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MURANO (anc. Ammariuno)

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Originally appearing in Volume V19, Page 27 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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MURANO (anc. Ammariuno) , an See also:island in the Venetian See also:lagoon about 1 m. See also:north of See also:Venice. It is 5 M. in circumference, and a large See also:part of it is occupied by gardens. It contained 5436 inhabitants in igoi, but was once much more populous than it is at See also:present, its inhabitants numbering 3o,000. It was a favourite resort of the Venetian See also:nobility before they began to build their villas on the mainland; and in the 15th and 16th centuries its gardens and casinos, of which some traces remain, were famous. It was here that the See also:literary clubs of the Vigilanti, the Studiosi and the Occulti, used to meet. 1 See also:Shakespeare, See also:Henry IV., Part. II. See also:act ii. sc. i : " Falstaff. And for thy walls, a See also:pretty slight drollery, or the See also:story of the prodigal, or the See also:German See also:hunting in waterwork, is See also:worth a thousand of these See also:bed-hangings and these See also:fly-bitten tapestries." 2 It was in this method that the lunettes by See also:Lord See also:Leighton at the See also:Victoria and See also:Albert Museum were painted on the See also:plaster See also:wall. The same painter produced a See also:fresco at See also:Lyndhurst See also:Church, Hants. F.1G. 16.—See also:Pattern in Stamped and Moulded Plaster, decorated with See also:gilding and transparent See also:colours; 15th-See also:century See also:work.

have done most of the work and received higher pay. See also:

William, an See also:English See also:monk in the adjoining See also:Benedictine See also:abbey of See also:Westminster, received two shillings a See also:day. See also:Walter of See also:Durham and various members of the See also:Otho See also:family, royal goldsmiths and moneyers, worked for many years on the adornment of Henry III.'s See also:palace and were well paid for their skill. Some fragments of paintings from the royal See also:chapel of St See also:Stephen are now in the See also:British Museum. They are delicate and carefully painted subjects from the Old Testament, in See also:rich colours, each with explanatory inscription underneath. The See also:scale is small, the figures being scarcely a See also:foot high. Their method of See also:execution is curious. First the smooth See also:stone wall was covered with a coat of red, painted in oil, probably to keep back the See also:damp; on that a thin skin of See also:fine See also:gesso (See also:stucco) has been applied, and the outlines of the figures marked with a point; the whole of the background, crowns, See also:borders of dresses, and other ornamental parts have then been modelled and stamped with very See also:minute patterns in slight See also:relief, impressed on the See also:surface of the gesso while it was yet soft. The figures have then been painted, apparently in See also:tempera, See also:gold See also:leaf has been applied to the stamped reliefs, and the whole has been covered with an oil See also:varnish. It is difficult to realize the labour required to See also:cover large halls such as the above chapel and the " painted chamber," the latter about 83 ft. by 27 ft., with this See also:style of decoration. In many cases the grounds were entirely covered with shining See also:metal leaf, over which the paintings were executed; those parts, such as the draperies, where the metallic lustre was wanted, were painted in oil with transparent colours, while the flesh was painted in opaque tempera. The effect of the See also:bright metal shining through the rich colouring is magnificent.

This minuteness of much of the See also:

medieval wall-decoration is remarkable. Large wall-surfaces and intricate See also:mouldings were often completely covered by elaborate gesso patterns in relief of almost microscopic delicacy (fig. i6). The cost of stamps for this is among the items in the Westminster accounts. These patterns when set and dry were further adorned with gold and colours. So also with the architectural See also:painting; the artist was not content simply to pick out the various members of the mouldings in different colours, but he also frequently covered each See also:bead or See also:fillet with painted See also:flowers and other patterns, as delicate as those in an illuminated MS.—so minute and highly-finished that they are almost invisible at a little distance, but yet add greatly to the See also:general richness of effect. All this is neglected in See also:modern reproductions of medieval painting, in which both See also:touch and See also:colour are coarse and harsh—caricatures of the old work, such as disfigure the Sainte Chapelle in See also:Paris, and many cathedrals in See also:France, See also:Germany and See also:England. Gold was never used in large quantities without the ground on which it was laid The See also:town is built upon one broad See also:main See also:canal, where the tidal current runs with See also:great force, and upon several smaller ones. The See also:cathedral, S. Donato, is a fine See also:basilica, of the 12th century. The See also:pavement (of 1111) is as richly inlaid as that of St See also:Mark's, and the mosaics of the See also:tribune are remarkable. The exterior of the tribune is beautiful, and has been successfully restored. The church of St See also:Peter the See also:Martyr (1509) contains a fine picture by See also:Gentile See also:Bellini and other See also:works, and S.

Maria degli Angeli also contains several interesting pictures. Murano has from See also:

ancient times been celebrated for its See also:glass manufactories. When and how the See also:art was introduced is obscure, but there are notices of it as See also:early as the 11th century; and in 1250 Christoforo Briani attempted the See also:imitation of See also:agate and See also:chalcedony. From the labours of his See also:pupil Miotto sprang that See also:branch of the glass See also:trade which is concerned with the imitation of gems. In the 15th century the first crystals were made, and in the 17th the various gradations of coloured and iridescent glass were invented, together with the See also:composition called " See also:aventurine "; the manufacture of beads is now a main branch of the trade. The art of the glass-workers was taken under the See also:protection of the See also:Government in 1275, and regulated by a See also:special See also:code of See also:laws and privileges; two fairs were held annually, and the export of all materials, such as See also:alum and See also:sand, which enter into the composition of glass was absolutely forbidden. With the decay of Venice the importance of the Murano glass-works declined; but A. Salviati (1816—189o) rediscovered many of the old processes, and eight firms are engaged in the trade, the most renowed being the Venezia Murano See also:Company and Salviati. The municipal museum contains a collection of glass illustrating the See also:history and progress of the art. The island of Murano was first peopled by the inhabitants of Altino. It origiiially enjoyed See also:independence under the See also:rule of its tribunes and See also:judges, and was one of the twelve confederate islands of the lagoons. In the 12th century the See also:doge Vital Micheli II. incorporated Murano in Venice and attached it to the Sestiere of S.

Croce. From that date it was governed by a Venetian nobleman with the See also:

title of See also:podesta whose See also:office lasted sixteen months. Murano, however, retained its See also:original constitution of a greater and a lesser See also:council for the transaction of municipal business, and also the right to See also:coin gold and See also:silver as well as its judicial See also:powers. The interests of the town were watched at the ducal palace by a See also:nuncio and a See also:solicitor; and this constitution remained in force till the fall of the See also:republic. See Venezia e le See also:sue Lagune; Paoletti, Ii Fiore di Venezia; Bussolin, Guida alle fabbriche vetrarie di Murano; See also:Romanin, Storia documentata di Venezia, i. 41.

End of Article: MURANO (anc. Ammariuno)

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