Chapter XX: Section V: The Grand Canal and S. Georgio Maggiore

Second only in architectural interest to St Mark’s and the Ducal Palace are the patrician mansions that line the chief artery of Venice, known to Venetians as the Canalazzo. No more luxurious artistic feast can be enjoyed in Europe than to leisurely examine from a gondola the architectural details of the Grande Rue that so excited the admiration of Philippe de Comines. We begin on the L. side opposite the Piazzetta. The DOGANA (Custom House) is a late seventeenth-century structure, low in elevation, in order not to obstruct the view of Longhena’s SALUTE. This church stands on the most magnificent site in Venice, and despite the baseness of many of its details is, when regarded in the mass, an impressive edifice and one of the architectural features of the city. The noble flight of steps and the symmetry of the domes are most effective and pleasing. The anniversary of its consecration in 1687 is still a great popular festival, and yearly on November 21st a bridge of boats is thrown across the canal to facilitate the foot traffic. On the further side of the rio della Salute is seen the apse of the fine Gothic abbey church of S. GREGORIO. We may disembark at the square portal, with a relief of St Gregory over the lintel, which opens on the Grand Canal just beyond the rio. It gives access to one of the most picturesque spots in Venice--the fourteenth-century cloister of the monastery. We continue our voyage, and, passing the rio S. Gregorio, note the PALAZZO[104] DARIO (fifteenth century), beautifully decorated with discs of porphyry and serpentine in the style of the Lombardi. This fine mansion has altered little since the time of De Comines. The huge ground-floor beyond is the unfinished PAL. VENIER, begun in the eighteenth century. Farther on is the PALAZZO DA MULA, a fine Gothic building of the early fifteenth century, adjacent to which is the PAL. BARBARIGO, with its brazen mosaics, now the property of the Venezia-Murano Glass Co. We pass on, and next to a garden note the PAL. MANZONI (1465) by Tullio Lombardi, somewhat later in style than the Pal. Dario. Passing the Accademia and a few houses, we reach the two PALAZZI CONTARINI DEGLI SCRIGNI (Contarini of the Coffers), the first by Scamozzi (1609), the second fifteenth-century Gothic. The Contarini were a wealthy family pre-eminent in the nobility of their ancestry, and owned many palaces in Venice. The last of the race died in 1902 in lodgings. They had given eight Doges and forty-four Procurators to the Republic. Beyond the rio S. Tomaso is the fifteenth-century Gothic PAL. DURAZZO or dell’ Ambasciatore, once the German Embassy. The two statues on the façade are probably by one of the Lombardi. We pass two rii and reach the imposing PALAZZO REZZONICO, where Robert Browning died. It was built about 1680 by Longhena; the upper storey is, however, a later addition by Massari (1740). We soon come to a magnificent group of three Gothic palaces in the style of the Ducal Palace and attributed to the Buoni. They once belonged to the powerful Giustiniani family, but the last (now the School of Commerce) was bought and enlarged by Francesco Foscari in 1437 and still bears his name. The iron lamp at the corner is modern. Facing us at the farthest corner of the rio Foscari is the PAL. BALBI by Aless. Vittoria (1582). It is now Guggenheim’s shop. We pass on to the rio S. Tomà, at whose farther corner is the PAL. PERSICO (formerly a Giustiniani) in the style of the Lombardi. A few houses beyond is the Gothic PAL. TIEPOLO. Next but one stands the PAL. PISANI, fifteenth-century Gothic. At the farther corner of the rio S. Polo is the PAL. CAPPELLO-LAYARD with a most valuable collection of paintings (admission by personal introduction only). Adjacent is the PAL. GRIMANI of the Lombardi period. Two houses farther on stands the Gothic PAL. BERNARDO, now belonging to Salviati. On either side of the next traghetto (della Madonetta) are two smaller twelfth-century palazzi, with beautiful Byzantine details, the PAL. DONÀ and the PAL. SAIBANTE. Next to a garden is the sixteenth-century Renaissance PAL. PAPADOPOLI (formerly Tiepolo), surmounted by two obelisks. At the farther corner of the rio stands the PAL. BUSINELLI with some interesting Byzantine windows. Next but one is the PAL. MENGALDO, referred to in the “Stones of Venice” as the “terraced house.” It has a beautiful Byzantine portal, and arches of the same style are visible in the older part of the building. Just beyond the S. Silvestre Pier is the site of the old palace of the Patriarchs of Grado and Venice. Little of interest meets us until we reach the PONTE DI RIALTO, which replaced a wooden drawbridge similar to that represented in Carpaccio’s picture. It was built (1588-92) by Antonio da Ponte from a design by Boldù. Many famous Renaissance architects had at various periods offered designs, among others Michael Angelo, who, when living on the Giudecca, was invited by Doge Gritti to submit a drawing, but this “most rich and rare invention” met the fate of the rest--it was set aside as too costly. An Annunciation is sculptured on the hither side of the bridge: Gabriel and the Virgin on the spandrils; the dove on the keystone.

