The silver messenger. (Challis, Idaho) 1890-1912, 1904-12-06


the fringe of the Pontine marshes,
has an e%loquence in its walls and a
p~rofuse poetry in its innumeraDle flow
ers.
The loneliest and understanding
OF all the cities of Italy with which
| I'm acquainted, during a lengthy ex-
%perience, is Ravenna, situated amidst
the marshes on the shore of the Adri-
attic sea. One of the numerous writ
ers who have recently undertaken to
make Ravenna known to the outside
world considers that her high for
tune was owing to her submerged ter
ritory, when the rest of Italy was
swamped beneath the wave of bar
barian invasion; and that the pes
thence which walked the streets and
came from her unhealthy surround
ings guarded her from molestation.
The terrible sadness Of Ravenna is
not conducive to a heightened stay
here; and most people leave it after
a couple of days, but the attractions
that the city holds out to the ordina-
rily well-read traveller are not only nu-
merous, but peculiarly interesting.
Here, as you study what this city has
preserved in the many centuries of
its comparatively peaceful existence
for 1t seems to have been spared the
inYasions that rendered other cities
desolate-you come close to the origin
OF the vast bulk of our modern art.
When the special Christian art of
Rome, which began and developed in
the ~Catacombs, was brought to a
sudden cessation by the invasion of
the Eternal City in the beginning of
the fifth century, the tale was taken
up in Ravenna. No memorials of this
period, to any appreciable extent, are
to be met elsewhere. What would
otherwise be a gap in the art of the
Christian world, from the fifth to the
eighth century, is furnished by the
churches of this lone city by the
marshes of the Adriatic.
What the ancient cities of Chassis
and Ravenna were like can be seen in
the mosaics that adorn the walls of
the sixth century basilica of
SAINT Apollinare Nuovo. There
is seen the port of Chassis.
with its walls and towers, and
the buildings within their inclos-
ure. Here on one side the wide sea
is visible, and there are ships close
under the city walls. In the repre-
of Ravenna there is seen
the palace Of Theodoric-a long build
ing two stories in height, rooted with
red tiles and supported by high ar.
cades. A portico with a triangular
pediment forms the center of it, and
great doors give entrance I'd this
splendid residence. Between the col
umns hang rich curtains and garlands
Of flowers. In the pediment of the
principal door shine mosaics above
curves of the arches IN the ar
cade are delightful little figures OF
Victories carrying green
wreaths, and their light and grace re-
mind n of the celebrated dancers of
Pompeii.
Inc richness and abundance of
Mosaic decoration is quite overwhelm.
ng. and the eyes grow weary with
perpetual examination of mosaics. and
with the brilliancy of the
lights reflected from the backgrounds
md the jewellike colors of the aaorn-
nents. OF this ST. Vitale, an old
'hronicler has written that nowhere
n Italy does there exist a church com-
to this for beauty and ability
II construction. And ever to-day, amid
many marvels which Ravenna has
o show to the traveller, st. Apollinsre
n Classe and st. WHALE are the most
marvellous and attractive of all.
The lonely and sparsely inhabited
treets, and the desolate country in
neighborhood of the Pineta, or
inc forest, are haunted by the shad-
WIS of the poets who have adorned
heir lands language in Italy and in
ingland-Dante and Byron. The his,
orical background to the grand spec-
acle of story and ruined monuments
I Ravenna is lighted up by the mem
ry of these poets.
1t has been said that when DANTE
vas living at Ravenna he would spend
ghole days alone among the forest
LADIES' of these melancholy pine woods
the divine forest, thick and living
Iere he must have been inspired IN