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The Mentor, No. 27, Venice, the Island City




THE MENTOR

“A Wise and Faithful Guide and Friend”

    VOL. 1      NO. 27




VENICE, THE ISLAND CITY

    ST. MARK’S CATHEDRAL

    DOGE’S PALACE AND CAMPANILE

    BRIDGE OF SIGHS

    GRAND CANAL

    TYPICAL VENETIAN CANAL

    RIALTO BRIDGE

[Illustration]

_A Trip Around the World with DWIGHT L. ELMENDORF, Lecturer and
Traveler._


“The Pearl of the Adriatic,” she has been called. “Queen of the Sea” is
another of the poetic terms applied to her. If all the expressions that
have been used by admirers to pay tribute to the beauty of Venice were
gathered together, they would make a glossary of eulogy of considerable
size. It was inevitable from the beginning that Venice should receive
such homage; for she has a beauty that distinguishes her from all other
cities. She is absolutely unique in picturesque attraction and in
romantic interest. There are many cities that draw the admiration of
the traveler: there is but one Venice, and anyone who has been there
and felt her spell cannot wonder at the worshipful admiration that she
has received from the time of her birth in the sea.

The fascination of Venice for the traveler is such that ordinary terms
of appreciation are insufficient. The city takes complete possession
of one, and visitors who have surrendered to her charms are referred
to as having the “Venice fever.” All who love beauty have had more or
less violent attacks--the artist is most susceptible to it.

[Illustration: THE GRAND CANAL DURING A FÊTE

_This is the main artery of traffic in Venice. It is nearly two miles
long, and varies from 100 to 200 feet in width. It is adorned with
about two hundred magnificent old patrician palaces._]


HOW IT CAME TO BE

Venice is built on a group of little islands. At a depth of from ten to
fifteen feet there is a firm bed of clay; below that a bed of sand or
gravel, and then a layer of peat. Artesian wells dug to the depth of
sixteen hundred feet have shown a regular succession of these beds. On
this base, piles, where they have been used for the foundation, have
become petrified. So the city may be described actually as having been
built up from the bed of the sea. In its physical aspect it may be
summed up by saying that Venice stands on 117 small islands formed by
something like 150 canals and joined together by 378 bridges.

[Illustration: THE GRAND CANAL BY MOONLIGHT]

There is but little in the way of sidewalks. Occasional narrow paths
of stone skirt the canals; but in many places the water laps the very
walls of the buildings, and transportation is to be had only by boat.
Of course there are many lanes and passages among the houses; but the
general effect is such as would make an impression on the traveler of
a city set in the sea, and the people live, move, and have their being
on either stone or water. They are strangers to groves, shady lanes,
and country places. Some of the inhabitants of Venice have never seen a
horse or a cow.

[Illustration: A GONDOLA

_These black-painted craft take the place of cabs in Venice. They are
propelled by a gondolier, who stands at the rear._]

The city is divided into two parts by the Grand Canal, which is nearly
two miles in length and varies from 100 to 200 feet in width. It makes
a fine curve like the letter S, and by this it displays to advantage
the magnificent residences that line it. There on its gleaming surface
are to be seen the brilliant pageants of the city,--gondolas and
autoboats in great number, gay parties, chatting and laughing and
tossing flowers, and the whole stretch a blaze of intoxicating color.
Some of the most attractive views of Venice are to be had not from
within the canal, but from some point out in the lagoon. Your map of
Venice will show you the city not literally situated in the Adriatic
Sea, but located within the lagoon and protected from the outer sea by
long sand hills strengthened by bulwarks of masonry. From the strip to
the mainland, across the lagoon, where Venice is situated, the distance
is about five miles, and in this stretch of water you will see many
striped posts called “pali.” These mark the navigable channels about
the city.

[Illustration: VENICE AND THE ADRIATIC SEA

_A panorama of the beautiful “Island City.”_]


ST. MARK’S

It is not the physical conditions alone that make Venice unique. In
the beauty and interest of its domestic architecture it ranks before
any city in the world. The mosaics of Venice have been famous for
centuries, and are today the marvel of all who see them. The spot where
Venice has massed the gems of her beauty is St. Mark’s Place.