By the farther side stands the PAL. DEI CAMERLENGHI (1525-28) by Guglielmo Bergamasco, once adorned with pictures by Bonifazio, for the offices of the three Lords of the Treasury. We pass the vegetable and fish-markets. Behind the latter, the last house before reaching the Ponte Pescaria was the old PAL. QUERINI, known as the Stallone, with the two large Gothic portals of the old shambles (p. 109). It became the poultry-market after the fall of the Republic. A new fish-market is, however, projected, and the old palace will probably be incorporated in the new building. A few houses farther on is the Gothic PAL. MOROSINI; yet farther the lofty PAL. CORNER DELLA REGINA (now the municipal pawn-office). It was erected in 1724 by Rossi, the architect of S. Eustacchio, on the site of a palace occupied by the Queen of Cyprus. The huge assertive PAL. PESARO by Longhena, 1679, now comes into view. It is highly praised by Fergusson.

The church of S. EUSTACCHIO (S. Stae), 1709, with its _baroque_ façade will be easily recognised. The bust of the ill-fated Ant. Foscarini will be found in the third chapel L. of entrance, the higher of the two busts to the R. of the chapel. (The church is rarely open and will be more conveniently visited in connection with S. M., Mater Domini, whose sacristan has the key.) At the farther corner of the campo is the PAL. PRIULI, with an early transitional Gothic arcade. At the near corner of the rio Tron is the PAL. TRON, sixteenth-century Renaissance; at the farther corner, the PAL. BATTAGGIA by Longhena. The building adjacent is one of the old granaries of the Republic, with the outline of the Lion of St Mark still visible on the façade. Interest ends at the restored FONDACO DE’ TURCHI (Mart of the Turks) (p. 302).

