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diff --git a/42998-8.txt b/42998-8.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 1e16acd..0000000 --- a/42998-8.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,4631 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Venice, by Dorothy Menpes - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with -almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org - - -Title: Venice - -Author: Dorothy Menpes - -Illustrator: Mortimer Menpes - -Release Date: June 20, 2013 [EBook #42998] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK VENICE *** - - - - -Produced by Melissa McDaniel and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive) - - - - - - - -Transcriber's Note: - - Inconsistent hyphenation and spelling in the original document have - been preserved. Obvious typographical errors have been corrected. - - Italic text is denoted by _underscores_ and bold text by =equal - signs=. - - - - - BY THE SAME AUTHOR - - BEAUTIFUL BOOKS - WITH ILLUSTRATIONS IN COLOUR - - PRICE =20S.= NET EACH - - JAPAN - WORLD'S CHILDREN - WORLD PICTURES - VENICE - BRITTANY - THE THAMES - - A. & C. BLACK . 4 SOHO SQUARE . LONDON - - - - -VENICE - - - - - [Illustration: CROSSING THE PIAZZA] - - - - - VENICE - - : BY MORTIMER MENPES : - TEXT BY DOROTHY MENPES - PUBLISHED BY ADAM AND - CHARLES BLACK·LONDON·W - - - - - Published May 1904 - Reprinted 1906, 1912 - - - - -CONTENTS - - - PAGE - - ARRIVAL AND FIRST IMPRESSIONS 3 - - HISTORY 17 - - A GLIMPSE INTO BOHEMIA 39 - - ARCHITECTURE 55 - - ST. MARK'S 77 - - PAINTERS OF THE RENAISSANCE 91 - - STREETS, SHOPS, AND COURTYARDS 125 - - THE ISLANDS OF THE LAGOON 149 - - SOCIAL UPS AND DOWNS 173 - - GONDOLAS AND GONDOLIERS 193 - - - - -LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS - - - 1. Crossing the Piazza _Frontispiece_ - - FACING PAGE - - 2. Grand Canal, showing Tower of St. Geremia 2 - - 3. A Pink Palace 4 - - 4. Palazzo Pisani 6 - - 5. The Salute at Sunset 8 - - 6. A Ruined Palazzo 12 - - 7. Palazzi on the Canal 14 - - 8. Giudecca 16 - - 9. San Giorgio Maggiore 20 - - 10. Off the Giudecca 22 - - 11. St. Maria delle Misericordia 26 - - 12. The Custom House and Church of Santa Maria della - Salute 28 - - 13. At Chioggia 30 - - 14. Church of San Geremia 32 - - 15. The Bridge of Sighs and Straw Bridge 34 - - 16. On the Grand Canal 36 - - 17. The Bridge of Sighs 38 - - 18. Palace in a By-Canal 42 - - 19. The Orange Door 44 - - 20. An Unfrequented Canal 50 - - 21. St. Mark's Basin 52 - - 22. Hotel Danieli 54 - - 23. Porta della Carta 56 - - 24. Grand Canal looking towards the Dogana 58 - - 25. A Famous Palazzo 60 - - 26. Entrance to the Grand Canal 62 - - 27. Panorama seen from St. Mark's Basin 64 - - 28. The Dogana and Salute 66 - - 29. Palazzo Contarini degli Scrigni 68 - - 30. Santa Maria della Salute 72 - - 31. Palazzo Mengaldo 74 - - 32. Ospedale Civile 76 - - 33. St. Mark's 78 - - 34. Palazzo Danieli 80 - - 35. Francesca 82 - - 36. St. Mark's Piazza 86 - - 37. Scuola di San Marco 88 - - 38. A Quiet Waterway 90 - - 39. Canal Priuli 94 - - 40. Osmarin Canal 98 - - 41. A Sotto Portico 102 - - 42. A Narrow Canal 108 - - 43. Bridge near the Palazzo Labia 110 - - 44. The House with the Blue Door 112 - - 45. Canal in Giudecca Island 114 - - 46. The Orange Sail 118 - - 47. A Quiet Rio 120 - - 48. Humble Quarter 122 - - 49. Rio di San Marina 124 - - 50. A Squero or Boat-building Yard 126 - - 51. The Weekly Wash 128 - - 52. A Back Street 130 - - 53. The Wooden Spoon Seller 138 - - 54. Work Girls 142 - - 55. Chioggia Fish Market 150 - - 56. Chioggia 154 - - 57. In Murano 158 - - 58. Mrs Eden's Garden in Venice 160 - - 59. Timber Boats from the Shores of the Adriatic 162 - - 60. By a Squero or Boat-building Yard 164 - - 61. In a Side Street, Chioggia 166 - - 62. Santa Maria della Salute 168 - - 63. Rio e Chiesa degli Ognissanti 174 - - 64. A Campiello 176 - - 65. Fishing Boats from Chioggia 178 - - 66. A Woman of the People 180 - - 67. Chioggia 184 - - 68. The Fish Market 190 - - 69. Midday on the Lagoon 196 - - 70. A Traghetto 200 - - 71. Marietta 204 - - 72. Bambino 208 - - 73. A Squero or Boat-building Yard in Venice 212 - - 74. Under the Midday Sun 214 - - 75. The Rialto 218 - - - - - [Illustration: GRAND CANAL, SHOWING TOWER OF ST. GEREMIA] - - - - -ARRIVAL AND FIRST IMPRESSIONS - - -There is no city more written about, more painted, and more -misrepresented, than Venice. Students, poets, and painters have -combined in reproducing her many charms. Usually, however, Venice is -described in a hurried, careless way: the subject is seldom gone -deeply into, and studied as it should be, before attempting to compile -a book. It is only one who has been there, and observed the life and -characteristics of the people for years, who can gain any true -perception of their character. Those who have not been to Venice must -needs know by heart her attractions, which have been so persistently -thrust before the public; but unless half a dozen really excellent -books have been read concerning her, the city of their imaginations -must be a theatrical Venice, unreal and altogether false. Normally one -feels that the last word about Venice has been said--the last chord -struck upon her keyboard, the last harmony brought out. But this is by -no means the case. There are chords still to be struck, and harmonies -still to be brought out: her charm can never be exhausted. The last -chord struck, no matter how poorly executed it may be, goes on -vibrating in our ears, and all unconsciously we are listening for -another. How strange this is! Why should it be so? What other cities -impress us in the same way? Oxford perhaps, and Rome certainly. These -are the only two which come to my mind at the moment. They are the -cities of the soul, round which endless romantic histories cling, -endless dear and glorious associations. Perhaps the reason why one -never tires of books on Venice, or of pictures of Venice, is that they -none of them fulfil one's desires and expectations--they never express -just what one feels about her--there is always something left unsaid, -something uninterpreted; and one is always waiting for that. It is -impossible to express all one feels with regard to Venice. One feels -one's own incompetence terribly. Try as you may, you can only give one -day, one hour, one aspect of sea and sky, only the four seasons, not -all the myriad changes between;--only four times of the -day--dawn, mid-day, twilight, and night--not the thousand melting -changes, not the continual variations. It is not a panorama, not a -magnificent view permanent before one's gaze. The cloud forms will -never be quite the same as you see them at a certain moment; the water -will never be again of that particular shade of green; the reflection -of a pink palace, with the black barge at its base laden with golden -fruit, will never again be thrown upon the water quite in that same -way; there will not always be that warm golden light bathing sea and -sky and palace; that particular pearly-grey mist in the early morning -will never recur, never quite that deep blue-black of night with the -orange lights and the steely water. - - [Illustration: A PINK PALACE] - -When one lives in Venice one becomes absolutely in sympathy with the -place. One feels her beautiful colour; but it is quite another story -when one comes to reproduce it. Words cannot describe nor brush -portray it. Thousands have attempted to paint Venice; but few have -succeeded. The Venetians themselves, loving their country, painted her -continually; but even they could only give one aspect of her. The -pictures of Venice by Venetian masters are chiefly of her pomp and -glory, her State functions and her water fêtes. However, one finds -marvellous glimpses of landscape work in some of the great -masterpieces--sweeps of sky above the heads of some of the Madonnas, -skies in which one can feel the shimmer of light so characteristic of -Venice, the blending of the tones and the flaming glory of the sunset -sky. Turner, too, caught the radiant, shimmering, bright and -opalescent qualities of the lagoon scenery; but even his palette could -not cope with the ever-changing colour. - -One must be either hot or cold with regard to Venice. You cannot be -lukewarm. The magic of her spell begins to work upon you immediately -you arrive. Most of us imagine what the place will be like before we -reach it. We people it in our dreams, and visualise it for -ourselves--canals, palaces, streets, the general appearance of things. -This imaginary city has no foundations save those which are supplied -by pictures and stories. - - [Illustration: PALAZZO PISANI] - -One's first impressions are always those which one remembers longest, -and one's first impressions of Venice are surpassingly beautiful. In -the train, arriving, you catch glimpses of flashes of light in the -darkness, more strangely fantastic than anything you could -imagine; you traverse a long causeway stretching over the lagoon; you -see the water on either side of you, jet black, stretching on -indefinitely; the train seems to float on air; you cannot see the -bridge--nothing but sky and water. You arrive at a large terminal -station, and step into the gondola which is to take you into Venice. -Into most cities one arrives in a whirl and shriek of engines amid -smoke and bustle; but Venice is different. One arrives in a gondola. -The water is of a clear pale green; the banks are scrubby grass and -mud. One watches the silver prow of the gondola as it shoots forward, -the sea air blowing keen and salt. You realise that you are in a wide -canal, and that there are buildings on either side of you, looming up -white and gaunt, with here and there a lantern glimmering at their -base. It is strange to see a city rising thus out of the sea. Venice -seems double: one sees it in the substance and in the reflections on -the water. - -After gliding along for some time you turn up narrow water lanes, -devious and branching, running by low stonework, very complicated in -their turnings. There are doors with water creeping up their steps, -striped posts looking like spectres, and arches everywhere. Strange -figures, like phantoms in a dream, appear in the gloom; black -gondolas, like funeral biers, lie silently at the base of the houses; -and the water laps dully at the steps. The silence of the waterways is -deathlike after the rush and noise of a long journey; each shape that -passes looks ghostly in the dim light; it is like a city of eternal -sleep, a city of death. What a perfect background it would make for -melodrama or for tragedy! No crime or intrigue could be too terrible -to happen within those unfathomable shadows! A brigand might pass -within that heavy half-opened oak door silently and unnoticed. A -corpse with a stiletto buried in its breast might be gliding by in -that black gondola. One would be quite surprised and somewhat shocked -on lifting the felce to discover a fat and florid tradesman returning -from supper with a friend. Venice is not a fitting background for such -a sordid everyday scene. She is much better suited to the romances of -Maturin, Lewis, and Ann Radcliffe; to the Great Bandit, the stories of -the Three Inquisitors, the Council of Ten, masked spies, and pitfalls. - - [Illustration: THE SALUTE AT SUNSET] - -In the daytime one recognises Venice as the Venice of Canaletto, of -Bonington, and of Wild. There is that same vague, luminous -atmosphere, full of rays and mists; the coming and going of gondolas -or galiots; the landing-place of the Piazzetta, with its Gothic -lanterns ornamented by figures of the saints, fixed on poles and sunk -into the sea; the vermilion façade of the Ducal Palace, lozenged with -white and rose marble, its massive pillars supporting a gallery of -small columns. With all this one has been familiar through the -pictures of the masters whom I have mentioned; but the real Venice is -still more beautiful, still more wonderful, still more fantastic. - -If you climb up on any height and look down upon the lagoon, you will -see a sight never to be forgotten. You will imagine that it is a dream -which has taken shape, a vision of fairy-land. The sea is dotted with -craft of all kinds. There is a continuous movement of boats--gondolas, -sailing vessels, and steam-boats pouring forth volumes of black smoke -and making a disturbance on the peaceful lagoon. The water is limpid, -the light radiant; a row of stakes on the lagoon marks the channels -which are navigable for ships. There is the island of San Giorgio, -with its red steeple, its white basilica, surrounded by a girdle of -boats, and looking like a sheet of burnished silver. There is the -Giudecca, a maritime suburb of Venice, turning towards the city a row -of houses and towards the sea a belt of gardens; it has two churches, -Santa Maria and the Redentore. There is San Clemate, at the back of -the Giudecca, a place of penitence and of detention for priests under -discipline; Poreglia, where the vessels are quarantined; and the -little island of St. Peter, almost invisible in the distance. The only -black cupola is that of St. Simeon the Less. Those of the other -churches are silvery. The clouds and the islands seem to mingle one -with the other, and are as baffling as the mirage in a desert. On a -fine day in Venice there is a certain brilliant crystalline clearness -sharpening every outline; every tower and dome stands out sharp and -clear against the sky, making the colours burn. There is colour -everywhere: even the islands in the distance are blue and distinct. -There is colour in the groups that saunter by, in the sapphire water, -and in the cloudless heavens. The air is warm and still; the streets -are full of people, walking and loitering at the doors of the shops; -sunbeams dance on the rippling water; spring is everywhere. As evening -comes on the colours grow richer and deeper; scarlet clouds float -across the amber sky; the canal takes on the hues of the upper air, -and is a rippling mass of liquid topaz and molten gold, in rapid -succession changing from gold to orange, and from orange to deepest -crimson. In the soft hazy light, against the rose tone of the sky, the -cupolas of the islands and the palaces seem to float, shimmering with -the hues of mother-of-pearl, mysterious, dream-like, not like solid -stone. The soft lap of the water breaks the silence; the vaporous -mists float upwards. Across the light drifts a line of fishing boats, -their great brown sails set. A streak of flame-colour strikes on the -windows of Venice, a flush of orange and rose. Then in a second the -sun is gone, and a brief space of doubt ensues, when day hangs -trembling in the balance; then night settles on the lagoon. A hundred -bells ring out over the city, clashing and clamouring together in one -brazen peal. Soon the peal subsides. The evening breeze springs up -mild and sweet from the sea, and the soft and mellow cry of "Stali! Ah -Stali!" is heard everywhere. It is the hour when all that is poor and -unlovely melts into ethereal beauty. The water is a deep blue-black, -save for rippling trails of light from the lamps, which shine like -golden stars from the prows of the gondolas. The moon rises, nearly -full, and is veiled by hazy clouds; the outlines of the bell towers of -the palaces are pale and delicate in the soft light. The stillness of -the water streets is soothing, and the prattle of the city falls -gently on the ears. - -No matter how prosaic or how unimpressionable one may be, one soon -grows into sympathy with the atmosphere of Venice. It is almost -impossible to avoid becoming sentimental as one floats in one's -gondola at night, with the twinkling stars above and the twinkling -splashes below. One almost unconsciously builds romances round the -palaces tottering to decay. Venice is always ready to charm and allure -you. It is hard to believe that somewhere there is a working, active, -busy life going on. But indeed no one in Venice seems to be in -earnest. It is as if the present time does not count, as if it were -but an echo of what passed long years ago. People work without aim or -energy, and when they suffer it seems as if they were but mumming. A -sweetness and a docility steal into one's soul, and one feels that one -can do nothing but drift on for ever in this pleasant idleness. Harsh -voices become modulated; cross-grained, querulous natures are -sweetened; even the flat-faced, spectacled tourists, when they -step from the railway station into a gondola and glide into the mystic -water city, alive with a myriad glistening lights, develop -unconsciously, and despite themselves, into delightful people. - - [Illustration: A RUINED PALAZZO] - -On the day when I arrived in Venice, as I was wandering down a lane -beyond the Canareggio Canal, I found myself in the Jewish part of the -city. It is a fetid and pestilential place. There is about it nothing -pleasant, or wholesome, or attractive. The stonework is cracked and -rotten. The houses, streaked with dirt, bend over into the water with -the weight of years. Most of them are nine stories high, grimy and -dirty, and speckled with green spots. There is not a straight line -anywhere, and not a whole pane of glass--paper is the substitute. Now -and then one sees a patch of plaster on a house; but for the most part -the plaster has fallen away, revealing the crumbly red bricks beneath. -It gives one a sickening feeling--this terrible poverty, solitude, and -neglect. Everything is strange, sullen, mysterious. Men and women with -curved noses and eyes set like burning coals in their pale faces glide -noiselessly along with furtive glances. The children are half naked, -and play about on benches in the streets. I have seen poverty-stricken -Jewish quarters before, but never anything so sad as this. The -sordidness and terrible despair of it make one's heart ache. There are -no green fields and trees to alleviate the misery of the people. Yet, -I suppose, the condition of the Jew was worse in the old days. -Certainly the injustices and insults which once were prevalent do not -occur now. The Christian to-day is on more or less friendly terms with -the Jew. They meet one another on the exchange; they talk together, -and partake of each other's hospitality. - - [Illustration: PALAZZI ON THE CANAL] - -The Christian may despise the Jew; but he has the grace to keep the -feeling to himself, for the Jew possesses a great part of the trade of -the city, and in money matters has ever the upper hand. He is -educated, intellectual, patriotic, and calls himself a Venetian. If he -is rich he lives in a fine new house on the Grand Canal and is owner -of other houses. An instinct of the poorer class of Jews in Venice is -to set up pawnshops and lend money to tradesmen in times of necessity. -The Jews are decidedly useful. In the old days they were driven into -exile; but they were soon called back. They were made to wear a yellow -badge, distinguishing them from Christians. They were not allowed -to buy houses or lands, or to exercise any trade or profession -excepting that of medicine. They were given a dwelling-place in the -dirtiest, unhealthiest part of the city, and called it a Ghetto, -meaning a congregation. It was walled in. The gates were kept by -Christian guards, who were paid by the Jews, and opened the doors at -dawn, closing them at sunset. The Jews were not allowed to emerge on -holidays or feast days, and two barges full of armed men watched them -night and day. A special magistracy had charge of their affairs. Their -dead were buried in the sand on the seashore. Thither the baser of the -Venetians made it a habit to go on Mondays in September, to dance and -make merry on the graves. The Jews were made to pay tribute to Venice -every third year. - -In spite of all hardships and deprivations, they flourished. As the -Christians became poor, the Jews waxed rich. They were not again -expelled from the city. They were never disturbed in their Ghetto by -actual ill-treatment and violence, excepting on one occasion, when a -charge was brought against them of child murder. So the Jews lived -peacefully in their own quarter until, with the advent of modern -civilisation, their prison walls crumbled away, and some of them went -forth from the Ghetto and fixed their habitations in different parts -of the city. Many Jewish families, however, cling to the spot made -sacred for them by so much suffering and humiliation. Even to this -day, although the Jews are distributed everywhere throughout the -length and breadth of Venice, never a Christian comes to dwell in the -Ghetto. Very many Jews still live there. Some of the women are -handsome, with Oriental grace, delicate, sensitive, highly bred. The -only time when the Ghetto has at all a picturesque appearance is the -autumn. Then the air is filled with white floating particles, feathers -of geese, which seem to be plucked by the whole force of the populace. -You see on every doorstep groups of Hebrew youths plucking geese, and -on looking into the interior you will observe strings of the birds -suspended from the rafters, while an odour of roast goose greets your -nostrils wherever you may go. - - - - - [Illustration: GIUDECCA] - - - - -HISTORY - - -With her pomp and pageantry, her wealth of art, her learned academies, -her schools of painting, and her sumptuous style, Venice at the prime -of her life was great, dazzling, splendid. Her navy was supreme. Her -nobles were the richest in Europe. This opulence and this pride led to -her downfall. She was unable to resist the temptation of building -herself an empire on the mainland, thereby causing jealousy among the -other Italian States. Rome became fearful of her own safety, and, with -the intention of crushing the Republic, formed the League of Cambray. -Rome did not achieve her object; but Venice was weakened by the blow, -and misfortune after misfortune fell upon her. The passage round the -Cape of Good Hope was discovered; which took commercial trade with the -East out of her hands, and left her no longer the mart of Europe. -Then came the great battles with the Turk, in which both blood and -money of Venice flowed in vain. Europe was either powerless or too -indifferent to help. Gradually the strength of Venice was broken. She -declined and sank. Still, the rigidity and the power of endurance of -the Venetian constitution were marvellous. She kept a semblance of -life long after the heart had ceased to beat. The constitution of the -State was the most elaborate imaginable, and not easily brought to -nothing. Nevertheless, although there were occasional flashes of the -old brilliancy of Venice, her day was over. The last of her Doges -yielded the State to Napoleon without a blow. Laying the ducal biretta -on the table, he called to his servants, "Take it away: I shall not -use it more." - - [Illustration: SAN GIORGIO MAGGIORE] - -When the first refugees came from the mainland and started life on the -islands of the Archipelago, the mud-banks of Torcello and Rivoalto, -they little thought that they were founding a city which was to be the -admiration of the whole world, that her navy would ride supreme in all -known waters, that Venice was to be the pride of the Adriatic. When -those early people, the Veneti, from whom the Venetians take their -name, drove in their first stakes and built their wattled walls, -they could not have foretold that this was to be the greatest of -mediæval republics, the centre of the commerce of Europe. Nature -helped Venice handsomely. Had the channels been deeper, men-of-war -might have entered and conquered the city. Had the waves been -stronger, the airy structure that we know as Venice would have been -supplanted by the ordinary commercial seaport. Had there been no tide, -for sanitary reasons the city would have been uninhabitable. Had the -tide risen any higher than it rose, there would have been no water -entrances to the palaces, the by-canals would have been filled up, and -the character of the place spoiled. - -One's imagination is inclined to run riot in Venice. One gilds, and -romances, and fills the city with pomp and pageantry, ornamenting the -canals with State barges, the piazza with noble men and fair women, -and the Ducal Palace with illustrious Doges. But far more interesting -is it to see Venice as she really is, in her own simple strength. -Think of the more rugged Venice, that city built by strong and patient -men against such terrible odds, and in so wild and solitary a spot. In -order to gain some idea of Venice as she was in those early days, it -is well to go out in a gondola at low tide, when the canal is a plain -of seaweed. As your gondola makes its way down a narrow channel, you -have some conception of the difficulties with which the founders of -Venice had to contend. To the narrow strips of land, long ridges -guarding the lagoon from the sea, ill sheltered from the waves, the -few hundred stragglers came. Their capital, Padua, had been destroyed -by the northern hordes, and they took shelter in the islands of the -lagoon. So desolate and wind-swept were these islands that one can -scarcely imagine men disputing possession of them with the flocks of -sea-birds. They were impelled by no whim, however: they were exiles -driven by necessity. Here they looked for a temporary home, lived much -as the sea-birds lived, and were quite fearless. The soil, composed -chiefly of dust, ashes, and bitumen, with here and there a layer of -salt, was rich and fertile. This was in the fifth century of our era, -of which period there are but few Venetian records. - - [Illustration: OFF THE GIUDECCA] - -Still, one thing is certain: the Veneti were not a primitive or -barbarous people. Fugitives as they were, they were for the most part -of high birth and associations. They had character and intelligence. -In their mud huts they possessed a social distinction and a -political training such as would have graced the most sumptuous of -palaces. In quite early days they began to put their heads together -and to form a definite system of polity. Year by year the little -community was added to. Battle and bloodshed continued on the -mainland, and men and women flocked to the islands. It is curious to -notice how rank and social distinction assert themselves. Blood will -out. Wherever human beings are gathered together, whether on the -islands of the Adriatic or on those of the South Seas, and however -sorry their plight or great their general misfortune, different grades -will become visible. Men and women will place themselves one above the -other, the master and the man, the mistress and the maid--such is the -law of humanity all the world over. Calamity did not in the long run -have much effect upon the higher class of refugees, and the position -of the lower classes was not bettered. Sympathy had levelled social -distinctions for a time; but that was not for long. Soon, in the -natural course of events, when the little colony grew into a city, and -the origin of the Veneti had faded almost into a tradition, the -various ranks became distinct. True, they lived as sea-birds live, one -kind of food common to both, and one kind of house sheltering both; -but the poor man and the rich did not live in equality. - -As the community grew in importance they began to cultivate their -islands and to build unto themselves ships. By force of necessity, -they became expert in all matters of navigation, as agile on the water -as on land, fearless. They acquired a better means of navigation and a -wider knowledge of the lagoons than any other State possessed. Then -they began to be attacked. With great courage and determination, -Venice resisted all her foes--Gothic, Lombard, Byzantine, and Frank. -Her position was peculiar, vague. She acknowledged a certain -allegiance to the Court of Byzantium; yet by her acts she recognised -the supremacy of the kingdoms on the mainland. Neither Byzantium nor -Ravenna, and not Padua, could claim the lagoons. Venice was -marvellously diplomatic. She drew from East and West exactly what she -wanted to make her a nation by herself. While she pretended allegiance -to several empires, she was in reality struggling for independence. In -the stillness of the lagoon and the freedom of the sea air, the germs -of individuality grew and flourished. They had a congenial soil and -fitting nutriment. It is wonderfully interesting to watch the -progress of the little State--the diplomatic way she went to work: -how when she was weak and unable to stand alone she feigned allegiance -to a stronger Power, yet never bound herself by written word; how she -played one Power against the other; and how in the end, when -sufficiently strong, under the shelter of her various foster-mothers, -she struck out for freedom boldly. - -There is a letter from Cassiodorus, Prefect of Theodoric the Great, -which throws light upon the relations of Venice with the Goths. -Theodoric endeavoured to veil his power over Venice under the guise of -alliance or of hospitality. At the time of the famine in 520 he came -to their rescue with provisions. This gave him a certain hold over the -Venetian people. It imposed upon them a debt which was not to be -easily discharged. A letter written by Cassiodorus in 523 is neither -more nor less than a demand to the Venetians to bring supplies of oil, -wine, and honey, which the islands possessed, to the Goths. The -letter, which is of florid style, is one long sneer veiled in delicate -flattery. Cassiodorus explains that the Venetians own certain ships, -that they are well built, that the sea is an easy path to them; and he -begs that the vessels will transport the tributes of Istria to the -shores of his country. By this letter one realises that the Venetians -had already a reputation as pilots and mariners, and knew well how to -thread in and out the channels of the lagoons. Theodoric was a -generous and powerful neighbour, and the only homage the Venetians -could give the Goths in return was their water service; but they felt -their weakness and dependence deeply, and were continually waiting for -an opportunity to better their position. Consequently, when the war -broke out, after Theodoric's death, between his successors and the -Greek Emperor, the Venetians struggled to make themselves of value, -and took an active share in the operations. They sided with the -Lombards, and conveyed a large reinforcement of Lombard mercenaries to -their destination. That was the beginning of their intimate connection -with Constantinople. Two churches were erected in commemoration of the -services of the islanders. These were built of costly materials, -probably obtained from