Imatges de pàgina
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Photographed under the superintendence of the Cavaliere
Guglielmo Berchet from the original in St. Mark's library at
Venice, and printed in Photo lithography by W. Griggs, London.
Dimensions of Original 25-4 inches by 9-4 inches.

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cophagus which had been erected to his father Nicolo, by his own filial care, existed till near the end of the 16th century in the porch or corridor leading to the old church of S. Lorenzo, and bore the inscription: "SEPULTURA DOMINI NICOLAI PAULO DE CONTRATA S. IOANNIS GRISOSTEMI." The church was renewed from its foundations in 1592, and then, probably, the sarcophagus was cast aside and lost, and with it all certainty as to the position of the tomb.*

There is no portrait of Marco Polo in existence with any claim to authenticity. The quaint figure which we give on the next page, extracted from the earliest printed edition of his book,

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can certainly make no such pretension. The oldest one after this is probably a picture in the collection of Monsignor Badia at Rome, of which I am now able, by the owner's courtesy, to give a copy. It is set down in the catalogue to Titian, but is probably a work of 1600, or thereabouts, to which the aspect and costume belong. It is inscribed "Marcus Polvs Venetvs Totivs Orbis et Indie Peregrator Primus." Its history unfortunately cannot be traced, but I believe it came from a collection at Urbino. A marble statue was erected in his honour by a family at Venice in the 17th century, and is still to be seen

Cuogna, II. 385.

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"This is the Noble Knight Marco Polo of Venice, the Great Traveller, who describes to us the Great Wonders of the World that he himself hath seen, from the Rising to the Setting of the Sun; the like of which were never heard before."-From the First Printed Edition, Nuremberg, 1477

in the Palazzo Morosini-Gattemburg in the Campo S. Stefano in that city. The medallion portrait on the wall of the Sala dello Scudo in the ducal palace, and which was engraved in Bettoni's "Collection of Portraits of Illustrious Italians," is a work of imagination painted by Francesco Griselini in 1761.* From this, however, was taken the medal by Fabris, which was struck in 1847 in honour of the last meeting of the Italian Congresso Scientifico; and from the medal again is copied, I believe, the elegant woodcut which adorns the introduction to M. Pauthier's edition, though without any information as to its history. A handsome bust, by Augusto Gamba, has lately been placed among the illustrious Venetians in the inner arcade of the Ducal Palace.†

History of

49. From the short series of documents recently alluded to, we gather all that we know of the remaining history of Marco Polo's immediate family. We have seen in Further his will an indication that the two elder daughters, the Polo Fantina and Bellela, were married before his death. Family. In 1333 we find the youngest, Moreta, also a married woman, and Bellela deceased. In 1336 we find that their mother Donata had died in the interval. We learn, too, that Fantina's husband was MARCO BRAGADINO, and Moreta's, RANUZZO DOLFINO. The name of Bellela's husband does not appear.

Fantina's husband is probably the Marco Bragadino, son of Pietro, who in 1346 is mentioned to have been sent as Provveditore-Generale to act against the Patriarch of Acquileia. And in 1379 we find Donna Fantina herself, presumably in widowhood, assessed as a resident of S. Giovanni Grisostomo, on the Estimo or forced loan for the Genoese war, at 1300 lire, whilst Pietro Bragadino of the same parish-her son as I imagine-is assessed at 1500 lire.¶

Lazari, xxxi.

In the first edition I noticed briefly a statement that had reached me from China that, in the Temple at Canton vulgarly called "of the 500 gods," there is a foreign figure which from the name attached had been supposed to represent Marco Polo! From what I have heard from Mr. Wylie, a very competent authority, this is nonsense. The temple contains 500 figures of Arhans or Buddhist saints, and one of these attracts attention from having a hat like a sailor's straw hat. Mr. Wylie had not remarked the name.

These documents are noted in Appendix C, Nos. 9-12, 14, 17, 18.

§ I can find no Ranuzzo Dolfino among the Venetian genealogies, but several Reniers. And I suspect Ranuzzo may be a form of the latter name.

Capellari (see p. 77, ‡), under Bragadino. TIbid, and Gallicciolli, II. 146.

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