these objects being disposed with the facility of opulent genius, and all illuminated like the sea in summer, with superabundant sunshine. All this is what one should bear away with him in order to retain an idea of Venice.... I got some one to show me the way to the public garden; after such a picture one can only contemplate natural objects." The only unbroken wall in this Great Hall is occupied by the "Paradiso" of Tintoretto, in some respects the {347} greatest of modern pictures; while the remaining wall-spaces are filled with twelve pictures illustrating the story of Pope Alexander and Barbarossa, and nine others of scenes connected with the Fourth Crusade. These splendid paintings are among the earliest which were executed on large canvases, and for that reason are important in the History of Art, while they bear witness to the wealth and generosity of the Republic at the time when they were painted. Much blackened by age as they are, and often villanously repainted, they are still a worthy study for the art student for many reasons. Carlo and Gabriele Cagliari represented two scenes in the earliest period of the association of the Pope and the Doge Ziani. In the first the Doge and the Senators have found the Pope in the Convent of La Carità, where Alexander took refuge from Barbarossa in 1177. This convent, now the Academy of Fine Arts, is on the Grand Canal; and not only are the Senators and a crowd of people represented as surrounding the two principal personages, but there are fishermen in their boats, with baskets full of fish, a group of people in a gondola, and other figures which add much to the life and movement of the scene. The Pope is habited like a poor priest, in order that he may the better conceal his personality. The second is a much smaller composition, divided by columns. On one side there is light; on the other, shadow. The subject is the "Embassy from the Pope and the Republic to Frederick II. at Pavia." The groups are animated, and the costumes varied, as senators, soldiers, and priests are all represented. Above a window Leandro Bassano has painted a picture of "the Doge receiving a lighted taper from the Pope," commemorating this act which conferred on all future Doges the privilege of having a taper borne before them. The fourth, by Jacopo Tintoretto, presents the scene at {348} Pavia, when Barbarossa declares that if the Pope is not surrendered to him, he will "plant his eagles above the portal of San Marco." Both the good and the bad in Tintoretto's manner are displayed in this work, but the figures of the two ambassadors are admirable. The more his pictures are studied, the better is the saying of the Venetians understood, "There are three Tintorettos,--one of bronze, a second of silver, and a third of gold."