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I cannot see that the art of the southern schools affected that of Veronese more than it had that of Titian. He remained as faithful an interpreter of his surroundings as he had been before the journey, and no factitious ideal of a time gone by ever came in to disturb his vision of the things that constituted his actual world. This is shown by his being called in 1573 before the Inquisition to respond for blasphemy in one of his pictures, a "Last Supper " painted for the Friars of St. John and St. Paul, in which he had introduced the customs of his time. A French writer, M. Armand Basquet, in his researches in the archives of Venice, discovered the report of this curious trial. In it the painter is being questioned by the inquisitor :

Q. "What is the signification of the figure of one whose nose is bleeding."

A. "It is a servant who has met with an accident which set his nose to bleeding."

Q. "What is the meaning of these people armed and dressed in the German manner, holding halberds in their hands?" The painter replies that he works according to the fashion of painters and fools, and had found no other way to express the fact that the master of the house was rich and lived splendidly, and must have had servants who might have been thus occupied.

Q. "But there is a buffoon with a parrot on his wrist; what is he doing?" And so he is questioned as to all the personages of his drama. He replies finally: "I believe, to tell the truth, that at that Supper there were only Christ and the Apostles; but when in a picture there is a space left, I fill it with figures of my invention."

Q." But does it seem decent to you, in the Last Supper of our Lord, to represent buffoons, drunken Germans, dwarfs, and other stupidities? Do you not know that in Germany, and in other countries infested by heresies, it is customary in their pictures, full of foolish things, to caricature and ridicule the holy things of the Church, so as to teach false doctrines to ignorant people?"

Veronese calls to his aid the example of Michelangelo, who in his "Last Judgment" had painted Christ and most of the judged naked.

But the inquisitor asks if he was of the opinion that that was proper and decent. Veronese replies:

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My very illustrious lords, I had not taken such matters into consideration. I was far from imagining such irregularities. I paint with such study as is natural to me, and as my mind can comprehend." He was, however, obliged to paint out his buffoons and dwarfs and similar heresies, and we have in the Academy of Venice the picture as the Inquisition willed it to be.

In 1577 the fire that destroyed the works of Bellini, Carpaccio, and Titian made a place for the pencil of Veronese. The Senate nominated a commission to which was given the charge of finding the means to repair the disaster. The artist gave himself no concern in the matter, but kept at work in his studio while his competitors canvassed the commission. Contarini reproached him with his indifference to the opportunity, and he replied that he was more concerned about the execution of his works than to get commissions. His confidence in his merit was perhaps more the cause of his tranquillity, though the demand for his pictures must have made him really indifferent to the reception of new orders. He was, however, in spite of his indifference, commissioned to paint the ceiling of the council-chamber, on which he did the "Triumph of Venice"; and he executed for the republic the great pictures of the campaigns of Mocenigo and Loredano, the "Return of Contarini from the victory at Chioggia"; the "Emperor Frederic at the feet of Pope Alexander III."; and others among his noblest works. From this time to the date of his death he was occupied with commissions from all the princes and notables of Europe, as well as from the rich cities of the Venetian state, which were all competitors for his work. His life was without incident in its unbroken triumph. In the year 1588, while taking part in a procession to celebrate the jubilee of Sixtus V., he caught a cold and fever, from which he died in a few hours. He was buried in the midst of his works in St. Sebastian, where his tomb is marked by a stone beneath a portraitbust. W. J. Stillman.

IN

STORM.

N the black jungle of the sky now wakes The Lightning's writhing brood of fiery snakes, And lion Thunder from his lair of cloud

Startles the dusky world with challenge loud.

Frank Dempster Sherman.

[graphic][merged small][merged small][merged small]

CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.

BY EMILIO CASTELAR.