[Illustration: A VENETIAN CANAL

_One of the smaller and narrower canals of Venice._]

[Illustration: ST. MARK’S CATHEDRAL

_The remains of St. Mark, the tutelary saint of Venice, are said to
have been brought from Alexandria in 829, and to have been buried
here._]

The view of Venice most familiar to stay-at-home bodies is the one
to be had from across the water looking at St. Mark’s Place, and
including, besides the cathedral of St. Mark, the Doge’s (doje) Palace
and Campanile (cam-pa-nee´-le) Tower, and in some cases a glimpse of
the Bridge of Sighs. The Piazza of St. Mark is called the “Heart of
Venice.” All the life of the city surges there at certain times, then
sweeps from there through its various channels. It is gayest on summer
evenings, when the population turns out to enjoy the fresh air and
listen to the military band. At that time the piazza is brilliant
with fashionable people. Go there on a moonlight night, and you will
find it a dream of beauty. You must see, of course, the pigeons of St.
Mark’s. Flocks of them circle about the square or gather in groups on
the pavement, wherever food is to be found. The pigeons of St. Mark’s
used to be fed at public expense. It is not necessary now: there are
always plenty of travelers that will pay them this pleasant toll for
the sake of being photographed in their company. St. Mark’s Place is
191 yards in length, and in width 61 yards on one side and 90 on the
other. The beautiful effect of it can hardly be expressed. It is paved
with trachyte and marble, and surrounded by buildings that are not only
important historically but most interesting architecturally.

[Illustration: THE RECONSTRUCTED CAMPANILE OF ST. MARK’S]

The Church of St. Mark, now a cathedral, was begun in 830. The year
before that the bones of St. Mark, the saint of Venice, were brought
from Alexandria, and they now lie buried in the church. This marvelous
building is Romanesque in style. During the eleventh and twelfth
centuries it was remodeled and decorated with most lavish magnificence.
In the fifteenth century it received some Gothic additions which
enhanced its effect. In such short space as this it is impossible to do
justice to the beauty of St. Mark’s. It is best by far to rest on what
Ruskin has said in his “Stones of Venice”:

“The effects of St. Mark’s depend not only upon the most delicate
sculpture in every part, but eminently on its color also, and that the
most subtle, variable, inexpressible color in the world,--the color of
glass, of transparent alabaster, of polished marble, and lustrous gold.”

[Illustration: AMERICANS FEEDING THE DOVES OF ST. MARK’S]

The building is in the form of a Greek cross, with mosaics covering
more than 4,500 square feet. Over the upper entrance are four horses in
gilded bronze, counted among the finest of ancient bronzes. They may
have adorned the triumphal arch of Nero or that of Trajan in Rome. The
Emperor Constantine sent them to Constantinople, and from there they
were brought by the Doge Dandolo to Venice in 1204. These horses were
taken to Paris by Napoleon in 1797, and for awhile crowned a triumphal
arch in that city. After Napoleon’s downfall, in 1815, the bronzes were
restored to their original place at Venice.


PALACE AND CAMPANILE

Close beside the cathedral of St. Mark stands the square Campanile,
the most prominent feature in all Venetian views. Standing 325 feet
high, the Campanile always dominated the picturesque low stretch of
Venice’s skyline and gave a peculiar distinction to the whole scene.
It seemed indeed to many Venetians and to lovers of Venice all over
the world that the city had lost its crowning feature when, in 1902,
the Campanile collapsed. It was originally erected in 900 and rebuilt
in 1329. After it had fallen Venice seemed maimed, and the hearts of
thousands felt the depression until the tower was rebuilt and the city
could once again hold up its beautiful head. A new tower was built by
Piacentini (pee´-ah-chen-tee´-nee) during the years 1905 to 1911, and
on completion it was consecrated with most impressive ceremonies.

[Illustration: LION OF ST. MARK’S]

The Doge’s Palace was originally founded about 800; but was destroyed
by fire five times, and each time rebuilt on a grander scale. The
older part of the present edifice was built in 1309; while the west
wing, facing on the piazzetta, was built between 1424 and 1438 by the
celebrated architects Buon, father and son.

In gazing at the Doge’s Palace the eye is first caught by the upper
arcade. From there the sentences of the “Council of Ten” were
pronounced--listened to by the assembled people in silence and in awe.

