Abbildungen der Seite
PDF
EPUB

sides the civilities which he shewed to Angiolello, bestowed on him very considerable proofs of his liberality. The author had been an eye-witness of what he related; for, being one of the slaves of the young sultan Mustapha, he followed him in the expedition to Persia in 1473, which Mahomet carried on in person with almost 200,000 soldiers into the dominions of Ussun-Cassan. It is somewhat surprising that Angiolello, who knew without doubt the haughty disposition of this emperor of the Turks, should venture to repeat the abusive terms, which Ussun-Cassan used in reproaching him with his illegitimate birth, when he viewed the army of the enemies from a hill upon the bank of the Euphrates. It is certain, however, that Angiolello's book was not the less kindly received, or the less amply rewarded. There was printed at Venice in 1553 a piece of Giov. Mario Angiolello," Della vita et fatti di Re di Persia;" and he wrote also "Relatione della vita e de' fatti del signor Ussun-Cassan," inserted in the second volume of Ramusio's Voyage, 1559, fol. By this it appears that he was living in 1524, and probably old, as this was fifty-one years after the battle on the Euphrates, at which he was present.'

ANGLICUS (GILBERTUS), or, as Bale, Pitts, and Tanner, call him, Gilbertus LeglEUS, was physician to Hubert, archbishop of Canterbury, in the time of king John, or towards the year 1210. Leland makes him flourish later; and from some passages in his works, he must have lived towards the end of the thirteenth century. The memoirs of this medical writer are very scanty: Dr. Freind has commented with much impartiality upon his Compendium of Physic, which is still extant, and appears to be the earliest remaining writing on the practice of medicine among our countrymen. That elegant writer allows him a share of the superstitious and empirical, although this will not make him inferior to the medical writers of the age in which he lived. His "6. His Compendium" was published at Lyons, 1510, 4to, and at Geneva, 1608.*

ANGLICUS, RICHARD. See RICHARD.

ANGLUS, THOMAS. See WHITE.

ANGOSCIOLA, or ANGUSSOLA (SOPHONISBA), an eminent Italian paintress, was born at Cremona in 1533, of

1 Gen. Dict.-Moreri.-Biog. Universelle.

2 Leland, Pitts, Tanner.-Freind's Hist. vol. II.-Ħaller Bibl. Med.➡Aikin's Biog. Memoirs of Medicine.

a distinguished family. The author of the Museum Fíorentinum is guilty of a very remarkable anachronism, in regard to Sophonisba; for he fixes her birth in 1559, in which year it is absolutely impossible she could have been born. This appears incontestably from Vasari, who tells us, that she painted the portrait of the queen of Spain, by order of Pope Paul IV. in 1561; and to prove this fact, he inserts the letter which she sent along with the picture to the Pope, and also the Pope's answer, both dated in 1561; Sophonisba's from Madrid the 16th of September, and the Pope's from Rome the 15th of October; at which time, according to the Museum Florentinum, she could have been only two years old, if born in 1559. The first instructor of this eminent paintress was Bernardini Campo of Cremona; but she learned colouring and perspective from Bernardo Gatti, called Soiaro. One of her first performances was the portrait of her father, placed between his two children, with such strong characters of life and nature, with a pencil so free and firm, and so lively a turn of colour, that her work was universally applauded, and she was acknowledged an incomparable painter of portraits. Through every part of Italy she is distinguished by no other name than that of Sophonisba. But although portraits engrossed the greatest part of her time, yet she designed several historical subjects, with figures of a small size, touched with abundance of spirit, and with attitudes easy, natural, and graceful. By continual application to her profession she lost her sight; and it is recorded that Vandyck, having had an opportunity of conversing with Sophonisba, used to say, that he received more beneficial knowledge of the two principles of his art from one blind woman, than by studying all the works of the greatest masters of Italy. At Lord Spencer's, at Wimbledon, there is a portrait of Sophonisba, playing on the harpsichord, painted by herself; an old woman appears as her attendant; and on the picture is written, Jussu Patris. And at Wilton, in the Pembroke collection, is the marriage of St. Catherine, painted by Sophonisba. One of her sis ters, named LUCIA ANGUSCIOLA, painted portraits, and gained by her performances a reputation not inferior to Sophonisba, as well in regard to the truth and delicacy of her colouring, as the justness of the resemblance. And another of her sisters, named EUROPA ANGUSCIOLA, from her infancy manifested an extraordinary turn for painting,

and shewed such taste and elegance in her manner of design, as to procure a degree of applause almost equal to Lucia or Sophonisba.

A portrait of one of these sisters, by Sophonisba, a circle in pannel, was sold in 1801, at the sale of Sir William Hamilton's pictures. An engraving of Sophonisba was given in the Gentleman's Magazine for October 1801, from a miniature in Mr. Gough's possession, painted by herself. Round the monogram is this inscription, "Sophonisba Angussola, virgo, ipsius manu ex speculo depicta Cre

[merged small][ocr errors]

