http://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/register/venice-in-wartime-75xm2jdjh
january 26, 1917
Venice in wartime
Venice has been attacked from the air 21 times since the outbreak of the war. In 1915 there were eight bombardments, last year 13. These were made either by daylight or when the moon defined the position of the city on its lagoon and canals. It seems that some attempt has been made to aim at specific points — the arsenal, the station, the cotton mill — except during the violent assault which followed the fall of Gorizia, when bombs were sprinkled freely all over the town; but, in any case, the height at which the aeroplanes fly makes the incidence of the bombs a matter largely of chance. As to actual damage, it is surprising that there has been so little. Many of the bombs fell in the water and were comparatively harmless, but neither the Venetians nor their enemies can tell what precious monument may not be sacrificed in some future raid. The raid of October 20, 1915, demolished the roof of the Scalzi Church, near the railway station, with the ceiling by Tiepolo representing the Translation of the Holy House. Though the fresco was not one of Tiepolo’s finest works, it can never be replaced. On August 9 of last year incendiary bombs were used, and the roof of S Maria Formosa, the Shrine of Palma’s Sta Barbara, was completely burned, except for a fragment over the north transept. The August attacks wrought the greatest havoc, but on September 4 an incendiary bomb fell in the Piazza, only a few yards from the facade of S Marco. This naturally roused great alarm for the safety of the Ducal Palace and the Basilica. The bronze horses from the facade of S Marco are stabled in the Atrium, and covered with sandbags. The facade has disappeared behind a huge screen of timber. Inside, the church, on sunless days, is almost pitch-dark. The windows of the cupolas have been removed and, during a raid, are all left open. To prevent rain from entering, they have been filled with screens of rough, brownish cloth. The effect on the interior is most surprising. When the sun is shining the light coming through is of a soft, diffused yellow. This exactly hits the key of the mosaics, which are illumined by it, till each cupola shimmers and gleams like an inverted saucer of molten gold. It is a revelation of the mosaics of San Marco; they have never been seen like this before.
