proceed
to gather together once more and complete the information which
may be drawn from the documents concerning the life of this
great craftsman. In 1472 (September 2ist), being then qualified
to enter into his share of his uncle Fra Ilario's inheritance, Vettore
must have been at least fifteen years old ; whence we cannot
be far wrong in placing the date of his birth about the year 1455.
In 1486 (August 8th) he was sent by his father to pay to the
Procurators of S. Mark's the rent of a house or shop.
In 1501 the reputation of Vittore had reached its height, since
we see how the rulers of the Republic desired him to enhance with
his paintings the magnificence of their Palace. Of the commissions
given to the painter in the Hall of the " Pregadi " we have more
than one record and it is curious to note how those "grave and
reverent signiors " displayed the minutest interest even in the
colours and the canvas.
In the Hall of the Senate Carpaccio painted Alexander III.,
robed in Eucharistic vestments and attended by Cardinals Angelo
Correr, Pietro Barbo, Francesco Lando, Giovanni Michiel, Giovanni
Battista Foscari and Domenico Grimani, granting an indulgence
to the Venetian people in the church of S. Mark. Under it was
written :
" Apparatus sacris in divi Marci aede Alexander Pont, omnibus
" Dominicae Ascensionis die intrabinas vesperas adeuntibus, plenam
1 Joppi, Contribute quarto alia storia del? arte mi Friuli (in Miscellanea R. Deput. Veneta
di Star, patr., 1894).
THE PAINTINGS IN THE DOGE'S PALACE 27
" delictorum veniam perpetuo concessit, septima peccatorum parte
" per octavam frequentantibus remissa."
Nor was this all that Carpaccio did in the Ducal Palace. In
1507 he was summoned to assist Giovanni Bellini to complete
the decoration of the apartments of the Greater Council. It is
curious to note how in this same year, 1507 (Feb. 7th), in a
competition with Benedetto Diana to paint a banner (pennello)
for the Scuola della Carita Diana had defeated Carpaccio, the
painter who was nevertheless considered worthy to collaborate with
Giambellino in adorning the residence of the Doges.
Some years afterwards the Palace of the Doges was to witness
the serene ideals of Carpaccio and Bellini set side by side with
the powerful creations of the youthful Titian. We find the following
notice under date of May 3ist, 1513, in the Diaries of Sanudo : 1
"At this ordinary meeting of the Council of Ten it was decided
that Titian the painter should be employed in the Hall of the
Great Council like the other painters, but without any salary beyond
the customary amount given to those who have painted there : that
is to say Zentile and Zuan Bellini and Vetor Scarpaza : so it will
be with this Titian " (In qucsto conseio x semplice fit prcso che
Tiziano pytor debbi lavorar in sala dil gran consejo come li altri
Pytori, senza perho alcun salario, ma la expectativa solita darsi a
quelli hanno pynto che e sta Zentil et Zuan Belin et Vet or Scarpaza:
hora mo sard questo Tiziano}.
Of Carpaccio's paintings in the Ducal Palace nothing unfortu-
nately remains but the remembrance preserved in old documents ;
since on December 2oth, 1577, the Eve of St. Thomas the Apostle, a
fire broke out in the Office of the Water Department and spreading
rapidly destroyed the ceiling of the Hall of the " Scrntinio " and
consumed in the Hall of the Great Council all the portraits of
the Doges, "and those paintings round the room painted by Zuan
" Bell'ino, Pordenon, Titian, Vivarin, and the other famous and
" most excellent painters of the ancient history of the Venetians in
" the time of the Doge Sebastiano Ziani and the Emperor Frederic
" Barbarossa in defence of Pope Alexander the III. when he came
" into this city, and many other beautiful scenes worthy of eternal
" remembrance." 2
In 1508 Carpaccio was summoned, in company with Bastiani
and Vettor di Mattio, to consider the value of the paintings upon
the facade of the Fondaco dei Tedeschi (a vedere quello pol valer
1 Vol. xvi. c. 163.
8 Bibl. Marc. Cron. Savina, c. 266. (It. Cl. vii. n. cccxxi.). Sansovino in his Venetia
(lib. viii.), speaking of the works destroyed by the conflagration in 1577, writes of that by
Carpaccio thus: "The Pope, with many Cardinals and Bishops around him, having celebrated
a solemn mass in S. Mark's, grants Perpetual Indulgence on Ascension Day to all who visit
the said church. This painting was executed by Vittore Scarpaccia, an able man in that Art."
28 LIFE OF CARPACCIO
la pictura fact a sopra la faza del fontego di Todeschi) executed
by Giorgione of Castelfranco.
Whilst Carpaccio and the most famous painters of the Republic
were on their scaffolding decorating the Hall of the Great Council
they received a visit from the Marquess of Mantua, Francesco
Gonzaga, who like his wife, Isabella d' Este was an intelligent
admirer and patron of the Arts. An account of this visit is given
by Carpaccio himself in a letter addressed to the Marquess : a
valuable document published for the first time by us some years
since. The letter dated from Venice on August i5th, 1511 is most
important on account of the additional curious information that it
contains.
Carpaccio writes to the Marquess that, being one day in his
workshop, he received a visit from an unknown person who desired
to purchase of him one of his finished pictures representing
The City of Jerusalem}- The unknown considered the work very
beautiful, concluded the contract, fixed the price, but from that
time was seen no more. The anxious painter set himself to find
out the stranger's name and eventually learned that he was
Maistro Laurentio, otherwise Lorenzo Leonbruno, painter to the
Marquess of Mantua. And without more ado he writes to the
Marquess "to inform him of my name as also of my work. My
name is the said Victor Carpatio " (per dargli notitia si del nome
mio come anche de la opera. II name mio e dicto Victor Carpatio)
continues the painter, and as for the work, the fate of which is
unknown to him, he candidly states that in our days (agli tempi
nostri] there is no other like it for excellence and complete
perfection as well as for size (simile si de bonta et integra perfectione
come anche de grandezd).
Ingenuous words, which give us a glimpse of the craftsman's
mind, confident of his own value and therefore disdaining alike
that modesty which at times is but a cloak for hypocrisy and
that pride which is too often synonymous with vanity. We like
to imagine Carpaccio with the smiling serenity of a great soul
undisturbed by painful vicissitudes, unshaken by extraordinary
adventures, chaste in his life as in his art, measured alike in his
speech and in his sentiments, good, affable, courteous, free from
envy, beloved and respected.
So at least he appears to us from the honest sincerity of his
1 Both the Marquess Francesco and the Marchioness Isabella at the beginning of the
sixteenth century spared no effort to secure drawings of cities in order to reproduce them in
fresco on the walls of their vast saloons, as indeed was done in the Palace at Marmirolo,
now destroyed. The Jerusalem of Carpaccio would have served a similar purpose It does
not appear in the records in the Mantuan Archives that the correspondence was continued,
nor do we believe that Carpaccio had, as Giambellino and Titian certainly did, any other
relations with the Court of Mantua.
ORIGIN OF THE NAME CARPACCIO 29
work wherein so great a part of the soul of the craftsman is
revealed. To the amiability of his character and of his art and
to the graciousness of his reputation a harsh contrast is created
by the very vulgar name of Scarpazza, which is not as Milanesi
supposes in his Notes to Vasari " a corruption of Carpaccio, his
true surname" Nor, as others assert, was his real name that of
Scarpa, a common appellation even to this day among the Venetians
and the inhabitants of Chioggia ; since the family of our painter
is in the earliest documents called always Scarpazza. The painter
would be obliged to follow the fashion set by Humanism and
give his name a Latin form and savour. To translate the name
into Latin, as was frequently done, was in this case impossible :
calceus was not an exact version nor was there any way of
preserving the depreciative sense of the termination. The only
alternative was to give the name a mere semblance of Latinity :
and Vettore had recourse probably to some Humanist, who,
knowing well that Ancient Rome had no words beginning with
Scarp, turned it into carpacius or carpatius, adding also an h to
the t of the last syllable, because in Latin words one very often
finds that foreign peculiarity. In this way the artist could unite
his own name with that of distant countries and places. Not,
indeed, with the Carpathian mountains, which in the Greek of
Ptolemy are not written with the 6 but only with the T (Kapirdrw;
0/305), but rather with the island of KdpTrados in the Greek Archi-
pelago (the KpaTraflos of the Iliad, ii. 676), which became corrupted
into Scarpanto, in Latin CarpatJius, whence the adjective
Carpathius.
But the spelling of the name continued, as at first, to vary
considerably. Just as the name in the documents appears variously
as Scarpazza, Scharpaza, Scarpazzo, Scarpazo, Scarpatia, Scarpatio,
so in our artist's paintings we find the name written in these
different forms : Carpatio, Charpatio, Carpatitis, Carpathiiis,
Carpacio. The form most frequently used in pictures of greater
importance is Carpathius. In the only autograph that remains
to us Vittore subscribes himself Carpazio. His son Benedetto
writes Carpaco, without the cedilla (9) so frequently met with in
Venetian documents. Among writers on Art also the form of
the name of our painter varies. Vasari and Francesco Sansovino
write Scarpaccia ; Martinioni in his additions to Sansovino's
Venetia, Scarpaccio. Ridolfi and Boschini were the first to use
the form Carpaccio, which was then adopted without further
alterations.
If the data are few concerning Vettore's life we are provided
even less with anything in the shape of an authentic bodily
likeness. Not a painting, not a drawing, not an engraving exists :
3 o LIFE OF CARPACCIO
not even one of those admirable medals which were struck in
such great quantities reproducing the features of the most
illustrious men of the day ; such as Vittore Camelio did for Gentile
and Giovanni Bellini.
Vasari states that he had succeeded in finding portraits of
Carpaccio, but it is not known where, and no dependence can be
placed on the portraits published by the biographer of Arezzo.
Nor is the portrait in Ridolfi's work any more trustworthy. This
writer, though able to give true likenesses of the painters more
nearly contemporary with himself, was compelled for the earlier
ones to trust to the imagination of his draughtsmen.
At page 34 in the Index of the Storia Pittorica of Padre Lanzi,
published by Giovanni de Lazaro, this note occurs :
"Carpaccio, Vettore, Venetian. His work up to 1520, Zanetti.
On the portrait that he painted himself, and which is in the
possession of the heirs of the Giustiniani family on the Zattere,
he inscribed the date 1522. MS. III. 40" (Carpaccio Vettore
Veneziano. Sue opere fino al 1520, Zanetti. Nel ritratto che fece
di se medesinio ed e presso gli Rredi Giustiniani alle Zattere scrisse
per data 1522. MS. IIP. 40).
This portrait and date have been often cited, notably by
Federici ; ! but more recent writers, like Cavalcaselle, declare that
they had no knowledge of it, without giving themselves the trouble
of tracing the picture itself which still exists in the Giustiniani
Picture Gallery.
The Gallery of the Palazzo Giustiniani Recanati on the Zattere
is a surviving example of those ancient picture-galleries that
belonged to the Venetian patricians. The pictures are let into
the walls in stucco frames exactly as we may suppose that they
were when Padre Lanzi saw them ; and the alleged portrait of
Carpaccio bears the number 88. It is painted on a panel and
measures 21 by 27 centimetres. It represents a man of about
forty years of age with fair hair but darker beard, wearing a round
black cap and a white shirt just showing against his black dress.
The left hand rests upon a book, and our attention is caught by
a Greek inscription which runs : Et? a<j>K{, MIJI/I Avyova-rov tvj' Xei'/a
Birope, which signifies: " In 1522 on the 28th day of the month of
August by the hand of Vittore."
There is nothing in this picture, with its glare of garish lights
and shades, that is distinctive of the work of Carpaccio. And if
the style did not betray another hand we could not possibly
suppose that Carpaccio would have painted this youthful figure as
: Federici (Lett, sulle .A., Trev.), vol. i. p. 288, writes, " We have seen the portrait of this
painter (Carpaccio) in the Giustiniani Picture-Gallery on the Zattere, and the painting is dated
1522, at which time he was still alive."
"& S
VITTORE DI GIOVANNI 31
a portrait of himself in 1522 when he was already in the decline
of life. It would also be very strange that the painter, even if
reviving his youthful lineaments in a painting, should have written
his name and the date in Greek. It is obvious, on the other hand,
that the true author of the painting was writing Greek as his
native language. The portrait is unquestionably that of the painter
Vittore di Giovanni, a Greek, who was enrolled in the Scuola di
S. Giovanni Evangelista, and must also have been skilled in
the art of singing, since documents record that he sang in the
processions of that Scuola. Nor did the gentler arts prevent his
offering his arm in defence of his native place and the land of
his adoption, since he asked leave of the Republic to embark in
a galley that went to fight against the Turks. He came back safe
and turned once more to the painting of Greek Madonnas, the
cult of which had not ceased among the Venetians.
The unimpeachable authority of documents dispelling the
dreams of the romance, separating truth from error, proves that
no portrait of Carpaccio exists and that the portrait which many
have believed to be his own picture painted by himself is neither
of him nor by him.
CHAPTER III
THE TIMES, THE CONTEMPORARIES, THE PROTECTORS,
AND THE STUDIES OF VETTOR CARPACCIO
EVERYONE now recognizes even in its intellectual form
the action of the law of environment upon the human
organism. No genius, however original, stands altogether
isolated from common life. Rather does he live and develope in
correspondence with the customs and the culture of his period ;
and the work of art considered by itself is a living organism,
like a plant which only flourishes under certain conditions,
outside which it withers and dies. For this reason the natural
attitude of a people variously disposed towards aesthetics by
diversity of race, climate and time exercises a mighty influence
upon its works of art. Thus in Tuscany the aesthetic sense,
tempered by the grace, simplicity and harmonious unison of its
scenery, creates an Art whose typical features are refinement of
characteristic and delicate outline, and spiritual distinction of form.
In Venice the luminous atmosphere that floods the mirror of the
Lagoons, robbing the outlines of all distinctness, and kindling and
uniting the most varied colouring in wondrous harmony, necessarily
evolved a style of painting that would reflect in the brilliant
fusion of its tints the splendour and sensuousness alike of the
scenery and of the civilization that surrounded it. From the
earliest period of Venetian Art the painters, yet timid and inex-
perienced, but born and living amid the opalescence of sky and
waters, the effulgence of Byzantine mosaic and the gorgeous hues
of Oriental stuffs, one and all manifest a taste for colour and a
sense of decorative effect which are as the reflection of a joyous
spirit and of a life instinct with pomp and pageant.
Of this world and of this life Carpaccio is the ablest exponent,
and the interest with which his work is now studied is due not
only to the purity and nobility of his art, but also to the fact
that he affords so truthful and vivid description of Venice in the
32
THE AGE OF CARPACCIO 33
days of her greatest beauty. We may assert without fear of
exaggeration that the ancient City of the Islands is nowhere
revealed more completely than in the drawings of Carpaccio and
the Diaries of Marino Sanudo. In the paintings of the one and
the pages of the other the most homely and curious particulars
abound to such a degree as actually to produce in us the illusion
of living those joyous days over again.
And the Age of Carpaccio was indeed for Venice an Age of
Gold. No other city could bear comparison with her for the
wisdom of her laws, her military power and her commercial wealth :
the splendour of her palaces, the abundance of gold and silver
plate, of jewels and of all that contributes to the comfort, luxury,
and refinement of civilized life. The struggle Venice maintained
against rival states and against the Turks, her rapid conquests
on the mainland, proved no hindrance to the loving care bestowed
by her citizens on all that pertained to her internal improvement :
wells were dug, streets were paved and bridges of stone spanned
the deepened canals. Stately palaces arose on the Grand Canal,
swift boats skimmed the Lagoons : through the streets and squares
strolled crowds of gorgeously attired ladies, grave patricians in
long robes, and Orientals garbed in outlandish costumes ; together
striking the key-note of a novel but pleasing colour harmony.
Philippe de Commines, Ambassador to Charles VIII., at the sight
of Venice exclaimed enthusiastically, " C'est la phis trioniplmnte
citd qne faye jamais veil et qiii plus fait d honneiir a ambassadeurs
et estraiigiers"
It seemed as though Venice under the Doge Michele Steno
celebrated the opening of this new era with the first year of the
fifteenth century. Then the City of the Lagoons began to wax
triumphant in sumptuous apparel, gems and golden raiment, and
from that time onwards jousts, tournaments and the processions
of the trades followed one another as in a fantastic dream. It
was, moreover, those days that saw the formation of the famous
Compagnie della Calza which set upon Venice the stamp of
a refinement hitherto unknown. The Dogeship of Tommaso
Mocenigo (1413-23) marked the zenith of Venetian power, and
the discourse uttered by this grand Doge to his Ministers standing
around his death-bed testifies to that sovereign opulence which
was publicly displayed in the triumphant progresses of the Doges
and their wives, in the solemn reception of kings, princes and
ambassadors, in the magnificence of the pageants and in the
luxury of the banquets.
The entire social system in which Carpaccio lived and moved
concurred to form the artist. He needed but to paint what went
on under his eyes to give life in his pictures to the aspect and
5
34 THE TIMES
colour of that existence illumined by the soft serene light of the
Venetian sky ; and his eyes were accustomed by daily experience
to the shimmer of silk, to the intense brilliance of purple, to the
thousand varieties and the thousand aspects of every kind of
attire.
Carpaccio with his brush was the most truthful chronicler of a
people living in the full meridian of their glory, and some of his
pictures illustrate in a marvellous manner those splendid ceremonies
the fame of which remains, though in less lifelike and telling
fashion, in ancient records at the Archives.
Venice was wont to display a special magnificence in her
receptions of the princes and ambassadors of great nations ; the
better to proclaim her wealth and power. Whenever any exalted
personage announced his arrival a deputation of thirty noblemen,
robed in silk, chosen from among the senior or junior members
of their order, according to the rank of the expected guest, were
sent to welcome him. If however a King, a Sovereign Prince or
an Ecclesiastic of high rank were expected the Doge himself would
go forth to meet him on board his gilded Bucentaiir. Guests of
greatest dignity were usually brought to the city in triumph by
way of the sea ; this being the most beautiful and stately approach.
Sometimes they would land at one of the convents built upon
the islands that encircled Venice : at S. Maria delle Grazie, for
example, at S. Clemente or at S. Spirito ; and thither the Doge
would repair, or the Patricians deputed ' to attend their guest to
Venice.
The Kings and Princes honoured by these state receptions
were many during these two most brilliant centuries of Venetian
history. It may be that Carpaccio, though but a lad, was present
at the entrance into Venice of the Emperor Frederic III. : and
perhaps long afterwards his memory evolved the gorgeous images
of that pageant. In 1468 the Emperor, after his visit to Rome,
approached Venice by way of Chioggia. The Procuratori di San
Marco and thirteen of the Senators went forth to pay their respects
to him at the Augustinian Convent on the island of S. Spirito,
where the Emperor spent the night. The next morning the Doge
attended by the Senate appeared before Frederic, and after mutual
embraces (post mntuos amplexus] they proceeded together to the
neighbouring island of S. Clemente, where the Bucentaur awaited
them, having failed, owing to the shallowness of the water, to
approach the island of S. Spirito. On board the Ducal barge
the Emperor seated himself on a chair of state (cathedra honore
dtspositd) and a procession was formed of galleys, boats and rafts,
draped with cloth of gold ; besides " other vessels with wonderful
1 Archivio di Stato. Ceremoniali, No. I. p. xii.
ERCOLE D 1 ESTE, DUKE OF FERRARA 35
regal adornment " (et alii navigi oriiatu regio admirabili]. Public
proclamation forbade the wearing of mourning during the stay
of their illustrious guests ; the bells of S. Marco rang festal
chimes ; and amid the blare of trumpets and musical instruments
of every kind the people shouted applause. In the church of
S. Marco a throne ablaze with gold had been prepared for Frederic,
and on another, two steps lower, was seated the Doge. The State
Rooms of the Palace were magnificently furnished, and in the
Hall of the Great Council a sumptuous banquet was served, at
which a bevy of noble ladies were present resplendent with jewels.
Frederic, who stayed several days in Venice, usually wore black,
but on the day of his entry he was clad in " a very precious golden
mantle " (veste aurea preciosissimd] presented to him in Rome by
Pope Paul II. 1
It is at all events certain that our painter witnessed the
reception accorded to Duke Ercole of Ferrara and his son Alfonso
on Feb. 2yth, 1487 (O.S.) at the invitation of the Company of
the Calza styled dei Prudenti, who, so the chronicler Malipiero
tells us, were attired in gowns of crimson velvet, lined with sable
and with sleeves edged with pearls. The meeting between the
Doge and the Duke of Ferrara is depicted in the painting which,
as we have said, was probably executed in the workshop of Lazzaro
Bastiani, and from possible participation in which we do not
exclude Carpaccio.
As a delineator of contemporary spectacles no other Italian
craftsman can be compared to Carpaccio except Pinturicchio, who,
though like him inadequate in the expression of stirring or dramatic
ideas, yet understood equally how to produce a faithful repre-
sentation of the luxury which displays itself in the streets and
public places and to set before us, as in a delightful romance,
the beautiful and spacious life of Italy with the facile ingenuousness
and nai've grace peculiar to the Umbrian nature uninfluenced,
however, by the artificial suavity of Perugino.
From the public shows in street and square Carpaccio intro-
duces us to the interiors of houses and revives for us the home
life of the Venetians. Suites of rooms are portrayed with wonder-
ful effects of light such as no other Italian artist before him
succeeded in achieving. The severe but elegant furniture, chairs
of restrained design and gorgeous bed draperies are reproduced
in their minutest detail ; although the fidelity exhibited in copying
minor details is never allowed to diminish the importance of the
principal objects. No trifles seem to escape this acute observer
from the heads so admirably drawn and painted to the sumptuous
robes; from the architecture rich in marbles to the gracefully
1 Ibid. ibid. pp. xiv and xjv big,
3 6 THE CONTEMPORARIES
designed stool, or the delicate tracery of an embroidered hanging
or a many-hued Oriental carpet. All is here rendered with
restraint of touch and delicacy in draughtsmanship and colour;
with an art of such refinement that, if it is not always capable of
avoiding a certain tendency to rigidity, is yet far removed from
those disagreeably affected methods which distort reality.
The dry-as-dust Inventories of the Archives are, as it were,
illustrated by Carpaccio's paintings, and he is a unique example
in Italian Art for the care with which he reproduces all the familial-
details of domestic life. In this respect no rival can be found
to him except in the Transalpine, notably the Flemish, Schools.
Indeed the study of the Western (ponentini) painters, like Van
Eyck, Van der Weyden and Memling, enabled him to assimilate
certain of the realistic merits of Northern Art.
Anton Maria Zanetti aptly describes Carpaccio with the words
that he "had truth in his soul" (avca nel ciiore la verita}; and
a careful and intelligent study of facts taught him how to
express in his paintings all the most varied manifestations of
Venetian life, public and private. His pictures have no need of
explanatory comment to enable us to grasp at once the subject
of the incident, the momentary motion expressed in the figures
and the intended characteristic of the period, even if the event
represented does not rise to the solemnity of an historical
occurrence, but is limited to the humbler proportions of a domestic
episode : a fragment of city life. Directness of purpose, intuition
and clearness of vision assist him in finding the gestures and
movements appropriate to the figures, and the sense of reality that
he imparts to the scene by causing the main action to stand out
devoid of idle or disturbing accompaniment is a merit that we
seek for in vain in Gentile Bellini, whose pictures need a long
commentary on account of the secondary episodes which distract
the eye from the principal subject and too often occasion bewilder-
ment. Carpaccio represents what he sees : events in all their
phases ; individuals in their everyday attitudes and gestures : for
instance that most telling figure of a man writing in the painting
of the Reception of the Ambassadors by the father of S. Orsola.
Neither does the diligence displayed by the painter in copying
surrounding objects with all their manifest detail, which might
appear tedious to the superficial observer, exclude an intimate and
profound feeling for nature. In many of Carpaccio's paintings
around the massive and stately architecture of the Quattrocento
the palaces, porticoes and towers : behind the banners of the
Republic floating in the breeze, there stretches the open country,
the beautiful mainland which the dwellers on the Lagoons had
commenced to desire and to conquer, And mingled with the
45
THE SCRIBE. In the Picture of " The Dismissal of the Ambassadors."
46
DETAIL OF FIGURES. By Carpaccio.
REALISM IN VENETIAN PAINTING 37
visible poetry exhaled by the sunshine and the waters of Venice
even by her very stones it seems as though a breath of rural
peace is wafted from the verdant hills, the groves of trees and the
placid tarns of the background ; portrayed, indeed, with a certain
lack of boldness, yet with such felicitous perception of atmospheric
effect as to foreshadow already the landscapes of Giorgione and
of Titian. In this respect Carpaccio really was an innovator.
But his was not the intense idealism nor the far-reaching
imagination of other contemporary craftsmen such as Giambcllino
and Mantegna. He was not student enough to reconstruct for us
the life of past ages like Mantegna, who lays before us so power-
fully the world of Ancient Rome ; neither did he possess the
spontaneous vivacity of a ready and inventive fancy, nor that
faculty of intense emotional expression the absence of which in
some of his paintings conveys an impression of somewhat prosaic
aridity. His scenes impress us in a totally different manner: they
materialize for us the reality as it appeared at the period.
In his eagerness to relate them Carpaccio multiplies the episodes,
as though fearful lest any portion of the lovely scenes around him
might escape his notice. His aim above all is truth, alike in
gesture and in expression, regardless of their bearing upon the
dignity of Biblical events ; attiring his Saints and their legends
in contemporary Venetian garb and imbuing them with all the
gladness that he has himself experienced in contemplating the sights
around him. This nai've realism animates his most sacred subjects :
for instance in the great altarpiece of S. Giobbe where the high
priest Simeon in his episcopal robes stands behind the altar
between two cardinals. So far was Carpaccio from conceiving or
depicting anything that he had not actually witnessed. As regards
anachronism in costume he enjoyed, be it observed, the coun-
tenance of other painters, more especially among the Venetians.
Gentile Bellini represents S. Mark amid women in Turkish and
men in Albanian costume ; whilst Paul Veronese later on shows
us the beautiful daughter of Agenor garbed in the sumptuous
vesture of a Venetian gentlewoman. Reality alone inspired these
great men, less critical but more truly artistic than ourselves. Little
recked they of historic fact or accuracy in costume. All that they
strove for was life, expression, movement, grouping and combination
of colour. Amid the very improbabilities of the details, and indeed
in spite of them, shine out the eternal truths of nature.
And we must likewise take into account another most important
factor in the development of Carpaccio's artistic conception, observing
how he seems at times to arrive at a visual perception of the mystic
East, the motherland of peoples, of religions and of sciences.
Some writers, having noticed Oriental landscapes, buildings and
3 8 THE CONTEMPORARIES
costumes in certain among the painter's works, have imagined that
he also, like Gentile Bellini, had visited the East ; one critic, indeed,
without further ado despatches him in company with that artist to
Constantinople upon the occasion when a Jewish envoy (orator
judeo] from Mahomet II. asked for a clever painter and the Signoria
sent Bellini with the Romanian galleys on September 3rd, 1479
(con le galie di Romania adl j settembre ///p). 1
The report of Vittore's journey to the East is given by Cesare
Vecellio in the first edition (1590) of his Customs (Habiti}? where
on the back of p. 84, in the section concerning "Ambassadors and
Consuls sent to Soria (Syria) and other places " (Ambasciatori et
Consoli mandati in Soria et in altre parti], he writes, " By the
Soldan . . . there having been afterwards summoned a certain
Vittore Scarpe, who was the most diligent painter of his day "
(Dal Soldan . . . essendo poi chiamato nn certo yittore Scarpe, il
quale era diligentissimo pit tore dei tempi suoi}.
We would remark in the first place that Scarpe and Scarpazza
are not the same name, any more than the painter Alvise Vivarini
is the painter Alvise Bavarini, although these two persons might
by such critical methods be made into one. But admitting even
that Vecellio does allude to Vittore Carpaccio, the celebrated painter's
fortunate journey to the remote Eastern shores could not be held
as proven from that solitary allusion. Had he really so journeyed
would not some notice have been found in other writings more
especially had he accompanied Bellini ? We may be told that
Vecellio's statement is sufficient ; but if his authority is valuable
descriptively speaking it is not always historically accurate, since
he never, for example, takes the trouble to state the sources whence
he draws his information nor the paintings nor the artists whence
he obtained many of his illustrations. He wrote, moreover, about
seventy-five years after Carpaccio's death and, brilliant draughts-
man if not so scrupulous historian, he may easily have fallen into
error, being the first perhaps to pay attention to some gossip
which he repeated later without seeking for confirmation either by
documentary or critical evidence. It should be observed that the
statement concerning this Vittore Scarpe, painter, which is to be
found in the edition of 1590, disappears from the later reprints
of 1598 and 1664. We believe the tale to be devoid of any
foundation whatsoever ; indeed it seems to us well proven that
Carpaccio did not paint the Oriental landscapes in the background
of some of his pictures from nature.
Mr. Sidney Colvin, the Keeper of the Print Room in the British
1 Sanudo, Cronache Veneziane. Jacopo Morelli, Notiz. Op. di Disegno d 1 nn Anonimo, p. 99.
Ed. Frizzoni.
3 Degli habiti antichi e moderni, Libri due fatti da Cesare Vecellio. In Venetia, 1590.
REUVICH'S DESIGNS 39
Museum, a critic of untiring diligence and wide culture, was, as a
matter of fact, the first to discover that certain buildings, castles
and towers were taken from the drawings of Reuvich, illustrating
Breydenbach's Peregrinatio in Terrain Sanctani, a work printed
at Mayence in 1486. He was fortunate enough to secure for the
British Museum a drawing by Carpaccio which is unquestionably
a sketch of the landscape for the painting The Departure of the
Betrothed Pair in the Scuola di S. Orsola series. According to
the inscription the drawing purports to represent the Harbour of
Ancoua. But this inscription is modern and certainly erroneous,
and Mr. Colvin's careful researches have enabled him to establish
that the large tower there depicted really is that which
defends the harbour of Rhodes, copied, as a critical examination
shows, from Reuvich's drawings. Many of these are landscapes
and views of cities, and among them Carpaccio not only found the
great tower of Rhodes but also another tower, that of Candia,
which he has introduced into the next picture of the series.
Mr. Colvin has not carried his valuable observations further,
nor completed his fruitful researches by instituting a thorough-
going parallel between Carpaccio's work and Reuvich's engravings.
But continuing his interrupted studies from this point, and com-
paring the illustrations in this old German book side by side
with other works, not only by Carpaccio but by other painters,
such as Alvise Donate, and by certain unknown engravers, who
illustrated the books published by Stanerius, we at once com-
prehend what a fount of inspiration Reuvich's drawings proved
for all these works, and whence Carpaccio gathered ideas, not
merely for palaces and landscapes but also for figures and costumes.
Yet if in Carpaccio's pictures it had been only buildings, castles,
towers and country scenery that were identical with, or similar
to, those in Reuvich's engravings one could suppose that both
artists had by chance reproduced exactly the same subjects. But
when Carpaccio repeats the same figures with the same costumes
and with attitudes even identical with those drawn by Reuvich,
then even the most cursory judgment must admit that the Venetian
painter had gazed upon the East through the medium of the
German draughtsman. Indeed, we cannot believe that Carpaccio
would have travelled in the East without taking the trouble to
make drawings of landscapes, sketches of figures, etc., such as
Gentile Bellini brought back in abundance. And even less can we
believe that, returning from those distant lands with a goodly store
of studies, he would have had need to refer for his Oriental
costumes to Breydenbach's work, which he drew upon, not from
a vulgar desire to plagiarize but rather from a scruple of
exactitude, in order to give to his scenes, according to the modern
4 o THE CONTEMPORARIES
phrase local colour. For instance, in one of Reuvich's drawings
representing Jerusalem a spot bears the inscription : locus rtbi
fuit lapidatus Sanctus Stephanus ; and Carpaccio, with his passion
for exact detail, transfers that very portion into his painting of
the Stoning of S. Stephen. As regards models for costume the
painter could profit besides by the many Orientals who in bizarre
guise strolled about the streets of Venice.
Vasari's misapprehension in dividing the name of Lazzaro
Bastiani into two brothers Lazzaro and Sebastiano, the alleged
pupils of Carpaccio, has long been refuted, and we believe that
we have given unanswerable chronological proof of the falsity of
the assertions so often repeated by authoritative critics that Bastiani
learnt the rudiments of his art from Carpaccio.
Study of the artist's technique has moreover strengthened our
conviction that Bastiani was Carpaccio's master ; the similarity
in style of certain paintings having often led to the attribution
of works by the less-known master to his famous pupil. That
Carpaccio in the early years of his youth was Bastiani's apprentice
may also be conjectured from two paintings ; one representing the
Duke of Ferrara in Venice, and the other a group of men standing
around a horse. Both of these works probably came out of
Bastiani's bottega and in both may be observed the germs of
the two leading features of Carpaccio's genius : his taste for public
display and his minute observation of domestic incidents.
No details are insignificant in tracing the derivation of an
artist's manner. A careful examination of Bastiani's backgrounds
shows frequent examples of conventional treatment of trees ; a
mannerism peculiar to himself and to his School differing greatly
from the rigid and singular methods in which Jacopo and Gentile
Bellini designed their trees. Sometimes, as in the Annunciation
at the Museo Civico in Venice and the Virgin in the Chapel at
the Doge's Palace, Bastiani draws his palm-trees in the likeness
of a paint-brush. Now Carpaccio in 1490 in his first known
work, the Arrival of S. Orsola at Cologne, imitates the peculiar
flattened form of Lazzaro's trees and in the later compositions of
the S. Giorgio degli Schiavoni Cycle he paints his palms in the
same brushlike manner as his master. Details such as these
appear insignificant, but to the student and close observer they
form certain criteria, by which we may recognize whence and how
a painter's manner was acquired.
In the scanty pages devoted by Vasari to Carpaccio he stands
forth as the leader of the Lombardo-Venetian School, to which
belong also other painters who may be counted among his followers,
such as Giovanni Mansueti and Benedetto Diana. By no mere
chance are these three names linked together. Carpaccio, Mansueti
o o
S o
Di 1-1
O 3
BENEDETTO DIANA AND GIOVANNI MANSUETI 41
and Benedetto Diana actually form a species of artistic union ; first
in the bottega of Lazzaro Bastiani, their earliest master, and later
on in the Scuola di S. Giovanni Evangelista, where these three
youths collaborated in the decoration of the Hall of the Holy Cross.
Even were not Bastiani's name joined to that of Diana in
painting the Standards of S. Mark the artistic connexion between
the two painters would be revealed by their works ; notably by a
painting in the Royal Palace at Venice representing the Madonna
between two noble Venetians. 1 Now in this painting, which
Boschini and Cavalcaselle have justly assigned to Benedetto
Diana 2 on account of the angular treatment of the drapery peculiar
to this artist, the relations with the art of Bastiani are evident.
The enthroned Virgin is inspired by 6". Veneranda, the landscape
exhibits features identical with those affected by Lazzaro, whom
Diana imitates even in his characteristic shortcomings, such as
the small and characterless heads of his figures. Carpaccio and
Diana, both pupils of the same master, are in some of their works
so much alike as to deceive the best experts : as in fact did occur
in the case of the well-known Christ at Emmaus in the church
of S. Salvatore, long attributed to Bellini, and afterwards assigned by
Cavalcaselle to Carpaccio on grounds of style, colouring and compo-
sition, until with greater show of reason other connoisseurs, notably
Giovanni Morelli, recognized in it the hand of Benedetto Diana.
In regard to Mansueti, if we would observe how he has maintained
his artistic affinity with Carpaccio, despite the imitation of Gentile
Bellini, 3 we need but examine the paintings by these two craftsmen
which are hung in the adjoining rooms in the Venice Academy.
In Jacopo Bello we doubtless have another pupil of Lazzaro
Bastiani. According to Boschini there was a painting by him in
the Ufficio dei Camerlenghi at Venice, which is now to be seen
in the Imperial Museum in Vienna. The landscape bears a close
affinity to his master's style, the angel musicians greatly resemble
those in the painting at Murano and recall the Infant in one of
Bastiani's Madonnas. These few scraps of information are all that
we know concerning the life and work of Jacopo Bello.
It was also believed that Carpaccio had in his early years
frequented the bottega of Antonio Vivarini and had then
imitated the forms and methods of the Bellini brothers. But
there is no resemblance between the style of Carpaccio and that
1 We have been able to fix 1486 as the date of this painting. Indeed, in this year the
Proweditori of the Mint, whence the painting came, were Francesco Trevisan and Girolamo
Pesaro, the two donors who caused their coats of arms to be painted on the Madonna's throne.
3 Boschini, Le Ricche Minere, Sestiere S. Marco, p. 65. Crowe and Cavalcaselle, Hist. Paint
Italy, V. i. p. 225.
3 In Mansueti's painting representing A Miracle of the Holy Cross he has portrayed
himself on the left-hand side holding a scroll with the inscription Opus Joannis de Mansuetis
veneti recte sentientium Bellini discipli.
6
42 THE CONTEMPORARIES
of Antonio Vivarini ; nor in our opinion can it be said that he
had for his master Giovanni Bellini, a craftsman so admirable
in the candour and idealism of his religious conceptions. Although
Bellini did occasionally paint historical compositions, as for example
the paintings at the Doge's Palace, yet his suave and contemplative
genius was ill-suited to profane subjects and he appears to us
always as though absorbed in visions of Saints and fair-haired
Virgins, disdaining to lend his talents to other than sacred subjects.
But not even when Garpaccio paints religious subjects does one
find a single inspiration drawn from that great master Giambellino,
in whose wake followed all the Venetian artists, from Carpaccio's
own two sons Pietro and Benedetto to Diana and Mansueti, who
had at first adopted the manner of Lazzaro Bastiani. Bellini was
considered the unique exponent of Madonnas ; and just as the
Faun of Praxiteles was once deemed so perfect an archetype as
to be styled Trepi^drjros (the famous one) and to be copied times
without number by the sculptors of antiquity, so in like manner
were the types of Bellini's Virgins repeated by Venetian painters.
Catena, Bissolo and others clung without any variation to one type
of Bellini Madonna ; another was repeated by the selfsame Bissolo
and by Bartolomeo Veneto ; a third by Rocco Marconi in the picture
preserved at Strasburg : and finally yet another Bellini type The
Madonna in the slot of Benediction, the copy of a lost original
must have been the ideal which inspired Lorenzo Lotto, Previtali,
Mansueti, Marziale and even a painter in the Byzantine style.
Bellini's painting of the Circumcision has also been copied repeatedly.
Two of these are signed by Vincenzo (dalle Desire) of Treviso,
another by Bissolo and yet another by Marco Bello. On the other
hand, the unpretending, human and homely Madonnas and Saints
of Carpaccio never reveal in any single feature the mystic inspiration
of Bellini.
We should add that neither was Carpaccio an imitator nor a
follower of Gentile Bellini, with whom he has no other link except
that like Gentile he also portrays decorative scenes with large and
varied crowds of people.
Some people would assume with too great confidence that
Carpaccio's art, especially in regard to aerial perspective, is derived
from that of Gentile. In truth, if we set aside the conventional
estimates of critics who only copy each other's opinions, and if
we but look with unprejudiced eyes upon the works of Bellini we
shall arrive at the conclusion that between Gentile Bellini and
Carpaccio there exists no artistic relationship whatsoever.
Of Gentile's paintings in the Doge's Palace nothing remains but
the record. Francesco Sansovino says that in 1479 the painter
being summoned, along with others, to restore the old paintings in
MADONNA AND SAINTS AND DONOR.
By Benedetto Diana. In the Royal Palace, Venice (1486).
CHRIST AND FOUR SAINTS. In the Imperial .Museum, Vienna.
By Jacopo Bello.
GENTILE BELLINI 43
the Hall of the Greater Council, " effaced many of them, rather
moved by envy to destroy the glory of others than that he to any
great extent improved upon the former paintings " (tie veld niolti
pinttosto per cancellar /' altrui gloria mosso da invidia, che perche
egli migliorasse gran fat to le pitture passate). 1 Other works of
his have fortunately reached us uninjured ; but for reasons of date
and style they cannot have had any influence upon Carpaccio's
genius. Besides the four organ-doors in S. Mark's completed by
Gentile in 1464, which reveal the influence of the Paduan School,
we have the portrait of Mahomet II. in the Layard Collection at
Venice and two original drawings in the British Museum, repre-
senting a Turkish man and woman. The other drawings bearing
the name of Gentile, preserved in the Louvre and the Frankfurt
Museum, and erroneously assigned by Venturi to Pinturicchio,
are copies by another hand.
The Museum at Pesth possesses a panel by Gentile, more impor-
tant as an historical document than as a work of art. It represents
Queen Caterina Cornaro, whom the painter also portrayed amid a
group of women in the painting of A Miracle of the Cross.
In the Venice Academy is preserved the portrait of S. Lorenzo
Giustiniani, copied from a miniature ; but many portraits that pass
under the name of Gentile in other picture galleries are not by
him and therefore do not deserve the praises of certain critics, who
admire his skill, the correctness of his draughtsmanship and his
depth of feeling in portraying the human figure. The very beautiful
portrait, for instance, in the National Gallery of Fra Teodoro da
Urbino is not by Gentile. The canvas bears the authentic signature
of Giovanni Bellini and the date 1515, whilst documents further
prove that the Friar only rose to eminence after Gentile's death,
and it is scarcely credible that he was portrayed earlier. There
are, nevertheless, critics who still believe the portrait of Fra
Teodoro to be the work of Gentile Bellini.
Nor can the two portraits of Doges in the Museo Civico in
Venice be considered his handiwork ; paintings in which a few
authoritative judges think that they can discover the manner of
Bartolomeo Vivarini.
It might be suggested that Carpaccio had formed his style by
studying the work of Gentile Bellini in his well-known composition
for the Scuola di S. Giovanni Evangelista. But these three
paintings were completed between 1496 and 1500 and Carpaccio
in 1490 had already displayed a manner entirely his own at the
Scuola di S. Orsola. It is needless to refer to the picture at
the Scuola di S. Marco, since it comes within the last period of
Gentile's life and was finished by his brother Giovanni.
1 Sansovino, Lett, intorno al Pal. Ducale, etc., p. 24. Venice : Alvisopoli.
44 THE PROTECTORS
A less-known painting, unsigned by its author, unrecorded by
history and of uncertain origin, is the much-praised Adoration of
the Magi preserved in the Layard Collection. But this picture, even
without contesting its authenticity, is altogether repainted and cannot
serve as a test for comparison with the works of other craftsmen.
That, as has been asserted, Carpaccio learnt the art of per-
spective from Gentile Bellini does not appear probable either,
since in the pictures by the latter the perspective is by no means
always exact : the Procession in the Piazza of S. Marco with
four different vanishing points, and A Miracle of the Cross with
two, are examples of this defect. Moreover the relative positions
of the buildings are inaccurate, so that from the extremity of the
Piazza, di S. Marco we perceive the Porta della Carta which would
be hidden by the Campanile ; and in the scene of A Miracle
of the Cross the Fondamenta di S. Lorenzo, of which the general
appearance is the same to-day as it was then, the palaces and
buildings are reproduced with a somewhat fantastic idea of drawing.
Now if Carpaccio in this matter must have had a teacher of
perspective, a science which can only be learnt and is not evolved
by the spontaneous force of genius, that master was without doubt
Lazzaro Bastiani, who excelled in that particular branch, and in that
respect surpassed Jacopo Bellini. And here in truth Carpaccio also
ended by surpassing his master, especially in aerial perspective
and in painting interiors, which he, the first among the Venetians,
treated with astonishing effects of chiaroscuro, such as were never
achieved by Giovanni Bellini himself, who in his perspective effects
is somewhat hard and dry.
Moreover it is alleged that Carpaccio owes not a little to Gentile
Bellini in the form, expression and attitude of his figures : not
considering that the latter, though certainly endowed with much
feeling and force of colouring, is not so successful in depicting the
human countenance and figure. Bellini sketches his outline sharply,
a method which imparts to the countenance but little depth, whilst
Carpaccio with deft touches of colour paints the human face in all
its living energy. In the analysis of human expression he is at once
the precursor and initiator of the New Art with that psychological
acumen which assists him to explore the secret recesses of the
soul : whence it comes that the faces painted by him assume a
highly individualized character and an eloquence that masters us.
If we turn instead to Gentile we find that his heads are painted
without grace or beauty, with the small eyes and straight eyebrows
so conspicuous in the portrait group of patricians in A Miracle
of the Cross. Carpaccio's figures are free from the defects which
we criticize in Gentile Bellini and they are drawn and coloured
with a supreme refinement of which we have examples in the
54
PORTRAITS IN " THE PROCESSION IN THE PIAZZA OF S. MAKK."
Bv Gentile Bellini.
55
PORTRAITS IN " A MIRACLE OF THE HOLY CROSS."
(The Portrait in the centre is believed to be that of the Artist.
By Gentile Bellini.
56 PORTRAITS IN " Tin: Ri:< EPTION OF TIII-: AMBASSADORS BY THE FATHER
OK S. I'KSrl.A."
By Carparrio.
57 A COURTIER IN THE S. URSULA CYCLE.
By Carpaccio.
58 PORTRAIT ATTRIBUTED TO CARPACCIO, BUT MORE PROBABLY
BY Gio. MANSUETI.
In the Accademia Carrara at Bergamo.
a
H >
a a
PORTRAITS BY CARPACCIO 45
graceful figure of the young nobleman saluting the Saint in the
painting of the Departure of S. Ursula, and that very attractive
figure of a youth in the painting for the Scuola di S. Giovanni
Evangelista which was taken as a model of elegance by Vecellio
in his book Degli Habiti. Well may it be said that Carpaccio
has reproduced the men and manners of his day as in a photograph
inspired by the genius of art ; so that despite their close-fitting
hose and many-coloured doublets we might swear that we had
known these people and had conversed with them on familiar terms.
On this account it is the more to be regretted that no
individual portrait by this incomparable student of nature has
come down to us ; since the only one that bears his name in the
Galleria Carrara at Bergamo is not by him but by Mansueti.
Of Carpaccio's skill in tracing the features and expression of the
human countenance we have more than one record. The portrait
of Girolama Corsi Ramos, a half-forgotten Tuscan poetess of the
fifteenth century, was painted by Carpaccio with so exquisite a
mastery as to move that lady to burst forth in the following
enthusiastic sonnet :
Quel che 1' ingegno suo volse mostrare
in rittrar qui la propria mia figura,
puose nell' opra ogni sua arte e cur*
per far la lingua mia pronta a parlare.
Ma i' ciel non volse questo comportare
dicendo un uom mortal usurpa e fura
quanta di potestate ebbe natura,
che fa che un legno un corpo vivo pare.
Se mi avete veduta non starete
di dir chi son, benche talor il vero
per far falso parer altrui si tace.
Victor mi fece, si come vedete,
degno di fama e di piu alto impero,
che di tal arte e ben maestro verace. 1
1 Rossi, Vittorio, Di una rimatrice e di un rimatore del sec. XV. Girolama Corsi Ramos
e lacopo Corsi. (In Giorn. Star, della Lett. It. vol. xv. p. 183. Turin, 1890.)
(N.B. This and the poems that follow are practically untranslatable, but an attempt has
been made to give their general sense. Translator^)
That which his genius could put forth
By tracing here my very features,
All art and care in work he showed
To cause my lips to utter ready speech.
Yet heaven would not have this be
That mortal man usurp and steal
All omnipotence that nature hath possessed,
Who from a piece of wood would make a living thing.
Having even seen me you will not stay
To tell of me, since oft the truth
To give the lie preserveth silence.
Victor made me, as you see me,
Worthy of fame and of high dominion,
Who of such art is the very faithful master.
46 THE PROTECTORS
To these verses we should have preferred the painting which
they celebrate ; but since all the portraits by Carpaccio have
unhappily been lost, let us turn to old records for the reflection
at least of his brilliant colouring, together with an echo of the
renown which surrounded his merits as an artist. This admiration
was not always free from a strain of malignity ; for Carpaccio
earned praise, followed afterwards by virulent abuse, from a poet
who was above all others passionate and grossly malicious : Andrea
Michieli, surnamed Squarzola or Strazzola, a man who spent his
days amid brothels, gambling hells and taverns. The abject habits
of this vulgar rhymester are revealed in his Canzoniere^ which
Professor Vittorio Rossi has illustrated with critical acuteness and
erudition. Arrogant and overbearing, addicted to the foulest
language and the basest desires, Strazzola nevertheless enjoyed the
protection of the patrician, Alvise Contarini, who had perhaps
found a relaxation from political cares in the buffooneries and
the fooling of this kind of jester. It is certain, however, that
Contarini desired to possess a portrait of this impudent satirist
and gave the commission to Carpaccio. Strazzola, provoked it
may be by some lampoon, had not spared Gentile Bellini from
vilest insults, and he gives the following warning to Carpaccio :
Dovendomi ritrar, Vettor Scarpazzo,
a contemplazion del Contarino,
fa che non mi abbi del Gentil Bellino
perch' altramente ti teria da pazzo.
Che se de vita al mondo avero spazzo
adopraro mio ingegno pelegrino
e farotti immortal non che divino,
talche il prometter mio n' andara a guazzo.
Or poni adonque diligenza e cura
nel dipingermi in catedra sedente
a guisa de chi a Padua ha una lettura.
E che le tempie mie sian de virente
fronde peneda cinte c non di dura
querce ne serto di Bromio ridente.
Ma fa che sii prudente
non meno in fatti che nelle parole,
come savio pittor costumar suole. 2
1 Rossi, Vittorio, // canzoniere inedito di Andrea Michieli detto Squarzbla o Strazzbla. (In
Giorn. Star, della Lett. It. v. xxvi. pag. i e seg. Torino, 1895.)
2 So you intend to portray me, Vettor
Scarpazzo,
For Contarini's pleasure :
See you do not take me as Gentil Bellino,
Otherwise I'd think you mad.
That if of worldly life I should have plenty,
My wandering genius I will so apply
And immortal make you, if not divine,
E'en so my promise shall not melt away.
Then take thee diligence and care
To paint me throned in a professor's chair
As one of those who teach at Padua,
And let my temples be with verdant frond
Of laurel bound, and not with oak,
Nor Bacchus' boisterous wreath.
But see you prudent be
No less in deed than word ;
As a wise painter is accustomed to.
ANDREA MICHIELI (STRAZZOLA) 47
As a jest, which shows him to us in a novel light, Carpaccio,
instead of following the advice of the Sonnet, chose, perhaps in
concert with Contarini, to raise a laugh against the malicious
poet by representing him seated in a professorial chair, his temples
encircled, not with laurel but with a garland of vine-leaves, better
suited to the character of his model. Imagine Strazz61a's wrath I
Friendship and esteem, till then freely bestowed by him upon the
painter, gave place to fiercest hatred ; and besides complaining
bitterly to Contarini of the scurvy trick, he vituperated Carpaccio by
a Sonnet and a Strambotto, wherein he grossly reviles the artist,
violently abusing a painting which, it would seem, was another
of the lost portraits. Here is the Sonnet :
Due man depinte in foglio di papiro
vidi 1'altr'ieri e par scorrer piu inanti
mi parvero di lodra alcuni guanti,
ch' anno perduto il pelo andando in giro.
E tanto piu di tal cosa me adiro,
quanto piu penso al dir de circumstanti,
che feceno il pittor de piu prestanti
che mai col tempo vedesse alcun vivo.
Ne mi puoti restar ch' io non dicesse :
" Qual fu nel mondo mai tal bufalazzo
che meglio di costui non dipingesse?
Ombron no gia, che fu si ignorantazzo,
che dipinse alia fin due peponesse,
credendo far un architetto, il pazzo."
Si che il vostro Scarpazzo,
magnifico sol mio Contarino,
ben par discipol di Gcntil Bellino. 1
Strazz61a's admission is worth noting, since he is constrained
to confess that fame declared the painter
" of most renown
that ever living man had yet beheld."
1 Two hands painted on a sheet of paper
I saw two days ago, but at further sight
Methought they seemed gloves of otter-skin
That had shed their hair by passing from hand to hand.
Wherefore the greater was my wrath
When more I think of bystanders' report
Who made the painter one of most renown
That ever living man had yet beheld.
Nor could I then restrain my speech :
" Was there never in this world a greater blockhead,
Who better than this one could not his brushes use?
Dauber indeed that was so ignorant
Who painted at the last two melons huge,
Deeming himself an architect the fool."
Behold your Scarpazzo,
That shining light, my trusty Contarino,
Seemeth indeed the henchman of Gentile Bellino.
4 8 THE PROTECTORS
And here is the Strambotto, never before published but cour-
teously supplied to us by Professor Rossi :
Due cere pincte ho visto di tua mano,
Che par facte di man di maistraccio ;
E 1' una c 1' altra d' un porco nostrano
Mi parve ciatte o viso menchiaccio ;
Tal ch' io non vedo si sciocco villano
Che non facesse assai meglio un migliaccio,
E qualunque le han viste hanno stimado
Che sian picte di man mastro Rado. 1
Strazzola's poisoned darts also were directed against Antonio
Vinciguerra, better known under the name of Cronico. Born in
1498 of a family originating from Recanati, Vinciguerra was
employed in various delicate affairs of State and enjoyed high esteem
among contemporary men of letters. Strazz61a, it seems, had
befouled Cronico in certain Sonnets and Strambotti^ 1 since an un-
named rhymester takes up his defence in two Strambotti wherein
he condemns whoever would
"... biasmar quel Cronico eccellente
Venerato tra i saggi come un nume."'
A piece of information of far greater import to us is furnished
by this anonymous writer in another set of verses : namely, that
a portrait of Vinciguerra by Carpaccio once existed, and it seems
was so excellent and speaking a likeness that it served to comfort
the worthy poet, who after the death on December Qth, 1502 of his
illustrious patron, in whose cause he fought, feels that, thanks to
the painter's art, his friend lives still on canvas :
Victor mio chiaro di tal nome degno
che dato ti ha virtute : et la natura
judicio ver del tuo sublime ingegno
imitator d' humana figura,
1 Cod. Estense VIII., D. 6, n. 384 (Rime dello Strazzbla}. Master Rado here mentioned
was an obscure painter of " cassoni" alluded to in documents preserved in the Archives.
Two faces saw I painted by your hand
That methought were done by a dauber's fist,
And either one of native swine
Seemed a platter-like ignoble snout ;
So that I know not any silly clown
That could not make a better pudding,
And whoever saw them would have reckoned
That daubed they are by the hand of Mastro Rado.
2 Colasanti, Due Strambotti inediti per Antonio Vinciguerra e un ignoto ritratto di Vettor
Carpaccio (Repertorium fur Kunstwissenschaft, von Thode und Tschudi, xxvi. Band. Berlin,
Reimer, 1903, p. 198). Colasanti's article was published in the Fanfulla delta Domenica, Rome,
July I4th, 1901.
3 ..." censure that most excellent Cronico,
Venerated among the learned as a god."
CARPACCIO'S METHODS OF PAINTING 49
ben poi vantarti haver trovato il segno
che tanti chiari ingegni in non procura
fra gli altri il mostra quel buon Vincigucrra
che per te vivo e anchor sopra la terra
che per te habiamo anchor vivo qui in terra. 1
These independent records show in how great consideration
Carpaccio was held even in his own day ; and beyond this a careful
study of his works themselves leads us to conclude that his art
owes nothing to the painters contemporary with him and that he
really did proceed along a path entirely his own.
Carpaccio painted in oils according to the new method imparted
by Flemish artists to Antonello da Messina, by whom it was
introduced into Venice. It was immediately adopted by Bellini
and Vivarini, who brought the art to perfection with a system of
thin varnishes. This latter use of varnishes was not much employed
by Carpaccio, who in technique clings rather to the older methods
and treated his colours after the fashion of tempera ; in this respect
jnarHngl no advance in Venetian Art. But the colour which in
nature may sometimes appear garish and strident with deft juxta-
position of tone and without too much touching up he unites in
"So soft a harmony and in such a manner that we are fain to admire,
not only the painter's craft but the intuition of the artist who does
justice to the point of the situation and the individualities of
manner and customs, and who makes colour one.j3fjfche media
through which his own feelings find, expression.
Nor can he be said with truth to be an innovator in draughts-
manship, inasmuch as he is at times somewhat stiff and antiquated,,
especially in his treatment of draperies. Contemptuous of innovation
he tries to remain faithful to rather minute detail, submitting in
scrupulous obedience to the dictates of his conscience, never dis-
turbing the serenity of his compositions with artificial conceits
nor having recourse to any technical trick. There are certain
artists possessed of great imaginative powers who, before handling
either brush or pencil, actually see their paintings in complete detail
in their mind's eye ; others draw more upon their memory than
upon the exuberance of their natural abilities and turning the
subject over and over in their minds strive hard to overcome the
obstacles set between them and their goal. This, in our opinion,
1 Id., he. cit.
My honoured Victor, worthy of the name
that merit gave thee : and Nature's self,
true prophet of thy sublime genius,
imitator of the human form,
thou may'st well boast of having hit the mark
that many famous minds have not attained :
amongst others thou showest the worthy Vinciguerra,
who e'en through thee yet standeth on the earth,
who e'en through thee we have yet in our midst.
5 o THE STUDIES OF VETTOR CARPACCIO
is the case with regard to Carpaccio, who, as we learn from his
drawings and as we shall understand further on, committed to
paper almost with trembling hands the first idea for his picture
and then carefully studied the single figures from live models,
making his sketches upon beautiful green Venetian paper, indicating
the shadows with strokes of his brush and touching up the lights
with chalk. Having thus planned out the general lines and details
of a picture, he copied it on to canvas and with a careful colour
scheme imparted to the entire composition that force which seeks
its effect not in vivid and violent contrast but in harmony of tone
and serenity of expression. He sought no flights of fancy, neither
excessive joy nor passionate grief, but tranquil happiness and silent
suffering, which inspire the spectator with a sense of intimate
repose such as no other art has been able to inspire. In certain
master minds, such as Raphael for instance, the figures appear to
be too far removed from real life ; and conversely all the poetry
in the soul of the Venetian painters who succeeded Carpaccio
tended towards a too-sensual realism. Carpaccio instead held the
balance between both extremes and was the type of the Quattro-
centist painter ; not frozen by the narrow ideals of medievalism,
nor yet melted by the over-warm sweetnesses of the Renaissance.
The story of Vettor Carpaccio's artistic life is told us by his works.
Of these the oldest is a painting in the S. Ursula Cycle which
bears the date 1490: the latest is 5. Paul in S. Domenico at
Chioggia, upon which is inscribed the year 1520. That the first
painting, completed when he was about thirty-five years of age,
may have been preceded by others seems to us very probable :
more especially since the Scuola di S. Orsola would not have
confided a work of such importance to a beginner. As a matter
of fact we believe that the painting of 1490 was most likely
preceded by the Virgin of the Stadel Institute at Frankfort and
by the Two Saints in the Museum at Verona : works till now
attributed to Bissolo, but which we should without hesitation
assign to Carpaccio ; as much on account of the expression of
the countenances, the colour, the drawing and the attitudes, as
for certain characteristics peculiar to the School of Bastiani.
Indeed careful examination of both paintings at once shows a
surprising analogy between the Virgin of the Stadel Institute
and the picture by Bastiani in the Galleria Lochis at Bergamo.
The artist's genius was at its zenith in the first decade of the
fifteenth century. The Government, the nobility, the Scuole, all
vied with one another in giving commissions to the celebrated
painter. To this period belong the altarpiece in S. Pietro at
Murano, ordered by the wealthy glass-blowers, the Licini (1507);
and that masterwork, the altarpiece of S. Giobbe, painted for the
NEGLECT OF CARPACCIO 51
patrician family of Sanudo (1510). The picture in the church of
S. Vitale (1514) must likewise have been commissioned by some
nobleman.
In the meantime a new-fashioned Art had come into being
with Giorgione and Titian : and to Carpaccio perhaps that bold
and novel manner seemed a kind of pictorial libertinage. The
words that burst from the austere soul of Albrecht Diirer when
in February 1507 he saw Venice for a second time echoed a sort
of melancholy presage. " The things that pleased me so much
fifteen years since, now please me no more," exclaimed the famous
German, referring perhaps to the New Art, superb already in
sensual pride. 1 A few years more and the Venetians, face to face
with female beauty blossoming in fleshly brilliance, will forget the
" awkward painters" of a preceding age, and " the cold and lifeless
work of Giovanni Bellini, of Gentile and of Vivarini whicJi were
without movement and without relief"
The sun of Giorgione and of Titian had already caused Car-
paccio's art to pale, despite the fame he had enjoyed and his
prowess in decorating the dwelling of the Doges. Impervious to
new ways and new methods, unlike Giambellino, he drew no
strength from the new-fashioned canons of Art. Thus we observe
that, although up to 1520 he continued, in spite of many inter-
ruptions, the work undertaken in the Scuole, he received no further
commissions of capital importance in his native city if we except
the altarpiece, now lost, representing the Nativity of Christ,
executed in 1523 for the Patriarch, Antonio Contarini. In the
latter period of his life the painter worked for Treviso, Capo
d' Istria, Pozzale, Chioggia, cities and townships which knew not
yet nor understood the bolder and broader methods of Giorgione
and Titian, to whom a ready welcome had with great fortune
and favour been extended by the Ruling State. The contradiction
between the time-honoured fifteenth-century traditions and the new
and more grandiose style now triumphant is especially marked in
Carpaccio's latest manner, which not infrequently displays weariness
in effort and an increasing hesitancy in overstepping the bounds
of faithful reproduction. His colouring, too, is less brilliant, his
drawing less correct, his drapery less beautifully disposed. Alto-
gether it is plain that the hand no longer obeys the mind's behests.
In the sixteenth century the name of Carpaccio seems wrapped
in oblivion. His works no longer grace the halls of the principal
patrician palaces, since in the Notice of the Works of Art (Notizia
d' opere di disegno] existing in Venice, Padua, Cremona, Pavia,
Bergamo and Crema, among the very numerous names of crafts-
1 Thausing, Durer, V. Leipzig, 1876.
2 Dolce, L'dretirto, o Dialogo ddla fittura. firenze,
52 THE STUDIES OF VETTOR CARPACCIO
men, Italian and foreign, we may search in vain for that of Vettor
Carpaccio.
But amid the faults and extravagances of the seventeenth
century when Art became ever more wanting in feeling and ideals,
charming by a certain conventional splendour alone a splendour
which pervaded also the life of the period there were yet some
to appreciate the simple grandeur of Carpaccio. Marco Boschini,
the painter-poet, who, despite his turgid grandiloquence, shows
some shrewd judgment, writes of Carpaccio thus :
E quel Vettor Carpaccio si eccellente
Quasi anca lu fradcl del Zambelin,
Che ha depento con stil si pelegrin,
Che deferenzia che xe puoco o niente.
Si Zambelin ha fato ben figure
Con vago e diligcntc colorito ;
El Carpaccio se sta cussl esquisito
Che a tu per tu puol star le so piture.
Tanto che posso dir ben (co'se disc)
Do servizi, e un vi'azo fazo presto,
Quel che ho dito de quel digo de questo :
1 e sta do rami, e sola una raise. 1
In the eighteenth century, amid the prettinesses and the airs
and graces of Longhi, Rosalba and Carriera, surrounded by
the stupendous scene-painting of Tiepolo, Anton Maria Zanetti
appreciates better than any one else the painter of S. Ursula in
these beautiful words :
One of the greatest merits, moreover, of these works, I think, consists in their
effects, and especially in those that they make on the senses and hearts of those
people who are furthest off from understanding the Arts. I sometimes stand in this
chapel (of S. Ursula) unobserved, and I see enter certain devout folk, who after a
short prayer, often indeed during the prayer itself, turning their eyes to these
paintings stand with countenances and minds arrested exactly as the poet sings. 2
They show that they readily understand each scene, reason it out in their hearts
and cannot conceal the internal emotion that they feel. Great power has counterfeited
reality, and even without the aid of Art painted it with one single object upon the
1 La carta del Navegar pitoresco, p. 33. Venetia, MDCLX.
And that Vettor Carpaccio so excellent,
As though the brother to Zambelin,
Who hath painted with so fanciful a style
That difference there is little or naught.
If Zambelin well figures drew
With fair and careful colouring,
Carpaccio is so exquisite
That side by side his pictures eke may be.
This much can I truly aver (as 'tis said),
I my services give and make a journey soon.
What I have said of me, I of the others say :
There are a pair of sculls, but a single skiff.
* Horace, in the line " Susfendit picta vultum mentemque tabella." Epistles, Book II. i,
line 97.
EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY TASTE 53
senses of every spectator. A great example for every one who studies to make
pictures that have merits, understood not only by artist minds, but which are able
to take hold of every soul, however alien and ignorant. To this chiefest aim of
holding to the paths of truth, it must be truthfully admitted the aims of the clever
modern painters do not always turn ; and Painting on this head has certainly need
of being led back to first principles. I do not pretend that they should nowadays
paint like Carpaccio ; but that like him they should endeavour vividly to reproduce
on their canvases as much of the simple truth as Carpaccio did ; and picturesque
licence should give force and light, and not hinder or destroy this essential and
primary part.
In more recent days we were even more unjust towards
Carpaccio, and but a few years since he was considered timid
and lifeless, in the same way that Tiepolo was judged inflated and
out of drawing. Criticism yawned before the paintings of the
former and laughed in the face of the frescoes of the latter ;
that criticism which is almost always guided by preconceived ideas
and deals out its judgments accordingly, or according to the
amount of taste that it acquires from them. Luigi Carrer in his
Elogio di Carpaccio and, with maturer judgment, Pietro Selvatico, 1
felt irresistibly drawn to this noble craftsman, but in their con-
sideration of his inner life they failed to free themselves from
the conventional ideas that still prevailed a little more than half
a century ago.
"Now," justly remarks that acute critic, Camillo Boito, "we
are more impartial and of broader mind : we embrace with one and
the same affection the painters of the fifteenth and of the eighteenth
centuries ; the ingenuous and the corrupt, the minute and the
impetuous, the straight line and the curved." To-day the greatness
of the master is fully understood, standing halfway between the
two glorious centuries of the Venetian Renaissance, and we
moderns study with devout attention this most attractive and
tender painter, the faithful reflex of his time and country, from
both of which he obtained the characteristics peculiar to his Art.
But outside and beyond the factors of time and place Carpaccio's
Art was governed by certain peculiar circumstances, concerning
which it behoves us to add a word in conclusion to complete as
far as may be the portrait of our artist.
Art-patronage attained in Venice wider if not more intense
proportions than elsewhere ; and if in other cities this prerogative
was exercised by free Republics or by Popes or Princes, here a
number of concurrent elements tended towards the selfsame end.
The government of a strong oligarchy, powerful in wealth, vied
in the protection accorded to artists with a middle class, equally
wealthy and prosperous, who found the means to satisfy their
artistic needs in the foundation and encouragement of their Con-
1 Selvatico, St. art. frit, dellt arti del dis., ii. 575. Venezia, 1856.
54 THE STUDIES OF VETTOR CARPACCIO
fraternities. These Guilds played a very noteworthy part in the
history of Venetian Art, to which they gave a mighty and effectual
impulse that deserves to be carefully considered.
The Venetians from the most ancient times clung to the Roman
tradition which associated artizans into special Confraternities and
Guilds according to their various trades. During the fourteenth and
fifteenth centuries these associations or Scuole, each of which had a
Saintly Patron, were governed according to their own Statutes,
called mariegole from the Latin matricula. The Scuole Grandi
were five only : those of S. Teodoro, S. Maria della Carita,
S. Giovanni Evangelista, S. Marco and S. Rocco. The lesser
Scuole were very numerous and were of three descriptions. First,
the natives of particular countries, like the Albanians, the
Sclavonians, etc., who banded themselves into an association for
their common interests and took for their Patron the Saintly
Protector of their native land. Secondly, the members of the
same art or trade, who chose as Patron a Saint who had exercised
the identical trade ; such as S. Anniano for the shoemakers,
SS. Cosmas and Damian for the surgeons and barbers, etc.
Thirdly, the Scuole of Devotion, who took their appellation from
some Saint selected in fulfilment of a vow, like that of S. Rocco
which was founded during a plague. Having thus propitiated
Heaven and the Saints these associations claimed the protection
of the State, which saw with satisfaction in these institutions of
religious and economic tendency an outlet for those popular energies
that might otherwise have threatened the unbending rule of the
nobles. The patricians gladly supported these guilds, and to mention
only those to whom Carpaccio gave his work we may observe
that the Scuola di S. Orsola numbered the Loredan family among
its protectors ; that the church of S. Maurizio, where the Albanians
first met together, honoured the Sanudo as its founders a
family whose descendants ordered from Carpacckt the altarpiece at
S. Giobbe ; and lastly that the Scuola dei Lan i n~~tyuoolstaplers)
di S. Stefano, by whom our artist \vas~atso~~em^)Toyed, enjoyed
the patronage and favour of the da Lezze. The connexion of
these Guilds with one another forms a network of material and
moral ties unwritten compacts and common aims and interests-
through which we may trace the course_of Carpaccicus artistic^
progress. It was his good fortune to start upon his career in
the Scuola di S. Orsola, where by Pontifical privilege Greek priests
were permitted to say Mass, and where also the Albanians had
their burial-place. The friendships which he, whilst working
there, must have contracted with men of those regions then
resident in Venice opened the door for other commissions
upon the part of the Albanians and Dalmatians, who desired
THE "SCUOLE" 55
likewise to adorn their " Halls " with paintings by the artist of
S. Orsola whom they thus knew and admired. These energetic
and intelligent folk wished their buildings glorified by illustrious
painters so as to be everlasting testimony not only of their faith
but also of their wealth and prosperity. And standing amid
scenes from the Gospels and from the Legends of the Saints we
still see like a sweet blossom the vigorous offshoot of Venice and
the energies of her people in the figures of those workmen and
artizans, who aspired to be portrayed in these paintings for their
Scuole joined together in prayer with the Virgin and the Blessed
Ones from Heaven.
The members of the various Guilds met on fixed occasions
to deliberate. Each Scuola elected a president or Gastaldo, a
Scrivano or secretary, several councillors or Compagni, a treasurer,
an auditor, two syndics and one or two assessors to levy the
subscriptions. Each Scuola had its own standard and joined
in procession at religious and civil festivities. For the Feast of
S Mark, Patron of the City, they all met at the Basilica in the
presence of the Doge and vied with each other in the possession
of precious relics and sumptuous banners.
To give an idea of the wealth of the Scuole it will suffice to
record that the Scuola of the Master-Masons commenced in 1439
to rebuild the hospital adjoining S. Giovanni Evangelista and
completed it with surpassing magnificence in 1481 ; and that later
on arose the " Scuola " of 5. Marco, the masterpiece of Pietro
Lombardo, Giovanni Buora and Moro da Bergamo; the "Scuole"
of S. Rocco, due to Bartolommeo Bon and Antonio Scarpagnino ;
of la Misericordia, built by Sansovino ; and of 6". Girolamo, built
by Vittoria.
The close tie which binds these institutions to the Fine Arts
deserves to be noted, because many of the sentiments and inten-
tions of the men, who, united in these Confraternities, rendered
such signal service to their country, are made known to the world
outside through the work of the craftsmen employed by them.
Thus it is that Carpaccio may be styled the historian of this most
important branch of the life of Venice. His pictures were not
completed for the mere adornment of churches, oratories, halls or
chambers : theyLjconslitute complete Cycles of Art, like chapters of
^a. tale, in which we may read the domestic history of the period,
and mat no less glorious story of the Trades-Guilds whose inner
constitution and activity should be particularly studied as an aid
to understanding the evolution of Carpaccio's genius and multiform
activity.
CHAPTER IV
THE HISTORY OF THE SCUOLA DI SANT ORSOLA.
BEFORE describing the various pictorial Cycles composed by
Carpaccio the history of the Institution which gave the
craftsman so favourable an opportunity for the development
of the force of his genius should be briefly discussed. The Scuola
di Sant' Orsola, containing that magnificent series of paintings which
marks the first period of the artistic life of this king of painters,
will therefore first occupy our attention.
In 1234 the Doge Jacopo Tiepolo presented the Dominican Order
with a piece of marshland within the boundaries of S. Maria
Formosa and S. Marina (in confinibns Sancte Marice Formosa et
Sancte Marines) thereon to erect a convent and a church. The
church designed in the Gothic style, commenced about 1240, and
dedicated to SS. Giovanni and Paolo, arose beside the convent,
and at the beginning of the following century the Scuola di
S. Orsola was built upon the same site. Some devout persons,
accustomed perhaps to meet together in the sacristy of the new
church, resolved to place themselves under the protection of this
Saint and her martyred companions. Be this as it may, an
authentic document gives the precise date of the Foundation : viz.,
" the i5th day of July, 1300: in the time of the illustrious Messer
Pietro Gradenigo, renowned Doge of Venice, was made and com-
menced this blessed Congregation to the glory and honour "
(75 luglio del 1300 : In lo tempo dello egregio niesser Piero Gradenigo
inclito doxe de l^inexia, fo fata e comengada questa benedeta con-
gregation a loldo et honor) "of Our Lord and of the Virgin, and
under the protection of SS. Dominick, Peter Martyr and Ursula." 1
The chapel dedicated to these three Saints was built seven
years after the Scuola in the graveyard of SS. Giovanni e Paolo,
adjacent to the church, beside the large window afterwards filled
1 Arch, di Stato. Scuola di Sanf Orsola a SS. Giovanni e Paolo. Atti Diversi, B. 599.
56
THE RECORDS OF THE SCUOLA 57
with glass painted by Mocetto. Over the door ran an inscription
of which ancient records have preserved the preamble :
S SCOLE BEATE URSULE ET || XI. M. VIRGINU. FACTA ANNO STTl || Si
III
MESE MARCI TPV GA || STALDIONIS MARIN . TIRALAGO || ET SOCIO 2J E I SACHETI
DE || MANGANO MARCI BATIORO || ZANE DE LA DONA. MARCI BOGATINO.
These are the earliest vestiges of the School.
Another and a very important document dated in the year of
the completion of the building is the Will of one Zuane Pollini,
who in April 1318 bequeathed to the Scuole di S. Orsola and di
S. Maria della Misericordia dei Mercanti * ; a palace in the Piazza.
di S. Bartolomeo, which bears to this day the arms of the
Scuola di S. Orsola : secondly some houses in the Ruga Giuffa
near S. Maria Formosa, on which may also still be seen the arms
of the two Scuole 2 ; and thirdly a small almshouse near the Arsenal,
in existence up to the last years of the Republic, and even within
the earlier days of the Austrian Government, 3 although notwith-
standing its long-protracted life the exact site of this foundation
is not now known.
Other records of the Scuola di S. Orsola, notably a copy of
the Mariegola or Statute of 1300, and a book of minutes kept
during the first half of the sixteenth century, 4 give an insight
into the inner life of this Guild, which, like many others, represented
one of the most characteristic aspects of the Life and Art of
Venice.
The object of the " Scuola of Devotion of S. Ursula," which
included among its members nobles and burgesses, men and women
alike, is defined by the simple words of the ancient Mariegola.
Since Holy Writ teaches that it is "a good and pleasant thing
to dwell together and to be humble in the Love of God " (bona et
aliegra cosa habitar insiembre et esser umili in lo amor de Did)
the Scuola meets and enacts Statutes and Rules to establish its
Will " to abide in the Love of God and of His Holy Peace, to the
glory and praise of the Omnipotent God and of the Blessed Mother,
Ever-Virgin, Madonna S. Mary, and of the Blessed Messer S. Peter,
martyr, and especially of Madonna S. Ursula, virgin, and all her
1 The place of meeting of this Scuola was originally near the church of the Frari ; but in the
fifteenth century it was affiliated to another confraternity of merchants, and thus formed the
Scuola di S. Cristoforo.
1 The Franciscan emblem indicates the Scuola di S. Maria della Misericordia dei Mercanti,
which honoured S. Francis as its Patron Saint.
3 One of the last inmates of this almshouse was a curious personage, Andrea Chiribiri, who
after having commanded the Hucentaur, denied his by no means inglorious past, joined the party
of the demagogues and subsequently ended his days in poverty.
4 Arch, di Stato. Scuola di Sanf Orsola a SS. Giovanni e Paolo, B.O. I., n. 30, fasc. i. The
original Mariegola is no longer in existence, but we know some of its contents from a copy
among the records belonging to the Convent of SS. Giovanni e Paolo.
