"I hope you will take great pains to study him here by yourselves,--in the Academy and in the various churches,--wherever there are examples of his work. Let each form his own judgment, founded on that which he finds in the pictures. The work of any artist of the High Renaissance, whose aim is purely artistic, is not difficult to understand. His means of expression were so ample that it is easy indeed to read that which he says, compared with the earlier masters. You will find two of Titian's most notable pictures in the Academy,--the _Assumption of the Virgin_, one of the few in which the Madonna has due prominence, and which shows the artist's best qualities, and _Presentation of the Virgin_."
"What other Venetian Masters ought we particularly to study?" asked Barbara.
"Look out for Crivelli's _Madonnas_, and all of Paul Veronese's work. He was really the most utterly Venetian painter who ever lived. He painted Venice into everything: its motion, its color, its intoxicating fulness are all found in his mythological and banquet scenes. You will find his pictures in the Ducal Palace, in the Academy, and a fine series in San Sebastiano, which represents legendary scenes in the life of St. Sebastian. Go to Santa Maria Formosa and look at Palma Vecchio's _St. Barbara_, his masterpiece. You will also find several of this artist's pictures in the Academy worth looking at. His style at its best is grand, as in the _St. Barbara_, but he did not always paint up to it, by any means.
"As to the rest, study them as a whole. The Venice Academy is an epitome of Venetian painting, from its earliest work down through the High Renaissance into the Decadence. It was full of pure and devotional sentiment, rendered with good, oftentimes rich, color, until after the Bellini. Then the portrayal of purely physical beauty, with refinement of line and gorgeousness of color, became preëminent. The works of several artists of note, Palma Vecchio, Palma Giovine, Bonifazio Veronese, and Bordone, so resemble each other and Titian's less important works, that there has been much uncertainty as to the true authorship of many of them."
"I will take you to see Tintoretto's pictures--or many of them at least," added Mr. Sumner. "He stands alone by himself."