76 THE STONES OF VENICE

as it is now as well known as any tale of the Arabian Nights.¹ But the fast and the discovery of the coffin, by whatever means effected, are facts; and they are recorded² in one of the best-preserved mosaics of the south³ transept, executed very certainly not long after the event had taken place, closely resembling in its treatment that of the Bayeux tapestry,⁴ and showing, in a conventional manner, the interior of the church, as it then was, filled by the people, first in prayer, then in thanksgiving, the pillar standing open before them, and the Doge, in the midst of them, distinguished by his crimson bonnet embroidered with gold, but more unmistakably by the inscription “Dux” over his head, as uniformly is the case in the Bayeux tapestry, and most other pictorial works of the period. The church is, of course, rudely represented, and the two upper stories of it reduced to a small scale in order to form a background to the figures; one of those bold pieces of picture history which we in our pride of perspective, and a thousand things besides, never dare attempt.* We should have put in a column or two, of the real or perspective size, and

* “The church ... we never dare attempt.”-I leave this exceedingly ill-written sentence, trusting the reader will think I write better now. [1879.]

¹ [ The story is of the miraculous intervention of St. Mark, with St. George and St. Nicholas, to save Venice from being overwhelmed by a great storm in 1340. The saints had themselves rowed out to sea by a fisherman, and there exorcised the demons of the storm. “Then St. Mark took off a ring which was on his finger, which ring was worth five ducats; and he said, ‘Show them this, and tell them when they look in the sanctuary they will not find it;’ and thereupon he disappeared. The next morning the said fisherman presented himself before the Doge and related all he had seen the night before, and showed him the ring for a sign. And the Procuratore having sent for the ring, and sought it in the usual place, found it not; by reason of which miracle the fisherman was paid, and a solemn procession was ordained, giving thanks to God, and to the relics of the three holy saints, who rest in our land and who delivered us from this great danger. The ring was given to Signor Marco Loredano and to Signor Andrea Dandolo, the Procuratore, who placed it in the sanctuary.” The whole tale, translated from the old chronicles, may be read in Mrs. Jameson’s Sacred and Legendary Art. It is the subject of a celebrated picture by Paris Bordone in the Venetian Academy.]

² [The “Travellers’ Edition” here resumes from line 4 of § 2, reading “The rediscovery of the relics, lost in the conflagration of 976, is recorded ...” In crossing out § 7, Ruskin noted it as “a vile piece of sectarian puppyism and insolence.”]

³ [All previous editions read “north” for “south”-an obvious slip. The mosaic is on the west wall of the south transept. It is again mentioned in St. Mark’s Rest, § 111, where Ruskin ascribes it, however, to a date later than that here suggested.]

⁴ [Now in the Public Library of that city. It represents the various episodes of the conquest of England by William of Normandy, but was probably not worked till early in the twelfth century.]

[Version 0.04: March 2008]