Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 02.djvu/834

BELLINI. ence. In fact, they are often confounded with Andrea Mantegna's, and reveal a careful study of the sculptures of Donatello at Padua. Among the best of them are the "Crucifixion," "Trans- figuration," and "Pietà" in the Museo Correr. the "Agony in the Garden" in the National Ciallery, and a number of Madonnas in the Venetian Academy and elsewhere. After 1460 his Venetian characteristics begin to prevail, and an epoch in his art is marked by his journey to Pesaro. Hitherto he had executed small de- votional pieces; but with his large "Coronation of the Virgin," painted for San Francesco in that town, he began a series of large altar-pieces, through which he is chiefly known. A remin- iscence of his journey to Pesaro is shown in the beautiful "Transfiguration" at Naples. Between 1480 and 1490 he painted a large number of his most important works, like the Madonna in the National Gallery, the one in the Venetian Acad- emy with Saints Catharine and Mary Magdalen, the altar-piece of San Giobbe (1487) — also in the Academy — and the famous Madonna with the Doge Barberino at Murano (1488). In the nineties he was occupied with the decorations of the Ducal Palace. The allegories in the Academy and the "Tree of Life" in the Uffizi probably date from the same period. The principal works of his latest period are the "Baptism of Christ" in Santa Corona, Vicenza, the altar-pieces of San Crisostomo and San Zaccaria, Venice, in the last of which he approached the new style of High Renaissance, and his last-known work, the "Ma- donna and Child" (1514) in the Brera. He is the most important figure in Venetian painting of the fitteentli century, to which he gave his individiuxl impulse. He was a colorist rather than a drauglitsman, and was the chief influence in giving Venetian painting its wonderful golden tone. He was also celebrated as a portrait painter. Consult Thuasne, Gentile Bellini et le sultan Mohammed II. (Paris, 1888); Müntz, in Gazette des Beaux-Arts (ib., 1884) : Berenson, Venetian Painters at the Exposition of Venetian Art (London, 1895); Fry, Giovanni Bellini (ib., 1899).

BELLINI, (1643-1704). An Italian anatomist and physician. He studied medicine under Redi, was professor of anatomy at Pisa, and in Florence was physician to the Grand Duke Cosmo, and also senior consulting physician to Pope Clement XI. Among his discoveries were the action of the nerves on the muscles and the uriniferous ducts, known as Bellini's tubes. He left also an original and curious book of poetry, the Bucchereide (1729).

BELLINI, (1802-35). A famous Italian operatic composer. He was born at Catania, Sicily, and died at Puteaux, near Paris. Born of a musical family, he entered the conservatory of Naples (1819), where he studied under Zingarelli. After writing various instrumental and choral compositions, he produced Adelson e Salvina (1824), the success of which was duplicated by that of Bianca e Fernando at the San Carlo, Naples (1826), and Bellini was engaged to write an opera for La Scala at Milan. After Il Pirata (1827), he became the most popular composer in Europe, and his fame grew with each of the following operas: La Straniera (1828); Capuleti e Montecchi (1830); Sonnambula (1831); Norma (1831); Beatrice di Tenda (1833). He settled in Paris and gave himself up to the study of French music, diction, and verse, and then produced I Puritani (1834) at the Théatre Italien, Paris. Its success eclipsed that of all his previous efforts. He was preparing for another work when death came unexpectedly at Puteaux, near Paris. All Europe mourned for him, and his funeral was an impressive pageant. A monument to Bellini was erected in Catania in 1868, where his remains now rest, and another in Naples in 1836. In 1901 the centenary of his birth was celebrated throughout Italy and in many European cities. A man of wide culture and deep refinement, of the elegiac and sentimental type of Chopin, he had not the personal sorrows of the Polish master to make his grief morbid. His melancholy nature came into the world at the most opportune moment: Italy was groaning under foreign masters; Norma was but a lament over his country's bondage. His Druids and Gallic warriors were thinly disguised Italians of his time. The opera was a great advance on his previous works, which were criticised for the thin orchestration and lack of structural unity. He heeded the critics, and Norma may fairly be called a classic production. Wagner viewed it as such for its heroic grandeur, tragic power, and pathos, combined with an unequaled flow of melody and striking orchestration. Norma has been the favorite part of the greatest dramatic songstresses, such as Pasta, Viardot-Garcia, Jenny Lind, Bürde-Ney, and Lilli Lehmann, the famous Wagnerian soprano. Bellini's music is particularly grateful to the voice, and all famous singers, from Pasta and Viardot, through Schröder-Devrient and Johanna Wagner, down to Patti, Nilsson, and Sembrich, have kept his operas in their repertoires. Consult: Pougin, Bellini, sa vie, ses œuvres (Paris, 1868); Amore, Vincenzio Bellini (Catania, 1892-94); Florimo, Bellini: Memorie e lettere (Florence, 1885); G. T, Ferris, Great Musical Composers (New York, 1887).

BELLINZONA, bel'len-zo'na. or BELLENZ, bel'lents. The capital of the Canton of Tessin or Ticino, Switzerland, on the left bank of the Ticino (Map: Switzerland, C 2). The town is most pic- turesquely situated at an elevation of 775 feet above sea-level, and commands the Saint Gotth- ard route. It was fortified by the Visconti in the Middle Ages, and modern defenses have been liuilt on the site of the old fortifications to pro- tect tlic position of the town at the junction of the Saint Gotthard Railroad with that to Lcjcarno. Population, in 1900, 5000.

BELL'MAN, (1740-95). A Swedish lyric poet. He was born in Stockholm, the son of a professor at Upsala, and began to write poetry at an early age, often composing the melodies for his songs. The favor of Gustavus III. relieved him from care, but he suffered from ill health, and on the murder of the King (1792) he was tor a time a prisoner in the castle where he had been a frequent guest. His poems express the joy of life, and occasionally a coarse revelry, but there is usually a cynic or pathetic undertone. His more important works are collected in Fredmans epistlar (1790) and Fredmans Sånger (1791). Consult Erdmann, Carl Michael Bellman (Stockholm, 1900).

BELLO, be'lyg, (1781-1865). A Spanish-American author; born at Caracas. He was Venezuelan commissioner of war, and accompanied Bolivar and Lopez Mendez in the