TINTORETTO
ing too with the ‘ Ascension,’ the two being on either side of the
staircase. Following the south wall we come to the ‘ Last Supper,’
and facing it on the north is another gift of bread, the ‘ Miracle of
the Loaves.’ The great subject at this end of the roof is the
‘Fall of Manna,’ with its obvious connexion: ‘ Your fathers did
eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead. This is the bread
which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and
not die.’
The monochrome relating to this is the ‘ Waters bursting forth
at Meribah,’ with its application, ‘Art thou greater than our
father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself,
and his children, and his cattle ? ’ Jesus answered, ‘ Whosoever
drinketh of this water shall thirst again : but whosoever drinketh
of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst.’
On the roof, south of the ‘ Fall of Manna,’ is ‘ Elijah under
the Juniper Tree.’ Ruskin thought this was Elijah at the brook
Cherith, fed by ravens, but it was on another occasion, when
threatened with the vengeance of Jezebel, that Elijah went to
Beersheba, and going a day’s journey into the wilderness, fell
asleep beneath a juniper-tree. ‘ And as he lay and slept under a
juniper-tree, behold, an angel touched him, and said unto him, Arise
and eat. And he looked, and behold, there was a cake baken on the
coals, and a cruse of water at his head; and he did eat and drink,
and laid him down again.’ This may be in special reference to
S. Roch’s sojourn in a desert place during his attack of plague.
The companion picture has a similar subject, ‘Elijah Feeding the
People at Gilgal.’ ‘ And there came a man from Baalshalisha, and
brought the man of God bread of the first-fruits, twenty loaves
of barley, and full ears of corn in the husk thereof; and he said,
Give unto the people, that they may eat. And his servitor
said, What 1 should I set this before an hundred men ? He said
again, Give the people, that they may eat: for thus saith the Lord,
They shall eat, and shall leave thereof.’—2 Kings iv. 42, 43.
The last painting at the west end of the roof is the ‘ Paschal
Feast,’ which connects with No. 1, the ‘Fall’; obedient as compared
with disobedient eating, followed by a going forth into the world.
It corresponds, too, with the ‘ Last Supper ’ on the wall below it,
and with the ‘ Sacrifice of Isaac ’ which is in a line with it.
72
ing too with the ‘ Ascension,’ the two being on either side of the
staircase. Following the south wall we come to the ‘ Last Supper,’
and facing it on the north is another gift of bread, the ‘ Miracle of
the Loaves.’ The great subject at this end of the roof is the
‘Fall of Manna,’ with its obvious connexion: ‘ Your fathers did
eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead. This is the bread
which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and
not die.’
The monochrome relating to this is the ‘ Waters bursting forth
at Meribah,’ with its application, ‘Art thou greater than our
father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself,
and his children, and his cattle ? ’ Jesus answered, ‘ Whosoever
drinketh of this water shall thirst again : but whosoever drinketh
of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst.’
On the roof, south of the ‘ Fall of Manna,’ is ‘ Elijah under
the Juniper Tree.’ Ruskin thought this was Elijah at the brook
Cherith, fed by ravens, but it was on another occasion, when
threatened with the vengeance of Jezebel, that Elijah went to
Beersheba, and going a day’s journey into the wilderness, fell
asleep beneath a juniper-tree. ‘ And as he lay and slept under a
juniper-tree, behold, an angel touched him, and said unto him, Arise
and eat. And he looked, and behold, there was a cake baken on the
coals, and a cruse of water at his head; and he did eat and drink,
and laid him down again.’ This may be in special reference to
S. Roch’s sojourn in a desert place during his attack of plague.
The companion picture has a similar subject, ‘Elijah Feeding the
People at Gilgal.’ ‘ And there came a man from Baalshalisha, and
brought the man of God bread of the first-fruits, twenty loaves
of barley, and full ears of corn in the husk thereof; and he said,
Give unto the people, that they may eat. And his servitor
said, What 1 should I set this before an hundred men ? He said
again, Give the people, that they may eat: for thus saith the Lord,
They shall eat, and shall leave thereof.’—2 Kings iv. 42, 43.
The last painting at the west end of the roof is the ‘ Paschal
Feast,’ which connects with No. 1, the ‘Fall’; obedient as compared
with disobedient eating, followed by a going forth into the world.
It corresponds, too, with the ‘ Last Supper ’ on the wall below it,
and with the ‘ Sacrifice of Isaac ’ which is in a line with it.
72