THE PIRATES OF SEGNA. 



ADVENTURES IN VENICE AND THE ADRIATIC. 

 [MAG A. MARCH- APRIL 1844.] 



CHAPTER I. 



THE STUDIO. 



IT was on a bright afternoon in spring, and very 

 near the close of the sixteenth century, that a 

 handsome youth, of slender form and patrician aspect, 

 was seated and drawing before an easel in the studio 

 of the aged Cavaliere Giovanni Contarini the last 

 able and distinguished painter of the long-declining 

 school of Titian. The studio was a spacious and lofty 

 saloon, commanding a cheerful view over the Grand 

 Canal. Full curtains of crimson damask partially 

 shrouded the lofty windows, intercepting the super- 

 abundant light, and diffusing tints resembling the 

 ruddy, soft, and melancholy hues of autumnal foliage; 



