f the death of the Virgin; at the angles, angels
holding vases. The whole space is occupied by the sculpture; there are
no spiral shafts or panelled divisions; only a basic plinth below, and
crowning plinth above, the sculpture being raised from a deep concave
field between the two, but, in order to give piquancy and
picturesqueness to the mass of figures, two small trees are introduced
at the head and foot of the Madonna's couch, an oak and a stone pine.

Sec. LIX. It was said above,[17] in speaking of the frequent disputes of
the Venetians with the Pontifical power, which in their early days they
had so strenuously supported, that "the humiliation of Francesco Dandolo
blotted out the shame of Barbarossa." It is indeed well that the two
events should be remembered together. By the help of the Venetians,
Alexander III. was enabled, in the twelfth century, to put his foot upon
the neck of the emperor Barbarossa, quoting the words of the Psalm,
"Thou shalt tread upon the lion and the adder." A hundred and fifty
years later, the Venetian ambassador, Francesco Dandolo, unable to
obtain even an audience from the Pope, Clement V., to whom he had been
sent to pray for a removal of the sentence of excommunication pronounced
against the republic, concealed himself (according to the common
tradition) beneath the Pontiff's dining-table; and thence coming out as
he sat down to meat, embraced his feet, and obtained, by tearful
entreaties, the removal of the terrible sentence.

I say, "according to the common tradition;" for there are some doubts
cast upon the story by its supplement. Most of the Venetian historians
assert that Francesco Dandolo's surname of "Dog" was given him first on
this occasion, in insult, by the cardinals; and that the Venetians, in
remembrance of the grace which his humiliation had won for them, made it
a title of honor to him and to his race. It has, however, been
proved[18] that the surname was borne by the ancestors of Francesco
Dandolo long before; and the falsity of this seal of the legend renders
also its circumstances doubtful. But the main fact of grievous
humiliation having been undergone, admits of no dispute; the existence
of such a tradition at all is in itself a proof of its truth; it was not
one likely to be either invented or received without foundation: and it
will be well, therefore, that the reader should remember, in connection
with the treatment of Barbarossa at the door of the Church of S