buildings on the mainland which were partially -destroyed by the invaders. The Venetians were enabled to transport -these treasures in their ships. - - [Illustration: ST. MARIA DELLA MISERICORDIA] - -Much to the anger of the Paduans, Venice was growing very rapidly, and -was gradually, by sheer competence, absorbing all the coast and -river trade. Longinus paid a visit to Venice, begging that she would -procure means of transport for his people. This was granted; but he -endeavoured to force the Venetians to accept the suzerainty of his -master, which was immediately refused in a grand and sovereign manner. -The Venetians declared that, amid much toil and labour, and in the -face of many hardships from Hun, Vandal, Goth, and Lombard, God had -helped and protected them in order that they might continue to live in -the watery marshes. They proudly stated that this group of islands was -an ideal habitation, and that no power of emperor or prince should -take it from them. It was impossible to attack them, they maintained, -unless by the sea; and of that they were assured masters. This -reception must have impressed Longinus. In place of a weak little -State requiring the protection of his country, he found the Venetians -a fierce and self-reliant people. He could obtain only a very vague -promise from the diplomatic Venetians. They would acknowledge the -Emperor as overlord, they said, but only on their word of honour: they -would take no oath of fealty. Still, the rule of the Lombard over -Venice was of longer duration than that of any other State. - -A great trouble beset Venice at about this period. When the first -settlers began work on the islands, each little group had a separate -life, its people retaining as far as possible the customs, the -religion, and the constitution of their ruined homes on the mainland. -The largest townships which sprang up on the Lido were Heraclea, -Jesolo, and Malamocco. These gradually grew together into a federation -of twelve communes, each governed by its own tribune; and the tribunes -had regularly a general assembly for the settlement of such business -as affected the common interests of the lagoon. Jealousy and civil -feuds, however, sprang up among the islanders, as one after another -endeavoured to acquire supremacy. Heraclea tried to take the lead, and -to destroy Jesolo; but she in her turn was attacked, and razed to the -ground, by Malamocco. The civil trouble well-nigh caused the -destruction of Venice. The tribunes intrigued; family rose against -family, clan against clan; and there was terrible bloodshed. For -nearly two years and a half the Republic was in anarchy. The -constitutional evil sapped the general prosperity, obstructed trade -and industries, and brought property to havoc. Had it continued much -longer, the people would have frittered their strength away in -private quarrels, and the State of Venice might never have emerged; -but pressure from the mainland was brought to bear on Venice, and it -became necessary for the various committees to consolidate as one body -and sweep away the perils that were confronting them. The Lombards -were becoming bolder and bolder. The Monarchy grew and grew, and at -last the Republic of Venice feared that it might desire to add the -islands of the Adriatic to its dominions. - - [Illustration: THE CUSTOM HOUSE AND CHURCH OF SANTA MARIA DELLA - SALUTE] - -This awoke Venice from lethargy. It was the peril of the sea that -formed and completed her. The pressure was very severe. East and West -were beginning to ask her very plainly to choose on which side and -under whose protection she intended to place herself, and they did not -intend to wait long for an answer. Venice, subtle and diplomatic, put -off the evil hour as long as she possibly could; but her policy became -obvious soon. She could no longer feign fealty first to one Empire and -then to another, and meanwhile struggle for independence. The time had -come for action. The critical moment was at hand. Either she must put -herself under protection of the East or of the West, or declare her -independence. Any course was dangerous, perhaps fatal. Out of the -three possible issues, Venice chose the most perilous, severing -herself from both East and West. The result was fortunate. Thrown upon -her own resources, she saved herself by energy. - -King Pippin invited Venice to join in a war. Venice refused, and -prepared to defend herself, trusting in the courage of her men and the -intricacy of the lagoon. From north and south King Pippin could -concentrate his forces upon Venice, and victory seemed easy; but he -had forgotten the natural defences of the sea-bound city. He did not -know the shoals and deeps of the sea home. A life's study would -scarcely have taught him. A certain noble assumed the lead of the -Venetian people. He commanded them to remove their wives, children, -and goods to a little island in mid lagoon--Rialto, impregnable from -land or sea. This done, the fighting men took up positions on the -outlying islands, and awaited the attack of the Franks. Pippin seized -on Brondolo, Chioggia, and Palestrina, and tried to press his squadron -on to the capital; but the shoals stopped him. His ships ran aground; -his pilots missed the channels; and the Venetians pelted them with -darts and stones. For six months Pippin struggled; but the Venetians -kept him at bay by their network of canals and their oozy -mud-banks. They shook off every assault. In the summer there came a -rumour that an Eastern fleet was approaching. Pippin tried one more -appeal to the Venetians, begging them to own themselves his subjects. -"For are you not within the borders of my kingdom?" he said. "We are -resolved to be the subjects of the Roman Emperor," they answered, "and -not of you." The King was forced to retire. This great victory seemed -to have the effect of consolidating the Venetians effectively. They -agreed thenceforward to work together for the common cause. War had -completed the union of Venice. She had emerged from her trial an -independent State. There was no more internal discord. Venetian men -and Venetian lagoons had made and saved the State. The spirit of the -waters, free, vigorous, and pungent, had passed during the strife into -the being of the people. - - [Illustration: AT CHIOGGIA] - -This triumph was really the birth hour of Venice, and the people look -back upon it with joy. The victory over King Pippin is cherished to -this day as one of the finest events in history. The Venetians -realised the peril of the sea from this attack. Also they realised the -peril of the mainland from the Hunnish invasion. They then effected a -compromise, and chose as the future home of their State a group of -islands mid-way between the sea and the land, then known as Rialto, -but thenceforth to bear the proud name of Venice. Venice in this union -of her people declared her nature, so infinitely various, rich, -pliant, and free, that to this day she awakens and in some measure -satisfies a passion such as we feel for some person deeply beloved. -Her people then struggled to attain from infancy to manhood. For the -first time they had learned their own power, and union gave them -strength. They began to create their Constitution, that singular -monument of rigidity and durability which endured, with hardly a break -in its structure, for ten centuries. They built with vigour and -enthusiasm that incomparably lovely city of the sea. The aristocracy -of Venice emerged. Her empire extended, following the lines of her -commerce, in the East. St. Mark was substituted for St. Theodore as -patron saint. The crusades were used as a means to conquer Dalmatia, -and to plant the lion in the Greek Archipelago. Venice clashed with -Genoa, and emerged victorious. Wealth flowed into her State coffers -and her private banks. The island of Rialto proved the advantage of -its situation, and established a claim for gratitude as the -asylum of Venice in her hour of need. The Venetians had seen that the -mainland was unsafe, and the attack of Pippin showed that there was -danger on the sea. Thus, experience leading to the choice of the -middle point, in 810 the seat of the Government was removed to Rialto -under Angelo Badoer as Doge. Rialto became a sacrament of -reconciliation between Heraclea and Malamocco. It was the glory of -Venice that of all parts of Italy she alone remained unscathed by the -foreign ravages of the fifth century and the conquest of the eighth. -Venice alone was left out of all Italy's ruin. She alone escaped pure -and undefiled. - - [Illustration: CHURCH OF SAN GEREMIA] - -This marvellous period of her history--the repulses of the Franks and -the creation of her State--requires no embellishments; yet the -Venetians loved to gather a mythology of persons and events. -Cannon-balls of bread, they say, were fired into the Frankish camp in -mockery of Pippin's hope of strong Rialto surrendering. Then, again, -there are the stories of the old woman who lured the invader to his -final effort when half his forces were lost; of the canal Orfano, -which ran with foreign blood, and won its name from the countless -Frankish hordes that day made desolate; of the sword of Charles, which -was flung into the sea when the Emperor acknowledged his repulse and -cried, "As this my brand sinks out of sight, nor ever shall rise -again, so let all thoughts of conquering Venice fade from out men's -hearts, or they will feel, as I have felt, the heavy displeasure of -God." All these stories were absolutely untrue; but they were born of -a pardonable pride. - -The Venetians held their country in a singularly powerful devotion. -Possibly this was because they were so closely shut in on these few -little islands, precious morsels of land snatched from the devouring -sea. Certain it is that they toiled for the State as no other nation -has toiled before or since. They were determined that Venice should be -great, that she should be beautiful; and century after century of -Venetians devoted their lives to this work, sinking their own -interests in hers. The Republic was before everything. Wherever one -goes in Florence, one finds traces of great and famous men of all -periods and of all crafts--painters, poets, writers, statesmen,--in -every square, in every street, you are reminded of them; their spirits -and their works live with you wherever you may go. But in Venice, -where are they? There is the city--yes: there is that; and there are -the archives, the annals of the city, histories without number, -marvellous histories;--but the familiar figures, the great men that we -honour and look for,--they are not here. Venice herself was the centre -of all their aspirations, all their affections. She was erected as -would be a treasure-heap: all the choicest and all the best were -there. One knows but little, for example, of the great painters--the -men, with beautiful thoughts, who filled the churches and the palaces -with untold splendour, glowing sunshine. Their works are left, and -their names; but no more. It seems as if they must have kept one -another down, that Venice alone might shine. - - [Illustration: THE BRIDGE OF SIGHS AND STRAW BRIDGE] - -If one wishes to study the history of Venice, there is no difficulty. -Historic documents without number are accessible. Every period, every -vogue, every year, is carefully studied and commented upon by keen -observers, men of the greatest talents. These records glow with life -and energy. In quite early days, when the Republic was in its -infancy,--when there was no aristocracy, no great and powerful -State,--even the fishermen and the merchants and the salt -manufacturers had a longing to chronicle the doings of the community. -The palaces which were being built, and the churches,--all these they -wished to have chronicled for ever. Numberless historians there were, -and all nameless--men of extraordinary skill and genius. -Embellishments and fables abound; but on the whole these histories, -written with great realism, bring back a vivid picture of the State. -No Venetian ever tires, ever did tire, of the history of his country. -It is the one subject that is of endless interest to him. The trade of -Venice, her ceremonies, her treaties, her money, the speeches of her -orators--all are chronicled. - - [Illustration: ON THE GRAND CANAL] - -Venice was looked upon by Italy very much as we look upon America. She -had no long and glorious history--at least, no history of anything -beyond handicraft--no literature, no ancient manuscripts. The -Florentines, on the other hand, had a great enthusiasm for ancient -history. They were proud of their descent, and gloried in looking back -to a long Etruscan civilisation. When one visits Florence, there is no -difficulty in gathering knowledge concerning her great men of any -period. Their shadows walk in her streets; their memories will never -fade. You meet them everywhere--the painters, the monks, the gallants, -the statesmen,--the individualities of the men who were the makers of -Florence. The Venetians had no sympathy with the Florentines. They -could not understand the Florentine desire to live with the past -rather than the present. There are very few names which stand out -prominently in the history of Venice, names concerning which a great -deal is known; but there are one or two stories that are picturesque -and popular, stories which are ever fresh to the Venetians. One is of -a prince, the beheaded Doge Marino Faliero,--not at all an important -incident in Venetian history, but one that is very dear to the hearts -of the people, because of its melancholy. The prince was a man of -hasty temper and haughty nature, and could brook no slight to his -dignity. Once a bishop kept him waiting, and that worthy, for his -misdemeanour, received, to the astonishment of everyone, a sound box -on the ear. Before he came to the throne, Faliero was of great service -to the State. He was offered the throne of Venice at the age of -seventy-six, and married a young and beautiful woman. The story runs -that a young gallant called Michele Steno, having been turned out of -her presence, insulted the lady and her husband by pinning an impudent -message to the chair of the Doge. The young man was brought before the -"Forty," excused on the plea of his age and impetuosity, condemned to -prison for two months, and banished from Venice for a year -afterwards. This slight punishment for so grave an offence stung -Faliero to the quick. He felt that, though he occupied the Venetian -throne, he had scarcely more power than the beggar at his gate. All -his life he had been an active, energetic man, a ruler of men; his -word had been law, and his counsels listened to with respect and acted -upon. Now he was powerless. He was insulted by the young nobles, and -had no power to punish them; his authority was entirely disregarded. -This state of things grew worse and worse. Two of his old friends also -were insulted by noblemen. At last Faliero's temper could endure no -longer. In the April of 1355 he formed a conspiracy, and tried to -assert his supremacy. Six months after his triumphant arrival in -Venice as Doge, an old man and friendless, enraged at the insults -offered to him, he struck one mad and foolish blow for freedom. The -plot was betrayed on the eve of the catastrophe. The conspirators were -strung up in one long ghastly line on the piazza. Faliero himself was -beheaded at the foot of the stairs where a few short months before he -had sworn the _promissione_ on assuming the office of Doge. - - - - - [Illustration: THE BRIDGE OF SIGHS] - - - - -A GLIMPSE INTO BOHEMIA - - -On one occasion we arrived at Venice early in the morning. I was -frightened at the darkness and the stillness, and the tall black -houses looming high above us: it seemed that brigands must be lurking -there, ready to murder us. Absolute silence reigned, except for -mysterious sounds as if melodious voices were calling a refractory -dog--"Puppy," "Puppy," "Puppy," we heard on every side. It was the -warning of the gondoliers as they passed one another in the darkness. -I longed for some accustomed natural noise. If only something would -fall and make a splash! The silence set one's nerves on edge. We hired -a gondola, and glided swiftly and silently out into the darkness, our -gondolier's ringing voice joining the chorus of "Puppy." And so -dexterously did he handle his dainty craft that, even as we turned -corners and passed other gondolas in the pitch-black darkness, not a -sound was made, not a splash. I felt like beating the water with the -palms of my hands to make a disturbance. This silent gliding went on -for about twenty minutes, until suddenly we drew up by an enormous -silver-grey palace down a side canal, one of the largest palaces in -Venice, with broad marble steps and badly-made deal doors. After some -time the doors were opened, and an old lady appeared, bowing and -talking in rapid Italian. She led us up the steps and through a -colossal hall of marble, all marble, with staircases on either side -leading on to spacious landings, into a suite of rooms that seemed -more like the state apartments of a king than those of an ordinary -hotel. - -One of the first things I did when I awoke in the morning was to get -out on to the roof of the palace and look about me. I always ask to be -directed on to the roof when I arrive at a new place. And there I -remained the whole morning, painting, deaf to the pleadings of my -friends that I should come down and eat. It was the chimneys that -fascinated me! From the decorative standpoint they were quite -startling. Chimneys, chimneys, everywhere, and such chimneys--grouped -into pictures in every direction! There were clusters of twos, and -clusters of threes; and wherever there were spaces that could be used -for decoration they were used to the full. Each one of these chimneys -seemed to have its own particular character. Some bulged out at the -top in graceful lines; some were square and stolid; others were light -and airy. At the base of some bloomed a blaze of flowers from the roof -gardens. Each one was different. When I learned that a book had been -published on the chimneys of Venice I was not in the least surprised. - - [Illustration: PALACE IN A BY-CANAL] - -When my friends were able to tear me away from chimneys we got into -our gondola and allowed the gondolier to take us where he pleased, to -drift about in the by-canals. I wanted my impressions of Venice to be -quite haphazard. We glided in the gondola past marble palaces--green -palaces, pink palaces, blue palaces, all toned and variegated with -age. Venice struck me as being a highly-coloured city, the most -brilliantly coloured I had ever seen. It was not, as most cities are, -merely a background for brightly-dressed figures: the buildings -themselves were coloured, and the gondolas and the figures were black -and sombre. Every wall, every doorway, was coloured. We glided past a -series of crazy old doorways of blues, greens, and vermilions. Each -door was broken with many changes of colour, and the red, rusty -ironwork above, just where it caught the sun, was of a rich golden -sienna. Certainly Venice is the most highly-coloured city in the -world. How different from the impressions one finds in Bond -Street--the vicious water-colours in which the artist always insists -on orange and vermilion sails and crisp, flowing reflections that have -been painted on slanting tables: the water-colours that are so sought -after and so saleable! That Venice is vividly coloured I admit; but -there is a scumble over the city. Age has toned it. The pink palace -reflected in the green water is totally unlike the pink palace of the -blobby water-colours. There are blues, and violets, and old-rose -tones, and a certain bloom in it that these artists never seem to -give. And to a certain extent these pictures handicap one: one feels -annoyed to think that Venice should be so caricatured. You see the -Bridge of Sighs at daybreak; you see the Salute by moonlight; and -somehow you cannot forget these eternal water-colours. There is a -certain resemblance, sufficient to irritate. - - [Illustration: THE ORANGE DOOR] - -Indolence was upon us. Already we were becoming apathetic. There was -something about the atmosphere that encouraged a delightful -languor. The residents said it was the sirocco. The sirocco seemed -answerable for many deficiencies: it was always being blamed. Later, -when we came in touch with the artists, we found that it was the -normal excuse for not working. We discovered groups of them sitting -about in the square drinking, and when we asked them if they had done -any work they all said, "No: there is a sirocco on now: of course, we -can't work." Venice is overrun with artists; yet how few you see at -work! Here and there you will find a stray one in a gondola painting, -but very rarely. We were drifting about idly. Our gondolier was quite -a part of the picture--young, very handsome, with a musical voice. And -I began in a dreamy way to muse as I watched him. My thoughts went -back for the moment to the Thames--to an old gentleman toiling in a -punt. He was once a handsome young gondolier like this one, gracefully -piloting a gondola through the canals of Venice; but now he had grown -old on the Thames. There is no doubt that the gondola is made for -Venice: it is futile to try it elsewhere. And then the colour is -right. The gondola ought to be black. It became so naturally and as a -matter of economy. People used to spend too much money on their -gondolas, and colours had to be forbidden. - -I was in a dreamy mood, and I began to wonder what became of the -handsome young gondoliers--they were all handsome and all young. They -could not remain so for ever. What became of the old ones? I soon -learnt. When gondoliers grew to be too old for their tasks they -drifted on to the landing-stages. There we saw them, with marvellous -crooks, catching the gondolas and drawing them into the proper places. -I examined these sticks, and was surprised to find that some of them -were of very great value. The gondolier prizes and decorates his stick -just as a bootblack tends his stand: only, where the bootblack has -coppers and bits of tinsel, the Venetian has pure gold coins dating -back to the time of the Doges. This love of collecting and cherishing -beautiful things is characteristic of the peasant people of Venice. -Women will spend their savings in inches of gold chain, which they -join together into long strings, and sometimes a woman will have -festoons of gold chain collected for two or three generations. It is -their way of investing money. - -We drifted along all the afternoon through the canals, being hooked -on to different landing-stages by these old gentlemen; and we came to -the conclusion that this was really the end of our handsome gondolier. -We were anxious to meet the artists of Venice, and had been told of a -certain restaurant, the Panada, where they generally congregated. - -In the evening, then, we landed, and went thither to dine. The artists -who went to the Panada, we had been told, were those who had "let -themselves go" more or less--who had been taken hold of by the sirocco -and had settled down to loafing. When they first arrived in Venice -they went to wine-shops, little dark places, and dined off macaroni -and harsh drink. The Panada was more or less organised for the -convenience of artists. In the first place, you were not bored by -having to tip waiters--a duty that is always trying to an artist who -is in between two exhibitions. And nearly all the Panada artists were -in that condition. They had nearly all had exhibitions in Bond Street -which had been "great artistic successes"--in other words, they hadn't -sold any pictures. Another point about the Panada that appealed to the -artist was that his bills could run on indefinitely. The bills did -run: in fact, the only things that seemed to be at all active in -Venice, in spite of the sirocco, were the bills. The Panada was a -paradise! Who could resist it? The cooking was excellent, as cooking -must always be where painters are, for they are very particular -people. The Panada was perfect; the Panada had a sanded floor; the -Panada was the noisiest restaurant in Italy. It was our first -experience of Bohemia, the painter's world, in Venice; and we sat -there, over our untouched dinner, fascinated--fascinated by the -general noise and confusion, fascinated even by the unsavoury smells. -It was not clean; there was a great deal of smoke, and so much talk! -The guests seemed to be screaming and talking at once in all the -languages of the world. Two words I heard continually--"breadth" and -"simplicity." Here and there was a little talk of "mediums" and -"technique," but not much. It was generally broad principles that were -discussed. There was no mistaking these groups of men. They were -artists to their finger-tips in everything save work. They dressed -like artists, talked like artists, and behaved like the artists one -reads about in novels: the Ouida artists. They wore neckties reaching -down to their waists, collars two sizes too large and cut very low; -their hands were always a little soiled, and their finger-nails never -quite clean. The waiters also were soiled. They were very toney -indeed, and very apathetic--toes turned inwards, heads bent slightly -forward. They were dejected from want of variety: there was no -uncertainty in the Panada as to tips. They came in on the aggregate -and received lump sums; but there was a general depression about the -people that waited. All were soiled at the Panada--the waiters, the -artists, and the linen. But we very soon began to talk of this dirt as -tone, and then it didn't seem to matter so much. Everything seemed to -be worked on more or less artistic principles. There were quaint -decorative dishes. The puddings were pink; the butter was stained; and -altogether it required great habits to enjoy food at the Panada. By -perseverance, I was told, it was possible to acquire an appetite. -There were tables of different sizes, and groups of artists belonging -to different sects--some antagonistic, some sympathetic: Dottists, and -Spottists, and Stripists. Sometimes when the Dottists and Spottists -happened to be friends for the minute they would join their tables -together and make one long one. But this was only now and then. -Usually the groups in the Panada were formed of twos. Often genius -sat alone. Now and then, when a big picture was sold, the restaurant -was very festive: the artist had a dinner-party, to which everyone had -been invited. But generally it was a small water-colour that was sold, -and the party went off to a small café down by a side canal. There was -one man who got himself up to look like King Charles, and he was King -Charles to the life! Long hair rested on his shoulders, and an -enormous tie adorned his neck; his trousers and waistcoat were -fringed, and his boots and beard were pointed. He had a coat of velvet -that through age had become marked with an opalescent mottle. If he -stood in front of an age-toned palace you never knew which was coat -and which was palace. He possessed no earthly goods, but paid his way -all over the world by painting portraits. He would either cut you out -in black paper for fivepence or draw an elaborate portrait in pastel -for one franc fifty. This celebrated man came up to us, and began to -paint our portraits. Before we knew where we were he had cut out, -dry-pointed, and stippled us; and melted away, leaving behind him a -whole tableful of works of art, side by side with his bill. Then -another man introduced himself to us, and explained that this was -quite the usual thing for "King Charles" to do. He pointed out -how romantic and interesting it all was: he seemed quite convinced -that the place was full of romance. - - [Illustration: AN UNFREQUENTED CANAL] - -For us Bohemia had lost its romance. We felt that we had been green, -grass-green, and that (to use a vulgarism) the gilt was off the -gingerbread. The room was becoming stuffy; the Bohemians were noisy -and dishonest; and the waiters, no longer toney, were dirty. So we -paid our own bill and "King Charles's," and left the Panada and -romance for the open air. - -In the piazza the band was playing the popular music that one knows so -well from the barrel organs. Instinctively one thought of London, -Soho, and performing monkeys. But this impression was swept away when -I saw the picture that presented itself before me in St. Mark's. What -an extraordinary change had come over the piazza since dinner! A swarm -of locusts might have settled upon Venice--a dark, seething mass, -clustering round the walls of St. Mark's and filling up every inch of -space. They were pilgrims from Russia, thousands of them--men, women, -and children--on their way to Rome--poor peasants who had saved up for -this pilgrimage during their whole lifetime, sleeping the sleep of -the righteous, their bodies pressed close against the holy walls of -St. Mark's as though for sympathy. It was a dark-coloured crowd, all -dressed in black, with big capes and long boots and little astrachan -caps,--a strong silhouette of black against the brilliant background -of St. Mark's. It was a marvellous picture, and pathetic. These -peasants seemed to be waiting for a greater, deeper joy, when they -would be transformed to new creatures and fly back to their native -land on the wings of a beautiful faith. The moon herself shone down -upon them caressingly, lighting up many a weary, travel-worn face, -turning their sombre hues to silvers, and greens, and violets. St. -Mark's, with this dark mass of people at her base, seemed almost -flippant by contrast. - - [Illustration: ST. MARK'S BASIN] - -This was a night of contrasts! The dirt and filth of the little -restaurant, with its noisy Bohemians: and then the quiet night, a -clear, bright, silvery blue night such as one only sees in Venice; the -weary pilgrims and the sumptuous cathedral; the dainty lightness and -gracefulness of St. Mark's and the broad, simple, strong tower rearing -her head into the sky--the Campanile, now, alas! no more than a -memory. It was a picture such as you see but once in a lifetime. This -building of precious stones, one of the most beautiful in the -world, so rich with gold and mosaic, jewels, marbles, and lapis -lazuli, that even in the cold blue light of the moon and a few dim -gas-lamps it seemed to be dancing and sparkling with colour,--this, -and the sleeping peasants in their rags--what a contrast! - -Then, again, what a contrast suddenly to turn from these dark groups -to the