[By Domenico Manera.]

157. GIOVANNI PIERLUIGI, surnamed DI PALESTRINA. _Musical Composer._

[Born 1524. Died 1594. Aged 70.]

Palestrina is justly described in his epitaph as “Musicæ Princeps.” He

was the greatest musician of his time, and the creator of Church music.

Before his day the music of profane, and even immoral songs, had been

allied with church masses. He reformed the custom by the production of a

sacred composition that ravished every hearer. In 1555, he was Musical

Director to the Church of St. John Lateran. Ten years afterwards, he was

named Composer to the Pontifical Chapel. But he was in straitened

circumstances throughout his career. His music continues a model at this

hour. He had a singular capacity for apprehending the poetic character

of his subject.

158. ANNIBALE CARRACCI. _Painter._

[Born at Bologna, 1560. Died at Rome, 1609. Aged 49.]

One of the three Carracci who founded a new school of painting (the

Bolognese school), the fundamental principles of which were the study of

nature, and a close imitation of the great masters. At Rome, painted the

gallery of the Farnese palace with mythological frescos, which display

masterly drawing, excellent arrangement of draperies, and an agreeable,

clear colouring. Produced landscapes as well as historical works. His

facility in drawing marvellous. Amongst the pupils of the Carracci

school were Domenichino, Guercino, and Guido Reni.

[The author of this bust is not known. It was executed at the expense

of Carlo Maratta.]

159. DOMENICHINO, also called DOMENICO ZAMPIERI. _Painter._

[Born at Bologna, 1581. Died at Naples, 1641. Aged 60.]

A famous painter of the Bolognese school. A pupil of the Carracci. At

Rome, painted some frescos, and other pictures, but was poorly paid. His

life one series of misfortunes. His fame and skill excited the jealousy

of the Roman and Neapolitan artists, who destroyed his paintings, mixed

deleterious compounds with his colours, and--it is believed--at last

poisoned him. His works occasionally reveal artlessness, and a clear

conception of nature, but he never escapes from the trammels of the

imitative school of the Carracci. His great work, the “Communion of St.

Jerome,” pronounced by Poussin only inferior to the Transfiguration of

Raffaelle. Yet for this picture, Domenichino received fifty scudi--about

ten guineas. In person, stout and short--hence his name, Domenichino

(little Dominic). Passionately fond of music, and devoted to study and

tranquillity. Whilst he painted, he would have his house as quiet and as

noiseless as a monastery.

[By Alessandro d’Este. There is another bust of him in the Louvre by

Mlle. Charpentier.]

160. PIETRO DI CORTONA, or PIETRO BERETTINI. _Painter._

[Born at Cortona, 1596 or 1609. Died at Rome, probably about 1669.]

A painter of the modern and degenerate school of art, who lived and

worked at Florence and Rome. So stupid in his youth, that he was called

“Ass’s Head.” Was employed to paint a ceiling in the Barberini

palace--perhaps the largest picture ever undertaken by a single artist.

At Florence he executed the ceilings of the Pitti palace.

[This bust is by Pietro Pierantoni.]

161. ARCANGELO CORELLI. _Violinist and Composer._

[Born at Fusignano, near Bologna, 1653. Died at Rome, 1713. Aged 60.]

Corelli’s playing was distinguished by the most perfect sweetness and

smoothness. Of execution, as now understood, he had none. But he

possessed grace, finish, and an exquisite power of expression. His works

still keep their ground as an indispensable study for all who would

acquire a broad and artist-like style of playing. He was a modest and

unaffected man, and enjoyed an equable temper, which not even the rough

outbursts of Handel could disconcert. He had also humour. He would lay

down his violin if folks talked whilst he was playing, and apologize for

interrupting the conversation.

[Corelli was buried in the Pantheon at Rome. The author of this bust

is not mentioned; it was executed at the cost of Cardinal Ottoboni,

Corelli’s constant friend and patron.]

162. LUDOVICO ANTONIO MURATORI. _Antiquary._

[Born at Vignola, in Italy, 1672. Died at Modena, in Italy, 1750. Aged

78.]

Contributed much valuable material towards the History of Italy in the

Middle Ages. Librarian to the Duke of Modena for the space of fifty

years.

[By Adamo Tadolino.]

163. BENEDETTO MARCELLO. _Writer and Musician._

[Born at Venice, 1686. Died at Brescia, in Italy, 1739. Aged 53.]

A lawyer and public officer; he was also a distinguished poet, and a

musical composer of a high order. His most celebrated work is a

Paraphrase of the first fifty Psalms, arranged for one, two, three, or

four voices; it is remarkable for great tenderness, united with the

religious feeling, and vehemence of style, which have obtained for the

author from his fond countrymen the appellation of the Pindar and

Michael Angelo of musicians. He also composed sonnets, madrigals, and

dramatic pieces.

[By Domenico Manera.]

164. GIAMBATISTA PIRANESI. _Engraver._

[Born at Rome, 1707. Died there, 1778. Aged 71.]

An excellent and laborious artist. Has produced a great work in sixteen

volumes upon the antiquities and curiosities of Rome. Has never been

surpassed for his skill in representing architectural ruins and

restorations. He also displays singular powers of invention, and his

fancy subjects show consummate execution. He acquired great and widely

extended fame during his life.

[By Antonio d’Este.]

165. GIOVANNI PAISIELLO. _Musical Composer._

[Born at Tarento, in Italy, 1741. Died at Naples, 1816. Aged 75.]

A dramatic composer of extraordinary fertility. His works remarkable for

their number, rather than for their eminence. He was the son of a

veterinary surgeon. In 1777, he came to St. Petersburgh, upon the

invitation of Queen Catharine, and remained there, in great honour,

during eight years. In 1802, he answered Napoleon’s summons to Paris,

and composed the mass and other music for the coronation, in 1804.

Shortly after this event, he retired to Naples, where, in consequence of

his many political tergiversations, he fell into disgrace, and closed a

brilliant career in neglect and chagrin. His character as a man is not

pleasing. He was jealous, unscrupulous, mean, and cringing.

[By Pietro Pierantoni.]

166. NICCOLO ZINGARELLI. _Musician._

[Born at Naples, 1752. Died 1837. Aged 85.]

The author of several operas no longer performed. One, his most

celebrated work, “Romeo and Juliet,” still represented in France and

Germany, and rendered popular in England by Pasta’s personation of

Romeo. The last of the Italian composers for the church. His oratorio of

“The Destruction of Jerusalem,” a noble composition, written in the

classical style of the old ecclesiastical school. During his later years

he led the life of a recluse.

167. DOMENICO CIMAROSA. _Musical Composer._

[Born at Aversa, near Naples, 1755. Died at Venice, 1801. Aged 47.]

A cobbler’s son and a baker’s apprentice. It was the duty of the lad to

fetch daily a batch of dough from the house of Aprili, the great singing

master of his time: and the musical sounds always ringing through the

house touched his spirit and elicited his genius. Aprili caught him

listening at the keyholes, and considerately sent him to a free musical

school in Naples. At the age of 19, Cimarosa quitted the Conservatorio,

and immediately afterwards wrote his first work--the music to a farce

called “Baroness Stramba.” From this time forward his compositions for

the theatre were incessant, and invariably successful. In 1787,

Catharine of Russia invited him to St. Petersburgh, whither he went; but

his health failing, he betook him, in 1792, to Vienna, and there entered

the service of the Emperor Leopold. In his 38th year, after he had

written 70 operas and dramatic works, he composed his masterpiece, “Il

Matrimonio Segreto.” The Emperor of Austria was so delighted with the

performance, that after supping the composer and the singers, he took

the whole of them back to the theatre, and made them sing the opera

through again. The operas of Mozart, then dying a few miles off, had

fallen at the same theatre upon cold and unfeeling ears. Few

compositions of Cimarosa are known at the present day, though his

innumerable productions were highly popular whilst he lived. His music

exhibits some originality and a prodigal flow and variety of ideas. His

scoring is peculiarly brilliant, and his comic powers were great.

[By Canova.]

168. ANTONIO CANOVA. _Sculptor._

[Born at Passagno, in Upper Italy, 1757. Died at Venice, 1822. Aged

65.]

One of the most celebrated of modern sculptors. When five years old,

evinced a taste for his art, and at fourteen was a pupil of Tonetto, a

sculptor at Venice. From Venice went to Rome, where he executed many

works. A favourite of Buonaparte, whose portrait, for the colossal

statue of the Emperor (in the possession of the Duke of Wellington) he

modelled at Paris, and from which was taken the bust No.      . He had

no pupils; for he used to say that “the master’s compositions were the

best instructors.” His works are very numerous; casts from some of the

most celebrated are to be found in the court of modern Italian

Sculpture. His imaginative pieces more successful than his portraits,

although many of these are master-pieces of art. In execution he was

unrivalled; but his taste is not always pure. In person Canova was below

the middle height, his eyes full of expression, and the general

character of his face indicative of good-nature. He was much beloved at

Rome as the generous friend of his brother artists.

[From the colossal marble bust by his own hand, in the Protomoteca of

the Capitol at Rome.]

169. GASPARO SPONTINI. _Musician._

[Born at Majolatti, in the Roman States, 1778. Died there, 1851. Aged

73.]

Educated at Naples, and at the early age of seventeen commenced his

musical career as the composer of an opera, which was rapidly followed

by sixteen more. In 1803, he went to Paris, and continued composing

operas. In 1807, appointed musical Director to the Empress Josephine;

and in 1808, produced with great success his best work, “La Vestale.”

From 1810 to 1820, Director of the Italian Opera in Paris. Then invited

to Berlin, where he wrote some more operas, and remained until the death

of the late king in 1840. The greater part of the music composed by

Spontini is forgotten. He was eclipsed by the genius of Rossini, but he

had remarkable ability as a dramatic composer. His instrumentation was

original, and his music abounds in melody.

[By Rauch, 1827. From the marble on the Monument to Spontini, at Tesi,

in Italy.]

170. NICCOLO PAGANINI. _Violinist._

[Born at Genoa, 1784. Died at Nice, 1840. Aged 56.]

The greatest of modern fiddlers, who performed in the principal cities

of Europe, and acquired more fame and money by playing on one string,

than any of the brotherhood ever gained on all four. He looked like a

magician, and his playing justified his looks.

[By Dantan, 1837.]

171. MARIA FELICITAS MALIBRAN. _Actress._

[Born in Paris, 1808. Died at Manchester, 1836. Aged 28.]

A wonderfully gifted dramatic genius, too soon cut off by death. In

France, England, Germany and Italy, she created enthusiastic admiration,

as much by her histrionic powers, as by her efforts as a songstress. She

was a child of nature, and as benevolent as she was richly endowed with

intellectual gifts. She made the noblest uses of the earnings of her

industry, and was beloved by her fellow artists for the unaffected

goodness of her heart. No actress of her time equalled her for truth and

passion. Whatever art was in her, lay concealed. It never came to view.

Her acting assailed the feelings of men, and took them prisoner. Escape

was its own punishment.

[By Flosi.]

171A. MARIA FELICITAS MALIBRAN. _Actress._

[For account of this statue, see Handbook to Modern Sculpture, No.

108.]

172. GIULIA GRISI. _Italian Singer._

[Born in 1816. Still living.]

Made her first appearance in London during the season of 1834, being

then 18 years old. From that time until her retirement from the English

stage in 1854, not absent for a single season. Her voice a soprano of

great power and of exquisite purity. Her histrionic talents, of the

highest order, displayed equally in the artless peasant girl, and in the

passionate and revengeful Semiramis. During twenty years she reigned

supreme as queen of the lyric drama, finding many rivals, but no equal.

[By Flosi.]

POETS AND DRAMATISTS.

173. DANTE ALIGHIERI. _Poet._

[Born at Florence, 1265. Died at Ravenna, 1321. Aged 56.]

The eldest and greatest poet of modern Italy. He was of a noble

Florentine family. He came into stormy times, and his life was

tempestuous. His native city was then split between the fierce hostile

factions of the Guelphs and Ghibellines, the two great parties that

distracted Germany and Italy in the middle ages. An _urban_ faction in

Florence was that of the Blacks and Whites. Dante was a Ghibelline, and

a White: a keen partisan, and a distinguished citizen, he shared the

passions and the vicissitudes of his party. Two battles are mentioned in

which he gained honour as a soldier. At thirty-five, he was in the

supreme magistrature of the city. When Charles of Anjou, in passing

through Florence, took the part of the Blacks, Dante was amongst the

sufferers. He was condemned to exile, and confiscation of his property:

but, on a revision of the sentence, to be burned alive. He wandered

long, in France and in Italy, and rested at last, under the shelter of

Guido Novelli, at Ravenna. He died there. He was once married, but not

happily. A boyish love for Beatrice Portinari lives, as a sort of

ethereal idea, throughout his poetry and life. He wandered and sang. His

marvellous poem, “The Divine Comedy,” was composed during his long

exile. It at once raised the modern Italian to the rank of a classical

tongue, and the poetry of modern Italy to a height to which it has never

again soared. The poet relates his journey, as a living man, through the

three invisible worlds, which receive, as his church teaches, the souls

of other men when released from the body: Hell, Purgatory, Heaven.