8
5 8 HISTORY OF THE SCUOLA DI SANT ORSOLA
Blessed company, virgins and glorious martyrs and all others
His Saints" (stare in lo amor de Dio e de santa paxe a gloria
et laude de lo onipotente Dio e de la biada mare sempre verzene
Madona Santa Maria e de lo biado Misser San Piero martore
e specialmente de Madona Santa Orsola verzene e tutta la soa
compagnia biade verzene e martore glorioxe e de tuti li altri
sui Santi}.
We have said that in all the Scuole the Board of Governors,
styled the Banco, consisted of a Gastaldo, a J^icario, and a Secretary,
together known by the generic name of " benchers " (bancali). The
Bench so-called, at which the three Governors of the Scuola took
up their position, was a characteristic piece of furniture, very wide
and high, placed near the door of the chapel or meeting-hall, and
provided with pigeon-holes to contain the registers and papers of
the Scuola. 1 A delicately carved wooden back rose behind the
seat, and in front stood four lanterns on stone bases. On holidays
the Mariegola of the Scuola, bound in red velvet with bosses of
silver-gilt adorned with miniatures, was laid upon the bench. The
old Mariegola of S. Ursula was superseded on November i6th,
1488 by another of more handsome appearance, which contained
fresh regulations. The transcription of the older chapters was
followed by the new part, opening with a beautifully illuminated
initial letter representing their martyred Patroness.
Upon the bench stood the image of S. Ursula in painted wood,
attired in a mantle of crimson silk, with a silver gilt crown on
her head, the palm of martyrdom in her hand and a necklace of
pearl beads round her neck.
Upon festive occasions, processions, etc., and at funerals, the
members of the Confraternity walked, carrying candles, or certain
huge candelabra, then called doppieri, but nowadays aste (poles).
This characteristic species of candlestick, which we see in the
paintings of Carpaccio and Gentile Bellini, preserves its appearance
to this day. An ordinary staff formed the handle, which terminated
in a species of carved and gilt candelabrum surmounted with a
capital, from whence sprung a good-sized bunch of flowers or fruit
with the candle in the midst. Three streamers painted or em-
broidered with the arms of the Confraternity adorned each candle-
stick. Lanterns of gilded bronze containing a small lamp were
also fastened on to the top of the poles. The pennello or standard
could be of two kinds : either painted on silk, or in the form of a
wooden bas-relief representing some sacred subject raised aloft upon
a staff. A branch of the Confraternity of Painters was employed
exclusively in decorating these standards, and we have seen
1 One of these ancient benches can still be seen in Venice in the church of the Frari. It
belonged at one time to the Scuola di Sant' Antonio.
THE "MARIEGOLA" 59
how, among others, Marco Bastiani, Lazzaro's brother, painted
little else.
The members of the Scuola wore a long linen gown or cloak
with a hood, which generally hung down over their shoulders but
which served to cover the head on occasions of mourning. The
smallest detail of their attire was thought out with artistic precision.
The knotted tassels of their girdles were often triumphs of delicate
design, betokening the skill and fanciful deftness of Venetian
lace-makers (passamanteria). The colour of the cloak differed
according to the Scuola : it might be red, white, black, etc. That
of S. Ursula was white.
The majestic advance of a procession in religious or civic
solemnities offered a spectacle worthy of the great Venetian painters.
But it was a quaint sight, amid the glitter of gold and play of
colour, to notice running along the ranks a singular personage
whose business it was to collect the guttering wax from the candles,
and put it into a bag carried round his neck. In Carpaccio's
painting of The Healing of One Possessed, preserved in the Venice
Academy, we may see this brother the cerone with his little bag
adorned with the arms of the Scuola.
The articles of the Mariegola tend above all else to surround
devotion with a thousand minute, quaint and delightfully naive
regulations. They direct, first of all, that, when an extract
from the Mariegola is recited, salutations first be addressed " to
our Lady and Mother Madonna Saint Mary reverently saying :
Hail Mary ! " (ftostra dona e mare Madona Santa Maria con
Reverentia dicendo : Ave Maria). A small altar lamp or thurible
(cesendelo] shall burn unceasingly before the chapel of S. Ursula,
" to her most holy honour " (a lo so honor santissimo\ The chapel
owned a quantity of valuable plate and handsome vestments,
among which the most worthy of note was a cope of crimson
velvet with the story of S. Ursula embroidered in gold and silk.
The Mariegola contains also the agreement entered into by
the Brethren of the Scuola with the monks of the convent of
SS. Giovanni e Paolo. The former bind themselves to supply
to the convent twice a year a certain quantity of food-stuffs ; a
tribute for which later on a money tax was substituted. The
friars in return undertook to celebrate a Missa Cantata in the
chapel of S. Ursula, on the second Sunday of every month, and
a low mass every Monday, for the souls of the departed Brethren.
The Brethren were bound to confess once a year at least, and
those who failed in this duty were severely recalled to their duty
by the Gastaldo, or even expelled from the Scuola.
From the accounts for the year 1516 we learn other particulars
of the inner life of the Brotherhood; notably concerning the
60 HISTORY OF THE SCUOLA DI SANT' ORSOLA
preparations made for the Festa of their Patron Saint (October 21st), 1
and among the varied items of expenditure several deserve
special mention. Under the date of October 2ist, 1516 the ledger
states : " For the said illuminations to Master Michiel d' Arezzo,
engraver of Saints, for large S. Ursulas of three sorts to the
number of 200 and for smaller ones to the number of 400, given
to him, for the large 40 soldi a hundred, for the small 20 soldi a
hundred " (Per le luminarie ditte a mistro Michiel dArezo,
intagiador de li santi, per sante Orsole grande di tre sorte lo
numero 200 et de picole de 4 sorte lo nwnero 400 da. . . . con
lui le grande a soldi 40 al cento le picole a soldi 20 al cento}.
These agreements with the above-mentioned " Master Michiel" and
with a certain Ser Domenigo de Sandra stampador de santi for
the expenses of printing recur periodically. An article in the
Mariegola directs that on the day of S. Ursula, as in all other
Confraternities, the Illumination and Bread-tax (Luminaria e Pane)
should be discharged. This rate, which was paid at stated intervals,
constituted the principal revenue of the Scuola, together with the
voluntary offerings dropped into alms-boxes for the purpose. To
those brethren who paid the Luminaria-iax. the Gastaldo was
wont to offer, as a symbolical gift, a taper painted in miniature,
a loaf of bread and a picture of S. Ursula. Prior to the invention
of printing these pictures, which were presented to the brethren
to kiss, were illuminated on parchment by certain craftsmen called
miniasanti. They were afterwards superseded by woodcuts,
executed in the first years of the sixteenth century by Michele
d' Arezzo and printed by Domenico di Sandro. 2
1 On October 2oth Master Stefano de Vecchi depentor was paid for having painted the nave
of the chapel and having prepared the garlands and "everything else belonging to his depart-
ment " (et ogni ultra chossa pertinente a lui). On October 2 8th the accounts are settled with
the trumpeters and pipers who went in boats to play at the Rialto and at S. Mark's on the
Eve of the Feast. On November 6th the same De Vecchi is paid for work done in the
nave, when he repaired the hooks (gonzoli) and garlands for the Feast of the Saint. At this
same Festa Master Vincenzo, chorister at SS. Giovanni e Paolo (Misser Vincenzo, chantator de la
chapella de San Zuanne Polio), sang two vespers and a mass, and is paid on October 25th.
In December Ser Andrea Visentino organista is paid for his services throughout the year.
On August 2oth, 1517 six ducats are assigned to Mistro Alessandro depentor for painting the
vault over the high altar, for stuccoing the cracks and for making a frieze to imitate mosaic
and dividing pillars of imitation marble and porphyry. All these works were for the new
chapel of the high altar, built in 1504. On August loth, 1522 Ser Domenego Tegna, indorador
(gilder) was paid for gilding a frame placed before the Christ in the Hall of the Scuola. On
December i4th, 1522 Messer fra Zanetto Fior for the purchase of a "corporal for the altar"
(d"un corporal per el altar}: on January z8th, 1528, Ser Nadalin de Marcho, depentor, for
painting the candles : whilst other sums were paid to the glassmaker and to the goldsmith,
who restored the tabernacle, wherein was preserved one of S. Ursula's teeth, etc.
1 This curious custom has up till now not been sufficiently noticed. In the Greek church
the custom of kissing images of Saints was very ancient and much practised. Now the Greek
church had great influence upon the Patriarchal Use of Venice. When the Doge entered
the Basilica of S. Mark he was offered a pax to kiss, and a special Rule of Ceremony directed
what persons should be permitted to join in this kiss. In S. Mark's may still be seen, beneath
the Virgin known as the Mother of Consolation (Mater Consolationis), an alms-box, adorned
ALMSGIVING 61
Devotion to S. Ursula was as it were a monopoly of
the Scuola. No other Confraternity had the right to demand
offerings in the name of this Saint, nor to set up in their
churches any alms-box with her image. Any person infringing
this privilege would doubtless have been liable to an action at
law. 1
Besides the Scuola alms-boxes, attached to the Gastaldds bench,
portable collecting boxes were carried round the church by the
sacristans, as is done to this day. The Scuole of Arts and Crafts
also made house-to-house collections ; but those of Devotion
confined themselves to begging alms during Mass. The faithful
who made an offering received in return from the sacristan a
picture of the Saint, kissed it and placed it in their prayer-
books. Others contented themselves with kissing the pax affixed
to the alms-box. These devout customs have not altogether
disappeared : we may observe them yet in the Basilica of
S. Mark, where the cult of the Madonna Nicopeia attracts
numberless devotees. 2
In the Mariegola of S. Ursula, besides the record of these
pictures, distributed along with wax tapers and bread on the
Saint's Feast Day, we find that on every first Sunday in the
month each brother was obliged to "take out his tally" (levar la
so tolela}. This tolela or tally was a small oblong piece of
wood or a bronze tablet, issued on the payment of a tax,
with an ancient miniature in Byzantine style which represents the Virgin and Child and bears
the Greek inscription: 'H EAEOY2A (the Pitiful). Devout Venetians, according to time-
honoured custom, deposit their alms in the box, and not being able to kiss the image, since
it is placed too high up, kiss two fingers of their own hands and touch it with them. Another
form of pax for kissing is affixed over the alms-chest of the old Scuola di S. Antonio in the
church of the Frari. The image of the Saint under glass is suspended by a short chain to
allow the faithful to kiss it. The "large S. Ursulas" ordered, for which payment was made
to the engraver, Michele d' Arezzo, doubtless served as paces for the alms-boxes of the Scuola :
the small ones as gifts in return for taxes paid or minor offerings.
1 Besides the boxes intended for the cult of the titular Saint, there were others in various
churches for the worship of the most Blessed Sacrament. These bore as a mark of distinction
a Pieta, painted and framed in a little niche. Examples of these are a Dead Christ carved
on an alms-box affixed to a pilaster in the church of the Frari, and an Ecce Homo cast in
bronze by Alessandro Leopardi over the alms-box of the Blessed Sacrament in the church of
S. Mark. All these alms-boxes bear also paces of silver in relief with the symbol of the
Sacrament. Among the examples of Venetian line-engraving representations of the Dead
Christ and of the Entombment are frequently to be found. These images, framed and glazed,
served probably to stimulate the devotion and generosity of the faithful in the poorer
churches in the same way as the stone sculpture at the Frari and Leopardi's bronze at
S. Mark's.
* If we consider the vast number of churches and Scuole that at one time existed in Venice
we can understand how enormous must have been the production and sale of such pictures.
A few examples still remain; precious "incunabula" pasted into the covers of some old
book. We know also the Will of one Antonio Zacuol of Bergamo, a sixteenth-century engraver,
who bequeathed his dies to his children that they might continue to print from them. This
trade was in fact hereditary and Antonio's father, Alessandro, was also an engraver. The
dies lasted for several generations and were printed again and again for many years without
alteration.
62 HISTORY OF THE SCUOLA DI SANT' ORSOLA
which served as a badge of recognition at meetings and for
voting purposes. 1
Mutual benefit was one of the leading purposes of a Scuola.
Chapter IV. of the old Mariegola ordains that if a member of the
Scuola falls sick, the Gastaldo or one of the other bancali shall
visit him. If the patient be poor he shall be relieved from the
funds of the Confraternity and by alms collected with that object.
The wife of the Gastaldo is bound to visit the sick sisters. The
Brethren take turns to watch over the sick man, and the Gastaldo
and all the bancali must repair to the Prior of the monks of
SS. Giovanni e Paolo and beg him to supply good and sufficient
friars (do boni et sufficients frari) to visit and comfort the invalid.
The departed Brethren had the privilege of burial in the vaults of
the Scuola under the external portico. The paintings of Carpaccio
in the Scuola degli Schiavoni 6". Jerome taming the Lion and
The Funeral of S. Jerome afford not only an exact representation
of one of these porticoes, but depict also a scene which must have
resembled the burial of a brother : the dead man escorted by his
companions, bearing candles and the standard of the Scuola. A
sum was deducted from the property of the deceased, or if a
poor man taken from the funds of the Guild, and given to the
monks of SS. Giovanni e Paolo to celebrate masses for the repose
of his soul. By the Will of Pollini the Scuola di S. Orsola
became possessed of a small alms-house for the sick and aged ;
and the members also undertook to dower the daughters of poor
brethren out of their revenues.
Such in short were the charitable usages of this Scuola, which
was administered with the order and discipline of a patriarchal
family. Thus, if one of the Brethren were found publicly " in
any mortal sin " (in algun pecado mortal] his superiors recalled
him to his duty three times ; and if this admonition proved vain,
he was expelled. In the event of a quarrel arising between two
1 This is confirmed by a document discovered and published recently by Signor Urbani de
Gheltof (Bullettino di Arti, Industrie e Curiosita Veneziane. Anno. III. p. 31). It is a
fragment of the Matricola of Venetian painters dated 1350 ; and the passage of interest to us
prescribes how, it being thought " that since the tokens or tolelle of the brethren are very easy
to imitate in value, from now onwards the brethren shall cause to be stamped copper discs,
which shall have on them their distinguishing marks, and each brother shall then have them
when they ballot for brethren or on any other regulation of the Mariegola" (// signali sive
tolelle di frari sii multo fazile a contrafarsi sit prexo che da ora in avanti It frari deno farsi
stampare monede di rame le quale sarano cum lo suo signo et zascadun frare li hauera alora
che si harano a balotar frari o altre regale de mariegola). To explain the use of these
tolelle let us recall the decision taken in 1341 by the Scuola di S. Teodoro : "It was ordained
with unanimous agreement that our Scuola be regulated by the method of the tolella. And
each brother wrote his name on a tolella with his own private mark" (fo ordenado cum
p laser de tutti che la nostra Scuola sia metuda ad tolelle. E zascadun frare abbia scritto lo
suo name su una tolella cum suo certo segno). A few of these bronze tallies, which are now
very rare, are preserved in the Museo Civico. Later on they were superseded by medals,
which served to distinguish the different Confraternities.
THE MONKS OF SS. GIOVANNI E PAOLO 63
Brethren they were to be reconciled within eight days under pain
of expulsion. Obscene language was prohibited, and whoever used
an indecent expression was punished with a fine. Finally under
threat of denunciation to the State, " everything was prohibited
that might cause injury or damage or insult to Messer the Doge
of Venice, or otherwise to that blessed State, which has been
chosen by God the Almighty Father for the protection and support
of all the oppressed " (era proibita algttna cossa la qual fosse
inzuria e dano o despresio de Miser lo Doxe de Venezia over de
questa benedeta citade la qual sie eleta da Dio pare onipotente per
recovramento e sostegnamento di tutti li tribolati, cap. xii.).
A curious form of ceremonial was also observed at the election
of the bancali. The day before the election of the Gastaldo and
the other new officers the Scuola caused a Mass of the Holy
Spirit to be sung. The retiring Gastaldo and his colleagues
attended, taper in hand, and then, preceded by the cross-bearer,
they retired into a place apart to await the election of their
successors.
But this simple life of prayer was often agitated by disturb-
ances : we might even say " storms." The Scuola could not
manage to live at peace with the adjacent convent. The earliest
difference known to us occurred in 1428. The friars claimed that,
although the joint agreement granted to the Scuola the use of
the chapel of S. Ursula, it yet remained the property of the
convent : that in consequence therefore the Confraternity had no
right to make structural alterations without their consent : and
that the former must confine their attention to the repair of the
chapel, without interfering with the tombs within it.
Even the Masses afforded cause of complaint, the friars alleging
that they were insufficiently remunerated by the Scuola. To prove
their rights over the chapel they brought forward a Bull of
Sixtus IV., dated 1474, permitting the Greek nation to celebrate
their rites, provided that they paid annual compensation to the
convent " under the form of alms." x
By the new Mariegola of 1488, in the hope of terminating
these quarrels, a resolution was passed admitting ten friars to
the membership of the Confraternity. The members were to
receive the new Brethren kneeling, whilst they took the oath
before the altar, and each of these ten friars must celebrate three
masses for the souls of the departed Brethren ; and in the event
of refusal they were to be superseded by other priests. The
Scuola on its part agreed to give a loaf of bread and a taper every
year on S. Ursula's day to each of the ten friars.
1 Flaminio Corner. Ecdesice Venet<e, Decade XV. Venezia, Pasquali, 1749.
64 HISTORY OF THE SCUOLA DI SANT' ORSOLA
In this same year 1488 the members of the Scuola made great
efforts to economize in order to add various embellishments to
the premises, more especially to provide certain canvases with the
" History of Madonna S. Ursula" (i teleri de la istoria de madona
Santa Orsola 1 }; and these "canvases," recorded in the Mariegola
with such ingenuous simplicity, are precisely those which Car-
paccio was to cover with his marvellous paintings. In fact, the
first picture was painted but two years later, that is to say, in
1490; and the date of the last is 1496. It indeed is true that
all are not dated, and it is possible that some may have been
executed later on ; but it is certain that the nine scenes of
S. Ursula's life were exhibited to the admiration of the faithful
in 1498. They represent respectively:
1. The Ambassadors of the King of England present them-
selves before the King of Britain to demand his
daughter Ursula in marriage for the son of their King.
2. The English Ambassadors take leave of the King of
Britain.
3. The Return of the Ambassadors to England.
4. The Betrothed Pair take leave of their Parents.
5. S. Ursula's Dream.
6. The Bridal Pair meet Pope Cyriacus in Rome.
7. The Arrival at Cologne.
8. The Martyrdom.
9. The Apotheosis of the Saint.
Carpaccio had scarcely finished his work when great strife broke
out between the convent and the Scuola. 2
This quarrel lasted until three years later. In 1501 the friars
presented to the Papal Nuncio a lengthy series of complaints
against the Scuola. They said that it was only out of good
nature that they had conceded to the Brethren of S. Ursula the
key of the chapel, so that they could enter more freely : whereas
they had not only appropriated it, as though they had been actual
owners thereof, but had made many alterations therein, had re-
moved two altars "contrary to all law and agreement" (contra
iura et contra pacta\ had used the vaults to bury deceased
Brethren, had changed the keys in order to hinder the access of
the lawful owners, and finally had gone so far as to lay hands
upon the alms of the faithful. Father Colonna, the author of the
Hypnoteromachia, demanded therefore from the Nuncio, in the
1 Arch, di Stato. Mariegola della Scuola di Sanf Orsola, pp. n seg., Reg. 597.
2 Ibid. Man. Mori. SS. Giovanni e Paolo, B.O. I., n. 115, A.T.
63 MiN-IATURE
-^^ FROM " THE MARIE-
f COLA" OF 1488.
62 SILVER HEAD OF S. URSULA.
In the Cathedral of Fiume.
THE CHURCH OF SAN GIOVANNI E PAOLO, VENICE.
Detail from the Plan of Jacopo de Barbara.
ANGELO TREVISAN 65
name of the convent, an order that it should not be lawful to
hinder in any way the use of the chapel by the friars. 1
The Nuncio naturally desired to hear the other side also. The
Gastaldo of S. Ursula denied all that the monks had asserted and
showed that the Scuola had done nothing but what had been
conceded to them by their Statutes, by their rights and by common
usage. The decision of the Nuncio consequently failed to satisfy
the monks, who appealed to the Holy See ; whereupon the Holy
See appointed Andrea Mocenigo, Rector of the parish of San
Pantaleone, to settle the question. 2 Mocenigo awarded to the
monks the ownership of the chapel, but decided that the Scuola
should continue to keep the keys. With these mutual concessions
it was hoped that peace might be secured ; but in reality the truce
lasted but a short time.
In 1509 Angelo Trevisan with fifty galleys had taken Fiume.
Before destroying the city he caused to be handed over to him
during the sack a silver " head " preserved in that city, which contained
the remains of the skull of S. Ursula. Trevisan brought this
bust to Venice, and presented it to the monks of SS. Giovanni e
Paolo. 3
A strange figure of a soldier, this donor of relics. He bore
the nickname of cancer in the nose (cancro al naso], and whenever
he besieged a city nothing but ruin remained. His gift became
also a cause of dispute. The convent and the Scuola contended
with one another for the possession of the relic, and the question
was laid before the magistrates of the Republic. The latter decreed
that the head should remain in the possession of the convent, with
the obligation to expose it every year at the Feast of S. Ursula
on the altar of the Scuola, under the custody of two monks ; and
that the alms collected on that occasion should be divided between
the convent and the Scuola. 4 We may add that the precious relic
did not remain long in Venice; because in 1521, through the
intervention of the Emperor, the Republic restored it to the City
of Fiume, where it is still preserved in the Cathedral. 5
But notwithstanding these lawsuits and many other hindrances
1 Among the Italian monks in the convent at that time we notice the names of the painter
Marco Pensaben and the celebrated Francesco Colonna, author of that curious Hypnoteromachia
di Polifilo, which contributed so much to restore to honour the ancient sense of proportion in
Art. Colonna, master of sacred theology (sacrtz theologice magister), was at that time also
procurator and syndic of S. Ursula.
8 Arch, di Staff. Scuola di Sanf Orsola a SS. Giovanni e Paolo, B. 599.
3 1510 3. Gennaio: " ///. Dominum Caput glori. Virginis Sancte Ursule argento decoratum
aurato a zono supra, cum quibusdam folijis circum circa ad modum laboris camuphatj cum corona
jn capite de argento in qua corona sunt duo lapides vitrei : azuri colons et omnia folia corone duobus
exceptis fractce sunt dedit conventus nostro sanctorum Io is . et Pauli Procuratione Rev" di . prioris
magistris Sixti Veneti . . ." Arch, di Stato, M. M. SS. Giovanni e Paolo, libro rosso, no. 124 A.
* Arch, di Stato. B.O. I., n. 188, fasc. 5.
5 Ibid. B.O. I., n. 80, A. 3.
66 HISTORY OF THE SCUOLA Dl SANT' ORSOLA
the Scuola grew daily in importance. The work of decoration
continued, Carpaccio's pictures specially attracting many visitors ;
and soon an extension of the building was felt to be necessary.
On August 4th, I5O4 1 the Banco therefore decreed the construction
of a small chancel to contain the high altar, over which hung
Carpaccio's large painting of The Apotheosis of the Saint. Thus
by suppressing the steps and choir-rails the body of the church
gained one-third in floor space.
In 1546 the Brethren closed up the external portico with wooden
panels. The monks naturally at once protested, but this time the
two parties came to an agreement in a contract, by which the
convent consented to the closing of the portico, provided that
the Prior kept one of the two keys of the chapel. 2
We learn from a document dated January 8th, 1552 that the
Scuola determined to renew the benches along the wall beneath
Carpaccio's canvases. Since "beneath such noteworthy paintings,
with such exceedingly beautiful figures, as the evidence of the thing
demonstrates, there were broken and worm-eaten benches." 3
Very striking is this respect and admiration for the work of
a great painter, inasmuch as it is desired that the surrounding
objects shall also be worthy of their beauty.
The old Inventories of the Scuola, which still exist, tell us that
it was enriched by fresh objects of value and sumptuous ornaments.
In the earliest of these Inventories, dating back to the first half of
the fourteenth century, we notice inter alia a great silver-gilt cross,
a robe of cloth of gold, a crown of silver-gilt adorned with pearls
and precious stones, a girdle of gold, etc. 4 Another Inventory of
January 1506 mentions a thurible and an incense-boat of silver,
pieces of cloth of gold adorned with embroideries, printed missals,
a tabernacle of crystal containing a tooth of S. Ursula, a pax of
ivory, etc., etc., 5 and that of June 3rd includes a Mariegola bound
in velvet with gilt bosses, hangings of golden brocade, etc.
So much treasure could not fail to tempt the cupidity of thieves,
who on the night of June i4th, 1572 broke open the door, and
carried away " many goods of different kinds, silver and divers other
ornaments and consecrated properties ;" amongst which was a large
chalice adorned with the arms of Loredan. 6
But what grieved the Brethren most was the absence from their
altar on Feast-days of the head of S. Ursula, which they had been
forced to restore to Fiume. Fortunately a short time afterwards,
1 Arch, di Stato. M.M. 5, Scuola di San? Orsola, etc. Processi B. 2"., n. 5, busta 601.
2 Ibid., B. 600.
3 Ibid.
* Ibid., Mariegola della Scuola.
* Ibid.
6 Ibid., M.M. 5, Scuola di Sanf Orsola, etc. Processi B. 2" N. 5, busta 60 1.
THE RESTORATION OF THE CHAPEL 67
that is in 1592, the Patriarch of Venice, Lorenzo Priuli, received
from Cologne, where according to tradition the 11,000 virgins were
buried, the heads of two of these martyrs, which were consigned
to the custody of the Guild of S. Ursula. Thus the void was
at least in part filled up.
In 1637 the Scuola, desiring to rebuild their chapel, and to
connect with it a meeting-hall, called the Albergo, petitioned the
friars for a piece of ground upon which to construct a staircase,
in return for which they offered to release the convent from their
obligations, whilst continuing to pay the stipulated dues. The site
was granted, but the work proceeded very slowly, perhaps through
a delay in commencing, or perhaps because of interruptions through
lack of funds. The fact remains however that a document of 1646
states that the building was in ruins, and that it was necessary
to lose no time in restoration, so that no damage might occur to
the precious relics, "and the pictures of the famous painter;" a
manifest allusion to Carpaccio.
Meanwhile the revenues of the Guild had dwindled to twenty
ducats a year only, and they were heavily in debt to their convent-
neighbour. Those were the days when Venice, once so wealthy and
prosperous, was declining day by day : and the Confraternity of
S. Ursula, like so many other institutions, had fallen from its high
estate. They were compelled therefore, through stress of want, to
ask for relief from the convent, and the monks generously renounced
a large portion of their rights. Whilst the builders were making a
new roof, in order that Carpaccio's paintings should not remain
exposed to wind and weather, it was decided to transfer them to
a room already repaired, and afterwards, when the work was
finished, to replace them in position.
The work of restoration was completed in 1647, and the following
inscription was placed over the door as a record :
S.N.B.D. 1 HOC TEMPLUM VENERABILIS || SCOLAE DIVAE URSULAE V.M. || VETU-
STATE CONSUMPTUM || COLLABENS PIOR. ELEEMOSINIS || ITERUM FABRICATUM FUIT
SUB || DIRECTIONS EX INDUSTRIA || D. II NICOLAI BALANZANI EO TEMPORE ||
QUO EIUSDEM SCOLAE GUBERNATOR || FUIT ANNO MDCXLVII.
The Scuola had been enlarged and the roof raised by these
works. The light poured in through five large windows, designed
in the Palladian style. But the inferior architect of the seventeenth
century did not hesitate to tamper with the work of the great
painter of the fourteenth, and in order to open the new windows
he cut away about six inches along the top of every one of
Carpaccio's paintings. Martinioni omits to mention this in the
third edition of Sansovino's Venezia, when he writes that the
1 Sit nomen Domini Btnedictum.
RECONSTRUCTION or THE PLAN OF OLD SCUOLA (1304).
a. The Chapel ; c. the passage ; s. the portico ;
h. the Church of SS. Giovanni e Paolo.
68 HISTORY OF THE SCUOLA DI SANT' ORSOLA
Oratory of S. Ursula had been recently improved by lunettes,
which made it very much lighter and set off Carpaccio's paintings
to far greater advantage.
About a century later the Scuola besought the Proweditori for
a fresh grant of money towards the restoration of their premises ;
but restorations were perhaps only a pretext.
In 1752 the paintings were rebacked, varnished, and restored
by Prof. Giuseppe Cortese at
the expense of a certain M.
Ortali. 1 In 1754 another
application by the Scuola to
the Proweditori shows that
two doors formerly existing
on either side of the altar
and afterwards walled up had
become even more needed,
as much for the preservation
of the "ancient and precious"
paintings by Carpaccio as for
the entrance and exit of the
numerous worshippers, who,
on solemn Feast-days and in Holy-week thronged the chapel
to kiss the relics. The permission to reopen them was granted. 2
The Scuola from this time dragged on an existence of poverty
and struggle. But doubtless from time to time all who still
loved Art and Religion, saddened by present misfortunes and the
memories of a glorious past, would enter the ancient chapel of
S. Ursula to seek a little consolation by gazing rapturously at
Carpaccio's pictures, and turning back in memory to days happier
for their Art and their country.
Then came the catastrophe. In 1810 a decree of Napoleon
suppressed the venerable Scuola.
Of the original structure of 1306 no single stone remains ; but
we may reconstruct the buildings as they stood in Carpaccio's
time with the aid of various documents. Jacopo de Barbaris'
Plan of Venice (1500) is valuable, though incomplete; and another
map dated 1750, drawn up by the architect of the Scuola and
found among the Deeds, likewise contains indications of places,
buildings, etc., which even at that time had ceased to exist.
From the dimensions of Carpaccio's paintings, and from definite
information that they were set in two groups of three along both
walls, we can infer with certainty that the original Scuola was
about forty-six Venetian feet long; and since such in fact is the
1 G. A. Moschini, Guida per la citta di Venezia, 1815, vol. ii. p. 493.
1 Arch, di Stato. Scuola di San? Orsola, B. 599, i. 3.
\ iMi fc_T ^k *^ ^^ V^u ,^k k.<
59
RESTORATION OF THE SCUOLA DI SANT' ORSOLA AS IT MUST HAVE BEEN IN 1500.
DESCRIPTION OF THE CHAPEL
69
length of the building erected in 1647, we may conclude that as
regards the length no change was made.
The ground plan of the building was laid out with reference
to that of SS. Giovanni e Paolo a magnificent church with a
nave and two aisles crossed by a transept. If we stand in the
central apse of this church we see before us a row of five chapels
in succession, to which the Oratory of S. Ursula forms an extension
outside the church.
The width of the original Oratory can be conjectured by taking
together the breadth of the painting, which was over the door,
the space occupied by two pilasters on either side, and the thickness
of the wall. Comparing this with the later building we find that
the latter was two metres wider, signifying that the distance
between the church and the chapel was originally greater than it
remained after the reconstruction in the seventeenth century. In
de Barbaris' plan also this distance is very considerable, but it
should be observed that his map affords no exact indications of
Venetian topography, and may rather be called an artistic survey
of the general aspect of the city.
PLAN (1750) OF THE SCUOLA AFTER THE RECONSTRUCTION IN 1647.
a. The Chapel ; b. Tombs ; c. the old Sacristy ; d. covered passage ; e. private houses ;
/. a street ; g. the graveyard ; h, the Church of SS. Giovanni e Paolo.
The portico occupied the centre of the chapel front, according
to the ancient custom of which we still have an example in the
church of S. Jacopo di Rialto ; and the measurements are given
in an eighteenth-century plan preserved in the Venice Archives.
A line drawn on the piazzetta before the chapel to the east side
of the large window of the church indicates also the position of
the columns of the portico.
70 HISTORY OF THE SCUOLA DI SANT' ORSOLA
As we have already stated, a free space existed between the
church and the chapel, upon which, according to the showing of
an old plan, the sacristy was built. We find in documents
mention of the Albergo or meeting-hall : and this room being
over the sacristy that building must have had two stories.
Records also speak of one entrance-door only to the older
Oratory ; but another small door must have opened from the
choir to the left, since a cut may be perceived in the first painting
of the series, The Arrival of the Ambassadors. This cut, as we
shall learn, was made by the painter himself to fit the picture to
a little door, which probably afforded access to the lobby leading
from the chapel choir to the sacristy between the two buildings.
Having thus reconstructed the original plan of the chapel, let
us endeavour to imagine the outward aspect. The space between
the church and the chapel was, as we have said, occupied by the
sacristy, lighted probably by a grated window ; and above this
the window of the Albergo would doubtless have opened through
a pointed arch. The portico, supported on at least four columns
with capitals and a series of superimposed brackets forming the
arches, projected from the centre of the west front. The shape
of the roof is not shown distinctly on de Barbaris' plan : all we
can say is that it perhaps resembled the portico which Carpaccio
painted in his 6". Jerome taming the Lion for the Scuola dei
Dalmati. Over the roof above mentioned there was certainly a
large rose-window, and it may be that the border of the chapel
front was decorated with small flat ogives. De Barbaris' plan
shows us the south side supported by three buttresses, which
divided the whole surface into four compartments ; and the upper
portion of these was again subdivided into two smaller arches.
With regard to the interior we possess numerous indications,
as much from documents as from Carpaccio's canvases themselves.
Since the painting placed over the principal doorway was not cut,
and since the pictures were arranged in succession along the walls,
we may conclude that they must have been set at about two
metres from the ground : the height, in fact, of the entrance-door.
The space below the paintings was occupied by benches with
panelled backs, such as may still be seen in the Scuola dei
Dalmati.
If we examine the great altarpiece, The Apotheosis of
S. Ursula, we may observe that the scene is laid under an arch
supported by pilasters with Romanesque capitals. The two
pilasters painted in the picture must have had beside them two
similar ones of wood, which, as is the case in so many other Venetian
altars, formed the frame, thus completing the architecture painted
in the picture. The other canvases were undoubtedly separated by
ARRANGEMENT OF THE PAINTINGS 71
wooden pilasters, and the architrave which ran along above the
capitals on the altarpiece continued all along the walls above the
other paintings.
Such approximately would have been the appearance of the
lateral walls of the chapel.
The next point is to ascertain the order in which the paintings
followed one another ; three on the left, or Gospel side (in cornu
Evangelii}, and four to the right on that of the Epistle (in cornu
Epistolce). Since one of these latter paintings formed a diptych this
series was not divided by four pilasters ; but in order to preserve
iT^^n
s8Sft
' TsSMa
l&W^iri
m^im
?im P si?
M
JU
RECONSTRUCTION OF THE EXTERIOR OF THE SCUOLA.
the symmetry, and also for want of space, the scene of The Dream
was separated from The Arrival in Rome by a plain strip of wood.
By the construction of these two canvases The Arrival in Rome
became the sequel to The Dream.
The entrance wall, of which the chapel-door did not occupy
the centre, was adorned by a single painting, The Departure of the
Betrothed Pair a composition divided by means of a painted
standard into two unequal parts. The smaller portion extended
over the doorway ; the larger over the benchers' seat, which stood
against the wall below.
The altar-wall had in the centre the large painting mentioned
72 HISTORY OF THE SCUOLA DI SANT' ORSOLA
above, encased, as has been said, by a framework composed of
two wooden pilasters, an architrave, and an arch. In the corners
there must have been similar pilasters connected with those of the
frame by means of the architrave ; and right and left of the altar,
between the two pilasters, there were two empty spaces covered
probably by marble slabs, as is customary in other churches.
We will now examine the first painting, The Arrival of the
Ambassadors.
Prof. Pietro Paoletti, in the Catalogue of the Royal Gallery
of Venice 1903, p. 165, writes as follows: "And it is precisely in
this canvas . . . that one may see not very ancient traces of a door
existing in the original South Wall of the building." In other
words, he would have us believe that the first scene was hung
originally in cormi Epistolce (South Wall), and that in 1785 a cut
53 cm. by 132 cm. was made to open a lateral door to the Scuola,
which had already, besides the main entrance, two small doors
right and left of the altar. We say advisedly " after 1785" because
in the engravings of de Pian, published in that year, we do not see
any cut in the canvas. We give a very exact drawing of the door
1.90 cm. high in the South Wall, still existing in the Canonica
of SS. Giovanni e Paolo, and we mark the position over this lateral
door in which Prof. Paoletti believes that this first scene hung.
Now the height at which the paintings were set corresponds with
that of the principal door, above which was placed The Departure
of the Betrothed Pair: i.e. 2m. 15 cm. high. We must therefore
repeat that all the other scenes were also hung at a similar height,
and if, as Prof. Paoletti thinks, The Arrival of the Ambassadors
was placed over the " not very ancient door " in the South Wall,
there would have been no necessity to cut the picture, that door
being only i m. 90 cm. in height. Besides, as may be seen in the
drawing, the cut in the painting does not correspond with the
opening of the door.
Thus the cut in question has no visible connection with the
door, and indeed it is not credible that the contemporaries of
Anton Maria Zanetti and Francesco Algarotti, those warm admirers
of old Venetian painting the appreciation for which had come to
life again in the eighteenth century could have committed such
a profanation as to mutilate the great painter's work merely in
order to open an exit into a narrow courtyard. The canvas under-
neath the King's throne actually shows a cut, but this we repeat
was the painter's own act to adapt the painting to the door leading
to the sacristy. Clever craftsmen understand how to draw profit
even from difficulties, and Carpaccio availed himself of the door
to support the throne, upon which King Maurus is shown to be
sitting. Now in the painting set formerly over the principal
ARRANGEMENT OF THE PAINTINGS 73
entrance no cuts were needed, which shows that this door stood
lower than that into the sacristy ; the latter evidently opened from
the choir, raised above the rest of the floor. The difference in the
floor must have been, according to old Venetian measurements,
i ft. 6 in. (53 cm.), because such is the height of the cut in the
picture. Thus it would appear that three steps led from the nave
up to the choir.
The first canvas therefore is divided into two unequal parts :
one of which represents The Arrival of the Ambassadors and
The Colloquy of the Saint with her Father ; the other smaller
one shows a number of spectators grouped under a magnificent
portico. Now the last scene is likewise divided by means of a
very beautiful column into two unequal portions. The longer piece
PI
WALL ON THE SOUTH SIDE (Corntt Epistola).
Pp. Height of the principal door, or height at which the paintings were placed ; PI. Side-
door made during the last century after the suppression ; a. First painting; b. Strip
of painting cut off after 1810; c. Frame; /. Cut observable in the first painting.
represents The Martyrdom of the Saint, the smaller Her Funeral.
If we draw an imaginary line from the portico in the first scene
to the column in the last, it would follow the choir rails and
exclude the smaller divisions of the two canvases. Thus the choir
occupied one-third of the floor-space, and the nave the rest : a
proportion thoroughly in harmony with the customs of the period.
Before the altar steps, according to trustworthy documents,
was the tomb of Pietro Loredan.
Having thus ascertained the height and length of the chapel,
it behoves us to learn the exact position of the altar. Since we
have already determined the position of the altar-painting on the
wall, and thence also the precise point reached by the lower
extremity of the picture, we may conclude that immediately below
10
74 HISTORY OF THE SCUOLA DI SANT ORSOLA
the picture there was a plain predella, and under that again the
altar itself, raised from the floor by three steps.
The chapel roof must next occupy our attention. It would be
a mistake to suppose that the Scuola at the beginning of its
existence, and when possessed of but scanty means, could have
indulged in the expense of a vaulted roof of masonry, when all
known conditions rather lead us to suppose that the Brethren had
to be content with wood. The roof probably took the form of a
barrel, a shape much in use in early Venetian churches, especially
in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. To imagine what the
roof of S. Orsola was like we should look, not at the monumental
church of S. Stefano, but at other churches of more modest
dimensions, such as S. Giacomo all' Orio (1225), S. Giovanni
Decollate (1213) and S. Andrea della Zirada (1330). These two
latter churches have very beautiful barrel-shaped roofs, barbarously
concealed during the eighteenth century by flat ceilings of masonry.
The roof of S. Giacomo all' Orio has fortunately been preserved
for us in its primitive form.
The better to understand the construction of this roof we must
first examine the chapel walls outside. These are divided by three
buttresses into four equal compartments, further subdivided by
two small arcades. To prevent any sinking the early architects
bound the walls together by means of great ties called "catene";
= chains. These catene formed the heads of the external buttresses,
and of the corbels of the smaller arches, thus constituting a set
of seven equi-distant beams. We note in this connection that
we have no knowledge during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries
of the use of chains of iron : they were usually of wood. From
the inside lateral walls there projected at a certain height a
continuous and sloping architrave, required to sustain the cross-
beams. We may therefore picture to ourselves the interior appear-
ance of the roof thus : the wooden roof was spanned by seven
arches, the intermediate spaces being subdivided into squares, giving
to the whole the appearance of the carcass of a ship reversed. The
space left between the architrave over the paintings and this roof
was occupied by a series of brackets (a characteristic element
in Venetian architecture) set two and two between each cross-
beam.
We know from the MS. of Marco Antonio Luciani that outside
the chapel, between two buttresses of the South Wall, stood the tomb
which contained the remains of Giovanni Bellini. The first tomb
from the portico was that of Fantin Loredan, and next to it was that
of Bellini. But according to Venetian custom other remains besides
those of the owners of the tomb might be placed in these sarcophagi,
which formed part of the family estate. The tomb wherein the
THE LOREDAN TOMBS 75
bones of Giambellino were laid belonged originally to the Abbati
family, and afterwards to that of Gabriele di Giorgi or Zorzi. 1
The tomb, to judge by Luciani's description, must have resembled
the sarcophagus preserved in the Scuola della Carita : i.e. large
slabs of marble or Istrian stone, fastened end-wise to the wall.
But there were other tombs inside the chapel of greater import
for the purpose of this essay. In examining the MS. of Marco
Antonio Luciani, Prior in the sixteenth century of the Convent
of SS. Giovanni e Paolo 2 and of Onorato Arrigoni (both now in
the Cicogna Collection at the Museo Civico in Venice), which
describe the sepulchral slabs in SS. Giovanni e Paolo, 3 we are
astounded at the number of Loredan tombs. The dead of this
name buried inside the church belonged to that branch of the
Loredan family which dwelt in S. Canciano, the adjacent parish.
Luciani states : " In the chapel of the Confraternity of S. Ursula
there are two other tombs of the Loredan family, who displayed
their munificence in commissioning precious paintings by Vittore
Carpaccio. He executed his work with great delicacy, and set
thereon the arms of the Loredan, thus bearing testimony of their
bounty." And indeed in the list of the Benefactors of the Scuola
we find the name of Loredan recurring frequently.
The ancient abode of this family exists no longer, and on the
site rises the Palazzo Widmann-Rezzonico ; but a memorial of the
Loredan in that neighbourhood yet remains, for over a water-
gate on the canal close by may still be seen the family shield,
blackened by time and almost hidden from view by tottering
stones the sole relic of a glorious past.
The writings of two famous Venetian genealogists, Capellari
1 The Abbati family came originally from Florence and bore the same arms as the Medici :
six balls gules in a field argent (Crollalanza. Dizionario blasonico-storico}. These arms were
carved upon Bellini's sarcophagus with the inscription " Sepoltura de Polo e Antonio Abbati fratelli
et de so heredi." From documents preserved in the Venice Archives we find that in the early
years of the fourteenth century this family already lived in the city. An Abbati one Fra Giotto
even earned the public gratitude by erecting the fine church of S. Antonio di Castello at his
own expense. (Fr. Sansovino, Venetia titta nobilissima. Ediz. Martinioni, 1663, p. 29.) Many
Florentines resided in Venice in those days, and formed a sodality of their own, meeting in fact
in the church of SS. Giovanni e Paolo. Our researches to discover how the tomb of the Abbati
passed to the family of Zorzi have proved fruitless. Perhaps the Abbati had left Venice. In
Bellini's Will several members of the Zorzi family appear among the executors : 1489, 23
settembre, Testam. : Ego Zenevra uxor egregii viri ser loannis Belini pictoris de confinio sancte
Marine . . . constitus meos fidei commissaries egregium virum ser Gabrielem q. Georgii con-
sobrinum meum. 1498, 14 dicembre, Testam.: Ego Alouisius Bellinus natus d. loannis Bellini
de confinio sancte marine . . . constitus meam solam fidei commissariam dominam Lucretiam
consortem ser Gabrielis de Giorgio amitam meam. Gabriello de' Zorzi, cloth merchant, lived in
the same parish (Sta. Marina) and perhaps in the same house as Giovanni Bellini. Lucrezia,
Gabriello's wife, was sister to Ginevra Bocheta, the wife of Bellini. The two families were thus
related, and for that reason shared the tomb.
2 In the Alphabet of the Scuola of S. Ursula we read under date October 3ist, 1539, this note :
" Rezevi mi mistro Marco Antonio Luciano Veneto ' prior ' del Convento di San Zuane e Paulo. . . ."
3 Museo Civico. Manoscritti E. Cicogna, No. 1976. Inscrizioni nella Chiesa e Monasterio
dei Santi Giovanni e Paolo di Venezia, raccolte dal Padre Maestro Marcantonio Luciani.
76 HISTORY OF THE SCUOLA DI SANT ORSOLA
and Barbaro, assist us to reconstruct the pedigree of these Loredan
of S. Canciano. The family had for their founder one Alberto.
A descendant of his, Marco, who died September 23rd, 1363, was
buried inside one of the interior walls of the chapel of S. Ursula ;
but later on, when Carpaccio's pictures were set up in position,
his tomb was moved elsewhere. 1
To mention those Loredan only who are connected with our
story, we note another Marco husband of the wealthy patrician
lady, Morosina Morosini, who died in 1488, and was likewise laid
to rest in the chapel of S. Ursula. The descendants of this Marco
were among the most generous benefactors of the Scuola.
The first of these, Pietro Loredan, was born in 1456 in the
parish of S. Canciano, and in 1474 profited by the privilege, known
as the Grace of S. Barbara, 2 which permitted young patricians to
enter the great Council of the Republic at eighteen years of age
instead of twenty. In the same year, 1474, he was elected Podesta
of Capodistria, and in his later years Councillor of Cyprus. 3 As
such we find him mentioned in Mas-Latrie's History of the Island
of Cyprus and in a History of the Kings of the House of
Lusignan, written by one Giovan Francesco Loredan, under the
pseudonym of " Cavaliere Enrico Giblet." Pietro Loredan died
in Cyprus, but his remains were carried back to Venice by his
sons Bernardo and Marco, who caused him to be buried in the
Oratory of S. Ursula in a place of honour in front of the altar
steps with this inscription :
PETRO LAURETANO SENATORI OPT. REDDITIS PATR1S OSSIBUS PER MARCUM FR.
EX CYPRO UBI MAG1STRATU DECESSERAT FILII PIENTISS. POS. OBI1T. MDVIII.
Amongst the other gifts presented to the Scuola by Pietro
Loredan and mentioned in their archives there is specially recorded
a precious chalice, which, as we know, was among the property
stolen 4 some years later.
When his father, Marco Loredan, brought the young Pietro
before the magistrates to take the oath of citizenship he had with
him another and younger son, Giorgio, of whom we know nothing,
except that he married, first in 1478, a lady of the house of
Vitturi ; and after her death he united himself to a daughter of
the house of dei Lion.
1 Arch, di Stato. Codice Miscell. Genealogie del Barbaro.
3 Ibid., Balla d' Oro. Reg. III. G. 203 (at the back).
3 His Will is dated Nov. 26th, 1504. Sez. Not. Lodovico Talenti, B. 956, c. 539. That
of Clara Bondumier, Nov. 27th, 1504. Ibid., B. 955, c. 147.
* Concerning the gift of this chalice we read in the Libra delle spese della Scuola as
follows: 1517 (18) 10 zener : Per schuolla detta a commission de miser Marco Loredan fo de
miser Piero per el lato de un calexe et sua patena cFargento con le sue arme al qual consegno
mi ser Bernardo sue fradello in questo zorno al nostro Vardian grande ma laxado per name
della schuolla el qual pern onze 7-9. 3 ...
THE LOREDAN FAMILY 77
Girolamo, a third son of Marco and Morosina, is mentioned
in his mother's Will ; who requests that he may be received into
the convent of the Madonna dell' Orto ; and lest the friars refuse
to " accept and keep or direct and govern " (accipere et tenere ac
regere et gubernare] this youth, she bequeaths to them some
houses and other funds. 1 That this Girolamo was of feeble mind
may be conjectured from the absence of all mention of his name
in any public capacity, and his existence is only known through
his mother's Will.
Marco and Morosina Loredan had besides five daughters, two
of whom, Elena and Benedetta, took the veil at Torcello ; the
the other three, Maddelena, Cristina, and Agnese, each inherited
a "street of houses" on the Giudecca. From the Wills of Cristina
and Agnese we learn that they desired to be buried in the chapel
of S. Ursula : and that their wishes were fulfilled. Such are
therefore the Loredan who live again for us in Carpaccio's
paintings. 2
There was also another branch of the Loredan family of
S. Canciano descended from the above-mentioned Alberto, and
a scion of that house was the Fantino Loredan, who was
buried at S. Orsola, outside the chapel, near the spot where later
on the remains of the painter Giovanni Bellini were laid to rest.
A nephew of this Fantino, Antonio, surnamed Zaffb, had
descendants living in Carpaccio's day, who were likewise numbered
among the most generous benefactors of the Scuola di S. Orsola.
The head of this line at that date was Nicol6, surnamed
Tartaglia (the Stammerer). Born in 1433, he took office in accord-
ance with the Grace of S. Barbara eighteen years later, 3 and married,
first in 1463, Eugenia, a wealthy patrician lady, the last descendant
of a branch of the Caotorta ; and secondly, Adriana, the daughter
of Francesco Zorzi. 4
We have the Will of Loredan's first wife, made a short time
before her death, December 2oth, I474- 5
Nicold, alias Tartaglia, was Proweditore al Sale, Castellan at
Trau, and finally Provveditore at Orzinuovi. He had four sons
Angelo, Federigo, Paolo, and Alvise. The first, born in 1547,
was one of the Died Sam of the Rialto. He never married and
lived until 1530. He enjoyed both the affection and respect of
1 Will of Morosina Loredan, 19 marzo, 1471. Sez. Not. Pietro De Rubeis, B. 870.
8 Another Will of Morosina Loredan, 24 maggio 1481. Sez. Not. Lodo vico Talenti,
B. 956, c. 474.
Will of Cristina Loredan, 2 maggio, 1504. Sez. Not. ibid., B. 955, c. 120.
Will of Agnese Loredan, 3 ottobre, 1523. Sez. Not. Francesco Bianco, B. 124, c. 93.
8 Balla d' oro., Reg. III., c. 289 (at the back).
4 Will, 21 giugno, 1519. Sez. Not. Bernardo Cavagnis, B. 270, c. 85.
6 Sez. Not. Bartol. Grassolario, B. 471, c. 323.
6 Balla'd' oro., Reg. III., c. 205.
78 HISTORY OF THE SCUOLA DI SANT ORSOLA
all his family, and his Will tells us of the close ties of friendship
that existed between him and the monks of SS. Giovanni e Paolo. 1
We also have his brother Federigo's Will, which alludes to the
painter, Marco Pensaben, a friar of the same convent. 2 With
regard to the other brothers, Paolo and Alvise, we have no definite
information. We may add in conclusion that Antonio surnamed
Basilisco (cockatrice), Nicole's eldest son, born in 1479, took his
seat under the Grace of S. Barbara 3 in 1498 and married in
1510 an heiress of the patrician family of Marcello.
These Loredanswere also Benefactors of the Scuola of S.Ursula,
and Carpaccio has therefore represented them in his pictures; whilst
for many generations afterwards the name of Loredan recurs
continuously in the Registers of the benefactors of the Scuola
and upon the tomb-stones in the chapel. 4
1 Will, 22 marzo, 1404. Sez. Not. Ludovico Talenti, B. 955, c. 274.
2 Will, 25 sett., 1527. Sez. Not. Alessandro Falconi, B. 410, c. 2.
3 Balla d' oro., Reg. III., C. 207, Reg IV., c. 232
* To the same branch of San Canciano belonged also the Doges Leonardo and Pietro
Loredan, the former of whom built the superb palace near S. Vitale. and originated a new branch
of the family.
g.M-M.M
S.V.E.TXI.YM.
EMBLEMS OF THE SCUOLE DI S. MARIA DELLA MISERICORDIA
AND DI SANT' ORSOLA ON THE CASE POLLINI IN THE
RUGA GIUPFA.
CHAPTER V
THE LEGEND OF S. URSULA AND CARPACCIVS
PAINTINGS
THE better to follow the Cycle of paintings in the Scuola
dedicated to S. Ursula, we should first of all consider
with some detail the Legend from which Carpaccio drew
his inspiration.
The cult of S. Ursula and her companions has its origin at
Cologne.
Tradition relates that about the year 385 a legion of eleven
thousand virgins professing the faith of Christ, with the Holy
Ursula at their head, and of twenty thousand Christians led by
Eterio-Conon, coming from the island of Britain were massacred
by the Germans before the walls of Cologne. 1 In that same fourth
century, as appears from an ancient inscription, there arose at the
foot of the Greesberg upon the spot where the martyrs were buried
the Basilica of S. Ursula; but in 451 during an invasion of the
Huns this church was razed to the ground and a great multitude
of the citizens of Cologne were killed. Hence, when at the
beginning of the sixth century a new church was built and among
the ruins of the old one a great quantity of bones were found,
doubtless the remains of the slaughter of 451, popular tradition,
which creates its legends with small regard for chronology, merged
the two massacres at Cologne into one. From this confusion of
the two incidents, that of the Huns and the murder of S. Ursula
and her companions one hundred years earlier, the Legend of the
Martyrdom of the eleven thousand virgins assumed its traditional
form.
The earliest of the legends dates from the tenth century, and
1 Maugenre. Sainte Ursule et ses ttgions, Lille, Paris, 1904. It is not unimportant to record
that other hagiographers reduce the immense Ursulan legion to one single -virgin companion in
martyrdom, called Undecimilla, from which arose the Legend of the eleven thousand (undicimila)
martyrs.
79
8o
THE LEGEND OF S. URSULA
is dedicated to Giron, Archbishop of Cologne. 1 It was inserted
in the Analecta Bollandiana, and coincides in its principal features
with Carpaccio's representation.
The literature of this Legend is most copious, but for our
purpose the Italian sources are best worthy of our consideration.
Among these the earliest and most important is the Legenda
Aurea, a monumental work in which Jacopo di Varagio or da
Voragine (who died Archbishop of Genoa in 1298 at the age of
ninety-six) collected innumerable religious traditions. 2 Of Voragine' s
book, the earliest and principal source to which mediaeval artists
had access, we have an Italian translation by Nicolao Manerbi,
which Carpaccio must certainly have seen, since it was printed at
Venice in 1475 by Nicol6
Jenson. 3
Another source we may
trace in the " Sacred Re-
presentations " (Sacre Rap-
present azioni) : little books
of the Lives and Martyr-
doms of the Saints, re-
printed many times in the
fifteenth century. Brunet
in his Manual quotes one
only concerning S. Ursula :
"The History of S. Ursula
with the eleven thousand
Virgins, who were all by
her converted, together
with certain holy men, and
afterwards gloriously mar-
tyred " (La Storia di Santa
Orsola con le undid mila
Vergini quali tutte da lei
furono convertite insieme con alctini santi huomini e poi gloriosa-
mentc martirizzate. Firenze, alle Scale di Badia 1561) ; but the
Biblioteca Marciana in Venice possesses several examples, among
which we observe a " Representation of S. Ursula, Virgin and
Martyr, newly printed (Rappresentazione di S. Orsola, Vergine et
Martire, nouvamente stampatd). Florence, March, 1554."
1 Maugenre, op. at., p. 394.
- An English translation of da Voragine's Golden Legend was one of the works printed by
William Caxton.
3 Legends di tutti i sancti et le sancte dalla romana sedia acceptati et honorati tradotte dal
latino di Jacopo da Voragine per Nicolao di Manerbi Veneto monaco dell' ordine Camaldolese.
. . . Impresse per maestro Nicolb Jenson franzese. Venetia addl primo di luio millequatrocento
septantacinque. Other Venetian editions of Manerbi's work were published in 1477, 1481, and
1487.
THE MARTYRDOM OF S. URSULA.
THE SACRED REPRESENTATIONS 81
This little book appeared long after Carpaccio's time, but the
woodcuts that illustrate it, which are in the purest Florentine
fourteenth-century style, must date back to the preceding century,
for we know that the blocks and dies were carefully preserved and
used repeatedly in successive editions. 1 The text also is derived
from very ancient sources, and abounds in quaint and sprightly
dialogue. In the Italian legends, moreover, a foretaste of the
Renaissance is perceptible, a sense of the picturesque, and an
instinct for beauty and magnificence ; whereas in the northern
tradition the subject is treated with greater simplicity and restraint.
This liking for worldly pomp and brilliant colour is shown in a
passage from the Rappresentazione Fiorentina of 1554, where the
Ambassador says to his steward :
Truova su, scalco, veste et ornament!
et oro et perle et gioie et drappi assai
et copia di scudieri et di sergenti,
lattitii, pance, hcrmelini et vai,
rubini, balasci et copia di pendenti
et ogni cosa in punto metterai . . .
Per6, vo'che si facci balli et canti
et che ognun mostri d'allegrezza segno,
prendete servi di costor gli amanti,
et ordinale con prudentia e ingegno,
date 1'acqua a le main et con prestezza,
usate sopra tutto gentilezza. 2
This Legend, permeated throughout with the spirit of the
Renaissance, stands for that reason in absolute contrast to the
dry-as-dust tale of Jacopo da Voragine ; and the fine woodcuts,
among which The Martyrdom is in its way a little masterpiece,
add further weight to our argument.
The variants of this Legend are both numerous and noteworthy.
In all of them S. Ursula is the daughter of the King of Britain ;
but all do not agree as to the name of the King. Some call him
Theonotus, others Theodatus, others again Maurus. They all
agree, however, in narrating the arrival of the Ambassadors from
1 Prince d'Essling shows that Le premier livre xylographique, printed in Venice, is itself an
example of this custom.
2 Choose out, my steward, robes and ornaments
And gold and pearls and jewels and attire galore
And call my henchmen up and officers,
To bring vessels of all sorts, ermine and miniver,
Rubies, and balas rubies, and pendants in plenty,
All things e'en prepared in readiness.
Yet will I that ye all make dance and song
Each man show of merriment the sign,
Take ye the service of these lovers,
And order all with wisdom and discretion ;
Give water for their hands and speedily,
Use above all a gentle courtesy.
II
82 THE LEGEND OF S. URSULA
the Pagan King of England, who come to demand the hand of
the Princess Ursula for Prince Hereus, or Eterius, or Cotton, the
son of their lord, and in telling us how the King, after an interview
with his daughter, agrees, stipulating only that the bridegroom
shall be baptized and that Ursula prior to her marriage shall make
a long journey, attended by ten noble damsels, who, like Ursula
herself, were each to be accompanied by one thousand virgins.
The conditions having been accepted, the virgins embark ; but
a violent storm compels them to land at Cologne, where, be it
specially noticed, according to nearly all the versions, including
the earliest, the Saint's Dream occurs. An angel appears to her
in her sleep, commanding her to betake herself to Rome, and thence
to return to Cologne, where she will receive the palm of Martyrdom.
All the legends agree likewise in causing her to perform her journey
to Rome alone ; whilst her betrothed remained in a religious
house to prepare for his baptism. But on this point Carpaccio
declined to be bound by tradition, depicting the young man
accompanying the Saint on her pilgrimage.
From Cologne the pilgrims journey along the river. They
stop at Mayence, and at Basle they leave their boats to proceed
on foot towards Rome, where Pope Cyriacus receives them on their
arrival with royal welcome. The aged Pontiff had also been warned
in a dream of impending martyrdom, and in consequence, resigning
the Papal Throne, attended by a large following of bishops and
cardinals, he accompanies S. Ursula on her return journey. At
Cologne the pious band are set upon by the Huns, who slaughter
them all.
In this concluding scene also the Legend introduces a love-
episode. Ursula by her beauty touches the heart of the King of
the Huns, or, according to other authorities, the son of the
King ; but she resists the blandishments of her would-be lover
and is put to death along with her companions.
A tale so sumptuous and varied, with its stately embassies,
its receptions royal and pontifical, set in the framework of three great
Cities, Rome, Basle, and Cologne, naturally became a favourite
subject for the painter's fancy : and numerous examples exist to
tell of its constant popularity. So at Cologne, besides countless
representations of the Saint herself, the Legend has inspired several
large and most interesting Cycles of paintings. Among these one
bears the date 1546 and the signature of the painter, " Gurgen
von Scheiven." Every one knows the masterpiece at Bruges due
to that wondrous genius, Memling. But the power to shake off
the trammels of antiquated and scholastic tradition, and to experience
and render these legendary scenes with overmastering effect was
centred above all in Carpaccio.
THE SHRINE OF S. URSULA AT BRUGES.
By John Memling.
66
THE ARRIVAL OF S. URSULA AT COLOGNK.
By Giirgen von Scheiven. In the Church of S. Ursula, Cologne.
FRESCOES AT TREVISO 83
He had indeed had precursors in Italy, and that too in Venetian
territory. As at Orvieto The Last Judgment of Luca Signorelli
foreshadowed the Sixtine Chapel and Michelangelo, so at Treviso
at the end of the fourteenth and the beginning of the fifteenth
century, an obscure artist forestalled the great Venetian, and
prompted his Epic of S. Ursula. 1
The church of S. Margherita at Treviso was an example of
fourteenth-century Lombard architecture. A hay-loft in the time of
Napoleon I., and later on a riding-school, it was finally demolished
some years since. A chapel of this church contained some frescoes
by an early painter, who, despite the infancy of Art, yet had an
expert hand and a very original fancy. These paintings would
have been lost had not Professor Luigi Bailo, a Trevisan and a
student jealous for the credit of his native country, carefully
detached them with great care and transported them to the Town
Museum. In a monograph upon that painter, Professor Bailo
suggests Tommaso da Modena as their probable author, who, it
is known, adorned Treviso with his work in the second half of
the fourteenth century. 2 We cannot here discuss this hypothesis,
1 We record also for the sake of History the very inferior frescoes, which Carpaccio probably
never saw, representing several scenes in the life of this Saint, in the church of S. Orsola at Vigo
di Pieve del Cadore. They belong to the fourteenth century, and in one of the compartments
the Saint is shown with a banner in her hand, surrounded by her companions. She turns towards
a man and woman who kneel in an attitude of prayer : figures probably meant for the donors, i.e.
Osvaldo Sacco and his wife. Crowe and Cavalcaselle. St. delle Pitt. vol. iv., p. 256.
* Bailo. Degli affreschi salvati nella demolita chiesa di Santa Margherita in Treviso.
Treviso, 1883:
In order to judge the analogy between the work of Carpaccio and that of his unknown
predecessor we here submit a description of the twelve paintings which adorned the church
at Treviso.
1 (5 metres square). The King of England, a Pagan, having heard reports of the high merits
in beauty and virtue of Ursula, daughter of Maurus, Christian King of Ireland, thinks of asking
her in marriage for his son. He commits the matter with a letter to two ambassadors, with whom
he talks and gives directions with extended finger. One of the ambassadors touches his ring-
finger, whilst the other points out the retinue ready to depart. Among these may be seen two
pages, one of whom has a falcon upon his wrist. A composition of six figures in two groups.
2 (5 m. sq.). The two ambassadors kneeling before King Maurus have presented the letter,
which he reads with a feeling of thoughtful satisfaction. The mother introduces her daughter,
to whom the decision is referred. The youthful Saint speaks : rays of wisdom issue from her
mouth.
3 (5 m. sq.). The Saint assembles her companions and female attendants. Many other
persons join her suite ; among whom are boys and youthful male relatives, and also two bishops,
those of Basle and Gratz. A composition of twenty-three figures in three groups.
4 (5 m. sq.). Baptism according to the ancient rite of the son of the King of England. He
is already naked in the font : another person is stripping himself in order to follow his example.
5 (5 m. sq.). The Saint ascends the Rhine with her companions and two bishops in four
sailing vessels. She is in sight of Cologne. An angel reveals to her that on her return thither
she will receive the palm of martyrdom.
6 (5 m. sq.). Solemn entry into Rome where the Saint with her companions and the two
bishops are received by the Pope, attended by cardinals and prelates. The background is rich
in examples of Gothic architecture.
7 (5 m. sq.). The Pope clad in his Pontifical robes sleeps in his bed in an alcove. An
angel directs him also to join the Saint's suite.
8 (5 m. sq.). The Pope in the Consistory announces to the cardinals his resolution to
abdicate in order to accompany the Saint. A prelate kneeling implores him not to do so ; the
84 THE LEGEND OF S. URSULA
which yet awaits documentary confirmation, since our concern is
mainly to point out the striking analogy between the works of
Carpaccio and those of his predecessors : a resemblance which
leads us to suppose that Carpaccio must have known the frescoes
at S. Margherita. It is true that when Carpaccio in 1515 painted
for the church of S. Francesco at Treviso the Meeting of
SS. Joachim and Anna (now in the Venice Academy) he had
already completed the S. Ursula Cycle some years before ; but it
would not be unreasonable to suppose that his connection with
Treviso dated back to a much earlier period. Certain it is that
not only do the two Cycles represent identical scenes, but in the
details, and especially in the scene of the Martyrdom, the analogy
is so close that we cannot possibly believe it to be accidental.
Thus in the case of both painters the Ambassador presents a
letter kneeling, and is followed by pages with falcon on wrist :
Carpaccio's Saint discussing her marriage, makes the same gesture
with her finger as the Ambassadors in the Trevisan frescoes : and
cardinals show signs of varied feelings : wonder, anger, contempt, and horror. One appears also
himself persuaded ; another taking the matter seriously studies a book. The Pope himself
removes his tiara.
9 (5 m. sq.). The procession of prelates, with the Pope in the act of benediction, leaves
Rome. The Saint follows carrying a banner, and attended by her suite of virgins.
10 (2m. sq.). The Saint with her companions descends the Rhine in boats and approaches
Cologne. She instructs and encourages her followers. These are the two end-fragments of a
large painting brought together. The rest had already collapsed.
11 (nm. sq.). The Martyrdom of the Saint and her companions by the Huns beneath the
walls of Cologne.
12 (2m. sq.). The altar-piece. S. Ursula with six of her companions. A noble figure of
the Saint, who alone wears a halo and carries a banner. At her feet are two kneeling worshippers,
in the proportion of 7-, attired in the costume of the fourteenth century.
Bailo adds beside :
"These paintings of the Story of S. Ursula show a period of advanced art still in the
"fourteenth century, but in its second half. If we observe the architecture, it is in style most
" beautiful Italian Gothic : and likewise the furniture. The costumes, not only of the figures of
" the story but also of the two worshippers at the foot of the altar-piece, are of the fourteenth
" century. The eyes are still almond-shaped, but have character and expression. The
" extremities are yet defective, but already some of them show that Art is on the path of
" progress and of truth. The perspective is wrong certainly ; but it is clear that the painter
" feels it and seeks some method of presenting it. An important fact in fixing the period
" is that the Pope's tiara has still but one crown only. Although the painter lived in the age
" of two or three crowns, he had a lively recollection of the tradition, afterwards forgotten by
" later painters, that up to the time of Boniface VIII. the tiara had but one crown. As for
' the drawing of the outlines, done, as was customary, with a style, it is simple, not too
' angular, and the method is grandiose : the decoration of the garments, perhaps, where gold
1 and silver should appear, is incised. The colours of the robes of magnificently embroidered
' stuffs are splendid and well harmonized. Some of the most beautiful tints put on dry are lost,
' as for instance in the Saint's robe, which appears almost always marked in plain chalk. The
1 azure of the blue sky was laid on in dry paint over a dark preparation. That which
' commands universal admiration is the truth and sweetness of the countenances. They are
'all in clear tints with a warm outline set off by a dark red line; but the flesh, though in a
" single colour, is shown in full relief. The hair all blonde is especially characteristic. The
"grandiose scheme and the carefully-thought-out disposal of the groups, combined, with so
" much variety and splendour of the situations depicted, reveal a great painter. If the artist
" felt Giotto's influence he is yet removed from him by many divers characteristics, which show
"his affinity with the Venetian School."
67 THE ENGLISH AMBASSADORS rui.sKNii:n TO TIM. FATIM.:
OF S. I'KSTLA.
Fresco in the Musco C'ivim, Trcvis<>.
68 THE AMBASSADORS DISMISSED BY THE FATHER
OF S. URSULA.
Fresco in the Museo Civico, Treviso.
CARLO RIDOLFI'S "MERAVIGLIE DELL' ARTE " 85
The Dream of the Pope in the latter resembles in many particulars
that of the Saint, as represented by Carpaccio. As might reasonably
be expected, however, the Trevisan artist, all the wealth of his
fancy notwithstanding, betrays the inexperience of Art in its
infancy. Carpaccio shows us youth in its flower, liberty in
movement, graceful forms, and a most dexterous mingling of
tranquil gaiety with almost unconscious vigour.
Carlo Ridolfi in his Meramglie deirArte has left the following
description of the arrangement and effect of Carpaccio's paintings
in the Scuola di Sant' Orsola :
" But much more excellent were the works executed by Vittore for the Confraternity
of S. Ursula, situated beside the church of SS. Giovanni e Paolo ; for which he obtained
the utmost praise. There, then, in seven pictures of varied sizes he tells with great
pains the story of this Royal Saint.
"In the first may be seen the Ambassadors of the King of England introduced to
Maurus, or as others call him Deonotus, King of Britain, to demand his daughter the
Princess as bride for the Prince, their master's son. They are garbed in sumptuous
attire with collars embroidered in gold, and from their necks hang golden chains and
jewels. In another part the King in his apartment, meditating upon this marriage,
the English King being hostile to the Faith, is consoled by his daughter, who persuades
him to consent to the contract. At the foot of the staircase is seated an old woman
with a white cloth over her shoulders, very naturally painted.
" In the second King Maurus dismisses the Ambassadors with certain conditions and
requests on behalf of his daughter ; among which is one that the Bridegroom shall send
her ten noble ladies, each of whom shall be attended by a thousand maidens.
" In the third the same Ambassadors are met on their return by the Prince, and
being conducted to the King's presence, who is seen among his councillors, report the
demands of the British King. This scene is adorned by many palaces and curious
fashions of garments, so that everything is beautifully represented and in vast numbers.
" In the fourth painting the English Prince appears in the act of taking leave of his
father in the presence of the Court ; and in the same picture, which is divided by a
standard, the Prince may be seen in a ship, drawn up beside a wharf decked with rich
tapestries, whereon he is met by the Princess Ursula, attended by noble damsels ; and
further on the Royal Couple take their leave of the British King and prepare to
embark. At the foot of the painting is written Victoris Carpatii Veneti opus anno 141)5.
" In the next picture appears the City of Rome and the Mole of Hadrian, beside the
wall of which may be seen Pope Cyriacus with a long procession of cardinals and
bishops. Before him are the Royal Pair and some of the virgins, kneeling to receive
the Papal Benediction. Here Vittore has portrayed the said Mole and everything
else with such accuracy that they seem really present, so truly has he imitated nature
with his brush.
" In the sixth painting, in a noble apartment, asleep in a sumptuous bed lies S. Ursula,
to whom an angel appears to announce the end of her pilgrimage, and how through
martyrdom she and her virgin-companions will mount to Heaven.
" Then in the seventh scene we admire the ship bearing the holy virgins arriving in
the harbour of Cologne, then besieged by the Huns. Soldiers attired in ancient costume
approach in a barge to observe them. Other soldiers are scattered about upon the
wharf; and in the distance may be seen the City of Cologne.
" In the eighth painting is shown the glorious Martyrdom of the holy virgins, of the
said Pontiff, and of the fortunate heroes, who were in divers fashion slain by the hands
of the cruel barbarians with swords and arrows. Foremost among them appears the
generous Princess, who offers her delicate bosom to the stroke of the barbarian King ;
whilst he, indignant at her refusal to become his bride, fixing the shaft to his bow, buries
it in that noble breast, depriving her of life. In such a way Ursula with laudable
86 THE LEGEND OF S. URSULA
stratagem meets her death in this pilgrimage, preserving her virginity for her Celestial.
Spouse. In another part of the painting are celebrated the funeral rites of the dead
Princess. Borne to her grave by bishops, in dying she enriched the blessed mansions
of the Empyrean with a multitude of martyred virgins. And here he has written his
name as in the others with the date 1493.
" He then over the altar represents the Saint standing upon a sheaf of palms
surrounded by the crowd of her virgins, decked out with delicate embroideries, coifs,
and sumptuous robes ; two of whom carry purple banners."
The order adopted by Ridolfi in his description has been followed
also by other writers who have studied the paintings in the Scuola ;
but neither Ridolfi nor any of the others state definitely on which
side of the chapel the Story began : whether a cornu Epistolce or
a cornu Evangelii. And this is a very important point to ascertain,
because upon it depends to a great extent the decorative effect. At
present the order of Carpaccio's Scenes in the Gallery of the Venice
Academy commences a cornu Epistolce, and the large altar-piece
is placed between The Departure of the Betrothed Pair and The
Arrival in Rome, instead of occupying its original position between
The Obsequies and the first Reception of the Ambassadors. This
arrangement has nothing to commend it, although we gladly accord
our recognition to the Directorate of the Academy Galleries for the
idea of exhibiting all the paintings of the S. Ursula Cycle in one
octagonal room. According to our opinion (already expressed) the
series should commence a cornu Evangelii, and for the following
reasons. In the first place we know that the early painters, mindful
of the smallest detail, always grouped the figures in their pictures
in such a way that the shadows should fall in the direction of the
light coming from hall or church windows. It is in conformity
with this custom that the shadows are thrown in Carpaccio's
canvases ; so that our opinion hereon is supported if we recall that
the chapel of the Scuola was lighted by a large rose-window over
the door.
Another weightier argument is that the Loredan benefactors
of the Scuola, portrayed in the first scene, should face the altar
and not turn their backs upon it. They would thus not appear
neglected in a remote and obscure corner, which according to the
hitherto received arrangement would be the case, but would rather
stand forth in full view and light. Moreover, the cut which we
observe in the first canvas under the King's throne proves, as
has already been stated, that a door must have opened where the
painting was hung in the chapel. Now in the plan attributed to
de Barbaris, which shows the South Wall of the Scuola, we find
no trace of a door. We may affirm therefore that the door opened
on the North or Gospel side, and led from the chapel to the
sacristy.
Let us consider now the point of sight from which this picture
THE ARRANGEMENT OF THE CYCLE 87
is composed, which is set as nearly as possible on the big
ship in the background. We have shown above how two-thirds
of the painting was in the choir, shut off by the balustrade. The
visitor, who stood outside, viewed the picture from the perspective
angle desired by the artist ; that is, from the point of sight marked
by the large ship. His attention is first of all arrested by the
Loredan group standing under the arches of the portico in a good
light and a place of honour ; next in the centre King Maurus
and his councillors ; and finally, in the third compartment and
the darkest corner, he perceives the private colloquy between Ursula
and her father. In the last compartment a flight of steps leads
out of the picture, which, admitting the perspective plan proposed
by us, would appear to terminate in the chapel itself. On
the North Wall (/// coruu Evangelii] above-mentioned therefore,
starting from the altar, there should be, separated by two pilasters,
The Arrival of the Ambassadors, The Reply of the King tlie
Sainfs father, and The Return of the Ambassadors to their own
Sovereign. Then the visitor, turning to the left, saw the other
three paintings on the South Wall (in cornu Epistolce) separated
by two pilasters, whilst the longest painting of the Cycle, The
Departure of the Betrothed Pair occupied the entire transverse
wall, through which opened the door of entry.
Carpaccio also endeavoured to bring about a species of decorative
harmony between the two parallel walls and the entrance wall,
through a special disposition of the backgrounds in the three
contiguous paintings ; causing them, in a sense, to exhibit the
successive phases of the story. For instance, if we examine the
third and fourth scene, The Return of the Ambassadors and The
Departure of the Betrothed Pair, we may observe that the two
banners floating in the wind in the same direction complete the
framing of a portion of the composition : and that the background
of the fourth scene displays towers and castles, which have their
complement and correspondence in the great mass of Castel
Sant' Angelo in the fifth scene : The Arrival in Rome. All these
chords of harmony would be lost were we to accept an order
different from the one which we here put forward.