jewellers' shops and the huge windows full of glittering -Venetian glass! To see the gaily-dressed crowds sipping their coffee -outside Florian's famous café that had never been closed during three -hundred years! Here was nothing but brightness and gaiety. An -excellent band played in the middle of the piazza. Smartly-dressed -young men and military officers in pale blue uniform strolled about -the square, quite conscious that they were being regarded favourably -by girls and their mothers sitting at the coffee-tables. Florian's was -an ideal place for the artist. It was never shut. It was quite the -fashionable thing to drink coffee there after dinner, and one had the -chance of talking to one's friends and acquaintances. Fascinating -fruits were brought round to us--grapes, and figs, and almonds dipped -in caramel sugar and stuck on to sticks. The men smoked cigars as long -as those smoked in Burma. So capacious were they that they put them -on little stoves in the way a woman heats her curling-tongs, and by -the time they had drunk their coffee the cigars were probably alight. - -When the band had stopped playing we went to Bauer's to drink beer. -And so ended a typical day in the life of an artist in that most -fascinating city on the waters. - - [Illustration: HOTEL DANIELI] - -Thanks to the kindness of Mr. Bozzi, the manager of the well-known -Danieli's Hotel, who often piloted me about the intricate network of -streets, I became familiar with many of the unfrequented quarters, -which, as a rule, remain absolutely unknown to the tourist. - - - - - [Illustration: PORTA DELLA CARTA] - - - - -ARCHITECTURE - - -In architecture one finds a history of Venice. It is the most definite -expression, the most faithful embodiment, of the local genius. It -presents realistically the daily life and thought and work of a bygone -race. The intense love of the early Venetians for colour shows itself -in the gleaming gold, the veined marble, and the white sculpture. -Another of their affections is symbolised by the frequent introduction -of children in the sculptured works. There are children of all -periods, of all appearances, illustrating various of the changes in -thought and in ideals that were continually coming to pass. Those of -the earlier time are sturdy, strapping youngsters, with a purposeful -look about them; whereas the children of the fifteenth century are -fat, chubby, and uninteresting. - -In the early stage of her history Venice was a Greek rather than an -Italian city, and her buildings were of Byzantine type. That is -easily explained. During her first great period Venice was connected -by sea with Constantinople and the East, but cut off by the lagoons -and marshes from Lombardy and the rest of Italy. Only a few of the -Byzantine buildings remain. The period is principally marked by the -precious stones and coloured marbles encrusted in the brickwork, and -by the ancient reliefs inserted in the blank walls of churches and -houses. Among Byzantine buildings St. Mark's comes first. The existing -building began to be constructed at the close of the tenth century; -and Byzantine architects worked at it for nearly a hundred years. It -was largely remodelled afterwards, and was altered in decoration -during the different reactions of architecture; but the bulk of it -belongs to the early period, and is in the pure Byzantine style. Parts -of it remind one greatly of St. Sophia in Constantinople, on the lines -of which, I believe, St. Mark's was partially modelled. There were -many Gothic additions in the shape of pinnacles and pointed gables -above the chief arches, just sufficient intrusion of the Gothic -element to add a touch of bizarre extravagance; and in the sixteenth -century many of the old mosaics were superseded by jejeune Renaissance -compositions, of no decorative value, incongruous with the -general scheme. Nevertheless, the church as a whole, as I have said, -still remains essentially Byzantine. The main fabric of the façade -represents the original Byzantine Romanesque building, and is in -almost every particular similar to the picture of the church given in -the thirteenth-century mosaic. The turreted pinnacles and the false -gables are Gothic additions of the fifteenth century--merely screens -of decoration with no roof behind. The building is truly Oriental. In -the shape of a Greek cross with four equal arms, it faces west, and -has a high altar and a presbytery at the east end. It was first of all -the domestic chapel of the Doge's Palace, and then the shrine of the -body of St. Mark the Evangelist. Everywhere one sees the motto, "Pax -tibi, Marce, Evangelista mea" ("Peace to thee, Mark, my Evangelist"). -There are the symbols of all the four evangelists,--Luke, a bull; -Mark, a lion; John, an eagle; Matthew, an angel. There are scenes from -the life of Christ--the Adoration of the Magi and Annunciation to the -shepherds. - - [Illustration: GRAND CANAL LOOKING TOWARDS THE DOGANA] - -Venice in the Byzantine period must have been a city of great -architectural wealth and splendour,--far in advance of other Italian -towns, although, of course, destitute of the engineering glories of -France and Germany. One can tell this by the few remaining Byzantine -palaces,--very few of them are purely Byzantine. There is the -magnificent Palazzo Loredan, one of the most beautiful of all the -palaces on the Grand Canal, and a splendid example of the Byzantine -Romanesque period. It has about it a distinct tinge of Oriental -feeling; the capitals of some of the columns are exquisitely -beautiful, and there are not many Gothic alterations. Next to this -palace comes the Palazzo Farsetti, Romanesque of the twelfth century, -simpler in style and with less ornamentation. It is really more nearly -pure Romanesque than Byzantine, and shows no Oriental influence -whatever. It is graceful and dignified. The "Fondaco dei Turchi," a -very early Byzantine Romanesque palace, assumed its name in the -seventeenth century, when it was let to the Turkish merchants of -Venice. Originally a twelfth-century palace, it has recently been so -much restored as to have lost all its air of antiquity and the greater -part of its earlier interest, although it still represents -symbolically the splendid homes of the Byzantine period. It is much -like St. Mark's, and is the only surviving example of a building all -in one style. The arches, the capitals, the shafts, the parapets -and decorative plaques, are modernised, to be sure; but they are -typical if not original, and give one a very good idea of what the -Grand Canal must have been like before the invasion of the Gothic -style and the Renaissance. - - [Illustration: A FAMOUS PALAZZO] - -One gleans a very good idea by means of these palaces of how extremely -civilised and peaceful Venice must have been at that early period. In -northern Europe the homes of mediæval nobles were dark and gloomy -castles built mainly for defence, having single heavy oak doors -studded with nails, and great iron gates and drawbridges; there were -no openings in the ground floors, and the windows above were small and -grated. For Venice such fortifications were unnecessary. Her palaces -were airy and graceful; for she was protected from the outside by her -moat of lagoons, and from the inside by her strong internal -Government. These ancient buildings, the "Fondaco dei Turchi" and the -rest, were even then gentlemen's palaces, always open and undefended, -the homes of pleasure, with free means of access, broad arcades, -plenty of light, and presenting a general air of peace and security. - -It is interesting to notice the later Venetian architecture (as -exhibited in the Libreria and the Procuratie Vecchie), developed from -this early open and airy style. The native Venetian ideal seems to -have traversed all styles, and persisted through them all in spite of -endless architectural changes. The Grand Canal was the street of the -nobles--the finest street in the world, in the way of architectural -beauties. From end to end there are palaces of all periods, from the -Byzantine time to the eighteenth century, and all are palaces of the -ancient Venetian nobility. The Grand Canal is to Venice what the -Strand is to London and the Rue St. Honoré to Paris. It is the most -wonderful street in the world. There is nothing so bizarre, so -fairy-like, to be seen in any other city through the length and -breadth of the globe. It is a marvellous book wherein every family of -the Venetian nobility has signed its name. Every wall tells a story; -every house is a palace; each was erected by some well-known -architect. Pietro Lombardo, Scamozzi, Sansovino, Sammichele (the -Veronese), Selva, Vissenti--these were the men who drew the plans and -directed the construction of the houses; but unknown architects of the -Middle Ages built some of the most picturesque. - - [Illustration: ENTRANCE TO THE GRAND CANAL] - -There were palaces of all styles. After a palace of the -Renaissance comes one belonging to the Middle Ages in Gothic Arab -style, much like the Ducal Palace, with balconies, lancet windows, and -trefoils. Then there will be a palace adorned with great plaques or -medallions of differently coloured marbles; anon a great bare sweep of -rose-toned wall. All styles are here--Byzantine, Saracen, Lombard, -Gothic, Roman, Greek, and Rococo--fanciful capitals, Greek cupolas, -mosaic and bas-relief, classic severity combined with the elegant -fantasy of the Renaissance. - -It is a gallery open to the sky, full of the art of seven or eight -centuries. Think of the genius and money and talent expended on this -one street by brilliant artists and munificent patrons! The Grand -Canal was originally one of the navigable channels by whose aid the -waters found their way, through the mud-banks, past the mouth of the -Lido to the open sea. It is the original deep water which first -created Venice. Up this canal the commerce of all countries used to -reach the city in the days of her splendour. The Rialto, the most -beautiful bridge in Venice, bestrides the canal in a single span. It -was built by Antonio da Ponte. There are two rows of shops upon it; -and one of the most picturesque scenes in the Grand Canal lies round -about it--old houses with platformed roofs, bulging balconies, and -stairways with disjointed steps. - -It is interesting to watch how Byzantine architecture gave place to -Gothic when Venice began to conquer on the Italian mainland. Thus -Gothic architecture came in, and the conquest of Padua and Verona -completed it. The term "Gothic" is very elastic; but there are certain -points by which one can tell whether a building is Gothic or not. It -is Gothic if the roof rises in a steep gable high above the walls; if -the principal windows and doors have pointed arches and gables; if it -has a steep roof; if the arches are foliated--that is to say, if the -shapes of different leaves are cut into the stone to form a species of -delicate tracery like lacework, letting in the daylight. Foliation is -especially characteristic of Gothic architecture; some of the windows -in Westminster Abbey are foliated. Gothic architecture is very rough -and loose and irregular; yet it has a wonderful tenderness and -variation of design. Changeableness and variety are the great -requirements of perfect architecture. One should be enabled to derive -just as much pleasure and instruction from looking at a perfect piece -of architecture as from reading one of the finest of classic -books. Gothic architecture is essentially truthful and naturalistic. -The architects of this period were peculiarly fond of vegetation, -which is a sign of gentleness and refinement of mind. Gothic is -principally independent. It juts out continually with many pinnacles; -there is nothing broad, or uniform, or smooth, about a Gothic -building; it is variable, rough, and jutting, though, nevertheless, -graceful in the extreme. The materials were rougher then than in the -time of the Byzantine architecture, and to atone for this it was -necessary to introduce much workmanship. - - [Illustration: PANORAMA SEEN FROM ST. MARK'S BASIN] - -The artists were enthusiastic in their love of Nature, and felt deeply -all her changing and complex moods. For example, you may see the -difference between a Renaissance and a Gothic palace by imagining the -surroundings of the former, its background, gone. It would then be -deprived of its charm; whereas if you took a Gothic palace and placed -it anywhere, it would still be beautiful. - -The Ducal Palace expresses the Gothic spirit to perfection. It was the -great work of Venice at this period. The best architects, the best -labourers, and the best painters were employed in beautifying it. At -one time the palace fell into decay, and it was obvious to everyone -that it should be rebuilt and enlarged. But the alteration would be -extremely expensive. Therefore a law was passed preventing anyone -suggesting such alterations unless he had previously paid one thousand -ducats to the State. At last a man arose who cared not for the -thousand ducats, and suggested the necessary alterations. The palace -was then rebuilt. It was palace, prison, senate-house, and office of -public business, all in one. There were thirty-six great pillars -supporting the lower stories alone, all decorated in the richest -possible manner. There was no end to the fantasies of the sculptors at -that period--exquisite curves, studied outlines, graceful but complex, -solid and strong and beautifully proportioned braided work; lilies and -flowers of all kinds intertwined. Much of the sculpture is snow-white, -with gold as a background; some of it has glass mosaic let into the -hollows. The cross is used a good deal; also the peacock, the vine, -the dove. - - [Illustration: THE DOGANA AND SALUTE] - -The palace of Semitecolo has some beautiful early-Gothic windows, -having false cusps in the arches, so as to make the head a trefoil. -One sees here the gradual growth of the arch until it culminates in -the Doge's Palace type. There are beautiful balustrades to the -balconies, original and belonging to the period. In the -early-Gothic palaces one notices a certain softening of the -angles--that is to say, in the fine fourteenth-century Gothic -buildings. The early Gothic architecture has no cusps to the arches; -it shows a transitional form between Venetian Romanesque and Venetian -Gothic. There are first-floor arcades early-Gothic, with a somewhat -Oriental curve in the arch derived by the early Venetian Gothics from -Alexandria or Cairo. The capitals of the columns are characteristic of -the period: there are dainty balconies with graceful, slender columns, -and cusps to the arches. - -These Gothic palaces were built by a people who were laborious, brave, -practical, and prudent; yet they had great ideas of the refinement of -domestic life, and the Gothic palaces remain to-day much the same as -when they were newly built--marble balconies, great strong sweeps of -delicate-looking tracery, clustered arches. It is the Gothic window -that is so perfect, so strong,--built, too, with material that was by -no means good. - -There is so much rivalry, vanity, dishonesty, in the present day, that -houses are badly and cheaply built; even in the best of them, bad iron -and inferior plaster are used. How many of them, I should like to -know, will be standing fifty years hence? Mr. Ruskin is much against -our modern windows and the manner in which they are quickly -constructed out of bad materials, and the bricks all placed one on top -of the other slanting anyhow. The doors of Gothic palaces are all -semicircular above. At one time the name of the family was placed over -the entrance, and a prayer inserted for their safety and -prosperity,--also a blessing for the stranger who should pass the -threshold. Inside the houses there is always a large court round which -all the various rooms circle, with a beautiful outside staircase -supported on pointed arches with coned parapets and projecting -landing-places. In the court there is always a well of marble superbly -sculptured. - - [Illustration: PALAZZO CONTARINI DEGLI SCRIGNI] - -The centres of the early Renaissance architecture were Florence, -Milan, and Venice. Venice is the only city in which important examples -of all three periods of the Renaissance are to be found--the early -period, the culminating period, and the period of decay. The -Renaissance found better expression in Venice than elsewhere in Italy. -In fact, when Florence and Rome had entered upon quite another period, -Venice continued it for fully twenty-five years longer. The Venetians -were ambitious, exceedingly so; and this ambition was a source of -great trouble to the rest of Italy. The balance of power seemed, in -their opinion, to be weighing too heavily in the direction of the -Queen of the Adriatic; and the peace of the peninsula, they felt, was -not by any means assured. The greatest period for Venice was at the -end of the fifteenth century, when she had conquered all the land -about her from Padua nearly to Milan, and seawards to Dalmatia and -Crete. In the market-places of Padua, Vicenza, Verona, and Brescia, -the Lion of St. Mark was set up as a sign of the subjugation. Even now -one can trace the influence of Venice upon the art of these various -places. But the Venetians certainly learnt a great deal from the -people whom they conquered. Other influences were brought to bear upon -Venetian architecture--as, for example, the Lombardi family, who -probably belonged to some part of Lombardy. Venice seems at this time -to have gathered unto herself many fine suggestions from the rest of -Italy. In fact, Venice absorbed talent from the rest of the world. In -quite early days she adopted Byzantine and Arabic architecture; then, -in the sixteenth century, she took unto herself the art of the -Milanese, who enriched the city with their work. - -A truly Renaissance building did not appear in Venice until sixty -years after the first was erected in Florence, and then, strangely, it -had little of the Florentine character. This, after all, is not -extraordinary when one comes to think of the bitter war between -Florence and Venice in 1467. She took her style of architecture from -the countries which she had conquered and naturalised, such as the -district of Lombardy; and in her turn she influenced them. The -adoption of the Greek forms of Roman architecture which originated in -Florence gradually spread and reached Venice; but the Venetians did -not struggle, as did the Florentines, to revive and purify Roman -architecture. Simply the tendency of the general taste inclined in -that direction, and gave to their own Venetian forms of architecture a -certain classic air. In the general form of the work of this period -one cannot detect the classical influence; but, if you examine into it -carefully, you will notice in small details, such as a capital, that -some classical subject has been introduced in place of the usual -symbolical one. You will also detect in purely Gothic composition -signs of the new art influence. For example, in the mouldings there is -an introduction of cupids among the foliage, and all the strange -fables and gods of the heathen are represented there. This was the -period when people were becoming more learned. Later, buildings were -erected on purely classical lines; yet they still kept to the Gothic -arch. Bartolomeo Buono of Bergamo was one of the greatest architects -of his time. In 1520 the work of another architect was noticeable--that -of Guglielmo Bergamasco. - -The question of the church exterior was one of the most difficult -problems of the early-Renaissance architect, and he never solved it -quite. The churches of Venice nearly all belong to the Renaissance; -there were many of them rebuilt under the influence of either -Palladian or Jesuit style. Palladio was a great architect; but he had -nothing of the Catholic feeling. He was really more suited to build a -pagan temple than to build a Christian church. The Jesuit style, -moreover, is horrible, with its stumpy columns, bloated cherubs, -unhealthy affectations, and fiery ornaments. It is a display without -beauty or grace, merely overloaded and heavy. The church of the Scalzi -is of extravagant richness. The walls are encrusted with coloured -marble; there are frescoed ceilings by Tiepolo and Sansovino; bright -tones prevail--more appropriate to a ballroom than to a house of -prayer. One can quite imagine a minuet under such a ceiling. Many of -the churches in Italy are built in this style, and are compensated -only by the number and interest of the valuable objects which they -contain. Almost every church has a museum such as would honour the -palace of a king. There one sees Titians, Paul Veroneses, Tintorettos, -Palmas, Giovanni Bellinis, Bonifazios. The church of the Scalzi has a -broad staircase in red brocatelle of Verona, with truncated columns in -marble, gigantic prophets, stone balustrades, and doors of mosaic. The -Romanesque churches are really beautiful, with their pillars of -porphyry, antique capitals, images standing out upon a glitter of -gold, Byzantine mosaics, slender columns, and carved trefoils. The -church of Santa Maria della Salute has been made famous by the picture -of her by Canaletto in the Louvre. One of the most beautiful things -within is a ceiling by Titian. Venetian arabesque ornament of the -Quattri cento is tenderly sculptured, and the friezes are undercut in -a reverent and delicate manner. - - [Illustration: SANTA MARIA DELLA SALUTE] - -One of the most beautiful palaces of the Grand Canal is the Palazzo -Corner-Spinelli. It is especially noticeable because of the number of -windows in the basement,--there is no observable order in the placing -of them. Then, again, there are contrasts in the shape of -balconies. Some are small and curved inwards; others are long and -straight. In 1481 the palaces became of a more advanced character. The -central windows were grouped together; but this last feature is -characteristic of Venetian architecture of all periods. One of -Sammichele's finest works is the Palazzo Grimani, on the Grand Canal. -It was carried out by others after Sammichele's death; nevertheless, -it is very fine. It has great dignity and majesty, and is a -composition such as will be found in Venice alone. - -Venice is, architecturally, the most interesting city in Italy. It -contains works of all periods, from the early Christian foundation to -the eighteenth century; and perhaps the best examples of each are -there. First there was the school of the Lombardi; next, that of -Sammichele and Sansovino, quite distinct, an influence direct from -Rome. Then came, closely following, the schools of Palladio and -Scamozzi; and a fourth is that of the seventeenth-century artists, who -did good work in Venice, but on different lines. The best example of -this late period in Venice is Santa Maria della Salute, erected in -token of the cessation of the plague. It is situated at the sea gate -to the presence-chamber of the Queen of the Adriatic. Few churches of -any age can rival it architecturally. The composition is mainly -pyramidal. - -The barocco style is nowhere so appalling as in Venice. It is most -untruthful and unprincipled in character. There is a great deal of -ostentation and bombastic pomp about it. A terrible example of this -can be seen in Doge Valiero's tomb, where the marble is made to -imitate silk and cloth wherever possible. - -The Palazzo Pesaro was built, rich and gross, typical of the domestic -Renaissance, when architecture tended to decay. Technically it is a -most inferior building. The figures in the sculpture are spasmodic in -action, and restless; there is a projecting, diamond-like rustication, -far too bold in treatment. The angles are an exaggeration of the style -of Sansovino. - - [Illustration: PALAZZO MENGALDO] - -There are three great causes of the decadence of Venetian -architecture. First of all, it was started by purists who were bound -too firmly to ancient usages, too much regulated by precedent, -coldness, and formality. Secondly, a more disastrous influence was -brought to bear--that of Michael Angelo, the example of freedom to the -verge of licence. This revolution was brought about partly by the -revolt of the public feeling against the restrictions of the -purists, partly by real want of knowledge and failure to understand -traditional weaknesses and systems of design with regard to -construction. The purpose and use of features was misunderstood; -uncontrolled freedom was allowed; ornament was added for its own sake, -instead of being bound up in architectural lines. By such freaks and -caprices almost every building at this time, though not ignoble in -composition, was completely disfigured. Thirdly, the architects made -the fatal mistake of using the excrescences of a weakness of the great -masters and endeavouring to raise them to the dignity of features of -design. Thus Venetian architecture withered and decayed, fading out -into a pale shadow of what it had once been. That glorious art, which -had once been so superb in the hands of the masters, sank into the -execution of feigned architecture, false perspective, and fictitious -grand façades, with bad statues in unreal relief. - - [Illustration: OSPEDALE CIVILE] - - - - - [Illustration: ST. MARK'S] - - - - -ST. MARK'S - - -When you arrive before the Church of St. Mark's you realise that at -last, after all your travels throughout the length and breadth of the -globe, you have before you a building in which colour and design unite -in forming perfection. Here stands without a shadow of doubt the -finest building in the world, flawless. It is impossible to imagine -that St. Mark's has been built stone by stone, that the brains of mere -men have designed it, and that the hands of mere men have set it up. -It must, you think, have been there from all time just as it -is,--formed as the bubble is formed, and the opal. It is a revelation -to look upon such perfect symmetry, such glorious colouring. Like an -opal, St. Mark's shows no sign of age. It glitters like a new jewel, -and might have been built but yesterday. Unlike most churches, it has -no sombre, frowning air. Its spires do not launch themselves into the -sky. It does not bristle with towers and arched buttresses. Rather the -building seems to stoop and crouch. It is surmounted by domes, as is a -Mohammedan mosque, and is a strange mixture of Oriental ornamentation -and Christian symbolism. Horses take the place of angels; grace and -splendour, the place of austerity and mystery. Who ever heard of gold, -alabaster, amber, ivory, enamel, and mosaic being used in the -construction of a Christian church? Who ever heard of dolphins, -tridents, marine shells, trefoils, cupolas, marble plaques, -backgrounds of vividly coloured mosaics and of gold? It is more like a -fairy palace, or an Alcazar, or a mosque, than a Catholic church; more -like an altar to Neptune than one to the Christian God. - - [Illustration: PALAZZO DANIELI] - -The ultimate result of this apparent incoherence is a harmonious -whole. Reverence and Christianity are here--an absolute and living -faith. Even the most devout Catholic has no cause for complaint. With -all its pagan art, St. Mark's preserves the character of primitive -Christianity. The exterior is extremely complicated. There are many -porticoes, each with columns of marble, jasper, and other precious -materials; many mosaics on grounds of gold over each doorway; -many historic stories and legends that these mosaics represent; -many fantastic forms of angelic beasts, saints, Byzantine and -Middle-Ages bas-reliefs, magnificent bronze doors, arcades, lamps, -peacocks--so many that it is impossible to attempt to describe them in -detail. Even to tell of the delicate structure and the subtle, -ever-changing, iridescent colour is beyond me. It is almost -bewildering when one thinks that at the time St. Mark's was built -every house in every side street had much of the same extravagant -richness, beauty of colouring, and superb architecture. As Mr. Ruskin -says, it is absurd to imagine that churches were designed in a style -particularly different from that of other buildings. There is nothing -specially sacred in what we call ecclesiastical architecture. All the -houses were built much in the same way. Only, while the houses have -fallen into decay, the church has been preserved by a devoted -populace. It is not often that one sees a coloured building, a -building teeming with colour; but St. Mark's vibrates with colour. -There are no blank spaces of grey stone. Every square inch is -beautiful. - -When one enters from the bright sun, St. Mark's appears dim and dark; -but you must not judge by that. To appreciate its beauties, the -student should visit the church day after day. Gradually they will -unfold themselves. That is what constitutes one of the charms of St. -Mark's. It is as though one were in a carved-out cave of gold and -purple, on a voyage of discovery all by oneself. At first you can see -nothing; but as your eyes become accustomed to the darkness, colours -begin to grow upon you out of the gloom. Some minutes must elapse -before you realise that the floor, which at first you took to be of a -deep-toned grey stone, is a mosaic composed of thousands of -differently coloured marbles--that you are walking on precious marbles -of peacock hues. Golden gleams above your head attract you to the -domed ceiling, and, to your delight and amazement, you discover that -it is formed entirely of gold mosaic. You are passing a dim recess, -and you see a blurred mass of rich colour; after a time you realise -that you are looking at a famous masterpiece by one of the great -Italian painters. You sit there as in a dream; and one by one the -pictures and the mosaics, the Gothic images, the cupolas, the arches, -the marbles, the alabaster, the porphyry, and the jasper appear to -you--until what was darkness and gloom appears to be teeming and -vibrating with colour. - - [Illustration: FRANCESCA] - -St. Mark's carries one away from the everyday world. On the ignorant -and the uninitiated it has a marvellous effect. Men and women and -children flock to it by the thousands daily. Many and fervent are the -worshippers one sees praying before some special saint or beloved -Madonna. Some are weeping, and others kneel for hours on the cold -stones. The unhappy people of Venice have many sins and sorrows, and -there is much that is comforting to them in this rich, majestic -church. The fainting spirit is revived and the most desperate person -stimulated as he looks about him at the sparkling mosaic