Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 6.djvu/162

 FONSECA

126

FONTANA

during his term of office as provincial and largely owing to his initiative that this celebrated work was under- taken by the Jesuit professors of Coimbra.

As a man of affairs, Fonseca was not less gifted than as a philosopher. He filled many important posts in his order, being assistant, for Portugal, to the general, visitor of Portugal, and superior of the professed house at Lisbon; while Gregory XIII and Philip II (from 1580 King of Portugal) emploj-ed him in affairs of the greatest delicacy and consequence. Fonseca used his influence wisely in promoting the interests of charitj' and learning. Many great institutions in Lisbon, notably the Irish college, owe their existence, at least in great part, to his zeal and piety. He is also credited with a considerable share in the drawing up of the Jesuit Ratio Studiorum. But his greatest claim to lasting reputation hes in the fact that he first devised the solution, by his scientia media in God, of the per- plexing problem of the reconcihation of grace and free will. Nevertheless his fame in this matter has been somewhat obscured by that of his disciple, Luis de Molina, who, having more fully developed and per- fected the ideas of his master in his work "Concordia Liberi Arbitrii cum Gratis Donis", etc., came gradu- ally to be regarded as the originator of the doctrine.

SoMMERvoQEL, Bibl. de la C. de J., Ill, 837; de Backer, Bibt. des Ecrivains de la C. de J.. I, 313, VII, 239; Hurter, Nomenclator: Schneemann, Zur Geschichte der Theorie von der Scientia Media in Stinimen aus Maria-Laach, XVIII, 237; Idem, Die Entstehung der thomistisch-molinistischen Controverse, Supplement ix to Stimmen aus Maria-Laach (Freiburg, 1880); Idem, Controversiarum de divincE gratis liberique arbitrii Concor- dia initia et progrcssus (Freiburg, ISSl).

John F. X. Murphy.

Fonseca Scares, Antonio da (Antonio das Chagas), Friar Minor and ascetical writer; b. at Vidi- gueira, 25 June, 1631; d. at Torres Vedras, 20 Oct., 16S2. Having entered the Portuguese army as a com- mon soldier, he was forced to flee to Bahia in Brazil, as the result of a duel. There he abandoned himself to a careless and dissolute life, but was converted through the writings of Louis of Granada and resolved to em- brace the religious life. The execution of his resolu- tion was deferred indefinitely, and having returned to Portugal, he continued to lead his former life of dissi- pation, until in 1662 he was taken with a grievous ill- ness. On his recovery he hastened to fulfil his promise, and was admitted into the Franciscan Order in May of the same year, receiving in religion the name of An- tonio das Chagas. He soon became famous througli- out Portugal on account of his poetical and ascetical writings, in which he combined remarkable erudition with such singular elegance of style as to give him a merited place among the classics of Portugal. He died universally esteemed for his virtuous life, leaving a great part of his writings still unpublished. The fol- lowing were published since his death: "Faiscas de amor divino e lagrimas da alma" (Lisbon, 1683); "Obras espirituaes" (Lisbon, 1684-1687); "O Padre nosso commentado" (Lisbon, 1688); "Espelho do Es- pirito em que deve verse e comporse a Olma" etc. (Lisbon, 1683); "Escola da penitencia e flagello dos peccadores" (Lisbon, 1687); " Sermons Genuinos" etc. (Lisbon, 1690); "Cartas espirituaes" (Lisbon, 1684); " Ramilhete espiritual " etc. (Lisbon, 1722).

GoDlNHO, Vida do F. Antonio da Fonseca Scares (Lisbon, 1687 and 1728): DE Soledad, Historia serafica da provincia de Portu- gal, III, 3, 17.

Stephen M. Donovan.

Font. See Baptismal Font.

Font, Blessing of. See Baptismal Font.