We cross to the church of S. MARCUOLA (SS. Ermagora and Fortunato), which contains a doubtful Titian (the infant Christ on a pedestal between SS. Catherine and Andrew), thought, however, by Morelli to be a genuine youthful work of the master. Some distance farther on is the PAL. VENDRAMIN by Pietro Lombardi (1481), one of the finest palaces on the canal. The garden wing is by Scamozzi. Next but one is the PAL. ERIZZO, fifteenth-century Gothic. We pass on to the CA’ D’ORO, the most exquisite little mansion in Venice. It was built (1424-30) for the Contarini, and being richly gilded, was known as the Ca’ d’Oro (the Golden House). The derivation from a supposed Doro family is untenable. The contracts with the Buoni and many another famous _tajapiera_ (stone-cutter), and a contract with Mastro Zuan di Franza, Pintor, for the gilding and the painting of the façade with vermilion and ultramarine still exist. The building was profaned by some ill-designed structural alterations and the beautiful wellhead, by Bart. Buono, was sold to a dealer, when the fabric fell into the hands of the ballet-dancer, Taglioni, in 1847. Recently Baron Franchetti has restored it to somewhat of its original form, and the well-head has been recovered.[105] Beyond the Ca’ d’Oro Pier is the earlier and simpler Gothic PAL. SAGREDO, now the Ravà College. The small PAL. FOSCARI beyond the Campo S. Sofia has interesting Gothic details. The larger, PAL. MICHIELI DELLE COLONNE, was rebuilt in the seventeenth century. Passing the rio SS. Apostoli we reach the interesting CA’ DA MOSTO, twelfth-century Byzantine, but hinting at the coming Gothic. An inscription tells that here was born Alvise da Ca’ Mosto, discoverer of the Cape Verde Islands. Set back in a small court (Corte Remera) is a thirteenth-century house with an external stairway and a fine Byzantine portal. It shows admirably the pointed arch asserting itself in a Byzantine building. Hard by the Rialto bridge is the Fondaco dei Tedeschi (Mart of the Germans), designed in 1505 by Girolamo Tedesco and completed by Scarpagnino. It is now the Central Post Office. The solitary figure that remains of Giorgione’s frescoes will be seen high up between two of the top-floor windows. The sculptures on this side the Rialto bridge represent SS. Theodore and Mark.

Beyond the bridge the PAL. MANIN by Sansovino, now Banca d’ Italia, was the dwelling-place of the last of the Doges. The PAL. BEMBO at the farther corner of the rio is early fifteenth-century Gothic. A small palace farther on, the ground floor of which is used as a café, is usually pointed out as the house of Doge Enrico Dandolo. The present Gothic building, however, with its cusped arches is obviously two centuries later in style, though the Byzantine medallions incorporated in the façade may have belonged to the original structure. A Latin inscription on the adjacent house prays the wayfarer to bestow a thought on the great Doge Dandolo, and another inscription in the Pal. Farsetti (see below) states that that palace was built for Enrico Dandolo (_volle eretto Enrico Dandolo_) in 1203. All that may be said with certainty is that somewhere on the Riva del Carbon stood the Ca’ Dandolo. A few houses farther on is the PAL. LOREDAN with its deep stilted arches, esteemed by Ruskin the most beautiful palace on the Grand Canal. It is twelfth-century Byzantine, restored once in Gothic, again in Renaissance times. It bears on the façade the scutcheon of Peter Lusignan, King of Cyprus, who lodged there in 1363-66. The next edifice is the PAL. FARSETTI, in the same style but simpler. It has a fine staircase with carvings by Canova.

