Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 8.djvu/270

 ITALY

226

ITALY

to phonetic alterations. To the neo-Latin non-Italian dialects belong the Franco- Provencal, which is spoken in the high valleys of the Western Alps, and the La- dino or Reto-Roman dialect, which is spoken in the Canton of the Orisons, in Friuli, and in Molise. The German language is spoken in Piedmont and in Ve- netia by the descendants of colonies that were estab- lished in those provinces in the eleventh and in the twelfth centuries. The language of Albania is spoken by the descendants of colonists who went to Southern Italy and toSicih', in 1461, withSkanderbeg after the fall of Albanian independence. The descendants of the Greeks who migrated to Calabria and to the ter- ritory of Otranto, between the ninth and the eleventh centuries, preserve their original language. In all, there are nearly 770,000 persons in Italy who speak languages other than Italian.

The predominant religion is the Catholic, to which belong 97-12 per cent of the population. The census of 19(31 showeil the presence of 65,595 Protestants and of 35,617 Jews, while 795,276 persons made no mention of their religion in their declarations.

(5) Arts. — In the first half of the Middle Ages, among the fine arts religious arcliitecture reached a certain degree of j^erfection; the churches which it created reproduced the ancient Roman basilicas (Santa Maria Maggiore, San Clemente, and others, in Rome), and its baptisteries, octagonal in form, imitated cellce of the Roman baths; in this way the Christian-Roman or neo-Latin style was developed. At the same time the Greeks brought the Byzantine style to Italy (San Vitale in Ravenna, 537, and San Marco in Venice, 876). Towards the year 1000 there appeared in Italy the Romanesque style, which substituted the vaulted roof for the plain ceiling (the cathedral of Pisa) ; while Arabic influence was felt in Sicily in the construction of the magnificent cathedral of Monreale and of its ad- jacent cloister. Towards the latter part of the Middle Ages, painting, through the impetus given to it by Giotto, produced true masterpieces. Among the painters who became famous at that time are Senesi, Buoninsegna, and Martini, the two Gaddi, Fra Angelico, and Masaccio, who was the true founder of the modern school of painting. Among the famous sculptors were the two Pisanos, Orgagna, Ghiberti, and — most famous of them all — Donatello (1386- 1466), who may be called the Masaccio of sculpture. Finally, we should name Luca della Robbia, a popular sculptor who invented the terra-cotta process that is known by liis name. The erroneously so-called Gothic style that was developed in France was brought into Italy, where, however, it was not fully adopted, except in the cases of the church of St. Francis at Assisi and of the cathedral of Milan; the churches of Santa Maria Novella and of Santa Croce in Florence, the cathedrals of Siena and of Orvieto and others are based upon it, as are, among other civil edifices, the Ducal Palace in Venice, the Orgagna Loggia, in Flor- ence, and the communal palaces of Udine and Siena.

The Renaissance in the first decades of the sixteenth century led to the further development of the fine arts, and great masterpieces were produced. Here it is enough to mention the three great names of Leo- nardo da Vinci (1425-1519), Michelangelo Buonar- roti (1474-1564), and of Raphael Sanzio (14S.3-1520), which have made that age immortal. In architecture Roman forms were adopted, and the first examples of Renaissance architecture were the churches of Santa Maria dei Miracoli in Venice, San Lorenzo in Florence, etc.; and among civil buildings, the Pitti and the Strozzi palaces in Florence, the ducal palace of Urbino, etc. The liest architects were Bramante, Giacomo Barozzi, calloil Vignola, Peruzzi, Palladio, the two Sangallos, Sansovino, and Buonarrot i, who planned the cupola of St. Peter's. Sacred music reached its acme in the compositions of Palestrina (1529-1.'')04). The straining after odd and exaggerated forms which

were condemned in the literature of the seventeenth century also appears in the architecture and in the sculpture of that time. Bernini (1598-16S0) andBor- romini (1.599-1677), men of great but bizarre genius, introduced the barocco style which was disfigured by their imitators. But painting remained free from the defects of that period, through the influence of Dolci, Sassoferrato, the two Carracci, Albani, Domenichino, and,(iuido Rcni. The heavy and contorted manner of building which prevailed in the seventeenth century gave way to a lighter but peculiar style marked by ornamentation; it was brought to Italy from France. This style, which is called rococo, corresponds to what in literature is known as preciosity; but towards the middle of the eighteenth century classical forms were revived, especially in the works of the famous archi- tects Vanvitelli and Juvara, while Canova restored its simplicity to sculpture, combining the study of nature with that of classic forms. Music also continued its ascendant progress under Pergolesi, Porpora, and Paisiello. In the nineteenth century architecture at- tempted the " liberty " style, which came from beyond the Alps; sculpture developed, as is shown by the names of Bertolini,Tenerani, Dupr^, Monteverde, and others; but painting produced less noted names (Ce- lentano, Fracassini, Morelli, Maccari, Michetti, etc.). Profane music, on the other hand, reached its greatest height in Bellini, Donizetti, Rossini, and Verdi.

EcoNOMicAi, Factors. — (1) Agriculture. — Italy was once the classic land of agriculture; but, in our day, notwithstanding a reawakening that foretells better times, it is one of the countries in which agri- culture is most backward. This is due to many causes, of which the chief are fiscalism and the land- lord system (there were 3,351,498 landed proprietors in 1SS2, which number was reduced to 3,286,691 in 1901); ab.senteeism and the inertia of the large land- owners, the ignorance of agriculture and the lack of capital and of agrarian credit are also to blame. And consequently the average yield of an acre of corn in Italy is less than one-half the yield in Germany and England, notwithstanding better conditions of soil and of climate. Exact data concerning these matters will not be had until the valuations that are made con- formably to the law of March, 1886, are available. So far investigations have been limited to agricultural products, to the silk-worm industry and to the culti- vation of tobacco. But, in order to remedy this evil, there was established, in 1907, an office for the express purpose of collecting agricultural statistics. The pro- duction of wheat is inferior to the demands of the pop- ulation, and great quantities of that staple are im- Eorted, notwithstanding the high dutj'. On the other and, there is an over-production of wine. The culti- vation of vegetables is important, as is also that of kitchen herbs and of fruits, in which there is a great deal of exportation that could be profitably increased it refrigerator cars were used for transportation, as in America. In the production of silk-worms, Italy is the leading country of Europe, and the third, after Japan and China, in the world: in 1906, there were produced 538,380 new cocoons, and the native and the imported cocoons that were spun by the factories throughout the kingdom produced a total of 6666 tons. Among industrial plants hemp and flax hold an important place in Italian agriculture, there being a yearly product of nearly 80,000 tons of the former and of nearly 20,000 tons of the latter, furnishctl in greater part, by Lombardy. Among the other industrial plants are the sumac and the manna in Sicily, saf- fron in Aquila, liquorice, hops, madder, straw for the manufacture of hats, etc. Cotton is imported from America, and of late years there has been a successful effort to cultivate beet-root for the manufacture of sugar, and also to cultivate toliacco, which, in 1905, yielded a product of more tlian 7000 tons from 12,500 acres. Horticulture also has made notable progress