MURANO.

HE town of Murano is situated rather more than a mile north from Venice, on an island of the same name, which is the largest in the Lagoons, and nearly forms the extremity of the long chain which, stretching from north to south, affords, with the assistance of art, an effectual barrier against the surges of the stormy Adriatic. The island, formed partly by alluvial deposits brought down from the mainland by rivers, and partly by low banks of sand thrown up by the waves, is almost devoid of natural beauty; but wherever the eye wanders from it, whether to the south, where the queen of the sea is seen rising in majesty, or to the north, where an Alpine chain terminates, and seems to encircle the horizon, the view is equally interesting and magnificent.

The town of Murano appears to have been founded at an early period of the Venetian republic, and gradually acquired so much importance that, while continuing to be a dependency of Venice, it was erected into a separate municipality, and governed by its own Podesta. In the fifteenth century it had a population estimated at 30,000; and from the number and grandeur, both of its public buildings and private palaces, was regarded as a kind of miniature Venice. Its mere proximity to this celebrated city, of which it may be considered a suburb, perhaps accounts for the rapid progress it had made; but it had a source of prosperity within itself, and in virtue of it claims to have been the principal artificer of its own greatness.

Toward the close of the dark ages, when Europe awoke from its slumber, and literature, science, and art began to revive, the Venetians occupied a foremost place, and took the lead in almost all the great commercial marts of the then known world, in consequence, not only of their vast maritime resources, but of the unrivalled excellence of several of their domestic industrial products. One of the most beautiful, if not the most useful of these, was glass; and in it the inhabitants of Murano, where the only Venetian glass-works existed, continued for centuries to enjoy an unquestioned and most lucrative monopoly; both the East and West looking to them for their principal supplies. It does not seem that there was anything in the locality of Murano peculiarly favourable to the manufacture; but having somehow or other become acquainted with the secrets of the art, or it may be re-invented them, the glass-makers endeavoured to perpetuate the monopoly by studiously concealing their more important processes. A monopoly thus maintained by secrets which must, of necessity, have been known to thousands, was very precarious; and it is interesting to see how anxious the Venetian government was to prevent foreign countries from entering into competition with them, and thereby endangering one of their most important sources of trade and revenue. One of the most obvious means was encouragement; and accordingly Baron Von Lowhen, in his Analysis of Nobility in its Origin, states, that the Senate, to encourage the men engaged in the glass-works to remain in Murano, made them all burgesses of Venice, and allowed nobles to marry their daughters, giving to the issue of such marriages all the privileges of noble birth. It would have been well if the govern2 S-2 T

ment had been satisfied with encouragement; but, according to Daru, one of the statutes of the state inquisition contained the following atrocious clauses:-" If any workman or artizan carry his art to a foreign country, to the prejudice of the republic, he shall be ordered to return; if he do not obey, his nearest relations shall be imprisoned, that his regard for them may induce him to come back. If he return, the past shall be forgiven, and employment shall be provided for him at Venice. If, in despite of the imprisonment of his relations, he persevere in his absence, an emissary shall be employed to despatch him; and after his death his relations shall be set at liberty.'

Encouragement might have succeeded, but this determination to maintain a monopoly by having recourse, if necessary, to the dagger of an assassin, was a revolting outrage on humanity, and could not but prove a failure. France, which had long been anxiously labouring to succeed in one important branch of the art, that of making mirrors, effected her object about the middle of the seventeenth century, by securing the services of workmen who had learned it at Murano; Bohemia soon became a successful competitor in another important branch; new discoveries followed, by which several of the boasted Venetian processes were superseded; and in almost every country of Europe, and in none more than in our own island, numerous competitors arose, with whom the glass-makers of Murano, hampered as they were by their connection with a declining republic, have found it hopeless to contend. The works, however, continued to be carried on with spirit, and had not lost their celebrity about the middle of the seventeenth century, when they were visited by the celebrated John Evelyn, who thus speaks of them:-"I passed over to Murano, famous for the best glasses of the world, where having viewed their furnaces and seen their work, I made a collection of divers curiosities and glasses which I sent for England by long sea." The only glass-works which Murano now possesses, are two establishments, confined almost exclusively to the humble department of making glass-beads.

With the loss of its manufacture, its prosperity was at an end; many of its finer buildings have perished by violence or gradual decay, and the population has dwindled down to about 5000. But independent of the interest which justly attaches to it as the cradle of one of the most beautiful creations of human skill, Murano possesses several structures well deserving of notice for their architecture, their venerable antiquity, and the treasures of art which, notwithstanding ruthless French spoliation, they still retain. Among these, the first place is due to the Duomo, or church of San Donato, said to have been built in the ninth century, though the date marked on the beautiful mosaic pavement is 1140, and many parts have been unfortunately modernized. It presents a mixture of Greek and Moorish styles, considered by some a very fine specimen of semi-Byzantine. The exterior of its east end consists of two curious tiers of arches, and the interior of the same part has an air of gloomy grandeur, though the beauty of its columns of fine Greek marble is concealed by a permanent covering of damask. The only paintings of any interest are portraits of a Podesta and his wife, dated 1310, and considered the earliest known specimens of the Venetian school. The church of San Pietro is remarkable only for its paintings and wood carvings. Among the former, are a Virgin enthroned by Gian Bellino, and a St. Jerome in the desert by Paolo Veronese; and among the latter is a baptism of Christ by J. Tintoretto. The church, Degli Angeli, contains a fine altar piece by Pordenone, and pieces by Pennacchi, Peranda, Salviatte, Palma, and D. Tintoretto. Paintings by Paolo Veronese, and Zelotti, and sculptures by Vittoria adorn the Trevisan Palace.