Page:Imperial Dictionary of Universal Biography Volume 1.pdf/746

BOT  destroyed, to make room for the conquering Last Judgment of Michel Angelo. On one side were the deeds of Moses; on the other those of Christ. Sandro painted twenty-eight figures of popes, to set between the windows, "Moses killing the Egyptian," "the Rebellion of Korah," and "the Temptation of Christ." Rosselli covered his with gold, and the pope, like a child, fancied them the best. Lippi's son was Sandro's pupil.—W. T.  BÖTTIGER,, a distinguished German antiquarian and miscellaneous writer, was born at Reichenbach in Saxony, June 8, 1760. Having completed his education at the university of Leipzig, he became teacher at various schools until 1791, when he was appointed head-master of the gymnasium at Weimar. Here he lived in friendly intercourse with Herder, Schiller, Göthe, and Wieland, and largely contributed to the periodical press of the day. In 1804 he was appointed to a head-mastership at Dresden, where in 1814 he became keeper of the museum of antiquities. He died November 17, 1835. Among his numerous works deserve to be mentioned—"Sabina, oder Morgenscenen einer reichen Römerin;" "Die Aldobrandinische Hochzeit;" "Vorträge über die Dresdener Antikengalerie;" "Amalthea, oder Museum der Kunstmythologie und Bildenden Alterthumskunde;" "Ideen zur Kunstmythologie;" "Literarische Zustände und Zeitgenossen," 2 vols., &c.—(See K. W. Böttiger, K. Aug. Böttiger, eine Biographische Skizze, Leipzig, 1837.)—K. E.  * BÖTTIGER,, son of the preceding, a German historian, was born at Bautzen, Aug. 15, 1790. He studied at Leipzig and Göttingen under Heeren, and successively became professor at the universities of Leipzig and Erlangen. His principal works are—"Allgemeine Geschichte," 12th ed., 1856; "Deutsche Geschichte," 5th ed., 1855; "Geschichte Baierns;" "Geschichte des Kurstaats und Königreichs Sachsen;" "Weltgeschichte in Biographieen," &c.—K. E.  * BÖTTISER,, one of the most admired of the modern school of Swedish poets, was born at Westeros on 15th May, 1807. On the completion of his studies in 1833, he received at Upsala the degree of doctor of philosophy. In 1835 he made a journey through Germany, Italy, France, and Holland, but being seized with asthma was compelled to return the following year. In order to ameliorate his complaint, he went again to Italy, at the expense of government, in the summer of 1838. He twice received the prize at the Swedish academy for poetry. In 1830 Böttiger published at Upsala a collection of poems under the title of "Ungdoms Minne fran Sangens Stunder," which has passed through many editions. A second collection of his poems, containing his admirable translation of Uhland's ballads, was also published; in 1837 a third collection, and in 1847 an "Almanack of the Muses." He has published also a translation of Tasso's Gerusalemma Liberata. He is a professor of the university of Upsala, and son-in-law to the greatest of the Swedish poets, Tegnér, whose life he has written.—M. H.  * BOTTISINI,, the most distinguished contrabassist that has yet lived, was born at Crema in Lombardy in December, 1821. His adoption of the instrument by which he has gained his world-wide celebrity was the result of a mere accident. The conservatorio of Milan gives gratuitous instruction to a certain number of students in each department. Bottisini applied, in 1835, for admission as a singer, but finding no vacancy in the vocal class, he sought successively to be received in each of the others, and was, at last, allowed to enter that for the double bass, which was the only one unfilled at the time. His talent for singing was amply proved during the early days of his pupilage, when the students gave a performance of Rossini's Italiana in Algieri, in which he (still a boy) represented the heroine with great applause. Bottisini's master for the double bass was Luigi Rossi. He no sooner entered upon the study to which destiny had devoted him, than he began to manifest his perfectly individual talent for it, and in two years acquired nearly all his present unprecedented facility upon his most unwieldy instrument. Vaccaj, the principal of the conservatorio, was his master for composition. After leaving the conservatorio Bottisini visited the principal towns of Italy, giving concerts with his fellow-student Arditi, a violinist, recently conductor of Her Majesty's theatre, London. With him he went, at the close of 1846, to Havannah, where both were engaged at the Italian opera, Bottisini in the capacity of conductor. In the summers of 1847 and 1848, during the recess of the Havannah season, these two visited New York. In 1849 Bottisini first came to London, where his extraordinary powers were at once duly appreciated. Here his solo performances were an attraction at every class or concert, and for one season he played in the Philharmonic and Royal Italian opera orchestras, together with Piatti, the violoncellist, who had been his companion in the conservatorio. When M. Jullien visited America in 1853, Bottisini accompanied him. He reappeared in London in 1855. In the season of 1856-57, he conducted the Italian opera at Paris, where he produced with considerable success his opera of "Nerone." He had previously written another work of the same class—"L'Assedio di Firenze," which, if ever performed, must have been given in Havannah. He again visited London, has since appeared at Berlin, and is at present in Naples, where his concerts have been singularly lucrative, and where he is engaged as conductor to the teatro di S. Carlo.

