inted the miracle
of the Cross of Christ, which the said Scuola preserves as a relic;
which miracle was as follows. The said Cross was thrown, I know not by
what chance, from the Ponte della Paglia into the Canal, and, by reason
of the reverence that many bore to the piece of the Cross of Christ that
it contained, they threw themselves into the water to recover it; but it
was the will of God that no one should be worthy to succeed in grasping
it save the Prior of that Scuola. Gentile, therefore, representing
this story, drew in perspective, along the Grand Canal, many houses, the
Ponte della Paglia, the Piazza di S. Marco, and a long procession of men
and women walking behind the clergy; also many who have leapt into the
water, others in the act of leaping, many half immersed, and others in
other very beautiful actions and attitudes; and finally he painted the
said Prior recovering the Cross. Truly great were the labour and
diligence of Gentile in this work, considering the infinite number of
people, the many portraits from life, the diminution of the figures in
the distance, and particularly the portraits of almost all the men who
then belonged to that Scuola, or rather, Confraternity. Last comes the
picture of the replacing of the said Cross, wrought with many beautiful
conceptions. All these scenes, painted on the aforesaid canvases,
acquired a very great name for Gentile.

[Illustration: GIOVANNI BELLINI: THE DOGE LEONARDO LOREDANO

(_London: National Gallery, 189. Panel_)]

Afterwards, Jacopo withdrew to work entirely by himself, as did his two
sons, each of them devoting himself to his own studies in the art. Of
Jacopo I will make no further mention, seeing that his works were
nothing out of the ordinary in comparison with those of his sons, and
because he died not long after his sons withdrew themselves from him;
and I judge it much better to speak at some length only of Giovanni and
Gentile. I will not, indeed, forbear to say that although these brothers
retired to live each by himself, nevertheless they had so much respect
for each other, and both had such reverence for their father, that each,
extolling the other, ever held himself inferior in merit; and thus they
sought modestly to surpass one another no less in goodness and courtesy
than in the excellence of their art.

The first works of Giovanni were some portraits from the life, which
gave much satisfaction, and particularly that of Doge Loredano--alth