[1] Bavo, or Allowin (c. 589-c. 653), patron saint of Ghent, was a
nobleman converted by St Amandus, the apostle of Flanders. He lived
first as an anchorite in the forest of Mendonk, and afterwards in the
monastery founded with his assistance by Amandus at Ghent.
GHETTO, formerly the street or quarter of a city in which Jews were
compelled to live, enclosed by walls and gates which were locked each
night. The term is now used loosely of any locality in a city or country
where Jews congregate. The derivation of the word is doubtful. In
documents of the 11th century the Jew-quarters in Venice and Salerno are
styled "Judaca" or "Judacaria." At Capua in 1375 there was a place
called San Nicolo ad Judaicam, and later elsewhere a quarter San Martino
ad Judaicam. Hence it has been suggested Judaicam became Italian
Giudeica and thence became corrupted into ghetto. Another theory traces
it to "gietto," the common foundry at Venice near which was the first
Jews' quarters of that city. More probably the word is an abbreviation
of Italian _borghetto_ diminutive of _borgo_ a "borough."
The earliest regular ghettos were established in Italy in the 11th
century, though Prague is said to have had one in the previous century.
The ghetto at Rome was instituted by Paul IV. in 1556. It lay between
the Via del Pianto and Ponte del Quattro Capi, and comprised a few
narrow and filthy streets. It lay so low that it was yearly flooded by
the Tiber. The Jews had to sue annually for permission to live there,
and paid a yearly tax for the privilege. This formality and tax survived
till 1850. During three centuries there were constant changes in the
oppressive regulations imposed upon the Jews by the popes. In 1814 Pius
VII. allowed a few Jews to live outside the ghetto, and in 1847 Pius IX.
decided to destroy the gates and walls, but public opinion hindered him
from carrying out his plans. In 1870 the Jews petitioned Pius IX. to
abolish the ghetto; but it was to Victor Emmanuel that this reform was
finally due. The walls remained until 1885.
During the middle ages the Jews were forbidden to leave the ghetto after
sunset when the gates were locked, and they were also imprisoned on
Sundays and all Christian holy days. Where the ghetto was too small for
the carrying on of their trades, a site beyond its wall was granted them
as a market, e.g. the Jewish _Tandelmarkt_ at Prague. Within their
ghettos the Jews were left much to their own devices, and the more
important ghettos, such as that at Prague, formed cities within cities,
having their own town halls and civic officials, hospitals, schools and
rabbinical courts. Fires were common in ghettos and, owing to the
narrowness of the streets, generally very destructive, especially as
from fear of plunder the Jews themselves closed their gates on such
occasions and refused assistance. On the 14th of June 1711 a fire, the
largest ever known in Germany, destroyed within twenty-four hours the
ghetto at Frankfort-on-Main. Other notable ghetto fires are that of Bari
in 1030 and Nikolsburg in 1719. The Jews were frequently expelled from
their ghettos, the most notable expulsions being those of Vienna (1670)
and Prague (1744-1745). This latter exile was during the war of the
Austrian Succession, when Maria Theresa, on the ground that "they were
fallen into disgrace," ordered Jews to leave Bohemia. The empress was,
however, induced by the protests of the powers, especially of England
and Holland, to revoke the decree. Meantime the Jews, ignorant of the
revocation, petitioned to be allowed to return in payment of a yearly
tax. This tax the Bohemian Jews paid until 1846. The most important
ghettos were those at Venice, Frankfort, Prague and Trieste. By the
middle of the 19th century the ghetto system was moribund, and with the
disappearance of the ghetto at Rome in 1870 it became obsolete.
See D. Philipson, _Old European Jewries_ (Philadelphia, 1894); Israel
Abrahams, _Jewish Life in the Middle Ages_ (1896); S. Kahn, article
"Ghetto" in _Jewish Encyclopedia_, v. 652.
GHIBERTI, LORENZO (1378-1455), Italian sculptor, was born at Florence in
1378. He learned the trade of a goldsmith under his father Ugoccione,
commonly called Cione, and his stepfather Bartoluccio; but the
goldsmith's art at that time included all varieties of plastic arts, and
required from those who devoted themselves to its higher branches a
general and profound knowledge of design and colouring. In the early
stage of his artistic career Ghiberti was best known as a painter in
fresco, and when Florence was visited by the plague he repaired to
Rimini, where he executed a highly prized fresco in the palace of the
sovereign Pandolfo Malatesta. He was recalled from Rimini to his native
city by the urgent entreaties of his stepfather Bartoluccio, who
informed him that a competition was to be opened for designs of a second
bronze gate in the baptistery, and that he would do wisely to return to
Florence and take part in this great artistic contest. The subject for
the artists was the sacrifice of Isaac; and the competitors were
required to observe in their work a certain conformity to the first
bronze gate of the baptistery, executed by Andrea Pisano about 100 years
previously. Of the six designs presented by different Italian artists,
those of Donatello, Brunelleschi and Ghiberti were pronounced the best,
and of the three Brunelleschi's and Ghiberti's superior to the third,
and of such equal merit that the thirty-four judges with whom the
decision was left entrusted the execution of the work to the joint
labour of the two friends. Brunelleschi, however, withdrew from the
contest. The first of his two bronze gates for the baptistery occupied
Ghiberti twenty years.
Ghiberti brought to his task a deep religious feeling and the striving
after a high poetical ideal which are not to be found in the works of
Donatello, though in power of characterization the second sculptor often
stands above the first. Like Donatello, he seized every opportunity of
studying the remains of ancient art; but he sought and found purer
models for imitation than Donatello, through his excavations and studies
in Rome, had been able to secure. The council of Florence, which met
during the most active period of Ghiberti's artistic career, not only
secured him the patronage of the pontiff, who took part in the council,
but enabled him, through the important connexions which he then formed
with the Greek prelates and magnates assembled in Florence, to obtain
from many quarters of the Byzantine empire the precious memorials of old
Greek art, which he studied with untiring zeal. The unbounded admiration
called forth by Ghiberti's first bronze gate led to his receiving from
the chiefs of the Florentine gilds the order for the second, of which
the subjects were likewise taken from the Old Testament. The Florentines
gazed with especial pride on these magnificent creations, which must
still have shone with all the brightness of their original gilding when,
a century later, Michelangelo pronounced them worthy to be the gates of
paradise. Next to the gates of the baptistery Ghiberti's chief works
still in existence are his three statues of St John the Baptist, St
Matthew and St Stephen, executed for the church of Or San Michele. In
the bas-relief of the coffin of St Zenobius, in the Florence cathedral,
Ghiberti put forth much of his peculiar talent, and though he did not,
as is commonly stated, execute entirely the painted glass windows in
that edifice, he furnished several of the designs, and did the same
service for a painted glass window in the church of Or San Michele. He
died at the age of 77.
We are better acquainted with Ghiberti's theories of art than with those
of most of his contemporaries, for he left behind him a commentary, in
which, besides his notices of art, he gives much insight into his own
personal character and views. Every page attests the religious spirit in
which he lived and worked. Not only does he aim at faithfully reflecting
Christian truths in his creations, he regards the old Greek statues with
a kindred feeling, as setting forth the highest intellectual and moral
attributes of human nature. He appears to have cared as little as
Donatello for money.