[Illustration: THE BRONZE HORSES OF ST. MARK’S

_These horses are among the finest of ancient bronzes. They probably
once adorned the triumphal arch of Nero, emperor of Rome._]

The columns of this arcade are most beautiful, and have been pointed
to with pride for years. Ruskin describes the detail of the sculptured
columns, and declares that they are the finest of their kind in Europe.
The interior of the Doge’s Palace is wonderful. Tintoretto’s painting
of “Paradise” is there, a marvel in size and in detail. The residence
of the Doges and the apartment in which the authorities held their
meetings are there, revealing still much of their ancient glory. The
palace is virtually a museum, and it shows a great display of fine
paintings, containing, among others, notably works of Tintoretto, Paul
Veronese, (vay-ro-nay´-seh) and Palma Giovane (jo-vah´-neh). Days
could be spent profitably wandering through these halls, studying the
treasures of art and history to be found there.

[Illustration: THE PALACE OF THE DOGES

_The Doge’s Palace is said to have been founded beside the church
of St. Theodore about 800 for the first Doge of Venice. It has been
rebuilt and altered many times._]

[Illustration: SCALA DEI GIGANTI, DOGE’S PALACE

_The Stairway of the Giants, so called from the colossal statues of
Mars and Neptune at the top, leads to the Palace of the Doges. On the
highest landing of these steps, in the later days of the Republic, the
Doges were crowned._]


BRIDGE OF SIGHS

[Illustration: HALL OF THE GRAND COUNCIL, DOGE’S PALACE

_This was the assembly hall of the great council, which consisted of
all members of the nobility over twenty._]

In one room you will find yourself gazing from a window at a sight that
will be familiar to you; though you may never have traveled before. You
will exclaim when you see it, “The Bridge of Sighs!” A corridor nearby
leads you to the bridge. You will take it, and find that it conducts
you across from the Palace of the Doges to the prison, where are to be
seen the gloomy walls as well as the torture chamber and the place of
execution of former days. The Bridge of Sighs is best known in Venice,
and the reason for it is chiefly sentimental. The Council of Ten of
the Middle Ages is supposed to have sent doomed state prisoners across
this bridge to their execution. We gather that these unfortunates
saw the light of day for the last time when crossing the bridge. The
thought is enough to seize upon the imagination of visitors, and
many of them indulge themselves in sympathetic reveries when there.
The interior of the Bridge of Sighs is gloomy enough to start creepy
feelings; but there is no need of wasting too much sentiment on it. W.
D. Howells calls it a “pathetic swindle.” As a matter of fact, there
is no evidence that any great number of prisoners, or any prisoner of
importance, ever crossed there.

[Illustration: BRONZE WELL, DOGE’S PALACE]

Aside from any sentimental reason, however, the Bridge of Sighs is most
interesting architecturally. It was built in 1600. It is attractive in
design, and it makes a good picture, connecting with fine lines the two
grim buildings on each side and bridging over the long, narrow canal
beneath.


PICTURESQUE WATERWAYS

The canals of Venice are of varying width, and as they wind through
the city they offer picturesque nooks and corners that have from the
earliest times captivated the eye of the artist. F. Hopkinson Smith, a
long-time devotee of Venice, has painted several hundred pictures, and
at that has drawn but lightly on the possibilities of the subject.

Little canals in deep shadows, wider canals in sunlight, some straight,
some curved, and at various points picturesquely bridged, supply
effects in light and color that the eye greets with delight.


THE GRAND CANAL

[Illustration: THE CHURCH OF SANTA MARIA DELLA SALUTE

_Erected in 1641-56 in commemoration of the removal of the plague in
1630. The interior contains excellent paintings by Titian._]