Through Hell and Purgatory he is led by the shade of the poet

Virgil--indeed his beloved leader in their common art. Through Paradise,

his Beatrice herself, in whom he impersonates Theology, guides him. The

ghosts he sees, those under punishment especially, are chiefly his

deceased contemporaries, and Italians: so that the other shadowy world

is with him almost a reflexion of his own world here. From the first

step of his pilgrimage to the last, he sees sights of his own imagining,

transcending all experience, almost all conception, yet delineated with

such vivid precision, in language so simply real, that a feeling only

short of belief accompanies the reader, and remains with him. Italian

peasants meeting the poet, pointed out, as they looked with awe on “his

pale and visionary brow,” the man who had been down to Hell. Prominent

characteristics of his poetry are strength, daring, intensity, grace,

absolute self-reliance, and boundless invention: above all, the

continual self-presence of the poet as the centre to his own thoughts,

and to the worlds which he traverses and describes. He began to write

his poem in Latin verse; but Dante was too essentially a poet to write

out of his mother-tongue;--a poet expresses _himself_ in his verse, and

only the mother-tongue is near enough to him for that.

[This Bust is by Alessandro d’Este, and was placed in the Protomoteca

at the expense of Canova. It corresponds in the chief characteristics

of the face with the portraits taken from the life, of which there are

several. In Florence Cathedral, near the tomb of Giotto, is an

authentic portrait. The one lately discovered on a wall in the palace

of the Podestà at Florence, is extremely interesting, as being a

youthful likeness by the hand of his friend Giotto. The monument to

Dante in S. Croce is the work of Stefano Ricci. It was erected in

1829, at the public expense.]

174. FRANCESCO PETRARCA. _Poet._

[Born in Tuscany, 1304. Died at Argua, near Padua, 1374. Aged 70.]

The crown around the brow of Petrarch has many gems. He is poet,

diplomatist, scholar, and restorer of ancient letters. To the world, he

is the great Italian sonnetteer. This extremely artificial metrical

scheme, which seems, however, singularly congenial to his native speech,

afforded him the temptation, in the means, to write incessant effusions

on one love, really or ideally entertained. He was an ecclesiastic under

a law of celibacy. Thus separated from the object of his presumed

affections, he allied his soul to hers in verse. His love-strains are

studies, without number, of the passion, in its endlessly varying moods

and moments--half of them wreaths laid at the feet of the living

Laura--half, strewings on her untimely tomb. The flowers, disclosed by

the rapidly advancing Spring of the language, breathe the freshness,

sweetness, and innocent grace of the season. Ever since, every son of

song in Italy strikes this lute of a few chords, but Petrarch remains

its Apollo.

[By Carlo Finelli.]

175. GIACOMO SANAZZARO. _Poet._

[Born at Naples, 1458. Died there, 1530. Aged 72.]

A devoted adherent of the House of Arragon, whom he followed in their

disastrous campaign in defence of the Church. During his travels he

published his poem of “Arcadia,” which gave a new phase to Italian

poetry. A great admirer of Virgil and Propertius.

[From his tomb in Santa Maria del Parto at Naples, by Girolamo Santa

Croce, a Neapolitan sculptor of the 15th century. His tomb is one of

the most beautiful monuments of the time; designed by Santa Croce, and

sculptured by Montorsoli. Two weeping angels lean over the bust which

bears the name ACTIUS SINCERUS, under which he published many of his

works. At the sides of the tomb are statues of Apollo and Minerva,

said to be antique, but now called David and Judith.]

176. LUIGI ARIOSTO. _Poet._

[Born at Reggio, in Italy, 1474. Died at Ferrara, 1533. Aged 59.]

A poet from the cradle: constrained by his father to bestow five years

on the study of the law: then released to literature. He was Gentleman

of the Court to two princes: from both he received scanty pay: from the

one 75 crowns (or about £15 a year), from the other 84 crowns. He lived

and died poor, having enjoyed great independence of spirit, and the

barren respect of Italian princes. His talents for business were

remarkable. His great poem the “Orlando Furioso” is of a species which

then deluged Italian literature. It is a web of adventures of knight

errantry. These turn round the person of Charlemagne, and the invasion

of France by the Moors--poetically misdated to his reign. The copious

flow and untiring spirit of the narrative is without comparison. The

skill with which Ariosto carries on a labyrinth of separate adventures,

and brings them to meet, is peculiar to himself. The variety in the

invention of the characters, and the flexibility of the pure and musical

style to the humorous or the pathetic, the warlike or the tender, the

natural and the marvellous, are singularly characteristic of the power

of this poet; who grasps his subject meanwhile like a man of business

and of the world, and whose tone is, on the whole, rather that of

intellectual superiority to his subject than of passionate absorption by

it. A vein even of irony breaks through; and the enthusiastic lover of

romance suffers a pang of scepticism from the suggested incredulity of

his priest. They tell, how, when governor of a wild Appenine province,

he fell, on a solitary walk, into the hands of banditti. The captain, on

recognising the poet of the Orlando Furioso, apologized for the rudeness

of his men, and set his captive at liberty.

[By Carlo Finelli. There is a life-size bust upon his monument in the

Benedictine Monastery at Ferrara, where he is buried.]

177. TORQUATO TASSO. _Poet._

[Born at Sorrento, near Naples, 1544. Died at Rome, 1595. Aged 51.]

One of the small cluster of spirits whose uttered thoughts have fastened

upon the world’s ear for all time. One of the still smaller group whose

personal history, growing out of the poetical temperament, weighs in

interest against their consummate work. We discover too little of the

life of Shakspeare. We know too much of the story of Torquato Tasso. The

Swan of Avon sings, and not a milk-white feather is ruffled in the song.

Personal anguish quivers through the high heroic strain of him who, in

Italian, with unequalled art, told the inspiriting story of the

recovered Holy City. How shall Torquato’s touching and saddening tale be

concentrated in a sentence? He was already a scholar when a

child--delicately organized in the flesh--wondrously endowed in soul. At

eighteen he had given forth a poem--worthy sign of his coming strength.

He was at the Court of Alphonso II., Duke of Ferrara, when he commenced

his great epic, and dared--he was a poet’s son--to fix his strong

affection upon the Princess Leonora, sister of the Duke. In 1575, the

“Jerusalem Delivered” was completed. Its beauty was too evident, for it

raised a pitiless storm of envy, enmity, and persecution. His passion

for the princess was detected, and he was imprisoned as a madman.

Breaking loose, he wandered footsore from place to place, but found his

way too speedily back to Ferrara. Caught again, he was again confined,

suffering new imprisonment for seven long years. He came forth at last,

a melancholy man. It availed him little that at Rome, in 1595, he was

solemnly crowned with laurel by the pope, and every honour showered upon

his illustrious head. He died, worn out with troubles of heart and mind,

only a few days after his sublime coronation. The “Jerusalem Delivered”

is built upon the essential basis of epic poetry--the profound and

associated sympathy of innumerable hearers. In the poem, as out of it,

the universal heart of Christendom is arrayed against the misbelieving

world. Tasso wrote in an age when the religious passion, which was the

soul of the Crusades, survived sufficiently for a hope in the poet that

his strain would reanimate the Red-cross warfare. As man, and as poet,

enthusiasm was predominant in him. The salient characters of the poem

are well-defined, each complete in itself, and all standing well apart

from, and relieving one another, although hardly, perhaps, flung forth

in desirable plenitude of dramatic life and effect. The subject, as we

all know, was the successful first Crusade--which took Jerusalem--under

the pious, magnanimous, and truly heroic Godfrey of Bouillon. The

structure of the plot is well balanced: the art of the writing

exquisite: possibly too much so. It is generally self-conscious and

elaborate, rather than inspired and impetuous.

[By Alessandro d’Este, and presented to the Capitoline Museum by

Canova. Tasso’s tomb in St. Onuphrius was not erected until some time

after his death. There is a portrait in mosaic over it.]

178. PIETRO BONAVENTURA METASTASIO. _Poet._

[Born at Rome, 1698. Died at Vienna, 1782. Aged 84.]

Born of poor parents. When ten years old, improvised in the streets of

Rome; then adopted and educated by Gravina, a rich juris-consult, who

left the poet all his fortune. Forty editions of Metastasio’s works were

published before his death. He wrote many tragic operas, besides

numerous smaller compositions. Invited by Charles VI. of Austria, he

settled in Vienna, and received the title of Imperial Poet. His style is

singularly chaste, harmonious, and elegant. Attracted to, and attracting

by, the delineation of characters, morally pure and elevated. Pathetic,

but his passion lacks individuality. When we have read a few of his

works, we have read all. In person tall and commanding.

[By Ceracchi. There is a fine bust of him by Vinnazar of Vienna.

Metastasio was buried in St. Michael’s Church, at Vienna, but the

place is not known.]

179. CARLO GOLDONI. _Poet._

[Born at Venice, 1707. Died at Paris, 1793. Aged 86.]

The most celebrated Italian comic poet of the eighteenth century, and

the renovator of the comic stage in his country. When eight years old,

sketched out a play. After some reverses of fortune, settled in Paris,

where he wrote his last work, “Materials for a History of his Life and

Theatre.” He wrote 150 pieces for the stage, introducing all classes of

men, whom he described with surprising truth. He reformed the Italian

drama by extinguishing the fashion of playing in masks, and by doing

away with certain conventional characters before introduced into every

play. His works are not without the defects of an over-abundant and

extraordinarily rapid composition; but he has the great merit of

faithfully portraying men in their affections, their habits, follies,

and vices.

[By Leandro Biglioschi.]

180. VITTORIO ALFIERI. _Poet._

[Born at Asti, in Piedmont, 1749. Died at Florence, 1803. Aged 54.]

He was of noble origin, and acceded, at the age of 14, to large

hereditary estates. His passions were strong, ardent, and irregular: his

education was neglected. He travelled much,--rapidly and impatiently,

like a man fleeing from himself, or seeking, without finding, objects to

satisfy the capacity of a mind, large but unstored. He was first drawn

with passion to literature by Plutarch’s Lives; and his first tragedy,

“Cleopatra,” was acted at Turin in 1775, when he was 26 years old.

Thenceforward he was devoted to the study of his art. The subjects of

his tragedies, which follow the simplicity of the Greek model, are

chiefly from ancient mythology, or history. They are distinguished by

intense absorption of the poet in his dramatic action and persons, by

the austere exclusion from the plot of everything accidental or

inoperative to the main purpose and catastrophe, and by the rejection of

all accessory ornament from his sedulously laboured style. In his hands

the flowing and languishing Italian speech becomes abrupt, concentrated,

darted, fiery; harsh, often, until it is dilated into harmony by the

swelling and emphatic intonations of the actual theatre. He raised at

once the prostrate Italian tragedy to the rank of an art, and to a

competition with the nations. He was a passionate lover of horses,

licentious in his attachments, and an ardent partisan of liberty.

[Alfieri was buried in Santa Croce. Canova, commissioned by the

Countess of Albany, sculptured his tomb and the medallion of him which

is upon it. This bust is by Domenica Manera, and no doubt is a good

likeness, having been executed under Canova’s eye.]

181. ALESSANDRO GAVAZZI. _Monk and Orator._

[Born at Bologna, in Italy, 1809. Still living.]

At the age of 16, entered the religious order of St. Barnabas.

Subsequently appointed Professor of Rhetoric at Naples. Upon the

accession of Pope Pius IX. to the pontifical chair, Gavazzi warmly

upheld the liberal policy then announced by the head of the Catholic

Church. He was the “Peter the Hermit” of the crusade in Lombardy against

Austria in 1848: and shared the dangers of the troops, whom he animated

by his eloquence. Upon the entry of the French under Oudinot into Rome,

Gavazzi quitted Italy with the patriots. He has since lived in London,

where his extraordinary political discourses have created a marked

impression upon his listeners. His oratory is adapted to large masses,

his memoir is extraordinary, and his manner exceedingly picturesque and

striking. He is not a scholar, and his patriotism is not of the kind

that suffers by defeat. Gavazzi makes a good income as a popular

preacher. Mazzini lives upon a crust.

[This bust is by Piericcini.]

SCIENTIFIC MEN AND WRITERS.

182. CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. _The Discoverer of the New World._

[Born at Genoa, 1436. Died at Valladolid, in Spain, 1506. Aged 70.]

Lord Bacon says, that he, who unites the faculties of speculation and of

action, is like one born, according to the faith of the astrologers,

under Saturn and Jupiter in conjunction, and may command the world.

Columbus--profound in thought, intense in action--did even more. To one

world he gave another. He was essentially an intellectual hero; for he

dared to believe, on grounds sufficing to reason, that which the world

disbelieves, and scoffs, and scorns. He was essentially a practical

hero: witness his persevering urgency of kings and states to undertake

the first visiting of a world which his instructed spirit already

discerned in the far off seas. Witness also his conduct of his fleet,

wearied with vain expectation on the silent main, and rising to mutiny

on the apparently confirmed disappointment of its hopes. His services to

man no human gratitude could repay, yet he died overwhelmed with

affliction, great vexation and bodily infirmity. In 1492, he discovered

San Salvador, Cuba, and St. Domingo. In 1493, his eager foot first trod

the Antilles. In 1498, America opened to his importunate gaze. His

fourth voyage of discovery was delayed by an event that merits record in

every history of the world’s progress. He was thrown into prison.

