ettled at Burano, where
it has been so lately revived.

At the Cathedral of Burano, is kept in the sacristy, perhaps the
finest existing piece of artistic lace of the sixteenth century. It
contains many groups of figures from the history of our Lord,
beautiful both in design and execution, worked in "Punti Fogliami,"
and filled in with exquisite tracery. This was the border of an
antipendium.

Mrs. Palliser laments the extinction of the art in Venice, and says
that but one woman of the old craft had survived; but her elegy was
premature, as that old woman, by name Cencia Scarpariola, has lived to
see hundreds of girls at Burano reviving all the old traditions,
having learnt from her the secrets of the "mestiere," or "mystery."
Under the patronage of the Princess Margherita, now Queen of Italy,
and with the active help and superintendence of Countess Adriana
Marcello and Princess Giovanelli, most beautiful laces are now made in
every old point, French and Flemish, as well as Venetian. Pezzi,
merli, and merletti are executed in the different styles which include
all lace-making, and of which we here give a list from M. de Gheltof's
book:--

Net lace.
Cut lace.
Open lace.
Flowered lace.
Knotted lace.
Darning or square netting.
Venice point.
Burano point.
Drawn lace.[377]
Embroidered linen.[378]

The price of these laces is very high, but not beyond their value when
we consider the vast amount of skilled labour bestowed on them. We are
often told that old lace is cheaper than new, as an absurd fact,
because the antiquity of lace is supposed to add to its value. Yes,
but principally as an object of archaeological interest; whereas that
which is being made now is supporting by its daily wage the
needlewoman and her family, and perhaps providing for her old age;
and as the strain on the eye is very heavy, many lace-workers early in
life lose their sight, at least for all the purposes of their
craft.[379] For these reasons we cannot say that the prices required
for such luxurious trimmings are unreasonable. Zanon da Udine gives us
an idea of how costly they were in old times. He says that Giuseppe
Berardi, a lace merchant in Venice, made a profit of 75,000 francs on
a commission for a set of lace bed-hangings for the wedding of Joseph
II., Emperor of Germany, which proves the high prices paid for the new
laces of their day.

Blond laces, which take their turn occasionally as