a is a subordinate employment, but here it is principal. Now,
observe, we are told of the manna, that it was found in the morning;
that then there lay round about the camp a small round thing like the
hoar-frost, and that "when the sun waxed hot it melted." Tintoret has
endeavored, therefore, first of all, to give the idea of coolness; the
congregation are reposing in a soft green meadow, surrounded by blue
hills, and there are rich trees above them, to the branches of one of
which is attached a great grey drapery to catch the manna as it comes
down. In any other picture such a mass of drapery would assuredly have
had some vivid color, but here it is grey; the fields are cool frosty
green, the mountains cold blue, and, to complete the expression and
meaning of all this, there is a most important point to be noted in
the form of the Deity, seen above, through an opening in the clouds.
There are at least ten or twelve other pictures in which the form of
the Supreme Being occurs, to be found in the Scuola di San Rocco
alone; and in every one of these instances it is richly colored, the
garments being generally red and blue, but in this picture of the
manna the figure is _snow white_. Thus the painter endeavors to show
the Deity as the giver of bread, just as in the "Striking of the Rock"
we saw that he represented Him as the Lord of the rivers, the
fountains, and the waters. There is one other very sweet incident at
the bottom of the picture; four or five sheep, instead of pasturing,
turn their heads aside to catch the manna as it comes down, or seem to
be licking it off each other's fleeces. The tree above, to which the
drapery is tied, is the most delicate and delightful piece of leafage
in all the Scuola; it has a large sharp leaf, something like that of a
willow, but five times the size.

26. _Jacob's Dream._ A picture which has good effect from below, but
gains little when seen near. It is an embarrassing one for any
painter, because angels always look awkward going up and down stairs;
one does not see the use of their wings. Tintoret has thrown them into
buoyant and various attitudes, but has evidently not treated the
subject with delight; and it is seen to all the more disadvantage
because just above the painting of the "Ascension," in which the full
fresh power of the painter is developed. One would think this latter