Salve Venetia, gleanings from Venetian history; vol. IICrawford, F. Marion (Francis Marion)
History
Salve Venetia, gleanings from Venetian history; vol. II
Crawford, F. Marion (Francis Marion)
Venice (Italy) -- History
dressed with flags, and trailing in her wake long line of Turkish
standards, and turbans and coats. Then the cannon thundered, and the
crew cried ‘Victory! Victory!’ and the triumphant note went rolling over
Venice, while Onofrio Giustiniani, the commander of the man-of-war, went
up to the ducal palace. Then the people went mad with joy, and demanded
that all prisoners should be set free in honour of the day; and the
Council allowed at least all those to be liberated who were in prison
for debt. Then, too, the people cried ‘Death to the Turks!’ and would
have massacred every Mussulman in the Turks’ quarter; but to the honour
of Venice it is recorded that the government was strong enough to hinder
that.
And then the Doge, Aloise Mocenigo, found his way through the closely
packed crowd to the Basilica,
[Sidenote: _Aloise Mocenigo, praying, Tintoretto; Sala del Collegio._]
and fifty thousand voices sang ‘Te Deum laudamus Domine,’ till the
triumphant strain must have been heard far out on the lagoon. During
four days processions marched through the streets and hymns of victory
and thanksgiving were sung; the greatest battle of the age had been
fought and won on the feast of Saint Justina, who was one of the patrons
of Venice. In return for her military assistance an enthusiastic and
devout people resolved to set up a statue of her in the Arsenal and to
build her a church in Padua, as she already had one in Venice.
Religious obligations being thus cancelled, the universal rejoicing
manifested itself in civic pageantry,
[Sidenote: _Rom. vi. 317._]
and, to use a modern expression, the Venetians held a general exhibition
of their treasures. The square of the Rialto was draped with scarlet
cloth, on which were hung the pictures of the most famous masters, at a
time when some of the greatest that ever lived were alive in Venice and
at the height of their glory. In the midst of the square a trophy was
raised, composed of Turkish arms and banners, turbans, slippers, jewels,
and all sorts of ornaments taken from the slain. From the jewellers’
lane to the bridge a canopy of blue cloth covered with golden stars was
spread high across the way, the most precious tapestries were hung on
the walls of the houses, the shops showed all their most artistic wares
in their windows. The German quarter was so crammed with beautiful
objects that it seemed one great enchanted palace. To increase the
general gaiety, the government made a special exception and allowed
masks in the streets.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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