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THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



mythic figures — the wonder of Venice! 

 Immediately in front of it stands the 

 colossal mast, or flagstaff, from which 

 once floated the banners of conquered 

 kingdoms, and the Campanile, where the 

 bells of St. Mark's sound (see page 587). 



VliNICE; A SPHINX 



Here for the first time we realize the 

 wide-spread power of Venice, that fairy 

 city which sprang not from the earth, 

 but the sea ; still touched with the glam- 

 our of the East, and yet mistress of all 

 Western culture — so rich in arts and 

 arms, in loves and hatreds ! Venice is a 

 sphinx whose enigma we never wholly 

 penetrate. In vain we strive to find an 

 image that shall express her mysterious 

 essence. The unique brooks no compari- 

 sons. 



As in the old times, even so today, the 

 center of life and movement is the Piazza 

 of St. Mark's, although it offers but a 

 pale shadow of the life of former days. 

 Here on sunny mornings all the foreign- 

 ers assemble ; here lounge the ciceroni, 

 and on the neighboring piazzetta the gon- 

 doliers. Itinerant vendors of all kinds 

 push their way among the chairs that are 

 set out in front of the cafes under the 

 open arcade. 



But the most brilliant spectacle is at 

 night, when hundreds of gas-jets are 

 alight in the huge bronze candelabra, 

 when the gold sparkles in the jewelers' 

 windows and the sound of gay music is 

 borne across the piazza. Then the crowd 

 gathers from all sides. Here come the 

 nobili with their wives. The gondolas 

 throng to the piazzetta, and the merceria 

 seems far too narrow for the press of 

 people. 



But the Piazza di San Marco seems 

 almost to grow and widen in the blue 

 moonlight that peeps down into the daz- 

 zle of gas and then hides coyly behind 

 the pillars of the procuratie. It seems 

 as if its rays had touched the faces of 

 the fair women whose delicate pallow is 

 renowned. They trail their rustling gar- 

 ments over the marble pavement, lean- 

 ing carelessly on their husbands' arms, 

 while their glowing glances stray far and 

 wide above the rim of the black fan they 

 carry. 



A PICTURIJ 0]? NIGHT I^IFE 



The noise and the passion which runs 

 through the publicity of Italian life con- 

 tinue deep into the night ; then last hasty 

 words are spoken, yet one more stolen 

 glance is shot from beautiful eyes, and 

 the happy individual for whom it is in- 

 tended understands the farewell. Around 

 the steps of the piazzetta — all of white 

 marble, so that you cannot miss them, 

 even at night^-the gondolas gather again 

 and then separate on their different ways 

 through the dark and dead-silent canals. 



On the great piazza the lights are ex- 

 tinguished in the candelabra, the music 

 ceases, and stray boatmen stretch them- 

 selves to sleep on the bases of the col- 

 umns. Further and further the moon- 

 light advances into the center of the 

 piazza, the echo of the last footstep dies 

 away in San Moise, and then all is silent 

 throughout the vast space. 



But morning succeeds to night. At an 

 early hour next day, when ever3^thing 

 was full of life and sunshine, we stepped 

 beneath the portal of the church of St. 

 ]\Iark, which stands alone amidst all tem- 

 ples of the world. Although age and the 

 moist sea air have spread their veil over 

 these walls, yet the brilliant coloring and 

 the mighty outlines shine through all the 

 gray dimness of the past. The bronze 

 horses above the great door are rearing; 

 the cupolas and arches stretch their great 

 curves in intensity of power; each por- 

 tion of the huge building seems alive and 

 animated; yet in the whole reigns the- 

 profound and noble peace proper to the 

 house of God (see page 589). 



DETAILS OF ST. MARK's 



It is difficult to shake off the grand 

 impression of this whole sufficiently to 

 examine the rich abundance of details 

 which are displayed before us, almost 

 every one of deep historical interest, al- 

 most every one of perfect beauty. 



It is now exactly 800 years ago since 

 the building of St. Mark's was com- 

 pleted ; its ecclesiastical sanctity is be- 

 stowed on it by the relics of the great 

 evangelist ; its historical sanctity con- 

 sists in its intimate connection with the 

 fortunes of the city and of her rulers. 

 It was the theater of their triumphs and 