It is trite and ineffective simply to say that the Grand Canal is
the great artery and thoroughfare of Venice. It is so much more than
that: it is a magnificent show course adorned with two hundred or
more magnificent palaces dating from the fourteenth to the eighteenth
centuries, and beautiful churches and interesting public buildings.
A sightseeing trip in a gondola affords the visitor an object of
architectural beauty and historic interest at every rod. The historic
interest of some of these houses is double,--the interest attached to
them by virtue of the original patrician owners, and a new interest
acquired through the residence in them of notable men of later time.
Drift slowly along this splendid waterway. Marble steps lead down
from the noble residences to the water’s edge. Tall posts bearing the
colors of the family serve as hitching posts for the boats. Your guide
will tell you the stories, poetic and dramatic, of the families whose
names are set down in the great roll of the nobility of Venice entitled
“The Book of Gold.” Then you will be told of the later associations
that enhance the interest of some of the palaces. That handsome
mansion over there is where Desdemona lived. Nearby it is the Palazzo
Vendramin-Calergi, (ven-drah´-min cahl-ehr´-gee) in which Richard
Wagner (vahg´-ner) died in 1883. That stately palace over there was for
a time the home of Robert Browning; he died there in 1889, and there
is a memorial tablet on the wall. Look at those three palaces close
together. The one in the center was occupied by Lord Byron in 1818.
Nearby is the Browning home, a Gothic building, in which W. D. Howells
wrote his “Venetian Life.” In another palace George Sand had residence
for a time. The great painter Titian (tish´-an) lived in one of these
buildings.

[Illustration: PALAZZO VENDRAMIN-CALERGI

_Richard Wagner, the composer, died in this house in 1883._]

Each structure has its interest. Each bend of the canal reveals new
beauties. Across the beautiful waterway are three bridges--the name of
one is familiar the world over.


THE BRIDGE OF THE RIALTO

For many years this was the only bridge across the Grand Canal, and
it stands for much of the past glory of Venice. It is made of marble,
and is over 150 feet long. It was built between the years 1588 and
1592, and is today, as it was in early times, a place of shops. Here
Shylocks have bargained and Bassanios have met their friends these many
years. More literally speaking, it was not the Bridge of the Rialto
that Shylock refers to in Shakespeare’s “Merchant of Venice,” but the
district nearby.

It is difficult for anyone who has visited Venice to select single
points for comment or description. The city appeals to him as a whole,
and each object of beauty in it is a part of the wonderful whole. The
essence of Venice is a dreamy, poetic charm,--a charm of light, color,
and form, not of sound. Mrs. Oliphant writes:

“Venice has long borne in the imagination of the world a distinctive
position, something of the character of a great enchantress, a magician
of the seas.… She is all wonder, enchantment, the brightness and glory
of a dream.”

[Illustration: THE GRAND CANAL

_Looking across the canal we see here an example of the beautiful
palaces which line this famous thoroughfare._]


_SUPPLEMENTARY READING_

[Illustration]

    Studies in the History of Venice        _H. R. F. Brown_
    Venice                                  _H. R. F. Brown_
    Makers of Venice                         _Mrs. Oliphant_
    The Venetian Republic (two volumes)      _W. C. Hazlitt_
    Venetian Life                            _W. D. Howells_
    St. Mark’s Rest                            _John Ruskin_
    The Stones of Venice                       _John Ruskin_
    Gondola Days                        _F. Hopkinson Smith_
    Literary Landmarks of Venice           _Laurence Hutton_
    Pen Sketches                             _Finley Archer_

[Illustration]

_QUESTIONS ANSWERED_

Subscribers desiring further information concerning this subject can
obtain it by writing to

_The Mentor Association_

_381 Fourth Avenue, New York City_




[Illustration: ST. MARK’S CATHEDRAL, VENICE]




_VENICE_

_St. Mark’s Cathedral_

ONE


The Church of St. Mark’s is unequaled in the whole world for richness
of material and construction. It was originally the private chapel of
the Doge or ruler of Venice. One reason for its being so richly adorned
is that there was a law in Venice which required every merchant trading
with the East to bring back some material for the decoration of the
church. Thus it became the final resting place of the adornments from
countless other buildings, both in the East and in Italy. The building
has been compared to the treasure den of a band of pirates. It forms a
museum of sculpture of the most varied kind, from the fourth century
down to the latest Renaissance.

