Arts: In Italy

Confirmed visitors to the Italian galleries, particularly in Venice and Florence,have been surprised in the last year or two at the marked improvements both in arrangement and condition of the paintings since the War. This progress has been a direct outcome of the policy of the Italian Government,stimulated by the menace to her art treasure imposed by the War. After the first Austrian bombardment of Venice, all her movable paintings were removed to the cities farther south and stored in vaults, while the immovable frescoes were piled high with sandbags. The canvases were found in serious decay, after years of neglect, almost ready to fall to pieces at a touch. Only the most painstaking care, covering the surfaces with invisible gauze and adhesive, and rolling them on wooden cylinders, preserved the Renaissance masterpieces from imminent destruction. Comparatively little damage was done in Venice by bombardment, because the Austrians, expecting to recapture the city, gave orders not to bomb the galleries and churches.