Benvenuto Cellini's criticism on Ghiberti that in his creations of
plastic art he was more successful in small than in large figures, and
that he always exhibited in his works the peculiar excellences of the
goldsmith's quite as much as those of the sculptor's art, is after all
no valid censure, for it merely affirms that Ghiberti faithfully
complied with the peculiar conditions of the task imposed upon him. More
frequent have been the discussions as to the part played by perspective
in his representations of natural scenery. These acquired a fresh
importance since the discovery of the data, from which it appeared that
Paolo Uccello, who had commonly been regarded as the first great master
of perspective, worked for several years in the studio or workshop of
Ghiberti, so that it became difficult to determine to what extent
Uccello's successful innovations in perspective were due to Ghiberti's
teaching.
Cicognara's criticism on Ghiberti, in his _History of Sculpture_, has
supplied the chief materials for the illustrative text of Lasinio's
series of engravings of the three bronze gates of the baptistery. They
consist of 42 plates in folio, and were published at Florence by Bardi
in 1821. Still more vivid representations are the reproductions on a
very large scale by the photographic establishment of Alinari. Both C.
C. Perkins, in his _History of Tuscan Sculpture_ (1864), and A. F.
Rio, in his _Art chretien_ (1861-1867), have treated Ghiberti's works
with much fulness, and in a spirit of sound appreciation. See also the
chapter expressly devoted to the history of the competition for the
baptistery gates in Hans Semper, _Donatello_ (1887); the articles by
Adolf Rosemberg in Dohme's _Kunst und Kunstler des Mittelalters_
(Leipzig, 1877); Leader Scott, _Ghiberti and Donatello_ (1882). In the
_Sammlung ausgewahlter Biographien Vasari_, ed. Carl Frey, vol. iii.
(1886), is given Ghiberti's commentary on art.
GHICA, GHIKA or GHYKA, a family which played a great part in the modern
development of Rumania, many of its members being princes of Moldavia
and Walachia. According to Rumanian historians the Ghicas were of very
humble origin, and came from Kiupru in Albania.
1. George or Gheorghe (c. 1600-1664), the founder of the family, is said
to have been a playmate of another Albanian known in history as Kupruli
Aga, the famous vizier, who recognized George while he was selling
melons in the streets of Constantinople, and helped him on to high
positions. George became prince of Moldavia in 1658 and prince of
Walachia in 1659-1660. He moved the capital from Tirgovishtea to
Bucharest. From him are derived the numerous branches of the family
which became so conspicuous in the history of Moldavia and Walachia.
2. The Walachian branch starts afresh from the great ban Demetrius or
Dumitru Ghica (1718-1803), who was twice married and had fourteen
children (see RUMANIA: _History_). One of these, Gregory (Grigorie),
prince of Walachia 1822-1828, starts a new era of civilization, by
breaking with the traditions of the Phanariot (Greek) period and
assisting in the development of a truly national Rumanian literature.
His brother, Prince Alexander Ghica, appointed jointly by Turkey and
Russia (1834-1842) as hospodar of Walachia, died in 1862. Under him the
so-called _reglement organique_ had been promulgated; an attempt was
made to codify the laws in conformity with the institutions of the
country and to secure better administration of justice. Prince Demetrius
Ghica, who died as president of the Rumanian senate in 1897, was the son
of the Walachian prince Gregory.
3. Another Gregory Ghica, prince of Moldavia from 1775 to 1777, paid
with his life for the opposition he offered when the Turks ceded the
province of Bukovina to Austria.
4. Michael (Michail) (1794-1850) was the father of Elena (1827-1888), a
well-known novelist, who wrote under the name of Dora d'Istria. Brought
up, as was customary at the time, under Greek influences, she showed
premature intelligence and literary power. She continued her education
in Germany and married a Russian prince, Koltsov Mazalskiy, in 1849, but
the marriage was an unhappy one, and in 1855 she left St Petersburg for
Florence, where she died in 1888. In that city she developed her
literary talent and published a number of works characterized by
lightness of touch and brilliance of description, such as _Pelerinage
au tombeau de Dante, La Vie monastique dans les eglises orientales_
(1844), _La Suisse allemande_, &c. One of her last works was devoted to
the history of her own family, _Gli Albanesi in Roumenia: Storia dei
Principi Ghika nei secoli XVII-XIX_ (Florence, 1873). Her sister was
Sophia, Countess O'Rourke.
5. Scarlat Ghica (1750-1802) was twice prince of Walachia. His grandson
John (Ioan) Ghica (1817-1897), a lifelong friend of Turkey, was educated
in Bucharest and in the West, and studied engineering and mathematics in
Paris from 1837 to 1840; returning to Moldavia he was involved in the
conspiracy of 1841, which was intended to bring about the union of
Walachia and Moldavia under one native prince (Michael Sturdza). The
conspiracy failed and John Ghica became a lecturer on mathematics at the
university which was founded by Prince Sturdza in Jassy. In 1848 he
joined the party of revolution and in the name of a provisional
government then established in Bucharest went to Constantinople to
approach the Turkish government. Whilst there he was appointed Bey of
Samos (1853-1859), where he extirpated piracy, rampant in that island.
In 1859 after the union of Moldavia and Walachia had been effected
Prince Cuza induced John Ghica to return. He was the first prime
minister under Prince (afterwards King) Charles of Hohenzollern. His
restless nature made him join the anti-dynastic movement of 1870-1871.
In 1881 he was appointed Rumanian minister in London and retained this
office until 1889. He died on the 7th of May 1897 in Gherghani. Besides
his political distinction John Ghica earned a literary reputation by his
"Letters to Alexandri" (2nd edition, 1887), his lifelong friend, written
from London and describing the ancient state of Rumanian society, fast
fading away. He was also the author of _Amintiri din pribegie_,
"Recollections of Exile in 1848" (Bucharest, 1890) and of _Convorbiri
Economice_, discussions on economic questions (Bucharest, 1866-1873). He
was the first to advocate the establishment of national industry and
commerce, and also, to a certain extent, principles of "exclusive
dealing." (M. G.)
GHILZAI, a large and widespread Afghan tribe, who extend from
Kalat-i-Ghilzai on the S. to the Kabul river on the N., and from the Gul
Koh range on the W. to the Indian border on the E., in many places
overflowing these boundaries. The popular theory of the origin of the
Ghilzais traces them to the Turkish tribe of Kilji, once occupying
districts bordering the upper course of the Syr Darya (Jaxartes), and
affirms that they were brought into Afghanistan by the Turk Sabuktagin
in the 10th century. However that may be, the Ghilzai clans now rank
collectively as second to none in strength of military and commercial
enterprise. They are a fine, manly race of people, and it is from some
of their most influential clans (Suliman Khel, Nasir Khel, Kharotis,
&c.) that the main body of povindah merchants is derived.
GHIRLANDAJO, DOMENICO (1449-1494), Florentine painter. His full name is
given as Domenico di Tommaso Curradi di Doffo Bigordi; it appears
therefore that his father's surname was Curradi, and his grandfather's
Bigordi. The painter is generally termed Domenico Bigordi, but some
authors give him, and apparently with reason, the paternal surname
Curradi. Ghirlandajo (garland-maker) was only a nickname, coming to
Domenico from the employment of his father (or else of his earliest
instructor), who was renowned for fashioning the metallic garlands worn
by Florentine damsels; he was not, however, as some have said, the
inventor of them. Tommaso was by vocation a jeweller on the Ponte
Vecchio, or perhaps a broker. Domenico, the eldest of eight children,
was at first apprenticed to a jeweller or goldsmith, probably enough his
own father; in his shop he was continually making portraits of the
passers-by, and it was thought expedient to place him with Alessio
Baldovinetti to study painting and mosaic. His youthful years were,
however, entirely undistinguished, and at the age of thirty-one he had
not a fixed abode of his own. This is remarkable, as immediately
afterwards, from 1480 onwards to his death at a comparatively early age
in 1494, he became the most proficient painter of his time, incessantly
employed, and condensing into that brief period of fourteen years fully
as large an amount of excellent work as any other artist that could be
named; indeed, we should properly say eleven years, for nothing of his
is known of a later date than 1491.
