spensation typifying the new, the Old Testament
history vivified by the acts of Christ. The main feature of the harmony
which it is only reasonable to suppose governs the whole building, is
its dedication to S. Roch, the special patron of mercy. The principal
paintings of the Upper Hall are therefore concerned with acts of divine
mercy and deliverance, and even the monochromes bear upon the central
idea. On the roof are the three most important miracles of mercy
performed on behalf of the Chosen People. The paintings on roof and
walls are linked together. The "Fall of Man" at one end of the Hall,
the disobedient eating, corresponds with the obedient eating of the
Passover at the other, and is interdependent with the Manna in the
Wilderness, the Last Supper, and the Miracle of the Loaves. The Miracles
of satisfied thirst are represented by "Moses striking the Rock," Samson
drinking from the jawbone and the waters of Meribah. The Baptism and
other signs of the Advent of Christ and the Divine preparation, balance
events in the early life of Moses. In the Refectory which opens from the
Great Hall, we come to the "Crucifixion," the crowning act of mercy,
surrounded by the events which immediately succeeded it, and typified
immediately above in the Central Hall, by the lifting up of the Brazen
Serpent. The miracles include six of refreshment and succour, two of
miraculous restoration to health, and two of deliverance from danger.
The whole scheme has been worked out in detail in my book on
"Tintoretto."

In the working out of his great scheme, Tintoretto is impatient of
hackneyed and traditional forms; he must have a reading of his own, and
one which appeals to his imagination. We see that passion for movement
which distinguishes his early work. "Moses striking the Rock" is a
figure instinct with purpose and energy. The water bounds forth, living,
life-giving, the people strain wildly to reach it. His figures are
sometimes found fault with, as extravagant in gesture, but the attitudes
were intended to be seen and to arrest attention from far below, and we
must not forget that the painter's models were drawn from a Southern
race, to whom emphasis of action is natural. Tintoretto, it may be
conceded, is on certain occasions, generally when dealing with accessory
figures, inclined to excess of gesture; it is the defect of his
temperament, but when he has a subject that carries him away he is
sincere and never violent in spirit.