See G. Conte Colino,Storia di Fondi(Naples, 1902); B. Amante and R. Bianchi,Memorie storiche e statutarie di Fondi in Campania(Rome, 1903); T. Ashby, inEnglish Historical Review, xix. (1904) 557 seq.
See G. Conte Colino,Storia di Fondi(Naples, 1902); B. Amante and R. Bianchi,Memorie storiche e statutarie di Fondi in Campania(Rome, 1903); T. Ashby, inEnglish Historical Review, xix. (1904) 557 seq.
(T. As.)
1For the pass of Ad Lautulas seeTerracina.
1For the pass of Ad Lautulas seeTerracina.
FONNI,a town of Sardinia, in the province of Sassari, 3280 ft. above sea-level, to the N.W. of Monte Gennargentu, 21 m. S. of Nuoro by road. Pop. (1901) 4323. It is the highest village in Sardinia, and situated among fine scenery with some chestnut woods. The church of the Franciscans, built in 1708, contains some curious paintings by local artists. The costumes are extremely picturesque, and are well seen on the day of St John the Baptist, the patron saint. The men’s costume is similar to that worn in the district generally; the linen trousers are long and black gaiters are worn. The women wear a white chemise; over that a very small corselet, and over that a red jacket with blue and black velvet facings. The skirt is brown above and red below, with a blue band between the two colours; it is accordion-pleated. Two identical skirts are often worn, one above the other. The unmarried girls wear white kerchiefs, the married women black. A little to the N. of Fonni, by the high-road, stood the Roman station of Sorabile, mentioned in theAntonine Itineraryas situated 87 m. from Carales on the road to Olbia. Excavations made in 1879 and 1880 led to the discovery of the remains of this station, arranged round three sides of a courtyard some 100 ft. square, including traces of baths and other buildings, and a massive embanking wall above them, some 150 ft. in length, to protect them from landslips (F. Vivanet, inNotizie degli scavi, 1879, 350; 1881, 31), while a discharge certificate (tabula honestae missionis) of sailors who had served in theclassis Ravennaswas found in some ruins here or hereabouts (id. ib., 1882, 440; T. Mommsen,Corp. inscr. Lat.x. 8325). Near Fonni, too, are several “menhirs” (calledpietre celtichein the district) and other prehistoric remains.
(T. As.)
FONSAGRADA,a town of north-western Spain, in the province of Lugo; 25 m. E.N.E. of Lugo by road. Pop. (1900) 17,302. Fonsagrada is situated 3166 ft. above the sea, on the watershed between the rivers Rodil and Suarna. It is an important market for all kinds of agricultural produce, and manufactures linen and frieze; but its trade is mainly local, owing to the mountainous character of the neighbourhood, and the lack of a railway or navigable waterway, which prevent the development of any considerable export trade.
FONSECA, MANOEL DEODORO DA(1827-1892), first president of the united states of Brazil, was born at Alagoas on the 5th of August 1827, being the third son of Lieut.-Colonel Manoel Mendes da Fonseca (d. 1859). He was educated at the military school of Rio de Janeiro, and had attained the rank of captain in the Brazilian army when war broke out in 1864 against Montevideo, and afterwards against Solano Lopez, dictator of Paraguay. His courage gained him distinction, and before the close of the war in 1870 he reached the rank of colonel, and some years later that of general of division. After holding several military commands, he was appointed in 1886 governor of the province of Rio Grande do Sul. In this position he threw himself heartily into politics, espoused the republican opinions then becoming prevalent, and sheltered their exponents with his authority. After a fruitless remonstrance, the government at the close of the year removed him from his post, and recalled him to the capital as director of the service of army material. Finding that even in that post he still continued to encourage insubordination, the minister of war, Alfredo Chaves, dismissed him from office. On 14th of May 1887, in conjunction with the viscount de Pelotas, Fonseca issued a manifesto in defence of the military officers’ political rights. From that time his influence was supreme in the army. In December 1888, when the Conservative Correa d’Oliveira became prime minister, Fonseca was appointed to command an army corps on the frontier of Matto Grosso. In June 1889 the ministry was overthrown, and on a dissolution an overwhelming Liberal majority was returned to the chamber of deputies. Fonseca returned to the capital in September. Divisions of opinion soon arose within the Liberal party on the question of provincial autonomy. The more extreme desired the inauguration of a complete federal system. Amongst the most vehement was Ruy Barbosa, the journalist and orator, and after some difficulty he persuaded Fonseca to head an armed movement against the government. The insurrection broke out on the 15th of November 1889. The government commander, Almeida Barreto, hastened to place himself under Fonseca’s orders, and the soldiers and sailors made common cause with the insurgents. The affair was almost bloodless, the minister of marine, baron de Ladario, being the only person wounded. Fonseca had only intended to overturn the ministry, but he yielded to the insistency of the republican, leaders and proclaimed a republic. A provisional government was constituted by the army and navy in the name of the nation, with Fonseca at its head. The council was abolished, and both the senate and the chamber of deputies were dissolved. The emperor was requested to leave the territory of Brazil within twenty-four hours, and on the 17th of November was embarked on a cruiser for Lisbon. On the 20th of December a decree of banishment was pronounced against the imperial family. So universal was the republican sentiment that there was no attempt at armed resistance. The provisional government exercised dictatorial powers for a year, and on the 25th of February 1891 Fonseca was elected president of the republic. He was, however, no politician, and possessed indeed little ability beyond the art of acquiring popularity. His tenure of office was short. In May he became involved in an altercation with congress, and in November pronounced its dissolution, a measure beyond his constitutional power. After a few days of arbitrary rule insurrection broke out in Rio Grande do Sul, and before the close of November Fonseca, finding himself forsaken, resigned his office. From that time he lived in retirement. He died at Rio de Janeiro on the 23rd of August 1892.
