as the only agreeable view in venice is from the grand canal, so the only place where you can walk with ease and safety, is in the piazza di st. marco. this is a kind of irregular quadrangle, formed by a number of buildings, all singular in their kind, and very different from each other.
the ducal palace—the church of st. mark—that of st. giminiano—a noble range of buildings, called procuratie, the new and the old, in which are the museum, the public library, and nine large apartments belonging to the procurators of st. mark; all these buildings are of marble.
[47]
there is an opening from st. mark’s place to the sea, on which stand two lofty pillars of granite. criminals condemned to suffer death publicly, are executed between these pillars; on the top of one of them is a lion, with wings; and on the other, a saint—without wings;—there is, however, a large crocodile at his feet, which, i presume, belongs to him. at one corner of st. mark’s church, contiguous to the palace, are two statues of adam and eve; they have neither wings nor crocodile, nor any kind of attendant, not even their old acquaintance, the serpent.
at the corner of the new procuratie, a little distant from the church, stands the steeple of st. mark. this is a quadrangular tower, about three hundred feet in height. i am told it is not uncommon in italy for the church and steeple to be in this state of disunion; this shocked a clergyman, of my acquaintance, very much;[48] he mentioned it to me, many years ago, amongst the errors and absurdities of the church of rome. the gentleman was clearly of opinion, that church and steeple ought to be inseparable as man and wife, and that every church ought to consider its steeple as mortar of its mortar, and stone of its stone. an old captain of a ship, who was present, declared himself of the same way of thinking, and swore that a church, divorced from its steeple, appeared to him as ridiculous as a ship without a mast.
a few paces from the church are three tall poles, on which ensigns and flags are hung on days of public rejoicing. these standards are in memory of the three kingdoms, cyprus, candia, and negropont, which once belonged to this republic; the three crowns are still kept in the ducal palace. since the kingdoms are gone, i should think the crowns and the poles[49] hardly worth preserving; they are, however, of the same value to venice, that the title of king of france is to his britannic majesty. at the bottom of the tower of st. mark, is a small neat building of marble, called the loggietta, where some of the procurators of st. mark constantly attend to do business. some people are of opinion that, particularly when the grand council, or the senate, are assembled, these procurators are placed there, as state centinels, to give warning in case of any appearance of discontent or commotion among the populace, which must necessarily shew itself at this place, as there is no other in venice where a mob could assemble.
the patriarchal church of st. mark, though one of the richest and most expensive in the world, does not strike the eye very much at first; the architecture is of a mixed kind, mostly gothic, yet many[50] of the pillars are of the grecian orders; the outside is incrusted with marble; the inside, cieling, and floor, are all of the finest marble; the numerous pillars which support the roof are of the same substance; the whole is crowned by five domes;—but all this labour and expence have been directed by a very moderate share of taste.
the front, which looks to the palace, has five brass gates, with historical bas-relieves; over the principal gate are placed the four famous bronze horses, said to be the workmanship of lycippus; they were given to the emperor nero, by tiridates, king of armenia; the fiery spirit of their countenances, and their animated attitudes, are perfectly agreeable to their original destination, of being harnessed to the chariot of the sun.—nero placed them on the triumphal arch consecrated to him, and they are to be seen on the reverse of some of his medals; they were removed from[51] rome to constantinople, placed in the hyppodrome by constantine, and remained there till the taking of constantinople by the french and venetians in the beginning of the 13th century, when they were carried to venice, and placed upon the gate of st. mark’s church.
the treasury of st. mark is very rich in jewels and relics; and it was necessary to apply to one of the procurators of st. mark for leave to see it. i shall only mention a few of the most valuable effects kept here. eight pillars from solomon’s temple at jerusalem; a piece of the virgin mary’s veil, some of her hair, and a small portion of her milk; the knife used by our saviour, at his last supper; one of the nails of the cross, and a few drops of his blood. after these it would be impertinent to enumerate the bones, and other relics, of saints and martyrs, of which there is a plentiful show in this church, and still less[52] need i take up your time with an inventory of the temporal jewels kept here; it would be unpardonable, however, to omit mentioning the picture of the virgin, by st. luke. from this, compared with his other works, it is plain, that st. luke was a much better evangelist than painter: some professions seem to be almost incompatible with each other. i have known many very good painters who would have made bad saints, and here is an instance of an excellent saint who was but an indifferent painter.
the old procuratie is built of a kind of black marble; the new is of the pietra dura of istria.
the church of st. geminiano is an elegant piece of architecture, by sansovino.
the ducal palace is an immense building, entirely of marble. besides the apartments[53] of the doge, there are also halls and chambers for the senate, and all the different councils and tribunals. the principal entrance is by a spacious stair, called the giants stair, on account of two colossal statues of mars and neptune, placed at the top; they are of white marble, the work of sansovino, and intended to represent the naval and military power of this state. their gigantic size might be proper enough formerly, but they would be juster emblems of the present force of this republic if their stature were more moderate.
under the porticoes, to which you ascend by this stair, you may perceive the gaping mouths of lions, to receive anonymous letters, informations of treasonable practices, and accusations of magistrates for abuses in office.
from the palace there is a covered bridge of communication to a state prison, on the[54] other side of the canal. prisoners pass to and from the courts over this bridge, which is named ponte dei sospiri.
the apartments and halls of the ducal palace are ornamented by the pencils of titian, paul veronese, tintoret, palma, the bassans, and other painters. the rape of europa, and the storming of zara, both by paul veronese are amongst the highest esteemed pieces of that master. the foot of europa is honoured with the particular admiration of the connoisseurs; the bull seems to be of their way of thinking, for he licks it as he bears her along above the waves. some people admire even this thought of the painter; i cannot say i am of the number: i think it is the only thing in the picture which is not admirable; it is making jupiter enter a little too much into the character which he had assumed. there are a few pictures in this palace by titian, but a great many by the other[55] masters. the subjects are mostly taken from the history of venice.
within the palace there is a little arsenal, which communicates with the hall of the great council. here a great number of muskets are kept, ready charged, with which the nobles may arm themselves on any sudden insurrection, or other emergency.
the lower gallery, or the piazza under the palace, is called the broglio. in this the noble venetians walk and converse: it is only here, and at council, where they have opportunities of meeting together; for they seldom visit openly, or in a family way, at each other’s houses, and secret meetings would give umbrage to the state inquisitors; they chuse, therefore, to transact their business on this public walk. people of inferior rank seldom remain on the broglio for any length of time when the nobility are there.
