Veronese also had a share in the decoration of another of Venice's monumental buildings, situated near the bridge of the Rialto and known by the name of the Fondaco dei Tedeschi. This building, which is to-day occupied by the Post Office, formerly served as warehouse for German business men having commercial relations with the Republic. These rich merchants had had the palace adorned by the greatest painters in Venice. Giorgione and Titian had decorated its walls not only within, but also on the exterior, where traces of the paintings can still be seen. Veronese was entrusted with four compositions, one of which is an allegory representing _Germany receiving the Imperial Crown_. It is believed that the canvas now in the Museum at Berlin, entitled _Jupiter, Fortune and Germany_, once formed part of the decoration of the Fondaco dei Tedeschi. It was purchased at Verona in 1841. Veronese's celebrity, about the year 1580, had become world-wide. Every sovereign who prided himself on his art gallery wished to possess some of his work. The indefatigable artist endeavoured to satisfy them all; he even corresponded personally with several of them. For the Duke of Savoy, he painted _The Queen of Sheba Visiting Solomon_; to the Duke of Mantua, who had honoured him with his friendship, he sent a _Moses Saved from the Waters_; to the Emperor Rudolph II. he gave a _Cephale and Procris_ and a _Poem of Venus_. These last two canvases, of which the German Emperor was very proud, were taken from him by Gustavus Adolphus, when that triumphant conqueror passed through Vienna. Throughout his life, Veronese remained faithful to the pompous, brilliant, ornamental school of painting. Not that he was incapable of essaying other types, but because it was his own preference to paint ease and luxury on a broad scale. He sometimes had occasion to handle more vigorous subjects, and in this he was completely successful, as the magnificent painting entitled _Jupiter Destroying the Vices_ abundantly bears witness. The surprise experienced in the presence of this noble work, executed with the energy of a master-hand, is surpassed only by admiration for the versatility of a genius which could at will adapt itself to unfamiliar formulas. This famous painting, proud and virile in style, was taken from Italy by the victorious Armies of France, and placed in Versailles in the chamber of Louis XIV., where for a long period it served as the ceiling decoration. It was finally removed and now hangs in the Louvre, in company of other masterpieces by the same artist. THE LAST YEARS