roof, the -rich walls, and the dimly burning lamps. There is much in precious -stones, music, sculptured figures, in pictures of heaven and hell, -that appeals to these people. An infinite and pitiful God somewhere -about them, these peasants of poor imaginations cannot understand. -They want a faith that they can cling to--almost something that they -can finger and touch. St. Mark's is to the poor of Venice like a -beautifully illustrated Bible. There, in the cupolas, the story of the -Old Testament is presented in mosaic, plainly for every eye to see, -for the youngest and least educated to understand. It touches them, -and appeals to them, and keeps their faith burning bright and clear. -There they have the seven days of creation represented,--mysterious, -weird, and primitive,--discs of gold and silver representing the sun -and the moon. There are the Tree of Knowledge, the Temptation, the -Fall, and the Expulsion from Paradise. Then comes the slaying of Abel -by Cain, Adam and Eve tilling the ground. There is a strange mosaic of -the Ark, with the animals going in two by two on a background of gold; -there are the stories of Abraham, of Joseph, and of Moses, all -quaintly executed, full of detail and without regard to anatomy. There -is no struggle to imitate Nature, and the colouring is good. - -In the time when St. Mark's was built there were no cheap Bibles, and, -if there had been any, the poorer classes could not have read them. -Thus the great Church was an endless boon to them, one which could -never be quite exhausted. Many and splendid are the lessons these -mosaics and pictures taught and continue to teach. The mysteries and -beauties of the Bible are impressed upon the mind in a manner that -cannot be effaced. All the virtues are there--Temperance quenching -fire with water; Charity, mother of the virtues, and the last attained -in human life; Patience; Modesty; Chastity; Prudence; Lowliness of -Thought, Kindness, and Compassion; and Love which is Stronger than -Death. These lessons the Venetians have continually before them, to -help them to bear the troubles of this world, and giving them hope for -the peace of another. Most of the pictures in mosaic are typically -Byzantine, mainly symbolical and of the first school of design in -Venice. Upon these pictures the people of Venice live and thrive -spiritually: the pleasure is real and pure. Colour has a great -influence upon the emotions, just as music has; and colour was used in -the earliest times to stimulate devotion and repentance. There are -pictures in which the most profound emotion is expressed. When one -sees the pictures of Christ's life and passion, one cannot but be -touched. - -By the medium of paintings in the churches, people began to understand -and appreciate art, and to feel the need of it in their homes. Not -only is St. Mark's an education to the poor and the ignorant: it is -also an education to the student and to the artist. Here you have -pictures of the nation of fishermen at their greatest period; also you -find legends splendidly told, such as the story of the two merchants -who brought the bones of St. Mark from Alexandria under cover of -pork, crying "Swine! swine!" You see the priests, the Doge, and the -people of Venice as they were in the days of her power. - -In one of the dim corners of St. Mark's is a statue of an old man on -crutches with a finger on his lip. This is a Byzantine architect who -was sent to Pietro Orseolo from Constantinople, as the cleverest -Eastern builder of his time, to construct St. Mark's Church. He was a -bow-legged dwarf, and undertook to build this marvellous edifice, -unequalled in its beauty, on condition that a statue of himself should -be placed in a conspicuous position in the Church. This was arranged. -One day the Doge overheard the architect say that he could not execute -the work in the way he had intended. "Then," said Orseolo, "I am -absolved from my promise"; and he merely erected a small statue of the -architect in a corner of the Church. - - [Illustration: ST. MARK'S PIAZZA] - -Think of the makers of St. Mark's--the great men who worked together -with brains and hands to make her what she is! The army of artists, -painting, designing, sculpturing, one after the other from generation -to generation in this great cathedral! Titian, Tintoretto, Palma, -Pilotto, Salviati, and Sebastian were among the painters whose -designs were used for the mosaics; Bozza, Vincenzo, Bianchini, -and Passerini, among the master mosaicists; Pietro Lombardo, -Alberghetti, and Massegna, among the sculptors. Then, the other -thousands, all men of extraordinary talent, of whom astonishingly -little is known, fervent workers! Throughout eight centuries they -worked, and with what care and skill and patience! At what a cost, -too, these masterpieces must have been achieved! Think of the temples -and the quarries that have been robbed of their gold, and of the -marbles, the alabaster, and the porphyry. All the saints and prophets -and martyrs are there; the stories of the Virgin, of the Passion, and -of Calvary; all the scenes from the Old and New Testaments. - -The early Venetians seem to have revelled in colour and in rich -materials. The builders laid on the richest colour and the most -brilliant jewels they could find. They were exiles from ancient and -beautiful cities, and when they succeeded in war their first thought -was to bring home shiploads of precious materials. Just as the -Egyptians, the Greeks, and the Arabs had an intense love of colour, so -had the early Venetians, who used precious stones in great abundance, -even in their own private houses. A most extraordinary thing is that -there is nothing vulgar about the costliness of St. Mark's. Although -both inside and out it is rich beyond words, rich in precious stones, -rich in every way, the building is full of reserve. There is no -ostentation, no vulgarity. The jewels used in its construction do not -for one moment interfere with one's sense of the beautiful, or with -reverence and religion. They simply give a rare luxurious feeling to -the place, and in the ignorant inspire respect for a Church thus -encased and honoured with the richest in the land. - -Then, again, the jewels do not form a principal part of the -ornamentation. One looks first at the exquisite workmanship; and -afterwards are noticed the precious materials, which form a -subordinate part and do not interfere with the design. It is almost as -though a veil had been swept over the whole building, both inside and -out, bringing together this wealth of colour and forming it into a -complete whole. It has the effect of a marvellous glaze--of a picture -that has had a thin glaze swept over it. Wherever you look, the Church -teems with colour; but it seems to be piercing through a veil. It is -not vivid positive colour, but colour breaking through a skin. In the -East I have seen millions of pounds' worth of jewels in one heap, -with the sun shining on them, and I was overpowered with this wealth, -I was inspired with their costliness;--but St. Mark's does not affect -you at all in this way. Rich man and peasant are alike in this -respect: they are elevated and stimulated in that building, not -because of its costliness, but because of its extreme beauty. The -technique is marvellous, but not obvious: the moment you are conscious -of technique you may be sure that the work is poor. You never wonder -how St. Mark's was built; and that is the highest tribute to the -marvellous arts which it expresses. - - [Illustration: SCUOLA DI SAN MARCO] - - - - - [Illustration: A QUIET WATERWAY] - - - - -PAINTERS OF THE RENAISSANCE - - -One of the chief characteristics of the Venetian school of painters, -and one of the most attractive to all art lovers, is their great -appreciation of colour. In most of their work colour seems to be the -chief motive. Pictures by Venetian painters never suggest drawings. -They strike you not as having been coloured afterwards, but as having -been painted essentially for the colour. One sees this throughout the -whole school. And in their paintings they do not go to extremes. There -is no exaggeration in their colouring. They do not err, as do so many -schools, either on the foxy-red side or on the cold steely colouring. -Unfortunately, much of the beautiful colouring of these pictures is -lost by age. One has to become accustomed to that ugly brown skin -which has formed upon the surface before one can realise what great -colourists these early Venetians really were. The pictures somehow -cause one to resent oil as a medium. One realises how different they -must have looked when fresh from the easel, and wishes that these -great masters could have painted with a medium more lasting--as did -the Chinese, whose works are as young and fresh now as if they had -been painted yesterday: the years have left no trace whatever: the -simple colouring is the same to-day as it was a hundred years ago. -Many of the earlier paintings, those of the Gothic Venetians, the -less-known men, are a good deal better preserved. Their canvasses have -not turned black; the glazings have not departed; and there is no -smoky film upon them, as in the case of the works of the great -masters, such as Titian, Tintoretto, and Giovanni Bellini, men who -came a hundred years afterwards. It may very possibly be that the -pigment which painters used then was purer and less adulterated. -Certainly one sees in the various schools all over the world that the -older the pictures are the better preserved they are. Age never -improves a picture--unless, indeed, it is an extremely bad one, when -time serves as a thin veil. - - [Illustration: CANAL PRIULI] - -Undoubtedly these great colourists, the Venetians, influenced the -various schools of painters all over the world, and are still -influencing them. Originally they worked for the churches, and colour -was used exactly as music was used--to appeal to the senses, to the -emotions: to influence the people, to teach them biblical stories and -parables. It also educated the people to understand painting and to -feel the need of it in their daily lives. - -At about this time the Renaissance began to express itself, not only -in poetry and other literature, but also in paintings; and it found -clearer utterance in Venice than elsewhere. The conditions at this -time were perfect for the development of art. Venice at that period -lent herself to art. She was at peace with the whole world, and she -was prosperous. The people were joyous, gay, and light-hearted. They -longed for everything that made life pleasant. Naturally, they wanted -colour. And Venice was not affected by that wave of science which -swept over the rest of Italy. The Venetians were not at all absorbed -in literature and archæology. They wanted merely to be joyous. This -was an ideal atmosphere for the painter. Such a condition of things -could not but create a fine artistic period. The painter is not -concerned with science and learning, or should not be. Such a -condition of mind would result in feeble, academical work--in -struggling to tell a story with his medium, instead of producing a -beautiful design. That is partly why the Venetian school has had such -a strong influence on art, even until the present day. The conditions -were perfect for the development of art, because the patrons were -capable of appreciating beautiful form and beautiful colour. Because -the public would have it, this new school of painters appeared. The -demand was created, and the supply came. - -There was undoubtedly great friction among the painters of this -period, exactly as there has been lately with the modern -impressionists and the academic painters. Some of the old Venetians -resented the new school that was springing up; but they had eventually -to bend and try to paint in sympathy with the senses and emotion of -their patrons. You find this new mode of thought expressed strongly -even in the churches and in the treatment of religious subjects. The -old ideals were altered. Men no longer painted saints and Madonnas as -mild, attenuated people. The figures were lifelike and full of -actuality. The women were Venetian women of the period dressed in -splendid robes and dignified; the men were healthy, full-blooded, and -joyous. Florence, however, at this particular period was undergoing -quite a different mood. The Florentines preferred to express -themselves in poetry and in prose. That was the language the masses -understood. Painting was not popular. There has always been a literary -atmosphere about Florence, and one feels it there to this day; it is -essentially the city for the student. - -When painting became so much a vogue in Venice, painters began to try -and perfect the art in every possible way. They struggled for -actuality. Art began to develop in the direction of realism. The -Venetians wanted form and colour in their pictures; but they wanted -also a suggestion of distance and atmosphere. In those early pictures -you find that painters smeared their distance to give it a blurred -look. That was the beginning of perspective. Painters of this period -seem to have been marvellously modern. They were quite in the -movement. There has never been any attempt at harking back to earlier -periods. - -Venice was very wealthy at this time, and Venetian people never missed -an opportunity of parading wealth. They loved glory where the State -was concerned, and encouraged pageantry by both land and sea. They -loved to see Doge and senators in their gorgeous robes, either on the -piazza or on the Grand Canal. Then there came a demand for painted -records of these processions and ceremonials. All this was encouraged -by the State for political reasons. Pageantry entertained the people, -and at the same time made them less inquisitive. Much better, these -great officials argued, that the people should be enjoying things in -this way than that they should begin to inquire into the doings of the -State. Gentile Bellini and Carpaccio were the first pageant painters -of the period. Paolo Veronese, who came much later, also loved -pageantry, elevated it to the height of serious art, and idealised -prosaic magnificence. He painted great banquets, and combined -ceremony, splendour, and worldliness with childlike naturalness and -simplicity. - - [Illustration: OSMARIN CANAL] - -First of all, as has been shown, it was the Church that called for -pictures--to represent their saints and to enforce biblical legends. -Painting became more and more popular. People became more and more -educated to understand painting, until at last they wanted their -domestic and social lives depicted. Also they wanted to hang these -pictures in their homes. Pictures were neither so rare nor so -expensive in those days as they are now, and people could afford to -buy them--even the lower and the middle classes. Immediately there -sprang up painters who satisfied the demand. In those days there were -no academies and no salons wherein artists fought to outdo one another -as to the size and eccentricity of their pictures; there were no -vulgar struggles of that kind. Painters simply supplied to the best of -their ability the wants of the people. Naturally, the public required -small pictures, suitable to the size of their houses. Therefore, they -needed gay and beautiful colour, and pictures in which the subjects -did not obtrude themselves forcibly. Thus, in the natural course of -events pageantry found less favour, and pictures of social and -domestic life found more. Religious subjects were rather deserted. By -the aid of books people could learn all the stories of the Bible. -Besides, they were not at that period in a devotional or contrite -mood. They were too happy and full of life to feel any pressing need -for religion. - -Painting took much the same position with the Venetians as music has -with us now. The fashion for triumphal marches and the clashing of -cymbals in processional pictures had died out, and the vogue of -symphonies and sonatas had come in. No one at that time seemed quite -capable of satisfying the public taste. Carpaccio, whose subtle yet -brilliant colouring would have exactly suited it, never undertook -these subjects. Giovanni Bellini attempted them; but his style was too -severe for the gaiety of the period. - -However, there was not long to wait. Soon appeared a man who told the -public what they wanted and gave it to them. He swept away conventions -and revolutionised art all over the world. He was a genius--Giorgione. -Pupil of Bellini and Carpaccio, he combined the qualities of both. -When he was quite a youth painters all over the world followed his -methods. Curiously enough, there are not a dozen of this great -master's works preserved at the present day. The bulk of them were -frescoes which long ago disappeared. The few that remain are quite -enough to make one realise what a great master he was. The picture -which most appeals to me is an altar-piece of the Virgin and Child at -Castelfranco. It is painted in the pure Giorgione spirit. St. George -in armour is at one side, resting on a spear which seems to be coming -right out of the picture; while on the other side there is a monk, and -in the background are a banner of rich brocade and a small landscape. - -The Renaissance, the rejuvenation of art, seems to have slowly -developed until at length it culminated in Giorgione. He was the man -who opened the door, the one great modern genius of his period, whose -influence remains and is felt to this day. Velasquez would never have -been known but for Giorgione. Imagine this young man with his new -ideas and his sweeps of golden colouring suddenly appearing in a -studio full of men, all painting in the correct severe style -established at the period. Such a man must needs influence all his -fellows. Even Giovanni Bellini, the Watts of his day, acknowledged the -young man's genius, and almost unconsciously began to mingle -Giorgione's style with his own. We cannot realise what they meant at -that period--these new ideas of Giorgione. He created just as much of -a "furore" as when Benvenuto Cellini, in his sculpture, allowed a limb -to hang over the edge of a pedestal. He needed this to complete his -design. Since then almost everyone that has modelled has hung a limb -over a pedestal. But Benvenuto Cellini started this new era. So, in -much the same sort of way, did Giorgione. He cut away from convention, -and introduced landscape as backgrounds to his figure subjects. He -was the first to get actuality and movement in the arrangement of -drapery. The Venetian public had long been waiting, though -unconsciously, for this work; and Giorgione was so well in touch with -the needs of the people that the moment he gave them what they wanted -they would take nothing else. - -In the work of Giorgione the Renaissance finds its most genuine -expression. It is the Renaissance at its height. Both Giorgione and -Titian were village boys brought to Venice by their parents and placed -under the care of Giovanni Bellini to learn art. They must have been -of very much the same age. It is interesting to watch the career of -these boys--the two different natures--the impulsiveness of the one -and the plodding perseverance of the other. Giorgione shot like a -meteor early and bright into the world of art, scattering the clouds -in the firmament, bold, crowding the work and the pleasure of a -lifetime in a few short years. His work was a delight to him, and life -itself was full of everything that was beautiful. He was surrounded -always by a multitude of admiring comrades, imitating him and urging -him on. Giorgione was ever restless and impetuous by nature. When -commissions flagged and he had no particular work in hand, he took to -painting the outside of his own house. He cared not a whit for -convention. He followed his own tastes and his own feelings. He -converted his home into a glow of crimson and gold,--great forms -starting up along the walls, sweet cherub boys, fables of Greece and -Rome,--a dazzling confusion of brilliant tints and images. Think how -this palace must have appeared reflected in the waters of the Canal! -Unfortunately, the sun and the wind fought with this masterly canvas, -conquered, and bore all these beautiful things away. Indeed, many of -Giorgione's works were frescoes, and the sea air swept away much of -the glory of his life. His career was brief but gay, full of work and -full of colour. This impetuous painter died in the very heyday of his -success. Some say he died of grief at being deserted by a lady whom he -loved; others that he caught the plague. - - [Illustration: A SOTTO PORTICO] - -Of what a different nature was Titian! He studied in the same bottega -as Giorgione, and was brought up under much the same conditions. But -he was a patient worker, absorbing the knowledge of everyone about -him, ever learning and experimenting; never completing. He did not -think of striking off on a new line, of executing bold and original -work. He wanted to master not one side of painting but all sides. He -waited until his knowledge should be complete before he declared -himself, before he really accomplished anything. He absorbed the new -principles of his comrade Giorgione, as he absorbed everything else -that was good, with unerring instinct and steady power. Titian was -never led away in any one direction. He was always open to any new -suggestion. As it happened, it was just as well that Titian worked -thus at his leisure, and Giorgione with haste and fever. Titian had -ninety-nine years to live; Giorgione had but thirty-four. There is an -interesting anecdote told by Vasari with regard to these two young -men. They were both at work on the painting of a large building, the -Fondaco dei Tedeschi; Titian painting the wall facing the street, and -Giorgione the side towards the canal. Several gentlemen, not knowing -which was the particular work of either artist, went one day to -inspect the building, and declared that the wall facing the Merceria -far excelled in beauty that of the river front. Giorgione was so -indignant at this slight that he declared that he would neither see -nor speak to Titian again. - -Titian does not seem to have been very much appreciated by his -patrons at the beginning of his career. He inspired no affection. He -was acknowledged as the greatest of all the young painters; but the -Republic, it would seem, was never very proud of the man who did her -so much credit and added so greatly to her fame. Even although the -noise of his genius was echoed all over the world,--although the great -Emperor himself stooped to pick up his brush, declaring that a Titian -might well be served by a Cæsar,--although Charles the Fifth sat to -him repeatedly, and maintained that he was the only painter whom he -would care to honour,--the Venetians do not seem to have been greatly -enamoured of him. Perhaps it was that they missed the soul, the purity -and grace and devotion, of the pictures of Bellini and Carpaccio. -Certainly, as far as one can judge, he did not have a prepossessing -nature. He was shifty in his dealings with his patrons and unfaithful -in his promises. He seems to have belonged to a corrupt and luxurious -society. Pietro Aretino had a very bad influence on Titian. He taught -him to intrigue, to flatter, to betray. Aretino was a base-born -adventurer for whom no historian seems to have a good word. He was, -however, a man of wit and dazzling cleverness, with a touch of real -genius. Aretino corresponded with all the most cultured men of his -time, and he had the power of making those whom he chose famous. It -was he who introduced Titian to Charles the Fifth. - -Titian's pictures were much more saleable in foreign courts than in -his own country. Abroad they did not seem to have the lack of soul -which the Venetians so greatly deplored. It was the old case of the -prophet having no honour in his own country. Certainly in the art of -portraiture Titian has never been surpassed. At that period he had the -field completely to himself. Nothing could have been more magnificent -than Titian's portraits. They help to record the history of the age. -It was in Titian's power to confer upon his subjects the splendour -that they loved, handing them down to posterity as heroes and learned -persons. His men were all noble, worthy to be senators and emperors, -no coxcombs or foolish gallants. Titian was more at home in pictures -of this kind than in religious subjects. His Madonnas are without -significance; his Holy Families give no message of blessing to the -world. - -In the prime of his life he moved from his workshops to a noble and -luxurious palace in San Cassiano, facing the wide lagoon and the -islands. All trace of it has disappeared, and homes of the poor cover -the garden where the best company of Venice was once entertained. It -is said that Titian gave the gayest parties and suppers--that he -entertained the most regal guests. Nevertheless, although made a -knight and a count, and a favourite at most of the courts in Europe, -he was greatly disliked by the Venetian Signoria, who in the midst of -his famous supper-parties called upon him to demand that he should -execute a certain work for which he had received the money long -before. He seems to have been exceedingly grasping--a strange trait in -the character of a painter. One sees throughout his correspondence, -until the end of his life, a certain desire and demand for money. -Undoubtedly he often painted merely for money alone, turning out a -sacred picture one day and a Venus the next with equal impartiality. -Anything, it was said, could have been got out of Titian for money. -The Venetians never loved Titian's works, though foreign princes -adored them. He seems to have laboured, until the end of his life, -more from love of gain than from necessity. He was buried at the -Frari, carried thither in great haste by order of the Signoria,--for -it was at the time of the plague, when other victims were taken to -the outlying islands and put in the earth unnamed. - -Somehow, in reading the life of Titian one is brought right away to -the twentieth century. Here is the painter with the attendant -journalist, Pietro Aretino, the boomer. Aretino was a journalist, the -first. He took Titian in hand and "ran" him for all he was worth. Had -it not been for this system of booming, Titian would probably not have -been well known during his lifetime. In the Academy of the Fine Arts -one can trace by his pictures a splendid historical record of Titian's -life, and can see plainly the changes in popular feeling and their -effect upon his work. For very many years he lived and painted -constantly, and then was killed by the plague! - -There is a picture painted by him when he was fourteen years of age--a -picture which contains all the qualities, in the germ, of his later -work: marvellous architecture, pomp, yet great simplicity and luminous -colour. Here also is the last picture he ever painted--at the age of -ninety-nine. Think of the interval between the two! It is sombre, -pious. There is something pathetic about it. This great painter, whose -work showed such fury, audacity, vehemence,--the man who had -always the sun on his palette--was now painting mildly, carefully, -obviously with the shadow of approaching death upon him. - - [Illustration: A NARROW CANAL] - -A marvellous picture by Titian hangs in the Academy of the Fine Arts. -It is considered to be one of his finest pictures--the masterpiece of -all his masterpieces--the eye of the peacock, as it were. This picture -was neglected for many years, hidden away in an obscure portion of a -church, and covered with a thick layer of cobwebs and dust. The -custodian had almost forgotten the subject of the picture and the name -of the painter. One day a certain Count Cicogna happened to visit the -church. Being a great connoisseur and lover of art, he noticed this -picture, and could not resist moistening his finger and rubbing it -over a portion of the canvas. To his amazement, this portion emerged -young and fresh, and as highly coloured as when it left the painter's -hands--a picture bearing upon it the unmistakable stamp of Titian's -genius! The delight of the Count can be imagined. He suggested to the -custodian, with great care and tact, that he would present to the -church a bran-new glossy picture, very large, of some religious -subject; and mentioned in a casual way that they might give him the -dilapidated old picture as a slight return. This was the Assunta. It -was painted for the church of the Frari. Fra Marco Jerman, the head of -the convent, ordered it at his own expense. Many a time when the work -was in progress he and all the ignorant brethren visited the painter's -studio and criticised his picture, grumbling and shaking their heads, -and wondering whether it would be good enough to be accepted, whether -it would be sneered at when uncovered before all Venice. They -undoubtedly thought that they had done a rash thing in engaging him. -Think of the agony of Titian, hindered by these ignorant men, being -forced to explain elaborately that the figures were not too large, -that they must needs be in proportion to the space! It was not until -the envoy of the Emperor had seen the picture and declared it to be a -masterpiece, offering a large sum of money for its purchase, that the -Frari understood its value, and decided that, as the buying and -selling of pictures was not in their profession, they had better keep -it. - - [Illustration: BRIDGE NEAR THE PALAZZO LABIA] - -Tintoretto painted, according to the popular feeling of his period, -for the good of mankind. This we certainly owe to the Renaissance--the -desire to benefit mankind, and not only men individually. -Tintoretto felt this strongly. One sees not only the effect of this -new era of thought in his work: one sees also human life at the base -of it. Tintoretto worked for the good of mankind, and his work throbs -with humanity. There was atmosphere, reality, in it. He was, it is -true, a pupil of Titian; but it was Michael Angelo whose works had the -greatest attraction for him. He loved Angelo's overwhelming power and -gigantic force. Tintoretto's pictures seem to possess much of the -glowing colour of Titian; but he paid greater attention to -chiaroscuro. He seems to have had the power of lowering the tone of a -sky to suit his composition of light and shade. His conception of the -human form was colossal. His work showed a wide sweep and power. He -turned to religion, not because it was a duty, but because it answered -the needs of the human heart--because it helped him to forget the mean -and sordid side