FONSECA,AmapalaorConchagua,BAY OF,an inlet of the Pacific Ocean in the volcanic region between the Central American republics of Honduras, Salvador and Nicaragua. The bay is unsurpassed in extent and security by any other harbour on the Pacific. It is upwards of 50 m. in greatest length, by about 30 m. in average width, with an entrance from the sea about 18 m. wide, between the great volcanoes of Conchagua (3800 ft.)and Coseguina (3000 ft.). The lofty islands of Conchaguita and Mianguiri, with a collection of rocks called “Los Farellones,” divide the entrance into four distinct channels, each of sufficient depth for the largest vessels. A channel called “El Estero Real” extends from the extreme southern point of the bay into Nicaragua for about 50 m., reaching within 20 or 25 m. of Lake Managua. The principal islands in the bay are Sacate Grande, Tigre, Gueguensi and Esposescion belonging to Honduras, and Martin Perez, Punta Sacate, Conchaguita and Mianguiri belonging to Salvador. Of these Sacate Grande is the largest, being about 7 m. long by 4 broad. The island of Tigre from its position is the most important in the bay, being about 20 m. in circumference, and rising in a cone to the height of 2500 ft. On the southern and eastern shores of the island the lava forms black rocky barriers to the waves, varying in height from 10 to 80 ft.; but on the northward and eastward are a number ofplayasor smooth, sandy beaches. Facing one of the most considerable of these is the port of Amapala (q.v.). Fonseca Bay was discovered in 1522 by Gil Gonzalez de Avila, and named by him after his patron, Archbishop Juan Fonseca, the implacable enemy of Columbus.
FONT(Lat.fons, “fountain” or “spring,” Ital.fonte, Fr.les fonts), the vessel used in churches to hold the water for Christian baptism. In the apostolic period baptism was administered at rivers or natural springs (cf. Acts viii. 36), and no doubt the primitive form of the rite was byimmersionin the water.Infusion—pouring water on the head of the neophyte—was early introduced into the west and north of Europe on account of the inconvenience of immersion, as well as its occasional danger; this form has never been countenanced in the Oriental churches.Aspersion, or sprinkling, was also admitted as valid, but recorded early examples of its use are rare (seeBaptism). These different modes of administering baptism have caused corresponding changes in the receptacles for the water. After the cessation of persecution, when ritual and ornament began to develop openly, special buildings were erected for administering the rite of baptism. This was obviously necessary, for a largepiscina(basin or tank) in which candidates could be immersed would occupy too much space of the church floor itself. These baptisteries consisted of tanks entered by steps (an ascent of three, and descent of four, to the water was the normal but not the invariable number) and covered with a domed chamber (seeBaptistery).
By the 9th century, however, the use of separate baptisteries had generally given place to that of fonts. The material of which these were made was stone, often decorative marble; as early as 524, however, the council of Lerida enacted that if a stone font were not procurable the presbyter was to provide a suitable vessel, to be used for the sacrament exclusively, which might be of any material. In the Eastern Church the font never became an important decorative article of church furniture: “The font,κολυμβήθρα(says Neale,Eastern Church, i. 214), in the Eastern Church is a far less conspicuous object than it is in the West. Baptism by immersion has been retained; but the font seldom or never possesses any beauty. The material is usually either metal or wood. In Russia thecolumbethrais movable and only brought out when wanted.”
One of the most elaborate of early fonts is that described by Anastasius in the Lateran church at Rome, and said to have been presented thereto by Constantine the Great. It was of porphyry, overlaid with silver inside and out. In the middle were two porphyry pillars carrying a golden dish, on which burnt the Paschal lamp (having an asbestos wick and fed with balsam). On the rim of the bowl was a golden lamb, with silver statues of Christ and St. John the Baptist. Seven silver stags poured out water. This elaborate vessel was of course exceptional; the majority of early fonts were certainly much simpler. A fine early Byzantine stone example exists, or till recently existed, at Beer-Sheba.
Few if any fonts survive older than the 11th century. These are all of stone, except a few of lead; much less common are fonts of cast bronze (a fine example, dated 1112, exists at the Church of St Barthélemy, Liége). The most ancient are plain cylindrical bowls, with a circular—sometimes cruciform or quatrefoil—outline to the basin, either without support or with a single central pillar; occasionally there is more than one pillar. The basins are usually lined with lead to prevent absorption by the stone. The church of Efenechtyd, Denbigh, possesses an ancient font made of a single block of oak. Though the circular form is the commonest, early Romanesque fonts are not infrequently square; and sometimes an inverted truncated cone is found. Octagonal fonts are also known, though uncommon; hexagons are even less common, and pentagons very rare. There is a pentagonal font of this period at Cabourg, dept. Calvados, N. France.