Thus Carpaccio, with the exquisite delicacy of his decorative
sense, knew how to make the most of all the details, even those
least adapted, and to combine the several parts of his subject into
one harmonious whole. Our arrangement, moreover, admits of a
chronological development of the events represented. The observer
standing before the first picture studies it from left to right, as
though reading a book. He perceives first The Arrival of the
Ambassadors and The Colloquy between S. Ursula and her Father ;
then in the second painting The Dismissal of the Ambassadors ;
88 THE LEGEND OF S. URSULA
and in the third their Return to the King of England. The fourth
represents two scenes : Hereus taking Leave of his Father and
The Departure of the Betrothed Pair. The fifth and sixth scenes,
The Dream and The Arrival in Rome, form a diptych, divided by
a plain strip of gilt wood and framed by two gilt pilasters. The
Legend relates that at Cologne S. Ursula received in a dream the
command to go to Rome, which therefore coincides with our
proposed arrangement. If we look at the diptych from left to right
we see first The Dream and then its sequel, The Arrival in Rome ;
whereas, according to the order chosen in the Academy, The Dream
follows The Arrival in Rome, thus creating an anachronism. The
seventh painting represents 5. Ursulas Return to Cologne, in
company with Pope Cyriacus. Finally the eighth and last painting,
parallel naturally to the first, extended over two-thirds of its length
into the choir. The scene of The Martyrdom covered the longest
portion inside the choir ; the shorter part outside the balustrade
sufficing for the representation of The Sainfs Obsequies, at which
various personages of importance are present, among whom the
painter introduces other members of the Loredan family.
Thus the portraits of these two groups of benefactors stood
facing one another.
We will now examine in greater detail the three first scenes
which are so closely connected, and which offer a most accurate
reproduction of the ceremonies, usages, and customs of the period.
The first scene, The Arrival of the Ambassadors, is divided
into three compartments. 1 First of all to the left we see a graceful
portico, conceived in the finest architectural style of the Venetian
Renaissance. Through the arcades we perceive a gondola gliding
over the water, and further off the City of Venice. No doubt is
possible but that we are indeed in Venice, and that the fashionable
cavaliers grouped under the portico are Venetians. Carpaccio
portrays among them several members of the wealthy family of
Loredan. Since this magnificent Work of Art was presented to
the Scuola by them, it was meet and just that the painter at the
commencement thereof should give them the place of honour.
The Senator of noble aspect in the foreground, clad in scarlet robes,
is Pietro Loredan (born 1456), and the handsome youth a little
further back, behind the railing, attired in the splendid costume
of the Calza and accompanied by his falconer, is Giorgio, a brother
of Senator Pietro. Finally, beside the third column, and turned
to us in profile, stands a man of somewhat undecided countenance
and vacant look, staring straight in front of him, who wears two
1 Venice Academy, No. 572 in the Catalogue. Canvas: 2 m. 78 cm. x 5 m. 88 cm.
Underneath Op. Victoris Carpatio Veneti. The original dimensions were 2 m. 88 cm. X
6 m. 12 cm.
7o
PlF.TRO LOKEDAN AND HIS BROTHERS.
Detail from " The Arrival of the Ambassadors." '
' // Martirio di S. Orsola e tlelle sue compagne, dipinto in nove
quadri ecc. dedicate all' eccellentissimo sig. G. B. Giovanelli pro-
curator di S. Marco, dal p. G. Toninotto domenicano. Venezia,
1785- The new plates taken from Carpaccio's paintings are
engraved by De Pian, Galimberti. and others.
PTETRO LOREDAN.
GIORGIO LOREDAN.
73 KING MAURUS AND HIS COUNSELLORS.
Detail from the First Picture by Carpaccio.
74 PORTRAIT OF GIOVANNI BELLINI.
In the Museum of the Capitol, Rome.
THE ARRIVAL OF THE AMBASSADORS 89
metal half-moons in his hair. We believe that we are not far
wrong in supposing that in this figure we have the portrait of
Loredan's third brother, who, as has been stated, was of feeble
mind and had been confined in the convent at the Madonna
dell' Orto.
In the second division the Ambassadors of the King of England
are introduced into the presence of Maurus, King of Britain, whither
they have come to ask the hand of the Princess Ursula for the
son of their King. King Maurus on his throne is surrounded
by his Councillors, who are seated beside him. The foremost of
these, who wears Senator's robes and a Venetian cap, displays
upon his arm an embroidered badge of a heart pierced by an
arrow, signifying the " Love of God," an
emblem which was also that of the Augus-
tine friars. The expressive countenance of
this personage strongly resembles a portrait
signed " Giovanni Bellini," now in the
Museum of the Capitol, in which, according
to the most authoritative critics, we have
the authentic portrait of that great artist.
It may be that Carpaccio entertained the
graceful idea of presenting several Venetian
painters, his friends, among the royal
advisers : and perhaps, and the suggestion
is not altogether devoid of foundation, he
has depicted his master Bastiani in the
guise of the furthest figure of the group ;
one that we meet with again in a very
beautiful drawing by our artist in the
British Museum. The splendour of the
period, shown in the appointments heavy
with gems and precious stones, in the scintillating gold, and
in the magnificence of Venetian pageantry, surrounds the monarch
and his councillors with festive glamour. From the cut of the
clothes to the colour of the material, and even the mode of wearing
jewelled chains, not round the neck but after the manner of the
scarf, perhaps an indication of extreme refinement, every detail is
reproduced with minutest care and diligence. On the waters in
the background lies a magnificent ship, a faithful copy of one of
those vessels to which Venice owed her glory and wealth, and
which served also for the reception of Ambassadors.
The painter has shown equal skill in seizing to the best
advantage the space left between the door and the end wall, and
in the third compartment of the picture he has represented King
Maurus, seated beside a bed in a meditative attitude, considering
12
$o THE LEGEND OF S. URSULA
the proposal of marriage between his daughter and a Pagan Prince.
S. Ursula stands before him and, moved by the hope of converting
her suitor, she exhorts her father to agree, accompanying her
arguments with so life-like an expression and so natural a motion
of the hands that we cannot repress our admiration. These hands,
so expressive and persuasive, so might we not say eloquent,
at once recall the impression that Carpaccio had experienced the
influence of the fresco in S. Margherita at Treviso, where in the
identical scene the gestures of S. Ursula and of the Ambassadors
are analogous ; and Goethe's saying rises to our mind " that the
men of the north speak only with their mouth, whilst the Italians
have the whole body instinct with such vivacity that the hands
themselves have the power of speech." This quality finds its
highest and most exquisite expression in Leonardo's Last Supper:
but already in their Histories of S. Ursula the fourteenth-century
painter of the Trevisan frescoes and our artist alike show themselves
to be true children of their race.
The empty space at the foot of the stairs is occupied by a
wonderfully painted figure of an old woman wearing a white cloth
over her shoulders, who may have suggested to Titian the female
selling eggs in his Presentation in the Temple. This figure of
Carpaccio's presents us with one of the most characteristic types
of the Art of the fifteenth century. The painter has taken her
from life and has given her immortality.
The reader will note that the picture which we reproduce does
not correspond exactly with that exhibited in the Academy ; for
the engravings of de Pian have enabled us to reconstruct Carpaccio's
work as it originally was. In the portico to the left of the spectator
we have replaced the column and likewise restored the frieze effaced
in the course of the repairs in 1647. This frieze ran along the
upper portion of the scene and a few traces of the festoons are
still visible to any one who examines the picture attentively. The
same design reappears in the third scene, The Return of the
Ambassadors. In this way we have remained faithful to Carpaccio's
style without introducing any extraneous element. We also re-
produce the picture with the cut, showing its original appearance.
It is known that in 1504 an extension of the chapel was built
out to contain the altar, and that the original choir floor was levelled
with that of the nave, thus obviating the necessity for this cut ;
so that Carpaccio himself perhaps may have covered it with the
coat of paint to be seen upon it to this day. The examination
of these alterations carried out in the interior of the building assists
our comprehension of the composition and the division of the
painting into three parts. It is for this reason that we have been
at such pains in our reconstruction of the ancient Scuola, for
THE DISMISSAL OF THE AMBASSADORS 91
otherwise the genius of the artist could neither be duly understood
nor appreciated.
The second scene, which represents the King dismissing the
English Ambassadors, 1 transports us into the splendid halls of
the Ducal Palace. Ambassadors to Venice were usually conducted
first into the Hall of the Anticollegio, where they waited seated
upon benches covered with sumptuous draperies. At a given
signal the doors were opened and the Ambassadors advanced,
making three bows ; one at the door itself, one half-way up the
hall, and the third at the dais. But Carpaccio has added to this
ceremonial that of the Court of Rome ; where instead of three
bows three genuflections were made. A number of distinguished
spectators usually followed the Ambassadors into the Hall of
the Collegia. 2
The Secretary of the Collegia then read aloud the Ambassadors'
credentials. The Senate hardly ever replied by word of mouth,
but generally in a letter dictated by the Grand Chancellor, 3 a
masterpiece of ability, discretion, and eloquence. Thus King
Maurus, after having consulted his daughter, consigns to the
Ambassadors a letter, setting forth his conditions. The painting,
which according to the artist's intention should follow the story
exactly, shows us in the background a man writing at the dictation
of another : a group that all connoisseurs are agreed is marvellous
both for truth in expression and attitude, and for straightforward
execution. The Venetian populace, in fact, have dubbed the entire
scene, on account of this very characteristic group, the Scribe
(lo Scrivand). The King, who presents a solemn and dignified
appearance, is seated on his throne, and before him on the steps
the Ambassadors kneel in the attitude of profound reverence usual
to Carpaccio's figures.
This painting, like the last, has been restored by us to the
effect it produced prior to the sacrilegious mutilations from which
1 Venice Academy, No. 573. Canvas: 2 m. 79 cm. X 2 m. 53 cm. Signed : Victoris Carpatio
Veneti Opus. Original dimensions : 2 m. 95 cm. x 2 m. 75 cm.
* These solemn receptions, wherein was displayed all the magnificence of Venice, made
a great impression on strangers. In the seventeenth century the English Ambassador, Wotton,
commissioned the artist Odoardo Fialetti to paint from life all the receptions in the Hall of
the Collegia, and despatched the paintings to his sovereign, Charles I., who was perhaps the
greatest art-iover and connoisseur of his time. The pictures are to be seen to this day in
Hampton Court Palace : and we should add as a curious coincidence that Odoardo Fialetti
was a member of the Scuola di Sant' Orsola.
* Just as the Doge was the head of the Nobles, so the Grand Chancellor was the first
of the burgesses of quality, known as the "citizens" (tittadini). Elected for life by the
Greater Council, he shared in all the privileges of the patricians, except that of voting. He
wore purple and had under his control all the secretaries. Antonio Marsilio, the friend of
the painter Vincenzo Catena, was Notary to the Chancery. Another friend and legatee of the
same painter, the Humanist Giambattista Egnazio, a member of the Aldine Academy, was
Latin Reader (letterato di latino) to the Chancery, with the duty of instructing the young
secretaries in the elegancies of the Latin language.
92 THE LEGEND OF S. URSULA
it has suffered. To-day, in fact, a strip several centimetres
wide on the left side, behind the throne, is now missing, whilst
to the right, one jamb of the magnificent door and a portion of
the ceiling have disappeared. But the task of reconstruction has
here been easy, and includes also the stem of the chandelier and
the three garlands suspended from as many fine discs. Thus
restored the picture gains greatly in breadth and effect.
The seventeenth-century architect, who undertook to enlarge
and give more light to the chapel, was confronted with a great
difficulty in the case of the third painting. 1
The seventeenth century truly had no scruple in tampering
with the work of a painter, however great. Nevertheless, the
architect was not sufficiently impious to dare to ruin entirely a
a masterpiece. Now this scene, like the others, was too high,
but it could not like them be cut on account of the irreparable
damage that must be caused thereby to the many fine buildings
shown in it. To obviate this difficulty the authorities resolved to
lower the painting and to conceal the superfluous portion, a strip
about 1 7 cm. deep, behind the back panels of the benches. Thus
the label with Carpaccio's name upon it was covered over, and
another inscription was substituted higher up which was removed
when the paintings were restored. 2 Thanks to such a concatenation
of circumstances this composition is the only one of the series
which has come down to us uninjured, and it is also one of the
most beautiful.
The scene takes us back into the open air. The Ambassadors
have returned to England, but, according to Carpaccio, we are
still in Venice : the Venice of majestic edifices, noble porticoes,
magnificent halls, and all that incomparable architecture, which
recalls to our minds the Porta della Carta and the Scala del
Giganti, the churches of S. Zaccaria and dei Miracoli, and the
hundred other monuments that arose in the fifteenth century, as
if by enchantment, upon the Lagoons. On the facade of the splendid
palace, which occupies the background and somewhat resembles
the Doge's Palace, we perceive two sculptured bas-reliefs ; one
of which represents, in purest Renaissance style, Vulcan contriving
a pair of wings for a small Cupid, who is watching the work with
great attention. This composition is but a reduced copy of a tablet
preserved in the Archaeological Museum of the Ducal Palace. We
have failed however to trace the original idea of the second bas-
relief, which shows us a king, a herald with a caduceus, and a
1 Venice Academy, No. 574. Canvas, 2 m. 95 cm. x 5 m. 27 cm. Signed Victoris
Carpatio Veneti Opus.
9 In the seventeenth century one might still read " Res* T re . ] Pi T. | MDCXXIII." Onorio
Arrigoni, Lapidi sepolcrali di SS. Giovanni e Paulo, MS. at the Museo Civico. Cf. also
Moschini, Guida di Venezia, ii, p. 493.
75
DRAWING FOR THE HEAD OF ONE OF THE COUNSELLORS.
British Museum.
77
BRONZE BAS-RELIEF IN Tin: ARCII.EOLOGICAL MUSEUM AT THE DUCAL PALACE, \'ENICE.
78 THE STEWARD (Lo SCALCO).
Detail from " The Arrival of the Ambassadors."
93
THE COMPAGNIA DELLA CALZA
warrior with a trophy ; but public and private
collections alike contain many antique tablets
representing similar scenes of victory.
The English King is seen enthroned and
surrounded by councillors beneath a wondrous
erection of arches and columns. One of the
Ambassadors has handed the letter to the Secre-
tary, who reads it to the King. On the steps
of the throne a lively monkey is cracking a nut,
whilst a guinea-fowl struts forward to take her
share. It is in Venetian painting alone that we
find the guinea-fowl so often introduced into the
legends of the Saints.
The festive scene presents a stirring and busy
aspect. From the towers banners flutter, as
formerly they did from the Campanile of S. Mark's
upon days of high solemnity. One of the Am-
bassadors has approached the King : another, who
wears magnificent gala hose, is welcomed by two
gentlemen. Beside the wharf is seated the
Steward (lo Scalco) holding a gold-tipped rod, such
as is recorded in Grevembroch's MS. Gli habiti
Veneziani preserved in the Museo Civico at
Venice. The Steward, accompanied by musicians,
used to invite Ambassadors to the Doge's State
Banquets.
In these paintings pomp and
circumstance reign supreme,
especially in the figures of the
Cavaliers of the Calza. This Company was
originally an association of gentlemen, banded
together with the object of organizing festivities
of all kinds. Membership was not restricted to
Venetians, for foreigners were also admitted, and
even ladies, who were styled " companions "
(compagne), and wore the badge of the " Com-
pany" upon their sleeve. The Company was
later on sub-divided into groups each under its
own head and distinguished by some particular
name, such as Immortali, Semprevivi, Perpetui,
Eterni, Pavoni, Ortolani, Giardinieri, Felici, etc.
In Carpaccio's paintings the Companions of
the Calza, the arbiters of Venetian fashion, wore
GAL* SLEEVE or A COM- doublets of gold-embroidered velvet and silk,
PAGNIA DELLA CALZA. drawn into the figure by a girdle. Their sleeves
A GALA STOCKING OF A
COMPAGNIA DELLA CALZA.
94 THE LEGEND OF S. URSULA
were slashed and fastened with points to show the full shirt
underneath. The upper part of their close-fitting hose was striped
in many colours, and their shoes were pierced in quaint devices.
The Companions of the Calza wore besides over their shoulders
a short cloak and a hood of cloth of gold or damask, embroidered
on the back with the particular emblem of their Company. These
badges were usually richly worked in pearls, as we may notice
in this third scene upon the person of the Ambassador. Likewise
in the first scene, The English Ambassadors before King Maurus,
we may observe near the King's throne a cavalier wearing a badge
upon his sleeve, of which emblem we give here a separate illustration.
What does this ornament signify ? To which of the Calza Com-
panies does it belong? It represents an interlaced hurdle of osiers.
Now the science of Heraldry and a comparison with other symbolical
pictures show us that these hurdles signify a " garden." Thus in
ST. CATHERINE OF SIENA IN
THE GARDEN.
THE COAT OF ARMS OF THE COUNTS
ORTI OF VERONA.
Giovanni Boccatis' picture at Perugia of Christ in the Garden of
Olives the garden is represented by a thick hurdle of osiers ; and
a similar hurdle with the same signification recurs in a miniature
quoted by Silvestre, and preserved in the Bibliotheque Nationale
in Paris, wherein S. Catherine of Siena receives the Stigmata in
a garden. But this is not all. In the library at Bergamo, in a
book of patterns for embroideries dating from the end of the
fourteenth century, is to be found among other designs a swan in
a garden ; and the garden consists of a species of crate or basket
of osiers. A similar hedge also indicates a garden, with a white
stag in the middle, in the escutcheon of King Richard II. of
England, sculptured upon the tomb of Thomas Mowbray, Duke
of Norfolk. This tomb in Carpaccio's time stood in the forecourt
of S. Mark's. It was removed to England, and in a very ruinous
state is now in the possession of the Duke's descendants. The
emblem however in Carpaccio's painting exhibits greater similarity
79 BADGE or THE COMPANY OF THE CALZA CALLKH
" DEC.LI ORTOLANI."
DESIGN FOR EMBROIDERY.
THE DEPARTURE OF THE BETROTHED PAIR 95
with the "canting" (parlante) coat-of-arms belonging to the
Veronese family of Orti. We may conclude therefore that the
badge worked upon the Cavalier's sleeve was that of the Company
of the Ortolani. This theory finds confirmation in the analogy of
this costume with the description in a document of Cicogna's in
the Museo Civico, whence we learn that the Company of the
Ortolani did not, like the other Companies, wear parti-coloured
hose, but carried their badge embroidered upon one of their
sleeves. 1
The fourth scene, which now occupies our attention, The
Departure of the Betrothed Pair, 2 covered the entire West Wall,
in which was situated the door of entry to the Oratory.
THE FRENCH TOWER AT RHODES.
From a wood-engraving by Rcuvich.
A tall banner separates the composition into two unequal
portions, a division entailed upon Carpaccio by the position of
1 These badges had great importance in the History of Costume, especially in mediaeval times.
For jousts and tournaments cavaliers vied with one another in the invention of the most beautiful
or original emblems. They sought advice from the men most learned and competent in the
matter, and an entire literature on the subject came into being, lasting to the end of the eighteenth
century. It will suffice to record among the most important works Torquato Tasso's Dialogue
of Devices (Dialogo delle imprese). Monsignor Giulio Giovio, Bishop of Nocera, in his Dialogue
on Military Devices (Dialogo delle imprese militari) devised as an emblem for a Genoese patrician,
Girolamo Andorno, Jove's Thunder-bolt copied from an antique medallion, with the motto :
" He will expiate or overwhelm " (Expiabit aut obruet). This badge, much lauded by Andrea
Navagero, was designed and coloured by Titian, and magnificently embroidered by the able
Venetian, Agnolo di Madonna.
2 Venice Academy, No. 575. Canvas: z m. 75 cm. x 6 m. 11 cm. Signed: Victoris Carpatio
Veneti opus MCCCCLXXXXV. Original dimensions : 2 m. 95 cm. x 6 m. u cm.
96 THE LEGEND OF S. URSULA
the chapel entrance. The door opened at the end next to the
North Wall so as to allow sufficient space for the banco delta
Scuola to be placed alongside to the right. The smaller division
of the composition therefore hung above the door, and the larger
above the " bench."
The scene to the spectator's left represents a noble landscape
with hills crowned by many towers. We have said that a pen-
and-ink sketch of this landscape is preserved in the British
Museum, which enabled Mr. Sidney Colvin to demonstrate the
extent of Carpaccio's borrowings from the designs of Reuvich. 1
In this drawing, erroneously designated as The Harbour of
Ancona, and in the S. Ursula painting, we can easily perceive
how the larger and more massive tower and the other lesser one
in the middle distance are both copied from Reuvich's views of
the Towers of Rhodes and Candia respectively. Similarly the
slender white tower surmounted by a cupola among the trees at
the foot of the hill in the picture was copied from a sketch by
Reuvich representing The Church of the Holy Sepulchre at
Jerusalem.
In a creek at the foot of the next hill we observe, lying half
out of the water, her stern dismantled and heeling over towards
the bank, a great ship, apparently under repair, since around the
hull caulkers may be seen at work. Perhaps in representing this
episode the painter desired to evoke memories of his own family.
In a street hard by a group of persons are playing on various
musical instruments. A pen-and-ink sketch of this group is
preserved in the Duke of Devonshire's Collection at Chatsworth.
To the left we observe a considerable group of spectators,
members probably of the Scuola di S. Orsola. Next comes the
King attended by his major-domo with a purse suspended from his
girdle : and kneeling before his father we see S. Ursula's Betrothed,
Prince Hereus, with his companions. The last of these, an elderly
man, is impersonated by an austere figure holding a fragment of
a scroll in his hand. Carpaccio probably intended to inscribe the
dedication of the painting upon this lightly-sketched-in fragment,
but changed his mind and placed the inscription in the hands of
the youth seated near by under the great standard. From this
hitherto unobserved detail we may recognize in this standing figure
the old Venetian patrician, Nicol6 Loredan, surnamed Tartaglia.
Nicol6, who was born in 1433, was sixty-two years of age when
Carpaccio painted this picture.
The handsome youth, who bears the label with the inscription,
is clad with the most exquisite elegance in a richly embroidered
doublet and a pair of self-coloured hose. On the label may be
1 Cf. pp. 38-40 of this book.
o
-2
THE COMPAGNIE BELLA CALZA
97
read the letters N.L.D.D.W.G.V.I. These letters, according to
the rule which governs abbreviations, should signify Nicolaus
Lauretanus donum dedit l^il^ens gloria l/irgini Inclytae.
Numerous examples show two V's together, signifying Vivens,
but of a W with this meaning we know of one other instance
only: in the church of the Servites : it is published in Cicogna's
Iscrizioni.
This youth is probably a portrait of Antonio Loredan, Nicole's
eldest son, who at the time was seventeen years of age. The
magnificence of his dress and the emblem embroidered in gold,
THE TOWER OF CAUDIA.
Fnm a wood-tngraving by Reuvich.
silver, and pearls on his left sleeve, mark him as a member of
one of the Companies of the Calsa. The badge represents the
Sun's rays illuminating an oval formed by laurel branches, inside
which stands a damsel, attired Burgundian fashion with a tall
conical coif, beside a tree to which are attached a hoe and a ribbon
with an inscription illegible on account of the minuteness of its
lettering. Taking together these several elements, the tree, the
hoe, and the female figure, we may confidently assert that the
device is that of the Zardinieri (Gardeners). Another of the
Companies of the Calza, the Reali, bear as their device a cypress
tree surmounted by a scroll, with the words : Cost schietto al cielo
serga il degno nome : (Thus upright before Heaven shall the worthy
'3
98 THE LEGEND OF S. URSULA
name be reared), a device which we reproduce here from Cicogna.
A tree is of very frequent occurrence in Italian heraldry. Among
the Venetian escutcheons that of the Freschi family is an example,
THE EMBLEM OF THE "COMPAGNIA DELLA CALZA " OF THE " ZARDINIERI."
doubtless a canting achievement denoting freschezza = green-ness,
or the country-side, whence the family derived its origin.
Allegorical representation had attained so much importance in
ALLEGORICAL SYMBOLS
99
the Middle Ages that we may well pause over points which to-day
might easily escape our notice, but which once upon a time bore
an eloquent significance. Thus advisedly no doubt Carpaccio
introduces the figure of a scorpion into this scene. This creature
had in fact for mediaeval minds a special meaning, 1 connoting in
astrological language the Nightly House (casa notturna} of Mars,
possessed of a malign influence and implying unsuccessful Love,
evil thoughts, violence, injustice, conflagrations, asphyxia, hidden
crimes, and also disastrous journeys. In Carpaccio's painting
therefore the scorpion appears as a mysterious presage of evil
omen.
The standard, which divides the painting into t\vo parts, bears
upon a shield, party per fesse gules and argent, a lion of the same
with three stars, two and one. This coat of arms does not belong
to any of the nobility or citizens either of Venice or of the main-
EMBLEM OF THE CAMPAGNIA DELLA
CALZA "DEI REALI."
THE COAT OF ARMS OF THE
FRESETI FAMILY.
land. We find them instead in Galvani's work on the "Arms
of the City of Sebenico" (Armi delta Citta di Sebenicd) ; but Galvani
1 On the capital of the corner column of the Doges' Palace is sculptured a scorpion exactly
like that in Carpaccio's painting. It is well known that the capitals of the columns of the Ducal
Palace have always stimulated the curiosity of the iconographers, and how the sculptures altogether
form a species of mediaeval encyclopaedia (Didron et Surges, Iconographie du Palais Ducal,
Annales Archeol. 1857). Here are represented the Vices and the Virtues, the principal nations
of the world, the most famous kings, the most remarkable animals, the greatest artists, etc. The
bas-reliefs of the corner pillars especially have afforded much scope for study, and are interpreted
in several different ways. Mr. Ruskin for example would discover therein the horoscope of the
Palace at the time of its foundation. The inscriptions show that the figures sculptured on the
side of the capital facing towards the Piazzetta represent The Eternal Father creating Man. On
the other sides are sculptured the seven planets. Thus the capital constitutes a small archaeological
compendium, describing The Creation of Man and his Destiny subjected to the course of the
stars. The planets are seen under the guise of human beings, each of whom is seated upon one
of the animals of the Zodiac and has beside him another Zodiacal symbol. The animal represents
the stronger astral influence, the " Daily House " (casa diurna) : the other symbol the weaker
influence, the " Nightly House " (casa notturna). Now Carpaccio, like all his contemporaries,
placed faith in Astrology and saw in the Signs of the Zodiac the presage of good or evil fortune.
In painting a scorpion in his picture he obeyed the same idea which inspired the sculptor to
represent upon the capital of the Ducal Palace Mars seated upon a ram with a scorpion
beside him.
ioo THE LEGEND OF S. URSULA
does not say to what family it belongs. We are therefore unable
to found any conjecture upon the heraldic significance of this
shield.
To the right of the spectator the windows of the houses, the
streets, and the staircases, are alive with a crowd of magnificently
garbed persons in endless variety of colour. The entire Court
take part in speeding the Betrothed Pair, who kneel before King
Maurus, whilst the Queen-mother dries her tears. This scene is
repeated by Carpaccio, with some variants, in a small painting in
the Layard Gallery in Venice : and a pen-and-ink sketch of the
same is preserved in the Duke of Devonshire's Collection at
Chatsworth.
Let us examine now the paintings which follow on the South
Wall. The fifth and sixth scenes : ^S. Ursulas Dream and The
Arrival in Rome respectively originally formed one large single
painting, divided into two halves by a strip of gilding. But
when the Oratory was enlarged this diptych was cut in half, and
the two pictures which resulted were separated by a pilaster.
6". Ursulas Dream 1 introduces us to Venetian family life in
the fourteenth century in a scene of tranquil domestic charm.
Mr. Ruskin, enamoured of the naive beauty of that age which
precedes the splendour and pomp of the sixteenth century, devotes
several noteworthy passages to this painting of Carpaccio's in his
collection of Essays, entitled Fors Clavigera? It is one of those
somewhat bizarre fancies, teeming with interest, in which the
English writer took such delight. According to Mr. Ruskin our
painter would desire to signify the dawn of the Saint's life by
the morning light which floods the chamber, penetrating softly the
beautiful windows, through which we perceive the limpid azure
that is stealing over the sky. Two plants to which Ruskin has
given no name are growing in majolica vases in the room : a myrtle
and a carnation. Myrtle was dear to betrothed lovers for its use
in the composition of the nuptial chaplet, and the carnation which
so often appears in portraits during the Middle Ages signifies in
the language of flowers " I love thee " (ti voglio bene). The two
vases are set upon a broad ledge or shelf, the scansia so frequently
met with in Venetian dwellings, which is carried along the entire
wall of S. Ursula's chamber. A finely formed elbow-chair stands
near the bed, and further away in the corner upon a small table
are an open book and an hour-glass. Against the wall a small
cupboard contains more books, and before the picture of a female
saint projects a bracket-candlestick. Suspended from the candle-
1 Venice Academy, No. 578. Canvas : 2 m. 75 cm. x 2 m. 66 cm. Signed : Viet. Carf. F.
1495. Original dimensions : 2 m. 95 cm. x a m. 89 cm,
2 Vol. i., p. 395.
SKI-ITCH i:v VITTORE CARPACCIO roi; " TIIF. IMPAKITRF OF THE BKTKOI m-:i>.'
In tlic Ccillcctinii nf tin' DuUi' nf IVvimshirr.
86 A MI-DAI, STRITK TO COMMKMOKATI: TIII-: KKSTOKATION
OF TIU-: C \\STKL SAX r' ANC.KLO. KOMK.
t* V\VJK*Vi* . - : *<*** ' V. .
SSSlfey-**-' 1 7 ' "
I ^ '*.'( -^
'. V -,
87 SKETCH BY VITTORE CARPACCIO FOR "THE DREAM OF ST. URSULA.'
S. URSULA'S DREAM 101
stick is a bronze vessel which Mr. Ruskin calls a censer, but which
is actually a holy-water stoup.
The Saint's couch is adorned with fine gilded carving, inlaid
work, and brilliantly coloured stuffs. On the step lies a crown,
at the foot is a little white dog, and beside the bed we notice a
pair of blue slippers. S. Ursula is reclining at full length. Her
hair is gracefully arranged in two plaits, which form a double
crown. The candour of innocence illumines her brow : with her
cheek resting upon her right hand the maiden seems to be con-
tinuing her devout meditation even in her sleep. At the door
enters the angel, palm and scroll in hand ; an angel of such tiny
stature as scarcely to reach up to the Princess's chin. The slashed
sleeves, showing the shirt beneath, stamp the angel's garb with
a touch of Venetian fashion.
Mr. Ruskin has not noticed that on one of the tassels of the
pillow beneath the Saint's head is written the word Infantia.
The other tassel, upon which some other word was certainly
inscribed, was cut off in 1810, when the paintings underwent a
fresh reduction before being exhibited in the Academy. This
painting not only lost several centimetres at the top like the rest,
but in 1810 suffered twofold mutilation, by the removal of a
portion of the bed and of a jamb of the door.
The Collection of Drawings in the Uffizi includes a sketch for
this idyllic scene with certain variants of secondary importance.
The painter has here identified himself with the Legend wherein
S. Ursula whilst at Cologne had the vision which commanded her
to go to Rome. The scene told its own story as long as the two
paintings formed a diptych ; but divided by a pilaster and trans-
posed as they now are, they appear to represent two seemingly
unconnected events. Ridolfi therefore inverted the sequence of the
scenes, and looked upon 5. Ursulas Dream as the announcement
of her Martyrdom ; whereas for us, and according to the Legend,
the Dream was the command to go to Rome, an act which we see
accomplished in the subsequent scene. The painting which repre-
sents the Castel Sant' Angelo 1 is so closely connected with the
composition of the fourth subject, The Departure of the Betrothed
Pair, as to convince us of the accuracy of our proposed arrange-
ment of the Cycle. The castellated background in The Departure
of the Betrothed Pair led the eye step by step to the huge tower
of Castel Sant' Angelo.
This citadel had a short time before been restored and rebuilt
by Alexander VI., and in 1495 a medal was struck to commemorate
the completion of the work, with the Pope's effigy on the obverse,
1 Venice Academy. No. 577. Canvas: 2 m. 78 cm. x 3 m. '07 cm. Signed: Victoris
Carpatio Veneti opus. Original dimensions : 2 m. 95 cm. x 3 m. '07 cm.
102 THE LEGEND OF S. URSULA
and on the reverse a view of the castle as it appeared after the
rebuilding. In this medal the Emperor Hadrian's Mausoleum is
surmounted by an angel, and to make our reconstruction conform
with the original painting we have restored the angel to its position
on the top of the tower, where it certainly stood prior to the
mutilation of 1547.* We cannot believe that Carpaccio would have
painted Castel Sant' Angelo minus the Angel.
The scene as a whole is inspired by the recollection of the
pageantry which heralded the Doge's State Entry ; the ceremonial
is identical. We see before us the twelve Comandadori in blue
mantles, with their standards and a following of trumpeters and
other musicians. Carpaccio had already substituted the new-
fashioned and shorter instruments for the long trumpets, so long
as to be carried on boys' shoulders, in use under the Doge
Foscari.
The Pope stands under a State canopy, like that which Pope
Alexander III. granted to the Doge Ziani ; save that, whilst the
Ducal baldachino was surmounted by an image of The Annunciation,
the Papal canopy painted by Carpaccio bears a " Pelican " on the
top. A multitude of bishops and prelates in copes and mitres
attend the Pope, before whom the Betrothed Pair are kneeling
bareheaded. The procession of virgins, likewise kneeling, stretches
away into the background. One of their number bears aloft a
white pennant. We observe that hitherto, up to the commencement
of the Martyrdom, the flags and pennants are coloured red.
In accordance with his usual custom of interweaving legendary
poetry with the record of Venetian customs and daily life,
Carpaccio must have necessarily introduced here also the portraits
of contemporary personages. This painting cannot fail therefore
to supply us with valuable knowledge concerning the Venetian
colony then in Rome.
Alexander VI. (Borgia) may easily be recognized in the figure
of the Pope. This is sufficiently borne out by a comparison
1 Regarding this plain statement, that the Pope caused a medal to be struck and that
Carpaccio portraying Castel Sant' Angelo must in all reason have placed on its summit the
traditional angel, Prof. Laudedeo Testi pours forth in many pages his truly profound and
uncontested erudition. From sundry details and scraps of information it is also recorded that
in 1497 the angel was destroyed by a thunder-bolt, and Prof. Testi arrives at the conclusion
that Carpaccio must have copied the Castello from life, or from the drawings of Giuliano da
S. Gallo, that his painting was executed before the restorations, and that therefore the angel,
which had been removed, should not be there. We beg leave for the third time to state how
improbable it is that Carpaccio would have painted Castel Sant' Angelo without the angel, which
was only absent for a short time. Carpaccio took the general lines of his composition from
various drawings, since he introduces divers fanciful elements, such as the column with a Roman
Emperor on the top, which certainly never stood upon the walls of the Castello.
The horses of the porch of S. Mark were, it is well known, in Paris from 1787 to 1815 ; but
if in those years a painter had represented an event in the history of the ancient Republic on
the Piazza S. Marco, we do not believe that he would have omitted the four horses from the
fagade of the Basilica.
g i
Po P K A i . i x .\ x i) i R V I .
Detail by Carpacrio.
92 PORTRAIT OF I'OPI: ALEXANDKR VI. (BORGIA). Detail from the Fresco
in the Vatican. By Pintoricchio.
PORTRAITS INTRODUCED 103
with Pinturicchio's portrait of Alexander in the Vatican ; though
doubtless the prominent and coarse features of the countenance
so forcibly presented by the Umbrian painter have, under Carpaccio's
brush, gained in distinction and disappear almost beneath a mask of
ascetic reserve. The portrait, however, resembles even more closely
yet the effigy of Alexander on the commemorative medal of 1495.
Nor should we omit to record, in this connection, that Pope
Alexander VI. was the Pontiff who in 1502 issued a Brief to the
monks of SS. Giovanni e Paolo, permitting them to initiate
proceedings against the Scuola di S. Orsola.
Let us now see if we can identify any of the Venetians who
then figured at the Court of the Borgia, and who Carpaccio may
have portrayed in this scene. The records of two Venetian
Cardinals, Pietro Bembo and Angelo Maria Quirini, the Diaries of
Sanudo, and Malipiero's Annals will materially assist us in this
search. The senior of the Venetian Cardinals at that time was
Giovanni Michiel, concerning whom we find valuable information
in the work of Quirini, Tiara et pnrpurea Veneta. This Michiel,
a man of wealth, of high degree and laden with honours, fell a
victim to the jealousy of Caesar Borgia, who shut him up in the
Castel Sant' Angelo, and caused him to be poisoned there on
April roth, 1503. Another Venetian Cardinal, Ermolao Barbaro,
had been sent to Rome as Ambassador to Pope Innocent VIII.,
who appointed him Patriarch of Aquileia. Barbaro accepted this
nomination despite the prohibition by the Laws of the Republic,
which forbade Ambassadors receiving titles or gifts from foreign
governments. The Senate, indignant at this breach of the Law,
caused the Council of Ten to inform Barbaro that he must resign
the Patriarchate instantly, under pain of his father's exclusion
from all offices of State and the confiscation of his property. The
Cardinal's father died of grief at this unexpected blow, and Barbaro
himself did not survive him long, dying in Rome in 1504, after
having published a Commentary on Pliny. It would be useless
therefore to look for Michiel or Barbaro among the cardinals near
the Pope. But the cardinal whom we see over against the Pontiff
might well be Domenico Grimani, since his very characteristic cast
of features corresponds with the type handed down to us on his
medals. He had received his hat early in life at the same
Consistory as Caesar Borgia ; and not without suspicion of bribery
either, if we are to believe Malipiero, who in his Annals informs
us ingenuously that his cardinal's hat cost him 2,500 ducats. On
September 5th, 1497 the Republic nominated him Patriarch of
Aquileia, and on the I2th of the same month this nomination was
confirmed by the Pope, who openly evinced his satisfaction thereat.
And not less pleased, according to Sanudo, was the Duke Valentino,
104 THE LEGEND OF S. URSULA
who publicly threw himself at the feet of Alexander VI. to thank
him for the honour that he had conferred upon the Venetian
cardinal. Grimani, in fact, had become the hero of the day, and
when he went forth from the Vatican, accompanied by the
Ambassador Michiel, he was attended by the whole Papal Court
of cardinals and prelates.
Among the Papal suite we notice the figure of a layman of
astute countenance, gorgeously clad in a gown of cloth of gold
and a wide mantle, such as was only worn on State occasions.
We may reasonably suppose him to be the Venetian Ambassador
to the Holy See.
When in 1492 Alexander VI. was raised to the Papal chair
the Republic of Venice sent to Rome Paolo Barbo, Cristoforo
Duodo, Marino Leoni, and Sebastiano Badoer ; and this last-
named personage had the duty of delivering an Address of
felicitation to the Pope. At the time, however, when Domenico
Grimani was created Patriarch of Aquileia the ordinary Ambassador
was Nicolo Michiel ; and, since in his painting Carpaccio places
Cardinal Grimani and the Venetian Ambassador in the foreground,
we may assume that in the Ambassador he desired to portray
Nicold Michiel.
It is certain that Grimani and Michiel both found themselves
face to face with one another, not only in Carpaccio's painting but
in real life. For having given battle to the Turks without per-
mission, and having been defeated, Cardinal Grimani's father,
Antonio Grimani, was deprived of his post of Governor and exiled.
And the man who bestirred himself the most to ruin the elder
Grimani was Nicolo Michiel, who had returned from Rome and
who was nominated in reward a Procurator of S. Mark. Cardinal
Grimani left Rome in haste, and hurried to Venice to beg for
mercy for his father. But all efforts were vain ; and a number of
years elapsed before Grimani obtained his pardon and rehabilitation.
In Carpaccio's painting Michiel turns with crafty look towards
a figure garbed in the purple robes of a prelate of the Papal Court,
as though drawing attention with a somewhat contemptuous gesture
of the hand to the Papal procession. Can we identify this man,
who stands in humble attitude in the right-hand corner of the
foreground ? Doubtless he too is a Venetian.
Among the Venetian prelates in Rome at that time the fore-
most both for rank and intelligence was, according to contemporary
testimony, Francesco Arzentin. Born in Venice of a German
father and a Venetian mother, he had from early youth shown an
intelligence so ready and acute that the Senator Giovanni Mocenigo,
prior to becoming Doge in 1475, had made him his secretary. Later
on Arzentin, who meanwhile had taken orders, obtained the
03
94 CARDINAL DOMENICO GRIMANI.
By V. Gambello.
95 CARDINAL DOMENICO GRIMANI [LATER IN LIFE).
Hv V. Gainbclln.
96
THE AMIIASSADOK XROI.O MICHIEL.
97
FRANCESCO ARGEXTIX.
THE ARMS OF ARZENTIN
105
Bishopric of Concordia and went to Rome, where he soon joined
the following of Cardinal Giovanni dei Medici who, with his
colleague Cardinal Giuliano della Rovere, was one of the leaders
of a party bitterly opposed to Pope Alexander VI.
Ughelli, in his Italia Sacra, illustrates the arms of Arzentin :
on a plain field a fesse. In the MS. treatise on "Crests" (dei
Cimieri] in the Museo Civico in Venice 1 the field is azure and the
fesse gules : an order contrary to all rules of Heraldry, which
forbid colour on colour : the fesse should, if not or, be argent.
According to the same MS. the fesse crosses a tree (an oak),
which was added to Arzentin's coat of arms by Pope Julius II.,
in testimony of good-will towards his faithful partisan. The
oak and the fesse are to be seen on the splendid tomb of
Arzentin in the Cathedral at Concordia. But how shall we account
for the repetition of the Arzentin escutcheon on the twelve Papal
banners ? Were the suggestion not too far-
fetched it might seem as if Carpaccio wished
to give utterance to a happy augury for
Arzentin, inasmuch as any Venetian would
rejoice at seeing one of his fellow-citizens
raised to the Papal Chair in the place of
Pope Borgia, so little beloved and even less
revered. But the hopes of the Venetians
were doomed to disappointment, for Arzentin
died shortly afterwards, barely in possession
of his cardinal's hat.
Let us now, in company with our painter,
follow this charming Legend to its con-
elusion. The Saint has left Rome with her
Betrothed, who together with all his comrades has been baptized
by the Pope. The Pope himself, warned in a dream, has
accompanied the Saint to Cologne, and the seventh 2 scene
represents The Second Arrival at the Rhenish city during the siege
by the Huns.
In the small painting by Hans Memling of this same subject
we may see an exact representation of Cologne with its towers,
evidently drawn from nature. Carpaccio, on the other hand,
having never been in Germany, paints a city of fancy, deriving
his ideas once more it would seem from Breydenbach's book. That
long-drawn-out wall, broken from time to time by towers, defended
almost all the maritime cities of mediaeval Greece. In the back-
1 Cod. Cicogna, MMDCLXXIII 3627.
3 Venice Academy, No. 579. Canvas: 2 m. 77 cm. x 2 m. 55 cm. Signed: Op.
Victoris Carpatio MCCCCLXXXX M. Septembris. Original dimensions : 2 m. 95 cm. X 2 m.
63 cm.
io6 THE LEGEND OF S. URSULA
ground of the picture we see a gate-house, raised upon arches,
with a drawbridge. Two great ships lie at anchor in the water.
The foremost vessel, heavily rigged, with massive prow and
ponderous beam, shows us on board the Pope, the bishops, and
the virgins, all eager to descend into a boat, in which a diminutive
rower stands upright. The other ship lies further back, and we
observe its richly decorated poop. It is of that artistic and
picturesque form which distinguished the Venetian galleys of that
day from those of all other maritime States.
In the right-hand corner of the picture, under a tree, stand a
group of Hun warriors. One of them, a white-bearded figure
wearing a crown, doubtless represents their king. Standing by
his side is a youth reading a letter, who wears a cap upon his thick
hair, which is dressed in Venetian fashion.
This, the seventh scene, is manifestly the least successful of
the entire Cycle, and the awkward and ill-drawn figures attest the
inexperience of the young painter, who commenced his illustration
of the 6". Ursula Legend with this composition. The large tree
in the foreground is certainly not drawn from nature, but was
imitated, as we have remarked already, from other similar trees
in the pictures of Lazzaro Bastiani ; none of which would appear to
have been studied from life, but recall the trees in some antique
bas-relief.
This picture, like the others, was mutilated on the top and sides.
Upon a small label affixed to the landing-stage we may read
the name and date : Op. Victoris Carpatio MCCCCLXXXX.
M. Septembris.
As we know from the Mariegola already quoted the members
of the Scuola began in 1488 to collect funds for the "canvases"
(telleri] that were eventually to adorn their chapel. The Arrival
at Cologne is therefore the first painting of the Cycle and also to
our knowledge Carpaccio's first dated picture. But how shall
we explain the painter's action in commencing his task with this
small canvas, which is one of the concluding scenes of the Legend ?
The moderate size indeed admits of our belief that the painter
had in a sense desired to test his capabilities in a composition of
minor importance. But we are also able to put forward a fair
working hypothesis to account for Carpaccio's choice in setting to
work first upon one of the last scenes in the Story. The Barbaro
Genealogical MS. throws light upon a curious circumstance in
reference to the Oratory before Carpaccio's paintings were placed
there. The tombs of the Loredan family stood along the walls,
and it was only in 1492 that Marco Loredan's tomb was removed
to make way for Carpaccio's canvases. We may therefore suppose
that on one of the walls there remained a small free space, and
THE ARRIVAL AT COLOGNE.
t/1
5
THE MARTYRDOM OF S. URSULA 107
that Carpaccio, having composed in his mind the plan of his
Cycle, commenced his work with the scene which in his final
arrangement would occupy this space.
And now we reach the last scene, 1 divided into two unequal
portions by a beautiful painted column.
The Martyrdom of S. Ursula, of the Pope and of the virgins,
victims to the cruelty of the Huns, occupies the longer portion.
Among the virgins Carpaccio has placed cardinals and bishops,
whose names are recorded in The Golden Legend: Cardinal
Vincenzo, Maurizio Bishop of Modena, Follan Bishop of Lucca,
Sulpizio Bishop of Ravenna, etc.
The scene is a masterpiece of well-balanced if unemotional
composition. The fury of the onslaught does not disturb the
harmony and refinement of the attitudes. The virgins submit to
their fate with perfect grace of mien, and the executioners, on their
side, put their victims to death with courteous and affable gestures.
The artist's kindly nature could not render violent passion in the
degree required for such a scene of atrocity.
The centre of the scene shows us the Saint on her knees ; at
a little distance, upright and alone, stands the noble figure of a
young knight, who with head bent slightly on one side and longing
glance lets fall his sword as though assailed and overcome by
sudden and profound emotion. A fleeting love episode this, which
Memling has also represented with infinite charm and refinement.
In fact we know from the Legend that the young Giuliano,
son of the King of the Huns, overwhelmed at the sight of the pure
beauty of the sainted virgin, offered to rescue her on condition
that she became his wife.
We believe that in the course of this study we have demonstrated
sufficiently that Carpaccio's paintings show no lack of contemporary
portraits. Nay rather they abound. The question therefore rises
at once to our lips, who was that handsome youth, who in the
centre of this scene gazes with such a love-lorn look of pity upon
this maiden at the point of death ? The expression of ideal sorrow
in his countenance vividly recalls to us the portrait of An Unknown
Young Man in the Urfizi Gallery. The reader will doubtless
pardon us if we venture upon a suggestion which may at least be
called idyllic, like the episode to which it refers.
We know of no portrait of Carpaccio, but we cannot doubt that,
following in this respect the custom of the painters of his day, he
did reproduce his own likeness in some one of his paintings. How
then can we resist the temptation to imagine that in the youthful
Prince enamoured of S. Ursula the painter has portrayed himself?
1 Venice Academy, No. 580. Canvas : 2 m. 75 cm. x 5 m. 62 cm. Signed : Victory
Carfatio Ofus, MCCCCLXXXXHI,
io8 THE LEGEND OF S. URSULA
The group of which this figure forms the centre is the most
expressive and significant in the entire Cycle ; the Epilogue as it
were of the Tragedy. Would it not be natural for the painter
to have chosen this scene to place therein his own portrait?
From the background, behind this group, other armed men
are seen advancing, at whose head rides the old King of the
Huns. Above him floats a red and white standard adorned
with six crowns, which, according to ancient writers, was
the Standard of the Goths, and not, as has been erroneously
stated, on account of a partial resemblance, that of the City
of Cologne. Since he had to paint the Standard of the Huns,
failing to find any description of the correct device, Carpaccio
chose, for want of a better, the Standard of another barbarian
horde.
The shorter portion of the diptych, separated from the pre-
ceding scene by a column, brings us to The Obsequies of S. Ursula.
The martyred Saint reclines upon a gilded bier upheld by
four bishops : and a magnificent canopy, borne aloft by four youths,
is raised over the group. The delicate ornamentation of the
baldacchino is a noteworthy and, from its rarity, an important
example of an art of other times, of which few traces have come
down to us ; that is to say, of painting in transparent colours
upon cloth of silk and gold.i
The mourners, garbed as Venetian patricians, are also portraits,
and represent other members of the Loredan family ; and it is
the Loredan escutcheon which graces the slender column that
divides the picture into two halves. The azure field of the Loredan
shield is now but a greenish stain ; doubtless the effect of time,
for the old masters always paid the greatest attention to the proper
reproduction of heraldic colours in coats-of-arms. And this detail,
too, enables us to imagine what these scenes were like when first
painted ; how vivid and how harmonious the colouring must have
been. Now alas ! we look upon works dimmed and worn by time,
and perhaps also dulled still more by the restorer's profaning
hand.
At the foot of the column we observe two shields superposed ;
the one beneath shows a field gules, and the other above it
the achievement of Loredan. They doubtless form the united
cognizances of a married couple. Barbara's MS. Libra delle nozze
patrizie informs us of the circumstance that there was but one
patrician lady married to a Loredan at that time whose escutcheon
bore a field gules with an heraldic device thereon so small
1 Documents in the Venetian Archives often allude to this art, and record particularly
certain Florentine artists, who excelled in this method of painting curtains, coverlets, trumpet-
pennants, standards, etc., etc.
Tin-: Sox OF Tin. KINO OF Tin: HCNS.
PORTRAIT OF AN UNKNOWN PERSONAGE.
Venetian School. In the Uffizi, Florence.
DONNA EUGKNIA CAOTORTA (IST WIFE OF NICOLO I.OXKPAN), ANGELO LOKEDAN, AND THE
BKKTHKEN OF SAN GIOVANNI E PAOLO.
103
ANTrKI.O I.ORKOAN.
104 PORTRAIT OF FKA TEODOKO DA URIIINO, ONE OF THE
BRETHREN OK SAN GIOVANNI E PAOLO, VENICE.
Bv Giovanni Bellini.
EUGENIA CAOTORTA
109
as to be concealed by the shield set over it. This lady was the
last of the Caotorta. We may thus safely conclude that the figure,
with hands folded over her rosary, who kneels in the corner of
the painting, reproduces the features of Eugenia Caotorta, the
wealthy heiress of that stock who married Nicolo Loredan.
But the question arises, why has the painter represented her
otitside the group who are mounting the steps of the shrine ?
The reply is that Eugenia was already dead in 1493 when the
picture was painted, and it is a well-known fact that mediaeval
painters were accustomed to represent deceased persons separated
from the living. We know also that many patricians were accus-
TIIE COAT OF ARMS OF THE LOKEDAN.
THE COAT OF ARMS OF THE CAOTOKTA.
tomed to direct by Will that they might be clad after death in
the humble garb of some Religious Order. This is why the scion
of the Caotorta and the wife of a Loredan, who in life was sur-
rounded by luxury and wealth, is represented by Carpaccio in the
habit of an " oblate " (pinzochera).
The patrician standing by the column, dressed in a fur-trimmed
gown, carrying a candle in his right hand and looking toward the
spectator, is undoubtedly Angelo Loredan, who remained a bachelor,
and to whom Eugenia Caotorta alludes with marked affection in
her Will, expressing the hope that he will be a second father to
her children (egli sara come un secondo padre pel suoi figli). Angelo
Loredan lived in close friendship with the monks of SS. Giovanni
e Paolo, who inherited a moiety of his property. This would
i io THE LEGEND OF S. URSULA
explain why Carpaccio has placed him in close proximity to some
Dominican monks, who are probably also portraits. One of them
perhaps is the celebrated friar, Fra Francesco Colonna, but we
are unable to determine which he may be. We have the portrait
of one of the monks of SS. Giovanni e Paolo by the hand of
Giovanni Bellini. It is that of Fra Teodoro da Urbino in the
guise of S. Dominick, who was Dean of the monastery, though
not admitted to the degree of Master in Theology.
Over the high altar, as a fitting termination to this wonderful
series of paintings, stood the splendid pala^ representing The
Apotheosis of S. Ursula.
In the earlier chapel this altar-piece covered almost the whole
wall ; and the end and side walls met at the capitals of the
pilasters. The architectural framework of the scene represents
the open archway of a temple, and was intended to form a sort
of extended vista of the unadorned nave of the Scuola. A sheaf
of palms encircled by cherub heads rises in the centre. The Saint
stands upon this palm-sheaf as upon a column, whilst from above
God the Father extends His hands over her in blessing. Her
virgin companions kneel right and left, arrayed severally in brocade,
green cloth and golden tissue, the sumptuous attire of Venetian
ladies of rank. Among them we may also note the manly counten-
ance of the young Prince Hereus, S. Ursula's Betrothed.
In the foreground to the left of the spectator a charming group
of three young women compels our attention. The original
drawings, of which Carpaccio made use when painting these three
beautiful figures, are in London in the Gathorne Hardy Collection.
We recognize the same model a little idealized in the three
female Saints in the great altar-piece of S. Giobbe.
Shall we look for portraits here also ? No doubt exists for us
but that these three young women are Pietro Loredan's three
sisters, Cristina, Agnesinaand Maddalena, who were also patrons
and benefactresses of the Scuola.
Finally in the middle distance, to the left of the spectator,
Carpaccio has introduced, amid a group of kneeling virgins, three
male heads, besides that of the Pope. The artist may here
have desired to represent three Benchers of the Scuola, to whose
efforts the paintings to adorn it were largely due.
We therefore would like to see in these heads the portraits of
the Gastaldo Ser Antonio di Filippo, the Vicario Ser Bartolommeo
Maieter and the Scrivano Ser Francesco Franchin. But have
not our readers already endured a surfeit of hypothetical
attributions ?
1 Venice Academy, No. 576. Canvas: 4 m. 79 cm. x 3 m. 39 cm. Signed: Opus,
Victoris Carpatio MCCCCXXXXI, Original dimensions : 4 m. 98 cm. x 3 m. 39 cm.
105
THE AIOTHEOSI-; OF S. URSULA.
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log PORTRAITS OF THE PROVOSTS OF THE SCHOOL OF
S. URSULA.
CHAPTER VI
THE SCUOLA DEC LI SCHIAVONI. CARPACCIO'S
PICTURES IN THE OLD SCUOLA
THE annals of that sturdy race of soldiers and sailors, which
gave the name of Dalmatia to the long stretch of coast
shut in by Croatia, Bosnia and Albania, are closely inter-
woven with the history of the Venetian Republic.
Dalmatia, subjugated by the Romans, invaded after the Fall of
the Empire by the Erulians and the Ostrogoths, united once more
to the Empire of the West under Justinian, ruled over by the
Greeks and subsequently by the Franks, had waged long and bloody
strife with the young Republic, born amid the Lagoons of Venice,
the first among the free lands of Italy.
Over the Dalmatians who scoured the sea as pirates, sometimes
defeating even the fleets of Venice, the Doge Pietro Orseolo II.
obtained the victory (A.D. 1000) which secured to him the title of
Duke of Dalmatia. That region did not however come completely
and securely under Venetian dominion until 1409, when Ladislaus,
King of Naples, ceded the district to Venice, who governed the
country with a kindly and beneficent rule, calculated to create for
herself loyal and devoted subjects.
The Dalmatians, or Sclavonians, were always received as brethren
by the Venetians, who named the principal street of their city
after them. The faithful Dalmatians were summoned to defend
the Metropolis, when, in 1797, the ruin of the Republic was at
hand : and it was the pusillanimity of the patricians alone that
prevented her valiant subjects from sacrificing their lives for their
beloved Venice. Not servile obedience, therefore, but faithful
loyalty evoked the lamentations of the Dalmatian people at the
surrender of S. Mark ; when the Standard received from the
inhabitants of Perasto a tribute of honour and sympathy such as
no other symbol of a past government had ever before deserved.
ii2 THE SCUOLA DEGLI SCHIAVONI
Towards the middle of the fifteenth century certain Dalmatian
or Sclavonian citizens resolved to band themselves together, not
merely in order to keep in touch with their fellow-countrymen
dwelling upon the lagoons, but also with the object of assisting
indigent Dalmatian mariners in old age and sickness, and after
death to provide them with Christian Burial ; and a charitable
Confraternity was formed under the patronage of the Holy Martyrs
George and Tryphonius.
The Scuola was recognized by the Council of Ten on May
9th, 1 45 1, 1 and the Mariegola (Chapter III.), which is still
preserved, ^ records their Decree with these words :
" Having heard the devout and humble petition of certain
" Sclavonian sailors, resident in this blessed city of Venice, moved by
"piety, knowing and observing the infinite variety of men of their
" nation . . . stricken by death, or sickness, who perish of necessity
" and hunger, having no support, nor help from any one in this world
" because they are aliens . . . leave was implored by the said
" Sclavonians to form in Venice a Brotherhood, otherwise a Scuola,
" according to the manner of the other small Scuole in honour of
" Messer S. George and Messer S. Tryphonius in the church of
" Messer S. John of the Templars ... by means of which the said
" supplicants can receive and hold alms for the support of such of
" their brethren, and besides that the said brethren can go and carry
" to burial the said brethren for the Love of God, and can place their
" corpses in the vaults of the said Scuola."
(Intesa la devota, et umile supplicatione di alcuni Marinari
Schiavoni habitatori de questa benedetta Citta di Venetia, // quali
per pie fade mossi cognossando et vedendo infinite novitade de homeni
della sna Nation . . . percossi ad mortem, overo debilitadi, li quali
da necessita e fame periscono, non habbiandi sovension, ne sussidio
de alcnna persona di qnesto mondo perche essi sono forestieri . . .
fn supplicado per li detti Schiavoni poder levar in Venetia tma
fraternitade, overo Scuola secondo la condition dell' altre Scuole
picciole in honore de Misser San Zorzi, et Misser San Trifon nella
Chiesa de Misser San Zuane del Tempio .... mediante la qual li
detti snpplicanti possano recever, et haver elemosine per sovenimento
di qiiesti tali suoi fradelli, et ancora li detti fradelli poder andar a
ricever per sepelir li detti Fratelli morti per tAmor de Dio, et poter
mettere li detti Corpi nelle Arche della detta Scuola.}
The church of S. John of the Templars with its convent and
large garden belonged to the Templars up to 1312, in which year,
on the suppression of that Order, it passed to that of St. John
1 Arch, di Stato. Misti, Reg. xiv., C. 47 (at the back).
2 Ibid., Proweditori di Comun. Reg. P. Sestiere di Castello T.I.C. 579.
THE DALMATIANS 113
of Jerusalem, known first as the Knights of Rhodes, and afterwards
of Malta.
On May 23rd, 1451 the Dalmatians, besides four burial vaults,
were allowed by the compassion of Lorenzo Marcello, Prior of
the Order, the use in the church of " the vault and place which is
beneath the campanile to found, erect, and construct an altar "
(I Area et luogo che e sot to il campanile, per fondare, drizzare et
fabbricare un Altare} for the celebration of Divine Service ; and
for their place of meeting they obtained a small two-storeyed house
near by, formerly used by the Order of Jerusalem as a Hospital,
and dedicated to S. Catherine.
In return for these advantages the Dalmatians were to pay
the Order an annual rent of four Zecchini, two loaves of bread
and one pound of wax, to be presented on the Feast of S. George. 1
For one hundred years this humble dwelling witnessed the
unpretending and useful life of the Confraternity, pictured for us
in the chapters of the Mariegola, the preamble of which commences
by invoking the protection of S. George, the Warrior martyred by
Diocletian, and of the lad Tryphonius, Patron Saint of the City
of Cattaro.
No mention, however, is made of the great national Saint,
Jerome, born in 346 at Stridonia in Dalmatia, who journeyed
through Italy, Gaul, and Asia effecting many conversions, and
having produced many weighty tomes, ended his life in 420 in a
convent at Bethlehem. His cult was general in other churches
and Scuole, but it was the Dalmatians, as we shall see, who found
the means of interpreting through Carpaccio's genius their reverence
for this venerable Saint.
The Rules of the Dalmatian Brethren differed in no way from
that of the other Scuole. Every year on the last Sunday in
June they met at a General Chapter. On the Saturday before
this Sunday they were present at a solemn service in the Chiesa de
missier San Zuane del Tempio. They performed many charitable
actions, and they professed both in word and deed a profound
and loving loyalty to the alma Citta de Venetia e a Missier lo
doxe. They accepted among their number Brethren of any other
nation, except the Albanians, but they desired that the Bench or
Governing Body should at all times be Sclavonian (in ogni tempo
Slava}.
These regulations of a general nature alternated with curious
details of homely import.
For example, on October 3rd, 1459 it was prohibited to lend
to any person, " whether religious or secular, any furniture, candles,
torches, hangings, curtains, carpets, tapestry, candlesticks" (si
1 Corner Flaminio, Eccl. yen., Venetiis, Pasquali, 1749.
'5
ii 4 THE SCUOLA DEGLI SCHIAVONI
religiose come secolare, alcun arnexe, cere, dopieri, paramenti,
tende, tapedi, razzi, candelieri), except for the processions ordered
by " Our most Serene State, on whom may the blessings
of Heaven ever fall, and may she be reverenced by strangers,
feared by enemies, and a terror to the rebellious" (Nostra
Serenissima Signoria, a cut piovano sempre dal Cielo le celesti
beneditioni ; e sia riverita dagli stranieri, temuta dai nemici,
paventata da ribelli}.
We find next a still more curious prohibition, by which on
the solemn feast of S. George and S. Tryphonius no one could
" light a fire, cook, or take a meal here in Our House, under
penalty of being expelled for ever from this our Scuola" (far
fuogo, ne cuzinar, ne far pasto qui alia Nostra Casa sotto pena
d" esser cazzadi in perpetuo da questa nostra Scuola}.
And not less interesting are the controversies with the Knights
of Jerusalem, which began in 1503.
The Knights insisted that the Sclavonians should not on the
day of the Feast of S. John set up before the altar granted to
them a stall for the distribution of bread and candles, " a thing
that dishonours the church " (cosa che desconza la chiesa] ; nor
should they on that day open the Scuola degli Schiavoni. This
thing seemed to the Dalmatians " contrary to the honour of God,
and also of great injury to the poor of the Scuola, because they
did not take bread and candles which are alms by which the
poor and the Scuola were supported " (contro I honor de Dio et
ancora con grande danno delli poveri della Scuola, perche non se
piglia pane candelle che e elemosina, della quale si substenta li
Poveri et la Scnola}.
The Brethren laid their grievance before the magistrates, who
at first decided that the Sclavonians should not open their Scuola,
but that they might keep their stall in the church on the Feast
of S. John ; but later on, in 1506, they decreed that the church
on that solemn day should not in any way be encumbered, granting
instead to the Dalmatians that, despite the prohibition to open
their Scuola, they might place a stall before the door for the
distribution of bread and candles.
As time went on the Scuola grew in wealth and prosperity,
amassing a number of articles of value. In 1502 the Mariegola
makes mention of a Relic of S. George that had belonged to the
Patriarch of Jerusalem and was brought to Venice by the patrician
Paolo Valaresso as a gift to the Sclavonians. This important gift
was temporarily deposited in the church of Sant' Angelo, in which
parish Valaresso resided, and the Dalmatian Scuola with many
priests, with pipes and with trumpets (con assai preti, trombe e
Piphari) went in procession to fetch the Holy Relic, which was
no CHAPEL OF THE " SCUOLA DEGLI SCIIIAVOM." Built in 1551.
HOSPITAL 01- SANTA {.'ATKKIXA.
From l)e liarliari>' I'l.in.
Two BAS-KELIEFS on THE FACADE OF THE " SCUOLA
DEGLI SCHIAVONI."
THE ORATORY OF THE SCHIAVONI 115
then placed beside the magnificent Cross, still preserved there and
exhibited on High Festivals.
Their prosperity soon moved the Brethren to adorn the Scuola
with paintings representing the Lives of their Saints, and the
commission was given to Carpaccio, because there was not at that
time any craftsman of Dalmatian nationality who could complete
a work of such size and importance. 1
The Mariegola does not say as much, but certain it is that
the year 1502 witnessed the placing in position of the first of
Carpaccio's Series.
About half a century later the Scuola had fallen into such
disrepair and ruin that the Brethren took counsel to build a new
one, which was completed with a marble facade in 1551, as the
inscription outside shows :
Collabentem nimia vetustate Aedem Divo Georgia dicatam
Collegium Illyrionim Pietate et Aniuii Magnitudine Insignium Suo
Nitori a Fundamentis Restituit MDLI.
The Oratory built after the designs of Giovanni de Zon,
Master-Mason at the Arsenal, 2 stands at the extremity of the
Fondamenta di Sant' Antonio, looking over the canal on one side
and on the other over a small piazza in the Calle dei Furlani.
The main door is ornamented with a frieze of two dolphins fastened
together by their tails. Above this frieze are two reliefs, set one
above the other. The uppermost, which adorned the facade of the
1 Talent of no mean order in the art of Painting was not, however, wanting among the
Dalmatians, and we have records of Nicolo di Zara and of not a few miniaturists, among whom
one of unknown name but a native of Cattaro illuminated a MS. preserved in the Biblioteca
Marciana. In Carpaccio's time the Gastaldo of the Scuola was a painter named Zuccato,
in whom we might perhaps see Sebastiano Zuccato, the author of an inferior painting now in
the Museo Civico, who has been thought, without any foundation however, to have been
Titian's first master in Venice. We cannot affirm it ; but since Sebastiano's native place is
not accurately known, some stating his birthplace to be in the Valtellina and others at
Treviso, new documents may yet perhaps prove to us that this Dalmatian Zuccato is really
the founder of the celebrated family of mosaic workers. Two Dalmatian painters, the brothers
Miroseo Francesco (died 1535) and Gregorio (died 1539), sons of Luca da Sebenico, resided
in the parish of S. Sofia. Among the Gastaldi of the Scuola degli Schiavoni we find also
the miniaturist Francesco de Dominicis, who had a shop near S. Giuliano, at the sign of Time.
He was related to another Dalmatian painter, Stefano Cernotto, from the island of Arbe,
dead before 1543, who painted in the Palazzo dei Camerlenghi. Amongst all his compatriots,
however, Andrew Meldola, surnamed lo Schiavone, obtained the greatest renown. He was
believed to be a native of Sebenico, but from his Will, recently discovered, we know that
he was born at Zara. Moschini, confusing Schiavone with another Dalmatian painter,
Andrea da Curzola, places his death in the year 1582. The Obituaries instead state that
Andrea Schiavone died on December ist, 1561 of meningitis (mal de mazzuco). At the end
of the sixteenth century another Dalmatian painter of note was Matteo Ponzone, who painted,
as a commission from the Scuola and for the altar of the Sclavonians in S. Giovanni del
Tempio, a painting of S. George on horseback, now to be seen at the Madonna dell' Orto.
1 The contract of Maestro Giovanni de Zon for the fagade of the Oratory of the Dalmatians
was published by Gualandi in Mem. risg. le belle arti, Ser. iii., p. 79, Bologna, 1842. The stone-
masons (taia piera), under the direction of Maestro Zuane, all came from Rovignio. De Zon
also made, in 1563, a model for the restoration of the church of S. Secpndo in Isola. His
tomb was in the church of S. Domenico in Venice. Cfr. Cicogna, Iscr., V, i., p. 143.
n6 THE SCUOLA DEGLI SCHIAVONI
ancient hospital, and represents The Virgin between SS. John the
Baptist and Catherine, is by an unknown author, but the lower
relief of 5. George killing the Dragon is the work of Pietro di Sal6,
one of Sansovino's best pupils. 1
The original outer walls were preserved in the reconstruction of
the edifice.
A presentment of the outward appearance of the old Scuola,
pulled down in 1551, is visible in de Barbaris' careful Plan, and
resembles greatly the buildings in the background of Carpaccio's
painting of 6". Jerome and the Lion, which are evidently intended
for the church, the convent, the garden of the Knights of Jerusalem,
and the adjacent Scuola degli Schiavoni occupying the former
Hospital of S. Catherine, with the Albergo on the first floor, a
staircase and an ill-lighted chamber on the floor below.
The portico in front of the Scuola which we see in Carpaccio's
painting is absent from de Barbaris' Plan, where the building is
shown with a central door, a grated window at either side, two
windows on the upper floor very far apart and a rose-window
placed almost under the eaves. Perhaps as a check upon the
curiosity of the dwellers in the neighbouring houses there were
no openings in the wall towards the Calle dei Furlani, whereas
windows opened over the canal and over the convent garden of
S. Lorenzo on the opposite bank.
But traces of the Scuola which Carpaccio saw and painted are
preserved to us not in pictures alone but also in divers parts of the
present building.
The staircase we see to-day built against the old wall on the
canal side fills a narrow space, which contracts still farther higher
up, so as scarcely to admit of access. There can be no doubt that
this staircase was made in consequence of internal structural
alterations, and, taking advantage of the old wall, served as an
auxiliary approach to the upper floor : and that another less in-
convenient staircase had originally existed. In fact, if we examine
the wall towards the Calle dei Furlani, we perceive near the
corner at the end a walled-up door framed in graceful fourteenth-
century jamb and lintel, and adorned with a fine relief representing
S. John, the Patron of the Order of Jerusalem. This formed at
one time doubtless the entrance to a staircase built in a passage
between the end wall of the Scuola and a wall of the lower floor.
The floor of the lower chamber, ill-lighted by two grated
1 " The agreement for S. George in marble, with Pietro di Salb " (L' accordo del San Zorzi
de marmoro con piero da Sallo), dated March 8th, 1551, was published by Gualandi in his
Memorie cit., Ser. iii., p. 81. The sculptor undertook to hand over the completed work within
"the term of one year next to come, which will be March 3oth, 1552" (in termene de uno ano
prosimo auegnir che sard de 1552 adi 30 marzo).
CARPACCIO'S PAINTINGS 117
windows, contained in the centre the tomb-stone closing the burial
vault of the Brethren : and the altar at which Masses for the Dead
were said must have stood against the end wall, behind which lay
the passage of the former staircase. To the right of the altar
opened a door leading to the staircase, to the left another door
gave access to a dark closet under the stairs. This was probably
the hidden spot where the Brethren, contrary to special prohibition,
cooked their food.
In the rebuilding of 1551 the old staircase being demolished
and a new one put up towards the canal much space was gained,
and partly used in the construction of the sacristy. The windows
of the new oratory on the ground floor were also enlarged, and
thither Carpaccio's paintings were transferred, and set up in the
order in which we now see them. From their dimensions and
their sequence we readily perceive that, neither were they executed
for the new oratory, nor intended to be arranged according to
their present order. To comprehend Carpaccio's marvellous genius
for decorative effect we should not study his paintings singly but
as a whole, in the composition of an entire Cycle. It behoves
us therefore to restore the pictures to their original order, noticing
primarily the direction of the light an all-important consideration
to Venetian artists in the grouping of their figures.
The paintings executed by our artist for the old Scuola were
placed in the Albergo or Upper Chamber, lighted by two windows
in the fa$ade and two others overlooking the canal. The altar
stood against the wall towards Calle dei Furlani. This wall was
bare, and behind it rose the staircase which continued up to the
roof.
Chronology will be of no little assistance to us in replacing
the paintings in their primitive order.
The Call of S. Matthew is dated 1502, and the doorpost
of the Saint's shop bears an escutcheon repeated also in another
painting Christ in the Garden. It is not improbable that in
1502 a benefactor, perhaps a member of the Scuola, of the name
of Matthew, to whose surname neither the coat-of-arms nor docu-
ments afford any clue, gave these two paintings to the Scuola.
They would have been placed to the right and left of the altar,
and were thus lighted by the windows in the facade. The Call
was in cormt Evangelii, and the Christ in the Garden in cornu
Epistolce. Can these paintings have inspired the Brethren with
the desire to trust Carpaccio with the decoration of the other
walls? This may well be the case; nor can it be doubted that
the other pictures were ordered at intervals, according as the
means of the Scuola permitted. In that same year (1502)
The Death of S. Jerome was placed on the end wall, lighted by
ii8 CARPACCIO'S PICTURES IN OLD SCUOLA
the two lateral windows over the canal ; a decoration completed
later by 5. Jerome and the Lion and 6". Jerome in his Study, set
up one to the left and the other to the right of the first paintings.
The remainder must have been ordered at long intervals, and it
is within these periods that we would place the undated pictures.
We know that The Call of S. Matthew, Christ in the Garden, and
The Death of S. Jerome are dated 1502, and S.Jerome and the Lion
1503. But in 1504 Carpaccio, in company with his pupils, was
hard at work upon the paintings for the Scuola degli Albanesi ;
whence it follows, since he can have had but scant leisure, that
only in 1505 could he have completed S.Jerome in his Study.
The scenes from The Legend of S. George are undated. Upon
the two first, .S. George and the Dragon and The Triumph of
S. George, we notice two white labels, which perhaps bore
inscriptions, of which however no trace now remains. On the
scene of 5. George baptizing the Gentiles we may just distinguish
certain numerals written upon the painting, not upon the accus-
tomed label, in which Cavalcaselle reads the year 1508, whilst
others instead suggest 1511. But this date, lost in the corner of
the painting, must be apocryphal, since Carpaccio, whenever he did
not place the accustomed label upon his work, took care to introduce
his name and the year into some portion of the architecture ; for
example, upon the window-sill, as we observe in the painting
preserved at Frankfort. To this rule there is but one exception,
and that in The Lion of S. Mark, where the name alone without
a label, and not inserted in the architecture, is written in a
serpentine line amongst plants in a garden.
We would conjecture therefore, whilst placing no faith in the
date written on the picture, that S. George killing the Dragon was
completed in 1505, and set up on the wall facing the altar, between
the two openings on to the canal, so as to be lighted by the other
two windows in the facade.
The entrance to the stairs opened on the fourth wall, in the
corner to the left of the spectator, and the door-frame probably
marked the commencement of the remaining scenes in the following
order : The Triumph of S. George, S. George baptizing the Gentiles,
and The Miracle of S. Tryphonius.
These two last are now placed in symmetrical correspondence ;
one on the right of the altar and the other on the left. This
was certainly not the position desired by the painter, for the flights
of steps represented in the paintings now follow the same direction
instead of facing one another in accordance with the painter's
constant practice : opposite and divergent. For that reason the
two paintings, instead of being juxtaposed, would have formed
a sequence.
PORTRAITS OF THE BRETHREN 119
In the last picture, 6". Tryphonius, we have a single group of
individuals wearing the Venetian costume of the day among all
the other lay personages attired in Oriental garb. These are
evidently portraits of the Brethren, and this picture which portrayed
the Heads of the Scuola would certainly have the place of honour,
to the right of the altar in cornu Evangelii, thus strengthening
our conjectures as to the arrangement of the paintings.
CHAPTER VII
CARPACCIOS PAINTINGS IN THE NEW ORATORY
OF THE SCUOLA DEGLI SCHIAVONI
IN 1551 the new Scuola being completed, the paintings were
removed from the Upper Chamber on the first floor of the
Albergo to the Oratory on the ground floor, and placed in a
totally different order to suit the altered conditions.
The altar stands opposite the door and the lower portion of
the wall is panelled throughout with walnut. The paintings fill
the space of i m. 41 cm. in height from the wainscot to the cornice.
The grooved pilasters of wood which separate the paintings and
the cornice running round the ceiling are of pure and graceful
style, such as would induce the belief that they date back to
an earlier period than that of the rebuilding, a period already
marked by the decay of Art, and would suggest that they also
had been transferred from the Albergo on the first floor along with
Carpaccio's paintings.