IV. THE GREAT VOYAGE.

[graphic]

N that memorable twelfth of May, Columbus set out from Granada for Cordova, and thence by way of Seville and Huelva to Moguer and Palos, where there awaited him the caravels so ardently desired for the realization of the dreams that to his quickened faith had long seemed actualities. Columbus tarried a few days in Cordova to bid farewell to his dear ones, and to make provision for his sons. The high-born family to whom he was joined by such singular ties, although not wealthy, aided materially in carrying out his plans, and an Arana, a near kinsman of Beatrice, was the devoted companion of Columbus in this first venture. These domestic matters being settled, the discoverer went to Palos, there to devote himself to the arduous task of making ready for the expedition. Money, the first requisite of every practical undertaking, was at hand. Resources had been procured by divers ways and means. By royal warrant a forced levy of three caravels belonging to local pilots was laid upon the town of Palos, to be taken for an unspecified use and an indefinite time.

Toward the end of May the town council published its formal acceptance of the orders, yet by the end of June urgent summons had become necessary, and sharp reprimands for non-compliance with the imperative orders from the palace. This important municipal assist ance was supplemented by a grant of 1,140,000 maravedís by the crown of Castile, to which Columbus added 500,000 more as his personal share of one eighth, collected by him with great difficulty from diverse sources. But, even with the money at command, something else was lacking. Those called upon to assist the enterprise, and to accompany the discoverer, mulishly endeavored to escape the onerous duty. Furthermore, as a punishment for their failure to serve the crown, the equipment and costly provisioning of the caravels were imposed upon them, a measure which bore grievously on that needy maritime population. The general sentiment rebelled against the garrulous and flighty adventurer, who wearied them with his Italian volubility, and his fantastic schemes born of a disordered imagination.

VOL. XLIV.-77-78.

The order to provide stores for a whole year struck terror to the bravest souls, whose most daring ocean ventures had rarely carried them more than two hundred leagues from land. In vain the sovereigns sent letter after letter; in vain the alcaldes time and again proclaimed. the imperative mandate to the blare of trumpets and the roll of drums; in vain the royal pursuivant, Juan de Peñalosa, compelled the unwilling pilots to embark by force; in vain the mission of the corregidor, Juan de Cepeda, who had forthwith manned the fortifications so as to enforce obedience if need were-the sailors fled like souls borne of demons upon the winds, and, after making the sign of the cross to ward off the wizard spells of the Genoese charlatan, became invisible as though by enchantment.

With the high and inflexible resolve belonging to his character, as we now know it, Columbus so strenuously persisted in launching forth at any hazard and with any possible crew, that he promised, as authentic records show, to throw open the jails and to take the pardoned convicts as sailors, even at the risk of their mutinying, as though his expedition were not glorious, but suicidal. These heroic resolves were at this juncture looked upon as the vagaries of a monomaniac, and exposed him to the danger of being bound and confined in some asylum on the first violent symptoms. Owing to these vulgar distrusts, the opposition of those around him grew in proportion as Columbus redoubled his efforts. Neither the commutation decreed in favor of a number of malefactors who were willing to ship on the caravels, nor other extreme and impossible measures of like violent import, gave results favorable to the expedition, and our pilot ran serious risk of being shipwrecked on the very shores of his desire, and of losing the hoardings of the thirty years and more during which his life and soul had been utterly given to the colossal scheme of his voyage, now well nigh frustrated by the incredible and unforeseen repugnance of the masses at the very time when its success seemed assured by the concessions won from the throne by such herculean efforts. This fresh rebuff completely unhinged the nervous system of Columbus, and brought on attacks of vertigo. With the royal patronage heaped upon his head, with his hardly amassed gold in his scrip, and with the municipal au

