Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 24.djvu/174

Rh 156 VENICE ART. Sculpture. Sculp- Till the 14th century Venice continued to adhere to the old ture. Byzantine style of sculpture, 1 which, though often delicate in exe cution and decorative in etl ect, slowly lost spirit and vigour, and from continually copying older forms gradually degenerated into a dull and mechanical formalism. Early in that century the influ ence of Xiccola Pisano and his school began to awaken a new artistic life among the archaistic sculptors of Venice ; but the progress of this renaissance was very slow, and in much of the A T enetian sculp ture the degenerate Byzantine formalism survived till nearly the close of the 14th century. Other works of the same period were executed with much of the grace and almost realistic beauty for which the contemporary Florentines were so famous, and thus one may see in Venice, and in Venice only, two reliefs of the same date of which one is several centuries earlier in style than the other. 2 This want of originality was probably partly caused by the immense quantity of older sculptured reliefs which was imported to adorn the walls of the churches. In the early part of the 14th century Florentine influence rapidly gained ground, and many sculptors from Florence came to work on the richly carved capitals of the ducal palace and -other places, and especially produced a large number of very beautiful tombs with recumbent effigies. One very graceful type, the general motive of which was first used by Arnollb del Cambio (see OIIVIETO), was frequently repeated : at the head and foot of the effigy an angel is represented drawing a curtain so as to expose the figure of the dead man. 3 The sarcophagus, on which the effigy lies, has reliefs of the Virgin and the Angel of the Annunciation, with the Crucifixion or some other sacred subject be tween. In later times these subjects were usually replaced by allegorical figures of the virtues, 4 and the simple curtain drawn by angels gradually became a large tent-like canopy, of rather clumsy and tasteless form. In most churches the sculptured decoration, apart from that on the tombs, was concentrated on the west facade, the tympanum of the central doorway being often filled with a very fine relief, such as that from the church of the guild Delia Miseri- cordia, now in the South Kensington Museum. In domestic architecture sculpture was but little used after the Byzantine period, the splendour of the faades depending mostly on their rich coloured marbles, and on moulded tracery and string courses. Nevertheless, even as late as the 15th century it was not uncommon to insert llth or 12th century pieces of sculpture in new work ; many examples of this practice are still to be seen. The sculpture of the Early Renaissance is very abundant and extremely delicate and refined, especially that of the Giocondo and Lombard! schools ; S. Maria del Miracoli contains some of the most beauti ful examples. Though not the work of a Venetian, Venice possesses what is perhaps the most magnificent equestrian statue in the world, the colossal bronze portrait of the Venetian commandcr-in-chief, Barto- lomeo Colleoni (figured in vol. xxi. p. 568, fig. 18), 5 which stands in the square at the west end of SS. Giovanni e Paolo. It was modelled by the Florentine VERROCCHIO (q.v. ), and was cast after his death by Alessandro Leopardi, who also designed the pedestal ; the whole was completed in 1495. With the later development of the Renaissance, sculpture rapidly declined ; in domestic architecture it was but little used, except for the deep frieze under the top cornice, and with the Palladian school it became still rarer, and very mechanical in style. In the 17th century it was again used in the most lavish way as archi tectural decoration, but was coarse in execution and violently awkward in outline. As Venice in her best days had produced some of the finest decorative sculpture in the world, so in her ex treme decadence an almost unequalled depth of degradation was reached, and this continued till the fall of the republic. The Venetian sculptor Canova was, on the whole, superior to his immediate predecessors, and was one of the leaders of the revival of classic sculpture which flourished during the first half of the 19th century. Minor Arts. Metal- During the early part of the mediaeval period the Venetians had work. no great skill in metal -work. Some of the bronze doors in the west fa9ade of St Mark s are importations from Byzantium. That on the right, which has rude figures of saints inlaid in silver, was brought to Venice in 1204 ; another with a Latin inscription appears to be native work of about the year 1112 ; both are very rude in design and execution. The open bronze grills of the west atrium doorways, which are signed as the work of a Venetian goldsmith, Bertuccius, in 1300, show no increase of technical skill. Nor was the silver-work any better : the large silver rood in St Mark s is a 1 Some of the early doges are buried in sculptured sarcophagi of the 5th or 6th centuries brought from elsewhere. 2 As, for example, the reliefs over the doorway of the cloister of the scuola Delia Carita, both of the 14th century. 3 The tomb of Andrea Dandolo in St Mark s (c. 1350) is .one of the earliest in which this motive is used. is the first in Venice which has representations of the virtues. 