Fonts early began to be decorated with sculpture and relief. Arcading and interlacing work are common; so are symbol and pictorial representation. A very remarkable leaden font is preserved at Strassburg, bearing reliefs representing scenes in the life of Christ. At Pont-à-Mousson on the Moselle are bas-reliefs of St John the Baptist preaching, and baptizing Christ. Caryatides sometimes take the place of the pillars, and sculptured animals and grotesques of strange design not infrequently form the base. More remarkable is the occasional persistence of pagan symbolism; an interesting example is the very ancient font from Ottrava, Sweden, which, among a series of Christian symbols and figures on its panels, bears a representation of Thor (see G. Stephens’ brochure,Thunor the Thunderer).
In the 13th century octagonal fonts became commoner. A very remarkable example exists at the cathedral of Hildesheim in Hanover, resting on four kneeling figures, each bearing a vase from which water is running (typical of the rivers of Paradise). Above is an inscription explaining the connexion of these rivers with the virtues of temperance, courage, justice and prudence. On the sides of the cup are representations of the passage of the Jordan, of the Red Sea, the Baptism of Christ, and the Virgin and Child. The font has a conical lid, also ornamented with bas-reliefs. A cast of this font is to be seen in the Victoria and Albert Museum at South Kensington. A leaden font, with figures of Our Lord, the Virgin Mary, St Martin, and the twelve Apostles, exists at Mainz; it is dated 1328 by a set of four leonine hexameters inscribed upon it. In the 14th and succeeding centuries octagonal fonts became the rule. They are delicately ornamented with mouldings and similar decorations, in the contemporary style of Gothic architectural art. Though the basin is usually circular in 15th-century fonts, examples are not infrequently found in which the outline of the basin follows the octagonal shape of the outer surface of the vessel. Examples of this type are to be found at Strassburg, Freiburg and Basel.
In England no fonts can certainly be said to date before the Norman conquest, although it is possible that a few very rude examples, such as those of Washaway, Cornwall, and Denton, Sussex, are actually of Saxon times; of course we cannot count as “Saxon fonts” those adapted from pre-Norman sculptured stones originally designed for other purposes, such as that at Dolton, Devonshire. On the other hand, Norman fonts are very common, and are often the sole surviving relics of the Norman parish church. They are circular or square, sometimes plain, but generally covered with carving of arcades, figures, foliage, &c. Among good examples that might be instanced of this period are Alphington, Devon (inverted cone, without foot); Stoke Cannon, Devon (supported on caryatides); Ilam, Staffs (cup-shaped); Fincham, Burnham Deepdale, Sculthorpe, Toftrees, and Shernborne in Norfolk (all, especially the last, remarkable for elaborate carving); Youlgrave, Derby (with a projecting stoup in the side for the chrism—a unique detail); besides others in Lincoln cathedral; Iffley, Oxon; Newenden, Kent; Coleshill, Warwick; East Meon, Hants; Castle Frome, Herefordshire. Some of the best examples of “Norman” fonts in England (such as the notable specimen in Winchester cathedral) were probably imported from Belgium. In the Transitional period we may mention a remarkable octagonal font at Belton, Lincolnshire; in this period fall most of the leaden fonts that remain in England, of which thirty are known (7 inGloucestershire, 4 in Berkshire and Kent, 3 in Norfolk, Oxford and Sussex, 1 in Derby, Dorset, Lincoln, Somerset, Surrey and Wiltshire); perhaps the finest examples are at Ashover, Derbyshire, and Walton, Surrey. Early English fonts are comparatively rare. They bear the moulding, foliage and tooth ornament in the usual style of the period. A good example of an Early English font is at All Saints, Leicester; others may be seen at St Giles’, Oxford, and at Lackford, Suffolk. Fonts of the Decorated period are commoner, but not so frequent as those of the preceding Norman or subsequent Perpendicular periods. Fonts of the Perpendicular period are very common, and are generally raised upon steps and a lofty stem, which, together with the body of the font, are frequently richly ornamented with panelling. It was also the custom during this period to ornament the font with shields and coats of arms and other heraldic insignia, as at Herne, Kent. The fonts of this period, however, are as a rule devoid of interest, and, like most Perpendicular work, are stiff and monotonous. There is, however, a remarkable font, with sculptured figures, belonging to the late 14th century, at West Drayton in Middlesex.
In Holyrood chapel there was a brazen font in which the royal children of Scotland were baptized. It was carried off in 1544 by Sir R. Lea, and given by him to the church at St Albans, but was afterwards destroyed by the Puritans. A silver font existed at Canterbury, which was sometimes brought to Westminster on the occasion of a royal baptism. At Chobham, Surrey, there is a leaden font covered with oaken panels of the 16th century. The only existing structure at all recalling the ancient baptisteries in English churches is found at Luton in Bedfordshire. The font at Luton belongs to the Decorated style, and is enclosed in an octagonal structure of freestone, consisting of eight pillars about 25 ft. in height, supporting a canopy. The space around the font is large enough to hold twelve adults comfortably. At the top of the canopy is a vessel for containing the consecrated water, which when required was let down into the font by means of a pipe.
In 1236 it was ordered by Edmund, archbishop of Canterbury, that baptismal fonts should be kept under lock and key, as a precaution against sorcery:—“Fontes baptismales sub sera clausi teneantur propter sortilegia.” The lids appear at first to have been quite simple and flat. They gradually, however, partook of the ornamentation of the font itself, and are often of pyramidal and conical forms, highly decorated with finials, crockets, mouldings and grotesques. Sometimes these covers are very heavy and are suspended by chains to enable them to be raised at will. Very rich font covers may be seen at Ewelme, Oxon; St Gregory, Sudbury; North Walsingham, Norfolk; Worlingworth, Suffolk. The ordinary position of the font in the church was and is near the entrance, usually to the left of the south door.