Marco Boschini writes in Le Ricche Minere v that in the Scuola
degli Schiavoni there were " nine paintings by Vittore Carpaccio ;
some of the Life of S, Jerome, others of the Life of S. George,
and one of Christ in the Garden ; precious works painted between
1502 and 1507."
The chapel of the Schiavoni and Carpaccio's pictures have
furnished Mr. Ruskin with the subject of a most curious study. 2
Mr. Ruskin with quaint originality thus describes the Oratory
of the Scuola, a building still untouched and undesecrated by
modern irreverence, and which in its appearance transports us
in spirit to olden times :
" Entering we find ourselves in a little room about the size of
1 Le Ricche Minere della pittura veneziana, compendiosa informazione ecc. Venezia,
Nicolini, 1674.
* S. Mark's Rest. The Shrine of the Slaves. Kent, 1877. This essay has been admirably
translated into Italian, together with others of Mr. Ruskin's studies by Signora Pezz^-Pascolato,
(Florence, Barbara, 1901.)
THE SHRINE OF THE SLAVES 121
" the commercial parlour of an old-fashioned English inn ; perhaps
" an inch or two higher in the ceiling, which is of good horizontal
" beams, narrow and many, for effect of richness; painted and gilded,
"also, now tawdrily enough, but always in some such patterns as
" you see. At the end of the low room is an altar, with doors on the
"right and left of it in the sides of the room, opening, the one into
" the sacristy, the other to the stairs leading to the upper chapel.
"All the rest mere flat wall, wainscoted two-thirds up, eight feet or
" so, leaving a third of the height, say four feet, claiming some kind
" of decent decoration. Which modest demand you perceive to be
" modestly supplied, by pictures, fitting that measure in height, and
" running long or short, as suits their subjects ; ten altogether (or with
" the altarpiece eleven), of which nine are worth your looking at.
" Not as very successful decorative work, I admit. A modern
" Parisian upholsterer, or clever Kensington student, would have
" done for you a far surpassing splendour in a few hours : all that
" we can say here, at the utmost, is that the place looks comfortable ;
" and especially, warm, the pictures having the effect, you will
" feel presently, of a soft evening sunshine on the walls, or glow
" from embers on some peaceful hearth, cast up into the room where
"one sits waiting for dear friends in the twilight."
The illustrious critic, in company with his fellow-labourer,
Mr. James Reddie Anderson, proceeds to wonder at Carpaccio's
works, and he describes them with justifiable enthusiasm. But
too often cloudy metaphysic and hair-splitting argument diminish
the force, depth and truth of the judgments of the two critics, who
search the artist's paintings in vain for Evangelical conceptions,
ideals of human perfection and symbols of Christian vocation.
Carpaccio would certainly never have understood these Evangelical
subtleties. With perfect single-mindedness he drew his inspiration
from nature, careless of philosophical disquisitions, which have
many other fields open before them without invading that of
Art.
The paintings removed from the Albergo are arranged in the
new Oratory in different order.
The original painting over the altar being injured and defaced
was replaced by another of The Madonna stirrounded by angels,
erroneously attributed to Vincenzo Catena. The entrance wall
opposite is now empty, but at one time this painting of The
Madonna hung there, together with a small painting of unknown
authorship, now lost, representing 5. George and the Dragon.
Of Carpaccio's paintings the first to the right, beside the altar,
represents 5. George baptizing the Gentiles (2 m. 73 cm. in width) and
beyond the door leading to the upper floor, there is, in the corner,
an inferior work of oblong shape, a Risen Christ, believed to
16
122 PAINTINGS IN THE NEW ORATORY
be by Aliense, but which may with more reason be attributed to
Palma the Younger.
Beyond this painting, set up here as a convenience to cover
a wall-space that would have remained vacant, there are two
scenes, S. George and the Dragon (3 m. 50 cm. in width) and The
Triumph of S. George (3 m. 54 cm.). To the left of the altar comes
S. Tryphonius and the Basilisk (2 m. 86 cm.), and then the door of
the sacristy. Beyond that on the lateral wall are The Call of
Matthew and Jesus in the Garden, and finally, in succession,
S. Jerome and the Lion (2 m. - o6 cm.), The Death of S. Jerome
(2 m. ii cm.) and S. Jerome in his Study (2m. 18 cm.). This last
painting, which represents S. Jerome in the prime of life, ought
in logical order to come first though it appears instead last ; i.e.
after the Saint's death. Messrs. Ruskin and Anderson do not
believe this order to have come about by chance, for in this paint-
ing they discern the symbol of S. Jerome's life in Heaven ; the
craftsman having intended to express the Saint's perfect dominion
over his intellect in the fulfilment of the just desires of his spirit.
It may be indeed that the position of the pictures was governed
by necessity of space, or it might be the result of inadvertence, but
we should add that the placing of 5. Jerome in his Study after
his Death and Obsequies was a species of traditional artistic
formula. We have several other instances of this. In a fifteenth-
century predellaof the Florentine School The Obsequies of S. Jerome
are represented first, followed as a sequel by The Saint in his Study.
We shall now proceed to examine Carpaccio's works in their
chronological order.
In The Call of S. Matthew the Publican is seen robed in a
sumptuous gown of flowered brocade. Leaving his stall he draws
nigh to Jesus, who stands amid His Disciples, and he clasps His
hand with that humble expression of submission of which the early
translator of Voragine's Legenda speaks : " That haste of obedience
that without thought, when Christ called him, he immediately left
his stall : and without fearing his masters, left incomplete his
accounts and his taxes and gave himself entirely to Christ " (quella
velocita del obedientia che incontinente che Christo el chiamo
subito lassd el bancho : et non temendo li signori soi lasso
imperfecte le ragione ne dacii et perfect amente se acostb a Christo).
The craftsman who, inspired by this devout legend, could imbue
the countenance of this Apostle with so profound a religious feeling
is at the same time a most diligent interpreter of Venetian life
in the setting of his scene the interior of a money-changer's stall.
The money-changers (campsores] kept their tavola or stall up to
the end of the fourteenth century, but after that time we hear also
of the bancherius de scripta, or banker in the modern sense, and
THE CALL OF S. MATTHEW.
By Vittore Carpaccio.
114
CHRIST IN THE GARDEN OF GETHSEMANE.
By Vittore Carpaccio.
;:i
CHRIST IN THK (>.'
By Ercolc Robert!.
i<ni:x OF GKTIISEMANE.
In the Dresden Gallery.
I
116
A SLF. EPING APOSTLE.
Sketch in the Louvre.
THE CALL OF S. MATTHEW 123
henceforth indeed the appellation del banco begins to be met with
attached to the surnames of noble citizens, who practised the
profession of bankers.
In the background to the spectator's right rises a massive tower
surmounting an arch ; a sort of gate-house to a walled city, of
which examples are still to be seen in Venetia. To the left, between
two pilasters forming the threshold, we discern the Publican's
counting-house. The wall is partly hung with tapestry, above
which are drawers with labels to indicate their contents
deeds, etc. and on high is an article of furniture known as a
restello (a kind of shelf) studded with nails or pegs, from which
hung files of papers. A handsome carpet is spread
upon the stall, which protrudes beyond the pilasters
into the street, and one notices upon the sill a scoop
used to collect coin in heaps and pour it into sacks.
Upon one of the pilasters is painted the donor's
escutcheon of arms, repeated also in the other paint-
ing, Christ in the Garden. Although the colours are
much faded we can distinguish the shield party per
fesse gules and azure a lantern or with a glass proper.
The composition as a whole is designed with the
skill and careful diligence that we look for in vain in the other
painting, Christ in the Garden of Olives, where warm brilliance
of colouring does not compensate for indifferent draughtsmanship.
The frigid and meagre figure of the Apostle lying upon his face
in the foreground is evidently inspired by a painting, which has
had many imitators ; to wit the predella by the Ferrarese painter,
Ercole Roberti (1450-1496), formerly in the church of S. Giovanni
del Monte at Bologna, and now in the Royal Gallery at Dresden.
If not the original painting by Roberti, Carpaccio must at any
rate have seen a copy or a drawing, for the composition of
Christ in the Garden in S. Giorgio degli Schiavoni reflects
throughout that of the Ferrarese craftsman, especially in the
matter of the Apostle lying face downwards. In the bold and
very successful foreshortening of Roberti the effect is somewhat
curtailed by the position of the head with the face hidden by the
arms, showing only the hair : so much so that in a copy of this
painting, now preserved in the Gallery at Ravenna, the copyist
evidently wished to correct the master's defect, and the sleeping
Apostle who lies thus extended bends his head a little to one
side, thus allowing the face to be seen. The same posture of the
head may also be seen repeated in a very beautiful drawing, now
in the Louvre, attributed erroneously to Leonardo da Vinci, where
the rest of the Apostle's figure is represented in the identical
position of that of Roberti's original painting. The soft rounded
124 PAINTINGS IN THE NEW ORATORY
folds of this drawing are not by Leonardo da Vinci, nor by
Roberti, whose drapery is characteristically hard and paper-like,
but by some unknown painter of the Bolognese School. Carpaccio
probably saw the drawing, but failing to imitate it transformed
in his painting the easy boldness of the foreshortening into a corpse-
like rigidity. The genius of the Venetian craftsman fell short
of certain virtuosities of design. The figure of the Saviour is
poorly conceived ; nor does the dry and soulless landscape show
any freedom of treatment, as witness the conscientious tree growing
out of the mountain-side with leaves sprouting from its branches,
like nothing so much as a herring-bone. The other two sleeping
Apostles are better and less stiffly drawn.
The scenes from The Life of S. Jerome commence with the
episode, taken from the Golden Legend, of the lion wounded in
his paw by a thorn that dragged himself to the compassionate Saint
to be healed, whose faithful companion he afterwards became.
The scene is laid in the garden of a Venetian convent, but in
order to let it be known that S. Jerome was then at Bethlehem the
conscientious craftsman has introduced his customary palm-trees,
tall and slender, into a corner of the background.
A two-storeyed edifice erected upon a portico, with the pointed
windows and wooden balconies built out on brackets so characteristic
of the Middle Ages, juts forward beside a lower building, consisting
of a bare wall, broken only under the eaves by small square grated
windows, corresponding doubtless with the monks' cells. In de
Barbaris' Plan showing the Hospital of S. Catherine that was made
over to the Schiavoni, we find the identical form of the taller
building, to which Carpaccio has only added the arcades of the ground
floor. And the neighbouring church of S. Giovanni del Tempio,
as drawn by de Barbaris, is exactly the same building as that
depicted by Carpaccio in his picture to the spectator's left.
It was a kindly thought of the naive and truth-loving mediaeval
craftsmen to introduce into their backgrounds the townships and
cities that were to welcome their works, or the birthplaces or
countries specially dear to the donors.
The lateral wall of the church affords us a precious record of
Venetian sacred architecture in the Middle Ages, untouched as
yet by the innovations of later times.
Over the ivy-clad doorway we observe a fresco : the half-figure
of the Eternal Father with hands raised in benediction. The
lunettes of the cornice enclose a series of heads of Saints ; and
higher up along the wall of the nave, which rises above the aisle
roof, another row of saintly figures are depicted full length. On
the roof amid the tiles parasite plants (sempervivum tectorum,
sedum rubens) grow abundantly with picturesque effect plants that a
S. JEROME AND THE LION 125
modern and less poetic, but more practical, age would have destroyed.
From the fa$ade projects one of those long and spacious porticoes,
like that of S. Giovanni di Rialto, beneath which stood the arche or
tombs, and where the sellers of objects of devotion set up their stalls. 1
To the left of the spectator a flight of steps gives access to
some farm buildings.
The intrusion into the solemn monastic calm of the lion, an
unexpected and awe-inspiring guest, causes a stampede amongst
the bystanders. In the foreground the panic-stricken monks, with
uplifted hands and wildly fluttering garments, are making good
their escape in precipitate flight. In vain the aged Saint, leaning on
his crutch, endeavours to reassure and recall them ; the lion raises
his wounded paw in vain, bowing his head with an air of good-
natured and almost humorous compunction. Certain minor figures
of men and animals in the background display greater equanimity.
The disordered flight of the monks suggests to the Protestant
mind of Mr. Ruskin the following quaint considerations :
"What an account have we here given, voluntarily or involun-
" tarily, of monastic life, by a man of the keenest perception, living
" in the midst of it ? That all the monks who have caught sight of
"the lion should be terrified out of their wits what a curious wit-
" ness to the timidity of Monasticism ! Here are people professing
" to prefer Heaven to Earth preparing themselves for the change
"as the reward of all their present self-denial. And this is the
" way they receive the first chance of it that offers ! "
Admirably as the expression of fear is rendered, so excellent
likewise are the brush-work and modelling, the sobriety and
harmony of the colouring, the grace, restraint, and firmness of
the drawing. The ridiculous appearance of these scared cenobites
notwithstanding, the unbroken serenity of the entire scene adds
greatly to its charm.
In the following scene representing l^he Saint's Death we
are admitted into the convent itself, but the painter has arranged
his composition under the spacious portico projecting from the
facade of the church, so that the garden and buildings are seen
from another side. To the beautiful palm, growing in the middle
of the courtyard, a curious animal is attached by a chain : to the
left are the farm buildings ; to the right the convent. In the
foreground under the portico the Saint's Obsequies are taking
place. The dead body stiffened with that rigidity that none knew
better than Carpaccio how to render, is laid out on the ground
with the head resting upon a stone. Around the corpse upon their
knees the blue-and-white robed monks are grouped in prayer;
1 About the middle of the sixteenth century Cristoforo Busnadici, surnamed " Christopher
of the medals " (Cristoforo delle medaglie), had his stall under the portico of S. Giacomo di Rialto.
i 2 6 PAINTINGS IN THE NEW ORATORY
one of whom, kneeling at the head of the corpse, is reading the
Prayers for the Dead. A painter of antiquated methods would
have shown us an ecstatic monk with large languorous eyes, rapt
in seraphic contemplation, reciting the Office. Instead of which a
humble friar with spectacles on nose is the model chosen by our
sharp observer of reality. The drawing for the heads of the
Brethren in the group to the spectator's right and that of a monk
with a long beard standing up are preserved in the Ufftzi.
Several figures robed in red stand to the right and left in
various attitudes, and an old monk leaning upon his stick at the
foot of the corpse certainly represents, another intimate detail
of monastic life, one of those aged Brethren who are held in great
reverence in their convents for their real or supposed sanctity.
To the left in the shadow of the church-door we observe those
symbols of mortality a withered tree-trunk and a skull hung
above a holy-water stoup. At the edge of the painting in the
centre a little lizard holds a label in its jaws upon which we may
read, Victor Carpatius pingebat MDII.
Lazzaro Bastiani, Carpaccio's master, treated the same subject
with far less skill, representing all the Brethren standing upright
around the Saint's corpse.
In the third scene we have The Saint in his Paradise, as Mr.
Ruskin would have it, or rather in his Study or better still, in
his Private Oratory. Mr. Ruskin thinks that the Saint is here
shown in the fulfilment of the desires of his higher nature, repre-
sented by the Arts and the Humanities. Music is symbolized by
the score inscribed on one of the folios upon the floor ; Painting
by the illuminated missal and the richly decorated niche ; Sculpture
in the forms of all the furniture and their bronze ornaments. There
is some truth in these fantastic and yet profound Ruskinian lucubra-
tions, and we believe that Carpaccio did intend to represent the Saint
specially in his character of the great Reformer of the Sacred Liturgy.
In fact Jacopo da Voragine writes, speaking of this reform
as of one of Jerome's greatest merits :
" The Emperor Theodosius, as Joanne Bileth tells us, besought
" Pope Damasus to commission some learned man to set in order
"the Sacred Offices. He then knowing that Jerome was accom-
" plished and learned in the Latin, Greek, and Hebrew tongues, and
"great in every sort of wisdom, gave such commission to him.
"Jerome then divided up the Psalter for the Feasts, and to each
" Feast assigned its own Nocturne, and directed that the Gloria
" Patri should be said at the end of every Psalm : as Sigisbert tells
" us. After this he arranged the Epistles and Gospels to be sung
" throughout the year : and all other matters pertaining to the Office :
" except what is sung: and he sent it from Bethlehem to the Supreme
SKETCH OF HEAD-;
MONKS PRAYING. Detail. By Carpaccio.
122 SKKTCH FOR Tin; Fn.rKi; or A MONK.
By Vittorc Carpacdo. In tin- I'ffizi, Florence.
MUSIC
127
"Pontiff, and it was much approved of by him and his Cardinals
" and was authenticated in perpetuity" x
Looking round the room we perceive numerous symbols of
Music. Open on the ground in the right-hand corner, against
the dai's of the table, stands a large folio, wherein we may distinctly
read these musical notes :
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huomo
1 Theodosio imperatore sicome dice Joanne Bilelh fregb Damasio Papa che commettesse alcuno
mo docto a efser ordinato lo eccksiastico offido ; egli dunque safendo Hieronymo essere ferfecto et
128
PAINTINGS IN THE NEW ORATORY
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docto in lingua latino., greca et ebraica ."' et summo in ogni sapientia a lui commisse tal offitio.
Hieronymo dunque distinxe el Psalterio per le ferie et a qualunque feria assegnb il proprio nocturno
et tnstitul a esser dicto in fine di riascun fsalmo gloria patri : come dice Sigisberto. Dopo ordinb a
esser cantate U epistole et It evangelii per tutto /' anno : et tutte f altre cose pertinente al officio :
salvo che el canto ; et mando quello de Bethleem al summo Pontifice et da luj dagli Cardinal! suoi
fu molto approbato ; et in perpetuo autenticato.
MUSIC
129
Upon the step in a similar missal of a smaller size we can read
these other notes :
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130
PAINTINGS IN THE NEW ORATORY
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MODERN TRANSCRIPTION
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This score has been transcribed for us by Signer Cristofoli,
chorister at the Basilica of S. Mark. In the larger missal the
music, of an austere character, solemn and in perfect counterpoint,
is in three leading parts, two tenors and a bass, written in the
ancient style in the tenor clef, without divisions for the bars. In
the second missal the music partakes of a more worldly style, and,
123
THE CONCERT. In the Harrach Collection, Vienna.
S JEROME IN HIS STUDY 131
gracefully suave, is arranged for four voices : cantus (soprano), altus,
tenor, and bassus. In a half-open missal on the left other notes
are also faintly distinguishable.
We are reminded of another painting wherein a score is depicted
so distinctly as to be legible. The Maestro dalle mezze figure
presents the identical scene of A Musical Recital in three paintings ;
preserved in the Harrach Picture Gallery in Vienna, in the
Hermitage at St. Petersburg, and in the Ducal Castle at Meiningen
respectively. In the picture at Vienna not only the musical notes
but even the words can be read, whereas in Carpaccio's canvas
we have only the music, giving us no clue to the original
composition. i
S. Jerome, seated at his table, with rapt countenance turned
towards the window, holds his pen suspended in his right hand, as
though listening to Divine Harmonies. The Saint, with brown hair
and youthful mien, is perhaps presented as he might have been in 382,
when he was Secretary to Pope Damasus in Rome. He wears a
close-fitting cap, a red cassock and a white surplice, with an
episcopal cape of a tawny colour. In the middle of the room
watching the Saint, instead of the traditional lion, sits a lively
little spaniel with its forepaws outstretched. All the surroundings
bear the stamp of the refined taste and elegancies of Venetian
homes, and, as though contrasting with this charming scene, the
painting of another great artist is called to mind : Albrecht Diirer,
who transposed the subject into another key, tinged by the bent of
his genius and his race. There S. Jerome is writing in devout
meditation and the faithful lion sleeps in a corner, whilst the
apartment suggests a sense of tranquil and austere scholarship.
In our opinion, Carpaccio's beautifully appointed chamber, portrayed
in minutest and most curious detail, depicts one of those private
oratories, so much in vogue among the Venetian magnates that
their number had to be limited by law, in order that the public
churches might not be deserted.
The scene has for us the value of a precious inventory of the
contents of one of these oratories, illustrated by drawing and
colour. An arch in the end wall between two doors encloses the
altar niche with a mosaic of a cherub in the apse. The altar itself
forms a cupboard, through the open door of which may be seen,
disposed in order upon the shelves, an incense-boat, cruets and an
alb. When the altar was used for Divine Service the doors were
closed and a piece of silk, which we see draped on one side, fell
over in the form of a frontal.
1 In a painting of Orpheus by Honderkoeter at Belton House, co. Lincoln, various birds
are holding music-books in such a way that both notes and words can be distinctly de-
ciphered.
i 3 2 PAINTINGS IN THE NEW ORATORY
On a pedestal above the altar stands a statue of The Redeemer
holding the Banner of the Resurrection, and on the slab itself are
set out a mitre and a pair of brass candlesticks of a form peculiar
to Venice, with a point (a piron) to hold the wooden candle-
socket. Along the other two walls run cornices or ledges (soaze),
under which are hung arras to keep out the cold ; whilst upon
them are placed a variety of objects : small vases, bowls, candles,
two statuettes, a J^enus and a horse, and one of those great
astronomical spheres so much in fashion in Venice at that time,
especially with physicians. Above the cornice to the left is a
shelf, whereon are laid in a row several closed folio volumes with
wooden covers ; and above the shelf a lion's paw of carved wood
supports a candlestick. Against the grey and uniform tint of the
walls a rich coffered ceiling, adorned in the middle with gilded
rosaces, offers a splendid contrast to the eye.
The table, before which the Saint sits on a bench, presents a
remarkable appearance, resembling very much those dining-boards
which the inventories describe as a " table to be set up for eating "
(tavola di inagnar suso). They were pieces of furniture, supported
at one end on a bracket, and at the other by a metal tripod or
foot (trepie}. Upon the table lie books, breviaries with handsome
clasps, an inkstand, a bell, and a shell, called in old Inventories
"a burnishing pig" (porcella da lissar\ at that time an indis-
pensable object to copyists for smoothing the erasures upon
parchments.
The elbow-chair placed beside the wall to the left has attracted
general attention. The frame of it is not as some would believe
of metal, but of wood covered with red cloth studded with brass
nails. Two knobs terminate the arms, and the four legs converge
into a point in the centre. Our familiarity with the old-time
Inventories of Venetian chattels induces us to believe that such
seats were reserved in religious ceremonies for prelates of high
degree, especially in patrician families, to which ecclesiastical
magnates frequently belonged. We must not forget that we
are in a chamber intended for an oratory, and " the episcopal
equipage " (carega episcopal], as it was called, is placed, together
with its faldstool (scabelo), upon a dais so as to form a
single piece of furniture. On days of solemnity the faldstool
was covered with a piece of silk of liturgical colour, upon the
seat was placed a cushion of gilded leather, and to that kind
of ornamental head which surmounts the back was attached a
canopy.
With a happy effect of chiaroscuro the painter shows us through
the open door to the left of the altar the interior of a closet,
used as a receptacle for scientific instruments. Upon a table
THE STORY OF S. GEORGE 133
stands one of those revolving lecterns (lettorin) so much in
use with students in the Middle Ages, and often seen in early
miniatures.
The Story of S. George is likewise told us in three scenes.
The Legend of the Saintly Warrior, held in such high honour
in many lands, especially in Italy and in England, deals for the
most part with the prowess of a knight who rescues a virgin
from a dragon. The parallelism of the Legend with the ancient
Myth of Perseus and Andromeda was recognized even in the
Middle Ages, and is set forth with copious argument and learning
by Messrs. Ruskin and Anderson. Christianity, as is well known,
failed to destroy at a blow a Paganism which had its roots
struck firm and deep into men's souls and habits. It en-
deavoured therefore to assimilate its teaching in a thousand
ways. The Christians destroyed Pagan statues and monuments,
sacked temples, and profaned tombs. Yet the Divinities of
Greece and Rome outlived destruction, and when the ancient
religion at last disappeared from the human conscience its
traditions survived in History and inspired artistic ideals. In
such guise were numerous Greek and Latin myths grafted upon
legends of Christian Saints, and out of the Story of Perseus grew
that of .S. George.
The two English critics point out inter alia how the narrative
of the battle fought by each of the two heroes is almost identical
among Greeks and among Christians : even to the crowd of
distant spectators on whom Carpaccio dwells with so much
pleasure, and to the votive altars erected over the body of the
monster, from which issues a " stream of health"
Thus in the first scene Carpaccio represents the warrior, fully
armed but bare-headed, mounted upon a steed in full career. The
handsome golden-haired Christian Perseus drives his long lance
into the open jaws of the dragon who, with sharp-pointed wings
extended, makes ready to attack the maiden. She stands to one
side with folded hands in an attitude of supplication. The monster
crouches among skeletons, skulls, bones and other human frag-
ments along with vipers, toads and salamanders, in a savage and
desert spot redolent with the awful desolation of death. In the
background, amid hills and palm-trees, stands a city of fantastic
Oriental architecture. But the gate of the city beneath two massive
round towers is really the gate of Cairo, copied by the painter
from some early design. Above the gate between the tops of
the two towers, we perceive a sort of wooden suspension-bridge
or covered way, which now no longer exists.
The second scene represents The Triumph of S. George.
The dying dragon is bound by a rope, which passes through
THE SO-CALLED TEMPLE OF
SOLOMON AT JERUSALEM.
Rettvich.
i 3 4 PAINTINGS IN THE NEW ORATORY
its jaws and the rent of the wound caused by the spear. S. George,
grasping the cord with one hand, with the other raises his sword
to deal the horrible monster its death-blow. A crowd of musicians
and jubilant spectators press forward, arrayed
in the most varied and brilliant colours. To
the left are the King and Queen on horse-
back, surrounded by their court. The King,
gorgeously attired in Oriental style, wears a
black mantle flowered with yellow, and on his
head an immense turban. The Queen's head
only is visible, adorned with a crimson coif.
In the background we easily recognize the
usual inspirations taken from Breydenbach's
book. This is better seen however in a
drawing in the Uffizi Gallery, which repro-
duces the
painting with
a few varia-
tions. In the centre of the com-
position rises a domed edifice
like that called " Solomon's Tem-
ple" in Reuvich's drawing for
Breydenbach's work, whence also
Carpaccio drew for this picture the
tower and facade of the Church of
the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.
But in Carpaccio's painting the
latter, instead of being surmounted
by a cupola, ter-
minates in a kind
of slender minaret
like that of the
Mosque at Ramah, a town half-way between Jaffa
and Jerusalem, where pilgrims were accustomed to
pass the night. The Bergamasque painter, Alvise
Donato, who flourished in Venice from 1528 to
1550, also adopted Reuvich's sketches for the
panorama of Jerusalem with the Temple of Solomon
and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, which fill
the background of his picture of The Crucifixion,
now preserved in the Venice Academy.
Carpaccio's borrowings from Reuvich are not
limited to buildings but extend also to figures, as may clearly be
seen in the drawing at the Uffizi. Reuvich most certainly inspired
the two women, one unveiled and the other wearing a high cap
THE CHURCH OF THE HOLY SEPULCHRE AT
JERUSALEM.
Reuvich.
feomct
THE MOSQUE AT
RAMAH.
Reuvich,
125 GROUP OF SARACENS.
Detail from the Picture of " The Triumph of S. George.''
126
*- o'?
SITE OF SOLOMON'S TEMPLE, JERUSALEM.
127
DETAIL FROM A PICTURE OF " THE CRUCIFIXION/
By Alvise Donato. In the Academy, Venice.
128 THE CHURCH OF THE HOLY SEPULCHRE AT JERUSALEM.
S. GEORGE BAPTIZING THE GENTILES
135
over which falls a veil upon a sort of box, and a Saracen in
characteristic costume : three figures which also reappear on other
occasions in Carpaccio's paintings.
Absolutely fanciful and without any direct inspiration from
Reuvich is the background of the last scene, King Aia and his
Wife baptized by S. George in the River Silenus in Libya.
On the steps before the principal door of a shrine kneel the
King and Queen in the act of receiving the Baptismal Rite at
the hands of the Warrior Saint who, draped in a mantle, holds in
his hand an embossed bronze vessel filled with water. Mr. Ruskin,
his sharpness of vision tinged with a sense of humour, notices
the striking attitude of the principal figure. He would seem to
be the most precise and careful of all the Saints, even in the
ORIENTAL WOMEN.
A SARACEN.
Reuvich.
Reuvich.
smallest matters, since he draws back his mantle that the splashing
of the water may not injure it. Around the steps, some upright
and some kneeling, are grouped many figures in Oriental attire.
A greyhound and a parrot complete the scene. To the left, upon a
dais covered with a handsome carpet, musicians, likewise clothed
in Oriental garb, blow their trumpets and beat their drums.
But words fail to describe the play of colour and the brilliance
of the light suffusing the scene. Tints of rose, violet, green, and
aquamarine, the most vivid and most delicate combinations, mingle
without the least effort in a unison of iridescent harmony. This
sense of colour and purity of form can indeed be found in the
work of other fifteenth-century painters ; but what we seek for in
vain with them is the unusual and powerful originality of the
composition. Nor throughout the entire range of Italian Art can
136 PAINTINGS IN THE NEW ORATORY
we find more spontaneous, and at the same time more telling in-
terpretation than this of the poetic Legend of the Saint who,
passing near Silene in Libya, encounters the virgin, daughter of
the King, offered up in sacrifice to the dragon, attacks the horrible
monster, liberates the maiden, conducts her to the city, where King,
Queen, and all the people, amid immense jubilation, are converted
to the Faith of the Heroic Warrior.
The legend proceeds to tell how S. George, in distress at the
persecutions of the Christians under the reigns of Diocletian and
Maximian, laid down his armour, and, donning the preacher's gown,
went forth into the public square to curse the false gods of Paganism.
The Prefect Dacian wished to punish his boldness severely, but the
most cruel torments by a Divine Miracle were of no avail and the
Saint remained unmoved, whilst iron bills tore his body and blazing
brands burnt his limbs. The most violent poisons had no power over
him, flames would not burn him, the rack was broken to pieces.
The Prefect then had recourse to flattery and prayers that George,
abandoning his obduracy, would sacrifice to the idols. The Saint
pretended to consent, but being conducted to the pagan temple
knelt down, and, proclaiming his faith in Christ, invoked the fires of
destruction on the dwelling of impiety and superstition. Im-
mediately fire from Heaven fell upon the temple and destroyed it.
Nevertheless the Prefect, unconvinced by these miracles, which he
attributed to sorcery and magic, having dragged the Saint through
the city, caused him to be beheaded. Thus S. George ended his
glorious life. The various incidents of this legend were depicted
by Carpaccio in another painting for the Winter Choir of the
Monastery of S. Giorgio Maggiore in Venice.
The Story of S. George is followed by The Miracle of
S. Tryphonius, which appears to Mr. Ruskin light and pleasing as
the summer air, iridescent as a morning cloud, more lovely far as a
composition than the finest Titian or Veronese. Nevertheless the
English critic in one of his paradoxical die fa shows more admira-
tion for the splendid carpets hung out of the windows than for
6". Tryphonius and the Basilisk.
"Was ever so simple a Saint, ever so absurd a beast?" asks
the ingenious writer. Hagiographers tell us but little about
S. Tryphonius.
Butler writes that Tryphonius and Respicius were born at
Apamea in Bithynia, and, imprisoned during the Decian Persecution
in A.D. 250, were dragged in chains to Nicaea and brought before
Aquilinus, Governor of Bithynia and Prefect of the East. Threats
and exhortations notwithstanding, they courageously confessed their
faith in Christ and were burnt alive. 1
1 Butler, Vite dei Padri, del Martiri ecc., vol. xi., p. 108, Venice, tip. Emiliana, 1860.
S. TRYPHONIUS 137
More copious in information on Ecclesiastical History is the
Sclavonic Legend that tells how this Saint became the Patron of
Cattaro.
It is a well-known fact that the remains and relics of Saints
were much sought after by the Republic of Venice, who acquired
them, trafficked in them, and even purloined them, as was the case
with the body of S. Mark. This commerce in the remains of
Saints and Martyrs continued for a long time, solemnly sanctioned
by the Doge, magistrates and people. In the year 809 certain
Venetian merchants journeying to Asia Minor, visited the Apamean
plain at Campsade in Phrygia. Finding there the body of the
Martyr Tryphonius, they carried it on board their vessel and
weighed anchor for their own country. Off the Straits (Bocche)
of Cattaro, they were overtaken by a violent storm which com-
pelled them to seek shelter at Porto Rose, not far from Cattaro.
Tradition relates that scarcely had the Holy Relic approached the
City than all the bells in Cattaro pealed of their own accord.
Another tradition, less devout but more probable, narrates that the
Governor of the City, Andreaccio Saracenis, and the Great Council,
having learnt the arrival of the precious burden carried by the
ship that was sheltered in a neighbouring harbour, repaired to the
Venetian merchants to treat with them for the acquisition of the
body of S. Tryphonius. 1
The ancient records report a dialogue between the Venetians
and Andreaccio, who begins to speak thus : " I beg you, dearest
friends, sell me the body of S. Tryphonius " (Rogo vos amid
carissimi, vendite mihi corpus Sancti Triphonis}. To which the
Venetians reply: "If thou promisest to serve him with all your
mind and affections we will sell him to you, and if not we will
not give him to you " 2 (Si tit promittis servire ei cum tota mente
et amore, vendimus tibi } et si non, non dabimus tibi eimi).
It would seem that the promises were as satisfactory as the
price, which was fixed at two hundred Roman soldi for the casket
containing the Sacred Relics, and one hundred more for the jewelled
crown that adorned it.
On January i3th, 809 the clergy and populace with psalms
and religious hymns went down in ships to Porto Rose to receive
their precious acquisition, which was thus borne to Cattaro ; and
immediately, at Andreaccio' s expense, a shrine was commenced
in honour of the Saint on the spot where the Cathedral now stands.
Tryphonius thus became the Patron of Cattaro, the image of the
1 Gelcich Giuseppe, Marinarezza di Cattaro Cenni Storici, p. 4, e seg., Trieste, Bello & Co.,
1872.
3 Instrumentum Corporis Nostri Gloriosi Gonfalonis Martyris Sancti Triphonis. Gelcich
Storia documentata della Marinarezza Bocchese, p. 79. Ragusa, 1889.
18
: 3 8 PAINTINGS IN THE NEW ORATORY
Saint adorned the Standard of the City and the Arms of the
Republic, and, struck upon their coinage, his name was given to
some of the coins themselves. 1
In the Biblioteca Marciana there exists an account of S.
Tryphonius in a parchment MS. dating from the year 1466,
which once belonged to a certain Urbano Raffaelli. 2 The folio,
painted with miniatures to the order of the noble family of Buccia
of Cattaro, most probably at Cattaro itself rather than in Venice
(as suggested by Prof. Gelcich), consists of two portions, and the
Argument (Explicit), where some lines are struck out, runs as
follows :
" Completed has been this book called patrician to the honour of
God and Madonna S. Mary and completed ... in 1466 on the 8th
day of March was begun in the following book the legend of Messer
Saint Tryphonius Martyr, ensign and protector of the city of
Cattaro." (Complito ha questo libra chiamato pater zio al honor de
Dio et de madona sancta maria et complito
in 1466 a di 8 de marzo Comenza in lo segiiente libro lezendo de
misier San Triphon martire confalon et protector de la citade de
Cataro).
The book describes the Life of S. Tryphonius, who from boy-
hood worked miracles, casting out devils from those possessed.
The account of these exorcisms is accompanied by miniatures,
remarkable for the beauty and brilliant colouring of the figures.
The last Miracle of S. Tryphonius is that represented by
Carpaccio, and is thus narrated in the old MS.
"The Roman Emperor Gordian had a daughter, most wise in
intellect and most beautiful of feature (d intelletto sapientissima
et di faza bellissima), who was possessed by a devil. No exorcism
had any influence over this evil spirit, who refused to obey to
leave the body of the girl, except at the invocation of the boy
Tryphonius. To all judges and prefects throughout the Empire
orders went forth to trace out the boy exorcist, who was found
in his own village beside a river herding ducks (contrata sua
presso ad uno fiwne pascolando anedre). Tryphonius was brought
to Rome, but the demon conscious of the Saint's approach began
to complain that he could stay no longer in the girl (potere oltra
nela puta start), and fled away before the youthful prodigy arrived.
The Emperor full of joy received Tryphonius, and begged him
to call up the demon that had so greatly disturbed his daughter.
Here the dialogue between the Saint and the demon presents us
with such a naive but vividly dramatic controversy that it would
be a thousand pities not to reproduce the ingenuous words !
1 Gelcich, loc. op. cit.
2 MiracolidiS. Trifone. Cl. XI. It. Cod. 196.
S. TRYPHONIUS AND THE DEMON 139
" In the presence of the Emperor the Saint in a clear voice
began to conjure that unclean spirit speaking thus : ' Of whatever
sort you be I charge you, unclean spirit, in the name of my God
that you come into my presence, hurting no one, and become
visible to our sight ' ; and Lo ! immediately amid the crowd
appeared a black dog with eyes of flame and drew its head along
the ground, of which Tryphonius demanded, saying, ' I tell you,
demon, for what reason did'st thou enter into this maiden ? ' The
demon answered, ' I marvel much that power is given to you over
our race, seeing that you are not yet twelve years of age.' The
child Tryphonius said to him, ' Do not doubt, but tell me how
you came to enter this maiden.' The demon answered, ' My father
commanded me that I should persuade her and then disturb her.'
To which said the Saint, ' And who is your father ? ' The demon
answered, ' He is called the Devil.' Then said Saint Tryphonius,
'Are not the Devil and Satan one and the same person ? ' The
demon said, ' It is manifest that they are one being, who induces
the minds of men so that they do not believe in God the Almighty
Father and in Jesus Christ His Son, whom Peter and Paul
preached in this city, and for the name of whom they suffered
many torments and passed from this world to their Lord.' At this
Saint Tryphonius said, ' Then your father has the power of giving
thee right to enter in the likeness of God ? ' The demon answered,
' Our power prevails over those who, not knowing God, do our
works.' Saint Tryphonius asked, 'And what are your works?'
The demon answered, ' Our works are idolatry, murders, adulteries,
blasphemy, avarice, envy, pride and every other work like these :
our power is over those who commit such things.' Hearing these
things the Emperor and all his friends who were in the palace,
filled with joy remained stupefied, and many Gentiles were converted
and believed in our Lord Messer Jesus Christ."
(In pressenzia delo imperatore el sancto con clara voze comenzb
a sconznrare quelo immondo spirito cussi dizendo : Sey de che
condizion se voia a te spirito immondo io ti comando per parte del
mio idio che vegnj in qtiesta pressenzia a nulo nozendo et fate
vissible al nostro vedere ; et echo subito fra la turba aparve uno
chane negro qual aveva li ochi del fogo el capo per tera traeva,
el quale dimandb Triphone dizendo dico a te dimonio che cassione
quest a con quest a put a che in lei entrasti ; el dimonio rispose molto
mi meramglio chel te sia data potesta sopra la generazione nostra
conzossia tu non abi anchora eta de annj dodeze ; el puto Triphone
li disse non dubitare ma dime come tu entrasti dentro ala puta ;
rispoxe el dimonio mio patre mel comando chio dovesse quela
suader et da poi conturbare ; al quale disse el santo et chi e el
patre tuo ; el demonio rispoxe F e nominato diavolo ; alora disse el
140 PAINTINGS IN THE NEW ORATORY
sancto Triphone diavolo et satanas non sono una cossa ? disse el
demonio manifesto he, che sono uno, perb che luj induza la mente
deli homeni azo non credano in Dio patre omnipotente et in Jhesu
Cristo suo fiuolo el quale Pietro e Paulo in questa zitade predi-
carono et per lo nome del quale sostenero molti tormenti et passarono
da questo mondo al signore ; disse ad qtielo sancto Triphone adoncha
el patre tuo ha potestate de darti locho de intrare ne la imagine
de dio ; el demonio rispoxe la potestate nostra in queli prevale i
quali idio non cognoscendo fazano F opere nostre ; Sancto Triphone
disse et qiiale sono /' opere vostre ; rispose il demonio I' opere nostre
sono idolatria i omizidi adulteri biastemie avarizia invidia superbia
et hogni altra operazione simile ad queste la potestate nostra e
sopra quest i quali queste cosse simile comet ono. Aldando queste
cosse lo imperatore et tutti i suoi amizi quali nel suo palazo si
trovavano repleti de alegreza stavano stopefacti et molti dei gentili
se convertiro, et credettero al nostro signor missier Jhesu Christo}. 1
The miniature which illustrates this miracle shows us under
the handsome portico of the palace the Emperor, Empress, and
many personages, whilst the Saintly Child argues with the demon,
who according to the legend " changed itself into a dog with eyes
of flame " (si tramuto in im cane con gli occhi di fitoco) on issuing
from the body of the young princess, who stands upright in the
centre of the picture with hands folded as though rapt in ecstasy.
Examining this miniature side by side with the Legend we shall
easily see how inaccurately Carpaccio's work has hitherto been
described. It does not represent S. Tryphonius killing the Basilisk,
but rather The Emperor s Daughter liberated from a Demon.
The scene in Carpaccio's painting resembles the miniature.
The Emperor is seated under a handsome portico. Beside him
is his daughter with folded hands and serene expression, tranquil
yet not ecstatic. Opposite stands the Boy Saint, who has exorcised
the demon, changed not into a " dog with eyes of flame," but into
a basilisk the absurd heraldic animal that calls forth the humour
of Mr. John Ruskin. On the square, at the foot of a flight of
steps magnificently inlaid with marble arabesques like Rizzo's
Ducal staircase, are grouped a variety of personages, probably the
Brethren of the Scuola degli Schiavoni robed in picturesque
Venetian garments. In the background Venice, welcoming already
the glories of the Renaissance, displays her splendid edifices pierced
with windows of the most varied architectural style, and filled
with the fairest ladies, and her loggie and porticoes adorned with
gorgeous tapestries, hung over window-sills and balustrades.
1 Pp. 97, 98, and 99 of the Codex.
133 MIRACLE OF S. THII-ONA.
Miniature from a Codex of the Year 1466, Biblioteca Marciana."
CHAPTER VIII
THE ALBANIANS, THEIR SCUOLA IN VENICE,
AND CARPACCIOS PAINTINGS
JUST as the Breton people are the ultimate survival of the
great Celtic nation of Europe, so the Albanians are the last
branch of that great Illyrian family who had their earliest
home to the North of the Balkan Peninsula.
In Greco-Roman antiquity the name of Illyricum or Illyris
denoted that region which to-day embraces Montenegro and Upper
and Middle Albania. Lower Albania was called Epirus as it is
in our days. 1 The valleys of Albania and the shores of the limpid
Adriatic re-echo yet with the plaint of old-time legends and the
clash of warlike deeds. Here Greek Mythology placed the Acheron,
the Cocytus, the Elysian Fields, Mount Cassiopeus, the Pindus
Range, the Acroceraunian Mountains, and the Sacred Forest of
Dodona. On these plains fought Philip and Alexander, Kings of
Macedon and Conquerors of Epirus. From these shores sailed
for Italy Pyrrhus, King of Epirus, one of the most valiant captains
of antiquity. Here the Romans waged the long wars which finally
brought Illyricum and Epirus under their sway.
After the partition of the Roman Empire between Arcadius
and Honorius, the sons of Theodosius (A.D. 395), Albania, subject
to the Emperors of Byzantium, was invaded, overrun, and at
intervals partly conquered by Goths, Serbs, Croats, Bulgars and
Normans up to the time of the Fall of Constantinople (1453).
In the division of the possessions of the Byzantine Empire,
the Venetians who, as early as the eleventh century, had cast their
glances upon Albania, chose the seaboard and Epirus, securing
besides many other convenient trading-places along the shore, and
also the City of Durazzo. But the Venetian dominion was neither
prolonged nor undisturbed, and the Despots of Epirus reconquered
1 Galanti, A., V Albania, p. 79. Rome, 1901.
141
i 4 2 THE ALBANIANS
Albania, which afterwards fell under the yoke of Angevins, Bulgars,
and Serbs, and of divers Albanian families who amid the revolutions
that shook the land succeeded in becoming masters of certain
districts. 1
In 1383 the Ottoman Turks, greedy of conquest, made their
first appearance in Albania. Several of the Dynasts turned then
to Venice who, opposing a strong resistance to the Ottoman
invasion, succeeded little by little in establishing her mild and
sagacious rule over a great portion of the country in such a
manner that the first quarter of the fifteenth century saw the
Republic mistress of Scutari, Alessio, Durazzo, Valona, Dulcigno,
and the entire coast of Antivari as far as the Bocche di Cattaro.
These possessions were controlled by Venice through her own
governors, who respected always local privileges ; whilst the rest
of Albania was ruled by numerous chieftains, either altogether
independent as was the case of certain mountaineer tribes
or under the sovereign protection, now of Venice now of the
Turk, who slowly but surely extended his dominion over the
country. 2
Before succumbing beneath the Ottoman yoke, the Albanian
nation once succeeded in uniting the national valour in a
supreme effort under the leadership of Giorgio Castriota, surnamed
Scanderbeg, who fought the Turk and, rushing from victory to
victory, spread dismay amid his enemies. But in 1467 Scanderbeg
died, and with him fell the fortunes of his country. 3
Venice looked for Castriota's inheritance. Her first suspicions
dispersed, she had not been sparing of assistance and distinction,
and to Scanderbeg's son, who shortly before the death of his
father had come to Venice, the Signoria presented a robe of
(cloth of) gold and other gifts to the value of 100 to 150 ducats?
In the Albanian cities subject to the dominion of S. Mark the
patriots, who had fought for liberty, gathered trustfully around
the Republic, who was unceasing in her efforts to secure with
gifts the goodwill of the people of Albania ; and prepared, by
force or stratagem to resist the threats and attacks of the Turk
emboldened by success. 5 Unaided by other Christian nations
1 Galanti, op. cit. passim.
3 Id. ibid. pp. 129-34.
3 Biemmi, 1st. di Giorgio Castriota, detto Scanderbeg. Brescia, 1742. Barbarich, Albania.
Rome, 1905.
4 Jfegesti Albanesi del Cecchetti, Senato, Mar. vii. 142.
6 On February 6th, 1469 the Republic added three fresh horses to those which they had
given already to Nicolb Moneta, Voivode in Scutari, for his fidelity and the importance of his
services (Jfeg. cit. Senato, Afar. ix. 31). And in the years 1472 and 1473 the Ten sent with
profoundest secrecy letters and instructions to Leonardo Boldu, Provveditore of Albania and
Count of Scutari, renewing great promises to Mahmut Pasha in the event that he, as was
his intention, should attack the City and Empire of Constantinople. (Reg. cit. Misti. C. X.
Zonta. xvii. 181 ; xviii. 5 e 5 t, 6, 7).
THE SIEGES OF SCUTARI 143
Venice was herself in the end constrained to try the fortunes of
war, and manfully opposed the enemy, who in 1474 with a
formidable army under the command of Suleiman Pasha laid
siege to Scutari.
Whilst Antonio Loredan courageously repelled the assault
Tradiano Gritti at the mouth of the Boiana put the Turkish army
to flight. But the siege of Scutari was fiercely prolonged and so
bitterly was the want of food felt that Loredan, baring his breast
to the people who called upon him to surrender, answered :
" Very well I Here is my flesh and blood. Satiate yourselves
on that, but continue the defence." The defence continued
with such vigour and tenacity that the Turk was constrained to
withdraw.
Such a victory greatly pleased both the Government and the
people ; and Venice resounded with the echoes of joyous festivity.
The Senate did not fail to remember the brave men, even the
humblest, who had contributed to the triumph ; such as one Era
Bartolomeo of Venice and a Era Paolo of Emethia, Minorite
monks, who in the assault of the Turks on Scutari had captured
several of the enemy's standards.
This defeat did not, however, discourage the Ottoman foe, who
in May 1477 with an army of 150,000 fighting men, led by
the same Sultan Mahomet II., reduced Croia by famine, stormed
Alessio and Drivasto, and once more invested Scutari, which was
then defended by the Provveditore, Antonio da Lezze, and again
resisted with indomitable courage. But with the city at the
point of capture, without ammunition or food, Venice sued for
peace, and Scutari in 1479 capitulated to the Turk, the lives of
its defenders being spared. The Venetians remained for some
time longer masters of the coast-towns, but the Ottoman power
held uncontested sway over Albania. Some of those Albanians who
would not bend to the yoke of the oppressor took refuge in the
mountainous regions of their own land, whilst others migrated
to Venice, to Calabria, or to Sicily, seeking the protection of
Alfonso V. of Naples, Scanderbeg's most faithful ally.
To all those who had upheld, along with the independence
of their own country, the honour of the Standard of S. Mark,
the Venetian Republic granted freely arable lands and posts of
honour and emolument. The grants made to the Albanian families
who sought safety in the Lagoons afford fresh proof of the paternal
wisdom and bounty of the Venetian Government towards its
subjects. " It was a just and proper thing " say the Governors
in their Decrees "to give such assistance to these people from
> Reg. cit. Sen. Mar. x. n. 59,
i 4 4 THE ALBANIANS
Scutari who have come hither that in the sight of God and of
all the world our State cannot be justly calumniated ; and because
in their distress they look to us to make for them such provision
as may be reasonable." (Era iusta e conveniente cossa dar tal
expedition a questi Scutarini venuti qui, eke al conspecto del
nostro Signor Dio et apresso tutto el mondo el Stato nostro non
possi iustamente esser caluniato, e che loro povareti intendano per
md esserli facte quelle provision che sono rexonevole,} 1
Protected by the Government and assisted by private benevolence,
the prosperity of the Albanian guests increased, and their appearance
in the handsome costumes, which they wear to this day, struck
a bright and picturesque note amid the Venetian populace. They
carried on a profitable trade in oil and also in woollen fabrics,
and in short they grew so much in numbers and importance as
to give their name to various streets in the city. 2
But even before misfortune had overwhelmed their country,
and from the time when the Venetian sovereignty was supreme
in many Albanian towns, no small a number of that industrious
and energetic race had found hospitality in Venice. From
October 22nd, 1442 onwards their fellow-countrymen met at
S. Severe, where a monastery dedicated to S. Gallo had been
founded in 810; and this great English Saint (born 551, died 646),
who later took Switzerland for his country, was chosen by the
Albanians as the Patron of their Scuola, together with the
Madonna del Buon Consiglio, called by them " Our Lady of
Scutari," the Protectress of Albania. When in 1447 this Albanian
sodality moved to the church of S. Maurizio, where they had an
altar and a burial-place for their members, S. Maurizio also was
venerated as the third patron of the Scuola. From de Barbaris'
plan alone do we -know the shape of the ancient church of
S. Maurizio, erected according to the chronicles in 699 by the
Candiano family, but demolished in 1590 and rebuilt. But even
1 Arch, di Stato. Senate, Mar. 28 Giugno, 1479. Some of these curious provisions may
be noted. In December 1478 pensions are assigned to certain widows of men of Scutari who fell
during the siege. In May 1479 tne Pst of massaro (steward) being vacant in certain offices in
Venice it is directed that Scutarine emigrants, or Venetians who had suffered during the last siege,
shall be appointed. In July of the same year arrangements were made regarding certain men
from Scutari who had been sent into the fortresses of the Friuli, and to carry out the directions
of the Government five Savi were chosen. In August pensions were granted to the families
from Scutari and Drivasto, who had lost their breadwinners and their goods, and a monthly
allowance was made to the three sons of Coia Humri, killed during the siege (Regesti cit. Senato,
Mar. xi. 3, 22 t, 57, 37 t, 43 t). These provisions continue during the following years. In
September 1480 five more Savi were elected to execute the orders issued in favour of the
Scutarine and Drivastine emigrants, to whom were granted lands in the Friuli and relief. In July
1489 it was decreed that the subsidy to the widows of the citizens of Scutari and Drivasto should
be continued for another five years : and in July 1492 money was sent for the fortifications
at Cattaro, etc. (Reg. cit. Senato, Mar. xi. 84. Senato, Terra, x. 153. Senato, Mar. xiii. 90).
There are a variety of streets in Venice, which have taken their names from the Albanians
who have dwelt in them. Tassini, Curiositb Veneziane, p. n. Venezia, 1887.
136 THE Cm/RCH OF SAN MArkixio. Rebuilt in 1806.
FOUNDATION OF THE SCUOLA 145
of this building traces only remain in a picture which still hangs
in the sacristy and shows the church as a very different structure
from that which now stands in the Campo di S. Maurizio. This
second church having been destroyed in 1806, a new one was
erected according to the design of the patrician Zaguri, who wished
the interior to be an imitation of Sansovino's church of S. Geminiano.
Antonio Selva and Antonio Diedo built the facade, which bears
the stamp of that cold Neo-Classic style, so much in vogue in
Venetian architecture at the beginning of the nineteenth century.
The front of the new building and its principal door are on the
Campo, whereas in the building of 1590 both looked towards the
street or calle.
A painting on panel which adorned the altar of the Albanians
in the first church of S. Maurizio as early as 1477, has now
disappeared, but it was still in position in the eighteenth century,
since La Cronica Veneta sacra e prof ana (Venezia, Pitteri, MDCCXXXVI)
mentions on p. 250 : " The altar [piece] of the Blessed Virgin
and S. Gall in ancient painting belongs to the Albanians, or
Epirotes, whose Confraternity is one of the most ancient "
(L altar delta B. V. e di S. Gallo in pittura antica & degli Albanesi,
o Epiroti, la confraternita de qnali & delle pm antiche).
To the end almost of the fifteenth century the Albanians held
their religious meetings in the sacristy, near the altar of S. Maurizio,
and they retained unchanged the pious and simple customs ordained
by their first Confraternity at S. Severe in 1442.
The Mariegola, compiled and rearranged at various periods, does
not change substantially, 1 and manifests that discretion and
practical judgment with which like the others the Scuola degli
Albanesi was governed : one of those several religious and
charitable associations that prospered in Venice, fostering a moral
life and domestic and friendly ties among humble households.
This national confraternity commends its welfare to the pro-
tection of the Most Holy Mary, S. Maurice and S. Gall. The
Brethren lay under the obligation of saying one Pater Noster to
their Patron Saints ; bad language was punished by a money
fine, and blasphemy was expelled. The Brethren and Sisters are
ordered to attend Divine Service on Feast-days, and the Gastaldo
and his Companions in office shall be present at the Missa Cantata
at the altar of the Patron Saints every third Sunday in the month,
and at the Mass for the dead celebrated every week for the souls
of the deceased Brethren. The Gastaldo and the officers on the
1 The first copy of the Mariegola dated back to 1552, but it was injured by daily use and
destroyed : another drawn up in the eighteenth century is the one to be found in the Archtoto
di Stato (Prowed. di Comune, Sest. di S. Marco, vol. ii.-U, n. 279, f. 33 t.) An incomplete
extract from the old Mariegola is also preserved in the Biblioteca Marciana (MSS. It. Cl. VII.
n - 737)-
19
146 THE SCUOLA DEGLI ALBANESI
Vigil of S. Gallo shall each offer a candle of the value of one
soldo bought with the money of the Society, in order that " our
" most pious Lord Jesus Christ may give so much grace to this
"Scuola, that it may prosper better than it has done up to this
" time and have some staple property, such as houses, lands, etc."
(nostro Piissimo Sig*- Giesu Christo dia tanta gracia a questa
Scuola che la prosperi meglio di quello che Jin ad hora ha fatto
et habbia qualche beni stabili, come sono case, possessioni, etc.}. To
the honour of God always and to follow the example of the other
confraternities they agree to receive into the Community without
payment of any tax two or four pipers to play at the religious
festivals. All the Brethren from fifteen years of age upwards can
have bread (free) : all shall assist in carrying the dead when so
commanded by the Gastaldo : no one may refuse an office to which
he may be elected. "Since appetites vary, some like black and
some white " (varj sono gF appetiti, chi vuole il bianco e chi &
amante del nero\ it is resolved that as soon as the Gastaldo is
elected he must take the oath under the hands of a priest and
then give a guarantee for the money deposited in his custody.
The Brethren and Sisters are bound to pay a due, called luminaria,
which in 1451 was fixed at ten soldi per annum for the men and
five for the women, and another rate for bread and candles.
Every one moreover must write his name upon a boxwood tally
(tolesella di bosso) : exception being made for persons of rank, who
inscribed their names in a book instead ; and all the Brethren on
every third Sunday in the month and on every solemn feast-day
are compelled under penalty of a fine to make an offering of
alms, taking a receipt therefor. Other offerings for the poor are
recommended to the Brethren who, before entering upon the
marriage state or starting upon a journey, must confess their sins
and receive the Communion.
A resolution of April loth, 1454 nel tempo del discretto e pru
dente homo sier Piero de Zorzi gastaldo, by which it was ordained
that the Gastaldo and theVicario could only be Albanians, manifests
as it were a tendency among the majority of the Brethren to form
a kind of close national aristocracy ; and another decision of
August 25th, 1476, when Zuane Bianco marker was Gastaldo,
shows how already the Scuola had attained to a certain degree of
wealth, and sought to emulate the magnificence of other similar
societies by adorning in most worthy manner their patronal altar
in S. Maurizio. They resolved in addition to take money from the
common chest and to borrow from the Brethren the amount
required to complete a Cross, to be made by the goldsmith,
Maestro Antonello. We do not know what eventually became
of this valuable example of the goldsmith's art, which was
THE FEAST OF S. VITO 147
probably similar to the Processional Cross made of wood and
crystal with graceful little figures in silver gilt, belonging to the
Scuola of S. George of the Dalmatians. In 1501 mention is
made of another Cross of this kind : a framework of wood con-
taining three pieces of crystal and mounted in silver-gilt richly
chased, with a silver-gilt knob and handle also finely engraved.
This cross was a gift from Luca Moneta, perhaps a relative of
Nicold Moneta, Voivode of Scutari. 1 But it likewise disappeared
since a valuation of their chapel plate shows that in 1762 the
Albanians had only one Cross and that of no great value.
In the meanwhile, Scutari having fallen, the great migration of
Albanians occurred, and the burial-place at S. Maurizio being no
longer sufficient, it was resolved in July 1491 to acquire two
sepulchral vaults in the church of SS. Giovanni e Paolo. On
September 5th a deed was executed " for the concession of a certain
piece of land which lies in the cemetery of S. Ursula, near the
door of the church of SS. Giovanni e Paolo " (per la concessione
d un certo terreno al hioco, che giace net Cimiterio di Sanf Orsola
appresso la porta della chiesa dei San Giovanni e Paolo], wherein
to construct these two vaults.
The Albanians, having now become Venetian by affinity and
residence, led the life of their adopted country and shared in the
festivities of the Republic, as is proved by a resolution of July 22nd
1497, which directed " that all the priests who were to take part in
" the Procession of S. Vito should come in their cottas."
The day of S. Vito, on which the Republic used to commemorate
the victory over the conspiracy of Baiamonte Tiepolo, was one of
the principal festivals of Venice. Every year on the i4th of June
the Doge visited the church of SS. Vito e Modesto, accompanied
in solemn procession by the Signoria, the magistrates, the six great
Scuole, the Congregations of the clergy and the Chapter of the
Canons of S. Mark's. Upon the conclusion of the sacred services
the Doge and his train returning to the Palace, where a sumptuous
repast was prepared, crossed the Grand Canal by a bridge of
boats, and passing by S. Maurizio were welcomed with great
pomp by the Albanians, who decorated the Campo with so much
magnificence as to "convert it into a pleasure-garden or theatre
of solemnity." 2 The Brethren of the Scuola afterwards met at a
banquet.
Towards the close of the fifteenth century the Confraternity, it
would seem, had obtained at least some portion of those riches
which they had sought of God ; and the Brethren, no longer content
with an unpretending altar in the church of S. Maurizio, con-
1 See note 5 on p. 142.
* Coronelli, Guida de 1 Forestieri sacro-profana. Venezia, 1 706.
148 THE SCUOLA DEGLI ALBANESI
templated meeting together in a larger and more convenient
locality. 1
The parish priest of S. Maurizio, with the license of the Bishop
of Castello, Lorenzo Giustiniani, had as early as 1448 rented to the
Scuola a lease in perpetuity at three gold ducats per annum, of
dua Albergia sive duas Cameras, which were taken to construct the
enlarged Scuola. The building already existed in 1489, and it is
clearly by mistake that De Barbaris' plan of 1500, which distinctly
shows the church of S. Maurizio, does not show the new Scuola
built in between the church and the campanile. 2 The structure had a
narrow frontage, was very deep in proportion, and stood immediately
against the church of S. Maurizio. The facade, of which only the
doors and window-frames were of Istrian stone and the rest of brick,
looked on to the Calle del Piouan in a straight line with the church.
On the other side were the chaplains' houses, which extended to the
neighbouring canal of S. Maurizio and as far as the adjacent convent
of S. Stefano. In the centre of the building up to a few years since
1 In 1497, at paragraph n. 113 of the Mariegola, we read : " In the time of that discreet and
' prudent man Sier Bernardino Strazzaruolo, Gastaldo, and of his Companions ballot was cast in
' the Chapter with forty-eight for and nine against that the Scuola should be built on that piece
' of ground of the church of S. Maurizio situated in the Campo with the almshouses of the
' poor ; and that many brethren of the Scuola should increase their alms in order to build this
1 said Scuola with a small hostel, which shall be to the Glory of God, of His Mother the Virgin
' Mary and of Missier S. Gallo, and for the Albanian nation ; that even the Armenians have their
' own hostel, and we have none. This thing will be most pleasing to God and to this glorious
' State, and will be most useful to our poor, and will be to the perpetual memory and honour of
' our nation ; and also in this Scuola we shall lodge our Cross and all our belongings, that they
' may be in a safe place, and will save us much expense, which thing will greatly benefit our poor.
' And he that hath commenced this thing hath done well, because many Brethren will give us
' alms, who do not do so now. And when the Prince's Serenity shall pass by on the day of S. Vito
'with our illustrious Signoria of Venice, he will see this Scuola, whereby there will always be
' praise and honour for all of us Albanians. And what is said regarding the piece of ground
' belonging to the church of S. Maurizio may be said also of any place notwithstanding, wherever it
' shall please the Gastaldo and his Companions, and likewise the twelve Brethren of the said Scuola
' to purchase it, and to build as it shall please the greater number of them, whether on the land
' of the church, or on that which may please them, and so act for the future."
(Net tempo del discretto et prudente homo sier Bernardino Strazzaruolo Gastaldo, et de suoi
compagni Parte presa in Capitolo a ballote quaranta otto de si, et in contrario hebbe ballote nove, che
si debbia far fare la Scuola sopra quel terreno della Chiesa di S. Maurizio posto sopra il Campo, con
le Casette delli poveri, et assai fratelli della Scuola sporgeranno di /' elimosina per far delta Scuola
con FHospedaletto, che sara ad honor di Iddio, e della sua Madre Vergine Maria, et di Missier
San Gallo, et della nation degli Albanesi, che insin gF Armeni hanno il suo Hospedaletto, et noi non
lo havemo, la qual cosa sara molto grata a Dio, et a questo glorioso Stado, et sara grandemente utile
alii poveri nostri, et sara in perpetua memoria, et honor della Nation, et etiamdio in questa Scuola
si allogara la nostra Croce, et tutti li nostri Arnesi, per che sara in luogo sicuro, et sara sparagno di
molte spese, qual cosa sara in beneficio delli nostri poveri et questo che diede simil principio ha fatto
dene, perche molti fratelli farano la elimosina, che non la fanno, et quando la Serenitd del Principe
passera il giorno di San Vido con I' lllus" 1 " . Signoria Nostra di Venezia, vedera questa Scuola,
donde che sara sempre laude et honor e di tutti li Nostri Albanesi, et perche dove si dice dello terreno
della Chiesa di Santo Mauricio, si dice ancora non ostante dove piacera al Gastaldo, et agli soi
Compagni et similmente alii dodeci fratelli die delta Scuola di far mercato appresso di loro, et
fabricare, come a quelli per la maggior parte piacera, o sia qual terren della Chiesa, o sia quello, che a
lor a piacera, e cost sifaraper P avenire.)
We have another example of a Scuola built between a church and its campanile in the
Scuola del Tagliapietra (stone masons) at S. Apollinare.
THE BUILDING OF THE SCUOLA 149
there was a small picturesque courtyard with a well in the centre
and wooden galleries all round covered with climbing vines. From
the court three doorways led to the street, to a water-gate upon the
canal, and to the church of S. Maurizio. The Scuola properly
so called occupied the front part of the long building ; then came the
staircase, and beyond that the lodging of the parish priest. On the
ground floor, badly lighted, was the so-called Albergo da basso with
a stone altar, as we learn from the Mariegola. In the Scuole the
Alberghi da basso were generally used for the celebration of Masses
for the dead, and a well-preserved example of such a place may still
be seen in the Scuola dell' Angelo Custode, now the Evangelical
Church of the Holy Apostles.
The entrance to the Scuola of the Albanians was in the centre,
and on either side was a window with artistically designed gratings.
A doorway opened in the back wall to the left of the Altar ; behind
which a staircase led to the Albergo di sopra, where the entrance
was instead to the right of the altar, and light was given by two
windows on the street side. In this upper chamber ordinary Masses
were celebrated, meetings were held, and elections took place.
In 1500 the decoration of the Scuola was commenced by making
"the ceiling of the Upper Chamber with the rnoxe " i.e. rosaces
upon the caissons, i.e. squares (il soffittato dell Albergo di sopra
con le sue ruoxe sopra li quadri). And between 1501 and 1502 the
floors and ceilings of the rooms on the ground and first floors were
laid and constructed. The Brethren spared no expense to adorn
their abode, and on May i3th, 1502 they appropriated "beyond all
the other expenditure customary and usual which occur throughout
the year up to the amount of ten gold ducats," an extra sum for the
new building and for any other thing that may be of benefit and
utility to the Scuola,
The magnificent Cross " enriched with silver and of great value,"
which was sometimes lent out, is guarded with the most jealous
care, and on March 2Oth, 1503, " in the time of that discreet and
prudent man Sier Zuan Nicold Zimador Gastaldo" it is thus
ordained: "We are quite willing that the Gastaldo together with
his Companions should have leave to lend the Thurible and the
Incense Boat to the Reverend Messer our Parish Priest for the day
of his Festa, but we are not willing to lend the aforesaid Cross
under any circumstances to any one in the world."
But far more precious Works of Art than the Cross were soon
about to adorn the Meeting-Hall of the Albanians.
Although the Mariegola does not say so we know for a
certainty that in 1504 Carpaccio received the commission to
paint for the Upper Chamber a number of scenes from The Life
of the Virgin, since upon the painting of The Annunciation there
150 THEIR SCUOLA
is written : In tempo de Zuane de Nicold Zimador e soi compagni
MCCCCCIIII del niese tf Aprile.
Probably Zuan di Nicol6, a cloth-dresser by trade, caused
these paintings to be executed as a memorial of his nomination
to the Office of Gastaldo, to which he had been elected on
March 25th, the Feast of the Annunciation. 1 And the newly
elected official caused his name to be inscribed upon the scene
which represents The Annunciation.
That Carpaccio should have been chosen as the painter will
appear obvious if we bear in mind that the Albanians not only
would have seen proof of Vittore's genius in the Scuola di S. Orsola,
where as has been seen they owned two sepulchral vaults, but
they could likewise have admired a series of paintings by this
1 In Chapter 135 of the Mariegola we read: "In the time (24th March, 1503) of that
' discreet and prudent man sier Nicole, cloth-dresser, Gastaldo, of sier Andrea di Piero, trunk-
' maker, Vicario, and their Companions. To the end that every brother of this our Scuola,
'as much of the honours, as of the burdens must take his part. And his part shall be from now
' until the election of the Gastaldo, Vicario, and officers which shall take place in this way,
' that is to say :
" That on the first Sunday before the day of the Annunciation of the Madonna in March the
' Gastaldo must assemble his officers in the Scuola, and there, assembled in the Upper Chamber
'of the Scuola, cause to be celebrated the Mass of the Holy Spirit, invoking Divine Aid
' to inspire the hearts of the elector-brethren, so that they may elect a good Gastaldo and
' one able to govern the property of the Scuola ; which election shall take place in the following
' manner :
" When the Mass of the Holy Spirit is finished the priest, robed in his sacerdotal vestments,
'shall give the Sacrament to each of the electors, as is ordained in the 24th Chapter of this
' Mariegola, and in such election no regard is to be had for friends or relatives, but only
' according to conscience, electing a faithful and honest Gastaldo of good report, who may
' be fit for this holy and divine office, that the property of this Scuola be not badly administered
' or left to go to ruin, and then shall the Gastaldo, the Vicario, and the officers take the oath,
' and having done this the Gastaldo shall sit in the first and most honourable place on the
' Bench, the Vicario and his Companions in their usual degrees according to their seniority
' and dignity ; and all present seated in order may elect two or three Gastaldi, one of whom
' shall then remain who shall seem most suitable to the greater number of the Bench ; and the
' same order shall be observed in the election of the Vicario, two or three Vicarii being elected,
' and the one who shall seem most fitted for this office shall be confirmed as Vicario ; and
' no one can be elected Gastaldo or Vicario who has not been at least three times on the Bench.
' And if by chance any one persist despite the decision of this point he shall not be allowed
' to remain on any account ; and if the old Gastaldo does not choose to eject the said Gastaldo
'or Vicario elected contrary to the tenor and form of this present agreement, the said five Syndics
'are permitted to turn him out of such office, the ballot being made by balloting fairly, grade by
' grade in order.
" First the Gastaldo placing the Cross upon the altar and the ballot-boxes before the Cross and
'then balloting for himself, the others grade by grade according as they may be inspired by
' the Holy Spirit ; and having elected all the officials of the New Bench the old Gastaldo shall
'receive the new Gastaldo, the Vicario and his Companions, who are eighteen in number on the
' day of the Madonna of March, and are called Companions for the whole year, and then the last
' Sunday of August they make three Companions for the half-year, who being elected, enter on
'their duties on the day of the Madonna of September; and thus the new Gastaldo shall make
' his first entry on the first Sunday in August with all his Companions and so from time to time
' they shall continue in all the elections that shall be made on these days."
(Nel tempo (24 marzo 1503) del discretto et prudente homo sier Nicotb cimador Gastaldo, di
sier Andrea di Piero coffaner Vicario, et de suoi compagni. Accib ch' ogni fratello di questa
nostra Scuola cosl de%l' honori, come delle faticht debba haver la sua parte. L' andera parte,
che da tnb avanti T elletion del Gastaldo, Vicario, et Compagni sia fata in questo modo videlicet.
RIVALRY BETWEEN THE VENETIAN SCUOLA 151
renowned craftsman in the Scuola degli Schiavoni. Hence, not to
be outdone by their rivals, they chose Carpaccio. Between the two
Nations there prevailed one of those enmities not unusual among
people of common origin and interests. Of these rivalries and
enmities we perceive as it were an echo in the articles of the
Mariegola of the Dalmatians, who desired to exclude the Albanians
from their Scuola. 1
Meanwhile the work in the Scuola of the Albanians continued
apace. They proceeded to face the frontage with marbles and
sculptured reliefs as we see them to-day, the lower half being divided
Che la priina domenica avanti il giorno dell' Annontiation delta Madonna di Marzo il Gastaldo
debba far congregar li suai compagni nella Scuola, et congregati ridursi nell' albergo di sopra
la Scuola, et ivi far celebrar una rnessa dello Spirito Santo, invocando F ausilio divino, che inspiri
nel Cuore di tutti li fratelli elettori, acciocche facdano elettione d' un Gastaldo buono, et sufficients da
governar li beni di delta Scuola, qual elettione siafatta in tal nwdo.
Che compita la delta Messa dello Spirito Santo il Sacerdote vestito delli paramenti Sacerdotali
dia il Sacramento a tutti gli elettori, segondo che si conviene nel Capitolo vigesimo quarto di questa
Mariegola, ed in tal elettione non s' habbi rigitardare ne ad amid, ne a parenti, ma bensl alia
consdenza loro, facendo elettione d' un Gastaldo fedele, et honesto, et da bene, il quale sia atto a
questa santa t et divina impresa acdb che li beni di questa Scuola non sia no malmenati, et vadano
in sinistro, et cosl debbano giurare il Gastaldo, Vicario et Compagni, et fatto questo il Gastaldo seder
debba nello primo e piii honorato luoco della Banca, il Vicario, et suai compagni di grado in grado
secondo F antiquita et dignita loro et sentati tutti per ordine siano eletti due, overo tre Gastaldi,
uno de' quali poi rimanga, il quale parera piu suffidente alia piu parte della Banca, et il mede/no
ordine si servi nelF elettione del Vicario, siano eletti due o tre Vicari, et quello, il quale sembrera piu
atto a questa impresa, quello sia confer mato per Vicario, et non possi esser eletto niuno per Gastaldo
til per Vicario se non e stato per lo meno tre volte alia Banca, et se per caso ne rimanesse qualcheduno
contra la termination di detta parte, non s' intendi esser rimaso per modo alcuno, et se il Gastaldo
vecchio non volesse scacciar detto Gastaldo overo Vicario eletto contra il tenore, e forma di qutsta
presente parte, li detti cinque Sindici habbiano liberta di scacdarli di tal Offitio, la qual balotatione
si face ia sinceramente ballottando di grado in grado per ordine.
Prima mettendo il Gastaldo la Croce sopra F Altare, et li bossoli avanti la Croce, ed di poi
ballottar lui, gl' altri poi di grado in grado secondo che gli sara inspirito dallo Spirito Santo
et eletti tutti gl' Offitiali della Banca Nuova il Gastaldo vecchio accetti il Gastaldo nuovo, il Vicario
et suoi Compagni, che sono diedotto il giorno della Madonna di Marzo, et si chiamano detti Compagni
di tutto I' anno, et poi V ultima domenica d' Agosto si facda tre Compagni di wezz' anno, li quali
eletti facdano I' entrata sua la Madonna di Settembre, et cosl il Gastaldo nuovo facda la sua intrata
la prima Domenica degF Agosto : con tutti li suoi compagni, et cosl di tempo in tempo s' habbia da
perseverarc in tutte F Elettioni che sifaranno indetti tempi.)
1 We have related on p. 113 how the Dalmatians refused to admit the Albanians into their
Society, but we believe that it may be opportune here to quote an article of their IVIariegola which
prohibits Dalmatian Brethren from taking part in the Scuola of the Albanians.
" 1455. I 1 was resolved as a good and useful thing that each of our Brethren, who at present
' may be in this our Scuola, so long as he shall be so may in no wise belong to the Scuola
' of the Albanians, and if so be that he belong to the said Scuola we desire that at the end of
1 fifteen days he shall sever himself from the said Scuola of the Albanians, and if the time being
' past and he has not severed himself from the same, for him or for those that would so be in the
'Scuola of the Albanians we desire that they be for ever cast out from our Scuola; and thus we
' enjoin that any one who may be in that Scuola for any reason shall be unable to enter into this
' our Scuola."
(1455 > f u P reso P er b' ne et ut 'I MSa c he cadauno Nostro fratello che al presente sia in questa
Nostra Scuola, che per li tempi sara, per alcun modo, non possa essere nella Scuola degli Albanesi,
et se alcuno fosse nella detta Scuola degli Albanesi volemo che nel termine di giorni quindid, el se
habbia fatto depenar dalla detta Scuola degli Albanesi, et passado il termine, et che al detto non si
habbia fatto depenar, per quello, o quelli, che fossero in detta Scuola degli Albanesi volemo che da
questa nostra Scuola li siano perpetuamente cazzadi et cosi volemo, che se alcuno, che sia in quella
Scuola li siano per alcun modo^ non possano entrar in questa nostra Scuola.]
152 THEIR SCUOLA
into sections by four pilasters, which sustain the architrave, on
which may be read :
SCOLA S a MARIA | SAN GALLO
| Dl ALBANESI.
On this architrave, set side by side above the windows and the
door, are three beautiful reliefs representing 5. Gallo, the Madonna
and Child, and 5. Mauri zio, which would appear from certain traces
that remain to have been once painted and gilded.
These three admirably delicate reliefs bear the pure and refined
stamp of the Lombard style, recalling the work of the Greek artist,
Zuan Zorzi Lascari, surnamed Pirgotele, the sculptor of the graceful
Madonna placed over the main entrance of the church of the
Madonna degli Miracoli. But they are certainly not by Pirgotele,
who died in 1528.
