1841. J 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



39 



bronzes of modern fabric yearly to soe-disant antiquaries, who, how- 

 ever, neither possess that extensive learning nor profound experience 

 and correct taste necessary to constitute such a character. It is much 

 the practice in Rome to take moulds from real lizards and to cast them 

 in bronze ; these make very pretty ornaments for the table. I regret 

 that I am unable to give you an idea of the value set upon these 

 works. 



The manufacture of glass is pursued with great success in Venice : 

 the numerous glass ornaments for ladies which come thence are well 

 known, and the endless varieties of form and combinations of colour 

 given to glass beads for rosaries and embroidery, or vessels for domes- 

 tic use, are verv ingenious and beautiful. The ruby glass of the 1500 

 and 1600 can now be imitated so as to make imposition a famous 

 trade, the false being only distinguishable by weight. Glasses are also 

 made in which white threadlike lines of arsenic are incorporated. The 

 process by which they make sheet-glass differs from ours. Instead of 

 being formed into immense circular sheets, the Venetian workman 

 blows cylinders of considerable length and diameter; he then cuts off 

 the two ends of his cylinder, dexterously slits it down one side, and 

 spreads it flat on a table in an oven. By this process sheets of a sutB- 

 cient size are made, and there is no loss as in those fabricated in this 

 country. 



I think that I have lately observed that the process which I have 

 thus briefly described is practised at some manufactory in England. 



The velvets of Genoa, and the exquisitely turned ware of the same 

 place, the straw hats of Tuscany, the silks of Florence, the embroide- 

 ries of Rome, the musical instruments and musical strings, and although 

 last not least, the raaccaroni, of Naples, are aU samples of skill credit- 

 able to the Italians. 



I shall now request'your attention to this lithograph of a triumphal 

 arch. This is a specimen of an art in which the Italians display both 

 taste and great ingenuity, and which seems to me deserving of notice, 

 for although it mav be deemed useless by some, yet it contributes 

 largely to their happiness. 1 allude to their preparations for festivals 

 ana pageants. Without entering into any description of these, I shall 

 content myself with exhibiting a print of a triumphal arch erected at 

 Tivoli on the occasion of a visit from his Holiness the Pope. Erections 

 of this description are put up in a day or two, being formed of a frame 

 ■work of wood, covered with coarse canvass painted in imitation of 

 stone. The bas-reliefs are of stucco, and the statues are formed of 

 straw, arranged round wooden supports ; casts of heads, hands, and 

 feet are easily procured and attached. This aniina (soul), as it is 

 termed, is skilfully enveloped in drapery of cotton cloth, which is 

 tastefully arranged by an artist, ond is then lightly brushed over with 

 white-wash, which stiffens it. That a knowledge of the art displayed 

 in erecting this arch may be useful, may I think be proved, by an allu- 

 sion to the gallows-like erection under which his Majesty George IV. 

 passed when he entered Edinburgh. 



In the summer of 1833 I made a journey from Leghorn to Rome 

 along the coast, a terra incognita to most travellers, ray object being to 

 trace the Via Aurelia. At Orbetello, the last town in the Tuscan 

 States, besides making some interesting antiquarian discoveries, I ob- 

 served the boats which lam about to describe. Orbetello stands upon 

 a peninsula, projecting into a shalluw lagoon of some extent ; the boats 

 which are used upon it, are flat-bottomed, rise considerably at the bow 

 and stern, being lowest at midships, across which part of the vessel a 

 beam is fastened, about four inches thick each way, and which projects 

 about two feet six inches over each side. On each of the ends of this 

 beam an oblong piece of plank is nailed, the longest sides being hori- 

 zental, and a stout pin rises from each of these. The oars are of con- 

 siderable length in proportion of the boat, and of great breadth in the 

 blade. The oars rest upon the pieces of board at the ends of the 

 cross-beam, being attached to the pin by means of a piece of cord, in 

 this last respect resembling a mode adopted in boats on our own coasts. 

 The blade of the oar slightly overbalances the portion within the ful- 

 crum on which it rests, the handles nearly touch each other, meeting 

 a-midship. By this contrivance, one man can manage a pair of very 

 powerful oars, and can drive a boat, which is apparently but ill adapted 

 from its form for speed, with surprising rapidity through the water ; 

 can arrest its progress, or turn it with equal rapidity and certainty, 

 and with very little exertion. The annexed engraving is a transverse 

 view of one of the boats. 



Fig. 2. 



My knowledge of boats and ships is indeed very trifling, but I could 

 not help seeing how easily the fisher of Orbetello manoeuvred his rude 

 boat; and therefore I have been induced to bring forward this notice 

 of a vessel and mode of rowing which I am not aware has been de- 

 scribed. Besides, it suggests ideas as to the probable mode in which 

 the ancients managed their triremes, well worthy the attention of the 

 antiquary, especially if he will combine the hint thus obtained with 

 the modes of rowing followed in the Bay of Naples on board the Sor- 

 rentine boats, which, I have been led to imagine from an examination 

 of pictures in Pompeii, are much the same in every respect as the 

 galleys which in old times navigated the same sea. 



My next drawing represents (fig. 3j, by means of a section, an appa- 

 ratus used in Italy for warming baths. I need not describe it, but 

 shall merely observe generally, that it is made of copper ; the live 

 charcoal is put upon the grating A, which is put into the stove by- 

 means of the handle B, the fire is kept alive by air supplied through 

 the tubes C C, 7 inches diameter, and when immersed in the water of 

 a slipper-bath, this light and portable apparatus will heat it in a 

 quarter of an hour. I think it might be useful in this country. 



Fig. 3. 



z 



I now close this paper with many apologies for having detained you 

 so long. The engineering works I have briefly described may seem 

 trifling as compared with those extraordinary and gigantic operations 

 you are accustomed to in this country ; but I would ask you to con- 

 sider the relative extent, power, and resources of the states, and you 

 must then allow that they are very creditable to the Italian Govern- 

 ment. 



The Italians, we have seen, are still remarkable for their taste and 

 skill in many beautiful arts, and for nearly 3000 years they have been 

 thus distinguished. Various arts were successfully practised by the 

 Etruscans, and when they were subdued by the ruder Romans, they 

 did not lose their skill, but enlightened their masters. 



The conquest of Greece filled Italy with artists and works of art; 

 and when northern hordes overwhelmed the empire, these ruthless 

 barbarians were gradually softened by the fine arts of the people they 

 had conquered. A new power arose in Italy, and by its influence 

 again she became pre-eminent in Europe, and we kndw to what illus- 

 trious perfection tlie fine arts again attained. 



In our sale-rooms we see sold every winter manv cracked and dingy 

 daubs, and with these before him, the auctioneer rings the changes on 

 some half-dozen names, as if the Italian school could boast no more ; 

 but a host of artists attest the fertility of Italy in the production of 

 men of talent; and in Lanzi's dictionary, 1000 names will be found 

 before the reader reaches the middle of the letter D in the index. 



I have imperfectly described to you some of the arts which the 

 Italian has inherited. I shall close this paper by observing that, what- 

 ever public work is undertaken in Italy — wherever improvement is 

 contemplated, even although it should not be extensive, it is justly- 

 thought that the assistance and advice of the artist, whose taste and 

 judgment have been cultivated, ought to be secured, and there is no 

 practice in its full extent more worthy of our imitation.* 



* Mr. Wilson e.\hibited numerous siweimens of mosaic, pietra dura, cameos 

 of different ages in pietra dura, and specimens of shell cameos ; also of Geno- 

 ese and Venetian jewellery, Venetian glass, and ruby glass, together with 

 numerous prints and drawings. 



