the
gayest hues, the Venetian Gothic palaces along the canal were hung with
Indian and Persian carpets. The rich colours of Oriental stuffs relieved
the dazzling whiteness of Istrian stone, and festoons of fresh leaves
and flowers were twisted round their columns of porphyry and serpentine.
From each carved balcony and painted window fair Venetian ladies looked
down in their sumptuous robes, glittering with gold and gems, and the
air rang with the _Vivas_ of the crowds who filled the gondolas or
flocked along the Riva to see the gay pageant. It was a spectacle such
as Venice alone could offer in these days of her glory, when the Canal
Grande was, as Commines justly said, the finest street in the whole
world.

And the Palazzo to which the old Doge conducted Beatrice and her mother
was the oldest and one of the grandest in that long avenue of palaces.
Originally built for the Pesaro family, it had been presented to Niccolo
II. of Este in gratitude for his services when, a hundred years before,
he had supplied the Republic with corn during the long war against
Genoa. Since then the house had been repeatedly sequestered during the
wars between Venice and Ferrara, and had only been restored to Duke
Ercole after the conclusion of the peace of Bagnolo. Now its ancient
walls, dating as far back as the year 900, had been freshly decorated
with frescoes, and the long arcades and loggias, with their massive
pillars and Byzantine capitals of grey marble, were enriched with
shields carved with the unicorns and lilies of the house of Este.
Within, the spacious halls were lavishly adorned with gilding and
variegated marble, with fine pictures and the painted _cassoni_ and
chairs which we still admire on old Venetian palaces, while the
tapestries and hangings bearing Sforza devices and the Moro's favourite
mottoes met Beatrice's eyes at every turn. As she wrote in her joyous
letters to her husband, there was nothing lacking that could charm the
eyes or please the mind, and the courtesy and hospitality of the
venerable old Doge and of the Venetian Signory left nothing to be
desired.

FOOTNOTES:

[40] "Storia di Venezia nella Vita privata," p. 60.

[41] Luzio-Renier, _op. cit._, p. 376.

[42] Molmenti, _op. cit._, p. 693.

CHAPTER XVII

_Fetes_ at Venice in honour of the Duchess of Ferrara and Duchess of
Bari--Beatrice d'Este has an audience with the Doge and
Signory--Explains Lodovico's position and his treaties with Fra