Between the two windows of the first floor is inserted a slab of
Istrian stone with a relief, set in a frame. In the upper part of the
frame to the left is the escutcheon of the Loredan family, placed
there in honour of Antonio Loredan, the hero of the first siege of
Scutari : in the middle the Lion of S. Mark " couchant " (in molecd) :
and to the right the arms of the Da Lezze, in memory of Antonio
da Lezze, the defender of the fortress during the second siege.
Between these cognizances, which were once gilded, is inscribed :
Asedio Secndo
LXXIIII MCCCC
on the relief :
Scodrenses. Egregiae. Sv. Ae. in Vene
Tarn. Rem. P. Fidei. Et. Senatus. In Et.
Veneti. Beneficendae. Singularis
Aeterni Hoc Monimentum. P.
In the relief Scutari is symbolically shown in the form of a fort
perched upon a cliff. A small head looks out of the keep, probably
intended for Da Lezze ; whilst the assailants are represented by the
two figures of the Sultan Mahomet II. and his Grand Vizier. The
Sultan has a scimitar in his hand, and may be recognized by his
ample turban and crown. A river, trees, and a church complete
the scene. This relief is most carefully executed, but is of a style
and technique from which we can draw no conclusions as to the
authorship.
The frontage of the second floor is undecorated. The cornice
under the roof divided by brackets bears the following inscription,
137
THE " SCUOLA DEGLI ALBANESI.'
138 THE SIEGE OF S ITAKI.
Bas-relief on the Facade of the " Scuola degli Albanesi."
ADDITIONS AND IMPROVEMENTS 153
which we have been able to read from the windows of the palace
opposite :
M.
D.
XXXI
N.
TEMPO
MAMOLI
DE
TOMASO
E
NICOLO
E
CO M PAG N I
The masons, who set up the tablets on which this inscription
is engraved, mistook the order of the names of the officers of the
Scuola at the time of the completion of the facade : for, according
to the Mariegola, it should read as follows :
M.D.XXXI in tempo de Tomaso Mai noli Gastaldo e
Nicolo Cud baretaro Vichario e compagni}-
The Scuola being still in flourishing circumstances proceeded
with the work, and in June, 1532 the Brethren directed the
construction of " the stone altar for the Albergo da basso" Whilst
giving due attention to Divine Worship, they yet do not neglect
earthly matters, and an iron chest is ordered with three keys on
the top, to be placed under ground, or it may be in some safe
place, that the plate be kept therein ; and it is resolved " to strengthen
a wall of baked stones (bricks) on the right side of the Scuola,
to secure the same as much from thieves as from fire."
In 1552 the priest Giovanni de' Vitali of Brescia is directed
to copy the old Mariegola, " incorrect, badly written, and worse
1 We read in the Mariegola under date May loth, 1532 :
"Sier Tomaso Mamoli, at present Gastaldo of our Scuola, and Sier Nicolb Gucci, hatter, his
' Vicario and Companion on the Bench, find that they have spent on the building and adornment
' of our Scuola, on the outside with figures, and the making of Scutari in good stone, as at present
' can be seen, and on master masons, on gold, and on painters, and in other expenses, which
' in all amount to the sum of ninety ducats.
" Which building is to the honour of our country and of our Scuola and to the praise of our
' predecessors, and to the glory and veneration of this our Most Illustrious Signoria of Venice,
'and in record and in remembrance of the fidelity of our ancient and most faithful progenitors,
' which Fabric was also necessary, because the place did not seem like a Scuola, but seemed more
1 nearly akin to a workshop of some common trade."
(Sier Tomaso Mamoli al presente Gastaldo della scola nostra et sier Nicotb Gucci beretaro suo
avicario, et compagno alia Banca si attrovano haver speso in fabrica et conzar la Scuola nostra di
fuora via configure, et far Scutari di piera viva come al presente si pub vedere et in Maestri, in Oro,
et dipintori, et in altre spese, che in tutto ascendono alia somma di ducati novanta.
La qual fabrica e /' onor della patria nostra et della nostra Scuola, et a laude degli nostri
antecessori, et gloria, et onorificenza di questa Illustrissima Signoria nostra di Venezia et a
ricordanza, et memoria della fedelta delli nostri antichi et fedelissimi Progenitori, la qual Fabrica
era anco necessaria, perche tal luoco non pareva Scuola, ma pareva piu presto una bottega di qualche
vil arte.)
20
i 54 THEIR SCUOLA
dictated," into a new book, adorned with literis aureis, ntbeis,
celestisque, covered with crimson velvet "with corners and other
furnishings of silver." The perusal of the simple and ingenuous
chapters of this Mariegola, examining in detail the sensible and
practical provisions, and the Works of Art left behind by them
awaken the desire to be better acquainted with the men who gave
life and well-being to such a Society.
We frequently meet among the Brethren three characteristic
trades : the zimadori (cloth-dressers), the baretteri (hatters), and
the cofaneri (box-makers). 1 But other trades were admitted, and
we find several in the minutes of a meeting held on August 2ist,
1552 in the Albergo di sopra of the Scuola. Here we find Marco
dalla Barba, sier Cattanio, sier Domenego de Mattia, sier Pierin,
sier Bernardin, and sier Domenico, all painters (depentori]. Among
the Brethren these are most numerous, a fact clearly shown
by the many contemporary documents, which record the fact that
not a few painters migrated to the Lagoons from the opposite
shores of the Adriatic. And ancient records tell us the names,
birth-places, and even the shop-signs of a number of Dalmatian,
Sclavonian, and Istrian painters. Sometimes they aspire to higher
things, like Antonio Meldola, surnamed Lo Schiavone ; but more
often they limited the scope of their talents to the Industrial
Arts, the decoration of house-fronts and the ornamentation of
chests for bridal outfits.
Among the members of the Scuola we meet with sier Piero,
marqer (mercer); sier Martin, nmraro (mason); sier Zanetto, fante
del governo (man-at-arms) ; sier Nicolo Negro, zogieler (jeweller) ;
sier Santin, cordelier (ribbon-weaver) ; sier Alvise, casseller (coffin-
maker), sier Nicolo and sier Battista, taiapiera (stone-cutters) ;
sier Mattia, sagomador (gauger), sier Andrea, fontegher (miller), etc.
Another numerous group consists of sailors, who enjoy certain
privileges. A Chapter of the Mariegola laid the obligation on all
the Brethren to attend meetings summoned by the Gastaldo,
1 The zimadori (cloth-dressers), who formed a special guild of the great woollen industry of
Venice, had their own altar in S. Giovanni Elemosinario a Rialto, dedicated to their Patron,
S. Nicolo. Their Scuola for secular purposes was on the Rio Marin in the Sestiere di Santa
Croce. Many towns in Venetia, such as Feltre, Vicenza and Bassano, manufactured woollen
goods ; and cloth, flannel, woollen sashes and caps were produced by the factories of Follina,
Salzano, Padua, and Crespano. All these products were brought to Venice to be dyed. The
guild of Berretteri, after whom was named a bridge at S. Salvatore, where they mostly dwelt,
formed a Confraternity in 1475, which in 1506 was merged in that of the Marzeri (mercers). The
traffic was most active, and caps dyed dark red, crimson, scarlet, purple, and blue were exported
by Albanian merchants to Bosnia, Herzegovina, Greece, Upper and Lower Albania, the Pireus,
and Dalmatia, etc. This trade existed even in our own times, and many old Venetians remember
having seen Albanian hawkers in their picturesque costumes selling their wares in the streets.
The Albanian Marco Penna was the last dealer in these caps, and his heirs continue in modest
fashion to ply their trade near S. Giacomo dall' Orio. The trade of the Cofaneri (makers of boxes)
was a branch of the painters' guild.
DECAY OF THE SCUOLA 155
exception being made for those who must "go out of the country
on some important business" This exception aimed specially at
the sailors. 1
In the Scuola, as we see, that class of the people was well
represented who combined trade and thrift with a devotion for
Art and for things good and beautiful. But with the decay of
Venice the seeds of dissolution also crept into the Societies. Their
moral fibre weakened with the times and became corrupt. Those
Albanians, who in their own country gradually bowed their heads
under the Ottoman yoke and, oblivious of their glorious history,
turned Mahometan to serve in the ranks of the Sultan's janissaries,
found their counterpart in the Albanian people of the Lagoons, who
wasted their native vigour amid the luxurious habits of Venice.
Thus in the Scuola ancient good fellowship waned rapidly, and
although so early as 1454 it had been resolved that the offices
of the Bench could only be conferred on Albanians, little more than
a century saw fierce discussion and rivalries between them and their
Venetian Brethren. Recourse was had to the expedient of nominat-
ing to the office of Gastaldo an Italian and an Albanian alternately ;
but agreement on paper proved no effectual check upon discord. 2
To this was added economical decay. The times were no longer
prosperous, and parsimonious decrees in vain attempted to stay
impending ruin. " It will be a good and holy thing to curtail part
of the expenses, for many of them almost could be dispensed with,"
says a passage in September 1573.
Ruin came slowly but surely, and in the eighteenth century the
Scuola ceased to exist. When by a Decree of the Ten on September
5th, 1780 the Scuola del Sovvegno (Assistance] of the working
pistori (bakers) in the church of S. Matteo di Rialto was suppressed,
1 On April nth, 1454 it was laid down that "all the sailors who shall satisfy the duty of the
" luminaria outside Venice, that is to say of 10 soldi, by paying the said sum shall not be called
" upon to pay anything more in Venice except for bread and candles " (tutti li marinai che farano
il dovere della luminaria fuor di Venezia, che sono soldi died, pagando li detti denari, non sieno
tenuti piu a pagar in Venezia, eccetto il pane e la candelld).
* I S74- June zist, in Venice: "That from now forward an Italian Guardian be elected and
'the next year an Albanian Guardian, and that year in which there shall be an Italian Guardian
'there shall be an Albanian Vicario, or rather of that nation; and in that year in which the
'Guardian is an Albanian the Vicario shall be an Italian. As many Italian Companions as
'Albanians shall be elected ; that is one half Italian and the other half Albanian. With this pro-
'viso that they may be clearly proved to be Albanians and their Guardian should have seniority
' of three years and the Companions two years, and the Companions of the half year shall be
'one an Albanian and the other an Italian, and the Syndics one an Albanian and the other
'an Italian, &c."
(1574. Adi 21 Zugno in Venetia : che da nib avanti sia fatto un Guardian Italiano, et F altro
anno Guardian Albanese et quelF anno, nel quale vi sara il Guardian Italiano siavi F Avicario
Albanese, overo della Nation, e quelF anno, nel quale sara il Guardian Albanese sia F Avicario
Italiano, et li compagni si facciano tanto Italiani quanta Albanesi, doe la meta Italiani, et F altra
meta Albanesi, con questo che segnanter siano provati Albanesi, et il loro Guardian habbia ad avert
la contumada a" anni tre et li Compagni anni due, et li Compagni de mezz' anno che sia Albanese,
et F altro Italiano, et li Sindici uno Albanese, et uno Italiano, ecc.)
156 THEIR SCUOLA
the Scuola of the Albanians at S. Maurizio (already closed) was
made over to them, and from that time was called del Pistori}-
The new occupants set up on the Campo di S. Maurizio a
standard on the spot still marked by a stone with the inscription :
LOCO DELLO STENDARDO DELLA B. V. DEI ALBANESI
ORA DEI PISTORI
Many of the valuable objects collected by the Albanians were
sold or dispersed. Of some of these we find record in a valuation
made in 1762 by the Provveditori di Comune :
I Cross 19 marks
4 Candlesticks ....... 26 6 ounces
6 (newly made) . . . .36
1 large Altar Lamp . . . . . 13
2 moderate sized do. . . . . . .12
1 Pax .5
2 Crowns and 3 diadems, 5 in all . . .2
6
2
4
3
4
Besides the six scenes by Carpaccio, there remained still in the
Hall of the Scuola forty-three paintings, of which we know neither
the author nor the value. These would perhaps have been sold like
so many other celebrated works had not a Decree of the Ten on
July 1 2th, 1773 placed a check upon the wasteful dishonesty that
was robbing the country of so many priceless Works of Art. The
Decree appointed Inspectors empowered to visit all the churches,
convents, and Scuole in the Republic, and to compile a Catalogue
of all the most important paintings preserved in them. These
inventories drawn up in official form were to be signed in every
single instance by the Superiors or Administrators, who were
bound to declare expressly that they only held these articles of
intrinsic or artistic value in trust, and that they were responsible
for their safety.
Anton Maria Zanetti, the well-known Art Historian, was one
of the two Inspectors, and he compiled a Catalogue of all the
best pictures existing in the churches, monasteries, and Scuole
of the City of Venice, divided into Sesfieri, which was then signed
by the authorities of each. This book underwent singular
vicissitudes. During the viceroyalty of Eugene Beauharnais it
was taken to the Brera Library in Milan ; then under the Austrian
rule to Vienna, and only in 1869 was it restored to Venice, where
it is now preserved in the Archivio di Stato among the MSS.
(olim Brera, No. 93).
Zanetti died during the compilation of this Catalogue, and
among the " References " (Riferte) of his successor G. B. Mengardi,
1 Tassini. Op. cit. p. 574.
PAINTINGS IN THE SCUOLA 157
which extend from 1779 to 1795, we find on June ist, 1784 the
following entry :
" I have discovered in the Scuola dei Pistori at S. Maurizio six
" excellent works by Vittor Carpaccio well worthy of being entered
" in the Catalogue and of being consigned to some one who will
" attend to their preservation."
And on the last page of the same book, in the section relating
to the Sestiere di S. Marco, we find these six pictures entered as
follows :
" In the Scuola of S. Maria and S. Gallo of the Albanians at
" S. Maurizio, belonging to the Bakers' Guild.
"There are in this Scuola six small pictures by Carpaccio all on
" the left side.
" The first represents the Birth of the Virgin Mary.
" The second represents the Presentation of Mary in the Temple.
"The third represents the Marriage of Mary with S. Joseph.
" The fourth represents the Annunciation of Mary. Here is
" written along the bottom of this fourth painting : ' In tempo di
" ' Zuanne de Nicolo Zimador e soi compagni MCCCCCIHI del
" ' mese d' Aprile.'
"The fifth represents the Visitation of Mary to S. Elizabeth.
"The sixth represents the Death of Mary or, as some say, that
"of S. Anne.
" On the 2gth day of August, 1784.
"As per receipt in the original of the late Zanetti, Inspector,
" executed by Signor Nicolo Colotti, Guardian of the Scuola." 1
From the " References " of Mengardi's successor, the painter
Francesco, son of the well-known artist Domenico Maggiotto, we
find under date October i8th, 1796 the following entries :
" In the Scuola of S. Maria and S. Gallo at S. Maurizio are six
paintings by Carpaccio in bad repair and damaged."
Neither Sansovino, nor Boschini in his Ricche Minere, nor even
Anton Maria Zanetti makes any allusion to these works.
At the Fall of the Republic, along with the other Scuole and
Confraternities, that of the Pistori was dissolved by Napoleon. In
the important Catalogue of the Objects of Fine Art selected under
the direction of His Highness Eugene Napoleon, Viceroy of Italy,
Prince of Venice, to the order of the Comptroller-General of Crown
Property by the Delegate Pietro Edwards we find written on
March 28th, 1808:
" Consignment of the 28th of the said month (January, 1808)
" Scuola dei Pistori :
" 49. Vettor Carpaccio.
1 Arch. diStato. Inq. di. St. Quadri Isp. Busta 909, i^
158 CARPACCIO'S PAINTINGS
" The Birth of the Virgin Mary. (Canvas) ... I. Class (of
" value).
" The Dedication of the Virgin Mary in the Temple (Canvas) . . .
" I. Class.
" The Annunciation of the Virgin Mary. (Canvas) ... I. Class.
" The Visitation of S. Mary to Elizabeth. (Canvas) ... I. Class.
" The Marriage of the Virgin Mary. (Canvas) ... I. Class.
" Benedetto Diana The Death of the Virgin Mary. (Canvas) . . .
" I. Class."
Of the other forty-three paintings, some were considered " of
very little merit," and others " of the utmost worthlessness."
With the object of forming the great Picture Gallery of the
Brera Eugene Beauharnais made a request for pictures from the
store-rooms in Venice, and Pietro Edwards' first consignment to
Milan was the result.
Specification II.: "Pictures taken from the Collection and sent
"at various times in 1808 to Milan, in accordance with the orders
"of H.I.H. the Prince and Viceroy, transmitted by H.E. the
" Comptroller-General of Crown Property.
" Scuola dei Pistori : Vittor Carpaccio : The Dedication of the
" Virgin Mary in the Temple (on canvas).
" The Marriage of the Virgin Mary (on canvas)."
Later we find :
"Observations on the paintings which were to be sent to the
" office of the Comptroller-General of Crown Property by the
" Delegate Edwards, according to the directions issued by H.E. the
" Comptroller-General, January 28th, 181 1.
" First list : Vettor Carpaccio. The Birth of the Virgin Mary
" (on canvas)."
Edwards in a special note observes : " This seems to be one
" of his works about the end of the fifteenth century, but is one
"of the weakest. It has suffered some injury, but not, however,
" in places of great importance." 1
These three paintings, therefore, went to Milan, and the other
three remained in the storerooms at Venice.
Again, in 1822 we find these other entries: "General state-
" ment of the paintings and effects of the Government existing
" in the store-room of the Commandery of Malta, held in custody
"by Prof. Count Bernardin Corniani, and countersigned by him
"on March i3th, 1822 regarding Nos. 784, 785, 786: Scuola dei
' Pistori : Paintings 3 m. 10 cm. square. In fair condition ; on ordinary
" canvas. The Visitation of Elizabeth; J^he Death of the Virgin;
' The Annunciation, Vittor Carpaccio." 2
1 Arch, di Stato. Direz. del demanio, Economato, Atti Edwards, 1808, B. 22.
s Ibid., Statistica demaniale, vol. 339.
FATE OF THE PAINTINGS 159
In 1838, anxious to enrich the Picture Gallery founded in
the Academy at Vienna with pictures of the Venetian School,
Prince Metternich sent two artists, MM. Engert and Fiihrich, to
Venice to make a selection. They chose from the store-rooms
eighty-five paintings, and among them The Annunciation and The
Death of the Virgin, which were in tolerable condition, as is
stated in the above-quoted account.
In 1814 it was decided to adorn the Museo Correr with some
of the paintings still in store, and among their number was
included the last remaining painting of the Cycle from the Scuola
of the Albanians : The Visitation.
Let us follow the exodus of the paintings to their various
galleries.
In the Brera Gallery in Room VII. we find this note :
" No. 307 ; Vittore Carpaccio ; The Dedication of the Virgin
Mary in the Temple. Canvas : i m. 27 cm. x i m. 37 cm. Brought
from Venice from the Scuola dei pittori (sic). No. 309, The
Marriage of the Virgin Mary, of the same size and origin."
When in 1816 theAustrians became possessed of the Lombardo-
Venetian kingdom, Pietro Edwards was invited to submit a
Report upon the pictures that yet remained in the Venetian
store-rooms. This Report, prepared with minute diligence, shows
what pictures had been sent by Beauharnais' desire to Milan and
to Modena. Not all were destined for Public Galleries ; some
of them passed into private hands, like The Birth of the Virgin,
which was sent to Milan in 1811, and is now in the Galleria
Lochis at Bergamo: No. 235 (i m. 29 cm. x i m. 26 cm.), derived,
according to the Catalogue, from the Collection of Count Teodoro
Lechi of Brescia. How it passed from the Scuola of the Albanians
and from Milan into the Lechi Collection we cannot tell ; but
it is permissible to suppose that the painting was given to the
Brescian Count by Prince Eugene Beauharnais himself.
Thus, as above stated, the Emperor Ferdinand presented to
the Academy in Vienna The Annunciation (No. 43 in the
Catalogue : i m. 27 cm. x i m. 39 cm.) and The Death of the Virgin
(No. 49 : i m. 28 cm. x i m. 33 cm.).
Finally, the Museo Civico in Venice preserves The Visitation
(No. 31 of the paintings, on p. 68 of the Catalogue: i m. 28 cm. x
i m. 37 cm.).
That these six paintings belonged to one series representing
The Life of the Virgin was first of all pointed out by the Austrian
Art-Critic, Theodor von Frimmel, in an article published by him
in the Repertorium fur Kunstwissenschaft (Berlin and Stuttgart,
xi. 320). The clever inductions of Frimmel, founded on observation
alone, find their full confirmation in the Documents.
CHAPTER IX
CARPACCiaS SOURCES OF INSPIRATION AND PRE-
DECESSORS. THE PAINTINGS OF THE LIFE OF
THE VIRGIN" IN THE SCUOLA DEGLI ALBANESI
THE Scuola of the Albanians was dedicated to S. Maurizio
and S. Gallo, but their first and principal Patroness was the
Blessed Virgin.
The influence that the cult of the Virgin Mary exercised upon
the institutions, customs and Art of the Middle Ages and of the
Renaissance has been so elaborately dealt with in a recent treatise
that we do not wish to repeat here points already noted. 1 An
account with particular reference to pictorial representation of the
less well-known evolution of the Legend of The Life of the Virgin
may not, however, come amiss.
The Synoptic Gospels and that of S. John say but little con-
cerning the Mother of Jesus. The Divine Light which flows from
the Redeemer places His Mother, as it were, in the shade. Jesus
Himself merges His Filial Devotion in His Great Love for Man-
kind, and the domestic feeling disappears, as it were, before the
Divine Mission that He accomplishes upon earth.
When Christianity, overcoming every obstacle, spread abroad,
and the Church was firmly established, popular fancy added to the
gesta of Apostles, Saints and Martyrs the mournful tales of feminine
suffering, amongst which the story of the benign and grief-stricken
Virgin, glorified by the sentiment of Motherhood, stands con-
spicuous.
For the Story of the Virgin we must again turn to The Golden
Legend of da Voragine, which, although it does not deal with her
separately, yet relates the principal facts concerning her Life in
connection with the various Feast-days dedicated by the Church to
her veneration.
Some examples will enable us to understand better the methods
1 Venturi, A., La Madonna. Milano, Hoepli, 1900,
1 60
THE LIFE OF THE VIRGIN 161
and ideals which influenced the minds of painters and especially of
Carpaccio.
On the Feast of the Annunciation (Chap. XXIII.) da Voragine,
following in part the Gospel of S. Luke and partly the legends of
the Apostles, tells how the Blessed Virgin, having lived from her
third to her fourteenth year in the Temple and having made vows
of chastity, was given in marriage in accordance with the Divine
Will to the old man Joseph, and how at Nazareth, where the
angel appeared to her, the Virgin conceived the Son of God.
From there she went to visit Elizabeth, in whose womb S. John
leaped for joy.
On the Day of the Nativity of the Virgin da Voragine (Chap.
LXXII.) describes the Birth, Childhood and Marriage of Mary.
Joachim of Nazareth and his wife, Anna of Bethlehem, for twenty
years had passed together a life of piety and beneficence without
having children ; but, fearing for that reason the reproach of the
Law on sterile couples, they made a vow to offer to the Lord such
offspring as might be granted to them. His incompetence con-
tinuing, Joachim, cast out of the Temple and cursed for not having
added to the People of God, in confusion and shame went forth
amongst his own shepherds, where an angel appeared to him to
announce that he should have out of his wife, not by fleshly contact
but by Divine Grace, a daughter who was to be consecrated in the
Temple to the Lord, since from her would be born the Son of
the Most High, called Jesus. The angel enjoined upon Joachim
to start at once for Jerusalem, where at the Golden Gate he would
meet his wife Anna, mourning his absence. The pair having
met 1 returned to their own dwelling, and when the Divine Promise
was fulfilled they gave the Child the name of Mary and brought her
at the age of three to the Temple, where they dedicated her to the
Lord. There were around the Temple fifteen steps : symbols of
the fifteen Gradual Psalms.
The Child, although of such tender years, without any one's
assistance mounted them all, running at full speed, supported by
Divine Grace. The parents left their daughter in the Temple
with the other virgins, and there she grew up in sanctity, engaged
in prayer, weaving and needlework. When she had reached her
fourteenth year the High Priest directed that all the virgins who
had reached the prescribed age should return to their own homes
so that they might be married. Mary alone manifested a desire
to be devoted to God, having made a vow of chastity. The High
Priest, reluctant to create so unusual a precedent, convoked the
Sanhedrim of Jewish Elders, who, in so grave a case of doubt,
1 The Meeting of S. Anne with S. Joachim is the subject of a painting (now in the Venice
Academy), executed by Carpaccio for the church of S. Francesco at Treviso.
21
1 62 CARPACCIO'S SOURCES OF INSPIRATION
entreated the Will of the Lord. The Voice of the Lord was heard
in the solemn silence of the Temple commanding that all the
unmarried descendants of the House of David should bring a
small rod before the altar, and that the owner of the rod that
budded should be the husband of Mary. The descendants of
David in Jerusalem were many, and among them was Joseph,
who, owing to his advanced age, did not think it suitable that
he should bring a rod as an aspirant for the hand of so young
a girl. But at a fresh command from the Lord Joseph obeyed.
His rod came to life and blossomed in his hand, whilst upon the
top of it appeared the Holy Spirit in the form of a Dove. Joseph
then returned to Bethlehem to make all necessary preparations for
the Holy Nuptials : whilst Mary with seven maidens of her own
age retired to her father's house in Nazareth, where the Angel
Gabriel announced her Divine Motherhood. A few days afterwards
Mary journeyed to the house of Zacharias, where Elizabeth
saluted her as " Blessed among women."
On the Day of the Assumption da Voragine relates the legend
of the Passing of the Virgin, poetically embellished by the Gnostics
of the third and fourth centuries. The tradition tells how, after
the Tragedy on Golgotha, Mary lived in her cottage on Mount
Sion, visiting the places sanctified by her Divine Son. One day,
whilst the Queen of Sorrows was grieving deeply over the mournful
afflictions of her Son, there appeared to her the Angel who had
before saluted the Mother of the Redeemer to announce to her
that her Divine Son was awaiting her in Heaven. The Virgin
begged that the Apostles who were scattered throughout the world
should be gathered around her before she died. The Angel agreed
and disappeared, leaving with the Mother of Jesus, who lay on her
bed waiting for death, a resplendent palm. Immediately the Apostle
John, who was preaching in Ephesus, was caught up into the
clouds and borne to Mary's house, along with the other Apostles,
who were all transported in like manner from the places where
they happened to be.
At the third hour of the night Jesus appeared with the Angelic
Orders, the Company of Patriarchs, the Cohorts of Martyrs, the
Host of Confessors, the Choir of Virgins; and these bands set
themselves in ranks around the Virgin's couch, chanting the
sweetest hymns. At the Divine Signal the Soul of Mary left
her Body and flew into the Arms of her Son, who then commanded
the Apostles to carry the Blessed Remains to the Valley of
Jehoshaphat. Then there sang the red flowers of the roses, that is
to say the Martyrs, and the lilies-of-the-valley, that is to say the
Armies of Angels, Confessors and Virgins: their songs mingled
with those of the Apostles, who saw the Glorious Soul of Mary
THE PASSING OF THE VIRGIN 163
received into the Bosom of the Lord. Likewise a vivid light,
insupportable to the human eye, shone from the Corpse, which three
maidens had unrobed to wash and place on its bier.
Amid angelic hymns, John carried the palm before the bier,
which was borne by Peter and Paul and followed by the other
Apostles. The funeral procession, wrapt in a luminous cloud,
could not be seen, but the hymns could be clearly heard, so that
the Jews flew to arms intending to kill all the Disciples of Jesus,
and seize and burn the Body of His Mother. The High Priest,
filled with fury, came near and tried to throw the Holy Corpse
to the ground. But his hands suddenly withered and remained
attached to the bier.
The Apostles, having reached the Valley of Jehoshaphat, laid
the Remains in the tomb, and abode near it until the third day,
when the Lord appeared again, surrounded by angels, bearing
with Him the Soul of Mary which He restored to her Body. She
then rose gloriously from the grave and was assumed into Heaven
amid a circle of Angels.
The Legend of the Virgin contains the substantial conceptions
which underlie a very great portion of the Art of the Middle
Ages, and in The Golden Legend may be found the origin and
development of those ideas, which subsequently took shape in
pictures and sculpture. Whoever studies this abstract and sym-
bolic mysticism will thus understand how Italy, even in the midst
of her fiercest struggles, could produce such ideal painting as
that of Giotto, and how Venice, though intent upon the cares
of wealth, could yet produce a simple and ingenuous Art like that
of Carpaccio and the other fifteenth-century painters.
Although The Golden Legend is the most complete, it is not
the first word in religious and traditional literature.
The Bishop of Genoa, besides collecting a great number of
oral traditions, brought together divers legendary accounts, written
before his time, and, whilst illustrating his matter with a criticism
doubtless infantine, but noteworthy all the same, he does not
accept everything with blind faith. The Life of the Virgin had
in the course of centuries added largely to the Gospel narrative.
Besides oral tradition there were other writings, as da Voragine
himself bears witness, for he does not fail to quote his sources,
such as the " Anonymous History of the Blessed Virgin " (Storia
anonima delta beat a Vergine) ; " The History of the Nativity of the
Virgin" (Historia della nativita della Verging, transcribed by
S. Jerome ; the Letter (Epistold) of S. Jerome to Cromatius and
Heliodorus ; a small apocryphal work entitled " The Blessed John
the Evangelist " (// beato Giovanni evangelist a] ; the writings of
Epiphanius, and of Dionysius, a disciple of the Apostle S. Paul,
1 64 CARPACCIO'S SOURCES OF INSPIRATION
etc. Hagiography now flows in abundant streams, and among
the most noteworthy authors he cites Flodoardus, Canon of Rheims,
who lived under Louis d'Outremer (936-954) and Lothair (954-986),
and who wrote in fifteen volumes The Lives of the Saints for
each month in the year. Of this work, which was never printed,
a complete copy is preserved at Treves, and another, much injured,
at Rheims. Throughout the entire Middle Ages and the Renaissance
legendary literature grew with richest luxuriance 1 in connection
with the Mysteries and Sacred Dramas in which it is true we
never see represented the entire Life of the Virgin, but only
certain episodes, or the description of some festival held in her
honour. 2
We need not here follow the evolution of the Legend, but would
only seek out the sources whence Carpaccio must have obtained his
inspiration. Among the tales which may have served as a ground-
work to the craftsman some value would seem to attach to a book,
which we find among the incunabula, entitled Vita di Cristo e
delta Madonna.
On the first leaf we read :
Tavola de q^lelle cose che se conteneno in la vita del nostro Signore mister
Yesu Christo e de la sua gloriosa madre vergene madona sancta maria.
Stampato in Bologna in casa de Baldissera de li Arciguidi a di died
dicembre MCCCCLXXIIII.
More important, however, is the Vita de la preciosa vergene
Maria e del suo unico figliolo iesu christo benedicto, printed in
Venice in 1492"* and adorned with fine cuts taken from the
" Malermi " Bible (del Malermi), published in Venice in 1490 by
Giovanni Ragazzo.
In this and in other similar books The Life of the Virgin is
1 The following are some of the Lives of the Virgin printed in the fifteenth and sixteenth
centuries :
1. Miracoli della gloriosa V. M. Mediolanum, 1469 (1478).
2. Vida y excellentias de nostra Senora per Mig. Perez. Barcellona, 1495.
3. La vita miracolosa della Vergine Maria et di Jesu Cristo. Milano, 1499.
4. Le trespassement et assumption de la Vierge Marie. Paris, vers 1500.
5. Vita diva: Mar ice cum fig. Alb Dureri. 1511, in fol.
6. Vita di Maria Vergine di P. Aretino. circa 1540.
7. Vita della Vergine M. con I' humanita del redentor del mondo del P. Bart. Meduna.
Vinegia, 1574.
2 We give the titles of some of the Sacred Representations dealing with The Life of the
Virgin :
1. La Rappresentatione della Purification* di Nostra Donna, che si fa per la festa di Santa
Maria della Candellaia. Newly reprinted in Florence, MDLIX.
2. La Rappresentazione et Festa della Anuntiatione di Nostra Donna. Con una aggiunta di
duo belli Capitoli nuovamente ristampata. (At the End) Printed in Florence, MDLXVI.
3. La Nativita e Vita della Gloriosa Vergine Maria. In Firenze alle scale di Badia et in
Pistoia per Antonio Fortunati, 1648.
3 Bibl. Marciana, No. 41026. (cxin. i.).
4 Museo Civico. G. 52. Cfr. Due de Rivoli (Prince d'Essling), Bibliographic des livres a
figures vtnitiens, 1469-1525, p. 119. Paris, 1892.
= 2, o
EARLY WOODCUTS 165
interwoven with that of Jesus ; in the written account, and in the
illustrations the Acts of Jesus alternate with those of the Virgin.
It therefore behoves our purpose to note the principal scenes
usually embodied in pictorial presentments.
Thus in The Presentation in the Temple we have a form of
composition corresponding to that adopted by Carpaccio. We see
the Temple Staircase, consisting according to certain writers like
da Voragine of fifteen steps, or according to others of ten, and
the little girl is mounting them alone.
In The Espousals the artist, or rather Malermi, to whom the
real suggestion is due, depicts the composition in the manner
universally followed, but into which Carpaccio imports, as we shall
see, a curious decorative innovation.
The Annunciation displays a two-fold scene, which appealed
greatly to Venetian painters, since it adapts itself so well to the
two wings of an organ. In The Visitation, represented in the
same engraving, the two women are beheld in warm embrace.
In The Death of the Virgin we see an angel who has severed
both hands of a profane person, who has dared to touch the
Madonna's Corpse. This punishment greatly resembles that in-
flicted on the High Priest, who, for having laid hands upon Mary's
bier, had both his hands withered. More in accordance with the
usual representation is the woodcut, which we take from the
Rosario de la gloriosa Vergine Maria (Venetiis, 1521).
Italian Art had for centuries past interpreted these poetic legends
into the language of painting and sculpture, alike with ingenuous
simplicity and dramatic force, but it is of special importance in this
connection to recall those Works of Art in Venice, or in the
neighbouring towns, which may have provided Carpaccio with the
primary idea of his compositions.
The four marble pillars around the Ciborium in S. Mark's are all
sculptured with scenes from the Gospels, arranged in nine courses,
each of which is divided by as many little columns, from which
spring small rounded arches. Without pausing to discuss the
various conjectures regarding their country of origin or the period
within which they would fall, we may discern in them all the
characteristics of Eastern workmanship. The scenes display a naive
blending of the Synoptical and Apocryphal Gospels, and faithfully
follow the traditional lines laid down by da Voragine in his Golden
Legend. The scenes from The Virgins Life are with a few
exceptions carved on the north-eastern column, accompanied from
base to capital with the following inscriptions :
1. Isachar Pontifex despexit loachim et munera ejus.
2. Adhortatur Angelus loachim et Annam : prcedicens eis filiam
nascituram.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
1 66 CARPACCIO'S SOURCES OF INSPIRATION
Item fatur Angelus ad loachim et ad Annam de fcecunditate ferenda.
Joachim et Anna : Mater Dei nascitur : Munera offeruntur in templo.
Offer tur sacrificium Deo pro beata prole recepta.
Mater salutis nostrce ducitur cum muneribus in templum.
Munera cum lampadibus offeruntur Deo pro Virgine nata.
Ysachar Virginem recepit in templo, qua illo juvante per se gradus
ascendit.
Virga loseph apparuit florida cui Virgo fuerit commendanda.
On the north-eastern column we also find this inscription and
the corresponding scenes :
Annuntiacio : Maria it ad Elisabeth : Suspitio : Nativitas lesu Christi.
The reliefs on the other three columns depict scenes from The
Life of Christ.
But a stronger influence by far was exercised upon the Venetian
Iconography of the Virgin by the frescoes which Giotto painted in
the years 1303-1305 with such powerful originality in the Chapel of
the Scrovegni at Padua.
That immortal craftsman evidently inspired two works upon the
same subject by a Venetian painter in the first half of the fifteenth
century.
Of these the first, if not by Jacopo Bellini himself, is probably
the work of a clever pupil. It is the predella of an altarpiece
representing The Annunciation, attributed wrongly to Fra Angelico,
and preserved in the church of S. Alessandro at Brescia. This
predella, which is not by the same artist as the altarpiece, consists
of five small oblong panels depicting The Nativity, The Presentation,
The Visitation, .A Miracle and The Passing, respectively. Con-
ceived in the Giottesque style they may be reckoned among the
finest productions of the Early Venetian School.
By the same hand apparently, and likewise inspired by Giotto,
are another set of twelve small panels, exhibited in the Louvre
under the attribution of Gentile da
Fabriano, but which to us seem
rather to belong to the School of
Jacopo Bellini. Arranged in a
horizontal line, regardless of artistic
effect or iconographical chronology,
it is not .easy to replace in their
original order these very beautiful
little paintings. This altarpiece,
like many similar ones, was divided
_ . into three compartments in the
form, as it were, of a triptych with
a gable surmounting either wing and the centre panel terminating
in three semicircles. The wings in these cases usually comprised a
144
THI: Srsi'uioN's m- S. JOSII-H.
Bas-ivlii-f on 11 Column nf the C 'ibm-ium at S. Mark's.
145
THE BIKTII OF MAKY.
Fresco by Ciii>tt<> in tin- Chapel of the Srrovcfjni, I'adua.
*-' 4<^^m^^?^?S^^VfW-*Ti-^. ***. -' -***-~ ttfc'n '^^^^r***^*^^^^***- Jl*^^^
'.. S - S\ S *vV ' / V 7 V X V /A
146 LIFE OF THE VIRGIN.
School of Jacopo Bellini, Predclla, of an Altar-piece in the Church of S. Alessandro, Brescia.
155
157 158
THK LIFE OF THE VIRGIN AND OF JESUS. School of Jacopo Bellini. In the Louvre.
I(3 3 164
THE LIFE OF THE VIRGIN AND OF JESUS. School of Jacopo Bellini. In the Louvre.
Tin: ADORATION OF Tin; MAGI.
By Jacopo Brllini (?). In the Collection of Mrs. Chapman of New York.
CARPACCIO'S PREDECESSORS 167
series of two or three small panels, arranged vertically and represent-
ing different scenes. Many of these little paintings, now separated
from their central subject, are dispersed in various collections,
deprived of their organic nexus and void of the significance intended
by the craftsman. Examples however do exist of altarpieces still
complete with the scenes set forth according to the order conceived
by their designer i.e. two or three vertical lines of small paintings
with a larger composition in the centre : for instance The Circumcision
by Caterino in the Museo Civico at Venice, and two others by
Quiricio da Murano ; one in the Museum at Rovigo, the other in
the Academy at Vienna.
The twelve small panels in the Louvre should thus fill in upright
order the two sides of a composition of which the centre was
occupied by one subject : probably The Annunciation.
If the small paintings in the Louvre are placed six on one side
and six on another, in that kind of parallelism between The Acts of
Mary and those of Jesus which the legends so much affect, the
original conception of the painter will appear at a glance.
1. The Angel announces to Joachim a. TheVisit of Mary to Elizabeth,
the Birth of Mary.
2. The Birth of the Virgin. b. The Birth of Christ.
3. Her Parents conduct the Virgin to c. The Circumcision.
the Temple.
4. The Virgin ascending the Staircase d. The Purification.
alone.
5. The Miracle of the Budding Rods. e. The Flight into Egypt.
6. The Espousals of the Virgin. f. Christ among the Doctors.
Another example of this juxtaposition of the two Lives occurs in
six panels preserved in the Museum at Berlin, which according to
our opinion should be assigned to Antonio Vivarini's first manner.
Two more Cycles of The Life of the Madonna were executed in
Venice prior to Carpaccio ; one by Jacopo Bellini in the Scuola di
S. Giovanni Evangelista, which has now disappeared, and the other
by Michele Giambono. Certain pictures recently transported across
the sea would appear to form part of the Bellini Cycle, one of which,
The Adoration of the Magi (reproduced here), adorns the Chapman
Collection in New York. The second Cycle was carried out in the
middle of the fifteenth century by Michele Giambono in the form of
two mosaics under the vault of the Cappella dei Mascoli in S.
Mark's. On one side we have The Visit to Elisabeth and The Death
of the Virgin ; on the other The Birth of the Virgin and The
Presentation in the Temple. The actual mosaics are throughout
Giambono's handicraft, and they exhibit an identical, and, in the
opinion of experts, perfect, technique. Moreover the mosaic of The
Visitation and The Death bore like the other two an inscription
i68 PAINTINGS OF "THE LIFE OF THE VIRGIN"
destroyed during restoration : Michael Zambono Venetiis fecit.
But the cartoons were certainly not all by the same hand. In those
whereon Giambono's signature may still be read the figures move
amid Gothic buildings, bristling with pinnacles and crockets, decked
with marble tracery and supported upon delicate pillars ; whilst in
the two scenes opposite, which the selfsame Giambono carried out
after the designs of a later craftsman, probably of Mantegna's
School, we discern a change in artistic ideas and characteristics, and
the grand classic arch is everywhere a conspicuous object in the
architecture. The mediaeval and Mantegnesque mosaics alike
represent to us, both in the composition and grouping of the figures,
the School from which Carpaccio first drew his inspiration, and he
doubtless was conscious of their influence when he set to work
upon his task in the Scuola of the Albanians.
The sequence of Carpaccio's pictorial Cycles was generally
interrupted half-way by the altar. The Gospel Side received the
light from above to the left : that of the Epistle to the right. This
is apparent in the paintings themselves, if we observe the direction
in which the shadows fall. To this rule the Albanian Cycle found
an exception, being arranged in single file like a frieze. This is
clear, not only from the direction of the shadows but also from
Mengardi's account already quoted, where he states that the
paintings are all placed on the left wall of the Albergo, which,
though altered and damaged by recent restoration, can still be
reconstructed in imagination.
The altar was set up opposite the two windows, from one of
which a corner of the Campo S. Maurizio could be seen, whilst
the other looked into the lane called the Calle del Piovan, where
subsequently to Carpaccio's day the handsome palace opposite
was built in the sixteenth century by Dionisio Bellavite, a wealthy
corn and oil merchant, for whom Paul Veronese painted the facade.
Carpaccio's paintings were doubtless placed along the wall to
the left, in order to obtain a favourable light from the window
opening upon the Campo di S. Maurizio.
The paintings placed in a row measure 8 m. 14 cm., whilst the
length of the wall, 9 m. 42 cm., leaves a space of i m. 28 cm. to
be used, as probably was the case, for the seven pilasters, measuring
about 1 8 cm. each, required to separate the scenes from one another.
We possess no information in regard to the altarpiece, no doubt
the earliest possession of the Scuola, but the well-known analogy
between these institutions might lead us to suppose that it repre-
sented The Madonna with SS. Maurizio and Gallo on either side.
The series commences with The Birth of the Virgin Mary,
which now bears the forged signature of Carpaccio.
According to his custom the great craftsman lays bare for us
"THE BIRTH OF THE VIRGIN" 169
as it were a vision of the past, making us live in the intimacy
of the home. He shows us a Venetian bedchamber with the minute
fidelity of an inventory, which here produces no detriment to the
general effect ; nor does it diminish, but rather increases the value
of the painter's work.
Whilst the student of manners may find precious details of
the intimate life of Venice, the connoisseur of Art can admire
the skill of the composition, the brilliance of the colouring and
the correctness of the draughtsmanship, a very great merit, such
as few but this Venetian painter could attain to.
The bed placed in an alcove, hung with rich draperies enclosed
above by a canopy and a vallance (bonagrasia, bandinelld) with
a fringe of small ball-tassels, is raised upon a high dais (banco da
letto), over the upper step of which hangs a handsome Oriental
carpet. The beautiful quilt of the bed may be recognized as one of
those that we find described in Inventories as so highly prized by
Venetians, and which with their bright but harmonious tints reveal
an inborn taste for colour.
S. Anne in a half-recumbent position, with her left arm resting
on the pillow and supporting her head, follows with gentle solicitude
the movement of the two women engaged upon their necessary duties
with the new-born infant. In the left corner of the foreground
S. Joachim, a handsome old man with a flowing white beard,
leans upon a stick, and also watches with complaisant satisfaction
the attendant women. One of these, an elderly person with her
head swathed in a kerchief, is seated upon the lower step of the
dai's, and holds her left arm round the infant, who lies with nimbus-
encircled head in her lap, whilst she stretches forth her right
hand towards the bath-tub to test the temperature of the
water. 1
Another and younger woman turns her beautiful profile
towards us, as she sits upon the carpet intent on rolling up the
swaddling bands. The selfsame figure was repeated by Vettore,
or by his son Benedetto, in a fragment of a painting now belonging
to the Benson Collection in London. A third woman wearing a
white coif draws near the bed with a piadena or basin 2 of soup,
1 So early as in the Greek Menologio of 1025, preserved in the Vatican, S. Anne is seen laid in
bed, while three women bring her food, and another, preparing to wash the infant, dips her hand
in a basin of water to test its temperature. A similar scene is represented in the Homilies of the
Byzantine monk Giacomo, also in the Vatican. The scheme of composition of the other scenes
from The Life of Mary is also repeated with slight variations in the oldest paintings and sculptures
(Venturi, La Madonna, pp. 87 and 89). Carpaccio follows the early iconographic traditions
employed by craftsmen of the fourteenth century but to which few or none of those of the fifteenth
adhered.
8 Piccolpasso (L'Arte del vasaia, Rome, 1857) says that the Venetians called the ongaresca of
the people of Urbino piadena. The impalliata consisted of the basin (piadena} and the cover
(taier), which reversed served as a plate. Lazari, Notizia della Race. Correr., p. 63. Venice,
1859.
22
i yo PAINTINGS OF "THE LIFE OF THE VIRGIN"
which she cools with a spoon. Among Venetian household-goods
these piadene, called also impalliate dapuerpere, form very interesting
specimens of Venetian domestic utensils, and are much sought after
by collectors of art-objects. They are usually of fine majolica, some-
times painted, sometimes plain white, the several pieces fitting into
one another and together forming a kind of urn or tazza, of which
the egg-cup and salt-cellar make the top.
Casting our glances round the chamber we are struck by the
appearance of sober comfort peculiar to the fifteenth century, when
neither the domestic appurtenances, nor the externals had yet
departed from the refined simplicity of the Middle Ages, whilst
acquiring at the same time the delicate elegancies of the Renaissance.
Along the wall beside the bed runs the shelf known as the soaza
(cornice), and upon this characteristic article of furniture are set out
Saliera. Ongarcsca or Tajer. Scodella. The different objects
piadena. fitted together.
THE " IMPALLIATA DA PUERPERA." From the " L' Arts del Vasaio" of Cipriano Piccolpasso.
with artistic lack of symmetry an embossed vase and a bronze candle-
stick of Eastern design, together with a variety of glass and majolica
jars and bowls. Vasetti e pitteri di nessun valore sopra la soaza is
an entry often recurring in the old Inventories, compiled by notaries
who certainly could never have foreseen that these objects "of no
value " would in time become for us priceless and much sought-
after treasures. Under the soaza hangs a piece of green arras
with "frixi" : embroideries of gold. A Byzantine ancona representing
The Madonna and Child usually hung above these soaze. Carpaccio
with adroit discernment hangs up instead a small lamp (cesendelo)
and a panel with a verse in Hebrew from the " Scir kameloth,"
a prayer which, according to Jewish custom, was to be affixed to
the four walls of the chambers of women in child-birth.
Here too the artist is faithful to his custom of introducing
some animal ; for a pair of rabbits are seen nibbling a cabbage-
leaf in the centre of the composition.
The door is open and affords us first a view of the kitchen
with its wide chimney-hood (napd], before which a servant is
bending, busy plucking a fowl, and a number of fine pewter and
168 " IMI-ALUATA" BY FRANCESCO XAXTO AVEI.I.I OF ROVIGO (1530).'
Mnseo Civico, Venice.
169
INTERIOR OF THE SAME.
1 The exterior of the " Impalliata " is decorated with grotesques
on a pale blue ground, and two labels, on one of which is the year
MDXXX, and on the other the painter's initials F.X.A.R. (Francesco
Xanto Avelli Kodigino). In the interior is shown a woman extended
on a bed, whilst a young girl dries some clothes at a fire and Lucina
on the opposite side holds the babe on her knee. The Cover (Taicn
represents the Birth of Christ. LAZARI, Op. cit. p. 62.
FIGURE OF A LADY.
By V.'ttorc i-r Benedetto Carpaccio.
In the Collection of Mr. K. H. Benson, London.
THE PRESENTATION OF THE VIRGIN.
"THE PRESENTATION OF THE VIRGIN" 171
brass (laton] dishes are arranged in order upon a shelf along the
wall. Not only in the houses of the humblest citizens but also
in those of wealthy burgesses the kitchen was to be found
next to the bedchamber and served also as the dining-room,
a custom which still continues among those few simple-living
old-fashioned folk who yet have clung to the customs of their
forefathers.
In the background beyond the kitchen other chambers follow
in succession, painted with such skilful effect of perspective and
chiaroscuro as to recall the technique of Peter de Hooch.
Next in the primitive ordering of the scenes comes the painting
of The Presentation of the Virgin in the Temple. The Temple
rises on the right, approached by a flight of steps that cuts
diagonally across the picture from the left to the right of the
spectator. In the background stands a clock-tower with a dial,
upon which the hours are marked in Hebrew numerals. The
edifice bears some resemblance to the Clock-Tower in the Piazza
dei Signori at Padua, built about 1430, to which the splendid
gateway designed by Giovan Maria Falconetto was added in
1533-
At the top of the flight stands the High Priest, with two other
priests behind him. Stretching forth his hands he welcomes the
little girl, who is kneeling on the third of the ten steps. At the foot
of the staircase stands S. Joachim with bared head, beside a group
of Holy Women, amongst whom are noticeable SS. Anne and
Elizabeth, in plain attire with folded hands. This group of three
women recurs in other paintings and drawings by Carpaccio, who
was perhaps struck by some characteristic attitude of Venetian
popular life, displayed in the streets and public places. Even to
this day in the streets of Venice the appearance of these bands of
women is not an infrequent sight ; the customary mare, la cugnada
and la santola conducting some little maiden to Confirmation or
First Communion.
The Classic Revival is revealed in the relief on the staircase
wall, where the painter has reproduced a piece of antique sculpture,
probably the side of a Roman sarcophagus. But we are unable to
make out the subject of the composition.
Here, too, the customary animals reappear, for to the right, in
the angle of the staircase, may be seen a fawn lying down, held in a
leash by a small boy.
This constant introduction of animals into Carpaccio's pictures
must not be considered merely as a painter's caprice, but as a notable
feature in Venetian private life, which could not escape so acute an
observer of manners. In fact, the Venetians living in their own
factories (fondachi] in the East were regarded with suspicion on
172 PAINTINGS OF "THE LIFE OF THE VIRGIN"
religious grounds, and were hated both for their great commercial
prosperity and also for the airs of superiority which they were wont
to assume. On Friday the Oriental Holy-Day the fondachi were
closed and Christian merchants could not go abroad. To kill the
irksomeness of the long hours of confinement within doors, they
would indulge in games and sports, consisting especially in
training tame animals, among which there was almost always a
huge pig to attack any Mussulman who might have the boldness to
cross the threshold of the fondaco. The Turk would instantly beat
a retreat at the sight of this unclean animal, which according to the
Mahomedan religion produced upon him a feeling of repulsion.
Pilgrims coming from the Holy Land, merchants returning to their
own country and other travellers would relate these details of the
life of their countrymen in the East, 1 and thus the painter, who so
often depicts Oriental scenery, never omits to introduce animals
into it.
We possess two drawings by Carpaccio of The Presentation in
the Temple ; " sketches " wherein the composition differs con-
siderably from the painting executed for the Albanians. They
belong to that important series of drawings scattered about in
various galleries, which show the origin and evolution of ideas in
the craftsman's mind.
The drawing of The Presentation preserved in the Royal Library
at Windsor is executed with light and broken strokes of the pen.
The composition, though of a certain grandeur in appearance, is at
the same time sketchy in the arrangement of the groups of figures
and in the architecture. In the background stands a circular
building which recalls not a little the Baptistery at Pisa.
Carpaccio has treated the same subject in another very beautiful
sketch, now in the Uffizi Gallery, and allotted by a mistake in the
Catalogue to the 5. Ursiila Cycle. Here as in the painting for
the Albanians, we see the High Priest at the top of the steps, the
Virgin kneeling, the Holy Women and S. Joachim, and the little
boy, but not the fawn. Moreover, unlike the painting, we observe
here a throng of spectators, which gives life to the scene, and a
gorgeous architectural background with a temple in the centre,
from which extends a colonnade resembling the Procuratie : as in
fact the entire scene greatly recalls the Piazza di S. Marco.
Studies of figures for this drawing may also be seen on another
sheet of Carpaccio's designs in the Uffizi.
A composition conceived on such grand lines was ill adapted for
transference to canvas of such modest proportions as that required
for the Scuola of the Albanians ; and for this reason Carpaccio
1 Heyd, Geschichte des Levantehandels in Mittelalter. II. 431. Stuttgart. 1879.
1/3
STUDY OF FIGTKKS FOR mi: " I'KI ^KXTATION IN THK TKMPLL."
In tlio ri'ti/i. Florence.
174
THE PRESENTATION' IN' THE TEMPLE.
By Cima da Conegliano. In the Dresden Gallery.
THE SCUOLA DELLA CARITA 173
reproduced only the right-hand portion of the original sketch with
the principal figures unaltered.
The Windsor and the Uffizi drawings were certainly executed
for some definite purpose, and the hypothesis which we have put
forward to discover the reason does not seem unwarranted.
The Minutes of the wealthy and renowned Scuola della Carita
tell us that in the early years of the sixteenth century certain
Brethren manifested their desire to cause " uno telaro" with " la
instoria a laude de Nostra Donna " to be painted for the Hall of
their Albergo. 1 The subject of this instoria was to be The Presentation
in the Temple, and certain painters set to work immediately at this
competition, according to the directions of the presiding officers of
the Scuola. But from a resolution of January 2oth, 1504 we
learn " that Maestro Pasqualin of Venice, painter " (che m Pasqualin
da Venezia depentor] offered to do the work in a " superior manner"
(superlativo grado), presenting also a sketch which for originality of
design (per la invenzion de el desegnd) appeared to be better than
the others. Pasqualino promised besides to use good and fine
colours and only to ask in payment for his work one hundred and
seventy ducats, for which reason his offer was accepted without
further discussion.
Is it perhaps quite improbable that Carpaccio was one of those
painters who were " put to the proof," and were defeated by the
adroit, if not straightforward, ruse of Pasqualino, and that he had
prepared the two drawings described above for this competition ?
Of the fate of Pasqualino's design which so charmed the
authorities of the Scuola della Carita we know nothing, but we
can imagine his treatment of the subject by examining another
Presentation of the Virgin by his master, Cima da Conegliano, now
preserved in the Gallery at Dresden. Cima follows the text of The
Golden Legend more closely than Carpaccio ; even to the most
minute details, such as the staircase, which is composed of fifteen,
not ten steps.
Pasqualino could not have diverged much in his sketch from the
conception, form and manner of the master from Conegliano, whose
pupil and imitator he was ; but his death in December 1504 put an
1 " Messer Nic. Brevio the present Chief Guardian, and the Companions in the Albergo of the
Scuola of Madonna S. Mary of Chanty being desirous of erecting a very beautiful work in
our aforesaid Albergo, which may be to the praise and glory of the Most Glorious Virgin Mary
our Mother, a marvellous thing that may be praised by all, and such a work has for many years
been desired by many Guardians and the young men who belong to this blessed Scuola," etc.
Desiderando messer Nic, Brmio al presente guardian grando e Compagni in P Albergo della
schuolla de mad" Santa Maria della Charita de voter far una belissima opera in lo preditto Albergo
nostro, la qual sia a laude et gloria della gloriosissima Vergine Maria inadre nostra, e cosa horifica
secendo da tutti I sta laudata, et za molti anni fosse desiderada simil opera da molti guardiani, e
giovani stadi in questa benedetta schuola, etc. Arch, di Stato. Manimorte. Scuola Grande di
S. Maria della Caritct, vol. 254. Notatorio 1488 al 1531, c.6i t, 62.
174 PAINTINGS OF "THE LIFE OF THE VIRGIN"
end for the time to any further work. 1 No further allusion to the
commission occurs until 1534 when the Scuola della Carita directed
Tiziano Vecellio to paint another Presentation in the Temple, which
he completed in 1538. Titian has preserved the traditional form,
introducing only, as an echo from real life, the old peasant-woman
with her basket of eggs : a characteristic figure which recalls two
others by Carpaccio and Cima. The painting was placed over the
door of an ante-chamber of the Albergo della Carita, beneath a superb
wooden ceiling carved with gilded flowers on a blue ground. When
in the early years of the last century the Picture Galleries were
arranged in the rooms of the Scuola della Carita this painting was
torn from the wall where Vecellio himself, after due consideration
of the spot, had placed it, having moreover chosen his colours to
suit the light : and was further defiled by a restorer, who presumed
to add his own work to it. The painting now replaced in its
original position and former shape has recovered once more its
ancient charm.
The Marriage of the Virgin follows upon The Presentation in
the Temple. Here Carpaccio abandons the time-honoured con-
ventional form and arranges the composition according to his own
decorative conceptions.
All the painters, in fact, who preceded Carpaccio Giotto, Taddeo
Gaddi, Giovanni da Milano, Bartolo di Fredi, Ottaviano Nelli,
Lorenzo da Viterbo, Domenico Ghirlandajo, Fra Angelico- follow an
almost invariable rule, in representing this Marriage scene : in the
middle stands the High Priest, and on either side of him the Bride
and Bridegroom. Carpaccio chooses instead an arrangement of his
own. At the top of four wide altar-steps, over which are spread
carpets, attended by two other priests, stands the High Priest.
His eyes are lifted to Heaven, and with his left hand he blesses the
Virgin, who kneels with bent head and folded hands. S. Joseph
ascends the steps, his budding staff in his hand, and bends forward
in an attitude that we see repeated in other figures by Carpaccio.
In the background we perceive the Holy Women and S. Joachim,
and further away still the other aspirants to the Virgin's hand,
who, having been rejected, are in accordance with the Jewish Rite
breaking their rods.
The Temple architecture richly inlaid with marble of various
colours displays the Renaissance in the zenith of its splendour.
We may observe in this painting one of those significant traits
of the talented decorator that Carpaccio had proved himself to be
1 His death is recorded in the books of the Scuola on the back of p. 67, vol. 254, already
quoted: an entry made on the two days December 6th, 1504 and February igth, 1505 regarding
the transfer from the Pisani Bank to a deposit account at the Monte Nuovoof the money set aside
for the execution of this painting.
175
THE PRESENTATION' IN- THE TEMPLE.
By Titian. In the Aceademia, Venice.
$
-' S.
"
THE MARRIAGE OF THE VIRGIN.
178
' 1 11 1 : A N N I' M I A I I O N .
liy Vittore Carpaccio. In the Academy, Vienna.
"THE ANNUNCIATION" 175
already in the 6". Ursula Cycle. It is a noteworthy circumstance
that the painting of The Presentation is cut diagonally from left to
right by a flight of steps. In order to complete the decorative scheme
therefore the painter shows us in The Marriage another staircase
ascending instead from right to left. By this arrangement the
two paintings unite together and form an agreeable harmony of
line in opposite directions.
Two other articles should not escape our notice. The Hebrew
candelabrum (lume ebraicd) with seven branches, set up on the
architrave running round the walls, and two incense-burners placed
on either side of the altar.
The Annunciation constitutes the fourth scene, and it bears
the name of the Gastaldo of the Scuola, Zuanne di Nicolb Cimador.
This composition does not depart from traditional form. The
angel, holding a lily in one hand and raising the other in benediction,
salutes the kneeling Virgin, who with modest countenance receives
the Celestial Message. The Virgin's apartment opens from a
spacious and sumptuously decorated loggia in the Lombard style
of architecture. The two composite pilasters adorned with graceful
arabesques and delicately carved capitals, the harmonious curve
of the upper arch and the finely proportioned arches beneath, joined
together in the form of a two-light window, recall the marvels
of the church of the Madonna dei Miracoli and the Palazzo
Vendramin Calergi.
Neither can the general appointments fail in this instance to
arrest our attention. Through the door in the background may be
seen the couch with its pillow and the sheets turned down. The
doorway is closed only by a handsome curtain, which affords but
another proof, confirmed by documents, that in the Middle Ages the
doorways of the several apartments were rarely shut off by wooden
doors, but only screened by curtains and hangings. The furniture
of the loggia, where the Virgin is kneeling, recalls another scene.
The fald-stool, upholstered in red cloth studded with large nails
(brocke] of gilt bronze, is of identical shape and similar workmanship
to certain articles of furniture which Carpaccio reproduces in the
study of S. Jerome in the Scuola degli Schiavoni. From beside
the doorpost runs the usual soaza, and under the window
stands a wooden chest, whereon is placed a majolica vase holding
a plant.
To the left of the spectator is the garden with a small pillared
balcony above a grated door. Tall pine and other ancient trees
appear over the battlemented walls. Three doves, a pheasant, a
peacock and other birds wandering here and there confer an aspect
of domestic peace and simplicity upon the scene.
An exceptional profusion of animals characterizes the fifth paint-
176 PAINTINGS OF "THE LIFE OF THE VIRGIN"
ing, The Visitation : a composition oft repeated subsequently by our
artist, and with but few variations. In the background the lines of
Venetian architecture of the Renaissance in the buildings to the
right of the spectator blend with the forms of an ideal East,
consisting of a species of minaret and the slender palm-trees imitated
from Lazzaro Bastiani ; and the principal figures are, except Mary
and Elizabeth who are meeting in a warm embrace, all clad in
Oriental garb. Our attention is markedly drawn to three figures
taken from the Reuvich drawings : a Saracen standing beside a
white-bearded old man who is seated in the foreground, and further
back a group of two women engaged in conversation. In the
further distance we observe a number of small figures on horseback,
repeated again in a drawing by Carpaccio in the Louvre : where
likewise other studies are preserved which were employed especially
for the distant figures warriors, etc. in the painting : 5. George
baptizing the Gentiles.
The last scene of the Albanian Cycle is formed by The Death of
the Virgin. Carpaccio shows Our Lady extended on a bier under
a rich drapery, and his sense of reality causes him to represent the
Mother of Jesus, not merely in a trance, as religious sentiment
might have directed, but actually motionless with the rigidity of
death, which, as we have observed in describing The Obsequies of
S. Jerome in the Scuola degli Schiavoni, no artist could express
more perfectly. Around the Corpse the Apostles stand in a circle,
assembled to offer a last mournful tribute. Beside the bier S.
Peter, holding a book in one hand, with eyes fixed upon its page, is
pronouncing words of Benediction and Prayer. In this, as in all
Carpaccio's paintings, the hands are most carefully drawn, as may
be judged from a series of sketches of hands in the Uffizi : S. Peter's
hands holding the book ; another hand, also S. Peter's, grasping a
bunch of keys, drawn with great vigour ; and a third hand holding
a stone for the painting of The Stoning of S. Stephen.
To the left of the composition of The Death of the Virgin, amid
a choir of angels, are portraits of the kneeling donors ; of the
Gastaldo, Zuan di Nicolo, zimador, of the Vicario, Andrea di Piero,
coffaner, and of the Secretary, another Albanian member. These
portraits of the three donor-authorities of the Scuola are as usual
represented in the painting placed beside the altar in cornu Evangelii,
and their faces therefore turn towards it.
Above, amid a radiant nimbus of cherub heads, Jesus appears
descending from Heaven in Glory. He lovingly receives into His
hands the Soul of Mary, represented by the painter, according to
tradition, in the form of a small child.
Through the opening of two arcades symmetrically arranged
to the right and left we perceive divers noble edifices, wherein
179
Tin: VISITATION.
By Vittore Carpaccio. In the Musco Civiro, Venice.
THE DEATH OF THE VIRGIN.
By Vittoie Carpaccio. In the Academy, Vienna.
THE DEATH OF THE VIRGIN.
By Vittore Carpaccio. In the Museo Civico, Ferrara.
PAINTING AT FERRARA 177
the skilful juxtaposition of the rounded and the ogival arch heralds
the coming of a composite style of architecture.
At a later period Carpaccio painted another version of The
Death of the Virgin on a panel i m. 44 cm. wide and about twice
as much in height, once in the Baptistery of S. Maria del Vado
at Ferrara, but now preserved in the Museo Civico of that city.
Upon a label is inscribed, Victor Carpathius Venetus MDVIII.
The painting, of exquisite design and glowing colour, does not
differ very much in composition from the same subject executed
for the Scuola of the Albanians. There are no portraits of the
donors and no kneeling angels, but the analogy of both paintings
is apparent in the architecture, the landscape and several of the
figures : notably S. Peter, and an old man leaning upon a stick,
who recalls a similar figure in The Death of S. Jerome at the
Scuola degli Schiavoni.
The pictures painted for the Scuola of the Albanians certainly
exhibit the most attractive side of the master's genius : his
ingenuous realism, the faithful presentment of men and things in
his day, sound imaginative restraint and an originality all his
own in the composition. But among all Carpaccio's paintings
these are in our opinion the least worthy of admiration. Poverty
in drawing, feebleness and lack of harmony in colour, with a
predominant note of yellow ochre, uncertainty in expression, and
lack of the accustomed directness, a carelessness amounting even
to negligence in certain details all these defects lead us to
suppose that, if the conception, and even the first sketches, were
Carpaccio's the execution most probably, at any rate to a great
extent, fell to the hands of his pupils and scholars. The opinion
of a judicious critic, Signer Edwards, who assigned these works
to Benedetto Diana, is based upon these considerations.
These pictures are now not only dispersed, the disjecta membra
of one body, but have also suffered injury from time and at the
hand of man. The Birth of the Virgin in the Accademia Carrara
at Bergamo, though damaged by exposure, has at least escaped
the restorer's grip, but from the two paintings in the Brera The
Presentation and The Marriage, all harmony of colour has been
lost through retouching, which has stained the canvases with
blackened marks. The damage done by restoration is less serious,
however, in The Annunciation and The Death in the Academy at
Vienna ; whilst The Visitation in the Museo Civico at Venice is
in a yet better state of preservation,
CHAPTER X
CARPACCIO^S WORK FOR THE SCUOLE DI S. STEFANO
AND S. GIOVANNI EVANGELISTA
FROM 1511 to 1520 Carpaccio was working for the Scuola di
S. Stefano.
Around the church of S. Stefano and the adjoining convent
of the Eremitani of the Rule of S. Augustine several Scuole
sprang up such as those of the "Girdle of the Madonna" (delta
Cintnrd] and of S. Stefano ; and, as usual, these Societies had
their inception in the sacristy of the church. The earliest though
uncertain record of the Scuola di S. Stefano dates as far back
as March 3rd, 1298, but the development of the Society in less
remote times can best be followed in the Mariegola, now preserved
at the Museo Civico, which opens with the year 1493.*
It is a beautiful MS. on parchment adorned with very exquisite
though somewhat injured miniatures. The first part contains the
Rules of the Scuola, and the image of their Sainted Patron is
introduced into the initial letter. The second comprises the history
of the recovery of the relics of the Protomartyr, and this portion
of the folio is decorated with two gracefully designed miniatures,
delicately illuminated in gold and colours with beautiful landscape
backgrounds, of The Crucifixion with the Virgin and S. John, and
The Stoning of S. Stephen. The Saint is represented in his dalmatic
and his assailants are clad in the fashion of the fifteenth century.
These miniatures recall the manner of Bellini, but the critics to
whom their elegant fifteenth-century style is reminiscent of
Carpaccio ignore the fact that his connection with the Scuola
di S. Stefano only commenced in 1511. The third part of the
Mariegola comprises divers agreements and other entries which
continue until 1801.
The burial-place of the Brethren was situated opposite the door
of the church, which opens on to the wide graveyard adjacent, and
* Mariegola, No. 3,
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186 THE ILLUMINATED PAGE FROM THE "MARIEGOLA'
OF SANTO STEFANO.
THE BUILDING OF THE SCUOLA 179
they had their own benches for Divine Service in the principal
chapel.
The Brethren in due course desired to possess a place of meeting
of their own, and on February 2Oth, 1437 they entered into a
contract with the Augustinians " to build a house and an honourable
dwelling-place for the said Scuola to which the Brethren and the
officials of the said Scuola could repair and perform their devotions "
(Per fabricar una casa et habitations onesta per ditta scola in la
qual li frateli e officiali di essa scola si possino ridur e far le sue
divotioni). With this object a piece of ground was granted to them
atasmall annual rental in the churchyard of the monastery, "in which
spot were two monuments of the said Scuola, which for the purpose
of erecting their dwelling were removed " (nel qual loco erano doi
Monumenti di ditta scola, quali per la fabbrica di sna habit at ione
furono remossi). The first building erected must have been very
unpretending since it is designated as a "little house" (casettd).
Several years later it was found necessary to again enlarge the
residence " of the said Scuola," and on September I4th, 1476 the
Augustinian friars granted the Brethren leave " to make below a
chapel as high as the first course of beams and an altar within it,
and above the said chapel to make a meeting-chamber for the
aforesaid Scuola, which building shall be raised with discretion
according as may be required for the building, and so that the Cross
may be carried and processional lights held aloft without causing
damage to the beams" (di sotto 2ina Capella per fino alia prima
travatura et con tmo altare dentro, et di sopra la ditta Capella
far la sala insieme con la predetta Scola, la qual fabrica si possi
levar in alto discretamente, secondo che si convien air edificio et che
se possa adoperar la mazza con la crose e dopieri inastadi in man
tanto che non fact danno alle travamentd].
The chapel was built and the tombs were placed before the altar
dedicated to S. Stephen. In grateful recognition of the monks'
kindness in granting the request of the Confraternity it was resolved
that on the Feast of S. Augustine, Patron of the Convent, the
Scuola should set up its Standard on the Campo di S. Stefano.
These standards, the highly prized ensigns of the Scuole, were
often painted by celebrated artists, and Matteo da Verona was
eventually commissioned to decorate that of S. Stefano.
The demands of the Scuola as time went on would seem to
have multiplied, and we find, thirty years later, the Augustinian
monks in 1506 agreeing that they might "unhindered adorn the
altar, set up benches around, and make other repairs, improve-
ments, and decorations in their chapel such as shall be agreeable
to the Brethren of the said Scuola for their devotions " (liberamente
ornar lo Altar far le banche attorno et altri concieri milioramenti
i8o THE SCUOLA DI S. STEFANO
et ornamenti in essa Capella far come a essi fratelli di ditta scola
piacera per divotione}.
The name of Michele da Lezze occurs frequently in the contract
between the monks and the Scuola as being their Governor and
Protector. He was a descendant of Antonio da Lezze, the stalwart
defender of Scutari, who, on his return to Venice, was accused of
having concealed the truth in one of his despatches and was sent
into exile in Istria. The Lezze dwelt in a palace still standing near
S. Samuele, and their burial-vault was in the church of S. Stefano.
Michele da Lezze, together with his brother and one of the Falier,
founded in 1487 the church and convent of SS. Rocco and Mar-
gherita, not far from the Scuola di S. Stefano.
At its foundation this Scuola was intended for a Confraternity
" of Devotion," but the circumstance that in course of time many of
the members were workers in wool, gave it the name of the Scuola
dei laneri (Wool-Staplers). The Wool-Combers' was a Guild of very
long standing in Venice. Their Statutes dated as far back as 1220,
when Giacomo Dandolo, Giovanni Gregori and Giovanni Capello
were its Consuls. The trade flourished apace in the early years of
the sixteenth century, and Scuole in connection with the calling were
formed in several parishes. Their principal centre, however, was
near the Rio Marin at S. Simeone Profeta, commonly known as
S. Simeone Grande. Here the Camera del Purgo held their
meetings : a directorate of Wool-Staplers who adjudicated upon
the quarrels of the workmen, watched over the management of the
workshops and the quality of the goods produced. In the sixteenth
century the Camera del Piirgo was removed to the Fondamenta
della Croce, near the church of SS. Simeone and Taddeo, called in
common parlance S. Simeone Piccolo. A fine painting by Carpaccio
was preserved in this church, which has however now disappeared.
Like other associations of the kind, the Scuola of the Lanieri di
S. Stefano prospered exceedingly, and in 1506, the year of the last-
quoted contract, they commenced to add artistic decorations, of
which Carpaccio's paintings remain to us as magnificent records.
The following century saw the declining prosperity of the Guilds,
and the fortunes of the Wool-Trade also underwent an eclipse ;
especially when weavers on the main-land obtained the right to
produce wide cloth, and the competition of English and Dutch
manufactories drove Venetian goods from the market. Towards the
middle of the eighteenth century the members of the Guild were so
much diminished that the Scuola of the Lanieri were reduced to the
straits ot letting their lower chamber to a dealer in cheeses in order
to raise their rent to the convent. The circumstance is recorded in
a contemporary chronicle thus : " In the Campo di S. Stefano was a
very ancient Scuola under the protection of the said Saint, consist-
CARPACCIO'S PAINTINGS 181
ing of two apartments, and on the architrave of the first of these,
which was afterwards converted into a shop for the sale of cheese,
were carved these words : D. STEPHANO MARTYRUM PRINCIPI
PIETATIS ET DIVOTIONIS CAUSA FRATERNITAS INSTAURAVIT
MCCCCLXXVI : which were covered over with pieces of board."
This inscription was copied by Grevembroch in a drawing of the
relief representing 5. Stephen with the Brethren of the Scuola,
which has been built into the wall of a house opposite the facade of
the magnificent church.
About the year 1800 Fate overtook the Scuola di Stefano and
the neighbouring Scuola della Cintura, so that it was impossible
to avert their final destruction ; and some six years later they
were both pulled down to provide building-sites.
Carpaccio's paintings had already been removed to a place of
safety. They were not, like those of the Scuola of the Albanians,
unknown to connoisseurs, since already in the seventeenth century
Boschini mentions them in Le Ricche Minere, thus : " In the
Scuola di S. Stefano near the church there are five paintings
dealing with The Life of S. Stephen, full of figures and with
very ornate architecture^ by Vittore Carpaccio, by whom also
is the aTtarpiece. In the three compartments of this latter, by
the same artist, there are in the middle the above-named Saint
and on either side 5. Nicholas and -S". Thomas Aquinas"* In
accordance with the Decree of the Ten in 1773 providing for the
Inspection of Works of Art Anton Maria Zanetti visited this
Scuola on September I4th of that year and made the following
entry in the Mariegola itself: "Five paintings with scenes from
The Life of S. Stephen. The altarpiece with the same Saint,
S. Nicholas of Tolentino and 6". Tomaso di Villanova. All the
paintings are by V. Carpaccio."
At the suppression of the Convents and Scuole in 1806 the
pictures were taken to the Government warehouse, and the Delegate,
Pietro Edwards, notes on October 2Oth, 1807 in the Elenco, as
coming from the Scuola dei Lanieri di S. Stefano, the altar panel,
which formed a triptych, of 5. Stephen, S. Nicholas of Tolentino
and 6". Augustine, and four pictures representing The Ordination
of the Seven Deacons, S. Stephen preaching to the People, The
Saint's Dispute with the Doctors, and His Martyrdom, all in his
opinion by Carpaccio. 3
1 Museo Civico. Manoscritti Cicogna, No. 264.
3 Boschini, Le Ricche Minere, Sestiere di S. Marco, Chiesa e Scuola di S. Stefano,
pp. 89, 90, ed. MCCLXXIV.
* Arch, di Stato, Direzione generate del Demanio. Uffirio Economato Edwards. Elenchi
ed Inventari. Elencho degli oggetti di B. A. scelti a disposizione di S. A. I. Eug.o Nap.
Vice Re d' Italia, Principe di Venezia per commission* delt Int.za Generale dei Beni della
Corona dal delegate P. Edwards.
1 82 THE SCUOLA Di S. STEFANO
These paintings, like so many others at that time, underwent
divers vicissitudes. The altar-triptych, in company with The
Preaching to the People and The Dispute with the Doctors were
sent at the request of the Viceroy, Eugene Beauharnais, to Milan
for the Brera Gallery. 1 In 1812 the Emperor Napoleon directed
an exchange of pictures to be effected between the Louvre and
Brera Galleries, and in January 1813 The Preaching to the People
and four other works were sent to Paris, 2 where Carpaccio's
painting still remains.
