was a favourite of Sir Joshua Reynolds who describes it at length in “The Journey to Flanders and Holland.” Crossing the bridge opposite the main portal and turning L. we reach the great Monastery now the Record Office of Venice (Archivio Centrale). It contains the most famous collection of state documents in the world. The custodian will admit the traveller to the noble double cloisters. We return to the Porta dei Frari and further to the W. find the Scuola and church of S. Rocco. Towards the end of the thirteenth century a young noble of Montpellier found himself the master of great possessions, and following the injunctions of Christ sold all that he had and gave it to the poor. He set forth as a pilgrim to Rome and on his way passed plague-stricken cities where he devoted himself to the service of the hospitals and by his tenderness, sympathy and fervent prayers wrought many wondrous cures. At length on his return from Rome he was stricken himself at Piacenza and a horrible ulcer broke out on his thigh. Wishing to spare his fellow-sufferers the sound of his groans he dragged himself to a ruined hut in a deserted place hard by, where angels tended his sores and a dog brought him daily bread. When healed he went back to his native city but arrived so changed by suffering that he was arrested as a spy and cast into prison. One morning after he had languished there for five years the jailer on entering his dungeon saw it flooded with a bright light, the prisoner dead, and a writing which promised healing to all stricken by plague who should call on his name. In 1485 some Venetians disguised as pilgrims carried off the saint’s body to Venice; the Church of S. Rocco was erected to contain it and a guild founded in his name for the tending of the sick and the burial of the dead. The church, entrusted to Bart. Buon of Bergamo, was built in the fifteenth century. The Scuola was begun about the same time (1490) by the same architect, carried on by the Lombardi and Scarpagnino (1524-37) and completed about 1550. Here during eighteen years Tintoretto worked on the stupendous series of paintings which decorate the interior. They are fully described and vigorously appreciated and depreciated by Ruskin in the Venetian Index. The Adoration of the Magi, in the lower hall, facing the entrance, he esteems to be “the most finished picture in the Scuola except the Crucifixion.” [Illustration: SCUOLA DI S. ROCCA.] From the first landing as we ascend the stairs may be seen to the L. an early Annunciation by Titian, refreshing in its repose and simplicity; R. is Tintoretto’s Visitation.