In 1480 Ghirlandajo painted a "St Jerome" and other frescoes in the
church of Ognissanti, Florence, and a life-sized "Last Supper" in its
refectory, noticeable for individual action and expression. From 1481 to
1485 he was employed upon frescoes in the Sala dell' Orologio in the
Palazzo Vecchio; he painted the apotheosis of St Zenobius, a work beyond
the size of life, with much architectural framework, figures of Roman
heroes and other detail, striking in perspective and structural
propriety. While still occupied here, he was summoned to Rome by Pope
Sixtus IV. to paint in the Sixtine chapel; he went thither in 1483. In
the Sixtine he executed, probably before 1484, a fresco which has few
rivals in that series, "Christ calling Peter and Andrew to their
Apostleship,"--a work which, though somewhat deficient in colour, has
greatness of method and much excellence of finish. The landscape
background, in especial, is very superior to anything to be found in the
works, which had no doubt been zealously studied by Ghirlandajo, of
Masaccio and others in the Brancacci chapel. He also did some other
works in Rome, now perished. Before 1485 he had likewise produced his
frescoes in the chapel of S. Fina, in the Tuscan town of S. Gimignano,
remarkable for grandeur and grace,--two pictures of Fina, dying and
dead, with some accessory work. Sebastian Mainardi assisted him in these
productions in Rome and in S. Gimignano; and Ghirlandajo was so well
pleased with his co-operation that he gave him his sister in marriage.
He now returned to Florence, and undertook in the church of the Trinita,
and afterwards in S. Maria Novella, the works which have set the seal on
his celebrity. The frescoes in the Sassetti chapel of S. Trinita are six
subjects from the life of St Francis, along with some classical
accessories, dated 1485. Three of the principal incidents are "St
Francis obtaining from Pope Honorius the approval of the Rules of his
Order"; his "Death and Obsequies," and the Resuscitation, by the
interposition of the beatified saint, of a child of the Spini family,
who had been killed by falling out of a window. In the first work is a
portrait of Lorenzo de' Medici; and in the third the painter's own
likeness, which he introduced also into one of the pictures in S. Maria
Novella, and in the "Adoration of the Magi" in the hospital of the
Innocenti. The altar-piece of the Sassetti chapel, the "Adoration of the
Shepherds," is now in the Florentine Academy. Immediately after
disposing of this commission, Ghirlandajo was asked to renew the
frescoes in the choir of S. Maria Novella. This choir formed the chapel
of the Ricci family, but the Tornabuoni and Tornaquinci families, then
much more opulent than the Ricci, undertook the cost of the restoration,
under conditions, as to preserving the arms of the Ricci, which gave
rise in the end to some amusing incidents of litigation. The frescoes,
in the execution of which Domenico had many assistants, are in four
courses along the three walls,--the leading subjects being the lives of
the Madonna and of the Baptist. Besides their general richness and
dignity of art, these works are particularly interesting as containing
many historical portraits--a method of treatment in which Ghirlandajo
was pre-eminently skilled.
There are no less than twenty-one portraits of the Tornabuoni and
Tornaquinci families; in the subject of the "Angel appearing to
Zacharias," those of Politian, Marsilio Ficino and others; in the
"Salutation of Anna and Elizabeth," the beautiful Ginevra de' Benci; in
the "Expulsion of Joachim from the Temple," Mainardi and Baldovinetti
(or the latter figure may perhaps be Ghirlandajo's father). The Ricci
chapel was reopened and completed in 1490; the altar-piece, now removed
from the chapel, was probably executed with the assistance of Domenico's
brothers, David and Benedetto, painters of ordinary calibre; the painted
window was from Domenico's own design. Other distinguished works from
his hand are an altar-piece in tempera of the "Virgin adored by Sts
Zenobius, Justus and others," painted for the church of St Justus, but
now in the Uffizi gallery, a remarkable masterpiece; "Christ in glory
with Romuald and other Saints," in the Badia of Volterra; the
"Adoration of the Magi," in the church of the Innocenti (already
mentioned), perhaps his finest panel-picture (1488); and the
"Visitation," in the Louvre, bearing the latest ascertained date (1491)
of all his works. Ghirlandajo did not often attempt the nude; one of his
pictures of this character, "Vulcan and his Assistants forging
Thunderbolts," was painted for Lo Spedaletto, but (like several others
specified by Vasari) it exists no longer. Two portraits by him are in
the National Gallery, London. The mosaics which he produced date before
1491; one, of especial celebrity, is the "Annunciation," on a portal of
the cathedral of Florence.
In general artistic attainment Ghirlandajo may fairly be regarded as
exceeding all his precursors or competitors; though the names of a few,
particularly Giotto, Masaccio, Lippo Lippi and Botticelli, stand higher
for originating power. His scheme of composition is grand and decorous;
his chiaroscuro excellent, and especially his perspectives, which he
would design on a very elaborate scale by the eye alone; his colour is
more open to criticism, but this remark applies much less to the
frescoes than the tempera-pictures, which are sometimes too broadly and
crudely bright. He worked in these two methods alone--never in oils; and
his frescoes are what the Italians term "buon fresco," without any
finishing in tempera. A certain hardness of outline, not unlike the
character of bronze sculpture, may attest his early training in metal
work. He first introduced into Florentine art that mixture of the sacred
and the profane which had already been practised in Siena. His types in
figures of Christ, the Virgin and angels are not of the highest order;
and a defect of drawing, which has been often pointed out, is the
meagreness of his hands and feet. It was one of his maxims that
"painting is designing." Ghirlandajo was an insatiate worker, and
expressed a wish that he had the entire circuit of the walls of Florence
to paint upon. He told his shop-assistants not to refuse any commission
that might offer, were it even for a lady's petticoat-panniers: if they
would not execute such work, he would. Not that he was in any way
grasping or sordid in money-matters, as is proved by the anecdote of the
readiness with which he gave up a bonus upon the stipulated price of the
Ricci chapel frescoes, offered by the wealthy Tornabuoni in the first
instance, but afterwards begrudged. Vasari says that Ghirlandajo was the
first to abandon in great part the use of gilding in his pictures,
representing by genuine painting any objects supposed to be gilded; yet
this does not hold good without some considerable exceptions--the high
lights of the landscape, for instance, in the "Adoration of the
Shepherds," now in the Florence Academy, being put in in gold. Many
drawings and sketches by this painter are in the Uffizi gallery,
remarkable for vigour of outline. One of the great glories of
Ghirlandajo is that he gave some early art-education to Michelangelo,
who cannot, however, have remained with him long. F. Granacci was
another of his pupils.
This renowned artist died of pestilential fever on the 11th of January
1494, and was buried in S. Maria Novella. He had been twice married, and
left six children, three of them being sons. He had a long and
honourable line of descendants, which came to a close in the 17th
century, when the last members of the race entered monasteries. It is
probable that Domenico died poor; he appears to have been gentle,
honourable and conscientious, as well as energetically diligent.