of life, braced him to his work, and consoled him in -his days of despair. The Bible was not to him a cut-and-dried document -concerning the Christian religion, but a series of beautiful parables -pointing to a finer life. Then, Tintoretto asked himself, Why keep to -the old forms and the old ideals? Why should the saints and biblical -people be represented as Romans, walking in a Roman background? He -himself thought of them as people of his own kind, and painted them as -such. Thus, he argued, people became more familiar with the Bible, -more readily understood it. - -Tintoretto painted portraits not only of Venetians, but also of -foreign princes. Although he painted with tremendous rapidity, the -demand was greater than the supply. His paintings were popular. They -gave pleasure to the eye, and stimulated the emotions. He painted -people at their best, in glowing health and full of life. Under his -marvellous brush old men became vigorous and full-blooded. His -pictures give the same sort of pleasure as one finds in looking upon a -casket of jewels--they are just as deathless in their brilliancy. The -portrait that the popular taste called forth in Titian's day was just -about as unlike the typical modern portrait as you could possibly -imagine,--the colourless, cold, unsympathetic portrait of the -fish-eyed mayor in his robes. - - [Illustration: THE HOUSE WITH THE BLUE DOOR] - -At the age of fifteen, Jacopo Robusti--tintoretto, the little -dyer--was brought by his father, Battista Robusti, to the studio of -the great painter Titian. There he stayed for a little while, until -one day Titian came across, in his bottega, some drawings that -showed promise. On discovering that they were from the hand of Jacopo, -he sent the boy away. Young as he was, Tintoretto had all the -arrogance of the well-to-do citizen. He would brook no man's No, and -would not yield his own pretensions for the greatest genius in -Christendom. He did not need money: he was independent: and he started -boldly to teach himself. Boiling with rage at the affront Titian had -put upon him, he was determined to make a career for himself. He -studied the works of Michael Angelo and of Titian, and inscribed upon -his studio wall, so that his ambition might always be before his eyes, -"Il desegno di Michael Angelo, e' il colorito di Titiano." He studied -casts of ancient marbles, and made designs of them by the light of a -lamp, in order to gain a strong effect of shadow. Also, he copied the -pictures of Titian. Seeking, by every means in his power, to educate -himself, he modelled figures of wax and plaster, upon which he hung -his drapery. And always, whether painting by night or by day, he -arranged his lights so as to have everything in high relief. -Tintoretto's inventions for teaching himself were endless. Often he -visited the painters' benches in the piazza of St. Mark's, where the -poor men of the profession worked at painting chests and furniture of -all kinds. In those days there were too many painters. The profession -was overdone. Many young men who had real genius worked at the -benches. Titian was the great man at the moment, and Palma Vecchio. -But Tintoretto did not care. He forced his work down men's -throats--gave it to them for nothing if they would not pay for it. He -was always ready with his brush, and would paint anything from an -organ to an altar-piece. He worked like a giant, with tremendous sweep -and power; no subject was too great or too laborious; and always he -had a desire to do his best. - -Tintoretto would not be trifled with or condescended to. He would not -have his work under-valued, and would allow no patrician, not even a -prince, to play the patron to him. He was determined not to be set -aside. He flung his pictures at people's heads, and insisted on -undertaking any great piece of work there was to do. Thus, -Tintoretto's pictures are to be seen everywhere in Venice--in almost -every church, every council-hall, every humble chapel, every parish -church, every sacristy. He neglected no opportunity to make his work -known. He worked with extraordinary rapidity. Whenever Tintoretto came -across a fine fair wall he prevailed upon the master-mason to -allow him to paint it. A fifty-foot space he would cover with avidity, -asking nothing for his work but the cost of the material, giving his -time and labour as a gift. - - [Illustration: CANAL IN GIUDECCA ISLAND] - -Portraiture was the outcome of realism, and one of the most important -discoveries of the Renaissance. People began to feel that they wanted -not only their affluence in possessions, but also their own individual -faces and features, handed down to posterity. Thus portraiture began -to creep in. At first it appeared in the churches under cover of -saints and Madonnas; gradually it became possible to distinguish one -from another--it was not always the same face. Painters took models -from life as their saints. But portraiture in painting was very slow -in reaching perfection. Sculpture had accomplished that long before; -now that the latest craze was for portraiture, it was the sculptors -who were the most prepared to take it up, and stepped forward to -execute commissions. They had plenty of material in the way of old -Roman coins and busts. Donatello and Vittore Pisano were the two men -who first offered to satisfy the new want. Donatello executed -marvellous studies of character, and Pisano medals such as have never -been seen before or since. But even these men, fine as their work -undoubtedly was, felt that the public could not long remain satisfied -merely with the sculptured portrait. They must have colour. Donatello, -therefore, began to stain and colour his busts, showing that painting, -not sculpture, was to be the portrait art of the Renaissance. Vittore -Pisano also gave up his sculpture, and turned his attention to -portrait-painting; but he was only an amateur in this direction, and -did not meet with much success. No portrait-painter of any merit was -produced in that generation. The idea was entirely new. Men had not -had sufficient time in which to study the human face. The next -generation ushered in Mantegna, who painted a marvellous portrait of -Cardinal Sciramo; but he went too far in the other direction. He -painted his man as he was--as he saw him, line for line. He painted -the soul and heart of him--and the soul and the heart were black. -Venice was revolted with such a portrait. It seemed indeed indecent -that a man's character should be laid bare in such a way. It was a -picture they did not care to hang in the Council Chamber, a picture -that was unpleasant to live with. The Cardinal belonged to the State. -His honour was their honour, and it must not be defiled. The -Venetians came to the conclusion that portraits must be painted not in -full-face but in profile. Thus the characteristics of a man, if they -be not pleasant, do not come out clearly. This accounts for the number -of profile portraits. The age wanted an agreeable portrait. This -Giorgione provided. He realised that the treatment must always be -bright, joyous, romantic. His followers trod in his footsteps: the -master's style was too strong and pronounced to be much deviated from. -Giorgione seems to have reached the topmost height of art at that -period. Even Titian, for a generation after his death, followed in -Giorgione's lines; only, Titian's work was a little more sober, a -little less sunny. He had the sense to see that Giorgione had expanded -the old rule and done something worth adopting, and for a time he -simply followed this joyful outburst. His early years fell at a time -when life was glowing, radiant, almost intoxicating in its vigour. But -youth and joy cannot last; nor could the Renaissance spirit. Gradually -the trouble and the strife from which the whole of Italy was suffering -filtered into Venice, and cast a serious aspect over art and social -life. Venice, of all the states in Italy, was the last to feel this -sobering influence. She had been defeated both in battle and in -commerce; and, although she was not totally crushed under the heel of -Spain, life was not the endless holiday it promised to be. Men took -themselves more seriously, and the quieter pleasures of friendship and -affection began to be more sought after. Religion revived in -importance. Men clung to it, as they always do in time of trouble, for -comfort and support. It was no longer a political sentiment, but a -personal one. Art declined as the sunshine and the gaiety that had fed -and nourished it ebbed away. When men began to feel that individually -they were of no avail, that they were subject to the powers round -about and above them, the death-blow of great art fell. Titian was -influenced by his environment, and his painting changed completely. He -produced pictures that would have been looked upon with scorn in his -earlier days. The faces of his men are no longer smooth and free from -care. One saw there struggle and suffering, and all that life had done -for them. But Titian was not a pessimist at heart. The joy and gaiety -in which he had been brought up formed part of his character. Whatever -changes may have happened to his country politically, nothing could -alter that entirely. And it was no doubt this early training and -the atmosphere in which he was brought up that made his pictures the -masterpieces they were. You notice the men who came after Titian--how -they began to decline. For example, Lorenzo Lotto had been brought up -in the heyday of the Renaissance; but the new order of things, the -change from national virility to national decadence, enfeebled him. -Then, again, the coming in touch with poets and men of letters, -victims flying from the fury of Spain, was a new stimulant to art. It -did not exactly improve it; but it certainly changed it. - - [Illustration: THE ORANGE SAIL] - -A fine period of painting does not come in a day, nor does it end in a -day; and, although the universal interest in the Venetian school dies -with Titian and Tintoretto, it does not die unnoticed. The torch of -art flickered up many times in Venice before it was finally -extinguished. The men who came immediately after Tintoretto had not -the strength to start off on any new lines. They simply fell back on -variations of the earlier masters, showing much of the masters' -weaknesses, but few of their great qualities. Some even were so -inartistic as to attempt to pass off their pictures, on ignorant -people, as Titians and Giorgiones. However, before the Republic -disappeared there were two or three men who took the first rank among -the painters of the period, provincial artists, men whose art was -sufficiently like her own to be readily understood, such as Paul -Veronese. The provinces were not declining so rapidly as Venice was. -They were less troubled by the approaching storm. Men there led -simple, healthy lives; Spanish manners were long in reaching the -provinces, and, when they did, the people were slow to succumb. Men in -the provinces had stamina, simplicity, and courage with which to meet -the new order of things. They combined ceremony and splendour with -childlike naturalness. Consequently, the works of Paul Veronese -delighted the Venetians. The more fashionable and ceremonious private -life in the city became, the more were the people charmed with his -simple rendering. - - [Illustration: A QUIET RIO] - -Gradually the taste of the Venetians turned towards pictures in humble -quarters--in the provincial towns and in the country. In the Middle -Ages the country was so upset that it was not safe for people to -venture out of the city; but with the advance of civilisation this -state of affairs was altered. People began to delight in country life. -The aristocracy took villas in the provinces, and the poorer -people wanted representations of them in their houses. The painters of -the period, Palma and Bonifacio, began to add pastoral backgrounds to -their works. But the first great landscape painter was Jacopo Bassano. -His treatment of light and atmosphere was masterly, and his colouring -was jewel-like and brilliant. It was Bassano who started that great -Spanish school which was to culminate in Velasquez. Venice did not -produce many great painters in the eighteenth century--only three or -four. The city itself remained unchanged: it was just as beautiful, -still the most beautiful and luxurious city in the world: it was the -people who changed. They became apathetic, placid, and drifting, -perfectly contented with one another and with their lots in life, -never trying to better themselves in any way. There were no -difficulties, no problems to be solved. People were just as gay as -they were serious, just as much interested in paintings as they were -in politics. This was a vegetable period. - -It is strange that such a demoralising time should have seen the rise -of a great master; but it certainly saw him in Canaletto. That artist -differed from nearly all the Venetian painters in that he had complete -mastery of technique. His work is just as fine technically as that of -Velasquez or that of Rembrandt. It shows marvellous dexterity and -power. He understood his materials better than any other Venetian -painter--better even than Giorgione. - -Guardi and Tiepolo followed Canaletto. In Tiepolo's work especially -you realise the character of these eighteenth-century people. At that -time Venice was sliding downhill rapidly. Her people were aping -dignity. They dressed extravagantly, not so much for the love of -colour and splendour as for swagger. They were degenerating rapidly. -Here and there lesser masters appeared; but Venetian art became poorer -and poorer, until it reached the condition of the present day, when in -Venice there is no art at all. The kind of work which the people -appreciate sickens and saddens you--those sunlit photographs glazed -with blue to counterfeit moonlight, and tricky, vicious -water-colours,--brutal pictures with metallic reflections and cobalt -skies,--all wonderfully alike, all with the same orange sail, and all -equally untrue. - - [Illustration: HUMBLE QUARTERS] - -Year by year painters continue to paint Venice without the public -showing signs of weariness. Perhaps the failure of the artists to -reproduce the undying charm of that dazzling jewel of cities is -both the excuse and the reason for the pertinacity of the tribe. -Womanlike, she eludes them; manlike, they pursue. Few have seen the -real Venice, the Venice of Ruskin and Turner and Whistler. Venice is -not for the cold-blooded spectator, for the amateur or the art -dabbler: she is for the enthusiastic colourist and painter, the man -who sees, and does not merely look. - -Sir Edward Burne-Jones was wont to declare that to paint Venice as she -should be painted one must needs live for three thousand years: the -first thousand should be devoted to experiments in various media; the -second to producing works and destroying them; the third to completing -slowly the labour of centuries. He would never have dreamed of -spending a painting holiday beyond Italy--that is, unless he had been -permitted to live for over five thousand years; and even then, it was -his firm opinion, no man could paint St. Mark's, which was -unpaintable--mere pigment could not suggest it. - - [Illustration: RIO DI SAN MARINA] - - - - - [Illustration: A SQUERO OR BOAT-BUILDING YARD] - - - - -STREETS, SHOPS, AND COURTYARDS - - -In the crooked and bewildering streets of Venice, which open out from -the great piazza and lead all over the city, one sees the true life of -the people. It is there that the poor congregate. The houses teem with -humanity. There the true Venetians are harboured. One comes to know -them well, and the manner of life they lead; and so gay and -light-hearted are they, it is strange if one does not like them in -spite of all their faults. Was there ever more irregularity than in -the streets of Venice? All the houses seem to be differently -constructed. Some are lofty; others are squat; some have balconies and -chimney-pieces thrust out into the street so as almost to touch the -houses opposite. Nearly every house has at one time been a palace, and -each is in a different stage of decay--houses that have once been the -homes of merchant princes, palaces in which perhaps even Petrarch may -have feasted,--inhabited now by the poorest of Venetians. The weekly -wash flutters from the balconies (the linen of Venice is famed for its -whiteness), and frowsy heads appear at Gothic windows. Worms have -eaten and rust has corrupted everything destructible. Yet now and then -one is astonished at the preservation of certain portions of the -buildings. In that labyrinth of streets one never knows what surprise -may be in store. You will come across beautiful early-Gothic gateways -covered with sculptured relief and inlaid designs of leaves; a -fourteenth-century palace with the faint remains of the paintings of -some artist with which at one time it must have been covered; lovely -remnants of crosses let into the walls; Renaissance wells of the -sixteenth century; delicately-carved parapets; a great stone angel -standing guardian at some calle head; irregularly twisted staircases -of the fifteenth century; a Gothic door with terra-cotta mouldings; -and churches without number. Some of the finest architectural gems in -Europe are here, and almost every house is invested with a strange -history. The place seems inexhaustible. As you walk in those old -streets the shadows of the mighty dead go with you--those great -men who lived glorious lives for Venice and for art. There is an -old-world atmosphere about the streets. They twist and turn, and -sometimes are so narrow that there is scarcely room for two people to -pass each other; at times they are so dark and still that the -scuttling of a rat into the water makes one start. Venice is full of -contrasts, full of the unexpected. It is as if Providence, seeing fit -that one's eyes should not become satiated with beauty unalloyed, -throws in little marring touches--shocks to your feelings, cold -douches of water, as it were--in order to give value to the marvellous -colouring and antiquity of the water city. For example, from the world -of Desdemona, where one can fancy one sees her lean from a traceried -window and catch a distant echo of a mellow voice out on the water -singing a serenade, it is rather a shock suddenly to find yourself in -the piazza of St. Mark. It is easy to lose oneself in the streets of -Venice. In a minute you can step from the past to the present, and -find yourself among the marbles of St. Mark's and the arcades of the -Ducal Palace--in the tourist's Venice, amid glittering shops full of -modern atrocities, mosaic jewellery, wood-carving, imitation glass, -and what not--Americans and other globe-trotters staring up at St. -Mark's, laughing and reading their guide-books. - - [Illustration: THE WEEKLY WASH] - -For all artists and lovers of the picturesque the side streets of -Venice--_calle_, as they are called--are fascinating beyond words. -Every house has a character peculiarly its own. Each is in a way -unique and totally dissimilar to its fellows; each is proud in the -possession of relics of architectural beauties. Every street is made -up of magnificent palaces and churches, fine examples of architecture -in such rich and varied wealth and diversity of styles that one is -almost overpowered. There are old Gothic palaces, venerable specimens -of Renaissance or Venetian period. Time indeed has laid heavy hands -upon them; but it seems to have augmented their charm. This homely -aspect of Venice interests. The old houses and the rickety archways -appeal to the observer, if he be not too keen of smell. Here are -marvellous and varied combinations of rich colouring--weather-worn -bricks, grated windows, and brilliant shutters picturesque and shabby -by the lapse of time, and shops half lost in gloom. Most of the houses -are of distempered rose-colour at the top and moss-green at the -bottom. The sun shines on the roof, and the water laps at the base. -There are land-gates and water-gates to most of the houses--one -opening upon a canal, the other upon a courtyard. - - [Illustration: A BACK STREET] - -I lived for six months in Venice, and have seen these streets under -every possible aspect. I have seen them in the early morning, at -mid-day, in the evening, at night, in the rain, in the sun; and I can -never decide at what time of the day they appear most fascinating. -Perhaps it is after a rain-shower, when every tone upon the old walls -is brought out and accentuated--greys and pale sea-greens and the old -Venetian red with which so many of the houses used to be distempered. -The shops in Venice are very thickly set. Most of them open right down -to the ground, and the wares, which are varied, appear to ooze out -into the street. Here is a corn-dealer's shop with open sacks of -polenta flour of every shade of yellow; there a green-grocer's shop -where vegetables are sold--such a wealth of colour in the piles of -tomatoes, vegetable marrows, and great pumpkins cut down the middle to -display their orange cores. The richer shops, however, are blocked up -several feet high, and have latticed windows. - -I love to wander through these streets at night, when the squalor and -the misery of Venetian life are hidden by the darkness, and one sees -only beauty. Here are subjects for the etcher, for Rembrandt and -Frans Hals,--marvellous effects of light and shade. The streets are -pitch-dark; there is nothing to mar the lovely fair blue nights of -Venice--no vicious shaft of electric light to bleach the colour from -the sky. These side streets are lit by the candle and the lamp. -Perhaps the most picturesque of all the shops at night are the -wine-shops. There one sees, beneath some low blackened doorway, a rich -golden-brown interior. In the midst of this golden gloom one dim -oil-lamp is burning--the most perfect light possible from the -painter's standpoint: by it, the dark faces and gesticulating hands of -the men gathered round a table are turned to deep orange. This is all -one sees growing from out the encircling gloom--faces, hands, and a -few flecks of ruby light, as the glasses are raised. Every shop down -these narrow streets has its shrine to the Virgin Mary, with its -statuette, its fringes, and its flowers; and at night these shrines -are illuminated according to the poverty or the wealth of the -proprietor--some have only a tiny dip, others have a candle or a group -of candles, while well-to-do folk boast a row of oil-lamps. Rich or -poor, each has its offering, its tiny beacon. The children may go -without bread, and the mother may lack warm clothing; but the Holy -Mother must not be robbed of her due. There is certainly a wonderful -simplicity of faith about these people. The cook-shops are fascinating -by night. There are innumerable stalls; in fact, nearly all the -shopping seems to be done from stalls; even the butchers have open-air -stalls. At night chestnut-roasters, toffee-vendors, pumpkin-and-hot-pear -men hold full sway. These are generally surrounded by groups of -open-mouthed children gazing with delight at the long twisted strings -of toffee in the hands of the operator. Almost a still greater -attraction to the young folk of Venice is the chestnut-roaster; he -generally takes up his position in the courtyards, as does the -coffee-roaster. Courtyards seem to be the favourite haunts of the -coffee-roasters,--partly, I suppose, because all the doors of the -houses round about open into them, and housewives can be easily -supplied. They seem to be constantly roasting coffee berries night and -day; the whole place reeks with the fragrant odour. They are -picturesque by day, these busy workers, but far more picturesque by -night, when the gleam of their ovens shows orange in the purple gloom, -and the leaping flames light up the faces of the children round -about, handsome little faces with a certain grandeur in them--boys -with bronze cheeks, dark hair, olive complexions, black eyes, and -sometimes a touch of colour in their red flannel caps and their -multicoloured patches of garments. There is something barbaric and -fine and graceful about them, half-encircled, as they are, by the -filmy blue smoke from the ovens. A Venetian Good Friday celebrated in -a poor and populous part of Venice at night is most picturesque. The -people of the quarter--the coffee-roasters, the cook-shop men, the -footmen, and the wine-sellers--arrange to sing a chant in twenty-four -verses, a grave and sombre chant following the life of our Lord in His -Passion. Each verse takes about five minutes to sing, and there is a -pause of equal length between each two verses. During every interval -the crowd, who have been quiet, begin to chatter, the men smoke, and -the boys rush and tumble. Directly the precentor begins, silence falls -upon them once more. Most of the people in that particular quarter -subscribe to the erection of a shrine with plenty of candles and -little glass lamps. It is a picturesque sight--the yellow light from -the altar lamps falling on the group of men and women gathered round -the singers and the many heads thrust out of windows and balconies, -on the fair, devout, and serious faces of the children, on the -handsome women and the bronze-faced men. - -All the world in Venice lives out of doors: they breakfast and lunch -and dine, all in the open air. All of them live in lodgings or hotels, -and principally in the bedrooms, which are for the most part -comfortless and dreary,--their only merits are a frescoed ceiling, -sometimes really fine and old, and a balcony. One can procure a marvel -of a palace in Venice for the cost of a garret in London. There is no -real home-life in Venice. Rich and poor, mothers, fathers, children, -and servants,--all take their food in the open air. There are -restaurants and cafés for the well-to-do, endless eating-houses for -the poorer classes, and sausage-makers for the gondoliers. Cookshops -swarm. There you see great piles of fish and garlic, bowls of broth, -polenta, and stewed snails, roast apples, boiled beans, cabbages, and -potatoes. Every holiday, every saint's day, has its special dish. -Carnival time sets the fashion for beaten cream or panamonlata; at San -Martino gingerbread soldiers are popular; and for Christmas time there -is candy made with honey and almonds. A certain broth consumed by the -very humblest is made from scraps of meat which even the -sausage-makers will not use: as may be imagined, the soup is highly -flavoured. In the midst of all these stalls and eating-houses it is -extraordinary how little there is eaten in Venice,--merely a mouthful -here and there,--a kind of light running meal. A Venetian, no matter -how rich he might be, would never dream of inviting you to a set meal. -There is no heavy food, no cut from the joint. If a Venetian invites -you to an entertainment, he will give you a cup of coffee perhaps, or -a glass of wine and a biscuit,--rarely more. He will never invite you -to eat a great meal; he never takes it himself. The eating-house and -the stall appear to be more or less of an excuse for gossip and the -meeting of neighbours. - -If the streets of Venice are bewitching by night, they are certainly -delightful in the early morning. It is then that one receives the most -vivid impressions. There is a certain freshness in one's perceptions -at the dawn. The poor wretches who make their beds in the streets, or -on the steps, or at the base of columns, shake themselves and shamble -off. Troops of ragged "facchini" fill the streets, and quarrel noisily -over their work. The great cisterns in the market-place are open, and -the water is brought round to your house by dealers, stout young -girls with broad backs and rosy cheeks; they carry it in two brass -buckets attached to a pole, and empty it into large earthenware pots -placed ready for its reception in the kitchen. These girls, called -"bigolanti," supply the place of water-works. At this hour you see the -shops opening like so many flowers before the sun. Butchers set forth -their meat; fruit shops, crockery shops, bakers', cheap-clothing, and -felt-hat shops, show their various wares. You see peasants at work -among vegetables, building cabbages and carrots into picturesque -piles, and decorating them with garlic and onions, while their masters -are still sleeping on sacks of potatoes. Great barges arrive from -Mestre, Chioggia, and Torcello, laden with vegetables and fruit. -Eating-houses begin their trade. You see men and women taking their -breakfast, and a savoury smell of spaghettis and eels on gridirons -fills the air. Gondoliers begin to wash their gondolas, brush their -felces, polish the iron of their prows, shake their cushions, and put -everything in order for business. Picturesque old women, carrying milk -in fat squat bottles, make the round of the hotels and restaurants at -this early hour. They are good to look at, with their dark nut-brown -faces and dangling gold earrings under their large straw hats. Their -figures are much the shape of their bottles; and they bring a pleasant -atmosphere into Venice, an atmosphere of fields and clover-scented -earth, and milk drawn from the cream-coloured cows. Fishermen, a -handsome class, with weather-beaten faces, in blue clothing, come -striding down the calle, shallow baskets of fish on their heads. They -set up their stalls and display their soles and mackerel, chopping up -their eels into sections and crying, "Beautiful, and all alive!" At -this hour everyone is making bargains, and the result is a continual -buzz; but there is nothing discordant about the street cries of -Venice. A peculiarly beautiful cry is that of the man who comes round -every morning with wood for your kitchen fire. The fuel-men cut their -wood on the shores of the Adriatic, and anchor their barges at the -Custom House, leaving them in charge of mongrel yellow dogs, who guard -so vigilantly and are so extremely aggressive that never a splinter is -taken from the barges. - - [Illustration: THE WOODEN SPOON SELLER] - -The street cries are full of individuality, and the tradesman brings a -little art to bear on the description of his wares. The song of the -sweep, exquisitely sad, quite befits the warning, "Beware of your -chimney!" There is nothing gay about the sweep: he is a very -melancholy person, and his expression is in sympathy with his music. -The pumpkin-vendor is coy, and his cry has a winning pathos; his is -not an easy vegetable to launch on the market, and he has developed -into a very bashful person. His cry is cooing and subtle: he almost -caresses you into buying, which is necessary, as no one in his right -senses really desires a pumpkin. The fruiterer is different. He is -handsome, fat-cheeked, and has scarlet lips, strong black hair curling -in ringlets, and gold rings in his ears. His adjuration is a round, -full, resonant roar, like a triumphant hymn; and there is altogether a -certain Oriental splendour about his demeanour. It is not necessary -for him to be subtle: there is always a sale for melons and pears, -chestnuts and pomegranates. He uses colour as a stimulant to his -customers, and dwells upon the hue of his fruit. "Melons with hearts -of fire!" he cries. Also he flatters. To a dear old gentleman passing -by he will hold up a clump of melons, some of them sliced, or a group -of richly coloured pomegranates, and say, "Now, you as a man of taste -will appreciate this marvellous colour; you are young enough to -understand the fire and beauty of these melons"; and the old -gentleman will go on his way feeling quite pleased and youthful. Some -of the cries are quaint. I once heard a man say, "Juicy pears that -bathe your beard!" and another said his peaches were "ugly but -good,"--they certainly were not beautiful to look upon. Almost the -most melodious salesmen are the countrymen who pace the streets with -larks and finches in cages, and roses and pinks in pots. - -At mid-day the streets are enveloped in a warm golden light; there are -rich old browns, orange yellows, and burnt siennas--all the tints of a -gorgeous wall-flower. A ray of sun in a bric-à-brac shop attracts your -attention; and you get a peep through a window with cobwebbed panes, -high up in a flesh-coloured wall, at some of the objects -within,--brass pots and pans gleam from the walls, bits of china and -porcelain, strings of glass beads, some quaint old bookcases with -saints carved in ivory, fragments of old brocade woven with gold and -gorgeous,--all kinds of strange curiosities, looking crisp and -brilliant in the sunlight. Suddenly you are blinded by a patch of -golden yellow. It is an orange-stall placed before a pink palace -flecked with the delicate tracery of luminous violet shadow. Away down -in the interior of the stall, where the sun does not shine, it -appears almost purple by contrast to the brilliant mass of golden -fruit. The background of all these shops is neutral: the objects for -sale form the only brilliant and positive colour. - -The palaces and houses are mostly pink and white. There are pinks, and -greys, and blues, and so on. It is not the painted, coloured city that -one had imagined it to be: Venice is very grey. But its greyness is -that of the opal and the pearl. I have often heard people say how -strange it is that the colours always seem brighter in Venice than in -any other city--the shutters and the doors and the shops. The answer -is not far to seek. It is because the background and the general -colouring is neutral. There are no large patches of positive colour: -even St. Mark's, choke-full of colour as it is, has no positive colour -in its composition. Take a peep into a carpenter's shop. Through the -iron grating, rusty and red with age, you see the quaint old craftsman -at work, his flesh tone very much the colour of the wood he is -planing; piercing black eyes look through and over the large -bone-framed glasses that he wears; he suggests the carpenter of Japan; -and, judging from the amount of shavings you see about the floor, you -gather that he is a dignified, not what may be called a feverish, -worker. He is, however, evidently an artist: you see dainty specimens -of wood-carving hung round on the walls. Most of the carpenters of -Venice seem to be old men. There appear to be very few middle-aged -people at all. They seem to be either young boys and girls or ancient -men and women. Whether it is that Venetians age quickly, I do not -know. The old women are extraordinary. You can scarcely imagine how -anything so crooked and foul and old and frowsy, with so little hair, -so few teeth, so many protruding bones, and such parchment-like skin, -can be human. Their faces seem to be shrunken like old fruit: I have -seen women with noses shrivelled and with dents in them like -strawberries. It is extraordinary to watch these women on their -shopping excursions. How they bargain! They think nothing of starting -the day before to buy a piece of steak, and sometimes spend a whole -day haggling over it. Some of the shopmen are swindlers,--fat, greasy -men, very fresh and brisk, who have reduced cheating to a fine art. - - [Illustration: WORK GIRLS] - -It is only after living in Venice for some months that one begins to -understand the bargaining in the streets. You will see two men -talking--one the shopman, the other the purchaser--and if you -know anything of the language, and watch carefully, you will find it -the most marvellous bit of acting imaginable. They bargain; the -customer turns in scorn, and goes; he is called back; the goods are -displayed once more, and their merits expatiated upon. The customer -laughs incredulously and moves away. The seller then tries other -tactics to fog his client. Eventually he makes a low offer, which is -accepted; but even then the shopman gets the best of it, for he has a -whole battery of the arts of measurement in reserve. There is really -no end to the various possibilities of "doing" a man out of a -halfpenny. - -Beggars are a great trial in the streets. The lame, the halt, and the -blind breathe woe and pestilence under your window, and long -monotonous whines of sorrow. Fat friars in spectacles and bare feet -come round once a month begging bread and fuel for the convents. Old -troubadours serenade you with zithers, strumming feebly with fingers -that seem to be all bone, and in thin quavering voices pipe out old -ditties of youth and love. - -There are lottery offices everywhere. Around them there is always a -great excitement. The missing number, printed on a card framed in -flowers and ribands, is placed in the windows daily. Some say that the -system of lottery should be done away with; but it might be cruel to -deprive the poor wretches of hope. The lottery brings joy to many -despairing people. - -Venetian women are good-looking. One sees them continually about the -streets. Nothing can surpass the grace of the shawl-clad figures seen -down the perspective of the long streets, or about some old stone well -in a campiello. They are for the most part smart and clean. You see -them coming home from the factories, nearly always dressed in black, -simple and well-behaved. Their hair is of a crisp black, and well -tended; their manner is sedate and demure. There is no boisterousness -about the Venetian girls, no turning round in the streets, no -coarseness. Many of them are very beautiful. You see a woman crossing -an open space with the sunlight gleaming on the amber beads about her -throat and making the rich colour glow brighter beneath her olive -skin. A shawl is thrown round her shoulders, and her jet-black hair is -fastened by a silver pin. She wears a deep crimson bodice. The choice -of colour of these women is unerring in taste. Their shawls are -seldom gaudy, generally of blue or pale mauve; vivid colours are -reserved for the bodices. - -Then, there are the bead-stringers. You see them everywhere: handsome -girls with a richness of southern colour flushing beneath warm-toned -skins, eyes large and dark, with heavy black lashes, the hair twisted -in knots low on their necks, and swept back in large waves from square -foreheads, a string of coloured beads round their necks, and flowered -linen blouses with open collars. You see them with their wooden trays -full of beads. The bead-stringers are nearly always gay. They laugh -and chat as they run the beads on the strings. They often form a very -pretty picture, as they bend over their work and thread turquoise -beads from wooden trays. - -In the courtyards, some women are hanging white clothes on a line -before a yellow wall; others are leaning out of their windows, -gossiping with neighbours. Never was there a more gossiping set of -women: every window, every balcony, seems to be thronged with heads -thrust out to chatter. - -Venice is divided up into campi or squares. Each campo has a church, a -butcher, a baker, a candlestick-maker, and everything else that is -necessary to life, including a café and a market. - -Venetian children, as a rule, are very badly reared, and many of them -die at an early age. It is a belief and a consolation that the little -ones go straight to heaven, there to plead their parents' cause and to -arrange for their reception. - -May is the best month in which to see the streets. The intoxication of -spring is in the air, and in the bright sunlight the colours burn and -glow. Although you cannot see them, you are constantly reminded that -there are gardens in Venice. Suddenly over the red brickwork of a high -wall you will see clumps of tamarisk, hanging mauve wisteria, or the -scarlet buds of a pomegranate, while the scent of syringa and banksia -roses fills the air, the birds sing in the enclosure, and the perfume -of honeysuckle trails over the wall of a garden of a foreign prince. -Few crowds are more cheerful or better ordered than a Venetian crowd. -There is a light-heartedness about these people that is very engaging; -they have a marvellous frankness of manner, a sublime indifference to -truth. The smallest Venetian child is a born flatterer, and will tell -you, not what he thinks, but what he imagines you wish to hear. The -people are the most engaging in the world, free from care or doubt as -to right or wrong. This carelessness is characteristic of the whole -Italian race. Venetians give the impression of being always determined -to enjoy life to the full. They are continually coming together, for -the purpose of pleasure, on one pretence or another, and the flashes -of wit in the street are sometimes very amusing. The Venetians have -always been, and still are, a great festa-loving people. When the -Republic fell, the brave ceremonies came to an end; but the original -passion is still kept alive. The festa in Venice are chiefly of -religious character. For example, once a year each parish church -honours the feast of its patron saint by processions to all shrines -within that particular parish. Very picturesque are the streams of -priests and people crossing the bridges and passing along the fondanta -of some small canal,--a brilliant ribbon of vermilion and gold winding -through the grey-toned city: porters of the church (in blouses of -white, red, and blue) bearing candles, pictures, and banners; bands -playing the gayest operatic tunes; priests and the parocco carrying -the Host under a canopy of cloth of gold; long files of the devout -holding candles; and boys with crackers and guns. At night there is -dancing in the largest campo of the parish. On Good Friday the streets -resemble a feast rather than a fast. The people are in their best and -gaudiest clothes; children are rushing and romping and turning -somersaults, whirling their rattles, fitting up shrines and then -appealing to the crowd for coppers,--human mites of six or seven -constructing "Santo Sepolcro," or Holy Graves, from old bottles, -sprigs of bay stuck in, and odd candle-ends. One may witness touches -of sentiment in a Venetian crowd; but the depths are seldom stirred. -Sometimes sentiment finds expression in the rilotti--popular Venetian -songs. - - - - - [Illustration: CHIOGGIA FISH MARKET] - - - - -THE ISLANDS OF THE LAGOON - - -There is no piece of water more extraordinary than the lagoons of -Venice. They cover an area of 184 square miles of water, shut off from -the sea by a narrow strip of sandy islands, which are called the Lidi. -The form of the lagoons is, roughly, that of a bent bow. How did they -happen to be formed thus? That is a difficult question, and there are -various opinions. Certainly the lagoons are a great feature of the -city. They gave shelter to the founders flying from the Huns on the -mainland, and the health of the community depends on their regular ebb -and flow. A lagoon is not a lake; neither is it a swamp, nor open sea. -It is a strange piece of natural engineering. There are really, -although we cannot see them at high tide, four distinct water systems, -with separate watersheds and confluent streams. The sea comes in once -a day as from a great heart, pulsing in through the four breaks in -the Lido barrier, cleaning and purifying the lagoon, and afterwards -bearing away the refuse of the city. At low tide one can see these -channels distinctly winding in and out of the mud-banks. In the spring -they are bare, with long trails of sea-grass. In autumn they are brown -and bare, and at high tide the whole surface is flooded. On the -mainland shore of the lagoon there is a certain territory, called -Laguna Morta, where the sea and the land fight a continual battle. It -is the home of the wildfowl. Here salt sea-grasses grow, tamarisk, -samphire, and, in the autumn, sea lavender. Farther, the ground -becomes solid, and the Venetian plain begins, with its villas, -poplars, vineyards, and mulberry groves. - -Nothing is more delightful than to spend a whole long day upon the -lagoon when the air is sweet and the breeze is fresh from the Lido. -There are fishing-boats coming in from their long night, with spoil -for the Rialto market, crossing and recrossing one another as they -tack. The bows are painted, and the nets are hung mast-high to be -mended and dried in the sun. Their sails are folded close together, -like the wings of great vermilion moths. These sails, which are -picturesque in the Venetian landscape, are of the deepest oranges and -reds, rich red browns, orange yellows, and burnt siennas, contrasting -strangely with the cool grey waters of the lagoon upon which they -float. - -One can wander for miles along the Lido on the Adriatic side. The -lizards bask in the hot sand; the delicate, pale sea-holly mingles -with the yellow of the evening primrose. From the Lido you can see -right away to the south-east, and in the horizon can discern the faint -blue hills above Trieste and the top of Monte Maggiore. From there the -city looks well: one sees the Ducal Palace, faintly pink, the green -woods of the public gardens, and the vast blue Venetian sky. The true -native seems to have a strange affection for the Lido. One cannot tell -why or wherefore; but it is so--"Lido" has ever been a name to conjure -with. One cannot tell what associations and sensations of pleasure and -charm are connected with it. At the present day it is a flat piece of -somewhat marshy ground, with large gardens intersected by canals. - -The woods of the Favorita, on the shore of San Elizabetta, are -delightful, with their groves of acacia and catalpas, where the ground -is carpeted with wild flowers, and the grass is greener than elsewhere -in Venice, and the nodding violets grow. Behind the acacia grove -there is a Protestant burial-ground where rest the bones of many -Englishmen who came to Venice for pleasure and stayed to die. The tomb -of our ambassador, Sir Francis Vincent, is here. A beautiful walk is -towards the ramparts of San Nicolo, where the blackbirds sing in the -old convent garden, and in summer crimson poppies, purple salvias, and -vivid green grass are luxuriant. San Nicolo di Bari is the patron -saint of sailors. They have erected a magnificent church dedicated to -his memory on the most beautiful point of the Lido. Here the crews of -the merchantmen and warships of the Republic would linger for a while -before sailing, to ask a blessing on their voyage. The saint's remains -do not really rest here. Venice failed in her endeavour to obtain them -by force from the people of Bari; but she spread the fiction among the -people. To this day the sailors of the lagoon firmly believe that San -Nicolo still watches over and protects them, and when in doubt or -danger are enabled by the campanile of his church to find the direct -course to the Lido port. At the Lido is the cemetery of the Jews. The -graves are covered with sand and vegetation, and children never -hesitate to dance on them,--in fact, to do so is a favourite pastime. -If one remonstrates, they will look at you with wide-open eyes, -and explain that these are only graves of Jews,--a Jew with the -Venetians being no better than a dog. The grave of a Christian is -treated with the greatest reverence: even the children and the -gondoliers salute it as they pass. There is something pathetic about -the Jewish graves, from the stones over which the inscriptions have -been effaced. - - [Illustration: CHIOGGIA] - -Chioggia is one of the greater islands. It has a large town with an -immensely broad street and a wide canal. Here is the most famous and -most picturesque fish-market of all suburban Venice. In it one comes -across the finest Venetian types, magnificent models for painters, -bronzed Giorgione figures and black-eyed swarthy women. Their dialect -is beautiful, far more so than that of Venice proper; and at night -Ariosto is read publicly in the streets by a musical sweet-voiced -Chiozzotto. Here the dramatist Goldoni lived, and the painter Rosalba -Carrera, and the composer Giuseppe Zarlino. Chioggia reminds one of -the Jewish quarter in the east end of London. The people, mostly -fishermen, are extremely poor. - -This is the place for colour. There is colour everywhere--in the sails -of the boats, in the costume of the people, and even in the red -cotton curtains of the churches. Unfortunately, one's stay there was -brief--because of the insects. A fisherman in Chioggia took us for a -sail. We had bargained for an hour's journey; but we had not been out -for more than ten minutes before he landed us on the rocks and -demanded five francs. We were entirely at his mercy, and were forced -to concede; but his action struck us as being high-handed. Sometimes -the fishermen of Chioggia, if they are so inclined, will tell you -tales of Angelica and Orlando, and the pageant of the Carolingian -myth. - -Torcello is one of the most interesting islands of the lagoon. It is -seven miles from Venice, and a pathway is made to it through the sea -by stakes. The island is for the most part a waste of wild sea moor. -Grey and lifeless in colour, it is a desolate place, and you feel as -if you were at the end of the world. At one time it was extremely -populous; but now it is impossible to live there, because the marshes -breed malaria. Any count whose title and estates the Venetians deem -improbable they call "the count from Torcello." One passes six miles -of the most beautiful scenery on the way thither. The entrance is by a -canal, and the banks on either side are covered with dwarf bushes and -lilac trees. Thirteen hundred years ago the grey moorland looked much -as it does now--except that where a city stood the cattle feed, what -was once the piazza of the city is a grassy meadow, and a narrow -pathway is the only street. Two hundred years after the invasion of -Attila, the inhabitants of Aquileia and Altinum, with their most -precious possessions, flew from their houses to the island of -Torcello. Now there is scarcely a sign of human habitation; and only -the ruins of an old quay, an ancient well, foundations of marble -buildings, a great church, and a campanile, are left to show what at -one time was a populous city, which was called the mother of Venice. -By the remains of these buildings one can see that they were -constructed by men in great distress, seeking a shelter, yet not -wishing to attract the eyes of their enemies by their splendour. The -church of Torcello shows force and simplicity of character, and a -certain reverent religious feeling on the part of its founders. -Everything is on a small and humble scale. The columns which support -the roof are no higher than a man. Yet these columns are of pure Greek -marble, and the capitals are enriched with delicate sculpture. One -sees everywhere in this church an earnest and simple desire to do -honour to God in the temple they were erecting, and that it should not -form too great a contrast to the churches they had loved and seen -destroyed. Torcello is equally delightful in springtime and in autumn. -In spring the orchards are in full bloom, and the hedges throw their -pink and white sprays of thorn against the sky. In autumn the water -meadows are a shimmer of purple and red from the masses of feathery -lavender that grow there. It has much the same colour and feeling as a -Scotch moor. Torcello is interesting from its venerable traditions, -its desolation, its wildness, and its profound silence. - -There are many expeditions on which one could go if one had the time -to spare. For example, there is an island near Torcello called San -Francisco in Deserto. The name is well applied: St. Francis' island -certainly stands in a desert. There is still an islet monastery of the -Franciscan order. The brethren show you with much enthusiasm a stone -coffin in which the founder of the convent was in the habit of lying -in order to acclimatise himself to the sensation of death. Also there -is pointed out a penitential cell which was once inhabited by the -saint, and a tree (said to have sprung from his staff) which he -planted. This legend may sound mythical; but perhaps it may not -be so. It is quite possible for a staff, even if it has lain by for -some time, to shoot out in several places in green sprigs; and one of -these, cut in proper manner, might easily take root and grow into a -tree. The real charm of the island lies in the garden of the -monastery, where narcissus are abundant and there is a great avenue of -cypresses, the finest in Venice. - - [Illustration: IN MURANO] - -Triporti is different: in fact, no other island of the lagoon is quite -like it. Here are great sweeps of sandy land covered with coarse grass -and heather and pools of brackish water. The island is more or less -uncultivated, and the air is full of strange aromatic odours from the -sea. It is a marvellous place to bathe in: the sand is fine and soft -and yellow, and the sea lies wide open before you, warm and limpid. - -If you have any doubt as to where Murano is, look for a great black -cloud hovering over an island; and you may be sure that there are the -glass factories of Murano. Glass-making is the only industry now -practised in the lagoon. The factories are no longer numerous, Murano -having declined from her ancient splendour. The secret of the magician -is exposed; and Murano has no longer the monopoly of bevelled -mirrors, great glasses, and crystal balls. Such work is executed in -Birmingham quite as well as in Murano. The old art is lost. Still, -Murano is interesting. There is perhaps more life in it than in any -other of the islands. Workmen sift glass upon the pavement; women, at -the doors, sit busily knitting, or stringing beads; fishermen, clothed -in a dark greenish grey, are disentangling their nets, which hang over -the boats in apparently inextricable confusion; there are street -vendors of all kinds, calling out the nature of their wares to the -passerby. There are five thousand inhabitants in the city of Murano. -Its grand canal is almost as broad as that of Venice. The beautiful -palaces, with their doors and windows of marble,--some of red Verona -marble, some deeply enriched with mouldings, others with arcades of a -singular grace and delicacy--are now inhabited by the very poorest of -the poor. The church of San Donato, the Matrice or mother church of -Murano, stands in a field of fresh green grass. It is said that a -virgin appeared in a vision to its founder, Otho the Great, showing -him this very meadow overgrown with scarlet lilies, and bidding him -erect a church there in her honour. Murano, on the whole, is a -dreary little town. Wealth, beauty, and elegance have passed away; the -country is devoted to cabbages and potato patches. Still, it has charm -even in its decay. How beautiful Murano must have been at the time -when Cardinal Bembo and so many famous literati lived there! It must -have been an earthly paradise, with its luxurious vegetation, lordly -palaces, and magnificent gardens. In this city the horse is a quaint -and unexpected animal. He is not wanted. He is quite as ridiculous and -useless as a unicorn would be in the streets of London. He annoys one, -this strange beast,--making one think of mountains, valleys, fields, -trees, streets, and carriages, at a time when one is eager to be -satisfied with sparkling lagoons, gondolas, and a palace for hotel. - - [Illustration: MRS. EDEN'S GARDEN IN VENICE] - -The gardens in Venice have a character all their own. They are highly -prized, for space is scarce. The soil is rich, formed of lagoon mud; -but only certain plants will grow freely in it--because of the salt -air. The variety that will bloom, however, is quite enough to make a -good show--flowering and aromatic shrubs, roses (especially banksia), -most bulbs, and (blooming the finest and happiest of all in Venetian -soil) carnations, the "garofoli" which play so large a part in Italian -love-stories. - -On the Giudecca there are two gardens, each quite different from the -other in character and appearance, but both illustrating what a -Venetian garden may be like. In one all the resources of art and -wealth have been brought to bear, and there is a succession of -brilliant beds of colour. In the middle is a green oasis, a kind of -English orchard, where the turf is as fine and as velvety, as deep and -green, as that of any English lawn, and the orchard trees throw a -delicate tracery of flickering shadows. There are beds of splendid -colour, varying with the seasons. In fact, there is almost an Oriental -lavishness about this garden: the scent of the flowers is almost -oppressive. The other garden is not less beautiful; but it is set -apart for profit rather than for pleasure. There are aisles upon -aisles of vine-covered pergolas, crossing one another; and one can -saunter down these cool promenades for hours, absolutely bareheaded. A -narrow strip is divided from the rest of this garden by a thick hedge. -Here, in one glorious mass, are all the flowers that will grow freely -in Venice--the flame-coloured trumpets of the bigonici, by bowers of -roses over-arching walks, banksias festooning the walls, and one -corner completely filled by a splendid _Daphne odorifera_ which by her -perfume draws the butterflies. However, one cannot quite -understand the spirit that prompted Alfred de Musset to write those -verses the last of which runs:-- - - À Saint Blaise, à la Zuecca, - Dans les prés fleuris cuellir la verveine; - À Saint Blaise, à la Zuecca, - Vivre et mourrir là. - - [Illustration: TIMBER BOATS FROM THE SHORES OF THE ADRIATIC] - -There are now at Saint Blaise no pastoral and poetic places where -lovers could stroll hand in hand by the pale moonlight: the gardens, -somewhat marshy, are cultivated principally for market purposes. The -Giudecca Canal is the commercial harbour of Venice. The churches of -Redentore and Maggiore lie on the farther side of it. In this canal a -group of small vessels lie all day long at anchor--twenty or thirty of -them, laden with wood brought from the Istrian coast, and sold in -Venice. When it has been disposed of, the captain calls his crew from -the distant cafés and wine-shops, releases the watch-dog from his post -on deck, weighs anchor, and creeps down the Adriatic to reload again -with fuel. This is all the Venetian commerce of to-day--this and a few -beads, glass, wood-carving, lace, and bric-à-brac, such as would -scarcely load a modern trading-ship. Nine hundred years ago the trade -of Venice was important. By the close of the eleventh century, the -city was commercially supreme in Europe. Yet she manufactured nothing. -She was supreme simply by the exercise of the merchant's calling. She -was Europe's greatest ship-owning power and commercial head. Her -merchants, conveying cloth, velvet, serge, canvas, various precious -and commercial metals, glass beads, and other goods, received in -return drugs, spices, dyes, precious stones, rugs, silks, brocades, -cotton, and perfumes, which were sold at a high rate of profit. The -population of Venice was then two hundred thousand; the annual exports -were valued at ten million ducats; there were three hundred sea-going -vessels, eight thousand sailing vessels, three thousand smaller craft, -seventeen thousand mercantile sailors, and a powerful navy with eleven -thousand able-bodied seamen. - -San Giorgio is of note as the place for red mullet from the Adriatic. -Nothing equals the fish: none other is so appetising, so red and fresh -in colour--one would feel inclined to eat of it if only for its hue. -The best place to procure mullet is in a certain tavern where -gondoliers and sailors mostly congregate: here they can drink wine -free of duty. The tavern is invariably filled with such men, all -stretched out on benches round the table. San Giorgio is the -place for sunsets also: from nowhere else in the lagoon can one see -such a marvellous variety, such changes of sea and sky. The church -possesses a wonderful Entombment by Tintoretto. - - [Illustration: BY A SQUERO OR BOAT-BUILDING YARD] - -San Servolo is a very small island beyond San Giorgio, yet one of the -brightest jewels in the coronet of the lagoon--almost entirely covered -with buildings. - -Burano has a population of some nine thousand. The people are chiefly -engaged in fishing and in towing. One sees boatfuls of them returning -from the sea; and lines of them towing heavy mud-filled barges on the -way to Pordenone, all the men stepping in time with one another and -bending to the rope with a will. There is something statuesque about -these toilers. With their long, cleanly-moulded limbs, they remind one -of ancient Egyptian bronzes. The sculptor would find plenty of scope -in Burano. The people, however, are of evil repute by heredity. They -are the scapegoats of the lagoon. If anything goes wrong, the blame is -always laid upon them. They work harder and receive less pay than the -inhabitants of any other island. In the old days terrible quarrels -used to arise among the women, either in the market-place or when they -sat in their doorways making that exquisite lace for which the town -is famous. To the present day lace is made at Burano, and even now the -women quarrel over their work. If one did not know the language, one -would not imagine that they were quarrelling--the dialect is so soft -and sweet, the words dying away in a kind of sigh. - -Mazzorbo is connected with Burano by a long wooden bridge. There are -very few houses here, and