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thorities at his feet, his scheme was being baffled and ruined by the resistance of the people. Fortunately for Columbus, the providential character of his undertaking was on his side, and so also was Juan Perez, the Franciscan, who, as he had previously aided him to meet the objections of the court, now helped him anew to overcome the popular prejudice. Columbus had sought his assistance on three occasions of moral shipwreck,-more dire than those of ocean,—and had thrice found a haven in the affection and wisdom of the friar, whose knowledge of the common people was as great as his knowledge of royalty. As he had successfully besought the throne for needed means, so now he won the popular support, and prevented the royal aid from becoming fruitless through the failure of the townsfolk to give their humble, but perhaps more indispensable, coöperation. His prime motive was his friendship for Columbus, which in fervor equaled that displayed later by so ardent and zealous a man as Padre Las Casas, friendships, both of them, bordering on adoration, and in their material and intellectual aspects bequeathed to after ages. But, apart from this noble personal devotion, Padre Juan was actuated by his love for cosmographic science, born of the sea and fostered by his intercourse with the mariners, as well as by his love for Christianity, so soon to be diffused throughout the far-off lands of which the discoverer discoursed in the cloisters of the convent. Juan Perez, less ignorant of the world than the folk of Moguer and Palos supposed, determined to put himself at the head of the scheme, with both hands and both feet, as we vulgarly say; and thus he won over the Pinzons, as being men especially fitted to rally the much-needed but reluctant sailors, who still persisted in doubting the empty speeches and baseless schemes of an unknown adventurer. Thus comes upon the scene Martin Alonso Pinzon, the illustrious partner in the marvelous enterprise.

The first result of this intervention was the employment of persuasion in place of force; the second, to facilitate the shipment of the crews; the third, a feeling of unanimous confidence in the feasibility of the undertaking, and assurance of a happy outcome. Garci-Fernandez pledged his cosmographic experience on the truth of the scheme; Juan Perez, like a true Franciscan, based his exhortations on its moral and religious aspects: but by far the most influential, because of his being a skilled seaman, was Martin Alonso Pinzon; for with his deep-rooted convictions, his native courage, and his large personal outlays, he assured the practical accomplishment of all that Columbus had planned and his advocates had avouched. Pinzon was an old sailor; a ship

owner, not only by inclination, but by inheritance. When he took the affair in hand the whole aspect of the situation changed. The timid regained courage, the doubters began to feel hopeful reassurance, the idle bestirred themselves, the lukewarm displayed interest, and the skeptics faith; the deserted strand swarmed with sailors, the calkers' mallets rang on the hulls, the carpenters patched the worn planking, a goodly store of provisions was stowed on board, the riggers stretched cordage and canvas on the bare masts, and there was no longer need of impressed galley-slaves or felons to equip so virtuous and scientific an expedition. At the outset, Columbus would have been content with ninety men, but more than six score were won over by his tireless coadjutor. The discoverer's resources proved scanty, through his having underestimated his requirements, and because of the heavy outlay demanded for the equipment; but his farsighted lieutenant added half a million maravedís to the million and more already given by the Catholic Sovereigns. At that time the population of Palos comprised barely 2000 souls, yet the town furnished three pilots, besides the nucleus of the crew. These sailors of Palos, a lesser number from the neighboring village of Moguer, recruits from Niebla, Huelva, Ayamonte, and some other hamlets, with a few adventurers, made up the crew, which, despite the unusual and perilous character of the voyage, was not after all very heterogeneous.

The drafted caravels did not, in Pinzon's eyes, amount to much. Preferring vessels of small size, because better fitted for shallow coasts and for entering river mouths, the prudent ship-owner discarded the unseaworthy ones, and gave from his own shipyards all that was necessary and useful. He fitted out the Niña, built and owned by his younger brother. The Gallega, which was larger and more suitable for the flag-ship, besides being the only decked caravel and a strong and stanch ship, he rechristened Santa Maria, and assigned to the admiral. The third, which, according to some, was one of the drafted vessels, while others deem it the property of Pinzon himself or of the two brothers, was named the Pinta. The village seemed transformed. The road to Moguer was thronged, and so was the way to La Rábida. Many went and came in search of Columbus, who remained at the convent as a guest, but more came and went in search of the Pinzons, who lived in Palos and had relatives in all the neighboring hamlets. Pinzon raised 500,000 maravedís to add to the fund already collected; he provided the expedition with the needful equipment and the provisions requisite for so long a cruise; he