The biography of Ghirlandajo is carefully worked out in Crowe and
Cavalcaselle's book. A recent German work on the subject is that of
Ernst Steinmann (1897). See also _Codex Escurialensis, ein Skizzenbuch
aus der Werkstatt Domenico Ghirlandaios_ (texts and plates), by Chr.
Hulsen, Adolf Michaelis and Hermann Egger in the _Sonderschriften des
osterr. archaol. Instituts in Wien_ (2 vols., 1906), and cf. T. Ashby
in _Classical Quarterly_ (April 1909). (W. M. R.)
GHIRLANDAJO, RIDOLFO (1483-1560), son of Domenico Ghirlandajo,
Florentine painter, was born on the 14th of February 1483, and, being
less than eleven years old when his father died, was brought up by his
uncle David. To this second-rate artist he owed less in the way of
professional training than to Granacci, Piero di Cosimo and perhaps
Cosimo Rosselli. It has been said that Ridolfo studied also under Fra
Bartolommeo, but this is not clearly ascertained. He was certainly one
of the earliest students of the famous cartoons of Leonardo da Vinci and
Michelangelo. His works between the dates 1504 and 1508 show a marked
influence from Fra Bartolommeo and Raphael, with the latter of whom he
was on terms of familiar friendship; hence he progressed in selection of
form and in the modelling and relief of his figures. Raphael, on
reaching Rome in 1508, wished Ridolfo to join him; but the Florentine
painter was of a particularly home-keeping humour, and he neglected the
opportunity. He soon rose to the head of the Florentine oil-painters of
his time; and, like his father, accepted all sorts of commissions, of
whatever kind. He was prominent in the execution of vast scenic canvases
for various public occasions, such as the wedding of Giuliano de'
Medici, and the entry of Leo X. into Florence in 1515. In his prime he
was honest and conscientious as an artist; but from about 1527 he
declined, having already accumulated a handsome property, more than
sufficient for maintaining in affluence his large family of fifteen
children, and his works became comparatively mannered and
self-repeating. His sons traded in France and in Ferrara; he himself
took a part in commercial affairs, and began paying some attention to
mosaic work, but it seems that, after completing one mosaic, the
"Annunciation" over the door of the Annunziata, patience failed him for
continuing such minute labours. In his old age Ridolfo was greatly
disabled by gout. He appears to have been of a kindly, easy-going
character, much regarded by his friends and patrons.
The following are some of his leading works, the great majority of them
being oil-pictures:--
"Christ and the Maries on the road to Calvary," now in the Palazzo
Antinori, Florence, an early example, with figures of half life-size.
An "Annunciation" in the Abbey of Montoliveto near Florence,
Leonardesque in style. In 1504, the "Coronation of the Virgin," now in
the Louvre. A "Nativity," very carefully executed, now in the
Hermitage, St Petersburg, and ascribed in the catalogue to Granacci. A
"Predella," in the oratory of the Bigallo, Florence, five panels,
representing the Nativity and other subjects, charmingly finished. In
1514, on the ceiling of the chapel of St Bernard in the Palazzo
Pubblico, Florence, a fresco of the "Trinity," with heads of the
twelve apostles and other accessories, and the "Annunciation"; also
the "Assumption of the Virgin, who bestows her girdle on St Thomas,"
in the choir loft of Prato cathedral. Towards the same date, a picture
showing his highest skill, replete with expression, vigorous life, and
firm accomplished pictorial method, now in the gallery of the Uffizi,
"St Zenobius resuscitating a child"; also the translation of the
remains of the same Saint. The "Virgin and various saints," at S. Pier
Maggiore, Pistoja. In 1521, the "Pieta," at S. Agostino, Colle di
Valdelsa, life-sized. Towards 1526, the "Assumption," now in the
Berlin Museum, containing the painter's own portrait. An excellent
portrait of "Cosimo de' Medici" (the Great) in youth. In 1543, a
series of frescoes in the monastery of the Angeli. In the National
Gallery, London, is "The Procession to Calvary." A great number of
altar-pieces were executed by Ghirlandajo, with the assistance of his
favourite pupil, currently named Michele di Ridolfo. Another of his
pupils was Mariano da Pescia. (W. M. R.)
GHOR, or GHUR, an ancient kingdom of Afghanistan. The name of Ghor was
in the middle ages, and indeed locally still is, applied to the
highlands east of Herat, extending eastward to the upper Helmund valley,
or nearly so. Ghor is the southern portion of that great peninsula of
strong mountain country which forms the western part of modern
Afghanistan. The northern portion of the peninsula was in the middle
ages comprehended under the names of _Gharjistan_ (on the west), and
_Juzjana_ (on the east), whilst the basin of the Herat river, and all
south of it, constituted Ghor. The name as now used does not include the
valley of the Herat river; on the south the limit seems to be the
declivity of the higher mountains dominating the descent to the lower
Helmund, and the road from Farah to Kandahar. It is in Ghor that rise
all those affluents of the closed basin of Seistan, the Hari-rud, the
Farah-rud, the Khash-rud, besides other considerable streams joining the
Helmund above Girishk.
Ghor is mentioned in the Shahnama of Firdousi (A.D. 1010), and in the
Arab geographers of that time, though these latter fail in details
almost as much as we moderns, thus indicating how little accessible the
country has been through all ages. Ibn Hau[k.]al's map of Khorasan (c.
976) shows _Jibal-al-Ghur_, "the hill-country of Ghor," as a circle
ring-fenced with mountains. His brief description speaks of it as a land
fruitful in crops, cattle and flocks, inhabited by infidels, except a
few who passed for Mahommedans, and indicates that, like other pagan
countries surrounded by Moslem populations, it was regarded as a store
of slaves for the faithful. The boundary of Ghor in ascending the valley
of the Hari-rud was six and a half easy marches from Herat, at Chist,
two marches above Obeh.
The chief part of the present population of Ghor are Taimanis, belonging
to the class of nomad or semi-nomad clans called Aimak, intermingled
with Zuris and Tajiks.
The people and princes of Ghor first become known to us in connexion
with the Ghaznevid dynasty, and the early medieval histories of Ghor and
Ghazni are so intertwined that little need be added on that subject to
what will be found under GHAZNI (q.v.). What we read of Ghor shows it as
a country of lofty mountains and fruitful valleys, and of numerous
strongholds held by a variety of hill-chieftains ruling warlike clans
whose habits were rife with feuds and turbulence,--indeed, in character
strongly resembling the tribes of modern Afghanistan, though there seems
no good reason to believe that they were of Afghan race. It is probable
that they were of old Persian blood, like the older of those tribes
which still occupy the country. It is possibly a corroboration of this
that, in the 14th century, when one of the Ghori kings, of the Kurt
dynasty reigning in Herat, had taken to himself some of the insignia of
independent sovereignty, an incensed Mongol prince is said to have
reviled him as "an insolent _Tajik_." Sabuktagin of Ghazni, and his
famous son Mahmud, repeatedly invaded the mountain country which so
nearly adjoined their capital, subduing its chiefs for the moment, and
exacting tribute; but when the immediate pressure was withdrawn, the
yoke was thrown off and the tribute withheld. In 1020 Masa'ud, the son
of Mahmud, being then governor of Khorasan, made a systematic invasion
of Ghor from the side of Herat, laying siege to its strongholds one
after the other, and subduing the country more effectually than ever
before. About a century later one of the princely families of Ghor,
deriving the appellation of Shansabi, or Shansabaniah, from a certain
ancestor Shansab, of local fame, and of alleged descent from Zohak,
acquired predominance in all the country, and at the time mentioned
Malik 'Izzuddin al Hosain of this family came to be recognized as lord
of Ghor. He was known afterwards as "the Father of Kings," from the
further honour to which several of his seven sons rose. Three of these
were--(1) Amir Kutbuddin Mahommed, called the lord of the Jibal or
mountains; (2) Sultan Saifuddin Suri, for a brief period master of
Ghazni,--both of whom were put to death by Bahram the Ghaznevid; and (3)
Sultan Alauddin Jahansoz, who wreaked such terrible vengeance upon
Ghazni. Alauddin began the conquests which were afterwards immensely
extended both in India and in the west by his nephews Ghiyasuddin
Mahommed b. Sam and Mahommed Ghori (Muizuddin b. Sam or Shahabuddin b.