very few inhabitants. The island is given up -to flower gardens and the cultivation of fruit. Every day boats laden -with fruit, to be sold at the Rialto, are sent to Venice. Most of the -inhabitants of Mazzorbo are extraordinarily beautiful and sweet of -nature. These characteristics are very often found among those whose -business is chiefly connected with mother earth. Gardeners of all -nationalities are generally gentle and charming persons. - -San Lazzaro is where the Armenian monks spend their quiet lives, happy -in the study and culture of their gardens. This convent of theirs is a -gem of colour set on the lagoon, painted a deep crimson and looking -like some gorgeous tropical flower. There is a terraced walk in the -garden, and the cloister is rich in flowers and planted with cypress -and oleander trees. It is a place in which to bask in the sun, -and watch the crabs fighting with one another on the sloping wall. One -can see the sun setting behind the Euganian hills, and watch the first -stars appear and the piazza lights shine out. - - [Illustration: IN A SIDE STREET, CHIOGGIA] - -Malamocco is not often visited by strangers; yet there is much that is -beautiful in the place, and a certain old-world air that fascinates -one. It is a good deal older than Venice; and its people, friendly and -clean persons, are always careful to explain to you that they are not -Venetians. The famous white asparagus, for which the evil-smelling mud -makes excellent soil, grows plentifully in Malamocco. - -San Elena was once an exceedingly lovely island. It lies near to the -city, and is only a short distance from the public gardens. The grave -of Helen, mother of Constantine the Great, at once an empress and a -saint, is said to have been here. There was also a very beautiful -Gothic cloister. Now the old monastery walls have been pulled down, -and a hideous iron factory has been erected; the quiet convent -cemetery has been dug up, and the crosses have been thrown aside to -make way for iron-girded workshops. - -For expeditions on the lagoons it is always well to choose a pearly, -silvery-grey day, when everything is delicate in colour and mellowed -by a semi-transparent haze. The lagoons are not always grey and calm. -They have their moods. I have seen a fair green sea grow black beneath -a sudden storm. Sometimes Venice will appear blue and rosy, the smooth -sea as green as in Canaletto's pictures, the white cupolas of Santa -Maria della Salute and the silver domes of St. Mark's standing out as -on an azure background. Then great masses of grey clouds will come up, -the sea is festooned with foam, and black gondolas skim over the water -like swallows flying before a storm. Sometimes the sky is clear and -the light vivid, the water shines like silver, and one cannot tell the -horizon from the sea; the islands appear like brown specks, and the -ships seem to be sailing in the sky. At others the sea, under an east -wind, is cold and hard as steel. In winter the lagoons are wrapped in -damp mists, so thick that, however good a navigator you may be, you -must needs lose your way; steamers and gondolas loom out and then -disappear, swallowed up by the dense wall of vapour, and the shipping -looks ghostly, tall and gaunt. - - [Illustration: SANTA MARIA DELLA SALUTE] - -Away out in the remote and unfrequented regions of the lagoon are -small isolated huts, mud-plastered, single-roomed cabins, built on -piles, which guard certain valli, to which the fish are driven in the -spring, to spawn. These consist of deep ditches surrounded by -palisades of wattled cane. Here the men stay sometimes for days, -fishing with nets, or standing upright in the long light boats waiting -for their prey. Some of the valli have the most uncanny names: one is -"The Val dell' Inferno," and another "The Val dei Sette Morte." Of -this last there is a terrible story, which has taken deep root in the -imagination of the people. Six fishermen were living in a valle. They -had with them a boy, who, when they went out on the lagoon, stayed at -home to cook for the men. One day, when they were returning with their -boatload, they found the body of a drowned man floating out to sea. -They picked the body up and laid it on the prow. The boy came to meet -them, crying that breakfast was ready. When they were seated at their -meal he asked why they had not brought the man who was lying in the -prow. The fishermen said, jokingly, that he had better go and call -him. This the child did, but soon returned with the news that he had -shouted to the man in the prow, who had neither moved nor answered -him. "Go again," said the men. "He is a deaf old fool. You must shout -and swear at him." The child went once more to the boat, and shouted -and swore at the man; but still he would not wake. "Go out again and -shake him by the leg, and tell him that we can't wait until doomsday -for him," said the fishermen. So the boy went, climbed into the boat, -and shook the man by the leg. This time the man in the prow sat up and -said, "What do you want?" "Why don't you come?" asked the boy. "They -can't wait until doomsday for you." "Go back," he said, "and tell them -I am coming." The boy went back to the hut, and told the men, who were -laughing and joking over their meal, that it was all right: the man in -the prow was coming. At this the fishermen turned very pale and -laughed no more. Then they heard heavy footsteps coming slowly up the -path; the door was pushed open; the dead man came in, and sat down in -the boy's place, making seven at the table. The eyes of the other six -were fixed on the seventh, their guest. They could neither move nor -speak. The blood grew colder and colder in their veins. When the sun -rose and shone in at the window, it shone on seven dead men sitting -round the table in the valle. - -Despite this tale, Venetian people are bright and essentially -practical. They are not deeply imaginative. Horrors, weird fancies, -and love of the preternatural are quite foreign to the Italian -temperament. - - - - - [Illustration: RIO E CHIESA DEGLI OGNISSANTI] - - - - -SOCIAL UPS AND DOWNS - - -A great change came over society in Venice early in the latter half of -the nineteenth century. The people were dull, and sullen, and poor. -They resented their political position bitterly. The feeling with -which they were possessed was their great hatred of the Austrians. -They did not hate the Austrians individually; but they did -politically, and therefore socially. If you wanted to know the -Austrians, you could not know the Venetians: if you were friendly with -either, you must cold-shoulder the others. Society in Venice was -divided into two distinct sections. Once gone over to a side, you had -no withdrawal. If a girl intermarried she was cut off for life from -her family. Whatever the Venetian can or cannot do, he can certainly -hate, and that well. He may be dull and dispirited; but he is fiercely -patriotic, and his hatred of the Austrian was very strong. Most of -the nobility were exiled. The rest kept severely to themselves. They -never attended popular festivities, and even among the poorer classes -of Venetians very few old customs were kept up. The people felt keenly -the contrast of what had been and what was. A bridge of boats was -still built over the water to the church of the Redentore; but it was -very little used. The carnival, which was wont to last for six weeks, -was kept up but a single night; and then it was a farcical show. Only -a few dressed-up beggars tore through the streets, singing songs at -the cafés for drinks, and they were looked upon by the crowd with -melancholy scorn. - -Venetian people of good family seldom went to the play or to the -opera. Austrian bands played there. The places of entertainment were -mostly kept up by foreigners, and were consequently not what they -might have been. To find good Italian opera one had to go to London or -to Paris. Still, the Venetians love music. It is born in them: they -have a passion for the art which nothing can subdue. Even the veriest -street urchin sings his gutter song with a fervour such as we do not -know of in the north. Despite the ban from which they suffered, the -theatres were not uninteresting. Scarcely any Italian can act -badly. Practically in every case he has the dramatic instinct. But -there was no gay buzz in the audience, no flitting from box to box. -The theatres were filled with Austrians, who took their pleasure -quietly. The artisans and other poor Venetians, who saved up their -money to go to the play, certainly did enjoy it. They cheered and -hissed with vehemence, and between the acts drank aniseed and water, -and ate candied fruits on sticks fashioned at the ends into -toothpicks. - - [Illustration: A CAMPIELLO] - -Marionette shows were very popular. The theatre was tiny, and the -stage was tiny; everything was arranged in accordance with the small -dimensions of the actors. The marionettes talked very volubly, so much -so that it was sometimes difficult to follow them. The plays, written -expressly for the marionettes, were of all descriptions, from -melodrama to farce. Sometimes there were ballets. The audience was -generally amusing. It consisted principally of boys. The hat was -passed round, and if the proprietor considered that there was not -sufficient money collected he would shout, "O you sons of dogs!" and -close the theatre. - -If any Venetian of good family gave a ball or a party, he was looked -upon with suspicion by the poor, who had no holidays, no tips, small -trade, and large taxes. The Austrians gave balls and parties -occasionally, but not very often. They hated Venice, where they were -regarded as a pestilence, and shunned by all save their own -countrymen. This strange antagonism continued for a few years, until -the Austrian occupation ceased and Venice was united to the rest of -Italy. - -The Emperor of Austria's birthday afforded a good example of the -inter-racial bitterness. All night long Austrian bands paraded the -streets, cannons were fired at intervals, and fireworks let off. It -seemed as though by unnecessary ostentation of artillery the Austrians -were endeavouring to reach the throne in Vienna. But a dead silence -reigned in Venice. Not a single Venetian was abroad. The Austrians had -their celebrations all to themselves. It was rather pathetic to see -them trying to work up joy and enthusiasm. Next morning the -celebrations were continued. Service was held in St. Mark's Church; -and the soldiers stood outside in the square in long rows, drawn to -attention, the sun shining on their resplendent uniforms and handsome -faces--a gallant array! Not a single Venetian showed himself. Not a -blind was drawn. Not one curious woman's face appeared at a -window. Even a Venetian servant girl would not have exchanged a -civility with an Austrian officer that day. There was a dreadful hush -everywhere. Venice was like a dead city. One felt that the people were -stuffing their ears, and covering their eyes, behind drawn blinds. The -Austrians tried hard to be jubilant and gay; but very obviously they -did not succeed. In the evening they went to the opera, endeavouring -to spread out and make more of themselves; but the large house was -practically empty. The day after that, Venetian life flowed back again -into its accustomed channels. The people were laughing and chatting -and filling all the eating-houses, as though making up for lost time. -One wondered what the antagonism would all end in. - - [Illustration: FISHING BOATS FROM CHIOGGIA] - -There was in Venice a committee which looked after Venetian interests. -On all the public anniversaries bombs were fired and flags were flown. -In all the Government Departments the committee placed spies, who were -so clever that they were seldom detected by the Austrians. Even in the -cathedrals those men would sometimes explode bombs. The antagonism -between the Venetian and the Austrian was shown in the piazza, -perhaps, more than elsewhere. The military band played there three -times a week, winter and summer,--played gloriously all the best -Italian airs. Much as they loved music, the Venetians walked up and -down the quay, or in the arcades. They would not enter the square -until the music was finished. Such was their pride! The cafés had no -longer their gay and lively reputation. Only at Florian's did the -Austrians and the Venetians sometimes intermingle--and that was -because of the foreigners. Usually the Venetians had their separate -cafés, and the Austrians theirs--the Quadri and the Specchi. - -The piazza of St. Mark's seems to be the very heart of Venice, the -very core, from which everything radiates, only to return. If you lose -yourself in Venice, and go on walking, you will be sure to find your -way back to the piazza sooner or later. At eight o'clock the piazza -was at its very gayest. Nothing could be more lively, more amusing. It -was lined with cafés--the cafés "Suttil," "Quadri," "Costanza," and -"Florian"; which last reminds one very much of the "Café Royal" in -Paris, and was certainly quite as famous. The old proprietor of this -restaurant was greatly patronised by the Venetian nobility, who were -loud in their praises both of himself and of his viands. The first -Florian lived in the time of the Empire. There is a charming -story told of him and the artist Canova. The old hotel-keeper was very -much troubled with gout, and Canova, to whom Florian had rendered many -services, modelled the affected leg in plaster, in order that he might -have a shoe made which would fit exactly, and so ease the pain. No -doubt (but this is pure surmise) Florian favoured the artist, in -return for his kindness, with a dish of his famous "sorbet au -raisins." - - [Illustration: A WOMAN OF THE PEOPLE] - -Street vendors of all kinds swarmed in the piazza at -night--flower-girls of the most obliging natures, who, if you would -not buy their wares, would thrust a bouquet into your hand gratis (you -were, of course, supposed to repay them at some other time). There -were musicians of every sort and kind--some with guitars; others with -mandolines; some playing selections from the operas; others singing -"Funiculi" and "Santa Lucia" in high tenor voices; deep-chested, -bronze-faced men who explained that they were once operatic stars, but -were now reduced, by the injustice of managers and the villainous -tempers of the prima donnas, to street singing. There were men who -went about selling frosted fruits on long sticks, crying "Caramel, -caramel!" and giving descriptions of their wares in almost every -European language. People of all races were there--red-faced -Englishmen and fair women, with their rosy daughters in sailor hats, -on the way from Switzerland, the respectable English father explaining -St. Mark's with a comprehensive wave of the hand. There were -Frenchmen, Americans, Austrians, Italians, either talking volubly or -deadly quiet; Greeks, with long bluish-black hair floating out behind -them, and caps with silk top-knots (these were captains of small -vessels coming from Cyprus and Syria, and they went to the Café della -Costanza, where they could procure mocha and the pipe they loved -best); and young Venetian gentlemen who spent their lives for the most -part in drifting from one café to another, generally handsome, -well-dressed men with immaculate linen and pointed beards carefully -cut, carrying long canes, and the lightest of kid gloves (their main -object seemed to be to stare at all the pretty women); and Austrians, -smart, good-natured people, who frequented their own cafés, with much -talk and laughter and rattling of swords. Now and then one saw -Venetian women of the upper classes on the piazza, but very rarely. -They were extremely indolent and lazy, and seldom went out. The -weather, they would tell you, was never sufficiently fine: there was -too much sun, or a sirocco was coming, or a cloud threatened rain: the -slightest thing deterred them. Often the utmost exertion a Venetian -woman would allow herself in the day was to pass from her sofa to her -balcony to breathe the freshness of the flowers. Consequently, she had -a complexion which was extremely delicate, a sort of pearly whiteness. -Sometimes she would take a turn or two in the piazza with her husband -or brother as cavalier, and languidly sip anise and water at the Café -Florian. - -For the most part the ancient aristocracy of Venice lived in -retirement and were very poor. They dwelt in palaces whose walls were -covered with priceless paintings by great masters, with which they -would not part. They dined off a dish of polenta or fried fish, which -a valet brought from a tavern near by. Their poverty and the fear of -spies and informers combined in making society in Venice extremely -reserved. It was impossible for a stranger to penetrate into the -midst. - -In summer, in the months of the dog-star, those few among the -patricians who were well-to-do flew to their villas on the banks of -the Brenta, on the mainland. They returned to Venice in winter, only -because, they said, the odours from the lagoons at that time were -unhealthy and caused fever. Those who had no country houses, and could -not afford to travel, shut themselves up in their palaces and drew -down their blinds until it was the fashionable time to appear. In the -dead season there were no lamps lit in the great entrances, and the -palaces were silent. The family lived in the back rooms on the top -story. The rest of the house was let. Most of the palaces were built -round courtyards, and the contessa might go thither as often as she -pleased to interview tradesmen and bargain for fish--there at least -she would be free from espionage. - -As a matter of fact, it was pleasant to be in Venice at that season. -The heat was less: the sun did not bake the ground as it did on the -mainland. Owing to the sirocco which blew across the water, the air -was cool and sweet. Human beings, however, are ever the slaves of -custom, and it was the fashion for Venetian noblemen to spend the -summer months on the Brenta. The river scenery had a fascination for -them, just as the Thames has for Londoners. All along the banks were -rows of little, bright, stuccoed villas, somewhat flimsy, each with -its patch of garden and its shrubbery at the back, where the -family sat all day. Now and then one saw a nobleman's palace breaking -the line of somewhat uninteresting houses. Such was the magnificent -villa at Stra, belonging to a princely Venetian family, with its great -sweeps of green lawns, its orangeries, its alleys, and quaintly cut -yews. Venetians love nature when it has been trimmed by man. Certainly -the banks of the Brenta are very beautiful, especially in spring, when -the water is covered with lilies of yellow and white, and the banks -are lined with scented flags, and the larks tip the surface of the -water with violet wings and sing as they mount against the sun. It is -not unlike the scenery of some quiet English stream. - - [Illustration: CHIOGGIA] - -This custom of spending the summer months in the suburbs of Venice was -called "villeggiatura." It was one of the gayest times of the year for -the Venetians. They lived by night. All day long they lay behind -closed blinds, while the sun parched and baked the ground. Only from -five o'clock in the afternoon until four in the morning could they be -said to live. Then they held dances, card-parties, and flirtations. -During these hours, when the temperature was low, amusement and -pleasure reigned supreme; but no sooner did the sun begin to rise -than, as surely as Cinderella disappeared at the stroke of twelve, the -gay society of the Brenta vanished, and the place lay dead and silent -once more under the intolerable glare. - -How different society in Venice was in the early days! Then the houses -were marvels of luxury; the finest wit, the most brilliant -conversation, and the most delightful music were to be heard in -Venice. It was not in the houses of the old aristocracy that the most -brilliant people--painters, writers, poets, and politicians--assembled. -It was in the houses of women who were looked upon as more or less -shady persons, whom no Venetian gentleman would dream of introducing -to his wife. The wives of the aristocracy were seldom seen except at -public functions. They took much the same position in society as the -"honoured interior" takes in Japan at the present day. (The geisha, -although she is infinitely more entertaining, has no social status -whatever.) The Venetian lady of quality, unlike the "honoured -interior," dressed in the most magnificent style. In the estimate of -her husband nothing was too gorgeous or too costly for her to wear. -Among all those of the larger towns of northern Italy, Venetian women -of the sixteenth century were the first to wear needle-point. - -Although the ideal woman of that time had to be tall, a Venetian -mother never troubled herself about the height of her daughter. At any -moment she could transform the girl's dwarfish stature to that of a -splendid giantess by the use of a pair of high pattens, which were -unnoticed beneath the long stiff dress. Neither was the colour of the -hair a source of inconvenience. Should a girl's locks be of a mousey -nondescript shade, her mother, instead of using injurious dyes, made -her daughter sit every day for three hours in the front balcony where -the sun shone the brightest, dressed in a crownless hat, so that her -tresses might be pulled through it, and a very broad brim, in order -that her face should not be tanned. Then the damsel's maid would sit -and comb her mistress's hair, bleaching in the sun. Girls were never -dressed so richly as their mothers. In fact, the uniform dress was -very simple, generally plain black or white. When they went to church -they wore long white veils, or falzulo, and on ordinary occasions long -gauzy silk ones, through which they could see, yet not be seen. On her -marriage day the girl was first introduced into society, and saw the -bridegroom for the first time. After marriage the rules which ordered -her life were not nearly so restricting. - -In 1614 certain regulations were passed with regard to dress and -household extravagances--the amount of money to be spent on dress, -liveries, gondolas, jewellery, feasts and entertainments, gold and -silver plate, and even the dishes and the menus of dinner-parties. All -these were limited. - -The earliest nobility consisted of twenty-four families who ruled as -tribunes over the twelve islands of the lagoons that formed the -Venetian State. Some of these families are still represented in -Venice. In the year 1296 a rigid and definite aristocracy was formed. -Those who held chief places in the management of the State, whether -they were noble or they had gained importance through their riches, -determined to establish themselves as the permanent rulers of Venice, -and to close the doors of office against all parvenus. Thenceforward -only near relations of those who sat in the Great Council could be -recognised as members of the caste. The twenty-four families, -nevertheless, had distinction, and were called the "old houses." -Admission to the Venetian nobility was rarely conferred on anyone save -foreign princes or distinguished generals. Now and then, when the -State was sorely in need of money, a Venetian family was ennobled; but -for the most part the aristocracy guarded their privileges most -zealously. - -In the days of her decadence, in the eighteenth century, the -tightly-laced, lackadaisical men and the hooped and brocaded women of -Venetian society lived a curious, aimless, artificial life. Their -greatest pleasure seems to have lain in gossiping, eating, drinking, -and generally struggling to kill time. It was an inane life, frigid, -without freedom, without heart, without strong emotion. All pleasures -seem to have been carried out by rule. Even the laughter and the jokes -were artificial. There can be but small wonder that society fell into -broken fortunes. - -The ideal nobleman of to-day is a stronger, more active, finer person -altogether than his senatorial ancestor. His character is healthier. -He adopts more or less a country life. He owns property on the -mainland, and is very much occupied in trying to make it pay. He rears -cattle, grows crops, makes wine on his own premises, is interested in -silk-growing and in model farms, and competes for agricultural prizes -offered by the Government. His Venetian palace does not interest him -greatly. He spends a few months there in the season, gives one or two -large entertainments, and is constantly making alterations and -improvements; but his heart is in the country, and he leaves Venice -for his rural palazzo on the slightest pretext. This Venetian noble of -to-day thinks a great deal of himself. His temper is haughty, and -there is no softness or geniality about him. Nevertheless, he is a -decided improvement. - -What society there is still to be found in Venice is constituted by -foreigners, mainly English and American. One of the great things to be -done is to take a gondola and go to the Canal of the Slaves, beyond -the public gardens on the island of St. Peter--to the home of an old -fisherman celebrated for his fish dinners. This fisherman's cottage is -just as celebrated in Venice as the Trafalgar Hotel in London, or the -Ship Tavern at Greenwich, or La Rapée in Paris. Here, however, is a -more picturesque environment--boats drawn up on the yellow sand, nets -stretched to dry in the sun, planks forming a landing-place in front -of the houses--all is very simple. One eats the fish dinner in a -garden, under an arbour shaded by vines, where flowers and edible -vegetables grow in charming but ill-kept confusion. The host is -jovial; his wife, a great authority, is the cheerful mother of -many children. - - [Illustration: THE FISH MARKET] - -One finds on one's travels that each city has its local and peculiar -dish--Marseilles its "bouille à baisse"; Venice its "soupe au -pidocchi"--mussels, gathered in the lagoons and canals, flavoured with -spices and aromatic herbs. Personally, I would rather this Venetian -viand were not so classical; but you would touch the people to the -quick if you refused their offering. After it come oysters from the -arsenal, eels and mullet from Chioggia, fried sardines, white wine of -Policella, and fruits from the hills of Este, Marselice, and -Montagnana. At the end of the repast one is presented with a bouquet -from the garden. - - - - -GONDOLAS AND GONDOLIERS - - -No conveyance in this world is more delightful than the gondola. In -appearance it is undoubtedly the most beautiful vessel in the world. -Like most characteristic objects appertaining to Venice, it is -suitable to the place: in fact, it is the outcome of the place. There -is nothing strange or unnatural about Venice. Everything there seems -to have come about through force of necessity, and is therefore -perfectly beautiful. Even as the hansom cab suits London, or the -'rickshaw suits Japan, or the jaunting-car suits Ireland, so the -gondola is the vessel for Venice. You cannot separate the lagoon from -the gondola. One completes the other. Without either Venice would be -impossible. The gondola alone can wend its way through the intricate -water-streets of the Queen of the Adriatic. - -There is no indication of movement whatever in a gondola. The craft -has no springs, no cogs, no jarring wheels or oily machinery, no -vibration. Simply one sees the palaces glide by in front of one, and -hears the water making a lapping noise under the bows. The gondolier -is out of sight. Nothing blocks your view of sea and sky, save the -slender steel ferro at the prow. The gondola is built for leisure: one -cannot quite imagine it, let us say, in America. It is a historic -vessel, with a flavour of sentiment and antiquity about it, built by a -leisured people for idleness, not for business or for hurry. It is -long and slender, flat-bottomed, and tapers towards each end, where it -rises considerably above the water. It draws but little water, and has -much the form of a skate. The felce (cabin), placed somewhat astern, -is draped with black cloth, which can be removed in the summer-time to -make room for a striped awning. This, however, the true Venetian -loathes: rather than use it, I am sure, he would be willing to swelter -under the felce. On each side of the cabin there is a window, which -can be closed in three separate ways--by a bevelled Venetian glass let -down; by a blind with movable blades; by a strip of cloth dropped -over. - - [Illustration: MIDDAY ON THE LAGOON] - -The gondola is made to hold four people. There are morocco cushions on -either side. As the seats are very low, you are supplied with two -silken cords with handles, to assist you to rise. As the cabin is too -small to turn in, one must enter a gondola backwards. The woodwork is -carved according to the wealth of the owner or the taste of the -gondolier. Sometimes it is very elaborate. Above the door is generally -a copper shield on which the coat-of-arms of the owner is engraved, -surmounted by a crown; on the felce there hangs, in a small frame, an -image of the Holy Virgin, or of St. Mark, or of St. Theodore, or of -St. George, or of some saint for whom the gondolier has a special -devotion. The lantern also hangs here--a custom which, as the gondolas -sometimes run without the star in front, is gradually dying out. On -account of the coat-of-arms, the saint, and the lantern, the left is -the place of honour: there the ladies are placed, or any aged or -distinguished person. There is in the felce a sliding panel, through -which one can communicate with the gondolier on emergency. At the prow -there is a halberd-like piece of iron, smooth and polished, called -"the ferro," much like the finger-board of a violin. This serves for -decoration, for defence, for counterpoise to the rower in the stern, -and to test the height of the bridges. It is the pride of the -gondolier to keep this always as bright as silver. Often when a crowd -of gondolas are moored thickly about the landing-stage, the ferro is -used as a wedge, by the aid of which boats can be divided. The rower -plies his oar standing on a small platform on the poop, not far behind -the cabin, and facing the direction in which the gondola is to move. - -The skill with which the gondolier manages his graceful craft is -extraordinary. He stands quite upright on the poop, one foot placed -firmly in front of him, and throws the weight of his body forward on -his oar to such an extent that one fears he may follow it into the -water. It is only by long habit that he can