Of the two scenes that were left in Venice, one, The Ordination
of the Seven Deacons, was sold in 1820 to Signer David Weber,
a wealthy owner of chemical works, whose palace at San Canciano
contained a fine collection of works of art described in detail by
Moschini in his Guida di Venezia in 1815. 3 This picture afterwards
passed into the Solly Collection and is now in the Museum at Berlin.
The last scene, The Stoning of S. Stephen, valued in a written
estimate at 20 louis d'or, was, together with ten other paintings by
various artists, valued in all at 687,692 lire, given by the Venice
Academy in part payment for the purchase from the heirs of the
painter Giuseppe Bossi of Milan of his celebrated Art Collection.
The jewel of this collection was the so-called Sketch-Book of
Raphael, which however, as Giovanni Morelli has justly affirmed,
contains but two drawings by Raphael himself, whereas the rest
are by Pinturicchio and other unknown artists of a later date. 4
Bossi's heirs subsequently sold these pictures to a Milanese dealer
in works of art, and several of their number, together with another
painting by Carpaccio representing 5. Thomas Aquinas, were
bought by the King of Wurtemburg, and placed in the Gallery at
Stuttgart.
Since not a trace of the old building remains, to reconstruct the
sequence of the Scuola di S. Stefano scenes would be a task of
some difficulty but for the help of documents, which tell of an
oratory and a staircase leading from the ground-floor to the
meeting-chamber or Albergo above. It is probable that the entrance
to this staircase opened from the chapel at the side of the altar, as
1 Arch, di Stato di Milano, Intendenza gen. dei Beni della Corona. Nota 13 settembre,
1808.
Ibid., Rescritto Vicereah data dal quartier generate di Souray, 2 agosto, 1812.
In the volumes of the Directorate of the Demanio, Vol. 342 (Statistica, Quadri e capi d 1 Arte
disposti ed esistenti al 1827,10 aprile), in the portion entitled Stato dei quadri di proprieta del Ramo
Demanio estratti dal Depositor dell' ex Commcnda di Malta, e concessi a privati, chiese e pubblid
stabihmenti della Prev. di Venezia at No. 13 we read : " Scuola dei Laneri di S. Steffano. A painting
on canvas representing The Election of the Seven Deacons by S. Peter by Vettor Carpaccio.
Consigned to S. Weber by a Decree of the Government, June 4th, 1830."
Morelli, Giov., Italian Painters. The Borghese and Pamphili-Doria Galleries. (Translated
by Miss C. Jocelyn ffoulkes.) Introduction, pp. 23, 24. London, John Murray, 1900. Italian
Masters in German Galleries (translated by Mrs. Louise M. Richter), pp. 271-284. London,
George Bell & Sons, 1883.
PIER FRANCESCO BISSOLO 183
we observe in the case of the Scuola dell' Angelo Custode at the
SS. Apostoli.
On the upper floor the Albergo, a room of moderate proportions,
was lighted by two windows looking upon the street. Facing the
windows was the altar adorned by the triptych representing 6".
Stephen and two other Saints. The remaining four scenes were
placed, two on either side, along the lateral walls, and, in view of the
position of the shadows of the figures, we may suppose that The
Ordination of the Seven Deacons and The Preaching to the People
hung on the Gospel-Side ; The Dispute with the Doctors and The
Martyrdom on that of the Epistle.
The altar triptych is painted on panel, whilst the scenes from The
Life of S. Stephen, of the same height but unequal length, are on
canvas.
The three detached panels of this triptych, now in the Brera,
for many years were separated, one by itself and the others in
another room ; and it is but a few years since that these paintings,
which for three centuries were conjoined upon the altar of the
Scuola, were united once more. They are unsigned, but Zanetti,
Boschini and Edwards, as we are aware, firmly believed them to
be Carpaccio's work : though later they were attributed to Vincenzo
Catena and to Basaiti respectively. They are now, according to the
opinion of Cavalcaselle and Giovanni Morelli, assigned to Francesco
Bissolo. Whilst their paternity was being sought for their place
of origin was forgotten and the three panels continued apart,
although Cavalcaselle as far back as 1870 stated that they had
together formed the triptych of S. Stefano. In our opinion also
they are really the work of Bissolo.
Until recent discoveries showed that a painter named Petrns de
Inganatis really did exist it was currently believed that Pier
Francesco Bissolo, who was born in Venice in the latter half of the
fifteenth century and died in 1554, concealed his painter's identity
under this name, solely to mislead both critics and connoisseurs ;
and a Madonna preserved in the Gallery at Berlin bears this
signature. The name of this obscure painter therefore should not
be mistaken for the artist, who appended Franciscus Bisollo to that
noble work, The Coronation of S. Catherine of Siena, formerly in
the church of S. Pietro Martire at Murano, but now in the Venice
Academy. The background of this truly beautiful work offers an
extensive and pleasing view of a country-side with undulating hills
upon which are set houses, turreted in that peculiar manner which is
one of Bissolo's characteristics. Among other mannerisms Bissolo's
draperies fall in softer folds than those of his master, Giambellino ;
his figures have charming heads and small, but beautifully drawn,
mouths : whereas their hands are rigid with strangely malformed
184 THE SCUOLA DI S. STEFANO
fingers. These same peculiarities of design are to be met with
in the S. Stefano triptych, formerly attributed to Carpaccio. This,
moreover, is not the solitary instance in which Bissolo and Carpaccio
have been taken for one another : for Boschini, Zanetti, and other
critics have erroneously assigned the altarpiece in S. Giovanni in
Bragora, representing 55. Andrew, Jerome and Martin, to the latter.
But as regards the S. Stefano triptych misapprehension arose
not only in respect of the author, but also as to the identity of the
Saints represented. Boschini, whilst attributing the painting to
Carpaccio, writes in Le Ricche Minere that 5. Stephen stands in the
middle, and on either side 5. Nicholas and 5. Thomas Aquinas.
The centre panel, which is larger than the other two, depicts
without possible doubt The Protomartyr Stephen, upon whose
person the stones, the instruments of his martyrdom, are naively
poised. The bishop wearing a black robe and a green mitre should,
according to Boschini, be S. Thomas Aquinas, and the monk in a
black habit with a lily in his hand and an open book 5. Nicholas
of Tolentino. Zanetti on the other hand would recognize in the
former 5. Tommaso da Villanova.
The Scuola being, as we are aware, connected by so many ties
both of devotion and interest to the Augustinian Convent, the artist
would doubtless have been directed, when painting the altarpiece,
to depict two Saints belonging to that Religious Order. The
bishop thus would not be Thomas of Aquinas, who was a
Dominican and never obtained the Episcopal Mitre ; nor Tommaso
da Villanova, who was still alive in 1506 when the decoration of the
Scuola of the Lanieri was commenced ; but, as Pietro Edwards
wrote, is intended to be 5. Augustine in the robe of the Order of
the Eremitani or Hermit-Fathers. The other Saint with a lily in
his hand indeed resembles the traditional presentment of 5. Anthony
of Padua, and the picture is thus described in the Brera Gallery
Catalogue. But the Santo of Padua is always habited in brown,
whereas Bissolo's Saint wears the black robe of the Augustinian
Order and therefore must be intended for 5. Nicholas of Tolentino.
To this Augustinian Saint was dedicated a church and monastery in
the Sestiere di Dorsoduri, near which, in the Salizzada S. Pantalon,
stood another Scuola dei Lanieri acquired in 1789 by the College
of Apothecaries.
Bissolo's triptych, which was completed perhaps in 1506, formed
the starting-point, some years later, for Carpaccio's series of paintings.
The Life of the Saint, whose burning words awakened the people
and confounded the disputing Doctors, and who crowned his mission
by a martyr's death, was a noble subject for our craftsman's genius ;
and once more we see how The Golden Legend serves the painter as
a guide, whose ingenuous language tells of the Seven Deacons
190 S. AUGUSTINE
S. STMPIIKX. S. NICHOLAS OF TOLENTINO.
Bv P. F. Bissuln. In the Brera, Milan.
"THE ORDINATION OF THE SEVEN DEACONS" 185
ordained by the Apostles, among whom Stephen was the foremost.
We follow the young Saint " of angelic countenance " through his
addresses to the people and his clever disputations with the Jews,
who could not resist the Wisdom and the Spirit that spoke through
him, and we are present at his martyrdom, when, accused wrongfully
of blasphemy against the Lord and against Moses, he is dragged out-
side the city and violently stoned ; whilst he, the first Martyr for the
Faith of Christ, imitates his Master's fortitude by praying on his knees
for his murderers, " until he fell asleep in the rest of the Lord." 1
In the first scene, The Ordination of the Seven Deacons, the
principal figures are grouped before a church with columns and
a portico in the Renaissance style, which terminates in a massive
mediaeval castle. To the spectator's left rises an oddly shaped
hill surmounted by an Oriental tower, at the foot of which we
notice a Pagan temple. On the steps of the Christian church
stands S. Peter blessing the seven kneeling Deacons. The
attitudes of the group recall The Presentation in the Temple of
the Scuola of the Albanians, and we are confronted once more
with certain of the painter's favourite types : the child playing
with a dog, a figure similar to the little boy in The Presentation ;
the old woman seated on the steps, who bears a family likeness to
the characteristic old lady in the painting of The Ambassadors
in the 6". Urs^^la Cycle ; and the two women in the centre,
reminiscent of Reuvich's designs. In the left-hand corner a group
of Orientals completes the composition.
This scene as regards condition, colour and drawing is one
of Carpaccio's most beautiful works. He was then in the flower
of his age since he completed the picture in 1511. The frame
bore, as Zanetti tells us, the inscription :
Manfredus Lapicidio et Collega conspicabilem picturam hanc tempore
eorum regiminis posuerunt MDXI.
Brethren of the Scuola di S. Stefano, who, like the Gastaldo
Manfredo, exercised the trade of stonemasons (taiapierd), are
several times recorded in the Mariegola, although the Stone-
Masons' Guild had a Scuola of their own at S. Apollinare, adorned
with two altarpieces ; one by Bartolomeo Vivarini (now in Vienna),
and the other by Catena.
In The Preaching to the People, which according to The Acts
of the Apostles follows The Ordination of the Deacons, the painter
desiring of course to represent Jerusalem, seeks inspiration
recklessly among Reuvich's drawings. The monumental edifice
1 Legendario de Santi vulgare hystoriato novamente revisto ecc. Composto per el Rev m - Padre
Frate Jacopo da Voragine ecc. p. 18 e seg, Venetia, Bindqni e Pasini, 1533. Cfr. also The Acts
of the Apostles, chapters vi, and vji,
34
i86 THE SCUOLA DI S. STEFANO
to the spectator's left greatly resembles the Mosque of Omar:
on the hill above rises the church of the Holy Sepulchre with
its noble tower, whose slender minarets, rising above buildings
of Oriental character which adjoin others of classic Roman style,
distinctly recall Reuvich's sketches. Scattered about the back-
ground are groups of minute figures, among whom nevertheless
we easily recognize the Holy Women and the characteristic Saracen.
In the foreground the Deacon, erect upon the pedestal of a
ruined monument, is addressing the people, who hang upon his
words with profoundest attention. This expression is peculiarly
noticeable in the beautiful countenance of a youth, who seems
rapt in the fervour of the Deacon's eloquence, and of five Turkish
women, who are listening devoutly to the Word. The crowd,
robed in Oriental garb, forms a singular contrast to the handsome
young neophyte, wearing a mantle draped in graceful folds, and
the pair of pilgrims, staff in hand, in the foreground. The date
MDXX written on the painting was in a label, seen by Zanetti,
but subsequently removed when the picture was cleaned.
7Yz Dispute with the Doctors (now in the Brera Gallery) hung
opposite The Preaching to the People. It still bears a label with
the date 1514, and upon the frame the name of a sculptor, who
according to Zanetti was probably the Gastaldo of that day.
Carpaccio here represents S. Stephen speaking with arms extended,
as though inspired by supernatural force. But the listeners around
him are no longer Oriental infidels. There are but three turbaned
Gentiles : all the rest are good and faithful Christian folk, children
of the Lagoons, clad after Venetian fashion, who are, it is true,
listening devoutly, but without paying over-much heed to the
discourse. Assembled under a magnificent Romanesque arcade
the hearers seem so true to life, so thoroughly Venetian, that they
certainly must once have been recognizable individually among
the members of the Scuola dei Lanieri.
4 That we may not however forget the Eastern atmo-
\ sphere of the scene the painter has taken the trouble
to introduce a kind of pyramid into the background,
perhaps intended to represent that of Ghizeh ; doubt-
R MI S less c P ied from Reuvich, whose pyramids present a
OF GHIZEH. curious elongated shape in three tiers, a sort of
"StiS*** may the shade of the artist forgive me ! Eiffel-Tower,
anticipated by four centuries. Beside the tower is an
equestrian monument recalling in a measure Donatello's Gattamelata.
Not thus however had this scene taken shape in the artist's
imagination. A drawing in the Uffizi shows us the Doctors
vanquished in argument, dragging the Deacon before the Judgment-
In a court, whence we descry the distant hills, bearded
THE STONING OF S. STEPHEN 187
judges wearing Eastern attire are seated at a long table set upon
a dai's. This drawing was certainly the first scheme that Carpaccio
proposed to develope on his canvas, as is shown by the care lavished
upon certain studies of heads, now preserved in the British Museum.
Why was this sketch never carried out ? Maybe the appro-
bation of the Brethren was lacking. The Scuola probably were
sated with Oriental costume, and aspired, to seeing their own
portraits, as was customary in the other Scuole, in one at least
of the scenes. Be this as it may, Carpaccio's canvas, after so
great a lapse of time, shows us their speaking likenesses.
The Stoning of S. Stephen takes us once more to Jerusalem ;
and here the inspiration of Reuvich is yet more clearly manifest
alike in the architecture and the landscape depicted. We have
said how Reuvich's large panoramic view of Jerusalem, included
in Breydenbach's work, shows at the extremity of the drawing
but within the city wall "the spot where S. Stephen was
stoned " (ubi Sanctus Stephaims fnit lapidatus]}- Carpaccio
copies this part of the city exactly, but following The Golden
Legend places the scene of the Martyrdom as outside the wall.
Light is thus thrown on Carpaccio's letter of August 1511, in
which the painter offers to sell to the Marquis of Mantua, Francesco
Gonzaga, a large bird's-eye view of Jerusalem, "painted in water-
colour on canvas " (de acquarella sopra la tella), which was
probably a copy of Reuvich's panorama. 2
In the scene of The Martyrdom the Saint in deacon's robes
kneels with eyes lifted heavenwards, whilst a number of men in
Eastern dress and wearing turbans, are casting stones at him,
as Dante describes :
Poi vidi genti accese in foco d' ira,
Con pietre un giovinetto ancider forte
Gridando a se' pur : " Martira, martira " ;
E lui vedea chinarsi per la morte,
Che 1' aggravava gia, in ver la terra,
Ma degli occhi facea sempre al ciel porte,
Orando all' alto Sire in tanta guerra,
Che perdonasse a' suoi persecutori
Con quell' aspetto che pieta disserra. 3
1 Cf. p. 40. 2 Cf. p. 28.
3 With fury then inflamed, I saw a crowd
Stoning a youth ; and as they struck each blow,
" Away with him, away ! " they cried aloud,
I saw him, as to earth he bent at last,
Weighed down in death by the o'erpowering blows ;
But steadfast still to heaven his eyes he cast,
In that dread conflict, to the Lord above
Praying for pardon on his ruthless foes,
With gentle look that doth to pity move.
(// Purgatorio, Canto xv. 11.106-114. Translation by I. C. Wright, Fellow of
Magdalen College, Oxford. Bohn, London, 1857.)
i88 THE SCUOLA DI S. STEFANO
Priests and warriors on the opposite side witness the Martyrdom,
in attitudes resembling the group of bystanders in the fragment
of a Crucifixion by Carpaccio, now in the Uffizi. The Stoning
of S. Stephen, preserved in the Museum at Stuttgart, was, it
is true, injured by restoration, but it appears to us the weakest
of the 'series, and though revealing all the artist's time-honoured
genius for narrative, yet displays a lack of directness in drawing, and
a colouring in which brown and yellow tones predominate in a
manner that we do not meet with in his earlier work.
The series for the Scuola dei Lanieri was not painted according
to the historical order of the Saint's life : The Ordination of the
Deacons was finished in 1511, The Dispute with the Doctors in
1514, The Stoning in 1515 and the Preaching to the People, which
for a long time was believed to have been Carpaccio's last work,
in 1520. The by-no-means brief intervals that elapsed between
one painting and another may be explained by the finances of
nearly all the smaller Scuole, who were constrained to collect the
money required for embellishments from the voluntary donations
of the Brethren, a portion of the amount needful being levied in
the tax, called luminaria e pane.
With the Cycle of The Life of S. Stephen closes that larger,
and in fact most important part, of Carpaccio's artistic career,
which, opening in 1490 with the paintings at S. Orsola, comprised
his work for the Scuole, those representative institutions of
Venetian popular life. The painter's manifold activities which we
have endeavoured to describe were called forth by humble fellow-
ships, who have drawn more honour and renown from Carpaccio's
name than from any power of their own. Had the artist's fame
not, so to speak, shed imperishable glory upon the Scuole di
S. Orsola degli Schiavoni, degli Albanesi, and dei Lanieri di
S. Stefano their memory would have been lost amid a host of
minor sodalities, powerless in any measure to rival the more
important Scuole ; especially those that on account of their wealth
and their privileges were denominated the Great Scuole.
The artist, who had painted in the Doge's Palace and enjoyed
the uncontested appreciation of his fellow citizens, could not fail
to attract the notice of the wealthier and more illustrious con-
fraternities ; thus Carpaccio, whilst still young and with creative
perceptions still alert and brilliant, was called upon to prove his
abilities on behalf of the Scuola Grande of S. Giovanni Evangelista,
one of the six greater and most privileged of these Associations.
A pious Brotherhood of Flagellants, who from 1261 onwards
had assembled in the church of S. Apollinare, transferred their
quarters early in the fourteenth century to S. Giovanni Evangelista
and in 1340 obtained for their meeting-place an almshouse erected
IQ5 BAS-KELIEF ox THE FAC;AI>E OF THE HO-PITAL OF SAN GIOVANNI
KVAXGELISTA (1354)-
THE OUTER COURTYARD OF THE SCUOI.A DI SAX C.IOVANXI livAxi. ELISTA (1481).
School of S. John the Evangelist.
THE SCUOLA DI S. GIO. EVANGELISTA 189
by the Badoer family for the reception of poor women. The
Brotherhood built another hospice for these poor creatures and
set to work to reconstruct the older building, completing it
in 1354. In 1481 the Scuola was embellished with wonderful
decorations in sculpture and architecture. Nothing indeed can be
more graceful than the archway of the forecourt, surmounted by
The Eagle of St. John carved in the tympanum, and adorned
with exquisite marble tracery, in harmony with the fluted pilasters
which support the magnificent screen. A noble double flight of
stairs leads to the Albergo, where the entire scheme of decoration,
altar, pavement and ceiling, all bear witness to the craftsmanship
of one of those perfect Lombard artists, whose genius contributed
so great an impetus to Venetian Art. The Scuola thus became
the worthy home of the precious fragment of the True Cross, which
Philippe de Meizieres, Grand Chancellor of the King of Cyprus,
had presented in the year 1369 to the Brethren of S. Giovanni
Evangelista ; a gift which they enshrined in a silver-mounted
crystal case, fashioned in the form of a cross : a fine example
of Veneto-Byzantine goldsmith's work. 1 Public veneration for
this Holy Relic was enhanced by the miracles that it was
reported to have worked. Among other marvels tradition
narrates how one day, when the Scuola was proceeding in state
to the church of S. Lorenzo, the reliquary containing this Treasure
was, owing to the pressure of the crowd, dropped into the canal
and yet remained miraculously afloat ; how the Brethren who
jumped in to the rescue could not succeed in reaching it, for by
a fresh prodigy the Relic escaped from their hands, until Andrea
Vendramin, the Guardian of the Scuola, threw himself into the
water, and by Divine Favour was permitted to recover it.
This incident and other miracles of the Holy Rood were told in
paintings which testify at one and the same time to the religious
sentiment and artistic taste of the Brethren of S. Giovanni : and
the Hall, which was in fact placed under the invocation of the
" Holy Cross " (delta Santa Croce), was hung with these compo-
sitions, representing in the fullest degree the genius of Quattrocento
Venetian Art.
This was the Hall where Carpaccio painted the scene, now
in the Venice Academy, which shows The Patriarch of Grado,
Francesco Quirini, in the loggia of his palace casting out an evil
spirit by the virtue of the Relic of the Holy Cross (3 m. 61 cm. x
3 m. 85 cm.). Cavalcaselle assigns the date 1494 to this painting,
but no documents remain to substantiate with any degree of
certainty either the year, the sum of money spent, or indeed any
information whatsoever regarding the pictorial decoration of this
1 This precious reliquary was carefully repaired in 1789.
190 THE SCUOLA DI S. GIO. EVANGELISTA
chamber. Gentile Bellini likewise worked there, and his two
pictures, The Procession in the Piazza di S. Marco and The
Miracle of the Cross in the Canal of S. Lorenzo, bear date, the
one 1496, and the other 1500. It is probable therefore that the
same period, that is to say, the latter years of the fifteenth century,
saw Vittore Carpaccio, Lazzaro Bastiani, Giovanni Mansueti, and
Benedetto Diana summoned along with Bellini to adorn this noble
apartment.
Similarly with those of the Scuola di S. Orsola this work
suffered sadly through the structural alterations undertaken by the
Brethren when desiring in 1544 to open two doors from the Sala
della Santa Croce into their new Albergo ; and " it was found
necessary to cut a small portion off the canvases " (fu bisogno
toglier tin poco delli telleri] that adorned the walls. 1
The Governing Body of the Scuola, before carrying out this
mutilation, wished to procure an authoritative opinion, " and there
was brought to the spot the discreet master Titian, painter, a man
whose experience is known to every one " (et fu menato sopraluoco
el prudent e messer Tizian pictor, homo della sperienzia che a
cadauno e noto). Titian, who had decorated the new Albergo and
was possessed of scant scruples where the work of other painters
was concerned, " advised that the said canvases should be cut from
the bottom, which will be about one and a half of the fourth part
(i.e. one-third), by which cutting no damage will be done to the
said canvases " (conscglib si dovesse tagliar ditti telleri da basso
che saria de quarta una e mezzo in circa, per el qual taglio non
fara danno alcuno alii ditti telleri].
Thus Carpaccio's work and Benedetto Diana's painting of The
Brethren of S. Giovanni Evangelist a distributing Alms were
reduced along the bottom by a space of about 30 cm.
In the course of the seventeenth century further restorations
and alterations occurring in the Scuola Carpaccio's painting was
removed from the Sala della Santa Croce and set up elsewhere.
An endeavour was then made to repair the cut, which in 1544 had
amputated the feet and part of the legs of several of the figures,
amongst which the most noteworthy are a gorgeously garbed
Cavalier of the Calza, a patrician robed in cloth of gold, a little
lad and a senator in a black gown. A piece of canvas, 27 cm.
deep, was added at the foot of the picture, but so clumsily as to
leave the stitches plainly distinguishable. The hapless seventeenth-
century restorer tried his best to complete Carpaccio's beautiful
composition after his own ideas, particularly noticeable in the
patrician, whose gold-embroidered robe recalls the cut of a modern
* Arch, di Stato. Scuola Grande di S. Giovanni Evangelista. Reg". No. 38 (from 1301 to
looij, c. 308.
197
A MIRACLE or THE CROSS.
By dentilr Bellini. In the Academy, Venice.
198 SIGN OF THE HOSTELRY OF THE STURGEON.
199
THE PATRIARCH QUIRINI LIBERATING A DEMONIAC.
200 SKETCH uv V. CA3PACCW OF
A HOY.
Albrrtina Collection. Vienna.
A CAVALIER OF im: CALZA.
Hv Cesare Vcceili.
202 SKETCH BY V. CAKPACCIO OF A GONDOLIER.
From the Robinson Collection. London.
203 SKETCH HY V. CAKPACCIO OF A
CAVALIER OF THE CALZA.
Albertina Collection, Vienna
A MIRACLE OF THE HOLY CROSS 191
overcoat. Neither is the figure of the Cavalier less injured, the
original drawing for which is in the Albertina Collection in Vienna
on the same leaf with a sketch of the little lad introduced into
this picture. The figure of the Cavalier was adopted by Cesare
Vecellio in his Degli Habiti.
Despite its many injuries the painting yet affords a most
forcible representation of the popular life of Venice. Well-planned
grouping and correct architectural perspective, careful brushwork
and brilliant colouring unite with the wonderful atmospheric effect
in sky and water in producing a composition of singular beauty
and power. The Patriarch's Palace, which stood upon the Grand
Canal near S. Silvestro, rises to the spectator's left. The open
two-storeyed loggia is the single detail which the painter chose
to create from his imagination, and he lavishes thereon all the
architectural beauty of the Renaissance. Wide open arcades
supported on slender and graceful pillars, beneath which stroll
groups of noblemen in conversation, sustain an upper loggia
adorned with tall Lombard columns.
Quirini, the Patriarch, a stately figure, stands attended by
priests at the door of the loggia, with the Relic of the Holy Cross
in his hand, blessing the afflicted man who has been freed from
his possession. Surrounding the sufferer are the Brethren of the
Scuola, some standing, some kneeling, bearing long candles. The
procession unfolds along the Fondamenta, at that time called del
Ferro, but now del Vin, and across the wooden bridge of the Rialto.
We may also observe curious and valuable details of old-time 1 "
architecture ; the tall funnel-shaped chimneys, clustering above
the roofs, the terraces (altane] from which extend long poles with
linen bleaching in the sunlight. From the facade of a house a
sign a sturgeon marks the position of the very ancient Tavern,
del Sturion, which was closed about 1511, but which gave its name
to the lane. 1
The dark-green water of the Grand Canal is of a wonderful
transparency : that same transparency which a far-distant de-
scendant of Carpaccio, Giacomo Favretto, achieved so well in his
painting, The Traghetto. The gondolas are not yet the sober craft
of to-day uniformly hung with black, but little narrow boats decked
with many-coloured and variegated draperies, with the hoop the
prototype of the modern felza across the seat, and two small
iron rostra at either end. Among the gaily dressed gondoliers in
elegant costumes upright upon the poops attention is drawn to
one of those Moorish slaves who used to be employed as rowers.
A drawing by Carpaccio for the figure of a gondolier is now in
Sir Charles Robinson's Collection in London.
* Tassini, Curiositb Veneziane, cit. p. 711,
i 9 2 THE SCUOLA DI S. GIOVANNI EVANGELISTA
Beyond the Rial to, which at that period (1507) was "much
injured and rotten " (valde devastatus et putridus\ and which it
was intended to replace by a stone bridge, 1 extends a line of
buildings, many of which are standing to
The Fondaco dei Tedeschi, only begun in 1505 under the
direction of Antonio Scarpagnino from the designs of a German
architect named Maestro Girolamo, was not then built, but
Carpaccio shows us in his painting the massive building wh-ich-
still rises upon the Canale dell' Olio to the right of the Fondaco,
the point of the campanile of S. Giovanni Grisostomo, and further
on the Palazzo da Mosto and the pinnacle of the campanile of the
SS. Apostoli rising above the roofs.
The bridge, the Fondamenta and the boats are alive with
moving throngs, an exact reproduction no doubt of the types and
the costumes of the artist's day, instinct with the living spirit
of the period. Nowhere does old Venetian life present so true or
so attractive a picture, or tell us with greater force and clearness
the story whispered in the painter's ear by the people and their
city.
1 Arch, di Stato, Cons. X. Misti, Reg. 31. C. 1581. (22 ottobre, 1507).
2G4
SAMSON AND DALILA.
By Michele da Verona. In the Museo Poldi Pezzoli, Milan.
KNEELING FIGURE
'
CHAPTER XI
THE OTHER WORKS OF VITTORE CARPACCIO AND OF
HIS SON BENEDETTO
LET us now examine such isolated paintings by Carpaccio as
have come down to our times.
Modern criticism has rendered unnecessary the task of
pointing out the erroneous assignation of not a few of the paintings
which in old Catalogues of Galleries, public and private, have
passed under his name. We would only observe that in the Museo
Poldi Pezzoli in Milan there is a painting i m. 22 cm. wide x
76 cm. high, remarkable for the originality of its composition
and bearing the spurious signature Victor Carpatliius, which,
according to Giovanni Morelli, ought instead to be attributed to
Michele da Verona, an artist who flourished between the years
1500 and I523. 1 The painting represents DclilaJi directing a youth
hidden amid tlie folds of her robe Jwiv to cut the locks of tJie
sleeping Samson. The three figures are clad in fashionable fifteenth-
century costume and the scene is enacted on a terrace with a back-
ground of landscape and towers.
The ancient church of Noale, a hamlet in Venetia, contains in
the sacristy an altar-panel representing ^". John the Baptist with
SS. Peter and Paul on either side. This has always been assigned
to Carpaccio, and Crico in his Lettcre su le Belle Arti Trivigiane 2
gives an enthusiastic description of the painting. But our Vittore
certainly was not its author, and everything points, as Cavalcaselle
observes, rather to the workmanship of Vettor Belliniano.
In the choir of the Cathedral of Serravalle (Vittorio), beside the
altarpiece painted in 1547 by Titian, opened two canvas doors of
the old organ with vS. Andrew accompanied by SS. Agatha, Peter,
and Catherine on one wing and The Annunciation on the other ;
1 Zannandreis, Le Vite del pitt., scult. e arch, veronesi, pp. 99 e seg. Verona, 1891. Michele
da Verona's most important work is The Crucifixion (3 m. 36 cm. x 7 m. 16 cm.), which passed
from the convent of S. Giorgio at Verona into the Brera Gallery.
2 Venice, 1803.
'93 25
I 9 4 OTHER WORKS OF VITTORE CARPACCIO
whilst the parapet-panels were embellished with several fine
paintings attributed to Mantegna. 1 Certain critics, Crico among
the number, have attributed these doors to Carpaccio, and others
to Francesco da Milano, who about the middle of the sixteenth
century stayed a long time at Serravalle, where he executed several
works, becoming known therefore as "// Serravallese" But if
we examine his paintings under the loggia of that city and the
panel of The Baptism of Christ in the church of S. Giovanni we
find that the two canvases in the Cathedral bear no resemblance
to Francesco's, still less to Carpaccio's, work, but display rather
certain characteristics of the Tuscan School.
Without delaying any longer over the paintings falsely attributed
to Vittore, we would rather mourn the loss of the paintings in the
Ducal Palace (destroyed by fire in 1577); together with a number
of other works from his brush which have either perished or
otherwise disappeared.
The church of S. Antonio di Castello, now demolished, which
once contained The Ten 'Fhousand Martyrs and 7^he Procession of
Penitents (Crociferi), was also adorned by a third composition by
Carpaccio, recorded by Vasari, 3 but it must have vanished at
a very early date, since no mention of it is to be found in Le
Miucre of Bosch ini. That writer, however, on the other hand,
alludes to another altarpiece " by the hand of Vittore Carpaccio"
representing "Mary with licr Child and two small angels who
crown her, and four portraits with their names written above on
labels"* This beautiful panel, as Zanetti styles it, 5 was kept
in the Cloth-Weavers' quarter near the church of SS. Simeone
and Taddeo (San Simeone Piccolo], and was consigned in 1796 to
the custody of the Notary of the Provveditori di Comune, as we
learn from Inspector Maggiotto's Reports to the State Inquisitors. 6
Upon the restoration and removal of certain paintings at the
church of SS. Trinita (Santa Ternitd) this work of Carpaccio's
probably at the request of the parish-priest was brought thither.
A minute of the painter-restorer, Giuseppe Baldassini, dated
March 25th, 1811 records how he had caused to be transferred
^ These pictures preserved for a long time in the sacristy disappeared some years since.
Alnianacdo Diocesano di Ceneda. Anno ix. 1848.
" For the Altar of the Resurrection of Christ in the church of Sant' Antonio, this master
deputed the appearance of the Saviour to Mary Magdalen, and the other Maries, with the
perspective view of a distant landscape, which diminishes very finely." Vasari's Lives. Translated
by Mrs. Jonathan Foster. London, H. G. Bohn, 1851. Vol. ii., p. 8
4 Boschini, Sestiere del/a Croce, p. 10.
e ^ e// 'i! Pittura Ven eziana, p. 41. Venezia, Albrizzi. MDCCLXXI.
Arch di Stato. Inquis. di Stato, b. 909. Reports of the. Inspector, Francesco Maggiotto
(reported October i8th, 1796). Maggiotto says : "Now from what has been reported to me this
altarpiece has passed into the hands of the Notary of their Excellencies the Provveditori
the Commune; but of that I have no certainty."
LOST PAINTINGS 195
from the church of S. Ternita to the store-rooms at S. Lorenzo
"a painting which represents The B.V. the Child and two angels,
" and below four Portraits, the work of Vettor Carpaccio." 1 After
that it disappeared, and from the investigation ordered in 1830
by the Office of Crown Property (Diresionc Generate del Dcinanid)
we learn that it had been burnt, along with another equally damaged
work by Pordenone. Indeed, in his first Report, dated 1808,
Pietro Edwards offers the rough-and-ready suggestion "to throw
" into the fire all the irretrievably spoiled paintings."
There is a beautiful drawing by Carpaccio in the Uffizi Gallery
of a donor kneeling in prayer, perhaps a study for this painting
which perished so miserably.
Records yet remain of other lost works. In the church of
the Madonna della Carita Boschini describes a panel in " many
" divisions and with a multitude of figures depicting The Life of
" S. John the Baptist : as also there is at the bottom a small
" compartment with many figures, and above at the top Our Lord
" on the Cross. The whole the work of Vittore Carpaccio." But
that it was really by Carpaccio there arises some doubt, when we
read in the Anoninw Morelliano that : " The picture on panel in
" tempera, representing S. John the Evangelist (sic), with little
"scenes in the predella (scabello), in the small chapel on the left
" side of the main altar (of the church of the Carita), is an
" admirable work by Giovanni Bellini. I believe that the predella
"is by Lauro Padovano." 3 At all events, be the painting by
Carpaccio or Bellini, or whether it represented .S". John the
Evangelist or 6". John the Baptist, certain it is that in
Zanetti's day it was already well-nigh reduced to nothing (air
ultimo fine}* and disappeared soon afterwards altogether, with the
exception of the predella by Lauro Padovano, a pupil of Squarcione,
which is now preserved in the Kaufmann Collection at Berlin.
In the chapel of S. Maria della Pace, since suppressed, near
the convent of SS. Giovanni e Paolo, Martinelli mentions A Saint
in the habit of a Knight, with a banner in his hand? of which
1 Ibid. Direz. Gen. del Demanio (1808-1813). Note inserted at No. 7854, Case. i.
2 Boschini, Sestiere di Dorsoduro, p. 34.
3 Notizia d'op. di disegno. Ed. Frizzoni, p. 231. Bologna, 1884. The Anonimo. Notes on
Pictures and Works of Art in Italy. (Translated by Paolo Mussi. Edited by George
C. Williamson, Litt.D.) p. 129. London : George Bell & Sons, 1903.
* Zanetti (p. 39) writes : " In the Church of the Carita, in the chapel next the Sacristy,
" there is, or rather was, a panel by Carpaccio with the history of S. John the Baptist. Time
" has reduced it almost to its last end." Francesco Sansovino ( Venetia citta nobilissima, with
Martinioni's additions. Venetia. MDCLVIII) also writes on p. 266 : " The altarpiece of S. John
" the Evangelist, painted in tempera, was executed by Giovanni Bellino, and the scabello below
" was the work of Lauro padovano."
6 Martinelli, Domenico, II ritratto di Venezia, p. 176. Venezia. MDCCV. The first edition was
published in 1684. The painting is mentioned also by Boschini in Le Ricche Minere. There were
three niches : S. John the Evangelist, a Saint in knightly armour, and The Eternal Father above.
196 OTHER WORKS OF VITTORE CARPACCIO
the ultimate fate is not known : nor that of two other paintings,
one of 5. George, and the other of 55. Peter and Paul, recorded
as being at the Abbey of S. Maria del Pero in the diocese of
Treviso.
In the sacristy of S. Giovanni at Brescia there was a Virgin
between SS. Faustina and Giomta, Protectors of the City, with
three angels playing musical instruments on the steps of the
throne. This painting, signed Victor Carpathins Vemtiis 1519?
passed into the possession of the Averoldi family, and was sold
by them in 1869 to a Milanese dealer in works of art, who resold
it to the National Gallery in London. It was, however, un-
fortunately lost at sea on its way thither. A beautiful drawing
remains and is now in the Cabinet of Engravings at Dresden,
(where it is wrongly attributed to Giovanni Bellini 3 ), of the Virgin
enthroned with the two sainted legionaries holding their palms
of martyrdom in their hands, and the three angel-musicians and
a mountainous landscape in the background.
Da Persico mentions in Verona a collection of pictures in the
possession of Signer Bartolomeo Balbi, among which there was
a painting by Carpaccio. The Balbi Collection was sold and
nothing more is known of the Carpaccio. Nor do we know either
what became of another small painting, also once in Verona and
sold by the Giusti family, which bore the inscription : Opus Victori
Carpatii Ven? There were likewise in Verona three other pictures
attributed to Carpaccio which have since disappeared : A Virgin
in the Galleria Caldana 5 and two Landscapes, carefully executed
but of doubtful authenticity, in the Galleria Albarelli. 6 Nor yet
is the fate known of a painting with the most probably spurious
inscription, Victoris Carpacci Venetus opus, which Moschini avers
was in Padua in the possession of the Buzzacarini family at
S. Spirito. 7
On the other hand it would seem that Carpaccio's great polyp-
tych of 55. Christopher, Peter Martyr, Paul, Sebastian and
Roch 8 recorded by Boschini as being in the church of Sta Fosca,
was not wholly lost. The painting must have disappeared during
1 Cicogna, her. iv., 318, n. 178.
2 Chizzola, Le pitt. e scult. di Brescia. Brescia. CIOIOCCLX.
3 On the margin of the yellowish paper above may be read the spurious signature: Johan
Bellino. The Catalogue of the Dresden Gallery also attributes the drawing wrongly to Bellini.
Descr. di Verona ecc. ii., pp. 45, 50. Verona, 1820.
'> Descr. delle op. di pitt. race, dal Sig. F. Caldana. Verona, Tommasi, 1822, p. 20. The
Caldana Collection has been dispersed.
* Succinta descr. del la Raccolta Albarelli. Verona, Mainardi, 1816, p. 8.
Moschini, Guida di Padova, p. 172. Padova, 1813. Vincenzo de Castro, in his Vita del
Larpacao, published in the collection // Preludio (Venice, 1848), speaks of a painting by
Larpaccio existing in Padua in the possession of the Capodilista family. But this family have no
record of such a picture.
8 Boschini, Sestiere di Cannaregio, p. 54,
2O("> SKETCH I-OK Tin-: LOST I'u TTKI-: OF :in; VIKI.IN*, SS. KU'STINO AND GIOVITA.
Hy \"i'. tuiv C'arparcin. (\\"ri >iii;!y attribnlccl to (iiumbrllino.)
In the Print K<uu. I )rcs<.k'ti.
207 S. PETER MARTYR.
208 S. SEBASTIAN.
-J.
soy SKETCH BY YITTOKI; CAKPACCIO KIK " TIIK VIKCIIN
AND FOT-K SAINTS."
l-'rom the Uif, dr I.a Salic Collcctimi in >( I.ouvre.
WATEK-COLOUR SKETCH IIY VITTORE
CARPACCIO FOR THE FIGURE OF
S. JEROME.
In the Uffizi.
DRAWINGS FOR PICTURES STILL UNTRACED 197
the complete restoration of this church, since there is no mention
of it in the Guida published by Anton Maria Zanetti in 1733.
But it is credible that the two panels of 55. Peter Martyr and
Sebastian noticed by Frizzoni in the Strossmayer Collection at
Zagabria (where also are two other paintings erroneously assigned to
Carpaccio) may have formed part of this polyptych. They are not,
however, among his best works, and, as Frizzoni observes, would
seem but little characteristic of the artist. The 5. Sebastian panel
is inscribed Victor Carpathins vcnetus opus MDXIV.
Of other paintings by Carpaccio, either unknown or never
executed, drawings exist in which the craftsman's primary conceptions
are set down.
The His de la Salle Collection in the Louvre includes a pen-and-
ink sketch for an altar-panel, somewhat hesitatingly drawn and with
shadows washed in with the brush. It represents The Madonna and
Child, seated upon a throne in the form of a niche with 55. Jolin
and Jerome on the right, and The Baptist and S. Doininick on the
left hand. As was his custom, having committed his first sketch to
paper, Carpaccio studied his figures singly, and preserved in the
Uffizi there is a fully completed sketch for the figure of 5. Jerome :
facing, however, in the contrary direction to the personage in the
Louvre drawing. This study goes far to demonstrate Carpaccio's
skill in the arrangement of drapery, which he disposes with a
grand breadth of treatment around the venerable person of this
Saint.
For another painting, of which no trace remains, there is a
drawing in the Collection of the Duke of Devonshire at Chatsworth.
Of this drawing the exact meaning is not clearly defined. Mr.
Sidney Colvin would discover in it a representation of 5. Ursula
taking leave of her parents?- and moreover sees in the whole scene
something that recalls the painting in the Layard Collection. But we
would observe that the central figure, bending forward and bowing the
knee, is not a woman ; nor is the personage standing opposite King
Maurus, Ursula's father, but rather a prelate, greatly resembling the
traditional likeness of the Patriarch, S. Lorenzo Giustiniani, as he
appears in Gentile Bellini's composition. We suggest therefore that
this drawing represents an Episode in his Life, and it does not seem
far-fetched to suppose that Carpaccio, who actually did in 1523 paint
several pictures (since lost) for the Patriarchate of Venice, 2 was
commissioned to depict a scene from the holy life of the City's first
1 Colvin, Uber einige Zeichnungen des Carpaccio in England. (Jahrbuch der K. Preussischen
Kunstsammlungen, vol. 18. Berlin, 1897.)
2 1523. 30 nov. per it Revmo mes. Ant. Contarini . . . contadi per resto delta pa/a de legno due.
uno e per cuntadi a m. Vetor Scharpaza per aver depento la ditta pala due. 5 2 in piui fiade, com
putta uno teler de la Nativita del Signor a due. 53". (Mensa patriarc. B. 67. Reg. Ill, c. 31.)
Cf. p. 51 and Documents at page 241 of this work.
198 OTHER WORKS OF VITTORE CARPACCIO
Patriarch. We do not desire that our suggestion should pass the
bounds of mere conjecture, but if we study the life of Giustiniani in
all its phases, we may nevertheless succeed in reconstructing the
scene in question. In a biography of S. Lorenzo, compiled in the
fifteenth century by one of his relatives, Bernardo Giustiniani, we
are told that, not only did the principal men of Venice, from the
Doge downwards, appeal to the Patriarch for advice and, like the
general, Bartolomeo Colleoni, present him with large sums of money
for distribution among the poor, but that even the most famous
foreign princes entreated to approach the saintly man to obtain his
blessing. 1 If, as it would really seem, the principal figure in the
drawing be Giustiniani, the episode would represent the Patriarch
giving "his blessing to some illustrious personage. And everything
leads us to believe that the personage in question is the young son
of Francesco Sforza, Duke of Milan, who in 1455 was sent by
his father to Venice with injunctions, says the biographer just quoted,
"before everything else to visit the Holy Patriarch, that he might
place his hands upon him and be commended in his prayers" The
journey, which Gian Galeazzo performed in barges (ganzaruoli] down
the Po, is described in Sanudo's Cronaca. He tells us how the Doge
1 " But now lie was full of days : and his name and fame were day by day widely spread
abroad. No one came to this city who did not before all other sights desire to visit this father : I
make no mention of the common herd and nameless crowd, who, wherever he went, looking upon
him as an angel sent down from heaven, crowded the streets and public places. Cardinals and all
Dukes and Princes visited him in his house to see his way of living, to feast their eyes on his
bedchamber, refectory, and all things, and to venerate them. Francesco Sforza, Duke of Milan
and Bianca his wife, sent Galeazzo their son, eldest in years and of great promise, while still a
youth, to Venice. They sent him with that principal object that the boy should be brought before
the Holy Man, and that placing his hands upon him he might be commended by his prayers.
Bartolomeo Colleoni, the most famous leader of that age, brought him a vast amount of gold, which
he distributed to the poor. Which was rare and singular in the military hero on account of his
devotion, and in our father on account of his virtue. Now guests and pilgrims of all sorts and
kinds ; Pannonians, Germans, Gauls, Spaniards, whether on their way to Rome to the abodes of
the Apostles, or to the East to the Sepulchre of the Lord, hoped for the breezes of fortune if they
had procured the blessing of this father. In the greatest perils truly our Uoge land Senate never
failed to appeal to him for advice, as if to some oracle."
(. . . Caeterum iam plenus erat dierum : nomenque illius et fama latius quotidie fundebatur.
Nemo veniebat ad hanc urbem : qui non vel imprimis spectaculis appeteret hunc patrem videre : Taceo
vulgus et turbam sine nomine : qui quacumque incederet ad eum visendum veluti ad angelum de
coelo demissiun per vias et compita concurrebant. Cardinales omnes Duces et Principes ; domi
eum invisere : vitam investigare : thalamum, coenaculum cubile omnia histrare of lilt's et venerari.
Franciscus Sfortia Mediolani Dux et Bianca uxor Galeatium maiorem natu et magnae spei Filium
adhuc impubem Venetias cum misissent : illud imprimis mandavere : ut puerum ad Sanctum virum
deducerent. Ad imponendam illi manum : et eius orationibus commendandum. Bartholomaeus
Collionus Clarissimus hac aetate Dux magnam ad eum vim auri detulit : quam in pauperes dispartiret.
Quod fuit et in militari viro propter devotionem : et in patre nostro propter opinionem : rarum et
smgulare. lain advenae et peregrini omnis ordinis et generis, pannones, germani, galli, hispani : vel
qui Romam ad limina apostolorum : vel qui in Orientem ad Dominicum sepulcrum pergerent, turn
felues auras sperabant si benedictione hujus patris accepta discederent. In maxima vero patriae
penculis Dux noster atque senatus non aliter ad illius orationem confugere : quam ad oracuhun
quoddam.)
Clarissimi Oratori Bernardi Justiniani opusculum de Vita Beati Laurenti Patriarchae
Venetiarum : Impressum Venetiis labore et industriae Jacobi de Rubeis Gallicii Duce Inclyto Petro
Mocenico Sextus Idus Maios. MCCCCLXXV.
2ii SKETCH BY VITTORE CARPACCIO OK SAN I.OKI:N/O CiirsTixiAXi BI.KSSIXG GIAX ('I.U,I;AZ/O SFORZA.
From till' Duke of Dcvonshirr's Collection at Chatsworth.
212 STUDY BY VITTORE CARPACCIO.
In the Cabinet of Prints. Munich.
.13 SKETCH B Y VlTTORE
FOR " THE ADORATION- OF THE MAGI." In the Uffizi.
214 SKETCH BY VITTORE CAR
OF "THE CIRCUMCISION." In the Uffizi.
S. LORENZO GIUSTINIANI 199
proceeded on board the Bncentaiir as far as the island of S. Clemente
to meet his honoured guest, and accompanied him with great pomp
to Venice, to the Palace of the Marquess of Ferrara. 1 If so much
honour was shown to the young Prince it is not improbable that
Giustiniani, in order to gratify the Duke of Milan's courteous wish,
should have desired to forestall the Doge himself in welcoming the
young Sforza, and that therefore he went to meet him in some
country place near Venice. The drawing, as a matter of fact, shows
us a river with the boats from which the Milanese Prince has just
landed, carrying a reliquary in his hands a gift it may be from the
Duke his father to the Patriarch. Followed by his courtiers he
approaches the prelate and bends his body forward in that attitude
of reverence so frequently repeated by Carpaccio in his compositions.
The prelate advances with one hand raised in the act of benediction.
He is attended by two priests, some men on horseback and a
squire, who faces the Prince and is depicted in the same respectful
attitude. The figure of the squire in this sketch is indicated only
by a few uncertain and hesitating strokes, but it reappears once
more, this time completed, in a pen-and-sepia study preserved in
the Cabinet of Engravings at Munich.
Two other compositions which were probably never committed
to canvas, since we find no allusion to them either in the writings
of authors or in public documents, are disclosed in two drawings
now preserved in the Uffizi Gallery. One of these, The Adoration
of the Magi, is a pen-and-ink sketch ; the other, a water-colour of
The Circumcision, represents perhaps the first conception that flashed
across the craftsman's mind when he obtained the commission for
the great altarpiece of The Presentation of tlic Infant Jesns to the
High Priest Simeon for the church of San Giobbe.
The pencil acted as an incentive and aid to Carpaccio's creative
genius, and the graceful figures of his compositions assume corporeal
form in these leaves, whereon the impressions of the artist's brain
and the observations of his watchful eye are set forth in pen or
pencil touch, heightened with white lead or relieved by strokes of
sepia or bistre. The idea that first strikes his mind is immediately
secured upon paper with hasty strokes of the pen in hurried and
broken lines, very different from other drawings of single figures
with the shadows deepened by bold brush-work in black ink, or
heightened with white chalk in parallel strokes, which endows the
sketch with characteristic and forceful ruggedness. Indeed in
studying Carpaccio's drawings, some instinct with that spirit and
grace with which he imbued the best of his paintings, others feeble
and lacking in spontaneity, or others again the inspiration of a
1 Sanudo, Cronica, p. ii. c. 74 A. Bibl. Marciana. Cl. vii. It. Cod. 125 (cviii-4).
200 OTHER WORKS OF VITTORE CARPACCIO
moment barely jotted down in haste, we may note, hesitation and
diffidence apart, how the thoughts of this truly observant artist-soul
gave life and form to the creatures of his imagination.
Painstaking diligence in the minute search after detail should
have precluded very vast pictorial activity ; nevertheless Carpaccio,
not content with exhibiting his unbounded energy in the Venetian
Scuole, yet found time to execute many other paintings ; some, as
we have stated, now destroyed or lost, others and those not a few
remaining for the admiration of posterity.
Some of these paintings, though outside the pictorial Cycles of
the Scuole, have already been mentioned in the course of this book ;
of others we will now treat, in order to complete the portrait of this
unique artist.
Carpaccio's fancy dwelt with complacency upon any subject that
pleased him specially, whilst varying it somewhat in composition, as
though he had failed to exhaust in a single painting the conception
that had once filled his mind.
Thus the piteous History of S. Ursula, told so splendidly
in several large compositions, was given renewed life in another
charming but smaller painting, formerly in the Manfrin Picture
Gallery, whence it came into the Layard Collection. Like the
scene in the Scuola di S. Orsola it represents The Departure of the
Betrothed Pair. The splendid pageantry of the larger work is here
replaced by a more restrained and familiar sentiment. The departing
lover, seated in his boat, is leaving the shore, whilst Ursula kneels
alone to receive her father's blessing. An atmosphere of tender
sadness hovers over all.
Another subject, S. George killing tiie Dragon, executed in the
Scuola degli Schiavoni, is repeated in a picture for the Winter Choir
of S. Giorgio Maggiore, where, represented in smaller proportions
and with some few variations, the Saint reappears astride his war-
horse driving his lance into the dragon's jaws. Around the monster
skulls and remains of men and animals lie scattered on the ground.
To the right a thickly wooded hill and a castellated edifice complete
the scene ; to the left on a rocky eminence we descry 5. Jerome
engaged in Prayer. The poetry of nature, reflected by the verdant
uplands and pellucid lake, is expressed in this work by an original
spirit, foreshadowing already Titian and Giorgione. In the four
divisions of the predella are represented the scenes of 5. Georges
Martyrdom; he is bound to a column and tortured, then cast into a
"Cauldron of molten lead ; he is thereupon entreated by the com-
passionate Prefect to sacrifice to the gods, and finally is beheaded.
Of the painting at Ferrara, The Death of the Virgin, similar
to the work executed for the Albanians, we have already spoken.
In the examination of Carpaccio's remaining works we propose,
215
S. URSULA TAKING FAREWELL OF HER PARENTS.
By Vittore Carpacrio. In the I.ayard Colleclion, Venice.
216 s - CATHERINE AND S. VENEHANDA.
In the Museo Civico, Verona.
217
THE MADONNA.
From the Stadel Institute, Frankfort.
PAINTINGS OF VERONA AND FRANKFORT 201
as far as probability and history admit, to follow a chronological
sequence, referring either to the date inscribed upon the paintings
themselves, or endeavouring to distinguish between the several
methods and mannerisms employed by the artist at various periods
of his life.
We believe that, in regard to the artistic life of our painter, we
can prove the incorrectness of the affirmation that \\\ first work was
the composition representing for the Scuola di S. Orsola The
Arrival of S. Ursula at Cologne when besieged by the Huns, 1
which bears upon it the date 1490. It is difficult to believe, we
repeat, that the painter, who had outstepped by some years the third
decade of his lifetime, had not already completed some work of
merit, or that a Public Body would have entrusted a work of
such importance to one whose skill and abilities were still unknown.
To Carpaccio's very earliest youth seem to belong certain timid
attempts, in which the teachings and methods of Bastiani are
evident ; but of the paintings completed in the flower of his manhood
none, we are bound to say, are known, or have come down to us.
The first noteworthy works wherein Vittore stands free from the
trammels of school and as an expert in his profession are, in our
opinion, the two Saints in the Museum at Verona, attributed till
now to Bissolo, and The Virgin in the Stadel Institute at Frankfort.
The painting in the Verona Museum portrays 55. Caterina
and Veneranda, two figures drawn with painstaking timidity but
already revealing Carpaccio's gifts in their fine colour, clever arrange-
ment of drapery, well-planned chiaroscuro and nobility of type.
The painting of The Virgin now at Frankfort, having come
thither from the Pereire Collection in Paris, bears the signature
Victoris Carpatio veneti opus without a date : but it seems to
us that it should be reckoned among the painter's youthful works,
since more than any other it betrays Bastiani's influence. The
scene is one of intimate domesticity, entirely withdrawn from the
liturgical iconography of Catholicism. The Divine Infant of
tradition is transformed into a little lad wearing the dress of the
fifteenth century, who sits turning over the leaves of an illustrated
book, whilst near him another small boy points out the pages
with his forefinger. These two sturdy children are probably
portraits of the Donor's offspring. Facing the spectator is the
Virgin praying with folded hands, in a sober and dignified attitude,
her countenance gracefully pensive and void of any worldly thought.
The contrast between the devout expression of the Virgin and
the realistic group of the two little boys affords us the first
indication of that tendency peculiar to Carpaccio of blending
inseparably ideal conceptions with the realities of daily life.
1 Cf. pp. 40 and 106 and Translator's Note at the end of this work, p. 223.
26
202 OTHER WORKS OF VITTORE CARPACCIO
He had just completed the 5. Ursula Cycle which for us
marks the commencement of his fame when in 1496 he painted
for the church of S. Pietro Martire at Udine the composition
Christ with the Symbols of His Passion pouring out His Lifes
Blood into a Chalice. This picture, bearing the name and date :
Victoria Charpatio Venitti opus MCCCCLXXXXVI, wa s taken
to the Imperial Museum at Vienna in 1838; as appears from an
entry by Pietro Edwards in a schedule of the paintings brought
from the towns on the mainland to the Crown Store-Rooms in
Venice.
In the distance spreads a landscape of verdant uplands, with
houses and towers scattered about in profusion. To the right
may be seen the battlemcnted stronghold of Udine, the town for
which this work was destined. In the centre, before a handsome
brocaded curtain, Jesus stands upright, holding the Cross to His
Side with His left Hand, whilst with His right He points to the
chalice upon the ground, into which His Blood is pouring from
the Wound in His Side and from the Stigmata in Hands and
Feet. Four angels, to the right and left, carry the Symbols of
the Passion. The nude figure of the Redeemer is somewhat
rigid and hard in treatment, but the angels, who, moved by
compassionate devotion, turn their gaze upon the Divine Martyr,
are conceived with great beauty and force. The composition is
Ic fruit (fitne meditation quadragesimal to the mystic critic,
M. Rio, and he discerns in the attitude and features of the
angels an intensity of expression a laquellc il serait impossible
d'ajontcr qiielque chose} Christ pouring His Blood into a
Chalice affords an example of religious symbolism peculiar
to Venetian devotional ideas ; which moreover also prevails in
Austria, where the cult probably had its origin. In S. Stephen's
Cathedral at Vienna there is a chapel dedicated to Christus dem
Seitenbhit spender.
A picture, signed Victor Carpacius pingebat, bought from the
Campana Collection in Rome and placed in the Louvre where
Cavalcaselle saw it was subsequently removed to the Town Gallery
at Caen. The powerful effect achieved by great restraint in method,
and the vigour in chiaroscuro which gives so powerful and unusual
a projection to the forms, show us an artist already matured in
talent, who, possessing perfect control over his material, impresses
upon it his conception with singular lucidity of expression. Amid
a pleasant and smiling country, which fades into a background of
distant perspective, The Virgin and Child are seated with the
youthful Baptist; and on either side of them are angels, one of whom
plays the cymbals and the other a harpsichord or dulcimer. To the
1 Rio, L'Art Chretien, vol. iv., p. 113.
218
JESVS SHEDDING His BLOOD INTO THE CHALICE.
By Vittorc Carpaccio. In the Imperial Museum, Vienna
"THE HOLY FAMILY' IN THE CAEN MUSEUM 203
left kneels 5. Anne, and beyond in the corner S.Joseph : to the right
are S. Joachim and S. Elizabeth who is engaged on a piece of
needlework. Although the painter's manner appears here somewhat
forced, and the drawing is lacking in grace, the figures are carefully
modelled with most lifelike accuracy, whilst the domestic details
are depicted with a quiet dignity, rarely encountered in the work of
Italian painters. It reminds us of the tender human feeling instinct
in certain Transalpine paintings, notably Albrecht Dtirer's works ;
despite the perceptible differences in the genius of the two peoples
from whence each artist sprang. In the mind of the homely
German, who delineates the identical subject, the scene is enacted
in the close tranquillity of a chamber. The Madonna is a worn
and a mother, and the angels become kindly sprites, busying
themselves in performing friendly domestic service in the home.
The Italian painter on the other hand causes his angels to sing and
play joyously : smiling nature displays her beautiful and fantastic
imagery ; and the Holy Family, assembled beneath a great o'er-
arching rock, dwell under the stars. Upon the wide natural bridge
above them the craftsman has contrived to introduce two scenes
from The Life of S. Jerome : The Saint with the Lion and The
Saint in his Cavern. The latter subject is once more repeated in
the background of the above-mentioned painting for S. Giorgio
Maggiore.
This Holy family was probably completed in the year 1502,
since the drawing of S. Jerome and the Lion, which the painter
has adopted in the Cycle concluded about the same time for the
Scuola degli Schiavoni, served him also for the episode of The
Saint with the Lion in the Caen painting.
Whilst Carpaccio was engaged upon the decoration of the noble
residence of the Head and Magistrates of the Republic, and at the
same time of the modest Oratory of the Scuola degli Schiavoni, he
yet found leisure to paint the great altarpiece signed Op. Victor
Carpathitts MDVII. (2 m. 66 cm. x i m. 36cm.), to-day an ornament
of the Stuttgart Gallery. It is a well-drawn and finely coloured
composition, wherein smooth yet unconstrained brushwork displays
great richness, breadth and grandeur of treatment. Amid the clouds
of Heaven and encircled by cherubs The Virgin with her Babe in
her arms appears above S. Thomas Aquinas, who is seated on a
throne over which four angels support a curtain. Before him upon
a small table lies a book, and the Saint holds up his forefinger as
though in discourse. To the right of the Angelic Doctor is 6".
Mark, to the left 5. Augustine, beside whom kneels the youthful
son of Tomaso Licinio, the Donor.
The Licini, a family to whom belonged several well-known
painters, were Bergamasque. Originally from Postcantu (now called
204 OTHER WORKS OF VITTORE CARPACCIO
Poscante), they descended from their native mountains and migrated,
some to the neighbouring towns in the plain, such as Lodi,
Casahnaggiore, Cremona etc., whilst others in greater numbers
settled in Venice, where they traded in wool, or became cloth-
weavers and glass-blowers of repute. Upon the Island of Murano
the great glass factories at the Signs of the Pigna A^trea, the
Cappcllo, and the Dragone belonged to the Licini, whilst other
individuals of the same name were employed at various other
Murano works, as for instance at that of the celebrated Berovieri.
Fame and fortune came their way, they were inscribed in the Libro
d 1 Oro of Murano, and spent their well-earned wealth in deeds of
charitable and artistic munificence. Among these men, Tomaso
Licinio, owner of the glass-furnace at the Sign of the Drago, erected
at his own expense the altar of S. Thomas Aquinas in the church
of S. Pietro Martire at Murano, and gave Carpaccio a commission
for the painting, in which his son Alvise is portrayed kneeling. The
painting was believed by Zanetti, in his " Revision " of Boschini's
Minere, to be the handiwork of an anonymous painter " with
a manner ancient and of great beauty " 1 ; nor indeed was it
recognized as Carpaccio's work, even by Moschini. 2 Michele Caffi,
however, in a letter addressed to Cicogna (May 8th, 1858) points out
that the name of the author and the date are clearly inscribed upon
the picture itself, which, along with certain other works by Paul
Veronese and Bissolo, were in 1807 removed from the church of
S. Pietro to the Accademia cli Belle Arti. This painting was
shortly afterwards handed over by the Academy to the Milanese
painter Giuseppe Bossi in exchange for his well-known Collection
of Drawings and it remained for some time longer in Venice, until
disposed of to the picture-dealer Antonio Barbini, whose heirs
sold it to the King of Wurtemberg. 3
The church of S. Giobbe is one of the most graceful among
Renaissance buildings. Enlarged in 1470 by the direction of the
Doge Cristoforo Moro, the wonderful sculptors, Pietro Lombardo,
Ambrogio da Urbino and Giovanni Buora lavished their skill
upon the walls, and Giovanni Bellini about 1479 painted for the
church The Madonna with her Babe seated on a throne surrounded
by SS. Giobbe, John the Baptist, Sebastian, Francis and Louis.
Bellini received the commission from a family, whose coat of arms,
a horse erect with a docked tail, 4 is sculptured on the column of
2 1 "'.' PML pitL di Venezi <*> P- 447- Venezia, 1733.
Moschini, Guida di Murano, p. 54. Venezia, 1808
3 Cicogna, her. VI. 903.
Cicogna ^ (her. VI. 563.) could find no coat of arms at all like this among the armorial
bearings of the patrician and citizen families of Venice. The Cavalli bear a horse with a flowing
tail, couped by a bar charged with three stars
S. THOMAS AQUINAS, S. MARK AND S. AUGUSTINE.
By Vittore Carpaccio. In the Gallery, Stockholm.
THE CHURCH OF S. GIOBBE 205
the great arch above the second altar to the right of the main
entrance, which was formerly adorned by this magnificent painting.
Two other altars on the same side of the church call for
notice.
The first was the property of the Foscari family, who ordered
from Marco Basaiti the altarpiece Jesus in the Garden ofGcthsemanc,
which was finished in 1510, when Vittore Carpaccio also completed
for the third altar his great picture, The Presentation of the Infant
Jesus to the High Priest Simeon (4111. 12 cm. x 2m. 21 cm.). Upon
the arch above this is carved the Sanudo escutcheon.
The disordered taste of the seventeenth century invaded this
most beautiful church, and to procure sufficient space for the tomb
of the French Ambassador, d'Argenson, an exaggeratedly ornate
work by Claude Perreau (1651), it was found necessary to move
the Sanudo altar. Consequently the tombstone of the family
vault before the altar now lies a little to the right of the steps.
On the slab is cut the following inscription :
PHILIPPO SANUTO PETRI FILIO
CORPORIS FORMA PR/ESTANTI ACRI INGENIO
MORIBUS CLARO ANIMI
INTKGRITATE CLARISS.
LAURA NATA UNICA.
GENITORI P.P.
Laura Sanudo, who dedicated this memorial to her father
Filippo (obiit 1504), married, first in 1512 Giovanni Foscari, and
secondly in 1533 Antonio Bollani.
Cicogna justly believes that the Sanudo family, who erected
this altar at their own expense, likewise commissioned Carpaccio's
picture. But the learned author of the Iscrisioni does not tell us
the name of the Donor, who we may, however, from information
derived from contemporary documents, affirm to have been Laura's
grandfather, Pietro Sanudo di Matteo. Cicogna, drawing upon
untrustworthy sources, places the demise of Pietro in 1489, whereas
he was certainly still alive in 1509, for we have found among the
Deeds of the convent of S. Giobbe 1 his Will, dated 1509, wherein
inter alia it is stated that he was executor to the Will of the Doge
Cristoforo Moro, 2 who was buried in the church he had loved so well.
Pietro Sanudo doubtless shared the Doge's affection for this most
beautiful place of worship, and the provisions of his Will devise
munificent benefactions after his death both to it and to the convent
1 Arch, di Stato., Manimorte, Convento di S. Giobbe. Ba. I. Test, e scritture, Fasc. i.
2 " Et perche mi attrovo commessario del quondam Serenissimo misser Cristofhalo Moro fo doxe
de Venezia ecc.," Test, di Pietro Sanudo cit.
206 OTHER WORKS OF VITTORE CARPACCIO
adjoining. 1 The altar, constructed in 1510 and adorned by Car-
paccio's painting, was without doubt therefore erected by that
family. Bellini's, Basaiti's and Carpaccio's altarpieces have all
been removed to the Venice Academy, and the latter beside his
two famous rivals excels not only in elegance of form but also
in tenderness and devout feeling. Here indeed he shows to us
that his talent and eye were not merely tuned to the accurate
portrayal of the festivities, the pageants and the varied scenes of
Venetian life, but that he could likewise draw into his soul and
interpret for us the abandonment of religious fervour freed from
that mysticism which is so disturbing to the pleasing expression
of a youthful joie de vivre.
From the vault, adorned with mosaic, of the chapel wherein the
episode takes place hangs a lamp of graceful shape. The High
Priest Simeon in Pontifical robes reverently advances, whilst two
Levites hold the ends of his rich dalmatic of purple and cloth of
gold. The Virgin, attired in a red robe and blue mantle with a
white veil draped over her head, presents The Divine Babe. Beside
her stand S. Anne and a woman carrying two doves in a basket.
The drawings in the Gathorne Hardy Collection in London, which
Carpaccio used for his altarpiece at the Scuola di S. Orsola, likewise
served the painter for these two female heads. 2 Three angels of
remarkable beauty seated on the steps in the foreground are playing
a flute, a violin and a harp. Upon one of the steps is a label with
the painter's name and the date : Victor Carpathins MDX.
This lovely composition awoke the quaint Boschini's poetic
enthusiasm in the following lines :
" .... a San Giopo . . . una pala tal
Ghe appresso a Zambellin che molto val
Ne i sa a chi dar la palma in fede mia.
La se ghe vede in ato vcnerando
San Simion Pontefice divin,
Che la Madonna ghe porze el Bambin :
Pala certo opera con studio grando.
El veder quclle done glori'ose,
Che assistc a la gran Madre del Signor,
L'e do figure de somo valor ;
L'e tute esempio, tute religiose.
" Ittem lasso che il ducati 10,000, . . . i quali di sopra faccio notta che li prb se pagera vivendo
madona Crestina mia consorte sia soi, et dappoi la morte soa d'essa mia consorte, siano scritti et
posit, . . . per laudar in la Chiesa de messer San Bernardin e San Giobe, et in tutto il Monastero, et
per lo viver et vestir et bisogno de tutti li frati starano in lo detto luogo con la condition starano al
fretitcto quali wgho semper sia per li miei comessarij despensando il lavorar, crescer, et ordinar la
delta Lhiesa et luogo in la qual sard il mio Corpo, et per lo viver et vestir de tutti li frati habitanti
del ditto Lonvento, cosl deputadi e messi per lordene suo, lasciar nel Monastero, et questo si come per
n tempi parera esser il megio, et di piii bisogno in laude et gloria nel nostro Signor Gesil Cristo e
reverentia de messer San Giobbe." Test, di P. Sanudo cit.
Colvm. Article in Jahrbuch, vol. 18, cit. Cf. p. uo.
POEM BY BOSCHINI 207
Le ha quele teste tute adorne e bele ;
Dei panni el saldizar molto e zentil ;
Ogni habito xe nobile e civil
Ben aggiustado a Verzene e Donzelc.
Quei sacerdoti, che con devotion
Sustenta el manto d'oro al Santo Vechio,
Ne rapresenta un religioso spcchio
E ne fa tutti star con atention.
In suma ogni motive e positura
Xe efeto d'artificio e de dotrina,
Certo se ghe pol dir cosa divina ;
Model del Cielo, esempio alia Natura.
Ma, perche in la so Pala Zambelin,
Per condimento de quel nobil quadro,
Fa tre anzoleti, che in modo legiadro
Sono liron, laiito, e violin,
El Carpaccio ha volesto ancora elo
Mostrar el so valor a concorcntia,
E a fato veder che anca la so scientia
Sa far visi celesti col penelo.
Si che 1'ha situa con modo instruto
Tre del Ciel Paraninfi grati'osi,
Con istrumenti varij e curi'osi
Un flauto, un violin, 1'altro un lauto.
Che par apunto de veder do Cori
De figure celesti a far concert! ;
E i uni, e i altri si legiadri, e esperti,
Che rapisse a chi i vedc i sensi e i cuori.
SI che inzcgnoso garizava, e scaltro
Questo, e quel de virtu, de cortesia
In quel arte, che muta e poesia,
Ma che se fa sentir senza dir altro." '
1 La Carta del Navegar pittoresco, ecc., p. 34. Venezia, 1660.
"... At San Giobbe . . . such an altarpiece
Is by Zambellin's side who is much renowned
Nor wot I in truth to whom to give the palm.
There we may see in act of reverence
Saint Simeon, the Holy Pontiff,
To whom the Madonna presents the Child :
An altarpiece in deed wrought with great power.
The sight of those saintly women
Who escort the great Mother of the Lord,
They are two figures of highest merit;
They are all ensamples, all religious.
They have their heads all adorned and beauteous,
Of cloths the drapery ample and sumptuous,
Every garment noble and suitable,
Well suited to the Virgin and her maidens.
Those Priests with what devotion
They sustain the golden mantle of the aged Saint,
It doth shew a religious pageant,
And all should study it with attention.
In fact every movement and attitude,
Be it the effect of skill or teaching,
It can certainly be called a thing divine,
A model from heaven, to nature an example.
But, because in Zambelin's altarpiece
For the composition of that noble picture
He made three small angels in winsome mood
Playing lyre, lute, and violin,
208 OTHER WORKS OF VITTORE CARPACCIO
Anton Maria Zanetti errs in believing that beside the other two
paintings by Giambellino and Basaiti, Carpaccio's renowned com-
petitors, our artist's value appears diminished l ; although Lanzi
agrees that Basaiti was a more successful rival of Giovanni Bellini
than Carpaccio. 2 But if there is no occasion now to demonstrate
Carpaccio's superiority over Basaiti, a vigorous master but devoid
of originality, who underwent Vivarini's influence, softened later
by that of Giambellino, neither does it seem that Bellini has
here outstripped his rival. Modern criticism has done justice
to our Vittore's work, and Cavalcaselle lays down as an axiom
that, if Bellini surpasses him in magnificence of colour, Carpaccio,
alike in purity and restraint of design and in grandeur of
conception, excels in this composition, which Milanesi in his
annotations to Vasari considers the painter's masterpiece. 3
'You have no similar leave, however, . . ." exclaims Mr.
Ruskin, " to find fault with anything here \ You may measure
"yourself, outside and in, your religion, your taste, your knowledge
" of art, your knowledge of men and things, by the quantity of
"admiration which honestly, after due time given, you can feel for
" this picture.
'You are not required to think the Madonna pretty, or to
" receive the same religious delight from the conception of the scene,
" which you would rightly receive from Angelico, Filippo Lippi, or
' Perugino. This is essentially Venetian, prosaic, matter-of-fact,
" retaining its supreme common sense throughout all enthusiasm.
' Nor are you required to think this a first-rate work in Venetian
Carpaccio wished also thus
To show his skill in competition
And has made us see also his capability
Of producing celestial visions with his brush.
So he has placed in a well-poised manner
Three beauteous heavenly messengers
With curious and varied instruments
A flute, a violin, and the third a lute,
So that we seem in fact to see two choirs
Of celestial beings making music,
And both so gladsome and so masterly
That they carry away the spectator's heart and senses.
Thus also ingeniously he rivals and craftily,
This man the other two with worth and courtesy
In that art which though silent is poetry,
But which makes itself felt whilst uttering no sound.
"inM'rT h n f n i u , s . and the , industry of Carpaccio can be seen united in this work, which is
" M ~ H - e haS Si " gular Charm and beaut y in his
"Vasari olerv - >
"hv r L R n b ?i he u d e u n0t attam to the taste and force of the neighbouring pain ing
by Gian Bell.no, or the other by Basaiti." Zanetti, Pitt. Yen. cit. p. 78
Lanzi, St. Pitt., vol. vi., p. 48. Venezia, Milesi, 1838
JOHN ADDINGTON SYMONDS 209
" colour. This is the best picture in the Academy precisely because
" it is not the best piece of colour there ; because the great master has
"subdued his own main passion, and restrained his colour-faculty,
" though the best in Venice, that you might not say the moment
"you came before the picture as you do of the Paris Bordone (The
" Fisherman s Ring), ' IV hat a piece of colour ! '
"To Paris, the Duke, the Senate, and the Miracle are all merely
" vehicles for flashes of scarlet and gold on marble and silk, but
" Carpaccio, in this picture of The Presentation, does not want you
"to think of his colour but of your Christ
" Give time to it," he concludes, " and if you don't delight in it, the
"essential faculty of enjoying good art is wanting in you. . . ." x
John Addington Symonds standing before Carpaccio's angels
compares the accuracy in the drawing and the loveliness of their
shapes with Fra Angelico's presentments so full of ascetic rapture.
But Mr. Symonds shrewdly notes how Carpaccio was the true
interpreter of the devotional spirit of the Venetians, where common
sense overruled the emotional impulses of the heart. So likewise
in his devotional scenes and in the Life-Stories of the Saints, he
defines the typical character and manhood of his race and the
characteristic and distinct impress of his native land. In asserting
this we should not be understood to imply that this consummate
artist, even in those sacred incidents depicted during the course of
the most brilliant and happiest period of his artistic career, was not
inspired by religious sentiment ; nor that he was in any way the
forerunner of those artistic free-lances who, turning ever more and
more to the realism of classic antiquity rather than to Christian
sentiment, were Pagan even in their representations of Christ and
the Madonna, of angels and saints. Carpaccio indeed unites a
careful observation of nature with a singularly attractive form
of religious sentiment, and throughout the very triumphs of
Renaissance pageantry reproduced in his work there rings as it were
a far-distant echo of the Middle Ages. Worldly pomp he regards
from the threshold of the Church ; and fervent desire and prayer,
mystical love and emotional thrill, the ethereal fancies of new-
born antiquity together with the Evangelic Vision, Pagan imagery
and Christian sentiment, all mingle in him with ineffable harmony
of expression. From this union of Truth and Idealism he draws
that delicacy of form which we seek for in vain among the Titans of
Venetian Art. Better than the suave equanimity of the female
ideal of sixteenth-century artists, his women attract by their candid
1 Ruskin, John, Guide to the Principal Pictures in the Academy of Fine Arts at Venice,
pp. 16-17. Complete edition, revised and corrected. George Allen, London, 1891.
Italian Translation by Signora Pezze-Pascolato in the volume, Venezia, pp. 238, 239.
Firenze, Barbera, 1901.
27
210 OTHER WORKS OF VITTORE CARPACCIO
simplicity, the radiance of their glances and the rosy transparency
of their countenances, which leave upon the soul as it were an
impression of fair and unsatisfied visions. Carpaccio is ingenuous
and true to nature ; spontaneous and powerful ; and if we study
him patiently in his work no exaggeration will be found in the
opinion of the critic who perceives in him at once Raphael's purity
and seductive charm combined with that splendour of Venetian
colouring such as no other School has ever equalled. 1
Carpaccio stood already upon the threshold of old age when he
executed this painting, which forms the high-water-mark of his genius.
