Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 19.djvu/326

* TIEN-TSIN. 278 TIERCE. his headquarters at Tien-tsin, and in consequence the city was the centre of much political interest. Its importance in this respect greatly declined •vlien Li was removed from office after the dis- astrous war with Japan in 1894-95. During the Boxer uprising in 1900 the foreign settlement suffered from the besieging Boxers, and the city from the relieving forces of the -Allies. The city held out until the severe fighting of July 13th- 14th, during which the Allies lost in killed and wounded between 800 and 900. the United States contingent, in proportion to its number, suffer- ing most. The city is connected with the rest of the worhl by cable, and with the British Legation in Peking by the JIarconi wireless system. Ow- ing to the importance of the foreign business interests centred here, and the proximity of the town to Peking, the Viceroy of the province, whose seat is at Pao-ting-fu, spends a large por- tion of the year here. As the river freezes over in w'inter, Tientsin is cut oft' from the outer world from about November to April, but the for- eign admirals always agree to have at least one gunboat stationed off the bund during that pe- riod. TIEPOLO, te-a'p6-lo, GiovAxxi Battista (l(i:iCi-1770) . The last great master of the Venetian school of painting. Of his life hardly anything is known. He was not a member of the celebrated family of Tiepolo, as has been sup- posed. He was born April 5. 1696, and at an early age was placed with the painter Lazzarini, a mannerist, whom he soon left for Piazzetta. He was, however, more influenced by the great mas- ters of the past, especially by Veronese. It is impossible to fix the dates for his pictures before 1737. We know that he was famous long be- fore that, and was patronized by the Doge Cor- naro and noble Venetian families, and by many cities and cliurches in Northern Italy. The first of his principal works that can with certainty be dated are the beautitvil decorations of the Villa Valmerana at Vicenza, executed in 1737. The subjects are taken from Homer, Vergil, Ariosto, and Tasso. In freshness and charm, in conception and tecjmique, they bear favorable comparison with Veronese's masterpieces in the Villa Maser. In 1739 followed the three ceil- ing decorations in Santa ilaria del Rosario (Venice), including the "Institution of the Kosary," and in 1743-44 those of the church of the Scalzi, the chief of which represents "Angels Bearing the Casa Santa from Nazareth to Loreto." To the same period belong the ceiling paintings of the Palazzo Rezzonico.and about 174.5 he decorated the grand hall of the Palazzo Labia. The ceiling is liiglily fantastic, and the illusive arcliiteetural decorations of the w'alls form an admirable framing for two of his best frescoes, "Cleopatra's Banquet" and the "Embarkment of Cleopatra and Anthony." The date of his dec- orations in the archiepiscopal palace at Udine, one of his best works, is not known. Under the patronage of Karl Pliilipp of Grei- fenklau. Bishop of Wiirzbnrg, Tiepolo passed the years 1750-53 in that city, engaged in decorating the episcopal (now the royal) palace. On the lofty ceiling over the grand staircase he painted frescoes of "Olympus" and of the "Four Quar- ters of the Earth;" in the Kaisersaal, three scenes from the life of Frederick Barbarossa; in the chapel, two large "altar-pieces, the "Ascen- sion of the Virgin" and the "Fall of the Angels." Keturning to Venice in 1754, he became director of the Venetian Academy. Between this time and his departure for Spain he painted another grand ceiling decoration, the "Triumph of Faith," in the Chiesa delta Pietil, and perhaps most of his easel pictures. About March, 1762, he was snnunoned by King Charles III. to Spain to decorate the royal palace. In the guard room he painted the "Smithy of Vulcan." in the ante-room an "Apotheosis of Spain," and in the throne-room, magnificent ceiling frescoes of "Spain and ller Provinces." At Madrid he exe- cuted most of his etchings, and it was there that he died. March 22, 1770. In the classical reaction immediately follow- ing Tiepolo's death, scant justice was done him, and not until comparatively recent times hag he been accorded his place. His art is essen- tially decorative, and hai'monizes perfectly with the Rococo architecture of the day. The color is liglit and flaky, and exquisitely delicate, and the treatment of light is above reproach. To a wonderfully rich fantasy and invention he joined an equal facility of execiition. Some- times he (legener.ates into extravagances, and what prevents him from ranking with the great- est artists of all time is the frivolity of his con- ceptions and the artificiality consequent upon the lack of a more direct contact with nature. Tiepolo's easel pictures show the same grace of form and charm of color as his frescoes, and are more carefully executed. Among the best known are "Christ in the Garden of Olives" and "Calchas and Iphigenia," in the Liechtenstein Gallery at Vienna; "Saint Catherine of Siena" and an "Adoration of the Kings," in the Im- pei'ial Gallery (ib.); "Martyrdom of Saint Agatha" and ' "After the Bath," in the Berlin Museum; the "Immaculate Conception" at Vicenza and Madrid ; and a "Holy Family with Saint Gaetano," in the Venetian Academy. In the Venetian churches are several altar-pieces, like "Madonna in Glory" in the Church of the Jesuits, and "Christ Bearing the Cross" in Sant' Aluise. His etchings show much taste and neat- ness of execution, and in their weird humor and naturalism they resemble those of Goya, whose Cnprichos probably inspired Tiepolo's principal series, S^cherzi di Fantasia. Of his two sons, who assist-ed in most of his works, DOMENICO (1727- 1804) etched seve^-al of his father's paintings and painted inferior frescoes in his style, while of LoREXzo, the younger son, almost nothing is known. Consult: Zanetti. DcUa pittura veneziana (Venice. 1771); Urbani de Gheltof, Tiepolo c la sua famiglia (Venice, 1S79), and Tiepolo in Ispaqna (Venice, 1881) : ilolmenti. La villa Val- marana (Venice, 1880), and Curpaceio e Tie- polo (Turin, 1885); and the biographies of Wessely, in Dobme's Zimhs* und Kiinsfler Italiens (Leipzig, 1877); Leitschuh (Wiirzburg, 1896); and Chennerifres (Paris, 1898). TIERCE (OF.. Fr. tiers, third part, from Lat. tertiiix. third, from tres. three). In music, an interval (q.v.) synonymous with a third. In the organ, a mutation stop pitched 2% octaves above the diapason.