Obtaining liberty, his eager and mysteriously informed spirit was

brooding again on the wide ocean. He reached the Gulf of Darien. We

witness to-day, in the prosperity, might, and civilization of the

American people, the latest glorious results of the restless intrepidity

and bright intelligence of Christopher Columbus. Before the dazzling

spectacle we may yet learn humility, if we will only remember the sorrow

of those upon whom the unveiling of America instantly let in the sword

and the fire. Columbus was the first observer of the variation and the

dip of the needle.

[By Raimondo Trentanove.]

183. NICCOLO MACHIAVELLI. _Political Writer and Historian._

[Born at Florence, 1469. Died there, 1527. Aged 58.]

For fourteen years, Machiavelli, born of a noble family, acted as

Secretary of the Florentine Republic, and was charged with several

important missions. Upon the return of the Medici to Florence in 1512,

he was implicated in a conspiracy formed against them, was imprisoned

and put to the torture. Subsequently released by Pope Leo X., he was

reinstated in his office. It was after his liberation that he wrote his

Discourses upon Livy, his books on the Art of War, and his celebrated

essay, called “The Prince.” Machiavelli, to our imagination, embodies in

his individual person the Idea of Italian political subtlety. His chief

work, already mentioned, “The Prince,” expounds the art of Reigning: _i.

e._ of acquiring and preserving Power;--of which art perfidy and murder

are, in this exposition, two accepted instruments. The prevalent

assumption has been that Machiavelli recommends the practice of the art,

such as he expounds it. Later vindicators have said that he describes,

without approving, the Art of Reigning as exercised by the Italian

princes of his day, and that his book is to be regarded as containing a

satire, and not a doctrine. The bust before the visitor may furnish

materials for the study of this curious question.

[From the bust in the Florence Gallery. A most interesting work of the

time, bearing the date 1495. An undoubted likeness of this celebrated

man. Full of character, with every indication of having been done from

the life, although the author is now unknown. Machiavelli’s tomb is in

St^{a}. Croce at Florence. Two centuries after his death, Lord Cowper,

in 1787, placed over it a bas-relief portrait which was paid for by

public subscription set on foot by Lord Cowper, and was executed by

Innocenzo Spinazzi.]

184. ANNIBALE CARO. _Writer._

[Born at Città-Nuova, in Illyria, 1507. Died, 1566. Aged 59.]

His chief work was a free translation of the Æneid in blank verse: the

style is pure, and the sense faithful. Also wrote humorous pieces in the

purest Tuscan.

[The work of Antonio d’Este, at the expense of Elizabeth, Duchess of

Devonshire, the second wife of the late Duke, a lady to whom we are

indebted for originating the excavations in the Forum at Rome.]

185. GALILEO GALILEI. _Philosopher._

[Born at Pisa, 1564. Died 1642. Aged 78.]

One of the self-dedicated inquiring spirits, to whom to behold Truth

is--to live:--a hierophant of Nature! Whilst Bacon in England was laying

down, in form, and theoretically, the laws of experimental philosophy,

Galileo in Italy, led by instinct or intuition, was putting them in

force. If Bacon stands out as the legislator of our great modern

students in physical science, Galileo is assuredly their most

illustrious and animating exemplar. We think of the stern and strenuous

observer as we do of the prophets, who stand up in the might of

invincible truth, solitary against a world. In the very first sentence

of the “Novum Organum” it is written that, “Man, the servant and

interpreter of Nature, knoweth, and can, so much as, in the fact or in

thought, he may have observed, of the order of Nature.” Of all men

Galileo was essentially the one who allowed Nature to speak for

herself,--and waited patiently, piously, and thoughtfully for her

utterances, never imposing upon her his own wilful and imperfect

conceptions. His spirit was self-sustaining. Hundreds, or thousands,

have in the later time risen, who from the cradle to the grave have

watched Nature. But they are the officers of an organized army. He

walked like Hercules, with his club and lion’s skin cloak, alone.

Because his worship was pure, his punishment was great. Suffering for

truth’s sake, he was imprisoned for years; yet his only crime had been,

that he had faithfully recorded the revelations that came down to him

directly from the skies. To Galileo we owe, amongst other obligations,

the discovery of the laws of gravity, the invention of the pendulum, of

the hydrostatic balance, of the thermometer. He constructed a telescope,

and with it discovered the satellites and rings of Jupiter, the phases

of Venus, and the spots on the sun. Noting down what he saw, he changed

the whole system of astronomy, and led men on the right track of

observation for all ages to come. Italy, with her many titles to our

admiration, gratitude and respect, has no prouder claim than this:--She

gave us Galileo. The face before us does not belie the soul. Upon it are

stamped the rigid signs of robust and intrepid intellect.

[From the marble, by Domenico Manera, which was placed in the

Capitoline Museum at the cost of Canova. About a century after

Galileo’s death, in the year 1737, leave was at last granted to erect

a monument to his memory in Santa Croce, at Florence; it was placed

opposite to that of Michelangelo, and the bones of the great

philosopher were removed into it. In the Museum of the Florence

Gallery is preserved the small telescope which he used. The bust, No.

185A, is a cast from that on his tomb.]

185A. GALILEO GALILEI. _Philosopher._

SOLDIERS AND STATESMEN.

187. COSMO DE’ MEDICI. _Merchant and Statesman._

[Born 1389. Died, 1464. Aged 75.]

The grandfather of Lorenzo de’ Medici, surnamed the Magnificent: himself

illustrious for the services which he rendered to the Florentine

Republic, of which he was a member, and for his munificent encouragement

of art, science, and literature. Upon his death, the grateful Florentine

people inscribed on his tomb the title of “Father of his Country.” A

member of the Signory, which legislated for the Florentine Republic, he

strove to curb the oligarchy in the State. Accordingly, many of the

chief families combined against him, and it was only by the most

admirable judgment and consummate prudence that he was enabled to elude

their toils, and to advance the popular cause. Possessed of immense

wealth, he parted freely with his riches for the glory of his country,

and for the promotion of all those arts that add dignity to human nature

and beautify the world.

[From the bust in the Florence Gallery, a most characteristic head.]

188. BARTOLOMEO COLEONI. _Soldier of Fortune._

[Born at Bergamo, in Italy, 1400. Died at Venice, 1475. Aged 75.]

Remarkable for his unstable loyalty. Served at first under Sforza and De

Montone in the army of Queen Joan of Naples. Then passed into the

service of Venice. Fighting against and nearly destroying the army of

the ambitious Duke of Milan, he went over to the enemy with 500

soldiers. He now fought against the Venetians; but in 1446, was thrown

into prison on a charge of treason. Released by the Milanese, he

deserted to the Venetians, whom he again led on against his latest

employers. Instead of fighting Sforza, the Milanese general, he deserted

to his side, and assisted him to gain the sovereignty of Milan.

Immediately afterwards he returned to the Venetians, and, strange to

say, continued their generalissimo for twenty-one years. The Senate,

upon his death, employed the celebrated Andrea Verrocchio to raise an

equestrian statue in bronze to his memory, of which the one before the

visitor is a cast. Shortly before his death, Coleoni, not without

reason, warned the Venetian Senate not to trust another man with such

power as they had confided to him.

[For account of this fine equestrian statue, see Handbook to the

Renaissance Court.]

189. STEFANO GATTAMELATA. _Warrior._

[Born at Narni, in Italy. Died at Venice, 1443.]

First served in the army of the Church: but in 1434 passed over to the

Venetians, and was made Captain-General of their army. A zealous servant

of the State. He was raised to the rank of Venetian noble in 1438; rich

pensions were conferred upon him, and a palace was given him in the

city. The equestrian statue of which the one in the Crystal Palace is a

cast, is by Donatello, and is at Padua.

[For account of this equestrian statue, see Handbook to the

Renaissance Court.]

190. GIOVANNI MEDICI, surnamed BANDINERI. _Italian Soldier._

[Born 1498. Died near Borgo-Forte, in Italy, 1526. Aged 28.]

A descendant of Cosmo, “the father of his country,” and the son of the

celebrated Catharine Sforza. Passionately fond of arms, he was employed,

in 1521, by the Florentines against the Duke of Urbino. In 1524, he

entered the service of France, and a year or two afterwards died of a

wound. He was ferocious, and mercilessly cruel. After his death his

soldiers, who had profited by his instruction and example, styled

themselves “The Black Bands”--“Bandineri.” The chief of the butchers is

distinguished in history by the unenviable title.

[A very finely-formed head, from the figure in the Piazza San Lorenzo,

Florence.]

191. FRANCESCO PICO DELLA MIRANDOLA.

[Died, 1321.]

A gentleman of Modena, at the head of the Ghibelline faction, in

fighting whose battles with the Guelphs he passed his life. In 1312, he

filled the office of Podestà of Modena, but was expelled from the city

the very same year by the Guelph party. Returning, he sold his authority

for 50,000 florins to Bonacossi, Lord of Mantua, and retired to his

estates at Mirandola, whither Bonacossi followed him, assassinated him

and his two sons, and made off with the purchase money.

[From a terracotta in the Berlin Museum. A youthful portrait.]

192. FRANÇOIS EUGÈNE OF SAVOY, called PRINCE EUGÈNE. _Military

Commander._

[Born in Paris, 1663. Died at Vienna, 1736. Aged 73.]

One of the world’s great and successful generals. The great-grandson of

Emanuel, Duke of Savoy, his mother being niece of Cardinal Mazarin.

Refused a regiment by Louis XIV., he offered his services to the flag of

Austria, and fought as a volunteer for the Emperor against the Turks.

The deeds of the young soldier caused Louis XIV. to repent of his former

refusal, but the most tempting offers came in vain to Eugene. He took

part with Marlborough in all his great victories in the Low Countries,

expelled the French from Italy, and overthrew the Turks, from whom he

took the city of Belgrade. His renown at the peace of 1718, when he

retired from active service, stood as high as any soldier’s of the age.

In retirement Prince Eugene cultivated literature and the arts. His

services had extended through the reigns of three Emperors, and he

fought with almost unvarying success. He was ambitious of glory, and of

nothing else. He was never married. He invented no system of military

tactics, and he followed none. He had the faculty of discerning the

right thing to do at the right time, and of arranging his plans quickly

and ably in conformity with the circumstances by which he was

surrounded. His mind once made up, his intrepidity was boundless. He was

rigid in disposition; his figure was well made, though not tall; his eye

was black and piercing, and his complexion dark.

[A fine portrait statue by Canigia, a Piedmontese sculptor lately

dead.]

PRELATES AND THEOLOGIANS.

193. FRANCISCO XIMENEZ DE CISNEROS. _Cardinal and Regent of Spain._

[Born in Castile, 1437. Died, 1517. Aged 80.]

A learned priest who had withdrawn to a convent, and was in his

fifty-sixth year, when Queen Isabella of Spain brought him from his

retirement, and appointed him Archbishop of Toledo, and her own

Confessor. His power over the queen was used, according to the ideas of

his time, in the interests of his country, for the benefit of the

Spanish people, and for the advancement of learning and religion. After

the death of Isabella, in 1504, he was made Governor of Spain, in the

absence of the King, and he managed to steer his political course with

consummate skill and prudence. In 1516, he became Governor of Castille

for the young Emperor, Charles V. He possessed in an eminent degree the

genius of government, and his rule paved the way for the greatness of

Charles V.’s reign. He was unbending in authority, and organized with a

rigid sense of justice, that amounted to cruelty. As Inquisitor-General,

he had suffered, during eleven years of office, 50,000 condemnations to

be passed, and 2500 human beings to be consigned to the flames. Shortly

before his own death he fell into disgrace, and he closed his eyes in

grief. He was a fanatic without passion. Pious with sword in hand;

austere in his way of life, sagacious, imperious, and a profound

politician.

194. CARLO REZZONICO, afterwards POPE CLEMENT XIII. _Pope._

[Born at Venice, 1693. Died at Rome, 1769. Aged 76.]

Commenced his pontifical reign by an endeavour to improve the morals of

his clergy and his people; but, later, he created displeasure in Europe

by protecting the Jesuits, who had been expelled from France and

Portugal. He consented at last to the suppression of the Order, and

expired almost as soon as the consent was given. It is rather surprising

that he did not die shortly before. A man of sincere piety, pure

intentions, and great charity.

[From the celebrated monument by Canova. Although the bust is of

colossal proportions, the features preserve their natural, harmonious

expression.]

194*. PADRE VENTURA. _Italian Priest._

[Still living.]

Born at Palermo, towards the close of the last century. At an early age,

entered the order of the Teatini: subsequently appointed Professor of

the University of Rome. When, in 1821, Naples, Piedmont, and Spain rose

for the recovery of freedom, and the hopes of the liberal party were

raised to the highest pitch in Italy, Ventura sympathized with the

popular voice. He was instantly dismissed from his office, and his

writings were denounced. When, in 1831, the Italian liberals were

crushed by Austria, the Padre took counsel of his judgment, craved to be

reconciled with the clerical party, and was made supreme head of his

Order. Deceived by the early policy and promises of Pius IX., Ventura,

in 1846, again gave rein to his liberal ideas, and returned to his

original sympathies. His oration on the death of O’Connell, delivered at

Rome, was bold and pathetic, and so far won for him the regard of his

ancient allies, that on the success of the Sicilians, who threw off the

Neapolitan yoke, he was named their representative at the court of Rome.