These two buildings are used as the Municipal Offices. At the near corner of the rio S. Luca is Sanmichele’s stately Renaissance PAL. GRIMANI, rescued by the Austrian Government from the house-breaker’s hands, and used as the Post Office. It is now the Court of Appeal. Ruskin considered this to be the principal type at Venice and the best in Europe of the central style of the Renaissance schools. We may disembark and ascend the noble staircase (the Renaissance masters excelled in the construction of stairways) to the spacious landing and halls on the first floor. At the farther corner of the rio is the PAL. CAVALLINI, so named from the horses’ heads on the scutcheons. We pass on to the PAL. CORNER SPINELLI at the farther corner of the rio dell’Albero, another of the works of the Lombardi. Beyond the traghetto S. Angelo we reach the three PALAZZI MOCENIGO, sixteenth-century architecture. The ducal cap and shield still figure on the posts, for the Mocenighi gave seven Doges to the Republic. Byron lodged in the middle of the three palaces. Another famous heretic, Giordano Bruno, that Ishmaelite of philosophy, was run to earth by the Inquisition in the farther one and taken to Rome to perish at the stake in 1600.[106] The early Renaissance palazzo farther on with shields and torches carved on the façade was another of the CONTARINI mansions subsequently inhabited by the Countess Guiccioli. We pass two small Gothic palaces and the wide PAL. MORO-LIN, sixteenth-century, by Seb. Mazzoni, a Florentine painter and architect, and reach round the bend the PAL. GRASSI (1785), by Massari. At the farther corner of the Campo S. Samuele is the PAL. MALIPIERO, seventeenth-century. At the near corner of the next rio is the CA’ DEL DUCA (di Milano), begun for Francesco Sforza when he was the Venetian Captain-General. The construction was vetoed by the Signory at a point easily discernible, when Sforza began to play Carmagnola’s game and was outlawed. The late Gothic PAL. CAVALLI beyond the iron bridge has been wholly restored by Baron Franchetti. At the farther corner of the rio dell’ Orso is the fourteenth-century Gothic PAL. BARBARO debased by additions. Beyond the traghetto S. Stefano and a garden is the PAL. CORNER DELLA CA’ GRANDE now the Prefecture, a stately Renaissance edifice by Sansovino (1532). Past the traghetto S. M. del Giglio are three palaces all more or less restored which form the Grand Hotel. The first, PAL. GRITTI, is fourteenth-century Gothic; the second, PAL. FINI, is by Tremignano (1688); the third, PAL. FERRO, fifteenth-century Gothic. The small PAL. CONTARINI-FASAN is the so-called Desdemona House. The balcony with its rich tracery is unique in Venice. Some distance farther on is the PAL. TIEPOLO, now the Hotel Britannia. The Hotel d’ Italia is a new building. The fifteenth-century PAL. GIUSTINIANI is now the Hotel de l’ Europe. The next house but one is the old RIDOTTO, the famous Assembly Rooms and Gambling Saloon of the later Republic, in its day the Monte Carlo of Europe. It is still used for _bals-masqués_ at Carnival time. We pass the gardens of the Royal Palace; the Zecca (mint), and the S. end of the Libreria Vecchia, both by Sansovino, and reach the Piazzetta, whence we started. Fortunate are they who have the opportunity of seeing the Grand Canal at the time of a royal visit, or other great occasion when steamer traffic being stopped, the waters regain the placidity we see in old engravings, and the lines of palaces hung with tapestry are mirrored in the sea. The grand _bissone_ (festal gondolas) are brought forth, decked with brilliant colours, some of them manned by a score of gondoliers in gorgeous old Venetian costume, and we then catch a glimpse of what Venice was in her splendour.

The traveller will probably choose an afternoon for his survey of the Grand Canal, and no better rounding-off of the day may be imagined than to ferry across from the Molo to the island of S. Giorgio Maggiore, the ancient Isle of the Cypresses, and, after visiting the church, to ascend the campanile and enjoy the beautiful view from the summit. Northwards is the line of the mainland, fringed with trees and dotted with villages; in the foreground the broad curve of the city of a hundred isles; around, as the eye sweeps the horizon, are the lagoons, studded with islands and marked by the bold strokes of the lidi; farther to the S. is the open Adriatic. As the sun sinks to its setting the vast expanse will glow in a symphony of ravishing colour.

Palladio’s beautiful and impressive interior (p. 194) has been little disturbed. Among other works of pictorial interest are two Tintorettos in the choir (R., the Last Supper; L., the Fall of Manna), and five other paintings by the same master, all described at length by Ruskin in the Venetian Index. Noteworthy are the beautiful choir stalls by Albert of Brussels, some of the finest examples of Flemish wood-carving in Italy. Longhena’s modern monument and the old Latin epitaph to puissant Doge Dom. Michieli will be found in a passage behind the choir to the R. In the Sala del Conclave, where the Sacred College met in 1800 and elected Pius VII., is a fine Carpaccio, St George and the Dragon, with a predella, four episodes in the life of the saint. The campanile is a late erection (1774) on the model of the old tower of St Mark. The campanile collapsed in February 1773, doing much damage to the conventual buildings and killing one of the monks. All that remains of the rich and vast Benedictine monastery, one of the four most opulent in Italy, is now a barrack, and of the 150 brothers it once housed, some half-dozen are permitted to linger amid the secularised surroundings and tend the sanctuary.