Sam), and for a brief period during their rule it was boasted, with no
great exaggeration, that the public prayer was read in the name of the
Ghori from the extremity of India to the borders of Babylonia, and from
the Oxus to the Straits of Ormus. After the death of Mahommed Ghori,
Mahmud the son of Ghiyasuddin was proclaimed sovereign (1200) throughout
the territories of Ghor, Ghazni and Hindustan. But the Indian dominion,
from his uncle's death, became entirely independent, and his actual
authority was confined to Ghor, Seistan and Herat. The whole kingdom
fell to pieces before the power of Mahommed Shah of Khwarizm and his son
Jelaluddin (c. 1214-1215), a power in its turn to be speedily shattered
by the Mongol flood.
Besides the thrones of Ghor and Ghazni, the Shansabaniah family, in the
person of Fakhruddin, the eldest of the seven sons of Malik 'Izzuddin,
founded a kingdom in the Oxus basin, having its seat at BAMIAN (q.v.),
which endured for two or three generations, till extinguished by the
power of Khwarizm (1214). And the great Mussulman empire of Delhi was
based on the conquests of Muizuddin the Ghorian, carried out and
consolidated by his Turki freedmen, Kutbuddin Aibak and his successors.
The princes of Ghor experienced, about the middle of the 13th century,
a revival of power, which endured for 140 years. This later dynasty bore
the name of Kurt or K[)a]rt. The first of historical prominence was
Malik Shamsuddin Kurt, descended by his mother from the great king
Ghiyasuddin Ghori, whilst his other grandfather was that prince's
favourite minister. In 1245 Shamsuddin held the lordship of Ghor in some
kind of alliance with, or subordination to, the Mongols, who had not yet
definitively established themselves in Persia; and in 1248 he received
from the Great Khan Mangu an investiture of all the provinces from Merv
to the Indus, including by name Sijistan (or Seistan), Kabul, Tirah
(adjoining the Khyber pass), and Afghanistan (a very early occurrence of
this name), which he ruled from Herat. He stood well with Hulagu, and
for a long time with his son Abaka, but at last incurred the latter's
jealousy, and was poisoned when on a visit to the court at Tabriz
(1276). His son Ruknuddin Kurt was, however, invested with the
government of Khorasan (1278), but after some years, mistrusting his
Tatar suzerains, he withdrew into Ghor, and abode in his strong fortress
of Kaissar till his death there in 1305. The family held on through a
succession of eight kings in all, sometimes submissive to the Mongol,
sometimes aiming at independence, sometimes for a series of prosperous
years adding to the strength and splendour of Herat, and sometimes
sorely buffeted by the hosts of masterless Tatar brigands that tore
Khorasan and Persia in the decline of the dynasties of Hulagu and
Jagatai. It is possible that the Kurts might have established a lasting
Tajik kingdom at Herat, but in the time of the last of the dynasty,
Ghiyasuddin Pir-'Ali, Tatardom, reorganized and re-embodied in the
person of Timur, came against Herat, and carried away the king and the
treasures of his dynasty (1380). A revolt and massacre of his garrison
provoked Timur's vengeance; he put the captive king to death, came
against the city a second time, and showed it no mercy (1383). Ghor has
since been obscure in history.
The capital of the kingdom of Ghor, when its princes were rising to
dominion in the 12th century, was Firoz Koh, where a city and fortress
were founded by Saifuddin Suri. The exact position of Firoz Koh is
difficult to determine, unless it be represented by the ruins of one or
other of the ancient cities in the upper Murghab valley, the habitat of
the Firoz Kohi section of the Chahar Aimak, which were visited by the
surveyors of the Russo-Afghan boundary delimitation of 1884-1885.
Extensive ruins were also found at Taiwara on one of the main affluents
of the Farah Rud, where walls and terraces still existing supported the
local tradition that this place was the ancient capital of Ghor. The
valleys of the Taimani tribes though narrow are fertile and well
cultivated, and there are many walled villages and forts about Parjuman
and Zarni in the south-eastern districts. The peak of "Chalap Dalan"
(described by Ferrier as "one of the highest in the world") is the
Koh-i-Kaisar, which is a trifle over 13,000 ft. in height. All the
country now known as Ghor was mapped during the progress of the
Russo-Afghan boundary delimitation.
See the "Tabakat-i-Nasiri," in the _Bibl. Indica_, transl. by Raverty;
_Journal asiatique_, ser. v. tom. xvii.; "Ibn Haukal," in _J. As. Soc.
Beng._ vol. xxii.; Ferrier's _Caravan Journeys_; Hammer's _Ilkhans_,
&c.
GHOST (a word common to the W. Teutonic languages; O.E. _gaest_, Dutch,
_geest_, Ger. _Geist_), in the sense now prevailing, the spirit of a
dead person considered as appearing in some visible or sensible form to
the living (see APPARITIONS; PSYCHICAL RESEARCH, "Phantasms of the
Dead"; SPIRITUALISM). In the earlier and wider sense of spirit in
general, or of the principle of life, the word is practically obsolete.
The language of the Authorized Version of the Bible, however, has
preserved the phrase "to give up the ghost," still sometimes used of
dying. The Spirit of God, too, the third person of the Trinity, is still
called, not in the technical language of theology only, the Holy Ghost.
The adjective "ghostly" is still occasionally used for "spiritual" (cf.
the Ger. _geistlich_) as contrasted with "bodily," especially in such
combinations as "ghostly counsel," "ghostly comfort." We may even speak
of a "ghostly adviser," though not without a touch of affectation; on
the other hand, the phrase "ghostly man" for a clergyman (cf. the Ger.
_Geistlicher_) is an archaism the use of which could only be justified
by poetic licence, as in Tennyson's _Elaine_ (1842). The word "ghost,"
from the shadowy and unsubstantial quality attributed to the apparitions
of the dead, has come also to be commonly used to emphasize the want of
force or substance generally, in such phrases as "not the ghost of a
chance," "not the ghost of an idea." It is also applied to those
literary and artistic "hacks" who are paid to do work for which others
get the credit.
GHOST DANCE, an American-Indian ritual dance, sometimes called the
Spirit Dance, the dancers wearing a white cloak. It is connected with
the doctrine of a Messiah, which arose in Nevada among the Paiute
Indians in 1888 and spread to other tribes. A young Paiute Indian
medicine-man, known as Wovoka, and called Jack Wilson by the whites,
proclaimed that he had had a revelation, and that, if this ghost dance
and other ceremonies were duly performed, the Indians would be rid of
the white men. The movement led to a sort of craze among the Indian
tribes, and in 1890 it was one of the causes of the Sioux outbreak.
