an, Giovanni and Gentile Bellini, Gentile da
Fabriano and Carpaccio. Sad, too, to think that the Senators who once
thronged here--those grave, astute gentlemen in furred cloaks whom
Tintoretto and Titian and Moroni and Moretto painted for us--assemble
here no more. Sightseers now claim the palace, and the administrators of
Venetian affairs meet in the Municipio, or Town Hall, on the Grand
Canal.

The best thing about the room is the room itself: the courage of it in a
little place like Venice! Next, I suppose, all eyes turn to the
"Paradiso," and they can do nothing else if the custodian has made
himself one of the party, as he is apt to do. The custodians of Venice
are in the main silent, pessimistic men. They themselves neither take
interest in art nor understand why you should. Their attitude to you is
if not contempt only one remove from it. But one of the officials in the
Doges' Palace who is sometimes to be found in this Great Hall is both
enthusiastic and vocal. He has English too, a little. His weakness for
the "Paradiso" is chiefly due to the circumstance that it is the
"largest oil painting in the world." I dare say this is true; but the
same claim, I recall, was once made for an original poster in the
Strand. The "Paradiso" was one of Tintoretto's last works, the
commission coming to him only by the accident of Veronese's death.
Veronese was the artist first chosen, with a Bassano to assist, but when
he died, Tintoretto, who had been passed over as too old, was permitted
to try. The great man, painting on canvas, at the Misericordia, which
had been turned into a studio for him, and being assisted by his son
Domenico, finished it in 1590; and it was the delight of Venice. At
first he refused payment for it, and then consented to take a present,
but a smaller one than the Senate wished to offer.

The scheme of the work is logical and again illustrates his thoughtful
thoroughness. At the head of all is Christ with His Mother, about and
around them the angelic host led by the archangels--Michael with the
scales, Gabriel with lilies, and Raphael, in prayer, each of whom
presides, as we have seen, over one corner of the Palace. The next
circle contains the greatest Biblical figures, Moses, David, Abraham,
Solomon, Noah, the Evangelists (S. Mark prominent with his lion), and
the Early Fathers. The rest of the picture is given to saints and
martyrs. Not the least interesting figure is the S. Christopher, on the
rig