DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.68745#0033
ENVIRONMENT
rare setting made a framework for rare and exquisite treasures,
furniture, statues, bronzes, pictures by Bellini and Carpaccio, glass
from Murano, gorgeous stuffs from Eastern towns, glowing silks
of Venetian manufacture. The great salas, so characteristic of the
palaces, as well as the smaller and more intimate apartments,
were very shrines of all that was exquisite in taste and magnificent
in colour. The brilliance was tempered by the windows which
were glazed with thick greenish glass in round bosses set in iron-
work, and at night the halls were lighted by oriental lamps in
copper or engraved bronze, or by candles in Venetian glass holders,
ornamented with many-coloured crystals.
The inhabitants of these palaces often changed the fashion of
their attire, but the luxury was unchanging. Gold brocades,
velvets, satins, ermine, sable, and precious stones were the
necessary items of a great lady’s wardrobe. The nobles wore
crimson silk or long black or violet robes bordered with ermine,
and in winter embroidered mantles lined with fur. Rich white
satin, fine hand-made linen and priceless lace gave touches of
light, and pearls gleamed with redoubled lustre against the
sumptuous robes. From the long array of sumptuary laws, we
gather how widespread was the luxury of dress, and with what
calm persistence all attempts to check it were disregarded or
evaded. An attempt to regulate the length of trains only
resulted in the invention of jewelled clasps for looping them up.
For once in the world’s history this magnificence was for a
time indicative of a deep and widespread prosperity; colour and
beauty were the food of everyday life. The homes of the people
spoke of a modest abundance; they had their good furniture of
polished walnut and brass, their marriage chests, their hoards
of damasks, even rich carpets and gold chains and gleaming silver
and copper utensils.
And patrician and plebeian alike united in the enjoyment of
an apparently unending succession of festas, processions, and
pageants. A feast in one of those houses, with the walls lined with
tapestries and mirrors from Murano, filled with guests wearing
silks and velvets in every fashion, and precious stones gleaming in
the light of a thousand tapers, must have seemed like a fairy
vision. But even these were less astonishing than the public
7
rare setting made a framework for rare and exquisite treasures,
furniture, statues, bronzes, pictures by Bellini and Carpaccio, glass
from Murano, gorgeous stuffs from Eastern towns, glowing silks
of Venetian manufacture. The great salas, so characteristic of the
palaces, as well as the smaller and more intimate apartments,
were very shrines of all that was exquisite in taste and magnificent
in colour. The brilliance was tempered by the windows which
were glazed with thick greenish glass in round bosses set in iron-
work, and at night the halls were lighted by oriental lamps in
copper or engraved bronze, or by candles in Venetian glass holders,
ornamented with many-coloured crystals.
The inhabitants of these palaces often changed the fashion of
their attire, but the luxury was unchanging. Gold brocades,
velvets, satins, ermine, sable, and precious stones were the
necessary items of a great lady’s wardrobe. The nobles wore
crimson silk or long black or violet robes bordered with ermine,
and in winter embroidered mantles lined with fur. Rich white
satin, fine hand-made linen and priceless lace gave touches of
light, and pearls gleamed with redoubled lustre against the
sumptuous robes. From the long array of sumptuary laws, we
gather how widespread was the luxury of dress, and with what
calm persistence all attempts to check it were disregarded or
evaded. An attempt to regulate the length of trains only
resulted in the invention of jewelled clasps for looping them up.
For once in the world’s history this magnificence was for a
time indicative of a deep and widespread prosperity; colour and
beauty were the food of everyday life. The homes of the people
spoke of a modest abundance; they had their good furniture of
polished walnut and brass, their marriage chests, their hoards
of damasks, even rich carpets and gold chains and gleaming silver
and copper utensils.
And patrician and plebeian alike united in the enjoyment of
an apparently unending succession of festas, processions, and
pageants. A feast in one of those houses, with the walls lined with
tapestries and mirrors from Murano, filled with guests wearing
silks and velvets in every fashion, and precious stones gleaming in
the light of a thousand tapers, must have seemed like a fairy
vision. But even these were less astonishing than the public
7