VIII. THE DUCAL PALACE 329

whether the main façade of the palace be of the fourteenth or fifteenth century. The determination of this question is of course necessary before we proceed to draw any conclusion from the style of the work; and it cannot be determined without a careful review of the entire history of the palace, and of all the documents relating to it. I trust that this review may not be found tedious,-assuredly it will not be fruitless,-bringing many facts before us singularly illustrative of the Venetian character.

§ 3. Before, however, the reader can enter upon any inquiry into the history of this building, it is necessary that he should be thoroughly familiar with the arrangement and names of its principal parts, as it at present stands; otherwise he cannot comprehend so much as a single sentence of any of the documents referring to it. I must do what I can, by the help of a rough plan and bird’s-eye view, to give him the necessary topographical knowledge:

Fig. 36 on the next page is a rude ground plan of the buildings round St. Mark’s Place; and the following references will clearly explain their relative positions:

A.St. Mark’s Place.

B.Piazzetta.

P.V. Procuratie Vecchie.

P.N. (opposite) Procuratie Nuove.

P.L. Libreria Vecchia.

1.Piazzetta de’ Leoni.

T.Tower of St. Mark.

F F Great Facade of St. Mark’s Church.

M St. Mark’s. (It is so united with the Ducal Palace, that the separation cannot be indicated in the plan, unless all the walls had been marked, which would have confused the whole.)

DD D Ducal Palace.g s Giant’s stair.

C.Court of Ducal Palace.J Judgment angle.

c.Porta della Carta.a Fig-tree angle.

p.p. Ponte della Paglia (Bridge of Straw).

S.Ponte de’ Sospiri (Bridge of Sighs).

R R Riva de’ Schiavoni.

The reader will observe that the Ducal Palace is arranged somewhat in the form of a hollow square, of which one side faces the Piazzetta, B, and another the quay called the

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