MURA
641
MURATORI
91); "Etudes sur I'histoire de la peinture et de I'ioono-
graphie chr6tiennes " ( 18S2) ; " Etudes iconographiques
et aroMologiques surle Moyen-Age" (1888). Among
the latter we may mention: "Donatello" (1885); "Le
Palais des papes i Avignon" (1886-92); "La Biblio-
theque du Vatican au xvi<' siecle " (written in collabora-
tion with P. Fabre — 1887) ; "Collections des M^dicis au
xv^ siecle" (1887); " Antiquitcs de Rome au xiv®, xv",
etxvi^siecles" (1887); "Florence et la Toscane" (1897);
"La Tiare Pontificale du viii*^ siecle au xvi" siecle"
(1897). In a third series of works he took up the
study of the influence of the Italian Renaissance in
other European countries, especially France: "La
Renaissance en Italie et en France a I'epoque de
Charles VIII" (1885); " Le Chateau de Fontainebleau
au xvi" siecle" (1886), in which he collaborated with
Mohnier. He contemplated extending these studies
to the whole of Europe when death interrupted them.
In Miintz's writings we should look in vain for a
personal view, or for any such system or pliilosophy as
gives a work a loftier scope than the merely historical.
His cannot compare with the great histories of the
Renaissance given us by Taine, Burckhardt, or John
Addington Symonds. Still it is a treasury of in-
formation. It presents in an easy agreeable form a
resumd of what research has discovered and criticism
accepted. The complete edition of this History was
the first model for that class of de luxe books which,
thanks to modern processes of reproduction, have
done so much in the last thirty years to spread infor-
mation on art and to improve the public taste. After
1878 Miintz was connected with the Ecole des Beaux-
Arts, where lie took Taine's place in the chair of es-
thetics from 1885 to 1892. He entered the Institute
in 1893.
Louis Gillet.
Mura, Saint, b. in Co. Donegal, Ireland, about 550. He was appointed Abbot of Fahan by St. Co- lumba. The monastery was anciently known as Othan Mor, but after the death of our saint was called Fahan M ura. He was highly esteemed by Hugh, Head King of Ireland, whose obit is chronicled in 607. Numerous legends are told of Mura; he wrote many works, including chronicles and a rhymed life of St. Columba, which is quoted in the Martyrology of Donegal. He is regarded as the special patron saint of the O'Neill clan, being sixth in descent from the founder, whose name survives in Innishowen (Inis Eoghan). His death occurred about 645, .and his feast is observed on 12 March. Among his relics still preserved are his crozier {Bachull Mura), now in the National Museum, Dublin, and his bell-shrine, now in the Wallace Collection, London. In the ruined church of St. Mura at Fahan is a beautiful Irish cross, and not far off is St. Mura's Well.
CoLGAN, Acta SS. Hib. (Louvain, 1645) ; O'Hanlon, Lives of the Irish Saints, III (Dublin, s. d.) ; O'Doherty, Derriana (Dub- lin, 1902).
W. H. Grattan-Flood.
Muratori, Luigi Antonio, librarian in Modena, one of the greatest scholars of his time, b. 21 Oct., 1672; d. 23 Jan., 1750. Though he came from a poor family of Vignola in the district of Modena, he received opportunities to devote himself to the higher studies. Having first been instructed by the Jesuits, he studied law, philosophy, and theology at the University of IVIodena, where he plainly showed his extraordinary talents, especially in literature and history. In 1694 he was ordained priest. In 1695 Count Charles Borromeo called him to the college of "Dottori" at the Ambrosian library in Milan, where he immediately started collecting unedited ancient writings of various kinds. His first publication was the "Anecdota latina ex Ambrosiame Bibliotheca; codicibus" (2 vols., Milan, 1697-98), followed by two other volumes (Padua, 1713). Duke Rinaldo I (1700) X.— 41
appointed him archivist and librarian in Modena,
which position he held until his death. In 1716 Mu-
ratori became, in addition, provost of St. Maria della
Pomposa, and conducted this parish with great zeal
until 1733. He continued publishing unedited writ-
ings, first among which was a volume, "Anecdota
grajca" (Padua, 1709). At the same time he culti-
vated literature, as is shown by his works, "Della
perfetta poesia italiana" (Modena, 1706) and "Ri-
flessioni sopra il buon gusto nelle scienze e nelle arti"
(Venice, 170S). He even intended to estabhsh some-
thing like a general society of Italian literature, and as
early as 1703 published for this purpose, under the
pseudonym "Lamindo Pritanio", a plan "Primi di-
segni della repubhca letteraria d'ltalia". In 1708
a quarrel broke out between the Holy See (aided
by the emperor)
and the Dukes
of Este, over the
possession of Co-
machio, which
involved the sov-
ereignty of the
district of Ferrara.
Muratori sup-
ported the claims
of his sovereign
and of the house
of Este against t he
pope by means of
numerous histor-
ical researches,
which he later on
utilized in the
preparation of a
great historical
work, " Antichita
Estensi ed Italiane" (2 vols., Modena: 1st vol., 1717;
2nd vol., 1740). He continued studying the sources
for a history of Italy, and as a fruit of his untiring re-
searches there appeared the monumental work, "Re-
rum italicarum Scriptores ab anno ajra) christianse
500 ad annum 1500". It was pubhshed in twenty-
eight folio volumes with the assistance of the "So-
ciety Palatina" of Milan (Milan, 1723-51). A new
critical edition is now (since 1900) appearing in serial
form under the direction of Giosue Carducci and Vit-
torio Fiorini in "Citta di Castello". J. Calligaris,
J. Filippi, and C. Merkel published " Indices chrono-
logici" (Turin, 1885) for the same. At the same time
Muratori edited a collection of seventy-five essays on
different historical themes, entitled "Antiquitates
itahcai medii aevi" (6 vols, fols., Milan, 1738-42), as
an elucidation and supplement to his work on the
sources. In the third volume of this collection there
is found the Muratorian canon (q. v.) which is of the
greatest importance for the history of the New Testa-
ment canon. In order to render these researches ac-
cessible to greater masses of his countrymen, he him-
self published a new edition in Italian, " Dissertazioni
sopra le Antichita italiane" (3 vols., Milan, 1751).
Other important publications of sources are his col-
lections of ancient inscriptions ("Novus thesaurus
veterum inscriptionum", 4 vols., Milan, 1739-42),
the fourth volume containing also the ancient Christian
inscriptions; and the edition of the Roman Sacramen-
taries ("Liturgiaromanavetus",2vols., Venice, 1748),
of value to this day. He wrote a great chronological
representation of Italian history ("Annali d' Itaha", 12
vols, quarto, Milan, 1744-49), based upon the numer-
ous sources which he published or which otherwise
were known. After his death this work was re-edited
and continued (Milan, 1753-56 in 17 vols.; new edition
in 18 vols., 1818-21).
The great mind of this learned man was not limited to the wide province of history; he was also interested in religious questions, and he published
