Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 14.djvu/808

 TIPASA

738

TIRABOSCHI

Maggiore and San Giovanni, and the "Life of St. Rocoo" at San Rocco.

Robusti was not without merit as a portrait painter. At the Ducal Palace there is a series of portraits of the doge.s; the museum of the Uffizi at Florence has the portrait of Sansovino, the Lou\Te that of the painter himself. His last reUgious composition, begun at the age of seventy and finished shortly before his death, is in the Hall of the Grand Council of the Doges' Palace. This gigantic work, measuring 32 feet 10 inches high, by 72 feet 2 inches wide, represents the "Last Judg- ment". "Although the colouring has grown dark we cannot but admire the broad lines, the close and pic- turesque grouping, the enormous masses set in motion with extraordinary vigour" (E. Muntz). Also, it may be added, we cannot but admire the spirited strength of the old man who is able to depict about 500 pereons. Jacopo Robusti did not fully realize the ambitious programme he outlined for himself. He could not equal the drawing of Michelangelo, whom he took for his model, but he emphasized its defects by exaggerating the anatomical outhnes and foreshorten- ings. These feats of skill are always out of place, but especially so in religious subjects, which Tintoretto too often treated unbecomingly. However, it Ls to his credit that he infused into some scenes from the Pas- sion a communicative tragic emotion. His colour is inferior to Titian's, whom he hoped to surpass; it is heavier and less brilliant. But he discovered certain sombre tints which are wonderfullj' adapted to the expression of sad and sorrowful sentiments and which accentuate the bright contrasts. In point of time he is the last of the great Venetian painters, but he be- longs already to the period of decadence, because he never succeeded in overcoming his unstudied impetu- osity or fusing into a harmonious whole his eminent but warring qualities.

Vasari in Vita di Battista Franco; ed. Milanese, VI (Florence, 1881), 587-88; Ridolfi. Le Maraviglie deU'Arte, omero le Vile degV iUustri pittori Veneti e dello stato (Venice, 1648); Burckhard and Bode, Le Cicerone, Fr. tr. Gerard (Paris, 1892), 759, 61; Muntz, Hist, de I'Art pendant la Renaissance, III (Paris, 1895), 660-64; Thode, Tintoretto (Bielefeld and Leipzig. 1901).

Gaston Sohtais.

Tipasa, a titular see of Numidia. The Phoenician yvord signifies passage. Early in its history we find in Tipasa a Punic counting-house with a port ; which passed later under the dominion of the kings of Mau- retania, whose kingdom was annexed to the Roman empire in a. d. 39. Claudius I constituted Tipasa a Colonia juris latini (Pliny, "Hist. Natur. ", V, ii, 20). Later on it became a cmtas and in the third century an inscription styles it colonia. The city, which was very commercial, grew and prospered greatly under the emperors of the second and third centuries. A Jewish colony with its synagogue set- tled there, early in its history. An inscription belong- ing to the year 238 is the most ancient trace of Chris- tianity to be found in Tipasa. In the church of Bishop Alexander, built at the end of the fourth cen- tury, we find the tombs of nine personages who are called justi priores and whom Duchesne considers to have been nine bishops antedating this Alexander. In the beginning of the fourth century, a young girl. Saint Salsa, was martyred by the pagans; later a ba- silica was erected to her memory. Under Julian the Apostate the inhabitants distinguished themselves by their adherence to Christianity, and this in spite of the violent opposition of two Donatist bishops (Optatus, "De Sehismate Donatistarum", II, 18-19). Likewise in 371 or 372, when the Moorish king, Firrnus, with the support of the Donatists, tried, but in vain, to take possession of the city. Mention is due to the anonymous author of "The Passion of Saint Salsa" and "The Passion of Saint Fabius of Cartenna" (Aiial. bolland., IX, 123-134), who was born at Tipasa and who lived in the beginning of the fifth century.

In 429 the Vandals took possession of the city and the province; ten years later these were restored to the Emperor Valentinian, but came back again into the possession of the Vandals in 455. Bishop Reparatus was exiled in 484, and the secretary of the Arian patriarch was chosen to replace him, a choice which brought about the voluntary exile into Spain of the greater part of the inhabitants; those who remained, having refused to embrace Arianism, had their right hand and tongue cut off, but, nevertheless, continued to talk as before, according to the testimony of Victor de Vita and other contemporaries ("Historia perse- cutionis Africance provincise". III, vi, 29-30; Acta SS., October, XI, 847; "Mi^langes d'arch^ologie et d'histoire de I'Ecole frangaise de Rome", XIV, 319). Henceforth Tipasa is not mentioned in history. To- day it is a village, called Tipaza by the French, Te- fassed by the natives, situated about 44 miles east of Algiers; it numbers 2400 inhabitants, of whom 600 are Europeans, and possesses a Catholic parish. There are ruins of several churches and other monu- ments.

Duchesne, Sainte Salsa in Precis historiques (Paris, 1890); TouLOTTE, Geographic de I'Afrique chretienne. Mauritanies (Mon- trcuil, 1894), 164-171; GsELL, De Tipasa Mauritania Cwsarien- sis urbe (Algiers, 1894) ; Idem, Tipasa in Melanges d'archeologie et d'histoire de I'Ecole fransaise de Rome, XIV (Paris, 1894), 291- 460. S. VAILED.

Tiraboschi, Girolamo, Italian scholar, b. in the region of Bergamo, 1731; d. 3 .June, 1794. At an early age he entered the Society of Jesus. After serving as pro- fessor of rhetoric and belles-lettres (eloquenza) at the Brera in Milan, he was called by Francesco III, Duke of Modena, to take charge of his library (the Biblioteca Es- tense) ; this he di- rected withpatient endeavour and skill, enriching it with many addi- tions of books and manuscripts and providing it with catalogues. His chief work is the monumental "Sto- ria della lettera- tura italiana", an exhaustive com- pilation of the m;i- terials within his reach. Actuated by the patriotic desire to defend his country's glory in the cultural arts against the attacks of foreign critics, he makes his history extend from Etruscan times down to 1700, and concerns himself with all matters of interest in belles-lettres, philosophy, historj', the fine arts, medicine, jurisprudence, etc., accompanying the statement of his views with an abundance of precious documents. Written in a clear and attractive style, the "Storia" appeared in its first edition between 1772 and 1782. With augmentations and connexions, it was published a second time at Modena,between 1787 and 1794. His minor writings include: "Biblioteca Modenese", an account of writers born in Modena; "Memorie storiche modenesi"; "Vita di Fulvio Testi"; and many other historical and critical essays and articles.

Be.sidcs the editions of the Storia mentioned above, see the reprints of Florence (1805-13), Milan (in the Clasaioi, 1S22-26), aad Venice (1823-25). J. O. M. FoRD.