d arise in a place strange beyond belief, moved the chief
men of the cities of the Venetian province both in memory of the past,
and in dread of future distress, to establish states upon the nearer
islands of the Adriatic, to which, in the last extremity, they might
retreat for refuge.... They laid the foundation of the new city under
good auspices on the island of the Rialto, the highest and nearest to
the mouth of the Brenta, on March 25, 471."

The first Doge of Venice was Paolo Lucio Anafesto, elected by the
tribunal of commonalty, tribunals, and clergy, at Heraclea, in 697. The
period of the subjection of the ecclesiastical to the ducal and
patrician powers followed. The "Council of Ten" was established in 1335,
and the last Doge elected was Lodovico Manin in 1789, who exclaimed,
"_Tole questo: no la dopero piu_," as the French Revolution destroyed
the Republic of Venice.

The finest example of Renaissance architecture in Venice is that of the
_Libreria Vecchia_, the work of Jacobo Sansovino, completed in the
sixteenth century. Never were the creations of poet and philosopher more
fittingly enshrined. The rich Doric frieze, the Ionic columns, the
stately balustrade, with statues and obelisks, the resplendent richness
of ornamentation, offer a majesty and beauty seldom found even in the
best classical architecture of Europe. On the ceiling of one sala is a
picture by Titian representing "Wisdom" as a woman, reclining on a
cloud, her right hand outstretched to take a book that Genius is
offering her. There are two beautiful caryatides by Vittoria and rich
mural work by Battista Franco and De Moro.

Petrarca, returning from his wanderings in 1362, pleaded with the Senate
of Venezia to give him a house, in return for which he offered the
inheritance of his library. This was the nucleus of the fine collection
which since 1812 has been included in the Palace of the Doges. In it are
some magnificent works by Paolo Veronese, one portrait by Tintoretto,
and others by Salviati and Telotti.

The Doge's Palace is a treasure house of history. One enters the Porta
della Carta, which dates back to 1638, erected by Bartolomeo Buon. The
portal is very rich in sculpture, and among the reliefs is a heroic one
of Francesco Foscari, kneeling before the lion at St. Mark's. One
recalls his tragic fate and passes on. Perhaps, _en passant_, one may
say that his pilgrimage through Venice and Florence is so constantly in
the scenes of tr