Richmond times-dispatch. [volume], July 18, 1915, Image 44

About Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current

Image provided by: Library of Virginia; Richmond, VA

                
Protecting Italy; Price
<
How Itcly Is Profiting- by the Object Lest
Against the Bombs of Airs
Hornet.'Jul /10%
IT ALT has taken. the jnoRt extraordinary 'and
colossal precautions to protect her treasures
from Austrian and German ? guns, bombs.
JZeppelins and aeroplanes* Every work of art
pUblJd Importance -throughout. the kingdom
> will be either removed beyond reach of missiles
of etae protected by every method known to
j&odern engineering science.
TM& Involves- a vast expenditure 'of material
and labor, but the present war Is one of mechan
ical enterprises that stagger the Imagination and
planned upon a scale that was never dreamed
of before. Trenches have' been constructed
*k)ng a front of five hundred miles in France,
with concrete bottoms, drainage and every con
venience for comfortable living. The entire
Straits of Dover have been filled With an Iron
framework to prevent the passage of German
?ubmarlnea. /
Compared to each undertakings the labor of
protecting Italy's works of art Is not prohibitive,
and certainly its object Is equally Important, if
not more bo.
The Italians are satisfied that the Teutons will
miss no opportunity to destroy their most cher
ished treasures, from their own brief experi
ence of the war and from that of France. One
of the first occurrences after Italy entered the
war was the dropping of bombs by Austriau
aviators tfpon the famous Plasza of St. Mark,
the very heart of all that is most beautiful and
precious in Venice. Three persons were killed
by the bombs, but none of the buildings were
Injured.
The Italians then feverishly redoubled their
efforts to protect the art treasures of Venice.
The famous bronse horses which adorn the fa
Cade ot^l Marty's,, and Are "valued ? equally for celh
their, bettuty and. hlstorjo Interest, wero carried also
to q deep underground cellar. They were A
brought from Constantinople early In the history by
of th? Venetian republic, and had beforo that tain
Adorned an ancient Roman arch. Thero Is a wht
legend that when they are. lost or destroyed ^d
Venice will perish. ia i
The great Basilica of 8t Marx Was then pro- gtat
tected from Injury by an elaborato system of de- T
fensea. In such cases a framework of strong t)J
angle Iron is constructed at a distance of about
twent/ feet beyond tl>3 exterior walls and the intf
roof.. Over this a network of strong steel net- |n t
ting is spread. This, It Is calculated, will at dou
least have the effect of stopping bombs thrown con
from aeroplanes. . u
In front of the exquisite facado of the build- enil
ing huge piles of sandbags wero arranged thlc
These, Jt Is hoped, will be sufficiently strong to a
protect the great church from shell fire. is J
The Italian engineers were guided In their quit
protective work by the experience gained by and
the fr'reuch at RhelmB Cathedral and other ror^
places. Several of the beautiful mediaeval co A:
stained glass windows and much of the intri- est
cately carved stonework of Itheims Cathedral hav
were irreparably damaged by German shell fire *nd
Another building requiring special protection T
In Venice was the Doge's Palace, once the head- mag
quarters of Venetian world power. The famous froc
and exquisite row of windows, with their lace- quIb
like carving, above the colonnade of the palace. T
was bricked up. thjf.j
This. It is believed, will not only give some Tre
protection against missiles, but removo s tar- whl
get. It was calculated that the long and very (an
striking row of windows would provide an ex- alm<
The Beautiful Btone "Lace Work" Arches and Windows of the Paiace of the Dogtw. in Venlo
Are Being Walled In With Brick and Cement. Until After the
Why Art Lovers Tremble With Terror
at Italy's Entrance Into the War
By Sir Martin Conway
Blade Professor of the Fine Art# at
THAT Italy Bhould have oome Into the
war as our ally Is, of course, matter
of satisfaction to all her lovers, but
It is a satisfaction tempered with fear. For
Italy Is the trustee of so much
that all the civilized world holds
dear?the. priceless treasures of
irt bequeathed to her by her
ancestors of .so many bygone
generations. The very land
'scape of Italy Is precious, and
even her smaller and remoter
How"the;Famous Leaning Tower of Pisa Would Appear in the Protective Framework of .Angle Iron,Covered With SteeLNett^B
Cambridge University. England
towns contain monument* pot <0 par
alleled elsewhere Thup Uttln OWidalw.
close to the Austrn-lfallan frontier and on
one of the main high mads leading north
east nut of the plain of Venetta. is alone
worth more than raonpy could reoay; and
Clvldale has heard the gun*
CHvidale. ('dine. Aqulleia Orarto?how
plc*asantlv t.he names slip from the tongue,
and what charming memorle? ?*ar.n evokes 10
those who renlly know ihelr ftalv Rut the
light of all nf them pale* into inslgnlflcnnoe
before the ?un-brlghi glorv of Venice?
VeDlce which all the world *nr^tiipn orit
everyone knows to be unique
Evon Rhelms, splendid or It wan, was only
one of several superb Oothic cathedrals of
the highest rank, but Venire Is not one of
several, not even one of two. it stands alone
In the world; there is no rity Hfco lt_ Once.
Indeed, Venice did not stand so unrivalled,
but that was before the Ottoman conquest
of Constantinople The old Constantinople
of East Imperial days has heen wlpmt out
by the unspeakable Turk, excepting only
her central gem. the church of Hagla Sophia,
and tbat is but 0 shell, swept and garnished
of all the fair furniture It was designed to
hold and to set off Venice is, a8 jf were, a
pjccG of old .Constantinople proaervod In the
pious west, Whereby we are able to learn
what Constantinople onco was like. That
Xen,ceTth0 Venlco Of the
twelfth, thirteenth and fourteenth centuries
f^LCefh0f J?( Mark'8 and the Doge'*
palace, and (ho Byzantine and early Oothic
palaces along the Grand,Canal. Time has
tthr?"v1U 1 ?f oldcr Venice away, but
x\hat remains of it includes, perhaps, the
Ijnnrf on ??1,R of the buildings that now
f 0 together, still in use, On the
face of the earth.
_ T|)f Blory of Venice Is St. Mark's. Hagla
hm a? lSf:y ai yet raore building.
..rli . * 18 * building with 4ts treas
ures complete within. Both are eaSntiiiiv
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