Another change came over the spirit of Ventura’s life. The Pope--his

friend--was chased from Rome; and he himself prudently awaited, in

Cività Vecchia, the result of the French invasion undertaken on the

Pope’s behalf. Upon the fall of Rome he repaired to France, and there

speedily wrote a formal recantation of all his “errors.” At this hour he

preaches in Paris in favour of Ultra-montane doctrines, and is

surrounded by admirers. He is learned, polished, courtier-like, and very

eloquent: not a popular preacher like Gavazzi, but with a style and

manner adapted to a cultivated audience.

[By Rinaldo Rinaldi, of Rome.]

KINGS AND QUEENS.

195. CHARLES ALBERT. _King of Sardinia._

[Born 1798. Died at Oporto, 1849. Aged 51.]

A man of unstable principles. Inclined to liberal views, but unequal to

the effort of steadily maintaining them. At the time of his birth, seven

male heirs stood between him and the Sardinian throne, but in his

thirty-third year he found himself king. Received his education in

Paris. In 1821, headed a conspiracy in order to force more liberal

measures upon his sovereign; but betrayed the design before it was ripe

for execution. In 1823, entered the French service under the Duc

d’Angoulême, and attached himself to the cause of despotism in France.

From the date of his ascending the throne, 1831, until his death, he

continually vacillated between the extremes of absolutism, and downright

radicalism. In 1848--the year of revolution--he gave his subjects a

constitution, and the eyes of Italy were turned anxiously towards him as

to a deliverer and friend. Discontent rose against Austria, and he

became the champion of Italy against the foreign intruder. Success at

first crowned his arms; but weakness and indecision again visited him at

the crisis of his career, and he suffered defeat at Novara, at the hands

of the Austrian general, Radetzky. Abdicating in favour of his eldest

son, Charles Albert quitted Italy, crossed Spain, and reached Oporto,

where he soon died, a disappointed, vexed, and broken-hearted man.

[By Canigia, a Piedmontese sculptor of the time.]

THE FRENCH PORTRAITS.

INTRODUCTION.

France surpasses all modern nations in awarding monumental honours to

her illustrious sons. The feeling which prompts the grateful act is more

akin to noble patriotism than to the littleness of personal display. The

magnificent illustration of the national disposition at Versailles

commands our respect by the important historical interest which it

creates, and by the instruction and benefit which it confers upon the

world.

The buildings of all the great institutions of France are adorned with

portrait statues and busts of the men who have earned distinction in

connexion with them. “The Institute,” which corresponds to our Royal

Society, has its statues of philosophers and scientific men. The Mazarin

Library possesses a collection of those most distinguished in

literature, generally. The Théâtre Français has an exceedingly

interesting gallery of dramatists and theatrical celebrities, which is

only feebly reflected in the collection--valuable in some respects--of

theatrical portraits at the Garrick Club in London, which we owe chiefly

to the late Mr. Charles Mathews, the comedian.

The collection of the Théâtre Français is composed of statues and busts

representing the greatest dramatic writers and the most celebrated

comedians of the French stage, of pictures of actors or of paintings

having reference to the dramatic art. The library is rich in autograph

manuscripts, and in the letters of nearly all the authors who have

illustrated the French stage. It contains also the registers and account

books of the several theatrical administrations, without a single

interruption, from the 24th of October, 1658--the date of Molière’s

first representation in Paris--down to the present time.

The collection of statues and busts dates from only the last century,

when the sculptor Caffieri laid its foundation. He proposed to the

actors, in 1773, to present to their green-room the bust of his friend

Alexis Piron, the poet (see No. 231 in our collection)--who had died a

few months before--on the condition that he should be allowed free

entrance to the theatre for the rest of his life. It appears, from the

letter of Caffieri, preserved in the library of the theatre, that the

usual price of his marble busts was £120, and that the right of entrance

to the theatre for life was fixed by the comedians at the same sum. The

proposition was accepted, and Caffieri continued for some time to

present busts to the theatre upon the same terms--that is to say, for

every bust the right of an entreé for one of his relatives or friends.

Other sculptors followed the example of Caffieri. The practice still

continues, and the collection is yearly augmented, not only by this

means, but also by the frequent gifts of the Minister of the Interior,

and by the still larger donations of private individuals.

The collection of paintings dates as far back as the death of the

tragedian Lekain. His comrades, to honour his memory, decided that his

likeness should be hung in their green-room. Later came the portrait of

Baron, and afterwards that of Mademoiselle Duclos by Largillière, a

celebrated portrait painter of the time of Louis XIV. This portrait of

Mdlle. Duclos is a masterpiece. At the present moment, in consequence of

the frequent additions to this triple collection, there is not space

enough in the interior of the theatre properly to display it; and it is

proposed to transport it to a more commodious receptacle, and to give to

the _réunion_ of all these treasures of the drama the name of the

Molière Museum. The busts, which we are enabled to exhibit in the

Crystal Palace, form only a small selection from the gallery of the

Théâtre Français.

The Louvre, which in Paris corresponds to our British Museum, National

Gallery, and Hampton Court combined, has long been one of the world’s

great treasuries of history and art. Resting upon ancient walls, founded

certainly as far back as the 9th century--when it was a strong fortress

in the midst of a forest--the Louvre has been gradually changing its

form and appearance since the time of Philippe Auguste. In 1527, Francis

I., with the aid of the architect Pierre Lescot, entirely remodelled it,

and gave to it the character of splendour and vastness which has ever

since attached to this great national structure. All succeeding

kings--Charles, Henri, Louis, whatever the name--have done something to

uphold its magnificence. In addition to the other numberless works of

art contained in the Louvre there are some 300 antique portrait busts

and statues, and an immense collection of rare cameos and medals,

amongst which are many valuable portraits of antiquity, and about 200

statues and busts of great men of modern time, half of these being

representations of military men, with some admirals, and about 50

portraits of sculptors and painters.

The Palace of Versailles is entirely devoted to the illustration of the

glory of France. Here, in addition to many pictures, representing the

great military achievements of the French, there are saloons filled with

statues and busts of the kings, princes, marshals, and admirals, and

portraits of nearly every great man of the country from the time of

Clovis the First and Clotilde, a king and queen of the 5th century, down

to Louis Philippe of our own time. There are more than 600 statues,

busts and medallions, many of them fine works of art, and all possessing

the very highest interest. A considerable portion being duplicates of

works at the Louvre or Tuileries. In such an extensive series there are,

as may be supposed, many arbitrary portraits executed to complete a

series, but though not taken from the life, they have for the most part

been derived from trustworthy authority. There are also upwards of 600

memorial tablets in bronze, placed in the Gallery of Battles, inscribed

with the names of all officers killed or wounded in the service of the

country, beginning with Prince Robert le Fort, Comte d’Outre-Maine,

killed at the combat of Brissarthe, in 866, and ending with the heroes

of Waterloo.

The Historical Gallery at Versailles contains portrait busts and statues

by 146 different sculptors of France, commencing with Germain Pilon and

Jean Goujon, who flourished in the middle of the 16th century.

From all these great collections our Portrait Gallery has been enriched,

as the Catalogue will show.

As works of art the French portraits cannot be placed in the highest

rank. The style, as in French works of ideal sculpture, is rather

picturesque, than antique and severe; and few of the portraits are free

from a certain affectation of attitude or assumed expression of

countenance, for which it may readily be conceived, the artist, rather

than the subject, is to blame. It is rare to find a French bust treated

with the seriousness and intensity of the antique, or with the

unaffected naturalness of the best busts of the English school: too many

indeed verge upon the common and fatal error of portraiture--caricature.

We must, however, take these portraits as the characteristic works of

the country to which they belong; all of them bear the stamp of

truthfulness, if some should be found tainted with exaggeration. Many

are models in the art of marble portraiture. Those of Madame Dubarry

(No. 235), and Marie Antoinette (No. 310), are especially beautiful;

that of Gaston de Foix (No. 258) is also a very noble portrait; and the

bust of Thomas Corneille (No. 222), is one of the finest productions of

the school. The heads are generally rather larger than life: and the

visitor cannot fail to remark the exceeding care bestowed upon the wigs

and elaborate embroidery of the time.

(_The French Portraits commence immediately behind the Statue of Admiral

Duquesne, in the Great Transept._)

ARTISTS AND MUSICIANS.

196. JEAN GOUJON. _Sculptor._

[Born in Paris. Died there, 1572.]

Many of his works were destroyed in the French Revolution, but the

Tribune of the “Salle des Cent Suisses,” in the Louvre, the “Diana of

Poictiers,” and the “Fountain of the Innocents,” in Paris, are left to

attest the artist’s superiority. At Malmaison, in France, is another

statue by him of Diana, remarkable for the beauty of the pose, the

suppleness of the limbs, and the extraordinary lightness of the drapery.

The two caryatides in the Renaissance Court are examples of his style.

Killed by a shot from an arquebuse during the massacre of Saint

Bartholomew, and whilst he was at work on the decoration of the Louvre.

[This is considered to be a bust of the time, and perhaps by his own

hand.]

197. SIMON VOUET. _Painter._

[Born in Paris, 1582. Died there, 1641. Aged 59.]

Is generally regarded as the founder of the French school of painting.

He received his first instruction from his father, who was also an

artist. When a mere youth, he acquired great fame as a portrait painter.

He visited Constantinople, where he painted Achmet I. At Rome he worked

for Pope Urban VIII. at St. Peter’s. Recalled to France by Louis XIII.

in 1637, he was appointed chief painter to the king. His colouring is

fine, and he possesses great boldness of touch; but his drawing is

marked by mannerism, and he is not happy in perspective, or in his

effects of light and shade. He accomplished, however, for French

painting, what Corneille effected for the drama. He created and raised

the national taste.

[From a marble in the Louvre.]

198. NICOLAS POUSSIN. PAINTER.

[Born at Andelys, in France, 1594. Died in Rome, 1665. Aged 71.]

The greatest master of the French school of painting. His taste for art

was revealed at a very early period. As a child, he drew upon his lesson

books and the walls of the school-room. At eighteen, he went to Paris,

where he frequented schools from which he learned but little. Genius and

self-tuition did more for him. At thirty he painted the “Death of the

Virgin” for a chapel at Nôtre-Dame, and so well, that the poet Marino

took the painter to Rome, and recommended him to Cardinal Barberini with

the energetic words, “You will see a youth who has the spirit of one

possessed.”[31] The Italian syllables are yet stronger. In Rome he fell

into poverty, and sold his pictures for a mere trifle. He worked against

the spirit and taste of the age in both France and Italy: throwing

himself, with his faithful comrade in art, the sculptor Fiamingo,

entirely into the study of the ancient Greek sculpture. He was recalled

to his own country by Richelieu, in 1640, and was created Court Painter.

In 1643, he returned to Rome, whence no solicitations could again draw

him. He lived twenty-five years in great calm and happiness, married to

the sister of Caspar Poussin, without children, without a pupil, without

a man-servant--esteeming quiet in the house above everything. He was

devoted to his art, a great student in it, and of all science bearing

upon it. His genius was altogether antique. He transported himself into

an elder world, and lived there. Thus in religious subjects he seems to

lean towards the Old Testament; and he revels in the wealth of Greek

mythology. His classical spirit ennobled landscape both in its own forms

and by the poetical significance and treatment of the figures. His art,

like poetry, seemed to open to him an escape from the world about him. A

style of severe simplicity, truth, high beauty, harmony.

[31] Vederete un giovane che ha la furia del diavolo.

[From the marble in the Louvre, by Blaise.]

199. PIERRE MIGNARD. _Painter._

[Born at Troyes, in France, 1610. Died in Paris, 1695. Aged 85.]

Called “The Roman Mignard,” in contradistinction to his brother Nicolas,

also a painter, and styled “Mignard of Avignon.” The works of Pierre are

not remarkable for originality of invention or peculiar facility of

execution; but they exhibit correct design, beauty of form, and

excellence of colouring. The French regard him as the best colourist of

the age of Louis XIV. The “Grand Monarque” sat ten times to this

painter, who also painted the portraits of the Popes Urban VIII. and

Alexander VII. Mignard was first intended for the profession of

medicine, but his taste for drawing led him to the arts. He passed

twenty-two years in Italy, where he acquired fame. He was recalled to

France by his own sovereign, and by him also appointed chief painter to

the court.

[From a marble in the Louvre, by Antoine Coysevox.]

200. ANDRÉ LE NÔTRE. _Architect and Gardener._

[Born in Paris, 1613. Died there, 1700. Aged 87.]

The designer of the magnificent gardens at Versailles; the projector of

its grand fountains, grottos, porticos, and bowers. He also laid out the

gardens of St. Cloud, the Tuileries, Meudon, and several others. Louis

XIV. heaped favours upon this great gardener, but Le Nôtre could not be

spoiled by royal indulgence. He travelled into Italy and was received by

Pope Innocent XI. “I care not how soon I die now,” said Le Nôtre to the

Pope, “since I have seen the two greatest potentates in the world--your

Holiness and the King, my master.” Le Nôtre was simple, honest, and

disinterested: possessed a fertile genius and lively imagination; in

many respects the prototype of our own Paxton.