ANGOULEME (CHARLES DE VALOIS DUKE D'), the natural son of Charles IX. and Maria Touchet, was born April 28, 1575, and distinguished himself by his bravery during the reign of five kings. Being intended from his infancy for the order of Malta, he was, in 1587, presented to the abbey of Chaise-Dieu, and, in 1589, was made grand prior of France. Catherine de Medicis having bequeathed him the estates of Auvergne and Lauraguais, he quitted the order of Malta, with a dispensation to marry; and accordingly in 1591, married Charlotte, daughter of the constable Henry of Montmorenci. In 1606, Margaret de Valois applied to parliament, and set aside the will of Catherine of Medicis, and the estates were given to the dauphin, afterwards Louis XIII. Charles, however, continued to take the title of count d'Auvergne, until 1619, when the king bestowed on him the duchy of Angouleme. He was one of the first to acknowledge Henry IV. at St. Cloud, and obtained great reputation for his services in the battles of Arques, Ivry, &c. In 1602, being implicated in Biron's conspiracy, he was sent to the Bastille, but obtained his pardon. Being, however, afterwards convicted of a treasonable attempt in concert with the marchioness de Verneuil, his uterine sister, he was arrested a second time in 1604, and next year condemned to lose his head, which Henry IV. commuted for perpetual imprisonment; but in 1616, we find him again at large, and, in 1617, at the siege of Soissons. Being appointed colonel of the light cavalry of France, and created a knight by order of the king, he was, in 1620, sent as the principal of an embassy to the emperor Ferdinand II. the result of which was printed in 1667, under the title of "Ambassade de M. le duc d'An

1 Pilkington's Dict.-Gent. Mag. 1801.-Biog. Universelle.

gouleme, &c." fol. The narrative is somewhat dry, but it contains many particulars of considerable interest in the history of that time. In 1628, the duke opened the famous and cruel siege of Rochelle, where he had the chief command until the arrival of the king. He also bore a part in the war of Languedoc, Germany, and Flanders. He died at Paris, Sept 24, 1650. Françoise de Nargonne, whom he married for his second wife, in 1644, died one hundred and forty-one years after her father-in-law Charles IX. on the 10th of August 1715, aged ninety-two. The duke d'Angouleme wrote, 1. "Memoires tres-particuliers du duc d'Angouleme, pour servir à l'histoire des regnes de Henri III. et Henri IV." 1662, 12mo. Bineau, the editor of this work, has added to it a journal of the negociations for the peace of Vervins, in 1598. The duke's memoirs also form the first volume of the "Memoires particuliers pour servir à l'Histoire de France," 1756, 4 vols. 12mo, and the third volume of "Pieces fugitives pour servir, &c." published by the marquis d'Aubais et Menard, 1759, 3 vols. 4to. 2. "Les harangues prononcees en l'assemblie de M. M. les princes Protestants d'Allemagne," 1620, 8vo. 3. "Le generale et fidele relation de tout ce qui s'est passé en l'Isle de Re, &c." 1627, 8vo. 4. A translation of Diego de Torres' history of the kingdoms of Morocco, Fez, &c. Besides these, Bouthillier, bishop of Troyes in the beginning of the eighteenth century, had a folio volume of manuscript letters, written by the duke d'Angouleme, from 1633 to 1643, and another collection by his son, Louis Emmanuel de Valois, count d'Alais, and, after his father's death, duke d'Angouleme, who died in 1653.1

ANGRIANI, or AYGNANI, or AIGNAN (MICHAEL), commonly called MICHAEL of BOLOGNA, a Romish divine of distinguished learning in the fourteenth century, was born at Bologna in Italy, where he entered of the order of the Carmelites; but studied afterwards in the university of Paris, and there received the degree of doctor. In the general chapter of his order, which was held at Ferrara in 1354, in that of Bourdeaux in 1358, and in that of Treves in 1362, he was named regent of the convent at Paris. After arriving at other honours in the Romish church, he fell under the displeasure of the pope Urban VI. and retired to the convent of Bologna, where he wrote a great

1 Biog. Universelle,History of France.

many books, and where he died Nov. 16, 1400, according to father Lewis de Sainte Terese; or Dec. 1, 1416, according to Trithemius and Du Pin. The editors of the General Dictionary incline to the former date. Of his works, there were published, "Super Sententias libri IV." Milan, 1510; and Venice, 1632, fol. "Commentaria in Psalmos," which was first published at Alcala in 1524, under the name of Ignotus, as the author was not then known; and republished in the same manner at Lyons in 1588 and 1603. These and commentaries by him on other parts of the holy scriptures were afterwards published with his name, first at Venice, in 3 vols. 4to; and at Paris in 1626, in two vols. folio; and at Lyons in 1652 and 1673, in the same form. The manuscripts he left besides are very numerous, and were preserved with great care. One of them was a dictionary of the words occurring in the Bible, which was unfinished.'

ANGUIER (FRANCIS and MICHAEL), the sons of a mechanic in the town of Eu in Normandy, became very eminent for their skill in sculpture; and after pursuing their studies at Rome, embellished Paris with many of their best works. Of these, Francis executed the altar of Val de Grace, the fiue marble crucifix of the high altar of the Sorbonne, the mausoleum of cardinal de Berulle in the church of St. Honorius; and especially that of the duke of Montmorenci at Moulins, and the four figures on the tomb of the duke de Longueville at Paris; the figure of Prudence is esteemed a chef-d'ouvre of graceful expression. This artist is said to have exercised his art in England, but we do not find him noticed by Walpole. He died at Paris in 1699, in the 95th year of his age. Michael, who was the younger brother, born in 1612, executed the tomb of the grand prior of Souvre, the ornaments on the gate of St. Dennis, the figures on the front gate of Val-de-grace, Amphitrite, &c. He assisted his brother likewise in some of his works, and died in 1686, aged 74. They were both buried at St. Roch, where they are honoured with an epitaph.

2

ANGUILLARA (JOHN ANDREW DE), one of the most celebrated Italian poets of the sixteenth century, was born about 1517, at Sutri in Tuscany, of very poor parents. After receiving such education as he could afford, he came

' Gen. Dict.

VOL. II.

2 Biog. Universelle,-Dict. Hist.--Moreri.

S

« ZurückWeiter »