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* VASA. 20 VASCONCELLOS. VASA, House of. A Swedish royal family, ■svliich mount cd the throne in the person of Gus- lavus I. in 1523 and ruled till 1654. The most distinaaiished member of the house was Gustavus II. Adolphus (1611-32). His daughter Chris- tina, wlio was immarried, resigned the throne in 165-t in favor of her cousin Charles X. Gustavus, Count Palatine of Zweibriicken, who inaugurated a collateral female branch. Christina died in 1G89. The House of Vasa furnished three kings to Poland, from 1587 to 1668. This branch of the family became extinct with John Casimir, who abdicated in 1668 and died in 1672. VASA, or NIKOLAISTAD, ne'Uo-li-stad'. The capital of the Government of Vasa, Finland, situated a short distance from the Gulf of Both- nia (ilap: Russia, B 2). Its industrial estab- lishments include shipj-ards. woolen mills, and sawmills. Population, in 1807, 13,4!13. The town was founded in 1611, and was named Nikolaistad in honor of Nicholas I. of Russia, when rebuilt after the fire of 1852. VASA ORDEK. A Swedish order of merit, founded in 1772 by Gustavus III. The decoration is a white enameled cross with eight points, sur- mounted by a crown and worn on a green ribbon. VASARHELY, va'shllr-hel-y'. The name of two towns in Hungary. See H6dmezo-Vasak- HELY and Maros-Vasakhely. VASARI, va-zii're, Giorgio (1511-74). An Italian painter and architect, chiefly celebrated as a biographer of artists. He was born at Arezzo, and on the advice of his kinsman, Luca Signo- relli, he first studied painting under Guglielmo di Marsiglia. Pollastra, the poet, taught him Latin, and the lad's ability to recite whole books of the JEneid won for him the patronage of the Cardinal of Cortona, who, in 1523, took him to Florence. There he was a pupil of Michelangelo and Andrea del Sarto and studied the humanities with the two Jledicean princes, whose guardian the Cardinal was. During the exile of the Medici Vasari's fortunes snft'ered, but he went in the train of Cardinal Ippolito to Rome, and studied for man}- months with such assiduity that he was brought back to Arezzo on a litter. Upon his recovery Duke Alessandro de' Medici of Florence made him his Court painter. In this capacity Vasari painted family portraits, frescoed the Medici Palace, and designed the decorations of Florence upon the visit of Charles V. After liis master's assassination he spent three years paint- ing for the monks of Camaldoli, visited Northern Italy and Venice, and resided at Rome (1582), and in other parts of Italy. In 1555 he was sum- moned to Florence by Duke Cosimo the Great, in whose service he remained until his dcatli. From the Duke he received a large- pension and many gifts and honors, including the appoint- ment to the office of gonfalioniere (chief magis- trate) of Arezzo for life. He transformed the in- terior of the grand Palazzo Vecchio into a])art- ments suitalde for a. duke's residence, and fres- coed the (Jrcat Hall wliidi the Rejuililic had in- tended for Miclielangclo and Leonardo. He also designed a number of buildings for the Duke, in- cluding the Uffizi in Florence. Later he served alternately Pope Julius III. and the Duke. In 1573 he finished the decorations of the Sala Regia in the Vatican, but his intended master- piece, the frescoes of the cupola of Florence, was unfinished at his death, June 27, 1574. He pos- sessed a lovable and uiuight character, and was as diligent as he was lacking in genius. Vasari was one of the most versatile artists of the later Renaissance. Modern taste, indeed, does not agree with contemporary opinion of his painting, but finds it mannered and without originality. He succeeded far better in archi- tecture. His masterpiece, the Uffizi. is a fine, liarmonious building, admirably adapted for its various jnirposes. Other chief works are the Vigna di Papa Giulio near Rome, the Cliureh of the Badia, and his own house (now Casa Mon- tauti at Arezzo), the cupola of Madonna dell' L'milta at Pistoja, and the new sacristy of San Lorenzo at Florence. But Vasari's greatest service by far to art is his world-renowned Lives, to which we owe our chief knowledge of the artists of the Italian Renaissance. This monumental work was under- taken at the suggestion of Cardinal Farnese (afterwards Pope Julius III.) in 1542: the first edition appeared under the title Vite de' pii'i ec- crllenti pittori, sciiltori ed architetti. A second edition, enlarged and improved, appeared in 1568. The work is excellent in style, full of local color, and really remarkable in the acuteness and catholicity of its artistic perception. There has been great progress in art history and criticism since Vasari's day. The archives have yielded up their treasures, and the attribution of paint- ings is no longer determined by tradition or gen- eral impressions of style or feeling. Modern criticism finds him far too dependent on hearsay and gossip, inexact in facts and dates, and even guilty of wholesale plagiarism without acknowl- edgment. But when all has been said, Vasari's work remains, for its day. a wonderful monument of erudition and sound criticism, and not without justice has he been termed the father of modern art history and criticism. Monumental modern editions of the TjVp, with complete notes, and biographies of the author, are those of Le Mon- nier (15 vols., Florence. 1846) ; Milanesi (0 vols., ib., 1878-85) : Venturi (Rome. 1896 et seq.) : and (selections) Car! Frey (Berlin. 1885-87). There is an English translation by Mrs. Foster (Lon- don, 1850), and an admirable edition of selected biographies in this translation is by Blaslifield and Hopkins (4 vols.. New York, 1806). VASCO DA GAMA. viis'kA da gii'ma. See G.MA. VasCO IIA. VASCONCELLOS, viis'k6n-sel'16s, Joaqutm Antonio da Fon.sicca e (1849—). A Portuguese critic, born at Oporto, and educated in Hamburg and Coindira. He became jirofessor of German at Oporto in 1S83. and in 1880 was juit in charge of the local Museum of Trade and Industry. His publications in the periodical A Artnalidade, conducted by himself, and in separate volumes, concern the fine arts in general and music and German lileralure in particular, 'i'liey inchnle: O FnusI dc (locihe c n lr(idii(ao dc- Ciislilho (1872) ; Luiza Todi (1873) ; Rrforma do ensino dc hcllas artes (3 vols. 1877-70) -. Alhrcrht Uiircr e a sua influcncia na peninsula (1879) ; con- summado (fermanista (1879); and Gni'siana (4 vols. 1879-81). His wife (since 1876). Cakouna Miciiaelis (1851 — ), a Romance philologist, was born in Berlin, and early devoted licrself to the languages of the Spanish peninsula. She pub-