[From the marble in the Louvre, by Gourdel, which was taken from the

one in the Church of St. Roch.]

201. EUSTACHE LE SUEUR. _Painter._

[Born in Paris, 1617. Died 1655. Aged 38.]

One of the greatest French painters. First taught by his father, a

sculptor; then a pupil in the studio of Vouet. His fame established by

the pictures, twenty-two in number, which he painted for the Chartreuse

in Paris, and which represent the chief events in the life of St.

Bruno, the founder of the Order. He took delight in sacred subjects, and

in simple religious affection he left Lebrun and Poussin far behind him.

He scarcely ever quitted Paris, never France; and his sole studies were

the few exemplars from the antique which he could find in his native

city. Raffaelle he could worship only through the engravings of

Marcantonio. But the love of his art was boundless, his study intense,

his industry inexhaustible. He excelled in purity of form, and his

pictures reveal a tenderness of feeling and a spiritual grace, wholly

wanting in the productions of the majority of his contemporaries. He was

himself a man of mild and blameless nature. He died very early, worn out

by his labours and by the active jealousy of his brother artists.

[The costume is that of the time of Louis XIII. From a marble by P. L.

Laurent, done in 1806. Laurent was a pupil of Pajou, and died in

1816.]

202. CHARLES LEBRUN. _Painter._

[Born in Paris, 1619. Died 1690. Aged 71.]

One of the most celebrated painters of the French school. The

Chancellor, Séguier, struck by his talent when a boy, placed him in the

studio of Vouet, and subsequently sent him to Rome, where he maintained

him during six years. In 1648, Lebrun was recalled to France, and

admitted into the Academy. Mazarin, charmed by his works, presented him

to the king, by whom he was favourably received and largely patronized.

It is said that Louis XIV. would spend two hours at a time in Lebrun’s

studio, whilst the artist was painting his “Battles of Alexander,”

Alexander being Louis by allusion. For fourteen years, engaged in

painting the great gallery of Versailles. Received many distinguished

appointments in connexion with the Fine Arts, and at his instigation

Louis XIV. instituted the French Academy at Rome. For many years Lebrun

was as absolute in the republic of Art, as his master in the kingdom

over which he ruled. He was styled “Dictator,” and his influence is

perceptible in the works of his time. He was one of the vainest of men,

and the most pompous, artificial, and theatrical of painters; his works,

though they might swell the pride of a Court, would hardly flatter the

pride of a country. His best picture is “The Stoning of Stephen,” in the

Louvre.

[From the marble in the Louvre, by A. Coysevox. Extremely interesting,

both on account of its being taken from the life, and having once

surmounted the tomb of the great painter which was erected by order of

his widow in the Church of St. Nicholas, in Paris, the tomb being also

the work of Coysevox. The monument was removed at the time of the

Revolution. The bust at Versailles, by Bosio (1837), takes its

authority from this.]

203. ANDRÉ FÉLIBIEN, SIEUR DES AVAUX ET DE JAVERCY. _Writer on Art._

[Born at Chartres, in France, 1619. Died in Paris, 1695. Aged 76.]

Held various appointments in connexion with art. Amongst others, those

of Historiographer to the King, and Secretary to the Academy of

Architecture. His best known work is “Lives of Ancient and Modern

Painters,” which is translated into English. Grave and serious in

character, but, right-minded and good-hearted, he preferred virtue to

the favours of fortune.

204. JEAN MABILLON. _Antiquary._

[Born at Pierre-Mont, in France, 1632. Died in Paris, 1707. Aged 75.]

A Benedictine monk, who employed his life in collecting materials and

writing on monastic history and antiquities. Entitled to high rank for

his extensive learning and great virtues; his style clear, masculine,

and methodical; his mind free from bigotry.

205. JEAN BAPTISTE DE LULLY. _Violinist and Musical Composer._

[Born near Florence, 1633. Died 1687. Aged 54.]

A musical genius; who began life as a scullery-boy, and, in soul,

continued a scullery-boy to the last. It was whilst playing the fiddle

in the kitchen of Mademoiselle de Montpensier that his musical faculty

was detected and rescued. Subsequently playing some airs of his own

composition to Louis XIV. he was made, at the age of 19, “Inspecteur

Général des Violons.” In 1672, letters-patent were granted him to

establish a Royal Academy of Music: that academy was the Opera. He

performed marvels at his theatre. He was at once composer, director,

ballet-master, leader of the band, and even machinist. Nothing came

amiss to him; and his activity, his popularity, his success were

enormous. In less than fifteen years he had composed nineteen operas,

which continued in high favour until put out of fashion by Gluck a

century afterwards. To appreciate the merits of Lully as a composer, we

must look at him from the point of view of his own time. So regarded, he

is an artist of great spirit and dramatic power. He found France without

any dramatic music whatever. He left works which formed the style of

later masters, and became the foundation of a national opera. He had

wit, energy, versatility, and was a great favourite with the Court. His

moral character was detestable. To the great he was grovelling; to his

earliest benefactress he was ungrateful; towards his dependants he was

overbearing, insolent and brutal.

[From the bust in the Church of Petits Pères.]

206. ANTOINE COYSEVOX. _Sculptor._

[Born at Lyons, in France, 1640. Died in Paris, 1720. Aged 80.]

Of Spanish origin. Employed for four years on the decoration of Cardinal

de Furstenburg’s palace, at Saverne, in Alsace. Executed also for Paris,

a statue of Louis XIV., and the bronze winged horse placed in the

Tuileries gardens. The Revolution destroyed most of his works; but

amongst those left is one of the finest--the monument of Colbert. A

persevering and painstaking artist.

[From a marble in the Louvre, by himself. The original bears the

following inscription:--“Ch: Ant: Coysevox Sculpteur du Roi,

Chancelier de l’Académie; par lui-même. Donné à l’Académie par Ch.

Pierre Couston architecte du Roi, son petit neveu.”]

207. JULES HARDOUIN MANSART. _Architect._

[Born in Paris, 1645. Died at Marly, in France, 1708. Aged 63.]

The builder of the Palace of Versailles, and of the Hôtel des Invalides

in Paris: indebted for his celebrity more to the good-will of his

sovereign, Louis XIV., than to his own genius. His works noble and

striking, but his style not chaste, and apt to fall into extravagance. A

vain man, proud of the favours of the king and jealous of retaining

them.

[From a marble in the Louvre, by T. L. Lemoyne, a pupil of Coysevox,

who died in 1755; and doubtless from the life. He wears a damask dress

with the cordon of St. Michel.]

207*. CLAUDE JOSEPH VERNET. _Painter._

[Born at Avignon in France, 1714. Died 1789. Aged 75.]

He received his first instruction from his father, who was an historical

painter. He set out for Italy in his eighteenth year, and continued

there for many years, studying and painting for small remuneration. He

returned to France in 1753, on the invitation of Louis XV., was elected

a member of the French Academy, and commissioned by the government to

paint the principal ports of France. He excelled in marine subjects. It

is related of him that during a terrible storm at sea, when all on board

his ship were trembling for their lives, he caused himself to be lashed

to the mast of the vessel, that he might watch the boiling ocean. The

Louvre contains several of his pictures, which display a consummate

management of light and shade. He had no rival in France whilst he

lived, and he died pencil in hand. He was a modest man, and never so

happy as when at work.

[Bust to come.]

208. JACQUES GERMAIN SOUFFLOT. _Architect._

[Born at Irancy, in France, 1714. Died in Paris, 1781. Aged 67.]

When the Carthusians rebuilt their church at Lyons, Soufflot’s design

for the dome was accepted, and he achieved celebrity in consequence.

Then settling in Lyons, built several edifices there, including the

theatre (one of the finest in France), and the _Hôtel-Dieu_ (the

hospital). Invited to Paris, he became architect to the king. His

designs for the Church of Sainte Généviève were adopted; but the cupola

exciting much adverse criticism, the architect fell into despondency,

languished and died. Blunt in his manners, but of a generous and noble

mind. He was called the “benevolent cross-patch.”

[From the marble in the Louvre, by Prévot.]

208*. MARIE-ANNE-BOTOL DANGEVILLE. _French Comic Actress._

[Born 1714. Died 1796. Aged 82.]

Actress at the Théâtre Français, and perhaps one of the most perfect

mistresses of her division of the art that have trodden the French

stage. The original of this bust, in the Théâtre Français, has not the

name of the sculptor, but is a work of singular delicacy of expression,

and evidently from the hand of a master.

[Bust to come.]

208**. MADEMOISELLE CLAIRON. _French Tragic Actress._

[Born 1723. Died 1803. Aged 80.]

The most accomplished French tragic actress of her time. Born of poor

and illiterate parents. Made her first appearance on the stage in her

thirteenth year. At first unsuccessful, she proved eventually a sublime

tragedian, and during twenty-two years held possession of the public.

Disraeli the elder has a curious story from her life. He relates that as

a child she was cruelly treated by a violent mother, and driven all day

to manual labour. One day when locked in a room for punishment, she

climbed upon a chair to look about her. In the house opposite she saw a

celebrated actress amidst her family; one daughter performing her

dancing lesson. Clairon noticed with excitement every motion: not one

was lost upon her. The lesson over, the rest of the children applauded,

and the mother embraced her clever dancer. The scene melted the heart of

Clairon, reflecting on her own bitter lot, and she burst into tears. She

ascended the chair again, but the vision had vanished. Henceforth she

was a new child, and never so happy as when locked in that room: from

her chair she watched again and again the happy dancer--imitated her

gestures--reflected her grace. She worshipped a divinity. She had never

been to a theatre; yet, without knowing what an actress meant, she had

herself become an actress. Her ardent studies were soon manifest. Her

first victory was over her barbarous mother, whom she softened. Her

later conquest was the subjection of all Paris, and in Paris, of all

polite France and Europe. The anecdote lives, how Voltaire, when his

tragedy of “Oreste” was to be brought out, insisted that his Electra,

compelled in the palace of her fathers to the discharge of menial

offices, should appear habited as a slave. Mademoiselle Clairon, to whom

the character fell, resisted. She shrank from flying in the face of the

artificial French taste, and of the traditional stage decorum--both

expecting a princess arrayed in proper theatrical splendour. The poet

persisted. The piece over, she came to him and said, “Ah! M. de

Voltaire, you have ruined me. All my gorgeous wardrobe is no longer

worth a sou.” She had been released for once to act up to the truth,

nature, and simple reality of her part; and had astonished audience,

actors, herself--all save the poet--by her self-excelling success.

[This bust, which is to come, is from a marble by Lemoyne, dated

1761.]

209. JACQUES LOUIS DAVID. _Painter._

[Born in Paris, 1748. Died at Brussels, 1825. Aged 77.]

The founder of the modern or classical school of French painters. Pupil

of Vien, with whom he passed several years in Italy. Returning to France

in 1780, opened a school, which attracted many pupils. In 1784, paid a

second visit to Italy, and on his return was hailed with the title of

Regenerator of Art. Was now admitted into the Academy and lodged in the

Louvre, with the appointment of “Painter to the King.” His pictures

proved eminently successful. His drawing was perfect, and the

correctness of his design revealed the pure antique fount from which he

had quaffed his inspiration. For a time David forsook the easel, to take

part in the fury of Revolutionary politics. He forgot his apartments in

the Louvre, joined hands with Robespierre, to whom he was personally

attached, and became one of the loudest clamourers for the blood of

Louis XVI. The painter was present at the mock trial of the monarch,

whom he grossly insulted as the wretched king passed in front of him.

After the fall of Robespierre, David owed the preservation of his own

neck solely to his great reputation as an artist. He ceased to be a

politician to become a dictator in art. During the Consulate his

influence was supreme. He not only immortalized some of its heroic

passages, but he designed its official costumes. Buonaparte heaped

favours upon his artistic panegyrist, and the painter added grace and

dignity to the deeds of the First Consul. The last work of David in

Paris was “Leonidas,” painted in 1814. In that year, it is written that

Wellington, accompanied by some English officers, visited the artist’s

studio, and expressed a wish to be painted. The story adds, that David

replied coldly that “he did not paint Englishmen,” and turned his back

upon his visitor. Upon the return of Napoleon from Elba, David was made

Commander of the Legion of Honour. The next year he was banished as a

regicide, and took up his residence in Brussels. “Napoleon crossing St.

Bernard” and “The Coronation of Napoleon” are amongst his offerings to

the triumphs of the Emperor. Classical and correct in design, David

fails in colour, and in picturesque expression. His figures, too, have a

hard and marble-like appearance. A large swelling at the side of his

face was caused by a blow he received, when young. It has been justly

said that opinions of David will vary, accordingly as they are expressed

by Frenchmen or by foreigners.

[From the marble in the Louvre, by Rude, 1831.]

210. CHARLES PERCIER. _Architect._

[Born in Paris, 1764. Died, 1838. Aged 74.]

Known by his works in conjunction with Fontaine. The influence of the

labours of both is matter of history in art. To them is due the

completion of the Louvre and the erection of the arch in the _Place du

Carrousel_ at Paris. Percier wrote several works on art. In his youth

sent to Rome to study, where he gained the friendship of Flaxman and

Canova. Modest and retiring; and in the pursuit of his art most

persevering.

