Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 02.djvu/907

BERNI. pocsle lalinc c hitcrc, were last edited by Virgili (Florenee, ISSo).

BERNICE, ber-ni'se. See Berenice.

BERNIER, bai'nya', Fkan^ois (?— 16S8). A Ficneli iihysieian and traveler, born at Angers. He took Ins degree of doctor at Montpellicr, de- parted for the East about Itio-l, and visited Syria, Egypt, Arabia, and India, in the last of which countries he resided for twelve years in the ca- pacity of physician to the Great Mogul. On his return to France he published an account of his travels in India, Les voyaqes de Bernier (1699). This work is delightful in style and accurate in the delineation of manners and cus- toms, as well as in the description of places.

BEBNINA, ber-ne'na. A mountain of the Rha'tian Al[is in the southeastern part of the Swiss Canton of Grisons (Map: Switzerland, D 2). It attains an altitude of 13.:iOO feet in its highest peak, and is covered with numerous glaciers, among which the Morteratsch, Forno, and Roseg are the largest. The Bernina Pass, situated at an elevation of about 7700 feet, over which a carriage road has been constructed from Samaden to Tirano, unites the valley of the up- ])er Engadine on the nortli with the Valtellina on the soutli, and is much frequented during seasons of good gra]ie harvest.

BERNINI, ber-ne'ne, Giovanni Lorenzo (1598-l<i80). The most celebrated Italian sculptor -of the Baroque period, also renowned as an archi- tect. The son of a Tuscan sculptor employed at Naples, he was born in that city December 7, 1598. Under his father's careful training, he carved creditably at the age of eight. After their removal to Rome, the boy's remarkable endow- ments procured him, in his tenth year, an audi- ence with Paul v.. who prophesied that he would be the Michelangelo of his century. The boy studied for three years with tireless cnergj' among the antiques of the Vatican, and in his teens executed groups which placed him in the foremost rank of his day. In the best-known of these, the "David." his own portrait, "Apollo and Daphne" (both in the Villa Borghese), and the "Rape of Proserpine" (Villa Lodovisi), all the characteristics of his fully developed style apjiear. He was made a knight of the Order of Christ by Ciregory XV., and, with the accession of his friend and preceptor Urban VIII., he be- came the practical dictator of all artistic under- takings. After two years' study in painting and architecture, required by the Pope for the great project, he designed and erected the colossal baldacchino under, the cupola of Saint Peter's with its crooked colunms. On the death of JIaderna in 1629, he became architect of Saint Peter's, and completed the Barberini Palace, himself designing the grandiose facade and ellip- tical staircase. His most attractive statue of this period is "Santa Bibbiana" in Saint Peter's. Two years before Urban VIII. 's death, he began his celebrated tomb in Saint Peter's, with the highly characteristic bronze statue of the Pope. His chief works under Innocent X. were the "Saint Theresa" group in Santa Maria dclla Vittoria. and the celebrated fountain of the Piazza Navona. Under Alexander VII. (16.5.5- 67), he designed the colonnade of Saint Peter's and the Seala Regia connecting the church with the Vatican — works of the highest arhitectural order. Of far less imjiortance is the celebrated "Catedra di San Pietro" in the apse of the church, designed to support the traditional chair of the iirst Roman bisliop. After having for fifty years dictated the artistic taste and achievements of the Papacy, during which time he designed or executed 37 busts, .58 statues, and 50 architec- tural works, he died in Rome November 28, 1680. Never during his lifetime has an artist received greater honor and appreciation, (^n his journey to Paris, where he furnished a design of construc- tion for the Louvre to Louis XIV., he was everj'- where received like a royal persoiuige. His con- ceptions dominated the sculpture of Europe for over a hundred years. To modern taste they are far less pleasing; for, while his work displays great technical abilitj- and line decorative quality. it is exaggerated in form and theatrical in ac- tion. His biography was written by a relative, Domenico Beihini (Rome, 1713); consult also Dohme, Kunst mid Kiinstler (Leipzig, 1879); Lalanne, Journal du voyage de cavalier Bernini en France (Paris, 1885) ; Fraschetti, II Bernini (Milan, 1899).

BERNIS, bar'nes', Francois Joachim de PiERRES DE (1715-94). A French prelate and diplomatist, born at Saint-Marcel, Ardfeche. He was educated for the priesthood, but turned first to diplomacy and became Ambassador to Venice in 1752. He represented France in the negotia- tions preceding the Seven Years* War, and be- came foreign secretary in 1757. Ne.xt year he was made a cardinal, but ofTended the King and was banished from court. In 1764 he recovered the royal favor and was made Archbishop of Albi. On the election of Clement XIV.. he be- came Ambassador to Rome, and carried out the wishes of Choiseul, his successor as foreign sec- retary, ill urging the suppression of the Jesuits. He lost his dignities at the Revolution, refusing to take the oath of allegiance to a constitution "of which an essential feature was the destruc- tion of the ancient discipline of the Church," and died a pensioner of Spain. Consult his me- moirs and letters (Paris, 1878, ed. Masson; Eng. trans.. New York, 1902) ; also his correspond- ence with Voltaire (Paris, 1799).

BERNOULLI. bar'noo've',or BEBNOTJILLI. The name of a family famous for the successful cultivation and extension of mathematical and physical science. Its original habitat was Ant- werp, but the attachment of the founder of the family (.Lakob) to the Reformed religion forced him to seek an asylum in Frankfort-on-the-Main. Later on the family established itself at Basel, where several of the family acquired great dis- tinction. The relationship between the most im- portant members of the family was as follows: Nicolas Bernoulli (1023-1708) had eleven chil- dren, including .Takob (1654-1705), Nicolas, and Johann (1667-1748). Famous among their de- scendants are a son of Nicolas, likewise named Nicolas (1687-1759), and three sons of .Tohann, named Nicolas ( 1695-1726). Daniel (1700-1782), and Johann (1710-1790). Two sons of the last named are celebrated: Johann (1744-1807) and Jakob (1758-1789). See the following articles.

BERNOULLI, Daniel (1700-82). He was born at Groningen, and was the second son of .Johann (.Jean) Bernoulli. After having studied mathematics with his father, he studied medi- cine. He occupied successively a chair of mathe- matics at Saint Petersburg (1725-32), a chair