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COSTA

Cossa, Francesco, known sometimes as del, Cos- , Italian painter of the School of Ferrara. b. about iO; d. probably at Ferrara, 1485. Cossa is noted Decially for his fresco work. The first record we ve of him is in 1456 when he was an assistant to his her, Cristofano del Cossa, at that time employed in inting the carvings and statues on the high altar in ,er this worked in conjunction with Cosimo Tura,
 * chapel of the bishop's palace at Ferrara. Cossa
 * orating the summer retreat known as the Schi-

loia, and of the frescoes which remain, three can be ely ascribed to him. They illustrate the manners 1 dre.ss of the period and are rich in architectural m those of Tura, but stronger and grander than the ter's work. Considering himself, however, insuf- ently remunerated by Duke Borso, Cossa left Fer- a for Bologna in 1470. where he obtained many amissions under the Bentivogli. Here he painted two masterpieces, one. the Virgin and Child with 3 saints and a portrait of .\lberto de' Catanei, pro- ?ed in 1474; the other, the fresco of the Madonna Baracano, representing the Virgin and Child with ! portraits of Giovanni Bentivoglio and Maria Vin- uerra, painted in 1472. In these works Cossa re- ils himself as a painter of great power and original- , stately in his conceptions, grand and massive in •traiture, broad in modelling, simple and severe in nposition. In the National Gallery there is a fine ture by him representing St. Vincent Ferrer, an nnunciation", in the Dresden collection, which has in attributed to Pollajuolo, and a fine profile por- it at Locko Park near Derby, said to represent ke Ercole I of Ferrara. He executed some glass ntings in Bologna, the best of which is a beautiful
 * ails, somewhat less decorative and less fantastic
 * ular window, in the church of San Giovanni in

nte, representing St. John in Patraos; this bears signature.

IRINTON. The Kenaissanee in Italian Art (London. 1898); GLER, The Italian Schools oi Painting (London, 1900); Mal- JA, FeUina Pittria (BoloEna, 1678); Masini, Bologna lastrata (Bologna, 1666); Guida di Bologna ( 1782).

George Charles Williamson.

3osta, Lorenzo, Ferrarese painter, b. at Ferrara 1460; d. at Mantua in l,5:i5. He is believed to re been a pupil of either Tura or Cossa. At the ! of t%venty-three Costa established himself at logna, under the patronage of the Bentivogli fam- , in the same workshop as Francia. The two men re much influenced by each other; Francia worked a goldsmith, but Costa had the greater imagina- n, wider knowledge, and more perfect skill in draw- ! cause of Francia 's change of craft, and that but
 * . It is probable that his coming to Bologna was

this friendship the greater man would have re- ined all his life a goldsmith. Costa's earliest work Bologna is the fresco in San Giacomo Maggiore i80); his greatest, the altar-piece in San Giovanni Monti (1497). The two friends united in painting ! altar-piece for the church of the Misericordia. the lire and upper part of which still remain in Bolo- 1, while the predella by Costa is at Milan. They rked for the same patrons, decorated the same lis of palace, church, and oratory, and both suf- ed when Bentivogli wa.s driven from Bologna in )9, and his palace became a heaji of ruins. Costa
 * n passed into the service of the Gonzaga fam-

at Mantua. His work can be well studied in logna, but there are pictures by him also in Ian, Berlin. London, and Paris. His early frescoes ! in the Schifanoia in Ferrara. and some of his est in the Schalcheria Castle at Mantua. He him- f engraved more than one plate after his pictures. 3 paintings are very much in the style of tho.se by incia. but the subjects are treated in a freer and ire pict\iresque manner. The colouring is always srgetic, the heads of the figures well modelled and IV.— 27

full of expression, the architectural backgrounds rich, varied, and accurate, and the perspective thoughtful and well jilaimcd. The draperies in Costa's work are far less hard than those in Francia 's, and fall in easy and not in rigid folds.

Malvasia, Felsina Pitlrice (Bologna. 1678); Ohlandi, Abbecedario Pittorico (Bologna. 1719); Oretti, unpublished Notebooks in the Arciginnasio Library. Bologna; Williamson, Francia in Burlington Fine Arts Club's Catalogue (1894); Bryan, Diet, of Painters and Engravers (New York, 1903), s. v.

George Charles Williamson.

Costadoni, Giovanni Domenico, frequently known as Dom Ansclmo, his name in religion, an Italian Camaldolcse monk, historian, and theologian, b. 6 October, 1714. at Venice; d. 23 Januarj', 1785, in the same city. The son of a rich merchant, he .sacrificed at an early date his prospects of success in the world and took the religious habit at St. Michael's monas- terj-, situated on the island of Murano in the Venetian lagoon. Here he studied philosophy and theology with more than usual success. At the age of twenty- three he revealed his literarj- abihty in a letter (Let- tera critica) written in defence of certain Camaldolese writers, who had been attacked by Giusto Fontanini in his "Librarj' of Italian Eloquence". Costadoni subsequently collaborated for eighteen years with the learned Mittarelli in the publication of the "Annales Canialdulenses" (Venice, 1755-73). Some archaeolog- ical papers due to his pen, such as " Dissertazione sopra il pesce come simbolo degli antichi cristiani", were published in the voluminous collection of histor- ical essays edited by Calogerii, a monk of the same order. His works also include: " Avvisi ed istruzioni pratiche intomo ai prineipali doveri de' regolari" (Faenza, 1770; Venice, 1771); "Lettereconsolatorie" (Venice, 1775); "Lettere sopra questione teologiche" (Venice, 1773). Costadoni's unpublished manu- scripts were transferred, after his death, to St. Greg- orj''s monastery at Rome, by order of the Camaldo- lese abbot, Mauro Cappellari (later Pope Gregory XVI).

Mandelli, Delia vita e degli scritti di A. Costadoni (Venice, 1787); Pkot. Mimoires (Paris, 1855), V, 470; Hurter, Nomenclator^ III, 376.

N. A. Weber.

Costa Rica, Republic of, a narrow isthmus be- tween Panama on the east and the Republic of Nica- ragua on the north, the Caribbean Sea on the north-east and the Pacific Ocean on the south-west. Between latitudes north 9° and 1 1° and longitudes west of Green- wich 83° and 86°, its area is calculated at 18,400 square miles; the population in 1905 is given as 334, .307, be- sides 3500 Indians. The principal city is San Jos6, the capital, with 24,500 inhabitants; next comes Cartago with 7800, then Hercdia with 7151. There are two ports on the Atlantic and two on the Pacific coast. Mountain chains traverse the territory in many direc- tions, but the principal one runs through the whole length from north-west to south-east. Its tallest peak is called " Pico Blanco" and ri.ses to 11,800 feet above sea-level. Costa Rica has six, partly active, volca- noes among which the tallest (Irazu) rises to a height of 1 1 ,600 feet and has been dormant for many years. The surface is in general verj' much broken, the moun- tains are eruptive or volcanic, and sedimentary depos- its abut against them at a lower level. Many streams, some of which are navigable for a short dis- tance, water the territory. The Pacific coast has two handsome gulfs: Nicoya in the north, and the Golfo Dulce near the frontier of Panama.

The climate is tropical. There are but two seasons: winter or the drj', and .summer or the wet, season. Altitude and climate divide the country into three zones, the hot that rises from the shores on both sides to about 3000 feet; the temperate (between 3000 and 7500). and the cold higher up. Snowfalls, even on the highest summits, are very rare; the mean temperature