[From a marble in the Louvre, by Pradier.]

211. GIRODET-TRIOSON. _Painter._

[Born at Montargis, in France, 1767. Died in Paris, 1824. Aged 57.]

The real name of this artist was Anne-Louis Girodet de Coussy; but he

took the name of Trioson from his adopted father and benefactor, a

physician, to whom he was indebted for his education. He was the son of

the Duke of Orleans’ steward, and intended for the army, but evincing a

great taste for painting, was placed in the studio of David. Afterwards

proceeding to Rome, he received the first prize for a work of art in

that city. At the end of five years returned to Paris, where an

apartment was assigned him in the Louvre. In 1806, he gained a prize by

his picture of “The Deluge,” competing with his old master, David.

Girodet did not produce many works, habitual ill-health disabling his

pencil; but he left enough behind him to maintain his reputation. His

chief pictures are “Endymion,” “Hippocrates,” “The Revolt in Cairo,” and

“Napoleon Receiving the Keys of Vienna.” The colouring of Girodet is

cold and earthy; and his figures, whilst revealing the classic form and

correct drawing that characterize the labours of all David’s pupils,

lose the expression of inward life. In spite of obvious deficiencies in

truthful representation, his paintings produce a deep, and occasionally

a powerful impression.

[From a marble in the Louvre--the author unknown. One by M. Roman was

in the French Exhibition of 1827.]

212. FRANÇOIS GÉRARD. _Painter._

[Born at Rome, 1770. Died in Paris, 1837. Aged 67.]

Studied under Pajou the sculptor, then with Brenet, and finally with

David, whom he assisted in several works, until 1794, when he exhibited

his own picture of “The Tenth of August” (the day of the storming of the

Tuileries in 1792). Under the influence of David, Gérard became one of

the jury of the Revolutionary Tribunal--an office from which he

subsequently shrunk. He received great honour and distinction at the

hands of Napoleon; and the Emperor Alexander, and the Duke of

Wellington, became his friends. A man of extensive knowledge, and, as a

painter, to be recommended for taste and refinement, rather than for

invention or sublimity. His colouring, though harmonious, is not always

true. His subjects were chiefly historical, and in these the arrangement

of the figures and the selection of costume are always pleasing. He was

also successful as a portrait painter.

[From a marble in the Louvre, by Pradier, 1838.]

213. ANTOINE JEAN GROS. _Painter._

[Born in Paris, 1771. Died there, 1835. Aged 64.]

One of the most distinguished of David’s pupils. Appalled by the horrors

of the first Revolution, he quitted France, and withdrew to Geneva;

thence to Milan, where he became known to Buonaparte, by whom he was

countenanced and employed. He followed the army for six years, and

returned to France in 1801. Then painted several pictures commemorative

of Napoleon’s military achievements. He enjoyed ample patronage under

both the Emperor, and the Restoration; but in his later years he fell

into melancholy; and one morning his body was found in the Seine. His

compositions are remarkable for boldness and facility of invention; but

his colouring is frequently exaggerated. His subjects, too, though

invariably treated with power, degenerate occasionally into vulgarity

and theatrical display. His best picture is “The Plague at Jaffa.” He

was a man of cultivated mind, and passionately fond of music.

[From the marble in the Louvre, by Debay Sen., 1827.]

214. PIERRE NARCISSE GUÉRIN. _Painter._

[Born in Paris, 1774. Died at Rome, 1833. Aged 59.]

The son of an humble shopkeeper, and in early years self-instructed. As

a painter he was the pupil of Regnault, under whom he soon became

distinguished for facility of execution and refined composition. He

subsequently studied several years in Rome. In 1822, appointed Director

of the French Academy. He was not distinguished either for design or

colour; but his figures are full of expression. His subjects chiefly

mythological and classical.

[From the marble in the Louvre, by Auguste Dumont, 1831, author of the

statue of Louis Philippe, at Versailles, and lately deceased.]

215. COMTE D’ORSAY.

[Born in Paris, 1798. Died there, 1852. Aged 54.]

A man of fashion, endowed with exquisite taste and with great talent for

the cultivation of art. He resided many years in England, where he

influenced the taste of a portion of society, and practised sculpture

and painting as an amateur. Towards the close of his life he withdrew to

Paris, and there received an appointment in connexion with the fine

arts, from his former friend the Emperor of France. He had engaging

manners, a kind heart, and an open hand. Possessed of great personal

beauty, he was not wanting in manly attributes, being athletic, and

skilled in arms and horsemanship.

[This excellent work and admirable likeness is by W. Behnes.]

216. MADEMOISELLE FELIX RACHEL. _Tragic Actress._

[Born at Munf, in Switzerland, 1821. Still living.]

The daughter of poor Hebrew parents. In 1831, this famous actress made

her debût at the Theâtre Molière, in Paris, as Hermione in “Andromaque;”

but without giving indication of the genius she has subsequently

displayed. In 1841, she first appeared in England, and from that time

has won unbounded admiration, and maintained an undivided supremacy both

here and in France. French dramatic poetry, which ordinarily finds no

welcome in English ears, is reconciled to our taste as it falls from her

lips. Her excellence consists in the emphatic expression of deep feeling

and passion, in the thrilling effects which she is able to produce, even

by a whisper, and in her independent superiority over the traditions and

conventionalities of the stage. She is the least unnatural of French

tragedians; yet is not so natural as to be able altogether to conceal

her art. The spectator never forgets that an actress is before him; is

never carried away by an irresistible impulse. Rachel, great as she is,

is always the same, even to the motion of a garment, and the raising of

her hand. Hence, the impression made by a first representation is far

more potent than any that may follow. She lacks ideality and refinement.

Her temperament stands between her and her ability to inspire the

spectator with a perfect belief in her earnestness, and in her love of

the beautiful and good.

[Bust by Ludwig Wichmann. Plaster. 1844. The original in possession of

the artist.]

217. DIANE DE POITIERS.

[Born 1499. Died at Arret, in France, 1566. Aged 67.]

At 13, married Louis de Brézé, Grand Sénéchal of Normandy, who died in

1531. At the age of 48 she became the favourite mistress of Henry II. of

France. Her influence was used, except where she was herself biassed by

religious prejudices, invariably for good and commendable objects. Her

talents were commanding, and her beauty continued unimpaired by age. She

was created Duchess of Valentinois, and her power was well appreciated

abroad. One of her daughters by De Brézé married the son of the Duc de

Guise, afterwards Duc d’Aumâle.

[A portrait of the time.]

POETS AND DRAMATISTS.

218. PIERRE CORNEILLE. _Dramatist._

[Born at Rouen, in France, 1606. Died in Paris, 1684. Aged 79.]

The father of French tragedy. Educated by the Jesuits. During the early

part of his career, monastic exhibitions were the only dramatic

performances in vogue in France. When the French began to draw their

dramatic inspirations from Spain, Corneille was the first to take real

advantage of the movement. He dramatized the first youthful achievement

of the Cid with extraordinary success. It soon became the custom to say

of anything deserving applause, that “it was as good as the Cid.” Then

followed his drama of “Les Horaces,” considered a masterpiece of French

tragedy, a species of composition which is not to be criticized by the

rules that we apply to the great productions of our own stage. “Cinna”

and “Polyeucte” followed, both efforts of undoubted genius. In 1642,

elected member of the French Academy. The claims of Corneille upon our

regard not to be over estimated. The French drama was yet in the block

when he took up his artist tools. Grandeur of thought, elevation of

sentiment, and heroism of character are wrought out in all his

productions, which have exercised a momentous influence upon succeeding

times in France. Corneille was simple and almost rustic in his manners

and appearance. Very proud, but very shy. Ambitious of glory, yet

disdaining the society of the great, even up to the greatest. He had a

commanding person, and expressive features. When he died he was poor,

almost to want. Napoleon had a lofty idea of Corneille’s knowledge of

government. “Had he lived in my time,” said the Emperor, “I should have

taken him into my council.”

[This is from the original marble, by Caffieri, in the Comédie

Française. There is a statue of him at Versailles done in 1836, by M.

Laitie. Both are taken from painted portraits.]

219. JEAN DE ROTROU. _Dramatist._

[Born at Dreux, in France, 1609. Died there, 1650, Aged 41.]

One of the creators of French tragedy. To him Corneille is indebted for

the idea of founding a tragedy upon the subject of the Cid--for it was

at his instigation that the great master first looked to the Spanish

stage for inspiration and guidance. Rotrou gloried in the success of

Corneille, and generously maintained his superiority over all dramatic

writers in France--including himself. He left thirty-seven dramatic

pieces, and many of them exhibit power and great felicity of language.

He enjoyed a civil office in his native town, where he was much

respected. He was cut off by an epidemic.

[The original is in marble, by Caffieri. The costume is of the time of

Louis XIII.; but the bust must have been done from some painted

portrait, as it bears the date of 1783, and Caffieri was not born

until 1723.]

220. JEAN DE LA FONTAINE. _Poet._

[Born at Château Thierry, in France, 1621. Died in Paris, 1695. Aged

74.]

A great French poet! His fables in verse, published when he was forty

years of age, placed him at once amongst the first writers in verse that

France had produced, and created an epoch in French literature. As a

writer of fables he is probably not surpassed by any writer of any

country. His life was full of vicissitudes. He succeeded his father, as

Keeper of the Royal Domains at Château Thierry, but deserting both his

wife and his occupation, he went to Paris, where he formed a lasting

friendship with Molière, Racine, and Boileau. A pension saved him from

starvation; and losing this with the fall of the Minister, Fouquet, who

gave it, he was again rescued by the charity of Henrietta of England,

daughter of Charles I., and wife to the Duke of Orleans. Upon the death

of this princess, he was again fortunately provided for by Madame de

Sablière, in whose house the poet lived for twenty years. In society, La

Fontaine was dull, silent, and subject to absence of mind. In his youth

he was remarkable for his aversion to poetry. He lies buried by the side

of Molière, who ever regarded him with affection, and who discovered his

genius years before it was acknowledged by the world. His style is

easy, sprightly, graceful, witty, pointed, and inimitably naïve.

[This is from the bust in terra cotta in the Théâtre Français, by

Caffieri. It has served as the authority for that by Dessine, at

Versailles, and the statue in the Vestibule of the Admirals, by M.

Seurre, done in 1837. Unfortunately, none of these could have been

modelled from the life.]

220A. JEAN DE LA FONTAINE. _Poet._

[By Auguste Dumont.]

221. MOLIÈRE. _Dramatist._

[Born in Paris, 1622. Died there, 1673. Aged 51.]

The real name of Molière was Jean Baptiste Poquelin. That which is

associated with his renown was assumed when he became an actor, and

“disgraced” his family, who cut Jean Baptiste away from the genealogical

tree,--the father of Molière being _valet de chambre_ to Louis XIII.

Like our own Shakspeare, Molière was an actor as well as a writer of

plays. He forsook the study of the law for the stage, and at the age of

24 was making his way in the provinces, where he produced comedies, in

which he himself acted. In 1658, he returned to Paris, and by the favour

of Louis XIV. opened the theatre of the Palais Royal. His new comedies

produced there attracted crowds. His latest work was “The Imaginary

Invalid,” brought out in 1673. He played the principal part himself, and

during the fourth representation, was carried a dying man from the

stage. The rites of Christian sepulture, denied, as a matter of course,

to the player, were not conceded to the author who had satirized

hypocrisy in his well-known comedy of “The Hypocrite.” Molière was

beloved by his contemporaries: he was generous and warm-hearted--the

friend of Condé, Boileau, and Racine. He is by far the first writer of

Comedy in modern times. His place is close to the side of Shakspeare,

for, like the English writer, he successfully addresses all countries

and all ages, appealing to no limited, local, and accidental condition

of the human mind, but striking home to the universal and unchangeable

heart of man, as it everywhere throbs. Beyond the humorous faculty, he

possessed earnestness of feeling, and a deep tone of passion. He was a

man of tender heart; and of all French writers, he is the least French.

[From the marble in the Louvre.]

222. THOMAS CORNEILLE. _Dramatist._

[Born at Rouen, 1625. Died at Andelys, 1709. Aged 84.]

Younger brother of the great Corneille, with whom he lived until his

death in brotherly affection. Inspired by his brother’s success, he

early devoted himself to dramatic composition, and, like his illustrious

brother borrowed from Spain the materials for his earliest attempts. The

labours of Thomas Corneille found even more approbation with

contemporary audiences than those of Pierre; but the majority of the

younger brother’s many comedies are now forgotten. The services rendered

by Thomas to philology are perhaps more useful and lasting than his

contributions to the drama. He published a supplementary Dictionary to

that of the French Academy, and wrote other works. In his old age he

lost his sight. He died honoured and beloved.

[By J. J. Caffieri, 1785. There is a copy of it at Versailles, in

marble, by M. Chenillion, dated 1836. The original was taken from an

authentic picture by Jouvenet, which belonged to the Countess of

Bouville, daughter of Corneille, a copy of which picture was given to

the Comédie Française by Caffieri.]

223. PHILIPPE QUINAULT. _Poet._

[Born at Felletin, in France, 1635. Died in Paris, 1688. Aged 53.]