See Arcisse de Caumont,Cours d’antiquités monumentales(Paris, 1830-1843); Francis Simpson,A Series of Antient Baptismal Fonts(London, 1828); Paley, Ancient Fonts; E.E. Viollet-le-Duc,Dict. raisonné de l’architecture(1858-1868), vol. v.; J.H. Parker’sGlossary of Architecture; Francis Bond,Fonts and Font-Covers(London, 1908). A large number of fine illustrations of fonts, principally of the earlier periods, will be found in the volumes of theReliquaryandIllustrated Archaeologist.
See Arcisse de Caumont,Cours d’antiquités monumentales(Paris, 1830-1843); Francis Simpson,A Series of Antient Baptismal Fonts(London, 1828); Paley, Ancient Fonts; E.E. Viollet-le-Duc,Dict. raisonné de l’architecture(1858-1868), vol. v.; J.H. Parker’sGlossary of Architecture; Francis Bond,Fonts and Font-Covers(London, 1908). A large number of fine illustrations of fonts, principally of the earlier periods, will be found in the volumes of theReliquaryandIllustrated Archaeologist.
(R. A. S. M.)
FONTAINE, PIERRE FRANÇOIS LÉONARD(1762-1853), French architect, was born at Pontoise on the 20th of September 1762. He came of a family several of whose members had distinguished themselves as architects. Leaving the college of Pontoise at the age of sixteen he was sent to L’Isle-Adam to assist in hydraulic works undertaken by the architect André. To facilitate his improvement André allowed him to have access to his plans and to copy his designs. In October 1779 he was sent to Paris to study in the school of Peyre the younger, and there began his acquaintance with Percier, which ripened into a life-long friendship. After six years of study he competed for a prize at the Academy, and, winning the second for the plan of an underground chapel, he received a pension and was sent to Rome (1785). Percier accompanied him. The Revolution breaking out soon after his return to France, he took refuge in England; but after the establishment of the consulate he was employed by Bonaparte, to whom he had been introduced by the painter, David, to restore the palace of Malmaison. Henceforth he was fully engaged in the principal architectural works executed in Paris as architect successively to Napoleon I., Louis XVIII. and Louis Philippe. In conjunction with Percier (till his death) he was employed on the arch of the Carrousel, the restoration of the Palais-Royal, the grand staircase of the Louvre, and the works projected for the union of the Louvre and the Tuileries. In 1812 he was admitted a member of the Academy of Fine Arts, and in 1813 was named first architect to the emperor. With Percier he published the following works—Palais,maisons,et autres édifices de Rome moderne(1802);Descriptions de cérémonies et de fêtes(1807 and 1810);Recueil de décorations intérieures(1812);Choix des plus célèbres maisons de plaisance de Rome et des environs(1809-1813);Résidences des souverains, Parallèle(1833).L’histoire du Palais-Royalwas published by Fontaine alone, who lost Percier, his friend and associate, in 1838, and himself died in Paris on the 10th of October 1853.
FONTAINEBLEAU, a town of northern France, capital of an arrondissement in the department of Seine-et-Marne, 37 m. S.E. of Paris on the railway to Lyons. Pop. (1906) 11,108. Fontainebleau, a town of clean, wide and well-built streets, stands in the midst of the forest of Fontainebleau, nearly 2 m. from the left bank of the Seine. Of its old houses, the Tambour mansion, and a portion of that which belonged to the cardinal of Ferrara, both of the 16th century, are still preserved; apart from the palace, the public buildings are without interest. A statue of General Damesme (d. 1848) stands in the principal square, and a monument to President Carnot was erected in 1895. Fontainebleau is the seat of a subprefect and has a tribunal of first instance and a communal college. The school of practical artillery and engineering was transferred to Fontainebleau from Metz by a decree of 1871, and now occupies the part of the palace surrounding the cour des offices.
Fontainebleau has quarries of sand and sandstone, saw-mills, and manufactories of porcelain and gloves. Fine grapes are grown in the vicinity. The town is a fashionable summer resort, and during the season the president of the Republic frequently resides in the palace. This famous building, one of the largest, and in the interior one of the most sumptuous, of the royal residences of France, lies immediately to the south-east of the town. It consists of a series of courts surrounded by buildings, extending from W. to E.N.E.; they comprise the Cour du Cheval Blanc or des Adieux (thus named in memory of the parting scene between Napoleon and the Old Guard in 1814), the Cour de la Fontaine, the Cour Ovale, built on the site of a more ancient château, and the Cour d’ Henri IV.: the smaller Cour des Princes adjoins the northern wing of the Cour Ovale. The exact origin of the palace and of its name (Lat.Fons Bleaudi) are equally unknown, but the older château was used in the latter part of the 12th century by Louis VII., who caused Thomas Becket to consecrate the Chapelle St Saturnin, and it continued a favourite residence of Philip Augustus and Louis IX. The creator of the present edifice was Francis I., under whom the architect Gilles le Breton erected most of the buildings of the Cour Ovale, including the Porte Dorée, its southern entrance, and the Salle des Fêtes, which, in the reign of Henry II., was decorated by the Italians, Francesco Primaticcio and Nicolo dell’ Abbate, and is perhaps the finest Renaissance chamber in France. The Galerie de François I. and the lower storey of the left wing of the Cour de la Fontaine are the work of the same architect, who also rebuilt the two-storeyed Chapelle St Saturnin. In the same reign the Cour du Cheval Blanc, including the Chapelle de la Ste Trinité and the Galerie d’Ulysse, destroyed and rebuilt under Louis XV., was constructed by Pierre Chambiges. After Francis I., Fontainebleau owes most to Henry IV., to whom are due the Cour d’ Henri IV., the Cour des Princes, with the adjoining Galerie de Diane, and Galerie des Cerfs, used as a library. Louis XIII. built the graceful horseshoe staircase in the Cour du Cheval Blanc; Napoleon I. spent 12,000,000 francson works of restoration, and Louis XVIII., Louis Philippe and Napoleon III. devoted considerable sums to the same end. The palace is surrounded by gardens and ornamental waters—to the north the Jardin de l’Orangerie, to the south the Jardin Anglais and the Parterre, between which extends the lake known as the Bassin des Carpes, containing carp in large numbers. A space of over 200 acres to the east of the palace is covered by the park, which is traversed by a canal dating from the reign of Henry IV. On the north the park is bordered by a vinery producing fine white grapes.
