Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 12.djvu/102

 PICCOLOMINI

74

PICHLER

the Aristotelean and Ptolemaic opinion that water was more extensive than land, thereby provoking, with Antonio Berga, professor at jMondo%'i, a contro- versy, in which he was assisted by Giambattista Ben- nedetti. In astronomy ("Sfera del rnondo", " Delle stelle fisse", "Speculazioni de' pianeti") he adhered to the Ptolemaic theory. He also wrote on the reform of the calendar (157S), and a commentary on the mechanics of Aristotle. To counteract "Raffaella" he wrote his "Orazione in lode delle donne" (Rome, (1549). His fame extended beyond Italy. Gregory XIII, in 1574, appointed him "titular Bishop of Pa- trae and coadjutor to Francesco Bandini, Archbishop of Siena, who survived him.

F.iBUNi, Vita di Alessandro Piccolomini (Siena, 1749 and 1759) ; TlRABOSCHl, Storia deUa UUeratura Ualiana, VII, pt. i.

U. Benigni. Piccolomini, Exea SiL-sao. See Pros II, Pope.

Piccolomini-Aminannati, Jacopo, cardinal, b. in the Villa Basilica near Lucca, 1422; d. at San Lorenzo near Bolsena, 10 Sept., 1479. He was related to the Piccolomini of Siena. His Uterary and theological education he acquired in Florence. Under Nicholas V he went to Rome, where, for a while, he hved in ex- treme penury. In 1450 he became private secretary to Cardinal Domenico Capranica; later Calistus III appointed hun secretary of Briefs. He was retained in this office by Pius II, who also made him a member of the pontifical household, on which occasion he assumed the family name of Piccolomini. In 1460 he was made Bishop of Pavia by Pius II, and throughout the pontificate of the latter was his most trusted con- fidant and adviser. He exhibited paternal solicitude in the government of his diocese, and during his pro- longed absences entrusted its affairs to able vicars, with whom he remained in constant touch. On 18 December, 1461, he was made cardinal, and was com- monly known as the Cardinal of Pa\-ia. He accom- panied Pius II to Ancona, and attended him in his last illness. In the subsequent conclave he favoured the election of Paul II, whose displeasure he after- ward incurred by insisting on the full observance of the ante-election capitulations that the pope had signed. The imprisonment of his private secretary by Paul II on a charge of complicity in the conspiracy of the "Accademici" offended Piccolomini stLU more, and his open defence of the secretary aggravated the pope's ill-will. The disfavour in which he was held by Paul II did not exempt his episcopal revenues from sequestration by the Duke of Milan, Galeazzo Maria. It was due to his insistence that Paul II took energetic measures against George Podiebrad, King of Bohemia. Sixtus IV was scarcely more favourable towards Picco- lomini than Paul II.

He was the friend of students and scholars, and pro- tected Jacopo de Volterra. In 1470 he was trans- ferred to the See of Lucca and was named papal envoj' to Umbria. He wrote a continuation in seven books of the "Commentarii" of Pius II. His style is elegant, but he is not always impartial, especially apropos of Paul II or Sixtus IV. His Commentaries, neverthe- less, remain an important source for contemporary histor)', and his valuable letters have been collected and published. Ammannati is one of the most sym- pathetic personalities of the Italian Renaissance. He enjoyed the friendship of noted prelates and human- ists, among others, Cardinals Bessarion, Carvajal, Roverella etc. Bessarion (Pastor, "Geschichte der Papste", II, 731), praises his executive ability and readiness, his charity and zeal.

Epistohz et commentarii Jacdbi Piccolomini cardinaHs Papiensis (Milan, l.WG), added also to the Frankfort ed. of the Com- inentarii of Pius II (Frankfort, 1614); P.\cu, Dis([uisizione istorica delta patria e compendia delia vita dei Card. Jacopo Ammannati (Lucca, 1712); Cabdell.*, Vile del' Cardinali. Ill, 153.

U. Beniqnj.

Pichler, a renowned Austrian family of gem- cutters who lived and died in Italy.

Antonio (Johanx Axtox) b. at Brixen, Tyrol, 12 April, 1697; d. in Rome, 14 Sept., 1779. He was the son of a physician and had been a merchant until, travelling in Italy, he resolved to devote himself to art. He went to work in Xaples with a gokLsmith and engraver of precious stones. In 174.3, proficient in his new calling, he moved to Rome and copied many antiques. He attained excellence and fame, but was somewhat limited in his field for want of early training and grounding in design.

GiovAxxi (JoHAX-x Axtox), the son of the fore- going, was b. at Xaples, 1 Jan., 1734; d. in Rome, 25 Jan., 1791. He was a painter, gem-cutter, and experimenter in encaustic and mosaic, a pupil of his father, and of the painter Corvi. His scholarship and knowledge of the fine arts gave him unusual advantages. Early in life he executed a scries of his- torical paintings for the Franciscans at Orioli, and the Augustinians at Braccian; also a St. Michael for the Pauline nuns in Rome. Later he devoted himself wholly to intaglio; he wrought gems of great beauty and finish, which resembled the classic so closely in style and execution that ^^'inckelmann is said to have thought them antiques. He was held in high regard and received innumerable honours and lucrative com- missions. Works: Hercules strangling the Lion; Leander crossing the Hellespont; Xemesis, Leda, Galatea, ^'enus, Dancers, the Vestal Tuceia, Arethusa, Ariadne, Antinous, Sappho ; portraits of Pius VI and the Emperor Joseph II ; and many other subjects. His son Gi.ACOMO was trained to be a gem-cutter and executed many works in Milan, whither he had gone to be near his sister Theresa, married to the poet Vincenzo Monti. He died in early manhood.

Giuseppe (Johaxx Joseph), b. in Rome, 1760; d. there, 1820. He was a son of Antonio by a second marriage and half brother to Giovanni, who taught him the family art. Among his works are the por- trait of Alexander I of Russia; the Three Graces after Canova; Achilles, Bacchus, Ceres, lo, Medusa, Per- seus etc. He signs in Greek, hke the older Pichlers niXAEP, using the initial *.

LriGi, the most distinguished of the Pichler familj', was b. in Rome 31 Jan., 1773, of the second marriage of ,\ntonio; d. 13 March, 1854. Losing his father while verj' young, he was indebted to his half-brother, Giovanni, for his careful education under a private tutor and for four j-ears of art training with the painter De Angelis. Almost in childhood the boy had taken to himself the tools of the gem-cutter and, as he grew older, showed a special liking for cameo. Giovanni taught him their common art, and con- noisseurs esteem that Luigi's incisions have even more finish, clearness, and light-gathering quality than those of his brother. He received many commissions from the Vatican and the Courts of France and Aus- tria, and kept a splendid house where music and masques were frequently given. He made several trips to ^'ienna and was asked to found a school there. In 1818 he copied in enamel five hundred gems of the Vienna Cabinet which the emperor wished to present to the pope. For the same city he made a complete collection of copies of the intaglios of his father and brother, adding a set of his own, thus bringing the historical collection of 1400 antiques up to modern times. Venus, Cupid and Psyche, Apollo, Head of Julius C.-esar, Mars, Iris, the Day and Xight of Thorwaldsen; and two exquisite heads of Christ are some of his subjects; besides many originals and portraits, including Giovanni Pichler's, Winckcl- mann's, Joseph II, Pius VII, and Gregorj- XVI. Luigi received innumerable honours from the popes and sovereigns of his da>. His last gem. a head of .\jax, which he wished to present to Pius IX, was placed by the pope in a gold case in the Vatican coUec-