In 828 a little wooden church was built to receive the relics of the
Apostle Mark. The Moslems had pulled down the church where he was
buried in Alexandria; so his remains were brought to Venice, and Saint
Mark became the patron saint of the city in place of Saint Theodore.
In 976 this wooden church was burned, along with the ducal palace, in
the insurrection against Doge Canadiano IV. The church was rebuilt on a
larger scale by Pietro Orseolo and his successors. It was a very simple
church, in the form of a Greek cross, built of brick in the Romanesque
style. It was adorned with lines of colored brick, and brick set in
patterns here and there. On it were five low cupolas. St. Mark’s grew
in wealth as Venice became rich and important.

Doge Contarini remodeled the cathedral in 1063. Byzantine and Lombard
workmen were employed, and the two styles of architecture were joined.
The low brick cupolas were covered by high domes of wood roofed with
metal. Parts of the walls were sheathed with slabs of alabaster.
Incrusted marbles and mosaics were used further to decorate the
outside. Then in the fifteenth century the Gothic pinnacles and other
florid adornments of the exterior were added. The final result is the
finest piece of many-colored architecture in Europe.

The Cathedral of St. Mark is in its present form a Greek cross,
surmounted by a dome at each end and one in the center. The west front
has five great porches opening upon the Piazza di San Marco. The church
contains five hundred columns, mostly in oriental style, with richly
ornamented capitals.

The top of the narthex (that part of the church nearest the main
entrance) forms a wide gallery, in the center of which stand the four
great bronze horses which are said to have belonged to some Greco-Roman
triumphal quadriga, and to have been brought to Venice by Doge Enrico
Dandolo after the fall of Constantinople in 1204. In 1797 Napoleon
carried them to Paris; but they were restored by Francis of Austria in
1815.

The _pala d’oro_, or retable of the high altar, is one of the chief
glories of St. Mark’s, and is one of the most magnificent specimens of
goldsmiths’ and jewelers’ work in existence. The famous treasury of St.
Mark’s contains a precious collection of church plate, jeweled book
bindings, and other artistic treasures of the early Middle Ages.

    PREPARED BY THE EDITORIAL STAFF OF THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION
    ILLUSTRATION FOR THE MENTOR, VOL. 1, No. 27, SERIAL No. 27




[Illustration: THE CAMPANILE AND DOGE’S PALACE, VENICE]




_VENICE_

_The Campanile and Doge’s Palace_

TWO


On July 14, 1902, the Campanile or bell tower of St. Mark’s Cathedral
fell to earth with a crash. Earthquakes and a rotting foundation at
length worked its ruin. But its reconstruction was begun in 1905, and
the new tower was completed in 1911, nine years after the fall. The
Campanile stands, as is usually the case in Italy, detached from the
church. The first bell tower on this site was built in 900. The one
that fell in 1992 was probably erected in 1329.

The Campanile signified to the Venetians the greatness of Venice. It
was used as a watch tower before the year 1000. Then in the twelfth and
thirteenth centuries it became a bell tower also. Its bells rang out at
the first hint of danger to warn the citizens of the republic. During
later times these bells announced the taking of Constantinople by
Dandolo to a waiting and expectant crowd; the victory of Lepanto, which
made Venice master of the East; the establishment of her fights of
sovereignty against Rome. They clanged when Martin Paliero, the traitor
Doge, was beheaded. They tolled a dirge when the peace of Campoformio
ended the Venetian republic forever. When the lagoons were united to
the Italian mainland they rang out in announcement.

When the Campanile fell the Venetians were shocked and broken-hearted.
There was some question as to whether it could be reconstructed; but
the Italians were determined that it should be. In its fall the bell
tower inclined toward the north and open piazza. If it had fallen in
any other direction, either the Library of Sansovino, or the Doge’s
Palace and St. Mark’s Cathedral, or the royal palace would have been
destroyed. In fact, some of the debris fell very near St. Mark’s; but
did not disfigure it in the least.

The old foundations of the Campanile were used as a nucleus for the
new. The shaft outside is a perfect model of the old bell tower; but by
modifying the inside the weight has been reduced 20,000 tons.

The nucleus of the first Venice, before it was made the seat of
government of the republic, is said to have been the little district
about the great bridge over the Grand Canal, which still retains the
name Rialto. But as soon as the island group of Rivo Alto became the
capital of the Venetian republic a palace for the Doge was erected near
the open mouth, on the site that its successor still occupies. This
earliest palace was probably built about the year 800. It was burned
down in 976 and again in 1106. The present magnificent building was a
slow growth over three centuries.

