probably had a deep effect upon Rubans, Rembrandt and Turner. Traces may still be perceived in them of Schiavone's influence." (Osler, "Tintoretto.")

244. Portraits of Two Senators. Formerly in the Magistrato dei Camerlenghi. Canvas: 5 ft. 11 in. by 4 ft." 2 in.

"Rich in colour, but not happily grouped, as the two heads are exactly on the same level, and are turned in the same direction.' (Eastlake.)

240.

Portraits of Two Senators. Formerly in the same office as the last mentioned, and the same size.

239. The Madonna with the Portraits of three Senators, Niccolò Bon, Bartolommeo Paruta, and Sebastiano Capello, who in 1586 were officers under the Government. This picture was formerly in the same office as the above-mentioned. Canvas 3 ft. by 12 ft. 9 in.

42. **Miracle of St. Mark.

The legend here represented is as follows:-A certain Christian slave, in the service of a nobleman of Provence, disobeyed the commands of his master in persisting to worship at the shrine of St. Mark-which was at some distance -thus taking up much of his time. One day, on his return from his devotions, he was condemned to the torture, which was about to be inflicted in the public square when the saint himself came down from heaven to his aid. His bonds were burst asunder, the instruments of torture were broken, and the executioners were dumbfounded and amazed.

The condemned slave lies in the foreground unharmed, while a crowd of persons in Oriental costumes bend over him. The chief executioner, standing, exhibits the miraculously-broken mallet to an officer of State, who sits enthroned to the right. St. Mark swoops down head foremost from above. It is said that the painter has introduced his own portrait three times-on the left, the figure immediately above the woman holding a child; the one next to the Turk with a feather in his turban; and the figure at the extreme right of the picture, next to the soldier clad in chain-armour. The portrait of the donor of the work is also to be seen in the lefthand corner.

This was one of the four pictures which were painted by Tintoretto about 1548, when thirty-six years old, for the Scuola di San Marco.'

1 The others are:

(a) Finding of the body of St. Mark at Alexandria "; now in Sant' Angèli, Murano.

(b) "Bringing of the body to Venice," and (c) " Votary of St. Mark

This work greatly added to Tintoretto's fame, and many friends wrote to congratulate him, including Pietro Aretino, who, however, advised him to aspire to still greater perfection. Tintoretto's contemporaries noticed an excessive foreshort`ening of limbs in this picture, and it is probably this to which Aretino refers in one of his letters.' Signed "Jacomo Tentor F." Canvas: 13 ft. 8 in. by 17 ft. II in.

The figure of St. Mark is a daring piece of foreshortening, and the drawing for it now belongs to Baroness BurdettCoutts. It has suffered less than most of the master's pictures from the blackening which was a necessary consequence of his method of painting. It is generally considered his most complete work, but Ruskin calls it "a fine but much overrated Tintoret."

Charles Blanc considers this picture equal in colouring to any other in Venice, and Viardot calls it "The miracle of Tintoretto." Taine thinks it unsurpassed, and that no one but Rubens could have better rendered the movement of the flying figure.

"Le Saint Marc peut passer pour une de ses toiles les plus hardies et les plus féroces. C'est un vrai tour de force." (Gautier, p. 215.)

"It is impossible to give an idea of its richness and glow of colour. If seen through the inverted end of a pair of opera glasses, the picture blazes like an array of precious stones. The shadows are very strong, and have blackened a little with time. The whole, however, is harmonious, glowing and gem-like, and is painted with great vigour." (T. Cole's note in Stillman's "Old It. Mast.," p. 275.)

The colours are sufficiently rich, though not approaching those of his later work. But the picture, fine as it is, by no means merits the position of Tintoretto's masterpiece.' (Osler, p. 30.)

"The artist betrays in the ugly saint floating head downwards that all higher considerations are nothing to him, as long as he has the opportunity to display his mastery of external means.' (Buckhardt.)

43. *Adam and Eve. Formerly in the Scuola della Trinità. Canvas: 4 ft. 9 in. by 6 ft. 11 in.

The beautiful Eve clasps the "Tree of Knowledge" with her right arm, while she offers Adam the apple with her left. The work as a whole, though beautifully painted as regards the flesh, scarcely seems to justify the unqualified praise bestowed upon it by a distinguished critic of our own day.

miraculously delivered of an unclean spirit," both in the library of the Palazzo Reale, Venice.

1 Livre IV. de "Lettres," Fr. ed. 1609, p. 450.

2 Rubens studied much from this picture.

'Hardly inferior to the 'Death of Abel.' Both are more characteristic of the master, and in many respects better pictures than the much-vaunted miracle of St. Mark. These are Tintorets; finest possible Tintorets; best possible examples of what, in absolute power of painting, is supremest work, so far as I know in all the world. Adam and Eve no more sat in that warm-weather, picnic manner, helping each other politely to apples, on the occasion of their fall, than the Madonna went up all bending about in her red and blue cloak on the occasion of her Assumption." (Ruskin, "Guide to Pict. Acad.," i. p. 10.)

"Ce que le peintre a produit de plus accompli au point de vue de l'execution." (Gautier.)

213. *The Crucifixion. Christ is on the Cross between the two thieves; at the foot of the Cross the Virgin and the Marys, centurions, soldiers, and a tumult of people. This is one of Tintoretto's masterpieces. In the opinion of Mr. Ruskin, neither the "Miracle of St. Mark," nor the great "Crucifixion" in the Scuola di San Rocco is more worthy of praise than this picture. From the Confraternità del Rosario ai Santi Giov. e Paolo. Canvas: 9 ft. 3 in. by 14 ft. 7 in.

227. The Resurrection. The risen Christ blessing three senators-Paolo Contarini, Giovanni Gritti, and Angelo Michiel-who were "Provveditori sopra le Camere" in 15391550. From that Office. Canvas: 3 ft. by 13 ft. 4 in. This is evidently intended as a companion picture to the Madonna with the portraits of three Senators.

215. The Resurrection. The Saviour bears in his hand the banner of victory, while two guards sleep in the foreground and in the distance other figures are seen. Formerly in the Sala dello Scudo, Doges' Palace. Canvas: 5 ft. 2 in. by 7 ft. 7 in.

"The principal figure in this scene, though somewhat dramatic in action, conveys in its design a wonderful sense of buoyancy, and seems to fly from, rather than rest on, the edge of the grave." (Eastlake.)

233. Portrait of the Doge Alviso Mocenigo. Born in 1507, elected 1570, and died 1577. Formerly in the Ufficio dei Procuratori di Ultra. Canvas: 3 ft. 9 in. by 3 ft. 2 in.

"A life-size portrait, vigorously painted, in brown and grey tones of colour; there is great individuality in the face, but the features are of a vulgar type. The mode in which the beard

is trimmed has been revived in modern times." (Eastlake.)

228. St. Mark. Half length. Formerly in the Magistrato del Monte di Sussidio. Canvas: 2 ft. 6 in. by 2 ft. 1 in.

506. School of Jacopo Tintoretto. Saint Peter. Canvas: 3 ft. 7 in. by 1 ft.

in.

Saint Paul. Canvas: 3 ft. 5 in. by 1 ft. 1 in.