Forest of Fontainebleau.—The forest of Fontainebleau is one of the most beautiful wooded tracts in France, and for generations it has been the chosen haunt of French landscape painters. Among the most celebrated spots are the Vallée de la Solle, the Gorge aux Loups, the Gorges de Franchard and d’Apremont, and the Fort l’Empereur. The whole area extends to 42,200 acres, with a circumference of 56 m. Nearly a quarter of this area is of a rocky nature, and the quarries of sandstone supplied a large part of the paving of Paris. The oak, pine, beech, hornbeam and birch are the chief varieties of trees.
It is impossible to do more than mention a few of the historical events which have taken place at Fontainebleau. Philip the Fair, Henry III. and Louis XIII. were all born in the palace, and the first of these kings died there. James V. of Scotland was there received by his intended bride; and Charles V. of Germany was entertained there in 1539. Christina of Sweden lived there for years, and the gallery is still to be seen where in 1657 she caused her secretary Monaldeschi to be put to death. In 1685 Fontainebleau saw the signing of the revocation of the edict of Nantes, and in the following year the death of the great Condé. In the 18th century it had two illustrious guests in Peter the Great of Russia and Christian VII. of Denmark; and in the early part of the 19th century it was twice the residence of Pius VII.,—in 1804 when he came to consecrate the emperor Napoleon, and in 1812-1814, when he was his prisoner.
See Pfnor,Monographie de Fontainebleau, with text by Champollion Figeac (Paris, 1866);Guide artistique et historique au palais de Fontainebleau(Paris, 1889); E. Bourges,Recherches sur Fontainebleau(Fontainebleau, 1896).
See Pfnor,Monographie de Fontainebleau, with text by Champollion Figeac (Paris, 1866);Guide artistique et historique au palais de Fontainebleau(Paris, 1889); E. Bourges,Recherches sur Fontainebleau(Fontainebleau, 1896).
FONTAN, LOUIS MARIE(1801-1839), French man of letters, was born at Lorient on the 4th of November 1801. He began his career as a clerk in a government office, but was dismissed for taking part in a political banquet. At the age of nineteen he went to Paris and began to contribute to theTablettesand theAlbum. He was brought to trial for political articles written for the latter paper, but defended himself so energetically that he secured the indefinite postponement of his case. The offending paper was suppressed for a time, and Fontan produced a collection of political poems,Odes et épîtres, and a number of plays, of whichPerkins Warbec(1828), written in collaboration with MM. Halévy and Drouineau, was the most successful. In 1828 theAlbumwas revived, and in it Fontan published a virulent but witty attack on Charles X., entitledLe Mouton enragé(20th June 1829). To escape the inevitable prosecution Fontan fled over the frontier, but, finding no safe asylum, he returned to Paris to give himself up to the authorities, and was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment and a heavy fine. He was liberated by the revolution of 1830, and hisJeanne la folle, performed in the same year, gained a success due perhaps more to sympathy with the author’s political principles than to the merits of the piece itself, a somewhat crude and violent picture of Breton history. A drama representing the trial of Marshal Ney, which he wrote in collaboration with Charles Dupenty,Le Procès d’un maréchal de France(printed 1831), was suppressed on the night of its production. Fontan died in Paris on the 10th of October 1839.
A sympathetic portrait of Fontan as a prisoner, and an analysis of his principal works, are to be found in Jules Janin’sHistoire de la littérature dramatique, vol. i.
A sympathetic portrait of Fontan as a prisoner, and an analysis of his principal works, are to be found in Jules Janin’sHistoire de la littérature dramatique, vol. i.
