ht, low down by the door. At his feet is the painter's daughter, for
years his constant companion, who died while he was at work upon this
masterpiece.

The ceiling should be examined, if one has the strength, for Veronese's
sumptuous allegory of the Apotheosis of Venice. In this work the
painter's wife sat for Venice, as she sat also for Europa in the picture
which we have just seen in the Ante-Collegio.

On the walls are one-and-twenty representations of scenes in Venetian
history devoted to the exploits of the two Doges, Sebastiano Ziani
(1172-1178) and Enrico Dandolo (1192-1205). The greatest moment in the
career of Ziani was the meeting of Barbarossa and the Pope, Alexander
III, at S. Mark's, which has already been described; but his reign was
eventful throughout. His first act as Doge was to punish the
assassination of his predecessor, Vitale Michiel, who, for what was held
to be the bad management of an Eastern campaign which utterly and
disastrously failed, and for other reasons, was killed by the mob
outside S. Zaccaria. To him succeeded Ziani and the close of the long
feud between the Pope and the Emperor. It was the Pope's sojourn in
Venice and his pleasure in the Venetians' hospitality which led to the
elaboration of the ceremony of espousing the Adriatic. The Pope gave
Ziani a consecrated ring with which to wed his bride, and much splendour
was added to the pageant; while Ziani, on his return from a visit to the
Pope at the Vatican, where the reconciliation with Barbarossa made it
possible for the Pontiff to be at ease again, brought with him various
pompous insignia that enormously increased his prestige among simple
folk. It was also Ziani who had the columns of S. Theodore and the Lion
erected on the Molo, while it was in his reign that the first Rialto
bridge was begun. Having been Doge for six years, he retired to the
monastery of S. Giorgio and there died some years later, leaving a large
fortune to the poor of Venice and the church of S. Mark.

The paintings represent the Pope Alexander III recognized by the Doge
when hiding in Venice; the departure of the Papal and Venetian
Ambassadors for Pavia to interview the Emperor; the Pope presenting the
Doge with a blessed candle; the Ambassadors before the Emperor (by
Tintoretto); the Pope presenting the Doge with a sword, on the Molo; the
Pope blessing the Doge; the naval battle of Salvatore, in which the
Emperor Otto was captured; the Doge presenting Ot