Within this period also we believe should be placed another fine
painting, bearing his name, but no date, and which as an eminently
secular subject is in strong contrast with the customary reserve and
restraint of the ingenuous and attractive narrator of Saintly legend.
The celebrated painting of The Two Courtezans in the Museo
Civico at Venice is what Mr. Ruskin considers for " perfection of
"execution and essentially artistic power of design the best picture
"in the world," asserting that he knows "no other which unites
"every nameable quality of painter's art in so intense a degree
" breadth with minuteness, brilliancy with quietness, decision with
"tenderness, colour with light and shade; all that is faithfullest
"in Holland, fancifullest in Venice, severest in Florence, naturalest
" in England. Whatever De Hooghe could do in shade, Van Eyck
" in detail Giorgione in mass Titian in colour Bewick and
" Landseer in animal life, is here at once : and I know no other
"picture in the world which can be compared with it." 2
In a balcony bordered by a marble balustrade are seated two
young women, in whom Mr. Ruskin would see a pair of honourable
gentlewomen, but whose yielding forms and weary sensuality of
look openly proclaim their real character. These two living and
speaking likenesses, seen against a background of diffused light,
are gaily and handsomely attired. One of them displays around
her neck a row of pearls, the other two strings of gold beads.
Both wear short bodices embroidered with gold and pearls. The
detached sleeves, of heavier material, are slashed and laced along
their entire length to show the puffed linen of an under-garment.
The hair^ is dressed in a high coil (coconelo), and a tightly curled
fringe (bisse] of hair covers the forehead and part of the cheeks.
One of these damsels seated in a corner of the balcony holds a
handkerchief in her right hand, and with head erect fixes upon space
a pensive glance: perhaps of love, remembrance, or expectancy.
The other beside her bends over a small white dog, a kind of terrier,
with a collar of hawk-bells, con sonagi da sperovier, as they were
1 Gautier, Italia, p. 315, Paris, 1855.
2 Ruskin, St. Mark's Rest, The Shrine of the Slaves, cit. p. 117
THE Two COURTESANS.
By Vittore Carpaccio. In the Musco Civico, Venice.
QJ . A^
&.
THE TWO COURTEZANS 211
called at that time, whilst in her right hand she holds one end of
a rod which a large hound, of whom we see only the head and two
front paws, seizes in its teeth. A letter, on which is written Opus
Victoris Carpatio veneti, lies at the dog's feet. A small boy stepping
through the arches of the balustrade is attempting to caress a peacock,
and around stand vases of flowers and fruit, amid which are perched
two doves, whilst a parrot, an exotic bird, brought as a rarity by
the merchant-galleys returning from Alexandria and Cairo, and then
much in fashion, -struts upon the floor. Among the miscellaneous
objects lying about are a majolica flower-vase with the escutcheon of
the citizen family of Torella, and a pair of those tall clogs, or pattens,
which caused a Milanese traveller in the fifteenth century, to remark
that " the Venetian women seem to me for the most part small,
because if they were not so they would not use slippers ... so
high that those who wear them appear to be giants " (le dotuie
veneziane a Die pareno per la major parte piccole,
perche qnando non fusseno cosl, non uscrcbbcro
pianelle . . . tanto alte che portandole alcune
pareno giganti}. 1
This brilliantly executed panel attracts us most
by the grace of the composition and its splendid
colour. A cleverly reasoned intention is evident,
not a single detail has been neglected, and its gay
and lively tints in no way disturb the harmony of
the painter's conception.
The altar-painting for the church of S. Vitale was executed in
the year 1514. Francesco Sansovino was ignorant it seems of the
artist's name, nor is it mentioned in Martinioni's Aggiunte to the
Venetia made in 1663, where, speaking of the church of S. Vitale,
no more is said than that: " Here we see by a fine master the//
over the High Altar of 5. Vitale on horse-back, foreshortened with
great skill." 2 But in Le Ricche Minere, published for the first
time in 1664, Boschini observes that: "The panel of the high ^altar
.... is by the hand of Vittore Carpaccio, a fine work of 1514."
In the centre of the picture the sainted Roman Consul, Vitale,
seated on a white horse grasps in his hand a battle-axe, which he
supports on his hip. By his side, to the right and left, stand 56".
James, John, George and a female Saint, probably his wife, Valeria.
Three great arches in purest Renaissance style form the background,
and disclose in distant perspective a smiling landscape, painted
with masterly execution. Upon the terrace over the arch are 55.
Andrew and Peter accompanied by 55. Gervasio and Protasio, the
1 Casola, Viaggio a Gerusalemme (written by the author of Bibl. Trivulzio), p. 14. Milan,
1865.
2 Venetia cittb nobilissima et singo/are, tit., p. 1 24.
212 OTHER WORKS OF VITTORE CARPACCIO
martyred sons of S. Vitale ; and in the centre, seated on the cornice
outside the balcony, a small angel is playing a lute. High above in
the clouds appear The Virgin and Child surrounded by cherubim.
The two Saints, Vitale and George, are designed and painted with
singular force ; nor are the other figures of inferior merit for restrained
and sober draughtsmanship, harmonious colour and graceful natural
drapery. We know not who commissioned this work, since the
Archives were dispersed, when the church was entirely rebuilt by
the architect Andrea Tirali at the end of the seventeenth century.
It is worthy of observation how several of the paintings
which were completed during Carpaccio's later years instead of
gaining in freedom and originality of execution appear so over-
burdened with detail, so frigid in treatment and so far removed
from his spontaneous style as to justify the inference of outside
collaboration. Certain authentic works, wherein nothing can wound
the most delicate perception, no garish colour nor commonplace
line, bear the date of 1491. These are followed twenty-four years
later by the altarpiece, The Meeting of SS. Joachim and Anna,
with SS. Louis and Ursula. Here the earlier wealth of colouring,
is alas ! no more, the draughtsman's hand has lost its cunning, the
tone is heavy and opaque, an almost metallic rigidity is displayed
in outline and drapery alike, and the anatomy of the figures exhibits
a curious strained timidity. This painting, now in the Venice
Academy, was painted for the church of S. Francesco at Treviso
(now closed) and is signed : Victor Carpathio Venetus op. MDXV.
Similar mannerisms mark the composition of the painting
The Ten Thousand Martyrs on Mount Ararat in Armenia, signed
V. Carpathius MDXV. No more arduous task was ever set
before a well-ordered fancy such as Carpaccio's ; whose imagination
had a free rein in festivals and pageants, and could ill conceive
dramatic action or the portrayal of violent passions, sorrow and
suffering. The accustomed luminous serenity of conception is
here in fact disturbed by complex and painful images, by tumultuous
and harrowing incident, resulting in an atmosphere of forced and
confused unrest in the artist's style.
A huge mountainous mass forming an arch o'ertops the scene,
which discloses in the background the graceful lines of rolling hill
and valley and of verdant slopes instinct with the poetry of tranquil
and rural peace. But the up-lands are alive with armed bands
driving helpless masses before them, and a feeling of horror assails
us as we comprehend the events taking place in the foreground.
Lund clouds darken the sky, lightning flashes from the firmament,
and the trees bend and break under the fury of the disordered
elements. The boughs of the tall trees support the martyrs, and
executioners are crucifying others who lie upon the ground before
THE MEETING OK SS. JOACHIM AND ANNA.
225
THE TEN THOUSAND MARTYRS ON MOUNT ARARAT.
By Vittore Carpaccio. In the Academy, Venice.
"THE TEN THOUSAND MARTYRS" 213
a group of men on horseback and on foot, some clad as Roman
soldiers, others robed in Oriental attire ; whilst on the summit
of the mountain minute figures representing the souls of the
martyrs are being welcomed by angels descending from Celestial
Spheres. For the upper portion of this composition there is in
the Heseltine Collection in London a sketch in red chalk (alia
sanguignd) faintly drawn with scarcely visible strokes. This sketch
is moreover of further interest as being one of the earliest Venetian
examples of the use of that material.
Vasari remarks that in this picture every detail is carried out
with extreme industry and effort ; and of effort indeed there is no
lack, despite the perfect comprehension of the nude and the
boldness of some of the foreshortening, which reveal in Carpaccio
a true craftsman's power, so that the criticism of Hippolyte Taine
would seem over-rash, to whom all these martyrs seem grotesques
comme les figures d"un vieux mystere. 1 The painting (now pre-
served in the Venice Academy) was commissioned by Cardinal
Ettore Ottoboni to commemorate a vow made in time of pestilence,
and it was set up over the Ottoboni family altar in the church
of S. Antonio di Castello ; 2 where likewise hung another smaller
composition by Carpaccio (also now in the Academy) of A Procession
of Penitents, which depicts the interior of the ancient church,
pulled down in 1807 to make way for the Public Gardens. We
observe here an example of one of these long wooden galleries
(parchi) erected over the High Altar for the choristers, which were
destroyed in the seventeenth century : with but a single exception
and that in stone, in the church of S. Michele in Isola. We can
still distinguish the altars and pictures, and the walls gracefully
adorned with frescoes, subsequently obliterated with whitewash,
especially when in time of plague such whitening was viewed as
a necessary hygienic precaution. Such vandalism for instance
occurred in the churches of the Frari and of S. Stefano, where on
removing the plaster from the walls fresco-decorations and figures
of fine fifteenth-century workmanship were brought to light. In
Carpaccio's church of S. Antonio beside the first altar in the
aisle, over which is placed a painting of Christ in the Garden,
hangs one of those Byzantine polyptychs consisting of a large
central composition surrounded by other sacred scenes painted
upon small panels. The altarpiece stands a little way from the
1 Taine, Voyage en Italie, ii. 328. Paris, 1881.
2 "The altar of these 10,000 Martyrs, a most handsome structure with columns, marbles
and much gilding, enshrines the very delicate and excellent painting, representing Their
Martyrdom on Mount Ararat in Armenia, executed by Vittorio Carpaccio, the most able artist
of his time, and much esteemed by experts, and was dedicated by Ettore of the Ottoboni
family, then Prior of this church to the aforesaid , Martyrs, and finally endowed with a piece
of the Wood of the True Cross and other relics of the Martyrs." Zucchini, Nuova Cron. Yen.
ossia descr. di tutte le pubbl. architteiture, scult. pitt. ecc. Venezia, MDCCLXXXV, p. 140.
214 OTHER WORKS OF VITTORE CARPACCIO
wall, and behind it is spread a woollen curtain such as was used
at that time to protect paintings from the damp of the walls.
Proceeding further we notice another smaller altarpiece, and finally
a desk covered with a cloth, upon which lies the image of a Saint
for the devout to kiss. From the beams and the arches of the
aisle, and under the choir-loft hang candelabra and lamps of
Oriental design, and sundry models of ships, probably the ex-voti
of sailor-worshippers.
To the same period to which the two paintings of 55. Joachim
and Anna and The Ten Thousand Martyrs belong we would
assign a Crucifixion, of which but a fragment remains, preserved in
the Uffizi Gallery. From amid a group of men, gaily attired in
Venetian fifteenth-century fashion and armed with halberds, com-
posed simply and with correct and even somewhat naive restraint
in line and movement, there stands out the figure of a Jewish Rabbi,
robed in a sumptuous garment of flowered brocade and wearing a
kind of white mitre, who looks down upon a youth sitting at his
feet with head uplifted and joined hands, clasping his left leg
doubled up under him. Carpaccio's studies for this and several of
the other figures may be recognized in a water-colour drawing also
in the Heseltine Collection in London.
We know not, on the other hand, to what period of the painter's
life to assign a painting in the possession of Madame Andre" in
Paris, nor can we readily understand its significance : a condition
of things most unusual with Carpaccio, whose compositions are
generally so clear and lucid in their simplicity. A cavalcade of
youthful damsels clad in Venetian attire and wearing odd-shaped
helmets advance through a wooded glade towards a pavilion or
tribune, hung with carpets and tapestries, wherein an elderly man
with a white beard and three gaily attired youths appear to be
sitting in judgment. Sideways before the tribune we observe the
Clerk of the Court, seated at a desk writing. Despite the
restrained and serene sense of form prevailing in this composition
we yet fail to discern throughout all Carpaccio's work anything
remotely resembling so fantastic a scene as this mysterious tribunal,
or figures so fanciful as these heroines of fable. We should be
tempted to doubt the authorship of this painting had not authoritative
critics like Gustavo Frizzoni recognized therein the master's hand.
The subject also in his opinion should not be obscure, and we should
seek the explanation in The Legend of S. Ursula and her Companions.
This curious composition does not, however, seem to recall to us
any incident from the Legend in question. If this painting really
is by Carpaccio we believe that we possess some clue with regard
to the vicissitudes that it passed through before crossing the Alps.
Earlier in this chapter we related that in the Albarelli Collection
227
FRAGMENT OF " A CRUCIFIXION."
By Vittore Carpaccio. In the Uffizi.
"THE LION OF ST. MARK"
215
in Verona (now dispersed) there existed two paintings attributed to
Carpaccio. The critic who describes this Picture Gallery 1 sees in
these paintings the brushwork of Titian's first manner (il pennello
delta prinia tizianesca maniera [?]), adding, however, in flat
contradiction of his first impression that the two landscapes, attributed
to Carpaccio and carefully executed, were "with figures representing
an unknown story, which perhaps happened in I stria, as would
seem from the expression of these same figures." The writer,
unable to fathom the subject, suggests that the scene may
have been enacted in distant Istria, herein following the common
tradition which favoured that view of Carpaccio's origin. It may
well be that the painting now in the possession of Madame Andre" is
one of the two representing an unknown story, which were once in
the Albarelli Gallery.
About this period, that is to say after 1515, to which year
belong certain works acknowledged by the most reliable authori-
ties, we note a perceptible weakening in Carpaccio's powers. Several
paintings strike us by their stridency in tone and excessive rigidity
in design, whilst others again are a direct contrast in feebleness of
draughtsmanship and opacity of colour, a prevalence of ugly yellow
tints, so as to lead us to suspect the collaboration of his sons or
pupils. But even in this latest phase of his artistic activity, Carpaccio
now and again recovers his pristine strength. It was in 1516 that
the powerfully conceived and painted Lion of S. Mark, now in the
Ducal Palace, was executed for the Magistrate dei Camarlenghi di
Comune. To the left of the spectator amid a bank of flowers we
discern the Artist's signature :
M
A. D".
D XVI '
The traditional winged lion fills the canvas and is sharply
defined against a background which embraces the gleaming basin of
S. Mark, the Campanile, the Ducal Palace and a fleet of galleys in
full sail. Five patrician coats of arms
DANDOLO OR
GRITTI
MANOLESSO
BRAGADIN
FOSCARINI
are set along the lower edge of the canvas.
1 Succ. descr. della Race. Albarelli, cit. Cf. p. 196. Why might not the picture represent A
Court of Love ? (Trans.).
2 i6 OTHER WORKS OF VITTORE CARPACCIO
Istria boasts of two authentic paintings by Carpaccio. They
do not, however, reveal the force of his colouring nor the delicacy
of his draughtsmanship. The first hangs under the last arch of
the right aisle in the Cathedral at Capodistria. In a wide
vestibule, with a ceiling coffered and adorned with gilded bosses,
The Virgin with her nude Babe is seated upon a high throne,
screened above by a brocaded curtain and raised upon steps
covered with a handsome Turkey carpet. Here are assembled,
three to the right and three to the left, six Saints, among whom
we easily recognize 55. Roch, Sebastian, Jerome and George.
An angel with a lute and two pntti musicians are seated at the
foot of the throne. The painter signed his name and the date on
a label thus : Victor Carpathins Venetns pinxit MDXVI, and
the bold restorer, who was, however, not altogether an ignorant
dauber, has set his own beside it : Cosroe Dnsi Venetns restauravit
MDCCCXXXIX.\
The other painting, with the inscription at the foot: Victor Carp.
Venet. MDXVIII. is in the church of S. Francesco at Pirano, over an
altar framed by two columns supporting a wide arch, on which are
carved graceful arabesques. The Virgin and Child are enthroned,
attended by 55. Francis, Peter, Anthony, Louis of France and Clare.
Upon the steps of the throne two angels are playing, one a lute
and the other a violin : and in the background to the right and left
spreads a view of Pirano, with the little church of S. Niccolo, the
Palazzo del Consiglio, the Torre del Comune and the town-wall
1 Madonizza, in his Guida del Viaggiatore in Istria (published in the Almanacco Istr.
Capodistria, 1864), writes: '' Some years back the picture was exposed to the blasts of the
wind and the drizzle of the rain, because being placed near one of the side-doors it was
subjected to most serious injury, especially the lower portion. It was handed over to the painter
Dusi to restore, and it is easy to trace the irreverent dauber, especially in the drapery of
one of the angels and in other impudent retouchings." Madonizza, continuing his description
of this church at Capodistria, adds: "Some think that a pair of small canvases representing
Two Prophets are by Carpaccio, but I do not share that opinion, and believe that I am
not mistaken, not finding in them either the correctness of drawing, nor the brilliance of
colour, nor the poetic thought, which are the supreme gifts of our painter. In any case they
are two pictures of merit and without doubt by a clever artist." The Bishop of Capodistria,
Paolo Naldini (Corografia eccl. della citta e diocesi di Giustinopoli, detto volgarm. Capodistria.
Venezia, 1700, p. 389) writes that in the church of S. Antonio in the hamlet of S. Antonio
near Capodistria was an altarpiece of the titular saint, an excellent picture by Carpaccio. In a
notice by Gedeone Pusterla, published in the periodical of archaeology and local history : L' Istria
(No. 51, 52. 10 agosto, 1846) we read : "Not only in the city but also in the village churches
may be seen classic paintings, and among them we must not pass over in silence the hamlet
of S. Antonio, in which church is preserved a precious canvas by Carpaccio, representing the
image of the Saint himself." De Franceschi (L' Istria. Note Star. Parenzo, 1879), referring to
this picture, writes: "We do not know whether it is still in existence." It was removed in
this last century by Bishop Raunicher and an altarpiece by Zorzi Ventura of Capodistria, bearing
the date 1600, was substituted for it. In Pusterla's notice, quoted above, we also read: "In
the church of S. Tomaso (at Capodistria) there was another painting by Carpaccio (the subject
f which he does not state). But eighty years since that church, through a spark borne by
the wind on to a window curtain, was reduced to a heap of stones, and from the fury of the
conflagration only one picture could be saved (which was not the one by Carpaccioy
230
ALTAR-PIECE IN THE CATHEDRAL OF CAPODISTRIA.
By Vittore Carpaccio.
231
ALTAR-PIECE IN THE CHURCH OF SAN FRANCESCO DI PIRANO.
By Vittore Carpaccio.
PAINTINGS AT CAPODISTRIA 217
crowned with Ghibelline battlements. 1 This landscape has
served as an argument in support of the contention that Carpaccio
was born, or at least had resided, in Istria, as though it would
not have been possible for him to copy his landscapes from
drawings then obtainable. If the town of Parenzo was faith-
fully portrayed in Breydenbach's work could not other such
drawings (now lost) have existed in Carpaccio's day, just as there
are still in existence many drawings of Istrian towns executed not
long after his death by Giorgio Braun, Camozio and Giovanni degli
Oddi? 2
In our opinion, supported also by that of authoritative critics, it
may be concluded that the great painter designed and sketched out
the two paintings at Capodistria and Pirano respectively, and even
attached his name to them, but that he left the task of completion
under his own guidance to his son Benedetto. To be convinced of
this it will be sufficient to consider not only the method of laying
on the colour and the brush-work, which are not Vittore's, but to
compare also the feeble figure of .S. George in the Pirano composition
with the fine virile figure of the same Saint in the picture at
S. Vitale in Venice.
Near the main entrance of the Cathedral at' Capodistria hang
two canvases attributed to Vittore (with the spurious date of 1523),
representing The Presentation in the Temple and The Massacre
of the Innocents respectively. If indeed they are by him they
exhibit his least satisfactory work, although both in drawing
and technique they display certain of his characteristic mannerisms.
With greater reason Cavalcaselle would assign them to Benedetto
Carpaccio. 3
The Virgin with SS. Nicholas of Bari and fohn the Baptist in
the church of S. Niccolo at the entrance to the harbour of Capodistria
is certainly not by Vittore, for even if the style be akin to his the
painting reveals none of his delicacy and force of treatment. We
would attribute it either to his son Benedetto, or to some pupil
or imitator. 4 And similarly also another painting in the Municipal
Buildings representing The Entry of a Podesta into Capodistria,
which some would attribute to Vittore.
By Carpaccio in later life is a panel in five divisions in the parish
church of Pozzale in Cadore. The central division which rises the
1 Caprin, Z' Istria ttobilissima, p. 128. Trieste, 1905.
2 Id. ibid. p. in. Cf. Fr. Hagenbergii et Georgii Braun, Theatmm Urbium, Colonise, 1572.
Camozio, Isole, porti. fortezze ecc., Venezia, 1571-1574. Other views of the cities and country
of Istria are the unpublished sketches executed by Giovanni degli Oddi of Padua in 1584, preserved
in the Archiepiscopal Library at Udine.
3 Cavalcaselle and Crowe, A History of Painting in North Italy, vol. i, chap. ix.
4 Frizzoni, Un' escursione artistica a Capo d" Istria (in Arte e Storia., Firenze, 22 Luglio,
1883).
28
218 OTHER WORKS OF VITTORE CARPACCIO
entire height of the altarpiece contains The Madonna and Child \
the two upper divisions at the side the busts of 5. Rock and
S. Sebastian; and below are displayed full-length figures ofS. Thomas
the Apostle and 5. Denis. At the foot of the Virgin's throne a small
angel is seated holding a flower and a label, and upon the steps is
inscribed: Victor Carpatius Venetus Pinxit anno MDXVIIL The
drawing is both strained and awkward, but nevertheless the painting,
much injured though it is by time, yet reflects the spirit of Carpaccio s
delicate art.
We would likewise ascribe to Carpaccio's last years on account
of the mystical atmosphere pervading his later work a painting
representing The Burial of Christ, acquired recently by Dr. Wilhelm
Bode for the Kaiser Friedrich Museum in Berlin. A fearsome scene
of horror lies before our eyes. Almost the entire foreground of the
picture is occupied by a plank, laid upon four carved wooden feet at
the ends and a massive marble pedestal in the centre. Upon this
board rests the rigid Body of the Dead Saviour. The Corpse is
modelled with consummate care, and the Head looks most impressive
in the solemn repose of death. Beneath the bier we observe scattered
skulls, bones and limbs, and animal remains. Beside a tree in the
middle distance behind the Corpse a half-clad figure with a long
beard and curled hair sits watching the form of his Dead Master.
Beyond the tree Mary swoons in the arms of a female companion
whose head is swathed in turban-like folds of linen, whilst S. John
turning towards them stands gazing sadly at the prostrate women.
In the landscape to the left, capped by dark masses of cloud, rises the
dread Mount of Calvary with its three crosses. Beneath its slope,
which shelves away in rocks and clefts, yawns the square entrance
of the cavern for the great marble tomb, the sepulchral slab of which
Nicodemus and another figure clad in Oriental garb are striving to
raise : whilst Joseph of Arimathea bending over a metal basin
prepares spices for the embalmment. The steep cliff opens out into
a wide aperture, through which we descry a winding path ; and
along it a number of small figures on foot and on horseback
are climbing up the crest of Calvary. On the summit of the
wooded cliff stands a shepherd's hut, and lower down are two
shepherds, one of whom is seated whilst the other leaning
against a tree plays on a pipe. On the slopes are the tombs torn
open by the earthquake which announced the Death of Christ.
To the right extends a lake and a tranquil mountain scene
traversed by another path, with figures of Orientals advancing,
along which hurries The Magdalen bearing a vase of ointment
in her hand.
This picture was originally in the Canonici Gallery at Ferrara,
and bore the spurious signature, ANDREAS MANTINEA F.,
THE BURIAL OF CHRIST 219
and to Mantegna therefore it was attributed both in the Catalogue, 1
and also by connoisseurs. Cavalcaselle recognized in the painting
the School of Carpaccio, although in its prevailing reddish tint it
differs from the master's usual work. That critic adds that if the
painting be not by Carpaccio himself it is doubtless by Michele da
Verona. 2 But although the fiery tone of this painting may not be
in accordance with the delicate colour-scale of so much of Carpaccio's
work, yet a careful examination can leave us in no doubt respecting
the authorship ; not only from the originality of the conception, the
accurate and even over-minute workmanship, and the method of
draping folds, but also through the many characteristic points of
resemblance to other pictures by the same author. 3 The landscape
with the abrupt rocky eminence bears a striking analogy with that
of The Holy Family in the Gallery at Caen, and displays no slight
resemblance to the landscape background of The Madonna and
Saints in the Berlin Gallery. The figure of S. John seen sideways
recalls the self-same Saint in the Berlin painting of The Death of
the Virgin, and one of the dead bodies propped up against a
broken tomb-stone is absolutely identical with a corpse shown in
5". George and the Dragon in the Scuola degli Schiavoni.
Of two pictures executed in 1523 for the Patriarch of Venice
no record exists except in the document quoted by us, 4 and, until
a short time since, it was supposed that The Preaching to the People
from the Scuola di Stefano with the partially cancelled date 1520
(now in the Gallery of the Louvre), was Vittore's last painting.
But there exists yet another work by him bearing the same date,
known only to a few persons, which instead should be looked
upon as the latest painting by Carpaccio that has come down
to us.
Not far from the wharf whence the steamers start which ply
1 In the Race, di Cataloghi ed Invent, ined. of Campori (Modena, 1870), p. 117, the painting
is described thus :
" A Dead Christ, by Andrea Mantegna, placed on a bier in the midst of a landscape. Near
by is an old man seated on the ground leaning against a tree. S. John weeps and the
Madonna has swooned in the arms of a woman. There are also mountains, rocks, cemeteries,
and caves, above which are two shepherds, one seated and the other playing on a pipe. Two
old men are opening a tomb, whilst a third holds a basin. There are besides skulls of men,
dogs, cats, and birds with figures rising from the grave. It has a gilded frame : three
hundred scudi."
( Un Christo morto di A. Mantegna posto nel cadiletto in mezo a una campagna, l\ vicino gl' e
un vecchio, die siede in terra appoggiato a un arbore, S. Giovanni piange, e la Madonna e tramortita
in bractio a una donna, gli sono anco monti, sassi, cimiteri e grote, sopra le quali vi sono duoi
Pastori, uno ehe siede, e f altro sona un pifaro, duoi vecchi aprono un sepolcro, e il terzo piglic.
un bacile ; gli sono poi anco teste di morto, come <f huomini, cani, gatti et uccelli, con figure che
rissorgono, ha la cornice dorata scudi trecento?)
8 History of Painting in North Italy, cit., vol. i., p. 213.
3 Bode, Carpaccio's Bestattung Christi itn Kaiser Friedrich- Museum (Jahrbuch der K. Preuss.
Kunstsammlungen, p. 145. Berlin, 1905.)
4 Cf. pp. 51, 139, and 241.
220 OTHER WORKS OF VITTORE CARPACCIO
between Venice and the ancient fishing-town of Chioggia, on a small
island, stand the church and convent of S. Domenico. Upon a
pilaster in the church hangs a picture, which is mentioned for the
first time in 1819 in the Inventory at the Archivio di Stato of
Works of Art then existing. Perhaps this picture, which however
does not display those signs of haste perceptible in the painter's
latest manner, was painted for the church, and has thus fortunately
remained forgotten and therefore safe from restoration. The
canvas (2 m. x i m.) bears at the foot, on a piece of folded
paper, the following words in clearly printed characters : VICTOR
CARPATHIUS PINXIT MDXX. In the midst of a flowery
meadow stands 5. Paul, garbed in a green robe with yellow-lined
sleeves and a red mantle over his shoulders. In his right hand he
holds a drawn sword and in the left an open book, in which may
clearly be read the words : " Vivo ego ; iam non ego, mint in me
" Xstus" "Stigmata Icsu Christi in corpore meo porto" 1 The
countenance of the Apostle, stamped with this conception of mystic
austerity, is wrapt in ecstatic contemplation of a crucifix fashioned
like a dagger, which transfixes his heart, whence issue drops of
blood. This representation so unusual in Italian Art shows how the
mind of the aged painter had become absorbed in intense religious
sentiment.
The day is now no more when our artist drew his inspiration
from splendid pageantry and scenes enlivened by beauteous dames
and noble cavaliers. In his latest work we seem to perceive the soul
of the painter who now at life's close seeks rather to render with
line and colour sacred and austere images, sadly laying aside that
joyous Art so beloved by him in his youth, and to which new
masters were to add fresh life and greater beauties. Carpaccio
doubtless desired no innovations, nor could he have understood
them. Art is but a succession of continuous changes, and so soon
as one form has reached its zenith another fresh development is
evolved in its place. Certain painters, such as Giovanni Bellini,
comprehend and welcome these novelties, but others, like Carpaccio,
neither see, nor wish to see, that a New Dispensation is at hand, and
that in their own day they are looked upon as laggards, whereas
they should more justly be reckoned constant, convinced and
exclusive in their artistic conscience.
Carpaccio bequeathed his name, but not his genius, to his two
sons, Pietro and Benedetto, concerning whose lives we have already
given those few facts that we have been able to acquire. Nor is
there much more to be said regarding their work.
Pietro Carpaccio, probably the elder of his sons, has left
but one painting that can with any certainty be attributed to him.
1 Epistle to the Galatians, ii. 20, vi. 17.
233 s - I'AUI..
By Vittore Carpaccio. In the Church of San Domcnico, Chioggia.
234
VIRGIN- Axn CHILD AND SAINTS.
By Vittore Carpaccio. In tin; Museum, Berlin.
VIRGIN AND CHIID, S. CATHERINE, AND THE MAGDALEN.
By Giovanni Bellini. In the Academy, Venice.
\ IkOIN AM) CHILD, S. I.LXY AND S. CiF.OKC.E.
By Benedetto Carpaccio. In the Ufficio Saline di Pirano.
237
THE VIKC.IX AND CHILD AND SAINTS.
By Benedetto Carpacdo. In the Gallery, Carlsruhe.
VIRGIN- AND CHILD.
By Benedetto Carpaccio (wrongly attributed to Catena).
In the Chapel of San Giorgio degli Schiavoni, Venice.
PIETRO AND BENEDETTO CARPACCIO 221
Certain authorities would assign to his brush The Madonna and
Child with Saints in the Berlin Gallery, attributed to his father
Vittore, perceiving therein, besides its rigid and dry mannerisms, an
imitation of Bellini, unusual in our artist himself. And indeed
the figures of the Madonna and of the female saint with her hands
crossed over her bosom, and more especially the arrangement of the
hands of all three figures, would seem to be inspired by The Virgin
with S. Catherine and the Magdalen by Giambellino in the Venice
Academy. But other Art-Connoisseurs, no less expert, continue to
believe the picture in Berlin to be in Vittore Carpaccio's last
manner, and under his name it is still registered in the Catalogue of
that Gallery.
The name of the other son, Benedetto, is overshadowed by his
father's fame. Betaking himself to Capodistria, where he fixed his
abode, Benedetto executed various works, which are for the most
part preserved in the towns of Dalmatia. In the Municipality at
Capodistria there are a Coronation of the Virgin with the inscription
Beneto Carpathio Veneto pingcva MDXXXVIL, and a Virgin
with SS. James and Bartholomew signed B. Carpathio pingeva
MDXXXVIII. Another very indifferent picture repainted many
times over and bearing the inscription Benedcto Carpathio pingcva
MDXXXX. was formerly in the tower of the Port of Trieste and is
now in the Cathedral of S. Giusto. The painter portrayed here The
Virgin and Child with two angels to the right and two to the left
and beyond them on either side 6". Giusto with a model of a city,
symbolizing Trieste, in his hand, and 5. Sergio, the young warrior.
In the Cathedral at Capodistria another picture, signed Benctto
Carpathio pingeva MDXXXXI., represents The Name of Christ
adored by SS. Paul, John the Baptist, Francis and Bernardino of
Siena. The name Jesus, painted in yellow and surrounded by rays
of light, is written on high within a circle of cherub heads. There
is a painting in the Office of the Saline (saltworks) at Pirano, which
came from the church of S. Lucia in Val di Fasano, wherein are
represented The Virgin with SS. Lucy and George. It bears the
inscription : B. Carpathio pingeva MDXXXXI. Finally a Madonna
and Two Saints in the Gallery at Carlsruhe is clearly by Benedetto,
to whom also we would assign another Madonna over the altar of
S. Giorgio degli Schiavoni in Venice, wrongly attributed to
Vincenzo Catena. This latter presentment is in fact identical with
the figure of the Virgin in Benedetto's picture in the Office of the
Saline at Pirano; and the dancing angels at the feet of The Madonna
in the Oratorio degli Schiavoni exhibit too decided an analogy with
those in Vittore's Apotheosis of S. Ursula for us not to conclude
that Benedetto copied this detail from his father's composition.
There is no doubt therefore that the painting is by Benedetto
222 OTHER WORKS OF VITTORE CARPACCIO
Carpaccio, from whom it was doubtless ordered, after his father's
death, to be set up in the Oratory on the ground-floor of the
Scuola degli Schiavoni when the structural alterations therein had
been completed.
This artist, so inferior to his father in genius, is nerveless and
hesitating in draughtsmanship, albeit not wanting in a measure of
technical dexterity, and his colour if skilfully blended is neverthe-
less poor and opaque.
Neither is he original in his composition, since he seeks inspiration
with excessive filial zeal not in his father's works alone but also from
those of Giovanni Bellini. Notice for example in the painting
at Carlsruhe how closely the presentment of 5. Catherine
resembles the identical figure in the panel by Giambellino mentioned
above (now in the Venice Academy), to which we have drawn
attention as a parallel to the so-called Carpaccio of The Virgin
in the Berlin Gallery.
The scope of Benedetto's imagination must have indeed been
narrow. He frequently repeats the same figures almost exactly in
a variety of pictures ; as for instance The Virgin in the Offices of
the Saline at Pirano, and The Madonna at S. Giorgio degli Schiavoni :
both of these paintings being inspired by Giambellino's Virgin with
her Babe in an Attitude of Benediction, now in the Accademia
Carrara at Bergamo. In the Saline painting and in that in S.
Francesco at Pirano the two indifferent figures of S. George are
evidently copied from the Warrior-Saint painted by Vittore with far
greater force for the church of S. Vitale in Venice.
There is no doubt but that Vittore Carpaccio, in his latter
years especially, availed himself of the assistance of his son
Benedetto, whose washy colouring and flaccid design may be
recognized by those who look closely into some of his father's
latest work. But we may believe also that Vittore sometimes
claimed the co-operation of his son Pietro, and we may fairly
argue that to the hand of Pietro, or of some other unknown pupil
of the great master, is principally due the somewhat wooden
drawing and garish colour of the two paintings : The Ten Thousand
Martyrs and The Meeting of SS. Joachim and Anna. So much
in fact do these differ from the style of all Carpaccio's other works
that to Zanetti it appears a singular thing and scarcely worthy
of credence that the panel of The Ten Thousand Martyrs should
have been executed by a skilled painter of the Giorgionesque period,
indeed posterior to Giorgione's death and at the dawning of Titian's
[? n }?'~ and Y et n t disclose the faintest sign of the newer and more
lifelike methods. Neither can we understand how that other stilted
and ungainly composition, 55. Joachim and Anna, painted in the
year 1515, can be by the hand of the craftsman, who, so early as 1490,
, - '
<-> c
<
THE FAILURE OF CARPACCIO'S INFLUENCE 223
had created paintings which for poetry of composition, loveliness of
colour and ideal grace in the drawing of the figure, deserve to be
considered among the most truthful and original works of the
Venetian School.
Carpaccio with his homely naturalism, emotional restraint and
self-possessed narrative of fact heralds the ample compositions of
Titian and the sumptuous decorative effects of Paul Veronese.
Yet in the realm of Venetian Art Carpaccio uttered words that
no one has repeated after him ; not even Zorzi di Castelfranco with
all his genius so sublime, nor the great masters of the Golden
Age. The painter of 6". Ursula alone possessed the restraint and
concision of the strong, who need but few words to convey their
message.
Carpaccio's consummate art influenced but few of his contem-
poraries to any considerable extent, if we except Mansueti and
Diana ; and but a pale reflection of the parental genius reappears
in his son Benedetto. Neither did the great master bequeath his
fame to imitators or disciples, for when death's summons came
the hearts and minds of men had already turned away toward
other feelings and new ideals, and with him the light of his
genius went out.
NOTE (ADDED BY THE TRANSLATOR)
IN the Collection of Thomas Brocklebank, Esq. (The Roscote, Heswall, Cheshire) there is
a painting by Vittore Carpaccio representing Christ and Four of His Apostles. Its size is
70 cm. x 59 cm. and it is signed " Vettor Scarpazzo." It came from the Gallery of the Counts
Contini di Castelserpio, and Professor Pietro Paoletti in a lecture given at the Istituto di Belle
Arti in Venice on August yth, 1898 expressed the opinion that it was an even earlier work than
the dated (1490) painting in the S. Ursula Cycle. Cf. pp. 106 and 201.
APPENDIX TO CHAPTER I
DOCUMENTS
THE BASTIANI FAMILY
MARCO BASTIANI
') I 43S- 3i August! Testam Ego Petrus quondam Antonij pictor de confinio Sancti
Leonis Testis : Ser Marchus filius ser Jacob! Bastian pictor de confinio Sancti Leonis
(Archivio di Stato. S. N. Gruato Nicolo. B." 576. N. 454).
2 ) 1440. 22 Julij Domina Isabella relicta ser Petrj pictoris et nunc uxor ser Marc! de
Ventura a Volta de confinio sancti Leonis Testis: Ser Marcus Bastiano ser Jacobi de
confinio sancti Leonis (Ibid. Cancelleria Inferiore. Franciscus ab Helmis. B. 74 Prot.
XVIII a Carte 181 tergo).
3 ) 1447. 15 Junij Testam Ego Lucas quondam ser Georgij fenestrarius de confinio
sancti Leonis Testis: Ser Marcus Bastian filius ser Jacobi pictor de confinio sancti Leonis.
(Ibid. S. N. Gambaro Antonio. B. a 559).
4 ) 1454. 24 Julij Testam Quapropter Elena relicta Antonij a Cencibus tertij ordinis
sancti Francisci de confinio sancti Leonis. Testis : Marcus Bastiani condam ser Jacobi sancti
Leonis. (Ibid. S. N. Christiano Anastasio. B. a 464. prot. carte 72).
6 ) '457- 7 Maij Testam Ego Lucas quondam Georgij fenestrarius de confinio sancti
Leonis Testes : Ser Marcus, quondam ser Bastiani pictor, ser Ludovicus filius soprascripti
ser Marci. (Ibid. S. N. Natale Colonna. B. a 360. Protocollo).
6 ) 1457. 22 Junij Test Ego Marcus condam Jacobi Bastiano de confinio sancti Leonis
volo meos fidei commissaries ser Lazarum quondam Jacobi Bastiano fratrem meum
et meos filios ad presens magnos dimitto unam vestam de veluto cremexino Marie filie
mee Item volo et esse volo ac dimitto quod Marta de genere Tartarorum sclava mea servet
dictos filios meos sex annos et post dictum tempus remaneat libera francha et expedita ab omni
onere seu iugo servitutis Et si dicti filii mei non tenerent seu non observarent dictam Martam
honestam seu non facerent ei bonam compagniam tune mei comissarij teneantur dictam sclavam
ab eis removere et earn servire facere aliis filiis parvis qui facerent ei bonam companiam. Item
volo quod Andriana et Marina sorores mee habeant ducatos decem (Codicillo)
quod habeat filia mea ducatos mille quingenti quod Marta sit induta a capite (A tergo)
Testamentum magistri Marci quondam ser Jacobi Sebastiano pictoris sancti Leonis.
(Ibid. S. N. Marsilio Antonio. B. a 1211. N. 787).
7 ) 1463. 21 Augusti Ego Stephanus quondam Nicolai credentiarius de confinio sancti
Leonis Et mi Marcho Bastian pentor fui testimonio. (Ibid. S. N. Natale Colonna.
B. a 360. Prot. 119).
8 ) 1468. 20 Julij Test Ego Blancha Domicella filia quondam ser Silvestri Polle olim
patroni navis de confinio sancti Vitalis Testis : Ser Marcus Bastiani pictor sancti Leonis
(Ibid. S. N. Natale Colonna. B. a 360. Prot. 145).
9 ) 1468. 30 Julij Test Ego Brigida relicta quondam ser Silvestri Polo olim patroni
navis de confinio sancti Vitalis Testis: Ser Marcus Bastiani pictor sancti Leonis (Ibid.
S. N. Natale Colonna. B. a 360. N. 20).
225 29
226 APPENDIX TO CHAPTER I
10 ) 1470. 28 Maij Test Ego Catherina uxor ser Salvi de Cipro marinai Item
vo lo quod commissarij mei faciant sibi solvi a Marco pictore, de confinio sancti
L e cmis Testis : Anthonius de Vincentibus pictor sancti Apolinaris. (Ibid. S. N. Pietro
de Rubeis. B. 870).
11) j 472 . Magistro Marcho depentor de aver per horo so manifatura de farme uno
stendardo over penon ducati iog. (Ibid. Scuola Grande San Marco. Commissario
Zaccaria Giustinian).
12 ) 1473. 22 Aprilis Test... Ego Christophorus de Monte quondam ser Martini Zuponarius
de confinio sancti Leonis... Testis: Ser Marcus quondam Jacobi pictor et cultrarius de confinio
sancte Justine. (Ibid. S. N. Giuseppe de Moisis. B. 727).
13 ) 1474. 20 octobris Test Ego Diana filia ser Francisci Nigro de Venetiis et uxor ser
Victoris Testa varotari de confinio sancti Leonis Testes : Mi Marcho Bastian testes scripsi.
Mi Nicholo Squalamanzo testes scripsi. Ego Philippus Triolj Venetiarum notarius complevi
et roboravi. Et vero quod ita sunt testes ser Nicholaus Squalamanzo Intaljator lignaminis et
ser Marcus Bastiani pictor cortinarum ambo de dicto confinio sancti Leonis. (Ibid. S. N. Trioli
Filippo, Protocollo).
14 ) 1474. 20 Octobris Test Diana Negro. Testes: ser Nicolaus Squalamanzo incisor
lignaminis et ser Marcus a Cortinis ambo de confinio sancti Leonis. (Ibid. S. N. Trioli
Filippo, B. N. 974. Cedula).
15 ) 1480. 22 Maggio La scuola grande di San Marco fa contralto con 3 magistro Marcho
Bastian depentor a San Lio per eseguire il penelo del guardian de mattin* per il prezzo de
ducati 40 a 50. (Ibid. Scuola Grande San Marco, not. s. n. dall' anno 1428 al 1503).
16 ) 1489. 3 Gennaio Muore magistro Marcho Sabastian pentor fo sepelido a San
Zuanne Polio -- (Ibid. Scuola Grande della Carita Ordinario delle succession! delli
Guardiani e fratelli morti dall' anno 1450 al 1545).
SIMON BASTIANI
n ) 1457. 8 novembris Ego Franciscus pictor quondam Jacobi de confinio sancti Benedict!
cum meis heredibus et successoribus tibi Rine olim filie Johannis Blanche de Telexio uxori mee
dilecte Testis: Ser Simon filius ser Marci Bastiano pictor (Archivio di Stato Cancelleria
Inferiore. Atti Natale Colona. Busta 62. Protocollo pag. i").
18 ) 1459. 22 Maij Test Ego presbiter Julianus de Charintia cantor seu tenorista ecclesia
sancti Marci de confinio sanctorum Apostolorum Testes: Simon filius ser marci bastiano
pictor. (Ibid. S. N. Natale Colona. Busta 360. prot.).
19 ) 1459. 8 augusti - - Test Ego Antonius olim filius ser Ogolini de confinio sancti
Appolinaris Testis: Simon Bastiano filius ser Marci pictor. (Ibid. S. N Natale Colonna
B. a 360).
20 ) 1459. 4 septembris Ego Cristoforus quondam ser Antonij Enzo de confinio sancti
Leonis Testes: Magister Marcus Bastiano pictor, Simon suus filius. (Ibid. S. N. Natale
Colonna. B. a 360).
21 ) 1467. 4 Julij Test Ego Andriola filia ser Christofori de Lodi et uxor Antonij Johanis
veludarij de confinio sancti Silvestri Testes : Dominicus Saracho olim ser Jachobi de confinio
sancti Nicolai de mendigolis. Simon quondam Marci curtinaris de contracta sancti augustini
- (Ibid. S. N. Grasselli Antonio. B. a 508. N. 16).
22 ) 1460. 15 Decembris Test Ego lohana uxor ser Benedict! quondam Petri de Brixia
de confinio sancti Eustachij ; Testis : ser Simon filius ser Marci Bastianj pictor sancti Leonis.
(Ibid. S. N. Natale Colonna. B. a 360. prot. 130).
23 ) 1467- * Julij Test Ego Lena de Pattruich de tertio ordine minorum relicta Alegreti
magistri et olim filia ser demetrij Nariesco sclavoni de confinio sanctorum Apostolorum de Venetijs
Testes: Simon olim filius Marci curtinarius de contracta sancti Augustini. Dominicus
Saracho olim ser Jacobi curtinarius de confinio sancti Nicolai. (Ibid. S. N. Grasselli
Antonio. Busta 508. N. 89).
24 ) i4 6 7- i Decembris Test Quapropter ego Malgarita uxor Augusti Marangoni de
contrata sancti Silvestri Testes: Franciscus filius magistri Alberti pictoris de parochia sancti
Salvatoris. Simon quondam Marci pictor de confinio sancti Augustini. (Ibid. S. N. Grasselli
Antonio. B. a 508. N. 137).
26 ) 1471. 28 Apriljs Carta di sicurta fatta da Jacobus Johannis de Lusia, marinaio a
Uuara di Giovanni Brandolin marinaio Testis: Simon Marci pictor de confinio sancti
Augustini, (Ibid. S. N. Cancelleria inferiore. Atti Antonio de Grasselis c. 4. B. 99).
) J 473- 2 5 Maij Test Nobilis Domina Francischir.a relicta Nobilis viri D. 1 Danielis
Lauredano de confinio sancti Silvestri Testis: Ser Simon quondam ser Marci pictor de
confinio Sancti Silvestri. (Ibid. S. N. Grassolario Bartolomeo. B. 481. N. 378)
APPENDIX TO CHAPTER I 227
27 ) 1474 ( 6 ). 27 Januarij Test Elena Lauredano. Testis : Simon de Marcho depentor.
(Ibid. S. N. Cortesi Policreto B. a 887. N. 18).
ALVISE BASTIANI
28 ) I 4S7- 7 Maij Testes : Ser Marcus quondam ser Bastiani pictor, ser Ludovicus filius
supradicti ser Marci.
29 ) 1459. 30 Junij Testes ser Alvisius Bastiano filius ser Marci pictor Magister Leonardus
Scalamanzo intagliator quondam ser Dimitri ambo sancti Leonis. (Ibid. S. N. Colonna
Natale. B. a 360).
M ) 1459. i Augusti Testes magister Leonardus Scalamanzo quondam ser Dimitry, Alvisius
filius ser Marci Bastiano pictor, ambo sancti Leonis. Ibid. S. N. Natale Colonna. B. 360. Prot.).
31 ) 1459. 2 Augusti Testes : ser Alvisius Benzon fenestrarius, ser Alvisius pictor ser Marci
Bastiano. (Ibid. S. N. Natale Colonna. B. 360. Prot.).
32 ) 1459. 12 Septembris -- Test Ego Zacharias de Comitibus quondam ser Christofori
de confinio sancte Agathe Testis : Ser Alvisius filius ser Marci Bastiano pictor ambo sancti
Leonis. (Ibid. S. N. Natale Colonna. B. 360).
M ) 1459. 17 Septembris - - Test Ego Chataruzia relicta magistri Luce finestrarij de
confinio sancti Leonis. Testes : magister Nicolaus Scalamanzo quondam ser Demitrj Alvisius
filius ser Marci Bastiano pictor. Ibid. S. N. Natale Colonna. B. N. 360. prot.).
34 ) 1459. 12 Decembris Testes : magister Thomasius barbitonsor quondam ser Pense,
ser Alvisius Bastiano predict! ser Marci pictor. (Ibid. S. N. Natale Colonna. B. 360. prot.).
36 ) 1485, 2 Novembre Test Domina Franceschina filia quondam ser Joanis de Varisco
et uxor ser Georgij Zoia (quondam ser Balbi pictor) habitatrix in confinio sancte Justine
ordinavit Testis: Alvixio Sebastiano pictore in plathea Sancti Marci filius quondam ser
Marci (Ibid. Manimorte, San Zaccaria. B. a 7, N. 3 cte 78).
36 ) 1489, 20 Septembris Ego Laurentia uxor ser Georgii sutoris de confinio sancti Severi.
Testes : io Alluise Bastiani fo de ser Marcho fo presente testimonio sotoscrisi. (Ibid. S. N.
Stella Lorenzo. B. 877. N. 886).
37 ) a 1511, 17 decembris (Ex margine). Marcus Lauredanus advocator comunis in XL ta .
Franciscus filius Aloisij Bastiani pictoris de contracta sancti Luce. Paula uxor Magistri
Alexandri a Lyris de contracta predicta sancti Luce absentes contra quos tamen per antescriptum
dominum advocatorem et officium suum processum fuit et est in contrascripto Consilio de XL
ex eo quod dictus Franciscus fuerit tantae inauditae et diabolicae audatiae et detestandae lasciviae,
et non contentus et carnaliter pluries se inmiscuerit cum Paula uxore Alexandri de Lyris de
contracta sancti Lucae adulterium secum committendo (Ibid. Avogaria di Comun. Raspe
21. Parte II. Carte 37).
M ) 1512. 12 Gennaio Essendo comparso nell' albergo nostro della Scuola Grande della
Carita, Domenico Ciprian insieme con ser Alvise Bastian depentor sta a San Luca in una casa
della schuolla et rechedendo, che li piaqui de voler consentir la permuttation vuol far i ditti
ser Alvise Bastian e ser Steffano dalla Violla delle loro case perche a ser Alvise Bastian depentor
fa per lui la casa de biri per esser luogo ampio et largo per el sugar delle sue depenture, et a ser
Steffano li son fatti chomodo esser per el suo mistier appresso rialto, e san Marcho, et havendo
ben inteso la sua richiesta 1'andera parte che i detti possino permuttar le sue Case
(Ibid. Scuola Grande della Carita, not. 254).
CRISTOFORO BASTIANI
M ) 1494. (5) 27 Januarij Test ego Katarina Camisere uxor magistri Cristofori quondam
Alvisij Bastiani pictoris de contrata sancti Apollinaris volo sepeliri ad sanctum Joannem et
paulum in archis viri mei (Ibid. S. N. Gio. Ant. Mondo. B. a 742. N. 5).
PAOLO BASTIANI
40 ) 1464. 4 Novembris Test Ego Nicolosa nxor ser Johannis credenzarij quondam
alterius ser Johannis de confinio sancti Leonis. Testis : Ego presbiter Paulus filius ser Marci
Bastiano nunc clericus testis subscripsi. (Ibid. Natale Colona B. a N. 360 prot. N. 17).
41 ) 1470. 27 Augusti Testis: Dominus presbiter Paulus Bastianus mansonarius in
Ecclesia sanctorum Appostolorum. (Ibid. Cancelleria Inferiore Franc, ab Helmis. B. 73).
**) 1467. 20 Marzo Testis Ego Paulus filius Sebastiani pictoris clericus Sancte Marie .
(Ibid. Cancelleria Inferiore. Atti Avanzo Nicolb B. 7).
4J ) 1478 (9) ii Jannuarij Test Ego Barbarella relicta ser Angeli de Brocardo de
228 APPENDIX TO CHAPTER I
confinio sancti Geminiani. Testes : Ego presbiter Paulus Bastiano titulatus in ecclesia sancti
Julian! testis subscripsi. (Ibid. S. N. Veciis de Bartolomeo. B. a 1040, N. 16).
**) Supplica al Consiglio dei X. Magnificis et. excellentissimis dominis capitibus excelsi
cons jlij et sociorum Deputatorum ad gubernationem scolae beatissimi et gloriosissimi
confessoris sancti Rochi in Ecclesia Sancti Juliani el dito misser lo piovan insieme con
pre Zuan Marco di Vechj, che fo coadiuttor al zudega de proprio per falsario condanado et
bandizado in perpetuo de Veniesia per el conseio di quaranta et con pre Polo Bastian homo
leziero et de mala sorte e volunta prete de essa giesia : se hano fatto una pensata Et per
adimpli el loro desiderio hano tolto el mezo et guida de questa cossa Antonio di Negri, el
qual e parente del ditto pre Polo Bastian : et pratichadu ocultamente la cossa con alguni de
li ditti disciplinary (flagellanti) et hieri che fu zorno de nostra dona, per li nostri ordeni
non ordenado de far capitolo, el ditto Antonio di Negri con el ditto pre Polo Bastian perche
pre Zuan Marco estate messo in camera per altre soe non bone opere Antonio di Negri
chavo fuora de manega el foio notato per lezerlo tuta via pre Polo Bastian ordenando che
ognun sentasse et taxesse Vogliando pur el ditto Antonio de Negri comenzar a lezer el
governador per obviar a tal enorme et inaudita cossa se fexe avanti tolse el foio de man di
Antonio de Negri. El che fatto pre Polo Bastian che per avanti haveva piu volte publice
manaxato de taiar camixe, per non voler far i ditti dela bancha a suo modo desnudo davanti
P altar una spada, et meno plusor colpi verso quelli che li se trovava et etiam verso Alvixe
Bastian suo carnal fradello, el qual e uno de li compagni de la bancha. Et etiam per ordene
dato uno deli desciplinarij chiamato Alvixe barbier, principal capo de la ditta dissension, snudo
una spada menando con quella insieme el ditto pre Polo Bastian. Ma el signor nostro Dio
e nostra dona benedetta non volse che algun fosse guasto non havendo i compagni de la
bancha alguna cossa da defenderse. Dei qual uno Alvise Bastian soprascritto fu afferato da
alguni deli disciplinarij et butado violenter fuora de la porta strazandoli el collo et li pani da dosso :
per non li haver lassato exeguir la loro mala volunta et proposito Firmato da 14 Flaggellanti
e due confratelli ordinarii. (Ibid. Capi del Consiglio del Dieci. Suppliche 1472-1594. B. a i).
4i ) 1484. 21 Octobris Necessarium est quod ad tolendum de medio omnem causam
disordinis, odij et rancoris inter homines scolarum batutorum quod de cetero in officiis
albergi quatuor scolarum batutorum huius civitatis, nee non et scole sancti Rochi non possint
uno et eodem tempore esse in officio illi qui coniuncti forent simul aliquo gradu talis
parentelle (Ibid. Consiglio dei Dieci. Misti n. 22 anni 1484-1488. carte 74').
46 ) Desceplinarij che se battono. (Among others appear these names also :) Francexo de
Monsera stampidor, Jeronimo de Domenego depentor, Lunardo di Chorali toschan, Rado di
Francesco dai ochiali. (In a second list appear these names :) Ser Polo damante christaler, seri
Jacomo Falcon orexe, ser Thomaxo Bragadin pentor, ser Stefano de Jacomo orexe.
LAZZARO BASTIANI
47 ) 1449. 5 Aprilis -- Test Ego Doratia relicta Laurentij merciarij de confinio sancti
Leonis Testis: Lazarus pictor condam Sabastiani de confinio sancti Leonis testis.
(Ibid. S. N. Cristiano Anastasio. B. 464).
4S ) 1456. 1 8 novembris Jo Zuane de Jacomo Trivixano de confin de san Pantalon
Item constituisso mie fidel comessari mio barba Marcho depentor del confin de san Lio e mio
barba Lazaro depentor del confin de san Rafael (Ibid. Testamenti. Notaio Davanzago
Andrea. Busta n. 368).
49 ) 1460. 4 Dicembris Dedimus magistro Lazaro pictori pro parte palle fiende videlicet
depingende pro capella nostrij Commissi Lij. s. X. (S. Samuel). 1461. Seguono altri pagamenti
a maestro Lazzaro Sebastian!. (Ibid. Proc. S. Marco. Misti. B. a 196.)
60 ) 1462. 21 novembris Testamento de mi Chiara Badoer fia de misser Michiel de confin
de santa Margarita presentibus magistro Lazaro Bastiano pictor de contracta sancti
Rafaelis. (Ibid. Miscellanea. Notai diversi. Testamenti. Busta n. 26. Testamento 2159).
61 ) 1468. 1 8 Februarij a Lazaro Bastiano pro ornata capele Sancti Samuels et
hoc pingendo unam palam portavit ipse ducatos triginta. Val L. in. (Ibid. Proc. S. Marco.
Misti. B." 196).
62 ) i47- (69 m. v.) 7 Gennajo chel se dovese far alcuni telleri in la nostra scuola e
de queli solamente sia sta da principio a 3 e de quelli anotadi i pacti e condition come ne li
nostri libri apar et alora de le concluxion di altri maestri quali hano principiado fose tractado
mercado e pacti cum maistro Lazaro Sabastian penctor el qual perche alora non fo posto in
scnptura et el dicto mistro Lazaro hebi rechiesto dicta opera esserli dada come li fu promeso
et consultada fra noi official! tal caxon 1'hebi preso provision e debito de dar principio al dicto
teler. Et per la suflficientia del dicto maistro Lazaro convegnir cum quello, perho in execucion
de la dicta parte e per perficer tal opera.
APPENDIX TO CHAPTER I 229
Nui gabriel Zilberti guardian Grando e compagni cum el dicto maistro Lazaro siamo con-
vegnudi e rimasti dacordo chel debi far el teler el qual e in do campi sopra et proximo al
volto de la scalla ne li qual el debi depenzer 1' instoria de David secondo el desegno die far
de tal instoria el qual visto se possi per nui azonzer e detrazer al parer nostro prima chel
nebi dado principio sopra dicto teller e di lavorar quelli a tutte sue spexe de colori, ori azuri
et ogni altra cosa sopra dicti telleri acadese i qual colori et oro debano esser in tutta per-
fection e die haver per pagamento et precio rata per rata quelo die haver mistro Jacomo
Belin del suo mexurando pe per pe e paso per paso intendando che dicto mistro Lazaro non
possi mai astrenzer la scuola a darli denari per dicta caxon (Scuola Grande di S. Marco
nel 1428 al 1503). G. P. Molmenti. Arch. Venet XXXVI. P. i. pag. 228.
**) 1470. 1 8 Aprilis Matheus Limone calefatus de Cataro habitans Venetiis Comis-
sarios aut huius mei testamenti instituo et esse volo et ser Lazarum Bastiani pictorem
(Ibid. Testamenti. Grasolario Bartolomeo. Busta n. 481. Testamento 621).
i4 ) 1470. (?) Ser Lazaro de Bastian depentor (Manigola della Scuola di San Girolamo.
Museo Correr, MSS. Cicogna N. 2113).
65 ) 1473. 28 Aprile (Lettera ricevuta il 25 Giugno). Pera. A mjo chugnado ser Nicholo
Gruatto Apresso andatte da Lazaro Bastian che stano sopra el champo di San Polo che
cusi li schrivo a luj e fateme far uno quadreto grando come mezo foio de charta di pizolj con
la figura de misser Jesu Christo che siano belo chome li schrivo a luj o se per chaxo che Idio
el guarda el fusse morto over lo nol volese far, andate da Ziane belino e mostratelj el mio e
ditege il volio a quel modo chome stano quelo con quela soaza d' oro polita e bela e di questo
non falite Ant. di Choradi.
66 ) 1474. 25 Luglio Ser Ant. di Choradi mio chugnado de dar per contadi a maistro
lazaro bastian per uno quadro con la figura de messer Gesu Cristo. G. 6. (Ibid. Scuola
Grande della Misericordia, B. a 23. Commissario Bart. Gruato).
57 ) 1470. 24 decembris Nos Petrus Bernardus quondam magistri domini Petri judex
arbiter et arbitrator ac consanguineus Testis : Magister Lazarus Sebastianus pictor.
(Ibid. Cancelleria Inferiore. Nodaro Maza Marco. Busta n. 123. Sentenza a carte 78).
68 ) 1476. 7 Augusti Ser Lazarus Bastian pictor quondam ser Jacobi sancti Rafifaelis.
(Ibid. S. N. Cancellaria Inferiore. Atti Bono Francesco, protocollo).
69 ) 1478. 7 octobris Test Dona Isabella relicta ser Antonij de Fior de contrata sancli
Rafaelis constituo el esse volo meos fidei comissarios el execulores huius mei lestamenti
et magistrum Lazarum pictorem de contrata sancti Raphalis pro minori parte
(Ibid. Testamenti. Notaio Quagliano Leonardo. Busta n. 825. Testamento 103).
60 ) 1482. 22 Novembris Magistro Lazaro Bastian pintor de contracta Sancte Margarite ,
e presente al testamento di Chiara Badoer di Michiele abilanle a Santa Margherita. (Ibid.
Sez. Not. Miscellanea. Testamenti. Cassa II. Cassella 6, filza i).
61 ) 1490. 27 Augusti Test Victorella relicta ser Joannis de Balao piscatoris de confinio
sancti Nicolai instituo meos fidelles commissaries et magistrum Lazarum Bastiano
pictorem (Ibid. Testamenli. Nolaio Roveda Limon. Busla n. 848. Testamento 83).
e2 ) 1493. 25 novembris Fu eletto pre Sebastian de maistro Lazaro depentor de
S. Rafael (Ibid. Scuola Grande della Carita, Notatorio n. 253 a carta 20).
**) 1493. i zener el qual fu mexo in chambio de ser Sebastian de maistro Lazaro
depentor. (Ibid. Scuola Grande della Carita. Notatorio n. 253 a carta 20 tergo).
6i ) 1502. 30 Maggio dona Jacomina filia quondam ser Rimondi Pergamensis, et
relicta quondam ser Nicolini Mediolanensis. Testes Jurati : Magister Lazarus de Sebastianis
pictor de confinio Sancti Nicolaj. Magister Constantinus, pictor de confinio Sancte Margarite.
(Ibid. Cancelleria Inferiore. Atti Bugotichius Biaggio. B. 28 Protocollo C. to 17*).
66 ) 1494. i Giugno conladi da ser Lazaro Baslian pentor per parte de promesse fexe alia
schuola ducati 10. (Ibid. Scuola Grande di S. Marco. B. a 82. Giornalelto de Vichari).
**) 1498. 25 Agosto Terminatio sive sententia ser Paulj sculptoris et Joanis eius cognati
ipse, partes Concordes alligunt prudentes viros ser Lazarum Sebasliano pictorem quondam
ser Jacobi de confinio sancti Raphaelis et ser Guariscum condam Viviani sculptorem de
confinio sancti Pauli tamquam suos comunes amicos ad videndum et appreciandum et
sententiandum ipsam palam. (Ibid. S. N. Cancelleria Inferiore. Atti Battallis Pietro B. 28).
67 ) 1498. 25 Agosto Prudentes viri dominus Lazarus Sebastiano pictor quondam ser Jacobi
de confinio Sancti Rafaelis et ser Guariscus quondam ser Viviani sculptor ludices, inter ser
Paulum sculptorem et ser Joanem eius cognatum ex parte una : Et dominum Constancium
quondam ser Pauli de villa alta. Et ser Meneginum quondam ser Andree de Recio
(Cancelleria Inferiore. Atti Battallis Pietro. B. 28).
**) 1498. 2 Octobris Test Ego Angela relicta de ultimo leto sir Petri Ravagnani de
confinio ad presens Raphaelis Venetiarum Testes: Jo Lazaro Bastian depenlor testis
subscripsi (Autograph). Jo Piero fo de ser Zuane Fero testisssubscripsi. (Repetition by the Notary :
2 3 o APPENDIX TO CHAPTER I
Testis. Ser Lazarus Bastiano pictor quondam ser Jacobi de dicto confinio. Ibid. S. N. Cavanis
Bernardo. B. 270. N. 97).
69 ) Ferrara Archivio Notarile (Anno 1499. Ind. i a ) 21 Martij. Conducta pro pictura
Triune facta per Magistrum Blasium Rosettum. Cum sit picturari facere in Triuna
Magister Blasius Rosettus Ingegnerius pingi facere et seu picturam construi facere in
termina cum figuris novem, vasis, capitelis et aliis necessariis ad musaicum fictitium in
auro omnibus suis expensis, per duos peritos et sufficientes magistros in arte, videlicet peritum
( omission). Munitensem compatrem Nicholaj ipsius Magistri Blasij filium (debe essere filij,
et peritum Laurentium Costam de bononia una cum Magistro Nicholao de Pise habitatore in
domo Magistri Fini Hoc pacto inter eas partes instrumento et solemni stipulatione firmato,
quod figure faciende in ea triuna juxta dictum designum sint et esse debeant equivalentes et
illius sufficientie que reperientur esse due figure faciende et fabrichande in eo episcopatu, unam
videlicet manu magistri Bonfazini pictoris, et alia Magistri Lazari pictoris, arbitrande et pro
ut extiment dicte partes agentes cum contentamento ut arbitrentur et judicentur per magistrum
providum Andrea Mantegnam. L. N. CITTADELLA, Documents ed Illustrazioni risg. la storia
artistica Ferrarese. 1868, pag. 74.
70 ) 1500. 14 Gennaio Venetiis Actum in domo habitationis in confinio Sancti
Pauli sita presentibus testibus Ser Sabastiano pictore quondam ser Jacobi de confinio Sancti
Rafaelis. Et ser Jacobo quondam Johannis mercatore Toscano in rivo alto. Et ser Paulo de
Cremona aurifice de Regazonibus de Cremona filio quondam ser Tome notis et rogatis fidem
facient (Archivio di Stato. Cancelleria Inferiore. Atti Bonetti Zanetto B. 29).
71 ) 1505. XI lulij La Ill. ma Signoria de Venetia, da et conciede a far lopera di tre
stendardi grandi per la piaza de san Marco a maistro Lazaro Sabastian, et Benedetto Diana
pictori, i qual siano obligati siinul et insolidum ad far a perfection ultima et compimento de
dicti stendardi cum pacti, modi, et condition qui sotto notadi et contenuti. Et primo. La
prefata Ill. ma Signoria promette a dar ali dicti maistri el cendado cuxido per dicti tre stendardi.
Cadaun dei qual habia ad esser de longeza braza diexe octo et largo tele tredexe. Promesse
etiam dar tuto loro che intrara nel dorar de i dicti tre stendardi et dar anchora tuto lazuro che
in quelli metter accadera Et per premio satisfaction, et mercede de lopera di dicti stendardi
la Ill. m " Signoria promette dar ad maistro Lazaro et Benedecto predicti ducati duxento et diexe
per cadauno de dicti stendardi, che monta in summa ducati seicento e trenta : i qual danarj
promette dargeli de tempore in tempus, et a di per di, secundo che accadera essendo obligati
i dicti dorar i pomi, o sia croce che se hanno a metter sopra le antene de dicti stendardj senza
premio alcuno (Ibid. Notatorio Collegio. Registro n. 23. carta 149).
72 ) 1508. ii Decembre Ser Lazaro Bastian, ser Vettor Scarpaza et ser Vethor de Mathio
per nominal! da ser Zuan Bellin depentori constituidi alia presentia dei magnifici Signori m.
Caroso da cha da pexaro m. Zuan Zentani, m. Maria Gritti et m. Alvise Zanudo provedadori
al sal come deputadi electi dipentori a veder quello pol voler la pictura facta sopra la faza del
fontego de Thodeschi el facta per maistro Zorzi da Castelfranco, et durati dachordo dixero a
giuditio et parer suo meritar el dicto maistro per dicta pictura ducati cento et cinquanta in tutto.
(Magistrate del Sale anno 1491-1529: 1505-1514). Ab. Gius. Cadorin in Memorie originali
italiane rig. le belle Arti. Bologna, 1840. Serie III. pag. 90).
73 ) Cuiti fati ai sotto schritti et primo Ser Lazaro Sabastian depentor a San Rafael per
mezo la porta della giexia, miser lo piovan e preti de san Rafael adi 7 marzo 1512, chiama
miser lo piovan et preti della giexia de san Rafael per i suo confini. (Archivio di Stato. Quattro
ministeriali. Stride e Chiamori. Registro n. 87. carta 194').
74 ) !S 12 Ser Lazaro Bastian pentor a san Rafael mod. (Ibid. Scuola Grande di San
Marco. Reg. (1507) n. 5).
SONS OF LAZZARO BASTIANI
75 ) 1 59- 2 7 rnarzo In execution de uno comandamento de li ezelentissimi signori chapi
del conseio de X ha fatto le elezion di X novize donzelle fie di fradeli nostri veneziani
domma Faustina fia de ser Sabastian de Jacomo depentor (Ibid. Scuola Grande della Carita.
Notatorio n. 253 a carta 99).
7e ) T S 9- Paga di Gennaro et Febbraro. All' anno ducati 40. Vincenzo dal Musaico...
ducati 6 grossi, 16.
77 ) 1508. Libro di Paghe N. 9, pag. 362. Vincentius Sebastian! a Musaico habere debeat
pro paga sex mensium ratione ducatorum quinquaginta in anno, ducatos 25 (G. Saccardo : Les
Mosaiques de Saint Marc, pp. 187 and 288).
) 1512. 1 8 Marzo Accedit de hessendo uno maist.o Vincenzo lavorava di musaico in
chiexia di San Marco quale fece quella Santa Tecla erra bon Maistro su certo soler che si lavora
m chiexia zercha horra di nona una tavola li vene a mancho cascho vixe do horre e morite
APPENDIX TO CHAPTER I 231
fo gran pechado e cossa piu non accaduta in ditta chiexia et perho ne ho voluto far nota.
(Diarii di Marin Sanudo, vol. 15. c. 12 tergo).
79 ) I 5 1 3- 9 J ul 'J Test Ego Apolonia relicta quondam ser Jacobi Tinto de confinio
sancti Gervasij Venetiarum Testis : Jo Vincenzo di Sebastian! chondan misier Lazaro son
sta testimonio zurado e pregado de questo testamento ordenado de propria bocha de la sopradita
madona Polonia. (Archivio di Stato. S. N. De Bossis Gerolamo. B. 10 N. 27),
80 ) 1474. 15 Januaris Test Ego Lucia consors magistri Joannis Vincentij de confinio
sancti Silvestri Testes : Jo Domenego Saracho depentor testis zurado subscripsi. Jo Zuane
de Lazaro depentor testis zurado subscripsi (Ibid. S. N. Corruccio Vescuncio. B. 735.
N. 295).
81 ) 1471. 21 Settembre Infrascripti fecerunt se scribi ad probam Juvenum portantium
bussulos albos in maiori Consilio. Jacobis filius Lazari Bastianj pictoris. Aloysius pictoris
lapicide qui servit in maiori consilio ad portandos bussulos. Aluisius filius Mathei Incisorij
qui diu servivit in maiori consilio. Ludovicus Gyrardus Andree Aurificis, Lucas Blanco Mathei
intaiatoris (Ibid. Notatorio Collegio 1467-1473).
82 ) 1489. 30 augusti -- Test Ego Diana uxor ser Nicolai de sancto Proculo quondam
Johannis marinarij et marangoni domorum de confinio sancti Proculi Testis : Ego presbiter
Sebastianus Sebastiani sancti Raphaelis testis subscripsi. - - (Ibid. S. N. Stella Ludovico.
B. a 875, N.o 274).
83 ) 1489. 22 Januarij Test Ego Soradamor uxor ser Nicholai de Lesina marangoni
de confinio sancti Petri de Castello. Testis : Ego presbiter Sebastianus Bastiano eclesie sancti
Raphaelis testis scripsi. (Ibid. S. N. Stella Lorenzo. B. a 875. N. 147).
M ) Assenti alia disciplina Pre Sebastian de magistro Lazaro pentor San Rafael, 1494.
(Ibid. Scuola Grande di San Marco. Mariegola 1480-1547. Registro n. 4, carta 130 tergo).
85 ) 1497. (8) 16 Februarii Test Ego Hieronima filia quondam Domini Pauli Floravantis
et uxor domini Nicolai de Medinis de Brixia. Testis : Ego presbiter Sebastianus Sebastiani
titulatus ecclesie sancti Raphaelis Venetiarum testis juratus et rogatus subscripsi. (Ibid. S. N.
Pozzo (da) Gio Francesco. B. 764).
86 ) 1495. 6 Aprile a pre Sebastian per dar a colui che fexe i festoni per san Marcho
L. 3. (Ibid. Scuola Grande San Marco. B." 82. Giornaletto de Vichari).
8r ) 1494. * Messer pre Sebastian de magistro Lazaro pentor, San Raphael e inscritto tra
i confratelli della Scuola di S. Marco. (Ibid. Scuola Grande di S. Marco, Mariegola n. 4).
88 ) 1494. i Giugno Contadi a pre Sebastian de Bastian per piu spexe fate per la festa del
Corpus Domini in far do anzoli ed altri adornamenti per la dita festa e per suo fadiga in summa
L. 60. s. 17. (Ibid. Scuola Grande di San Marco. B." 82. Giornaletto dei Vichari).
89 ) 1495. 5 Aprile contadi a pre Sebastiano de Sebastiano, per degli apparecchi da pro-
cessione L. 141. s. 17. (Ibid. Scuola Grande di San Marco, B. 82. Giornaletto dei Vichari).
90 ) 1500. 1 8 Aprile e per barcha per andar a San Rafaele al depentor de scudi 5-6 per
contadj a pre Sebastian da San Rafael per parte de indorar i schudi. G. J.
30 detto. Per far chonzar le tavola davanti 1' altar.
4 Maggio chontadj per una barcha portto a San rafael a ttavola davanti 1'allttar
a chonzar et a pre Sebastian da San rafael per resto per depenzer ed adorar i scudi
(Ibid. Conti per la Cappella Bernabo a San Giovanni Grisostomo. Scuola Grande della
Misericordia. Not. 166).
APPENDIX TO CHAPTER II
DOCUMENTS
THE SCARPAZZA FAMILY OF VENICE
LATERAL BRANCH AT S. RAFFAELLE
1 ) 1363. 19 octobris Rogavit ser Raphael Scarpazo sancti Raphaelis fieri cartam de filial!
subieptione cum ceteris suis heredibus Francisco dilecto filio suo de eodem confinio
(Archivio di State. Miscellanea. Notai diversi. Atti Pietro Venier. Busta 6).
2 ) 1363. 19 octobris Rogavit suprascriptus ser Raphael Scarpazo sancti Raphaelis cum
ceteris suis heredibus fieri simillem cartam Paulo filio suo dilecto de dicto confinio sancti
Raphaelis (Ibid. Miscellanea. Notai diversi. Atti Pietro Venier. Busta 6).
3 ) I 397- J 6 octobris Ego Symona rellicta ser Petri de Bernadigio et filia quondam ser
Johannis Vincimalle Item vollo et ordino quod post meum decessum dentur de meis bonis
ser Paullo Scarpazio ducati quinque auri pro anima mea (Ibid. S. N. Notaio Bonicardi
Girolamo. Busta n. 68. Testamento 294).
4 ) 1363. 19 octobris Rogavit suprascriptus ser Raphael Scarpazo sancti Raphaelis cum
ceteris suis heredibus fieri simillem cartam suprascripte Natali dilecto filio suo et suis heredibus
de suprascripto confinio sancti Raphaelis (Ibid. Miscellanea. Notai diversi. Atti Pietro
Venier. B. a 6).
6 ) 1 5^3- I 9 octobris Rogavit suprascriptus ser Raphael Scarpazo sancti Raphaelis cum
ceteris suis heredibus fieri simillem cartam suprascripte Anthonio predilecto filio suo de predicto
confinio sancti Raphaelis (Ibid. Miscellanea. Notai diversi. Atti Pietro Venier. B. a 6).
6 ) 1364, 23 Junij -- Rogavit Angelus Balbi quondam ser Petri sancti Nicolai fieri cartam
securitatis cum suis heredibus Francisco Balbi quondam ser Raphaelis sancti Nicolai Testes :
Paulus Scarpazo sancti Raphaelis (Ibid. Miscellanea. Notai diversi. Atti Pietro
Venier. B. a 6).