FONTANA, DOMENICO(1543-1607), Italian architect and mechanician, was born at Mili, a village on the Lake of Como, in 1543. After a good training in mathematics, he went in 1563 to join his elder brother, then studying architecture at Rome. He made rapid progress, and was taken into the service of Cardinal Montalto, for whom he erected a chapel in the church of Santa Maria Maggiore and the villa Negroni. When the cardinal’s pension was stopped by the pope, Gregory XIII., Fontana volunteered to complete the works in hand at his own expense. The cardinal being soon after elected pope, under the name of Sixtus V., he immediately appointed Fontana his chief architect. Amongst the works executed by him were the Lateran palace, the palace of Monte Cavallo (the Quirinal), the Vatican library, &c. But the undertaking which brought Fontana the highest repute was the removal of the great Egyptian obelisk, which had been brought to Rome in the reign of Caligula, from the place where it lay in the circus of the Vatican. Its erection in front of St Peter’s he accomplished in 1586. After the death of Sixtus V., charges were brought against Fontana of misappropriation of public moneys, and Clement VIII. dismissed him from his post (1592). This appears to have been just in time to save the Colosseum from being converted by Fontana into a huge cloth factory, according to a project of Sixtus V. Fontana was then called to Naples, and accepted the appointment of architect to the viceroy, the count of Miranda. At Naples he built the royal palace, constructed several canals and projected a new harbour and bridge, which he did not live to execute. The only literary work left by him is his account of the removal of the obelisk (Rome, 1590). He died at Naples in 1607, and was honoured with a public funeral in the church of Santa Anna. His plan for a new harbour at Naples was carried out only after his death. His son Giulio Cesare succeeded him as royal architect in Naples, the university of that town being his best-known building.
FONTANA, LAVINIA(1552-1614), Italian portrait-painter, was the daughter of Prospero Fontana (q.v.). She was greatly employed by the ladies of Bologna, and, going thence to Rome, painted the likenesses of many illustrious personages, being under the particular patronage of the family (Buoncampagni) of Pope Gregory XIII., who died in 1585. The Roman ladies, from the days of this pontiff to those of Paul V., elected in 1605, showed no less favour to Lavinia than their Bolognese sisters had done; and Paul V. was himself among her sitters. Some of her portraits, often lavishly paid for, have been attributed to Guido. In works of a different kind also she united care and delicacy with boldness. Among the chief of these are a Venus in the Berlin museum; the “Virgin lifting a veil from the sleeping infant Christ,” in the Escorial; and the “Queen of Sheba visiting Solomon.” Her own portrait in youth—she was accounted very beautiful—was perhaps her masterpiece; it belongs to the counts Zappi of Imola, the family into which Lavinia married. Her husband, whose name is given as Paolo Zappi or Paolo Foppa, painted the draperies in many of Lavinia’s pictures. She is deemed on the whole a better painter than her father; from him naturally came her first instruction, but she gradually adopted the Caraccesque style, with strong quasi-Venetian colouring. She was elected into the Academy of Rome, and died in that city in 1614.
FONTANA, PROSPERO(1512-1597), Italian painter, was born in Bologna, and became a pupil of Innocenzo da Imola. He afterwards worked for Vasari and Perino del Vaga. It was probably from Vasari that Fontana acquired a practice of offhand, self-displaying work. He undertook a multitude of commissions, and was so rapid, that he painted, it is said, in a few weeks an entire hall in the Vitelli palace at Città di Castello. Along with daring, he had fertility of combination, and in works of parade he attained a certain measure of success, although his drawing was incorrect and his mannerism palpable. He belongs to the degenerate period of the Bolognese school, under the influence chiefly of the imitators of Raphael—Sabbatini, Sammachini and Passerotti being three of his principal colleagues. His soundest successes were in portraiture, in which branch of art he stood so high that towards 1550 Michelangelo introduced him to Pope Julius III. as a portrait-painter; and he was pensioned by this pope, and remained at the pontifical court with the three successors of Julius. Here he lived on a grand scale, and figured as a sort of arbiter and oracle among hisprofessional brethren. Returning to Bologna, after doing some work in Fontainebleau and in Genoa, he opened a school of art, in which he became the preceptor of Lodovico and Agostino Caracci; but these pupils, standing forth as reformers and innovators, finally extinguished the academy and the vogue of Fontana. His subjects were in the way of sacred and profane history and of fable. He has left a large quantity of work in Bologna,—the picture of the “Adoration of the Magi,” in the church of S. Maria delle Grazie, being considered his masterpiece—not unlike the style of Paul Veronese. He died in Rome in 1597.
FONTANE, THEODOR(1819-1898), German poet and novelist, was born at Neu-Ruppin on the 30th of December 1819. At the age of sixteen he was apprenticed to a chemist, and after qualifying as an apothecary, he found employment in Leipzig and Dresden. In 1844 he travelled in England, and settling in Berlin devoted himself from 1849 to literature. He made repeated journeys to England, interesting himself in old English ballads, and as the first fruits of his tours publishedEin Sommer in London(1854);Aus England, Studien und Briefe(1860) andJenseit des Tweed, Bilder und Briefe aus Schottland(1860). Fontane was particularly attached to the Mark of Brandenburg, in which his home lay; he was proud of its past achievements, and delighted in the growth of the capital city, Berlin. The fascination which the country of his birth had for him may be seen in his delightfully picturesqueWanderungen durch die Mark Brandenburg(1862-1882, 4 vols.). He also described the wars of Prussia inDer schleswig-holsteinische Krieg im Jahre 1864(1866) andDer deutsche Krieg von 1866(1869). He proceeded to the theatre of war in 1870, and, being taken prisoner at Vaucouleurs, remained three months in captivity. His experiences he narrates inKriegsgefangen. Erlebtes 1870(1871), and he published the result of his observations of the campaign inDer Krieg gegen Frankreich 1870-71(1874-1876). Like most of his contemporaries, he at first sought inspiration for his poetry in the heroes of other countries. HisGedichte(1851) and balladsManner und Helden(1860) tell of England’s glories in bygone days. Then the achievements of his own countrymen entered into rivalry, and these, as an ardent patriot, he immortalized in poem and narrative. It is, however, as a novelist that Fontane is best known. His fine historical romanceVor dem Sturm(1878) was followed by a series of novels of modern life:L’Adultera(1882);Schach von Wuthenow(1883);Irrungen, Wirrungen(1888);Stine(1890);Unwiederbringlich(1891);Effi Briest(1895);Der Stechlin(1899), in which with fine literary tact Fontane adapted the realistic methods and social criticism of contemporary French fiction to the conditions of Prussian life. He died on the 20th of September 1898 at Berlin.
