The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1869-05-14

allowed to wed with Venetian patrlcE,ns, uou yt
children inherting the isthers rnmhi oxnImsive-
noss of Ybe nristocrats, gives one talr noIoh Vi
the esteem in which the glass art was heid'
In t546 the Libro doro was institutedi only
,hoso horn i'm Murano of fathers also born there
Svore Inscribed as citizens. The book of parch-
mont still exists i'm the Museum OF Murano; lf3
families were first registered, then other II, by
order of the Supreme tribunal. VI these, 81
existed at the fall of the republic, and 81 are
Throughout the sixteenth and seventeenth
centuries the art of glass Hourished and pro-
gressed, bringing an annual revenue OF eight
millions of ducats to the SerenjSSttld. In the
eighteenth il was less fourishing, and with the
fall of the republic, like all clse decayed. The
Austrians naturally encouraged the manutac-
lures of Bohemia, Styria, and Carinthia, and
moreover, regarded the regulations and socie-
ties of the MuranCsC dangerous political
associations. Many of the ntdestri emigrated to
other lands, bearing with them their magic art.
With the exception of the bead manufacture, in
which department Venice has ever held her own,
the glass art was for time utterly lost. The
specimens of old Venetian blown glass were
sought for rs eagerly as pictures by her great
masters, and purchased at fabulous prices; while,
as u proof that the manufacture of enamels had
almost ceased, il may be noted that Gregory
XVI. born in Venice and educated at Murano,
chose, rs a gift to his birthplace, Roman enamels
to be employed in the repairs of st. Mark. Not
that the MuIanese had forgotten the art, as, in
1871 and 1878 two exquisite tables in orna-
mental mosaic were wrought by Bcnedetto Bar
baria for Napoleon / and Francisco / of AUSTRIA
but monumental mosaic being then altogether
neglected, the demand, and consequently
the supply of enamels ceased. About 1885, Lo-
renzo Radi and Francisco TorCellan both Mu-
rancse set to work to discover the lost secrets of
the material of which these enamels were made,
and the still more difficult art of fusion. In 1910
thev received the gold medal from the Venetian
Academy for their gold and silver enamels; and
the collection now existing in the Murano
81. ri Il =,
all respects, and i'm the hcsh-tints superior, to
those of the ancients Fortunately for these
persevering men, their efforts became known to
DR.. Salyiati, an cntcrprsing, art-loVlng lawyer,
who warmly cspOused the idea set on foot
by the Abbate Xannetti, of restoring to Venice
one at least of her ancient glories. TO have re-
covered the methods of manufacturing the old
enamels was but one step in the right direction;
artists must be trained to use them in the resto-
ration of the old, and in the manufacture of new
mosaics. So Salyiati opened a mosaic school,
chose the best artists from the Venetian Aca-
DENY summoned Il frst-rate mosaicist from
Rome, and formed a drawing-class for working
men. Perhaps the first specimen OF their skill
was exposed to the public on the walls of the
Venetian Enamel Mosaic Works. on the grand
Canal, where from gold ground the figures of
Titan and Tintoret stand out in exquisite relief,
and bid fair to defy the moisture and cold of a
climate that has destroyed all other attempts at
exterior mural painting. In 1861 the Commits
sion appointed by the Imperial Royal Academy
to visit the establishment expressed rs the result
of the examination, the conviction so strong
that it could not well be stronger of the excel
lence displayed in every department of the
works. Salviatis first great commission was
received from the Queen for the Wolsey Chapel
at Windsor, where the soffits of the twelve-side
windows and the twenty-eight panels of the blank
west window are occupied with the full-length
figures of kings and historic personages in mo-
sale on gold ground; while the spaces between
the ribs of the groined roof are covered with
arnp iuen i1ti Of fg1in of,
covering 100 square feet. In st. Paul's the
large picture of Isaiah and two angels was exc
cuted by Salyiatis artists, who have also con-
tributed much to the establishment of the
Albert Memorial, on the four pediments of
which are auegOrical figures on gold ground rep
resenting painting, architecture, sculpture and
poetry, and beneath the pediments, on span
drcs, other figures Illustrative of the arts SYM
bOliZed by those above. The blue vault is
studded with gold stars and cOats-of-arms
These, together with the decorations of the
Mausoleum ut FrOgmore, in the facade of the
Wedgwood Memorial at Bursean, offer English
amateurs fair opportunities of judging for
themselves of the adaptation OF enamel mosaic
to interior and exterior mural decoration. When
l last visited the studio on the Grand Canal, |
found several of the mOsaics of st. Marks un-
dergoing repairs on the floors and tables of the
rooms
In 1861, the administration of the Cathedral
entered into n contract with Salviati to supply
all the enamels required, and last year he con-
tracted for all the repairs of the pavements and
domes to be executed in fourteen years, 20 600
francs to be paid annually for the mere labor.
Already, twelve large figures in the cupOla
nearest the entry have been repaired, some
literally manufactured. These mosacs are of
the thirteenth century. When first examined
from the pavement, they seemed intact; but, on
closer inspection, it was found that, while
the tesserP adhered closely to the cement,
the cement had become almost
tirely detached from the cupola owing
to the cracking of the walls, from subsidence
of the foundations. Before displacing
the figures, tracing is taken, and an exact
colored sketch made by a frst-rate artist. Then
the figure is taken down and carried to the
studio and the same tesserR, freed from the
cement, used in the reproduction, except the
flesh-tnts, which have faded. The next under
taking is to be the Apocalypse, which is almost
entirely ruined. This was the grand work of
the mosaicists of the fifteenth century, from the
cartoons of Titan, Tintoret, and Paul Veronese.
First-rate artists are now preparing the cartoons
from antique sketches, preserved, 1t is said in
the archives of the cathedral. The figures as
yet replaced are such perfect reproductions that,
looking upwards from the pavement, it is hardly
possible for the finest Judges to distinguish the
modern from the ancient.
To those who have read Madame Sands ex-
quisite tale of Lies Maitrcs MOsaistes," il will
sound strange to hear of mosaics being manu-
1actured in n studio; but to this possibility Sal
Watt owes much of his present success. In
olden days the mosaic was executed on the
spot, the tesserp being fixed one by one on the
cement prepared; but Salviati has trained his
men to reverse the cartoons, and put in the
tessere with the surface downwards-a coarse
paper on which is rough sketch of the car
toon covered with paste, serving to keep them
together. When the subject is completed, it is
carefully packed and sent to its destination,
WIere skilful artist fixes it ON the wall or dome
with special cement which Salviati aflirms to
pmnlpUpI Inv N ria