DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.68745#0105
GREAT UNDERTAKINGS
later period. Its grey columns are fine and delicate, and exquisite
wreaths of leafage are carved about the shafts. The imposing
entrance and massive doorways look as if built to last for ever,
and though when Ruskin first drew public attention to it, the whole
structure had fallen into disrepair and the rain was coming through
the roof, it has now been so well restored that we see the grand
old building, with its magnificent carving and gilding and its ample
stairways, in unimpaired dignity. The ground-floor is almost
entirely given up to one vast hall, from which the stairs mount to
another of equal size,1 opening from which is the refectory, a
comparatively small room, of which the initial painting of
‘ S. Rocco in Glory ’ forms the centre of the ceiling. Tintoretto’s
journey to Mantua took place some years later, nor can we learn
if he had paid an earlier visit, but the persons in this oval,
leaning over the edge, show us that he was probably acquainted
with Mantegna’s ceiling in the Gonzaga palace. It has been
badly repainted, could never have been finely executed, and
bears marks of haste, but the composition is good, and the fore-
shortened figures of S. Roch and the angels are vigorous and
natural. The panels round the central painting are figures em-
blematic of the great confraternities of Venice, San Giorgio degli
Schiavoni, San Marco, the Carita, San Teodoro, and the Miseri-
cordia. The fringe of birds and pomegranates is believed to be
from the hand of the master. Quite lately, in making some small
repairs, a piece was found turned in, and is to be seen quite fresh
in colour, a clever and effective bit of decoration.
Before the competition for the work of the Scuola was an-
nounced, Tintoretto was already employed by the Brotherhood in
painting the Church, in which the saint’s relics were deposited.
This commission had been given in 1559, and there still remains,
much overpainted and ruined with damp, the whole series (as
described by Ridolfi) illustrative of the life of the saint. The
huge canvas in the nave shows ‘ Christ at the Pool of Bethesda.’
The pool is a Roman bath in a columned hall, the columns divid-
ing the picture into three parts. Two women bring a child, the
sick crowd in behind, and the restored paralytic throws his bed
1 The custode of the upper hall? Luigi Boaro by name, has held his charge for thirty-
seven years. He knows and loves the paintings,, and is able to indicate points of interest.
55
later period. Its grey columns are fine and delicate, and exquisite
wreaths of leafage are carved about the shafts. The imposing
entrance and massive doorways look as if built to last for ever,
and though when Ruskin first drew public attention to it, the whole
structure had fallen into disrepair and the rain was coming through
the roof, it has now been so well restored that we see the grand
old building, with its magnificent carving and gilding and its ample
stairways, in unimpaired dignity. The ground-floor is almost
entirely given up to one vast hall, from which the stairs mount to
another of equal size,1 opening from which is the refectory, a
comparatively small room, of which the initial painting of
‘ S. Rocco in Glory ’ forms the centre of the ceiling. Tintoretto’s
journey to Mantua took place some years later, nor can we learn
if he had paid an earlier visit, but the persons in this oval,
leaning over the edge, show us that he was probably acquainted
with Mantegna’s ceiling in the Gonzaga palace. It has been
badly repainted, could never have been finely executed, and
bears marks of haste, but the composition is good, and the fore-
shortened figures of S. Roch and the angels are vigorous and
natural. The panels round the central painting are figures em-
blematic of the great confraternities of Venice, San Giorgio degli
Schiavoni, San Marco, the Carita, San Teodoro, and the Miseri-
cordia. The fringe of birds and pomegranates is believed to be
from the hand of the master. Quite lately, in making some small
repairs, a piece was found turned in, and is to be seen quite fresh
in colour, a clever and effective bit of decoration.
Before the competition for the work of the Scuola was an-
nounced, Tintoretto was already employed by the Brotherhood in
painting the Church, in which the saint’s relics were deposited.
This commission had been given in 1559, and there still remains,
much overpainted and ruined with damp, the whole series (as
described by Ridolfi) illustrative of the life of the saint. The
huge canvas in the nave shows ‘ Christ at the Pool of Bethesda.’
The pool is a Roman bath in a columned hall, the columns divid-
ing the picture into three parts. Two women bring a child, the
sick crowd in behind, and the restored paralytic throws his bed
1 The custode of the upper hall? Luigi Boaro by name, has held his charge for thirty-
seven years. He knows and loves the paintings,, and is able to indicate points of interest.
55