Faience is imitation porcelain, a kind of fine pottery, superior to the common pottery in its glazing, beauty of form, and richness of painting, and of which several kinds are distinguished by critics. It derived its name from the town of Faenza, in Italy, where a fine sort of pottery called majolica was manufactured as early as the 14th century. The majolica reached its greatest perfection between 1530 and 1560. In the Louvre, at Berlin, and at Dresden are rich collections of it. The modern faience appears to have been invented about the middle of the 16th century, at Faenza, as an imitation of majolica, and obtained its name in France, where a man from Faenza, having discovered a similar kind of clay at Nevers, had introduced the manufacture of it. True faience is made of a yellowish or ruddy earth, covered with an enamel which is usually white, but may be coloured. This enamel is a glass rendered opaque by oxide of tin or other suitable material, and is intended not only to glaze the body, but to conceal it entirely. Research Faience
Andrea Del Sarto (Andrea D'Agnolo) was a Florentine artist born in 1487, he died in 1531 of the plague. He was a pupil of Giovanni Barile and Piero di Cosimo and was influenced by Leonardo Da Vinci and Michelangelo. He painted the picture 'Charity' which hangs in the Louvre. Research Andrea Del Sarto
Sir Antony Van Dyck was a Dutch artist. He was born in 1599 at Antwerp and died in 1641. He studied under Hendrik van Balen, and in 1618 became a freeman of the guild of St Luke. About the latter date he entered Rubens' studio as an assistant, where he was employed in copying that master's pictures for the engravers, making large cartoons from his sketches, and painting historical pieces on the Rubens model. He had, however, embarked on portraiture with considerable success before his first visit to England in 1620. The artist returned to Antwerp early in 1621, and later in the same year went to Genoa, thence to Rome, Mantua, Palermo, and Brescia, and back to Genoa, where he remained until 1627.
After working at Antwerp and The Hague, he was induced by the offer of a pension to visit England, which he did in March, 1632. A few months later he was knighted.
Between 1635 and 1640 he was settled in England, engaged upon the many portraits of the court and its entourage, by which he is mainly remembered. His output was enormous; he is reputed to have painted Charles I 36 times. Handsome and agreeable in person, he lived, as he painted, magnificently and prodigally, his ambition ever growing with his success. The king married him to Mary Buthven of Montrose in order to check, if possible, his dissipated habits. In 1640, Rubens having died, Van Dyck hurried to Antwerp in order to secure the patronage of the Spanish king. His demands, however, were too high, and he went on to Paris, only to find that his objective, the decoration of the Louvre, had been given to Nicholas Poussin. He returned to London, seriously ill, and died on December the 9th, 1641, and was buried in St Paul's. His tomb was destroyed in the Great Fire. Research Anthony Van Dyck
BARON Antoine-Jean Gros was a French historical painter. He was born in 1771 at Paris and died in 1835 by committing suicide. He studied art under David, and subsequently became a staff officer in the French army. In this position he produced his picture of the Victor of Arcola, by which he secured the favour of Napoleon. In 1804 he produced his Plague at Jaffa, tvith Napoleon visiting the sick, a work which was crowned at the Louvre. He painted various battle scenes; but his chief work is probably the Cupola of St. Genevieve at Paris, exhibiting the saint protecting the throne of France, represented by Clovis, Charlemagne, St Louis, and Louis XVIII. The artist received for it 100,000 francs and the title of baron. The rise of the romantic school deprived him of his popularity, and he drowned himself in the Seine in 1835. Research Antoine-Jean Gros
Claude Perrault was a French architect. He was born in 1613 at Paris and died in 1688. He was the brother of Charles Perrault. He studied medicine, but gave it up for the fine arts. His greatest work was the colonnade of the Louvre. Research Claude Perrault
Concino Concino (Marshal and Marquis D'Ancre) was an Italian statesman. He was born around 1580 in Florence and died in 1617. On the marriage of Marie de Medicis to Henri IV in 1600 he came in her suite to France, where he obtained rapid promotion, more especially after the assassination of the king in 1610. He became successively Governor of Normandy, Marshal of France, and last of all, primeminister. Being thoroughly detested by all classes, at last a conspiracy was formed against him, and he was shot dead on the bridge of the Louvre in 1617. Research Concino Concini
Edward Armitage was an English historical painter. He was born in 1817 and died in 1896. He studied under Paul Delaroche at the L'Ecole des Beaux Arts, Paris, was one of the ablest pupils of that painter, and in 1842 exhibited at the Salon (in the Louvre) a picture of Prometheus Bound. At the exhibition of cartoons for historical pictures in Westminster Hall in 1843 he obtained a premium of 300 pounds for his design of Caesar's First Invasion of Britain. Other similar premiums were gained by his Spirit of Religion (1845), and Battle of Meeanee (1847). He then went to study at Rome, and exhibited at the Academy in 1848 his Henry VIII and Katherine Parr, and his Trafalgar (Death of Nelson). He had pictures in most of the subsequent Academy exhibitions up nearly to the time of his death. In 1867 he was elected an associate, and in 1872 a full academician. He did much for the restoration of fresco painting in England. A large number of his pictures were biblical in subject, such as Ahab and Jezebel, Esther's Banquet, The Remorse of Judas, Joseph and Mary, Herod's Birthday Feast, etc. As professor of painting to the Royal Academy he delivered lectures, which were published in 1883. Research Edward Armitage
Jean Francis Champollion was a French scholar. He was born in 1790 at Figeae and died in 1832. At an early age he devoted . himself to the study of Hebrew, Arabic, Coptic, etc, and in 1809 became professor of history at Grenoble. He soon, however, retired to Paris, where, with the aid of the trilingual inscription of the Rosetta Stone and the suggestions thrown out by Dr. Thomas Young, he at length discovered the key to the graphic system of the Egyptians, the three elements of which - figurative, ideographic, and alphabetic - he expounded before the Institute in a series of memoirs in 1823. These were published in 1824 at the expense of the state, under the title of Precis du Systeme Hieroglyphique des Anciens Egyptiens. In 1826 Charles X appointed him to superintend the department of Egyptian antiquities in the Louvre; in 1828 he went as director of a scientific expedition to Egypt; and in 1831 the chair of Egyptian archaeology was created for him in the College de France. Other works are his Grammaire Egyptien, and Dictionnaire Hieroglyphique. Research Jean Champollion
Luis de Vargas was a Spanish painter. He was born in 1502 at Seville and died in 1568. He studied in Rome, and remained in Italy from about 1527 until 1555. He excelled in religious subjects, especially in fresco, but much of his work in this medium has perished. His best work in oils is in the cathedral of Seville, and there are examples in the Louvre and the Prado at Madrid. Research Luis de Vargas
The Probert Encyclopaedia was designed, edited and programed by
Matt and Leela Probert
Abbreviations
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