DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.55699#0138
108 THE LANDSCAPE ANNUAL.
seemed only to notice the singularity of my standing up ;
nor was I reprimanded afterwards, either by his Holiness
or by any of the Romans.”
In visiting the church of St. Mark, the treasury of the
saint was always an object of great curiosity to travellers,
more especially as the obtaining access to it was a mat-
ter of some difficulty. The keys of the treasury were
committed to the custody of three procurators of St.
Mark, the presence of one of whom was necessary when-
ever the doors were opened. The relics were contained
in one room, and the jewels and other rich curiosities in
another. The temporal treasury was formerly very rich,
and the strangers who visited it were carefully watched.
“ At the showing of it,” says Mr. Wright,“ the procurator
was closely present himself.” It contained the corno or
state-cap of the Doge, twelve golden breastplates, adorned
with precious stones, and twelve crowns, said to have
been worn by the maids of honour of the empress Helena,
together with several large and valuable gems. Howell,
in his “ Familiar Letters,” tells us, that he saw there “ a
huge iron chest, as tall as himself, that had no lock,
but a crevice through which they cast in the gold that
was bequeathed to St. Mark in legacies, whereon there
was engraved this proud motto :
Quando questo scrinio s’ apria
Tutto ’1 mondo tremera.”
One of the most remarkable curiosities in the treasury
of St. Mark is a very ancient copy of the Gospels, the
handwriting of which the piety of the Venetians has at-
tributed to their patron saint. This volume was care-
seemed only to notice the singularity of my standing up ;
nor was I reprimanded afterwards, either by his Holiness
or by any of the Romans.”
In visiting the church of St. Mark, the treasury of the
saint was always an object of great curiosity to travellers,
more especially as the obtaining access to it was a mat-
ter of some difficulty. The keys of the treasury were
committed to the custody of three procurators of St.
Mark, the presence of one of whom was necessary when-
ever the doors were opened. The relics were contained
in one room, and the jewels and other rich curiosities in
another. The temporal treasury was formerly very rich,
and the strangers who visited it were carefully watched.
“ At the showing of it,” says Mr. Wright,“ the procurator
was closely present himself.” It contained the corno or
state-cap of the Doge, twelve golden breastplates, adorned
with precious stones, and twelve crowns, said to have
been worn by the maids of honour of the empress Helena,
together with several large and valuable gems. Howell,
in his “ Familiar Letters,” tells us, that he saw there “ a
huge iron chest, as tall as himself, that had no lock,
but a crevice through which they cast in the gold that
was bequeathed to St. Mark in legacies, whereon there
was engraved this proud motto :
Quando questo scrinio s’ apria
Tutto ’1 mondo tremera.”
One of the most remarkable curiosities in the treasury
of St. Mark is a very ancient copy of the Gospels, the
handwriting of which the piety of the Venetians has at-
tributed to their patron saint. This volume was care-