5 See Vasari s Life of Verrocchio. very coarse piece of work. The silver altar frontals from the old cathedral, nowin St Mark s, with sacred subjects and figures of saints repousse in each panel, made in the 14th century, are no less rude in design and feeble in execution. As in the case of marble sculp ture, Venice was chiefly dependent on foreign importations for its rich stores of treasures in the precious metals. In the latter part of the 15th century Venetian skill in bronze-work had greatly in creased. Leopardi, who cast Verrocchio s statue of Colleoni, was a bronze-worker of great eminence ; and in the following century the bronze doors and the font cover 6 in St Mark s by Jacopo Sansovino are models of technical excellence, though showing some decadence of taste in their design. The great bronze lion on the west facade of St Mark s, cast by Gaetano Ferrari in the first half of the 19th century, is a really fine work. A great deal of beauti ful metal-work, especially in copper and bronze, such as large salvers, ewers, and the like, was made during the 15th and 16th centuries, partly by Moslem workmen and partly by native Vene tians who adopted Oriental designs. A large colony of Moslem craftsmen seem to have settled in Venice, and had much influence on the designs used in many of the minor arts. Moslem influence was especially strong in the case of woven Textile; stuffs, for which Venice became very celebrated in the 15th century. Its damasks and other silk stuffs with patterns of extraordinary beauty surpassed in variety and splendour those of the other chief centres of silk weaving, such as Florence and Genoa. Fig. 7 in the article TEXTILES (vol. xxiii. p. 209) gives a beautiful example of loth-century Venetian silk designed under Oriental influence. In addition to the native stuffs, an immense quantity of costly Oriental carpets, wall-hangings, and other textiles was imported into Venice, partly for its own use, and partly for export throughout western Europe. Thus in wealth of gorgeous stuffs and embroideries Venice surpassed all other cities, and on occasions of festivals or pageants the balconies, the bridges, the boats, and even the fagades of the houses were hung with rich Eastern carpets or patterned textiles in gold and coloured silk. The glass manufactory of MURAXO (q.v.), Glass- a small island about 1 miles to the north of Venice, was a great workin source of revenue to the republic ; the glass-workers enjoyed special privileges and great pains were taken to preserve the secrets of the craft. Glass drinking cups and ornamental vessels, some decorated with enamel painting, and &quot;silvered&quot; mirrors were produced in great quantities from the 14th century downwards, and exported to other European countries, where they were sold for high prices. Much beautiful glass-work is still produced in Murano, but the workmen have lost all power of original design, and do little but copy the forms invented in the 15th or 16th century. Like many other arts in Venice, that of glass-making appears to have been imported from Moslem countries, and the influence of Oriental design can be traced in much of the Venetian glass. The art of making stained glass windows was not practised by the Venetians ; almost the only fine glass in Venice is that in a south transept window in the Dominican church, which, though designed by able Venetian painters, is obviously the work of foreigners. LITERATURE. (1) General Works. Sabcllicus, De Venctx Urbis Situ, Venice, 1492 ; Bembo, Hist. Venetx, 1551 ; Sansovino, Venezia Descritta, Venice, 1604 ; Daru, Hist, cle Yen., Brussels, 1838; Galliciolli, Delle Mem. Yen., Venice, 1795; Michieli, Origine delle Fesle Ven., Milan, 1829 ; Zendrini, Le Isole di Vol., Venice, 1829 ; Id., Mem. Star, sidlo Stato delle Lagune, Venice, 1811 ; Fougasses, Gencrall Carrer, Venezia e la sua Storia, Venice, 1838 ; St Didier, La Ville et hi Rtpublique de Venise, Paris, 1858; Yriarte, Histoire de Venise, Paris, 1878 (Eng. ed., 1880); Anon. , Assedio di Venezia nel 18/ t 9, Venice, 1855 ; Foscarini, Letteratu ra Veneziana, and its continuation by Moschini, Lett. Ven. dal Secolo 18&amp;lt;&amp;gt;o t Venice, 1806-8 ; Corner, Notizie Storiche delle Chiese di Venezia, Padua, 1758 ; Hardy, Report on the Documents in the Archives of Venice, London, 1866; Temanza, Antica Pianta di Venezia, Venice, 1780. Much valuable matter has been published in the Archivio Vencto, which is still in progress. (2) Architecture, Painting, anil Sculpture. Ruskin, Stones of Venice, reprint 188t&amp;gt;, and St Mark s Rest, 1880 ; Selvatico, Architettura e Scultura in Venezia, 1847; Cicognara, Fabbriche di Venezia, 1815-20; Id., Monunienti di Venezia, 1838-40; Cadorin, Parcri di 15 Architctti, Venice, 1838 ; Diedo and Zanotto, Monumenti di Venezia, Milan, 1839 ; Fontana, Fabbriche di Venezia; Temanza, Vite degli Scultori Veneziani, 1778; Perkins, Italian Sculpture, London, 1883, pp. 195-217; Ridolfi, Marariglie dell Arte Ven., 1C48 ; Zanetti, Pittura Veneziana, 1771; Boschini, La Carta del Naregar Pittoresco, Venice, 1660, a curious poem in the Venetian dialect about the pictures and painters of Venice. (3) Ducal Palace. Sansovino, Lettera in- torno al Pal. Ducale, printed in 1829 ; Bettio, Lettera Discorsira del Pal. Ducale, Venice, 1S37 ; Zanotto, II Palazzo Ducale, Venice, 1853-58, a fine well-illustrated work; Ruskin, op. cit.; Burgos and Didron, Iconographie des Chapitaux du Palais Ducal a Venise, Paris, 1857. (4) St Mark s Basilica. Meschinello, La Chiesa di .S. Marco, 1830 ; Anon., L Augusta Ducale Basilica, Venice, 1761, usually called &quot;Del Foscarini &quot; from its dedication ; Richter, &quot; Sculpture of St Mark s,&quot; in Macmillan s Magazine, June 1880; Kreutz and Ongania, La Basilica di S. Marco, 1881-86, one of the most magnificent and costly works ever published, consisting of a large series of photographs and chromo-lithographs ; II Tesoro di S. Marco, 1885, a set of fine chromo-lithographs of the gold, silver, enamel, crystal, and jewelled treasures of St Mark s, also published by Ongania; and Documents per la Storia della lias, di, ,S. Marco, IX. -XVIII. Sec., 1885, a valuable collection of hitherto unpublished MSS. Views of Venice. Thirty-eight engrav ings from pictures by Canaletto, entitled Urbis Venctiarum Prospectus, Venice, 1735-51, and its companion, Marieschi, Pros. Urbis Ven., 1743 ; Carlevariis, Fabriche e Vedute di Ven., 1703; Price, Views of Ven., London, 1843. A large 6 This is usually attributed to Sansovino ; but, according to Moschini, a docu ment among the archives of St Mark s records that it was made by Desiderio of Florence and Tiziano of Padua.
 * The 14th-century tomb of the Florentine ambassador, Duccio deg i Albert!,