See J. Mooney, _14th Report (1896) of Bureau of American Ethnology_.
GIACOMETTI, PAOLO (1816-1882), Italian dramatist, born at Novi Ligure,
was educated in law at Genoa, but at the age of twenty had some success
with his play _Rosilda_ and then devoted himself to the stage. Depressed
circumstances made him attach himself as author to various touring
Italian companies, and his output was considerable; moreover, such
actors as Ristori, Rossi and Salvini made many of these plays great
successes. Among the best of them were _La Donna_ (1850), _La Donna in
seconde nozze_ (1851), _Giuditta_ (1857), _Sofocle_ (1860), _La Morte
civile_ (1880). A collection of his works was published at Milan in
eight volumes (1859 et seq.).
GIAMBELLI (or GIANIBELLI), FEDERIGO, Italian military engineer, was born
at Mantua about the middle of the 16th century. Having had some
experience as a military engineer in Italy, he went to Spain to offer
his services to Philip II. His proposals were, however, lukewarmly
received, and as he could obtain from the king no immediate employment,
he took up his residence at Antwerp, where he soon gained considerable
reputation for his knowledge in various departments of science. He is
said to have vowed to be revenged for his rebuff at the Spanish court;
and when Antwerp was besieged by the duke of Parma in 1584, he put
himself in communication with Queen Elizabeth, who, having satisfied
herself of his abilities, engaged him to aid by his counsels in its
defence. His plans for provisioning the town were rejected by the
senate, but they agreed to a modification of his scheme for destroying
the famous bridge which closed the entrance to the town from the side of
the sea, by the conversion of two ships of 60 and 70 tons into infernal
machines. One of these exploded, and, besides destroying more than 1000
soldiers, effected a breach in the structure of more than 200 ft. in
width, by which, but for the hesitation of Admiral Jacobzoon, the town
might at once have been relieved. After the surrender of Antwerp
Giambelli went to England, where he was engaged for some time in
fortifying the river Thames; and when the Spanish Armada was attacked by
fireships in the Calais roads, the panic which ensued was very largely
due to the conviction among the Spaniards that the fireships were
infernal machines constructed by Giambelli. He is said to have died in
London, but the year of his death is unknown.
See Motley's _History of the United Netherlands_, vols. i. and ii.
GIANNONE, PIETRO (1676-1748), was born at Ischitella, in the province of
Capitanata, on the 7th of May 1676. Arriving in Naples at the age of
eighteen, he devoted himself to the study of law, but his legal pursuits
were much surpassed in importance by his literary labours. He devoted
twenty years to the composition of his great work, the _Storia civile
del regno di Napoli_, which was ultimately published in 1723. Here in
his account of the rise and progress of the Neapolitan laws and
government, he warmly espoused the side of the civil power in its
conflicts with the Roman Catholic hierarchy. His merit lies in the fact
that he was the first to deal systematically with the question of Church
and State, and the position thus taken up by him, and the manner in
which that position was assumed, gave rise to a lifelong conflict
between Giannone and the Church; and in spite of his retractation in
prison at Turin, he deserves the palm--as he certainly endured the
sufferings--of a confessor and martyr in the cause of what he deemed
historical truth. Hooted by the mob of Naples, and excommunicated by the
archbishop's court, he was forced to leave Naples and repair to Vienna.
Meanwhile the Inquisition had attested after its own fashion the value
of his history by putting it on the _Index_. At Vienna the favour of the
emperor Charles VI. and of many leading personages at the Austrian court
obtained for him a pension and other facilities for the prosecution of
his historical studies. Of these the most important result was _Il
Triregno, ossia del regno del cielo, della terra, e del papa_. On the
transfer of the Neapolitan crown to Charles of Bourbon, Giannone lost
his Austrian pension and was compelled to remove to Venice. There he was
at first most favourably received. The post of consulting lawyer to the
republic, in which he might have continued the special work of Fra Paolo
Sarpi, was offered to him, as well as that of professor of public law in
Padua; but he declined both offers. Unhappily there arose a suspicion
that his views on maritime law were not favourable to the pretensions of
Venice, and this suspicion, notwithstanding all his efforts to dissipate
it, together with clerical intrigues, led to his expulsion from the
state. On the 23rd of September 1735 he was seized and conveyed to
Ferrara. After wandering under an assumed name for three months through
Modena, Milan and Turin, he at last reached Geneva, where he enjoyed the
friendship of the most distinguished citizens, and was on excellent
terms with the great publishing firms. But in an evil hour he was
induced to visit a Catholic village within Sardinian territory in order
to hear mass on Easter day, where he was kidnapped by the agents of the
Sardinian government, conveyed to the castle of Miolans and thence
successively transferred to Ceva and Turin. In the fortress of Turin he
remained immured during the last twelve years of his life, although part
of his time was spent in composing a defence of the Sardinian interests
as opposed to those of the papal court, and he was led to sign a
retractation of the statements in his history most obnoxious to the
Vatican (1738). But after his recantation his detention was made less
severe and he was allowed many alleviations. He died on the 7th of March
1748, in his seventy-second year.
Giannone's style as an Italian writer has been pronounced to be below a
severe classical model; he is often inaccurate as to the facts, for he
did not always work from original authorities (see A. Manzoni, _Storia
della colonna infame_), and he was sometimes guilty of unblushing
plagiarism. But his very ease and freedom have helped to make his
volumes more popular than many works of greater classical renown. In
England the just appreciation of his labours by Gibbon, and the ample
use made of them in the later volumes of _The Decline and Fall_, early
secured him his rightful place in the estimation of English scholars.
The story of his life has been recorded in the _Vita_ by L. Panzini,
which is based on Giannone's unpublished _Autobiografia_ and printed
in the Milan edition of the historian's works (1823); whilst a more
complete estimate of his literary and political importance may be
formed by the perusal of the collected edition of the works written by
him in his Turin prison, published in Turin in 1859--under the care of
the distinguished statesman Pasquale Stanislao Mancini, universally
recognized as one of the first authorities in Italy on questions
relating to the history of his native Naples, and especially of the
conflicts between the civil power and the Church. See also R. Mariano,
"Giannone e Vico," in the _Rivista contemporanea_ (1869); G. Ferrari,
_La Mente di Pietro Giannone_ (1868). G. Bonacci's _Saggio sulla
Storia civile del Giannone_ (Florence, 1903) is a bitter attack on
Giannone, and although the writer's remarks on the plagiarisms in the
_Storia civile_ are justified, the charge of servility is greatly
exaggerated.
GIANNUTRI (Gr. [Greek: Artemision], Lat. _Dianium_), an island of Italy,
about 1 sq. m. in total area, 10 m. S.E. of Giglio and about 10 m. S. of
the promontory of Monte Argentario (see ORBETELLO). The highest point is
305 ft. above sea-level. It contains the ruins of a large Roman villa,
near the Cala Maestra on the E. coast of the island. The buildings may
be divided into five groups: (1) a large cistern in five compartments,
each measuring 39 by 17 ft.; (2) habitations both for the owners and for
slaves, and store-rooms; (3) baths; (4) habitations for slaves; (5)
belvedere. The brick-stamps found begin in the Flavian and end with the
Hadrianic period. The villa may have belonged to the Domitii Ahenobarbi,
who certainly under the republic had property in the island of Igilium
(Giglio) and near Cosa.
See G. Pellegrini in _Notizie degli scavi_ (1900), 609 seq.
