Show architecture OF VENICE travel the he civilized world w orld from end to end and you cannot find ault in it two places more poetical than venice and granada two cities which offer a greater contrast in their past history present condition or future prospects could scarcely cely be mentioned but both are instinct with the spirit of poesy to such an extent that no other place in their respective lve countries is worthy to be compared with them the latter after thrones on the heights between the genil genii and the darro guarded by the palace fortress of the alhambra Alb ambra overlooking the fertile expanse of a ft and smiling vega and overlooked by the snowcapped snow capped peak of tho th veleta is past description beauteous the former camped low among the lagoons of the adria adriatic itic intersected by salt water channels whose banks are lined with picturesque ph palaces laces traversed sit elt all hours by gliding gondolas glorious with gems of gothic and renaissance Be sance replete with color famous in history is magnificent beyond expression he who has not seen both has missed much of this worlds purest pleasure lei 1 as he who has seen them tham longs ongo again to visit them venice is no longer decaying neither is she flourishing no longer the proud city chief of many lands and many isles no longer mistress of the seas shorn of her commerce and of her merchant princes she still holds a place among the largest cities of italy and derives an income from the myriads of strangers who flock to view the relies relics of her past magnificence the palaces upon the grand canal are for the mot most part no more the residences of nobles the palazzo crimeni is the hotel de ville the palazzo palazza gritti is oc occupied c u led by glass factory the wo fondaco abaco del dei is 18 the civic museum the palazzo ferri is a hotel the palazzo dandolo a cafe the palazzo forcari a school of commerce the palazzo farseth the municipal hall the palazzo manin the national bank the palazzo cavalli the german consulate and so on throughout almost the whole of the two long lines of mansions still the black gondolas glide softly along the canals propelled by the erect gondoliers gondo liers and still beauty especially english speaking beauty loves to be lowed around on moonlit eves listening to the songs of sweet but mercenary singers lu iu lantern lighted barges but another claimant for public favor the steamboat now dashes along from pier to pier and is extensively patronized atall at all hours by the venetians as well as by their visitors however traversed whether in the gondola or the merthe grand canal presents through all its length a continuous panorama which is indelibly graven on the memory palace after palace this Lom lombardie bardle and round arched that with gothic tracery framed into gorgeous panels the next with the stately columns of tb the e best period of the renaissance pass rapidly v before the eye in a bewildering succession of magnificence and then we land opposite the bogane traverse a narrow street and emerge from the porticos 0 1 fos of the grand piazza into a KU full view of t that hat most fantastic yet most impressive f cathedrals a byzantine church in a latin city san marco to the right the campanile rises tall and straight no great beauty and capped with a positively repulsive upper story but its faults are scarcely noticed in the presence of the arches of st marks mark s which frame in the broad end of the ascended piazza the wild horses borses spoils of constantinople the solemn mosaics the wondrously varied capitals the richly tinted materials dazzle and charm the beholder out of criticism into admiration and as he advances the glories of the maje majestic arcades of the ducal palace dawn upon his sight I bt and he is led on down th the 1 frazzetta piazzetta zetta to the water edge past s boggio and library between the columns of san marco and san teodoro until he takes in the angular view of that much criticized criticised yet ever admired residence of the doges boges with all her grandeur paris has nothing to offer that can compare with venice rhe fhe quay girt seine in spite of the vast piles plies of edifices which line its banks has none of the charm of the grand Ca the huge places of la a concorde and of the bastile utterly lack the poetry of the piazza di san marco san marco itself is small compared with notre dame de paris a baby compared to st peters at rome kome yet it ma makes kes upon the mind a much deeper impression than either the mosaic covered domes and walls a historical museum of glass mosaic from the ninth to the sixteenth century the walls pavements piers columns statues of choicest and rarest marbles glowing with the richest colors the fantastic variety of the carving and adornments make up a whole so grandly weird that it can never bever be forgotten san marco has bledso written about so endlessly photographed and chromo so repeatedly painted in every aspect that a visitor does not expect to be charmed or sur surprised tria d and is astonished toni shed to find that te he is both if anything could take away the attraction of this remarkable church it would be the constant stream of stran strangers gets that inundates its aisles and the provoking pro yoking swarms of guides who will never permit any man or woman not of venice born to enjoy a moments peace notwithstanding mr Bu skins comparison of st markle to a vast cave and his rhapsody about narrow phosphoric streams of light and feeble gleanings gloa glea reflected by polished walls the openings abou arou around n d the domes of the roof ailed by such other light as enters by doors and windows cause the interior to be better lighted even eve on a rainy day than the majority of italian churches fortunately there is no bili at least there exists no facilities to diminish the quantity of light which enters from the domes if there were doubtless the priests who in the interiors of their churches certainly love darkness would shroud the gold mosaics in a dimness as intense as that which pervades most of the churches of rome As it is most of the figures and subjects can be made out tolerably well from the pavement but a tour round the gallery affords a better abettor idea of their magnificence Tin has contributed some of his best work to this interior and San sovino has adorned the chances with bas and statues yet their work is but an infinitesimal portion of the grand whole and somehow the older ruder work looks grander the histories of the creation flood jost joseph ph and f moses wrought in primitive fashion upon the dome and arches of the vestibule way may at times provoke an irreverent smile from a visitor who examines them in detail yet the general effect is imposing it will not do to inquire too rigidly either w alth ith 1 in or without the church the pur pose of each individual column many of them have no purpose save that of exhibiting a rich material and an intricately sculptured capital yet all find their place in the picture ure and an absentee would be missed the entire structure is an example of the triumph of art over the rule of architectural tec tural criticism designed as a purely byzantine structure san barce was completed externally as a gothic one and osten cates tates upon the upper portion of its facade all the floral detail of the venetian Vene tiar manner yet none but an architect archi test would notice where the one style ends and the other begins the mosaic upon the half dome of the facade to the left hand band of the spectator shows the original design and shows that the columns in the central window of the upper story though they now bear nothing were originally designed to carry arches the tympanum being filled in not as now jeri entirely with glass gla but partly with stonework the tucal ducal palace whence comes the charm of its exterior the heavy upper story over weighting to tb the e eye th the e alend slender er arcades es beneath has been many times adversely criticised criticized and cannot by the greatest admirer of the building be called beautiful in itself yet the lower stories seem to owe much of their beauty to the incubus which bests upon them A third range of would not improve the exterior and the arcades alone would have no magnificence it is the effect of contrast the continuous line of arcades and quatrefoils quatre foils gains variety from the central openings of the superimposed work and lightness from the solidity of the walling piled upon them the lower series of arcades is too low it has the appearance app earadene of having sunk punk downwards some five feet into the lagoon the insufficiently pierced upper I 1 lofty astory is too high and too heavy the terminal balustrade with its gilded balls stuck upon iron pins is ridiculous and yet the entire facade is a thing 0 of beauty that wins praise from efrom the most ariti cal and charms those who are most inclined to carp at the arrangement of its solids and voids the american |