ething of German style in its foliated ornament; but the objects
which are exhibited with most pride and with evident expectation of the
stupefaction of the tourist are a ewer and dish of silver-gilt, which
are covered with representations of sea creatures and weeds, worked with
the most extraordinary realism and fineness, and proving very
satisfactorily that the copying of nature and the production of a work
of art are not necessarily connected. They are kept in leather cases,
and the tourist generally makes the expected exclamations when they are
disclosed to view. There is an "N" stamped upon the metal, and it is
thought that Nuremberg was responsible for them.

[Illustration: RELIQUARY OF THE JAW OF S. STEPHEN OF HUNGARY]

[Illustration: CLOISTER OF THE DOMINICAN CONVENT, RAGUSA

_To face page 349_]

The church of S. Biagio is quite near, a late Renaissance building,
which replaced the votive church erected in 1349-52 after the plague of
1348, and burnt in 1706. Above the high-altar is the celebrated silver
statue of S. Blaise which was saved from the fire, and is now preserved
under glass. It is made of silver plates, gilded, on a basis of wood,
and shows the front part of an old man with a long beard, in episcopal
robes, holding a model of the city. The back portion has never been
completed. The head is too large, the neck too short, and the arms too
long. The chasuble has an embroidered cross with figures of Christ and
three saints or Apostles, with two little angels censing below the arms,
and a quatrefoil in the centre. Two half-length saints are on the
dalmatic beneath a double arch. The draperies are well treated,
especially the chasuble, upon which is worked an elaborate Burgundian
pattern. The details of the town which the saint holds in his hand prove
that it was made between 1480 and: 1485. It shows the harbour closed by
a chain. The breakwater was built in 1485. The clock-tower also appears
(built in 1480). The cast portions of the figure (of which the town is
one) are of silver of a different colour from that of the beaten parts,
and there is no-doubt, from the variety of style in certain of the
details that it has been restored more than once, probably after the
fires of 1547 and 1706.

[Illustration: PLAN OF THE DOMINICAN CONVENT, RAGUSA]

The Dominican convent is just within the Porta Ploce, and the stair
which leads to it dates back to Roman times, though it now has
Venetian-looking balustrade