Fontane’sGesammelte Romane und Erzählungenwere published in 12 vols. (1890-1891; 2nd ed., 1905). For his life see the autobiographical worksMeine Kinderjahre(1894) andVon zwanzig bis dreissig(1898), alsoBriefe an seine Familie(1905); also F. Servaes,Theodor Fontane(1900).
Fontane’sGesammelte Romane und Erzählungenwere published in 12 vols. (1890-1891; 2nd ed., 1905). For his life see the autobiographical worksMeine Kinderjahre(1894) andVon zwanzig bis dreissig(1898), alsoBriefe an seine Familie(1905); also F. Servaes,Theodor Fontane(1900).
FONTANES, LOUIS,Marquis de(1757-1821), French poet and politician, was born at Niort (Deux Sèvres) on the 6th of March 1757. He belonged to a noble Protestant family of Languedoc which had been reduced to poverty by the revocation of the edict of Nantes. His father and grandfather remained Protestant, but he was himself brought up as a Catholic. His parents died in 1774-1775, and in 1777 Fontanes went to Paris, where he found a friend in the dramatist J.F. Ducis. His first published poems, some of which were inspired by English models, appeared in theAlmanack des Muses; “Le Cri de mon cœur,” describing his own sad childhood, in 1778; and “La Forêt de Navarre” in 1780. His translation from Alexander Pope,L’Essai sur l’homme, was published with an elaborate preface in 1783, andLa ChartreuseandLe Jour des mortsin the same year,Le Vergerin 1788 and hisÉpître sur l’édit en faveur des non-catholiques, and theEssai sur l’astronomiein 1789. Fontanes was a moderate reformer, and in 1790 he became joint-editor of theModérateur. He married at Lyons in 1792, and his wife’s first child was born during their flight from the siege of that town. Fontanes was in hiding in Paris when the four citizens of Lyons were sent to the Convention to protest against the cruelties of Collot d’Herbois. The petition was drawn up by Fontanes, and the authorship being discovered, he fled from Paris and found shelter at Sevran, near Livry, and afterwards at Andelys. On the fall of Robespierre he was made professor of literature in the École Centrale des Quatre-Nations, and he was one of the original members of the Institute. In theMémorial, a journal edited by La Harpe, he discreetly advocated reaction to the monarchical principle. He was exiled by the Directory and made his way to London, where he was closely associated with Chateaubriand. He soon returned to France, and his admiration for Napoleon, who commissioned him to write anélogeon Washington, secured his return to the Institute and his political promotion. In 1802 he was elected to the legislative chamber, of which he was president from 1804 to 1810. Other honours and titles followed. He has been accused of servility to Napoleon, but he had the courage to remonstrate with him on the judicial murder of the due d’Enghien, and as grand master of the university of Paris (1808-1815) he consistently supported religious and monarchical principles. He acquiesced in the Bourbon restoration, and was made a marquis in 1817. He died on the 17th of March 1821 in Paris, leaving eight cantos of an unfinished epic poem entitledLa Grèce sauvée.
The verse of Fontanes is polished and musical in the style of the 18th century. It was not collected until 1839, when Sainte-Beuve edited theŒuvres(2 vols.) of Fontanes, with a sympathetic critical study of the author and his career. But by that time the Romantic movement was in the ascendant and Fontanes met with small appreciation.
FONTENAY-LE-COMTE,a town of western France, capital of an arrondissement in the department of Vendée 30 m. N.E. of La Rochelle on the State railway between that town and Saumur. Pop. (1906) town, 7639; commune, 10,326. Fontenay, an ancient and straggling town, is situated a few miles south of the forest of Vouvant and on both banks of the Vendée, at the point where it becomes navigable. The church of Notre-Dame (15th to 18th centuries), which has a fine spire and a richly sculptured western entrance, and the church of St Jean (16th and 17th centuries) are the chief religious buildings. The town has several houses of the 16th and 17th centuries. The most remarkable of these is the Hôtel de Terre Neuve (1595-1600), which contains much rich decoration together with collections of furniture and tapestry. Fontenay was the birthplace of many prominent men during the 15th and 16th centuries, and the Fontaine des Quatre-Tias, a fountain in the Renaissance style, given to the town by King Francis I., commemorates the fact. The chief square is named after François Viète, the great mathematician, who was born at Fontenay in 1540. The public institutions of the town include a tribunal of first instance and a communal college. Among its industries are the manufacture of felt hats, oil and soap and timber-sawing, flour-milling and tanning. There is trade in horses, mules, timber, grain, fruit, &c.
