at it is a marvel; and all without any sparing of expense, since it
is full of the richest pavements, stucco-work and scenes throughout
the halls of that place, and public staircases adorned with various
pictures, as has been related in the Life of Battista Franco, not to
speak of the appurtenances and rich ornaments that it has at the
principal door of entrance, which give it majesty and grandeur,
demonstrating the ability of Sansovino. Which method of building was
the reason that in that city, into which there had not entered up to
that time any other method but that of building their houses and
palaces in one and the same order, each man always continuing the same
things with the same measurements and ancient use, without varying
according to the sites as they found them, or according to
convenience; it was the reason, I say, that buildings both public and
private began to be erected with new designs and better order, and
according to the ancient teaching of Vitruvius; and that work, in the
opinion of those who are good judges and have seen many parts of the
world, is without any equal.

He then built the Palace of Messer Giovanni Delfino, situated on the
Grand Canal on the other side from the Rialto, opposite to the Riva
del Ferro, at a cost of thirty thousand ducats. He built, likewise,
that of Messer Leonardo Moro at S. Girolamo, a work of great cost,
which has almost the appearance of a castle. And he erected the Palace
of Messer Luigi de' Garzoni, wider by thirteen paces in every
direction than is the Fondaco de' Tedeschi, with so many conveniences,
that water runs through the whole fabric, which is adorned with four
most beautiful figures by Sansovino; which palace is at Ponte Casale,
in the neighbourhood of Venice. But the most beautiful is the Palace
of Messer Giorgio Cornaro on the Grand Canal, which, without any doubt
surpassing the others in convenience, majesty, and grandeur, is
considered perhaps the finest that there is in Italy. He also built
(to have done with speaking of private edifices) the Scuola or
Confraternity of the Misericordia, a vast work costing one hundred and
thirty thousand crowns, which, when carried to completion, will prove
to be the most superb edifice in Italy. And his work, also, is the
Church of S. Francesco della Vigna, where the Frati de' Zoccoli have
their seat, a work of great size and importance; but the facade was by
another master. The Loggia about the Campanile of S. Marc