it lies without the city, at Ponte Casale that is, and has the convenience of water conducted through every part of the building, which is adorned with fine figures, by the hand of Sansovino. But more beautiful than all is the Palace of Messer Griorgio Cornaro, on the Grand Canal: it surpasses all the others in majesty, grandeur, and convenience; nay, is reputed to be, perhaps, the most splendid residence in Italy.
Omitting the private buildings constructed by Sansovino, I restrict myself to recording that he also erected the Scuola and Brotherhood of the Misericordia, at the cost of a hundred and thirty thousand ducats: an immense fabric it is, and, when completed, will be the most superb edifice in Italy. The Church of Francesco della Vigna, which belongs to the Barefooted Friars, is also the work of this artist, and a very great and important one; but the fa§ade was by another master.[1] The Loggia of the Corinthian order erected around the Campanile of San Marco, was of Sansovino’s design: it has a rich decoration of columns, with four niches, wherein are four beautiful figures, in bronze, somewhat less than life: these also, with various figures and stories in basso-rilievo, are by the hand of Jacopo. This Loggia forms a beautiful basement to the Campanile, which is thirty-five feet wide on one of its fronts, and that is about the extent of Sansovino’s work: from the ground to the cornice, where are the windows of the belfry, the Campanile measures a hundred and sixty feet, and from the cornice to the corridor twenty-five. The dado above the cornice is twentyeight and a half feet high, and from the platform of the corridor to the obelisk are sixty feet. On the obelisk is placed the small quadrangular basement, which supports the figure of the Angel, it stands six feet high; and the Angel, which turns with every wind is ten feet high; so that the entire Bell-tower is two hundred and ninety-two feet high.
But one of the richest, most beautiful, and most imposing edifices of this master is the Zecca (Mint) of Venice, constructed wholly of stone and iron, without a particle of wood, to secure it from the danger of fire. This is so com modiously arranged within, for the convenience of the many labourers working there, that in the whole world there is
- ↑ “And what a master!” exclaims an Italian commentator • no less than Palladio himself.’’
