Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume IX.djvu/485

the school of testhetieal criticism in modern Italy. He contributed effectually to put down the literary "Gallomania" which had so long prevailed there. The articles published by him in the BiUioteca Italian of Milan, his testheti- eal studies on sculptors, painters, and authors, and his panegyrics on Napoleon, Canova, &c., together with a vast collection of letters, are held in the highest estimation by his country- men. Cicognara, Pindemonte, Foscolo, Per- ticari, Basilio Puotti, Mamiani, Giudici, Arcan- geli, Ranalli, and Giuliani have also distin- guished themselves in this department of lit- erature. Besides the contemporary authors whose works have gained such permanence as to have required special mention in this article, many others are gradually taking their places in the lasting literature of Italy, or rendering themselves conspicuous by timely and popular works. Sucli are most of those named in the following list of living authors. Leading poets are Giovanni Prati (one of the most prominent writers of Italian political lyrics), Frullani, Ti- gri, Carducci, and Zanella ; De Spuches, Par- di, and other Sicilians ; Barattani, Mercantini, Giotti, and De' Marchi. Female poets are Fran- cesca Lutti, Alinda Brunamonte, Emilia Fua, Rosina Musio-Salvo, and others. Historians are Ricotti (Savoy), La Lumia (Sicily), Giudici (Storia del comuni italiani), Oelesia (Genoa), and Peluso (Milan). Novelists are Nievo, Arri- ghi, Donati, Bezio, De Amicis, and Signora Te- resa de Gubernatis. The principal historians of Italian literature are Tiraboschi (1772-'83), Ginguene (1811-'19), Maffei (2d ed., 1834), Cimorelli(18-t5), Emiliano Giudici (1851), Mal- paga (1855), Lombardi (of the 18th century, 1827-'30), Ugoni (of the second half of the 18th century, new edition, 1856-'9), and Levati (of the first quarter of the 19th century, 1831). See also Sismondi's Litterature du midi de I 'Europe (4 vols., Paris, 1813), translated by T. Roscoe (1823) ; Hallam's " Literature of Eu- rope;" and W. Roscoe's "Life of Lorenzo de' Medici." For more recent literature, see espe- cially Am6d6e Roux's Hixtoire de la litterature contemporaine en Italie (Paris, 1874) ; and for modern philosophy, Botta's ' Historical Sketch" in Ueberweg's " History of Philosophy," trans- lated by G. S. Morris (New York, 1874). ITALY, Wines of. From time immemorial Italy has been noted as a wine-growing coun- try, and at the present day, next to the cereals, wine is the most important production of her soil. The amount annually made has been va- riously estimated, but is probably as much as 800,000,000 gaDons, of which but a small pro- portion is of good quality or tit for export. The Falernian, Massic, Cajcuban, and other growths famous in ancient times, are now known only by the descriptions of them found in old Latin writers, no means of identifying them with modern wines being accessible. For many centuries succeeding the overthrow of the Ro- man empire vinification was practised after the most primitive methods; and although vines were grown and wine was made in every province of the country, it was exclusively a local product, intended for home consumption. This state of things may be said to have prac- tically extended into the present century. Forty years ago Italian wines of high grade were scarcely known to the inhabitants of the coun- try, and still less to foreigners. Now they have an established reputation, and by the close of the century are not unlikely to become formidable rivals of the best growths of France and Germany. This is due in great measure to the formation of cenological societies, which have encouraged the practice of wine making after improved methods, and to the general development of the national life since the union of the Italian people under one government. Grape culture in many parts of Italy, and no- tably in Lombardy and Venetia, is practised on a different system from that prevalent in the chief wine-producing countries. The vines, instead of being closely pruned and attached to low stakes fastened in the ground, are al- lowed to run up the trunks of trees, planted in rows for that purpose. The maple, trimmed to the form of a pollard, is the tree most com- monly employed, and its branches, stripped of the greater part of their foliage, form the sup- port of the head of the vine. The shoots of the latter, when they have attained a sufficient growth, are twisted into a rope and then tied to a similar rope from an adjoining tree. Rows of trees thus festooned with vines, loaded in the vintage season with full clusters of grapes, present a peculiarly attractive appearance, and form one of the most picturesque features of the country ; but the grapes never attain that perfection, even in the climate of Italy, which is necessary to produce wines of the first class. In fact, it has been proved from experiments made under government direction during the vintage of 1873, that the must obtained from vines thus trained usually contains one third less saccharine matter than that from vines trained on the low system, as practised in the best wine-growing countries. The result is a thin, acid wine, which cannot be kept for any considerable period. In certain parts of Italy this method of cultivation is so intimately con- nected with the general system of agriculture, that no immediate change is probable or per- haps possible. This is especially the case in the level country, and it is consequently in the hilly and mountainous districts that Italian viti- culture will be the soonest developed. Twen- ty-five years ago the wines of Piedmont first became known to any considerable extent out- side of the country ; but their name had scarce- ly been established in the London market when the grape disease, which for a time almost par- alyzed vinification throughout Europe, attack- ed the vines of northern Italy. The district of Asti, long celebrated for the superior qual- ity of its wines, was only partially affected by the disease, and continued to produce abun- dantly while the rest of the country was suf-