GIANT (O. E. _geant_, through Fr. _geant_, O. Fr. _gaiant_, _jaiant_,
_jeant_, med. pop. Lat. _gagante_--cf. Ital. _gigante_--by assimilation
from _gigantem_, acc. of Lat. _gigas_, Gr. [Greek: gigas]). The idea
conveyed by the word in classic mythology is that of beings more or less
manlike, but monstrous in size and strength. Figures like the Titans and
the Giants whose birth from Heaven and Earth is sung by Hesiod in the
_Theogony_, such as can heap up mountains to scale the sky and war
beside or against the gods, must be treated, with other like monstrous
figures of the wonder-tales of the world, as belonging altogether to the
realms of mythology. But there also appear in the legends of giants some
with historic significance. The ancient and commonly repeated
explanation of the Greek word [Greek: gigas], as connected with or
derived from [Greek: gegenes], or "earth-born," is etymologically
doubtful, but at any rate the idea conveyed by it was familiar to the
ancient Greeks, that the giants were earth-born or indigenous races (see
Welcker, _Griechische Gotterlehre_, i. 787). The Bible (the English
reader must be cautioned that the word giant has been there used
ambiguously, from the Septuagint downwards) touches the present matter
in so far as it records the traditions of the Israelites of fighting in
Palestine with tall races of the land such as the Anakim (Numb. xiii.
33; Deut. ii. 10, iii. 11; 1 Sam. xvii. 4). When reading in Homer of
"the Cyclopes and the wild tribes of the Giants," or of the adventures
of Odysseus in the cave of Polyphemus (Homer, _Odyss._ vii. 206; ix.),
we seem to come into view of dim traditions, exaggerated through the
mist of ages, of pre-Hellenic barbarians, godless, cannibal,
skin-clothed, hurling huge stones in their rude warfare. Giant-legends
of this class are common in Europe and Asia, where the big and stupid
giants would seem to have been barbaric tribes exaggerated into monsters
in the legends of those who dispossessed and slew them. In early times
it was usual for cities to have their legends of giants. Thus London had
Gog and Magog, whose effigies (14 ft. high) still stand in the Guildhall
(see GOG); Antwerp had her Antigonus, 40 ft. high; Douai had Gayant, 22
ft. high, and so on.
Besides the conception of giants, as special races distinct from
mankind, it was a common opinion of the ancients that the human race had
itself degenerated, the men of primeval ages having been of so far
greater stature and strength as to be in fact gigantic. This, for
example, is received by Pliny (_Hist. Nat._ vii. 16), and it becomes a
common doctrine of theologians such as Augustine (_De civitate Dei_, xv.
9), lasting on into times so modern that it may be found in Cruden's
_Concordance_. Yet so far as can be judged from actual remains, it does
not appear that giants, in the sense of tribes of altogether superhuman
stature, ever existed, or that the men of ancient time were on the whole
taller than those now living. It is now usual to apply the word giant
not to superhuman beings but merely to unusually tall men and women. In
every race of mankind the great mass of individuals do not depart far
from a certain mean or average height, while the very tall or very short
men become less and less numerous as they depart from the mean standard,
till the utmost divergence is reached in a very few giants on the one
hand, and a very few dwarfs on the other. At both ends of the scale, the
body is usually markedly out of the ordinary proportions; thus a giant's
head is smaller and a dwarf's head larger than it would be if an average
man had been magnified or diminished. The principle of the distribution
of individuals of different sizes in a race or nation has been ably set
forth by Quetelet (_Physique sociale_, vol. ii.; _Anthropometrie_, books
iii. and iv.). Had this principle been understood formerly, we might
have been spared the pains of criticizing assertions as to giants 20 ft.
high, or even more, appearing among mankind. The appearance of an
individual man 20 ft. high involves the existence of the race he is an
extreme member of, whose mean stature would be at least 12 to 14 ft.,
which is a height no human being has been proved on sufficient evidence
to have approached (_Anthropom._ p. 302). Modern statisticians cannot
accept the loose conclusion in Buffon (_Hist. nat._, ed. Sonnini, iv.
134) that there is no doubt of giants having been 10, 12, and perhaps 15
ft. high. Confidence is not even to be placed in ancient asserted
measurements, as where Pliny gives to one Gabbaras, an Arabian, the
stature of 9 ft. 9 in. (about 9 ft. 5-1/2 in. English), capping this
with the mention of Posio and Secundilla, who were half a foot higher.
That two persons should be described as both having this same
extraordinary measure suggests to the modern critic the notion of a note
jotted down on the philosopher's tablets, and never tested afterwards.
Under these circumstances it is worth while to ask how it is that legend
and history so abound in mentions of giants outside all probable
dimensions of the human frame. One cause is that, when the story-teller
is asked the actual stature of the huge men who figure in his tales, he
is not sparing of his inches and feet. What exaggeration can do in this
way may be judged from the fact that the Patagonians, whose average
height (5 ft. 11 in.) is really about that of the Chirnside men in
Berwickshire, are described in Pigafetta's _Voyage round the World_ as
so monstrous that the Spaniards' heads hardly reached their waists. It
is reasonable to suppose, with Professor Nilsson (_Primitive Inhabitants
of Scandinavia_, chap. vi.), that in the traditions of early Europe
tribes of savages may have thus, if really tall, expanded into giants,
or, if short, dwindled into dwarfs. Another cause which is clearly
proved to have given rise to giant-myths of yet more monstrous type has
been the discovery of great fossil bones, as of mammoth or mastodon,
which were formerly supposed to be bones of giants (see Tylor, _Early
History of Mankind_, chap. xi.; _Primitive Culture_, chap. x.). A tooth
weighing 4-3/4 [lb] and a thigh-bone 17 ft. long having been found in
New England in 1712 (they were probably mastodon), Dr Increase Mather
thereupon communicated to the Royal Society of London his theory of the
existence of men of prodigious stature in the antediluvian world (see
the _Philosophical Transactions_, xxiv. 85; D. Wilson, _Prehistoric
Man_, i. 54). The giants in the streets of Basel and supporting the arms
of Lucerne appear to have originated from certain fossil bones found in
1577, examined by the physician Felix Plater, and pronounced to have
belonged to a giant some 16 or 19 ft. high. These bones have since been
referred to a very different geological genus, but Plater's giant
skeleton was accepted early in the 19th century as a genuine relic of
the giants who once inhabited the earth. Of giants in real life whose
stature has been authentically recorded Quetelet gives the palm to
Frederick the Great's Scotch giant, who measured about 8 ft. 3 in. But
since his time there have been several giants who have equalled or
surpassed this figure. Patrick Cotler, an Irishman, who died at Clifton,
Bristol, in 1802, was 8 ft. 7 in. high. The famous "Irish giant" O'Brien
(Charles Byrne), whose skeleton is preserved in the museum of the Royal
College of Surgeons, London, was 8 ft. 4 in. Chang (Chang-woo-goo), who
appeared in London in 1865-1866 and again in 1880, was 8 ft. 2 in. Josef
Winkelmaier, an Austrian, exhibited in London on the 10th of January
1887, was 8 ft. 9 in.; while Elizabeth Lyska, a Russian child of twelve,
when shown in London in 1889, had already reached 6 ft. 8 in. Machnow, a
Russian, born at Charkow, was exhibited in London in his twenty-third
year in 1905; he then stood 9 ft. 3 in., and weighed 360 [lb] (25 st. 10
[lb]). From his wrist to the top of his second finger he measured 2 ft.
(see _The Times_, 10th February 1905).