His compositions are characterized by fluency and melodious grace, and those for his instrument especially, prove a fertility of invention without which he could not have produced his great effects as an executant. Bottisini, as a player, is conspicuous for the extraordinary compass he gives to the double bass, by his perfect command of the tenor and higher notes, which were unemployed by his predecessors, and by means of which he makes it agreeable for the first time as a solo instrument—for the rich sweetness of his tone, particularly in the tenor register—for the rapidity and lightness of his execution—and for his exquisite cantabile style: thus much is due to him as a soloist, while, as an orchestra player, he is not less to be praised for his precision, point, and power.—G. A. M.  BOTTRIGARI,, was born at Bologna in 1531. He was a man of rank, fortune, and erudition, who seems to have spent the greater part of his life in the study of music, and in musical controversy. His prejudices seem to have been in favour of ancient music, but in his attempts to bring the chromatic genus into practice, he succeeded no better than Vincentino, and others on the same side of the question. His Italian version of "Bœthius de Musica" received great praise. He died September 30, 1612, leaving a large and valuable library of music, and a rich cabinet of curiosities. The latter excited the admiration of the Emperor Ferdinand II. A complete list of Bottrigari's publications is given by Fetis.—E. F. R.  BOTZARIS, the name of a Grecian family long celebrated among the Suliotes. Among its members the two following were the most remarkable:—

, a military leader, held the chief command of the different tribes when they first appeared in arms against Ali Pacha. His successes were equal to his great ability and courage; but his ambition having led him to aim at supreme power, the country was, in consequence, long disturbed by internal dissensions.

, son of the preceding, born about 1790, died in 1823. He acted a conspicuous part in the Greek war of independence, and throughout the whole of his career was distinguished by his military skill, his heroic daring, and his disinterested patriotism. At the early age of sixteen he took part in an insurrection in favour of Russia, which was then at war with the Porte; but after the treaty of Tilsit, which put an end to all hope of the immediate liberation of Greece, he entered into the service of France as a subordinate officer in a regiment of Albanians. In 1815 he retired to the Ionian islands, where he remained until 1820, when the disturbed condition of the Ottoman empire once more revived the hopes of the Greeks. Mark, now issuing from his retirement, hastened to join his countrymen in a fresh insurrection, which speedily became general, and from that period until his death was actively engaged in hostilities against the Turks, by whom his country had been long oppressed. He fell mortally wounded almost in the moment of a signal victory, which his brother avenged his death by completing. The Turks fled in confusion from the field, leaving behind them their standards and an immense quantity of miscellaneous booty.—G. M.  * BOUBÉE,, a living professor of geology in Paris, born at Toulouse in 1806. His writings consist principally of numerous memoirs in the Bulletin de Société Geol. de la France, and some elementary works, of which the principal are his "Elémens de Géologic," Paris, 1837, and "Cours complet d'études Geologiques," of which the second edition appeared in 1839.—W. S. D. <section end="746H" /> <section begin="746Zcontin" />BOUCHARD,, born some time in the fifteenth <section end="746Zcontin" />