As a whole, the Doge’s Palace as it now stands may be regarded
externally as the characteristic typical example of fully developed
Venetian Gothic. It is built of brick, and is lined or incrusted with
small lozenge-like slabs of variously colored marble.

The interior of the Doge’s Palace is of much later date than is the
exterior. On the walls of the chief council chambers are oil paintings
by many Venetians, among them Tintoretto’s masterpiece “Bacchus and
Ariadne,” and the huge picture of Paradise, the largest oil painting in
the world.

    PREPARED BY THE EDITORIAL STAFF OF THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION
    ILLUSTRATION FOR THE MENTOR, VOL. 1, No. 27, SERIAL No. 27




[Illustration: THE BRIDGE OF SIGHS, VENICE]




_VENICE_

_The Bridge of Sighs_

THREE


Everyone probably has heard of the _Ponte de Sospiri_ or Bridge of
Sighs. It is said that over this bridge walked political prisoners in
the days of Venice’s greatness, and these men were never seen again.
This bridge, however, is, as W. D. Howells says, “A pathetic swindle.”
The Bridge of Sighs dates only from the sixteenth century, and since
that time there has been only a single instance (Antonio Foscarini) of
political imprisonment. The bridge led from the criminal courts in the
palace to the criminal prisons on the other side of the Rio Canal.

The prisons really used for political offenders were the Pozzi, often
wrongly described as being beneath the level of the canal. A thick
wooden casing to the walls protected the inmates from damp, and the
romantic accounts of the horrors of these prisons are probably all
imaginary. The best known is that of Charles Dickens:

“I descended from the cheerful day into two ranges, one below another,
of dismal, awful, horrible stone cells. They were quite dark. Each had
a loophole in its massive wall, where, in the old time, every day a
torch was placed, to light the prisoners within, for half an hour. The
captives, by the glimmering of these brief rays, had cut and scratched
inscriptions in the blackened vaults. I saw them; for their labor with
the rusty nail’s point had outlived their agony and them through many
generations. One cell I saw in which no man remained for more than
twenty-four hours; being marked for dead before he entered it. Hard by,
another, and a dismal one, whereto at midnight the confessor came,--a
monk brown-robed and hooded,--ghastly in the day and free, bright
air, but in the midnight of the murky prison Hope’s extinguisher and
Murder’s herald. I had my foot upon the spot where at the same dread
hour the shriven prisoner was strangled; and struck my hand upon the
guilty door--low-browed and stealthy--through which the lumpish sack
was carried out into a boat and rowed away, and drowned where it was
death to cast a net.”

The Council of Ten which ruled Venice for many years had its place of
assembly during the sixteenth century in one of the smaller apartments
of the ducal palace on the second floor, a circular room with large
windows, looking on the canal spanned by the Bridge of Sighs. This
council had absolute power in administering justice and in governing
the Venetian State.

    PREPARED BY THE EDITORIAL STAFF OF THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION
    ILLUSTRATION FOR THE MENTOR, VOL. 1, No. 27, SERIAL No. 27




[Illustration: THE GRAND CANAL, VENICE]




_VENICE_

_The Grand Canal_

FOUR


The Grand Canal, or Canalazzo, the street of the nobles in Venice, is
one of the deeper channels in the lagoon. It is the original Rivo Alto,
or deep stream, that created Venice, and up which the commerce of all
countries was able to reach the city in the days of her splendor. Let
us step into a gondola, and, telling our gondolier to keep to the left
side till we reach the railway station, ascend the canal. That long,
low building flanking the exact end of the canal, looking seaward,
is the Dogana di Mare. It was erected in 1676 by Benoni. There on
the summit are two Atlases bearing a gilded globe. A bronze Fortuna
surmounts this, serving as a weather vane. And over there stands the
Church of Santa Maria della Salute. During the plague of 1630 the
republic vowed to give a church to Our Lady of Deliverance if the
pestilence was removed, and the building was begun in 1631.

Passing along the canal we now come to a large, new palace, the Palazza
Genovese, erected in 1898, an imitation of the earlier Gothic buildings.