Fontenay was in existence as early as the time of the Gauls. The affix of “comte” is said to have been applied to it when it was taken by King Louis IX. from the family of Lusignan and given to his brother Alphonse, count of Poitou, under whom it became capital of Bas-Poitou. Ceded to the English by the treaty of Brétigny in 1360 it was retaken in 1372 by Duguesclin. It suffered repeated capture during the Religious Wars of the 16th century, was dismantled in 1621 and was occupied both by the republicans and the Vendeans in the war of 1793. From 1790 to 1806 it was capital of the department of Vendée.
FONTENELLE, BERNARD LE BOVIER DE(1657-1757), French author, was born at Rouen, on the 11th of February 1657. He died in Paris, on the 9th of January 1757, having thus very nearly attained the age of 100 years. His father was an advocate settled in Rouen, his mother a sister of the two Corneille. He was educated at the college of the Jesuits in his native city, and distinguished himself by the extraordinary precocity and versatility of his talents. His teachers, who readily appreciated these, were anxious for him to join theirorder, but his father had designed him for the bar, and an advocate accordingly he became; but, having lost the first cause which was entrusted to him, he soon abandoned law and gave himself wholly to literary pursuits. His attention was first directed to poetry; and more than once he competed for prizes of the French Academy, but never with success. He visited Paris from time to time and established intimate relations with the abbé de Saint Pierre, the abbé Vertot and the mathematician Pierre Varignon. He witnessed, in 1680, the total failure of his tragedyAspar. Fontenelle afterwards acknowledged the justice of the public verdict by burning his unfortunate drama. His opera ofThétis et Pélée, 1689, though highly praised by Voltaire, cannot be said to rise much above the others; and it may be regarded as significant that of all his dramatic works not one has kept the stage. HisPoésies pastorales(1688) have no greater claim to permanent repute, being characterized by stiffness and affectation; and the utmost that can be said for his poetry in general is that it displays much of thelimae labor, great purity of diction and occasional felicity of expression.
HisLettres galantes du chevalier d’Her..., published anonymously in 1685, was an amusing collection of stories that immediately made its mark. In 1686 his famous allegory of Rome and Geneva, slightly disguised as the rival princesses Mreo and Eenegu, in theRelation de l’île de Bornéo, gave proof of his daring in religious matters. But it was by hisNouveaux Dialogues des morts(1683) that Fontenelle established a genuine claim to high literary rank; and that claim was enhanced three years later by the appearance of theEntretiens sur la pluralité des mondes(1686), a work which was among the very first to illustrate the possibility of being scientific without being either uninteresting or unintelligible to the ordinary reader. His object was to popularize among his countrymen the astronomical theories of Descartes; and it may well be doubted if that philosopher ever ranked a more ingenious or successful expositor among his disciples.
Hitherto Fontenelle had made his home in Rouen, but in 1687 he removed to Paris; and in the same year he published hisHistoire des oracles, a book which made a considerable stir in theological and philosophical circles. It consisted of two essays, the first of which was designed to prove that oracles were not given by the supernatural agency of demons, and the second that they did not cease with the birth of Christ. It excited the suspicion of the Church, and a Jesuit, by name Baltus, published a ponderous refutation of it; but the peace-loving disposition of its author impelled him to leave his opponent unanswered. To the following year (1688) belongs hisDigression sur les anciens et les modernes, in which he took the modern side in the controversy then raging; hisDoutes sur le système physique des causes occasionnelles(against Malebranche) appeared shortly afterwards.
In 1691 he was received into the French Academy in spite of the determined efforts of the partisans of the ancients in this quarrel, especially of Racine and Boileau, who on four previous occasions had secured his rejection. He consequently was admitted a member both of the Academy of Inscriptions and of the Academy of Sciences; and in 1697 he became perpetual secretary to the latter body. This office he actually held for the long period of forty-two years; and it was in this official capacity that he wrote theHistoire du renouvellement de l’Académie des Sciences(Paris, 3 vols., 1708, 1717, 1722) containing extracts and analyses of the proceedings, and also theélogesof the members, written with great simplicity and delicacy. Perhaps the best known of hiséloges, of which there are sixty-nine in all, is that of his uncle Pierre Corneille. This was first printed in theNouvelles de la république des lettres(January 1685) and, asVie de Corneille, was included in all the editions of Fontenelle’sŒuvres. The other important works of Fontenelle are hisÉlements de la géometrie de l’infini(1727) and hisApologie des tourbillons(1752). Fontenelle forms a link between two very widely different periods of French literature, that of Corneille, Racine and Boileau on the one hand, and that of Voltaire, D’Alembert and Diderot on the other. It is not in virtue of his great age alone that this can be said of him; he actually had much in common with thebeaux espritsof the 17th century, as well as with thephilosophesof the 18th. But it is to the latter rather than to the former period that he properly belongs.
He has no claim to be regarded as a genius; but, as Sainte-Beuve has said, he well deserves a place “dans la classe des esprits infiniment distingués”—distinguished, however, it ought to be added by intelligence rather than by intellect, and less by the power of saying much than by the power of saying a little well. In personal character he has sometimes been described as having been revoltingly heartless; and it is abundantly plain that he was singularly incapable of feeling strongly the more generous emotions—a misfortune, or a fault, which revealed itself in many ways. “Il faut avoir de l’âme pour avoir du goût.” But the cynical expressions of such a man are not to be taken too literally; and the mere fact that he lived and died in the esteem of many friends suffices to show that the theoretical selfishness which he sometimes professed cannot have been consistently and at all times carried into practice.