A lyrical poet of great reputation, and the most famous writer of French

operas. His earliest works were tragedies and comedies, but in 1670,

after his election to the Royal Academy, he allied his verse to music,

and did not sever the union until he altogether eschewed dramatic

composition. He furnished to Lully, the musician, the words for his

first opera, and continued to aid that composer until Lully’s death.

Towards the close of his days, Quinault, influenced by religious

scruples, ceased to write for the stage. His lyrical productions have

great tenderness, and melodious sweetness, and are happily and eminently

adapted to their alliance with the sister art.

[From a bust in terra cotta, by Caffieri, which was the model for that

in marble placed in the public room of the Opera, at Paris, and for

another in the Bibliothèque Généviève, at Paris.]

224. NICOLAS BOILEAU. _Poet and Satirist._

[Born at Crosne, in France, 1636. Died at Paris, 1711. Aged 75.]

One of the illustrious writers of his time. His labours went far to fix

the character and purity of the French language, and his sharp

criticisms have exercised ever since his day a salutary influence upon

the literature of his country. He ridiculed with singular acuteness the

false taste of his generation, and endeavoured to point out the true

principles of composition. His “Art Poétique” is considered by many, as

rivalling the “Ars Poëtica” of Horace. His humorous and heroic poem of

“Le Lutrin,” written to illustrate his theory that an epic ought to have

a slender groundwork, abounds in fanciful and sportive wit. He was the

friend of Molière, Racine, and Lafontaine, and the great Condé was his

patron. A generous and charitable man, an upholder of religion, but a

sworn hater of hypocrisy. Constant in his friendships, and always ready

to forgive injuries.

[From a marble, by François Girardon, in the Louvre, a sculptor born

at Troyes, in Champagne, 1630, and died 1715.]

225. JEAN RACINE. _Dramatist._

[Born at La Ferté Milon, in France, 1639. Died there, 1699. Aged 60.]

Racine was the Euripides of France, as Corneille was her Æschylus. The

first excelled in impassioned tenderness, the last in power and

sublimity. Corneille borrowed from the Spanish stage; Racine took his

inspiration from the ancients, whom he studied with ardour and effect.

He published “Phèdre,” one of his best tragedies, when he was

thirty-eight years old, but, disgusted with the envy which he raised, he

resolved to renounce the theatre ever afterwards. He did not keep his

word; for some years later, at the request of Madame de Maintenon, he

wrote his beautiful drama of “Athalie,” which, it would seem, was not

appreciated at the time. His versification is sweet, expressive, and

harmonious; and his plays are remarkable for grace and feeling. He was

himself beloved for his simplicity, modesty, and genuine character. He

was too sensitive to adverse criticism.

226. JEAN FRANÇOIS REGNARD. _Dramatist._

[Born in Paris, 1655. Died at Dourdan, in France, 1709. Aged 54.]

A celebrated comic writer of France, and a man of many adventures.

Returning from an Italian journey, he was taken by pirates, and sold to

slavery in Algiers. Whilst there he was sentenced to become a Mussulman,

or to be burnt alive. Ransomed by the French Consul in 1681, he resumed

his travels northwards. In 1683, he took up his abode in Paris, and

wrote comedies, which became very popular,--the most successful being

“The Gamester,” produced in 1696. Regnard had an inexhaustible fund of

humour. Voltaire has said that “he who is not pleased with Regnard, is

not entitled to admire Molière.”

[In marble, by J. J. Foucon, signed and dated 1779. There is a copy of

this bust at Versailles.]

227. CHARLES RIVIÈRE DUFRESNY. _Dramatist._

[Born in Paris, 1648. Died 1724. Aged 76.]

A versatile genius! A musician, a poet, a draughtsman, a gardener, and

an architect. And most improvident withal! Was in the service of Louis

XIV. first as valet-de-chambre, then as Inspector of the Royal Gardens.

In the latter capacity, he was the first to introduce the English style

of gardening into France. He enjoyed a pension; but for an

inconsiderable sum he sold both place and pension, and soon became

penniless. Then took to writing for the theatre as a last resource for

bread. Few of his plays met with, or deserved, success; but one or two

have recognised merit. He received fresh favours from the King, and the

Duke of Orleans conferred upon him a handsome gift of money. But nothing

could save Dufresny from himself. He fell in his age into deep poverty,

and so died.

[From the marble by Augustin Pajou, signed and dated 1781. A sculptor

and professor in the Academy of Paris, and one of the best of his

time. He died in 1809.]

228. PROSPER JOLYOT DE CRÉBILLON. _Dramatic Author._

[Born at Dijon, in France, 1674. Died in Paris, 1762. Aged 88.]

Styled the _Æschylus_ of France. Educated by the Jesuits, and intended

for the law, he produced, in 1705, his first play, “Idomeneus.” A

subsequent effort, the tragedy of “Rhadamistus,” placed him at once in

advance of all the tragic poets who lingered on the stage after

Corneille and Racine had quitted it. Disgusted, at a later period, with

Court neglect, and the decline of popularity, he withdrew from the

world, and passed a life of abstinence amidst a large number of cats and

dogs, whose attachment, he said, consoled him for man’s ingratitude. In

1731, elected a member of the French Academy. Towards the close of his

days the sun once more smiled upon his fortunes. He received a pension

through Madame Pompadour of 2,400 French livres; and the King of France

caused his works to be printed at the Louvre press. As a tragic author

he takes high rank. Too fond of dealing in horrors, but all his works

have warmth, energy, and varied action. He was proud, independent, and

alive to his own defects.

[The marble bust from which this was taken was executed after a model

from the life, by the celebrated sculptor, J. B. Lemoyne, in 1760. The

marble was carved by J. B. Huez, in 1778, as the inscription tells us.

The only notice of Huez, who has often been considered the author of

the bust, is in “Les Salons” of Diderot, where he is mentioned amongst

the contributors to the exhibitions of the day, and not in

complimentary terms. Lemoyne was a Parisian, and died in 1778. He did

many busts.]

229. PHILIPPE NÉRICAULT DESTOUCHES. _Dramatist._

[Born at Tours, in France, 1680. Died 1754. Aged 74.]

In his youth served as a volunteer in the French army. Then adjoined to

the embassy in Switzerland, where his leisure enabled him to follow the

bent of his fancy, and to write for the stage. His plays were as popular

as his diplomatic skill proved useful. He found favour with the Duke of

Orleans, who attached him to the mission of Dubois, when that minister,

in 1717, went to London. His diplomacy still pleased the Regent, who,

unfortunately, died too soon for Destouches. But the dramatist had been

prudent; and upon the death of his patron, he retired with a sufficient

fortune to his estate, and sought consolation in the pursuits of

agriculture and philosophy. His plays won applause rather by the

interesting situations of which they were full, than by subtle

development of character.

[From the only bust of him, by P. F. Berruer, done in 1781 and signed.

Berruer was a member of the Paris Academy, and died in 1797.]

230. ALAIN RÉNÉ LE SAGE. _Novelist._

[Born at Sarzeau, in France, 1683. Died at Boulogne-sur-Mer, 1741.

Aged 58.]

The author of “Gil Blas” and the “Devil on Two Sticks.” A poor man,

notwithstanding the success of his novels. Becoming deaf, he used a

speaking-trumpet in the presence of intelligent visitors; when other

visitors came to him he gravely put the instrument into his pocket. An

inimitable painter of human nature, ranking with the few immortals whose

creations appeal to all times. Proud and independent, though amiable of

disposition. Devoted to the pursuits and joys of a literary life.

231. ALEXIS PIRON. _Poet._

[Born at Dijon, 1689. Died 1773. Aged 84.]

A wild and dissolute spirit. The author of one admirable comedy, “La

Métromanie,” which may take rank with the dramatic productions of the

best period in France, and of seven volumes of compositions which have

long ceased to float on the broad river of fame. Piron was the son of an

apothecary at Dijon, and after almost breaking his father’s heart by his

follies, he was obliged to flee his native town in consequence of the

publication of an indecorous effusion written amidst the fumes of an

orgie. He went to Paris, and there for nine years lived in great

indigence, supporting himself as a copyist. Then he took to writing for

the minor theatres, with more or less success, until 1738, when he

produced his masterpiece, already mentioned. It secured him a place at

once amongst the best dramatists of his country. In 1753, he applied for

a vacant seat in the Academy, and was refused. He revenged himself by

composing a satire and the following epitaph:--

“Ci-git Piron, qui ne fut rien,

Pas même Académicien.”

“Here lies Piron--a nullity--

Not even an Academician.”

[This is an admirable bust, by Caffieri, dated 1775. Copied at

Versailles by M. Pigalle.]

232. PIERRE CLAUDE NIVELLE DE LA CHAUSSÉE. _Dramatist._

[Born in Paris, 1692. Died there, 1754. Aged 62.]

He is regarded as the inventor of sentimental comedy in France

(_Comédie larmoyante_.) Hugh Kelly’s “False Delicacy” made the

invention known in England, and Foote’s “Piety in Pattens” ridiculed it.

Pierre de la Chaussée was a French Academician. His writings gained for

him considerable fame during his life, and La Harpe ranks him amongst

the authors who have conferred honour upon the French theatre.

[In marble, by Caffieri. 1785.]

233. FRANÇOIS MARIE AROUET DE VOLTAIRE. _Historian, Poet, and Wit._

[Born at Chatenay, in France, 1694. Died in Paris, 1778. Aged 84.]

This extraordinary Intellect was not, as is generally supposed, an

atheist. Voltaire was not destitute of the sense of moral

responsibility; and he hardly believed in the immortality of the soul;

but it was from his pen that fell the startling confession that, “if God

did not exist, it would be necessary to invent his being.” Voltaire was

richly endowed. He wrote the best epic poem in the French language; his

tragedies, full of strength and passion, take high rank; his satire is

cutting and inimitable, and his historical writings are full of life and

movement. Wrapt up, however, in the philosophical spirit of the

eighteenth century, he was ever incapable of judging justly of the

greatness of minds who had received the prejudices of less enlightened

times. For forty years, he led a life of incessant literary action: part

of that time he was forced, in consequence of his satirical writings, to

live in England, where he became the intimate of Bolingbroke, Toland,

and other deists. In 1749, he visited Berlin, on the invitation of

Frederic the Great. Always a persevering and acrimonious enemy of

Christianity, he laughed at Revelation; and, a sneerer at hereditary

orders, he helped largely to the overthrow of the monarchy in France. He

did not live to witness the Revolution; but it is said that he lived

long enough to be horrified at his infidelity. It must be noted to his

honour, that whilst he ridiculed all things in which he had no faith, he

was sincere in his maintenance of the rights of humanity, and in his

denunciations of injustice. He was the idol of all who read and talked

in France in his time.

[From the marble, by Houdon, done in 1778, and signed by him in the

Théâtre Français. There is a fine seated statue of Voltaire in the

Théâtre Français by Houdon considered to be his _chef-d’œuvre_ as a

portrait statue, and remarkable for the noble style in which the

subject is treated. Copies of the same bust and statue exist at

Versailles.]

233A. FRANÇOIS MARIE AROUET DE VOLTAIRE. _Historian, Poet, and Wit._

[By Pajou.]

234. MICHEL JEAN SEDAINE. _Dramatist._

[Born in Paris, 1719. Died there, 1797. Aged 78.]

The son of an architect. At the age of 13 relinquished, through poverty,

the study of architecture and became a journeyman mason. Later in life

he set up as master mason, but he forsook his calling for literature and

the drama. His plays are well written for stage effect, but are not

remarkable for their poetic character, or correctness of style. The

success of his play, “Richard Cœur de Lion,” procured him admission into

the French Academy.

[From a marble, by Jaques Edouard Gatteaux, signed and dated 1843. M.

Gatteaux is an engraver of medals as well as sculptor, and member of

the Institute. Born 1788.]

234*. CHARLES PALISSOT DE MONTENOY. _Dramatist._

[Born at Nancy, in France, 1730. Died, 1814. Aged 84.]

Celebrated chiefly for his comedy of the “Cercle,” in which, by his

ridicule of Rousseau, he gave offence to the philosophical _literati_ of

France, with whom he waged continual literary war. In 1760, he produced

his comedy of “Les Philosophes;” in 1764, the “Dunciade.” His works are

not distinguished by richness of invention or copiousness of ideas; but

his style is natural, easy and correct.

[Bust to come.]

235. MARIE JEANNE VAUBERNIER, COMTESSE DU BARRY.

[Born at Vaucouleurs, in France, 1746. Guillotined, 1793. Aged 47.]

Of humble parentage. Quitting a convent in Paris into which she had

entered at an early age, she worked as a milliner when fifteen years

old. Shortly afterwards she became the mistress of the Count du Barry, a

dissolute man of fashion, and by him was introduced to Louis XV., who

captivated by her beauty and unrestrained manners, induced the brother

of the Count to make Mademoiselle Vaubernier his lawful wife. La

Comtesse du Barry, received at Versailles, soon acquired an ascendancy

over the licentious monarch and his court. She exercised supreme sway,

and held in her hands the power of life and death--promotion and

disgrace. Her extravagance was boundless. At the death of Louis in 1774,

she was shut up in a convent, where she became religious. Released from

her imprisonment by Louis XVI., she conducted herself with decorum, but

too late for any earthly happiness she might derive from repentance. In

1793, the revolutionists took her life because she had devoted it to the

service of the Royal family, for whom, it would appear, she had sold her

diamonds. She was much pitied at the scaffold, where she betrayed great

want of courage.