After this we float by many houses and palaces until we finally reach
the mouth of the Rio San Barnaba, where we see the huge and lofty
Rezzonico, which was formerly the home of the poet Robert Browning.
We float on and on by many more palaces and canals until we reach
the Rialto Bridge (Ponte di Rialto). We go under this strikingly
picturesque bridge, past the fish market, and finally reach the Fondaco
dei Turchi (Warehouse of the Turks). This is a large palace, and got
its name in the seventeenth century, when it was let out to the Turkish
merchants in Venice. It is representative of the Byzantine period.

Here we are at the railway station. Now we turn and go down the other
bank. We pass the broad mouth of the Cannaregio, and come to the
gigantic Palazzo Vendramin-Calergi. Wagner, the great composer, died
here. At the entrance to the Rio della Maddalena the canal makes an
angle, and after passing many buildings and the mouth of the Rio di
Noale we come to the Ca’ d’Oro. This is a very ornate building. Its
name, the House of Gold, came from the fact that it was once gilded.
Then we go by many palaces, and come to the Fondaco dei Tedeschi, or
Guild of the German Merchants in Venice. An earlier Teutonic guild hall
existed here from the thirteenth century. Venice imported oriental
goods and passed them on to Germany. All the quarter round the Rialto
Bridge was the business district, the Wall Street of Venice.

We pass under the Ponte di Rialto again, and after a little while
arrive at the Palazzo Loredan, the most beautiful house on the Grand
Canal. It is a Byzantine-Romanesque Venetian palace, with a distinct
oriental feeling. Finally we come to a dainty little house, which the
gondolier tells us is Desdemona’s Palace. This palace is named the
Contarini-Fasan.

The rest of the canal is mainly occupied by hotels. Beyond the Hotel de
l’Europe we come to the gardens of the Royal Palace. Our trip ends at
the Bridge of Sighs.

The palaces on the Grand Canal bear witness to the early peace and
civilization of Venice. Her houses were built for beauty and pleasure,
when the nations of the earth were still building castles for defense.

    PREPARED BY THE EDITORIAL STAFF OF THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION
    ILLUSTRATION FOR THE MENTOR, VOL. 1, No. 27, SERIAL No. 27




[Illustration: THE RIALTO BRIDGE, VENICE]




_VENICE_

_The Rialto Bridge_

FIVE


The Ponte di Rialto, or Rialto Bridge, gets its name from the part of
Venice it is in. This locality was the ancient city of Venice, and
derives its name, Rialto, from Rivo Alto, as the land on the left of
the canal was called. Even after the city expanded it continued to be
the center of commerce and trade, the business heart of Venice. In this
quarter were the Fabriche, or warehouses and custom houses, and many of
the handsomest buildings, such as the Fondaco dei Turchi (Warehouse of
the Turks) and the Fondaco dei Tedeschi (Warehouse of the Germans). It
is this part of the city that Shakespeare means, when Shylock says:

    “Signor Antonio, many a time and oft
    In the Rialto you have rated me
    About my moneys.”

The first Bridge of Rialto was built by an engineer named Barattieri
in 1180. Up to this time a bridge of boats had been used. Barattieri’s
bridge may be seen in the great picture of Carpaccio in the Accademia.
In the sixteenth century there was a great competition for the honor of
designing the new bridge. Fra Giocondo, Sansovino, Palladio, Vignola,
and even Michelangelo himself contended. Antonio da Ponte obtained the
coveted prize, and he began the present Ponte di Rialto in 1588 under
Doge Pasquale Cicogna. At its completion it was very much criticized.
Soon, however, this criticism was silenced, and on the engravings of
the time it is called “Il Famoso Ponte” (The Famous Bridge). The span
of the Rialto Bridge is 91 feet; its height is 24½ feet; its width, 72
feet.

The Annunciation on the bridge is by Girolamo Campagna. The angel is
at one end of the span, and the Madonna is at the other end. The dove,
flying toward the Madonna, forms the keystone of the bridge.

Along the footway of the bridge is a long line of shops.

Close to the Rialto Bridge is the Church of St. Giacomo di Rialto. This
church is said to date from the foundation of the town. It possesses no
remains of its antiquity. The campanile of the Church of St. Giacomo
is a fine example. Built almost altogether of brick, the long lines of
its arcades give an effect of great height. The details are good. Their
character is Gothic.

