Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 18.djvu/248

* SISKIN. 204 SISTINE CHAPEL. allied to the goldfinch, 4% inches long and green- ish-graj-, yellow, and black. It is found in the temperate parts of Europe and Asia, and is often kept and bred in cages, and called by dealers 'aberdevine.' The 'siskin' of America is the pine- finch (q.V. ). SISLEY, se'sla', Alfred ( 1830-99). A French painter, born of English parentage, in Paris. He was a pupil of Gleyre, but was little known until after the first Impressionist exliibition of 1874. His early work was influenced by Corot, but this influence was afterwards modified by the color theories of the Impressionists, particularly as practiced by Monet. His subjects are confined entirely to landscape, and generally to calm country scenes. He was one of the most remark- able landscape painters of his day, and one whose bold, honest, and withal poetic view was com- bined with high qualities as a colorist, and un- common facility in rendering the luminous qual- ity of atmosphere. His niimerous works include : "L'Inondation, Marly" (1876); "L'Inondation, Bercy" (1876); "Le'Pont de Moret-sur-Loing;" and "La Seine a Saint Mammes." There are sev- eral studies by him in the Luxembourg. SISMON'DI, F7: pron. ses'moN'de'. Jean Charles Leonard Simonde de (1773-1842). A French historian and economist. He was born at Geneva. The French Revolution forced the Sismondi family to leave Geneva and take refuge in England. In 1795, how- ever, they went to Italy and bought a small farm near Pescia, in Tuscany, where their narrow circumstances rendered it necessary for Sismondi to engage in farm work for several years. In 1798 he began to collect materials for a history of the Italian republics. In 1803 ap- peared a work on political economy, De la richesse commerHule, in which he appears as a follower of Adam Smith, though at a later period, in his 'Nouveaux principcs cl'economie potitiqiii' (2 vols., 1819), he abandoned the views ad- vanced in his earlier work and opposed the ideas of the English economists. It was in history, however, that his best work ^^as done. The His- loire des rcpubliqiies italicnnes ( 16 vols., 1807-18) placed him in the first rank among contemporary historians, and brought him praise from the most distinguished men in France and Germany. In 1813 appeared his LUteriiliire du midi de I'Europe, which has been translated into English and frequently reprinted. In 1819 he began his best and greatest work, the Bistoire des Francois (31 vols.. 1821-44). of which he published an abstract later; Precis de I'histoire des Frati^ais (2 vols.. 1839K Besides the works mentioned above, Sismondi wrote Histoire de la renaissance de la liberie en Italic (2 vols., 1832) and Bis- loire de la cMitc de I'empire romain (2 vols.. 183.i). SISTER DORA. See Pattison. Dorotht. SISTERHOODS. Communities of women in the Roman Catholic and Anglican churches, or- ganized for religious and charitable purposes. The origin and growth of the principle which gave rise to these organizations has been de- scribed under Monastictsm. The earlier com- munities for women were nearly always out- growths of an earlier institute for men. after ■which their orsranization was closely modeled : these 'second Orders' for women exist, for ex- ample, under the rules of the Benedictine, Cis- tercian, Dominican, and Franciscan Orders. Thej' were, until the seventeenth centurj', nearly al- ways inclosed or cloistered communities. With the development of modern society and the increase of security for the weak, their field of activity was much widened, and they began to take energetic part in active charitable work among the poor, the sick, and the ignorant. Taking new foundations, of those established in the sixteenth century 13 were active and 10 con- templative, but in the seventeenth 54 active and only 12 contemplative Orders were organized. The more important Roman Catholic sister- hoods will be found treated under their own titles. About the middle of the nineteenth cen- tury a strong movement developed among non- Catholics, botli in England and Germany, for the organization of women's work in the same fields. In the latter country it developed chiefly a class known as deaconesses (q.v. ) ; but in Eng- land the movement.' coinciding with the Trac- tarian revival of the older doctrine and customs, had assumed a form practically identical with that already described. After one or two tenta- tive efforts 'in London (1845) and Oxford (1847), the thing took definite root with the foundation of the community at Devonport in 1848 by Miss Lydia Sellon. under the advice of Dr. Pusey. Its members, known as Sisters of Mercy, were bound by no vows except one of obedience to the su- perior while they remained connected with it. Three years earlier Dr. Muhlenberg had estab- lished the Sisters of the Holy Communion in New York. These had no fixed costume, were re- quired to be between 25 and 40 years old, and it was understood that they might leave the sisterhood at tlicir own pleasure. This com- munity was placed in charge of Saint Luke's Hospital, which Dr. .lu)ilenl>crg founded. Since tliat date numerous organizations of the kind have grown up both in England and America, and have proved useful auxiliaries to the clergy in their work among the poor and de- graded. The later ones usually follow the model of the Roman Catliolic sisterhoods, have the same ideals of lite, and follow the same practices, in- cluding the daily recitation of offices at the canonical hours. In 1903, besides some com- munities of deaconesses, there were 21 organiza- tions of this kind in the United States. At this date there were 118 Roman Catholic sisterhoods laboring in the same country, many of them having numerous houses in different sections. Consult: '[Atte(iAe. Papers on Sisterhoods (Lon- don. 1874-78) ; Goodman. Sisterhoods in the Church of England (ib.. 1863) ; Potter. Sister- hoods and Deaconesses (New York. 1873) : and. for the growth of the Roman Catholic communi- ties, the bibliography under Monasticism. SISTINE CHAPEL. The private chapel of the Pope in the Vatican. It was built for Sixtus IV., in 1473, by the Florentine archi- tect Giovanni de' Dolci. The apartment is 133 feet long and 45 feet wide, and is somewhat higher than its width. It is lighted by six win- dows on each side and three in the rear. The screen separating the congregation from the rear of the chapel reserved for the Pope and cardi- nals is one of the best pieces of marble decora- tion of the early Renaissance, and the tribune of the singers is equally good. The floor is dec-