Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume IV.djvu/390

 382 CHERUB CIIERUBIXI markets. The town grew out of a monastery founded in 666, and rebuilt in 964 by King Ed- gar and the Benedictine monks. No traces of the abbey exist, and the remains of Henry VI. were removed thence to Windsor by Henry VII. Chertsey was a capital of the South Saxon monarchs during the heptarchy. CHERUB (in Scripture more frequently in the Hebrew plural form, cherubim), a symbolical figure of a composite form, which finds a parallel in the composite mythological figures of Assyria, Egypt, Persia, and Greece, of which traces remain in the winged bulls and lions of Nineveh and the sphinxes of Egypt. The most famous cherubim of Scripture were those of gold placed upon the cover of the ark in the tabernacle, facing each other, and apparently adoring an unseen divinity. In the temple of Solomon a pair of colossal size overshadowed the ark with the canopy of their contiguously extended wings. Cherubim were also blazoned on the doors, walls, and curtains of the building. As to the form of the cherubim in the temple there has been much discussion, with no definite result, except a general conclusion that the images were in shape and arrangement very similar to the As- syrian and Egyptian remains referred to above, some of which show a remarkable agreement with the expressions of Scripture. In the sacred boats or arks of the Egyptians represented on the monuments, there are sometimes two fig- ures with extended wings which remind us of the description of the cherubim "covering the mercy seat with their wings, and their faces one to another." Whether the symbolical images were merely symbolical, or were meant to rep- resent beings of actual existence, is uncertain ; although a common opinion is that they are ideal representations of the power and wisdom of the Deity. The word cherub (Ileb. Icerub) has been variously explained as meaning strong, great, near, boylike, carven, and grasping or laying hold on. The last meaning, which seems preferable to the others, is chiefly supported by Fftrst, who compares the root of the Hebrew iervb with similar words in the same language, and with the Sanskrit gribh and Persian giriften, to seize, Greek ypvfy, griffin, and the Teutonic grip, greifen, and Greif. The cherubim were always made in pairs, as if to preclude the supposition of an idol which a single figure might have suggested, and in an attitude of subordination to a higher power and glory, setting the example of worship rather than receiving it themselves. They stood like the supporters of a shield, and were repeated in many places about the sacred building like a heraldic device. Yet, perhaps because the priests only entered the holy place, and the ark was covered when moved, their form seems to have been generally unknown. There is mention of cherubim guarding the gates of Eden after the expulsion of Adam, and they also appear in the prophetic visions of Eze- kiel and John. In the prophetic visions there seems in them an entire absence of human sym- pathy, and even on the mercy seat they appear not merely as admiring and wondering, but as guardians of the covenant and avengers of its breach. In painting and sculpture, the name cherub is given to the winged heads of chil- dren which represent angels. CHERIBINI, Maria Lnlgi Carlo Zenobio Salvatorf, an Italian composer, born in Florence, Sept. 8, 1760, died in Paris, March 15, 1842. He studied under his father, who was a pianist, and in 1769 under Bartolommeo and Ales- sandro Felici, also under Pietro Bizzari and Giuseppe Castrucci. In 1773 he produced a mass, which, with other of his compositions, attracted the attention of the grand duke Leo- pold, who enabled him to become a pupil of Sarti of Bologna, under whom he studied from 1778 to 1782. As early as 1780 he produced his first opera, Quinto Fabio, at Alessandria, and in 1784 he had already produced eight operas in the theatres of Italy. In that year he went to London, but in 1786 took up his residence in Paris. In 1785 he composed for the London Italian opera La finta principesna and Giulio Sabino ; in 1788 at Turin his Ifi- genia in Aulide; and in the winter of the same year he brought out his Demophoon, and in 1791 his Lodowka, at Paris. The latter opera established his fame, and was followed by lisa, Medee, Vh6tellerie portvgaise, Lea deux journeea, Anacreon, and his ballet of Achille d Scyros. In 1806 he produced Fanitka at Vienna ; in 1809, Pimmalione at Paris; in 1813, Le Abencerrages ; in 1814, Bayard d Mezieres, in conjunction with Cutel, Boieldieu, and Nicolo; in 1821, Blanche de Provence, in concert with Paer, Boieldieu, Berton, and Kreutzer; and in 1833, AliBaba. He excelled most in sacred music. His celebrated mass in F for three voices, his grand Requiem, and his Mesi sacre are the noblest monuments of his genius. Haydn and Beethoven pronounced him the greatest sacred composer of the age. From 1822 till his death he was director of the con- servatory of Paris, with which he had been connected from the date of its foundation in 1795, and which is greatly indebted to him foi its prosperity. Among his pupils were Boiel- dieu, Auber, Carafa, and Halevy. Cherubini was never in favor with Napoleon, but from 1816 to 1830 he was superintendent of the music of the king. Adolphe Adam wrote of him after his death : " Contemporary of Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, and Rossini, Cherubini seems to have been placed by nature among those great geniuses as a moderator, whoso wisdom and firmness were destined to coxmter- act their eccentricities." The most important of Cherubini's literary works is Methode de con- tre-point et de fugue, published in 1835, con- taining a summary of the lessons in strict composition which for several years he had given at the conservatory. He was enthusi- astically devoted to his profession, and his in- dependence frequently manifested itself.