Facing the church a statue of a hunchback, “Il Gobbo di Rialto,”
supports a pillar. From the back of this statue the laws of the
republic were proclaimed, and this was the center of business life in
Venice.

And as we gaze upon all these relics of the past we agree with Lawrence
Hutton:

“So strange and so strong is the power of fiction over truth, in
Venice, as everywhere else, that Portia and Emilia, Cassio, Antonio,
and Iago appear to have been more real here than are the women and
men in real life. We see, on the Rialto, Shylock first, and then its
history and associations; and the Council Chamber of the Palace of the
Doges is chiefly interesting as being the scene of Othello’s eloquent
defense of himself.”

    PREPARED BY THE EDITORIAL STAFF OF THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION
    ILLUSTRATION FOR THE MENTOR, VOL. 1, No. 27, SERIAL No. 27




[Illustration: A TYPICAL VENETIAN CANAL, VENICE]




_VENICE_

_A Typical Venetian Canal_

SIX


In Venice one takes a gondola as in America he takes a taxicab: with
one difference,--after the gondola ride he still has some money left. A
gondola is a long black skiff, with graceful lines and a swanlike prow
sweeping up from the water. It is typically Venetian. It is admirably
adapted to the work it has to do. There are only two points in all
Venice where a gondola may not go even at low water,--one near the
great theater of the Fenice, and the other near the Palazza Mocenigo at
San Stae.

Two is the best number of passengers for a gondola. The rower is out of
sight, behind. All is ideal. There is no noise, no dust, not even the
feeling of motion, except the ripple of water past the bow.

The wood of which a gondola is built must be well seasoned and without
knots. All gondolas turned out of one workshop are the same length.
A new gondola is left unpainted for the first year. This is to prove
its newness to any possible buyer. An unpainted gondola can easily be
examined for knots. As soon as it is painted its value decreases.

The gondoliers become very attached to their own boats. They learn
their peculiarities; for a gondola, like a person, has a character of
its own.

Since the earliest days of Venice gondolas have been in use. Their
present form has resulted from gradual development. The earliest
authentic document relating to Venice mentions the light boats that
were to the Venetians “as horses tied to the doors of their houses.”
At first these boats were simple in construction; but in the sixteenth
and seventeenth centuries the gondolas became very sumptuous. Finally,
so luxurious did they become that they had to be regulated by law. Now
they are longer and speedier, and are usually painted black.

There are about twenty ferries operating across the Grand Canal and
the Giudecca. They resemble our cab service. The gondoliers also have
guilds or unions. The police license the gondolas; but the real laws of
the gondolier are those of his guild. Each guild has its own meeting
place, where all questions of hours of work and choice of station are
settled. If one member of the union becomes sick, he is cared for out
of the public purse, and if he dies he is carried to the grave by his
fellow members. These guilds are probably the last survivors of the old
medieval crafts of Venice.

The skill of the average Venetian gondolier is marvelous. Rare
indeed are collisions. These gondoliers are not the romantic heroes
one may imagine them to be. They do not float in the moonlight
singing serenades beneath their sweethearts’ windows. They are hardy
fellows, thrifty, sober, and laborious, good husbands and fathers,
matter-of-fact money makers.

One dollar and forty cents a day is the charge for a gondola and its
gondolier in the season; at other times the price is forty cents less.
A gondolier earns on an average sixty cents a day. This does not seem
very much; but the gondoliers live fairly well, and even put money into
the bank.

All the gondoliers of Venice are divided into two factions, the
Nicolotti and the Castellani. The rivalry between these two is intense,
and the question of supremacy was formerly settled by the knife.
Nowadays, however, more peaceable but exciting races are the means. The
Nicolotti wear a black sash and cap, and the Castellani wear red. There
are four principal races a year. The first is rowed in May for a banner
of red and gold; in August two pennons are rowed for, the white and
gold, and the green; the blue banner is the prize in October.

    PREPARED BY THE EDITORIAL STAFF OF THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION
    ILLUSTRATION FOR THE MENTOR, VOL. 1, No. 27, SERIAL No. 27