Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1869-04-11
VENICE PRESERVED.

-
During the last three or four hundred
wears. Venice has changed less than any
other European city. In the library
are mans of the world which were studied
by Columbus. accompanied by maps of
the citv of Venice which show it to have
been at that time, geographically, Just
about what it is now. In the picture
gallery are antique paintings Of different
parts of the city which are still unaltered,
and one by BassanO, representing a scene
in St. Marks Square, Is so placed in the
Ducal palace that you can look from 1t
through a window and see the exact
reality in existence now. Nothing Is
changed the cathedral, the palace, the
Campanile-which is 320 feet high, and
surmounted by an angel 30 feet in height
the winged lion of St. Mark, the
bronze giants striking the hours on the
clock tower, the square pillars Of St.
John Of Acre, the gondolas at the foot
of the plaza, and even the sacred pigeons
flying about the portieo of the church,
are the same to-day as they were de-
picted BY the artist three hundred years
ago. In the night two little lamps
which have not been extinguished for
Elore than two centuries, become visible
on the church front, in commemoration
of nan unjustly executed, and Florians
cafe, towards which they shine, has not
been closed By night or day during the
same period. The loungers who take
their refreshments al the table in front
of the door swear much at the tlthlness
of the green-necked pigeons which in
fest the Piazza, but they tell you with
pride that the birds are lineal descend
ants of other green-necked pigeons
which have been under the protection of
the laws ever since the bones of St. Marx
were brought from Alexandria, and have
been privileged to defle the same locality
fer more than a thousand years.
The permaneney of the buildings Of
Venice is due somewhat TO their peculiar
construction. The foundations are on
cypress and cedar piles, filled in with
cement, which has hardened into stone.
The marble used in the superstructure is
of the most durable sort, as if intended
TO stand for ever. 1t is usual here to
sell real estate in stories, so that four
story building may have four different
owners. When the casualties of war or
the tooth of time makes it necessary to
rebuild, the owners must concur, and
this generally results in the erection of
a new building which is copy Of the
old.
The architectural grandeur of Venice
still remains, but the commercial glory
has long since departed. The place
where merchants most did congregate'
II the days of Shylock and Shakespeare
is now used for pawnbrokers' sale, and
the great Bourse, which was erected by
the merchants and mechanics guilds in
1880. and which Tintoretto spent
eighteen yeaIs in decorating, is now
deserted by its former owners, and is
only opened to be exhibited as a curiosity.
And a great curiosity it is. Age has
somewhat dimmed j., magnifcence, but
1t is still the finest exchange in Europe.
Its wallis, ceilings and stairways are en-
tirely covered with paintings by Tin
toretto and Titan, and the main hall is
surrounded by emblematical statues re
presenting the different trades by whom
il was Effected. That of the shoemaker
holds a shoe exactly like the fashionable
high heeled congress gaiter Of the pre-
sent day, without the elastic.
The popular impression that the
streets of Venice are generally canals,
and that sole leather is, consequently, a
less important commodity than in other
cities, is incorrect. There are no
harness makers, but shOemakers abound,
some having shops, and others, of the
humber sort, carrying their bench from
door TO door where their services are
needed. Gondolas supply the places OF
carts, and carriages, but the populace
travel on foot, and one who is familiar
with the narrow and crooked streets has
no difficulty in walking to any part Of
the city. Many of these streets are so
narrow that a pedestrian in the middle
can touch the houses on both sides with
his fingers, and when he encounters a
signora in modern crinOline he must
stand with his back to the wall to enable
her 10 pass. But these expansive
madames, with profusely powdered heads,
and feet encased in Partisan boots, are
luckily not numerous the ordinary
Venetian woman has, apparently, no
crinoline nor waist her head has no
decoration but masses of black hair, and
her shoes are sort sandal, into which
+he toes are thrust. The sole Is some
times of wood, but generally Of leather
made yery thick at the heel, which falls
upon the pavement at every step. The
upper is one piece of dogskin leather
sometimes russet, but usually black
which covers but little more than the
toes. These shoes appear to stay on the
feet miraculously In a highly deco
rated little chapel, opening out Of the
church of San FermO, at Verona, l was
shown a queer monument, erected in
1927. to Antonia Pellacsni, or skin the
dogs" who married Mabilia Pellavicini
or skin-the-neighbors." When the
FIRST Napoleon passed through the city
he skinned the tombs in this chapel
of some very artistic statuettes and bas-
reliefs in bronze, which are still in the
museum Of the Louvre, at Paris.
In the days when Popes and Emperori
obeyed the summons of the "Queen o.
the Seas, and stood bare.footed below
the bronze horses Of her cathedral, thg