ll it here. This Mary, before her conversion, lived in
Alexandria at the end of the fourth century and was famous for her
licentiousness. Then one day, by a caprice, joining a company of
pilgrims to Jerusalem, she embraced Christianity, and in answer to her
prayers for peace of mind was bidden by a supernatural voice to pass
beyond Jordan, where rest and comfort were to be found. There, in the
desert, she roamed for forty-seven years, when she was found, naked and
grey, by a holy man named Zosimus who was travelling in search of a
hermit more pious than himself with whom he might have profitable
converse. Zosimus, having given her his mantle for covering, left her,
but he returned in two years, bringing with him the Sacrament and some
food.

When they caught sight of each other, Mary was on the other side of the
Jordan, but she at once walked to him calmly over the water, and after
receiving the Sacrament returned in the same manner; while Zosimus
hastened to Jerusalem with the wonderful story.

The next year Zosimus again went in search of her, but found only her
corpse, which, with the assistance of a lion, he buried. She was
subsequently canonized.

The other two and hardly distinguishable paintings are "The Presentation
of Christ in the Temple" and "The Assumption of the Virgin."

Now we ascend the staircase, on which is a beautiful "Annunciation" by
Titian, strangely unlike Tintoretto's version below. Here the Virgin
kneels before her desk, expectant, and the angel sails quietly in with a
lily. The picture is less dramatic and more sympathetic; but personally
I should never go to Venice for an "Annunciation" at all. Here also is
Tintoretto's "Visitation," but it is not easily seen.

The upper hall is magnificent, but before we examine it let us proceed
with the Tintorettos. In "The Adoration of the Shepherds," in the far
left-hand corner as one enters, there is an excellent example of the
painter's homeliness. It is really two pictures, the Holy Family being
on an upper floor, or rather shelf, of the manger and making the
prettiest of groups, while below, among the animals, are the shepherds,
real peasants, looking up in worship and rapture. This is one of the
most attractive of the series, not only as a painting but as a Biblical
illustration.

In the corresponding corner at the other end of this wall is another of
the many "Last Suppers" which Tintoretto devised. It does not compare in
brilliance with that