gathered the crew by persuasion and bribes: yet no business papers or receipts changed hands, nor was there any written contract regarding his share of the profits, everything being left to the good faith and proved integrity of both parties. Some writers explain this fact by suggesting that the Pinzons, being men of large knowledge and experience, possessed some certain information on which the plans of the discoverer were based. On duly considering what we know of the active life of Pinzon, notwithstanding his own negligence and the silence of his comrades, all more occupied in doing deeds than in recording them, the conviction grows that he must have made good use of his many opportunities of observation. His cruises in the Mediterranean; his stay in ports and cities where to the traffic in merchandise is joined the interchange of ideas; his watchful study of the twofold teachings of the revealing stars and the shining track of his ships; his observant nature and his investigative mind-all so far raised him above his contemporaries that he was able to comprehend Columbus and follow him, without losing sight of the incentives and rivalries inherent in frail human nature. In one page of his life-story may perchance be found the secret of his action and the grounds of his foresight-in his journey to Rome in quest of facts on which to base fresh expeditions suggested by the example of the Portuguese, and by his own experiences in voyages to Guinea and the Canaries. Pinzon was intimate with a certain librarian of Innocent VIII. whose name history does not record, and this learned man showed him a map on which lands were vaguely depicted, lying beyond the Fortunate Isles, and to the westward. This may be true or false, there is no certain authority for the statement, but it is found in many books, and springs from the splendor of the pontifical court in that age. An inconspicuous figure is this Pope Innocent. Eclipsed between the marvelous artistic achievements of his fortunate predecessor Sixtus IV., who gave his name to immortal monuments, and the enigmatic Alexander VI., whose ambition soared so high and led him so far, he shines only by the fact that his family name is associated with the preliminaries of the Columbian discovery in the inscription on his tomb in the Vatican, which perhaps may atone for weaknesses almost inexcusable, and gain for him the pardon of posterity. But these Italian journeyings of Pinzon, his sojourns in Rome, then glowing with ideas and inspirations, his visits to the Vatican Library, and his acquaintance with the unknown librarian, if they do not prove the existence of that as yet undiscovered map, at least bear witness to the countless treasures of cosmographic learning in the court of

the Vatican, well fitted to arouse in this glorious coadjutor of Columbus the zeal which he displayed in assisting the preparations for the projected voyage, and to train the keen insight that discerned afar its sure success.

On August 2, 1492, everything was ready, and the crew were notified to embark, to await the uncertain moment when a favorable wind should permit the little fleet to set sail. Nothing so befitted that solemn hour as a votive procession from the caravels to the monastery, to which the eyes of the mariners turned as to a spiritual beacon, brighter than any that flared along the headlands. This pious duty performed, the crew returned on board the caravels, where they patiently awaited the order to sail, while Columbus retired to the monastery eagerly to watch for a favoring wind. When the dawn should break, he hoped to be able to sail during that day, August 3, since, being Friday, it was of good omen, despite old Italian superstitions to the contrary; for upon a Friday the first crusade under Godfrey of Bouillon had taken Jerusalem, and on a Friday, too, the last crusade under the Catholic Sovereigns had won Granada. Not only were these famous precedents auspicious to his purpose, but it so chanced that they were then in the midst of the pious festival held by the Franciscans during the three opening days of August, sacred to the Virgin of the Angels, the patroness of their seraphic order.

Columbus kept all sail on his caravels during the night of August 2. The old salts of the crew looked for a favoring wind at starting, and Columbus's eager watchfulness was not to pass unrewarded. From the height on which La Rábida stood, he scanned sea and sky with steadfast gaze, like one of those sea-birds, presagers of changes of wind and weather, clinging to the scarred and storm-beaten cliff. About three in the morning, while the stars yet twinkled in the skies and all earth slumbered, the awaited breeze sprang up, bringing new life to the discoverer's veins and quickening the throbbing of his heart. The pines murmured as though hymning the dawn, and the waters rippled as though heaving with the breath of love and hope. Columbus awakened Padre Juan, and he in turn the child Diego, and the three repaired to the chapel in quest of heavenly aid and religious solace for the approaching pangs of separation and for the fateful voyage. As in the boundless ether shine the stars, so the lamps flickered in the little church, lighting with their rays alike the courses of the ocean and the pathways of the soul. The monk put on his priestly vestments, and celebrated the holy sacrament at the high altar, before the taper-lighted Virgin. The hour was come, and Columbus resolutely descended to

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