[From the marble in the Louvre, by Pajou. A very beautiful work

delicately chiselled, and full of life and softness. It is signed and

dated 1772. The bust at Versailles is a repetition, dated 1773.]

SCIENTIFIC MEN AND WRITERS.

236. MICHEL DE MONTAIGNE. _Essayist._

[Born at the Castle of Montaigne, in Perigord, France, 1533. Died at

Perigord, 1592. Aged 59.]

An original and most engaging writer. His essays consist chiefly either

of personal narrative, or of disquisitions upon his individual nature.

His reasoning acute and philosophical, his manner, if one may so call

it, grotesque, and naïve. His descriptions of persons, events, and

places full of life and exquisite drawing. A favourite author with all

lovers of sterling thought, lucid style, and quaint reflection. He lived

during a time of religious conflict, but walked quietly and unscathed

through the fire, blessed with philosophic calm. He travelled in 1580,

visited Switzerland and Venice “which he had a hunger to see,” and

settled for a time in Rome. He said “he could not go out of his way, for

he had no way to go.” On his return, elected Mayor of Bordeaux, though

he told the electors he had “neither party-spirit, memory, diligence,

nor experience.” Elected for a second time to the office, nevertheless.

A man of great moral courage, and warm in his friendships.

237. JACQUES AUGUSTE DE THOU. _Minister of State and Historian._

[Born in Paris 1553. Died 1617. Aged 64.]

Under Henry III. of France, De Thou discharged the duties of several

offices with eminent ability and credit; and in 1581, was appointed one

of the commissioners, sent to quiet the disturbances in Guyenne. In

1588, he was nominated Councillor of State, and in the following years

proceeded to Germany and Italy on a diplomatic mission. On the death of

Henry III. he received the confidence of Henry IV., and was employed,

with others, to digest the articles set forth in the celebrated Edict of

Nantes in 1598. In 1591, he commenced his great history of his own

times; and, in 1604, published the first eighteen books. After the death

of Henry IV., he served for a time as one of the Directors of Finance in

Sully’s place, but soon retired, disappointed and vexed; and closed his

days in the completion of his magnificent historical labours, and in the

practice of piety. De Thou was deeply read in men, and learned in human

dealings; grave and severely simple. His mighty work was written in 138

books, in the purest Latin, and is one of the world’s monuments of

industry, intelligence, and knowledge. He also wrote Latin verses.

[From the marble in the Louvre, by Barthélemi Prieur. The head is in

white marble, and the body in porphyry to imitate his robe.]

238. RÉNÉ DESCARTES. _Mathematician and Metaphysician._

[Born at Touraine, in France, 1596. Died at Stockholm, in Sweden,

1650. Aged 54.]

Shares with Bacon the title of Father of Modern Philosophy. All the

metaphysical writers follow him, as the men of the physical sciences

follow Bacon. He was only three and twenty when, whilst with his

regiment on the Danube, he determined to reform philosophy. To do so, he

resolved to efface from his mind all that he had learnt, and to admit

nothing that could not be demonstrated by reason and experience. With

him, consciousness was the sole _basis_, mathematics the sole _method_,

of certainty. He substituted the philosophy of reason for that of

authority. His genius for the great sciences, and his superiority over

the majority of his contemporaries in scientific acquirements, were

remarkable. He first applied algebra to geometry; he likewise made

observations on the decline of the magnetic needle, put forward the true

theory of the rainbow, and brought the science of optics within the

domain of mathematics. His influence over his age was great, though his

writings involved him in controversies. But he was timid as a man. He

wrote a book on astronomy, but destroyed it on learning the fate of

Galileo. He was the first great master of French prose. It is said of

him, that he began by doubting everything, and ended by believing that

he had left nothing unexplained.

239. ANTOINE ARNAULD. _Theologian and Controversialist._

[Born in Paris, 1612. Died at Brussels, 1694. Aged 82.]

A learned and fierce polemic, whose consistency was as perfect as his

spirit was bitter, and whose defiance of conflict and danger was as

insolent as his private life was blameless. His happiness consisted in

spiritual warfare. He established himself spokesman of the Jansenists.

When he was ten years old he was heard to say to Cardinal Perron, “With

this pen I, like you, will write against the Huguenots.” He commenced

the labours of his life by an attack upon the Jesuits. Taking active

part in all the angry discussion respecting grace, he published two

“Apologies” in favour of Jansenius, which drew upon him the censure of

the Sorbonne, and compelled him to retire to Port Royal, where he

remained for the space of twelve years. Returning to Paris in 1668, he

plunged immediately into the seething waters of controversy, and was

again forced into exile. Fifteen years afterwards, we find him, as

furious as ever, attacking the doctrine of Malebranche respecting the

grace and vision of God. At his own request, his much-agitated heart,

after it had ceased to beat, was sent to be deposited in the Port Royal.

Forty-eight volumes remain to attest the intensity of his religious

prejudices, the depth and extent of his learning, his violent love of

wrangling, and his restless and unwearied industry. We sigh over the

waste of power and the misuse of fine material.

240. SÉBASTIEN LE PRESTRE DE VAUBAN. _Engineer._

[Born at St.-Léger de Foucheret, in Burgundy, 1633. Died 1707. Aged

74.]

Of poor parents, but well descended. At the age of seventeen, entered

the army of Condé, in Spain, then fighting against France. Taken

prisoner in 1653, he went over to the French army, and received his

commission as lieutenant of engineers. His rise was as rapid as his

services were great. At the age of twenty-five, he conducted the sieges

of Gravelines, Ypres, and Oudenarde. He gave the most valuable help in

all the campaigns of Holland and Flanders, from 1667 to 1703; and in

1703 was created Marshal of France. His contributions to the science of

fortification have celebrated his name. He was not only a great builder,

but a shrewd observer, and knew better than any of his contemporaries

how to avail himself, whether in defence, or in attack, of the

circumstances by which he was surrounded, and of the opportunities and

conditions of his time. To him we owe the system of parallel lines,

which he introduced before the city of Maestricht. At the siege of

Philisbourg, he invented the “tir à ricochet,” in which the ball, making

a series of bounds, strikes several times along works against which it

is directed. He also invented the musket, in which the match served in

lieu of the cover to the pan. He afterwards armed the musket with the

bayonet. He vastly improved the system of inundations, that most useful

element of self-defence. His engineering appliances during his long and

indefatigable service were inexhaustible. It is affirmed on authority,

that he repaired three hundred old fortresses, constructed thirty-three

new works, conducted fifty-three sieges, and was present at a hundred

and forty severe engagements. He also left behind him twelve folio

volumes on Strategetics, entitled “Idle Hours.” Vauban was beloved by

the soldiery, for whose safety he was always careful. His humanity is

otherwise known by his endeavour to procure from the king, his master,

the restoration of the Edict of Nantes. To that king he was deeply

attached; although to him, as well as to every other man, he was blunt

in the expression of what he believed to be truth,--straightforward and

manly. He has been called the prince of engineers, and the best of

subjects.

241. JOSEPH PITTON DE TOURNEFORT. _Botanist._

[Born at Aix, in Provence, 1656. Died 1708. Aged 52.]

Educated by the Jesuits, and intended originally for the Church; but

upon the death of his father he made several botanical excursions, and

finally devoted his days to the prosecution of his darling pursuit. He

visited England, Spain, and Holland. Tournefort did much towards the

foundation of a scientific botany. His special service was in

distinguishing plants from one another, and in preparing them by

classification for the handling of the more philosophic student. Like

the other botanists of his time, he had his own system of

classification. He was one of the first thinkers upon the geographical

distribution of plants. In 1700, he pursued his inquiries in the Levant,

whence he brought home, after protracted and perilous wandering, no

fewer than 1356 new plants. He published his “Travels in the Levant”

upon his return to France.

242. CHARLES ROLLIN. _Historian._

[Born in Paris, 1661. Died 1741. Aged 80.]

The son of a cutler, and himself intended for that trade; but rescued to

learning and literature by a Benedictine monk who placed him at the

College of Plessis. His studies were eminently successful. After holding

many high scholastic appointments in France, he was obliged to resign,

in 1720, the Rectorship of the College of Plessis, where he had been

brought up, in consequence of the religious troubles of the time, he

being suspected of favouring the Jansenists. From 1720 until his death,

occupied in literary labours. His “Ancient History” appeared at

intervals, from 1730 to 1738. Its simple style and moral tendency are

more to be admired than the exactness of its narrative and the

discernment of its author. The other writings of Rollin improved the

taste of his age, and certainly strengthened its moral tone. As Rector

of the University he revived the study of Greek, and gave prominence to

the cultivation of French. He corresponded with Frederic the Great,

Rousseau, and Voltaire, without deriving injury from their acquaintance:

for all his contemporaries describe him as singularly virtuous and

pious.

243. JEAN BAPTISTE ROUSSEAU. _Lyric Poet._

[Born in Paris, 1669. Died at Brussels, 1741. Aged 72.]

A lyric poet of great celebrity in France, but many of his compositions

defaced by scurrility and indecency. He was the son of a shoemaker, but

he received a good education, and at an early age, gave sign of his

poetic genius. In his nineteenth year, appointed page to the French

ambassador at the court of Denmark; and subsequently attached as

Secretary to the Embassy in England. In 1712, he fell into disfavour,

and was banished from France for writing libellous verses, which, to the

last moment of his life, he declared were the production of some enemy,

who had designed his ruin. Retiring to Vienna, he found favour with

Prince Eugene. The odes of Jean Baptiste Rousseau are not surpassed, if

they are equalled, in the French language; his lyrics are elegant and

harmonious, and his epigrammatic skill is perfect. His later

productions, however, exhibit a lamentable falling off from the early

excellence by which he won his fame.

[In marble, by Caffieri. No date.]

244. RÉNÉ ANTOINE FERCHAULT DE RÉAUMUR. _Chemist and Naturalist._

[Born at Rochelle, in France, 1683. Died at Maine, in France, 1757.

Aged 74.]

The discoverer, in his own country, of the art of making steel, till

then imported into France. The thermometer which he adjusted, and which

is named after him, is chiefly used on the continent. His life spent in

the service of science, and in the close pursuit of truth. Entomology

was, however, his favourite study; and he contributed a most interesting

memoir towards the history of insects. He died from the effects of a

fall from his horse.

245. GEORGES LOUIS LE CLERC, COMTE DE BUFFON. _Naturalist._

[Born at Montbard, in France, 1707. Died in Paris, 1788. Aged 81.]

This great naturalist commenced his scientific career at the age of 25,

and his study at Montbard was called by Prince Henry of Prussia “the

cradle of Natural History.” Shortly afterwards appointed Intendant to

the _Jardin des Plantes_ at Paris, where he projected his theory of the

classification of animals, and assisted by Daubenton and Lacépède, wrote

the great work which has immortalized his name. He was more or less

dissimilar to Linnæus in the spirit and in the detail of his

undertaking. Buffon’s object is to write a natural history of each

animal; that of Linnæus to express its peculiar and distinctive

character in the fewest possible words. Linnæus gives classical names to

the objects he describes. Buffon names his animals in French. Buffon’s

style is luminous and elevated, and at times approaches the character of

blank verse. He is one of the founders of ethnological science, and as a

writer on ethnology gave great prominence to the history of man as an

Animal. He was sensual, vain, and in religious matters hypocritical.

[The original bust, which is in the Louvre, is inscribed--“By Pajou,

sculpteur du Roy, professeur de son Académie de peinture et de

sculpture, 1773.” Pajou died in 1809.]

245A. GEORGES LOUIS LE CLERC, COMTE DE BUFFON. _Naturalist._

[By J. Debay.]

246. CHARLES LINNÉ, known by his Latin name LINNÆUS. _Botanist._

[Born at Rœshult, in Sweden, 1707. Died at Upsal, in Sweden, 1778.

Aged 71.]

A botanist, even at school, where he neglected his books in order to

collect plants in the fields. His father, in despair, apprenticed him to

a shoemaker. With eight pounds in his pocket, he went to Upsal, to study

for the medical profession. Here he was appointed botanical lecturer in

the University. Thence he was despatched to Lapland on a botanical

expedition, and it is said he travelled 3,500 miles with no more than

ten pounds. Finally became Professor of Medicine at Upsal, and

Superintendent of the Botanical Gardens. Published, besides his great

_Systema Naturæ_, many works on natural history, and a book on _Materia

Medica_ and nosology. He invented a new system of classification,

founded upon the sexes of plants, which reigned in the science till

superseded by the natural system of Jussieu. In person below the middle

height, strong, and muscular. His head large; his look ardent and

piercing; his features agreeable and animated. Vanity his greatest

foible; yet few men have shown greater boldness, zeal, and activity, in

the pursuit of science. His love of nature seemed a religious devotion

of the heart. His library and _herbarium_ were purchased for 1000_l._ by

Sir James Edward Smith, and are now in the possession of the Linnæan

Society of London.

247. JEAN JACQUES ROUSSEAU. _Philosopher and Writer._

[Born at Geneva, 1712. Died at Ermenonville, in France, 1778. Aged

66.]