Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 17.djvu/58

48 M U R M U R Ameneharads Rada, Risinge, and Flocla. One of these, the north chancel wall of the church of Rada, 1 3th century, has been selected (Plate I.) as a good and characteristic example of the treatment of a large wall-space in the 14th century ; the dado of painted curtain -folds, the tiers of single life-size figures in architectural niches treated with great breadth and decorative skill, and the band below of subjects on a rather smaller scale give a good idea of a common scheme of ecclesiastic decoration. An inscription on one of these paintings gives the date of their execution as 1323. The lower subject represents the death of the Virgin, above are figures of the apostles, and highest of all, painted on the curved boarding of the waggon-vault, are a row of seated prophets under round arches. The other examples on the same plate, given as specimens of loth -century flowing patterns, are from the church of Kumbla, also in Sweden, and fully illustrated in Mandel- gren s valuable work. Oriental Painting. In the churches and monasteries of the Greeks mural painting is still practised very much as it was in the 12th or 13th centuries. 1 Neither colouring, nor drawing, nor method has in the least altered during the last six hundred years. Everything is fixed by certain unchangeable hieratic rules, and the Greek painter-monk would think it impious to improve upon or deviate from the artistic canons for sacred subjects handed down from century to century. For this reason it is generally impos sible, from internal evidence, to guess the date of the interesting wall-paintings with which many churches in eastern Europe, Egypt, and Asia Minor are decorated. In India and Ceylon mural painting has been largely used from very early times, especially to decorate the walls of temples. Some of these appear to be executed in true fresco. Birth-stories of Buddha and other sacred subjects most frequently occur. As among the mediaeval and modern Greeks, the strong conservatism of the Hindu races makes it difficult to judge as to the dates of these paintings. 2 (w. MO. j. H. M.) MURANO, the ancient Ammariuno, an island in the Venetian lagoon about 1 mile north of Venice, is 5 miles in circumference, a large part of which is occupied by gardens. It contains about 4000 inhabitants, but was once much more populous than it is at present, its inhabit ants numbering 30,000. It was a favourite resort of the Venetian nobility before they began to build their villas on the mainland ; and in the 1 5th and 1 6th centuries its gardens and casinos, of which some traces still remain, were famous. It was here that the literary clubs of the Vigilanti, the Studiosi, the Occulti, used to meet. The town is built upon one broad main canal, where the tidal current runs with great force, and upon several smaller ones. The cathedral, S. Donato, is a fine basilica, probably of the llth century. The pavement is as richly inlaid as that of St Mark s, and the mosaics of the tribune are remarkable. The exterior of the tribune is very beauti ful, and has been successfully restored. The 15th-century church of St Peter the Martyr contains a fine picture by Gentile Bellini. Murano has from ancient times been cele brated for its glass manufactories. When and how the art was introduced is wrapped in great obscurity, but there are notices of it as early as the llth century; and in 1250 Cristoforo Briani, encouraged by the accounts of the gems of Guinea which the traveller Marco Polo brought to Venice, attempted the imitation of agate and chalcedony. From the labours of his pupil Miotto sprang the whole of that branch of the glass trade which is concerned with the imitation of gems. In the 15th century the first crystals were made, and in the 1 7th the various gradations of coloured and iridescent glass were invented, together with the composition called " aventurine " ; the manufac ture of .beads is now a main branch of the trade. The art of the glass- workers was taken under the protection of the Government in 1275, and regulated by a special code of laws and privileges ; two fairs were held annually, and the export of all materials, such as alum and sand, which enter into the composition of glass was absolutely forbidden. With the decay of Venice the importance of the Murano glass-works declined; but at the present time there are signs of renewed activity. As many as eight firms, em ploying 2500 hands, are engaged in the trade, the most renowned being "The Venezia Murano Company" and Salviati. The municipal museum contains a collection of glass illustrating the history and progress of the art. The island of Murano was first peopled by the inhabitants of Altino, when they fled before their barbarian invaders. It origin ally enjoyed independence under the rule of its tribunes and judges, and was one of the twelve confederate islands of the lagoons. In the 12th century the doge Vital Michel! II. incorporated Murauo in Venice and attached it to the Sestiere of S. Croce. From that date it was governed by a Venetian nobleman with the title of podesta, whose office lasted sixteen months. Murano, however, still retained its original constitution of a greater and a lesser council for the transaction of municipal business, and also the right to coin fold and silver, as well as its judicial powers civil and criminal, he interests of the town were watched at the ducal palace by a nuncio and a solicitor ; and this constitution remained in force till the fall of the republic. Bool;s. Venezia e le Sue Lagune; Paoletti, II Fiore di Venezia; Bussolin, Guula alle Fabbriche vetrarie di Murano ; Romanin, Storia Documentatu di Veiu- zia, vol. i. p. 41. MURAT, JOACHIM (1768-1815), king of Naples and a celebrated French cavalry leader, was, according to most accounts, the younger son of an innkeeper at Bastide For- tuniere in the department of Lot, France, and was born in 1768, but by his own account his father was a well-to-do farmer in that village. This is most probably the truth, as after being educated at a seminary at Cahors he was entered at the university of Toulouse, where he studied canon law. He was intended for the priesthood, but led a reckless life ; and after spending all his money he enlisted in a cavalry regiment. He had attained the rank of "marechal des logis " in 1789, and was the recognized leader of the young soldiers from his great prowess in all athletics and feats of daring. His influence was so great and so prejudicial to authority that he received unlimited leave of absence in 1790. In November 1791 he was elected by the department of Lot a member of the garde 1 See Byzantine MS. from Mt. Atlios, quoted by Didron, Iconogr. Chret. 2 Many books given under the head of Early Christian paintings in Italy " apply also to this last division. Plates and descriptions of mediaeval paintings are mostly scattered through the proceedings of various societies, such as those of the Society of Antiquaries (Archaeo- logia, Vet. Mon., and Proceedings), the Archaeological Institute, the Archaeological Association, and many other central and local societies in England and abroad. The " List of English buildings with mural decoration" (Science and Art Depart., S. Kens. Mus. , 1872) gives references to illustrations of most of the paintings catalogued. See also Merrifield, Original Treatises on Painting, Yith to 18th century (1849) ; Latilla, Treatise on Fresco, Encaustic, and Tempera (1842) ; Woltmann and Woermanu, Hist, of Painting, vol. i. (1880); Blackburn, Decorative Painting (1847) , Collins, Gothic Ornaments (1850); Meri- mee, Peintures de I Eglise de S. Savin (1845) ; Straub, Peint. mur. en Alsace; Voisin, Peint. mur. dela CatMdralde Tournay; Fleury, Peint. mur. du Lannnois (1860); Galembert, Peint. mur. de St Mesme de C% mem (1855); Gaucherel, Decoration applique a I Architecture; David, Hist, de la Peinture au Moyen Age (1863); Hotho, Gesch. d. christ- lichen Malerei (1872) ; Zahn, Ornamente allcr MassiscJien Kunstepochen (1843-48); Salazaro, Mon. dell Italia Meridionale, 4to al 13??w> sec. (1872-80); Racinet, Polychromatic Ornament (1873); Owen Jones, Grammar of Ornament (1842-45); Gailhabaud, L A rchitecture d u v. au xvii. siede (1869-72); Fdrster, Gesch. der Ital. Kunst; Dohme, Kunst u. Kiinstlcr d. Mittelalters (1877); Ridolfi, Maraviylie dell Arte.