iece of
distant landscape with some trees upon the bank of a river, all full
of grace.

He made portraits from life of the Prince Grimani and Loredano, which
were held to be admirable; and not long afterwards of King Francis,
when he departed from Italy in order to return to France. And in the
year when Andrea Gritti was elected Doge, Tiziano painted his
portrait, which was a very rare thing, in a picture wherein are Our
Lady, S. Mark, and S. Andrew with the countenance of that Doge; which
picture, a most marvellous work, is in the Sala del Collegio. He has
also painted portraits, in addition to those of the Doges named above
(being obliged, as has been related, to do it), of others who have
been Doges in their time; Pietro Lando, Francesco Donato, Marcantonio
Trevisano, and Veniero. But by the two Doges and brothers Paoli[8] he
has been excused recently, because of his great age, from that
obligation. Before the sack of Rome there had gone to live in Venice
Pietro Aretino, a most famous poet of our times, and he became very
much the friend of Tiziano and Sansovino; which brought great honour
and advantage to Tiziano, for the reason that the poet made him known
wherever his pen reached, and especially to Princes of importance, as
will be told in the proper place.

[Footnote 8: Priuli.]

[Illustration: CHARLES V

(_After the painting by =Tiziano=. Madrid: The Prado_)

_Anderson_]

Meanwhile, to return to Tiziano's works, he painted the altar-piece
for the altar of S. Piero Martire in the Church of SS. Giovanni e
Polo, depicting therein that holy martyr larger than life, in a forest
of very great trees, fallen to the ground and assailed by the fury of
a soldier, who has wounded him so grievously in the head, that as he
lies but half alive there is seen in his face the horror of death,
while in another friar who runs forward in flight may be perceived the
fear and terror of death. In the air are two nude Angels coming down
from a flash of Heaven's lightning, which gives light to the
landscape, which is most beautiful, and to the whole work besides,
which is the most finished, the most celebrated, the greatest, and the
best conceived and executed that Tiziano has as yet ever done in all
his life. This work being seen by Gritti, who was always very much the
friend of Tiziano, as also of Sansovino, he caused to be allotted to
him a great scene of the rout of Chiaradadda, in the Hall of the Great
Council. In