The whole subject of giant myths and the now entirely exploded theory
that mankind has, as far as stature is concerned, degenerated since
prehistoric times, has been ably dealt with in a volume published by
MM. P. E. Launois and P. Roy, entitled _Etudes biologiques sur les
geans_ (Paris, 1904). See also E. J. Wood, _Giants and Dwarfs_ (1860).
GIANT'S CAUSEWAY, a promontory of columnar basalt, situated on the north
coast of county Antrim, Ireland. It is divided by whin-dykes into the
Little Causeway, the Middle Causeway or "Honeycomb," as it is locally
termed, and the Larger or Grand Causeway. The pillars composing it are
close-fitting and for the most part somewhat irregular hexagons, made
up of articulated portions varying from a few inches to some feet in
depth, and concave or convex at the upper and lower surfaces. In
diameter the pillars vary from 15 to 20 in., and in height some are as
much as 20 ft. The Great Causeway is chiefly from 20 to 30, and for a
few yards in some places nearly 40 ft. in breadth, exclusive of outlying
broken pieces of rock. It is highest at its narrowest part. At about
half a dozen yards from the cliff, widening and becoming lower, it
extends outwards into a platform, which has a slight seaward
inclination, but is easy to walk upon, and for nearly 100 yds. is always
above water. At the distance of about 150 yds. from the cliff it turns a
little to the eastward for 20 or 30 yds., and then sinks into the sea.
The neighbouring cliffs exhibit in many places columns similar to those
of the Giant's Causeway, a considerable exposure of them being visible
at a distance of 500 to 600 yds. in the bay to the east. A group of
these columns, from their arrangement, have been fancifully named the
"Giant's Organ." The most remarkable of the cliffs is the Pleaskin, the
upper pillars of which have the appearance of a colonnade, and are 60
ft. in height; beneath these is a mass of coarse black amygdaloid, of
the same thickness, underlain by a second range of basaltic pillars,
from 40 to 50 ft. in height. The view eastward over Bengore and towards
Fair Head is magnificent. Near the Giant's Causeway are the ruins of the
castles of Dunseverick and Dunluce, situated high above the sea on
isolated crags, and the swinging bridge of Carrick-a-Rede, spanning a
chasm 80 ft. deep, and connecting a rock, which is used as a
salmon-fishing station, with the mainland. In 1883 an electric railway,
the first in the United Kingdom, was opened for traffic, connecting the
Causeway with Portrush and Bushmills. After a protracted lawsuit
(1897-1898) the Causeway, and certain land in the vicinity, were
declared to be private property, and a charge is made for admission.
GIANT'S KETTLE, GIANT'S CAULDRON or POT-HOLE, in physical geography, the
name applied to cavities or holes which appear to have been drilled in
the surrounding rocks by eddying currents of water bearing stones,
gravel and other detrital matter. The size varies from a few inches to
several feet in depth and diameter. The commonest occurrence is in
regions where glaciers exist or have existed; a famous locality is the
Gletscher Garten of Lucerne, where there are 32 giant's kettles, the
largest being 26 ft. wide and 30 ft. deep; they are also common in
Germany, Norway and in the United States. It appears that water,
produced by the thawing of the ice and snow, forms streams on the
surface of the glacier, which, having gathered into their courses a
certain amount of morainic debris, are finally cast down a crevasse as a
swirling cascade or _moulin_. The sides of the crevasse are abraded, and
a vertical shaft is formed in the ice. The erosion may be continued into
the bed of the glacier, and, the ice having left the district, the
giant's kettle so formed is seen as an empty shaft, or as a pipe filled
with gravel, sand or boulders. Such cavities and pipes afford valuable
evidence as to the former extent of glaciers (see J. Geikie, _The Great
Ice Age_). Similar holes are met with in river beds at the foot of
cascades, and under some other circumstances. The term "pot-hole" is
also sometimes used synonymously with "swallow-hole" (q.v.).
GIAOUR (a Turkish adaptation of the Pers. _gawr_ or _gor_, an infidel),
a word used by the Turks to describe all who are not Mahommedans, with
especial reference to Christians. The word, first employed as a term of
contempt and reproach, has become so general that in most cases no
insult is intended in its use; similarly, in parts of China, the term
"foreign devil" has become void of offence. A strict analogy to _giaour_
is found in the Arabic _kaffir_, or unbeliever, which is so commonly in
use as to have become the proper name of peoples and countries.
GIB, ADAM (1714-1788), Scottish divine and leader of the Antiburgher
section of the Scottish Secession Church, was born on the 14th of April
1714 in the parish of Muckhart, Perthshire, and, on the completion of
his literary and theological studies at Edinburgh and Perth, was
licensed as a preacher in 1740. His eldest brother being a prodigal he
succeeded to the paternal estate, but threw the will into the fire on
his brother's promising to reform. In 1741 he was ordained minister of
the large Secession congregation of Bristo Street, Edinburgh. In 1745 he
was almost the only minister of Edinburgh who continued to preach
against rebellion while the troops of Charles Edward were in occupation
of the town. When in 1747 "the Associate Synod," by a narrow majority,
decided not to give full immediate effect to a judgment which had been
passed in the previous year against the lawfulness of the "Burgess
Oath," Gib led the protesting minority, who separated from their
brethren and formed the Antiburgher Synod (April 10th) in his own house
in Edinburgh. It was chiefly under his influence that it was agreed by
this ecclesiastical body at subsequent meetings to summon to the bar
their "Burgher" brethren, and finally to depose and excommunicate them
for contumacy. Gib's action in forming the Antiburgher Synod led, after
prolonged litigation, to his exclusion from the building in Bristo
Street where his congregation had met. In 1765 he made a vigorous and
able reply to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, which had
stigmatized the Secession as "threatening the peace of the country."
From 1753 till within a short period of his death, which took place on
the 18th of June 1788, he preached regularly in Nicolson Street church,
which was constantly filled with an audience of two thousand persons.
His dogmatic and fearless attitude in controversy earned for him the
nickname "Pope Gib."
Principal publications: _Tables for the Four Evangelists_ (1770, and
with author's name, 1800); _The Present Truth, a Display of the
Secession Testimony_ (2 vols., 1774); _Vindiciae dominicae_ (Edin.,
1780). See Chambers's _Eminent Scotsmen_; also article UNITED
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.
GIBARA, or JIBARA (once "Punta del Yarey" and "Yarey de Gibara"), a
north-coast city of Oriente Province, Cuba, 80 m. N.W. of Santiago de
Cuba. Pop. (1907) 6170. It is served by railway to the S.S.W., to
Holguin and Cacocum (where it connects with the main line between
Santiago and Havana), and is a port of call for the American Munson
Line. It lies on a circular harbour, about 1 m. in diameter, which,
though open to the N., affords fair shelter. At the entrance to the
harbour is San Fernando, an old fort (1817), and the city is very quaint
in appearance. At the back of the city are three stone-topped hills,
Silla, Pan and Tabla, reputed to be those referred to by Columbus in his
journal of his first voyage. Enclosing the town is a stone wall, built
by the Spaniards as a defence against attack during the rebellion of
1868-1878. Gibara is the port of Holguin. It exports cedar, mahogany,
tobacco, sugar, tortoise-shell, Indian corn, cattle products, coco-nuts
and bananas; and is the centre of the banana trade with the United
States. Gibara is an old settlement, but it did not rise above the
status of a petty village until after 1817; its importance dates from
the opening of the port to commerce in 1827.