The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1869-05-14
MODERN VENETIAN GLASS AND BNA.
MEL MOSAICS.

there is observable a shop crowded with objects
as varied and as exquisite In form the clouds
at sunset over the lagoons; as bright and tender,
and harmonious in color, as the necks and
breasts of st. Marks own doves. If you have
weakness for old Venetian glass, and have sought
Tor specimens in amateur collections ana on GU
riosity shops throughout Europe here your attGn-
ton is at once arrested, and you are III
clined to feel that you need seek no luituIi ~.
IT, on the contrary. you have taken prlue III @ Ino
flashing sparkling, angular antics Ol cl'l lIsta,
,op viii scarcely believe that the iorlns Dclore
Won and the forms to Whlcn you arC "CVue-
fomed. are of identical material, ana that Ine
difference results alone IRON h, '6 t6e eve and the
aswifter or slower obedience to It's rule OF the
hand of man. Entcring you Will be surprised
in either case to learn that those glowing chaS-
tened dropping chandeliers with their testoons
and garlands. each leaf and tcndrl copied from
nature - those lily-shapcd vases and crocus
fowls ice-frosted lagons, opal beakers, hlgree
decanters and hame-spirallcd glasses - those
emerald purple. ruby-tinted chaltces,
those agate or chalcedOniC urns and silver
sprayed mirrors-are all the handlwork OF the
modern glass-blowers of Murano, whose eye Tor
color and delicacy of touch-once the lost
secrets of the past-provc them worthy as well
as lineal descendants of the Baroylerl and
Motti, the Segusi, Barbini, and the legion OF
artists whose genius won Worldwide lame ior
themselves and wealth and honor for the Sere-
niSSjnlG.
But for the commerce and industry of Venice
in the past, we should not gaze to-day on her
marble-encrustcd palaces and star-studded
churches, and unless that commerce ana lndus-
trv be revived. we must not only lay aside all
hope for her art life in the future, but must
resign ourselves to see her priceless art-trca-
sures of the past fade, and slowly but surely
perish 1t is admitted by all that no city OF the
Peninsula has suffered and lost, for the sake OF
unity and independence, more than Venice. In
1S47 she had regained portion of her ancient
prosperity. With 1S4Sher disasters recommended.
TO a direct outlay Of fifty millions of francs dur
ing the siege of 1S49-which, for a population OF
one hundred and twenty thousand, was an
enormous sum-must be added the
indirect burdens of stagnant commerce,
trcbled taxation eXiled sons, the
resolve of her eXasperated victors to eXalt
Trieste at her expense, and, finally, her separa-
ton from Lombardy by custom house line in
1859. In 1866 Italy welcomed with genuine cor
dialty this fayorte sister, but the condition of
the family finances prevented her from tender
ing much pecuniary assistance. Blunders, for
tunatey not irreparable, in commercial treaties;
the futile attempt to compete with Trieste on
unequal terms; and the delusion, common to all
who have been for any time subject to despotic
rule that the Government ought forthwith to
make and mend everything without much effort
in that respect on the part of the people-these
and minor mishaps have retarded the progress
which in two years might reasonably have been
expected. Still, sOme'advance is visible. Schools
are open and fairly attended; wOrkingmen sasso-
CatOns cooperative societies, and popular
library foundcd; technical institute or high
commercial school established; water streets are
being drained, the canal leading from the port
of MaamOco to the Arsenal is being deepened to
receive vessels of the largest SIZE while regular
line of steamers in correspondence with the In
dian mail is established between Venice, Brin
dist and Alexandria. Projects for docks and
bonded warehouses; for direct water entrance
to St. Marks Place, and for establishing direct
commercial relations with foreign countries, are
on foot; and Parliament has Just voted eleven
millions for repairing and enlargng the Arsenal.
Meanwhile, foremost among accomplished
facts stand the manufactures of glass and of
enamel mOsaics, the rapid strides made during
two years leaving no doubt that, if present
efforts continue and the commonest luck attend
them, Venice will once more reign supreme in
the magic regions from which she herself be-
Heved her children to be forever banished.
The ''art of glass as it is called to the pre-
sent day, was, according to the most accredited
historians, brought to the desert islands by the
tugitives who first drove the piles and laid
the foundations of the sea-gfrt city: and
when it is remembered that the Romans
were the first to learn that art from the Phnni-
cians and that the glass factories of Rome, up
to the fall of the empire, Outrivalled those of
Syria and Egypt there is no reason to doubt
that the inhabitants of the most hourishing cities
OF the Roman Empire when abandoning them
to the inrOads of the barbarians carried with
them, in their imaginatiOns and at the tips of
their fingers, this useful art dependent merely
on fancy, deXterity, and the simplest materials.
The first distinct record, however, is in 1890.
From that date to 1891, the glass factories and
furnaces increased so rapidly in Venice that
either because they exposed the city to frequent
fires, or because of the peculiar color-brighten-
ing atmosphere of Murano-the Maggior Con-
slglio ordered them all to be removed to that
island, then considered a suburb of the city. In
the Correr Museum is presented the MarieJOlG
dee F0ter3 de MurGH whence we CLEAN the laws
That regulated the privileges granted, and the
penalties that menaced this race of artists, dear
as their own power to the republican arstocrats.
They were divided into four classes: First the
Slass-bowers secondly, the mirror and window
glass makers; thirdly, the bead-makers;
fourthly, the workers in rods aud enamels Each
class was governed by body of nine members;
hVe owners OF factories, and four head
artists, or mdest,i chosen by the work
men, and subject to the political yipi-
lance of the Council of Ten. Two individuals
chosen by this body, had the right of entry to
all the workshops day and night, to see that all
went on regularly. The workshops opened on
the lst OF October and closed on 31st july The
owners OF factories and the foremen were re-
quired TO contribute annual sum for the
maintenance of unfortunate manufacturers or
unemployed fOremen, for the aged and infrm.
and every owner to give ducat, and every fore.
man days wages, for the support of the
schools. In order to attain to the rank of fore
man, or maestro, an apprentice, or garzone.
was required to execute given work
and submit it to the judgment of the cODlparto
or body of nine. If the work was an
proved, he became maestro; if rejected he
remained in the gdrzOnddO. When the foremen
were too numerous, no further trials were per-
mitted; when the apprentices exceeded the ne
cessary number, loremen were forbidden to take
fresh pupils.
Terrible were the punishments inflicted on
any Muranese who taught his art to any but a
native of the island If he fed with his secret
TO a foreign land, he was peremptorily sum-
mOned to return; if he failed to obey the sum
mons, his nearest relatives were imprisoned
he still remained Gallons IN his d,,t,, 80 ~.