Fontana, Carlo, architect and writer; b. at Bru- ciato, near Como, 1634; d. at Rome, 1714. There seems to be no proof that he belonged to the family of famous architects of the same name. Fontana went to Rome and studied architecture under Bernini. His principal works in Rome arc the Ginetti chapel at

Sant' Andrea della Valle; the Cibo chapel in Madonna del Popolo; the cupola, great altar, and ornaments of the Madonna de' Miracoli; the church of the monks of Santa Marta; the facades of the church of Beata Rita and of San Marcolo in the Corso; the sepulchre of Queen Christina of Sweden in St. Peter's; the palaces Grimani and Bolognetti; the fountain of Santa Maria in Trastevere, and that in the piazza of St. Peter's which is towards Porta Cavallegieri; reparation of the church of Spirito Santo de' Napolitani, and the theatre of Tordinona. By desire of Innocent XI, his patron, he erected the immense building of San Michele at Ripa; the chapel of Baptism at St. Peter's; and fin- ished Monte Citorio. By request of Clement XI he built the granaries at Termini; the portico of Santa Maria in Trastevere, and the basin of the fountain of San Pietro Montorio. He restored the Library of Minerva, the cupola of Montefiascone and the casino in the Vatican, and collected all the models of the build- ing. He sent a model for the cathedral of Fulda, and others to Vienna for the royal stables. By order of Innocent XI he wrote a diffuse description of theTem- plum Vaticanum (1694). In this work Fontana ad- vised the demolition of that nest of houses which formed a sort of island from Ponte Sant' Angelo to the piazza of St. Peter's. Fontana made a calculation of the whole expense of St. Peter's from the beginning to 1694, which amounted to 46,800,052 crowns, with- out including models. He published also works on the Flavian Amphitheatre; the Aqueducts; the inun- dation of the Tiber, etc. He was assisted by his nephews Girolamo and Francesco Fontana. Fontana seems to have been considered an able artist and a good designer and more successful as an architect than as a writer.

MiCHAUD, Biographic Universelle: Melizeas, Lives of Cele- brated Architects, II, 264; Longfellow, Cyclopedia of Architec- ture in Italy, Greece and the Levant, 365, etc. ; Anderson, Italian Renaissance Architecture, 168, 172, 176; Moore, Character of Renaissance Architecture: Rome as an Art City in Langham Series of Art Monographs, 62.

Thomas H. Poole.

Fontana, Domenico, Roman architect of the Late Renaissance, b. at Merli on the Lake of Lugano, 1543; d. at Naples, 1607. He went to Rome before the death of Michelangelo and made a deep study of the works of ancient and modern masters. He won in particular the confidence of Cardinal Montalto, later Pope Sixtus V, who in 1584 charged him with the erection of the Cappella del Presepio (Chapel of the Manger) in S. Maria Maggiore, a powerful domical building over a Greek cross, a marvellously well- balanced structure, notwithstanding the profusion of detail and overloading of rich ornamentation, which in no way interferes with the main architectural scheme. It is crowned by a dome in the early style of S. Biagio at Montepulciano. For the same patron he constructed the Palazzo Montalto near S. Maria Mag- giore, with its skilful distribution of masses and rich decorative scheme of reliefs and festoons, impressive because of the dexterity with which the artist adapted the plan to the site at his disposal. After his accession as Sixtus V, Montalto appointed Fontana architect of St. Peter's, bestowing upon him among other distinc- tions the title of Knight of the Golden Spur. He added the lantern to the dome of St. Peter's, and it was he who proposed the prolongation of the interior in a well-defined nave. Of more importance were the alterations he made in St. John Lateran (c. 1586) where he introduced into the loggia of the north fagade an imposing double arcade of wide span and ample sweep, and probably added the two-story portico to tlie Scala Santa. This predilection for arcades as essential features of an architectural scheme, was brovight out in the different fountains designed by Domenico and his brother Giovanni, e. g. the Fontana deir Acqua Paola, or the Fontana di Termini planned