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 SANSEVERINO

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SANSOVINO

Hippolytus and Justinus. The saint from whom the city takes its name is commonly beUeved to have been Bishop of Septempeda, but his date is unknown. In the Middle Ages S. Severino was suffragan of Came- rino; the old cathedral was then a collegiate church. In 1566 it had a seminary. In 1586 Sixtus V made it an episcopal see, the first bishop being Orazio Marzari. Among his successors were: Angelo Maldacchini, O.P. (1646); Alessandro Calai Organi (1702), the restorer of the seminary; Angelo Antonio Anselmi (1792), exiled in 1809. The diocese is a suffragan of Fermo, and has 29 parishes with 18,000 inhabitants, 3 houses of nuns and 5 of religious men.

Gentili, De ecclesia septempedina (Macerata, 1836), 8; Idem, Sopra gli Smeducci vicari per Santa Chiesa in S. Severino (Macerata, 1841); Cappelletti, Le chiese d' Italia, III (Venice, 1854).

U. Benigni.

Sanseverino, Gaetano, restorer of the Scholastic philosophy in Italy, b. at Naples, 1811; d. there of cholera, 16 Nov., 1865. He made his studies in the seminary at Nola, where his uncle was rector. After his ordination, he continued the study of philosophy, with the special view of comparing the various sys- tems. He became a canon of the cathedral of Naples, profe.s.sor of logic and metaphysics in the seminary, substitute-professor of ethics in the university, and eventually scritlore in the National Library.

Sanseverino had been educated in the Cartesian system, which at that time prevailed in the ecclesiasti- cal schools of Italy, but his comparative study of the various systems supplied him with a deeper knowledge of the Scholastics, particularly St. Thomas, and of the intimate connexion between their doctrine and that of the Fathers. From that time until the end of his life, his only concern was the restoration of Christian philosophy, in which, not only by his writing.s, but by his lectures and conversation, ho was of supreme assistance to Leo Xllt. With this object, he founded, in 1840, "La ScienzaelaFede", a periodical which was continued until 1887 by his disciples and associates, Si- gnoriello and d'Amelio. His principal work is "Philo- sophia chri.stiana cumantiqua et nova coinparata" (5 vols., Naples, 1862). This work is incomplete, covering only logic and psychology, but one hardly knows whether to admire mo.st its lucidity of exposition, ita copiousness of argument, or the vast number of au- thors cited and discussed. His first work on a large scale, and that which assured his reputation as a teacher, was "I principali sistemi della filosofia del criterio, discussi colla dottrina de' Santi Padri e de' Dottori del Medio Evo" (Naples, 1850-53), in which he discusses and confutes the systems of Hume and Gioberti on the criterion of truth. Another important work of his is "La dottrina di S. Tomma.so .suU' origine del potere e sul preteso diritto di resistenza" (on the origin of authority and the pretended right of resist- ance) (Naples, 1853). "Elementa philosophise Chris- tiana;" (Naples, 1864-70) was written for tlieuseof his classes, the last volume (Ethics) being edited by his disciple Signoriello. Besides the two already men- tioned, his discii)les included Talamo, Frisco (now a cardinal) Cacace, Galvanese, and Giustiniani.

PitovERiTA, Del Canonico Gaetano Sanseverino (Naples, 1867).

U. Benigni.

San Severe, Diocese of (Sancti Severini), in the Province of Foggia (Capitanata), Southern Italy, situated in a fertile plain, watered by the Radicosa and Triolo. The origin of the city is obscure. Un- der the Normans it became the residence of a prince, then passed under the Benedictines of Torre Mag- giore, later under the Templars, on whose suppres- sion it was disamortized. It suffered frequently from earthquakes, especially in 1627, 1828, and 1851. The Diocese of San Severo was established in 1580. The episcopal see is only the continuation of that of Civi-

tate, which in turn succeeded the ancient city of Teanum. Civitate, where the papal troops were de- feated by the Normans in 1052, was an episcopal see in 1062 under Amelgerio. Among the bishops of Civitate were: Fra Lorenzo da Viterbo, O.P. (1330), a distinguished theologian; Luca Gaurico (1545), a distinguished astronomer; Franc. Alciato (1561), later a cardinal. In 1580 the first occupant of the See of San Severo was Martino de Martini, a Jesuit; other bishops are: Fabrizio Verallo (1606), nuncio in Swit- zerland, later a cardinal; Franc. Venturi (1625), a distinguished canonist and defender of the rights of the Church; Orazio Fortunati (1670), who restored the cathedral; Carlo Felice de Mata (1678), founder of the seminary, which was enlarged by two of his successors. Carlo Franc. Giacoli (1703) and Fra Dio- dato Sommantico (1720), an Augustinian. To this diocese was added later the territory of the ancient Dragonaria, a city built in 1005 by the Byzantine Governor of Apulia. Cappelletti gives the names of twent3^-eight bishops between 1061 and 1657. It seems never to have been formally suppressed. The diocese is suffragan of Benevento, and has 7 parishes, about 46,000 inhabitants, and 6 religious houses.

Cappelletti, Le chiese d'ltalia, XIX (Venice, 1857).

U. Benigni.

Sansovino, Andrea Contucci del, b. at Monte San Sovino, Arezzo, 1460; d. 1529. He was a sculp- tor of the transition period at the end of the fifteenth and beginning of the sixteenth century, and showed the qualities of the transition in his style. He worked at first in his native town and in Florence, then for about eight years in Portugal. His best sculptures were produced in Florence and Rome after his return. The "Baptism of Christ", a marble group in the baptistery of Florence, contains very effective fig- ures finely contrasted. The monuments of Cardinals Bas.so and Sforza Visconti in the Church of Santa Maria del Popolo at Rome are also striking. They prove that he was able to combine what he had fully learned from antiquity with the art of the mature early Renaissance. The central and chief niche stands upon a high pedestal between Corinthian pillars; above the round arch of this niche is an attic, that supports the figure of God the Father upon a shell throne with a genius at each side. In the cen- tral niche the dead are represented asleep, their heads resting upon their arms, awaiting resurrection ; above them in the vault of the niche is a figure of the Blessed Virgin, on a smaller scale. In and above side niches are the cardinal virtues, which rise up- wards towards the genii just mentioned. The unity in the conception of the structure and the rich dec- oration of the details show great skill in art. It has been often asserted that there is a touch of the spirit of Raphael in the combination of dignified repose and subdued movement in the figures. Sansovino had a great task given him in the Casa Santa of Loreto, where he was to produce nine reliefs and twenty- two statues. Bramante had encased the Casa with a marble covering, architecturally very fine, which was designed to have rich plastic ornament. Sansovino was only able to make a few of the reliefs, such as the "Annunciation" and the "Birth of Christ", the other reliefs and statuettes were made by his assistants and successors.

Among these pupils was Andrea Tatti (about 1480- 1570) of Florence, who took the name of his master Sansovino. During the forty later years of his long life he was, next to Titian, one of the most distin- guished artists of Venice. In Venice he represents the second epoch of the grand style in art, and was the head of a clearly defined school. Among his first works were a statue of St. James, at Florence, which, with exception of a somewhat unnatural pose, has striking qualities, and a Bacchus entirely in the an-