procure the necessary -balance. The gondola is sensitive to the least impression, and the -downward stroke has the effect of sending the boat round. It is only -by turning the blade in the water, and raising it gradually upward, -that the gondola can be kept straight. The oar rests in a fork, -beautifully designed to allow free movement. The gondolier, sole -director of his craft, uses the oar sometimes as a paddle, and -sometimes as a boathook. He rows always on one side. Under the hands -of an efficient man, the gondola glides over the water like a living -thing, turning the corners of canals with great precision. - -Sometimes on festa days the gondoliers practise feats, such as setting -the vessel full-tilt and with all their might against the stone wall -of a quay, going with such rapidity that you expect man and boat to be -dashed to pieces. Just at the last moment, with a powerful turn of the -oar that is interesting to watch, he stops dead at the base of the -quay, sometimes nearly grazing it. In much the same way, in the At -Maidan of Constantinople, long ago, Arab and Turkish horsemen charged -against stone walls and suddenly pulled up. - -Very different is the gondola in the hands of an amateur. Many are the -duckings that ensue. Some of the young patricians, however, -occasionally don the traditional jacket, cap, and girdle of a -gondolier, and guide their own craft in a remarkably graceful manner. - -Few people have any knowledge of the real meanings of the gondoliers' -cries, some of which are peculiarly sweet and characteristic. When a -man wants to pass on the left, and does not intend to use the backward -stroke, he cries, "Premi!" If, on the other hand, he wishes to pass on -the right, he cries, "Stali!" Sometimes, if when turning a dangerous -corner he wishes to be especially emphatic, he cries, "Premi! Premi!" -and "Stali! ah, Stali!" The gondola can be stopped immediately, -however great the rate at which it is travelling, by placing the blade -in front of the fork. If a man is really expert he stops his gondola -very suddenly, making a great deal of foam with his oar. When stopping -a gondola thus the gondolier cries, "Sciar!" As you approach the -landing-stage a crowd of ragamuffins, old and young, called -"crab-catchers," come forward, holding in their hands staffs, with -bent nails attached, with which to secure your gondola as you place -your foot on shore. - -The gondolier is a voluble, gossiping person. He loves to have a chat -at the top of his voice with another of his kind, and to scream -repartee across the water. He enjoys nothing more than a quarrel, -especially with a man who is across the canal. Invariably they pass -from pertinent observations on their personal appearances to -defamation of their women. If such language were used at close -quarters on either bank they would come to blows. I once saw two -gondolas hook on to each other by mistake with their iron axes, and -I shall never forget the discussion that ensued. It made one's -blood literally curdle! The men looked like two angry sea-birds -pecking at each other as they pulled and pulled in their endeavour to -release themselves. When this had been accomplished they stood -upright, each on his own poop, brandishing their oars as though they -longed to kill. As a matter of fact, there is rarely any violence -among Venetians except in language. "Body of Bacchus!" one shouts. -"Blood of David!" the adversary answers. These mythological oaths -being not sufficiently comforting, they continue: "Low crab!" -"Sea-lion!" "Dog!" "Son of a cow!" "Ass!" "Son of a sow!" "Assassin!" -"Ruffian!" "Spy!" Having reached the worst taunt in their vocabulary, -they take to cursing the rival saints. "The Madonna of thy landing is -a street-walker who is not worth two candles!" one will cry. "Thy -saint is a rascal who does not know how to make a decent miracle!" the -other will rejoin. The profanity becomes more terrible as the distance -between them increases. Possibly next time they meet they will drink a -glass of wine together without remembering the quarrel. - - [Illustration: A TRAGHETTO] - -The gondolier is a more intelligent person than the ordinary hackman. -He knows all the histories of the different places of interest, and -relates them for the benefit of foreigners. He has a few words of -French and English. Of course, he is a rogue by nature, and will cheat -you on every possible occasion; but that conduct is common to the -carriers of all countries. And there is something very frank and -amusing about the way in which they commit their petty thefts. A -gondolier likes to serve Englishmen or Americans, who pay good prices; -but a German is beyond his comprehension. The Teuton either goes by -the tariff or walks--an eminently foolish act, in the gondolier's -opinion. - -Every gondolier belongs to a traghetto (ferry-boat station), from -which gondolas cross over to Venice from various points on the -Giudecca. These traghette have been established for centuries--no one -knows exactly how long; but certainly they were in existence in the -fourteenth century. To a gondolier a traghetto is, as it were, a club. -There are sixteen traghette. Each is governed by its own laws and -constitutions, which are still strictly kept; each has its own -history, archives, and parchment documents. By this society are -regulated the gondolier's wages, the limits of his obedience, his -holidays, everything appertaining to his welfare. There is at each -traghetto a little house in which the gondoliers can sit and gossip -and mend their boats. - -One sees some of the finest types there. Years ago they used to sing -there on moonlight nights, in their beautiful broken Venetian patois, -verses from Tasso. It is long since they have done this as a habit; -but they will do it sometimes if you pay them sufficiently well. One -often hears them singing on the lagoon to the accompaniment of an -Englishman's golden coins. You can almost imagine on such occasions -that you are living away back in the Middle Ages--except that now the -Venetians drink a good deal, as they certainly never did then, and -sing in thick, guttural voices, somewhat hoarse, but on the whole -beautiful, as the musical Venetian dialect must always be. The songs -that they sing are all about lovely maidens and romantic excursions on -the water. The singing is very fine from a distance, the melody of a -human voice floating out on the calm and silence of the night. The -gondoliers are proud of their talent, and value it highly. - -Nearly every gondolier belongs to a bank. He is a capable financier. -In company with twenty-nine other men, he deposits 10 lire, and -pledges to pay a weekly sum of 1 lira throughout the year. On his -failing to pay up once a week, 10 per cent. on each lira is charged. -Gondoliers are supposed to borrow a certain amount, for which 10 per -cent. is charged, every year. The accounts of the bank are settled in -September, and then a new venture is started. - -The gondolier is an inflammable person. He is much taken up with -pretty women getting in and out of gondolas. Love-making with him -begins on the bridges in the narrow canals, or at the windows. One -fine day, generally very early in life, when propelling his boat -slowly down a side canal, he sees at an iron grated window the face of -a girl. Instantly becoming enamoured, boldly he takes up his position -every day underneath her casement, waiting for a look, sighing for a -smile. If by chance the maiden should appear and return his salute, he -takes himself off with great joy; and at the end of the day, when his -work is done, he and a friend in whom he has confided dress themselves -in their best, and call upon the father of the girl, formally to ask -her hand. He states his family, his profession, the amount of his -income, and the extent of his love. Two or three months are allowed to -elapse. Then there will be more gazing at the window and meeting in -the calle. If by the end of that time their affection has -declared itself sincere, the lover and his parents are invited to -supper at the girl's home. Every stage in a Venetian's love affair is -marked by feasts, generally suppers. On this occasion the young man -again asks the father's consent. This is accorded him, and the pair -are blessed. The ceremony is called the "dimanda." A little later -comes the betrothal ("segno"), when the lover presents the girl with -her wedding ring, and, if he can afford it, other rings as well. There -is a sumptuous supper, and thenceforward they are called respectively -"novizza" and "spoza." During the time of the betrothal the poor -gondolier is kept very busy buying and giving presents to the lady of -his choice. He must give the proper things at the proper times, and -never by any chance make the mistake of purchasing a comb or scissors, -for one is an emblem of the witch, and the other signify a cutting -tongue. He must remember to present to her at Christmas a confitura of -fruit and raw mustard-seed, and a box of mandolato; on All Souls' Day -a box of fare; at the Feast of St. Mark a boccolo or button-hole of -rosebuds; at Easter a fugazza or cake; at Martinmas roast chestnuts. -The thing for the girl to give in return is a silk handkerchief: it -is not considered etiquette to present her lover with a gift of great -value. - - [Illustration: MARIETTA] - -In Venice everything is ruled by custom. The most important acts in a -Venetian's life are bound and fettered by it, and he would never dream -of breaking through. He will sacrifice anything for custom, and never -count the cost. For example, if one saw a gondolier at a festa, or at -a baptism, or at a wedding, you might take him for either a rich man -or a spendthrift. As a matter of fact, he is neither the one nor the -other. Only, he is bound by custom to do certain things and spend a -certain amount of money at a festa, and he does it regally. He may -have to pinch and scrape at home afterwards; but that is another -matter. - -The gondoliers are a very conservative people. They are the slaves of -custom. Custom is to them a religion. They much prefer their ancient -customs to any new order of comfort or convenience. Their lives are -simple, bright, and easy; their wants are very few and moderate. -House-rent is cheap: they can procure a fallen palace in moderately -good repair for half a franc a day. They are frugal and easily -pleased; their constitutions are sound; their climate is fine, and the -air they breathe is pure. Consequently, the gondolier can live -happily, with his wife, on a franc and a half a day. His meals, to be -sure, are always the same--coffee and bread in the morning, polenta -and fish at mid-day, a soup of shell-fish or artichokes at night. When -the family begins to be large, the gondolier's life is not ideal; -still, in spite of the hunger and poverty and crowding in Venetian -houses, a great deal of joy manages to find room. If a baby lives, he -grows up into a fine healthy man, robust and happy; but usually he -dies, especially if he is one of many. Venetian women seem to have -naturally not the slightest idea how to bring up a baby. It is only -after constant habit and practice, and the loss of lives, that a -mother seems to grasp the first principles of a baby's upbringing. -Before that she will feed it, at two months old, on black coffee, sour -apples, and wine; allow it to swallow all kinds of lotions and -concoctions prepared by the doting old crones of the quarter. As the -child grows older she lets it wear during winter the clothes which it -wore in summer. Then she wonders why out of eight children only four -are living. It is a beautiful sight to see a great gondolier nursing -his little child. He may be harsh and bullying to his fellows; but he -treats Baby with the utmost tenderness and gentleness. The child is a -good deal safer in his arms than in those of the mother. - -The chief amusements of the gondolier are to go to the opera or to see -marionettes, to make up a party and spend the day in the country, to -compete in a rowing match, and to give a little supper at a wine-shop. -It is on such days as these that the true freshness and warmth of his -nature appear, and one sees the gondolier as he is--mirthful, pungent, -gay. - -There are two things about which the gondolier is particular. One is -his bread, and the other is his wine. One seldom finds good wine in -Venice. It is only when the red wine arrives fresh from Padua and -Verona that it is good. Then everyone rushes to the wine-shops; for -nothing spreads quicker than the reputation of a good wine, and -everyone clamours for it. Very soon it becomes watery and sour. The -white wine the gondoliers do not like at all. Of bread there are all -kinds. One is expected to have a preference for a certain make, and -there are many different makes. There are the Chioggian bread, the -"pane Commune," the "pane col agid," and many others. - - [Illustration: BAMBINO] - -Men of the gondolier class do not think a great deal of religion. That -is reserved for women. Church-going is no longer a habit with the men. -Still, whenever matters of ancient custom step in they invariably do -their duty--as in events of domestic life, such as confirmations,--and -the little chapel to the Madonna at each traghetto has always its -flowers and its few candles placed there by the reverent hands of the -gondoliers. - -Times were good for the gondoliers when Venice was rich and -prosperous. Nowadays their gains are meagre, and they number hundreds -where they numbered thousands in the old days. Noblemen kept six or -seven gondolas, with attendant gondoliers, and, besides paying them an -ample salary, on festa days allowed them to exact any payment they -chose. - -If you are staying in Venice for any length of time, it is better to -hire a gondola and gondolier by the month than by the day. One only -pays five francs a day, and when off duty the youth makes an excellent -servant in the house. He comes and knocks at your water-gate at a -certain time every day; also he will wait at table, act as footman, -take care of the children; in fact, he will do everything one wishes; -and he pays the proprietor of the gondola, out of his own pocket, one -franc a day. It is the ambition of every gondolier to serve an -"Inglese." - -They say that Venice is always silent; but I can vouch that it is not -so. At night, if your lodgings are anywhere near a landing-place, you -will find that it is very noisy indeed. The gondoliers sleep at their -posts on the pedestals of the two columns as they sit waiting for a -job, and they love their repose in the sunshine; but at night they -become extremely lively, and keep up a perpetual disturbance of -laughter, shouts, and songs until two o'clock in the morning. They sit -on the marble steps, or on the ends of their gondolas; or they eat -shell-fish and drink wine under the light of the lamps in the niches -of the Madonnas at street corners; vagabonds from their beds in the -street arise and join them. - -One sees on the lagoons gondolas of all kinds, carrying passengers of -all kinds, and it is sometimes interesting to peep inside as they -pass. There are official gondolas, with the Italian banner floating at -their sterns, carrying some cold, stiff functionary in full-dress -uniform, his breast covered with decorations. Another carries English -people, phlegmatic tourists, to Chioggia; another, with lowered felce, -hides lovers who are going to breakfast somewhere on the lagoon; yet -another, a larger gondola, takes a family to the sea baths at the -Lido. There is a red craft waiting at the foot of some steps; a red -bier is brought out of a church by a red cortege,--it is a corpse, to -be buried in a cemetery on an island on the way to Murano. (When -anyone dies in Venice a notice is posted up on his house, and on the -houses round about, stating the age, place of birth, and the illness -of which he died; also saying that he has received the Sacrament and -died a good Christian; prayers are asked for his soul.) There are -gondolas in which are musical instruments of all kinds--violins of -Cremona, cornets, mandolines, tambourines,--a complete orchestra. -Quite a large flotilla of gondolas follow in its wake. One has -fastened to the side a bluish monster splashing and making the water -foam. That is a dolphin, a marine curiosity which is displayed by the -proud possessors under all the balconies as they pass, collecting -money in a hat. In order that it may be seen to advantage, the animal -is kept half in the water and half out. - -If one is at all interested in gondolas--that is to say, in the making -of them,--nothing could be more fascinating than to spend a few hours -in a squero (building yard). Any gondolier will be pleased to take -you there, for he is inordinately proud of his craft. The squeri are -picturesque; but somehow one always associates them with pitch. The -place reeks with it. Always in one corner there stands the pitch-pot, -sending a stream of thick black smoke up into the air. Small boys -prance around, looking like young imps among the smoke and blaze, and -wave smearing brushes in their hands. Long lines of boats, like some -strange fish out of water, are drawn up, waiting to be cleaned or -mended. The bottom of a gondola has to be dried thoroughly and quickly -before receiving its coat of melted tallow. This is done by lighting a -blazing fire of reeds under the boat, the flames leaping high into the -air. Volumes of smoke arise, roll up over the house-tops, and are -swept away by the breeze. Boys dance a kind of war-dance round the -flames. The art of gondola-building is exacting. Three qualities are -absolutely necessary to the formation of a perfect craft. It must draw -but little water; it must turn easily; and it must be rowable by one -oarsman only. To secure this, the hull is built of light thin boards, -and only a portion of the flat bottom rests upon the water. Thus the -boat swings as on a pivot. Then, the gondola is not equally divided by -a line drawn from stern to bow: in order that the rower may be -balanced, there is more bottom on one side than on the other. The -various woods of which a gondola is made must be chosen with great -care. They must be well seasoned and without knots, for the planks are -liable to warp and the knots to start. Once every twenty days in -summer the gondolier forfeits his four lire and takes his gondola to -the squero to be cleaned and scraped. Weeds rapidly collect at the -bottom when the water is warm, and the deadly toredo bores holes -through the planking. The gondola is hauled up high and dry, and a -fire burnt underneath it. A whole day's earnings in the summer season -is a great loss to the gondolier; but if he keeps his gondola in good -condition it will last him for a considerable time, perhaps for five -years, and, besides, when the bottom of the boat is kept clear of -weeds and well greased the speed is greater. When a gondolier sells -his craft it becomes a ferry-boat for five years, the woodwork slowly -bowing and bending until it becomes a gobbo half buried in the water. -Later it is sold for five lire, broken up, and burnt in the glass -manufactories of Murano. - - [Illustration: A SQUERO OR BOAT-BUILDING YARD IN VENICE] - -The natural history of these objects and their gradual development -through centuries would form a fascinating chapter. To gain some idea -of what the gondola once was, it is as well to study the pictures of -Gentile Bellini and Carpaccio in the Academy. There you will see -Venetian nobles in their gondolas with their light Eastern rugs. The -ferro was not then hatchet-shaped, with six teeth, as it is now, but a -round club of metal. The rower was tall and graceful, standing on the -poop in his parti-coloured hose and slashed doublet. One can see by -these pictures what a great change the gondola has undergone. Those -who have not been to Venice, and wish to know something of a gondola -in its later stage, would do well to study the pictures of Guardi and -Canaletto. Therein the gondola has not its old brilliant colouring; -but what it has lost in colour it has gained in grace. - -Some of the gondoliers are most skilful in managing without either -keel or rudder; like the Vikings of old, steering with an oar behind. -A good man is devotedly attached to his gondola. He knows its -character and peculiarities. To the initiated every gondola differs in -a hundred details from its fellow, although they may all have -apparently been built on the same model. A gondolier's skill in rowing -depends largely upon his knowledge of his craft. One can generally -gauge the efficiency of a man by the brightness of his ferro. The -slightest spot of dew or rain upon it produces a spot of rust which -takes weeks of constant rubbing to efface. There is a good deal of -brass-work which has to be kept clean; the cushions must be brushed, -and the paint scrubbed; and altogether a gondolier spends quite an -hour and a half a day on the toilet of his craft, polishing, oiling, -and scrubbing. His own person does not occupy nearly so much of his -attention. - - [Illustration: UNDER THE MIDDAY SUN] - -The gondola is so closely connected with the life of the sea city that -most of one's impressions of Venice are wound round and about it. It -is not always safe out on the lagoon in a gondola. Often in summer or -in autumn a gale will suddenly arise. Great masses of cloud will -gather in the east, and gain upon you; they are curved into an arc by -the pressure of the wind from behind, although upon the water there is -scarcely enough breeze to fill a sail. These great billowy battalions, -dark and angry, advance slowly, steadily; the water changes from a -pale transparent to a pale sea-green as thick as jade. A feeling of -oppression fills the air, a brooding stillness, for five minutes, -while the storm-clouds gradually overtake you. Then comes a low -humming noise like that of a threshing machine: it is the wind on the -nearest island. You down sail and make for the first port in view. The -hurricane leaps out from the city, striking the water and tearing it -into foam, flinging the spray high in air. There is hurry and -confusion in the sky; the thundery clouds are rent and riven; and -through the gaps of dull-coloured vapour you see the steely blue of -the storm-clouds boiling as in a cauldron; and far above all is blue -sky and sunlight; a rainbow spans the lagoon. Then the whole tornado -sweeps away south-westward. The sun sets, leaving the sky dark, but -with flaming streamers; then night falls over all. There is lightning -and storm away in the distance. The heavens assume their customary -deep blue, and the breeze is fresh and cool. These summer storms are -sometimes almost tropical in their fury; but they are quickly over. -Their path is narrow--usually confined to one line on the lagoon;--but -where they strike they leave devastation in their track. - -The Venetians love festas, and in the days of the city's wealth and -pride the State lavished great sums and much care upon its -entertainments. Certainly the natural capacities of the city gave -splendid scope for great spectacles. It was a magnificent background, -and seemed to invite display. The pictures of Bellini, Carpaccio, -Veronese, and all the rest of the old Venetian masters, prove how -deeply the people must have loved the pageants and State processions. -With the collapse of the State these customs fell into disuse. For -example, there was that wonderful old sport--how picturesque it must -have been!--the battle on the bridge between the Nicolotti and the -Castellani, rival factions of black and red. There also was the -regatta (I am not sure if it continues)--a great spectacle that could -not be surpassed by any in Europe. A race was rowed in light gondolas, -smaller than those of ordinary use. The Grand Canal was crowded with -boats of all sizes--sandolas, barche, barchette, tipos, cavaline, -vigieri, bissoni,--there is no end to the variety of Venetian craft. -The façades of the palaces fluttered with flags, tapestries, carpets, -and curtains,--anything that would add to the general mass of colour. -The balconies were filled with people; every window had its bevy of -heads. Down below on the water the scene was brilliant. The course was -kept by large twelve-oared boats, all decorated symbolically. One -represented the Arctic regions, the rowers being dressed as polar -bears, with blocks of ice for seats; another the tropical regions, -with palms and gorgeous flowers. In the evening there was a serenade, -starting from a point above the Rialto. The singers and the orchestra -were placed on a barge decorated and lighted by many coloured lamps, -and the music of Donizetti's "A te, o cara" filled the air. The object -of every gondolier on an occasion of this kind was to get his padrone -as near to the music as possible, whether he wanted it or not. The -singers' barge, therefore, was surrounded by a solid mass of gondolas, -which floated slowly down the canal together, getting denser as the -canal narrowed to pass under the Rialto bridge. It was a fantastic -scene--with the masses of Bengal lights, the rising moon, the gondolas -swaying gently to the rhythm of the song and the sea, and the -statuesque gondoliers, creatures of the sea, standing upright on the -stern of their vessels, or, oars in hand and hair blown by the breeze, -silhouetted against a background of deep-blue sky. - - [Illustration: THE RIALTO] - -The gondolier in Venice is an important person to the stranger. Half -one's comfort depends on his worthiness or unworthiness. He is like -the girl of childhood's fame "who, if she was good, was very very -good, but, if she was bad, was horrid." If you are the employer -of an ideal gondolier you will find him thorough, ready-handed, and -versatile. In passing rapidly through Venice one does not properly -appreciate his worth. You must own him for some months before you -discover that he will attach himself to you and identify himself with -your interests in an almost feudal manner. He will save you an -infinity of trouble, and repay your confidence with honesty. The -gondolier usually prefers to have a foreigner for a master. The -foreigner pays well, never grumbling at the full tariff of five lire a -day: also, as the foreigner does not know the language or the place, -the gondolier becomes of some importance in the eyes of his -neighbours, who bid for his patronage. With a Venetian master he would -be paid from three to five lire a day; the work would be harder, and -the hours later. - -When the squerariola (gondola builders) have finished their work, the -vessel will probably have cost three hundred lire. Even then the craft -is not by any means complete. There are the steel ornaments and many -other details to be bought and bargained for,--things not procurable -at the squero. For the steel prow (ferro), which must have the edges -of its teeth in one straight line, and in these days of hurried -workmanship is not always to be found, one must seek in all the -smithies in Venice. A good gondolier, however, will often possess a -ferro, an heirloom, made of hand-wrought iron, not cast in mould, -heavy and brittle, as are the new ferri, but light and pliant. A ferro -of the good and ancient make, if properly cared for and not allowed to -rust, will outlive many a gondola. For the sea-horses, the rude -carvings, the pictured Madonnas, the rugs and the covering for the -felce,--all, in fact, that helps to make the gondola the picturesque -craft it is,--one must go to the various shops in Venice. - -Modern progress and modern ideas are rapidly sweeping away the ancient -and hereditary profession of the gondolier. One feels that his life -and that of the traghetto are drawing to a close--that soon they will -be things of the past. What would the Grand Canal be like without its -swiftly gliding gondola, black-hulled, black-roofed,--its most -characteristic feature? What a terrible thing it will be when that -exquisite art is forgotten,--when the Venetian can no longer judge the -turn of a corner or balance himself on the poop,--when for the -picturesque cries "Stali!" and "Premi!" will be substituted the clank -and thud of the steamers' screws! When a company first began to run -steamers from Venice to the railway station and public gardens, the -gondoliers struck. For three whole days there were no gondolas running -in Venice; the canals were full of tightly packed vessels, while their -owners hung together in groups at the wine-shops, talking. A strange -and scratch fleet of nondescript boats plied between Venice and the -islands, and the expression of the gondoliers, as they leaned over the -bridges and watched the amateur watermen struggling with their oars, -was quite unique. On the second day a notice was posted up in every -traghetto begging the men to return to their work, and not to bring -dishonour on a profession which had always been such a source of pride -to Venice. This had no effect. The gondoliers merely enlisted the -services of a barrister, getting him to take a copy of their demand to -the Company--that the offending steamers should be removed. That was -impossible. The steamers were cheap and useful, and the gondoliers -could not be allowed to dictate to the State. However, they were told -that if they returned peaceably to their work something might be done -for them. They persisted in their strike, until suddenly--no one ever -knew why, or whence it came--a single gondola started running from -one of the ferries. That broke the ice. The gondoliers rushed to their -crafts and untied them. The strike was forgotten. The men's first -thought was to find good custom. I have always felt that there was -something touching in this hopeless struggle of the gondoliers against -the modernity that is fast settling on and demoralising Venice. - - - - - PRINTED BY - NEILL AND COMPANY, LIMITED, - EDINBURGH. - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Venice, by Dorothy Menpes - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK VENICE *** - -***** This file should be named 42998-8.txt or 42998-8.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/4/2/9/9/42998/ - -Produced by Melissa McDaniel and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive) - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions -will be renamed. - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no -one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation -(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without -permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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