7 ) 1364. 23 junij - - Rogavit Franciscus Balbi condam ser Raphaelis sancti Nicolai fieri
cartam securitatis cum suis heredibus Victori Balbi quondam ser Dardi eius consanguineo
Testes : Paulus Scarpazo (Ibid. Miscellanea. Notai diversi. Atti Pietro Venier, B." 6).
8 ) 1382. 23 septembris Testam ego Laurencia uxor Pellegrini Bafo Testis : Ego
Benevenutus Scharpazo testis subscripsi. (Ibid. S. N. Testamenti. Notaio Pietro Pensaben.
B. a 830).
9 ) 1382. 22 februarij Testam ego Agnexina uxor ser Chechi Scarpazo de confinio sancti
Raphaelis constituo meum fideicommissarium solum ser Chechum Scarpazo virum meum
(Ibid. S. N. Testamenti. Notaio Pietro Pensaben. B. 830).
10 ) I 3^3- 22 rnartij Testam ego Johannes Istriano quondam ser Marini, de confinio
sancti Nicolai Ego Benvenutus Scharpazo testis subscripsi. Testes: Donatus de Marcho
Sancti Basilij, Petrus Belino, et Benvenutos Scharpazo ambo Sancti Nicolai. (Ibid. S. N.
Testamenti. Notaio Pietro Pensaben. B. a 830).
") 1386. 26 Aprils Testam ego Clara uxor ser Natalis Scarpazo de confinio sancti
Raphaelis constituo esse meos fideicommissarios suprascriptum ser Natalem Scarpazo virum
meum et Franciscum fratem meum carissimum in missis celebrandis pro anima mea, et unam
232
APPENDIX TO CHAPTER II 233
similiter pro anima quondam domine Chaterine Balbi olim matris mee (Ibid. S. N.
Testamenti. Notaio Pietro Pensaben. Busta 830).
l3 ) 1419. ii aprilis Quod ad humiles supplicationes fidelissimi civis nostri Raphaelis
Scarpazo cui tempore hungaro manus sibi amputata fuit, considerata inopia sua et familia de qua
est oppressus, fiat sibi gratia in sustentatione vitse suae, quod habeat unam bancham piscarise
Rivoalti, quam habebat quondam Nicolaus Gaffaro per modum, quo dictus Nicolaus habebat.
(Ibid. Grazie, 1417-1423. Registro n. 21. carta 30).
13 ) 1435. 5 marzo Ser Hetor Pasqualigo e mi Alvise lustinian. Nicholo de Vigna afinador
per tuto maistro ala finaria con el contrascrito signal. Rafael Scharpazo con el so segno
Bevegnu Scharpazo vechio maistro Rafael Scharpazo a san Nichollo morto (Ibid.
Provveditori in Zecca. Capitolar delle Brocche. R. 5. carta 36 tergo).
u ) 1440. 3 otubre Nui Marcho Valier, Alvixe lustinian, et Alvixe Loredan hoficiali al dicto
hoficio tollessemo et afermassemo ala finaria questi afinadori soto scricti con i sotoscritti si gnalli
et prima Benvegnudo Scharpacio per tuto maistro et vechio con el dicto signal Rafael
Scharpacio per tutto maistro con el dicto signal (Ibid. Provveditori in Zeca. Capitolar
delle Brocche. R. 5. carta 37).
15 ) 1454. i octobris Ser Raphael Scarpaza quondam ser Benvenuti Scarpaza de confinio
sancti Nicolaj de Mendicolis rogavit cartam securitatis dotis ac repromisse domine Rose de Altilia
uxori sue (Ibid. Cancelleria Inferiore. Ab Helmis Francesco. B. a 76).
16 ) 1473. I ! settembre - - Donna Margherita vedova di Rafaello Scharpazza di Venezia
testifica nella rogazione d' un instrumento davanti al notaio. (Ibid. Miscellanea. Atti notai
diversi. Busta 4).
17 ) 1467. 21 ottobre - Testamento di Agnese vedova di Nicolb Lanza Testis : ser
Raphaele Scarpatio de Benvenuti ser Nicolai (Ibid. S. N. Testamenti. Nodaro
Lorenzo Negro. B. a 749).
18 ) 1464. 28 Aprilis -- Rogavit Franciscus filius condam ser Bartholomei Scarpazo sancti
Gervaxij cum suis heredibus fieri cartam securitatis ser Johanni Scarpazo sancti Raphaelis
patruo suo (Ibid. Miscellanea. Notai diversi. Atti Pietro Venier. Busta 6).
19 ) 1415. ii Maij -- Test Nos Nicolaus Baduario q. m domini Marci T. is : Ego
Mafeus Scarpaza. (Ibid. S. N. Miscellanea. Notai diversi. Franciscus de Gibellino. B. a 32.
Protocollo carta 2).
20 ) 1438. 10 martij Ser Mapheus Scarpaza dictus varotarius quondam ser Bartolomei
rogavit cartam commissarie in personam ser Nicholay Justiniano quondam ser Antonij de confinio
sancti Viti ad placitandum (Ibid. Cancelleria Inferiore. Notaio Tabarini Odorico.
Busta n. 215. Protocollo. carta 5).
21 ) J 473i 2O septembris - - ser johanes Scarpazio quondam ser Maphei testis productus
iuratus et examinatus - (Ibid. Proprio. Vadimoni. Reg. 6. carta 4 tergo).
LATERAL BRANCH (THE MERCHANTS)
J ) 1360, 18 Marzo c. 84/85) Giovanni Gomarelli di Maiorca dichiara d'aver rirevuto
da Marco Bembo e Tomaso Gradenigo, ufficiali alle rason, procurator! del doge, le seguenti
somme lire 100 di Maiorca pagate a Lodovico Scarpazo, e lire 1500 a lui stesso
(Archivio di Stato. Commemoriali della Repubblica. Regesti. T. II. n. 186 (VI.) Venezia 1878).
2 ) J 3S6- 5 Marzo -- c. 76 (74) t Raffaino de' Caresini dichiara a Luchino dal Verme
luogotenente in Genova d' aver ricevuto da Benedetto Finamore, Nazario Castagna, Ilario Pinelli
e Gabriele Carena, mastri razionali e massari generali di quel comune, diverse merci che si
descrivono, appartenenti ai Veneziani qui sotto specificati, le quali sono state catturate da
genovesi insieme ad una cocca comandata da Sebastiano Veniero I proprietari delle merci
sono Nicolb suddetto, Giovanni Dandolo Martina Scarpazo (Ibid. Commemoriali
della Repubblica Regesti, T. II, n. 141 (V) Venezia 1878).
S) I3 62 18 gennaio c. 125 (127) Giovanni Foscari procuratore di : Marino Scarpazo
danneggiati dai sudditi del re d'Aragona, trasmette a Raffaino de' Caresini le proprie
facolta (Ibid. Commemoriali delli Repubblica. Regesti. T. II, n. 285 (VI) Venezia 1878).
4 ) 1385, 12 Julji Plenam et irrevocabilem securitatem facio ego Chataruza filia condam
domini Marini Scarpazo et nunc uxor ser Danieli de Benedicto de confinio sancti Thome
cum meis successoribus vobis domine Christine relicte domini Marini Scarpazo matris mee
dilecte de dicto confinio sancti Thome - (Ibid. S. N. Miscellanea. Notai diversi.
Atti G. Ghibellino. B. a 3).
5 ) 1414 (?) -- Test Ego Christina Scarpacio relicta ser Marini Scarpacio sancte Marie
Formose esse volo fideicommissarios Francischinam filiam meam dilectam et ser Andream
Massario generum meum, et dominam Angelam Delphino sancti Felicis sorerem meam
dimitto Anthonie nepti mee filie ser Nicolai de Praia pro suo maritare sive monachare vel
30
234 APPENDIX TO CHAPTER II
aliud secundum voluntatem dictorum meorum commissariorum Item dare debeat Lucie
nepti mee uxori ser Lucie Ariano sancti Raphaelis ducatos vigintiquinque ami (Ibid.
S. N. Testament! in atti Federigo Stefani. B." 1231. n. 455).
6 ) Perhaps from this branch also descends Marco: Testam MCCCLXXI mense maij
die HI ego Coleta filia condam ser Zan Andrea Contro de Venetia Testis : Marcus
Scharpazo'pictor sancti Thome a ca Faledro (Ibid. S. N. Testamenti. Notaio Bursariis
(de) Antonio Busta n. 379. Testamento 35).
DIRECT LINE
') 1348, ii aprillis Ser Petrus Scarpazo (I) sancti Felicis (Archivio di Stato. S. N.
Atti Zen Zenone. B. a mo. carta 13.
2 ) 1362, 6 aprillis Rogavit ser Petrus Scarpazo sancti Nicolai fieri cartam securitatis
repromisse Zanete eius uxori de dicto confinio (sancti Nicolai) Ibid. S. N. Miscellanea.
Notai diversi. Brani di protocolli. B. a 8. N. 61.
3 ) 1362, 6 aprillis Rogavit ser Victor condam Leazari sancti Nicolay de Mendicolis fieri
cartam securitatis ser Petro Scarpazo eius genero dicti confinij sancti Nicolay (Ibid.
S. N. Miscellanea. Notai diversi. Brani di protocolli. B. a 8 n. 61).
*) 1372, 24 aprilis Actum Pupilie in domo Leonardi Bafo, presentibus Andraxo
Balbi filio ser Nicolai, Antolino Scarpazo filio condam ser Petri (Ibid. S. N.
Miscellanea. Notai diversi. Atti M. Galedello. B. a 3).
5 ) 1397, 20 septembris Antonius Scarpazo quondam ser Petri de confinio sancti
Nicolay constituo et esse volo meam commissariam Beruzam relictam dicti ser Petri
Scarpazo matrem meam dilectam (Ibid. Cancelleria Inferiore. Miscellanea. Notai diversi.
Busta 22. Testamento n. 925.
6 ) 1430, 6 febrarij -- Pro domina Maria Scarpazo contra Thomasinam Scarpazo ad omnia
facienda (Ibid. Proprio. Vadimoni. Reg." i, carta 49).
7 ) 1430, 5 octobris Dona Maria Scarpazo ultra quod ser Victor Scarpazo eius filius, sit
pro ea scriptum in Curia contra omnis et omnia faciendum (Ibid. Proprio. Vadimoni.
Reg. i. carta 49).
8 ) 1440, 4 aprilis facio ego Maria Scarpazo de confinio sencti Raphaelis de
Venetiis tibi Donato Buxello commissario de ducatis decem (Ibid. S. N. Nodaro Polo
Gregorio. Busta 14).
9 ) 1444, 10 aprilis -- Test Ego Maria relicta ser Antonij Scarpazo de confinio Sancti
Raphaelis in domo proprie mee habitationis esse volo meos fideles commissarios Victorem
dilectum filium meum et Marianum atque Petrum eius filios Residuum vero omnium
bonorum meorum dimitto Victor! filio meo Ibid. S. N. Testamenti. Atti nodaro
Polo Gregorio. Busta 14. Testamento n. 86).
VITTORE SCARPAZZA I
10 ) 1456, 25 setembris - - Test lo Lutia relita de ser Vetore Scarpaza del confin de
San Raphael comissarij volio sia mie fiuoli, zoe Marin Scharpaza, Santo, Antuonio, Marcho
e Zuane fradeli A mio fio Piero non laso alchuna chossa perche lui ha habudo la sua
parte avanti che mo e questo per la Centura che lui i a habui per il debito da cha Zane che
piu tosto volse che la se perdese che schuoderla, e per altre sue crudelta e puoche bonta.
(a tergd) 1456, 12 novembris Testamentum domine Lucie relicte ser Victoris Scarpazo
de confinio Sancti Raphaelis scriptum aliena manu, et secundum formam partis capte super
inde, omnibus inde expulsis sibi soli legi que dixit stare secundum suam intentionem volentis
quod debeat presenti reducere in formam publicam, et dare secundum ordines venetiorum
(Ibid. S. N. Notaio Davanzago Andrea. Busta n. 368).
n ) 1462, 1 6 mai Test io Lucia relita de ser Victor Scarpaza del confin de san
Rafael Lasso mio fedel commissario et exequutor de questa mia ultima volunta Marin
Scharpaza mio dileto fio Item a Piero mio fio non lasso alguna cossa per aver lui abudo
del mio quanto lui sa, tuti veramente le mie beni lasso a Marin, Santo e Marco mie fili
egualmente fra loro (Ibid. S. N. Not. Bartolomeo de Camuzi. B. 385 prot.
c. a 60).
i. PIETRO SCARPAZZA (II)
12 ) J 4S4, 1 Martij Test ego Zanina relicta ser Fr?.ncisci de contra sancti Raphaelis
Testis: Ser Petrus Scarpaza filius ser Victoris (Ibid. S. N. Notaio Trevisan Gio.
Bono. Busta n. 983. Testamento 165).
APPENDIX TO CHAPTER II 235
13 ) 1457) II decembris Test ego soror Lutia tertij ordinis sancti Francisci relicta
ser Angeli Memo de contra sanctis Raphaelis Test is : Ser Petrus Scarpaza filius ser
Victoris (Ibid. S. N. Notaio Trevisan Gio. Bono. Busta n. 983, Testamento 195).
14 ) 1486, 8 avosto per sacho ditto afitti in monte contadi da ser Piero Scharpaza per
parte de fitto ducati XIII portoli Vetor (II) suo fiol val. L. I, s. VI (Procuratori di S.
Procuratia de Supra Libro di Cassa per Chiesa. R. i).
THE OTHER SONS OF VITTORE I
2. ZUANE SCARPAZZA, FRATE lLARIO
*) Zuane de Scarpazo (fo tolto lano 1466) Archivio di Stato. Scuola Grande di S. Giovanni
Evangelista. Mariegola. Registro. n. u.
a ) 1472, 21 septembris ego frater Ilarius Scarpaza qui in seculo nominabor Johannes
Scarpazio filius condam ser Victoris Civis et habitator Venetiarum in confinio sancti Rafifaelis,
nunc residens in monasterio sancte Ursule extra muros Padue ordinis sancti Francisci premissa
considerans per que animo disposui militare Deo sub regula et habitu dicti gloriosissimi Seraphici
Francisci sub qua per animum continuam perseverari regulam observandum et habitum dicti
ordinis differendo Meos instituo fidei commissaries et huius mei testamenti executores
Petrutn Scharpazo varotariuin fratrem meum, ac Ilarionem filium quondam ser Andree de
Rayniis nepotem meum dimitto Victori nepoti meoyf/w Sancti Scharpazo fratris mei omnem
illam partem seu portionem que michi special de dotis quondam matris mee Item
dimitto Marino, Sancto et Marco Scarpazo fratribus meis omnes meos pannos, laneos et lineos,
ac massaritias et arnesi a domus equaliter inler eos etiam cum conditione infrascripta videlicat
quod omnia legata superius facta et dimissa dictis tribus fratribus meis et dicto Victori filio
dicti Sancti fratris mei prout superius in tribus capitulis apparet, volo quod valeant et teneant
vigoremque ac firmitalem habeant in quanlum dicti Marinus, Sanctus et Marcus libere et
absque aliqua cavillatione dent, et assignent Ilarioni et leronimo nepotibus meis filiis condam
ser Andree de Raynis cognati mei omnes res, pannos laneos et lineos, vestes, massaritias, et
alia suppellectilia que habent de eorum ratione et quod aliquid litis aut questionis tarn pro
expensis pro eis factis quam pro denariis eis seu quondam patri suo accomodalis, et alia
quacumque conditione, modo seu causa non moveant, nee movere debeant, aut petant neque
petere possint ullo quodam modo, forma vel ingenio. Et si aliter fecerint illico sint omnes
predict! : Marinus, Sanctus, et Marcus, ac Victor filius dicti Sancti privati de dictis legatis et
nihil ipsi vel alter eorum de hiis que supra ordinavi habeant nee habere debeant seu debeat ;
Sed illico omnia dicta bona et legata perveniant et pervenire debeant libere et expedite in
dictos Ilarionem et leronimum nepotes meos ac Victorem filium dicti fratris mei Petri Scharpazo
varotarii equaliter inter eos pro tercio prout in quoddam instrumento publico confecto
manu notarii infrascripti sub die ultimo lulii 1471 apparet. Ideo declare, volo, et ordino quod
totum dictum terrenum dimitto dicto Petro Scharpazo varotario fratri meo Residuum vero
omnium aliorum bonorum meorum dimitto fratribus meis Marino, Sancto, et Marco, cum
condictione quod debeant restituere dicta bona dictis Ilarioni et leronimo et eos non
molestent et casu quo secus facerent immediate volo quod dictum residuum perveniat in
ipsos Ilarionem et leronimum ac VICTOREM filium dicti Petri fratris mei pro tercio videlicet
inter eos Signum suprascripti fratris Ilarii qui in seculo vocabatur Johannes Scharpazo qui
hec fieri rogavit (Ibid. S. N. Notaio Zamberti Lodovico. Busta 1067, n. 66).
3. ANTONIA SCARPAZZA
x ) 1467, 15 aprilis Ego Paulus Benedicto Sancte Marie Jubenico plebanus notarius
hac cedula ex testamentaria autenticavi 1448, 19 setembris ego Antonia uxor ser
Andree de Brisia de confinio sancti leremie lego meo (sic) commissaries dominam Luciam
Scarpaza matrem meam et maritum suum ser Andream de Brisia (Ibid. S. N.
Testamenti Atti Benedetto Paolo. Busta 1149, n. 35).
4. ANTONIO SCARPAZZA, FRATE LUCA
J ) 1448. Ser Anttuonio Scharpazo a san Nichollo; di Lhordenadi mini ; domenege
minium; corpi mm; procession (Ibid. Scuola Grande di San Marco. B." 228. Libri
antichi di contabilita R. II).
8 ) 1453, 28 aprilis. Testamentum ser Donati Zaparin (or Ciaparin) de confinio Sancti
Raphaelis. Mi Donado Ciaparin Testis : Anthonius Scharpazo filius ser Victoris santi
Raphaelis (Ibid. S. N. Notaio Davanzago Andrea. Busta n. 368).
236 APPENDIX TO CHAPTER II
3 ) 1461, 22 martij. Test ego Dompnus Lucas alias Antonius filius quondam ser Victoris
Scharpacia de confinio sancti Raphaelis constituo et esse volo meam solam commissariam
et huius mee ultime voluntatis exequutrix honestissimam dominam Luciam matrem meam
dilectam relictam a dicti condam ser Victoris cui dicte Lucie dimito omnia mea bona mobilia
et immobilia (Dead before 1468). -- (Ibid. S. N. Notaio Bartolomeo Camuzzi. Busta n.
385. Testamento 121).
*) 1468, 12 otubrio. Dona Maria moier de ser Alberto chomo e fia che fo de ser Antonio
Scharpazo chomo eriede de suo pare (Not mentioned in Fra Luca's Will) (Ibid. Stride,
e Chiamori. Quattro Ministeriali. Reg. 48. carta 53 tergo).
5 ) 1480, 14 novembris Test ego Maria filia quondam ser Antonii Scarpazo uxor
providi viri ser Albert! Avin quondam ser lacobi volo esse meos commissaries et huius mee
uitime voluntatis exequtores Albertum dilectum meum maritum, et Augustinum de Moixe
compatrem meum, quibus animam meam recommendo Item vollo maritari Victoriam filiam
meam adoptivam de bonis mee repromisse - - (Ibid. S. N. Atti Notaio Camuzzi
Bartolomeo. Busta 385. C. 223).
5. SANTE SCARPAZZA
') 1457 -- indictione octava die vero martis quo ser Sancto Scarpaza quondam Victoris
confessus est se integre recepisse a dona Helisabeth dilecta uxore sua ducatos centum viginti
sex (Ibid. Manimorte. Venezia. Miscellanea. Pergamene, 1490-1499).
2 ) 1473 (4)> I2 gennaio Fato el choito a dona Isabeta Scharpaza chomo propinqua adi
1 6 zener (Ibid. Quattro Ministeriali. Stride e Chiamori. Registro 50. carta 99).
6 ) 1480, 31 maggio Vettor Scarpaza quondam Santo vende una casa a san Raphael
(Esaminador. Preces. Reg. 38, carta 40 tergo).
4 ) 1496, 13 maij Dona Helisabeth relicta ser Sancti Scharpazo quondam Victoris
(Ibid. Manimorte. Venezia. Miscellanea. Pergamene, 1490-1499).
VITTORE SCARPAZZA III. (Son of Sante)
1 ) 1480, 31 maggio Vettor Scarpazo quondam Santo vende una casa a san Raphael
(Ibid. Quattro Ministeriali. Stride e Chiamori. Reg. 58. carta 101 e 162 tergo).
2 ) 1481 4 zugno fatto (el cuito) a ser Vettor Scarpazo suo nevodo (di Piero Scarpazza)
(Ibid. Quattro Ministeriali. Stride e Chiamori. Reg. 58. carta 131 tergo.)
3 ) 1517 a di 30 dezernbrio Condizion de mi Vettor Scarpaza fo de ser Santo come me
truovo aver nela contra de San Rafiael parte de una caxa dove io abito -- (Ibid. Dieci
Savi sopra le decime in Rialto. Estimo 1514. Condizioni S. Raffaele. B. a 38, n. 81).
4 ) 1518 Maistro Vettor Scharpaza de la Zudecha (P. Paoletti. Bollettino delle Arti e
Curiosita, Anno 1894, p. 58).
5 ) 1525, adi 6 marzo fatto el cognito a ser Marcho fiol fo de ser Victor Scharpaza propinquo.
Adi ditto a ser Santo suo fradel propinquo. -- Adi ditto a ser Gasparo Scharpaza come
propinquo e lateran (zio) (Ibid. Quattro Ministeriali. Stride e Chiamori. Registro 28. carta
185 tergo).
6 ) "^SSi 7 aprilis Ser Victor (Ferro) et domina Franceschina uxor ser Sancti Scarpaza
frater et soror Ibid. Proprio. Vadimoni Reg. 17. carta 97).
7 ) I 534- ser Santo Scarpazza fo de ser Vettor. -- (Ibid. Scuola Grande di S. Gio.
Evangelista. Mariegola dal 1501 al 1539. R. 13).
8 ) 1548, ii Januarij Ad instantiam domine Helisabeth filie quondam ser Victoris Scarpatia
uti donatrix quondam ser Sancti Scarpatia eius fratris quondam ser Aloysio Scarpatia patruo
dicti quondam ser Sancti et fratri died quondam ser Victoris mortuo ab intestato Nazaret.
(Ibid. Procurator Stride. Reg. 18. carta 100 t.).
CASPAR SCARPAZZA, GOLDSMITH (Son of Sante)
1 ) 1499 adi 23 febraro. Io Zan Alvise Querini fo de messer Jeronimo Ed io Martin
fio fo de ser Jachomo da Tresonta bergamascho fo testamonio Gasparo Scharpaza sta a
san Rafael de quanto schrito fo testimonio. (Ibid. S. N. Nodaro Marsilio Antonio.
Busta n. 1210. N. 626).
2 ) I S I 4i 22 avosto Condizion de mi Gasparo Scarpaza fo di sior Santino e Alvixe mio
nevodo in san Rafael. (Ibid. Dieci Savi sopra la Decione in Sialtro (decime in Rialto)
Condizion 1514. S. Rafael n. 15).
) I S 2 ^> 3 1 augusti Unde cognoscendosi aptissimo et sufficientissimo a questo Gasparo
Scarpaza longamente exercitato et afaticatosi in cecha, per autorita di questo conseio, sij acceptado
APPENDIX TO CHAPTER II 237
dicto Gasparo per fondador de respetto in dicta cecha cum salario de ducato uno al mese tantum,
come se contien in la parte predicta (Ibid. Consilio X. Coranni B. 4 c. e 83 t.)
4 ) T 533> IX septembris io Gasparo Scarpaza quondam ser Sancto de la contra de
San Raphael lasso a Helisabet Lutieta et Anzoleta mie fiole, ho habudo cum dona anzelica
fia de ser Antonio caleger loro madre et siano mie o non mie fiole, de et sopra la mia casa,
posta in San Raphael Item lasso a Zuan Maria et Alvise mei fioli nasciuti de la predetta
anzelica sua madre, et siano mei o non mei fioli equalmente le predette mie casa e
possession A f Hippo veramente suo fio, el qual etiam se dice esser mio che non lo credo,
et sia mio o non mio per le mal sue opere, lassoli ducati vinticinque, e non piu de li mei beni,
aricordandoli si rimova da li vicij et compagnie et attenda a far ben ; Item lasso a li mei
nepoti fu fioli de Vettor et Alvise Scarpaza che furono mei fioli per la consanguinita ducati
quattro (Ibid S. N. Testamenti. Atti Gio. Giacomo de raspis. Busta 835, n. 172).
6 ) 1534, die 31 augusti -- Ser Paulus Vallaressus, ser Petrus Baduarius, ser Leonardus
Justinianus capita. Ser Gabriel Venerius, ser Dominicus Trivisanus, ser Petrus Maurocenus,
Advocatores. Quod iste Caspar Scarpaza ex consulto et decreto Serenissimi Principis, Con-
siliariorum et Capitum huius Consilij retentus, propter imputationem, quod cum exerceret
officium funditoris in cecha, aurum dolose et fraudolenter furatus fuerit, sicuti hoc consilium
ex ijs, que modo lecta fuere ; intellexit auctoritate huius consilij sit bene retentus, et per
collegium extraordinarium debeat examinari cum facultate, pro maiori parte, torquendi eum,
si de piano verum fateri noluerit, nee non retinendi, seu proclamari faciendi, et torquendi alios
complices, et cum ijs, quae habebuntur postea veniatur ad hoc consilium pro facienda iustitia.
De parte De non - o. Non sinceri - o. (Ibid. Consilio Dieci. Criminal. Registro, a. 1526-
1534, carte 168 tergo).
6 ) 1534, 28 septembris in Cons. X -- Si videtur volis per ea que dicta et lecta sunt
quod procedatur contra istum Gasparem Scarpaza collegiatum et confessum. De procedendo -
16 De non - o Non sinceri - o. Serenissimus Princeps, ser Federicus Rhenerius, ser
Pandulfus Maurocenus, ser Joannes Maurus Consiliarij Advocatores. Volunt quod iste Caspar
die veneris proximo, hora consueta ducatur inter duas columnas, ubi super uno pari furcarum
debeat laque suspendi per cannas gutturis, ita quod anima a corpore separetur : et quod pecunia,
aurum, iocalia, et argenta omnis generis reperta et inventariata ab ipso aquisita per latrocinium
malo modo, remaneat in cecha nostra. De parte - 7. Volunt quod sit confinatus ad standum
in carceri forti perpetuo clausus ubi vitam finire habeat, unde ulla si umquam tempore aufugerit,
et captas fuerit, debeat suspendi laqueo per cannas gutturi super uno pari furcarum inter duas
columnas, sic quod anima a corpore separetur, ut supra, et qui eum ceperit, ac presentaverit in
vires nostras, consequatur libras quinque parvorum. Et quod pecunia, aurum, iocalia, et argenta
omnis generis, que inventa inventariataque fuerunt, aquisita ab ipso Gaspare malo modo per
latrocinium ut supra, remaneant in cecha nostra : omnium vero aliorum eius bonorum fundus
non possit vendi nee alienari ullo modo, sed restet obligatus solution! talaa predicte, etiam si
foret pro maiori summa. Et hoc super scallis Rivoalti publicetur, excepto eo, quod dicitur de
pecuniis, auro et, alijs debentibus remanere in cecha. De parte - 9 Non sinceri - o. (Ibid.
Consilio Dieci. Criminal. Registro. a. 1526-1534, carte 171 tergo).
*) Per obedir ala parte noviter presa nelo Ex.mo Conseglio de Pregadi sotto di n Lhottubrio
1537 de dar in notta le sue intrade per tanto io Gasparo Scharpaza orese el qual e confinado
in la forte in vita sua per lo Ex.mo Consegio di X habitava nela contra de San Raffael dago
in notta la mia povera condicion a vui magnifici Signori X Savij sopra le decime et prima
(Ibid. Dieci Savii sopra le decime in Rialto. Estimo 1537. Busta 61, n. 23).
8 ) 1538, 23 octobris io Casparo Scarpaza quondam ser Santo detenuto et essendo
carcerato ne la prexon forte del palazo di San Marco de Venetia lasso la mia dona dona
madona et sola commessaria Item lasso a Hysabeta Lucia e Anzola mie fie ducati duxento
per chadauna de esse per el suo maridar El residue lasso a Zuan Maria et Alvixe
mei dilectissimi figlioli tra loro da esser egualmente diviso. Item lasso a Santo et Marco fioli
del quondam Vetor Scarpaza mio fratello ducato uno per chadaun de loro (Ibid.
S. N. Testamenti. Atti Glo. Batta Cigrigni. Busta 208. n. 83).
9 ) T S35) J 4 aprilis Emptio ser Gasparis Scharpazza aurificis quondam ser Sancti
(Ibid. S N. Atti Benzon Diotisalvi. Busta 355 bis, fascicolo II, carta 45.').
10 ) 1548, 2 septembris Commissio domine Agnesine relicte quondam ser Angeli Scarpaza.
In Christi nomine amen, die secundo septembris suprascripti, Hon." domina Angelica relicta
quondam ser Gasparis Scarpaza habitatrix in confinio sancti Angeli Raphaelis agens
(Ibid. S. N. Atti Benzon Diotisalvi. Registro 364, carta 241 t.).
n ) 1513, 21 marcij Domina Helisabeth relicta ser Aloysij Scarpaza pischatoris
(Ibid. Proprio. Mobili. Registro i, carta 189).
1S ) 1549, 29 Januarij Ommissio domine Angelicae relictae ser Gasparis Scarpazza
(Ibid. S. N. Atti Benzon Diotisalvi. Registro 365, carta 26').
23 8 APPENDIX TO CHAPTER II
6 & 7. MARINO AND MARCO SCARPAZZA
!) 147 1 adi 16 giugno in San Rafael. Ser Marin e ser Marcho Scharpazo e fradeli fa
investir a proprio un teren vachuo meso nel confin de San Rafael (Ibid. Quattro
Ministeriali. Stride e Chiamori. R. 48, carta 96).
2 ) 1481 adi 5 hottubrio in San Rafael Ser Mann Scharpazo per suo nome e chome
prochurador de Marcho suo fradello a venduto a messer Jacomo Lion un teren vachuo over
sauero in San Rafael
3\ Ac ji 4 zugno Fatto el cuito a ser Piero Scharpazo (pescador ?) come propmquo e llateran
(uncle or cousin) (Ibid. Quattro Ministeriali. Stride e Chiamori. R. 58, c. 131 t..)
4 ) 1525 4 marzo dona Paulla relicta ser Marcho Scarpaza fa investir le propneta
de San Rafael (Ibid. Quattro Ministeriali. Stride e Chiamori. R. 28, c. 185 t..) _
6 ) 1490 26 augusti Essendo nuovamente morto Marco Scharpaza Guardian dd Kastel
de lido '(Ibid. Notatorio. Collegio. Reg. 22. c. 20 tergo (perhaps from Mazzorbo).
ANOTHER LATERAL BRANCH
PIETRO SCARPAZZA, FISHERMAN (III)
!) 1481, 4 zugno. -- Fatto el cuito a ser Piero Scarpazo come proqinquo e llateran (uncle
or cousin of Marin Scarpazza) (Ibid. Quattro Ministeriali. Stride e Chiamori. Reg. 58, c. 131 t..)
2 ) 1491, 10 novembre Petrus Scarpaza piscator S. Raphaelis ucciso (Ibid. Signori di
Notte. Criminal. R. 15, c. 51 t..)
3 ) 1540, 17 dezembrio Dona Chiara fiola del quondam ser Piero Scarpaza (Ibid.
Quattro Ministeriali. Stride e Chiamori. R. 116, c. 75).
FRANCESCO SCARPAZZA, FISHERMAN (Brother of Pietro, Fisherman ?)
') 1478, 7 Julij Dona Stephanella uxor ser Francisci Scharpazo piscatoris de contrata
sancti Raphaelis - - (Ibid. S. N. Testamenti in Atti del Notaio Roveda Simone.
Busta 858, n. 78).
Ser Lazaro Scarpazopescador - - san Rafael mori adi 18 setembre 1484 (Ibid.
Scuola Grande di San Marco. Reg. Confratelli, n. 3).
1508, ii decembris -- Testam Stephanella relicta egregii viri ser Francisci Scarpazo. et
filia quondam ser loannis Ferro de confinio sancti Raphaelis (Cedule testamentarie chiuse.
Lettera S. a).
2 ) 1514, 28 settembrio Chondition de mi Stefanela Scharpaza relita de ser Francesco dago
in nota a lofizio vostro -(Ibid. Dieci Savi sopra le decime in Rialto. Condizion San
Rafael. Busta 38).
3 ) 1525, 18 decembris Ego Stephanella relicta quondam ser Francisci Scarpatio piscatoris
de confinio sancti Raphaelis esse volo meos fideicommissarios dominam Ludovicam filiam
meam relictam quondam Zaneti Rubei et Alovisium nepotem meum condam Andree filii met
Item dimitto Lazaro filio meo ducatos quatuor quod habere debet virtute instrumenti
rogati per presbiterum Antonium Spiti inter quondam Laurentium olim filium meum et ipsum
Lazarum. Item dimitto Anzille nepti mee quondam Laurentij tantam sarziam pro una vestitura.
Item dimitto Angele nepti mee filie quondam Joannis totidem sarzie pro altera vestitura Item
dimitto Mariette filie mee ducatum unum (Ibid. S. N. Testamenti. Atti. Antonio
Marsilio. Busta 1214, n. 972).
4 ) '5341 primo octubrio Fede fazo io Zuan Piero Bendo come dona Stefanela Scharpaza e
morta zercha ani octo. (Ibid. Miscellanea Ricevute. Testamenti restituiti. B. n. 62).
B ) J 499> 9 Aprilis -- Domina Marieta filia ser Francisci Scarpazo et uxor desponsata ser
Nicolai Zancharolo piscatoris de confinio sancti Nicolai (Ibid. Miscellanea Pergamene.
Santa Maria Valverde. Busta 21).
) T S33i r 9 marzo Spexa fatta per Lazaro Scarpaza a san Nicolo et fo sopultto a Sancta
Croce nela nostra archa n. 14... L. io - 6. (Ibid. Scuola Grande di San Marco. Busta n.
220. Sepulture).
7 ) '4951 l8 Januarij -- Ser Baldassar Trivisanus, ser Leonardus Grimanus et ser Paulus
Pisanus eques Advocatores Comunis in XL. ta - - Joannes et Laurentius Scarpaza fratres filii
Francisci Scarpaza piscatoris de contrata sancti Nicolai, contrabannerii, qui hoc anno ex navi
Syrie, patrono Dominico Blanche ultrascripto ellevarunt contrabannum (Ibid. Avogaria
del Comun. Raspe. Registro 18, carta 77 tergo).
8 ) 1 5 2 3, 29 octobris Ego Laurentius Scarpaza filius quondam ser Francisci de confinio
APPENDIX TO CHAPTER II 239
sancti Raphaelis volo meos fidei commissaries imprimis dominam Stephanellam matrem
meam, dominam Ursam uxorem meam Item dimitto Aloysio nepoti meo filio condam Andree
fratris mei barcham meam volo quod debeant amba vel restans gubernare filias meas videlicet
Ancillam sopranam et Juliam - - (Ibid. S. N. Testament!. Atti di Bartolomeo Grigis.
Busta 1 2 10. n. 57 5).
9 ) 1524, 15 Julij Spectabiles et generosi domini judices proprii ad nomen domine
Ursule relicte ser Laurentij Scarpaza quondam ser Francisci que quidem vadimonii carta est de
ducatis centum et triginta uno et una domo in confinio sancti Nicolai in duobus petiis de
campis undecim pro indiviso cum ser Alberto Scarpaza Item medietatem unius petie terre
campi unius cum dimidio existentis pro indiviso inter quondam ser Laurentium suprascriptum et
Lazarum Scarpaza eius fratrem (Ibid. Proprio. Foris. Registro 4, carta 71).
1524, 18 Junij Placeat spectabili viro ad jnstantiam domine Ursule relicte domini Laurentij
Scarpaza intendentis tibi persolvi facere de sua dote (Ibid. Proprio. Lettere.
Registro 4, carta 12).
(Separately we find) :
1503, 19 junij Nicolo Scarpaza (Ibid. Signori di Notte al Civil. Bolle e Terminazioni.
B. a 120, R. a i, c. 45 t.).
1517 Ritrovandomi exule io Nicolo Scarpaza da la patria mia gia anni cinque
(Ibid. Quarantia Criminale Fide. Sopraconsoli del Mercanti, B. a 151. R. i, c. 56).
VlTTORE SCARPAZZA (II), PAINTER
J ) 1472, 21 septembris Ego frater Ilarius Scarpaza filius ser Victoris civis et habitator
Venetiis omnia dicta bona per venire debeant in dictos Ilarionem et J-eronimum
nepotes meos et Victorem filium dicti fratris mei Petri Scharpaza varotarii equaliter (Ibid.
S. N. Zamberti Ludovico, B. a 1067, n. 66).
2 ) 1486, 8 avosto per sacho ditto a fitti in monte conttadi da ser Piero Scharpaza per parte
de fitto ducati XIII portoli Vetor suo fiol val. L. i - S vi -(Ibid. Procuratia de Supra.
Libro di Cassa per Chiesa. R. i).
3 ) T 5 o i> 3 1 marzo Mandate magnificorum dominorum capitum Consilij X, vobis Magnifico
domino Jacobo de Canali Provisori Salis ad capsam dicimus et ordinamus, che vui dobie dar et
numerar a Vetor Scarpaza (Vettore Carpaccio) ducati vinti a bon conto acio che lui possa far le
spese necessarie ala pictura la qual lui fa per metier in la salla de Pregadi. Insuper dateli onze
quatro oltramarin per essa pictura.
Datum 31 mensis martii 1501.
Johanes Zantani "1
Nicolaus de Priolis et Capita Excellentissimi Consilii decem.
Paulus Pisanus
(Vol. 4, Collegio Provveditori al Sal, 1482-1514, carta 140 verso).
4 ) 1501, 26 Agosto Mandate magnificorum dominorum Capitum Excelsi Consilij X, dent
et numerent domini Provisores Salis magistro Victori Scarpatio pictori ad bonum computum pro
tellario quod pingit pro Sala Consilij Rogatorum ducatos X ex pecuniis deputatis fabricis Pallatii.
Datum die XXVI mensis Augusti MCCCCCI.
Laurentius Contaremo Caput Consilij X subscripsi.
Paulus Antonius Emilianus Cap. Cons. X subscripsi.
Nicolaus de Priolis Cap. Cons. X subscripsi.
Zacharias Frisius Secretarius mandato subscripsi.
(Notatorio 2 del Magistrate al Sal 1491-1529, carta 47 verso.
s ) 1501, 4 octobris Mandato magnificorum dominorum capitum Excellentissimi Consilij X
dent et numerent Domini Provisores Salis magistro Victori Scarpatio pictori ad bonum computum
pro telaro quod pingit pro Sala Consilij rogatorum ducatos decem, ex pecuniis deputatis fabricis
palacij.
Data die XXVI mensis augusti 1501.
Laurentius Contareno Caput Consilij X.
Paulus Antonius Emilianus Caput Consilij X.
Nicolaus de Priolis Caput Consilij X.
Zacharias Frisceus Secretarius.
(Archivio di Stato. Provveditori al Sal. Registro n. 5, carta 47 ').
6 ) 1502, 18 Augusti Prudens fidelis civis noster Victor Scarpatius pictor solertissimus : qui
est ille, qui de mandato tune capitum huius consilij pinxit telarium novissime locatum e positum
in frontispitio sale consilij rogatorum omni, die frequentat audientiam capitum huius consilij
postulans mercedem suam ; et conveniat honori et justitie domini j nostri providere satisfationi sue
eapropter Vadit pars : quod eidem Victori, qui hoctenus habuit ducatos triginta ad bonum
24 o APPENDIX TO CHAPTER II
computum tarn nomine expensarum quod mercedis predicte dari sibi etiam per officium nostrum
salis debeant et mandentur ducati viginti pro Integra et completa satisfactione mercedis et
expensarum predictarum, sic quod in totum venial habere ducatos quinquaginta computato omni
eo, quod propter hoc habuisset ab officiis ostris. De parte . . . 16 De non . . . o Non sinceri
. . . o (Ibid. Consiglio dei Dieci. Misti. Registro n. 29. carta 98).
7 ) 1507, 28 Septembris Essendo di non picol ornamento de la Salla nostra de gran Conseglio
de ultimar tandem li tre quadri principiati de pictura, videlicet quello del quondam Alvise Vivarin
et li altri do restano, uno de i qual non e anchor principiato : siche poi compir si possi el resto
di dicta Salla, che non resti piui impedita, come fin hora e stata ; et che una volta tuta dicta sala
finita et expedita sia come si convien al ornamento di quella juxta li aricordi di Provededori nostri
del Sal. Havendosi etiam per questo offerto el fidelissimo citadin nostro Zuan Bellin, per la
obbligation lui ha, de usar ogni solecita diligentia cum la solertia sua de imponer fin a simel
opera de li prefati tre quadri, dummodo habia in adijuto suo li infrascripti nominati pictori : pero
Landera parte, che apresso la persona del predicto Zuan Bellin, el qual havera cura de tali
opera el sia azonto maistro Vector dicto Scarpaza cum salario de ducati 5 al mese, maistro Vector
quondam Mathio cum ducati 4 al mese, et Hieronimo depentor cum ducati do al mese i qual
siano diligenti e soleciti in adiuto dil predicto ser Zuan Bellin, in depenzer di predicti quadri :
siche ben et diligentemente cum quella piu presteza di tempo possibel siano compiti. I salarij di
qual tre maistri pictori soprascripti cum le spese di colori et altro occorrera, pagar si debano di
danari de la casa granda per loffitio nostro di Sal. Hoc per expressum declarato, quod dicti
pictores provisionati teneatur et obbligati sint laborare de continue et omni die, ut dicti tres
quadri quantum celerrime perficiantur et sint ipsi provisionati at beneplacitum huius Consilij. De
parte ... 23 De non ... 3 -- Non sinceri . . . o -- (Ibid. Consiglio dei Dieci. Misti, R.
31, carta 154 verso; e vol. 4, Collegio Provveditori al Sal, 1482-1514. carta 183 verso).
8 ) 1507 (8), 7 febbraio El fo fatto lallezion de dar el nostro penello al piuj sufizientte
depenttor che fosse nela terra dove el se mese alia prova i sottoscritti ; Ser Benetto Diana
de sj balotte n. 8 de no n. 4 Ser Vettor Scarpaza de sj balotte n. 6 de no n. 6 Adj 13
frever fo fatto linstromento. (Ibid. Scuola Grande di S. Maria della Carita. Notatorio 253).
9 ) 1508, ii Decembre ser Lazaro Bastian, ser Vettor Scarpaza, e ser Vettor de Mathio per
nominati da ser Zuan Bellin depentori, constituidi alia presentia di Magnifici Signori messer
Caroso de cha da Pesaro, messer Zuan Zentani, messer Marin Gritti et messer Alvise Sanudo,
dignissimi proveditori al Sal, come deputati electi di pintori a vedere quello pol valer la pictura
facta sopra la faza davanti del fontego di Todeschi facta per maistro Zorzi da Castel francho ; et
zurati d'achordo dixeno a juditio. A parer suo meritar el ditto maestro per dicta pictura ducati
cento et cinquanta in tutto. Die dicta. Col consenso del prefato maistro Zorzi gli furono dati
ducati 130 . (Ibid. Magistrate al Sal. Notatorio. R. 6, carta 95).
10 ) Al Marchese di Mantova Francesco Gonzaga, Illmo Segnor mio : ne li passati giorni fu
uno ad me incognito guidato da alcuni per veder uno Jerusalem il qual io ho facto. Unde subito
da lui veduto con somma instantia procurava io gel volesse vender, imperhoche el cognosceva
esser cossa de gran contento et satisfatione. Finalmente concluso il mercato cum il dar de la
fede mai piu e comparso. Io mo per dechiarirme de tal cossa adimandai quelli Io guidorno ; fra
li quali era uno prete barbuto vestito de griso beretino, il qual assai volte 1' ho veduto cum la S. V.
in salla grande del Consiglio; et adimandai il nome di quel tale et conditione : me dissero esser
maistro Laurentio pictor de la S. V. Per il che ho facilmente compreso dove costui voleva reuscir,
et per home e parso driciar la presente ad Vostra Sublimita per dargli notitia si del nome mio,
come anche de la opera. Primo Signer mio Illustre io son quello pictor della nostra Ill. ma Signoria
conducto per depingere in la salla granda, dove la Sig. a V." se digno ascender sopra il sollaro
ad vedere la opera nostra che era la historia de Ancona. Et il nome mio e dicto Victor Carpatio.
Circa il Jerusalem me prendo ardir che agli tempi nostri non ne sia uno altro simile, si de bonta,
et integra perfection come anche de grandeza. La longeza de la opera e de piedi 25, la largeza e
de piedi 5*^ cum tute le misure se ricercano in tal cossa. De la qual opera Zuane Zamberti so ne
ha parlato alia Subl. ta V. a Ben e vero che so certissimamente il prefato pictor vostro ne ha portato
uno pezo non integro et in forma pichola il qual ho veduto come il sta. Credo, immo son certissimo,
el non sara ad satisfation de la S. V., imperoche de le vinti parte non sono le do. Se il nostro fusse
de contento de la S. V. facendolo prima ad veder per homini de iudicio faciami una minima fede
el sara a li comandi de la S. V. La forma de la opera et de aquarella sopra la tella, et se potria
voltar sopra un ruotolo sencia detrimento alcuno. Se anche el ve piacera el sia fatto de colori alia
S. V. stara ad comandar et a me cum summo studio exequir. Del precio non dico imperoche il
rimetto alia S. V. alia qual humillamente me ricomando. Die XX August! MDXI Venetijs.
La. copia de questo ho mandate per altra via acio habia recapito. De V. Sublimita humillimo
bervitor Victor Carpathio pictor. (Archivio Gonzaga, Mantova. E. XLV. Carteggio di Venezia).
) IS^S. 5 septembris Ego Maria filia domini Ambroxij Contareno de confinio ad presens
i Mauntij Venetiarum Io Veor Carpazio pictor fuit testimonio pregato e zurado. Jo
APPENDIX TO CHAPTER II 241
Jeronymo Bidelli quondam ser Filippo alias sopramaser de biscotti a Corfu fui testimonio pregado
et zurado (Ibid. S. N. Testamenti. Atti del Nob. Alvise Zorzi. B. 1078. N. 81).
I3 ) I523/ ultimo aprilis Ego Marieta uxor Dominici de Canali de confinio sancti
Mauritij commissaries et huius testamenti executores instituo et esse volo ser Victorem
scharpatium pictorem (Ibid. S. N. Notaio Priulis (de) Zaccaria. Busta 777. Testamento 331).
13 ) J 5 2 3> 3 novembrio per il Reverendissimo messer Antonio Contarini ditto contadi per
resto de la pala de legno due. uno e per cuntadi a maistro Vetor Scharpaza per aver depento
la ditta pala ducati 52 in piui fiade, computta uno teler de la Nativita del Signor a due. 53.
(Mensa Patriarcale. Busta 67. Eeg. III. carta 31).
M ) 1527, 23 Martij Cum sit quod domina Laura relicta magistri Victoris Scarpatii pictoris
sit debitrix domini Hieronymi Bassadelli quondam domini Symonis de ducatis duodecim auri
cum dimidio, pro resto ducatorum viginti premissorum per eum ipsi domino Hieronymo pro
extrahendo de casono ser Zaneti Dandulo ser Vincentium Cauchum marinarium tune detentum
in dicto casono ut constat instrumento ipsius promissionis manu ser Bartholomei de Pcdretis
notarij publici sul die 28 octobris 1525, et volens dicta domina Laura ponere finem litibus
et expensis cum ser Marco Antonio uti procurator! dicti ser Hieronymi Bassatelli patris sui
prout constat instrumento procuratorio ad exigendum, componendum ed pacificendum et alia
faciendum prout constat instrumento procuratio manu dicti ser Bartholomei de Pedretis notarii
publici sui die XXII februarij proxime decursi a me notario viso et lecto (Archivio di
Stato. Sezione Notarile Atti di Notaio Gio. Maria de Cavagnis. Reg. 3345. carta 333.*).
PlETRO SCARPAZZA, PAINTER
1 ) Termini pro die lune XX mensis februarii 1513 (4).
ser Nicolaus a Sole testes (?) pro die prima juris
ser Petro Scarpaza pictori quadragesimo.
ser Petrus Scarpaza testes (?) pro die prima juris
ser Nicolao a Sole quadragesimo.
MDXIIII Termini diei secundi marcii.
(Omitted).
ser Nicolaus a Sole,
ser Petro Scarpaza.
ser Petrus Scarpaza.
ser Nicolao a Sole.
Ibid. Podesta di Murano. Aless. Michiel. 1513-1515. Liber I, Civilium).
BENEDETTO SCARPAZA, PAINTER
2 ) 1530, 10 septembris Ego Maria filia quondam domini Francisci de Luce, et relicta
quondam domini Francisci de cha Massario civis Venetiarum impresentia habitantrix in contracta
sanctai Marinae T.' 8 lo benedeto carpaco fo de miser vetor testemonio pregado et
zurado -- (Ibid. S. N. Nodaro Branco Avidio. Busta n. 43. Protocollo carta 56 tergo
a 59).
3 ) 1530, 23 septembris Ego Maria relicta quondam domini Francisci de cha Massario
T. ta lo benedeto carpaco fo de miser vetor testemonio pregado et zurado (Ibid. S. N. Nodaro
Branco Avidio. Busta 43. Protocollo, carta 59).
4 ) I 533. 8 J UU J Constitutus personaliter in officio ser Benedictus Scarpatia pictor uti
unus ex commissis substitutis contrascriptae Dominoe Marinae de Canali prout de substitutione
patet instrumento publico sub signo et nomine ser loannis Mariae de Cavaneis publici notarij
sub die 17 februarij 1529. dicto nomine voluntarie se removere a contrascripta nota interdict!
facti sub die 3 instantis cum reservatione jurium suorum reformandi dictum interdictum in meliori
forma (Ibid. Giudici del Proprio. Sentenze a Interdetti. Reg. ir, carta 164).
1542, i martij Considerando io Catherina fia del quondam messer Antonio di Martini
et consorte de messer Nicolo Sonica nodaro all'officio de signori syndici habitante qui a Venetia
in contra de San Felise Commissarij et executori de questo testamento voglio sia ser
Beneto Scarpazza mio cuxin (Ibid. S, N, Testamenti Not." Calvi Angelo. Busta
306, Testamento 72).
INDEX
Adoration of the Magi, The, by Carpaccio, 199
Algarotti, Fancesco, 72
Aliense, 122
Anderson, J. R., 121, 122
Angelico (Beato): Annunciation, The, attributed
to, 1 66 ; comparison with Carpaccio, 208,
209 ; Marriage of the Virgin, The, 174
Antonello, 146
Arezzo, Michele di, 60
Arrigoni, Onorato, 75
Arzentin, Francesco, 104
Bailo, Luigi, 83
Balanzano, Nicolao, 67
Baldassini, Giuseppe, 194
Barbaris, Jacopo de : S. Maurizio Church, plan
of, 144, 148 ; " Scuola degli Schiavoni," plan
of, 1 1 6, 124 ; Scuola of S. Ursula, plan of,
68-70, 86
Barbaro, Ermolao : Genealogical MS., 76, 106,
1 08 ; sketch of life, 103
Basaiti, Marco : comparison with Carpaccio,
208 ; Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane,
205, 206; S. Stephen, cycle of paintings
attributed to, 183
Bastiani, Alvise : paintings attributed to, 14;
sketch of life, 6
Bastiani, Cristoforo : burial, 6 ; paintings attri-
buted to, 14
Bastiani, Giacomo, 5
Bastiani, Jacopo, 9
Bastiani, Lazzaro : birth, 9 ; comparison with
Carpaccio, 126, 176 ; death, 9 ; education
in art, 5 ; Fanti's Triompho di Fortuna, 8 ;
Giorgione's paintings at Fondaco dei
Tedeschi, 27 ; pictures, description of, 7,
8, 9-15, 35, 40, 50, 190; portraits of by
Carpaccio, alleged, 89 ; pupil, Carpaccio, i,
22, 40, 41, 44
Bastiani, Marco : sketch of life, 5-7, 9 ; stan-
dards, painting of, 59
Bastiani, Polo, sketch of life, 6, 9
Bastiani, Sebastiano, 9
Bastiani, Simone : paintings attributed to, 14 ;
sketch of life, 5, 9
Bastiani, Vincenzo, 9
Bastiani, Zuane, 9
Bavarini, Alvise, 38
Bellini, Gentile : anachronism in costume
painting, 37 ; Bastiani's pictures attributed
to, n; comparison with Carpaccio, 36, 42,
44 ; Eastern tour, 38, 39 ; medal of, struck
by Camelio, 30 ; pictures, description of,
7, 8, 27, 42, 43, 44, 190
Bellini, Giovanni : comparison with Carpaccio,
37, 208, 220 ; Mantcgna's influence, 2 ;
medal of, struck by Camelio, 30 ; pictures,
description of, 7, 27, 42, 43. 44, 110, 195,
196, 204, 206, 221, 222 ; portrait of, alleged,
89; pupil, F. Bissolo, 183; tomb, 74
Bellini, Jacopo : comparison with Bastiani, 40 ;
pictures, description of, 2, 3-5, ~, 44, 166,
167
Belliniano, Vettor, 193
Bello, Jacopo, 41
Bello, Marco, 42
Benson Collection, 169
Bergamo, Moro da, 55
Berlin Gallery : Bellini, G., Resurrection, 2 ;
Carpaccio, Ordination of the Seven Deacons,
The, 182 ; Madonna and Child with Saints,
219, 221
Bewick, 210
Bissolo, Francesco : Carpaccio's pictures attri-
buted to, 50, 183, 201 ; Coronation of
S. Catherine of Siena, The 183 ; Giambellino,
follower of, 42
Boccati, Giovanni, 94
Bode, Dr. W., 218
Boito, Camillo, 53
Bon, Bartolommeo, 55
Bonfadino, 7
243
244
INDEX
Bordone, Paris, 209
Boschini, Marco : Bello, J., paintings by, 41 ;
Carpaccio's pictures, description of, 120,
181, 183, 184, 194, 195, 196, 204, 206, 211 ;
Diana, B., Madonna between two Noble
Venetians, 41 ; SS. Andrew, Jerome and
Martin, authorship, 184; spelling of name
Carpaccio, 29
Bossi, Giuseppe : art collection, 182 ; Carpaccio's
altarpiece in S. Pietro, Murano, 204
Braun, Giorgio, 217
Brera Gallery : Bastiani, L., The Obsequies, 10 ;
Bellini, J., Pieta, 2 ; Carpaccio, Dis-
pute with the Doctors, The, 186, Life of
the Virgin, 158, 159, 177, S. Stephen, 182
Breydenbach: inspiration from books, 39, 105,
134
British Museum : Bastiani, L., portrait of by
Carpaccio, 89 ; Bellini, Gentile, drawings
by, 43 ; Carpaccio, The Harbour of A ncona,
39. 96
Brocklebank, Thomas, 223
Brunet, 80
Buora, Giovanni : S. Giobbe, adornment of,
204 ; Scuola of S. Marco, 5 5
Burial of Christ, The, by Carpaccio, 218
Butler, 136
Cagnola Collection, Milan, 3
Call of S. Matthew, The, by Carpaccio, 117, 122
Camclio, Vittore, 30
Camozio, 217
Candiano, 144
Capellari, 75
Carpaccio, Antonio, 19
Carpaccio, Bartolomeo, 17
Carpaccio, Benedetto : birth, 17, 21, 22; com-
pletion of father's pictures, 217, 222;
Giambellino, follower of, 42 ; pictures,
description of, 25, 169, 221-2; signature
on paintings, 20, 29 ; Venice, life in, 24
Carpaccio, Benvenuto, 18
Carpaccio, Francesco, 18
Carpaccio, Giovanni, 19
Carpaccio, Maffeo, 18
Carpaccio, Marco, 19
Carpaccio, Marino, 19
Carpaccio, Pietro (father of painter), sketch of
life, 19-20
Carpaccio, Pietro (son of painter) : Giambellino,
follower of, 42 ; records of, 20, 24, 25, 26 ;
WOrkS, 220, 222
Carpaccio, Raffaele, 18
Carpaccio, Sante, 19
Carpaccio, Vittore (cousin of painter), 20
Carrara Academy : Virgin with her Babe, by
G. Bellini, 222
Carrer, Luigi, 53
Catena, Vincenzo : Giambellino, follower of,
42 ; pictures, description of, 121, 183, 185,
221
Caterino, 167
Cavalcaselle : Bastiani, L., paintings, 5, 12, 13 ;
Burial of Christ, The, authorship, 219;
Carpaccio, portrait of himself, alleged, 30,
Patriarch of Grado, The, 189, S. George
baptizing the Gentiles, date, 118 ; Carpaccio,
B., completion of father's pictures, 217;
Diana, B., Madonna between two Noble
Venetians, 41 ; S. John the Baptist, etc.,
authorship, 193 ; S. Stephen, triptych,
authorship, 183 ; 5. Ursula frescoes, 83
Chapman Collection, 167
Chatsworth Collection, 197
Christ and Four of His Apostles, by Carpaccio,
223
Christ in the Garden, by Carpaccio, 117, 120,
122-4, 2I 3
Christ with the Instruments of His Passion, by
Carpaccio, 26, 202
Cicogna : Calza Company device, 98 ; Ortolan!
Company badge, 95 ; Sant Alvise, Venice,
series of pictures, 13 ; Sanudo family
history, 205
Circumcision, The, by Carpaccio, 199
Cittadella, 7
Colvin, Sidney : Carpaccio's sketch in Chats-
worth Collection, 197 ; comparison between
Carpaccio and Reuvich, 38, 96
Conegliano, Cima di : Madonna, by L. Bastiani,
forged signature, 12 ; pictures, transport
of, 23 ; Presentation of the Virgin, 173
Contarini, Alvise, 46
Corsi Ramos, Girolama, 45
Cortese, Giuseppe, 68
Crico, 193
Cristofoli, 1 30
Cronico, 48
Crucifixion, The, by Carpaccio, 188, 214
Dante, 187
Death of the Virgin, The, by Carpaccio, 177, 200,
219
De Castro, 21
De Francheschi, 21
De Hooghe, 210
Departure of the Betrothed Pair, The, by Car-
paccio, 200
Destre (dalle) Vincenzo, 42
Devonshire, Duke of : Chatsworth Collection,
96, 100
Diana, Benedetto : Giambellino, follower of,
42 ; influence of Carpaccio, 223 ; Life of
the Virgin, by Carpaccio attributed to, 177 ;
paintings, description of, 8, 27, 40-2, 158,
190 ; school of painting, 2
INDEX
245
Diedo, Antonio, 145
Donatello : Gattamelata, 186 ; school of paint-
ing, 2
Donato, Alvise : Crucifixion, The, 1 34 ;
Reuvich's drawings, 39
Dossi, Dosso, 8
Dresden Gallery Presentation in the Temple,
by Cima da Conegliano, 173
Duke of Ferrara welcomed on the Piazzetta, The,
attributed to Carpaccio, 15, 35
Diirer, Albrecht : comparison with Carpaccio,
203 ; new art in Venice, 51 ; paintings of
S. Jerome, 131
Dusi, Cosroe, 216
Edwards, Peter ; Bastiani, Virgin with the
Beautiful Eyes, 12 ; Carpaccio, Christ with
the Symbols of His Passion . . . etc.,
202, Life of the Virgin, 157, 158, 159,
177, S. Stephen, cycle of paintings, 181,
183
Fabriano, Gentile da : Life of the Virgin, cycle
of paintings attributed to, 166 ; pupil,
Jacopo Nerito, 12 : school of painting, 2
Falconetto, Giovan Maria, 171
Fanti, Sigismondo, 8
Favretto, Giacomo, 191
Federici, 30
Fiore, Jacobello del, 3
Francia, 8
Frankfort Museum : Bellini's drawings, 43
Fredi, Bartolo di, 174
Frimmel, Teodor Von, 159
Frizzoni, Gustavo; Carpaccio's paintings, 25,
197, 214
Gaddi, Taddeo, 174
Galleria Lochis, Bergamo : Birth of the Virgin,
The, by Carpaccio, 159; Madonna, by J
Bellini, 3
Galvani, 99
Gathorne Hardy Collection, no, 206
Ghirlandajo, Domenico, 174
Giambellino. See Bellini, Giovanni
Giambono, Michele : influence on Bastiani's
school, 2 ; Life of the Madonna, cycle of
paintings, 167
Giblet, Enrico, 76
Giorgione, Zorzi di Castelfranco : comparison
with Carpaccio, 37, 210, 223 ; Fondaco
dei Tedeschi, facade paintings, 8, 27 ;
style, 51
Giotto : comparison with Carpaccio, 174 ;
frescoes of the Virgin in Chapel of Scorvegni,
1 66
Giovanni, Vittore di, 31
Girolamo, 192
Giustiniani Gallery, 30
Grevembroch : Gli inabiti Veneziani,
Scuola of S. Stephen, drawing of, 181
Grimaldi, Lazzaro, of Reggio, 7
93
Healing of one Possessed, The, by Carpaccio, 59
Heseltine Collection : Carpaccio's sketches, 213,
214
Holy Family, by Carpaccio, 202, 203, 219
Hooch, Peter de, 171
Imperial Museum, Vienna : Christ with the
Symbols of His Passion, by Carpaccio, 202
Jerusalem, by Carpaccio, 28
Kaufmann Collection, Berlin : Grimaldi's paint-
ings, 7
Klosterneuberg Gallery: Annunciation, by L.
Bastiani, 12
Landseer, 210
Lanzi, Luigi : information re Carpaccio ; com-
parison with Basaiti and Giambellino, 208 ;
family origin, 16 ; portrait of, alleged, 30
Lauro Padovano, 195
Layard Collection, Venice: Adoration of the
Magi, unsigned, 44 ; Bellini, G., Mahomet
II., 43 ; Carpaccio, Departure of the Be-
trothed Pair, The, 101, 200
Leonardo da Vinci : Last Supper, 90 ; pictures
attributed to, 123
Leonbruno, Lorenzo, 28
Licini : Carpaccio's altarpicce in S. Pietro,
Murano, ordered by, 50 ; family history,
203
Life of S. John the Baptist, The, by Carpaccio,
195
Life of the Virgin, cycle of paintings by Car-
paccio, 149, 156, 157, 158, 159, 165, 168-
177. 185
Lion of S. Mark, The, by Carpaccio, 118, 215
Lippi, Filippo, 208
Logan, Mary: Bastiani's paintings, n, 12, 14
Lombardo, Pietro : S. Giobbe, adornment of,
204 ; Scuole of S. Marco, 5 5
Longhi, 52
Loredan : Arms, 66, 152; history of family,
75-8 ; portraits in Carpaccio's paintings,
86-9, 96, 108, 109, 1 10 ; Scutari, siege of,
143; tombs, 73, 74, 75, 106
Lotto, Lorenzo, 42
Louvre : Bellini, G., drawings by alleged, 43 ;
Bellini, J., Madonna, 3 ; Carpaccio, Holy
Family, 202, Madonna and Child, The, 197,
Preaching to the People, The, 1 82 ; Fabriano,
G. da, Life of the Virgin, attributed to,
166-7
246
INDEX
Luciani, 21
Luciani, Marco Antonio : Bellini's tomb, 74,
75 ; Loredan tombs, 75
Madonna and Child, The, sketch by Carpaccio,
197, 218, 219, 221
Maggiotto, Domenico, 157
Maggiotto, Francesco, 157
Malermi, 165
Malipiero : Annals, 103; Duke of Ferrara,
Reception at Venice, 35
Manerbi, Nicolao, So
Mansueti, Giovanni : comparison with Car-
paccio, 40, 41, 223 ; Giambellino, follower
of, 42 ; portrait by, attributed to Car-
paccio, 45 ; school of painting, 2 ; Scuola
di S. Giovanni, paintings for, 190
Mantegna : Bastiani, L., alleged pupil, 5 ;
comparison with Carpaccio, 37 ; Fanti's
Triompho di Fortima, 8 ; influence of, 2 ;
pictures attributed to, 194, 219
Marconi, Rocco, 42
Martinelli, 195
Martinioni : Carpaccio, spelling of name, 29 ;
oratory of S. Ursula rebuilt, 67 ; S. Vitale
on horseback, by Carpaccio, 211
Mary with her Child and two small angels. . . etc.,
by Carpaccio, 194
Marziale, 42
Mas-Latric, 76
l\Iassacre of the Innocents, The, attributed to
Carpaccio, 217
Mattio, Vcttor di, 27
Meeting of SS. Joachim and Anna, by Car-
paccio, 23, 84, 161, 212, 222
Meldola, Antonio, 1 54
Memling : comparison with Carpaccio, 105,
107 ; S. Ursula, paintings of, 82 ; study
of, by Carpaccio, 36
Mengardi, G. B. ; Catalogue of best pictures
in Venice, 156; Life of the Virgin, cycle
of paintings by Carpaccio, 168
Messina, Antoncllo da, 49
Michelangelo, 83
Michiel, Nicolo, 104
Michieli, Andrea, 46-8
Milanesi, 29
Milano, Francesco da, 194
Milano, Giovanni da, 174
Mocetto, 57
Modena, Tommaso da, 83
Morelli, Giovanni : Christ at Emmaus, author-
ship, 41 ; Delilah. . . . sleeping Samson,
authorship, 193 ; S. Stephen, triptych
authorship, 183 ; " Sketch-book of
Raphael," 182
Moschini : Carpaccio's paintings, description of,
196,204; San Canciano Collection, 182
Murano, Quiricio da, 167
Museo Civico, Venice : Bastiani, L., pictures
by, 12, 13, 15, 40 ; Carpaccio, Death of the
Virgin, The, 177, Two Courtezans, The,
210, Visitation, The, 159, 177 ; Caterino,
Circumcision, The, 167 ; Vivarini, B.,
Doges' portraits assigned to, 43
National Gallery : Bastiani, L., painting by,
10 ; Bellini, J., Agony in the Garden, 2,
Fra Teodora da Urbino, 43
Nativity of Christ, by Carpaccio, 5 1
Nelli, Ottaviano, 174
Nerito, Jacopo, 12
Oddi, Giovanni degli, 217
Our Lord on the Cross, by Carpaccio, 195
Palma, the younger, 122
Paoletti, Pietro : description of Carpaccio's
paintings, 72, 223
Pasqualin of Venice, 173
Patriarch of Grado, Francesco Quirini. . . etc.,
The, by Carpaccio, 189-91
Pensabcn, Marco, 78
Pcrreau, Claude, 205
Perugino : comparison with Carpaccio, 35, 208
Pcsth Museum, 43
Pian, de : engravings of Carpaccio's pictures,
72, 90
Piccolpasso, Cipriano, 170
Pinturicchio : comparison with Carpaccio, 35 ;
drawings erroneously assigned to, 43 :
portrait of Alexander VI., 103 ; sketches
in Raphael's sketch-book, 182
Pirgotelc, 152
Pisanello, 2
Pordenone, G., Antonio da : Bastiani's S.
Anthony of Padua, adornment of an-
tependium, 10 ; Carpaccio's pictures burnt
by, 195 ; Doge's Palace paintings, 27
Portese, Agostino da, 8
Presentation in the Temple, The, by Carpaccio,
172, 199, 205, 208, 217
Previtali, 42
Procession of Penitents, by Carpaccio, 194,
213
Quirini, A. M., 103
Raphael : comparison with Carpaccio, 50, 210 ;
Fanti's Triompho di Fortuna, 8 ; sketch-
book, 182
Reception of the Ambassadors by the Father of
S, Orsola, by Carpaccio, 36
Reuvich : sketches copied by Carpaccio, 39,
96, 134, 176, 185-7
Ridolfi, Carlo : Bastiani's portraits, description,
INDEX
8 ; Bellini, J., description, of paintings, 3 ; Sasso, Giovanni Maria, 17
Carpaccio, family origin, 16, 18, 29, 30, Scalamanzo, Leonardo, 6
247
S. Ursula cycle of paintings, 85, 101
Rimini, Lattanzio da, 23
Roberti, Ercole, 123
Robinson, Sir Charles, 191
Rosalba, 52
Rossi Gallery, Venice, 7
Rossi, Vittorio, 45, 48
Royal Gallery, Stuttgart, 15
Royal Library, Windsor : Presentation in the
Temple, The, by Carpaccio, 172
Ruskin, John : Carpaccio, Presentation of the
Infant Jesus . . . etc., 208, S. Ursula's
Dream, 100, Scuola degli Schiavoni paint-
ings, I2O-2, 125, 126, 135, 136, 140, T-WO
Courtezans, The, 210; Doges' Palace
Column Capitals, 99 ; Sant' Alvise, Venice,
authorship of pictures, 13
S. George, cycle of paintings by Carpaccio,
118, 120-2, 133-6, 176, 196, 219
S. George killing the Dragon, by Carpaccio, 200
Saint in the Habit of a Knight, A , by Carpaccio,
195
S. Jerome, cycle of paintings by Carpaccio,
62, 70, Il6, 120, 122, 124-33, I7S. 176, 177-
203
S. Nicholas, by Carpaccio, 183, 184
S. Paul, by Carpaccio, 23, 50, 220
5. Stephen, cycle of paintings by Carpaccio,
40, 176, 181-8, 219
S. Thomas Aquinas by Carpaccio, 181, 182, 184
S. Tryphonius, cycle of paintings by Carpaccio,
Il8, 119, 122, 136, 138, 140
S. Ursula, cycle of paintings by Carpaccio,
39, 40, 45, 50, 52, 64, 67, 68, 70-3, 82,
84-IIO, 185, 2OO, 201
S. Vitale on horseback, by Carpaccio, 2 1 1
SS. Caterina and Veneranda, by Carpaccio, 201
SS. Christopher, Peter Martyr, Paul, Sebastian,
and Roch, by Carpaccio, 196
SS. Peter and Paul, by Carpaccio, 196
Salo, Pietro di, 116
Sandro, Domenico di, 60
Sansovino, Francesco : Bellini, G., paintings
by, 43 ; Carpaccio's paintings destroyed
by fire, 27 ; Oratory of S. Ursula rebuilt,
67; pupil, Pietro di Salo, 116; S. Ger-
miniano Church, 145 ; S. Vitale on horse-
back, 211 ; Scuole of la Miser icovdia, 55,
spelling of name Carpaccio, 29 ; Venetia, 8
Sanudo, Marino : Bellini's visit to Constanti-
nople, 38 ; Carpaccio's altarpiece of S.
Giobbe painted for, 50 ; Diaries, 33, 103 ;
Doges' Palace Paintings, 27 ; family his
tory, 205 ; Galeazzo's Visit to S. Lorenzo,
198
Scarpagnino, Antonio : Fondaco dei Tedeschi,
192 ; Scuole of S. Rocco, 55
Scarpazza. See Carpaccio
Scheiven, Giirgcn von, 82
Schiavone, 154
Schiavoni, Natale, of Chioggia, 4
Selva, Antonio, 145
Selvatico, Pietro, 53
Signorclli, Luca, 83
Silvestrc, 94
Squarcione, 195
Stadcl Institute, Frankfort : Virgin, by Car-
paccio, 50, 201
Stancovich, Canon P. : Carpaccio's birth-
place, 1 6, 21
Strazzola, 46-8
Strossmayer Collection, 197
Stuttgart Gallery : Carpaccio, S. Thomas
Aquinas, 182, Stoning of S. Stephen, The,
182, 188
Symonds, John A., 209
Tadini Gallery, 3
Taine, Hippolyte, 213
Tedeschi, 21
Ten Thousand Martyrs crucified on Mount
Ararat, The, by Carpaccio, 23, 194, 212,
222
Tiepolo, 52
Tirali, Andrea, 212
Titian : altarpiece for Cathedral of Serravalle,
193 ; comparison with Carpaccio, 37, 210,
215, 223 ; Doges' Palace paintings, 27 ;
Presentation in the Temple, The, go, 174 ;
Scuola di S. Giovanni, advice re paintings,
190 ; style, 51
Two Courtezans, The, by Carpaccio, 210
Two Saints by Carpaccio, 50
Uffizi Gallery : Bellini, J., Madonna, 3 ; Car-
paccio, Adoration of the Magi, The, 199,
Circumcision, The, 199, Crucifixion, The,
188, 214, Presentation in the Temple,
The, 172, S. Jerome, 197, Triumph of
S. George, 134 ; Unknown Young Man,
107
Ughelli, 105
Urbino, Ambrogio da, 204
Van Dyck : comparison with Carpaccio, 210 ;
study of, 36
Vasari, Giorgio information re Carpaccio :
Bastiani, alleged pupil, 40 ; birthplace,
16 ; Lombardo-Venetian School, leader of,
40 ; portraits of, 30 ; spelling of name,
29; Ten Thousand Martyrs . . . etc., 213
248
INDEX
Vecellio. See Titian
Veccllio, Cesare : Carpaccio's journey to the
East, 38 ; Degli Habiti, 45, 191
Vcneto, Bartolomeo, 42
Venice Academy : Basaiti, Jesus in the Garden
of Gethsemane, 206 ; Bastiani, L., An-
nunciation, 12, Madonna, 12, SS.
Cosmo, Damian, and other Saints, 12 ;
Bellini, Gentile, S. Lorenzo Giustiniani,
43 ; Bellini, Giovanni, Madonna with
her Babe . . , etc., 206, Virgin with
S. Catherine and the Magdalen, 221, 222 ;
Bellini, J., Madonna, 3 ; Bissolo, Coronation
of S. Catherine of Siena, The, 183 ; Car-
paccio, Healing of one Possessed, The, 59,
Meeting of SS. Joachim and Anna, 84,
161, 212, Patriarch of Grado, Francesco
Quirini . . . etc., 189, Presentation of
the Infant Jesus, etc., 206, Procession of
Penitents, 213, S. Ursula, 86, 88, 91, 92,
95, 100, 101, 105, 107, no, Ten Thousand
Martyrs on Mount Ararat, 213 ; Donate,
A., Crucifixion, The, 134
Venturi, 43
Verona, Matteo da, 179
Verona, Michele da: pictures attributed to,
193, 219
Verona, Museum: Bastiani, L., Madonna, 12 ;
Bellini, J., Crucifix, 3 ; Carpaccio, SS.
Caterina and Veneranda, 201, Two Saints,
SO
Veronese, Paul : anachronism in costume
painting, 37 ; Bellavitc's Palace facade
painted by, 168 ; comparison with Car-
paccio, 223
Vienna Academy : Carpaccio, Life of the
Virgin, 159, 177; Bastiani, L., Santa
Veneranda, 9
Vinciguerra, Antonio, 48
Virgin, by Carpaccio, 50, 201, 216
Virgin and Child, The, by Carpaccio, 216
Virgin between SS. Faustina and Giovita, by
Carpaccio, 196
Virgin with her Babe in her Arms, by Car-
paccio, 203
Viterbo, Lorenzo da, 174
Vittoria, 55
Vivarini, Alvise : oil-painting, 49 ; pictures,
transport of, 23
Vivarini, Antonio : Carpaccio, alleged pupil, 41 ;
oil-painting, 49 ; school of painting, 2
Vivarini, Bartolomeo: Doges' portraits assigned
to, 43 ; oil-painting, 49 ; pictures, transport
of, 23 ; S. Apollinare, altarpicce, 185
Voragine, Jacopo da : Carpaccio's Call of
S. Matthew, 122 ; Legend of S. Ursula,
80 ; S. Jerome as Reformer of sacred
Liturgy, 126 ; Story of the Virgin, 160-3, '65
Weyden, Van der, 36
Zaguri, 145
Zanetti, Anton Maria : Carpaccio's pictures,
description of, 52, 181, 183, 185, 186, 194,
204, 208, 222 ; Catalogue of pictures in
Venice, 156, 197; death, 156; family
origin of Carpaccio, 16 ; SS. Andrew,
Jerome and Martin, authorship, 184
Zon, Giovanni de, 1 1 5
Zorzi, Lascari Zuna, 152
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