[377] I have already spoken of “lacis” as either darned netting or drawn work. Of this there is an English specimen at Prague, said by tradition to be the gift of Queen Anne of Bohemia, wife of Richard II. It originally trimmed or bordered an ecclesiastical garment.
[378] For further information, we refer the reader to M. Urbani de Gheltof’s book on Venice laces already cited (Organia, Venice, 1876), and Lady Layard’s translation (1882).
[379] I am assured on the best authority that this is unknown as yet at Burano; but the workers, as well as the revived industry, are very young. The modern school of Burano has only been established eleven years. It is certainly delightful to see the 320 happy faces, singing, chattering, and smiling over their graceful occupation; and the beauty of the Buranese women, which is celebrated, has not suffered from their occupation. There is a charming little article of the Revista di Torino, 1883, which describes the improvement in the social condition of Burano, morally and physically, and the way it is recognized by the inhabitants. Instead of signs of miserable poverty, the promoters of the lace school are greeted by the women leaning from the windows with, “Siestu benedetta!” (“Be thou blessed!”).
[380] The word “tapestry” comes from the Greek tapes, which is used equally for hangings or carpets. The Italians call carpets “tapeti” to this day. It is believed to have been originally an Egyptian word for such fabrics.
[381] For instance, the embroidered hangings of the eighth century at Gerona, in Spain, have been more than once quoted as proofs of tapestries having been manufactured there at that period.
[382] The “slay” means the “strike.” The word had the same meaning originally: to slay a man was to strike him.
[383] See De Champeaux, South Kensington Museum Art Handbook, 1878.
[384] “Bibliothèque des Merveilles” (sur les Tapisseries), publié sous la direction de M. Edouard Charton, à Paris, 1876.
[385] Martial, xiv. 150.
[386] Minerva accepts the challenge of the Mæonian Arachne, who will not yield to her in the praises of being first in weaving wool. The girls desert the vineyards round the little town of Hypæpa, to look at her admirable workmanship. She boasts that hers is finer than that of Pallas, and, desiring a vain victory, rushes upon her own destruction. “... They stretch out two webs on the loom, with a fine warp. The web is tied to the beam; the slay separates the warp; the woof is inserted in the middle with sharp shuttles, while the fingers hurry along, and being drawn with the warp, the teeth (notched in the moving slay) strike it. Both hasten on their labour, and girding up their garments to their bosoms, they move their skilful arms, their eagerness beguiling their fatigue. There are being woven both the purples, which are subjected to the Tyrian brazen (dyeing) vessel with fine shades of minute difference; as in the rainbow with its mighty rays reflected by the shower, where, though a thousand colours are shining, yet the very transition eludes the eyes that look upon it; to such a degree is that which is adjacent the same, and yet the extremes are different. The pliant gold is mingled with the threads, and ancient subjects are represented on the webs.” Then follows the list of the subjects. The web of Pallas had a large central design, and a smaller one on each corner, surrounded with a border of olive leaves. Arachne’s contained nineteen pictures, of two or more figures each, and was surrounded by a border of flowers, interwoven with the twining ivy. Ovid’s “Metamorphoses,” book vi.