n vain ambitions, lest he
should suffer some hurt and have his supreme tranquillity and peace
disturbed by those who walk not, as he says, in truth, but by dubious
ways, malignantly and without charity; whereas he is accustomed to
live simply and by a certain natural goodness, and knows nothing of
subtleties or astuteness in his life. He has executed recently a most
beautiful picture for the Duchess of Savoy, of a Venus and Cupid that
are sleeping, guarded by a servant; all executed so well, that it is
not possible to praise them enough.

[Illustration: VISION OF THE APOCALYPSE

(_After the mosaic by =Zuccati=. Venice: S. Marco_)

_Anderson_]

But here I must not omit to say that a kind of painting which is
almost discontinued in every other place, namely, mosaic, is kept
alive by the most Serene Senate of Venice. Of this the benign and as
it were the principal reason has been Tiziano, who, so far as it has
lain in him, has always taken pains that it should be practised in
Venice, and has caused honourable salaries to be given to those who
have worked at it. Wherefore various works have been executed in the
Church of S. Marco, all the old works have been almost renewed, and
this sort of painting has been carried to such a height of excellence
as is possible, and to a different condition from that in which it was
in Florence and Rome at the time of Giotto, Alesso Baldovinetti, the
Ghirlandajo family, and the miniaturist Gherardo. And all that has
been done in Venice has come from the design of Tiziano and other
excellent painters, who have made drawings and coloured cartoons to
the end that the works might be carried to such perfection as may be
seen in those of the portico of S. Marco, where in a very beautiful
niche there is a Judgment of Solomon so lovely, that in truth it would
not be possible to do more with colours. In the same place is the
genealogical tree of Our Lady by the hand of Lodovico Rosso, all full
of Sibyls and Prophets executed in a delicate manner and put together
very well, with a relief that is passing good. But none have worked
better in this art in our times than Valerio and Vincenzio Zuccheri[9]
of Treviso, by whose hands are stories many and various that may be
seen in S. Marco, and in particular that of the Apocalypse, wherein
around the Throne of God are the Four Evangelists in the form of
animals, the Seven Candlesticks, and many other things executed so
well, that, looking at them from